SÉANCE is a spine-chilling piece created by DARKFIELD, running in Potterrow Plaza from the 9th till the 29th August, and lasts 20 minutes. This show is in a shipping container, which is designed to look like a Victorian séance room on the inside. Each audience member puts on a pair of headphones, and, once the performance begins, the lights are turned off, leaving the room in complete darkness.
The performance delivered by Tom Lyall was excellent, however the volume of the piece drowned it out slightly, as it went from being barely audible, to extremely loud within seconds, and this shift was a bit disjointed.
The sound within this piece was very good at the times where it found stillness and had some whispered moments which were extremely eerie. These quiet moments could have been used more throughout the piece, as at times, it was so loud that it was painful. As it is a horror, this is to be expected, but it would have been nice to see it grow more, as it went from quiet to loud rather suddenly.
The atmosphere of sitting in a tiny shipping container really added to the piece. As it was rather cramped and hot, it made you uncomfortable in a way that felt very intentional, given the nature of the show.
Overall, I thought this piece was very good, however I would have liked to see more in the light and shade of it, as it goes from one extreme to another without much growth in between. ‘Séance’ has the potential to be a lot more.
Theatre Scotland 
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