Four new plays feature at Theatr Fach Llangefni

Oct 1 2008 By Daniel Bissett

A QUARTET of brand new plays are being premièred at Theatr Fach this week.

The Llangefni theatre has collaborated with the Amlwch writing group to stage four plays written by their members starting tonight (Wednesday), at 7.30pm and running until Saturday, October 4.

Marlyn Samuel of Theatr Fach said: "It’s a first for us. It is a collection of four short plays with a theme of family running through them.

"We’re very excited to have been able to work with the Amlwch writing group in this way."

Kay Middlemiss of the writing group has written two of the four plays.

She said: "I wrote Safe Keeping and Quiet Environment which are linked by a character but are separate stories.

"Safe Keeping is a black comedy about what happens to a family at a funeral.

"Quiet Environment follows one of the characters who seems to be a hero but turns out to be a villain and gets his comeuppance in the second play.

"But obviously I don’t want to spoil the surprise for people by saying too much.

"Working with Theatr Fach is a new idea. We hope if all goes well it can be a regular occurrence to stage plays by local writers.

"I’ve been going to the group for a couple of years and we meet at the Methodist chapel in Amlwch each Wednesday afternoon."

"Sometimes one of us leads the group on a theme or we help each other by critiquing each other’s work.

"Writing a short story and play is very different.

"In a short story you can imply certain things and a reader can go back to it.

"But with a play you have to be less complicated as you only get one chance to convey your meaning to the audience and they have to understand it."

Kay added: "I’m looking forward to seeing the plays now, although a bit nervous.

"In a way the play is your child but once you hand it over to a director and the actors things can get changed because they see what you’ve written from a different perspective.

"I’ve always enjoyed writing since I was a small child, English and art were always my favourite subjects at school."

The other two plays are Birthright by Bob Mason and Mother by Joy Mawby.

Tickets at Cwpwrdd Cornel cost £6, concessions for children and OAPs or call (01248) 750226.