Digesting the best of South Wales culture in the month ahead.
by @mabjones
HAY in May is more than okay, it is something to look forward to, and muchly. Anyone and everyone, from Tim Minchin to Jeremy Vine, David Starkey to my fave storyteller Daniel Morden, will be there, so get your tickets asap. The second Landed Festival will also be taking place in the same beautiful Welsh location as last year, and comes highly recommended by my good self (hence the mensh!).
My fave playwright (and probably lots of other peopleās, too), Shakespeare, sees a Globe production of Henry V at Cardiffās New Theatre from Fri 1, while Swansea Grand stages An Inspector Calls from the same day. Muni Arts Centre has yet another Frank Vickery fandango in Granny Annie, also from Fri 1, so if you like a good laugh, you know where to go.
āBallet pioneersā (The Dancing Times) Ballet Cymru will be twirling and tapping out fairytales with a twist in their versions of Little Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs at Newportās Riverfront on Tues 5, while acclaimed Indian dance company STEM will be at the WMC on the (oh dear, why do they do this?) same day as well.
Also at the WMC will be raginā Rhod Gilbert ā see the man wax lyrical, if not hysterical, on a range of topics from the Sun 3-Tues 5. In a very busy comedy month,Ā Pontardawe Arts Centre has its Punchline comedy night on Sat 2, Simon Amstell is at the Swansea Grand on Wed 9, quirky Josh Widdecombe is at the Parc & Dare on Thurs 10, and Chris Corcoran at Muni Arts on Sat 12.
If all this leaves you tooooo happy and unable to get back to work, then why not check out the lunchtime talk on shipsā rigging at the Newport Museum & Art Gallery on Wed 16… only joking! Iām sure itās very interesting. Alternatively, you could muse on the human condition at the exhibition of the same name, also in the āport, this time at Barnabas House until Sat 12.
Lit-wise, thereās plenty going on. In Cardiff, Susie Wildās Literary Salon sees the ānotable bohemianā in conversation with poet and playwright Gwyneth Lewis. Make your way to the Sherman on Mon 21. Wales Book Of The Year announces its shortlist on Thurs 10 at Brecon Theatre, and I am looking forward to the storytelling at Milgi in Cardiff. A yurt full of music and words ā again, I recommend it. See you there, Buzz-ards! x