Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas
Barons Court Theatre, July 2000

To begin at the beginning. Fifteen figures slowly walked onto an empty stage, clad bible-black and barefoot. In the space of ninety minutes, this group of actors took us on a kaleidoscopic tour of the fictional Welsh village of Llareggub. A husband plots to poison his wife, a butcher serves up cat’s liver for supper, a salty sea dog is haunted by his drowned shipmates, and two ghosts solemnly vow to fold their pyjamas. These are but four of the vividly drawn vignettes that have established Dylan Thomas’ ‘play for voices’ as a masterpiece of imagination and language.

Morag Galloway’s no-nonsense production wisely steered clear of too much theatrical stage-biz and chose to concentrate on the beauty and power of the images painted by the text. Her uniformly strong cast was more than up to the task. As well as combining to create one of the tightest ensembles in KDC history, the cast was also capable of individual moments of true flair. She was also not too proud to add her own sound effects and music cues from the audience. She composed most of the music for the songs herself and so her own musical training was much in evidence.

Daniel Wain’s commanding performance as First Voice held the evening together beautifully. He effortlessly soared from the mellifluously conversational to the impassioned heights. He was both wry observer and active participant. His expression during the moving Captain Cat and Rosie Probert exchange was the perfect underscore to the action. His quick-fire transformation into frolicking schoolboy was a gem.

Marsha Rose, as Second Voice, was Wain’s perfect foil. In a beautifully measured performance Rose colluded, cajoled and confronted her fellow narrator. With the majority of the text in the hands of these two talented actors, the evening zipped along.

All too often the ‘smaller parts’ are eclipsed by the ‘Voices.’ There was little danger of this in KDC’s production. Confidence coursed through each of the players, who attacked each cameo with wit and verve. Thomas was safe on the tips of their tongues.

It would be futile to try and cover all the performances in this review. The length prescribed for this piece precludes me doing full justice to everyone, much as I’d like to. Forgive me for selecting a few highlights that lent the evening ‘that extra edge.’ Captain Cat was nobly played by KDC stalwart Trevor Ellis, who brought a grace and gravity to a character all too often characatured. Sarah Jones, another KDC regular, brought a chameleonic range to the five different women she played. Her boisterous and bold Rosie Probert gave way to a mellow and moving Polly Garter, all this via three other characters.

John Johnston has always been known in KDC circles for his comic abilities. In UMW, he did not let us down. His falsetto rendition of ‘Come and Sweep My Chimbley’ even had some of the cast fighting back the urge to corpse.

For a perverse double-act, look no further than Robert Bailey and Richard Jones. Their genuinely unnerving portrayals of Mr Ogmore and Mr Pritchard were enough to convince me that the dead had arisen.

It was good to see so many new faces in the cast. A warm welcome to them all and hope that we see the likes of Mike Millar again. His skittish, wheedling Organ Morgan, all fingers and twitches, gained a smile of recognition from the audience each time he came on. Cathy Burnell was one of the most proficient ‘shape-shifters’ and gave us a wonderfully innocent, yet rather spiteful Gwennie. Alice Wright pouted and raised temperatures in building her Mae Rose Cottage and Adrian Samuels downtrodden No Good Boyo provided a splash of mischievous colour amidst the murk.

Mention must be made of the uncredited lighting designer’s work. The hallucinogenic blues, reds and greens swirled before our eyes, underscoring each emotion. A true fantasia of colour and light. Congratulations to all concerned. If KDC continues to produce work of this standard the future is assured