Llwyth

Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff

Until Sat 24 Apr

*****

words: Jamie Rees

Once in a while a piece of theatre comes along that changes the artistic landscape of the country that produced it, taking the genre to a whole new level.

Llwyth (Tribe in English) is a new play from Sherman Cymru written by young Welsh playwright Dafydd James. This drama, set in modern day Wales, tells the story of a group of gay friends living in the Welsh capital and takes place on a night when Wales has lost the rugby.

The town is full of revellers, hell bent on enjoying themselves, and these four guys are no different to the tribes of rugby boys, clubbers, Valley girls and socialites that are all mingling simultaneously in the streets.

This is a play about gay life in Wales and what it is to be a gay man living in cosmopolitan Cardiff. Does that mean it’s only a play for gay people? No. It’s a play for anyone who values friendship and isn’t afraid to question their own values when it comes to being a true friend.

The language is predominantly Welsh with some Wenglish and English – the language you hear every day in today’s Wales. So does it mean then that it’s only a play for Welsh speaking people? Again, not at all. It’s a play about communities and communication and the lack of understanding that exists between different tribes in our culture, even in this age where we all know so much about each other.

It’s such a complex play with so many layers that you’d think it was hard work to watch. It’s quite the opposite. The dialogue is so simple and so real and the performances so understated and humorous that you could almost believe that you weren’t watching a play at all. It was like watching a documentary on stage. I suppose it had a real sense of the cinematic about it too such was the lack of over the top acting you come to expect from live theatre nowadays. A little like something out of an LA film studio you might say.

There’s a truth to this production that I’ve rarely seen in Welsh theatre. It’s so perfectly realised, from the writing and the directing to the casting, acting and staging. It has taken me over 72 hours to write this review such was the complexity of the themes and issues in this play. It throws up so many questions but the most striking thing of all has to be the sheer realism of the language and the characterisation.

There are far too many exhilarating scenes in this drama to mention in one review. But after an hour or so of this production, where you’ve developed an empathy with every single one of the characters and laughed a great deal, this play propels itself from a good production to a great one.

What happens? Well, without giving it all away Aneurin, the narcissistic lead falls apart and gives in to the one demon that fuels the very worst elements of his character. Fifteen year-old Gavin, played so innocently and beautifully by Siôn Young  snorts his first line of coke, experiences his first whiff of poppers and almost comes of age. The appropriately named Dada, the old wise queen of this tribe played poignantly by Danny Grehain, shows unbelievable restraint, understanding, humility and humour when it all goes wrong around him. And young couple Rhys (Paul Morgans) and Gareth (Michael Humphreys) try to find their way through a difficult period in their relationship. None of it particularly remarkable, but all of it so relevant and real to the every day Wales we live in today that it shoots straight to the heart. Just when you think you can’t take anymore director Arwel Gruffudd throws a Welsh choir into the mix to finish us all off completely.

It feels wrong to single out one performance amongst these five superb Welsh actors, but Simon Watts’ Aneurin is a revelation. This actor’s performance is so well put together and observed, be it playing off his face on drugs, a lyrical poet, a loving/hating friend or an angst-ridden son. The scene where he breaks down and finally gives into his demons was heart wrenching, helped not least by the pitch-perfect acting of the supporting cast around him. I feel that there was a sense of the autobiographical in Aneurin for writer Dafydd James. I could be completely wrong, but I’ve not seen such a superbly written character in a Welsh drama in my life.

With all things considered, the genius of this piece is in the writing. This exciting Welsh writer’s style felt like a mix of Willy Russell, Mark Ravenhill and Irvine Welsh. It’s patriotic and parochial but unlike most Welsh based theatre it will travel – this is something Russell and Welsh do very well. This play is Welsh yet universal, simple yet complicated and it’s true to say Wales doesn’t have a voice in cinema or theatre that speaks on an international stage yet – we may have found one here. Llwyth works in Cardiff, that’s for sure and, from where I was sat, it could work in London and LA too.