Do you believe in the supernatural? Are there really things that go bump in the night? Can we talk to the dead through the powers of a medium, or is it all just fake.
Séance: Live aims to address these questions with a reenacted Victorian séance performed and narrated by actor and paranormal enthusiast Sam Lupton, the self-proclaimed non–believer in charge of the show.
It doesn’t matter if you believe or not to enjoy Séance: Live, and there’s a mixture of every possible level of believer and sceptic in the crowd tonight, as the point here is not really to prove or disprove anything, it’s to explore and explain what might have really been happening.
Through a series of experiments, tricks and mind-games we are taken through the history of the séance, and shown how they may have created some of the spooky happenings in parlours throughout the years.
The show is split into three parts, with the first one being the history behind it all and why we should be listening to the show’s host and showing us some of the items that they would use to convince the public of the after-life.
Next we are shown how a medium would draw on thoughts and feelings from the crowd and the ‘other realm’ to seemingly pluck names and situations out of the air and relay them to the person in the room connected to it.
Lupton is sure to point out that this is all a trick, after all, he doesn’t believe in any of this, and he certainly doesn’t pretend to be a medium himself, but it is fascinating all the same to see this in action, and it’s easy to see how people could think this was a real voice from beyond when they wanted to.
The last part of the show we take part in a séance of our own. The lights go down, various objects are placed around the room such as a small rocking chair and a service bell and we ask for the spirits to make themselves known by touching anything if they are present.
Obviously there are no guarantees anything will happen with something like this, but without giving anything away I definitely walked out of there questioning a few things…
The whole spectacle is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish. You learn something, you laugh a little, and you (hopefully) experience something too.
If you are into the spooky and unusual or just enjoy a damn good show you should take a seat at this séance table. Maybe take a friend or two so you don’t have to walk home alone though.
Séance: Live
21:00
Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose – Other Yin
Aug 8-14, 16-27
