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STREET life from Splott Road to St Mary Street in Cardiff is causing quite a stir in America. Ghost City, by Welsh playwright Gary Owen, is wowing audiences in New York. Now Owen, whose remarkable piece of theatre, set over 24 hours in 25 locations around the city, has been hailed by American critics as the most influential Welsh writer since Dylan Thomas. His play, in New York as part of the Brits Off Broadway theatre festival,is supported by the national new writing company of Wales, Sgript Cymru. It is a series of monologues and duologues for assorted city dwellers played by four actors. Even the players' thick Welsh accents are proving a hit. One critic said, "The piece succeeds in presenting a panorama of allegorical figures in postmodern urban life. "The playwright tries to tie them all together but the connections are subtle, bordering on cryptic, as in the work of Harold Pinter; still, the individual episodes are consistently thoughtful and engaging. "Owen's style, consisting of short sentences punctuated by expletives and local colour, also owes a lot to Pinter and the Welshman shows the same type of social consciousness that can be found in Pinter's life and work. "The play takes on issues of racism, class conflict, drug use, domestic abuse, and political terrorism with breezy insight." He added, "Welsh theatre hardly ever appears on New York stages but, if Ghost City is any indication, this is an oversight that should be corrected." A spokesman from Sgript Cymru said, "Who'd have thought that a play that was so Cardiff would be such a hit in New York? "But the New Yorkers are loving it, even laughing in the middle of the Welsh monologue when actress Rachel Isaac says the odd English phrase. "One audience member told actor Celyn Jones that she'd be very surprised if it didn't transfer to Broadway." Ghost City's next run is at the Arcola Theatre in London, from June 17. |
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Saturday, June 12, 2004 |
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