Scotland

Frighthouse Presents: The Wheel of Misfortune – theSpace @ Surgeons Hall

Filled with jarring and innovative ideas and plenty of clowntastic fun. This unique gameshowesque performance will make you laugh till your insides hurt and then laugh some more. Returning to the fringe, this multimedia horror-comedy anthology which was performed by local Edinburgh creatives and was inspired by The Twilight Zone and Creepshow is the perfect place to bring along friends.

The energetic atmosphere and audience participation is the perfect recipe for a fun-filled night. With only two chairs and the wheel on stage the creators found an innovative story-telling solution to paint the picture of where they are. In only 45 minutes the cast manage to take you on a funny and grotesque journey through several stories that are selected through the wheel itself. In each story actors seemed to be coming from all over the room not just the stage, which added layers and elements of excitement throughout the performance.

The only constant character was the presenter clown. However even he played more than one role along with all the actors who played several different roles in each story, this added to the surreal feel of the performance. With the need for quick transitions the actors certainly delivered. However, they could be a bit smoother during moments like blackouts and there were moments during the transitions where the curtains didn’t properly close. This distracted from the performance and drew unnecessary attention. Nonetheless, both the sound effects and lighting matched the bonkers action on stage. The sound effects changing from eerie music to sounds that matched the performance and the lighting constantly changing colors. There was a scene where the flashing lights lasted a few minutes and were a bit much so a flashing lights warning would have been handy. Meanwhile, it was fantastic to see the actors start out energetically and maintain that energy throughout the performance. This was especially visible in the games master who was bursting with energy till the very end. Slightly mixed feelings on the ending, on one hand the abrupt end matched the energy of the performance but on the other hand it was a bit too confusing, leaving the audience unsure over whether that was the end or not.

Overall, however impressive performance and defiantly worth a watch.

Reviewer: Marcelina Kruczynska

Reviewed: 17th August 2023

North West End UK Rating:

Rating: 4 out of 5.
Marcelina Kruczyńska

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