Calling all StageSiders, welcome back to another instalment of StageSide Stories here at StageSideUK. This time around, we are talking to a familiar face. Ed Gamester is back talking about writing and directing for theatre, as a self-funded theatre maker who wrote and directed Mythos: Ragnarok. If you are interested in writing, directing or bringing other art forms and sports into theatres, then settle in and lets begin!
PLEASE NOTE this interview contains occcasional strong language. Please only continue to read if you are ok with strong language.
To begin, could you introduce yourself, your role as writer/director, and tell us a little about Mythos: Ragnarok?
Mythos: Ragnarök is a theatrical experience about the mythology, struggles and conflicts of
the Norse Gods. Accordingly, it is performed by the only actors in the world capable of
believably portraying the battle of the gods: professional wrestlers. The production is my
debut both as a writer and director for stage, which has been a massive benefit because I
came into this with no pre-conceptions of “how things work in theatre” and as a result, we’re
doing something truly unique that captures people’s hearts and imaginations.
Mythos: Ragnarok blends wrestling with theatre — where did the idea for that combination first come from?
Wrestling is theatre: anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t understand what wrestling is. For
hundreds of years we have watched actors pretend to fight using fake swords, blood packs
and dramatic stage combat; my idea was to replace stage combat with wrestling, to create
something infinitely more exciting and closer to how I think overpowered mythological beings
would fight. Having worked as a wrestler and a stunt performer for many years, I was
constantly disappointed by how one-dimensional most action scenes are, for the simple
reason that most actors can’t fight and most fighters can’t act. Hence my choice to create
theatre using professional wrestlers, who can do both at the same time.
What draws you to Norse mythology, and how have you shaped those stories into something contemporary for the stage?
As an Englishman, Norse mythology runs in my blood. These stories and the culture
surrounding them came to our island over 1000 years ago and their impact can still be felt in
our language, folklore, art, laws and buildings. People tend to think of the Vikings as warriors
who came to raid the monasteries; they forget the extent to which they settled, traded and
integrated – during the Danelaw, half our country was under Viking occupation.
Aside from that, the myths are just brilliant: they’re dark, funny, violent and relatable. They
mock and belittle the Gods as much as they glorify and deify them; they never shy away
from the weirder and darker aspects of human nature, which enthralled me as a child,
inspired me as a teenager and continues to captivate me as an adult.
As both writer and director, how do you structure a piece that has to balance narrative storytelling with the physical demands of wrestling?
To be totally honest, I don’t. I’m not particularly impressed or intimidated by heavy physical
demands; I come from a sports background so I expect the actors in my show to train hard
and get on with it. I’ve lived around acrobats, circus performers, rugby players and full time
pro wrestlers: compared to that, our show is a holiday.
To keep an eye on things I give myself the highest workload and assume that if I’m doing
OK, everyone else must be too. If I’m struggling to meet the physical demands of the show, I
work harder – it’s the least I can do, having been given such a huge opportunity as this.
When we do pick up injuries, we adapt the choreography and carry on – it’s all part of the
craft and business of wrestling.
In terms of combining that physicality with storytelling, I embrace it. We’re making art: the
struggle is part of the point. We’re not pretending to be out of breath for dramatic effect; we
don’t shuffle offstage to be spritzed with fake sweat or blood; we don’t put makeup on to look
like a black eye and then cue a sound effect when somebody pretends to punch us in the
face. What we’re doing is actually happening live in front of your face: if we’re gasping for
breath or bleeding from the head and that affects the delivery of our dialogue, good, it should
do, because it’s real.
What does your writing process look like for a show like this — are you writing with movement and spectacle in mind from the outset?
Movement, spectacle and action are integral to my process right from the start. If anything,
they fuel the story even more than the dialogue. Fight scenes aren’t just random acts of
violence: they are plot devices that move the story and characters along, and they must be
carefully considered from the outset. Who is involved? What do they want out of this? What
is their relationship – emotionally and physically – to the other person? What brought this
situation to actual conflict?
Brother with everything to gain vs. sister with everything to lose; coward backed into a corner
vs wannabe hero trying to prove himself; step-sister trying to earn her place in the family vs.
scorned daughter trying to protect what she has left; massive God of Thunder vs tiny God of
Mischief both out for revenge – each of those conflicts is going to play out entirely differently.
Then, of course, you have the audience. You have to know how they will react and when;
you have to set things up to resolve them later; you have to create patterns in order to
subvert expectations; you have to let them suspect what is about to happen moments before
it does; you have to keep all the pieces moving long enough to be able to stop them at a key
point and create a memorable cinematic moment. All the same tools you use to create
drama, you use to create action and fight scenes.
When you move into rehearsals, how much of the show is fixed on the page, and how much evolves through collaboration with performers?
As the writer and director, I have a massive degree of freedom to change things as much as
I like and as often as I like to make the show as good as possible. I have probably changed
something for every single performance we have ever given: sometimes it’s a tiny
adjustment to the way somebody says something, other times it’s adding a whole
conversation or changing an entire fight scene. I’m not so arrogant as to think my VISION for
the show is something flawless and unchangeable: it’s very likely to be improved by the
addition of other creative minds.
As the writer, I keep my eye on the story and the mythological accuracy to ensure we’re
focusing on the right aspects and telling an authentic version of the tales. There are quotes,
references and allusions to ancient prose and poetry that keep us locked into the world I
have created, so I take care not to lose them. As the director, I pay attention to how we
deliver that story visually and emotionally to make sure it has the maximum clarity and
impact for the audience – which changes on a daily basis depending on the layout of the
stage, the quality of the tech we have at our disposal and the natural vibe of the theatre.
Beyond that, I hand a lot of agency over to the performers. I think you have to, if you want
their performances to be honest. If the situation we have created isn’t making them feel a
certain way, it’s no use me just telling them how to feel – they’ll be pretending and it’ll be
rubbish. My job is to help them understand the circumstances and, if needs be, alter the
situation slightly to make it more relatable. There are certain things I expect like vocal clarity,
pushing and pulling of attention, and clear stage presence, but otherwise I don’t really care
whether they’re doing anything ‘correctly’. The best way to do it is the way that works best
for the audience in that moment; one night it might be a shout, another night it might be a
whisper – the cast have to know they are free to deliver their parts however feels right at the
time, and that can only happen if they feel confident and empowered, rather than hamstrung
and castrated by endless rehearsals.
Wrestling has its own language and rhythm. How do you direct those elements so they feel theatrical as well as authentic?
It’s all storytelling. The rhythm, the moves, the delivery – it’s all based on what story we’re
trying to tell and how emotions we’re trying to display. The wrestling moves are sort of
irrelevant; we could probably do the exact same choreography in every single fight in the
show and nobody would even notice, because we would perform it with a change of intent,
varying tempo, different emotions and reactions. It’s like changing the bassline or the drum
beat under a melody, or switching from major to minor, or changing which word you
emphasise in a sentence. You could watch ten actors deliver the same monologue and none
of them would be the same, right? So it is with wrestling: a simple punch can communicate
confidence, desperation or regret depending on how it is delivered; a slight hesitation can
imply doubt or malevolence depending on where you place it; the reaction of the attacker
and the victim always tells us more about what is going on that the move itself. I direct the
actors to tell me a story using their bodies and they use all these tools to do so.
Was there a particular moment in rehearsals where Mythos: Ragnarok really clicked into place?
We didn’t rehearse Mythos: Ragnarök. I really cannot emphasise that enough. I wrote it, we
got together to read it through, and then we put it on. That wasn’t by choice: it’s because I’ve
never had a penny of funding or investment for this show, so we’ve never been able to afford
to just get together and work on it without selling tickets to cover the costs.
Despite that, it has worked since day one. The very first performance was absolutely electric
and unforgettable for everyone; it was nothing like the performance we gave last weekend,
but it was its own kind of awesome. Within five minutes of the very first show opening, I
knew we had something special – and it has only improved over time.
If I had to put my finger on a time when things really came together, I would have to say
Edinburgh Fringe 2022 when we got to perform the show every single night for 27 nights. It
was one of the most brutal experiences of my life, but it forged something unbreakable that
has kept the show going for four years.
What do you hope audiences take away from this fusion of mythology, performance, and physical theatre?
I hope they realise how exciting and engaging theatre can be. It’s not all massive
commercial musicals and arts-funded re-imaginings of Shakespeare; there are punk
theatre-makers out here working our arses off to do things our own way, on our own merit
with our own funding – and it’s really, really fun. In the same way that punk pushed back
against the corporate takeover of the music industry, we exist in the shadow of the
commercialisation of live entertainment, doing everything ourselves because it’s what we
love to do.
Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring writer-director, particularly for someone interested in multiple performance styles, what would it be?
Start. Actually start. Don’t say you’re going to start, don’t post on Instagram about starting,
don’t write on your blog about starting: start. Stop listening to motivational podcasts, stop
saving inspirational posts, stop ‘researching’ on Google and just pick up your fucking pen. Or
laptop, whatever. Everything of worth created before the 90s was achieved without all that
junk and most of it is better than what we create now, so turn it off and start. If nothing
comes out or everything you create is rubbish at first, that’s fine, that’s normal: it’s already
better than most people will ever do, because most people never start. So start.
Thank you to Ed Gamester for contributing tot he StageSide Stories series. This interview was really insightful!
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 writer or director? Are you studying writing or directing at University or Drama School? 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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