Honest freshness in Thomas play

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33212, 30 April 1973, Page 14

Honest freshness in Thomas play

“Under Milk Wood,” by Dylan Thomas. Produced for the Elmwood Players by Lesley Collingwood and John Milligan. April 28 to May 5. Running time: 8 p.m. to 9.35 p.m.

Little of the sonorous mellowness of Burton or the delightful devilishness of Hugh Griffith was apparent in this second Elmwood entry in the Benson and Hedges Festival of Full-Length Plays, but there was an honest freshness of endeavour that sets this production apart from the average local production. Written for radio, “Under Milk Wood” is a vivid portrayal, written in Thomas’s distinctive style, of a day in the life, dreams, thoughts, memories and emotions of the people of the imaginary Welsh village of Llaregyb. The characters seem abnormal and even insane until one pauses to wonder what the “normal” and “sane” think about.

MIDDLE COURSE Most will be able to imagine the difficulties of bringing a play for voices to the stage, none more so than the producers. The huge cast list and rapid switches in time and place make conventional techniques inappropriate. A good reading of the script is more likely to please than a mediocre staging of the play; such is the quality of the poetry. The production team, new to Elmwood, aware of the dangers of an attempt at an over-elaborate production,: has steered a middle course,! and to a large extent has sue-! ceeded in getting the best of! both media. The beauty of' the mere sound of Thomas’s: words was generally lost, but ; their sense and feeling were; sensitively conveyed.

SEVEN PLAYERS Fewer than 40 parts were fully depicted on. stage, and these were most judiciously culled from the 70 or so in the script. Only seven players were used, and it was consequently the selection of how, when and in what detail to show each that was the most laudable aspect of the production. There were few of the slick flourishes' that more highly-trained, actors tend to indulge; in in such situations, and their absence was a blessing; characters slipped easily in and out of focus; the words and the people were the thing, not the actors. The co-producer, John Milligan, bore the brunt of the acting load as the First Voice, the Reverend “Jenkins and others. His voice was rather

thin to do the lines full justice. but he carried the play with his clarity and fine control. The memorisation involved was a mammoth task in itself. This was a fine allround performance.

SHORTAGE OF WIND Mervyn Glue, as the Second Voice and Captain Cat. was the only male with a voice of the fullness and maturity that the lines demand, but too often he ran out of wind at the end of Thomas’s long “three-adjec-tives-a-penny” prose passages. This did not occur in the more emotional of the Captain Cat speeches, and, as a consequence, these became highlights. The others filled a multitude of roles and, in general, i performed with distinction. Jill Wilcox was outstanding, managing a delightfullyvindictive Mrs Pugh (thus fully deserving everything Mr Pugh was planning) and an equally repugnant, broombrandishing, potato-polishing Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard. Jim Hopkins was energetic and amusing in a number of popular caricatures; although he managed to avoid the usual stock characters, he often succumbed to the temptation to play for laughs. George Edwards displayed a wider range of moods than he has formerly seemed capable of, and his were neat portrayals.

POLLY GARTER Lesley Collingwood was al-i ternately voluptuous and; earth.v in such colourful parts! as Polly Garter, Lily Small! iand Rosie Probert. There was! (a disturbing sameness about' her accent, which was rarely approoriate. but she looked; fine throughout. Her charac-' terisation of Polly, culminat-! ing in an excellent singing of the “I loved a man” ditty,; represented the best acting performance of the evening. Sonia Lindsay played! straighter parts adequately,: [although little differentiation' between characters was! achieved. The set was simple and' extremely functional, and it, became an integral part of the production. The purposeful, uncluttered production style was ideally suited to both set and plav. —W.H.L.