Adelaide University Theatre Guild. Little Theatre. 7 Aug 2026

 

Alistair’s McDowells Pomona is considered one of the new breed of horror, dystopian theatre pieces, albeit it was written in 2014. Ollie (as in Oliver, as in the boy’s name) is searching for her missing sister who she believes to be somewhere in Manchester. Through meetings with various characters, she ends up in Pomona, a seemingly abandoned concrete island in the middle of the city with one road in and out.

 

The mystery of Pomona is rather like the Tom Waits song What’s He Building? Except in this instance, we get to find out.

 

It’s a very clever script, turning circular before you realise what’s happening, light bulb moments catching you unawares. It’s a bit like a reverse engineered jigsaw puzzle as characters loop back to show how they got into their current position.

 

It’s gender fluid in terms of the characters; women play all the male roles bar one – Louis Bianchini plays Moe, a security guard at Pomona who craves human touch. It’s a difficult role, but he carries it off well, and the scene with him and rebellious sex worker (Fay Airlie-Jade Windle) is beautifully realised.

 

Macey Lawson is Zeppo, who owns half the city and tries to warn Ollie (Mia Livingston-Pierce) off. She’s a little difficult to understand at first but settles into her rhythm. Jessie Chugg’s Charlie works very hard, and with so much centred around this character, it’s a big ask which is mostly successful.

 

There are moments that are a bit redundant; a chorus scene adds little and much of the exposition of the close could be left behind, but that’s the script.

 

Lily Watkins character Keaton plays it a little darker but the follow through doesn’t really happen. Perhaps the most successful is Gale (Airlie-Jade Windle), the brothel owner who has gotten in too deep. She knows the horrors of Pomona and is terrified of becoming a victim, while at the same time being an antagonist.

 

The cast make a fair fist of Pomona, but it doesn’t really deliver the anxiety and angst that the play calls for. Rather than going off between their scenes, Director Thomas Midena has the actors waiting in the darkness in corners of the stage; this does deliver a sense of menace but it isn’t always reflected in the characterisations when they walk on stage. The end result is the tension is released and needs be built up again; unfortunate because the final reveal oft hinted at but still needs to pack a powerful punch.

 

Arna Eyers-White

 

When: 7 to 16 Aug

Where: Little Theatre, Adelaide University

Bookings: trybooking.com