A Good Night Out?

A Good Night Out in the Valleys, National Theatre Wales’s first production, performed at Blackwood Miners’ Institute, was exactly that: a good night out.

The drama centres on the struggle for the future of the Miners’ Institute as Kyle (Huw Rhys) a developer from a mining company comes to the village. Through his interaction with Con (Boyd Clack), the manager of the Institute, and various other characters, such as amateur boxer Dirty Karen (Siwan Morris), Con’s daughter Sue (Amy Starling) and miner’s son Shwni (Oliver Wood), it becomes apparent that he is not a stranger, and that he has his own reasons for masterminding the demise of the Institute. However Kyle’s plan to avenge the bullying and intimidation suffered by his family during the Miner’s Strike is put in jeopardy as he finds himself falling for Sue, despite her father’s role in making his family’s life a misery. Directed by John E McGrath and written by Alan Harris, the play was developed following workshops and interviews with groups and individuals from the Valleys which gives it an authenticity, and makes it a product of its area.

The production made exceptional use of the available space: having audience members on the stage taking the place of regulars at the Miners’ Institute was a clever way of creating a link between the audience and the action, as well as breaking down the barrier between audience and actor. This interaction was furthered by the audience participating in a game of bingo at the Institute, as well as a salesperson for Bevan’s meats and treats doing the rounds. The demolishing of barriers, and reaching out to the audience is not merely a ploy used for this first production, but is rather a central concern for National Theatre Wales. The company has decided against having their own building, and have chosen instead to take their productions to various communities across the country, and through this, to reach out to the people of Wales.

A film at the back of the stage was exploited to its full potential to change the backdrop as the action moved from one location to another. This was particularly helpful to ensure the audience could follow the various narrative threads, as all actors played numerous different characters, and switched between these roles at speed.

The drama was lacking one, defining, strong plot line: however the use of many inter-weaving strands was successful in building layers of relationships between the characters, which represented realistically the make up of a tight-knit community. Although the conclusion of the main point of conflict in the plot, as Kyle and Sue end up living happily ever after despite the bitterness and mistrust between both families, was far too predictable, this did not detract from our enjoyment. A love story on two sides of a divide, be that social, political or racial, has been done to death, but this play escaped the charge of predictability because, how could the production be a good night out in any worthwhile way without a happy ending?

The production was not trying to preach to its audience, nor was it trying to tackle world issues; rather it was trying to entertain and amuse, whilst holding up a mirror to the Valleys community, and succeeded in these ends.This is not to say that the play shied away from more serious topics: it dealt convincingly with unemployment, illness, death, revenge, forgiveness, belonging, as well as the continuing consequences of the miners’ strike on a community torn in two by the dispute. There were numerous emotionally fraught scenes: an ex-miner slowly dying from the effects of coal dust, a scab’s son confronting the man who had ostracised his family. However the humour pulsating throughout the production, and here I must highlight Sharon Morgan’s, Strongbow drinking, Dizzee Rascal loving granny who stole each and every scene in which she appeared, ensured that it did not fall into the trap of sentimentalising life in the Valleys. Rather this was a drama which represented the Valleys and its inhabitants with their weaknesses, as well as their strengths on show for all to see.

This show certainly set the benchmark for National Theatre Wales’s programme: I hope future productions will succeed in reaching the same standard.