Two outsiders picked on at school

For being new, weird and uncool

Two men walk towards one another across a crowded airport. One sporting white leather shoes, the other brown brogues. A handshake is offered. But is it reciprocated? Blackout. A dramatic cliffhanger which bookends Catherine Wheel Theatre Company’s accomplished restaging of their critically-acclaimed 2008 production of The Ballad of Pondlife McGurk (now shortened to Pondlife) about two outsiders who despite being “weird” and thus an open target for the poisonous darts of school bullies, forge an unlikely friendship based on their mutual appreciation of comics, which is tested to breaking point when one of them is faced with a conundrum of The Clash variety: Should I stay or should I go now?

The “I” being Martin, a newbie from Birmingham teased for his accent and hometown’s association with the production of cutlery (hence the puerile put-down “Spoonface”). “Stay” referring to his close friendship with Simon McGurk, an odd boy with odd socks who prizes art over football and is given the derogatory nickname “Pondlife” after falling into a shallow pool of water on a school trip gone wrong. And “go” relating to “The Neanderthals”, a group of school bullies led by the bolshy Sharon McGuinness whose wild locks and pug face is wonderfully portrayed through the utilisation of a dinner tray and a mop head.

Photo: catherinewheels.co.uk
Photo: catherinewheels.co.uk

The boys revel in one another’s company. During term time they write comics and dream of mass publication. And during their one and only long, hot Scottish summer together they do what every little boy and girl loves to do and what most working men and women who have packed away their toys for a lifetime of routine and order yearn to re-do: play games, climb trees, make-believe and look up at the stars and the clouds and try to make connections. A wild horse. Emerging from the blue. Galloping, jumping, neighing. But like many of the nags who take part in the Grand National, their friendship stumbles on a Becher’s Brook moment of madness when Martin is forced to make a choice between joining the in-crowd of Sharon and her glaikit sidekick Judith Montgomery or remaining an outsider.

Tony Strachan as the sole performer steps into the shoes of the original creator Andy Manley with aplomb, nailing the conveyor belt of characters including a maternal Highlander and a strict disciplinarian with shape-shifting distinction. Though judging by his wayward Brummie accent one can only presume Martin’s parents were well-travelled. A minor, tongue-in-cheek point, for he really is terrific and exudes vulnerability and strength, likeability and loathing at the drop of a hat during the hour-long production. Rob Evans’ script is pared back and powerful, weaving a tapestry of voices round a third person narrator. And Catherine Wheels artistic director Gill Robertson choreographs Strachan’s considerable frame round an intimate space with balletic precision.

Pondlife teaser 2016 from Catherine Wheels

Peter Callaghan
Latest posts by Peter Callaghan (see all)