Interviewed by Guy O’Donnell, Director Get the Chance

Hi Nyla great to meet you, what got you interested in the arts?

For as long as I remember I have always had a love for performing. My parents said that they would watch me with my teddies in the garden pretending I was in another world and talking to myself, I was always creating stories and living in my own imagination. I also attended a very creative church growing up and from the age of 6-12 I was involved in productions, always singing, dancing and acting.

 You are the Creative Arts Development Officer for G Expressions based in Newport, the organisation “works to support young people aged 10-25 to dance develop and achieve their dreams. Through dance, theatre, and leadership activities , giving young people the confidence, tools and skills to achieve their goals.” How did you come to be involved in the organisation and why is its work important?

My family members run the organisation and since it began in 2010 I have always been involved in some shape or form. I was a young mum, therefore my children were my priority and my personal dreams of performing were put to the side but I assisted with G-Expressions on projects and would help out with dance at their previous studio ‘Bella Bella’. When they started doing theatre shows in 2014 I was keen to help out and began shadowing and assisting the writer and director of the shows, which happened to be Alexandria Riley.

I then made my debut as a starring role in their production of ‘Sisters Acting up’ and felt such a buzz, even being at the age of 28 it was an amazing feeling and seeing how G-Expressions facilitate all their service users and staff, giving them a platform to achieve their dreams was such a great feeling. I then became an assistant director on their last show ‘Hard Knock Life’ and also got my job as Creative Arts Development Officer.

Being able to support young people in exploring their creative gifts is like a dream job for me. Giving them a safe place where they don’t feel judged and can be who they want to be, with the encouragement and guidance to do so gives them confidence and self-belief to reach their full potential.

You have written and are currently working on a new live production for G Expressions called Urban School of Arts. The production is described as “An original story filled with dance and drama about young people surviving their journey through performing arts school, all in hopes of pursuing their dreams of becoming artists” Can you tell us more about the creative process for the production and your intentions for it?

I began writing the story line during the Pandemic, after discussions with young people during a podcast I had set up through G-Expressions called ‘Say it How it is’. It was a great opportunity for young people to talk about different topics that they felt they were affected by and allowed them to talk openly and honestly, as most had said that they don’t feel listened to or even understood by authorities and adults. The stories came from real life topics and made me want to raise awareness about these topics that young people face, to help them talk more about it but to also give them a platform to express themselves in a creative way where they can be heard. I always wanted it to be an original as in the past we have used music that people know but have always had the issues of copyright, but I felt that we were in a place where we could offer more opportunities for artists to be recognised for their talents. I worked with some local young artists who love to write and produce and we managed to get funding from the High Sheriff to bring in a professional producer and work in the studio to record these songs. We now have a soundtrack alongside the show and I would love to see this tour and possibly see other drama schools put it on, who knows?

Urban School of Arts can be seen at The Riverfront Theatre, Newport from 03-04 Feb, tickets can be booked here

Much of your work takes place in Newport and is supported by The University of South Wales and The Riverfront Theatre, what more can be done to create opportunities for young creatives based in Newport?

We need more funding and buildings, it’s a simple answer really. G-Expressions are fortunate to have such a great partnership with USW and are now building on their relationship with The Riverfront Theatre and I am hoping that more opportunities come from this show. Access for young people interested in the arts is difficult, especially the young people we work with who don’t have the right backgrounds or finances. There needs to be more training and projects for them to be involved in.

If you were able to fund an area of the arts what would this be and why?

Training and development for artists who are new and need that bit of support. For myself, giving opportunities is so important.

 What currently inspires you about the arts in the UK?

People who are doing things their way and making their mark. I feel that there is so much talent out there that people don’t know about, but they are creeping through the gaps and slowly getting noticed. I am inspired by those who don’t quit, those theatre groups and artists who are doing what they love despite the challenges they face is inspiring.

What was the last really great thing that you experienced that you would like to share with our readers?

‘The Making of a Monster’- Connor Allen’s raw talent and vulnerability to be brave and so in your face was a true example of an all-round creative. It was a brilliant show that I hope continues and is recognised for its genius way of writing and performance.

As soon as I saw details of ‘the Spiegeltent’ I was intrigued and wanted to experience it – it didn’t disappoint.  When you walk in you are transported from the freezing, noisy hustle and bustle outside into a warm, welcoming space which, although it seats 500, feels intimate and special.  I didn’t use it – but was surprised and impressed to see the generous bar area as you walk in, and that added a luxurious (and practical) touch.  I can really imagine the tent coming into its own for the current production of Castellana which is described as cabaret, circus, burlesque and comedy, with the tent’s dark, ‘smoky’ atmosphere.

Anyway back to Santa’s Wish.  I took my 9-year-old son with me to see this production but had no idea what to expect and was worried that it might be a bit young for him, but in fact I’d say it is aimed at older primary school children rather than younger ones. 

The production is bright, colourful, the characters are engaging and my son was quickly taken with the humour and delivery of the male elf, as well as the tumbling and tricks.  As the story went on, it felt as though a little of the initial humour was lost as it became a more serious story, and I think for younger children, a few more breaks in the songs and story for a bit more ‘panto slapstick’ would appeal and give light relief.  The story was fairly easy to follow – though again I think some of the nuances were lost on the children, and it has the messages you’d expect from a children’s production – being kind to the planet and to one another, so you can’t argue with the sentiment.

My son judged the aerial acrobatics to be ‘amazing’ and it was certainly unusual to see a little of that in a children’s Christmas production, so that added to the spectacle.  I did wonder if perhaps a little more could have been made of this aspect of the show however, and I wasn’t keen on the very dull rather transparent costume used for the aerial work.  At one stage the performer came on to the stage wearing stilts, but nothing was really made of this skill, they just seemed to be being used to make her taller than the others which I found a bit baffling. 

The entire cast are strong singers which was nice and meant that songs were pleasant and easy to listen to, and whilst this performance is done ‘in the round’ at no time did I feel that they had their backs to us or that we couldn’t see what was happening.  It was also effective that they made use of the space amongst the audience – stopping to ask little ones if ‘they had seen Santa’ etc – which delighted some little girls behind me and included the whole audience in the action.  The props for the under the sea scene were creative and effective (I may have to make an Octopus umbrella myself now!) and being able to use the aerial lift for additional special effects worked well.  There were lots of ‘Instagram’ moments and it did feel that we were seeing a Christmas spectacle, which lived up to my hopes.

On the downside, there is no interval, so the children are sitting for about an hour and a quarter in total.  The younger children in from of me really struggled with this – the little girl (about 3) fell asleep quite early on and the older boy (around 5 or 6) was complaining that it was ‘taking ages’ at about 20 minutes into the performance.  Obviously all children have different capacities to sit for long periods, and in fairness to the cast – they very much encouraged everyone to get up and dance with them in the last section of the production, although I am not sure how much of the very end of the story many people took in, because having got everyone on their feet to dance and sing along, there was still about 10 minutes of story to complete after that.  I think many parents with restless children were expecting that to be the end, so I felt for a few parents having to quieten down their children and try and get them to listen to the very end of the tale.  The other issue is something that I struggle with everywhere we go – the volume.  My own son winced at the loud music a few times and the little boy in front of me had his fingers in his ears on more than one occasion.  I am not sure why every cinema showing and production we go to these days is so loud, but at nearly 50 (so my hearing should be less sensitive these days) I found the music too loud and so it’s not surprising that younger, more sensitive ears found it too loud as well.

All in all I loved the venue and my son and I were very glad we went.  It was something a bit different in a beautiful, atmospheric venue.  The cast are all talented and the production clearly made every effort to offer something for everyone, from the delightful, sparkly ‘Snowflake’, the rough and tumble of the other elves, the humour and the circus tricks to the big man himself.  It was a magical Christmas spectacle, but just be aware that you might have to manage some restlessness for the very young.

Kate Richards

Get the Chance

(4 / 5)

Every single year, without fail, there comes a point in the year when people online begin to argue about whether it is too early or not to put up Christmas decorations. Some may say Christmas begins after Halloween, others after the first of December but I personally think Christmas should never stop! I have been jamming out to Christmas songs and proudly wearing my Christmas attire all year round purely because in my opinion, the festive period is the best time of the year so why shouldn’t we keep it all year round? A little-known fact about myself is that I used to be the Santa that would travel through the streets of Cardiff to bring a bit of Christmas magic to the hoards of children that would flock to the sleigh to tell me they should be on the good list this year. These adventures were often extremely arduous and tiring (even more so for the elves who would walk alongside the sleigh giving out candy canes) but it was all worth it seeing how the faces of the young children would light up when you waved at them or even hollered a “Ho, Ho, Ho” in their general direction! To me, Christmas is all about that childlike wonder that gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling in your belly and so when it was announced there would be a new Christmas show heading to the iconic Cardiff castle I knew it was not to be missed! 

Santa’s Wish currently showing at Cardiff Castle opened up with the most magical Santa (who knocks the fluffy socks off my portrayal of the role) played by Dyfrig  Morris who delivered arguably one of the best musical portrayals of St Nick I have ever seen! The ability to maintain the over-the-top Jolly-ness is something I struggled with for the short period of time when flooded with kids on the sleigh but Dyfrig manages to keep up this persona throughout even though every single one of his movements are under constant surveillance by the audience! He has mastered the art of a playful yet booming voice that caught everyone’s attention whenever he spoke. One of the things I really enjoyed about this production is the fact that it is almost totally self-aware but acknowledges the crowd and explains how they ended up on the Castle grounds. After a routine flight Santa had given the reins of the sleigh to a trustworthy elf Crackers (played by the extremely entertaining Richie Gooding) only for Crackers to start showing off making them crash into a far-off land. The script mentions the fact that they are in the Castle grounds but don’t know how to get back as the reindeer have fled for safety! 

Santa and Crackers are joined by the fresh-faced Snowflake (who has a rather unique backstory which we will explain later) played by Millie Davies who delivered quite possibly my favourite song throughout the entire show. Her rendition of “Teach me How to Fly” was wonderfully moving and showcased Millie’s incredible vocal abilities throughout. The beautifully sung sections of the song were broken up with the aforementioned Santa telling the story as to how Snowflake became an elf in his adorable yet magical voice! While Millie was pouring out her heart in this number Keely Edwards was showcasing her aerial abilities as she hung upside down directly above her fellow performer. This spectacle was not only a treat for the eyes but the vocals were a treat for the ears too! There is a much more emotionally powerful rendition towards the end of this production which really focused on how much of a talented singer Millie really is! The elves and Santa decide that in order to get the sleigh back to the North Pole they must create a new magical wish which means telling the story of how Snowflake managed to create her own wish many years ago!

One of the characters we meet throughout this story of Snowflake is Lilly (played by the amazing Naomi Katiyo) who is an extremely kind-hearted young girl who is very upset that there are people in her community who go without food. While she is only little, she is able to use her passion for cooking to make jars of jam and delivers them to those who need it most. The fact that the UK is currently facing a cost of living crisis with more people than even using food bank services, helps to bring the message of kindness from this play to the doorstep of every single person in the audience. We are all able to show some sort of kindness to those who are less fortunate than ourselves so promoting this message to a younger audience is vital, now more than ever! One of these jam jars makes it to the home of Freddie,  Eddie (played by Richie and Keely respectively) and their father who are a family struggling to make ends meet during the run-up to Christmas. The much-needed jar of jam helps to feed the three people for the evening and then they finally decide to throw the empty jar away. At this point the incredible song all about small acts of kindness was sung which encourages everyone to think about each other which is especially important with everything going on right now!  While the jar is waiting to be collected, however, a distressed and stray snowflake (who is one of our lead characters in disguise) floats into the jar while on her journey to make it to the North Pole. This wish of completing her journey combined with the kindness from Lily earlier in the story combine to give Snowflake the ability to fly where she heads straight to Santa’s to become a real elf! I do have to admit that the almost origin story of snowflake did overshadow the earlier story of Santa and his elves crash landing and the focus could have simply been on how the magic wish jar came to be rather than rediscovering the magic in order to use it to get back to the North Pole. The book-ending scenes with the stranded Christmas crew did seem also just tagged on the end with the center scenes where the story really began to gain momentum. 

Overall, Santa’s Wish is a wonderfully festive Christmas musical that explores themes such as kindness and selflessness which are obviously very important. Seeing the faces of the young audience members being transfixed by the wonderful Santa or becoming overwhelmed with joy any time a performer would wave at them is fundamentally what Christmas is all about! I do have to say that I think the opening and closing scenes did seem to fall a little flat but the origin story of Snowflake is where this production really came to life. The castle itself has been wonderfully decorated with two ice skating experiences and so I would recommend young families (or Christmas-obsessed people like myself) to make a day of visiting the castle and making sure they catch a performance of this adorable show. I would rate this production 4 out of 5 stars!

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

(4 / 5)

A Perfect Introduction to Theatre

Elgan Rhys’ adaptation of Goldilocks at the Sherman Theatre is a magical production that offers a wonderful introduction to theatre for young children. The piece, directed by Nia Morris, is a modern re-telling of the classic fairy tale. Although audiences will recognise the names of the characters and references to porridge, chairs and beds – the story moves in a different direction.

Goldilocks, played by Elin Gruffydd, is a friendlier and more endearing version of the character that we are used to. She is an upstanding citizen of ‘Golden Town’ where her grandmother is the mayor. Goldilocks abides by the town’s endless list of rules, many of which are centred around an obsession with all things yellow, and she has achieved one of the highest accolades by growing the finest golden locks in town.

Things take a turn for the worst when Goldilocks discovers blue locks amongst her golden mane. Embarrassed and ashamed, she flees to the “periphery”, the outskirts of town where those that are different are banished and, according to legend, eaten by gruesome bears.

The fun, colourful bears that Goldilocks meets could not be different from what she was expecting – they even eat porridge with oat milk and sit on rainbow-coloured chairs! The bears challenge Goldilocks’ perceptions, helping her to embrace her new hair and teaching her to understand the importance of being herself. Inspired by this experience, she returns to Golden Town to champion the joy of being different.

The story has a strong, positive message that is told in a fun and engaging way, using catchy songs and puppetry to keep young audiences enthralled throughout. Actors Carrie Munn and Rhys Ap Trefor who each played multiple roles interacted beautifully with the audience; at one point some children edged so far forward into the performance space they were practically sat on their laps but they incorporated this into the action and were able to expertly coax them back into the seating area.

The show is performed in the Sherman’s Studio Theatre where audiences have the option of sitting on benches or on the floor on large pink mats. The space is very friendly and welcoming which helps to relieve any fears that parents might have about keeping children quiet and sitting still for a long stretch. There seems to be a general acceptance that the audience probably will make some noise, eat sweets and wriggle about a bit. That being said, the level of concentration and excellent behaviour in the room is a testament to the quality of the performance – the audience were totally enraptured.

With a 50-minute running time and no interval, this delightful reimagination of a well-known tale is the perfect festive treat for a young family. We had a really enjoyable afternoon and would certainly recommend this performance as a lovely outing for families with young children.

Elen Benfelen / Goldilocks is at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff until 31^st December 2022.You can find out more and book tickets here