This Wedding Party Invites You to Choose Your Own Drama (With Plenty of It)
A company known for its playful, devised works whisks audiences away to a wedding party of the gods. Dacha Theatre’s The Pomegranate Tree runs through 11/9 at Theatre Off Jackson.
It’s tricky to review Dacha’s latest immersive work — not that I don’t have anything much to say about it (I could write reams), but because all I can write about is my particular experience which, by design, is wholly singular and unreplicatable. But if, like me, you grew up on Choose Your Own Adventure books, this piece — focused on the (literal) wedding from hell, of Greek gods Hades and Persephone — will likely activate a lot of the same pleasure centers.
The Pomegranate Tree, from creator/directors Ayla Wren Wallace and Suz Pontillo, invites audience members to share in the gods’ festivities. At the gates, guests are each given a coin as a token to allow safe passage to the underworld and ushered into the dark but festive theatre space by Charon (Logan West), the ferryman. Once inside, after undergoing a ritualistic welcome from Hecate (Karis Ho), goddess of witchcraft, attendees are greeted by host Hades (James Schilling), offered libations from the well-stocked cash bar, and invited to mill about and interact with the rest of the guests, both human and divine.
The main thrust of the evening, of course, is the union between Hades and Persephone (Riley Gene), which will serve to bind Persephone to the underworld after she undergoes the “pomegranate ceremony,” which, we are told, will change her in some unknown ways. But distraught mother-of-the-bride Demeter (Ksenia Boisvert) objects to the marriage and spirits away the pomegranate, casting doubt on whether the marriage will even take place.
Let’s call that the “A Plot.” Surrounding them are a host of other characters — including Olympians Aphrodite (Angel Gao), Artemis (Kendra Tamar Budd), Apollo (Kenzie Wells), Hermes (Liam He), Athena (Paula Wilson Nitka), and Dionysus (Steph Couturier), along with a few other notable figures from Greek myth, like Achilles (Amber Tanaka), Cassandra (Orianna O’Neill), Mnemosyne (Sean Hendrickson), and Orpheus (Walden Barnett Marcus) — and they all have their own threads running through the evening. To name a few of the many dramas: there’s the will-they-won’t-they of a potential romance (millennia in the making) between Hecate and Charon; a potential new romance between “platonic” buddies Aphrodite and Hermes; the beef of unknown origin between Mnemosyne and Dionysus; and the post-breakup awkwardness between sun god Apollo and doomed prophetess Cassandra (which, depending on which drama guests choose to follow, might take precedence over others). All of this involves detailed, on-the-fly interactions between the cast and audience members, and the skill and commitment of the actors throughout the evening is incredibly impressive.
But it’s not only the actors who made it a memorable night. Scenic designer Teia O’Malley deserves major props for the moody but festive atmosphere of the space, which underlines the dual nature of the couple at its heart, blending natural, organic elements with rock and crystal. The scenic design is bolstered by the lovely lighting design from Jordan Somers and the subtle but intricate costuming from designer Briana Schwartz.
If I have a quibble with the piece, which on the whole worked remarkably well, it’s that audience members are given almost too much freedom to decide which plots to follow. Had I not accompanied Hades and Persephone to a side chamber after Demeter’s abrupt departure, I probably would’ve missed some major plot and character development; and I’m sure there were other important moments I inevitably did miss. It was also, on occasion, a little hard to hear some vignettes between characters, between the house band (consisting of Diego Chavez, Van Lang Plam, and Olivia Pedroza, all excellent) and the luck of the draw of where I was standing. But I suppose that just means I should come back another night and zag where I previously zigged.
Overall, The Pomegranate Tree is a pretty remarkable achievement from Dacha, and a truly unique theatrical experience. Consider this your invitation to join the party and make one of your own.
The Pomegranate Tree from Dacha Theatre runs through 11/9 at Theatre Off Jackson in Seattle’s International District. Tickets are $3-$66 (sliding scale available to all), here. Note: all performances are currently sold out — contact the theatre for availability. Accessibility notes: performances are in the upstairs venue, which is wheelchair accessible; restrooms are gender-neutral and multi-stall.
Run times may vary, due to the nature of the show; approximately 1 hour 50 minutes.
Jill Farrington Sweeney is a Texas ex-pat getting to know the Seattle-area arts scene, and is perpetually on the hunt for good Mexican food. Her writing has appeared on TheaterJones, Onstage NTX, and NWTheatre.