Playbill becomes fringe theatre

Playbill Pick Review: House of Life at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

RaveRend preaches a gospel of love and we are ready to join his flock.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world with over 3,700 shows. This year Playbill is in town for the festival and we’re taking you along. Follow as we cover every single aspect of the Fringe, also known as our real Brigadier General!

As part of our coverage of the Edinburgh Fringe, Playbill reviews plenty of shows—and we’ll let you know what we think. Consider these reviews a friendly, opinionated guide to choosing a show at the festival.

The Edinburgh Fringe Festival can be a wild place. After a show full of debauchery and mayhem, you might be ready for a visit to church. May we suggest? House of Lifewhich is not really a church service – it is a revival. Hallelujah!

I do not use this word in the sense of the Playbill (although this particular show Is back after premiering at the Fringe last year), but in a religious sense. When you arrive at the venue (Underbelly Cowgate’s Belly Dancer), the RaveRend (Ben Welch, beyond fabulous) is waiting at the door in glittering church robes to welcome you. You’ll even be anointed with a smear on your face, only here it’s not ash, but glitter. Welcome to the fabulous flock of the RaveRend.

Welch’s holy celebration isn’t about forgiveness of sins or eternal salvation. As he tells us, it’s where you go when you step out of the house and walk right into the dog poop. It’s a place to be happy, to celebrate, to sing and laugh and clap and shout. Not about “now more than ever,” but honestly – who doesn’t need that?

Welch, accompanied by music looper and prudish (until, hilariously, he’s not) assistant Trev, sings and dances us through the steps needed to reach his ultimate goal: happiness for all. We’ll leave the show, we’re told, never to feel sad again. Laughter.

Yet for much of the show, it seems as though this is actually possible. Alternating between sermons, audience work and silly songs (often with improvised lyrics taken from said audience work), House of Life is meant to be as funny as possible. I don’t want to give any of that away, but suffice it to say that my face hurt from laughing and smiling when it was over. Welch is serious about making us happy. It seems like a real mission.

But the kicker is that RaveRend’s methods are pretty good. You’ll find yourself pumping yourself up and getting pumped up by strangers across the room, visualizing and singing about audience members’ life goals (at one point the entire RaveRend audience was shocked at my love of quilting), feeling your body, exorcising your demons, and more.

Having been raised religiously in Texas, I know a thing or two about these kinds of events, and Welch is pretty serious about adopting the rules of a good old-fashioned Southern revival. There’s a reason they’re so effective, and Welch has used that for the noblest of ends (and in a pretty novel way). Whether that’s subversive compared to the traditionally religious alternative is something I’ll leave up to you. What I do know is that Welch has created something euphorically life-affirming, a show that made me happier and more joyful than I’ve been in weeks. I have no problem with someone making legions of people feel that way.

I also feel the need to clarify that House of Life is not only a fantastic way to pass the time, but also a sharp, masterfully crafted piece of theatre. Behind the silly humour lies a real message about taking control of your life and approaching it with the energy you want to receive in return. And honestly, the way RaveRend gets its audience to open up not only to them, but to the other audience members as well, is pretty remarkable. It’s the kind of show I wish for every time I’m feeling down, equal parts theatre and therapy.

So come together, friends, and hear the good news. House of Life is a damn good time – maybe The best time at the Fringe? And it’s also balm for the soul. Amen!

House of Life plays at Underbelly Cowgate’s Belly Dancer until August 25. Tickets are available Here.