Pool (no water) by Mark Ravenhill was performed by Matilda Bowyer-Knight, Tilda Coleman, Catherine Liney, Rosie Richards, Tabitha Syrett, Frederick Cooper and Benedict Cameron for their AS Level Drama Exam.
Hypnotic and razor-sharp, pool (no water) tears up the ideals of friendship and art, exposing a deep vein of envy. The lines of the script are not assigned to particular characters or parts, but reveal a seething collective experience of guilt and jealousy.
A famous artist invites her old friends out to her luxurious home and new swimming pool. For one night only, the group is back together, pretending to be bohemian and carefree even though they're all older now and the rest of them don't have pools. But a horrific accident puts an end to the nostalgia, and puts their host into a coma.
None of them is sure who was first to take out a camera. And before too long her suffering is being claimed, exploited, delighted in, because it makes wonderful art.
The first performance of pool (no water) was in 2006 at the Drum Theatre, Plymouth.
