Under Milk Wood - Theatre Review

Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood is a play that I will always have a great deal of fondness for, as it was – with the exception of school plays – the first proper play that I ever performed in once I decided that I wanted to be an actor. Over time it is a play that I have returned to again and again, I have a very nice edition of the play that I’ll occasionally read on a long train journey, and yet rather surprisingly I had never seen the play performed live. Consequently, when I learned several months ago that Under Milk Wood was to be performed at the Northcott Theatre in Exeter, I was very excited that I would finally get a chance to see it.

This production, performed by Clwyd Theatr Cymru marks both the 60^th anniversary of the play’s first performance and also the centenary year of Dylan Thomas’ birth. Performed on a raised circular platform overlooked by a rounded three-dimensional small scale construction of the village of Llareggub, around which a sun slowly revolved, representing the passage of time over the course of the play’s twenty four hour structure. With the exception of the interval, the entire company remained onstage throughout, which really showcased the strength of the ensemble, as well as the individual performers’ ability to transition from one character into another. There was no need for props or costume changes, as each interpretation of character was clear and distinct.

Owen Teale played the First Voice, and truly does justice the beautiful poetic language of the play – making sure that not a single word is wasted. He held the audiences’ collective attention with a slow delivery of the play’s opening speech, which goes uninterrupted for a long time before any other voices are heard. Teale also characterised the omniscient narrator with a sense of earthiness which was nicely juxtaposed by Christian Patterson’s Second Voice, who was much more bright and spirited in his delivery. The two worked off each other nicely as they moved freely about the stage, bringing scenes to life and offering little glimpses into the private lives (and innermost thoughts) of the townspeople. Owen Teale’s delivery frequently allowed the humour of the writing to shine through in a more understated manner than the much more heightened performances of the rest of the company.

Every performer was given moments to really shine, especially from a comedic standpoint. Due to the nature of the play and the sheer number of characters this often meant that there was a lot of exaggerated movements, excessive mugging and over pronounced delivery, but for the most part it all worked (after all, during its early stages the play was called The Town That Was Mad). There were a few occasions when I disagreed with some of the choices, such as Katie Elin-Salt’s elongated – and loud – vocal delivery as Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard, and Simon Nehan’s boggle-eyed doddering old Rev Eli Jenkins (seeming less like a gentle elderly preacher, and more like a trouser-fiddling old lech). But these were counter-balanced by those same actor’s interpretations of other characters, such as Elin-Salt’s beautifully mournful singing as Polly Garter, and Nehan’s jokey Butcher Beynon. Amongst many other enjoyable characters there was Sophie Melville’s ice-cold Mrs Pugh, Kai Owen’s jolly drunkard Cherry Owen, and Steven Meo’s moody Nogood Boyo, to name but a few. Meo’s exaggerated performance as Ocky Milkman even drove Owe Teale’s stoic First Voice to crease-up with laughter on no less than three separate occasions (fortunately this only added to the overall vibe of the piece, and the audience responded to this warmly).

The humour of the play came across frequently, but there were also a couple of moments of genuine poignancy – in particular the scene between old blind Captain Cat, and his long lost sea-love Rosie Probert, which fittingly occurred toward’s the play’s conclusion, by which time the lighting had faded right down, and the lights had come on in the little windows of the set model of the town. Ifan Huw Dafydd’s mournful cries of “come back, come back” as Rosie fades away, were genuinely touching.  

This was a very enjoyable performance of one of my favourite plays, and even though there were certain aspects that I wasn’t as keen on, they only made up a small part of what was overall a highly entertaining production, and a very fulfilling night out.