Written by Joe Eyre and directed by Myles O’Gorman, Tiger is a bittersweet story about grief and feeling utterly lost and heart-broken, told in a beautifully unique way.
A year on from Alice (played by Poppy Allen-Quarmby) losing her father, she is still processing it. She doesn’t leave the house and her doctor boyfriend Oli (Luke Nunn) can’t seem to help her. They struggle to make rent on his salary so they decide to advertise the spare room.
While Oli is at work, a strange character appears to view the room. We will come know this character as Tiger. It is on Tiger’s arrival that we see the lines between reality and imagination blur. Is Tiger real?
As Oli works nights in A & E, Alice begins to spend more and more time with Tiger. This begins to frustrate Oli, who is hostile to Tiger’s child-like presence. Alice and Tiger share a world of imagination and make-believe, a momentary escapism from the grief.
At one point Oli completely loses it with Tiger and because we are not sure if Tiger is real or not, it makes one wonder is it his growing impatience and helplessness with Alice’s mental decline.
Meg Lewis’s characterisation of Tiger is wonderfully playful much like a cat. It contrasts and compliments Poppy’s Alice while she goes through the throws of her grief with highs and devastating lows. Luke Nunn’s portrayal of Oli is utterly convincing as the frustrated partner. It is clear he cares deeply for Alice and feels hopeless and despite his profession as a doctor he can’t help Alice.
The attention to detail in this piece is evident in the set design by Hazel Low, a runway raised platform covered in pink fluffy fabric. There are storage boxes containing Alice’s father’s artifacts. She needs to decide what to keep, throw or give away.
Tiger runs at Omnibus Theatre until 2nd of December. To find out more visit their website.
