Photo credit: Foteini Christofilopoulou

(4 / 5)

The unassuming Ustinov Studio in Bath sees a season with acclaimed director Deborah Warner for what should prove to be a highlight of the theatre calendar. Tackling Sophie Treadwell’s blazing play, a guest appearance from another titan Richard Jones directs in his fashionable and sharp way.

Jones’ work I know best through his time with Welsh National Opera and English National Opera, the former’s Olivier winning take on Alban Berg’s Wozzeck fittingly mirrors Machinal. The Yellow Wallpaper of Charlotte Perkins Gilman permeates the space in Hyemi Shin’s angular and claustrophobic set. The hectic ensemble of actors plays multiple roles as commuters, workers, medical staff, drinkers in a bar and more. The energy here is affirming, Treadwell’s musical and punchy lines are tight and in moments are profoundly abstract and true.

Jones knows what he’s doing. Sat in the front row makes for an incredibly heightend encounter. The patter of conversations, arguments, clatter of dishes, screaming and a pounding bulldozer never quite leave your ears, sound design by Benjamin Grant wonderfully also adds to the absolute din of the whole thing. The futility of the whole thing, the sadness seen with this Young Woman who is bludgeoned by all, forced into a marrige she doesnt want, a child she can’t look after and a tragic decision leads to her execution. Loosley based on the real life story of Ruth Brown Snyder, who murdered her husband, begin was the first woman in the US to get the electric chair. One wonders just how many people now and in the past find solace in story, in the play the leading lady stutters, has panic attacks and other anxious bouts.

Rosie Sheehy has given an unforgettable performance in what is not an easy character in anyones eyes. Her spasms, tics, pounding, flinching all add to a well crafted offering. I found it hard not to hear Lois Griffin in her accent, the play capturing the spirt of New York frenzies. Tim Frances as Husband feels compasionate, if complicit in his misogyny, in well acted form. Buffy Davis is the despondent, Irish Mother, some great humour and maternal blathering. The Young Man, whom our lady has a passionate affiar with, is a lovely Pierro Niel-Mee. The character has some flippently racist remarks of the era (1920s), though this one night stand proves a toxic trait, if it saved our lady even just for a few hours. Pierro works as this sort of sexy saviour, chemistry between both actors faired well. Though his betrayal is all to much.

The troupe of actors mesh around the tight stage, accents strong and a well placed aura is in the air. I spoke of energy and their passion, this must be a cracking play to be part of. The framing of each part, sees an actor place a wooden relief of each scenes name to be hung above all, the shadow of which almost mimicking the wings of freedom our lady yearns for.

Machinal runs at the Ustinov Studio till 18th November 2023

Credit Drew Buckley

Not many plays start with the actor already onstage, but this production of Carwyn makes you feel immersed from the very start as the audience is taken on a journey of a man that is sadly often forgotten, but he’s one worthy of being celebrated and remembered in Welsh culture.

The play begins and ends with the passing of Carwyn James but throughout the piece, the audience is hooked by the outstanding performance of Simon Nehan . Nehan tells a story of Carwyn reflecting on the good and bad of his life that is well worth knowing. We see two sides of Carwyn, one in which the whole world got to see, the way he felt how he had to be perceived on the outside, and the raw and real side of Carwyn, who spent his life hiding his true self from a brutal society as he was a man, simply living ahead of his time.

Showing both sides of Carwyn through the talented writing of Owen Thomas and the brilliant directing from Gareth John Bale, was something so impactful to watch as his eye-opening story is a story that is heartbreaking, relevant and necessary. I can say without hesitation that Carwyn the play is a production deserving of a standing ovation and if I was to watch it again, I know I would be moved and feel a little more impacted each time.

The Night Woman is directed and unapologetically performed by Julene Robinson. Embodying an electrifying, eloquent vibrancy expressed through dance, singing, live music and themes revolving around self-love, as well as the true essence of blackness navigating through life’s metaphysical journey, essentially as a black phenotype, inevitably encountering difficultly, challenging and disempowering experiences due to nuances, biases, prejudices, discrimination, lack of sovereignty and an identity crises due to a lack representation of dark pigmentation, coarse hair and society’s sensitive triggers to discomfort and negative conscious biases from foreign lands, within your own family and inner community.

Julene’s poetical and metaphorical expression of her exploration of darkness to discover inner beauty, magic, Godliness and purity, is mystical and impactful. Leaving you exploring the depths of the starry, moonlit sky using dazzling twinkling fairy lights and robes to represent tree branches, glowing in the low dim illuminance. This play speaks loud volumes of spirituality, trance and ancestral reconnection to reach places of true acceptance, embrace darkness no matter your linage or background, and to do so both internally and externally in every capacity, to avoid escapism of the fear of the unknown, due to colonial biases around darkness, distributing worldwide ignorances.

Watching Julene Robinson performing without an interval was a phenomenal experience, she’s not only an enchantingly performer who effortlessly takes audiences on a complex phenomena, but her use of characterisation in humorous and unapologetic ways to highlight the day in the life of Caribbean girls, born of a darker hue, living in the West Indies, and the general inadequacies faced by woman within the diaspora is magnifying.

The Night Woman, is an eye-opening fusion of loss, grief, femininity, unlearning to learn sequel; reflective stories told in an educative and playful way; with non-stop metaphors, depth and Jamaican humour all in one to re-live, restore, re-imagine and re-ignite all to come alive in the darkness by closing their eyes, whilst simultaneously appreciating dark skinned beauty by remembering darkness birthed light, and the gentle reminders of how life, including human life grows in the darkness where a God dwelled comfortably and humbly before colonial negative connotations of the word black and society’s conflicting interpretation, hatred and detest for darkness, dark matter and the night woman that birthed light lovingly.

Carwyn the play grants the audience an intimate view into Carwyn James’ private life, revealing a side of himself that he spent his life hiding from a judgmental and unaccepting society. This is a story, often heartbreakingly forgotten, but one that deserves to be celebrated in Welsh culture.

“People shouldn’t fear death, they should fear they didn’t live their best life”- Carwyn.

As he passes, Carwyn’s life flashes before the eyes of the audience. From his triumphs to tragedies, Carwyn’s story is one that must be told. We see Carwyn as who he was to the outside world; who he felt he had to present himself as, because he felt that the time he lived in was not a place for his true self. This play shows us this version of Carwyn, but also, who he was in his solitude. As a result of this, there is something so heart-rending, poetic, and beautiful about this piece. The skillful writing of Owen Thomas, powerful performance from Simon Nehan and the impactful directing from Gareth John Bale put together capture Carwyn’s story in a poignant and moving way; that was undoubtedly deserving of a standing ovation. This is one of the few pieces I have ever seen that I can confidently say that if I watched it many more times, I would be in tears at the end of each and every one.

Credit Drew Buckley

(4 / 5)

Suitcase Theatre, a local community theatre company, started out in 2008 with a production of We’ll Keep a Welcome- a play about evacuees from Liverpool and Merseyside who came to live in North Wales in 1939. The use of local stories and topics has been a long-running focus for Suitcase Theatre as well as revivals of classics such as The Birthday Party and Waiting for Godot. The company pride themselves on bringing together a wide range of performers- young and old, experienced, and less so, amateur, and professional and have participants from North Wales, Cheshire, and the Wirral.

The Winter’s Tale is one of Shakespeare’s lesser-known plays and was one of his last, written around 1609-11. The first recorded performance of the play was at The Globe on May 15th, 1611, and later that year it was presented at Whitehall before King James I. It provides us with one of the more challenging stage directions- ‘Exit, pursued by a bear’ (in this instance a member of the company dressed in a questionable costume- if Shakespeare were alive today, perhaps he could have written ‘Exit, SFX of bear in pursuit’!)

It’s difficult to give a brief summary of any of Shakespeare’s plays but more so with his last, lesser-known creations. The Winter’s Tale offers countless themes throughout its tragi-comedic plot – love, jealousy, rage, mistaken identity, reunions, and it really is a play of two halves. The first, clearly tragic- disastrous if you will; one full of bitterness, sadness, and death and if we are going to label this play, we would certainly conjure the word ‘tragedy’ as Act 1 unfolds. It is reminiscent of Othello- the insanely jealous husband, wrongly accusing his wife of an affair, and so catastrophe ensues. However, as Act 2 begins, the audience wouldn’t be judged for believing they had sat down in the wrong auditorium- the piece is uplifted by the appearance of Autolycus, of the Old Shepherd and his son, Clown. We’ve gone from Winter and 16 years have elapsed in minutes as we give way to Spring- with the passing of time as well as with lighter themes of family, forgiveness, and rebirth.

As the play opens, the cast have their backs to the audience, and it is clear we are at a celebration- the guests are dressed to impress and on the screen are fireworks. The use of the screen is effective throughout, particularly to convey the passing of time with the moon in its different phases. The scene transitions are consistent with blackouts in the right places, slick movement of small set pieces and atmospheric music or sound effects to signify the mood or time of day. The performance is mostly done in black box with a few simple additions such as chairs, tables, or dividers and none of this distracts from the action. This is my main take-away from Suitcase Theatre’s production- that due to the simple set and timely costumes it is much easier to concentrate on the language; to really listen to and understand what’s being said. There are a few missed lines, mainly down to projection issues (as well as very heavy rain on the night in question!) or characters aiming their speech at each other rather than out to the audience on occasion, but overall, the speech is clear, and it is wonderful to truly focus in on the wonderful words that Shakespeare provided to actors and audiences alike.

The casting is excellent and there are moments I forget that I’m watching an amateur production. The word ‘amateur’ unfortunately carries such negative connotations but that is exactly what this production is. None of these performers or members of the production team are being paid for their hard work- they’re doing it because they love what they do. And there are some superb performances- most notably from Si Kneale as Leontes who not only has an awful lot of dialogue to learn but portrays the character with just the right amount of madness and regret- as an audience we trust this actor in this role, and he is unwavering throughout the piece. Ruth Huish as Hermione is beautiful and we truly empathise with her plight, no more so than during her speech to illustrate her innocence to Leontes- Huish delivers this with verve and poignancy. Connor Jones as Autolycus lifts the piece in Act 2 and is clearly a natural performer with a talent for accents. His likability factor brings a real charm to the production after a hard-hitting first half.

You’d be hard met to find a local community theatre group willing to give Shakespeare a go, but Suitcase Theatre did it with enthusiasm (lots of it brilliantly displayed via rehearsal photographs etc. on their Facebook page!), professionalism and lots of hard work- having only rehearsed for this piece for around 6 weeks! It was wonderful to see such a variety of performers on stage too- including some very talented youngsters! Huge congratulations to all involved- if you have chance to see this production, I’d highly recommend it!

The Winter’s Tale is playing at Theatr Clwyd until Saturday October 21st. To book your tickets, please head to the website…

The Winter’s Tale | Theatr Clwyd

Cast

Leontes- Si Kneale
Hermione- Ruth Huish
Mamillius- Isaac Huish
Perdita- Zoey Owen
Polixenes- Andy Jordan
Florizel- Ioan Eldridge
Antigonus- John Wylde
Paulina- Rowena Owen
Cleomenes- Kevin Taws
Dion- Peter Thorne
Emilia- Lin Blessing
Julia- Pauline Marsden
Rogero- Stewart Venables
Demetrius- John Owen
Camillo- Niall Heaton
Officer- Richard Thornton
Gaoler- Will Wood, Dylan Roberts
Benvenuto- James Bennett
Mariner- Will Wood
Archidamus- Deborah Thomas
Autolycus- Connor Jones
Old Shepherd- Gwyn Brick
Clown- Tom Cutler
Cassio- James Bennett
Mopsa- Lin Blessing
Dorcas- Pauline Marsden
Quinto- Dylan Roberts
Guiseppe- James Peacock
Eufrasio- Peter Thorne
Time- Connor Jones
Slaves of Time- Dylan Roberts, James Bennett
Bear- a member of the company

Production Team

Director- Mike Stevens
Production Manager- John Owen
Stage Manager- Gordon Peterson
ASM (Props)- Richard Thornton
ASM- Deborah Thomas
Deputy Stage Manager- Graham Sherwood
Lighting and Special Effects- John Owen
Sound Design- Ellie Wylde
Composer/ Music Director- James Peacock
Stage Designer- Paul Jones
Choreographer- Karen Campbell
Wardrobe, Wigs, Hair & Makeup- Rowena Owen
Publicity Design- Peter Taylor
Chaperone- Nerys Bennett

(5 / 5)

“Housemates” drums up an inclusive revolution

Based on a true story in Cardiff, a serendipitous encounter between Jim, a Cardiff University student, and Alan, a lifelong resident of Ely Hospital born with Down’s syndrome, sparked a profound shift in the realm of care and support. Alan yearned for a place to call home and had a dream: to join a band. Jim, on the other hand, aspired to change the world, though he wasn’t sure how to make it happen.

Hijinx, a leading inclusive theatre company, partnered with the Sherman Theatre to create an extraordinary gem of a theatrical performance that takes the audience on a rollercoaster ride of emotion and reflection. “Housemates” isn’t just a play; it’s a profound exploration of the human spirit.

Set against the spirited backdrop of the 1970s, “Housemates” introduces us to a robust cast of seven neurodivergent and neurotypical actor-musicians who infuse the narrative with a powerful soundtrack featuring classics from T. Rex and Sweet. Playwright Tim Green dedicated two to three years to bring this story to life. Co-director Ben Pettitt-Wade emphasizes the significance of visibility, inclusivity, and the transformative power of human connections within our society. Co-director Joe Murphy underscores the exceptional nature of this story, one that embodies inspiration while remaining curiously overlooked in Cardiff.

The wonderful ‘70s costumes and the inventive set by Carl Davies transports us to the world of Ely Hospital in 1970s Cardiff. With its green-tiled floor, occasionally scattered with blown orange leaves, and a well-worn wall where the band resides, it visually captivates.

“Housemates” brims with humour and gentle clowning but is unafraid to tackle serious issues. The play courageously sheds light on the derogatory language of the past, such as the dehumanizing term “subnormals” and the terrible legislation of yesteryear like the 1886 Idiot’s Act and the Mental Deficiency Act 1913, which saw over 100,000 people institutionalized.

Actors masterfully navigate delicate subjects with a finesse that is both poignant and humorous. “Are you going to take the ‘angry pill’?” asks the female nurse before the male nurse strong-arms Alan. In another moment, Alan proclaims, “I want sex! In the house… it’ll be like… I am a sex God!” This statement is met with uproarious applause from the audience.

The set is as flexible as it is imaginative, with props ingeniously transforming: a metal frame becomes a bus stop, a trolley of books symbolizes the library, and a hospital bed serves as Alan’s room. Papers tossed in the air symbolize the persistence of the characters as the house application is denied, eventually leading to their triumphant departure from the hospital, each clutching their belongings in bin bags.

The culmination of this incredible journey occurs as Alan triumphantly declares, “This is my house!” Bedecked in a David Bowie-esque costume, he takes to the drums, igniting the stage with electrifying rock ‘n’ roll energy. Alan’s heartfelt dream becomes a reality, culminating in a grand finale with him shining as a drummer, joined by the entire cast as well as extra actors from the Hijinx Academy. Beneath the societal transformation lies the profoundly personal journey of an individual who, after a lifetime within hospital walls, discovers his own stage as a rock star in his own home in Cardiff.

“Housemates” offers a multifaceted theatrical experience, delivering laughter, tears, and a nostalgic journey. With an anarchic and rebellious flair, the show inspires us to close the absurd ways in which neurodivergent people were treated and motivate us to create change and end injustice.

The show is a tale about being genuinely inclusive; it’s about home, identity, and ultimately about taking action. It’s an extraordinary odyssey through time, friendship, and societal transformation both within and without, captivating audiences at the Sherman Theatre, which coincidentally celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

Tiago Gambogi
@tiagogambogi, Dance Theatre Artist, https://linktr.ee/tiagogambogi