Whatever Happened to Harry @ Arches Live

Seated in a blue Benz with the door hanging open, it is hard to anticipate what is going to happen. To the sound of a reggae beat, a woman with a shawl about her head and sunglasses darts into the car, turns the key in the ignition, and the tale begins. 

Whatever Happened to Harry? unravels the life of 'Flash Harry' through the eyes of various people - members of the Glasgow underworld. Each character comes to add to the jigsaw of information about Harry, and his mysterious disappearance. 

Lou Prendergast cleverly traps the audience in a car, addressing a direct and intimate narrative to the three in the back seat. There is no place to go, and the story is right in your face, taking place in the Benz itself. The distance between the story, the performer, and the audience is eradicated. However, the piece is centered around Prendergast's narration - since that allows her to tell the story her way and on her terms - without anticipating or requiring a certain level of audience engagement. 

Through each character entrance and exit, the pace is utterly controlled, and each pause in between - allowing for small wardrobe alterations - gives the chance to reflect upon what has just been revealed.

Although the close quarters of the Benz and the direct narrative could be considered an immersive theatre experience, there is no real interaction between performer and audience. Nonetheless, Whatever Happened to Harry? is an intelligent piece, and pushes theatre performance into a unique place, quite outside the proverbial box. [Eric Karoulla]