Review: Without Sin, EdFringe

Summerhall – Courtyard

I’m waiting for my turn to visit the confessional in the Summerhall Courtyard when two people walk out of the purpose-built cabin, hug each other and start sobbing. “Let’s hope it’s not too awkward” I tell myself; but what I have just witnessed isn’t particularly encouraging.

Without Sin is a fifteen-minute-long immersive experience for an audience of two. When someone buys a ticket, they can either buddy up with a friend or let the organisers pair them with a random person. As I am attending on my own, I’ll be going in with a stranger. Devised by Unqualified Design Studio, a creative collective from Ireland, it revisits the Catholic sacrament of confession, removing the pretext of God to remind us of the healing power of talking to another human being.

By the time my allocated time slot comes, I’ve been sat on the same bench as ‘my stranger’ for a good twenty minutes. We haven’t even tried to make small talk, probably both unsettled by the reaction of the people who walked out earlier, or conscious of the fact that any minute now we will be sharing what appears to be a very intimate space.

The confessional is separated into two individual booths that are connected by a little hatch on the wall. We are invited to sit at a desk which has a microphone and a headset on it. The dim lighting is enough to read the handwritten messages on small squares of paper pinned above the desk.

A recorded voice breaks the silence and explains how the next fifteen minutes are going to be: in the hatch there is a deck of cards, with questions that relate to the seven capital sins. We will have to read them to each other, taking turns to either ask or answer. All I can see of ‘my stranger’ is their hand every time they pick a card. In the anonymity of the confessional, there’s an odd eagerness to share personal thoughts and events. Being aware that there’s no accountability, the innermost tales of regret or gratitude are easily exchanged. Snippets of truth shamelessly raise to the surface without fear of being judged. “When is the last time you hurt someone?” they ask me.

When time is up, we are invited to write a note for each other, something we’d like to tell them that relates to what they said. We swap them through the hatch and realise that we both wrote a message of forgiveness. As we come out of the black box, we hesitantly look at one another and instinctively say “thank you” with a smile. I walk away astonished at how easy it was to confess my sins to a stranger and receive life advice from them. It’s a humbling and cathartic experience.

Producer, Dramaturg and Voiceover by: Hugh Farrell
Architect and Design by: Shane Sugrue
Produced by: Unqualified Design Studio

Without Sin plays at EdFringe 2023 until 27 August, times vary. Further information and bookings here.