Scare the Horses
Based in Exeter, Scare the Horses is a new initiative bringing unusual, small-scale performance work to non-traditional spaces around the city. Founder and Artistic Director Paula Crutchlow tells us more…
What do you do?
Scare the Horses is a live events club that presents new, contemporary work in intriguing and intimate settings across Exeter. The programme unfolds across the year, hosting a diverse range of artists working across different genres. You can join as a member and subscribe for the year, or buy tickets for each individual event.
What kinds of places do you work?
Our events are hosted in places not specifically designed for art or performance. I try to connect the content and the venue in ways that add something special to the audience experience. The programme launched with a table-top performance about the colonial histories of salt, in the dining room at Southernhay House Hotel. Since then, we’ve worked with a number of independent businesses and companies in the city centre: Roots Foundation Barbers & Social Space on New Bridge Street, Sid’s Café at St Sidwell’s Community Centre on Sidwell Street, Broadwalk House in Princesshay, TOPOS on Sidwell Street, the City Gate pub on the Iron Bridge, and the Hourglass Inn on Melbourne Street.
Hannah Sullivan performing Aida, Ann and May at The Hourglass, November 2019. Photo by Benjamin J. Borley.
How did you get started?
I launched Scare the Horses in 2019 as a way of bringing more unusual, small-scale performance and live art work of nationally recognized quality to Exeter. The kind of work that engages audiences in ways that might be more directly challenging, experimental in form, or less straightforward than expected. It’s the kind of performance that is seen more often in urban centres, and I felt that there could be enthusiasm for it in Exeter, too.
I felt that it was important to grow a community of advocates around the project to increase its chance of success. It’s the kind of work that might seem daunting to engage with, especially if you’ve never been to see anything like it before and don’t know what to expect. Scare the Horses invites people to join as members, and support the programme through a year’s subscription. This commitment allows me to invite exciting artists from outside the region, guaranteeing their fees in advance. It also builds an audience for the work, encouraging people to try new things they might not have looked at otherwise. Tickets are on sale to a general audience for every event. There is also a ‘podcast’ series on SoundCloud, where I talk to visiting artists, venue owners and sometimes audiences about the work and their experience of it.
An audience member recently described Scare the Horses as “the most London thing in Exeter” – which hopefully means that the events are risk-taking and experimental, and that you’re welcomed with the warmth and friendliness that a small rural city can offer. You never know what you’ll experience, but it’s guaranteed to ‘get you thinking’.
What keeps you going when things get tough?
More than any other art form, live performance relies on people working together to make it happen – that includes the audience taking the risk and making the effort to come. I keep on doing this work because I want to be part of a city that values the quality of thinking, conversation and sense of community between diverse types of people that these kind of events offer. I hope that Scare the Horses contributes to that.
Who do you work with and why?
The 2019 Founder Members of Scare the Horses took a real risk in deciding to participate in something that was essentially an unknown quantity. I’ve consulted with them over the year to help shape the programme and its aims at our membership gatherings – something that has made both the project idea and the events much richer. I’m looking forward to developing this more over the coming year.
As well as working with local independent businesses who have generously hosted our events, Scare the Horses has also been supported by independent artists in the city who have volunteered time and lent resources to help put the events on, and who regularly attend as committed audience members. Hopefully, more new members and audiences will join us in 2020 for an exciting journey of cultural discovery and good conversation!
Neither Here Nor There by Jo Fong and Sonia Hughes, performed at Roots Foundation, January 2019. Photo by Benjamin J. Borley.
Tell us what a typical show looks like.
Scare the Horses events are all very different. They can be funny, provocative, quiet, intellectual, challenging… and they happen in very different types of venue. You might love something the first time you come, and then find the next event isn’t quite your thing. Or vice versa. But what you experience will always be friendly, open and engaging, with an opportunity to talk to others and tell us what you think about it all. As one of our 2019 Founder Members said: “You cannot anticipate what will happen, but it will be utterly convivial and thought-provoking, and you will be very thankful you showed up.”
Name one thing that would make your life easier as an artist or arts organiser.
If only there was a quick and easy way of advertising smaller-scale, independent events to a wider public in Exeter. I often work quite short term, not knowing event details until a few weeks beforehand. I would love to get the word out about Scare the Horses performances more widely, and encourage new people to take a risk and see what it’s all about. At the moment I rely on social media and people’s generosity in sharing event details to get new audiences involved with what I’m doing.
What does the next year look like for you?
I’m excited to be running the programme again in 2020, and we have space for new members join us.
For our 2020 launch event on 17 January, we are lucky to be presenting Ways To Submit by Amsterdam-based writer and performance maker Ira Brand. Ira is one of the co-directors of the award-winning artist-led collective Forest Fringe, and her work has toured extensively, nationally and internationally.
What’s been the best moment for you in the last year?
The moment when I realised that our first event, Common Salt – by Sue Palmer and Shelia Ghelani, at Southernhay House Hotel – had sold out. It proved there was a real interest in this kind of event, and that really inspired me to keep going.
In what ways are you helping to put Exeter on the cultural map, nationally or internationally?
Inviting experienced artists from outside the city, and hosting them well, is an important way of connecting us to other places. As artists we get to meet with and be inspired by other people’s practice. For audiences, Exeter becomes somewhere that is seen as being a cultural centre that can be home to a wide range of arts practice.
What if..?
…more audiences were brought into conversations about art and culture in the city – not through surveys, but through invitations to unmissable events that they talk about for ages afterwards.
How do we find out more?
Visit the website: www.scarethehorses.uk
Follow us on Twitter: @scarethehorses
You can put yourself on our mailing list to be notified about general ticket sales here.
If you would like to host a Scare the Horses event in your place, or help out with stewarding or organising, please get in touch.
You can find out more about Scare the Horses membership here.