AV News 195 - February 2014
The making of ‘A Rich Legacy ’
Linda Gibbs MPAGB
Dylan Thomas, the Welsh poet and playwright died the year I was born. So I
wanted to have a sequence in place for the 60th anniversary of his death in
2013, and my special birthday. Although he died in New York, Dylan and I were
both born in Swansea, which was also a strong connection between us.
I was a teenager when I first saw his play for voices 'Under Milk Wood' about
a Welsh village called Llaregubb (read it backwards to get the joke). It was
performed in Laugharne, West Wales, where he wrote the play, and ever since
I have enjoyed his work. A relatively new book called 'Fatal Neglect: Who Killed
Dylan Thomas' by David N Thomas (no relation) caught my interest and seemed
to provide new evidence as to the circumstances surrounding Dylan's untimely
death at the age of 39. Over the years it was said that his infamous drinking had
been the cause, and there were even suggestions that he had been diabetic, but
these theories were all overturned by this revealing investigation. In case
anyone reading this article has yet to see the AV, I won't mention any spoilers.
When we started to plan our approach to this project, we were still considering
how to include this information, and integrate it into a sequence that said more
about Dylan than just how he lived and how he died. However, even though the
treatment and theme had yet to be decided, Edgar and I agreed that the next
step was to gather images for the sequence. We had previously been given the
advice to try and have some AV projects near to home, on the basis that any
further images or research would be close to hand. So after visiting Ireland,
Essex, The Black Country Museum and Brighton for our previous production
'Thomas', we were glad to take on this advice and stuck to South Wales for our
research on this sequence.
In the Autumn of 2012 we decided to make a Dylan Thomas pilgrimage
starting with an overnight stay in the very house in which he was born. This is
located on Cwmdonkin Drive in the Uplands area of Swansea. We were handed
the keys by Annie and
had the whole house
from 4 o'clock in the
afternoon to 10 o'clock
the next morning. We
slept in the best bedroom
where Dylan was born
and made breakfast in
the kitchen his Mam
would have cooked in. A
fridge was discretely
hidden as was the only
three pin plug in the
house!
While we were in
Swansea we took the opportunity to visit the Dylan Thomas Centre and The
Swansea Bay 1940s Museum for any relevant information and to gather further
images. Both museums were very helpful and gave us permission to use any
photographs taken, providing they weren't for commercial use.
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