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It hasn't been the easiest of times for the former Welsh secretary Ron Davies. There was that incident on Clapham Common - his notorious "moment of madness" - which ended in disgrace, resignation and divorce. Now, after a respectable time in the wilderness, it appears that the reputation of the man who did more than anyone to deliver the Welsh Assembly may be about to be rehabilitated, although it is debatable whether Mr Davies will see it that way. The Welsh theatre group Volcano is taking its new absurdist show, appropriately called Moment of Madness, to London next month, where it will be staged in a theatre near where Davies met his downfall. But the writer, Paul Davies - no relation - said that far from setting out to add to the agonies of the honourable member for Caerphilly, the play intends to praise and not to bury him. "What inspired me was Ron's confession that he suffered from a medical condition where the victim is addicted to putting themselves in risky situations," he said. "I was amazed that there was such a clinical, diagnosable condition, and I thought it would be fun if four other leading Welsh figures should be suffering from it as well." Davies is cast as a heroic revolutionary figure not unlike Lenin, who is devoted to carrying through a revolution in a reborn, independent Wales. "Ron may not even recognise himself," said Davies the playwright. "I don't dwell too much on his misdemeanour." Davies admits that he has based another character on Joanna Western, the controversial chief executive of the Welsh Arts Council. A coffin was symbolically delivered to her office recently after a round of grant cuts. There was no reply yesterday from the Westminster office of Mr Davies, who did not turn up for the Cardiff premiere of the show. Moment of Madness opens at BAC in Battersea on May 30. |
| The Guardian web site: www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4013013,00.html |
| Fiachra Gibbons e-mail: |
Saturday, April 29, 2000 |
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