Klanghaus


Neutrinos and Sal Pittman
Summerhall

A gig in a small animal hospital, art installations in cages, a really great use of the old Royal Dick buildings. With its many art forms and highly creative venue use, the show is effectively a distillation of the whole Summerhall venue.

Not that Summerhall requires any further distillation as it does already have a gin distillery on-site. Perhaps a drinks bar might be one thing they could add to the show, not so everyone is sloshed, just that the audience could be a bit more chilled and up for a dance.

Klanghaus combines lots of different art forms into a crazy down-a-rabbit-hole experience. It plays around with part of the old veterinary college that still retains some of the creepy original interior structures.

Although it can be quite dark, as one might expect from a venue called The Small Animal Hospital, for the most part it is quite a comic performance experience with the two lead singers in their boxy monochrome outfits, having lots of fun.

The audience gets to go on a journey through the rooms guided by the artists, projections and of course sound. It is a strange, disorientating experience, enjoyable, though you would like a little more room and time to properly enjoy it.

The slot is also quite early; a later night slot might add to the show from an audience perspective. Maybe a bar, too, to create the right mood, or maybe it is just the audience when I went or maybe it is me? In fairness, there was a reasonable balance between moving the audience around and allowing things to flow naturally.

Unlike some weird journeys, though, this does have a very definite ending and is very much in keeping with the kooky style of the performance.

There could not be a more surreal way to explore the hiddens depths of Summerhall's Dick Vet past.

Reviewer: Seth Ewin

*Some links, including Amazon, Stageplays.com, ATG Tickets, LOVEtheatre, BTG Tickets, Ticketmaster, The Ticket Factory, LW Theatres and QuayTickets, are affiliate links for which BTG may earn a small fee at no extra cost to the purchaser.

Are you sure?