Following our fabulous success in January at the Wales Theatre Awards – 9 nominations and 4 major wins for last year’s shows, Garw and Dros y Top – we are now well into rehearsals for our next production. 5 Cynnig i Gymro (5 Chances for a Welshman) will be Bara Caws’s second play in its ‘War Trilogy’. In 2014 we presented a revue marking the onset of WW1; the present production is a slice of history during WW2; next year we will be producing a new piece by one of Wales’s most prolific dramatists, Meic Povey – Hogia Ni – Yma o Hyd (Lit:Our Lads – Still Here) – focusing on present day conflicts.
Addasiad yr actor adnabyddus Dyfan Roberts o lyfr John Elwyn Jones yw 5 Cynnig i Gymro. Llyfr a “ddarllenwyd yn awchus” (Nesta Wyn Jones), pan ymddangosodd o’r wasg am y tro cyntaf ym 1971. ‘Nofel’ anturus, gynhyrfus a chyffrous yn adrodd stori arwrol yr awdur wrth iddo ddianc bum gwaith o wersylloedd carcharorion yn ystod yr Ail Ryfel Byd. Stori dyn dewr, “byrbwyll” – fel y geilw ei hun – dyn oedd yn llawn gwrthgyferbyniadau.
This adaptation of John Elwyn Jones’s autobiography, 5 Cynnig i Gymro, relates the incredible story of one man’s experiences during WW2, when he succeeded in escaping five times from German POW camps. A poor farmer’s son from Dolgellau, he escaped poverty by joining the Welsh Guards; became a proficient linguist, specialising in German and Polish – translating a number of books to and from many languages; entered into an ‘unofficial’ marriage whilst a prisoner in Poland; followed a successful army career climbing the ranks to become an Officer, before becoming a public school teacher and a prolific author.
Mae ffeithiau moel ei fywyd i’w gweld yn ei lyfrau niferus, ond wrth fynd ati i greu drama rhaid hefyd twrio o dan yr wyneb, a cheisio darganfod, tybio, dychmygu beth oedd wrth wraidd yr ysfa oedd yn John Elwyn i ddianc, ysfa oedd ynddo gydol ei oes. Yn y sioe hon ‘rydym wedi chwarae gydag amser, gan geisio portreadu anturiaethau’r JE ifanc drwy lygaid yr hen. Weithiau mae’r hen ddyn yn ‘consurio’ ei hunan ifanc at ei ddibenion ei hun, weithiau daw’r ifanc i’w isymwybod heb ei gymell, ac yn tywys yr hen ŵr ar ei daith, ac yntau wrthi’n ceisio “rhoi trefn ar bethau” ddiwedd ei oes.
In this dramatisation our hero will be played by two actors. Dyfan Roberts, who is himself reponsible for the adaptation, plays the older man, and Meilir Rhys Williams plays his younger self.
When writing the book 25 years after the end of the war, we can reasonably assume that some events during those 4 years were, to some extent, re-created, re-imagined and re-remembered. By all accounts he had, at the end of his life, become “a victim of his own heroic image”, but in the words of the great Peter Brook: “There is my truth, there is your truth, and then, there’s the truth”.
Bara Caws usually present plays in the Welsh language, but we always provide an English language precis for all productions, and anyone wishing for more information – on specific productions or about the company itself – are welcome to contact us beforehand.
Theatr Fach, Dolgellau, Mawrth/March 12, 13 Theatr John Ambrose,Rhuthun, Mawrth/March 14, Neuadd Betws y Coed, Marwth 17,Ysgol Moelwyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, Mawrth/March 18,Neuadd Llanegryn, Mawrth/March 19, Neuadd y Banw, Llangadfan, Mawrth/March 20, Neuadd Llanuwchllyn, ger Y Bala, Mawrth/March 21, Galeri, Caernarfon, Mawrth/March 24, 25, Neuadd Dwyfor, Pwllheli, Mawrth/March 26, Canolfan Ucheldre, Caergybi/Holygead, Mawrth/March 27, Theatr Twm O’r Nant, Dinbych/Denbigh, Mawrth/March, 28, Theatr Fach, Llangefni, Mawrth/March 30, Neuadd Ogwen, Bethesda, Mawrth/March 31,Clwyd Theatr Cymru, Yr Wyddgrug/Mold, Ebrill/April 1, 2, Theatr Felinfach, Ebrill 7, Neuadd Llanofer/ Llanover Hall, Caerdydd/Cardiff, Ebrill/April 8, 9, Neuadd Bronwydd, Caerfyrddin, Ebrill/April 10, Canolfan y Celfyddydau, Aberystwyth/ Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Ebrill 11.