| Drink it Down, For Life is Fleeting |
At Louche Theatre |
| Louche Theatre- A Child’s Christmas in Wales , Morlan Centre Aberystwyth , December 1, 2012 |
Affection matters but it is the lack of sentimentality that makes it count. In Louche's seasonal production Heather Giles' crooning Aunt Bessie saves the day with a replacement for the burnt turkey, but she is also a compulsive pill-taker. Roger Boyle's Uncle Gwyn is a commanding presence with a more-than-seasonal liking for the drink. Dylan's adored Aunt Eleri has a brittleness to her, carrying always, as that generation did, the sadness of loss from the Great War. Director Harry Durnall has used the large space of the Morlan floor to evoke a world of bobbed hair and trimmed moustaches, knee-long shorts and trousers with sharply pressed creases. Pullovers without sleeves are always worn with a tie. The contribution of Caroline Clark, on stage as Aunt Hannah, on costume design is crucial. All Christmases from childhood are endowed with magic, encased in memory as a better time. Dylan and friends may play and fight in the cold, but as Sue Harris' Smokey the park keeper says, even the snow was of a better quality in his youth. In this different world- it is not even certain whether electricity has reached Cwmdonkin Drive-cockles and laverbread are the menu for breakfast and post is delivered on Christmas Day. Hazel Fairplay's Postman Dai indeed finds “something waiting in the hall”. Her raucous behaviour indicates that the Thomas household is not the first to be offering a little Christmas tipple. Many parts of Dylan Thomas’ narrative ring true. Aunts have that propensity for delivering appalling presents. John Edwards' endearing Dylan does his best to receive a “pirate wig” that has been self-knitted. The wig, however, is nothing on the humiliating ghastliness of the balaclava of mustard yellow he is commanded to wear on a winter's afternoon. Richard Gethin is Tydyr in gravedigger black with a demeanour to match. Paul Ingrams is father D-J with his fantastical tales and his tribute to a pudding so good it was “not made on earth.” Daz O’Connell is a cheery but relentless Uncle Glyn with his wish for “a revolutionary New Year.” Sarah Banks and Gemma Clarke are Brenda and Glenda in yellow and lacey white. They behave as all girl cousins do, part-playmates and part-teaser-taunters. A string of ghost stories ends on Tydyr's encounter with the Headless Hound of Penparcau. Denise Williams as Eleri caps it all with her haunting tale of Taliesin. There are several adaptations for stage of “A Child's Christmas in Wales”. The choice of that by Jeremy Brooks and Adrian Mitchell is a good one. It runs throughout with strong melodies. The all-company singing of “Cwm Rhondda” and “Sospan Fach” is rousing. The songs with fewer singers would have gained in lyricism with the addition of a single instrument, just a keyboard. Dylan drops to his knees in adoration for Denise Williams to give “Calon Lan” all that it deserves. Dylan confesses in his opening lines to the fallibility of memory. Events merge and timings are misremembered. There is the truth of a secure childhood when he says that, for all the fears, somehow he felt safe in them. In communal togetherness the company of twenty-six toasts this occasion for celebration with the bitter-sweet “Parsnip wine takes some beating/ Drink it down for life is fleeting.” |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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