The Village Social - NTW's Year 2 Opener!

The Village Social at Neath Little Theatre.  26th October 2011

(Photo's by me)

You remember them don’t you? Those fundraisers, 18^th birthdays, cake sales and Christmas concerts, all played out in those unassuming Village Halls, Community Centres and Workman’s Halls. National Theatre Wales does well to build on a concept familiar to all, yet now rarely encountered in reality. The Village Social is its name and it brings us Cae Bach: a place where the darkest corners of life descend on unsuspecting folk in a bizarre mix of music blood and laughter.

The production is a clever mix of part theatre, part social experiment: bringing convention crashing down in fabulous NTW fashion, where moments of total seriousness walk hand in hand with complete absurdity. The woodcraft folk are a group of teenagers led by an apparently normal, quiet boy and are there to do things other than “...drink white lightening and getting Asbo’s” , they proceed to sing a song full of innocence and the language of the deepest of dark winters. Then there are the five legends of Cae Bach...... from Cernuous the horned god of Celtic legend to a little girl who danced to death in the 19^th Century and the lovers Arthur and Anwen Mair.

Having bought refreshments and raffle tickets the audience settle down and are introduced to the five community council members presenting the show, who bluster and bicker as the Clairvoyant (the night’s main entertainment) fails to arrive on time. It is here where the “after unfortunate events” hints are dropped, in the flustered bursts of 27 cat’s dead and 3^rd oldest Yew tree in Britain burnt to the ground. The five legends are told in relative detail, each cast member acting them out, almost if the legends are their own.  

Upon arrive Madame Isis fits the bill of an old, phoney clairvoyant that twists and steals words as they tumble out. With subtle innuendoes of “can anyone do a Roger?” and “I can do a Roger” to inciting full blown fear that sends poor Jean (the Health and Safety officer) scuttling out for dear life with a spear fashioned from the legend of the Silurian tribe.

Madame Isis’ mysterious vanishing act turns the tide as Jean returns on her motorised scooter bedecked in blood and a dog’s head, frightening poor Yvonne and Dave. One by one the madness descends as irrational impulses take over and each character turns into the legend they represented.

As the tale progressed the hilarity and absurdity is in stark contrast to Dion’s story, the little boy who lost his mother ten years earlier, to her own darkness. The balance between both narrative strands often wobbled precariously: the laughter ensuing from the depravity took over against the heart-breaking despair of grief and loss. I wanted more of the emotional catharsis.

Yet Dafydd James own description of Village Social as “[an investigation into the visceral relationships between the human and the animal and a return to animalistic behaviour]” is utterly spot on. Beneath the quietest or most respectable exterior will lurk the most curious of impulses and that sometimes it is necessary to let them loose. Just maybe not in public.......

For its slight imperfections The Village Social was still the wickedly funny return to the primitive that I expected it to be this autumn. It is great to see NTW returning to local Welsh venues as it did in Year 1.

Runs: 20^th October - 12^th November.