THE DRUID'S REST. To 8 March.
Mold/Tour
THE DRUID'S REST
by Emlyn Williams
Clwyd Theatr Cymru (Emlyn Williams Theatre) To 19 February then tour to 8 March 2005
Mon-Sat 7.45pm Mat Sat 2.45pm
Runs 2hr 30min One interval
Review: Timothy Ramsden 19 February
An upcoming Eisteddffod, a possible wife-killer, a haystack bard an interesting day at The Druid's Rest in a delightfully-revived comedy.Emlyn Williams' 1944 play is an affectionate comic collection of Welsh types and stereotypes a generation back, mixed with a lurid aspect (his nightmare must fall side) seen in young Tommos. His over-lively imagination has led to unfortunate rumours circulating the area; in retribution his mother (a Londoner, linguistic daughter of Eliza Doolittle) locks away his beloved novels.
In the play's chapel and choir world Tommos's wild imaginings have no place but Williams shows imagination's revenge as the boy contrives his own scenario, which turns a suspicious (ie English-sounding) guest into a wife-murderer. Meanwhile, his father Job publican by trade, choirmaster by obsession - plots to win a special prize in the national Eisteddfod which is conveniently relocating to the area.
Tim Baker, who has his own imaginative ways with scripts, plays all this straight down the line, the best (possibly, only) way with such a solidly constructed comedy. It's no major rediscovery, being a period-piece rather than classic, but there are more than enough virtues to make this a very pleasant outing.
The only potentially clashing element comes in Mark Bailey's set, with its two-storey Welsh Dresser, an overgrown set-piece amongst the realistic surface on which the comic action thrives. But it's forgivable as a one-off joke in a design which otherwise creates period and place with minute detail.
And while Terry Hands' magnificent Shakespeare next door shows what Mold can achieve in the wider world of drama, Baker and his cast display how the theatre expresses a Welsh voice (and not only in the Welsh lines scattered through the script). The cast is uniformly excellent, taking each character seriously while never losing the comic mood or pace.
Just for example, Maria Pride gives her potentially ridiculous Suffragette Salvationist firmness and close-minded dignity, Sion Pritchard invests Tommos with youthful delight in others' fears and a wicked smile as his plots work.
At the centre is Gwyn Vaughan Jones' upright Job, either troubled or triumphant but sympathetic in both moods. Alun ap Brinley contributes a splendidly glum, slow-witted policeman (and choir bass). And so on; the whole thing's splendidly revived.
Kate Edwards: Lynn Hunter
Glan: Simon Nehan
Tommos: Sion Pritchard
Sarah Jane Jehovah: Maria Pride
Job Edwards: Gwyn Vaughan Jones
Issmal Hughes South America: Owen Garmon
Zachariah Policeman: Alun ap Brinley
A Mysterious Wayfarer: Ian Saynor
Director: Tim Baker
Designer: Mark Bailey
Lighting: Nick Beadle
Sound: Matthew Williams
2005-02-21 09:25:24