KlaxAlterian Sequester @ Assembly Festival’s Digital Season (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021) Review

Fast forward sixty years from now, from what has already been an extraordinary moment in time, and the planet is now under an alien invasion by the KlaxAlterians, the species on a mission to discover more about Earth and its complexities. Originally created last year during lockdown, with the intention of being experienced within our home settings, Dutch Kills Theater’s KlaxAlterian Sequester returns for this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe, available to stream and experience on the online platform Showcatcher.

A tech focused experience, cleverly asking for participants to utilise their smartphones and headphones, KlaxAlterian Sequester gears us all to take a deeper look at ourselves, to question what it is to be human – this a very complex idea to confront, and a great through line throughout the piece inviting all to ponder this further, each of us equipped with our own unique interpretations and experiences when considering this. These answers all collectively hopefully helping us to avert the events of the next sixty years.

A great digital resource for a sci-fi fuelled adventure, our immediate surroundings shape the next sixty minutes, grainy remote transmissions from our instructor Ben Beckley, who’s also the show’s creator, presenting a series of warnings and ponderings. these broken up by a personalised tour of our very own homes, the show asking for us all to take the time to consider the daily rituals we take for granted, and how our bodies are built for the environment we currently inhabit.

KlaxAterian’s futuristic, experimental experience is a show for our times, entertainment to be experienced when chosen to, and easily accessible online. The show’s intense, yet philosophical, spiritual feel an aspect that has you as the participant wanting to learn more about the scenario presented. Asa Wember‘s maze-like structure intrigues, the experience’s unpredictability an exciting yet suspense fuelled adventure, the show’s multi-sensory approach asking for us to consider our senses, making KlaxAlterian Sequester thought-provoking and worth the watch and listen.

Review written by Lucy Basaba.

KlaxAlterian Sequester is currently showing as part of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe until Monday 30th August 2021, to find out more about the experience, visit here…

Written by Theatrefullstop