Pomona

by Alistair McDowall

I think I'd sleep a lot easier if I knew none of us would wake up tomorrow .

Ollie's sister is missing. Searching Manchester in desperation, she finds all roads lead to Pomona - an abandoned concrete island at the heart of the city.

Here at the centre of everything, journeys end and nightmares are born.

A sinister and surreal thriller from Alistair McDowall, Pomona received its world premiere at the Orange Tree Theatre, London, on 12 November 2014.

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Mystery

138 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2014

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 5 out of 5]

More like a 4.5... the structure of this is amazing, and how it plays out - my deduction from a full 5 stars has to do with some questionable content and the annoyance of having one actor play a dual role of twins and it not being clear who is on stage when. However, McDowell has been lauded as the best new English playwright to come along this decade, and I'm eager to read more of his work.

[Caitlin Baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why do you wanna hurt women so bad huh?

[15LeesS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very very sinister and twisted but I enjoyed it - I think as a play it would be very good. I have a theory that Ollie actually doesn't have a sister but because of her memory loss she is looking for herself. A horror and mystery worth the read and I would reccoment the play.

[Pat Moran · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Everything bad is real"

[Taylor Rousselle · Rating 4 out of 5]

i have now both read and watched this play performed, and still have no idea wtf it’s actually about but it’s a banger. D&D meets Cthulhu meets organ harvesting, iconic 😮‍💨

[Jasmine Atkins · Rating 1 out of 5]

traumatic and not in a fun way

[gelldellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The structure of this play is fascinating from a writer's standpoint and exciting from a reader's. The story is just weird enough that it falls outside the realm of "normal", but not so distanced from real life that the subtle reflection of society is lost in nonsense. I thoroughly enjoyed piecing together this story. Might be my new favorite play! If not to perform, then certainly to read; it's books like Pomona that remind me how excited I am to be a writer.

[Black Glove · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a reading experience this is a bit of a swinger. Characters with marginal lives and minimal expressiveness hint at and point to sinister goings-on @t the heart of the city. Loved the dark-urban vibes and the way the text swings from scene to scene. Compelling. Mysterious. Weird. empty. Vague with virtue.

[Granny Swithins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sinister atmosphere. Hard to imagine how it's staged, it feels very filmic.

[Edward Bromberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant distopia. Harder to imagine it staged.

[Jonathan Daley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent play. The experimentation with form and structure give the play a fascinating rhythm.

[Miller Ryan-Carter · Rating 2 out of 5]

wish it could have been rated higher but just didnt understand any of it tbh

[Eliza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Soz

[Marco Lizarraga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall: 8/10
This shit was so weird. The constant pauses, breaths, transitions and interruptions made this wholly unique in my book and it was executed well (the most important thing). I loved the characters, I loved that I didn't understand fully what was going on and neither did anyone else. Even past the end, I still don't understand the major theme(s) or plot or how this concept of looping works or exactly who is who and how they relate to each (specifically directing this towards Ollie). The dialogue was funny though, it was snappy and to the point while also leaving a great amount of subtext. I appreciated how dark the tone was while contrasting with lightness and absurdity at various points. Anything to do with role-playing, and dark weird strange places where godawful horrible things happen is going to capture my attention. And this play had that and it made it all very engaging to read. So yeah. Great play. Really liked it.

[Raleyv12 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each act was out of order and I read some articles to fully understand the plot. You need to read this twice to understand which acts correlates with the other acts. Its interesting how the characters don't finish what they are saying and as the audience, we need to understand the context around each dialogue to know what they are saying. Definitely something you need to go into blindly to experience the dark urban atmosphere.

[Jaymie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m currently working as an actor in this play for a university unit, initially I didn’t love it a huge amount as I don’t linke non linear plays too much, however, the more I read this, the more I love the story and the characters and just how confusing and twisted it is

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked a lot of the elements discreetly and was excited about it, I'm not exactly sure that I like how it approaches femininity and womanhood tho?

[Amelia Ball · Rating 4 out of 5]

really really engaging and puzzling, definitely recommend reading

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ne znam kad me zadnji put nesto ovoliko prestrasilo i rastuzilo

[Lily Bartlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wait I loved this. What an opening scene. And now I want to reread it because of what they tell you at the end. So strange but so cool. Smart.

[ianthe · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

i liked the structure the most, but tbh i'm not fond of how the female characters are written (i have this problem w a lot of male authors). i also wish the characters had spoken more to me. overall, it's interesting how it's not written to be read, but seen.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I REALLY RECOMMEND! A NEW, NORTHERN PLAY. MODERN IN-YER-FACE, READ IT!!!!!

[Sal Viglietta]

meh