Pomona
BY ALISTAIR McDOWELL
29 OCTOBER – 21 NOVEMBER 2015
DIRECTOR Ned Bennett
DESIGNER Georgia Lowe
LIGHTING DESIGNER Elliot Griggs
COMPOSER & SOUND DESIGNER Giles Thomas
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR Polly Bennett
PERFORMED BY Nadia Clifford (Ollie), Rebecca Humphries (Fay), Sarah Middleton
(Keaton), Guy Rhys (Zeppo), Sean Rigby (Moe), Rochenda Sandall (Gale), Sam
Swann (Charlie)
Teacher Resource
This resource has been created for use by Key Stage 4 & 5 Drama and English teachers, but
many of the activities can be adapted to suit other subject areas and age groups. The activities
aim to help students explore significant features of the rehearsal process and production.
For further information about our Schools’ Programme contact Natalie Diddams
on 0161 615 6750 / [email protected]
OTHER USEFUL RESOURCES:
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http://www.theguardian.com/cities/2014/aug/07/pomona-lost-islandmanchester-dockland-wasteland-oasis
http://www.run-riot.com/articles/blogs/playwright-alistair-mcdowalltalks-to-runriot
https://youtu.be/uRriIggIhdA
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WHAT IS POMONA?
Alistair McDowall’s play, Pomona, is a sinister and surreal thriller with a comic edge. It
flashes from casual naturalism to surreal, gory horror, making it an unmistakably
nightmarish piece of theatre.
As those of us from Manchester will know, Pomona is also a real place: a deserted island in
the middle of the city. You may have noticed the virtually unused metrolink stop there!
Here is a little more information about both the place and the play.
A BIT ABOUT THE PLACE:
The River Irwell acts as the boundary between
Salford and Manchester, and Pomona is the
grassy island in the middle of the river.
During the industrial revolution, the land was
home to botanical gardens and to the Royal
Pomona Palace. Known originally as Cornbrook
Strawberry Gardens, it was renamed after
Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit trees.
Pomona has been dug over several times in recent years and there are rumours of building
development plans for it. Some believe we should preserve this green space because of all
of the plant and animal life that has thrived there. What do you think?
A BIT ABOUT THE PLAY:
Alistair McDowall’s Pomona was hailed as one of
2014’s most exciting new plays when it opened at the
Orange Tree theatre in Richmond. Since then, it has
transferred to the National Theatre in London and the
Royal Exchange.
Pomona is a story about a young woman (Ollie)
looking for her twin sister in a dystopic, surreal
version of Manchester. Her search takes her to
Pomona, which manifests itself as a peculiar and
threatening underworld in the heart of the city.
WHY NOT?
Give your class this sheet as a hand-out and ask them to discuss the similarities and differences between the
place Pomona and the play Pomona. Why might Alastair McDowell have chosen Pomona as the setting of
his play?As an extension activity, why not ask your class to think of a location they know well and write down
words that describe that place. Could this place become the setting for a story? If so, what might that story
be?
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URBAN ANXIETY
Alastair McDowell, who was only 27 when he wrote Pomona, explained that he first had
the idea when he was driving around Manchester’s M60 ring road late at night:
“The idea for the play came when I was driving back home to Manchester very very late one night
and due to my poor geography ended up driving around the M60 ring road for a very long time.
The unsettling nature of an empty multi-lane ring road at 3am did bizarre things to my already
slightly addled mind and the play began to form very organically, building itself out of the various
anxieties and fears I had accumulated over the nine years I’d spend living in one city (Manchester)
and commuting frequently to another (London). The play opens on the M60 and takes place within
it, but it could very easily take place in any city in the country. It’s a play about a particular kind of
urban anxiety.”
Alastair wanted to capture the alienating feeling of living in a city; a feeling that is
sometimes referred to as ‘urban anxiety’. He has achieved this in Pomona by:
- Telling the story out of sequence.
- Juxtaposing naturalistic dialogue with violent action (see APPENDIX A).
- Making frequent references to film and popular culture, and to the geography of
Manchester (i.e. the M60).
- Structuring some of the story using a game: Dungeons and Dragons (APPENDIX B).
- Writing lots of short scenes set in different locations.
- Introducing characters with very little back-story (such as Zeppo).
WHY NOT?
Ask your class to think about how a city environment makes them feel.
Split everyone into small groups and give each group a large sheet of paper and a red and a blue pen (you
could use different colours if you like!).
In blue pen, ask each group to write the word ‘city’ on their paper and then add describing words around it.
Then, in red, ask them to circle the words that could relate in some way to feelings of anxiety or fear. They
could also add new words to the page, describing how they feel in a city.
Challenge each group to pick a word and then create a still image to represent that word.
If you have time, invite them to develop their work by adding a city soundscape.
LANGUAGE
There is a long history of playwrights trying to capture the experience of living within a city
(if you are interested, try Mark Ravenhill’s Shoot/Get Treasure/Repeat, Shelagh
Delaney’s The Taste of Honey and Edward Bond‘s Saved). Pomona is an urban play
for this decade, exploring how cities have changed in recent times and what that means
for people living within them.
The language of the play is clear that the experience of living in a city can be a negative
one. The characters describe apocalyptic landscapes and imagine the city burning to ash
(as well as being covered in shit and jizz!). In the opening scene, Zeppo sums up his
worldview:
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“If you go deep enough, you’ll find all this stuff, the detritus of our lives. It’s built on this
foundation of pain and shit and suffering. You can’t be a good person anymore. There’s no such
thing. There’s just people who are aware of the pain they’re causing, and people who aren’t
aware.”
Zeppo recommends not knowing, not asking questions and not trying to differentiate
between people. He describes Pomona as “a hole in the middle of the city” (APPENDIX C)
and the characters seem to have holes, dangerous spaces, inside them too.
Here are some activities that could help your class to connect with the ideas discussed
above.
Disorientating drama game:
Ask everyone to find a partner and give each pair a dice.
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Initially, ask everyone to roll the dice with their partner. Those that roll higher than
their partner are now the ‘leader’. The leader must blindfold their partner (we
suggest using a black Alice band), and then carefully lead them around the room.
After a couple of minutes, swap over so that everyone has had a go at being
blindfolded and led.
Take some time to talk about the exercise – how did it feel to be blindfolded? How
did it feel to have the responsibility of leading?
Roll again to get a new leader and give the new leaders a list of instructions. When
they hear your signal (you could clap or ring a bell), they must stop and roll their
dice, which will determine how they lead their partner.
First stop:
If they roll 1-3 they should slow down
If they roll 4-6 they should go faster
Second stop:
If they roll an odd number they should go
backwards
If they roll an even number they should
use their voices to get their partners to
follow
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Third stop:
If they roll 1-3 they should swap partners
If they roll 4-6 they should swapping
leaders
Fourth stop:
If they roll an odd number they should
challenge their partner
If they roll an even number they should
make their partner’s journey easy and
pleasant
When the exercise has finished, ask everyone to stop. All blindfolds should be taken
off and dice handed back.
Ask each pair to join with another pair, to make a group of 4, and invite them to
discuss their experiences. Explain that POMONA is a very disorientating play, about
characters that find it difficult to make connections with each other.
Ask them to reflect on how whether the exercise made them feel: Disorientated? In
control or out of control? Isolated?
Also ask the groups to discuss how they feel the exercise could relate to living in an
urban area today, and on how they as individuals make meaningful connections
with others.
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Writing poems about urban anxiety:
Ask your class to look at the extracts from the script in APPENDIX A, B & C, underlining all
of the words that have been used to describe the experience of a city.
Create a long list of words (feel free to add to this list with other words that your class
comes up with).
See if your students can turn this list in a poem by adding connecting words and
sentences.
Creating urban landscapes:
Using the same lists as before, ask your class to build a physical urban landscape that
reflects the city described in Pomona. They could either do this using materials such as
cardboard boxes and material, or they could simply use their bodies and objects they can
find around the classroom.
Challenge them to bring some of the language from their lists into their landscapes
through performance: how can they make their audiences feel a sense of urban anxiety?
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THE DESIGN & SPECIAL EFFECTS
The design for the original production at the Orange Tree theatre was based on the idea of
a concrete pit. The designer, Georgia Lowe, and the director, Ned Bennet, came up with
this multi-purpose space (which needed to transform during the play into a seething city
centre, a bizarre bordello, a subterranean hospital and a dice-filled game board) after
visiting Pomona and discussing the sort of atmosphere they wanted to capture.
The chairs that the audience sat on were made to look like hospital chairs, so the audience
would feel part of the play.
WHY NOT?
Ask your class to return to their lists of words about Pomona (the place). How does the image of the set
design fit with those words? You might ask them to think about colours, textures, shapes etc.
AT THE ROYAL EXCHANGE:
The set design had to be changed quite a lot for the Royal Exchange. Our theatre module
would not allow for a pit (there is no space under the stage floor), and the rectangle shape
would look odd on our stage.
Georgia revisited her design and created a new, seven sided floor (to reflect the shape of
the module) that slopes gently into the shape of a bowl. In the play, everything moves in
circles and the design reflects this with everything being sucked down in a circular motion
to the central drain.
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In the original production, buckets of blood were thrown onto the characters of Moe and
Charlie during their fight. At the Royal Exchange, Ned and Georgia have been able to
achieve a special effect in which blood comes up from beneath the floor, through the
central drain. This links to the story that babies and organs are being harvested beneath
Pomona. In this way the production aims to bring horror and grotesqueness to the stage.
The central area is surrounded by drains, which are used to create interesting lighting and
sound effects (sound and light are come through the drains, giving the impression that
there is a world underneath the floor). There are also fluorescent tube lights on the first
gallery, which are used to create the sense of a maze for when Ollie is lost in tunnels
underneath Pomona.
Another special effect in this production is a complete black-out, which is very difficult to
achieve in our glass theatre module! The lighting team have managed it by cloaking the
module in heavy black fabric, which shuts out all light and allows the auditorium to be
plunged into darkness at certain moments in the play.
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MARKETING
Pomona is a difficult play to describe. The director, Ned Bennett, felt passionately that
audiences should be free to ‘experience’ the play with as little prior knowledge as possible.
This presented a challenge for the Royal Exchange’s marketing team! How on earth do you
create marketing material that will sell tickets for such an unusual play?
The key to marketing a play (or a film) is through a striking picture. As they say, a picture
is worth a thousand words – and it is amazing how an entire play can be summed up in
one image.
After reading Alastair McDowell’s play, looking at the set design and visiting Pomona (the
real place), the marketing team came up with a striking poster image (APPENDIX D) and a
somewhat spooky trailer (https://youtu.be/uRriIggIhdA). They hoped that these
materials would attract young sci-fi fans and encourage people to ask questions.
WHY NOT?
Show the marketing materials for Pomona to your class.
In groups ask your class to discuss:
How do they catch your attention?
What is the colour scheme? Is this reflected in the set design?
How do they set the tone for the play?
The marketing team also had to think about how their materials would reach all of the people they wanted
them to reach. They created a marketing plan, which included putting posters at stops on the metrolink
(including Pomona of course) and using social networking sites to promote the trailer.
They also wrote a press release, which went to a variety of different newspapers.
WHY NOT?
Ask your class to develop their own marketing plans. They should think about who they are trying to reach
and how they might reach them.
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APPENDIX A
SCENE 16
Fay is gagged, in front of Charlie and Moe. They are about to kill her.
Charlie When you saw her, you looked at her funny because you know her.
And you’re still going to do it.
Moe I don’tCharlie You’re still going to do it even though you know herMoe What does it matter?
What does it matter if I know her?
Would it make it better if I didn’t?
What does any of it matter?
All of this.
All of it.
It’s just a cycle of shit.
A drowning in oceans of piss.
I should be in jail. Or dead. Even better.
Why aren’t I?
Why didn’t anyone make that happen?
What kind of fucking world is this where I’m still allowed to walk around?
Why would I want to live in a world that would let me walk on it?
Why would anyone want to live somewhere like that?
But I believe in you. You’re a goodCharlie I’m notMoe You’re a good person.
You’re trying to be a good person.
He takes a knife from his pocket.
Moe So if I have to do this to keep you above water, then that’sThat’s okay-
Fay wobbles to her feet. She runs off.
Pause.
Moe Hit me.
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APPENDIX B
SCENE 17
Ollie is walking in an underground tunnels. Her flashlight illuminates Charlie.
Charlie After following the tip from the man in the car, you head to Pomona and sneak
past the two guards.
It is barren and empty and overgrown and you see and hear no one but cars passing in
the distance.
You walk on cracked concrete until your foot steps on metal and you find a hatch hidden in
amongst the tall grass.
Moe and Gale roll dice.
You find yourself in a deep underground tunnel.
Looking around you, it seems to have originally housed cables, but is tall enough for you to
stand up in. The water at your feet is brown with rust and dirt. Far ahead of you you see a
dim light.
Ollie Keep going.
Zeppo and Keaton roll dice.
Charlie You press on until the light grows nearer, and you find yourself at a large, steel
door. It looks newer than your surroundings, and is locked firmly.
Ollie Um- Pick the lock-
Fay and Charlie roll dice.
Charlie You fail.
Ollie Look around the tunnel-
Moe and Gale roll dice.
Charlie You find nothing of use.
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APPENDIX C
SCENE 1
Zeppo Have you heard of Pomona?
Ollie Pomona?
Zeppo Do you know where it is?
Ollie N- It’s a place?
Zeppo It’s an island.
Concrete Island.
Here.
Right in the middle of town.
Strip of land with the canal on both sides.
Tram tracks and train tracks and roads all surrounding it.
There’s one road in and out and it’s gated at both ends.
Nothing there but cracked asphalt and weeds.
All overgrown.
Streetlights don’t work.
It’s a hole.
A hole in the middle of the city.
Looks like what the world will be in a few thousand years.
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APPENDIX D
POSTER IMAGE
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