(5 / 5)

As far as I’m concerned, the festive season doesn’t begin until I’ve been to see Theatr Clwyd’s infamous rock ‘n’ roll pantomime. This year it just happened to be one of my favourites tales-the tale of Robin Hood. Although what would this story be without the heroine, Maid Marian? Or MariOn as we say in Wales!

Upon taking our seats we enter the forest. In front of us, giant trees with tall branches on which hang posters declaring ‘We love Robin Hood’. In the centre, what looks like a tangle of circular green branches, on which is hidden the name of our hero; the ‘o’ in Robin cleverly disguised as a target and arrow which light up. We’ve already been transported to where our story begins, in Flint-sh-sh-shire, as the Sheriff believes it’s pronounced, much to the frustration of his subject, Clod!

Once again, the cast enthrall us with their many talents; sword fighting one moment, next playing the drums for a big musical number, then singing a power ballad full pelt before completing a costume change and dashing to the top of the set to play keyboards without the audience even noticing the transition! Just incredible. And the reason, for me, that Theatr Clwyd’s panto is head and shoulders above the rest!

Let’s just hope that this remains the case once director, Tamara Harvey, leaves her post to take on the role of Co-Artistic Director of the RSC next year!

The action kicks off straight away and it’s not long before the water guns are out, and bubbles are filling the auditorium! As ever, the music choices throughout are unique and punchy. The cast always surprises with songs you wouldn’t necessarily expect to hear in a traditional pantomime. This year we have a Beastie Boys classic, Lizzo’s Good as Hell, and a rip-roaring rendition of what has become the Welsh football team’s unofficial anthem ‘Yma o Hyd’, although this may not feel quite as uplifting now that the team are out of the World Cup!

Phylip Harries’ Dame, Lady Myfanwy of Mold, is right on target (sorry!). His comic timing, interaction with the audience and chemistry with his fellow cast members, particularly the ever-amusing Daniel Lloyd who plays Little John, are all superb, and his transformation into Wonder Woman is something to behold! I’m convinced the creative team dare each other, every panto season, to push the boundaries with the lewd jokes! Always tastefully delivered and appropriate enough to bypass any little ones in the crowd, the adults amongst us were in for a treat! One particular line about a casserole almost made me blush!

As always with a Theatr Clwyd panto, the Welsh language is heard plentifully throughout the production with frequent mentions of local places from Flintshire to Rhyl, Mold to Wrexham as well as greetings from each character often delivered in both English and Welsh. It’s so refreshing to hear real Welsh accents, lots of local references as well as Welsh songs and music underpinning the whole piece.

Stand out moments this year include Celia Cruwys-Finnigan as Maid Marion. Celia is a little pocket- rocket and portrays Marion perfectly: shifting from an underrated, pretty Princess to an awe-inspiring female with attitude. And for such a petite person, she has a huge set of lungs! The costumes also provided plenty of ‘wow’ moments, none more so than King Gruff’s final, and only, costume, which, to the untrained eye, made it look as if his subject (aptly named Drakeford!) was carrying him on his shoulders! Brilliantly funny! Also watch out for the lip sync challenge, a scene in itself, and one which has children and adults alike in fits of laughter

However, the highlight for me, and others I’m sure, is Ben Locke as the Sheriff. Last year, Ben played Barry Island (the ‘Gaston’ character in Beauty and the Beast) and did such a fabulous job at being the villain that he was surely the obvious choice for the Sheriff. Ben seems to have a knack for playing a fantastically evil, handsome yet extremely camp baddie! Every line he delivers is flawless, his physicality is phenomenal and his comic timing perfect. Every facial expression is thought about and he’s clearly just having a wonderful time with this character!

Theatr Clwyd have done it again and brought to life classic tale in a very un-classic way! ‘Oh no, they haven’t!’ ‘Oh yes, they have!’

Theatr Clwyd, Mold
November 30th, 2022-January 12th, 2023
Writer: Chris Patterson
Director: Tamara Harvey
Assistant Director: Juliette Manon
Casting: Kay Magson CDG
Set & Costume Designer: Adrian Gee
Musical Director: Tayo Akinbode
Choreographer: Annie-Lunnette Deakin-Foster
Lighting Designer: Johanna Town
Sound Designer: Matthew Williams
Company Stage Manager: Cassey Driver

Cast includes Joe Butcher, Celia Cruwys-Finnigan, Connor Going, Caitlyn Lavagna, Lynwen Haf Roberts, Luke Thornton, Daniel Lloyd, Phylip Harries, Ben Locke, Alice McKenna, Chioma Uma
Running time: 2 hours and 20 minutes (inc. interval)
Photo Credit: Kirsten McTernan

(3 / 5)

It’s been a mere seven weeks since Dyad Productions has graced Chapter once again. This time it’s for the spooky season, when the clocks go back and a general eeriness lingers in the air. We’ve been truly lost in our screens this Halloween seasons, Dahmer on Netflix’s has both horrified and caused outrage in equal measure. The smash hit, UK made puppet show Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared finally saw it’s Channel 4 premier, disgusting and brilliant for it six episode run. Though Female Gothic tries to go back to the horror of the old school, the OG if you will.

It’s easy to look back at the Victorians as another world, yet their perspective on death still has a clutch on society today. People such as Ask A Mortician on YouTube have tried to look at the Victorian way of handling death and funerals, with a new approach to the deceased. Many of these macabre stories prove their fear of dying and also what lies beyond. Dyad have evoked three similar stories, one that would not feel out of place in The Tales of the Unexpected. They mostly involve the regret of a past love through grief, the quest for knowledge and its downfall alongside the worry of maternal death. All of this is in the Gothic vein so its ghosts, an exotic potion from the south seas and a dark spirit that wouldn’t sound out of place in a manga.

Rebecca Vaughn holds us in the space in what was a rather chilly depth for the evening. Her entire costume is expectedly black and imposing, yet beautiful. Her diction is something I’ve been taken with after hearing her in A Room of One’s Own, the candlelit and soft lamp hue of the theatre had a evocative vibe, perfect for the context. I craved a bit more sound work and music in particular passages of this trio of stories, though the silence was highly effective in other moments. Dyad has proven the legitimacy of intimate theatre shows, with an ever increasing list of one woman pieces, made marvellous thanks to the ardour of Vaughn.

Female Gothic continues on tour, along with Christmas Gothic. Dyad Productions will present a new version of A Christmas Carol next winter.

(5 / 5)

So it’s 20th October 2022, and I’m in my hometown of Porthcawl, walking up to the Grand Pavilion, a place I have frequented often over the past 23 years of my life. The lights from inside reflect and shine on the seaside town, but this time, we’re going downstairs. We’re going to watch a production by Dirty Protest called My Mix(ed up) Tape. I’m not sure what to expect but I’m excited, I’m ready to go in with an open mind. We head downstairs. It’s an encouraging number of people in the audience, and quite a different target to those who usually attend the performances in our small town. I’m pleased. The stage is set up with projections, and subtitles, and the room is set up with small round tables. What am I in for? I’m hit with music. DJ Glade Marie is vibing on the stage with her DJ set up, and suddenly I’m vibing too. I order a beer at the bar, sit down, and take in the atmosphere.

Then there she is, Katie Payne. A burst of energy, and we are thrown in straight away. Immersed in her story telling. I love her voice, she has a great Welsh accent that just makes me feel at home. She’s come back home to Pontypridd after living in London for a while. She’s here for her cousins wedding. She’s just been chucked out by the bouncer. She’s causing a bit of havoc, something we realise may not be an uncommon occurrence for Katie. She may be the only one who’s speaking on stage but she is not alone. She knows the town and the people like the back of her hand. She physicalises them well, and she manages to bring them to life. It’s comedic, it’s fun, then suddenly, it’s dark.

Katie’s story is beautifully matched with a wide range of music that makes up her mix tape. The music is the second performer in this play. It makes me feel something- comfort, excitement, bliss. It elevates the moments and provides the perfect soundtrack for Payne’s story. I was really enjoying the different styles, some well-known classics, but also a few more obscure and underground tracks which I really appreciated. Music is clearly nostalgia and expression for Katie, and it’s the same for me. I felt connected to her. Like when a song you really love comes on and you find out your mate likes it too. Then all that’s left to do is dance.

Katie and Glade Marie had many subtle and unique interactions throughout the play. The little moments they shared felt sometimes like we were intruding on them as an audience. I was curious about their relationship, but it worked, and it left me wanting more.

Paynes’ performance was phenomenal and I was pretty speechless by the end of the production. The way she made use of the whole space, her voice, her movement, her energy, her pacing, were all on point and totally mind-blowing. I didn’t find myself disengaging once throughout the hour and fifteen minutes. I honestly don’t know how she did it, and how she made it look so effortless.

I couldn’t fault this production and I couldn’t give it anything but 5 stars. When you are let into someone’s mind, their vulnerability, their fears, and their truth, it’s such a privilege, and not one to be taken lightly. Everyone should see this production and have the privilege of witnessing Katie Payne’s performance first hand. The messaging is strong and I feel it would resonate with many audiences. This is a remarkable play, culminating from a raw female voice straight out of the Welsh Valleys. It’s overwhelming and confusing, It’s electric, it’s dark, it’s funny, it’s real, it’s brave.

It’s Welsh.

You can find out more about the tour and book tickets here

Disclaimer: some of my thoughts of the production are quite hazy, as I saw it several weeks ago, so I apologise if any of what I say does not reflect it entirely accurately.

To begin, I thought that the premise of ‘The In-Between’ was very solid, I loved the idea of a girl who had childhood dreams and went to music college, despite those plans not being as great as she initially thought, she goes through hardship and struggles to eventually get to a place of genuine happiness. It’s a great storyline of growing up, moving on and finding your place.

It starts off really strong, with the main lead Fay being a compelling character, she is initially excited by her future but struggles with adapting to her college and trying to impress her teacher and peers.

One of the things I noticed however, is that we never really get much insight into her peers, it would have been great for Fay to open up about her problems to one of her friends, and for one of them to affirm that they too are going through something similar things to her, and that she’s not alone in her struggles. That could have been a realistic turn of events, as in the production Fay’s classmates are all seemingly portrayed as significantly better than her, people that she fights to impress and gain approval of, they don’t really seem like legitimate characters, just props to further her story arc.

On another note, the inclusion of Fay’s dead Grandmother was strange to me personally. All she really did was appear ominously on stage from time to time and from what I saw she didn’t leave a powerful impact on Fay. We never saw her have many vulnerable moments where it looked like she was really affected by her Grandmothers death, and the only scene where it seemed like the story moved along a bit was a scene near the beginning when Fay was practising and her ghost showed up and listened to her performing, but from what I recall from Fay’s reaction, we didn’t see an emotional response while being confronted with a seemingly vulnerable element of her past, but I digress.

Additionally, the scene where she saved the boy’s life when he fell from a tree left me wondering – she saved his life, he gets sent to the hospital, she gets annoyed that no-one will know that she saved a life, and it’s never brought up again afterwards. She never had another interaction with the boy, and it’s never brought to a head or anything like that. I predicted/imagined that she would have met the boy again, and they would form a strong bond, but from what we see we never see them interact or give any indication that the boy is still around! That was odd to me that they would add something so prominent into the storyline for it to not be built on afterwards.

I personally feel it would have benefited from a longer performance time, as when it was wrapping up, I thought to myself “oh, it must be half-time!” but then it ended, and that confused me initially. For me it felt too short – it just didn’t feel like it had enough time to fully explore the characters and flesh out the scenes fully. However, I’ve since learned there were time constraints, seeing the actors/actresses only meeting two, or so, weeks prior to it going to live performance. Given this, it begins to make more sense. If it had been possible, even just half an hour more to wrap it up would have been welcome because it didn’t seem like the production had a clear middle – it certainly had an introduction, a drama and then a climax. If it just had a bit more of a longer middle, then it wouldn’t seem as rushed perhaps.

I do think the production team and actors/actresses managed to do a great job of creating what they did in such a short time, something that turned out to be very watchable, yet left me hoping for more.

To end on a positive note, the performers were extremely good. Their chemistry before it even began was apparent, with all of them hyping each other up onstage and the clear dedication to their role, which I applaud.