A delightfully unpredictable, hilarious live-action video game with a loyal following
John Robertson’s The Dark Room is a staple of the Fringe. Its anarchic audience participation and passionate fans guarantee a uniquely exciting hour. This year, audiences are welcomed to the Gilded Balloon Doonstairs, decked out like a gothic cinema – an appropriate setting for this Knightmare-like video game. Volunteer audience members pick from up to four options, with Robertson narrating the outcomes with deft wit and anarchic energy. Each run begins the same way: “you wake up to find yourself in a dark room”.
Volunteers are plentiful whenever Robertson looks for a player, perhaps aided by the simple structure of the game and collaborative feel of the show. John Robertson’s The Dark Room has the feeling of a rock concert – Robertson enters to booming Motorhead and rapturous whooping and cheering. The audience chant the game’s opening line, and when a player fails everyone turns, points and shouts “Ya Die! Ya Die! Ya Die! Ya Die!”. This is the second time I’ve seen John Robertson’s The Dark Room – the first on a livestream via NextUp – but the first time I’ve been in the room. Perhaps it’s more like a cult than a rock concert.
This large audience is a good mix of newcomers and regulars, but you soon pick up the rituals. As well as the chanting at the start and end of the game, some seasoned veterans have memorised the outcomes for commonly chosen early-game options (“go north”, “turn on light” in particular). Each player receives a prize from the “table of wonders”, which always features a “flamboyant potato” (a pineapple). Every player is called Darren, before receiving a nickname based on what they do (Dewey decimal Darren, jingly Darren).
The game itself is remarkably simple; it is Robertson’s ability to turn every choice into a comic event that makes it feel endlessly unpredictable. At the start of the show he riffs about the last few years – the COVID main story, the monkeypox DLC, the disappointing solar eclipse in-game event. He cracks boundary-pushing jokes with an impish grin, with highlights this evening taking in abortion and paedophilia. He cultivates a sense that anything could happen: starting an impromptu bread-catching competition across the audience; attempting to bully a librarian into stocking a copy of his children’s book; and, for “five and a half seconds”, doing an impression of an intolerable anime boy.
It’s testament to how fun, engaging and exciting John Robertson’s The Dark Room is that he’s selling out a large theatre space with what is ultimately a very silly game. The forest of hands when he asks for volunteers, loyal fans bringing along unblooded newbies, and roars of laughter demonstrate the specialness of Robertson’s creation. What are you waiting for? Buy a ticket, walk into a dark room, and have a great time!
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/john-robertson-s-the-dark-room
LISTINGS INFORMATION
Venue: Doonstairs, Gilded Balloon Patter House
Dates: Aug 5th–30th
Time: 22:00 (60 mins)
Ticket prices: £13.50–£15.50
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com