SHAME ON YOU!
Arnold and Komarov travelling theatre
«… in mercilessly stripping itself back, it (the performance) engenders a zen-like focus on the nature of shame presented with dada-esque charm. … It is life itself laid bare. Yet the experience itself is also gloriously alive as a piece of art; malleable, interactive, and confrontational in a way that only theatre can be as an artistic medium. The audience are equals in Arnold’s and Komarov’s eyes, because we are in the same boat asking the same questions and undergoing the same complex emotions. ★★★★ » THE SKINNY
«Thought-provoking meditation on shame. … The duo performs with both vulnerability and poise. ★★★★ » THE STAGE
«The brilliance of this disarming show is its exploration of an emotion we rarely interrogate without judgement. ★★★★ » VOICEMAG
«This is what The Fringe is about. Amongst all the comedy, cabaret, theatre and musicals you stumble upon something so strange, other-worldly and weird, almost spectacular in its conceit that it’ll work. And it does. ★★★★ » NORTHWESTEND
«Arnold and Komarov themselves are effortlessly engaging, dealing with the variance and unpredictability of their subject matter with ease and providing a consistently reassuring presence.» FESTMAG
"You can be ashamed for many things. For yourself, your children, your family. For your country, your president. For your actions and inactions." I. Komarov
Memories of past shame are immense; they are recurring recollections of painful vividness. These recollections are hardly ever shared with other people. The schaemdi.ch project is located in this vacuum. We invite you to share your shame.
First we built the Shame-O-Mat. It offers an opportunity to anonymously share experiences of shame. The result is a collection of oral and written accounts of shameful memories, the Archive Of Shame. This archive is the starting point for the performance Shame on You! - a contemporary travelling theatre.
schaemdi.ch is a project by Trixa Arnold and Ilja Komarov. We work with a team in Zurich and with partners in Pakistan, Holland and Russia (they recently had to leave the country). Shame on You! can also be performed in other venues than theaters. We don't need a stage and whatever technical equipment is not available we will furnish.
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schaemdi.ch is a long-term project and a work in progress. We look forward to be surprised, and we hope for a wealth of stories.
About Shame
Shame can save us from embarrassment. Shame keeps us from total disgrace. It is impeding, it is irritating, it makes us insecure, it can trigger fear, aggression against others and oneself. We treat shame as something private, although its causes are social, religious and moral norms and constraints. Shame has many faces and can be passed on for several generations. It settles in our memory. Years, even decades later, we remember when, where, and why we were ashamed. For example, for your own mother who remains an outsider on visiting days at school, who is incorrectly dressed and unable to talk to other parents. For keeping silent when we get groped on a crowded bus. We are ashamed of ourselves and all the others present who stand idly by and watch the humiliation when the customs officer on the train at the border checks only the papers of PoC's. It is a paradox that we feel shame as something intimate and personal, although it has been deeply instilled by society, religion, culture and family. Almost everyone is affected by it. The reasons for shame are as complex as our society.
Performance Dates
03 - 28 August 2022
Fringe festival. Part of Swiss Selection Edinburgh, a programme of contemporary Swiss theatre presented by Pro Helvetia, the Swiss Arts Council, at Summerhall
Edinburgh, GB
July 2021
Tour and residency in Russia
Yekaterinburg, Perm, Sep, Izhevsk, Nizhni Novgorod, Moscow, Tula, Melniza Space, St. Petersburg
18 June - 2 July 2021
Archive of Shame - installation, Farbenblind festival in Photobastei
Zurich, CH
The Shame-O-Mat
A repository of remembrance
The Shame-O-Mat is a booth that can be installed in public spaces. It is equipped with a recording device, writing utensils and a mailbox. There you can record memories of events, people or things you are ashamed of. You can also write down your memories and put them in the mailbox while shame-o-matting. Or you can write us an email or a letter. With the transfer field below you have the possibility to send us your memory anonymously. Many thanks for your cooperation!
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The Shame-O-Mats we use in Zurich were developed by Silvia Buonvicini and Severin Hofmann. Sharamgah was built by the Pakistani artists Habib Ahmed Afsar, Imran Nafees Siddiqui and Amna Mawaz Khan. The Styd-O-Mat was developed by the Russian micro art group Gorod Ustinov.
Our two Shame-O-Mats can be installed at different locations. We hope that people from as many different milieus as possible will participate and tell their stories. We are still looking for further locations. Please contact us if you are interested in offering the Shame-O-Mats a location in the short or long term.
Small Print
After we have rewritten and condensed the stories, neither names of people nor places will be recognisable. In this anonymous form, your memory can therefore become part of a theater work or be published in another form at a later date. By sharing your story, you confirm your agreement with these conditions. In case you change your mind, just send us an email stating time, place and content of the story and we will remove it from the archive.
If retelling the story triggers unexpected reactions that you would like to talk about, please email us.
Locations of the Shame-O-Mats
The Shame-O-Mats have been modified and are now available as a walk-in installation.
Episode C - Archive of Shame.
Walk in Installation
Two people come together in a staged room. Together they dive into the memories of shame. Come alone and meet an unknown person, or come with your acquaintance and exchange the stories. Write to us if you are interested in hosting the installation.
Team
Trixa Arnold and Ilja Komarov Idea and concept, play, music, text, directing
In the 90s they have been touring in europe with the punk-pop trio Les Halmas. For two years they lived in St. Petersburg/RU and played with Russian musicians from the jazz-, pop- and electronic music scene. They arrived in Zurich in 2003 and have been active in the independent theatre scene ever since. Since 2007 they have been bringing theatre projects to the stage together. Music is an important part of all their projects. What they like about theatre is that the physical presence of the actors and the audience is a necessary part of every performance. Their work can also be shown in other venues than theaters. In this way they can reach audiences that usually do not go to the theatre. The term "contemporary travelling theatre" is an apt description of what they do. They deal with formats that invite the audience to become involved in the exploration of a theme. They live in Zurich.
Regula Schelling Production, dramaturgy and diffusion
studied Theatre/Dance Studies and German Studies at the University of Bern from 2012-2018 and worked as an assistant to Prof. Dr. Christina Thurner. She completed internships at the Schauspielhaus Zurich, the Junges Theater Solothurn, the intercultural MAXIM Theater Zurich and the Goethe Institute Bucharest, as well as assistant directing in various youth theatre projects. In 2018 and 2019 she worked in the operations office of the theatre festival auawirleben Bern. In 2018 co-founded and since then co-directed Theater Süd in Basel. Since 2019 she has been working as production manager at produktionsDOCK with Alexandra Bachzetsis, Jeremy Nedd and Ariane Andereggen, among others. She has also been managing Die Voyeure National since the 2020/21 season.
Silvia Buonvicini and Severin Hofmann Set Design, Graphic Design
Have been working together as artists, stage designers and visual designers since 2005. They devote themselves to keeping up with current developments in art and society in all media formats. Their experience in many disciplines - Silvia Buonvicini herself was an actor for several years - and their great knowledge of artistic and creative processes as well as the joy of research are reflected in all their work. They think in a networked, autonomous and independent way. They live in Switzerland and Austria.
Phil Hayes Outside Eye
creates his own theatre works under the label First Cut Productions. He often works on structures that combine function, rules and improvisation. In various collaborations he also works as a performer, director, musician and dramaturg, among others with Forced Entertainment or Simone Aughterlony. He conducts workshops and mentors students at the ZhdK in Zurich and La Manufacture in Lausanne. He lives in Zurich.
Anna Bertram Artistic collaboration and diffusion
is a cultural sociologist and studies dramaturgy at the Zurich University of Arts. Through her projects in educational contexts with young people and students, she has developed an interest in how personal life worlds can be connected with experiencing social structures. She asks questions about the accessibility of theatre and to what extent performative participation and artistic experiences can be part of a democratic process.
Gabriela Stöckli Collaboration texts
is a literary scholar with a focus on Latin America and has headed the Übersetzerhaus Looren in Wernetshausen since 2005. She campaigns for literary translation to be considered as an art. She organizes further education and moderates literary events with translators. She has translated several children's books from Spanish and lives in Zurich.
We thank for the support
Zurich City Culture, Department of Culture Canton Zurich, Pro Helvetia – Swiss Arts Council, Georges & Jenny Bloch Stiftung, SIS - Schweizerische Interpretenstiftung, Ernst Göhner Stiftung, Culture City Bern, Culture anton Bern - Swisslos, Ceda and Olgica Stichting, WORM Rotterdam.