At the Sherman |
| Sherman Theatre Company- Merlin and the Cave of Dreams , Sherman Theatre Cardiff , November 29, 2005 |
| And dream we did, most delightfully, and wondered at the magic as we sailed with the young Arthur, a true son of Wales, to an Avalon of rugged standing stones, wizards, giants, grotesques and wicked kings and beautiful ladies. But we first meet the future king in a much more domestic setting. We learn that Arthur’s mother had sadly died at his birth.and the baby had been given for safe keeping into the hands of a trusty down-to-earth family by Merlin. As well as having magical powers to bring the story to its rightful conclusion, in his ‘real-life’ appearances Merlin is a benign old gentlemen who introduces writer, Charles Way’s excellently crafted story and takes us through it stage by increasingly exciting stage with a captivating and hugely convincing performance by Daydd Emyr. Arthur has a brother Cei the true son of Blacksmith Ector. A fine fatherly performance by Declan Wilson and his wife Gwyneth, Nia Davies making it clear that mother knows best. Both boys have a destiny that their parents are unaware of as the two brothers boisterously play and fight and try to out do one another. Richard Corgan as Cei and Iwan Tudor as Arthur perfectly capture this youthful spirit which they share with many in their enthusiastic young audience. The warmth, charm and excitement in Sherman Artistic Director Phil Clark’s production will appeal to the young in heart from eight to eighty. The young and naïve, orphaned Arthur is clearly in good hands. Cei quickly assumes the role of protective older brother and mum and dad have given him lots of love and taught him to mind his manners. To fulfil his destiny Arthur has to be mysteriously transported to the Cave of Dreams; he’s helped on his way by an ugly old woman, condemned to be perpetually washing at the ford in the river; Nia Davies again who is able to change from scary to delight in the middle of a sentence. The standing stones revolve, the lights scarily flicker and darken, drums beat and strange chanting sounds rise out of the earth followed by a beautiful lady holding a secret that will transform Arthur’s future. We are all completely spellbound. Clark with his superb technical team, designer Sean Crowley, who play after play never fails to surprise us, with the lighting of Ceri James and once again Paula Gardiner’s atmospheric music, mostly played by members of the cast has taken us into an enchanting world of magic and mystery as captivating as any big budget fantasy movie. Arthur is a quick learner and Iwan Tudor never puts a foot wrong in his truly inspiring performance. Maybe it’s in the genes, Bethan Morgan, as the dignified Igraine, stands tall and with great sensitivity and beauty directs her prince on to fulfil his destiny but he still has to deal with a giant with a very peculiar taste in dress-wear and the dragon-like King Uther Pendragonb a well aimed, menacingly roisterous piece of acting from Jak Poore …More tension, more excitement… Arthur draws the sword from the stone and an almighty cheer goes up from the audience. Once again the Sherman Theatre has given us a ‘Top of The Tree’ production. |
Reviewed by: Michael Kelligan |
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