Graig Du Theatre Players
Information
The players are in the process of being formed. I will post further updates in the next few days. My intention is to form a community theatre group, with four probable performances a year, to encompass the work of playwrights in the Rhondda as a beginning. Original work will be encouraged. I would like to hear from any members, when I give out further information, if they would be willing to partake in the first staging. This will include actors, actresses, directors,who would be interested in supporting the idea to get valuable experience at the start of their careers. It would be a learning curve for me. I intend staging my play" Sorrow for my Sons" to publicize the group within the next few months. The full version of this play "Painting the Darkness" is to have a performance with the Fluellen Theatre in 2017. The play tells of the mysterious death of William Dillwyn Llewelyn, the eldest son of Sir John Dillwyn Llewelyn, who was found shot dead in the woods of the Penllergare estate on the afternoon of his engagement to Lord Dynevor's daughter in August 1893. The play explores the background to events, the inquest held the following day into his death, and William's friendship with J.Arthur Gibbs, the author of "A Cotswolds Village". I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the late June Lewis-Jones of Fairford, Glos, who helped me considerably with the three-act version of events. After answering my advertisement in her local newspaper, she was intrigued by my discoveries and, as she held Gibbs's diaries in her possession; she was also an author in her own right, she said she would aid me in any way as long as it did not jeopardize her work. June said that I had seen something in the unfolding events that no-one had realized before. Gibbs's strange requiem poem to his dead friend is well worth reading, as is his version, which I believe to be truthful, of the events that took place at Penllergare on the fateful day.
Location: Porth, Rhondda
Members: 10
Latest Activity: Dec 11, 2018
Discussion Forum
Street Singers of the Valleys. Gwillym Pen Pwyll.
The one regret my father had while growing up in Dinas was that he did not pay much attention to the stories that were being told. The stories he did tell me were fascinating to the say the least,…Continue
Tags: Du, Theatre, Players, Graig, Pwyll
Started by Glyndwr Edwards Nov 21, 2015.
Unknown Stories from the Rhondda.
Ebenezer Chapel, pictured above before its demolition in the 1960s, was one of the…Continue
Started by Glyndwr Edwards Nov 17, 2015.
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Comment by Glyndwr Edwards on May 20, 2016 at 3:50
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I take your point about the interpretation. It is wise to have the flaws dissected so thoroughly. Your spleen does you proud. Valid points made about how the past is destroyed because Wales is a new country. I will have plenty more to say about this in the future. You should remember what the older people used to say in the Rhondda Valleys: South Wales ends when you travel to Pontypridd.
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Comment by Josh Edwards on May 19, 2016 at 10:55
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Two more stories that are worth a look at: Autumn Cricket by Lord Dunsany and Barbara of the House of Grebe by Thomas Hardy. Chloe was taken by the hidden story in Arthur Machen's Great God Pan.
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I forgot to mention I saw the reply you gave about Ebenezer Chapel. Is it possible the bodies were left in the ground when the chapel was demolished and the gravestones covered with earth? I hope you were right with the reply you gave. There is, it seems, little thought given to the past in Wales. Hardly any of the original chapels survive in the RHONDDA. If it had happened in England, It would have been a different matter. Disgusting.
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Read the message. I did not misread the text. I used another insight for the change of character. Clara is desperate because she believes people do not understand her. If the story is only told to herself, then some clarity is justified. The other drawings are nearly completed. I will be posting soon. I saw the film version yesterday with Dean Stockwell and it was better than I expected.
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Thanks for the outline. You seem to have missed the point of the text I sent you, Josh. This is not a parody of a person with a split personality. The imagining Clara envisages is not to be explained. The eyes are supposed to be the windows of the soul and this is a reversal of her place within the family as she sees herself, once benign, now mistreating her family.Her daughter clearly understands what is occurring. I have respect for the audience and no-one is fooled, believe me, if there are easy solutions to a dilemma. Let people draw their own conclusions. I would be in favour of a version of "The Dunwich Horror" with the transformations being psychological, rather than overwrought emotion
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It was a perfect idea you had last week. The opportunities for improvisation and referring to other stories would fill in many gaps, Josh. Another author to read would be Amyas Northcote. W.W. Jacobs stories, as was suggested by the others, would also work without excess padding. There was some laughter when no-one realized he wrote the story for which the film "Footsteps in the Fog" is based on. There will be more news soon. I am favouring Soldier Pass By for the opening.
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I have completed the outline for "The Golden Apple Tree" and you should receive it within the next hour, Josh. The timing may be short for the action. I will have a think about this and let you know. There will probably be another revision.
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Problems are still occurring with the new update for Windows. I have received the outlines,Josh,and they are excellent. Speak soon.
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I saw the message and I am still having problems with the internet connection. I look forward to reading what Gemma wrote about the ambiguity of the plot and how modern it is in its outlook. There would be much to be gained if Mr. Sleuth is never seen. The only film version I have seen of The Lodger is the one starring Laird Cregar and George Sanders. Hitchcock's version,with Ivor Novello,did not use the original ending at The Chamber of Horrors. This would be more appropriate in a possible stage version.
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I have been sending emails and there has been no reply, Glyn. I suppose the internet connection is not working again. You should see this. Gemma has given me her appraisal of The Lodger and it is very good. Mrs Belloc Lowndes depiction of the Bunting family and Mr Sleuth is so farsighted in her understanding of fear. There are possibilities with this.
Pages (108)
- Brook Cottage, Dinas.
- The Dinas Pals'1914.
- Death of Arthur Rees, Appletree, Dinas. 1908.
- Boot Inn, Dinas.
- Dinas Road before the clearance.
- The Prince of Orange pub, Dinas Road
- The Last houses to be demolished in Dinas.
- Inkerman Street, Dinas. "Concretes"
- Bethania Chapel, Dinas Road.
- Gwillym Pen Pwyll's"Ragamuffin Tales"
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