That indomitable blockbuster with the glass shaking and Jeff Goldblum’s exposed chest checks off another milestone this year. To celebrate, you’ll be able to see Jurassic Park In Concert this month, which is Hannah Collins’ cue to remind you of the film’s unexpected connection to Wales.
The year is 1993. John Major is Prime Minister, Lady Di wants a divorce from the future King Charles, and everyone’s driving around in the new Ford Mondeo. Over in America, director Steven Spielberg has already made a name for himself directing instant classics like Jaws, E.T. and Raiders Of The Lost Ark. But in March of that year, mentally and emotionally drained during the making of gruelling Holocaust film, Schindler’s List, he finds respite in spending his evenings offset, editing a fun little dinosaur movie he’d recently wrapped up.
Jurassic Park, which turns 30 years old this year, premiered that summer, becoming a monster blockbuster and cultural touchstone for generations. But for Wales – specifically, the Lyric Theatre in Carmarthen – the film resonates for different, very personal reasons.
In the early 90s this art deco theatre-turned-cinema, struggling to stay afloat, was due to be demolished by the local council to make room for a shopping centre. Among those outraged by the decision was the woman who ran it, Liz Evans – mother of Wynne Evans, now recognisable from the Go Compare ads.
Liz rallied others to mount a campaign to save the Lyric, including Carmarthen’s mayor at the time Richard Goodridge, and secured national news coverage from BBC Wales. Speaking to the BBC last year, Wynne Evans remembers his mother – who passed away in 2004 – as a tenacious and driven woman, unafraid to speak her mind to the powers that be. “I’ve never seen anybody walk into a council meeting and manage to turn the room around like my mother could … they just couldn’t say no to her.”
But this story wouldn’t still be told today if it was merely a local interest piece. What clinched the deal was a Hail Mary letter from Goodridge to Spielberg, asking him to lend his Hollywood weight to the campaign. “I’ve always had the philosophy,” the mayor told reporters at the time, “if there is a problem, you might as well go to the top first and work your way down from there. So what better person to ask than Mr Spielberg himself?”
The impetus came when Liz Evans was informed that distributors United International Pictures were reneging on their promise to include Carmarthen in Jurassic Park’s wide UK release. This would spell disaster for a cinema already teetering on the brink of financial collapse. So, as Goodridge said, he went straight to the director himself – faxing a him a plea urging him to help avoid “a crisis” for the small Welsh town, where thousands were eagerly expecting to watch the film that summer.
As he recounted to WalesOnline in 2019, it took less than a week for Spielberg’s office to respond, assuring him his letter would be seen by the man himself. Not long after, a response arrived at the mayoral chambers from a UIP representative, reading: “In order not to disappoint the people of Carmarthen, I have now given instructions for a print of Jurassic Park to be allocated to the Lyric Cinema.” And not only that, but the film arrived early enough to be shown concurrently to its London premiere – a day before national release.
Needless to say, the story made headlines around the world. Last year, it was dramatised in the homegrown film Save The Cinema, while this December, Jurassic Park renews its connection to Wales with BBC NOW’s 30th-anniversary concerts in Cardiff and Swansea. Just as those visually splendid dinos helped Steven Spielberg through a difficult chapter in his life, one independent Welsh cinema might not still be standing without his famous creation.
Jurassic Park In Concert, Utilita Arena Cardiff, Wed 13 Dec; Brangwyn Hall, Swansea, Thurs 14.
Tickets: £30.75/£15. Info: Cardiff / Swansea
words HANNAH COLLINS
