Under Milk Wood - SEE IT NOW!!!

Normally when I blog about theatre on here, it's to promote shows that are coming up in the near-future or to talk about amateur productions in which I myself am involved. This time out, however, I want to urge you all to catch the remaining performances of what is one of the best shows I have ever seen.

Last weekend, me and my girlfriend Aimee attended the Exeter Northcott Theatre for a performance of Under Milk Wood, Dylan Thomas' brilliant 'play for voices' made famous through its original radio performance in 1954. It's a beautiful, tender, hilarious and heartbreaking story about sex, death, religion and love, covering a single day in the lives of the many unusual residents of the fictional Welsh town of Llareggub. This production is being presented by Clwyd Theatr Cymru to mark the centenary of Thomas' birth.

Both Aimee and myself are huge fans of the original work, and I was lucky enough to see a previous stage version at the Warwick Arts Centre back in 2009, when I was a student. But even with an established love for the text, this version blew us away. The company were immensely faithful to both Thomas' words and their power, delivering a performance of incredible energy, humour and pathos. The set is absolutely gorgeous, the staging is inventively understated, and the whole cast were note-perfect, particularly Owen Teale (Dr. Freisler in Conspiracy) as the First Voice.

Under Milk Wood is touring throughout England until Saturday July 12th; you can find all the details of future shows and how to get tickets here. If you see one show this year, out of all the shows I've plugged, I urge and compel you to see this one. You are in for an amazing experience that will lead you to fall in love with Thomas' work and gain a new appreciation for the human condition. See it now!

Daniel