(4 / 5)

From the very first line of dialogue in Theatr Clwyd’s Under Milk Wood, with its small houses set centre stage as if we, the audience, are giants looking in, it becomes clear that this adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ iconic play is a unique and vibrant celebration of the Welsh poet’s work- the richness of his words, filled with alliteration and rhythm, a testament to the author’s unparalleled mastery of language.

This is a play which resonates both locally and universally, drawing on themes of community, memory, and the intricacies of daily life. Directed with a clear sense of playfulness and passion, the performance takes the audience into the heart of the small town of Llareggub (read it backwards!), where ordinary lives are elevated to the extraordinary through the magic of language and movement, in varied forms.

In many ways, it’s a shame that Theatr Clwyd’s production of Under Milk Wood comes so soon after Welsh National Theatre’s Our Town– both plays pulling back the curtain on seemingly simple towns, offering an almost voyeuristic glimpse into its inhabitants’ lives. (With similar themes- love, life, death…) it’s difficult not to compare the two. That aside, what makes this production so very special is its utter inclusiveness- this performance is an experience- the likes which I have never experienced in the theatre before and for this alone it should be celebrated. The text, presented in both BSL (British Sign Language) and written format, ensures that the performance is accessible to a wider audience. However, as in regular ‘signed’ performances- we aren’t just witness to one interpreter stood aside. Every word is signed by the actors on stage, so it simply becomes part of the story, without us having to turn our heads and miss the action.

Creativity oozes from this production- not only in its direction from Kate Wasserberg but also in characterisation through the video captions-the use of projected text adds another layer of artistry. The fonts are meticulously chosen, with particular attention paid to the shifting of colours and effects. For example, during one section, the text takes on a crumbling effect as Rosie Probert goes ‘into the darkness’, and during a scene in which a mirror is portrayed, the projected text is also mirrored. Fantastic attention to detail which doesn’t go amiss.

Astute detail is also present in the production’s costume- conveying character and tone. The seaside elements in the wardrobe choices- the hats, bags, jackets- are both character-specific and thematically rich. From the vicar to the baker, the draper to the postman, the wardrobe subtly anchors each character in their respective roles while adding a touch of whimsy and coastal charm! The costumes also play a vital role in the play’s multiple characterisations. The cast tackle these with vigour, embodying a range of town inhabitants from the familiar (the Vicar, the Postman) to the more peculiar (the Drunkard, the Sailor). Each portrayal is a nuanced, often humorous, interpretation that offers glimpses of the town’s vibrant collective personality. It would be impossible to single out individual performers. It’s easy to see why Thomas’ play has remained a classic; its inhabitants feel both familiar and surreal and we can probably all see reflections of ourselves in each one!

The cast’s use of movement and expression enhances the comedic moments beautifully and humour is rife throughout the piece- in the subtle gestures and exaggerated physicalities, which make each character feel larger-than-life. In terms of movement, the production is completely captivating! The transition from clock to cow (and everything in between!) is seamless. The clock making frequent returns, time, of course, being a key theme throughout. Hayley Grindles set design captures this perfectly- the clock, a prominent fixture at the end of Act 1 and beginning of Act 2, is a potent symbol of this thematic progression- time, always ticking, never stopping.

Theatr Clwyd’s production of Under Milk Wood is a sensory feast- an immersive, funny, poignant, and thoroughly human exploration of life in a small Welsh town.

Under Milk Wood completes its run at Theatr Clwyd on Saturday April 4^th then goes on to the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff and finishes at Pontio, Bangor on May 23^rd.

Cast:

Adam Bassett- Jack Black, Cherry Owen, Dai Bread, Foxy

Sean Carlsen- Reverend Eli Jenkins, Butcher Beynon, Mr Ogmore, PC Atilla Rees

Jacob Coleman- Organ Morgan, Ocky Milkman, Willy Nilly, Nogood Boyo, Sinbad Sailors

Amy Conachan- Gossamer Beynon, Mrs Pugh, Mrs Cherry Owen, Mrs Dai Bread 1

Mirain Fflur- Mae Rose Cottage, Rosie Probert, Bessy Bighead, Mrs Dai Bread 2

Chandu Gopalakrishnan- Mrs Willy Nilly, Gwennie

Georgia Griffiths- Mrs Ogmore Pritchard, Polly Garter

Macsen McKay- Mog Edwards, Evans the Death, Mr Pritchard, Mr Pugh, Lord Cut Glass

Izzi McCormack-John- Myfanwy Price, Lily Smalls

Caroline Parker- Waldo’s Mum, Mrs Watkins, Mrs Organ Morgan, Mary Ann Sailors, Mrs Beynon

Douglas Walker- Captain Cat, Waldo, Utah Watkins

Creatives:

Kate Wasserberg- Director

Katie-Elin Salt- Associate Director & Dramaturg

Adam Bassett- BSL Director

Laura Meaton- Movement Director

Hayley Grindle- Set & Costume Designer

Joshua Pharo- Co-Lighting & Video Caption Designer

Sarah Readman (SR)- Co-Lighting & Video Caption Designer

Oliver Vibrans- Composer

Lynwen Haf Roberts- Musical Director

Liam Quinn- Sound Designer

Em Dulson- Assistant Director

Jacob Sparrow- Casting Director

Production Team

Suzy Somerville- Production Manager

Alec Reece- Company Stage Manager

Amber Chapell- Deputy Stage Manager

Phoebe Storm- Assistant Stage Manager

As it says on their website, TRIONGL is a company made up of three founding members, Valmai Jones, Rebecca Knowles and Rebecca Smith-Williams. The members work collaboratively to devise new pieces of theatre that engage with socially relevant themes with joyful scrutiny. The company is Cardiff based and works in both the Welsh and English language as appropriate.

‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ is a devised piece that runs for about an hour and a half. It is performed without an interval. The actors mainly speak in English, frequently addressing the audience directly, but there are a lot of exchanges in Welsh. These exchanges are translated simultaneously into English and are shown on a screen.

The subject of ITAOT is life after death or, more precisely, the spiritualist activity of getting in touch with those who have died by asking them to speak. The subject is treated with respectful irony, as much as ‘joyful scrutiny’, so the tone of the performance is comic. No attempt is made to scare the audience with things that go bump in the night.

The subject matter looks back to a time when it was common enough for audiences to go out to watch mediums ostensibly make contact with the dead. Unfortunately, Angela, our hostess for the evening, is a stand-in who does not believe and who only got involved in the spiritualism business because she was a member of a youth theatre and enjoys acting. To her astonishment, when she tries her hand, she finds herself possessed by the spirit of Debi Kicks, an energetic personal trainer whose class she had attended. She falls to the ground calling out ‘squats!’

It turns out Angela is being haunted by Debi, a restless spirit, unhappy to have passed away suddenly. She fancies a gin and tonic and wants some perfume to counter the smell of putrefaction. The two women are connected by coincidence because after Angela had been persuaded to attend Debi’s exercise class by her policewoman niece, Shona, she too had collapsed afterwards. The only other speaking member of the cast is a bilingual budgie, although there is an extra who assists with non-speaking roles and set changes.

Angela does not enjoy being haunted but starts to think. Maybe dead Debi will be able to put her in touch with Gwen. That way she could carry the stand-in show, talking to Gwen, establishing a real link with the spirit world, instead of having to improvise on the night and risk being exposed as a fraud. Debi, though, has not made contact with anyone apart from a suspicious looking man in a cap who seems to be taking an over-active interest in her. At the same time, Angela is paranoid she may have poisoned Debi by sharing her home made lunch with her. She presses Shona for details of Debi’s death, but Shona is caught up in her wedding plans.

The story is told, or unravelled, by the three women in an ingenious style. They frequently break through the fourth wall to explain what has happened, talking to the audience then switching back to participate in the story. To isolate themselves and re-enter the world of the play, they open and close a curtain. Much of the action behind the curtain takes place in what was Gwen’s caravan, where Angela is now living, but there are other imaginary locations, like the hospital where Angela and Debi are taken after they have collapsed. The set design is basic and realistic.

Interestingly, this is not a farce. The action is always presented at a very steady tempo and the jokes occur, rather than sounding forced. Nothing is emphasised. The acting is so naturalistic it’s invisible: it’s easy to think the cast are appearing as their real selves. The three performers sell themselves to the audience as sympathetic individuals participating in a true story. This approach provides the piece with its originality. It does have the feel of something that has been intensively workshopped, but the theme provides food for thought and the ideas that have been added in are sound. The budgie, of course, is very funny.

Because it moves at its own even pace and avoids relapsing into farce, I don’t think the piece would work in a large venue, but it was well suited to the small auditorium at Twm o’r Nant. It would not appeal greatly to an audience of young people but an older demographic, like those attending in Denbigh, will appreciate its understated approach: spiritualism without melodrama. Possibly the inclusion of more music and a song or two might have strengthened it. The most dynamic moment occurs at the very beginning, with the projection of Debi’s face on the drawn curtain as she exhorts her class to work out. Valmai Jones as Debi demonstrates dance-like skills in her movements. I feel sure other members of the cast have abilities or specific talents that could also have been showcased. A certain amount of showing off is allowed in the theatre and it usually contributes to the occasion.

To end on a positive note – I’d say the company deserves credit for touring their work to venues in towns like Denbigh where communities may be starved of access to contemporary theatre. Venues like Twm o’r Nant, which has an historic connection with an almost forgotten Welsh playwright, need to be kept open and busy. Triongl is touring accessible work which is representative of modern collaborative methods. This can only be a good thing.

Simon Kensdale

(4 / 5)

Having been lucky enough to see Blackeyed Theatre’s award-nominated production of Oh What a Lovely War at the same theatre in 2024, I knew I was in for a treat with this world-premiere adaptation- in which we see four classic Sherlock Holmes mysteries intertwined to make one thrilling new adventure.

Blackeyed Theatre is one of the UK’s leading touring theatre companies, with over twelve years’ experience of bringing exciting, high-quality work across the UK.

“After working with Blackeyed on two previous adaptations of Conan Doyle novels (The Sign of Four and The Valley of Fear) it was really exciting to be asked back to create something a little different for our third Holmes collaboration. It’s been fun capturing the pace, the spirit and the character of Doyle’s original adventures, and our hope is that, like the stories themselves, The Hunt for Moriarty will keep audiences gripped – and guessing – along with the great detective himself, right to the last” Nick Lane, Writer and Director.

The stage is set but is perhaps not what we would expect from 221b Baker Street- the apartment is burnt out, and we can’t see much aside from a few doors, some chairs, and a table. Enter our narrator for the evening, Dr John Watson, perfectly portrayed by Ben Owora who leads us into our tale and the events leading up to the fire. The plot is intricate but fast paced and the set is versatile- transforming cleanly from 221b Baker Street to an underground station, a theatre basement, a gentlemen’s club and so on. Sound and lighting offer additional atmosphere and projections on the back wall provide the audience with a visual aid reflecting the action on stage (i.e. a letter that’s being read, a note that’s been found etc.) as well as assisting with scene transitions- an underground map, billowing flames, a waterfall.

Mention must be made to the movement within the piece- from the slick scene changes to the fight choreography and the clever physical theatre of the Diogenes Club- the togetherness of the gentlemen seated, trying to read their newspapers in peace makes for an amusing watch! There are lots of standout moments like this which make this production sparkle.

The cast are superb and deal with the large amount of dialogue wonderfully- the production is lengthy at 2 hours 45 with a 20-minute interval (unsure of the 7.45pm start!) and in honesty, felt like it should have ended at ‘case-closed’! However, the title somewhat gives away the fact that we’re going to be heading to the Reichenbach Falls at some point during proceedings, so the numb bum had to be endured for at least another 20 minutes!

The character transformations are executed beautifully, with thoughtful costume and accent changes that make it easy to tell who’s who — and ultimately, whodunnit! Pippa Caddick plays all female roles from Mrs Hudson to Irene Adler and switches between them with confidence and clarity. Eliot Giuralarocca and Robbie Capaldi also handle four or five characters each with ease. However, special mention must go to Gavin Molloy, whose portrayals of five characters are so distinct that it’s easy to forget Lestrade and Moriarty are, in fact, the same actor!

To me, Holmes isn’t quite manic or quirky enough- Knightley portraying him as a more composed detective than fans are used to. There’s an air of madness bubbling, but it never quite comes to fruition.

That said, even with its long running time, the show dazzles with originality, cleverness, and style- any Sherlock Holmes fan would be mad to miss it. Elementary, indeed!

Sherlock Holmes: The Hunt for Moriarty continues its run on March 10^th at The Dukes, Lancaster and finishes on May 23^rd at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter.

Sherlock Holmes and the Hunt for Moriarty – Blackeyed Theatre

Cast:

Ben Owora- Doctor John Watson

Mark Knightley- Sherlock Homes

Pippa Caddick- Mrs Hudson, Violet Westbury, Irene Adler, Hilda Trelawney-Hope

Gavin Molloy- Inspector Lestrade, Louis LaRotiere, Professor Moriarty, Alex Trelawney-Hope, Herbert Fennell

Robbie Capaldi- Sir James deWilde, Hugo Oberstein, Ronald Smith, Don Chappell

Eliot Giuralarocca- Mycroft Holmes, Col. Valentine Walter, Wilhelm von Ormstein, Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Will Parfitt

Creative Team:

Playwright / Director- Nick Lane
Composer and Sound Designer- Tristan Parkes
Fight Director and Choreographer- Rob Myles
Set Designer- Victoria Spearing
Costume Designer- Madeleine Edis
Lighting Designer- Oliver Welsh
Projection Designer- Mark Hooper
Education Advisor- Ben Mitchell
Company Stage Manager- Jay Hirst
Assistant Stage Manager- Duncan Bruce

Set Construction- Russell Pearn

Producer- Adrian McDougall

(5 / 5)

Grand Ambition’s new play, ‘HOP- The Hopeful Hare,’ by Michelle McTernan, Steve Balsamo and John Quirk, was such a lovely story exploring love and grief through puppetry, song, and (lots of) vegetables!

Immediately when you enter the theatre, the setting and atmosphere conveyed the tone of the piece. They had birdsong through the speakers, a tree, plenty of plants, a plant bed with potatoes, carrots, peas, and cabbages, a wheelbarrow, and to the left in front of a shed was a deckchair, radio and coffee table. This was contained by a small section of blue fence to the left of the stage, with one wonky post. Even the front row of seats was covered in a hessian fabric to add to the outdoor, nature feel.

Images by Kirsten McTernan

The back of the stage showed a projection with blue skies and clouds, which was effectively utilised during the production for accessibility in captions as well as moments of animation. (I would like to mention also, that the performance I went to see was a BSL interpreted performance, which is great to see is happening more and more, not just on professional tours but also local and amateur ones.)

The story follows Grandpa, who every morning marks the day on his calendar before sitting in his deckchair and listening to Gardeners’ Question Time on the radio. Sometimes Grandpa was very receptive to the host and guest speaker, remarking on whether they were in Swansea or grumbling about them being in Cardiff or Aberystwyth. Other days, he would just turn it off.

During the first day, Grandpa strokes a well-loved toy rabbit and a happy birthday card, which immediately grabs the audience’s attention, making not only the young ones intrigued into a painful part of the character’s life, but the adults as well.

There are also animated scenes on the projection that explain Grandpa’s grumpiness, which is, of course, grief, in a much more powerful way than words could’ve done. When his wife died, he grieved her so much that he shut out his son in the process. The son walked away from their relationship to have his own partner and child.

Birds and slugs try to enter his garden every day, and every day Grandpa shoos them away. The slugs grumble as they leave. This was one of the many comedic elements, which combine well with the deeper tone of the piece.

At night, the hare (called Hop) enters, munching on the vegetables in the plant bed. Every night they go down, and Grandpa tries to stay awake to catch who, or what, is eating his crop.

Grandpa develops a relationship with Hop during the production revealing difficulties for his past but offering positivity for the future.

The set, animation, puppetry and original song came together to create a wonderful, heart-warming story that can connect with all ages, and was effective in teaching kids about grief and loss but also reminding all of the importance of working together with nature and animals.

I recommend this piece and wish there was more of this around, because now more than ever, kids need live theatre to connect to human stories in a physical way, away from screens.

Images by Kirsten McTernan