One of the legends of Malta’s theatrical scene Polly March has passed away.
March’s name is synonymous with Malta’s theatre scene having starred in and directed a myriad of performances with several drama houses on the island.
She remained active in Malta’s theatre scene until the end: she was directing the staging of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus which is set to open at the Salesians Theatre in Sliema on October 25.
That show will go on, with the theatre saying that despite her illness, it was March’s wish to see the production brought to life, and that Mel Drake – a lecturer at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland – will direct in March’s stead.
Polly March trained at Guildhall, and has worked in most theatres across Great Britain, playing everything from Hermia, to Queen Victoria to a parrot.
Her solo show on the life and work of Lilian Baylis, founder of The Old Vic, won a Fringe First at Edinburgh, was commissioned by the BBC as Radio 4 Play of The Week, She was appointed Artist in Residence at New York University, performing and leading workshops. She has four other solo shows, all of which have won awards and toured extensively.
Polly worked extensively on radio; and had recorded all of the Narnia series for the BBC, with Paul Schofield and David Suchet. She was the first ever Tinkerbell to speak in the BBC radio version of Peter Pan!
Here in Malta, she performed in many plays, including ‘Habeas Corpus’, ‘Female of The Species’, ‘Are you Being Served’ ‘Talking Heads’, ‘Allo Allo’, ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’, ‘Calendar Girls’ , ‘Much Ado’, ‘The Rose Tattoo’, ‘Noises Off’, ‘Blithe Spirit’, and directed in a number of productions including ‘The Alchemist’, ‘The Mousetrap’, ‘Winter’s Tale’, ‘The Great Big Radio Show’ and ‘Blithe Spirit’.