| Successful Return of Wales Theatre Company |
At Wales Theatre Company |
| Elwyn- Wales Theatre Company & Aberystwyth Arts Centre , Aberystwyth Arts Centre , April 27, 2012 |
Theatre’s love affair with cinema is not quite what it was. Far from being a nice pre-branded marketing proposition “the King’s Speech” has gone down in a sea of red ink. Kneehigh have pulled themselves out of the trough that was their take on the magical “Parapluies de Cherbourg.” The whole trend- “Chariots of Fire” and “the Bodyguard” are on their way- is the subject of a feisty denunciation in May’s edition of Prospect magazine.A virtue of “Elwyn” is that its source in a film is totally invisible. Michael Bogdanov’s adaptation from Axel Helstenius’ original script shapes it wholly as a piece for theatre. The first act conclusion is the piece of structure that distinguishes theatre from cinema and Michael Bogdanov delivers it. Ieuan Rhys’ Kelly Bach encounters waitress Sian’s generous cleavage. The audience is left with the apprehension that the fragile life of Kelly and agoraphobe Elwyn might all go terribly wrong. Two men in middle leave the protection of Brynhyfryd Home for a lightly supervised independent life in a Cardiff flat. Many a dramatist would have thickened the texture. The air could well be thick with denunciation of cuts and intolerance. A Joe Penhall would have provided clinical explanation and paradox. Here, Elwyn and Kelly’s link- man with the challenging world of pubs and premium rate telephone services is Bill Bellamy’s practical Frank. “This-is-where-you-live” he spells out emphatically to the dazed arrivals. He has no interest in pathologies. His concerns are simple- answer the telephone, get out, shop, cook, eat, meet people. Director and lead actors have been working together for twenty years. The script trusts them to be the characters they are. For Russell Gomer’s Elwyn, in his fawn coloured clothes and buttoned up mac, the slightest change is a hazard to be overcome. In response to any threat the vertical line between his prominent eyebrows deepens. If it is too great to handle, he bolts to the safety of the inside of the wardrobe. Ieuan Rhys gives his eyes a sleepy look that is suggestive of a character under medication. In his woolly hat with its wobbly pompom he is the skilled carpenter, the craftsman in apposition to Elwyn’s ascetic brainbox, the hearty eater, the virgin with one thing on his mind. The play has featured five times as a Christmas production in Hamburg. The togetherness of the scene in which the two characters decorate their Christmas tree touches something quite deep. Sean Crowley makes the Cardiff flat a place of dreamy blue and white checks, with light blonde Ikea furniture. Michael Bogdanov uses songs by Ralph McTell, Ewan McColl, Galt MacDermot and others. But they come in orchestrated cover versions, emblematic perhaps that Elwyn and Kelly may be spared life’s true rawness. But it fits with Elwyn’s childhood. In the age of the Sex Pistols he fought off panic attacks with the music of Roger Whittaker. Joni Mitchell’s line “So many things I could have done/ But clouds got in my way” mirrors the clouds that run up the back of the set. It is a rare dramatic story that does not resemble others that have gone before. Elwyn himself might well be a continuation of Alan Bennett’s Graham in “A Chip in the Sugar” after his mother’s loss. There is the haziest of shadows of “Of Mice and Men” but not really. “Elwyn’s” best virtue is that it is quite distinctive. It is probably a theatre first for Western Mail to be the source of a dramatic denouement. Karen Price gets her first name check in a drama. It is probably too a first time for retailer Nice ‘n’ Naughty to earn itself a programme credit. Aberystwyth’s productions outside the summer musical are infrequent. 2011’s production provoked respect but not excitement. Reaction to the 2010 production at Aber and Taliesin is on record. There is warmth and truth to “Elwyn”. The play may have a feel-good ending but sometimes life simply does work out. I liked “Elwyn” for its skill, its distinctiveness, its unpatronising attitude to its characters, its rendering on stage of a little heard, small voice of humanity. The first night audience adored it. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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