Friday, November 22

Tag: Theatr Clywd

Dial M For Murder – Theatr Clywd
Wales

Dial M For Murder – Theatr Clywd

The 1954 film adaptation, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, will always cast a long shadow in any staging of of this Frederick Knott penned masterpiece. It was a huge favourite of mine growing up, evoking Proustian memories of rainy, Autumnal Sunday afternoons in front of the family television; the film poster still adorns the wall of my study. Therefore, I was both excited and apprehensive making my way across the Welsh border to the beautiful and welcoming 'Theatre on the Hill' in Flintshire, to see the latest incarnation of this taut psychological thriller. For those unfamiliar with the plot, Knott created more of a 'Howdunnit' than a 'Whodunnit'. The audience are privy from the outset to the plan by suave ex tennis professional Tony Wendice (Tom Chambers), to murder his rich and beautif...
Missing Julie – Theatr Clywd
Wales

Missing Julie – Theatr Clywd

August Strindberg’s naturalistic play, Miss Julie, written in 1888, tackles a number of themes sparked by the author’s interest in psychology, including female degeneracy, class and gender conflict, idealisation and degradation, and hypnotism. Whilst considered a classic of modern theatre, the author’s own misogyny which pervades the work often presents a challenge to a successful production in these more enlightened times so it was with some interest that I turned to Theatr Clywd’s live-streamed reading of Kaite O’Reilly’s new version, introduced by Artistic Director Tamara Harvey, which has been freely adapted from Strindberg’s original to give it a twentieth century twist. Miss Julie (Sophie Melville), the heiress of a Welsh stately home, finds herself in a world radically changed...