Who Am I, Again?
Description
One man's journey to discover identity after trauma, as told by brain injury survivor and master storyteller Lethan Candlish. Sharing a common journey of recovery from multiple perspectives.
Venue – Mixed Blood
Content Warnings – Adult Language, Drug Content, Mental Illness, Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm, No Late Seating Allowed
Genre and Content – Solo Show, Drama, Spoken Word, Storytelling, Audience Participation
Ages 16 and Up
This show grabbed me almost immediately as being a very compelling idea. And the more I researched it, the more compelling it became.
Heads up on the scheduling with this one. The guy is front loaded opening weekend (Friday, Sunday) and then just weeknights (Monday, Wednesday), and doesn’t have anything scheduled for closing weekend (last show’s on Thursday, 8/13). So catch him early and spread the word.
The press packet materials expand on the synopsis:
“Who Am I, Again? – One Man’s journey to discover identity after trauma. A verbal collage of stories about surviving Traumatic Brain Injury from multiple perspectives – survivors, friends, family. Told by Brain Injury survivor and master storyteller Lethan Candlish, this piece explores a common journey of surviving trauma, navigating loneliness, and finding strength in community.”
The video trailer gives you a taste of the show as well:
Lethan’s bio lays out pretty much everything you need to know:
“Lethan Candlish is a storyteller, author, and Brain Injury survivor, bringing his experiential insight and expertise to share the story of self-acceptance and self-appreciation after brain trauma. Whilst in the maze of recovery after his Traumatic Brain Injury, Lethan discovered his unique voice in storytelling and eventually earned a graduate degree in the art from East Tennessee State University. His thesis project, "Who Am I, Again? a verbal collage of stories about Brain Injury" has been appreciated at select events throughout the country, including performances at The International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, TN; the Lab Theater at Bloomsburg University, PA; keynote speaker at the Wisconsin Brain Injury Alliance annual conference, and as the initiating project for TBIvoices - performing at the Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, WI.
This work eventually inspired his book "Who Am I, Now? Using Storytelling to Accept and Appreciate Self-Identity after Brain Injury" - this book of well-researched inspirational philosophy has been appreciated by survivors and medical professionals around the world.
In 2012, Lethan took a break from his focus on storytelling and began to work as an English and Drama teacher in both South Korea and China. He has had the privilege and the pleasure of living in multiple cities in both countries and is currently finishing his contract as a drama teacher in the Foreign Studies department at Beijing Public School No.80. While his time abroad has been exquisite and life-changing, he feels it is time to return to the United States and renew his focus on establishing a career in Brain Injury Activism.
[Blogger note - this is the artist mentioned earlier in the post about the clowns from Berlin who’s coming from a bit further away - Beijing to Minneapolis is a heck of a commute.]
Lethan's most current project is a film adaptation of his storytelling piece - this is "Telling: the film (www.tellingthefilm.com)" and is being directed by Nathan Williams. The film is a new way of looking at Lethan's established performance by adding a full cast of talented actors and using innovative techniques to traverse the line between film and live performance. This is a film about the importance of Telling Your Story. If you would like to learn more and perhaps be a part of this film project, please speak with Lethan after the performance.”
There’s also more insight on his personal website, as well as the site for the film (warning there for recovery photos that go with the story of his 1999 car accident and the journey afterward, and a concept trailer for the film that takes some sharp turns of its own - which is why I’m not posting it here.)
If you need further convincing, there’s words of praise from other Fringes, doctors and brain injury survivors on the More Information tab for the show.
Really went down the rabbit hole on this one, which is normally a good sign.
Interested in hearing about other artists I recommend based on past outings in the Fringe? Here's a link to a list of all the coverage of returning favorite artists from past pre-Fringe Top 20 lists of mine that are part of this year's Minnesota Fringe Festival. And here's links to the 2026 versions of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list and Top 11 through 20 for the 2026 festival as we ramp up toward the start of the Fringe on August 6th.
No comments:
Post a Comment