Grief rewinds like a rented tape. In SCAPE, a young woman summons her dead father through an old VHS, only to find his ghost waiting on the other side - alive. As home videos distort and childhood memories warp into something sinister, she must confront not only the spirit of her father, but the child-self she buried with him. A haunted reckoning unfolds in the static, where the past won’t stay dead.
As a hybrid of traditional theatre, performance art, and installation art, SCAPE reconsiders traditional methods of archiving and engaging with memory, prompting audiences to reflect on how we construct a dialogue with the past. Anchored by real home videos, SCAPE uses these recordings not only as a narrative core and aesthetic touchstone, but as a scene partner resurrecting forgotten characters.
SCAPE lives in the liminal space where past and present converge by utilizing a multimedia approach to storytelling. By bringing obsolete technology into the present, we explore how it shapes and distorts our connection to memory and identity. In doing so, the form itself mirrors this tension, blurring the line between the living and the lost.
The Show
The centerpiece of SCAPE is a 1990s CRT television. Media is run directly onto the television from a VHS tape acting as both a narrative anchor and a visual portal. All of the media played on the TV is archival home video footage filmed by Kyndall’s father in the 1990s and early 2000s.
SCAPE is a conversation between two characters, FATHER and GIRL. FATHER exists only on the TV while GIRL is a live actor onstage. ALL of FATHER’s dialogue, supporting audio, and footage used in the show have been pulled directly from these archival home videos.
The show runs entirely independently off of the television. The live actor onstage inserts the VHS tape at the top of the show and everything that happens for the duration of the play is a meticulously timed dance between live performance and vintage technology.
The media
The Reviews
Edinburgh festival fringe
theSpace @ Surgeons Hall, Stephenson Theatre
August1-9 2025
“SCAPE is a beautiful way to honour the impact of a lost dad... The real highlight of the performance, it's final moment. Here, [Vincent] performs a moving monologue in unison with 'Father', outlining the responsibility of having a child, and this recognizing the selflessness of his fatherhood." - The Scotsman
"This is one of those shows that just stays with you... SCAPE feels like it’s just been sitting in the room with me everywhere I’ve gone since, keeping me company but making no demands. Quite easily one of my favorite shows I’ve seen here."- Audience Review
"The play explores grief and not wanting to let go and how one can create rituals to maintain the link with the departed. The technical work that has gone into it with the videotapes playing in the background is amazing and the director Kyndall has shown tremendous courage in exposing a very intimate part of her personal history. A must see." - Audience Review
Side/Step Festival
COLAB Tower London, Tunnel 1
September 5-6 2025
“SCAPE is an interesting exploration of grief and how we might progress in life after losing a parent. It examines the need to connect with those who have gone, reclaiming past moments from childhood and coming to terms with the responsibilities of adulthood. There’s insightful commentary on the tangential family relationships that alter once a parent is no longer in the equation – particularly when one sibling is still in contact with them.” - Mary Pollard at Everything Theatre
“This was an extraordinary thing. Clever and strange and incredibly moving.” - Katy Joyce Naylor at Voidspace
“A tender, devastatingly beautiful and intimate portrait of grief.” - Audience Review
The Team
The Donors
Keivon Akbari, Christina Arrostuto, Rose Baker, Suzanne Babayan, Lisa Berglund, Valeria Benitez, Diego Blanc Zoco, Anna Bogusz, Shelley Boden, Connor Bruley, Kellie Clayton, Ann Cousineau, Dennis Covell, Major Curda, Bernadette S Curry, Thomas Diaz, Lee Donegan, Jennifer Duff, Christine Bell, Christopher Ford, Mere and Peter Galliven, Kris Gambardella, Joanne L Hoffard, Meg Hrinkevich, Wendy Joanis, Nancy Kimball, Alex Kopnick, Jesse Lee-Moorman, Kelli Lum, Steven Lum, Douglas McCafferty, Lisa mcnab, Antonio Merenda, Shira Milikowsky, Kathleen Norris, Cate Nyary, Sasha Onishchuk, Dmitri Onishchuk, Lucy Parton, Craig Paterson, Catalina Pereda, Tania Polla, Arthur Robinson, Iffie Saieva, Kerri Salter, Rebecca Saunders, Andrew Scoville, Jess Smith, Alex Smith, Tracy Smithers, Jenna Stoikos, Tyren Sillanpaa, Trenton Sillanpaa, Jamie Todd-Brown, Frank Townley, Sandra Vincent, Tarik and Holly Vincent, Cole Wilkowski, Abby YateS