Macbeth / Les Miserables / Storm 3 / Bottom / Camp Be Yourself / Motown / How To Be Brave

Last year, my birthday trip was to London to see the National Theatre’s “Macbeth”. Inevitably, less than a year later, it arrived in Cardiff, albeit with an entirely different cast, so I took the opportunity to experience it again at the Wales Millennium Centre. Famously given what might be termed a “chavvy” styling, the touring version seemed a little less barking mad than the original production – but still enjoyable and action-packed.

Michael Nardone as Macbeth (photo: Brinkhoff-Mogenburg)

Talking of barking madness, I was fortunate to be invited to review a preview performance of a Brexit-themed “Les Misérables” from August 012 at Chapter; drawing parallels between the battle of Waterloo and Britain’s relationship with the rest of the European Union – typical organised chaos from director Mathilde Lopez.

"Les Miserables" (photo: Studio Cano)

European identity was also in the subtext of “Storm 3: Together And Alone” from National Theatre Wales in Newport; Mike Brookes’ adaptation of Simone De Beauvoir’s “The Ethics of Ambiguity”; a bit of a hard slog, but a talented young Welsh cast.

"Storm 3" (National Theatre Wales)

More unambiguously entertaining was “Motown The Musical”, back at the Wales Millennium Centre; using the life-story of Berry Gordy Jr as a hook on which to hang some spectacular performances from that remarkable songbook.

"The Supremes" in "Motown The Musical" (photo: Tristram Kenton)

I also enjoyed the final two performances in the Spring Fringe season at The Other Room: “Camp Be Yourself”, an American summer-camp spoof from Box Theatre Company; and Willy Hudson’s “Bottom”, about the contemporary gay experience.

"Camp Be Yourself" (Box Theatre Company)

And, most recently, courtesy of Dirty Protest Theatre, Siân Owen’s “How To Be Brave”, a heartening one-woman play about being supported through tough times, performed in front of a community audience in the heart of Newport, the city which inspired it.

Laura Dalgleish in "How To Be Brave" (photo: Kirsten McTernan)

Roberto Devereux / Awakening / Peeling / The Full Monty / Shrew etc

There’s nothing like a spot of variety. On successive evenings at the end of February I watched a one-man play recreating a fictional kids TV show, a traditional 19^th century opera given a steam-punk visual flourish, and a trilogy of contemporary dance pieces, one involving spectacular mirror-based illusionism.

Justin Teddy Cliffe’s “Tigerface” – a piece about the importance of not letting go of your childhood dreams - was part of the Spring Fringe season at The Other Room, in which the very clever “Bummer And Lazarus”, a kind of canine take on “Waiting For Godot”, also featured.

Joyce El-Khoury (photo: Bill Cooper)

The opera was Donizetti’s “Roberto Devereux” from Welsh National Opera; a piece with which I was previously unfamiliar. This is his take on the story of Queen Elizabeth 1^st and the Earl of Essex, and featured a remarkably intense lead performance from Joyce El-Khoury as the vengeful monarch. In contrast, a couple of weeks later, again in the Wales Millennium Centre, came the touring version of “The Full Monty”, which was probably a closer adaptation of the angry “steelworkers turned male strippers” film than the largely female audience was expecting.

"Afterimage" (photo: Rhys Cozens)

The dance show was “Awakening” from National Dance Company Wales, comprising their now-classic “Tundra”, alongside the magical “Afterimage”, and Caroline Finn’s pagan-ritual-influenced “Reveller’s Mass”. This was in the Newport Riverfront, where the following week I saw Taking Flight’s revival of Kaite O’Reilly’s “Peeling”, about three actresses with disabilities reflecting on tokenism and much else.

"The Taming Of The Shrew" (photo: Mark Douet)

In addition to this was the Sherman’s “The Taming Of The Shrew”, which was free-wheeling fun featuring a strong largely female cast, although Jo Clifford’s gender-swapping Shakespeare rewrite didn’t really solve the problems of the play’s inherent sexism; and Meltem Arikan’s “Y Brain/Kargalar”, a lyrical two-hander in Welsh and Turkish about memory, exile and reinvention.

Then there was the Creative Conversation, hosted by National Theatre Wales, a day-long “Devoted and Disgruntled” discussion event, which was meant to be about the future of Welsh theatre in general rather than criticisms of the company; although a few inevitably surfaced. Still, it was good to be in a room with lots of people who love the art form.