The Clwyd Theatre Cymru production of Under Milk Wood marks the centenary of the birth of Dylan Thomas. Originally written as a play for radio and best-known in the recording with Richard Burton as the first voice, it is as much a celebration of language as it is a celebration of life with its panoply of colourful characters - earthy, lascivious, surreal and endlessly fascinating as it spans 24 hours in the life of the fishing village of Llareggub (famously, this should be read backwards). What comes through most of all is Thomas' love for each one of them in all their strangeness. All this is told through a rich and virtuosic display of language.
The big question has always been how well a work originally conceived for radio - not really a play at all- and leaving so much to the imagination of the listener, can transfer to the theatre. Many would argue that some of the original magic is lost as a result.
In the case of this production it transfers successfully. Owen Teale is an excellent first voice and deals well with the long stretches of monologue - not allowing the Welsh element in the poetry to become hackneyed, and allowing the words to weave their own magic. Similarly second voice Christian Patterson as he links the numerous threads.
The clear advantage of a stage production is that an additional element of visual humour can be used to reinforce the text (for detractors this is perceived as a weakness) and it can sometimes go beyond it. Steven Mao, Richard Elfyn and Sophie Melville were very prominent in producing some great moments of hilarity. This was a worthy production of a work of genius.
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