Who likes to do a jigsaw? The challenge of emptying a box of various pieces on a floor, all different shapes and colours, and starting the task of creating a single big picture?
Where does one start? In the middle? At the edges? With the most challenging shapes? And then, how long does someone spend doing the three thousand piece puzzle - a week, a month or a year?
Dwynwen Lloyd Llywelyn, Head of Theatr Felinfach said, “Sometimes, I see our work at Theatr Felinfach as a giant jigsaw – the pieces are a programme of professional performances, a wide programme of opportunities for children, young people and adults to engage in creative, cultural, space and purposeful activity, a team of experienced staff, financial support to maintain it all, and most importantly, people. People to get involved, contribute and share.
All the participatory programmes start out as a jigsaw puzzle. We aim to create a whole piece of work in the end, but the weeks of coming together, to develop themes, to develop pieces of dance, drama or theatre are exactly like a jigsaw, trying to put bits together, recognising the common pieces, identifying the challenging pieces and losing confidence or patience, or both if bits go missing!”
Theatr Felinfach’s biggest jigsaw on an annual basis is the Felinfach Actors Company's Christmas Pantomime. It is now 51 years old, and older than the theatre's own building!
When the colourful, loud and cheerful show comes to the stage in December, it is the culmination of months of planning, story development, scriptwriting, editing and rehearsals. It's all led by the Theatre's creative team, but the scriptwriting, the actors and the dancers are participants from the community who give their time, energy and creativity to create a performance from an original Welsh-language pantomime that attracts 2,000 audiences across a week of shows.
This year's show will lead the audience to the Cors Caron routes on the eve of one of Wales' greatest cultural events, the National Eisteddfod, which will visit Tregaron in 2020. In a pantomime, there must be conflict between the good and the bad, there must be nonsense, singing and plenty of dancing and it must be a feast for the eyes. The cast can ensure that all of those pieces will be in the famous Felinfach Panto jigsaw!
The Welsh language Pantomime ‘O Dan y Gors a’r Orsedd’ runs from 7 to 14 December. Order your tickets from the Box Office by calling 01570 470697 or go online to theatrfelinfach.cymru. The tickets are £9 for adults, £8 for OAPs and members and £6 for students, young people and children.
13/11/2019