Carlos Acosta / Spring Fringe / The Beauty Parade / Tylwyth

Well, obviously, coronavirus panic has called a halt to all theatrical activity for the time being (including a rudimentary project I was working on); but at least I managed to see and review some interesting stuff before the shut-down.

Acosta Danza (photo: Johan Persson)

The most high-profile was legendary Cuban ballet dancer Carlos Acosta’s company delivering a beautifully diverse programme entitled “Acosta Danza Evolution” at the Wales Millennium Centre, culminating in Christopher Bruce’s amusing Rolling Stones-soundtracked “Rooster”. Also celebratory, although in a more sombre fashion was Kaite O’Reilly’s “The Beauty Parade”, in the W.M.C.’s Weston Studio - an aesthetically ambitious, multi-media tribute to female undercover operatives during World War 2.

 

Sophie Stone in "The Beauty Parade" (photo: Jorge Lizalde)

I also caught two shows in the now-truncated Spring Fringe season at The Other Room: the likeably ramshackle “Back To Berlin”, about the beginning of the end of the Cold War; and Katie Greenall’s “Fatty Fat Fat”, a brave but funny look at body image. There was, in addition, a trip to Newport’s Riverfront to see Operasonic’s enchanting “Vehicles”, a small-scale opera for young people, with a science-fiction twist.

 

"Back To Berlin" (photo: Dali Mia Poulsom)

The big hit of the year, however, was shaping up to be “Tylwyth” at the Sherman, Daf James follow-up to “Llwyth”, his pioneering look at the lives of gay men within a Welsh-speaking environment. I was delighted to note that a familiarity with the first play was unnecessary, and while I didn’t get all of the cultural references, sur-titles meant that most of the wit and darkness came across. Sadly, however, like most cultural life in the U.K. and beyond, the Welsh tour has been postponed.

 

"Tylwyth"

"Gods & Kings" / "The Story" / "Grease" / "The Invisible Woman" / Roathbud

Another startlingly diverse couple of weeks of theatre reviewing. Starting in Newport with the mental health themed monologue “Gods & Kings”, cleverly staged as a duet between actor Robert Bowman and sign-language interpreter Sami Thorpe; then came Tess Berry-Hart’s clever and pointed political allegory “The Story” at The Other Room, the latest in their Violence Series. In stark contrast was a large-scale touring production of 1950s-set, 1970s-written “Grease” at the Wales Millennium Centre, beautifully performed by a largely youthful cast, if not entirely coherent plot-wise; and, in the same building, “The Invisible Woman”, a lively piece about a disregarded middle-aged woman which kicked off their Performances For The Curious season.

Hannah McPake and Siwan Morris in "The Story" (Photo: Kirsten McTernan)

There’s no Made In Roath arts festival this year, but there was a Roathbud film event last night, at which my Delia Derbyshire / John Peel film had its first public screening, along with several other intriguing pieces.

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.

"And Suddenly I Disappear" / "35 Times" / "The Awkward Years" / "Vincent River" / "Let's Talk About Death, Baby" / "La Traviata" / NTW Letter

Another amusing month of theatre-reviewing, starting with Kaite O’Reilly’s “And Suddenly I Disappear” at Chapter, a multimedia disquisition on attitudes towards disability, taking in both the U.K and Singapore; a trip to Newport to see the touring revival of Mercury Theatre Wales’ “35 Times”, taking on marital abuse; Matthew Bulgo’s “The Awkward Years” at The Other Room, featuring an excellent solo performance from Lauren O’Leary as a young woman on the verge of self-destruction; the unfamiliar location of Jacobs Antiques Market to catch Philip Ridley’s surprisingly conventional tale of homophobic violence, “Vincent River”; back to Chapter for “Dick Johns – Let’s Talk About Death, Baby”, the sort-of sequel to his “What Mid-Life Crisis” show from 2016; and most spectacularly, the Welsh National Opera’s re-staging of their first ever show at the Wales Millennium Centre, Verdi’s “La Traviata” – a rare chance to see a popular classical opera in a period setting.

"The Awkward Years" (photo: Kirsten McTernan)

Added to this, I was one of the signatories of an open letter to National Theatre Wales, questioning their work-rate and artistic policies, which turned out to be somewhat newsworthy, and may actually have some impact, hopefully positive.

"The Glass Menagerie" / "Sand" / "Folk"

Three contrasting reviewing assignments in the past few weeks: Tennessee Williams' classic family tragedy "The Glass Menagerie" in Newport, featuring a heart-breaking performance from Eiry Thomas; the latest offering from The Other Room, Nick Gill's nuclear war-themed "Sand", starring Sara Lloyd-Gregory; and my first attempt at reviewing a dance piece, with "Folk" from NCDW at Sherman Cymru. All highly effective, with the caveat that "Sand" tends to state the obvious, albeit very eloquently.

Sara Lloyd-Gregory in "Sand" (Photo by Aenne Pallasca)