Wales Arts Review Weekly Update (15/04/2023)
"They're women who are coming from different places and their lived experience is different and the play brings all of that together."
Es and Flo: Jennifer Lunn In Conversation
It's been a long road to the stage for Es and Flo, an original play by director and producer, turned writer, Jennifer Lunn. Coloured with memories of the Greenham Common Women’s Peace Camp, the play celebrates the love of an older lesbian relationship and women coming together to fight for what's right. As the play prepares to open at the Wales Millennium Centre later this month, Emma Schofield sat down with Jennifer Lunn to find out more.
“What I really hope is true about the play is that everybody is very well rounded. That's how life is; relationships, health, politics, friendships, all of that gets mixed in together and it was so important to me to write about a really diverse group of women, so to have women who were all experiencing different things, and one of them is eight, and one of them is 71, but it doesn’t matter. They're women who are coming from different places and their lived experience is different and the play brings all of that together.”
Top Picks
David John Roche on Sentimental Espionage Music
David John Roche on the challenges of composing for wind quintets, the responsibility of the composer and the development of his new work for Britten Sinfonia, Sentimental Espionage Music.
Read the full piece, here.
Claire Victoria Roberts: Composing Expectations
Claire Victoria Roberts, a young Welsh composer who makes the confounding of expectations part of her appeal, has just released a single track from her forthcoming album. Nigel Jarrett listened to it and places it in the shifting context of contemporary music-making.
Read the full interview, here.
News and Reviews
Pontypridd Town Council Launches Free Children’s Storytelling Festival
Pontypridd Town Council has announced the line-up for a new Children’s Storytelling Festival taking place in Pontypridd Museum and Ynysangharad Park on May 13th with a jam-packed programme of events filled with fun for all the family.
Read the full story, here.
Metamorphosis by Bethan Lloyd | Review
Scott Taylor listens to Metamorphosis, the new album from rising Welsh music star, Bethan Lloyd, who fuses rave, harmony and powerful vocals to create a haunting sound.
Read the full review here.
Cast and Creative Team for Imrie Announced
Elan Davies and Rebecca Wilson have been announced as the cast for the world premiere of Imrie by Nia Morais, one of the most exciting voices in Welsh theatre. Imrie is a co-production between Sherman Theatre and Frân Wen. Gethin Evans, Artistic Director of Frân Wen, directs this magical story for young adults and upwards about hope and bravery.
Read the full piece here.
In case you missed it…
An Authentic Voice: Pulling Poetry from the Speeches of Neil Kinnock
In the first installment of our new subscription-only Wales Arts Review Plus series, Jonathan Edwards explores the impact of Welshness and language on Neil Kinnock's political career and the unlikely influence it had on Edwards' own award-winning poetry, all stemming from a childhood encounter.
In 1992, Glenys Kinnock sat in my father’s car.
1992 was the year Neil Kinnock would become Prime Minister. Everyone knew it. The polls predicted a Labour win. The Conservatives were reeling from the uproar around the Poll Tax and the replacement of Thatcher with Major. The Sun was so worried that, on election day, it printed on its front page a picture of Kinnock’s face in a light bulb, together with the headline, If Kinnock wins today will the last person to leave Britain please turn out the lights. Election day was the 9th of April. In a couple of days, a Welshman would be in Downing Street.