Tachwedd by Jon Bailey. Theatre 503, The Latchmere, 503 Battersea Park Road, London until 02 November 2024, 4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit: Woodforge Studios.

Tachwedd by Jon Berry. Theatre 503, The Latchmere, 503 Battersea Park Road, London until 02 November 2024,

4☆☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Complex and stunning drama.”

Set in Bethesda in North Wales Jon Bailey's play is hard going but ultimately very rewarding. The very good four strong cast all play multiple roles and the action covers the centuries but there is no through time line. Past and present co-exists in a sense. The lives people in1742, 1902. 1976 and the present day are shown in a series of short scenes all jumbled up in what seems haphazard fashion. In fact it is carefully crafted and as you get slowly drawn into the drama the evening, puzzling at first, becomes very rewarding. Land matters, ownership matters, the decline of industry causes disaster, a writer clashes with her family over the memoir she has written about her sister and is interviewed by a hostile journalist, and a son solves everything, he thinks, by selling the land so they can escape and live on the proceeds. It must have greater resonance for a Welsh audience but it even in darkest south London at this adventurous small theatre the play, complex though it is, works beautifully.

Cast

Bedwyr Bowen

Saran Morgan

Carri Munn

Glyn Pritchard.

Creatives

Director – Jac Ifan Moore.

Set & Costume Designer -Rebecca Wood.

Lighting Designer – James Harvey.

Sound Designer & Composer – Joseff Harris.