A project by musician and theatre-maker Dylan Tighe, Record combines an album of songs, an ‘alternative opera’, a series of talks and discussions, a music video, lectures, essays, a radio drama (nominated for the Prix Europa this year) and a series of solo performances. One of these solo performances — titled Record (Remix) – features as part of the Dublin Fringe Festival with performances at the Workman’s Club from 12–15 September.

Record, which came out in album form last year to coincide with shows at the Dublin Theatre Festival and Midsummer Festival in Cork, is based on Tighe’s own history of mental illness and ‘aims to re-conceptualise issues of mental health’.

‘The lyrics were mostly written during periods of mental distress and in direct response to some of the treatment and medications [I received from] psychiatrists,’ says Tighe. ‘Nearly all of the lyrics emerged with melodies, written on guitar. I never sat down to write them, they just came to me. The songs were later re-worked in the studio, but the lyrics remained largely unchanged.’

Tighe’s ‘alternative opera’ version shown last year is a multimedia performance combining text, 16mm film and other theatrical elements. ‘I had no intention of creating such a theatre-based performance until quite late in the recording process,’ says Tighe. ‘In fact, the recording, which was done sporadically over nearly four years, was in many ways a respite from the work I was doing as a theatre-maker and actor.’

The thematic organisation came later, says Tighe. ‘As the recording progressed it became apparent that the songs were all dealing with facets of the same theme. Around the same time I had gained access to my medical records and I was struck by how different the two explanations were and thought that this would make interesting material for a performance. I developed performance ideas over a number of months, using the songs, and an archive of materials relating to the songs as a frame around which to build scenes with actors.’ Tighe wanted to ‘blur the lines’ between theatre and music and between dramatic, documentary and fantasy modes.

Record (Remix), the incarnation of the project that features this week in Dublin, is a ‘stripped back and portable affair’, says Tighe. The show ‘remixes’ material from various versions of the project and focuses on the songs while also ‘drawing some conclusions from the whole project’. Tighe will perform alone with guitars, a turntable and visuals.

Writing from personal experience

Was it difficult for Tighe to confront his experience in this way, and make it public? ‘Yes, it was difficult to do at first, but I worked a lot to gain a distance on the material, and in making sure I was in the right state of mind to make the project happen,’ says Tighe. ‘But it was extremely rewarding as the whole research process put me in touch with incredible people and progressive thinkers who I would not otherwise have met. It also gave me a much wider, and even more critical perspective on the whole subject of mental and emotional distress. But it was essential for me to give life to those songs and to make the album happen. That went a long way to reclaiming much of the dead time that had inspired the material.’

The stress involved in putting together the whole project was a major challenge, says Tighe. ‘The album, theatre show and range of talks were all rolled out in a very short space of time. This was deliberate as I wanted to make a project that was multi-faceted, but like any large project, there are enormous stresses. As stress is the greatest catalyst for distress and meltdown, this was particularly challenging. To be honest the act of performing it has been the most relaxing moment, when I can forget about all the external concerns to do with making the work, and just enjoy playing.’