"tick, tick... BOOM!" / Stammermouth / "See-Through" / Hijinx

I was lucky enough to pay my first ever visit to the Valleys town of Newbridge, a week or so ago, to see the inaugural production from a new company, Yes Please :– Jonathan “Rent” Larson’s small-scale rock musical “tick… tick… BOOM!” – an excellent trio of performances, even if the source material was a tad irritating in that neurotically complacent “off-Broadway musical” way.

There were also two visits to The Other Room, for their Spring Fringe season of off-beat visiting works – Stammermouth’s “Just A Few Words”, which has a personal resonance for me; and Claire Gaydon’s YouTube tragi-comedy, “See-Through” – both deceptively clever.

 

Stammermouth (photo: Holly Cade)

Not to mention the latest from Hijinx at the Sherman, in collaboration with Teatro La Ribalta and Frantic Assembly: “Into The Light” - a highly imaginative physical theatre piece in which performers both with and without learning disabilities explored the hunger to perform.

"Into The Light" (Hijinx)

"Violence and Son" / Cirque Inextremiste / Burt Bacharach

I‘ve been spreading my wings in terms of theatre reviewing.

Offered the chance of a cheap coach ticket to join Sherman Cymru’s group of relatively new theatre-goers to experience a matinee performance of Gary Owen’s “Violence and Son” at London’s Royal Court Theatre, I offered to contribute a review to the Arts Scene In Wales website. A play in which Doctor Who nerd-ism meets unreconstructed Valley’s masculinity, it is both amusing and worrisome. An excellent cast, and a full house.

Going wandering before the show, I happened upon the Saatchi Gallery; the show “Pangaea II”, featuring new art from Africa and South America – a very diverse, colourful and thought-provoking collection.

The very next night, I went to see Cirque Inextremiste’s “Extension” at the Wales Millennium Centre. This was part of Hijinx Theatre’s Unity Festival of inclusive theatre; I’d been invited to review it for Wales Arts Review. A French show in which a disabled man takes revenge on his bullying colleagues using a mini mechanical digger, it’s funny rather than dark, and subtly spectacular.

Cirque Inextremiste outside Cardiff Central Library

I caught a second dose of Cirque Inextremiste a couple of days later, when they took their previous show, “Extremities” to the streets of central Cardiff, as part of the free element of the Festival – less of the heavy machinery, but still a health and safety nightmare.

This was prior to making my way to the Wales Millennium Centre for what will turn out to have been one of the peak musical experiences of my life – a concert given by Burt Bacharach.  Following a brief set from British singer-songwriter Georgia Train (heartfelt piano ballads), the 87 year-old maestro took to the stage, along with his band and an orchestra apparently assembled only that day.

Starting with the perennially relevant statement “What The World Needs Now Is Love”, he took us though more than two hours of hits and should-have-been-hits, taking in the inevitable medleys of Dionne Warwick classics and gems from his film career – generally respectful to the spirit of the songs and lyrics rather than frustratingly brief snippets. There were beautiful solo moments from his singers John Pagano, Donna Taylor and Josie James – Pagano accompanying himself on guitar for a beautiful version of “The Windows Of The World” - as well as anecdotes (e.g. Tom Jones’ initial disdain for “What’s New Pussycat”), humour (“The Blob”), and some affecting singing from the croaky maestro himself – Hal David’s lyrics for “Alfie” have never seemed more poignant. Sadly, his brilliant Elvis Costello co-writes weren’t represented, although it’s probably just as well – I don’t think I could have handled the emotional hit of “God Give Me Strength”. The evening ended on a singalong of “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”, sending the crowd (unusually these days, I was amongst the youngest) home full of the wonders of his timeless melodic gift. A beautiful night.

Dirty Protest. Hijinx. Leviathan. Howard Barker. Harri-Parris. BFI Launchpad.

A couple of weeks ago now saw a Dirty Protest double-header – one night in Aberystwyth followed by a repetition of the programme at the Abacus Rooms in Cardiff. Themed “The End of the Line”, it was a dazzlingly varied selection of short plays, largely by West Wales-based writers (Meredydd Barker, Lucy Gough, Branwen Davies, Catrin Fflur Huws, Roger Boyle, Liz Jones, Caroline Stockford, Rachel McAdam), taking in relationships, loss, political protest – amusing, poignant, baffling; sometimes all at the same time. All acted by a striking duo of young actors: Hanna Jarman and Rhys Warrington. And I even managed to get a seat this time.



There have been a number of assignments for British Theatre Guide as well:

First, there was the launch of Hijinx’s Unity Festival a celebration of inclusive theatre, taking place in July, involving an international roster of acts, largely with disabilities. This took place at the Senedd, the seat of Welsh Government, and took the form of a spoof comedy chat-show, during which Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas seemed not to mind being referred to as “Dave”.


Then there was the first “A Play, A Pie and A Pint” production at the Sherman Cymru – “Leviathan”, Matthew Trevannion’s three-hander set in the Valleys. An excellent, dark-toned family comedy. And the pie wasn’t bad either.


And the second production from The Other Room – Howard Barker’s “The Dying Of Today” – rooted in Ancient Greek wars, but eternally relevant. My first Barker – fiercely intelligent, but not as forbidding as I had feared (and I even managed to sneak a Sex Pistols reference into my review).


Most recently there was “The Harri-Parris: The Big Day” - Llinos Mai’s very entertaining comedy musical (and sequel to “The Leaving Do”, which I didn’t get to see) set amongst an eccentric West Wales farming family, which saw a rare Tuesday night full house at Chapter.


And in the midst of all this was the BFI Launchpad event (also at Chapter), arranged by Ffilm Cymru Wales, focussing on aspiring filmmakers, with particular references to black/minority ethnic writers, directors and producers. It was worth the £20 cost of entry to get three contrasting, but broadly complimentary assessments of my latest screenplay from experienced professionals; but I also managed to catch a programme of fascinating shorts from Film London, and meet some interesting people.

"Peter Pan" / "Whispers on the Waves"

I was lucky enough to see two Christmas shows for families this week, courtesy of the British Theatre Guide. Both highly entertaining and accomplished, but very different. Sherman Cymru's "Peter Pan" was a version of J. M. Barrie's (although he isn't credited) original, by Rob Evans, with excellent songs by Dafydd James and a cast largely consisting of recent drama-school graduates, although dominated by Russell Gomer's Captain Hook. Philip Michell's "Whispers on the Waves", from Odyssey/Hijinx, took as its starting point the South Wales radio ham who picked up distress signals from the Titanic, days before news of the disaster became known, and saw a young couple observing ghosts from the past as they ponder their future. Again, experiences I'd have missed out on for different reasons (in the first case, high ticket prices; in the second, general lack of awareness), had I not been given the opportunity to review them.