Review: Welcome To Pemfort, Soho Theatre

You shouldn’t read this review. No, really. Stop reading and just go book a ticket. Read the blurb on Soho Theatre’s website and go in with just that. Welcome to Pemfort doesn’t have a twist, it’s not a M. Night Shyamalan thriller, but it’s a play that’s best to approach knowing little and instead allowing it to unfold.  

At first, it is quietly disarming, even charming. What begins as a warm, almost romantic comedy, full of supportive, gently comic characters, slowly builds up a sneaking sense of dread. It is subtle but powerful work, and director Ed Madden clearly paces this with care.  

At the centre of it all is Kurtis (Sean Delaney), hired by Uma (Debra Gillett) to work in the gift shop at Pemfort medieval fort (not a castle!) alongside Glenn (Ali Hadji-Heshmati) and Ria (Lydia Larson). Uma feels a kinship with Kurtis; he has been trying to get his life back on track after time in prison and Uma’s history, mostly hinted at, leads her to extend him warmth and compassion, perhaps to see if Pemfort can be a place for life and rehabilitation. Sarah Power’s script quickly establishes distinct characters in the cast of four. Hadji-Heshmati’s Glenn captures an awareness, a naive fixed view of how things should be in the world and in the gift shop. The developing friendship and then budding romance between Kurtis and Ria is both natural and affecting. Delaney and Larson convincingly capture the butterflies in each as they start to think there might be something more between them, and both bring an easy charm 

Alys Whitehead’s set design looks like a warm quirky gift shop that you could walk into at any smaller tourist site. Brightly lit and welcoming, it completely fits with that feeling of warmth from the characters. Cheng Keng’s lighting becomes cooler as the story becomes more serious, narrowing on the characters and emphasising the focus on their story. The gift shop almost feels like a home for Uma, Ria and Glenn and one where they tentatively open the door to Kurtis. It contributes strongly to the warmth, friendship and bonds that come under severe challenge as the past rears its head.

As the team brings together a living history day to tell the story of Pemfort Castle, parallel questions explore accountability, forgiveness and how we remember history, be it battles of the last millennia or events in the more recent and more personal past. The question of Kurtis’ crimes becomes central. Delaney is an absolute star, making Kurtis deeply human and leaving space for such empathy that the violence of his past brings hurt to the audience. It’s a tremendous performance and the emotion and effort he invests becomes obvious at the curtain call. Every moment with Kurtis, you can feel the weight of his past bearing down on him, affecting him constantly. 

Welcome to Pemfort has no easy answers. We all have to live with our pasts, but can we change? How do we atone, learn, move forward, forgive – and be forgiven? Power’s script brilliantly tackles big themes of violence, shame, guilt and responsibility in a genuinely engaging way. The use of living history and consideration of the length of time before a violent event is considered history just underlines all of Power’s themes. The superb cast bring this home, keeping us with them without tipping over into judgement or sentiment. It’s not easy, but this play stays with you. It’s one that will leave you reeling as you wander off into Dean Street. 

Writer: Sarah Power
Director: Ed Madden
Set and Costume Designer: Alys Whitehead 
Associate Set and Costume Designer: Victoria Maytom 
Lighting Designer: Cheng Keng 
Sound Designer and Composer: Max Pappenheim 

Welcome to Pemfort plays at Soho Theatre until Saturday 18 April.