Opinion: What Makes a Theatre Space Safe?

There is a difference between a sanctuary and a party, but one show at the Fringe hasn't figured that out...

When I took my seat for Raves R' Us, by Naughty Corner Productions, I passed a man in the front row who was visibly drunk and trying to make conversation with the lone cast member sitting on stage and staring into the void. The performance opens with a loud cry of "have you ever felt like nothing?", and I think to myself, “that drunk guy has made a mistake coming to this". But a couple of moments later, the stage erupts with light and sound and confetti, as the five-strong cast descend loudly onto the audience, and I think maybe it is me who has made a mistake in coming to this sober. As the show goes on, I realise there is no correct amount of alcohol that would make sense of this performance, nothing that could have prepared me for a show this in-your-face and insistent that you have just as good a time as them. The story follows a group of friends who set out to host a rave that welcomes all in an abandoned toy store, but that's just a means-to-an-end since the audience join the rave themselves at the end. It is unique in concept and makes no secret of its audience participation, but it never builds enough trust. It is an assault on the senses, and I was glad when it was over, but it did make me wonder what makes a theatre space feel safe.

There is nothing that happened specifically that will provoke any outrage. Plenty of shows have the cast running through the auditorium, improvising little jokes, throwing stuff over the audience (in this case flour). Here they break into your personal space a little too often, encourage hecklers a bit too much, keep you on edge about what they're going to do next in a way that feels more scary than exciting. It says something that the bloke in the front row I had passed earlier started openly vaping. At one moment, an audience member was selected at random and told to hug a stranger (a hug I narrowly dodged).  I wondered why I was finding this performance so uncomfortable when I have been to shows that were far more outrageous. Raves R' Us has clearly taken inspiration from the adaptation of Trainspotting that returns each Fringe to the EICC; an immersive production where you sit in a dripping wet tunnel while a host of drug-addled characters scream, commit toe-curling acts of violence, and thrash around in a toilet. But Trainspotting never claims to bring people together, never offers a sanctuary the way Raves R' Us does. When you go to Trainspotting, you know you're an outsider looking in, not a participant expected to drop all defences.

But it's a noble cause; they want you to feel as open and joyful as you feel at a real rave. The difference is, you can leave a rave. They also forget that being inclusive is about being specific, not just open. When I saw The Convert, the only show I have ever been to where the audience was majority black, cries of "I know that's right" and approving finger clicks rippled through the crowd. When I saw A Christmas Carol at the Dundee Rep at a relaxed performance, audience members who find it hard to sit still or be quiet were free to move around and make noise at their leisure. When I went to see a comedy show by Sofie Hagen, I sat in a crowd of women whose bodies looked like mine, and we laughed about the shrunken world outside. Each invites a specific audience to be themselves in ways we usually can't. Raves R' Us invokes the idea of inclusivity, reeling off a monologue about how crap everything is generally but especially for marginalised groups, and celebrating when ravers of all races, creeds, and cultures come together in the end. And it is true that things like raves have the power to bring people together, especially in troubled times, but any woman who has been to a club can tell you that these are not always safe spaces. When it comes down to it, though, Naughty Corner Productions just want an excuse for a drink and a dance, and like so many men, they don't understand the level of discomfort they create in the name of having fun.

Raves R' Us will perform at the Underbelly Cowgate until the 30th of August

Editor's Note: There will be less coverage of this year's festival than previous years due to competing commitments