Pool (no water), Bristol

Review of Bristol Spotlight's 

Pool (No Water) 

I am lucky that as Bristol Spotlight's first year rep. i'm exposed to about two plays a week. Pool (no water) was a student production I saw on thursday night at the intimate Wardrobe Theatre above the Write Bear pub. 

I anticipated a hard piece of drama, but was not prepared for the penetrating display of emotion and fearless acting in Mark Ravenhill’s Pool (no water) produced by Spotlights drama group, which i'm on the committee for. I was spellbound by each of the actor’s performances as they created intense, contrasting atmospheres of pure horror, hysteria and sublime euphoria for the audience to digest.

The content of the play was thrilling and simultaneously shocking, from the screeching of profanities to the horrifying twisting of their bodies as they writhed in the aftermath of drug abuse. It was tough to watch, but our attention was always held, especially by the flawless choreography. A personal highlight was the scene when all four characters swam furiously through their colleague’s pool, precisely in unison, not a finger was out of place. Speech aside, their solidarity and paradoxically, their hatred was echoed by their interaction with each other’s bodies and the chairs. In particular, Eve shone through with her series of violently physical performances as she shook in pain and hysteria, provoking our natural sense of human compassion.

As we followed the four on their journey we learnt how their lust for luxury and success was poisonous for the fragility of their egos as they fall into a spiral of destructive jealousy leading to a loss of solidarity. This then leads to greed as they decide to exploit their host’s sudden position of weakness to the advantage of their own art. Watching the quartet morph into drug abusers wrought by their insecurities and lust was gripping and the choreography presenting them at different levels was visually appealing.

Considering the depth of experience I marvelled at the simplicity of the set, which was decorated with only four chairs on a small stage. The costumes, a combination of red and black long sleeve tops and trousers also gave a sense of ambiguity in relation to their gender and allowed us to interpret the true nature of the relationships however we pleased.

 Overall the phenomenal direction gave the audience a really interactive experience thanks to the intensity of the acting, intimacy of the venue, the powerful physicality of the choreography and the constant need for us to question all the play’s subtle ambiguities.