Bara Bread opens this wednesday at Chapter, very exciting, a new play about Wales by people from Wales. A little splash of welsh from my new theatre company Theatr Gwalia. (We previously brought to stage Utah Bride/Priodferch Utah) 

The stage of Bread Making is like the stages of our life.

We live in a packaged and faceless world and this is my primal outcry. Things have certainly fed into my subconscious and here now waits Bara Bread for the tasting.

If you're a keen baker you will know there is such a thing as Mother Dough also know as a starter it is a living thing made from water and flour that takes the air that we breathe and its environment to grow and reproduce - Bakers call it the 'philosopher's stone' this was my starting point.

It must be the zeitgeist that we are having these all female casts, this play was conceived several years ago, talked about in 2013/14 and only got round to writing it this year due to all my busy personal commitments so its funny it should be aired the same time as Mother Courage, the similarities are many. There is Mother Courage and her bread. I have Mother Dough and her bread. Mother Courage has a Mary (I nearly fell over when I saw that on stage) and Mother Dough has Mary looking over her kitchen. Mother Courage has a strong female cast and so do we...Mother Courage has songs and so do we...all happy coincidences not at all intended...

Bara Bread is a visual and a very different play, challenging for our lovely all female cast with its busy stage and props. Its a mouthwatering play when you see the bread being made that evokes all the senses. It is sensual, warm, sad and funny. Chris Morgan has directed it with sensitivity and beautifully. I am not sure what I have written yet has its hot off the press but after its run I may get closer to the beating heart. Ultimately its about being real in a world I feel is increasingly fake. I have been through and invaluable process with Sharon Morgan as my mentor and Chris being tough with the editing and the cast all bringing their instinct to each line and asking those difficult questions. Somebody said 'is it hard killing your darlings' and I replied its actually liberating, like a hairdresser trimming your lines to make sure the exposition goes, the through line is clear and the good stuff remains hopefully creating a strong piece. Its ensuring all the mud sinks to the bottom and the water becomes clear. People in the arts say - why have you written this play now...come and see it and I hope you get the political in the personal.

We have  a cast from 18 to 70 and its has been very important bringing all these ladies from different generations to the stage.  The story has been informed by a little magic realism - an area of my practice that I hope to develop in 2016. The script is also about returning back to the art of storytelling. As I kneaded the bread I began to see a woman approaching her forties struggling with the constraints fast society imposes and Nettie from Lovenny was born. I have loved the research process - watching Two Greedy Italians every morning, meeting Paul Hollywood hearing the audience literally 'saliva' over him and the bread making....and seeing the mist rise on Pen Y Fan at 5am has been a highlight. I must say the time and effort that goes into making tasty wholesome bread is honorable - it really is hard now to look at white sliced in the same way again. 

The process been a game of juggling balls, writing to deadline, my lecturing job, marketing and producing on my own. This time organising the rural tour has been the hardest. Rural venues would benefit from learning more about the Night Out Scheme. But reaching out to rural venues has been ultimately rewarding. Going to Talgarth and meeting all the local people, Nicola at the Bakers Table has been of great support - I made the tastiest bread with her that day, but can't replicate it at home without her expert guidance.

Talgarth is all about returning to local as a way to see forward - The butchers, the craftsman, someone who I went to school with who has created a wonderful local shop and seeing the mill in working order still making flour today with the flour and natter baggers and the millers with all their dedication to the craft. I sat in the cafe eating the fresh baked bread while taking in the views of the Brecon Beacons I began to see I could be consumed by this way of life It has been breathtaking journey. It was important to reach out to these venues who never see theatre even if we get small audiences. Yes there have been sacrifices and moments where you cry into your chocolate and wine and wonder why we do it!!! But when you do something you love time passes without noticing. I begin my summer holidays leaving my teaching practice and ready to practice my new instrument - my hands and my brain. So we invite you to 'Lets Bake Bread Together'