Shay Mace
Berlin-born, Edinburgh-based Till Schindler is the playwright of upcoming play Crawl, which will debut at the Pianodrome Bruntsfield in Edinburgh tomorrow night, speared forth by emerging Scottish theatre companies Jagget Bunnet Productions and Heads on Crooked. The piece is described as an absurdist exploration on what it is to inherit a nonsensical world, and the desire to not switch the big light on. With such intriguing themes, we wanted to pull Till aside for a pixelated pint to find out what inspired the piece, and what audiences can expect.
You can catch Crawl at Pianodrome Bruntsfield, St. Oswald’s Centre, Edinburgh, tomorrow Monday June 29th and Tuesday June 30th from 7:30pm (65 mins). Tickets are available through Citizen Ticket’s Online Box Office.
Shay: Hi Till! Crawl. follows three characters – Brandt, Temple, and a Private Man. Tell us about them and the world they inhabit.
Till: Hello Shay! Temple, Brandt and Private Man (Christian name), have a room together. As we all know, occupying space of any kind in this world comes with a list of responsibilities, one of which is having a chandelier up and hanging when it’s time for a party.
Unfortunately, there is a party that formed, but the chandelier isn’t up, so they will have to work together to provide the guests with what is expected. The bother is that they are all the same, but entirely different beings.
Shay: You’ve challenged Director Salvador Kent to build both a ‘zoo’ and a ‘sculpture’ on stage – tell us what you mean by that, and what the audience can expect.
Till: I can’t believe this whatsapp text is still haunting me. I think what I meant by this is those are two concepts describing opposite ends of the spectacle spectrum (a great name for an optician). Good theatre can construct a sound and imposing, seemingly immovable image, like a statue, or it can put on stage contained chaos and violence so real, you’re afraid it might jump out at any moment like a zoo.
Sadly, zoos and statues are both deplorable affairs, yet people seem to yearn for them. I think theatre can take their place. Crawl, I hope, has aspects of both, which requires an incredibly rigid and at the same time free-flowing process. I could not think of a person I trust to pull this off more than Salvador Kent. Apart from his astonishing ability in the rehearsal room, he has grasped what this play is trying to do more than myself, I feel at times. And although he constantly asks for my input I never feel like I have to explain anything to him, which is an incredible blessing.
Shay: The piece explores what it means to ‘inherit a nonsensical world’ – do you feel you’ve inherited a nonsensical world? What has led you to that conclusion?
Till: Psychosis did. Which is a horrifyingly fun endeavour, I feel society is finally embarking on collectively. I used to feel really alone and isolated with the feelings I salvaged from my trip to the “pathological” side of thought. These days I think we all start to feel like what we took in the world as sensical and true works of non-fiction are in fact all individually made up and constructed like poetry. This applies to grand concepts like the song of patriarchy as well as small concepts like an ode to lamps.
Shay: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Till: Unlearn the poetry of reality. It is an oppressive concept. You can sing our own song about the world. Also: let’s stop pathologizing those who hear the dissonances in the way our world is sung. It ends up killing them and we need them now more than ever.
Shay: Aside from Crawl, do you have anything coming up for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year?
Till: It will luckily not be on at this years Fringe, but my company Heads on Crooked’s play NOSEJOB, will be, which you should buy tickets for immediately if you have a nose and are concerned for its wellbeing.
Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Till: Seeing the cheese man again. I hope he is alright.
Shay: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if Crawl was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Till: There’s a Canadian hotel serving a drink garnished with the same conserved human toe from the 1920s in it with the slogan: “You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow, but your lips must touch the toe.” I feel like you would never go there on your own accord, but if you found yourself in there by accident, you couldn’t resist the experience.
A reminder, you can catch Crawl at Pianodrome Bruntsfield, St. Oswald’s Centre, Edinburgh, tomorrow Monday June 29th and Tuesday June 30th from 7:30pm (65 mins). Tickets are available through Citizen Ticket’s Online Box Office.
