Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood invites us to laugh at ourselves – I wanted my music to do the same | Ninfea Cruttwell-Reade

Dylan Thomas’s evocative radio play has been adapted into films, a ballet, even a jazz suite. From its drunkards and nosey-parkers, to its ghosts and dreamers, Ninfea Crutwell-Reade’s new reimagining connects it back to its originsIn October 1953, Dylan Thomas took part in a symposium on poetry and film in New York. A recording of the event captures the Welsh writer’s speaking voice in what would be one of his last public appearances before his death 12 days later at the age of 39. Amid the pops, ticks and crackles of the tape, we hear Thomas on sparkling form, telling the audience about an experimental play he had been to see “in a cellar or a sewer or somewhere”, accompanied by the US playwright Arthur Miller. In the middle of the performance, he recounts, Miller turned to him and remarked, “Good god, this is avant garde. In a moment the hero’s going to take his clothes off.” Roars of laughter follow this anecdote, before questions turn to Thomas’s radio play Under Milk Wood, which had enjoyed a number of public readings in New York City that year, billed as a “new comedy”.Under Milk Wood is quite a different sort of play to the avant garde production Miller and Thomas had attended. Set in the fictional Welsh town of Llareggub (“Bugger all” backwards), it documents the dreams, digressions and foibles of the town’s inhabitants in a blaze of poetic beauty and vibrant satire. It is a “play for voices”, borne out of the world of the mid-20th-century BBC radio feature – a fluid, experimental genre in which narration, acting, song, verse, music and sound effects were mixed together often without the constraint of a dramatic plot. Thomas himself was a gifted radio actor and had taken part in a number of BBC radio features, including The Dark Tower by Louis MacNiece and In Parenthesis by David Jones. When Milk Wood was first broadcast in 1954 on the BBC’s Third Programme, the cast was led by his friend and acting companion, Richard Burton. Continue reading...

Comments

Culture

Olivia Munn claims TV series director tried to ‘ruin’ her career

Independent

Comments

Similar News

Bob Vylan right to express rage against the IDF. And Bob Dylan would agree

Glastonbury 2025 reviews, Saturday: Pulp, Haim, Raye, Brandi Carlile, and Bob Dylan tribute band

Bob Dylan’s Next Book Will Collect 100 of His Recent Drawings

Joan Baez shares the pointer she would have given Timothée Chalamet for playing Bob Dylan

Did Bob Dylan Help Announce an Album From MGK?

‘I watched Bob Dylan play tennis with three of the Beatles’: how we made the Isle of Wight festival

Culture

Olivia Munn claims TV series director tried to ‘ruin’ her career

‘Addictive’ TV thriller is finally completely free to binge on UK streamer

Liam Gallagher apologises after tweeting ‘racial slur’ ahead of Oasis reunion tour

NASA spacewalks, rocket launches to stream on Netflix

Christian broadcasters ask listeners to tune in to the fight for AM radio

Disposable vapes spew toxic metals at higher levels than cigarettes, study finds

Friends star cast as Jennette McCurdy’s abusive mother in I’m Glad My Mom Died adaptation

Netflix shares long-awaited announcement on adaptation of beloved Emily Henry book

Not inspired by the Glastonbury headliners? These 6 acts blew me away

Katy Perry nearly falls from prop mid-air during performance

10 Songs of Rebellion and Defiance for the Fourth

Jessie J says she ‘misses being active mum’ as she recovers from cancer surgery

Justice Dept. announces largest health care fraud takedown ever; $14.6 billion in bogus claims

Study finds fewer U.S. adults inclined to test for COVID, JAMA Network Open reports

Poland to increase controls on borders with Germany, Lithuania

Keith Urban hangs up on interview after question about wife Nicole Kidman’s sex scenes

BTS are back: K-pop band confirm new album and tour

Jury returns to deliberate for a second day at Sean 'Diddy' Combs' sex trafficking trial

Coming to America: Honoring the overlooked Lipschutz

Artemis II mission one step closer to launch after successful rocket test

Country singer Gavin Adcock issues uncensored warning to Beyoncé after slamming Cowboy Carter

SNL’s Dana Carvey says he was ‘delicate’ with Joe Biden impression as he knew he was ‘compromised mentally’

Foo Fighters release punk cover song that was recorded across three decades

Cilla Black’s Blind Date set to be rebooted on Disney+

Why is the BBC in the dock? Why not call out Glastonbury?

I loved the Scottish bookshop that only sells romantic fiction

Picking Daisies: The villain is not strong enough for this gritty thriller

Classic comedy branded ‘most blasphemous ever’ is available to stream

Bob Vylan say they have been ‘targeted for speaking up’ in fresh statement on Glastonbury controversy

Festival goers warned of travel chaos next weekend

Glasgow stars in first trailer for new Hollywood blockbuster The Running Man

‘Scream for me, Glasgow’ - Age has not wearied rock gods

Netflix just made all 3 seasons of ‘addictive’ period drama available to stream

‘Let the franchise go extinct’ cry critics as Jurassic World Rebirth makes rotten debut

Senate passes amendment to strip ban on AI regulations as 'big, beautiful bill' flails

Diddy vs Fiddy: A 25-year timeline of one of rap’s biggest feuds

Historic theatre targets permanent reopening date as £10m vision takes shape

‘Wildly entertaining’ Amazon Prime action thriller soars up top 10 chart

Oasis ‘sound biblical’ after being heard kicking off reunion tour rehearsals

Country icon cancels concert after extreme weather ruins equipment

I was electrified seeing my favourite historical drama in the most epic way ever

Bob Geldof told Freddie Mercury to ‘just play the hits’ before legendary Live Aid performance

Black American Sign Language version of Sinners to be made available on streaming

Kenneth Branagh to star in The Devil Wears Prada 2 as filming starts

BBC Radio 2 forced to find last minute stand-in as Vernon Kay gets stuck on a train

Is it time for a change of name for this Glastonbury performer?

Bob Vylan right to express rage against the IDF. And Bob Dylan would agree

James Cameron labels Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning triumph ‘a moral cop out’

TV chef’s leg turned ‘yellow and black’ after being bitten by snake on charity bike ride

Ranvir Singh reveals terrifying side effect she developed when drink was spiked

Major WWE SmackDown spoilers as iconic star returns on Friday’s episode

Inbetweeners star James Buckley and wife stalked by woman who threatened ‘violent acts’

80s music icon almost cancelled long-overdue Glastonbury debut over hearing fears

Amazon’s James Bond casting wishlist revealed including major breakout star

Photos show Glastonbury 2025 aftermath after thousands of fans leave festival site

James Gunn names actor he thinks would be a ‘great’ Wonder Woman

Donald McDonald death: Play School star and ‘showbiz great’ dies aged 86

Tulisa’s father and Mungo Jerry keyboardist Plato Contostavlos dies

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban’s Los Angeles home reportedly burglarised on Valentine’s Day

Glastonbury 2025 live: Clean-up underway as organisers prepare for fallow year