REVIEW: Under Milk Wood
Image: Photo: Chris Butel
Dylan Thomas wrote this masterpiece as a play for voices, a radio drama. The language is richly descriptive, evoking every character and scene vividly. When the play is performed as a stage adaptation it risks becoming overbearing. The poetic language competes with fast paced dramatisation where scenes and parts change frenetically. At a running time of almost two hours without intermission, it can be very taxing for an audience… or it can be thrilling.
Judging by audience response, The Genesian Theatre’s current production of Under Milk Wood sits midway between those two positions. There was enthusiastic applause at the end of the show, but also audible groans during – but that may well come down to the work itself.
Certainly the set design is clever and impressive, utilising hanging lamps and nets, crates and cases and a U-shaped pier to re-create the insular, salt encrusted seaside village, Llareggub in which the action takes place. Blue hued to bright yellow lighting, mist and subtle sound effects help take us through a typical day, from dawn through to dusk.
No one cast member can be singled out – they are all admirable in their handling of the difficult accent, dense speech and the numerous diverse characters they each must portray in quick succession.
The text itself is full of acute observation: Thomas aptly depicting the foibles, folly, vulnerability and eccentricities of an isolated Welsh village. It is steamy with promiscuity and icy with love gone cold. Thomas has a wry, sometimes wicked sense of humour, but he endows his characters with enough simple humanity to make them forgivable.
Familiarity with the work would be an advantage, but if you’re able to relax and take it in, you’ll still enjoy it.
Until Apr 8 (Fri+Sat 7:30pm, Sun 4:30pm). Genesian Theatre, 420 Kent St, Sydney. $25-30. Tickets & Info: www.genesiantheatre.com
Reviewed by Rita Bratovich.
