On Tuesday 30 June, Theatr Felinfach will launch a recording of one of T Llew Jones' classics, the novel ‘Tân ar y Comin’ with an accompanying picture of Gwenllian Beynon's work. This is the latest project in the Imagine series, which are digital creative activities provided by the theatre during the lockdown on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube platforms.
The picture that accompanies the recording is the work of Pontrhydfendigaid artist Gwenllian Beynon. Gwenllian said: “It was a very different challenge for me to respond to a story and try to think of how to convey that in a piece of artwork that would capture the drama and emotion in the novel. I was also keen for the artwork to fit into the narrative rather than look like a "drawing tutorial".
Dwynwen Lloyd Llywelyn, Head of Theatr Felinfach, said: "I wanted children and young people to have access to hearing Welsh stories during this period of isolation, and decided to go for one of Wales' classics, ‘Tân ar y Comin’ because it’s a story that offers excitement, emotion, hope and challenges. One of the main features of T Llew's work was creating pictures with words, and I thought it would be exciting to ask an artist to respond to the story and create a piece of work to accompany the recording ”.
The artwork will develop during each episode of ‘Tân ar y Comin’ recorded by the theatre and will be released weekly over 14 weeks.
"We are very grateful to the family of T Llew Jones and Gomer Press for granting us permission to publish this work and we hope to see Gwenllian's interpretation of the story catch the imagination of listeners and viewers alike!” said Rhian Dafydd, Theatr Felinfach's Business and Marketing Manager.
Theatr Felinfach's Imagine programme includes weekly craft activities, theatre make-up, drama games, toddler stories and micro scripts for children to act out. There is also a TicToc creative session for toddlers released fortnightly.
"The magic of creative and cultural participation is people coming together to co-create, develop ideas and celebrate together," says Dwynwen, "Being separated is difficult and isolates some more than others, but digital platforms give a new lease of life to the work of creative groups and venues and give us as a team the opportunity to develop our skills. While we will be developing the digital offering in the coming weeks, we will also plan and imagine the future where we can bring people together to create in a safe and inclusive way. ”
The first chapter of the story will be broadcast on 30 June. Follow the story on Theatr Felinfach’s social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on YouTube.
18/06/2020