Date:

Thursday October 27th

Blackwood Miners’ Institute,
High Street,
Blackwood
NP12 1BB

“He had his poetry. He was a poet. You will have heard of him. And Caitlin Macnamara? Chances are, if you’ve heard of me, it’s because I married him.”

Before Dylan Thomas drank himself to death at the tender age of 39, he and his wife Caitlin boozed, binged and brawled their way through the bars of Britain in the 1930’s and 40’s. Their marriage was stormy, passionate and explosive and Caitlin tells their story, in her own brutally honest words, in this one-woman show written by Mike Kenny.

Caitlin and Dylan were great lovers, artists and bohemians mixing with other artists and writers of their day, spending all their time in pubs, living on tick, doing scandalous things and being forgiven. Although Dylan had his tragic genius as an excuse for his behaviour, Caitlin feels that history judges her more harshly as a mother, married to the ‘Voice of God’ and having to put her own unfulfilled ambitions as a dancer on hold. Caitlin tells their story from her perspective and reveals some shocking insights into their mutually destructive relationship.

WLTM Productions brings this one-woman show on tour to Brighton and Edinburgh Fringe 2022, as well as venues in Wales. Christine Kempell takes on the role of Caitlin and says “This is a gift of a part for a woman of my age. Just because we’re not in our thirties any more doesn’t mean we can’t be sexy, rude, vulnerable and resilient all at the same time. Behind the successful poet is this woman who sacrificed everything for the man she loved. He could not have achieved what he did without her. Caitlin is raw, truthful and unapologetic about the life she lived and the choices she made. This is a monologue to the forgotten women everywhere whose stories deserve to be told.”

“Christine Kempell gives her all. A highly charged, hugely energized and utterly committed performance with no stone left unturned. Her vocal range, characterisation and movement are impeccable. As she glides across the stage with grace that denies the booze, Caitlin’s former life as a dancer is entirely believable.”

“Kempell’s timing is perfect, selling the humour without devaluing the complex topics it tackles.”

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