This is my critical blog. It is mostly Theatre reviews but there are occasional splashes of other media (when I can get my hands on it!)

Paradeisos Gwynfor or Paradise Paradise.
Greek: the ancient language of the classics and Welsh: a language just as old that sings to the soul.

Saturday 28 July 2012

Two Worlds of Charlie F - Review



Sherman Cymru, Cardiff

Weds 25 July
(originally reviewed for Buzz Mag)

★★★★★

With a 14 strong company of wounded soldiers alongside four professional actors,The Two Worlds Of Charlie F is a play with a difference . Whereas previous plays have politicised, moralized and dramatized interpretations of the recent wars, it is the soldier’s story, told and performed by them, that takes centre stage.

Unique and unforgettable, the play is the soldier’s view of service, injury and recovery. It travels from the moment they sign up, to the Afghan war, to the rehabilitation rooms of Headley Court and all that comes in between; the drug-induced hallucinations in hospital to the relationships and life after. Monologues that are both full of sharp wit and stark descriptions like “shit, skin-flakes and sand” (of Afghanistan), are a reminder of what they went through and what they are going through after.

Appearing on stage are 14 members of Bravo22 Company: a project for wounded, injured and sick service personnel, in recovery capability programmes that partners, amongst others, Theatre Royal Haymarket Masterclass and The Royal British Legion. Director Stephen Rayne was attracted to the project through its ambition as it was to go one step further and put service personnel on the stage. The project aims to providing a unique work placement within a new theatre company, and as producer Alice Driver said: “By being part of this process they would not only immerse themselves into a new industry but benefit from the effects of this theatre model: increased confidence, self-awareness and ultimately allowing them to step away from their injury.”

The play blends a level of verbatim and creative theatre, as writer Owen Sheers stated, it’s “not about bringing our intentions to it, [but having] a one-to-one conversation” with the director and cast engaging in weeks of unscripted rehearsals to draw out individual experiences, as well as the experiences of their families. Enough material was collected to allow him to write for an audience but stay true to the cast. Many situations, lines and phrases are used in the play that are completely authentic to moments experienced by the cast.

The story is told their way, with dark comic humour, dead pan observations and moments of unafraid revelations. From a new recruit unsure what to say to the amputee recruiting officer, to a lost limb possibly in one of a number of pubs and two of the wounded soldiers comparing the scars on their stumps. The play blends in elements of musical theatre, with moments of choral singing and choreographed movement as the recruits sing a song to get them through their ‘basic training’ and the nurses later burst into song about the soldiers medications. The choreography by Lily Phillips is creative, seamless and very well performed by all the cast.

Using ‘briefing-sessions’, flashbacks, video talking heads, the monologue’s and the choreography The Two Worlds of Charlie F, is a reminder that there is a modern equivalent to the history books. We find out why they joined: for a dare, to make parents proud and to make ends meet, how they have overcome impossible odds to survive and we find out who they are: ordinary men and women with an extraordinary job. They faced up to their tasks with courage, making heroic selfless decisions on behalf of their colleagues and people they do not know.

Info: www.shermancymru.co.uk / 02920 646900

Sunday 15 July 2012

Wales Book of the Year Awards 2012

Thurs 12 July 

Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama



Patrick McGuinness and John Gower are the overall winner’s for this year’s Wales Book of the Year award, in English and Welsh respectively.

Winner of the Fiction category as well as overall in English, The Last Hundred Days is Patrick McGuinness’ debut Fiction novel, having published successful poetry and literary criticism: set in 1989 Bucharest it handles Ceausescu's last days in power and shows a city struggling to survive an intense moment in its history. As the world stands on its own precipice, some watch as others battle for freedom or survival the book focuses on a moment within history, weaving the line between fiction and the historical novel. As the English language panel said of the book “In a world turned upside by the Arab Spring and economic cataclysm, can there be a more apposite or important book than The Last Hundred Days?”

Jon Gower’s novel Y Storïwr ‘The Story Teller’ the Welsh category winner in Fiction, aptly follows a boy born on a stormy night in West Wales with an amazing talent for telling stories.

The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama played host to this year’s winners, a spectacular space for the revamped awards, with its open meeting hall and concert space blending the modern and traditional.

2012 is the first year the competition has included the categories of Fiction, Creative Non-Fiction and Poetry, instead of the previous 2 long lists of ten authors going into the ceremony. Each category winner takes home £2,000 and the overall winner then takes a further £6,000 prize. The Roland Mathias Poetry prize in English has also been adapted into the awards for the first time, this year the prize was won by former Welsh National Poet Gwyneth Lewis for her Poetry collection Sparrow Tree, a collection that puts nature writing in a spin.

The Creative Non-Fiction prize went to Richard Gwyn for his memoir and autobiographical book The Vagabond’s Breakfast. The book is an account of years of his life lost to addiction, reckless travel and serial hospitalizations once he was faced with a sentence of death unless a liver donor was found.

The People’s Prize, chosen by readers of the Western Mail and available to all the English language shortlist, was awarded to Philip Gross for his poetry collection Deep Field. It was a fantastic moment to see poetry in the forefront of reader’s imaginations, highlighting the diversity of talent and choice available in Welsh literature.

English Language Chairman of the Judges Spencer Jordan recognised that “each of the three category winners are writers at the very top of their game” and that writing is far more than pen, paper, characters and words as he added “Writing is never more compelling or braver that when it comes from the heart, and that’s what these three books do. In their own small way, each is a manifesto for the human soul in the 21st Century.”

Welsh Language Winners:

Fiction: Jon Gower with Y Storïwr
Creative Non-Fiction: Allan James with John Morris-Jones
Poetry: Karen Owen with Siarad Trwy’i Het

With such a strong shortlist to Judge for 2012 my expectations for 2013’s long lists and short lists to be as diverse, creative and brilliantly written are high. The process for next year’s awards has already begun, an event definitely to look forward to.

Monday 9 July 2012

Dance GB - Review


Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff.

27 June.



A unique piece for a unique year, or rather I should say three pieces, as National Dance Company Wales, Scottish Ballet and English National Ballet join forces to create a pioneering celebration, combining dance with the Olympic Games. London 2012 has taken the country by storm, and none of it has become repetitive, especially these fabulous spectacles of physicality and dance.
Part of the Cultural Olympiad (labelled as the largest cultural celebration in the history of the Games). As the British Nations unite to compete, these dance companies have united to celebrate and showcase the skills of the dancers. Each dance company brought its own artistic identity to the theme of ‘athleticism’, along with world renowned Choreographers.

First up was Scottish Ballet with Run with It, as a spectacle of fast paced physicality it showcased the dancers skills and agility, Martin Lawrence’s dynamic choreography blurred line between the athleticism of the Olympics and the grace and fluidity of dancers. The unexpected formation of starting line and ordered pattern of runners is in stark juxtaposition to the fluid, free moving dancers Conducted underneath the modern, clean lined representation of a tree by Martin Boyce the atmosphere changed with the dancers movements slowing and growing more pronounced as the lighting changed through the ‘leaves’ of the tree. Dressed in a stylised athletic kit the dancers blend and contrast with the lighting as they move.

Christopher Bruce National Dance Company Wales: the baby of the group and the home team presented Dream. An entirely different, homely, British piece as the dancers gather on stage dressed in 50’s costume. A village sports day or a child’s dream? The dancers romp around the stage competing in egg and spoon, tug of war, sack and three-legged races before disrobing and Ravel’s Bolero launches from the Orchestral pit and the dancers spring into athletic movements of fencing, boxing, figure skating, and synchronised swimming, sports that melded the grace of the dancers with the more regimented precise sporting movements. Dream was a marvel to watch and with a year of Britishness upon us it brought our history and the ordinary people behind it, back to the fore front with true grace and wit. Particularly, as there were moments of comic perfection that the audience were able to laugh with.
English National Ballet closed the show, with And the Earth Shall Bear Again, a darker, much more apocalyptic piece than the others. Dressed in sheer, earth coloured outfits, dancers are bathed in a brilliant shaft of light as they pass beneath it, and the rest is shrouded in ever increasing darkness. Whether dancing alone or in groups. Choreographed by Itzik Galili there is a contemporary take as the dancers move to create mirror images of each other and building uniformity. There is an increased intensity to their movements as the rhythmic percussion of John Cage’s music increases in pace and volume. Whilst overly loud for a soundtrack the dancers entranced the audience with their confident and bold performances.

New to dance, it was an impressive display of talent, poise and creativity. Everyone enjoyed, whether there for the dancing, Olympic themes or to experience something new.