National Theatre Wales Y2

A couple of weeks ago National Theatre Wales unveiled their second year of productions, and although it’s not quite as ambitious as their first year programme of performing a different show every month, it is nevertheless very interesting.

The company will be staging nine productions, although two of these The Dark Philosophers tour to the Edinburgh Fringe and the NoFit State tour, are in fact revivals from the first year.

I am looking forward to seeing the reaction to NTW’s work in Edinburgh, because it has generally received very favourable reviews on both sides of Offa’s Dyke, and it will therefore be interesting to see what the Edinburgh audience make of it. But perhaps more importantly, because of the vital role played by location, and a production’s relationship with a particular community within NTW’s first year productions, it will be fascinating to see how this works outside of Wales. After all, the production will not have the same relationship with its location as it did when it was performed in Newport and in the old miners’ institute in Rhos, near Wrexham.

I am glad that NoFit State’s production will be going on tour because it was an accomplished and polished show, which will go a long way to showing people the development in “circus theatre”, and that there is a lot more to the circus than merely a marquee in a soggy field. Furthermore, as this was one of the productions with the weakest or least tangible link to its location (Milford Haven) it should travel well. I just hope that NTW and NoFit state will work on the production to strengthen the narrative, and give the show a solid emotional core.

The other seven productions are a mix of location-driven productions such as The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning by Tim Price, which will be staged in Haverfordwest, where Manning attended Tasker Milward school. This production shows a continuation of NTW’s emphasis on location and community, but also indicates a new willingness to deal with, not only the social, but also the political, this is most definitely a good thing.

Little Dogs, inspired by Dylan Thomas, produced in partnership with Frantic Assembly and staged at the Patti Pavilion in Swansea, is another location-driven production. It should be interesting seeing how NTW decide to deal with Dylan Thomas, but is refreshing to see their willingness to put their own stamp on his life and work, rather than merely satisfy themselves with a staging of Under Milk Wood.

The other location driven productions are Coriolan/us based on the works of Shakespeare and Brecht, which will be staged at Dragon Film Studios (Valleywood!) and Branches (Working Title) a new commission from Constanza Macras/ Dorkypark, which is to be performed in the forests of North Wales. Both these productions will take NTW’s work to unusual locations, and it is good to see that they have not lost their flair for seeing possibilities in the most unlikely of locations. Furthermore, both productions are part of NTW’s contribution to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. It is reassuring to see, that despite the London-centric outlook of the Olympics themselves, that the Cultural Olympiad has deemed it fit to stage productions in Wales, and chosen a fitting partner in NTW.

NTW’s third Cultural Olympiad production is In Water I’m Weightless by Kaite O’Reilly, the dramatist behind their triumphant production of The Persians. This work will be inspired by the lives of disabled and deaf people, bringing a wider scope to the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. After all, the Paralympic Games rarely garner even a fraction of the attention given to the Olympic Games, and the same is true of society as a whole where the lives of disabled people are shoved to the sidelines. This will put their lives, problems, worries, hopes and successes at centre stage. Although it is to be staged at the Wales Millennium Centre, and is somewhat of a rarity in NTW’s programme, because it will not tour and is not driven by its location, it will continue their focus on various communities by giving a voice to one of the most ignored communities in the country.

A Provincial Life, based on Chekhov’s story, which will be one of the first productions staged in the newly refurbished Sherman Cymru, is another non-location driven production, which shows NTW’s development from merely location or community driven work, to regular auditorium and audience productions. However, as with Coriolan/us and Little Dogs, it shows a willingness to take inspiration from the classics, without merely slavishly re-staging old work.

The only touring show (apart from the NoFit State tour) is a Village Social by Dafydd James and Ben Lewis. This will tour village halls across Wales, and hopefully attract audiences that may otherwise either not have the opportunity or the inclination to go and see a NTW production. I can see this production occupying the same popular and populist position as A Good Night Out.

Over all, the programmes seems to strike a balance between the modern and the classic, the contemporary and the traditional – I just hope they manage to pull it off.