Music and storytelling are the themes of ‘Pascol’: a new improvised piece of performance art that is heading to the Edinburgh Fringe this year. Created by Sasha Gefen and produced by Alina Golubeva, ‘Pascol’ sees a company of singers take audience stories and transform them into vocal compositions. The spontaneity of the piece deeply intrigued me and I recently had the opportunity to hear more about the live music project from the pair, ahead of a week-long run at theSpaceUK during the 2026 festival.
How did you get into producing theatre?
Alina Golubeva: I came to the theatre through music, really. For many years I’ve been producing cultural projects, mostly around music, artists and live events, but they were never only about sound. They always had something theatrical in them: atmosphere, presence, storytelling, the relationship with the audience. With ‘Pascol’, it felt very natural. The project is built around voice, real stories, and the moment shared between performers and the audience. It is music, but it also needs a room, silence, attention, light, timing – all the things that theatre holds so beautifully.
I’ve known Sasha for a long time, so when she brought ‘Pascol’ to London, joining forces felt very organic. I didn’t exactly decide, “now I’m producing theatre”; the project led me there. And I’m glad it did. In the UK, theatre feels like one of the most open spaces for work that sits between disciplines.
What made you decide that you wanted to create your own artist collective, Random Drama?
Alina Golubeva: Random Drama started as a music festival, which I launched in 2019. Then Covid happened, live events stopped, and it slowly transformed into an artist collective and a small independent label for musicians I was working with at the time. Since moving to the UK in 2022, it has changed again. Now I see Random Drama as something fluid, almost like a creative platform that follows me, my interests, and the territories I want to explore. It gives me space to work with artists, produce projects I believe in, and bring together the forms I am drawn to at that moment: music, performance, film, theatre, or anything in between. I like that it stayed flexible. Random Drama was never built as a rigid structure. It follows the projects and the people.
‘Pascol’ is a unique vocal performance where six singers transform audience members’ personal stories into vocal compositions. Where did the idea come from?
Sasha Gefen: This idea appeared after the war in Ukraine started. A lot of people had to leave their homes, leaving lives behind them, whether to avoid death or jail. I wanted to find a form where we could all meet and share experiences, because although a lot of people know the context, not everyone can feel it and understand. So I tried to create a safe space, where the stories of these people could be heard but still be protected by the powerful field of art and music. So I decided to try this format, where people come, tell their stories and we sing an improvised song about it. Sometimes people think that it’s something like playback theatre, but there is a big difference: we don’t play and develop the situation, our main idea is to bring the feeling, to reflect the inner sense. We call it a sound mirror. When you are there, you can see the difference.
What can you tell me about the approach to improvisation?
Sasha Gefen: Improvisation is like meditation. You have to be there to make it happen. You have to trust yourself and your partners in order to be able to walk that path. Without trust nothing will appear. When someone comes up with an idea, all of us are already tuning, like antennas. We follow the impulse, adding something of our own. As my beloved teacher and queen of improvisation, Rhiannon, always says: “Ask yourself, what does the music want? Then follow”. I learned a lot from her and several of the ‘Pascol’ vocalists also studied with her. We are very grateful for the work she is doing. It’s called vocal river.
What does it take to be a part of the ‘Pascol’ cast?
Sasha Gefen: You have to be at the right place and the right time – as in improvisation. In the key, in time, in the mood.
If you had to summarise ‘Pascol’ in a word, what would it be and why?
Sasha Gefen: I’d say constellation. Each of us is an individual, but ‘Pascol’ starts to work only when we form a structure. We send an impulse to each other like stars sending their light and thus we become something bigger. We create various worlds, sewed with memories and feelings of people, and we prove that they are real. But only for the moment they are sung.
Alina Golubeva: My word would be mirror. But not a normal mirror, more like a mirror with extra layers. ‘Pascol’ reflects a person’s story back to them through voice, harmony, breath, silence, movement, and the energy of the room. It does not illustrate the story or explain it. It brings out something underneath. Sometimes it feels like the performance connects invisible threads between the story and the deeper parts of memory, body, and consciousness. You start to understand the story not only through words, but through feeling.
How have audiences reacted to the project so far in London?
Sasha Gefen: We’ve had 6 shows already. It’s great to see that so many different people have come. Children, young people, seniors – everybody has something to share. I love when people laugh and cry, it means something shifted. There is always this moment when everybody in the space knows that a little magic has happened. We call it an “a-ha” moment; you are surprised and moved at the same time. People come and think it’ll be something avant garde and abstract, but in reality they find support and a feeling of being heard.
What made you want to take the concept to Edinburgh this year?
Sasha Gefen: We want to share our work with as many people as possible and Edinburgh festival is a perfect place to do that. I was there last year with another project and absolutely loved the atmosphere and the crowd. I decided to return this year with ‘Pascol’.
Catch ‘Pascol’ at the 2026 festival
I really like the idea that ‘Pascol’ isn’t what you’d expect it to be, surprising audiences and taking on a whole different form. The origins of the piece are really powerful and you can’t help but feel like this in some ways could help people going through a difficult time. I am really interested to hear more about the piece when it opens in Edinburgh. ‘Pascol’ is based at Upper Theatre at theSpace @ Niddry St (venue 9) from 24th – 29th August. Performances start at 21:15 (50 minutes), with the show on sale via the EdFringe website now.
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