‘Under Milk Wood’

Press, 28 September 1988, Page 25

‘Under Milk Wood’

The Riccarton Players’ season of “Under Milk Wood” opens this evening in the Mill Theatre in Wise Street. The play is probably the best known of the works of Welsh writer, Dylan Thomas. It explores the lives and dreams of the inhabitants of Llaregyb, a small Welsh coastal town. The Players’ production is set in the 1950 s but in spite of the change in time Thomas’s characters are as alive as ever. The miserley shop keeper, the prim and proper, spinster, the self important policeman, the nosy postman, the poetic minister, lecherous old man and the promiscuous young woman rub shoulders with bitter marired couples, groups of gossiping neighbours and the children of the town. The relationships between the characters are shown through their dreams, thoughts and conversations, as they go about the duties and pleasures of their lives. “Under Milk Wood” was originally a radio play. The adaptation for stage captures the strong and often beautiful inmates created by the language that Thomas uses. A cast of 20 actors will play the town’s inhabitants under the direction of Lex Matheson. “Under Milk Wood” will run until October 2 and again from October 5 to 8 at 8 p.m.