To enter the House of Life is to enter a megachurch whose only deities – human beings and the joys they can create when they come together – are very much in the room.
Our pastor, the ‘RaveRend’ is bedecked in a twirly golden cassock (and under it, an even jazzier one), a bedazzled beard, and, probably, the fiercest silver heels you’ve seen on a celebrant. He’s joined by assistant Trev, in the dowdier costume of an extra in The Office.
The pair’s goals: delivering the funkiest basslines and sauciest sax solos of the Fringe, and leading the congregation on an 8-step course to enlightenment.
This year, the House returns to collect its glittery crown as a Fringe sensation after launching in 2023. Since then it’s ascended to Underbelly’s enormous inflatable cow theatre (“leave your troubles at the purple inflatable doors”) and picked up heavyweight helpers, like Jerry Springer: The Opera composer Richard Thomas, who joins as musical supervisor.
A show that promises the permanent end to sadness may sound like a parody of self-help gurus and evangelical churches. But that satirical shoe never fully drops: this is a show that jubilantly co-opts those languages in service of an earnest and almost irresistible rallying cry for joy and ‘self-actualization’. Only a small minority will be able to resist.
House of Life, Underbelly George Square, until 30 Aug (not 17, 24), 9.45pm