When so much new writing by young metropolitan playwrights sounds similar, the Welsh writer Gary Owen offers a distinctive sound with his dense edgy dramas full of dirty poetry. Those of us lucky enough to catch his adrenaline-filled debut, Crazy Gary's Mobile Disco, knew that here was a writer of thrilling promise - which came to fruition with The Drowned World, a futuristic nightmare set in a totalitarian state rather too close to our own world for comfort.
Now with Ghost City he consolidates his reputation. Set in Cardiff over a period from 6am to midnight, in 25 scenes Ghost City offers brief snatches of lives lived and souls lost to create an interconnecting map of the city and its people. The easy response would be to say that because it is Welsh and poetic this is a modern, urban Under Milk Wood, but it is more like a theatrical, streetwise version of The Waste Land in the way it gives us glimpses of lives on this compelling odyssey through the city. As it maps out the territories and relationships of its protagonists, it probes ever more deeply into the psyche of the nation itself. Where is Wales located? In the heart? In the head? In its culture and language? Or just 150 miles west of London?
The excellent cast of four slip cleverly between characters, and director Simon Harris proves an ace map-reader, guiding the audience on a journey that in other hands might easily be confusing, but seems necessary and well worth the effort involved.
· Until March 20. Box office: 029-2030 4400. Then touring.
|
