By Dave
Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/feral
Available until: 9th May 2021
Feral is a stunning and inventive opera. At just under ten minutes, it’s probably not quite the shortest opera I’ve seen or heard (I think Samuel Barber’s A Hand of Bridge just about has the edge there) but the ideas in it are so interesting, I could easily see it becoming a full-length work.
By Cal
Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/coram-boy
Available until: 9th May 2021
Coram Boy appears to be incomplete, with only Part 1 featuring as part of this performance. But it’s a great opera and it’s free to watch so if you listen to it now, you’ll know if you like it and if you ever do get the opportunity to watch the full opera, you’ll know it’s worth paying for.
By Dave
Link: https://rwcmd.ticketco.events/uk/en/e/everybody
Available until: It’s hard to be sure when the site’s down but judging from the other RWCMD plays, it’ll probably be available till 24th April.
Everybody is based on the 15th century morality play Everyman by an unknown author. It is probably the most confusing play I’ve ever seen so just to warn you, this might be a terrible review. But I do think this play is worth seeing because it’s an opportunity to see some really talented and versatile performers.
By Cal
Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/all-i-am
Available until: 23rd April 2021
Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama have been producing some fascinating plays recently. Yen and In the Blood in March and now The Writer and All That I Am. I’m really looking forward to seeing Everybody tomorrow. It really could be about anything.
By Dave
Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/writer
Available until: 22nd April 2021
The Writer isn’t an easy play to review. There’s a lot I can’t say because I don’t want to ruin the surprise. But I’ll start off and let’s see what happens.
The play begins in a theatre. A young woman enters the circle. A man comes onto the stage and sees her. He actually looks like a young man but he’s not that young. That did confuse me for a bit but then I realised this is a student production so it’s going to be ageblind. He asks her what she thought of the play and she tells him.
By Cal
Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/blood
Available until: 12th March 2021
In the Blood covers many of the same themes as Yen did last night, yet the two plays are very different. It’s another story about a mother struggling to look after her kids. Another story that ends in tragedy.
Hester might not be a candidate for Mother of the Year, but she tries to look after all her kids. She’s living in poverty, she can’t read and she doesn’t have support from any of her children’s fathers. I’d be lying if I said she didn’t have a scarily aggressive side, but she cares and she tries. That is evident all the way through, but each of her children presents their own challenges and there are also adults in her life putting pressure on her, challenging her and making her life even more difficult.
By Cal
Link: https://www.rwcmd.ac.uk/events/yen
Available until: 10th March 2021
Content warning: Animal cruelty, sexual assault, homophobia, racism
Yen is a painful play which not everyone will like to watch. It’s also a brilliant play, which is performed by a really strong cast so it is definitely one to watch if you possibly can, but I do urge you to read the content warnings before making a decision. It really is a very good play, but it definitely won’t be for everyone.
Yen tells the story of a family and one outsider. Brothers Hench and Bobby were living with their Mother, but she’s moved in with her boyfriend, leaving the brothers to look after themselves. Neither attends school and Bobby has behavioural difficulties. They also have a dog and I was initially quite excited to find he was called Caliban. I misheard the name, but it definitely wasn’t their lack of literary knowledge that made me feel so concerned to realise he was actually called Taliban.
