Eden Gate

Is there a more perilous genre to attempt than a participatory promenade sci-fi thriller on a budget?

To be fair, despite the obvious restrictions of C nova’s snug siderooms, Produced Moon make the most of the limited effects at their disposal as they set about creating their disease-ravaged dystopia, also known as Edinburgh, 2017.

As the audience, the plot is in our hands, we’re told, as we’re cast as survivors following the near obliteration of the human race. We’ve somehow made it to the fabled Eden Gate, a sealed sanctuary run by shadowy pharmaceutical company GTNV, where we’re tagged, checked in and, suspiciously, handed a shot of water to neck before we cross the divide.

You can see where all this is going, and the genre staples are all dutifully ticked off – the embedded rebellion group, the anodyne corporate communications manager, big business misbehaviour. Any initial excitement quickly dissipates following a series of dull teamwork games and purposeless psychometric tests.

The conclusion hinges on the cast artificially creating a schism in the room whereby we, with the help of a few covert actors in our midst, noisily exchange aspersions as we’re presented with a devastating moral dilemma. Who do we believe? What’s the right thing to do? What are the consequences? And why is it all so confusing?

Commendable as the purpose might be, the audience are never totally included in the debating room tussle and as the clock unerringly ticks down on humanity, the overriding sense is merely one of relief that the end is nigh.