stage
KONTAKT
Sherman Cymru, Cardiff
Wed 30 Oct-Sat 2 Nov
pic: KIRSTEN MCTERNAN
TONYPANDEMONIUM
Park & Dare Theatre, Treorchy
Thu 10-Sat 19 Oct
After spending recent years focusing on
moving her writing beyond the boundaries
of the Welsh Valleys, Rachel Trezise is
returning to her roots with her first stage
play, Tonypandemonium. Since winning
the Dylan Thomas Prize in 2006, and
gaining the accreditation she both craved
and deserved, Trezise embraced the liberty
to follow her writing wherever it took her,
with her latest collection stretching to the
streets of Israel and beyond. Now, with
her wanderlust fulfilled, she is firmly back
in the Valleys and bringing the story of a
teenage girl and her fun-loving, alcoholic
mother to the stage of Treorchy’s Park &
Dare Theatre.
The play, which is both heartbreaking
and hilarious and based loosely on the
author’s life, is described by Rachel as
“a patchwork sewn with fact, fiction,
anger, love.” Although the subject matter
is similar to that of her first novel, the
darkly comic In And Out Of The Goldfish
Bowl, Trezise has gained over a decade
of experience in both life and writing
since its publication, hopefully allowing
her to bring new depths of perspective
and understanding to the tale. Whilst she
admits to initially being scared of writing
for theatre, with so much success in a
short career it seems difficult to believe
that Trezise will have written anything
other than a heart-stirring wonder.
Tickets: £8. Info: 08000 147111 / www.
parkdare.rct-arts.org (LS)
BUZZ 40
Like speed dating without the date and a lot more personal. Kontakt allows two complete strangers to see into each
other’s souls, they can cross a huge generational gap and have a proper discussion about what really matters t o them.
Twenty young people will invite 20 participants to share an evening of unique individual encounters. With just a
bridge table between them where is the barrier between performer and audience? Will the blurring of this boundary
allow both sides to learn new things about themselves and create new opportunities for honest conversation?
Sherman Cymru’s Youth Theatre is known for their experimental approach to modern performance and Kontakt
is possibly their most daring event. The young people have no script, no characters and no idea who will be sitting
down opposite them. They could find themselves face to face with the reluctant relative of a cast mate, unwilling
to engage, or an overeager participant who just won’t shut up.
In previous years the encounters have involved intense staring competitions, descriptive drawings of happiness or
home, discussions about the fundamentals of good and evil and even the question “do you think this is acting?”.
The levels of engagement vary wildly, but usually the audience warm up throughout the event and eventually buy
into this one-off opportunity to make contact with another human being.
Head of Creative Learning, Phil Mackenzie, is always keen to start conversations between different generations and
social groups. Their last production, the huge Dressing Up Too, took place in the Sherman’s main stage on a giant
catwalk. Although a million miles away from the intimate and small scale Kontakt, the production still explored how we
connect to one another and how the generations can start listening to each other properly.
Phil perfectly describes Kontakt as “really stretching the boundaries of what theatre is and could be in an ever-changing
world.” Tickets: £8 (under 25s half price). Info: 029 2064 6900 / www.shermancymru.co.uk CHELSEY GILLARD
CALL ME DUSTY
Various venues across South Wales
Fri 4 Oct-Wed 6 Nov
In and out of hospital with self-inflicted
injuries, Dusty Springfield struggled
through drink and drug problems, bipolar
disorder and her own sexuality whilst
still managing to top popularity polls and
music charts. With a personal life worthy
of any tabloid front page, and arguably the
best white soul voice of her generation,
it’s no wonder the Son Of A Preacher Man
singer became an icon of the Swinging
Sixties.
Her bleach blonde bouffant and thick
black eyeliner transformed quiet Catholic
girl Mary O’Brien into the sensual singer
who went on to become one of the best
selling female artists in the world. Call
Me Dusty marks the 50th anniversary
of Springfield’s first solo record I Only
Want to Be With You, which sold over one
million copies. The new play, penned by
Derek Webb, explores the gap between
the shy, private world of Mary and the
outspoken and often outrageous public
personality of the star.
Tackling the huge role of the ‘white lady
of soul’ is Jessica Sandry, best known
for playing another musical legend in
stage hit Being Doris Day. Ignition’s
debut production promises to be both a
celebration and an investigation of the
woman behind the celebrity facade.
Tickets: £8-£10. Info: www.callmedusty.
org.uk / see listings (CG)
IGNORANCE
The Riverfront, Newport
Thurs 10 Oct
Plagued by a nagging sensation that we’ve
lost the ability to be happy just a tad? The
Old Trout Puppet Workshop is genuinely
concerned that the human race has gone
a bit haywire. They are convinced that our
search for bliss in Twitter and yoga just
really isn’t that satisfying, and that maybe,
the answers to our quest for happiness
lie in the stories of our ancestors and the
joy they found whilst stomping about with
grubby feet.
Watching the evolution of happiness
unfold, Ignorance starts in a smoky smelly
cave, where the fact that you were still
running around was cause for celebration,
to now, where a lot of us still can’t find
happiness amongst the vast array stuff
that we’ve bought.
Through “Open Creation” the Canadianbased company has opened up their
devising process through a blog. As
Ignorance was put together the latest
versions of scripts and sketches of ideas
were boldly put out for comment, criticism
and suggestion, making space for far more
conversations about this happiness crisis
(also resulting in a grin from a funny
photo or two).
Starting from a point of simply wanting
to make this cruel world slightly more
hospitable, the hand carved puppets tell
a fragile yet ridiculous story for every
age in the world.
Tickets: £8-£10. Info: 01633 656757 /
www.newport.gov.uk/theriverfront (BG)
TROYANNE
Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff
Tue 1-Sat 5 Oct
The new drama Troyanne, which
tackles the complicated and sorrowful
realtionship the USA has with guns,
is heading to Chapter Arts Centre this
month.
Based upon the collected testimonies of
women in Troy, Ohio, it chronicles the
tragedy of a nation that refuses to put
down its weapons. A young GI, back from
a tour of duty in Iraq, is eager to show his
sniper rifle to his father. Whilst inspecting
the gun, the father accidentally shoots
his son dead, thereby setting off a trail of
events that destroys a family and touches
a whole town.
Written by leading Welsh ‘theatre
practitioner’ Ian Rowlands, is presented
by Company of Sirens and directed by
Chris Durnall. Developed at The Lark
Theatre, New York, and at New York
Theatre Workshop, this is a topical subject
surrounding gun culture in America.
To add a different dimension to proceedings,
the Welsh performances of Troyanne
taking place at Chapter Arts Centre will
coincide with performances in New York
with an American cast, creating a unique
sharing of two very different approaches
to the same piece of work.
Tickets: £8/£6. Info: 029 2030 4400 /
www.chapter.org (RHO)