ScriptDawg / "The Effect" / "The Play That Goes Wrong" / Finch & Keita

My big event of the past few weeks was my short play, “Nerd”, being presented by the good people of ScriptDawg at AJ’s Coffee Bar in Cardiff, alongside the amusing and aptly named “Chitterlings” by Leah Byrne, as part of “An Evening With Pigs”. My play, a monologue inspired by the on-going sexual abuse/exploitation scandal which has hit Hollywood and elsewhere and inspired the #metoo movement, was given a pitch-perfect performance by Chris Pegler-Lambert, as a British film producer reflecting on his own behaviour. One hopes the story will continue.

The director, Allan Neve, is also working as assistant director on “The Effect” at The Other Room, Lucy Prebble’s play set in a lab where anti-depression medication is being tested, and two subjects struggle to ascertain whether their mutual attraction is natural or chemically induced; a powerful production of a piece which manages to both ridiculously clever and emotionally involving. Also very clever, but largely in terms of stage mechanics, was another review assignment - the touring production of worldwide success “The Play That Goes Wrong” at the New Theatre; taking the form of a disastrous amateur theatre production of a 1920s murder mystery, it’s very funny - a masterpiece of comic timing and set design.

"The Effect" (photo: Kieran Cudlip)

Most recently, there was my brother’s gift of a rare visit to St David’s Hall, to see the inspired pairing of legendary Welsh harpist Catrin Finch and Senegalese kora-player Seckou Keita. The melding of two apparently disparate folk traditions was almost seamless, although, stylistically, it largely seemed to favour the Celtic side of the equation, although with more rhythmic colour. Their take on Bach’s Goldberg Variations was particularly breath-taking. Finch, wearing an extravagantly punky black wig, since she is currently undergoing medical treatment, seemed in high spirits and her playing was flawless, as was Keita’s – his brief lesson in kora technique was fascinating. They were briefly joined by another huge name in roots music circles – support act Gwyneth Glyn, whose more traditional take on folk (her own band including veteran musician and producer Dylan Fowler) was also very affecting. And it was a pleasure to be reminded once more of the marvellous acoustics in that venue. A magical couple of hours.

"Where Do Little Birds Go" / "Seen" at The Other Room

The second Cardiff Fringe Theatre Festival took place last week, colonising unusual venues in various parts of town. I only managed to make it to one show: the Welsh premiere of Camilla Whitehill’s “Where Do Little Birds Go”, in the intimate downstairs vault of the Little Man Coffee Company in the city centre. A one-person play based on the true story of a young woman’s traumatic involvement with the Kray twins in 1960s London, it was highly evocative, with a very effective central performance from Kate Elis, and some clever sound design.

Kate Elis (photo: Ben Jones)

More recently, following on from June’s Young Artists Festival at The Other Room, the temporary companies which were formed to perform short plays by established writers were re-convened. This time we gave those pieces which were written by newer playwrights during the week another rehearsed reading, this time in front of a paying audience, under the banner of the venue’s regular “Seen” events. Thus, I got the chance to direct three of my original four actors in a re-staging of Gareth Ford Elliot’s drug-dealer monologue “Bull Shade Skank”, which was great fun. It was also useful sitting in on the post-show feedback session, during which audience-members offered valuable insights into each of the pieces (the other writers being Luke Nixon, Jenna Beth Lowendahl, Hefin Robinson and Melangell Dolma). A much-needed reprise.

By the way, I wrote more extensively about my experience of the Young Artists Festival on my National Theatre Wales Community blog.

BBC Writers Festival 2017 / "Killology"

Last week, I was one of the many hopefuls who attended the first Welsh Writers Festival, at Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre. It was the official launch of the BBC Writersroom in Wales, and as well as free food and drink, there were sessions aimed at writers who are interesting in working in areas such as childrens’ TV, radio, and comedy-drama. For me, though, the highlight was the appearance of Cardiff-born Andrew Davies, author of many notable TV adaptations (“Pride and Prejudice”, “War And Peace”, “House Of Cards” etc), who provided several useful tips, quips and snippets. I was fortunate enough to be asked to blog about it on the BBC website, where I provided a fuller summary of the event, but I think it’s fair to say it was an enjoyable day, with optimism in the air.

My latest reviewing assignment for the British Theatre Guide was Gary Owen’s “Killology”, playing at the Sherman Theatre, prior to moving on to the co-producing venue, London’s Royal Court Theatre. Given an ominously bleak staging, it takes as its starting point the idea of violent video games influencing behaviour, and turns into an emotionally resonant mediation on fatherhood. Possibly his best yet.

"Killology" (photo: Mark Douet)

"Make An Aria"

Back in November, I was forwarded an e-mail from Michael McCarthy, Artistic Director of Music Theatre Wales, seeking writers to take part in their latest Make An Aria project, exploring the topic of immigration. This was in connection with their up-coming production of “The Golden Dragon” – an opera about asylum-seekers in Germany.

I was aware of the company’s pioneering work in the area of contemporary opera, and of their most recent aria programme, focussing on World War 1. Knowing little about opera (although I did go and see “Porgy And Bess” at the Wales Millennium Centre a few years ago, and “Turandot” at the New Theatre several years earlier), and always keen to try new things, I leapt at the opportunity to learn more.

A few days later, I found myself in a room at the Royal Welsh College of Music And Drama, with a bunch of other writers, several students of composition along with composer John Hardy (their head of department), Michael McCarthy and Michael Rafferty of MTW, and representatives from the Welsh Refugee Council. We were given a brief introduction to the concept of the aria, as well as some actual facts and figures about the asylum system as it applies to Wales, before hearing the remarkable testimony of Mustafa, a former soldier who has been forced to leave Gambia.

There was then a clever “speed-dating” exercise, where writers and composers interacted briefly whilst discussing imagery, following which we were put into pairs and, basically, told to get on with creating an original aria.

"Speed-dating" at RWCMD (photo: Music Theatre Wales)

Within a week, I had presented a first draft of a one-page libretto entitled “In Limbo” to my lucky collaborator, Carlijn Metselaar. We had already agreed that our take on the issue of immigration should be broadly positive, and that the writing of political theorist Hannah Arendt might be a good starting-point; I found a quote of hers about a Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany which I borrowed for the opening line. Our protagonist is a universal character, meditating on his statelessness; I tried to keep the text simple, direct and fluent.

Over the next few months, via e-mail communications and a handful of meetings and consultations (from which I took the useful note that it is hard to make the word “limbo” sound serious in an operatic context), our aria magically came into being.

The climax finally arrived on June 2^nd.

I first heard the piece during the afternoon rehearsal, with singer Rodney Clarke accompanied by Ian Shaw on piano; frankly I was lost for words. Carlijn had sent me the score, but with my primary-school-level sight-reading skills, I could only glean a vague idea of the melody. Finally getting a sense of the way in which she brilliantly used shifting time-signatures to signal the changes in mood throughout the piece – a kind of journey from a dark place to an optimistic one – with my words given life by a powerful, dramatic voice, I was profoundly moved.

The public masterclass, later that evening, was a bit of a blur.

Each writer/composer pairing (the others were Pey Pey Oh & Daniel Soley; Eric Ngalle Charles & Joe Shrimpling; Wanda O’Connor & Andrew Wallace; and Jeanne Jones & Charlotte Eaton-Jones) was called up on stage to introduce their aria, which was then performed (the other singers being Llio Evans and Martha Jones), prior to Stuart MacRae (composer of MTW’s recent production “The Devil Inside”) briefly interrogating the creative team, and bringing his experienced ear to bear on the interaction between text, music and performance and ways in which this might be enhanced.

Stuart MacRae (photo: Music Theatre Wales)

The show ended with Zimbabwean performer Bevin Magama accompanying himself on the mbira as he told the story of The Rat and The Porcupine – itself, vaguely asylum-themed.

A beautiful experience – transcendent, even.

“Dirty, Gifted and Welsh” / “Gone Girl”

Due to my on-going facilitator training, I arrived late at “Dirty, Gifted and Welsh”, the day-long writer-centred collaboration between Dirty Protest and National Theatre Wales, held at the Angel Hotel in central Cardiff. I was in time to catch a session on the writing process led by Louise Osborne, a vaguely theatre-oriented pub-style quiz, and an intriguing monologue by Miranda Roszkowski. Things seemed to have quietened down a bit by the time of the evening performances of the Rapid Response plays, one of which, “Effete” was my short comedy about gay marriage. It seemed to go down well, though – plenty of laughs, almost all of them intended. The general impression was of a fulfilling day for all concerned.

I went to see David Fincher’s “Gone Girl”, having read Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel a few months ago and completely forgotten at least one vitally important plot point; this only served to enhance my enjoyment, however. The screenplay is by Flynn herself, thus the source material’s cynical take on lies and manipulation within relationships remains intact. Ben Affleck, as the man accused of his missing wife’s murder dials down his trademark shiftiness in order to appear genuinely perplexed; and Rosamund Pike is a revelation as the multi-faceted Amy. The film does slightly outstay its welcome once the more sensational elements of the plot have played out, but the performances remain cherishable. 

"Romeo and Juliet", National Theatre Wales, etc

An unusually busy week, which saw me spending a few days up in Bangor, North Wales, as part of my arts facilitator training, observing as National Theatre Wales put together an Assembly, in which a number of poets came up with a performance exploring the democratic process. Highly stimulating (further reading).

Then, back in Cardiff, two plays to review on successive evenings: “Romeo and Juliet”, Rachel O’Riordan’s debut as director at Sherman Cymru; and Lucy Gough’s adaptation of Dylan Thomas’ “Adventures in the Skin Trade” at Chapter; both innovative, and enjoyable for different reasons.

And this weekend, I have a short play entitled “Effete” on as part of “Dirty, Gifted and Welsh”, the joint venture between National Theatre Wales and Dirty Protest at the Angel Hotel in the middle of Cardiff. Should be a lark.

Not to mention the continuing adventures of my “Inside The Poetry Storehouse” film as part of Outcasting’s contribution to Cardiff Contemporary.

Wales Blog Awards 2014

I don’t get invited to many prize-giving ceremonies, especially not those in which I’m nominated. So it was lovely to get the opportunity to attend the Wales Blog Awards 2014, where my Blakeson Mashup project was up for Best Multimedia Blog. It didn’t win, obviously – that honour went to the somewhat more aesthetically pleasing Drowning Dogs – but it was a pleasant evening nonetheless, partially due to the free wine provided by the sponsors (Warwick Emmanuel PR, Wales Online etc).

The ceremony, at Chapter, was mercifully brief, all done and dusted in just over an hour, and smoothly hosted by HTV Wales’ Adrian Masters. Highlights included the Best Community Blog Award going to my neighbourhood bloggers Roath Cardiff, and the People’s Choice Award (the result of a public vote) being awarded to Alice Roythorne’s online journal detailing her journey through chemotherapy.

The event certainly helped to highlight much of the valuable work being done by citizen journalists in a number of areas – politics, health, food & drink, sport. Obviously, though, the “dead tree media” (as Masters referred to it) with all its professionalism and access to corporate resources, will remain vitally important, as long it evolves in a healthy, inclusive, and socially and intellectually responsible manner.