PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG DOG. To 28 February.
Mold/Brussels
PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG DOG
by Tim Baker from the prose writings of Dylan Thomas
See end of review for comment on 2004 production and final tour dates
Clwyd Theatre Cymru (Emlyn Williams Theatre) To 22 February 2003 then Theatre Residence Palace Brussels 6 March 2003 at 1.30pm and 8pm
Runs 1hr 55min One interval
TICKETS: 0485 150306
www.ticketclic.be(Brussels)
Review Timothy Ramsden 22 February
Theatre enhances literature in this comic and moving piece.'Poetry is the everlastingly and embracingly human,' declares the chatty Chancellor von Redwitz in George Meredith's Adventures of Harry Richmond. Though Tim Baker's script's formed from Thomas's prose writings, they are elegantly swift, speakable poetry revealing individuality among the commonplace and striking on the significant in everyday events.
Take the men's annual charabanc pub-crawl, which young Dylan finds himself joining as the only child. It gives a child's-eye, unintentional critique of the importance the old topers give their mundane outing. Or, two friends on a walking-trip hymning the delights of pedestrianism; taking the bus back, they immediately agree it's the ideal means of sightseeing.
Staged simply on a bare diamond platform, reflected overhead by a scene of mountains and clouds (drawn with memory's faint-outlined clarity), the piece is given its form and an elegiac quality - as Russell Gomer's Dylan searches out locals who remember his young self: a physical image of the writer searching his imagination through recalled experience.
Director Hywel Evans hits perfectly on the style needed to make this a theatre-piece rather than a recital. Actors sit around the stage until needed occasionally doing duty as sound effects, always ready to leap into action when needed. This provides the sense of life moving in vividly excited flashes while allowing the words to breathe. The excellent cast switch instantly into strongly-delineated posture, mime and voice: a buffalo husband, a mouse-wife, or whatever.
The clarity and economy of the physicality means it serves the words without over-riding them. Similarly Iain Jackson's gentle guitar score always supports mood and action, sometimes employing a rhythmic onomatopeia suggesting, for example, the hired charabanc's swaying motion.
There's, therefore, a kind of stage romance, which encompasses the prosaic details of class (or lifestyle) differences - and the inexplicably emotional: Dylan's friend Raymond is suddenly, repeatedly enveloped in grief over his long-dead brother. The simple, supple staging under Geoff Farmer's tonally sympathetic lighting is perfect for something that goes far beyond being an anthology piece. The particular magically becomes, in this match of script and performance-style, 'everlastingly and embracingly human'.
Dylan Thomas: Russell Gomer
Ensemble: Zoe Davies, Erica Eirian, David Rees Talbot, Morgan Walters
Musician: Iain Jackson
Director: Hywel Evans
Designer: Max Jones
Lighting: Geoff Farmer
Sound: Matthew Williams
Music: Iain Jackson
2004 production:
Tim Baker has directed his own script for the 2004 revival, seen in January at the Emlyn Williams Theatre in Clwyd, then on a short tour to Welsh venues - and Huddersfield.
There's a new cast and, mostly, production team, though the look is much the same - low, curving wall sections on an abstract stage. Still, the emphasis is on actors' physicality - rightly enough; this is a memory show, a depiction of a life coloured by personalities and temperaments.
The comedy and lovely liquid writing remain well expressed. There seems to be slightly less of the element of someone searching out a half-forgotten Dylan among Welsh valley recall, but that may be a trick of reviewer's memory.
Less certain is the move to an all-male cast. The interplay of male and female is a vital element of a small community (unless it's selectively single sex), and in one scene the contrast between visitor and visited women plays a significant part. Sympathetically as the fine cast play the women, there's an inevitably reduced force to the female characters.
But the production moves swiftly and Thomas's perception is beautifully shown, his gift for language playing light on an otherwise little-known but varied, characterful society.
2004 Cast and Credits:
Performers:
Steven Meo, Simon Nehan, Kai Owen, Christian Patterson, Aled Pugh
Director: Tim Baker
Designer: Mark Bailey
Lighting: Nick Beadle
Sound: Matthew Williams
2003-02-27 10:35:13