Little Lark of London

There have been a few times in which I have questioned how exactly I’ve ended up in a specific place this month. One of those moments happened when I was attending Eulogy, sitting inside a pitch-black shipping container at lunchtime, wearing headphones and waiting for a performance to start. The concept of Eulogy is an interesting one. You enter the shipping container and sit inside a crate, placing headphones on your head before being plunged into darkness. The show is entirely based on audio, with a “chaperone” guiding you through a mysterious hotel.

One of the lines that stood out in the show’s description was “How your dream unfolds is, in part, up to you,” implying that there would be a level of interaction within the show. Indeed, there is a microphone attached to your headphones that allows you to say simple words like “Yes” or “No” in response to questions asked by your chaperone and others. Unfortunately, your responses had barely any effect on the story, and sometimes the responses weren’t heard or understood by the technology. 

While I wanted to love Eulogy, I found myself struggling to follow the plot and was distracted by the distorted sounds around me. There are background sounds added so you can imagine that your fellow audience members are going through a similar experience to you, but it makes it difficult to hear your own caretaker at times. The best part of the show was its ending because it managed to bring in small details from throughout the show and pack an emotional punch. I only wish that the rest of the show had been as interesting as the ending, as it would have easily been one of my favourite experiences then. 

Ultimately, Eulogy has an interesting concept and is certainly a great step forward in technology-based immersive theatre, but it could have been even better. I would have loved to see more of a plot, even if that means getting rid of the small level of interactivity you get with the microphone. 

Eulogy runs at the Pleasance Dome in Container 1 at Potterrow Plaza at varying times from 19 to 28 August.