Theatre review: Ancient Shrines and Half Truths

Edinburgh Festival Fringe: At first, not long after we get going, it seems intuitive to imagine that residents of Edinburgh may get far less from this multimedia promenade show by innovative young Wellington theatre company Binge Culture.

Summerhall (Venue 26)

***

We’ve been led the short walk from the courtyard at Summerhall to the edge of the Meadows, where the smartphone-and-headphones set-up everyone is equipped with leads us on an interactive, individualised tour of the area.

It’s all a fantasy, the narrator’s smooth Kiwi tones (she lives round here, she lies, and no-one notices her accent now) leading us to the bin where residents make careful offerings to the local poor and the lampposts which are taking the place of trees and housing families of birds.

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The choose-your-own-route set-up means it might take a short while to find the narrative, and the amusing live interventions take a little getting used to. By the point at which the audience group comes together once more for the final scene, however, tourists and locals alike will appreciate the smart and funny light-touch critique of surface-scratching cultural tourism in place of deeper understanding of a place.

In Edinburgh during August is as good a place as any to make such a point.

Until 27 August. Today 3:15 and 6:15pm.

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