A GIRL has gone
missing, dodgy things are going on in the middle of wasteland in
Manchester and lives are spiralling out of control. Welcome to
Pomona.
Pomona is a dark hole,
somewhere where reality and the imagination collide and where you are
never quite sure what is going on or whether it’s real or the most
awful nightmare.
It is the subject of a
play by Alistair McDowall which was performed at Richmond’s Orange
Tree theatre a year ago and has now transferred to the National’s
Temporary Theatre.
It is spooky, brutal,
gripping, sinister, surreal and compelling and takes no prisoners.
It starts with Zeppo, a
Manchester property owner, who is describing a scene from Raiders of
the Lost Ark to Ollie, a young woman whose twin sister is missing.
He tells her that she
could be in Pomona, a deserted island in the middle of Manchester
where people are taken - and very much gives the impression they
don’t come out alive – warning her not go looking.
She ignores him and
then via a series of flashbacks we see her journey to Pomona plus
those of a brothel madam, two security guards, and a prostitute who
is trying to flee an abusive husband.
In the middle of it all
is Keaton, a young girl who is somewhat odd and with a penchant for
HP Lovecraft’s monsters who meets up with security guard Charlie
for regular games of Dungeons and Dragons.
Things start to go
wrong almost immediately and it’s pretty horrible. Not only that
it’s never made clear whether what we are seeing is the subject of
someone’s over active imagination or whether it’s all real.
By the time it ended it
was almost a relief as it was exhausting trying to keep up. But it is
a clever story, fast, gripping and rather scary.
The acting is top notch
and the staging in the round at the Temporary Theatre makes it
incredibly immersive.
Pomona is on at the
Temporary Theatre, National Theatre, until Saturday October 10.
Tickets cost from £15. Visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk or call the
box office on 020 7452 3000.
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