Corrina O’Bierne’s new play follows Neddy as she returns to the Glastonbury music festival for the first time in decades to celebrate what would have been her late sister’s 50th birthday. But this isn’t a study of one woman’s experience of the varied music on offer and all that makes Glastonbury what it is. This is more a case of a woman in her fifties looking back on life whilst trying to come to terms with the death of a sibling to whom she seemed inseparable. In doing so, Neddy is seen to go through every emotion, as she reviews various attempts to combat both grief extreme loneliness whilst encountering various people along the way.
Jo Dakin gives a powerful, energetic and physical performance as Neddy (and her associate Payday Paula), occasionally going up to individual members of the audience as she explores her own life and feelings but primarily telling her own story. Dakin portrays as shown to be a fun-loving Mancunian girl with an earthy sense of humour and likable personality who is deep down very vulnerable, trying to mask a lot of anguish which inevitably comes to the surface as she goes into her life in depth. Her anguish, and at times tearful momentary pauses, intermixed with comedy and pathos, are evident on Dakin’s face as she takes the audience is taken on an emotional, grief-stricken roller-coaster.
With a minimal set, the only prop being a small bag containing an ecstasy tablet, director Prue Griffiths successfully uses both dramatic music and subdued lighting sparingly at key emotive points in the story to create various moods. This was set against was a tent frontage, adorned with festival lighting and bunting, and a small crate that served as a table. An interesting variation to most one-person performances is that at on a number of key moments, Neddy runs behind the tent and emerges after a pause in a different emotional state, effectively denoting a time lapse. This is not just a retrospective story told in real time. The play works as a patchwork quilt of memories rather than a continuous, episodic monologue.
The fragments of painful memory and exploration of grief, through witty comedy, makes for an engaging and thought-provoking evening, drawing on Dakin’s innate mastery as a comedian and actor. A touching, cleverly-written piece by a Corrina O’Beirne. Highly recommended.
Hark at Her Productions | TheatreReviewsNorth
Reviewer - John Waterhouse
On - 23.05.26
