DROWNED OUT. To 8 November.

Mold.

DROWNED OUT: THE LOST VOICES OF TRYWERYN
by Manon Eames.

Clwyd Theatr Cymru (Anthony Hopkins Theatre) To 8 November 2008.
Runs 2hr 45min One interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 5 November.

A touch of Under Milk Wood reaches another Welsh valley.
To begin at the beginning. The close community of Capel Cwelyn wasn’t the first village to be flooded to create a reservoir. But insults were added to injury, as the water was to be taken to Liverpool, which didn’t even need it. It was to be sold on for profit.

Manon Eames’ select documentary is very specific, and very Welsh. Yet it could stand for all fights between people and corporations; village and city, fairness and connivance. There’s plenty of that, from the suspect consultation that led to Capel Celyn being pinpointed in the mid-fifties, through to Liverpool Council marshalling their employees to swing a public vote in favour of the flooding.

At times it veers into very British comedy. Two saboteurs unintentionally hitch a lift from a couple of policemen out poaching. Having arrested the pair for being generally suspicious, the police end up castigated and embarrassed when their prisoners’ purpose becomes clear.

There’s stirring partisanship, affectionate political satire (Plaid Cymru factions arguing between confrontation and forming a sub-committee) and less affectionate attacks on mainly English politicians. Starkly contrasting all this, a bereaved mother faces the flooding of her child’s grave, yet is able to greet the former Liverpool evacuee who returns to see her.

Max Jones frames all this with his municipal hall set, bulldozed later on by contractors’ equipment. Every device in Tim Baker’s production has been used before, including projected images from the times, still images suddenly replaced by moving film, and the sure-fire emotional charge of actors forming a tableau mirrored in a projected archive photo.

It doesn’t matter. These devices come so swiftly, and are so organic to the material that they gain freshness in this piece. Local heroes and heroines emerge, individuals called for by circumstances and earning the best admiration, that of their fellows. And the ultimate panorama as the stage-width screen, after showing views of the land throughout the play, finally pans across the reservoir, stopping at its far edge, has a force that’s matched by an ensemble cast who find the appropriate depth of sympathy for every one they play.

Cast:
Rhodri Evan, Wyn Bowen Harries, Iola Hughes, Gwyn Vaughan Jones, Jenny Livsey, Sara Lloyd, Betsan Llwyd, Phil Reid, Dyfan Roberts, Simon Watts, Manon Wilkinson, Dylan Williams.

Director: Tim Baker.
Designer: Max Jones.
Lighting: Nick Beadle.
Sound: Kevin Heyes.
Composer: Dyfan Jones.
Costume: Debbie Knight.

2008-11-14 00:31:34