For Mountain, Sand and Sea : Barmouth

National Theatre Wales’ latest, and most adventurous production, For Mountain, Sand and Sea, is a twisting helter skelter journey around the seaside town of Barmouth. Devised, and directed by the acclaimed Welsh artist Marc Rees, the production leads its audience through the town’s nooks and crannies that hide behind the brash amusement arcades and the endless pubs and pound shops.

The show is a truly glorious journey, meandering as it does through the narrow alleys, along the garish high street, onto the beach and to the estuary. We meet all manner of characters from the town’s past along the way, and the ensemble cast of artists, including Cai Tomos, Guillermo Weickert, Marega Palser and Gareth Clark, must be praised for convincingly bringing such a melting-pot of personalities to life, and keeping the audience’s attention despite the background noise of a busy, sunny Saturday in high season.

The audience is lulled into a false sense of security as we are served tea and cake in the Church Hall by local members of the “Merched y Wawr”, before a rowdy, singing French sailor bursts out from underneath the stage, and sets about seducing (or scaring) the women around the table.

This is merely a taste of the strange sights that hide along the way: we are chaperoned up Barmouth’s steep hillside spine by Auguste Guyard, an exiled French social reformer who settled in the town, and was a herb specialist. We sit at Dinas Oleu, the first piece of land ever given to the National Trust, listening to Guyard singing, before he attempts, in a wig and comedy cut glass accent, to re-enact the moment Fanny Talbot gifted the land on which we stand.

From here, we make our way down to the beach, guided by a Welsh pied piper figure, a woman in traditional Welsh costume, with lullabies emanating from her wicker basket. On the beach, in the middle of all the tourists we find two glamorous 1950s style individuals posturing and preening, before inviting us to take part in some, thankfully, non –strenuous, beach exercises.

This is followed by a visit to the Sandancer nightclub where a pensioner dances with her long-dead soldier sweetheart, a presentation by Rees outside the Cambrian Establishment about Tommy Nutter, the Barmouth tailor who dressed the Beatles, Mick Jagger and David Bowie, and a surreal elephant-led parade through Barmouth High Street.

The production finishes at the estuary with a re-creation of the scene from A Matter of Life and Death when the pilot declares his love to the radio operator before bailing out without a parachute, which mirrors a tragic plane crash which happened over the bay at Barmouth. As we leave we see soldier from the nightclub re-united with his sweetheart in her prime, dancing in the dunes.

For Mountain, Sand and Sea certainly succeeded in breathing new life into history, and the staging of history. Barmouth’s past: its moments of joy, sadness, and utter disbelief, were created with humour, a true visual flair and an obvious warmth towards the town and its residents. This may not be the easiest or the most cohesive way to learn about a Barmouth’s history and identity, but with the sun shining, and clear blue skies, it is certainly the most rewarding.