Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

The second Edinburgh import that I managed to catch was Lights Over Tesco Car Park performed by the Poltergeist theatre company. The premise of the show follows the theatre company being contacted by a man called Robert who claims to have seen bright red lights over the car park in Tesco. Then he received a call saying an alien was going to rent his spare room. He calls on the help of the company and the show is based around whether the company believe him or not.

It’s a bizarre little show. As soon as you enter the auditorium, the company are right in your face which, to be frank, when you’re exhausted on a Saturday night is just not what I needed. The main storyline starts but it breaks off into 10 minute tid bits about other alien reports that they discovered in their research. It was interesting to have the audience involved in these and up on stage with them, but I found the tid bits added nothing to the overarching story except space in the show was getting filled.

That being said, some of the interactive elements worked well, like the incorporation of Robert who isn’t in the room with the audience but we can hear him speak and he appears in a photo at one point. And the company all work well together and clearly have great chemistry with each other.

But honestly, it just wasn’t for me. The show has had a wealth of praise from audience members in Edinburgh so they’ll be able to offer a more interesting viewpoint. I’d rather not go to a show and worry about being called up, personally!

For more information on the Caledonian Express season at the Pleasance please visit https://www.pleasance.co.uk/via/search/london/tag/cally/. For more information on Poltergeist Theatre please visit https://www.poltergeisttheatre.com/

Until next time