Calling all StageSiders, welcome back to another instalment of StageSide Stories. This time around we are talking to Ed Gamester, performer in the show Mythos: Ragnarok. Ed also wrote and was involved in the creation of the show, and there is another instalment coming soon where we talk creative processes. But if you are interested in learning more about performance, wrestling, sports and theatre, then keep reading.
To begin, could you introduce yourself, your role as a performer, and who you play in
Mythos: Ragnarok?
I’m an actor, motion capture artist, stunt performer and pro wrestler, and I have the honour of
playing one of the most fascinating mythological characters of all time: Loki, the God of
Mischief. For the first 150 performances of Mythos: Ragnarök I actually played Odin, but the
show and cast has evolved over the years.
What drew you to performing in a show that blends wrestling and theatre?
I wanted to tell stories in the most exciting way possible and, without a shadow of a doubt,
this is it! Having wrestled on and off for over 20 years, I wanted to try something that
involved more aspects of performance than just the pseudo-sporting stylisation of wrestling.
Anyone who understands wrestling knows that it is a type of theatre, so having a chance to
work on scenes, dialogue, plot devices and storylines as well as the physicality was the
greatest opportunity that could possibly have come along. Plus it’s a chance to do something
that has never been done before!
How did you prepare for the physical side of the role — particularly the wrestling
elements?
This isn’t traditional stage combat: you can’t just do a weekend course and then start flailing
around with a blunt epee. Wrestling is full contact and high risk; it can take years to learn to
do safely and believably. Fortunately, I have been wrestling (in some form or another) since I
was 15 years old so, in a way, I have been preparing for this for my whole life. I also spent a
few years as a competitive strongman, which has given me a particularly resilient body
composition – which helps with the workload. Other artists often comment on the sheer
amount of effort and energy we expend on our show, but our daily training pales in
comparison to other professional acrobats and athletes – so infer from that what you will
about the state of the arts.
Does performing in a piece like this require a different mindset compared to more
traditional theatre?
I wouldn’t know: I’ve never done any traditional theatre. What I do know is that traditional
theatre doesn’t involve trusting somebody else to slam you headfirst into the floor or having
to remember dialogue while checking all your limbs are still attached. There’s a very real
element of danger to this show, which we have to put out of our minds on a daily basis
because otherwise we’ll fixate on it and – ironically – hurt ourselves. To that extent I’m sure it
involves a different type of courage from traditional theatre: additional forms of vulnerability
and sacrifice, for sure.
How do you balance character and storytelling while also delivering the precision and
intensity of live wrestling?
It’s all the same thing. Wrestling is a character-based performance art; once you’re in
character, you’re in character – you don’t have to slip out of character to perform a spinning
head scissors and then try to remember how you were feeling beforehand. The characters
that we play are combative characters: they exist in a world where ritualistic challenges are
established ways of settling disputes, so as long as we’re performing honestly it’s all part of
the same state of mind. Simply put: if you’re not well trained enough to execute the
physicality by second nature, you probably aren’t ready to wrestle.
What has the rehearsal process been like in bringing together performers from
different disciplines?
We’re all from the same discipline, which is pro wrestling; only a couple of people in the
show had any acting experience when we started, so the rest of us have had to learn on the
job. The challenge is that wrestlers aren’t used to rehearsing or developing or doing the
same thing every night: most of us prefer to keep things loose and wait to find magic in the
live performance. When we first started, some people actually refused to rehearse! These
days we have performed for long enough that we understand which bits of the show need to
be precise and which bits can be loose, so I think that’s a good balance.
Is there a moment in the show that you find especially challenging or rewarding to
perform?
I have five fight scenes, a sword fight and something like two hours of dialogue in the show,
so the main challenge for me is keeping my energy up without getting carried away. I am
also the primary comic character, so finding ways to make the audience laugh without
becoming a distraction is a challenging and rewarding element of the show.
One of my fights tends to spill out down the aisles and into the audience. I never know
what’s going to happen out there: sometimes I fall down the stairs, sometimes somebody
comes to my aid, sometimes a child attacks me – it’s chaos! It’s an improvised and reactive
fight scene and something I’ve never seen anyone else do in theatre, which makes it very
rewarding. Another of my fights goes on just a little bit too long and hurts a little bit too much
to ever be easy, which makes it the crescendo of every performance for me. If that fight ever
becomes easy, we change it to make it harder: the struggle is the art.
How does the audience’s energy influence your performance in a show with such a
live, physical edge?
Every audience has a different energy, as does every town and country. High energy
audiences are wonderful because they create a real sense of danger and excitement,
especially in the fight scenes, but it does become challenging to stay in control of the tempo
of the show when people are laughing and cheering and calling out every time we do or say
anything. On those nights we need to stay disciplined to prevent the whole thing becoming a
bit panto.
Lower energy audiences force us to perform more for each other, which makes everything
feel a lot more real. That’s a tribute to how far we have come as performers: in the old days
we would panic if the crowd was quiet because wrestlers are trained to generate reactions.
These days, after 250+ performances, we know how good the show is and most of us don’t
need the real-time feedback anymore. Whenever somebody new comes into the cast, that’s
probably the thing they struggle with the most: understanding that most people wait until the
end of the show to cheer – they don’t just blurt it out in the middle of the show, like in
wrestling.
What do you hope audiences connect with most — the story, the spectacle, or the
combination of the two?
I hope what they connect to is our passion as performers, because I think that’s deeply
lacking in the arts scene. People have stopped going to the theatre because they’re bored of
sitting through bland, over-rehearsed performances by people who have no connection to
the production itself, or self-absorbed semi-political shows that are more about the agenda of
the producers and actors than the audience who have paid for the experience. I know this
because I have spoken with over 10,000 people after our shows and I hear exactly why they
don’t go to the theatre, why they decided to come to see us, and why they enjoyed our show.
We bring people together because they can see we are up there working our arses off for
them.
Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring performer, what would it
be?
Stop thinking and start living. Acting is about being able to tap into genuine emotions; if you
haven’t had any emotional experiences, you’re just going to be up there pretending – and
everyone can tell. We live in an age where people have confused consuming content with
learning: it’s fine to watch YouTube tutorials, listen to podcasts and attend workshops or
seminars – but none of that will ever replace the value of getting out there and learning all the
highs and lows of being a human being. The best performances are honest, and being
honest takes practice – you can’t just listen to it in an audiobook.
Thanks to Ed Gamester for taking the time to answer my questions and for giving such an insight into the world of performance and wrestling!
You can catch up on all things Mythos: Ragnarok here. The show will be playing at Edinburgh Fringe this year for the 5th year running!
Have your say
Are you thinking of starting a career as a performer? Are you currently studying performance? How are you finding the process, and do you have any tips?
Let me know in the comments!
If you are interested in being featured in the next installment of StageSide Stories, then please do reach out to us and we would be happy to discuss this with you.
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