Q&A : Shame On You

We spoke to Swiss-Russian duo Trixa Arnold & Ilja Komarov who are bringing the UK premiere of Shame On You! to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year. As part of the Swiss Selection Edinburgh showcase which brings together some of the most exciting and innovative artsits from across Switzerland, Trixa and Ilja discuss experiences of shame from the most deeply personal to the globally political.

Tell us a bit about your show

We retell stories about shame that we have collected in Switzerland, Pakistan, Russia and the Netherlands, exploring the wide spectrum of shame from the seemingly banal and sometimes funny everyday situations through to painful experiences of violence and discrimination. The audience is invited to share their own experiences or join us in discussions. We also play some songs. Each performance is different, because the stories are shared randomly; the spectators can interfere, speak up, take part.

Our Archive of Shame now consists of 450 stories. Being on stage with the audience, all those 450 people are somehow with us. We like the thought of being joined by this big unknown company, who have enabled us to offer this wide spectrum which demonstrates the complexity of shame. A spectator once called our performance an "entertaining exercise in empathy". We like that quote.

How has the changing political climate affected the show since development started in 2019?

Personally, we have been ashamed of the politics of our countries, Switzerland and Russia, since before we can remember. When Russia started the war on the 24th of February 2022, a heavy shame for all of mankind overcame us. War and violence have always caused a lot of shame, so we cannot avoid speaking about this in our performance.

Because of the pandemic and even more so after the war started, we’ve found that people are grateful to be able to sit in the theatre and be allowed to share personal experiences. This act of sharing across cultures, is essential - now more than ever.

We’ve realised how relevant culture and theatre can be, through this simple act of sharing, and we are glad to share this opportunity. Many spectators are deeply grateful for this.

How did people react in Switzerland, Russia and Pakistan when you asked for their personal stories of shame?

It seems to us that shame is a universal emotion, and the differences between the cultures are not as big as we expected. We do not ask people directly, but we offer the opportunity to tell us by different means. Many stories are told anonymously, in our Shame-O-Mat. There is also always the possibility to write us via email. We have experienced that especially in Russia, where people were really opening up and telling many personal stories as part of the performance. After the performance many people have left "heavy" stories in our letterbox, some involving violence and discrimination. Seemingly, after they have seen the performance, they trust us and want to share their experience with us and our future spectators. Some say or write stories that they’ve never spoken about with anybody else before.

What would you like the audience to take away from your show?

Today's society tends to treat shame as a private emotion, though it is often used publicly to expose people. The act of sharing could lead to a better understanding of personal shame as well other people’s shame. Of how this emotion functions and can be used to create discrimination, fear and power.

We get many responses from spectators. Some say our performance works better then psychotherapy. We like to quote one of them: "Shame separates us from one another. Your work offers the opportunity to unite by sharing it." A couple once said, they have known each other for over 20 years, but our work made them speak about themselves in a way they never did before.

Shame On You! will be performed at Summerhall, Demonstration Room, 3 – 28 Aug (not 15 & 22), 13.30 – 14.30.

This year’s Swiss Selection Edinburgh comprises solo performer Lea Witcher, duo Trixa Arnold & Ilja Komarov and performance company Pintozor who will all be bringing an eclectic mix of multi-disciplinary work to the festival tackling challenging subject matters in unusual ways.