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Theatre in
Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
includes dramatic works in both the
Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it h ...
and
English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...
. Actors from Wales have also achieved international recognition.


History


Middle Ages

The earliest known performance tradition is that of the mumming custom ''
Mari Lwyd The Mari Lwyd ( cy, Y Fari Lwyd, ) is a wassailing folk custom found in South Wales. The tradition entails the use of an eponymous hobby horse which is made from a horse's skull mounted on a pole and carried by an individual hidden under a sac ...
''. However, the existence of a Roman amphitheatre at
Caerleon Caerleon (; cy, Caerllion) is a town and community in Newport, Wales. Situated on the River Usk, it lies northeast of Newport city centre, and southeast of Cwmbran. Caerleon is of archaeological importance, being the site of a notable Roman ...
suggests that drama may well have been introduced during the classical period. Drama in Wales as a literary tradition dates to
morality plays The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...
from north-east Wales in the second half of the 15th century. Two extant miracle plays ''Y tri Brenin o Gwlen'' ("The three kings from Cologne") and ''Y Dioddefaint a'r Atgyfodiad'' ("The Passion and the Resurrection") represent short individual plays rather than being elements of a larger cycle. ''Ymddiddan y Corff a'r Enaid'' ("Conversation of the body and the soul") can be compared to the
Everyman The everyman is a stock character of fiction. An ordinary and humble character, the everyman is generally a protagonist whose benign conduct fosters the audience's identification with them. Origin The term ''everyman'' was used as early as ...
tradition.


Modern era

The development of Renaissance theatre in England did not have great influence in Wales, as the gentry found different forms of artistic patronage. One surviving example of Welsh literary drama is ''Troelus a Chresyd'', an anonymous adaptation from poems by Henrysoun and Chaucer dating to around 1600. With no urban centres to compare to England to support regular stages, morality plays and interludes continued to circulate in
inn-yard theatre In the historical era of English Renaissance drama, an Inn-yard theatre or Inn-theatre was a common inn with an inner courtyard with balconies that provided a venue for the presentation of stage plays. Beginnings The Elizabethan era is appropri ...
s and fairs, supplemented by visiting troupes performing English repertoire. Stock Welsh characters occur in theatre in England on the Tudor and Stuart stage.
Fluellen Fluellen is a fictional character in the play ''Henry V'' by William Shakespeare. Fluellen is a Welsh Captain, a leader of a contingent of troops in the small army of King Henry V of England while on campaign in France during the Hundred Years' ...
is a
fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...
in the play ''Henry V'' by
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
. Snatches of dialogue and words in Welsh appear in plays such as John Fletcher's '' The Night Walker'',
Thomas Middleton Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelt ''Midleton'') was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jac ...
's ''
A Chaste Maid in Cheapside ''A Chaste Maid in Cheapside'' is a city comedy written c. 1613 by English Renaissance playwright Thomas Middleton. Unpublished until 1630 and long-neglected afterwards, it is now considered among the best and most characteristic Jacobean comedi ...
'', ''
Northward Ho ''Northward Ho'' (or ''Ho!'', or ''Hoe'') is an early Jacobean era stage play, a satire and city comedy written by Thomas Dekker and John Webster, and first published in 1607. ''Northward Ho'' was a response to ''Eastward Ho'' (1605) by Ben Jon ...
'' by Thomas Dekker and
John Webster John Webster (c. 1580 – c. 1632) was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies '' The White Devil'' and '' The Duchess of Malfi'', which are often seen as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. His life and c ...
, '' Patient Grissel'' by Thomas Dekker,
Henry Chettle Henry Chettle (c. 1564 – c. 1606) was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era, best known for his pamphleteering. Early life The son of Robert Chettle, a London dyer, he was apprenticed in 1577 and became a ...
, and William Haughton, ''The Valiant Welshman'', and
Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...
's masque ''
For the Honour of Wales ''For the Honour of Wales'' was a masque written by Ben Jonson and first performed on 17 February 1618. It was written in honour of Charles Stuart, Prince of Wales. Jonson's previous work, ''Pleasure Reconciled to Virtue'', had been written to ...
''.
Twm o'r Nant Twm o'r Nant was the pseudonym of a Welsh language dramatist and poet, Thomas Edwards (January 1739 – 3 April 1810), also known as ''Tom of the Dingle''. He was famous for ''anterliwtau'' (interludes or short plays), which he performed mainly ...
(1739–1810) was famous for his ''anterliwtau'' (interludes), performed mainly around his native
Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...
. The bawdiness and licensed foolery of the comic stereotypes of the interlude tradition have been compared to
commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
. However the religious revival connected with the rise of
Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
in Wales brought an end to such libertine satires. Interludes came to be replaced as expressions of public drama by a high-flown and imagistic preaching style and dialogues on moral issues such as
temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture * Temperance (group), Canadian dan ...
. The English classical repertoire was brought to those who could understand it by travelling troupes such as the
Kemble family Kemble is the name of a family of English actors, who reigned over the English stage for many decades. The most famous were Sarah Siddons (1755–1831) and her brother John Philip Kemble (1757–1823), the two eldest of the twelve children of Ro ...
(
Charles Kemble Charles Kemble (25 November 1775 – 12 November 1854) was a Welsh-born English actor of a prominent theatre family. Life Charles Kemble was one of 13 siblings and the youngest son of English Roman Catholic theatre manager/actor Roger Kemble, ...
was born at
Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the c ...
in 1775).


Into the 20th century

In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Welsh literature began to reflect the way the Welsh language was increasingly becoming a political symbol. Secular drama began to attract interest in the 1870s as national consciousness grew. Plays in a Shakespearean style were written, such as
Beriah Gwynfe Evans Beriah Gwynfe Evans (12 February 1848 – 4 November 1927) was a journalist, Congregationalist, dramatist, Liberal politician and Welsh Nationalist. Early life Born at Nant-y-glo, near Ebbw Vale in Monmouthshire, Evans was educated at the Be ...
' patriotic play ''Owain Glyndŵr'', performed at the Llanberis
Eisteddfod In Welsh culture, an ''eisteddfod'' is an institution and festival with several ranked competitions, including in poetry and music. The term ''eisteddfod'', which is formed from the Welsh morphemes: , meaning 'sit', and , meaning 'be', means, ac ...
of 1879. There was institutional opposition to the new drama. The Methodist Convention in 1887 recommended that chapels regard theatrical activity as an immoral practice on a par with gambling. It was not until 1902 when
David Lloyd George David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor, (17 January 1863 – 26 March 1945) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1916 to 1922. He was a Liberal Party (United Kingdom), Liberal Party politician from Wales, known for lea ...
called for patronage of Welsh drama at the National Eisteddfod that drama started to be respectable among devout communities. With the advance of the English language, theatre in English developed quickly between 1875 and 1925. By 1912 Wales had 34 theatres and many halls licensed for dramatic performances. However, the arrival of sound cinema in the 1930s led to the closure or transformation of most theatres. A full theatre tradition only developed in Wales with 20th century Welsh drama. Many playwrights were inspired by the example of the
Abbey Theatre, Dublin The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the p ...
. Thomas Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden, used his patronage to attempt the foundation of a national theatre for Wales. Among his attempts was the foundation of a bilingual theatre at Plas Newydd,
Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community, situated on the River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Bea ...
in the 1930s. He also exercised his patronage in favour of playwrights including John Oswald Francis and Robert Griffith Berry.


Inter-war period

The inter-war period has been described as a golden age of amateur dramatics, with five hundred companies active all over Wales providing a second occupation for large numbers of quarrymen and miners. This flourishing tradition was curtailed by the outbreak of the Second World War and ended by the arrival of television in the 1950s.
Saunders Lewis Saunders Lewis (born John Saunders Lewis) (15 October 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Welsh politician, poet, dramatist, Medievalist, and literary critic. He was a prominent Welsh nationalist, supporter of Welsh independence and was a co-found ...
(1893–1985) was above all a dramatist. His earliest published play was ''Blodeuwedd'' (The woman of flowers) (1923–25, revised 1948). Other notable plays include ''Buchedd Garmon'' (The life of Germanus) (radio play, 1936) and several others after the war. '' Siwan'' (1956) together with ''Blodeuwedd'' are considered as the "canonical examples of Welsh language drama" He also translated
Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and Tragicomedy, tr ...
's '' En attendant Godot'' into Welsh.
Emlyn Williams George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor. Early life Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flints ...
(1905–1987) became an overnight star with his thriller ''
Night Must Fall ''Night Must Fall'' is a play, a psychological thriller, by Emlyn Williams, first performed in 1935. There have been three film adaptations, '' Night Must Fall'' (1937); a 1954 adaptation on the television anthology series ''Ponds Theater'' sta ...
'' (1935), in which he also played the lead role of a psychopathic murderer. The play was noted for its exploration of the killer's complex psychological state, a step forward for its genre. It was made into a film in 1937 and has been frequently revived. ''
The Corn is Green ''The Corn Is Green'' is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in September 1938; with Sybil Thorndike as Miss Moffat and Williams himself portraying Mo ...
'' (1938) was partly based on his own childhood in Wales. He starred as a Welsh schoolboy in the play's London premiere. The play came to Broadway in 1940 and was turned into a film. His autobiographical light comedy, ''The Druid's Rest'' was first performed at the St Martin's Theatre,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, in 1944. It saw the stage debut of
Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
whom Williams had spotted at an audition in
Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
.


Post war

Professional theatre developed in Wales in the 1950s and 1960s. ''
Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation of ...
'' is a 1954
radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
by
Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Und ...
, adapted later as a
stage play A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between characters and intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. The writer of a play is called a playwright. Plays are performed at a variety of levels, f ...
. The play had its first reading on stage on 14 May 1953, in New York, at The Poetry Center at
92nd Street Y 92nd Street Y, New York (92NY) is a cultural and community center located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, at the corner of East 92nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Founded in 1874 as the Young Men's Hebrew Association, the ...
. Thomas himself read the parts of the First Voice and the Reverend Eli Jenkins. Almost as an afterthought, the performance was recorded on a single-microphone tape recording (the microphone was laid at front center on the stage floor) and later issued by the Caedmon company. It is the only known recorded performance of ''Under Milk Wood'' with Thomas in the cast. A studio recording, planned for 1954, was precluded by Thomas's death in November 1953. The BBC first broadcast ''Under Milk Wood'', a new 'Play for Voices', on the
Third Programme The BBC Third Programme was a national radio station produced and broadcast from 1946 until 1967, when it was replaced by Radio 3. It first went on the air on 29 September 1946 and quickly became one of the leading cultural and intellectual f ...
on 25 January 1954 (two months after Dylan's death), although several sections were omitted. The play was recorded with a distinguished, all-Welsh cast including
Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
as 'First Voice', with production by
Douglas Cleverdon Thomas Douglas James Cleverdon (17 January 1903 – 1 October 1987) was an English radio producer and bookseller. In both fields he was associated with numerous leading cultural figures. Personal life He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and ...
. The play won the
Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international Television, Radio-broadcasting and Web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with the ...
award for radio drama that year. Cynan (
Albert Evans-Jones Sir (Albert) Cynan Evans-Jones CBE (14 April 1895 – 26 January 1970), more commonly known within Wales by his bardic name of Cynan, was a Welsh war poet and dramatist. Early life Cynan was born in Pwllheli as Albert Evan Jones, the son of Ri ...
) was influential in the field of Welsh drama. He wrote two full-length plays. ''Hywel Harris'' won the premier Eisteddfod prize for drama in 1931. He was commissioned to write an exemplary play for the
National Eisteddfod The National Eisteddfod of Wales (Welsh: ') is the largest of several eisteddfodau that are held annually, mostly in Wales. Its eight days of competitions and performances are considered the largest music and poetry festival in Europe. Competitor ...
in 1957; his offering ''Absolom Fy Mab'' was accepted to great critical acclaim in Welsh dramatic circles, as were his translations of two English language plays:
John Masefield John Edward Masefield (; 1 June 1878 – 12 May 1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967. Among his best known works are the children's novels ''The Midnight Folk'' and ''The Box of Delights'', and the poem ...
's ''Good Friday'' and Norman Nicholson's ''The Old Man of the Mountain''. In 1931 he was appointed reader of Welsh plays on behalf of the
Lord Chamberlain The Lord Chamberlain of the Household is the most senior officer of the Royal Household of the United Kingdom, supervising the departments which support and provide advice to the Sovereign of the United Kingdom while also acting as the main c ...
, a post which he held till the abolition of censorship in 1968. He was seen as a liberal censor, having allowed
James Kitchener Davies James Kitchener Davies (16 June 1902 – 25 August 1952), also known as J. Kitchener Davies, was a Welsh poet and playwright who wrote mostly in the Welsh language. Davies's work is highly influenced by the industrial landscape of his adopted vil ...
' drama ''Cwm Glo'', a play full of "filth and depravation", to be performed after it won the drama prize in the 1934 Eisteddfod.


21st Century

Wales has two national theatres:
Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru is the Welsh language national theatre of Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to ...
(the Welsh language national theatre of Wales, founded 2003), and
National Theatre Wales National Theatre Wales (NTW) is a theatre company known for its large-scale site-specific productions and its grassroots work with diverse Welsh communities. It is the English-language national theatre of Wales, and refers to Theatr Genedlaeth ...
(the English language national theatre company of Wales, founded 2009). Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru attempts to shape a distinctive identity for drama in Welsh while also opening it up to outside linguistic and dramatic influences. Modern theatre in Wales is recorded on the website www.theatre-wales.co.uk, an archive of 4600 reviews and articles.


See also

*
List of theatres in Wales The following is a list of active theatres and concert halls in Wales. They are organised alphabetically in name order. Note that in rural areas, church halls and town halls may double up as theatres, and that many colleges and universities also ...


References

{{Wales topics Theatre in Wales Welsh literature Welsh-language literature