Review: EDINBURGH 2024: RAT MASS at C ARTS, C Aquila - Temple

“Become like a rat and find peace”

Rat Mass is, not surprisingly, exactly what the title says it is - a ritual in honour of rats. The show, put on by The Church of Ratology, comes from Chicago, Illinois, where a hole shaped like a rat made headlines earlier this year. Entering the venue, we are greeted by the “Rat Bastards” who will be leading the ceremony, Perry and Joseph. The course of the next hour is simple - we will be participating in a range of rituals in order to feel more like rats and, hopefully, reach a point where we are ready to evolve into the creatures themselves. 

After some brief introductions, we are invited to take part in Communion, which is revealed to be a shot of Malort. If you’ve never tasted Malort, I can’t say I would recommend it for its taste, but I would highly recommend it for the experience. It truly is, as described by Perry and Joseph, a “vile fluid,” one I had tasted before and chose not to ever taste again, though it was quite amusing to witness the reactions of audience members. 

The rituals are a wide range of activities, with one being a rosary bead eating competition (don’t worry, the beads are candy, a favourite food of the rats), another being singing along to Rat Hymn 17, “Mighty Rat” (a parody of “Our God Is an Awesome God”) and, of course, playing Sin Bingo, inspired by the 25 rat sins the Church of Ratology has come up with.

We learn about Ratto, the first person to fully evolve into the next step towards being a rat and are also shown a timeline of important events including dinosaurs, Jesus, cowboys, Malort, 9/11 and the creation of the Bass Pro Pyramid. 

There is a surprisingly beautiful message to the Church of Ratology as a whole, with one of the final rituals having the message, “Look to the shadow to see the light.” It is strange to find yourself weirdly emotional at a ceremony worshipping rats, but that is just one of the beautiful things about the Fringe. The audience members were very willing to participate, donating random items in their bags and coming together for bizarre yet comforting rituals, including becoming a part of the Rat King. 

Ultimately, Rat Mass is a unique experience that will have audience members looking at rats in a better light than they may have before. And, if they have the communion of Malort, they will certainly leave changed. The show’s description says that the Church of Ratology hopes to “create a feeling of community, however the absurd the means,” and they certainly have achieved that with Rat Mass. I look forward to adoring the Crust Stick in the future. 

Rat Mass ran from to 11 to 18 August at C ARTS, C aquila - temple at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.