House of Life is a captivating cabaret show that transcends conventional theatre boundaries. Led by the RaveRend, a wonderful host and performer, we start what they will call in a few moments the ‘journey to happiness’ merely by arriving to our seats in this dim-lit relaxed space that will be our home for the next hour.
Step one: arrive.
A music stand, interesting looking young man, instruments and mostly lots of glitter (that will inevitably get stuck in our clothes throughout the performance) wait for us as we settle in. Then the charismatic RaveRend appears. And oh, what a person – none of us were ready for it.
Sheep Soup is a company that started whilst training at the Television Workshop, a BAFTA award-winning training ground. Sheep Soup’s signature is a mix of uplifting original music with universal characters and stories we can also feel related to, all born through collaboration and interdisciplinarity. Ben Welch, the RaveRend, is one of the Artistic Directors of the company.
In House of life, the RaveRend and his colleague Trev take us in just an hour through an incredible musical journey. As the show description states in the Soho Theatre website, it’s one-part sermon, one-part purge, three-parts party. And that statement doesn’t fail to fit the expectations. Each step of this bizarre yet heartfelt journey is filled with moments of emotional connection and of fun. A universal experience accessible for everyone seeking to enter into the world they’ve created – an esoteric, vibrant place where will we transcend into happiness.
But not everything is as happy as it seems. As the show progresses and the audience’s involvement becomes more clear, the responsibility is slowly given to us – the fourth wall broken into pieces – and we’re the ones that get to lead the journey and decide for ourselves how it will terminate; how we will ascend – active participants in the unfolding narrative.
House of life is one of those shows that you take with yourself and never forget – one of those you keep talking about way after it’s done. ‘I am ready. I am strong. I am feeling myself like I never have before’ will resonate in your mind even after years, the catchy melody stuck forever inside your head. Because HOUSE OF LIFE transcends language and time to become an energy, a collectiveness, a self-discovery. And it’ll stay like that until the end.
Final step: Purge.
House of life is not your typical theatre performance. A must-see, the show is a celebration of life whose universal appeal can’t be overstated Whether you’re a seasoned theatre buff or a newbie, with friends or by yourself – House of life has something for you. It will engage and move you until it becomes a part of you and you become a part of it.
Review by Eva Mateos Rodriguez
Created and performed by by Ben Welch (The RaveRend) and Lawrence Cole (Trev)
Produced by Sheep Soup in association with Soho Theatre
Shortlisted: Untapped Award 2023
Soho Theatre Upstairs
Tuesday 18 June – Saturday 6 July 2024
7pm | 3pm matinees (Saturdays)
Tickets and information: House of Life – Soho Theatre
The show will be transferring to Edinburgh Fringe as part of Soho Theatre’s Edinburgh Fringe programme.
Ed Fringe dates
Underbelly Cowgate (Belly Dancer)
66 Cowgate, Edinburgh, EH1 1JX
3 – 25 August 2024 (not 12) | £12.50 (£11.50)
Previews: 1 and 2 August | £8.50 (£7.50)
3 – 25 August | £11.50 – £13.50
Box Office: 0131 510 0395 | www.underbellyedinburgh.co.uk
