Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff (before touring Wales)
Wed 16-Sat 19 Feb
Back in 2006, in a fanzine entitled ‘Trosi/Translate’, Geraint Ffrancon interviewed local musician, actor and DJ Gareth Potter. What Ffrancon discovered was a person at the absolute core of the Welsh music scene, a man who not only knew all there was worth knowing about the varied musical styles in our nation but who had also contributed significantly to the work himself.
In the Welsh-language Gadael yr Ugeinfed Ganrif, these biographical revelations are detailed through the truly appropriate medium of theatre. Shattering the idea that Wales only found a true voice when the National Assembly for Wales was established in 1998, Gadael yr Ugeinfed Ganrif instead shows that whether we were screaming out punk lyrics or jamming Jamaican inspired rhythms we’ve always found a way to express ourselves.
This is theatre meets autobiography meets lecture. Therefore it comes as no surprise that it made its début at the Blaenau Gwent and the Heads of the Valleys National Eisteddfod 2010, nestling in amongst the other talent here to form a rich celebration of Welsh musical culture.
It is perhaps at this point, that the work could be criticised as inward-looking. However, directed by the achingly innovative Phillip Mackenzie, a creative force that Potter describes as an ‘outsider’,Gadael yr Ugeinfed Ganrif is quite the opposite. Showcasing a rich and varied tradition which doesn’t need subjectivity in order to big itself up, this work promises to promote and celebrate Welsh music in a thoroughly entertaining way.
Tickets: £12/£10. Info: 029 2030 4400 / www.chapter.org
