The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the biggest arts festival in the world, with over 3,700 shows. This year, 半岛体育 is in town for the festival and we鈥檙e taking you with us. Follow along as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, aka our real-life Brigadoon!
As part of our Edinburgh Fringe coverage, 半岛体育 is seeing a whole lotta shows鈥攁nd we鈥檙e letting you know what we think of them. Consider these reviews a friendly, opinionated guide as you try to choose a show at the festival.
Edinburgh鈥檚 Fringe Festival can be a wild place. After a show docket full of debauchery and mayhem, you might be ready for a church visit. May we suggest House of Life, which isn鈥檛 actually a church service鈥攊t鈥檚 a revival. Hallelujah!
I don鈥檛 use that word in the 半岛体育 sense (although this particular show is back after premiering at Fringe last year), but in the religious sense. When you arrive at the venue (Underbelly Cowgate鈥檚 Belly Dancer), the RaveRend (Ben Welch, beyond fabulous) is waiting at the door wearing sparkly church robes to welcome you in. You even get anointed with a schmear on your face, only here it鈥檚 not ash鈥攊t鈥檚 glitter. Welcome to the RaveRend鈥檚 fabulous flock.
Welch鈥檚 holy celebration isn鈥檛 about forgiveness of sins or eternal salvation. As he tells us, it鈥檚 where you go when you step out of the house and directly into dog doo. It鈥檚 a place to be happy, to celebrate, to sing and laugh and clap and scream. Not to 鈥渘ow more than ever,鈥� but truly鈥攚ho doesn鈥檛 need that?
Welch, joined by music looper and straitlaced (until he鈥檚 hilariously not) assistant Trev, walks, sings, and dances us through the steps we need to achieve his ultimate goal: happiness for all. We will leave the performance, we鈥檙e told, never feeling sadness again. Cue laughter.
Yet, for much of the show, it feels like that might actually be possible. Alternating between sermons, audience work, and ridiculous songs (often featuring lyrics extemporaneously derived from said audience work), House of Life is designed to be as gleefully funny as possible. I don鈥檛 want to give any of it away, but suffice it to say, my face hurt from laughing and smiling by the time it was done. Welch is not kidding about making us happy. It seems to be a real mission.
But the kicker is that the RaveRend鈥檚 methods are pretty sound. You鈥檒l find yourself pumping up and being pumped up by strangers across the room, visualizing and singing about audience members鈥� life goals (at one point, the RaveRend had the entire audience shockingly jazzed about ), feeling our bodies, purging our demons, and more.
Having been raised religious in Texas, I know a thing or two about these kinds of events, and Welch is pretty legit in how he borrows from the playbook of a good old-fashioned Southern revival. There鈥檚 a reason they鈥檙e as effective as they are, and Welch has harnessed that for the noblest of goals (and in what feels like a pretty novel way). Whether that鈥檚 subversive compared to the traditionally religious alternative, I鈥檒l leave up to you. What I do know is that Welch has created something euphorically life-affirming, a show that made me the happiest and most joyful I鈥檝e felt in weeks. I鈥檓 okay with anybody getting legions of people behind feeling like that.
I also feel a compunction to be clear that while House of Life is a fantastic time, it is also a sharp, expertly crafted piece of theatre. Hiding behind its silly humor is a real message about taking control of one鈥檚 life, about attacking one鈥檚 life with the energy you want to receive in return. And frankly, the way the RaveRend gets his audience to open up not only to him, but to their fellow audience members is pretty remarkable. It鈥檚 the kind of show I wish I had available to me every time I鈥檓 feeling low, equal parts theatre and therapy.
So gather 鈥榬ound and hear the good news, friends. House of Life is a hell of a good time鈥攎aybe the best time at the Fringe? And it feeds the soul, too. Amen!
House of Life is playing at Underbelly Cowgate鈥檚 Belly Dancer through August 25. Tickets are available .
