How do you make a play about a drugs bust, ala Operation Julie? Simple, you get nine extremely talented actors and musicians, plus a visionary creative team, and cook up a musically and visually stunning two-hour piece that rocks your world and ultimately tells a story that needs to be heard.
Operation Julie (the play) was first performed at Aberystwyth Arts Centre in July 2022; lauded by national press, it was the success of the summer. Operation Julie (the drugs bust) was performed around the Tregaron area by Aberystwyth and nationwide police forces from March 1977, at a cost of about £500,000.
Written by Geinor Styles for Theatr na nÓg, the play tells the story of Richard Kemp and Christine Bott: a young couple who moved to Wales, where they started to manufacture 60% of the world’s LSD. Unlike modern day drug dealers, this pair of scientists weren’t in it for the money: they wanted to enlighten and ultimately change the world through the mind-expanding benefits of LSD. Unfortunately, the government and police didn’t see it that way, forming a task force to smash the evil drugs ring that seeks to undermine the establishment.
The performance is as much about the music as it is the story, as the actors move from playing and singing 70s prog rock classics into various characters from the plot. Incredible musicianship and singing segues into small cameo scenes, artfully lit and realised; projections, costumes and psychedelic lighting all add up to a thrilling two hours that passes quicker than your youth.
All cast and crew deserve full credit for outstanding craftsmanship, but a special shoutout needs to go to the BSL interpreter, who was so immersed and part of the show that at one point I was convinced I could actually understand signing.
The play culminates with Kemp reciting his defence – which he wrote in prison, and wanted to read in court – to the audience. This three-minute piece is a prophetic piece of writing that it could have been written by the Green Party yesterday; it makes for a deeply moving moment and casts doubt on the sanity of those who sought to stop him on his mission. Under advice from his lawyer, though, he never read it and the only newspaper to publish it was the Cambrian Times – I urge you to seek it out.
The only good thing to come out of Operation Julie (the drugs bust) was the fact that Operation Julie (the play) was written, and it now delivers the message that Kemp and Bott wanted to give us. Catch it while you can, and you’ll understand why it should be in the West End and on Broadway.
Operation Julie, The Riverfront, Newport, Wed 17 Apr
On at The Riverfront until Sat 20 Apr (tickets: £32.50) and on tour until Sat 25 May. Info: here
words TIM TYSON SHORT
