CREEPY BUT CLEVER

TAKE A SEAT BUT DON’T GET TOO COSY AT THIS BRISBANE FESTIVAL SHOW

A nondescript shipping container sits on the edge of Arcadia, the pop-up village in South Bank that forms Brisbane Festival’s hub for three weeks every September.

It’s white and largely unadorned and could be anything.

You’d almost walk by without noticing it save for two details: a cluster of nervous-looking people outside and a small, illuminated sign perched atop one corner reading “Seance ”.

This 40-foot shipping container is the “stage” for one of Brisbane Festival’s more unusual – and unsettling – offerings.

There are no performers, no stunning sets, bright lights or timely intervals.

Rather, Seance is conducted in complete darkness over 15 eerie minutes.

I’m among the 30-odd people ushered into the container and instructed to take a seat along the wall, a narrow wooden table running along the middle.

We pop noise-cancelling headphones on our ears, place our palms on the table then the door is closed, the lights go out and the real fun begins. Seance is a simple concept, very cleverly executed.

When one sense is deprived — in this case, sight — the others heighten to compensate.

State-of-the-art 3D audio capitalises on this phenomena and my mind immediately starts playing tricks on me.

Without giving away spoilers, such is Seance’s power of suggestion I flinch, cringe and — when the creepy climax occurs — physically recoil, trying pointlessly to distance myself from what is, in essence, a voice in my ear.

Seance is at Arcadia, South Bank Cultural Forecourt until next Saturday, September 29.