Shame on You! review

Since 2019, performance makers Trixa Arnold and Ilja Komarov have been compiling true, anonymously volunteered stories of guilt, embarrassment and disgrace. Shame on You! is the product of this ongoing project, a frank but refreshingly non-confrontational piece drawing together the experiences of participants from Switzerland, Russia, Pakistan and beyond. 

This show is reminiscent of Forced Entertainment’s seminal performance piece Speak Bitterness, with Arnold and Komarov addressing the audience throughout, reading confessional fragments from reams of printed text. 

The stories themselves run the spectrum from cringey anecdotes and short philosophical reflections to statements of remorse. Parental embarrassment features heavily, as do formative sexual experiences. A grim account of domestic abuse lands with a horrible sense of resignation. 

The duo perform with both vulnerability and poise. Komarov does most of the talking, reading in a neutral, non-judgemental tone, enlivened with the occasional deadpan aside. Arnold interjects occasionally, giving context to some of the stories, which appear to be drawn from her own – or her friends’ – lives.

Musical numbers break up passages of self-disclosure. Komarov sings ballads and uptempo numbers in Russian, while audience members flip subtitle cards in the style of the video for Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues.

Meanwhile, Arnold manipulates a turntable, producing an intentionally clashing background ambience of distorted brass instruments, porcine squealing and fascinating, scratchy electronic textures. 

Along the way, Komarov pauses to make a quietly moving statement about his own shame at the belligerent actions of the Russian government, a deeply personal and resonant inclusion to this raw and heartfelt show.