Theatr Clwyd’s summer season includes two home-grown world premieres showcasing Wales’ best writers, outdoor events for summer evenings, an acclaimed musical by Anglesey’s Seiriol Davies, the annual Family Arts Festival and an eclectic mix of theatre, comedy, classical music, jazz, and dance. With tickets for most events from just £10 and covid safety measures in place, the season promises to be a step towards normality after the challenges of the pandemic.
Theatr Clwyd are producing two home-grown world premieres – Alan Harris’ For The Grace Of You Go I (12 – 25 June), a dark comedy starring Remy Beasley (Tourist Trap, BBC), Darren Jeffries (Hollyoaks, Channel 4) and Rhodri Meilir (Hidden, BBC) and Curtain Up (18 August – 4 September), a new show which sees 30 actors perform 15 new plays by some of the best Welsh and Wales-based playwrights.
Theatre highlights include How To Win Against History (above) (10 – 13 June), the acclaimed musical about the 5th Marquis of Anglesey, written and performed by Anglesey’s Seiriol Davies, A Splinter Of Ice (21 – 26 June), a drama set in 1980’s Moscow imagining a meeting between Graham Greene and notorious Soviet spy, Kim Philby, and John Peel’s Shed (20 August), a show about love, music and a box of records from John Peel’s Radio 1 show.
Classical and contemporary music includes acclaimed classical harpist Catrin Finch (6 June), jazz and blues from Ma Bessie and her Pig Foot Band (29 August) and Tomos Williams Trio (3 September), Paul Simon’s cult classics in Something About Simon (11 July), and local favourites including Tip Top Productions’ Summer At The Musicals (15 August), Carmarthen’s post-punk band Adwaith (7 August) and Chester-based indie pop trio, Peaness (27 August).
Families can look forward to the return of the theatre’s annual Family Arts Festival (23 – 25 July), as well as modern children’s classics on stage including Horrible Histories: Gorgeous Georgians & Vile Victorians (5 September) and Sarah & Duck’s Big Top Birthday (30 May).
Finally, big name TV comedians headline the theatre’s monthly comedy club with Stephen Bailey (1 June), Tudur Owen (4 July), Brennan Reece and Hal Cruttenden (8 August) all taking the mic.
Throughout the last year Theatr Clwyd has supported its local community – encouraging creativity in young and old and those most isolated through the online Together programme, hosting blood donation sessions for the Welsh Blood Service, distributing food packages to vulnerable families, leading digital dance workshops for those with Parkinson’s, becoming a creative hub for vulnerable young people, supporting freelance artists, and streaming theatre and comedy shows. The theatre was named by The Stage as its 2020 Regional Theatre of the Year and was the Welsh Government test partner for live events last summer.
Listings
Drama/Theatre
• For The Grace Of You Go I (12 – 25 June)
• Curtain Up (18 August – 4 September)
• Blindness (14 – 19 June)
• Under The Mask (30 June – 3 July)
• A Splinter Of Ice (21 – 26 June)
• The Class Project (20 – 21 July)
• Extracts (14 – 15 July)
• Millie Miller and the Golden Baguette (23 – 25 July)
• Gwlad Yr Asyn (14 August)
• John Peel’s Shed (20 August)
• Macbeth (22 August)
• Sunnymead Court (8 July)
• An Audience With Shane Williams (28 August)
• Catching Comets (4 September)
• Look At Me, Don’t Look At Me (10 September)
Musical
• Judy & Liza (13 June)
• How To Win Against History (10 – 13 June)
• Welsh Of The West End (2 – 3 July)
• Summer at the Musicals (15 August)
Comedy
• Comedy Club with Stephen Bailey (1 June)
• George Egg: Movable Feast (17 July)
• Jonny & The Baptists – Dance Like It Never Happened (16 July)
• Le ‘Best Of’ de Marcel Lucont (21 August)
• Comedy Club with Tudur Owen (4 July)
• Comedy Club with Hal Cruttenden (8 August)
Family
• Family Arts Festival (23 – 25 July)
• Sarah and Duck’s Big Top Birthday (30 May)
• Another Planet (27 April – 22 July)
• The Rascally Diner (11 July)
• Horrible Histories (5 September)
• The Bug Hotel (11 September)
Music
• Catrin Finch, Harp (6 June)
• Dafydd Jones & Angharad Lyddon (9 July)
• Themba Mvula & Ffion Edwards (6 August)
• Ennio The Little Brother (10 July)
• Eadyth and Izzy Rabey (17 July)
• Adwaith (7 August)
• North Wales Blues and Soul Festival (30 July – 1 August)
• Ma Bessie and Her Pig Foot Band (29 August)
• Tomos Williams Trio (3 September)
• Something About Simon (11 July)
• Peaness (27 August)
Dance
• National Dance Company Wales (13 August)