Under Milk Wood

Reviews

Sometimes words are enough. Sometimes imagination beats vision. Sometimes radio is sharper than theatre or television. In Under Milk Wood, for example.

Just as blind Captain Cat can visualise his Rosie Probert, an audience can see all the characters in Dylan Thomas's village of poetic dreams and regrets.

HumDrum AmDram has worked hard and well in transferring Thomas's radio piece to the stage, with the barest set and most neutral costumes, but they can only fitfully elucidate a work that needs none.

Caz Reeves brings Gossamer Beynon alive with her frustrated sensuality and pigeon-toed walk for example, but radio is more creative in letting the imagination conjure up Lily Smalls with her dress tucked in her bloomers.

Directors Psu Boyne and James George have skilfully choreographed the moves of their three narrators, led by George himself.

He in particular finds the essential music in the Welsh accent. He even makes an arabesque on the word 'sciatica'.

In Roy Wilcox' mouth Captain Cat's spoken words to Rosie and Polly Garter sing lyrically too and Simone Laraway's real singing as Polly is pure, gentle pathos. But in these instances the eyes don't have it. The ears do.

Mike Allen - The Portsmouth News - Tuesday 2nd February 1999

 

The modestly named HumDrum AmDram have been around for some time now and it was interesting to see them measure themselves against the famous Richard Burton recording of Dylan Thomas' radio play.

The solemn, chant-like opening took a little getting used to while taking in the sparseness and oddity of the set, but it settled and worked.

The cast were uniformly convincing in their roles, working well together, as not only did they have to time all the lines precisely to make Dylan's complex script work, but move around in an intricate arrangement to enhance the constant shift of words and characters.

Some opportunities for lighting seemed to be lost, even allowing for the rudimentary facilities; for example the ghosts looked very healthy and rosy-cheeked to me! A quiet floor surface would have helped with so much movement going on. However, with characters like the nicely understated Captain Cat holding the stage you can immerse yourself and forget the details.

It might be argued that this really is a radio play and works better without visuals. Can an amateur company make you forget the rich tones of Burton at the BBC? If anyone can, HumDrum AmDram can.

GW Review Magazine - March 1999