| National Youth Theatre Return for Arad Goch Festival |
At NYTW |
| National Youth Theatre Wales with Frantic Assembly- dead born grow , Aberystwyth Arts Centre , April 2, 2014 |
“It had better be good.” The speaker is an Aberystwyth theatre regular. “We’re only here because it was in the “Best of 2013” list.” The tone is mock-accusatory, but a second viewing of a production, particularly when it is unexpected, can be cause for apprehension. Theatre is a fragile thing. Perhaps it all came together brilliantly that first time. Perhaps the reviewer just got it plain wrong. In the event there is naught to fear. A substantial audience, drawn from twenty-plus countries, plainly adore “dead born grow” and for a simple reason. It is good, very good. It is a first for National Youth Theatre of Wales to perform outside its customary calendar of August-into-September residency followed by a three-venue tour. The cast of twelve has been hauled out of college and school in term-time to remember, rehearse and recreate over a few intense days their production from the summer of 2013. The cause has been Jeremy Turner’s invitation to the company to join in Aberystwyth’s ninth “Agor Drysau” festival. “Agor Drysau”, held every other year in this most hopeful of seasons, has now its firm place in the cultural calendar of Wales. In fact, recalls Jeremy Turner, the festival reaches so far back that an early contribution from a European source came denominated in ECU’s. This year the timing of the festival has been shifted a couple of weeks to fit another special date. Arad Goch joins a small illustrious group of fellow companies, Earthfall and Music Theatre Wales in the lead, in celebrating twenty-five years of artistic accomplishment. The occasion is marked by a packed gathering in the upper gallery of Arad Goch’s custom-created Bath Street building. A Spring evening sun lights up the coloured glass of the great gothic window at the northern end. Fittingly, the town’s Business Club is involved in recognition that artistic blossom is not just a nice-to-have but crucial to economic vitality. An eight-minute stroll to the short-lease, multi-use Gas Gallery is evidence of that. Jeremy Turner speaks warmly and succinctly. He clearly has small intention of letting Arad Goch subside into a comfy middle age. He pays tribute to the elements that make a company work and endure. The company chair has already acknowledged the vision that only the right artistic director can bring. A certain battling feistiness is probably a part of the mix. The relationship with funders may on occasion enter stormy waters but that does not matter if it is honest and for the long term. Turner does not do bland. Of the staff “Sometimes they annoy me” and “Sometimes I annoy them” but they make it happen. Performances in a dozen countries, so much work in fact, he admits, that he cannot quite remember it all. Most of all a company works when the artistic drive is supported by a management board whereby the two make a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts. Turner pays tribute to the four women and men who have served as Chair of Arad Goch. An hour and half later, at the top of Bronglais Hill, “dead born grow” leaves several new impressions. There is the beauty and precision of the physical movement. Sophie Smith’s lighting, developed from Andrew Purves’ original design, uses low level effects from stage front and the wings. The sound design, Ethan Forde and Alexander Russell, ranges from electronica to vintage-age hits. But most of all “dead born grow” exudes a sense of compassion towards its cluster of teenagers. It is probable that every teenage generation has to face its own set of trials that are particular to its age. But some of the images here- an isolated presence at a social gathering- are universals. “dead born grow” does not carry a lot of speech. One actor speaks of the emotional baggage that becomes a part of who you are. The characters make, in the way that teenagers do, confessions and big speculations about the world. One meets an adult whose memory is all in pieces and says. “He doesn’t really know who I am.” That is it; they really just want to be known. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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