Though race rioting had occurred earlier in the 20th century, 1919 was the year that saw it erupt in British port cities and towns: Glasgow, South Shields, Salford, London, Liverpool, Newport, Cardiff and Barry. Blacks and Arabs were savagely beaten; in Cardiff, ex-servicemen stationed in the area were among the 2,000 whites who firebombed black businesses and houses. They headed lynch mobs that terrorized Butetown’s black community, with shooting incidents and razor fights during the four-day riot where three were killed. In Barry, there was a stabbing death.
These riots are the subject of this play, which is part of a six-production series called The Storm Cycle conceived, designed and directed by Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes. Created for National Theatre Wales, Storm.2: Things Come Apart explores two key themes; truth and testimony. Why highlight this dark incident from Cardiff’s past? “To recover happenings for which there are no monuments, but that might remind us of what might happen – even in a famously multicultural city – when we fail in our civic duty to respect and care for our fellow citizens,” they reply. Pearson and Brookes give more insight on this significant new theatre piece ripped right from the front page:
“It’s important to us to present exactly what the papers said, on the spot, at the moment, without any later interpretation. And it is dramatic – as reporters try to make sense of what’s happening hour by hour, and as they themselves are swept up in events. There is no official account of the four days of rioting, so we are combining spoken words, period maps and archival images to track the course of events, in a venue close to the ‘storm centre’ of 1919. Combining texts, photographs and plans of the city in 1919, we are inviting the audience to imagine the riots along with us – locating places long built over, picturing the movements of the crowds and their quarry in still familiar streets. Audiences are free to sit and listen, to come close and examine material, to have a cup of tea – as events relentlessly unfold.” RHONDA LEE REALI
Tabernacl Church, The Hayes, Cardiff, Wed 21-Sat 24 Mar. Tickets: £10/£7.50/£5 Wed 21 only. Info: 029 2037 1689 / www.nationaltheatrewales.org