One of the most important episodes in recent Welsh history and a sequence of events that’s probably defined modern Wales will be the backdrop to a new play to be staged this summer.Porth y Byddar (Door of the Deaf) by Manon Eames is based on the decision to drown the village of Capel Celyn near Bala in Gwynedd by Liverpool Corporation exactly 50 years ago. “The Act o Parliament needed to create a reservoir was passed on August 1st, 1957 even though all but one Welsh MPs opposed the Bill,” said acclaimed playwright, Manon Eames. “But it took another eight years for the work of erecting a dam to be completed and the drowning to begin,” she added. As a result 12 homes and farms as well as a school, post office, chapel and cemetery were engulfed as water from the Tryweryn River was amassed to form the present 800 acre Llyn Celyn lake. Out of 67 residents 48 lost their homes and livelihoods. All of them spoke Welsh as a first language. “According to the then Welsh Affairs Minster, Henry Brooke, the drowning of Capel Celyn was the most obvious and cheapest source of water for Liverpool,” said Porth y Byddar Director, Tim Baker. “But the decision sparked a political storm that resounds to this day and which led to the polarising of opinions, imprisonments and a national uproar,” he added. Porth y Byddar is a joint Clwyd Theatr Cymru and Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru – the Welsh National Touring Company – and the production will be formally announced in the Memorial Chapel on the banks of Llyn Celyn on Tuesday, 26 June, 2007, at 2.00pm. Representatives of the two companies will be present as well as local residents who are reminded of events in Capel Celyn half a century ago. Members of the Press are also cordially invited. Porth y Byddar will be staged in Mold’s Clwyd Theatr Cymru on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, 7-10 August, 2007, when the National Eisteddfod of Wales is held in the town. All performances start at 7.30 with an extra matinee performance, with English language captions, at 2.30pm, Saturday, 11 August, 2007. A free bus service is available from the Eisteddfod Maes to Clwyd Theatr Cymru. The play will also tour of Wales’ main theatre venues as well as one performance in London in the Autumn. “It’s a great privilege to be part of a production which is based on such an emotive period in recent Welsh history,” said Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru’s Marketing Manager, Elwyn Williams. “It’s the story of a lost community but it also arguably planted the seeds of self-determination that eventually led to modern-day Welsh political institutions,” he added. |
| Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru web site: www.theatr.com |
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Thursday, June 21, 2007 |
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