| A real sense of warmth and affection f |
At Wales Theatre Company |
| Wales Theatre Company- A Child's Christmas in Wale , Grand Theatre, Swansea , October 20, 2006 |
Director Michael Bogdanov has presented theatre audiences across Wales with an early festive gift in the form of this utterly beguiling and charming stage adaptation of a work by Dylan Thomas which offers a vision of a Wales which existed long before the advent of childhood obesity, X-boxes and i-Pods: an era in which when children could play outside all day, graze their knees, cheek their elders and engage in turf wars which involved little more than pelting rival gangs with snowballs.This latest project from Wales Theatre Company exploits the considerable talents of its ten-strong cast - led by velvet-voiced Russell Gomer as the adult Dylan, who serves as narrator - and conveys a real sense of warmth and affection for a simpler and more innocent age. The device of using adult performers to portray children - as seen in the likes of Dennis Potter's Blue Remembered Hills and in TIE productions such as those from Theatr na n'Og - is always great fun, allowing actors to let rip and engage in the kind of heightened physicality that characterises childhood. It is an entirely different kind of body language with its own gestures and mannerisms, and to say that each and every member of this uniformly excellent cast succeeded in their task is an understatement. Dion Davies, Terry Mortimer, Kathryn Dimery, Ffion Wilkins, Ieuan Rhys, Alex Parry, Kerry Joy Stewart, Llinos Daniel and Nicholas Goode slide seamlessly in and out of their multiple roles - fromadult to child and back again in the blink of an eye - with a degree of skill that is a joy to witness. Sean Crowley's evocative set - including not only an instantly recognisable view of Mumbles Head as seen from the Western edge of Swansea but also the unmistakable skyline of steeply sloping roofs in the Uplands - is enhanced by Chris Ellis's warm andatmospheric lighting, while the mood is hammered home still further by Jack Herrick's beautiful music and lyrics. The acid test for this one is the fire sequence, a segment which - if done badly - can interrupt the flow of the narrative as surely asthe Lord Cut-Glass "Tick Tock" scenes in Under Milk Wood. Happily,it works brilliantly here, presented as a madcap knockabout musical sequence which drove the pace forward. There is not a single weak link in this excellent production, which should hopefully find favour not only with Dylan Thomas aficianados but also mainstream theatregoers with a taste for nostalgia. |
Reviewed by: Graham Williams |
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