The Séance

The Séance is an intimate performance encounter where audiences attempt to make contact with the ghost of a dead celebrity. With sixth senses attuned and hands on an upturned glass, sitters will commune with a restless spirit that may be trying to send a message from the Other Side. 

 

The Séance is an experiment in the black arts, lingering on the border between theatre and exorcism. It is an invitation to meddle with a forbidden ritual – shamanic incantations, sacrificial offerings, Ouija boards and voodoo. The participants will work with host Sophie Webb to invite an apparition into the room, from the home of our contemporary gods – Los Angeles. Face to face with the spectre of a fallen Hollywood star, we will confront what scares us most: What lies beyond us when we leave this world? What does it cost to live forever?

 

‘The Séance’ delves into the obsession with immortality that has ensnared our generation. We want to be famous, we want to be remembered, and we consume media and pop culture like no generation before us in the search for a connection to something bigger. As the environmental, financial and cultural apocalypses loom closer, we want to know that there is a life after death. We’ll find the Virgin Mary in a piece of toast, or turn a celebrity overdose into an act of martyrdom. ‘The Séance’ is a compelling and darkly funny dream of pop excess, media mythologizing, and the allure of self-destruction. 

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Created by NO SHOW (Mark Pritchard & Bridget Balodis)

Performed by Sophie Webb

Set and Costume Designer: Mattea Davies

Instrument Designer: Matthias Schack-Arnott

Producer: Bek Berger

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This work premiered at the 2012 Melbourne Fringe Festival. Mark was mentored by Ian Pidd through Melbourne Fringe's Outside Eye program, and the project has been made part of their Tour Ready Initiative. In 2013 we were supported by LaBoite Theatre's Indie Program.