As much as we might enjoy the traditional, the nostalgic and
the classics (especially around Christmas), sometimes audiences need to be
pushed and challenged, whether they like it or not. What is art if it doesn’t make you think?
Pomona, then, is a
brave and daring choice for Paul Miller, the new artistic director of the
Orange Tree Theatre, written by young playwright Alistair McDowall and directed by Ned Bennett. It is a surreal and unsettling work that pushes
the boundaries of theatrical storytelling with its unconventional structure and
frightening imagery.
The plot alone is bizarre, with layers of Roman mythology,
fantasy role-playing games, Lovecraftian horror and modern day urban
paranoia. Set in a seemingly eternally
nocturnal Manchester, Ollie is searching for her missing sister. After a lengthy meeting with the eccentric
Zeppo she is directed to Pomona, a neglected concrete island at the heart of
the city. It's a place of urban myth – nobody ever returns. Her
story is paralleled by the nerdy RPG-playing security guard Charlie, a
prostitute seeking to uncover the truth about what goes on in the depths of
Pomona, and a mysterious alien-like young girl called Keaton.
It’s a thematically dense piece full of weighty duologues
and monologues that touch upon human trafficking, modern apathy, the need for human connection and the dice rolls of fate. If that concoction alone is
confusing, it’s all further confounded by a fractured, time-travelling narrative. Like a jigsaw puzzle, we gradually piece together
the plot from start to finish and back to the start again, yet what the final
picture looks like is very much up for debate.
Where Pomona most
succeeds is in its mood and tone. Set in
the round, the action swirls around a drain-like pit of despair: grimy, sickly
and highlighting the cyclical nature of the plot. Like Pomona itself, it’s where the dregs of
society are sucked into, never to be seen again. The use of light and shadow is remarkable,
the flickering beams, torchlight and sudden blackouts as dark and disorientating
as the plot itself.
Yet it remains a thoroughly gripping noir thriller, thanks
predominantly to McDowall’s conversational dialogue and some superbly committed
performances. The setting may be
fantastical, but the characters remain believable. There’s plenty of dark comedy that brings some
welcome humanity, in particular from Nadia Clifford as the sassy headstrong
Ollie and Sam Swann as the childlike and lovable Charlie. And whilst much of the language is crude, the
lengthy speeches are well-paced and captivating.
Pomona is a
strikingly original play that will undoubtedly split audiences. It bemuses as much as it thrills, but that’s
all part of its appeal as we fall helplessly further down the drain.
4/5
Watch: Pomona runs at the Orange Tree Theatre until 13th December.