Keaton, played by Bahareh Yaraghi (a wonderful actress in a less than wonderful wig), first appears onstage wearing a mask of Cthulhu, the H.P. Alistair McDowall’s dark sci-fi mystery Pomona was a major hit in London when it premiered in 2014, but its most telling line has a particular parallel to the cynical tone of 2016. Pomona’s Manchester is a David Lynchian maze, though Stanton’s direction sometimes misses the comedy found in the first scene with Zeppo and Ollie. Often, his production leans too hard on atmosphere; transitions have the actors banging the set pieces (scaffolding, wooden planks and clear plastic tarps). Nevertheless, Pomona and its puzzling structure are hard to forget and its dark material only makes it harder to do so.

Source: thestar November 04, 2016 18:55 UTC