Wales Arts Review Weekly Update (18/03/2023)
"The autobiography portrays a character who doesn't like constraint, who believes that art should be for its community..."
Off the Track By Dai Smith
Huw Lawrence walks us through Off the Track, a weighty autobiography from the pen of Welsh academic, historian and literary stalwart, Dai Smith.
“The autobiography portrays a character who doesn't like constraint, who believes that art should be for its community. A character who applied himself to that out-of-fashion ideal called ‘the common good’.”
Top Picks
Hilary Tann Remembered (1947-2023)
Rhian Davies celebrates the work of composer Hilary Tann, who has passed away at the age of 75.
Read the full piece here.
This spring, Theatr Iolo and Theatr Genedlaethol have joined forces for the much-anticipated adaptation of Alys Conran’s award winning novel Pijin/Pigeon. Following her interview with playwright Bethan Marlow, Emma Schofield was at the Sherman Theatre as the play visited for the second-leg of its Wales-wide tour.
Read the full review, here.
News and Reviews
Hay Festival 2023 Programme Announced | News
Hay Festival has unveiled the full programme for its 36th spring edition in Hay-on-Wye, with more than 500 in-person events over 11 days, 25 May-4 June 2023.
Find out more about the 2023 Festival programme, here.
Hänsel and Gretel | Mid Wales Opera
Mid Wales Opera are touring with their first stab at a work that has long held its place in the repertory. Nigel Jarrett was at Theatr Brycheiniog to find out what they made of Hänsel and Gretel.
Read the full review here.
After successful runs with award-winning plays Grav and Carwyn, Owen Thomas returns to Chapter Arts Centre with a The Bet, which uses comic dialogue to tell the story of how a decision made by one man has wide-ranging consequences for both himself and everyone around him. Peter Gaskell went along to see this A48 production.
Read the full review here.
Video of the Week
This is Video of the Week from Wales Arts Review. We’ll be showcasing some of the best art in Wales with a new video shared every week. From music to drama and everything in between, videos will not be limited by medium. Today’s video features the new release from art pop collective Lunar Bird, ‘Creatures’.
In case you missed it…
PAX at MOMA Machynlleth
We marked this year’s International Women’s Day with a focus on the work of women in the arts in Wales, to coincide with this year’s call to “Embrace Equity”. Candy Bedworth was at MOMA Machynlleth to see PAX an exhibition commemorating the centenary of the Women of Wales’ Peace Appeal of 1923-24.
"Where did this up-swelling of action come from? And why Wales? Welsh non-conformist chapel life has a history of pacifism, and so many small communities were devastated by losing family members in the First World War. Some say that women were confronted abruptly by the loss of their traditional roles as carers and home-makers as communities were disrupted by the loss of sons, husbands, brothers and fathers to take care of. But this was not just women wanting to protect traditional family values. This was also the keening of a Käthe Kollwitz Pietà, the mourning mother cradling her dead child. These were women who knew the true cost of the injustice and inhumanity of war.”
Read the full article here.