Under Milk Wood - Dylan Thomas

page last updated 15/06/2009

"Under Milk Wood" by Dylan Thomas

15-17 May 2008

The play

Dylan Thomas wrote "Under Milk Wood" as a play for voices. It was first broadcast on radio in 1954 shortly after the author's death. In the original recording, subsequent 1963 recording and the film of 1971 the main 'voice' was that of Richard Burton and his name has become associated with the piece almost as much as that of Dylan Thomas.

There is not a strong plot in "Under Milk Wood", more a progression of narrative (like 'Sweet Mary - Song of Newstead' which we did a few years ago). The progression is through ‘one spring day’ in the south Wales seaside town of Llareggub* from before dawn to after dusk. Dylan Thomas' play tells of the small dreams and grand desires of the living and the dead of the town. The mood and atmosphere of the piece are its strength.

There is a timeless quality to "Under Milk Wood". Starting on a 'moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black', we peep into the houses of sleepers. 'Young girls lie bedded soft or glide in their dreams, with rings and trousseaux, bridesmaided by glow-worms down the aisles of the organplaying wood. The boys are dreaming wicked or of the bucking ranches of the night and the jollyrodgered sea.'

Blind Captain Cat dreams of the drowned comrades of his youth and of his long dead love, Rosie Probert. Myfanwy Price dreams that Mog Edwards, 'a draper mad with love', will warm her sheets like an electric toaster. Mr Waldo dreams of all the women who have pursued him through his life.

Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard nags in death the ghosts of her widowed husbands, Mr Ogmore, linoleum, retired, and Mr Pritchard, failed bookmaker, whom she nagged to death in life. Dai Bread the baker, with one wife for the day and one for the night, dreams of harems, Polly Garter dreams of babies and Nogood Boyo cannot be bothered to dream of anything at all.

At dawn, the characters come to life and live their day.

"Under Milk Wood" is a sensitive, funny, occasionally disturbing, story of one day in the life of the town. All life is here and with a cast of over 60 very distinctive characters Dylan Thomas paints affectionate portraits of the childhood seaside people he knew so well.

Dylan Thomas' extraordinary richness of language is the real star of this play. There is not a redundant word in the text with imagery cascading over lyrical imagery in every line.

We will present "Under Milk Wood" on a simple set, designed to bring the actors close to the audience to maximise the intimacy of the text.

* spell it backwards - DT's little joke.

Director’s Notes

My first encounter with Dylan Thomas’ famous play for voices was about 20 years ago in the form of a vinyl record borrowed from the library. This was of the original BBC recording from 1954 and it left a lasting impression on me, but it is only recently that I have considered this play as my first RTG directing project.

I think there is a timeless quality to this piece. It has no particular setting. It could be somewhere in the first half of the last century but there are some parts that suggest a much earlier time.

Dylan Thomas’ lyrical script is all important so I have chosen a bare stage with action in intermittent pools of light to help you, our audience, become intimately involved with the characters that the actors play.

Under Milk Wood is a sensitive, funny, occasionally disturbing, story of one day in the life of the town. All life is here and with a cast of over 60 very distinctive characters Dylan Thomas paints affectionate portraits of the childhood seaside people he knew so well.

Is this a play or poem? Neither, it is a dramatic piece with a lyrical text.

Is there a plot? No, but there is a progression of narrative (like ‘Sweet Mary - Song of Newstead’ which we performed a few years ago). The progression is through ‘one spring day’ in the south Wales seaside town of Llareggub from before dawn to after dusk.

The play tells of the small dreams and grand desires of the living and the dead of the town. The mood and atmosphere of the play are its strength.

Despite the many unusual challenges, the Welsh accents and 15 actors playing 60 characters between them, rehearsals have been very enjoyable. I hope that our regular audience will applaud us for offering them something very different and that any ‘first-timers’ to RTG will be suitably impressed and return to see us again.

Mark Breach

The parts

Voice 1 & 2 – narrators. Their role is scene setting and continuity. Large reading parts of almost half the text. Voice 1 male. Voice 2 probably female.

Adult male parts (26)

Captain Cat (70ish perhaps) – blind retired sea captain. He hears and comments on the activities of the townsfolk and their children. His world is his memories and his dreams of a former seafaring life, especially his favourite tart, Rosie Probert. A sympathetic part. Sings a little.

Rev Eli Jenkins (any age over 30) - dreams of eisteddfodau, thinks himself a poet though his poetry is almost childlike. He recognises Llareggub’s many limitations and loves it all the more because of them.

Cherry Owen (any age over 30) – Jolly drunkard. Genuine mutual affection with Mrs Cherry Owen.

Sinbad (any age under 40) – barman at the Sailors Arms. Loves Gossamer Beynon but without the courage to declare it.

Mr Edwards (30-45) – “I am a draper mad with love”; but what for? Miss Price as he declares, or really just for his own draper’s business; just a confirmed bachelor who kids himself otherwise. He and Miss Price, own shops at each end of the town. The passion of their romance is in their letters; they never meet.

Mr Pugh (any age over 40) - He and Mrs Pugh hate each other with a cold poison and an icy contemptuous passion respectively.

Organ Morgan (any age over 30) – A passion for organ playing and nothing else.

Mr Waldo (40 - 60) - 17 gentle snoring stone, a drunkard with many paternity suits against him, has been surrounded and dominated by women all his life. Sings

Jack Black (any age) – alone and aggressively sexually repressed (a very Freudian character)

Lord Cut-Glass (66) – manic, sees his death coming and so is obsessed with time.

Nogood Boyo (under 40) – not bright, socially inept, shows “inappropriate behaviour”.

Willy Nilly (almost any age) – The postman whose wife steams open all the town’s mail so that on his rounds so he can tell everyone about everyone’s news including their own before they read it.

Five Drowned Sailors (any age) – apparitions in Captain Cat’s dream.

Butcher Beynon (40 - 60) – enjoys teasing his wife over his supposed pet butchery

Dai Bread (30-50) – A baker, frenetic and “hairy little man with big pink lips” Lover of his two wives in ménage-a trios.

Mr Ogmore and Mr Pritchard (over 40) – dead former but separate husbands of, and nagged to death by, Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard. They dread their nightly encounters with her.

Utah Watkins (over 40) – A farmer who hates his animals

Ocky Milkman (any age) – A snuffling little man

P.C. Attila Rees (over 30) – A bullish policeman (non-speaking)

Old Man (very old), Evans the Death (any age), Fisherman (any age) – one liners

Adult female parts (23)

Polly Garter (20-40) – blonde, ample and comfy, loves all her men, and the consequent babies, quite indiscriminately. She knows her place in the world and is content. Sings

Mrs Pugh (any age over 40) - She and Mr Pugh hate each other with an icy contemptuous passion and a cold poison, respectively.

Gossamer Beynon (20-30) – Cool schoolmistress, but keeps her lust for Sinbad to herself (if only he knew!).

Mary Ann Sailors (85) – the link to a former and simpler time

Four Neighbours (any age) – gossips. Doubling with Five Women – Mr Waldo’s dead former wives/lovers

Lily Smalls (teens) – the Beynon’s live-in help who has a secret passion for …?

Mae Rose-Cottage (17) – dreams in anticipation of adult passion

Mrs Dai Bread One (30-50) - generously built, “nice to comfortable, nice to be nice”. Lives in a ménage-a-trios with Dai Bread and Mrs Dai Bread Two.

Mrs Dai Bread Two (30-50) – a hard bodied slinky gipsy. Lives in a ménage-a-trios with Dai Bread and Mrs Dai Bread One.

Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard (over 40) - obsessively clean and widow of Mr Pritchard and Mr Ogmore. Nags them both in death as she did in life.

Mrs Organ Morgan (any age over 30) – a timid groceress. A martyr to Organ Morgan’s music.

Mrs Willy Nilly - (almost any age) – wife of the postman. She steams open all the town’s mail so that Willy Nilly, on his rounds, tell everyone about everyone’s news.

Rosie Probert (25-40) – like Captain Cat’s former comrades she is long dead but haunts his memory. Could be a tear-jerker of a part.

Miss Price (30-45) - confirmed spinster who kids herself otherwise. She and Mr Edwards, own shops at each end of the town. The passion of their romance is in their letters; they never meet.

Bessie Bighead (40-80) – gruff and unattractive and condemned to live alone.

Mrs Beynon (40 - 60) – believes every word her husband says about his supposed pet butchery and is hysterically horrified.

Mrs Cherry Owen (any age over 40) – wife of Cherry Owen who loves him, drunk or sober, in equal measure.

Mother (20-40) – Young Waldo’s mother in his dream.

Mrs Utah Watkins (over 30) – A ewe of a woman.

Wife (20-50) – Mr Waldo’s last dead wife; hysterical.

Youth parts (11)

Little Boy – Young Waldo in his dream

Little Girl - Young Waldo’s first love in his dream

Girl (Gwennie) – leader of the singing group. Sings

Three Girls’ Voices - chorus. Sing

First Boy – in playground game. Sings