HELA
The Other Room at Porters, Cardiff
Tue 5-Sun 24 Nov
Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru are known for their bold and inventive productions, incorporating the Welsh language into their work in new and unexpected ways. This debut play by Mari Izzard – winner of The Other Room’s Violet Burns Playwriting Award – is a provocative bilingual drama that transports us to a dystopian Wales where justice is determined by algorithms and the most deplorable sexual violence is protected.
An individual human tragedy plays out in this world obsessed with big data, as a young mother, Erin, has lost her son and is desperate to find him by any means necessary. Blending Welsh and English, Hela examines the relentless trauma of sexual violence, asking how far we are willing to go to avenge this pain and see justice restored.
It’s the third production in Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru’s so-called Violence Series, a trilogy of specially commissioned new plays thematically concerned with the language and politics of violence in the modern world. The series also included Matthew Bulgo’s intellectual thriller American Nightmare and Tess Barry-Hart’s Kafkaesque parable The Story. With its first explosive performance on Bonfire Night, Hela also stars as the playwright’s twin sister Lowri Izzard alongside Gwydion Rhys, and is directed by The Other Room’s artistic director Dan Jones, marking his first time working professionally on a play that incorporates the Welsh language.
Tickets: £5-£12. Info: www.otherroomtheatre.com (SP)