| A Look-back and Guide |
At Wales Theatre Company |
| Wales Theatre Company , Theatre of Wales , June 5, 2024 |
Wales Theatre Company was the production and touring company of Michael Bogdanov (1938-2017). His life and career are remembered in the sequence “In Memory”. The books that he wrote on Shakespeare are reviewed in the sequence “Theatre Director Book” May 2017. “Amazing Grace” played to 45,000 people. From the reviews of productions by Wales Theatre Company below: “Amazing Grace” by Mal Pope: : 01 April 2005: 17 November, 2006: 06 April 2005: 01 November 2006 “Telling the story of former miner Evan Roberts’ role in the great Christian Revival of 1904 in Wales, and his eventual ruin at the hands of overwork and gutter-press insinuations, this production found itself telling a tale of high morals, higher ambitions and great personal faith in an increasingly secular age, but doing so through adrenaline-pumping songs and high-energy performances.” “A Child’s Christmas In Wales”: 20 November 2014: 20 October 2006 “This version forgoes the detail and characterisation that Adrian Mitchell put into his adaptation. The haunting sadness of Aunt Eleri and the communist fixity of an uncle are gone. This adaptation follows faithfully the arc of the day from excited opening of the Christmas stocking to bedtime dialogue between boy (Dafydd Rhys Evans) and sage adult (Russell Gomer) in woollen waistcoat, who stands outside the action. At least not quite: at one point Gomer lends himself to be the hose so the fire brigade may douse the burning turkey. This version’s distinction is the music by Jack Herrick, fourteen numbers from upbeat to lyrical to hymn. A cast of ten ensures a harmony of singing richness. The instrumental texture includes musical director Terry Mortimer’s piano, Stephen Hickman’s guitar and Lauren Roberts’ accordion, although the cast are multi-instrumentalists. Jak Poore swaps violin for mandolin, guitar and drums. Heledd Gwyn is on flute and whistle but may also be seen on double bass. Overseeing the other musicians is a harp, with its appropriate light cover of snow. Mali Llywelyn plucks it, when not downstage playing Bethan, Megan and Aunt Hannah.” “Contender”: 26 May 2007: 30 April 2007 “Mal Pope’s launches his “Contender” into the dramatic ring with a delicious high trumpet motif- veteran musician Andrew Griffiths can play twenty instruments. The band swings into action alongside him and “Contender” never looks back.” "Cymbeline": 23 October 2004: 17 October 2004: 15 October 2004: 7 October 2004 “This is a production which offers an opportunity to experience the timelessness and resonance of Shakespeare's work, and as such it deserves to be seen by as wide an audience as possible.” “Elwyn”: 27 April 2012 “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. “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.” “Hamlet”: 28 October 2005 “Michael Bogdanov’s choice of lead for his Wales Theatre Company production of this classic among classics is Wayne Cater, a man who at times looks like a rejuvenated Van Morrison or moderated Danny de Vito, and at best is no-one’s idea of a romantic hero. “It is but the first of the challenges Bogdanov issues in this brave production, and if we can adjust our expectations to accept Hamlet as short, plump and 30-ish then the rest is easy.” “Macbeth Kill Bill Shakespeare” : 16 October 2007 “OK… so what if Tarantino had written Macbeth?” proclaims the tagline of Macbeth Kill Bill Shakespeare – a highly innovative re-presentation of Shakespeare’s infamous Scottish play in the style of the very best of late 20th, early 21st century ultra-slick, ultra-violent vengeance movies, using a mixture of Shakespeare’s text, new and highly modern dialogue, and Tarantino quotes, both faithful and bastardised in a mock Shakespearean style.” “Keith McIntyre’s impressively simple Japanese-style set, which comprised a series of six large paper-backed panels – three across, two up - divided into panes, with the central two capable of rising and descending to reveal pertinent characters and stage-images. The others proved very useful for backlit silhouette-play, particularly of murders or similar antics which Shakespeare never put directly on stage.” "Merchant of Venice": 23 October 2004 “Michael Bogdanov is a proven and consummate theatre expert. He will always have a very clear picture of what he wants to achieve with a production and, with his actors, will set out on an extremely rewarding and creative path to reach that goal. The central impetus that drives all his work is, of course, to have the maximum impact on his audience. This neutral grey scenic device cleverly devised by Sean Crowley and Ed Thomas skilfully serves each one of the productions, making it possible for us to experience this marathon of all three plays in the same day.” “The Merry Wives of Windsor” by William Shakespeare: 05 July 2002 “I have just seen one of the best mainstream productions (and possibly the best Shakespearean comedy) from a Welsh company in many a long year. And I had to see it in England. Ludlow, admittedly, is not too far east of Offa's Dyke, but it did seem odd that this gem of a show, with a Welsh director and Welsh cast, should be funded from outside the country and presented for a predominantly English upper-middle class audience. Still, makes a change from dull English-style shows funded by the Welsh Arts Council presented in North Wales for a predominantly English middle-class audience.” “Romeo and Juliet”: 27 September 2008 “Once again Bogdanov shows his grasp of theatrical flare with his casting of two exciting young actors in the leading roles. Jack Ryder is very much a kid on the block, deeply affected by his feelings for Juliet but even with Shakespeare’s words he is tongue tied in expressing himself. He may have killed Tybalt but he somehow retains a bewildered innocence. Sara Lloyd-Gregory is a delight as Juliet, conveying both youthful charm and a naïve passion as she gives us, at times a very clear and poetic delivery of these beautiful and simple lines.” “The Servant of Two Masters” : 24 October 2007: 09 October 2007: 08 October 2007 “Moreover, adaptor Bogdanov has given his actor an extended comic scene, a theatrical trompe l’oeil, which Gareth Richards plays to the hilt. In a profession where dedication and skill have to forever contend with caprice and sheer luck of timing these three young actors, with a good head wind behind them, all deserve long careers. The reworking of the text is pretty cheeky. It rings with insults- “posh nobs”, “stinky bastards”, fart-arse” and “lying little prick” are the shorter ones- but it is built to fit the persona of Les Dennis. A good star, by contrast, imparts warmth and energy to those within its orbit. That is Les Dennis in this production, just one of a strong ensemble that includes the reliable skills of Kathryn Dimery, Ieuan Rhys and Russell Gomer, all now Wales Theatre Company associate artists.” "Twelfth Night": 23 October 2004 “Michael Bogdanov is a proven and consummate theatre expert. He will always have a very clear picture of what he wants to achieve with a production and, with his actors, will set out on an extremely rewarding and creative path to reach that goal. The central impetus that drives all his work is, of course, to have the maximum impact on his audience. This neutral grey scenic device cleverly devised by Sean Crowley and Ed Thomas skilfully serves each one of the productions, making it possible for us to experience this marathon of all three plays in the same day.” “ Under Milk Wood” : 11 October 2003: 21 October 2003: 29 January 2004 “How those words penetrate, reveal and create such joy within us. The cast brush in some gentle colours and entertaining animation. But these people aren’t stereotypical dim, empty head Welsh idiots, such as you might find in a BBC Wales comedy programme. They are warm, full-blooded earthy people. Here they speak with Welsh accents but they are universal characters sharing lives and loves and demonstrating the human weaknesses that we all share.” “Llinos Daniel, Phylip Harries, Russell Gomer, Kathryn Dimery, Nickie Rainsford and Morgan Rhys weave in and out of their characterisations with extraordinary skill and bags of energy, throwing a new light upon familiar figures such as Lily Smalls, Mary Ann Sailors and Mr Waldo and also taking on more challenging roles such as nanny goats, cattle and in one case even a hissing primus stove.” |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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