Robert E. Howard (1906-1936) is the pulp fiction writer who found fame in the pages of “Weird Tales” that first published his stories of Conan the Cimmerian. His other creations are well-known and too numerous to list; he also wrote in other genres that showed his individualistic style. A man of vast contradictions, irascible temper, he committed suicide on June 11th when he knew his mother would not recover from her final illness. Howard survived for eight hours after shooting himself in…

The following post expounds in more detail on the play.

The play tells the story of the final days of General Charles Gordon, the governor of the Sudan, who died during the end of one of the longest sieges in history on 24th January 1885, two days before the British expeditionary force reached Khartoum. The inhabitants of Khartoum were killed by the Mahdist forces; how Gordon died is uncertain because of contradictory eyewitness accounts. His last journal entry, dated…

This extract from my monologue “No Robe for a Hermit”, printed below, has received much interest from certain quarters. I was pleased with the response: no-one knew if the voice of the unnamed actor was autobiographical or not. The unnamed actor is introspective and, as he begins to question all he has achieved early in his career, during the late 1950s and 1960s, his doubts begin to creep in as he believes that success is an illusion and will bring no happiness to him and his…

This Three-Act play, like its One-Act predecessor “Death Dreams”, an extract was published last December,  is about the final years of Colonel Percy. H. Fawcett. I was intending to keep the original title of the previous play for the full version, but the reasons for the change will be apparent on reading the play when it is published,

Rather than being a strict chronology, the play concentrates on Fawcett’s beliefs and what compelled him to make the fatal last expedition in…

The newspaper photograph shows Jack Fawcett, towards the left, Raleigh Rimmel towards the right, at Dead Horse Camp, May, 1925. This was five weeks into their journey and the last photograph of them taken before they went missing. Percy Fawcett took the photograph.…

The play concerns the last expedition of Colonel Percy Fawcett who, alongside his son, Jack, and Jack’s boyhood friend, Raleigh Rimmel, vanished in the jungles of the Amazon in 1925 while searching for “The Lost City of Z” that Fawcett was convinced existed.

Mystic, scholar, legendary explorer of South America, Fawcett was a complex man whose obsession proved destructive. The play offers an understanding of events, based on documentary evidence, of what compelled Percy Fawcett on this…

The following is one of a number of stories that has been collated in the Rhondda and will be used in a future production about the Great War and how it affected the townships of the Rhondda Valleys.

My grandmother, Morfydd Edwards, only occasionally spoke of her brothers Phillip and David, Phillip’s death, and of what occurred in Dinas during the Great War to my father, Emrys Edwards.

She, including the rest of her family and many other grieving families,…

During a survey when local people were asked what they would like to see performed by the Graig Du Theatre Players, a surprise awaited the people who collected the information: most of the correspondents were fed up with contemporary drama and wanted to be intrigued by stories that were set in the past. Originality was called for and political views, police stories, contemporary drama of whatever persuasion, were frowned upon. It was, with originality; an obligation of encouraging…

ACT ONE

The first scene takes place at Cardiff Arms Park, where Glamorgan are playing Somerset on July 25^th 1890, the next scene takes place at Penllergare House, in the library in July, 1892, and the last scene takes place near the North Lodge in October 1893. Downstage, William Dillwyn Llewelyn, wearing cricketing whites, the son of Sir John Dillwyn Llewelyn, stands motionless. He is in his mid-twenties; someone who presents an aloof image to his…

Due to a serious illness I was diagnosed with a year last March, which involved a  number of operations afterwards over many months, my plans for the Graig Du Theatre Players had to be put on temporary hold. The convalescence period has been long and tiring. I appreciate the patience of the members of the players for not hearing from me. The plans will now progress once more. There will be updates with future posts. I continued writing and found it therapeutic. In the next blog that…

This scanned photograph is from a postcard of Cardiff, taken in the early 1900s, looking towards the south of the city.The postcard was brought to an informal gathering a few months ago and it lead to an interesting discussion: Who are the people on the street? What have they achieved in their lives? Are they rich or poor? The scenario has been turned into…

The inaugural Ponty Arts Script Event took place at the Muni Arts Centre, Pontypridd, this afternoon. Organized by Alan Humphreys and Rachel Miller, it brought together playwrights from Pontypridd and the surrounding areas.

Many of the plays were works in progress and completed works. They included Soldier Pass By, Blind Date, End of Line, Wouldn’t it Be Nice, 3 Sisters, High Grade/Low Grade, Photograph 51, Artefacts, and Tom Jones’ Sofa.

The actors and actresses, with no…

The three-act play tells the story of the life of Dr. William Price of Llantrisant (1800-1893). Episodic in nature, it touches on important events, culminating in his fictional meeting with Edward Bennett, a reporter from the Western Mail in 1891. Price practiced at Natgarw,Treforest, and Pontypridd as a physician and surgeon. He also carried out drudical rites on the rocking- stone in Pontypridd. He…

This is the first of a series of backdrops that are going to be used for an unusual interpretation that Josh has devised on the origin of the Welsh people just before the oral tradition of the poets begun. Giants and strong men there are not in this tale.The only allowance to the myth is that this may be Brutus, the legendary founder of the British race, and after whom the British Isles were named.

Brutus sees the Temple of Diana beyond the…

This is the new title of the play that was referred to in an earlier blog as "Force of Evil" and will be available to read on the group pages. A sleepy village in Sussex has been plagued by strange happenings. Reverend James Barclay discovers the past has never really left his village. Stephen, his only son, is missing in action as the Second World War…

I have decided to write an outline of the radio dramatization, as I did with the story "Mother's Blessing", and direct people to the group pages to view the full text of the play. The radio play is a stand alone version compared to the stage adaption, incorporating elements of "Take No Farewell " that told events from Arthur Gibbs's viewpoint about his friendship with William Dillwyn Llewelyn.

William Dillwyn Llewelyn, the eldest son of Sir John Dillwyn Llewelyn, was found…

I have been asked if the outline for the story "Mother's Blessing" could be written here as some people have informed me they have had trouble accessing the Graig Du Theatre Players group page. The story will be available on the group pages; it is one of the intended adaptions for "The Rhondda Mysteries project." I would like to thank everyone who has shown…

I alluded to this play in an earlier post and I have included the text of the radio version of the play. In 1893, C.G Harrison, a High Church Anglican, gave a series of six lectures that caused a furore amongst certain people for they believed that he had revealed secrets that should have been forever hidden. The lectures were later published as "The…

I would like to hear from playwrights in the Rhondda who would be interested in joining the Graig Du Theatre Players. As I stated on the home page of the players, this is just for the beginning of the project. The intention is to stage four probable productions a year by different playwrights, including myself. Opportunities,  as I know from experience, are few and far between and commissions rarely come to unknown playwrights. There is little chance for written work to be…