Inviting chaos into a space can ignite theatrical gold. Or it can all crash in a heap with hollers of the dreaded ‘refund’. Luckily, Ben Volchok’s experimental The Ceremony intentionally welcomes the unexpected as it muses on the fascinations of ritual and repetition in a contemporary world where we scoff at our ‘old age’ traditions. And with luck, the night you decide to embark on this journey will be remembered: but that’s entirely up to you and your fellow audience.

The show is generated by (and thus reliant on) audience discussion. Part sermon, part self-help meet-up, there’s no topic off the table (for better or worse). Natural disasters, our love lives, gender theory, the French: chances are these topics may not come up again, certainly not in the same manner. It makes the immersive nature of this piece straddle the line of theatre and comedy, ready to tip over into either at but a glance or ill-comment.

Mercifully, this is far from a cry of justification to avoid actually creating a show before persuading audiences to part with their coin, as the one consistency in The Ceremony’s structure is Volchok himself. He holds court in Summerhall as whimsically as he can, as much fiendish Puck as a huckster of snake oil. It’s pretty delightful to watch events unfold as Volchok coaxes people into the most crucial element here: audience interaction, the most challenging aspect of the Fringe outside of finding a crêpe for less than a tenner. 
This review was originally written in 2024 for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival; The Ceremony will be performed at The Courtyard Of Curiosities from Thursday 20 February – Sun 9 March, 9.50pm; main picture: Kate Cameron.