The Road

It’s impossible to say anything about John Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (scripted by dramatist Joe Penhall) without using the word “bleak” – it’s pretty much the epitome of bleakness. A very impressive piece of work, though, with wonderfully moving performances from Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as father and son making their way through a post-apocalyptic American wilderness, dodging rampaging gangs of cannibals, as they head hopefully, self-deludingly Southwards. Hauntingly beautiful, strangely immersive and ultimately optimistic. A rare Saturday night multiplex experience (thank-you Tesco reward points), and a surprisingly full house – maybe the recent big freeze inspired people to come along and count their blessings.

I spent the festive period working on yet another attempt at a radio play – the first time in many years I’ve had no internet access whilst writing. It only served to confirm my theory that Distraction and Research are pretty much the same thing.

National Theatre Wales

A link to my report on the Writers' Guild's December meeting with John McGrath of National Theatre Wales:

http://www.writersguild.org.uk/public/008_Featurearticl/400_WGGBNewsNat.html