Harpy at Malvern Festival Theatre

Performance seen on 16 October 2021 at Malvern Festival Theatres, main house.

I may be out of London, and we may still be in the middle of a pandemic, but theatre still lives on. Harpy is a one-woman play by Philip Meeks, directed by Abigail Anderson and starring Su Pollard. 

This is very much a departure from Peggy, Su Pollard's flighty Hi-De-Hi character many of us know and love. Birdie is not liked by her neighbours and is the so-called harpy from the title. She is an obsessive hoarder living on an estate in South West London near Crystal Palace and Streatham facing mental health issues, loneliness and battles with neighbours and those trying to help her. Inevitably, her neighbours are critical of the hoarding behaviour but don't understand her rationale and her need to hold on to these memories and stories that she associates with each item, no matter how humble the object.

The play is bittersweet and has both dramatic and comedic moments and it was really lovely to see Su Pollard in a meatier role and she is most definitely up to the task. The set works extremely well too. The play tackles themes of mental health, grief, isolation and how we deal with those who are deemed different in a gritty, realistic way. The story is both credible and poignant.

Clearly, many of Ms Pollard's fans were in the audience the night I went and she got a standing ovation. It was a very strong performance, and one that will remain with me for a long time, I'm sure.