Last night marked the opening of a new chapter in Welsh theatre, with the inaugural performance from the National Theatre for Wales.
The newly-established company’s first production, A Good Night Out in the Valleys, opened in Blackwood Miners’ Institute – a significant choice of venue. Built in 1925 from the wages of local miners, the Institute has served as a social club for the Blackwood community for decades, having survived the close of the surrounding pits.
The choice of venue is significant; the play’s storyline revolves around varying concepts of what constitutes a ‘good night out’ in South Wales, and was developed by writer Alan Harris and NTW Artistic Director John E. McGrath in conjunction with the communities it portrays. In staging the play in such venues – the production will be touring other Valleys towns for the remainder of the month – the company brings the performance back to its roots.
The key values of NTW are to provide pieces of theatre that are innovative, engaged and international; eschewing larger cities such as Cardiff, Swansea and Newport for their first play arguably lays out an ethos of community, of a theatre company keen to represent all aspects of Wales and its history and culture.
A Good Night Out in the Valleys is on at Blackwood Miners’ Institute again tonight, before moving on to Bridgend, Pontardawe, Bedwas and Aberdare. For more information, or to book tickets for these events, visit the National Theatre for Wales website.
Future performances from NTW will include Shelf Life, The Devil Inside Him and The Soul Exchange.