Wales Arts Review Weekly Update (22/04/2023)
Fflur Dafydd on a quest with R. S. Thomas as a guide.
Exploring Welsh Institutions
In the latest of collaborations between Wales Arts Review and The Western Mail, award-winning novelist and TV writer Fflur Dafydd reflects on her artistic obsession with Welsh Institutions and their impact on her writing, charting the journey from bricks and mortar to the presence on the page, and how R.S. Thomas has proved an unlikely guide through it all.
“Why are you so obsessed with Welsh institutions?” It’s a question I’ve been asked many times, without ever being able to give a satisfactory answer. Although some institutional imagery has been present in my work ever since I started writing, by 2023 I seemed to have reached ‘peak obsession,’ having published two novels and released one feature film set in the National Library of Wales, and also a TV series, Yr Amgueddfa (The Museum), set in the National Museum of Wales. I also recently published a short story set at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, while my 2022 stage musical Lloergan featured the iconic Strata Florida Abbey as its backdrop. It seems that when it comes to any kind of Welsh institution, anywhere with a bit of history within its walls, and especially walls specifically built to preserve history, that I just can’t help myself. But it’s a perilous thing to do, and I often wonder how long it’ll be before I’m banned from all national institutions for the fictional crimes I might commit in them.
Top Picks
Song of the Water: Discovering Pembrokeshire’s Holy Wells
Diana Powell reflects on the process of writing Song of the Water, a new project which tells the story of the ancient wells of Pembrokeshire, commissioned by Ancient Connections.
Read the full piece, here.
As the Sherman Theatre celebrates its 50th anniversary year, Emma Schofield reflects on Gary Owen’s new play Romeo and Julie as it makes its debut in Wales, following a successful run at the National Theatre in London.
Read the full review, here.
Wreckage by Sweet Baboo | Review
Gary Raymond reviews the ninth studio album from Stephen Black’s Sweet Baboo, Wreckage.
Read the full review, here.
Video of the Week
‘Best Mind F*ck Ever’ by Das Koolies
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 is ‘Best Mind F*ck Yet’, the new music video from Das Koolies, featuring Rhys Ifans.
In case you missed it…
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.”