Monday 27 October 2014

We are not wholly bad or good, who live our lives under Milk Wood


It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboat-bobbing sea. The houses are blind as moles (though moles see fine tonight in the snouting, velvet dingles) or blind as Captain Cat there in the muffled middle by the pump and the town clock, the shops in mourning, the Welfare Hall in widows' weeds. And all the people of the lulled and dumbfound town are sleeping now.
Speaking of Dylan Thomas...

The BBC, in all its magnificence, really pulled all the stops out for its "official tribute" to The Great Man's greatest work Under Milk Wood (that we watched on catch-up tonight). It was breath-taking.

Auntie Beeb managed to gather an impressive cornucopia of Welsh stars (filmed in New York, Los Angeles, London, Cardiff and Laugharne) each taking a part in this marvellous "play for voices":

VoiceMichael Sheen
Captain CatTom Jones
New York VoiceMatthew Rhys
Laugharne VoiceAimee-Ffion Edwards
Drowned and Willy NillyTom Rhys Harries
Drowned and VoiceKarl Johnson
Drowned and Evans the DeathIwan Rheon
Drowned and VoiceAneurin Barnard
Rosie ProbertNia Roberts
Mog EdwardsIoan Gruffudd
Myfanwy PriceKimberley Nixon
Mr WaldoSteffan Rhodri
NeighbourMark Lewis Jones
NeighbourRichard Harrington
NeighbourSophie Evans
NeighbourMelanie Walters
VoiceGriff Rhys Jones
VoiceJohn Rhys-Davies
VoiceAndrew Howard
VoiceRakie Ayola
Mr PughJonathan Pryce
Mrs PughSian Phillips
Rev Eli JenkinsBryn Terfel
Polly GarterKatherine Jenkins
Mrs Ogmore PritchardCharlotte Church
Mr OgmoreTom Ellis
Mr PritchardAneirin Hughes
Butcher BeynonRobert Pugh
Mrs BeynonSuzanne Packer
Lily SmallsEve Myles
Mae Rose CottageAlexandra Roach
Nogood BoyoCraig Roberts
Mary Ann SailorsSharon Morgan
Dai BreadOwen Teale
Mrs Dai Bread OneDi Botcher
Mrs Dai Bread TwoSian Thomas
Sinbad SailorsJon Tregenna

Whew! a tour-de-force of acting, indeed - we were exhausted by the time it was over.

As someone wisely said on the occasion of their recent star-studded God Only Knows video: "Only the BBC could make this happen".

And here, for your delectation - catch it while you can before the "powers-that-be" take action to remove it from the interwebs - it is, in its entirety (well, I say entirety; this is Auntie's slightly abridged version of Mr Thomas' work, condensed):

Part 1:


Part 2 here

Read more about this brilliant programme

Dylan Thomas Centenary

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. If it doesn't win some kind of award, there's no justice... Jx

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