Review by Jen
House of Life is a kind of sermon you’ve never seen before. Part preacher, part DJ and completely fabulous, the RaveRend invites us to leave our troubles at ‘the purple f*cking inflatable door’ for this seventy-minute musical experience. And we do. Returning to Edinburgh Fringe 2026 as a bold, supercharged reinvention of its original form, House of Life has enjoyed great success at its new home in the Udderbelly in Underbelly George Square.
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| Photo by SM Publicity / Sheep Soup productions |
It is challenging to put into words the atmosphere this show achieves. It is a daring feat to create a show that relies on its audience’s bravery and willingness to participate; indeed, the audience is as much a part of this show as its performers. We are invited not only to sing along (and shake along with egg shakers gleefully flung into the audience before the show), but to share stories of our lives, hopes and dreams for the future that become the very fabric of the show. Co-created by Ben Welch, Lawrence Cole and Nic Harvey, the former two are the enigmatic performers of the show. Ben Welch as the RaveRend is a masterful performer, and handles his audience with an enthusiasm and genuine care that illuminates and energises the room. As he leads us through a five-step plan to ‘ascension’, punctuated with funky musical numbers and guided meditations, we never feel apprehensive to be part of the communal experience. Welch is mesmerising and instantly charming, with an intoxicating charisma and vocals to match. He and his co-performer Lawrence Cole, who plays the awkwardly affable suit-clad Trev, create an atmosphere which fizzes with positive energy and encourages audience members to partake in a beautiful experience of community cohesion. Together, we celebrate the good and forget the bad in a cathartic pursuit of joy.
House of Life is also musically spectacular. With striking vocals, impressive live looping and outrageously funky saxophone solos, this show is a treat for the senses. Lawrence Cole is a superb musician, able to create tracks on the fly using sound bites from audience testimonies, as well as rocking highly-deserved moments in the spotlight on the bass and saxophone. Welch and Cole are an electric duo who complement each other gorgeously and generate a relentlessly energetic atmosphere of optimism and hope.
This is a production that harnesses live theatre’s ability and duty to enact good. It is impossible not to fall in love with House of Life, to hold the people you attend with a little closer and find solidarity in the strangers around you. Its epic finale, in particular, which draws motifs from throughout the show together and involves every voice and body in the room, is powerfully and cathartically moving. We are bacchants worshipping the simple fact of being alive and living in the present. We dance together, cry together and scream together. House of Life is an exquisite example of live theatre and its unique ability to unite people in shared experiences. Join the rave-olution. See House of Life at the Udderbelly in Underbelly George Square until August 30th.
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| Photo by SM Publicity / Sheep Soup productions |
This show’s 2026 reinvention is presented by Rodeo Productions, Tilted, Sheep Soup and P3. Find more information and book tickets here.
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