Under Milk Wood - Review - Northern Stage

Under Milk Wood
Northern Stage 
6th November, 2018

Direction: by Elayce Ismail
Cast:  Christina Berriman Dawson, David Kirkbride

Listen - you will hear the lyrical words of Dylan Thomas spoken, not in his native lilting Welsh but in a soft cadence of North East England. Would this work? Surprisingly, yes it does. Dylan Thomas's words lend themselves well to the softness of a northern accent.

Listen - you will hear the sound of the sea, waves breaking over the rocks, and the sound of the wind, sighing through trees and howling across fields. You will hear bells ring, and clocks tick and birds sing. And you will hear words - an unstoppable stream of them spilling out from the mouths of two actors, playing a multitude of characters, weaving stories and dreams around a room filled with people - listening, listening, spellbound.


Listen - Christina and David will take you on a journey through the lives of a village, transforming themselves into characters - quirky and strange and sinister and forlorn - with the droop of a shoulder, the tilt of a head, or the lowering of a voice. From daybreak to dusk you will love with them, laugh with them, be surprised by them, be shocked by them. You will share in their joys and their sadnesses, their hopes and their dreams.

Picture credit Pamela Raith

Listen - and concentrate! Look at the images projected onto the walls but don't be distracted by them.  They will draw your attention away from the words, with their mosaics of blinking eyes and disembodied talking mouths - as strange as the dreams of the people of Llareggub.
 

Listen and you will hear and feel and live the life of a village.



Listen, because this play is all about words, and sounds, and feelings.
Listen, because the rest is dressing, clever and interesting and surprising, but ultimately distracting.

Under Milk Wood plays at Norther Stage until 17th November.        

Denise Sparrowhawk

Northern Stage - Autumn Season Launch

Season Launch

Northern Stage
Autumn 2018

Northern Stage launched their autumn season with comedian and poet Kate Fox. Kate gave us a taste of what was to come in a series of interviews, video clips and snippets of performances. Her chirpy, upbeat commentary and infectious enthusiasm kept the evening moving along at a cracking pace - as well it needed to, there was a lot to pack in!

Before we get to the Autumn there is a great programme of events over the summer with Northern Stage's involvement with the Great Exhibition of the North. There are plans for Self Build Utopias - a series of exhibitions, installations and performances re-imagining the future. Lorne Campbell and Annie Rigby talked about the inspiration behind the projects and the hope to produce an interactive and engaging series of activities to recreate landscapes and reconnect communities. Watch out for the many different activities around the Great Exhibition of the North from June 22nd till 9th September.


But what can we expect at Northern Stage in the Autumn? 

As always there is a stunning array of diverse and original theatre.
If you missed last season's production of  Laura Lindow's adaptation of H G Wells' War of the Worlds then you have another chance to see it in September.

After the Last Ship and Launch Day, remembering the shipyards, this coming season sees  The Last Seam pays tribute to the mining heritage of the north with a play based on stories and voices of the miners during the last deep seem colliery closure. There's limited availability so be sue to book your seat for this one! (27th Sept).

October brings the stage premier of Alice Seebold's bestselling selling novel The Lovely Bones (9th-20th). This much loved, uplifting tale of love, loss and redemption has been adapted by Bryony Lavery.
While on Stage 2 there is drama in The Mountaintop - an intimate look into the life of Martin Luther King on the eve of his assassination (9th - 13th).





In November we have two powerful, but different pieces of  from classic literature - Dylan Thomas's lyrical observations of life in the small, imaginary Welsh village of Llareggub in Under milk Wood (2nd -17th), while the English Touring Theatre bring us Richard Twyman's vital production of Shakespeare's Othello (13th-17th).
Both these productions give a fresh and innovative look at a classic piece of literature.


The Christmas show this year is also a classic from English literature - Dicken's A Christmas Carol. Adapted by Neil Bartlett and directed by mark Calvert it promises to another imaginative and original Christmas production. (Dec 1st - Jan 5th)

And of course we have dance:  Tangomotion is a virtuoso display of traditional and contemporary interpretations of this passionate dance, while Ballet Lorent's After Dark is a cabaret style celebration of the 25 years of the company. Then there is more Dickens with Fagin's Twist - Avante Guarde Dance Company's hip-hop style re-imagining of five of Dicken's familiar characters (13th-20th Dec).

This really just scratches the surface of what is on at Northern Stage - there is quite literally something for all ages and interests, whether you love dance, drama, poetry or puppetry there is a show for you next season. If  you want to be more involved than a spectator then check out their youth theatre - Open Stages (ages 5-15) and Young Company (ages 16-21) - they gave a breath-taking, assured performance of part of their own work at the launch.
If you're at the other end of the spectrum you might like to join in with Read Through - a script reading group for the over 60s.

Check the website www.northernstage.co.uk to see the full programme of productions and activities and book your place.

Denise Sparrowhawk

Under Milk Wood - People's Theatre - Review

Under Milk Wood

People's Theatre
June 13th 2017


Staged as a radio play within a play, the People's Theatre production reproduces the original recording of the play by the BBC.  On stage we have a set designed as the recording studio, with organ and piano, sound effects crew, and the cast of 12 actors who will voice 45 characters from the imaginary welsh town of Llareggub.

As the audience arrive the cast are already taking their places on stage, as if they too are just arriving for the show. (in fact we saw some arriving in the bar, before we even got to the auditorium). They chat quietly together until a very plummy BBC announcer draws our attention and introduces the play. The lights dim and the recording of Dylan's "play for voices" begins.

And what a tour de force it is. We are instantly drawn in to the sleepy dreamworld of the inhabitants of Llareggub, as First Voice Frank Coles begins to recite Dylan's lyrical words. The town sleeps, dreaming of wild and and wonderful things, strange and mysterious thing, of love and lust and death and life. And gradually the sun rises and we meet the good people of the town.

The play flows through a day in the life of this little town, narrated by Frank Coles and Steve Hewitt, We meet its characters, we see glimpses into their past and their present, and perhaps their future, as heard by blind Captain Cat (Mike Smith). The words flow, beautiful and musical with lilting welsh accents and the images appear in our heads as the loving, and plotting, and gossiping carries on around us.

Photo by Paula Smart

There would not be much action to hold our attention in the reproduction of the recording of a radio play, you might think. But as the actors come forward to deliver their lines, they flounce, and slink, and creep around, casting knowing looks to the other actors, and to the audience, so we know what's going on, both in the town and in the recording studio - there are little rivalries and friendships. Ho ho!

The play is enhanced with sound effects - some recorded - bird song, cows lowing, a cart trundling by, while others are produced on stage by the actors - the rubbing of a brush against a box, the tapping of a pen against a glass.

The small details make the play. Inevitably there are some stumbles over lines - Dylan's words are almost tongue twisters at times, yet even this was skillfully fielded with a wry aside to the audience.
All of the cast do a remarkable job of remembering and delivering this beautiful, sensuous play.

Lyrical words, enhanced by a beautiful musical score, and soulful singing. Come along, lose yourself for a day in Llareggub.
You'll laugh, and love, and maybe cry a little. You may not understand all of it, but you will not forget it.

Under Milk Wood plays until 17th June. Time hurries on. Don't miss it.

Denise Sparrowhawk