Eulogy ★★★★

Darkfield has deservedly earned a strong reputation for its intense immersive performances held completely in the dark, and Eulogy is a fine, creepy continuation of that excellent tradition. Returning to Edinburgh Fringe for the first time since 2022, Eulogy may not reach the high water mark of prior Darkfield experiences, but it’s a fun ride nonetheless.

Upon arrival participants are given a guest card which designates their room, which in this case is a small, comfortable, open crate-like space (the unused white towels underneath the seats are a nice touch to give the affair an institutional vibe) where guests sit and put on their headphones. Once everyone is situated with their headphones adjusted, it’s lights out.

Confusion arrives instantly, and not just because of the total lack of illumination. Hotel guests are immediately thrust narratively into a dystopian story that is already in progress. A companion/chaperone is assigned, and she promises to look after you as you are asked a random battery of bureaucratic questions before being whisked away to various levels of the hotel, all of which seem to go down, down, down.

How low can you go? Well, the show’s title tells you that not everyone is going to see the light again. And along the way are disgruntled employees, mysterious ornaments, required pamphlets and a healthy dose of surreal confusion.

Perhaps too much confusion. In many ways Eulogy feels like a 35-minute fast-forward version of Lars von Trier’s seminal hospital show The Kingdom where lots of questions are raised but never get answered. Fortunately, and like that television series, Eulogy is never dull, and that’s in great part to the fast-moving script by co-director Glen Neath and truly exquisite sound and tech design by co-director David Rosenberg. They and the talented cast make Eulogy a memorable hotel experience, albeit one with a questionable loyalty programme.