Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Emma Sidi, Barney Fishwick, Kymberley Cochrane, Leah Marks, Gerard McDermott.
When does imagination cross the line, when does a podcast in the modern age transform itself into being a ritual to which people flock to and see it as more than just an exercise in indulgence or a way for a lesser-known story to be revealed.
Podcasting has become a form of entertainment that has opened up the narrative revolution in such a way that it could be argued that it rivals the emergence of the novel in the transformation of how a story can be told by all and listened by everyone.
The days of an executive holding a writer to ransom may still be with us, but the power has significantly waned, for now the balance has shifted, anyone can create content, all you really need is a captive audience in which to prove success…even if you have to lie, cheat, and deceive that same audience with a con of delivery.
Ollie George Clark’s Nightmarish is a light-hearted view of a world where content is king for engaged couple Amy and Ben. Struggling with the spiralling cost of a wedding, crippled by lack of work in their chosen artistic field for both of the young pair, the lure of a podcast created from thin air, one that delves into the heart of that which is most valued, the unknown true crime and murder genres, is too much to ignore…and what does it matter if the truth of the matter is a little hazy, a little too easy to source.
The question is just how far do you push the lie, is it to the point where those who come to respect it cannot understand why you would admit it was all created from thin air, a lie spun from desperation; and therein lays the nightmare, it has given you the belief of something extraordinary without having the substance to back up the conviction of faith. In this aspect it is no different to that which has covered all the good stories in the last two thousand years. For even the Bible is not immune to embellishment and decoration by Kings and Popes.
A story is a story, unless it gives people reason to feel duped and stupid, then it is an invention of deceit, and as Ollie George Clark ably shows, nobody likes to feel as though they have been sold the wrong kind of belief.
Ian D. Hall