Michael Sheen is in Our Town

I walked out of the Grand Theatre on Wednesday evening and slowly took out my mobile phone.  I had just been to see ‘Our Town’ starring Michael Sheen, the first full scale production by newly formed Welsh National Theatre.  My idea had been to report throughout the evening on social media, you know a bit like the reporters on the Sky Sports channel who turn up every so often with an update on the game. 

I started outside the Grand Theatre looking through into the foyer.  At just after 6 pm the foyer was full and buzzing with TV Cameras and lots of faces I recognised.  Isn’t that Luke Evans next to Sian Lloyd, oh my word there’s Stefan Rhodri and Melanie Waters chatting to Iwan Rheon from Game Of Thrones.  I’m sure that’s Charlotte Church arriving with her family. And towering above them all Russell T Davies. 

It wasn’t just those famous faces from the world of Film and TV, the room was also packed by some of the most influential people in Welsh public life.  There were people from broadcasting and politics and business. All had been drawn to the Swansea Grand Theatre to see this production. This was the power of having the Welsh National Theatre based in ‘Our Town’.

Anyway, I broadcast my first report, collected my tickets and headed to the bar.  Now to see the Malthouse Bar packed before a show is not unusual but it was the conversations I was overhearing that started to make me think this was not the usual crowd.  People were asking for help to find the toilets.  I mean everyone who goes to the Grand knows where the toilets are.  Another couple asked the bar staff, ‘How do we get to the Grand Circle?’  These were definitely not Grand regulars.

Mal Pope, Michael Sheen and Edward Thomas

My next social media post came at half time. I’ve just looked back at the video.  I look almost ‘other worldly’ as I try to describe my emotions. Words like ‘stunning’, ‘wonderful’, brilliant’, a stage production that continually moves and my heart that’s also being moved just as much.

I don’t think I was the first one up on my feet at the end of the show but that’s only down to the fact that my knees aren’t what they used to be.  The final act had been played in a room full of people in total silence which then erupted into applause and cheers.  I gathered my bits and bobs and headed for the door.  That’s when I picked up my phone for my final report.

I had a few moments to compose myself as I waited for the ‘Our Town’ poster to come around again on the digital screens.  I wanted to give my judgement with that image in the back ground.  I’ve just reviewed that post and the first thing I say is that it’s possibly the best thing I have ever seen in a theatre, delicate and moving especially the last act.  I walked up past the old Singleton Hotel, past Dominos on the corner trying to remember where I had parked my car.  I was in a daze and my head was spinning. 

Now I’ve had a lot of my own shows in the Grand Theatre and I’ve enjoyed great response and standing ovations but having seen ‘Our Town’ my first thought was that’s it, I’m giving up.  That was so good; how could you ever hope to create something that special…and here’s why.

(This report contains spoilers)

In my defence life is busy at the moment. I had hoped to do a little research but if I’m honest I hadn’t had a chance to read up on ‘Our Town’.  I took my seat in the crowded theatre not knowing what to expect.  With the house lights still on full Michael Sheen walked

Magic, that’s what I thought I was witnessing right in front of my eyes. The Grand Stage is enormous and usually there are backdrops that are used to ‘set the scene’.  The production took the stage right to the back wall creating a depth I hadn’t seen before.  The set itself was minimal but using the materials that lay around the stage the cast managed to create walls and tables and a ‘soda bar’ just like the one you see in the James Stewart film ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.

It wasn’t just that this was clever. When they created all the various rooms and offices they did it with such grace and beauty that it was hard to believe what was once a wall was now a park bench. It was like watching a ballet.

And the music…oh the music.  ‘Our Town’ is not a musical although there is a lot of singing in the show but what struck me was how perfectly the show moved along using the music of Dyfan Jones.  The way each cue was underscored, and the way the cast timed their speeches and movement to hit those points almost made me stand and applaud that skill in itself. 

Having said all of that, that was not the reason I left the theatre almost speechless. The play had made me think and stirred something in me so deep that all this time later I am still trying to process it all.

Mamma Mia – Swansea Building Society Arena

Last week I had been to see a very different style of production at the Swansea Building Society Arena.  What ever you might think of the show Mamma Mia no one can argue about its production values and the assault it made on the senses with sound and lights and the highest quality Musical Theatre performers in the country. 

Again a little spoiler here.  The show ends with an ABBA party full of all the hits but the one moment and one song everyone talks about afterwards is when Donna is combing her daughters hair before her wedding day and she sings ‘Slipping through my fingers’.  Every parent knows that feeling all too well.  It connects with something far deeper than some of their bigger dance hits which move you in a completely different way.

That’s what ‘Our Town’ did to me.  The show is just wonderful from a technical and performance point of view, the very best of theatre right here in Swansea.  Maybe that would have been enough but what the play said to me about life, and the passing of time and how we live and love, the things we take for granted and the magic in being ordinary that we sometimes miss, well I’m still thinking.

My only concern…having set the bar so high with this production what on earth will Welsh National Theatre do next.  It’s going to be exciting and we all need to support them on this journey and we also need to make sure that we do everything in our power to keep them based here in Swansea…’Our Town’.