This cult show has been blowing the minds of audiences ever since it debuted at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, and when I caught up with it during a boisterously sold out 2024 return, the night’s ticket holders couldn’t have been more up for House of Life.
The evening is hosted by the glitter-bearded ‘the RaveRend’ with backing from besuited multi-instrumentalist Trev (aka theatrical duo Sheep Soup, aka Ben Welch and Lawrence Cole).
I guess the vibe is a bit like a revival church crossed with a rave but much whiter and nerdier, as the RaveRend canvases audience members for their hopes, dreams and peccadillos and crafts them into uplifting, soul-inflected electronic songs.
I’m going to be absolutely honest: while it was clear that 90 percent of audience members were having the night of their life, I couldn’t shake the sense that the whole thing felt a bit more like an enjoyable bonding game to play at a corporate getaway weekend than actively brilliant theatre. I’m not saying it’s cynical, but beyond the idea to fuse the euphoria of church and the euphoria of the club I’m not sure there’s a huge amount going on here once the duo have semi-freeformed their first song. Maybe I was just a little Fringe-weary at this point and struggled to get onboard with something that people around me were clearly loving. I think maybe it comes down to the fact that if you’re in the market for a Good Night Out, House of Life is liable to hit the mark forcefully, whereas if you’re trying to overanalyse it as Serious Theatre you might struggle.