The Weight of Shadow will be performed at 12:15 at Assembly Checkpoint from 1st – 25th August (Not 7th, 22nd or 23rd)
Booking Link: https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/628-the-weight-of-shadow
Prepare to be captivated as Irish performer Sasha Krohn, a master of physical theatre, makes his Edinburgh Fringe debut with ‘The Weight of Shadow’. Based on the personal battles Sasha’s partner Ciana Fitzgerald has faced, this powerful and evocative play portrays 24 hours in the life of a psychiatric patient, delving deep into the struggles of ill mental health. Through a blend of aerial acrobatics, dance and mime, Sasha transforms the complexities of mental illness into a moving narrative told solely through movement.
In this exclusive interview, Sasha shares his insights on bringing this incredibly challenging subject to the stage and offers a glimpse into the artistic process behind the incredible production.
You have performed extensively across the globe. What makes the Edinburgh Fringe unique to you?
The sheer buzz, the amounts of shows, the audience, the possibility to connect and collaborate …..I could probably go on for another 0.2 seconds, but the list is long. I have to say I have only experienced the Fringe as an audience member so far, not with my own show. And it seemed so far away to even consider (if it weren’t for the brilliant Henry Maynard and his company Flabbergast Theatre and Culture Ireland. Thanks a million again and again and again). The reason why it seemed so far away, also explains why it is so unique. For more than 70 years Edinburgh Fringe has provided a platform for performance art like no other. It’s not only the quantity of shows, experiences and events that are running at that time, but also the quality of it all. The level of shows that I experienced there was fantastic. Authenticity being a major key here. Nothing feels done to impress but created for the love of performance. The level and quality always inspired but equally intimidated me, hence my doubts if my own show would even be living up to Edinburgh Fringes’ level. On top of that it has the largest variety of shows I have ever witnessed. Want a laugh in the morning? Thoughtfulness in the afternoon and a feeling of despair before you got bed? We got you covered – Edinburgh Fringe.
On top of all of that, now speaking from a performer aspect and experiencing the behind-the-scenes of it all, it is also an incredible point for future engagements and collaborations. You meet a lot of other performers and performance groups beforehand, working out logistics and helping each other. That alone is quite alien to me. A lot of festivals I performed at, were more a solo-mission and the support your own warm tears in a cold shower at night while humming ‘Three little birds’.
Edinburgh Fringe is something almost untouchable in scale and quality. And Jesus isn’t it gorgeous like? The Minas Tirith of Performance Arts Festivals.
The Weight of Shadow portrays your partner Ciana’s struggles with mental health. Was this a challenging topic to bring to the stage, and you think creating the show has been a therapeutic experience for both of you?
It definitely was challenging in parts as this show mostly speaks about Cíanas experience with mental health and contains a few personal things, mainly to do with body dysmorphia due to a history with anorexia. It was important to me that my physical translation of Cíanas emotions and experiences truly reflects her reality, and is not over the top, or less than what it truly feels like. So I’d oftentimes show her my understanding of her situation, demonstrating the movement sequences and Ciana would be telling me Yay or Nay. There were a few times where I would have assumed way bigger movements, drama, action in certain situations, and it turned out to be the opposite to how she experienced it. A few times I would have gone for a flip here, and a fall there when it needed heaviness, motionless tension.
For both of us there was an element of catharsis during the creation of it and especially now for its actual presentation. It’s something wonderful, to be trusted and able to stage a show on a topic that is based on very personal events, that the one or the other person can see themselves in.
Can you tell us a bit about the stage design and your use of lighting?
First of all, thanks a million for calling it a design. I wouldn’t have been that brave calling it a design. More like a kip in action. It had to be messy and look as if everything is about to almost fall apart. I am always torn between the absolute ends of the same spectrum: minimalism and maximalism. There’s nothing more enjoyable than seeing a massive set design. It’s like a wee exhibition before the performance, it gives you time to settle into an atmosphere, to immerse yourself before it all kicks off. And by the time it starts, you are there on stage with them. Metaphorically speaking. Otherwise, you are either drunk or don’t understand theatre and live-performance rules.
On the other side I really enjoy minimal designs. It puts the performance right in front of you, unapologetically so. So I guess I tried a sort of in-between: A chair, a mantelpiece , a bed and a mirror. The rest is made up of medical packages (anti-depressants. “Fun” fact: They are actually Cíanas anti-depressant packages, 6 month’s worth. When you see the amounts, it blows your mind. Again, figuratively speaking!), and pieces of clothing thrown abouts.
The rest of the stage is pretty much empty and gives enough space for the actual performance. The reason for the pieces was simply to create a room-feeling. A physical environment to look into. Most of the stage materials serve the purpose they were made for, so are not solely just background fillers. The bed for sleeping, the chair for sitting, the mirror to check myself out and get a panic attack, and the mantelpiece for…isn’t it gorgeous?
The mirror and the bed have both a separate use within the show.
Spoiler Alert:
The mirror is 2-ways . When I swivel it around towards the audience, I can still interact with myself but the audience sees me directing the scene towards them. It sort of breaks the 4th wall indirectly.
And the bed allows me to slip into, as if sucks me into it, for the nightmare/dream sequence.
Now for the lighting I had a very specific idea in my head, mostly inspired by Submechanophobia (the fear of artificial objects underwater). The haze and sometimes green, sometimes blue surrounding create a very eerie feeling; distant, unknown and uncertain. I wanted to go in that sort of direction, so a lot of times it is green-hazy when the character is at home, dragging themselves abouts. For the other sections I dipped into more obvious colours. Purple-blue-ish for a slight Lynchian, dreamy feeling. Reds for the nightmares and so on. All things considered, my aim was/is to create something that immerses the viewer but doesn’t take away too much from the actual performance aspect.
How important was it for you to use an original musical score?
Very important, due to 2 reasons: It is a major pain in the hole, to find the right music and atmosphere. You have an idea how it’s supposed to sound and feel like, and then it’s Youtube and SoundCloud Rabbithole time. Desperately trying to find a tune/song, barely anyone has heard of (ain’t nobody got time for Swift) via some bizarre key words: ‘songs sounding like uncertainty with peaking melancholy played by Mongolian gongs only’
And 2ndly financial reasons. I don’t have to pay for the use of my own songs.
And creating the soundtrack is good craic. I can sit down, and just mess around for hours, play around with different instruments (virtually), and layers and create the songs and atmospheres that feel right to me for the show. Admittedly, everything I record is played by me (I hate using samples. It feels like ripping out a piece from somebody elses painting and slapping it onto yours) but nothing is pre-composed and just created intuitively. I’d start with something like a cello and just play around with different cords and progressions, sometimes just one note. And when I eventually have found something that feels good, I try a different melody with another instrument. This might take hours, because of a lot of it ends up sounding…deplorable.
Then it’s about layering. More instruments, little background noises and elements that fade in and out, deep basses and finally reverbs for depth and size.
It also allows me to create a soundtrack that suits the atmosphere and situations where I can adjust the depth of each of my own songs. Reverb is absolute magic and can feel engulfing and surround the audience to a point where it becomes immersive.
There’s only one song in this soundtrack that isn’t mine and I just built a piano intro leading into and out of it. It’s a rendition of Robert Schumanns ‘ Ich hab’ im Traum geweinet’ (I wept in my dreams) sung by Simon Keenleyside. That specific piece I just had to use, simply because I love it and it felt right for the moment I chose it for. Even though lyrically it might not be 100% fitting, but in this instance, I just didn’t care about what was sung, but how it felt. Pure wilful ignorance. Shameless.
You used crowdfunding to support your show – do you think crowdfunding is the key to helping independent theatre thrive?
I think it is A key to helping independent theatre, but not THE key, due to circumstances of time and development. It is incredibly helpful to ask a large number of people for support, but especially at the moment it feels hard and almost ignorant to ask people to give you money for your own project. We are all (I exclude the obvious suspects from this generalisation, because…..synonym for intercourse, followed by third-person plural object pronoun) struggling with the constant rising cost of everything. I felt very awkward pushing that campaign because even though I would love to help a lot of fellow artists with their work myself, I just wouldn’t be able to. So who am I then to ask others for their help? That’s what made it feel very weird for me at times.
I think the key for independent theatre and artists of all kinds to thrive and create more work, is simply (hold on to your hats, ultra conservatives. This one here is going to shake your world) a basic income scheme for the arts. Here in Ireland, we have a pilot scheme running at the moment, and I was lucky enough to be included. A lot of people from abroad (here in Ireland it was supported by the majority of people) have their doubts with the basic income scheme. Mostly voices such as ‘Free money for artists? NO!’ ‘But then they won’t be doing anything and just sit around’. And Oh buachaill, they couldn’t be further away from the reality. In the last 2 years it has been running now, is has shown a higher success rate than expected. The increase of art output is way higher, as most artists on the scheme have far more time to actually work on their art, than having to juggle a dead-end job and their actual work at the same time. All the money is being used for their art, financial stability plus higher output of art (sales/presentation/shows etc) also means more comes back into the taxpayers pocket. It is the reason why I was even able to create this specific show. And if anyone is still arguing about artists, free money, taxpayers money, here’s one for you:
Artists are the reason why you can switch on the TV and watch a film/series, the reason why you can listen to your favourite genre of music anytime you want, the reason why you can play your computer games, the reason for most of the entertainment outside your 9-5 lifestyle, the reason your company has a logo.
Their time on developing a show, writing a song, painting etc. deserves payment. Taxpayers in some countries pay men in a weirdly long, furry hat and red coat to stand in a doorway all day and no one seems complain about them not doing anything.
The Weight of Shadow will be performed at 12:15 at Assembly Checkpoint from 1st – 25th August (Not 7th, 22nd or 23rd)
Booking Link: https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/628-the-weight-of-shadow