Hell House: Provocation, Belief and Morality

If you are interested in theatre that provokes debate don’t miss Hell House and subsequent forums - if you can, get to get to the Meat Market in North Melbourne either today or tomorrow. It will be discussed for months and judging by the Provocation Forum, the ideas examined will germinate awareness, considerations and questions about both organized religion and theatre that will be influential.

Presented by a huge cast of professional actors from Back and Back, and fifty or so volunteers, as far as installations go it is effective and has the potential to deeply disturb, depending on the position one takes as viewer.  Amazingly it is a prescribed copy of a serious modern day morality play staged yearly in the Bible belt in the USA.

The audience sets off in large groups following a ‘Devil’ tour leader. The journey, through ‘hell’ is a bit like a ghost train, particularly towards the end where the imperative builds towards heaven and is released in the barn, where sugary rewards of cordial and lamingtons are offered with songs of love and community from an earnest gospel band. 

The whole is full of horror, death and dying and features the marginalized as victims of their own sin.  However one approaches stock standard demonization, this production and forum demonstrates that tacit acceptance of medieval concepts of heaven and hell mask toxicity, cruel exploitation and very real lurking danger.

Suzanne Sandow

Image by Jeff Busby