On Friday, 21st of September, the first performance of a brand new show will be on at Theatr Soar, Dic Penderyn: Arwr y Bobl Gyffredin.
This is a production that has been created jointly by Theatr Mewn Cymeriad and Menter Iaith Merthyr Tydful as a result of funding from the Arts Council of Wales. The script’s author is Mirain Alaw Jones, Menter Iaith Merthyr’s development officer, and the director is Janet Aethwy.
Mewn Cymeriad Theater Company is well-known for creating one-character shows presenting historical figure to children. The productions are carefully tailored to offer a recreational educational hour for children in key stage 2, where they also have the opportunity to take part in the show. This time, the history of Dic Penderyn will be presented and a chance for children to learn more about the lives of ordinary people in Merthyr, and how it was to work in the ironworks during a period of hardship and oppression.
As part of the production process, Menter Iaith Merthyr and Mewn Cymeriad have been hosting various workshops at Rhyd-y-Grug School in recent months to create a new element for the show. The children received script writing and acting workshops with Mirain and Janet, and as a result we had a day of filming in June with the children recreating the Merthyr revolt protest. They wore clothes of the period of 1831 and school staff had a workshop to learn how to make clothes and props out of old materials with Carys Tudor. The children also had a video editing workshop with a professional editor and producer to create a promo of the show. The short film of the protest filmed with the children will be shown as part of the performance on Friday night.
SIOE DIC PENDERYN // Nos Wener 21/09 // 7:00yh // @TheatrSoar
Dewch i weld sioe newydd @MewnCymeriad i deuluoedd yng nghwmni plant Ysgol Rhyd y Grug! Tocynnau: £3 oedolyn, am ddim i blant, 01685 722176 pic.twitter.com/CIc3OPsOhl— Menter Iaith Merthyr (@MenterMerthyr1) September 18, 2018
Pupils will also perform a song as part of the show. The children composed the song in a workshop with poet Anni Llŷn and composer Steffan Rhys Williams. The song will be performed live as part of the show on Friday night for the first time.
The performance is a pinnacle of months of workshops that have inspired the enthusiasm of pupils at Ysgol Rhyd-y-Grug in their local history. In the process they have taken ownership of the story of Dic Penderyn to create their own interpretation of what has happened in the protest, and have come to understand the pain of the inhabitants of Merthyr in 1831 at a deeper level. Come and enjoy the fruit of the children’s work on Friday here in a brand new production at Theatr Soar!
The performance starts at 7pm, and tickets are £3 for adults and free for children.
