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The title of Louise White’s production at the Project Arts Centre connotes a grim narrative that may deter a lot of people from paying to see it. However, This is the Funeral of Your Life begins on an uplifting, and seemingly trivial, note. Michelle O’Rourke plays a classier version of “(I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life” from Dirty Dancing on the piano as the show’s sole actors, Philip Connaughton and Lucy Cray-Miller, dart around, asking the audience questions like “Do you have an innie or an outie?” and “Who likes sausages? Raise your hand!”

Afterwards, the actors hand out streamers to each member of the audience. As we unroll them to their full length, Cray-Miller explains that “Your streamer represents your life, one end is your birth and the other marks your death.”

From then on, This is the Funeral of Your Life only further confuses and muddles its intentions. Philip Connaughton, a professional choreographer, dances wildly to the theme song of ER and ABBA in an attempt to convey the process of death. Lucy Cray-Miller sets up two tables, one with a loaf of bread and the other with a water basin and dirty dishes. She then invites two spectators onstage to make sandwiches and wash the dishes in a bizarre scene that portrays the preparations for an Irish wake.

Louise White spoke to RTÉ Culture about the inspiration behind this project, citing her own father’s funeral as the catalyst for her exploration of self-identity before and after death. This is the Funeral of Your Life attempts to ask the audience how they would imagine their own funeral, but fails to clearly pose the question. Death is a jumbled mess that few of us truly understand, and it is apparent that White has tried to represent this unknowing through dance, music, and acting. Unfortunately, it appears that none of these elements managed to succeed in provoking any lasting impression.