The Poltergeist by Philip Ridley is a haunting one-man play which marks a departure from the playwright’s usual theatrical fare: surrealistic monster shows. In this 90-minute monologue, Ridley conducts an intricate and naturalistic dissection of the psychology of a precociously talented Central St Martins graduate, Sasha, whose life slowly starts to combust after an experience of personal tragedy. Split between the pretence of living normally as an adult (albeit heavily drugged up on painkillers) and the truer cynical and pain-inflected vision of the world that he harbours in his breast, Sasha pithily describes himself as a Damien Hirst masquerading as Monet: ‘On the surface it’s waterlilies but underneath it’s all formaldehyde and sharks.’
Actor Louis Davison takes on this emotionally demanding role with astonishing virtuosity. He brilliantly manages to squeeze every ounce of feeling out of Ridley’s writing and develops a cast of zany characters, all of which are convincingly alive. As Sasha, he successfully embodies moments of breakdown, schizophrenically flitting between politely pandering to social expectations and then uttering poison-coated words beneath his breath. Equally well-handled are the play’s dreamlike episodes: you believe in Davison’s eyes that he has entered another realm of existence, one that serves the function of making his present reality more bearable. Best of all, though, is the play’s heart-wrenching climax, a quiet and tender moment between Sasha and his niece, in which they reflect on missed opportunities and how people respond to grief. It brought one audience member to tears, and it is worth seeing the play for this scene alone.
The psychological undercurrents of Ridley’s offbeat writing style are brilliantly brought to light by director Wiebke Green. Her directorly weapons of choice are voice and movement. Alternating between tedious conversations at a children’s birthday party, Davison’s Sasha is like a spinning top throttling around the stage, his movement suggesting a life rapidly spiralling out of control. His speech style is also well-chosen. Although Davison shifts between six different characters (and accents), Green keeps the verbal tempo lightning fast throughout. Memories, bitter asides and interior narration are discharged like a relentless fusillade of bullets. This may sound migraine-inducing, but it’s fantastically experiential: the intention is to bring the audience into Sasha’s head-spinning world and get them to feel the impact of his maddening pain.
That said, to make The Poltergeist truly immersive, the production would have benefited from playing with other aspects of design. Lighting, for instance, was almost unremittingly yellow and harsh, shifting to a barely noticeable pallid blue in moments of introspection. Varying it and deploying colour would have made the burden on Davison lighter while complementing the technicolour, painterly language of the play. On the other hand, keeping the staging simple was effective; the bare, black-box stage served as a claustrophobic container, a metaphor for Sasha’s ‘spontaneously combusting’ mind.
Green’s The Poltergeist at the Arcola is a highly accomplished piece of theatre. With Davison as the entrancing storyteller at the helm, the audience are drawn into a world darkened by human disconnection, depression, and social alienation. These gloomy feelings may have been rampant in the days of covid when Ridley’s play first premiered, but with a misery-inducing onslaught of online imagery and hard-to-stomach newspaper headlines, Sasha’s search for a life of colour feels as fresh as paint.
By Philip Ridley
Director: Wiebke Green
Photo credits: Simon Annand
Cast includes: Louis Davison
Until: Saturday 11th October
Running Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes, no interval
Review by Olivia Hurton
15th September 2025