Interview: Sacha Copland, ‘Anatomy for Accountants’

Ahead of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024, we’re chatting with a range of creatives who will be heading to the city over August to find out more about their shows. Today we’re chatting with Sacha Copland about Anatomy for Accountants.

Can you tell us a bit about you and your career so far.

My name's Sacha and I'm from NZ. I make work that is messy and full of heart and viscera, and I’m part of Java Dance Theatre. It's not very polite but it is kind. I have choreographed for 20 years, performed all over the world on a moving bus, and made work where flour falls from the ceiling and honey pours from the walls. I have made performances on wine barrels and poured chocolate into the audience member’s mouths.  Now, I will bring the most personal show I have ever made to the Fringe this summer: Anatomy for Accountants.

What is your show about?

Anatomy for Accountants sees me work out how much I am worth - with the help of a Chief Financial Officer, Tristan Carter, who plays music live. I dance. The performance is a love letter to the human body, and a recognition that our bodies are wildly amazing. Did you know that we are made from atoms that were created when the world first started expanding more than 13 billion years ago…?

What was the inspiration for Anatomy for Accountants and what’s the development process been to get to this stage?

I read books - like '6 Capitals' - about accountants trying to price all the things that matter. I sometimes get the giggles when I see people taking numbers very seriously, numbers that don’t take most of the truly relevant factors into account. I think people get seduced by numbers. Anatomy for Accountants explores this. The show just got louder and louder for me. I hit 39, and suddenly had to make a more autobiographical show that hit up against the economic structure we live in. I love that the body and its complexity, and history and expression, are downright unquantifiable. 

What made you want to take Anatomy for Accountants to the Fringe?

We (Java Dance Theatre) have been to the Edinburgh Fringe all the way from NZ a few times now, with shows like Back of the Bus, The Wine Project and Chocolate. Our first time was 10 years ago! I loved the idea of bringing our riskiest show to Summerhall - and to the aptly named ‘Anatomy Lecture Theatre’. Anatomy for Accountants is a rather unusual blend of dance, theatre and live music.  It's fearless and brutally honest as a show; the Fringe seems like a good place. 

Apart from seeing Anatomy for Accountants, what’s your top tip for anybody heading for Edinburgh this summer?

Go to Sandy Bells! It's a classic pub across the Meadows where you can listen in on traditional live music any night of the week. Also go see the New Zealand Season at Summerhall! We are one of 4 amazing shows. I totally recommend Heartbreak Hotel, Werewolf, and Suitcase Show.  

Why should people book Anatomy for Accountants?

People should book Anatomy for Accountants because it is full of joy, grief, muscles, numbers, love, heartbreak, denial, rage, 4000 tendons, live violin, and keyboard, catharsis, one pair of lungs, infinite growth, and a Kashubian folk dance.  

When and where can people see Anatomy for Accountants?

4.30pm everyday 1 - 26 August (excl. 12 and 19) at the Anatomy Lecture Theatre, Summerhall.