Our Productions

Taffy Shakespeare

Did Shakespeare really write his own plays? If not, who did? At last the truth can be told! In Francis Hardy`s new hysterically historic fiction the writer of some of the greatest works in the English language is finally revealed as a Welsh stand-up from the little rural village of Llanffunny who bore a striking resemblance to top Welsh actor and entertainer

KEVIN JOHNS.

REVIEW

Forget everything you learnt about Shakespeare at school, as Taffy Shakespeare is hoping to set the record straight! For the first time Kevin Johns took to the stage to play Ianto Pugh, a fictional character out to tell the story of who really wrote Shakespeare`s plays and why there are several Welsh connections in his writing.

The first act of this one-man show, presented by Fluellen Theatre Company, saw stand-up comedy intertwined with an intriguing story; following Ianto as he recounts his journey from his home town of Llanffunny to the polluted streets of 16th century London, where he meets William Shakespeare in a tavern. In the second act we meet Shakespeare himself, again played by Johns, who explains his own version of events with wonderful comic timing and a beard that refused to stay on.

Written by Francis Hardy, the play is full of clever one-liners as well as a host of classic jokes. Kevin, dressed in a colourful jester`s outfit, delivered every line with energy and wit - a real pleasure to watch. Though the show is hilarious at times - especially as a list of Ianto`s original titles are read out, including Romeo & Blodwyn and Macbethan there is a poignant twist towards the end which rounds the story off very nicely.

CHRIS CARRA South Wales Evening Post

UNCLE VANYA

I can`t sleep at night for resentment at having so stupidly wasted my time - that time when I might have had everything which my age now denies me"

TOSHACK OR ME!

As a prelude to Fluellen`s great new Swans play WEMBERLEE! WEMBERLEE! that opens in February 2012 we are delighted to announce the return, for one performance only, of Peter Read`s smash hit about Swansea City`s rise to the First Division in the 1980s. This great comedy played to packed houses in its premiere and its two subsequent revivals.

GRAND THEATRE, Swansea- 21st SEPTEMBER . 7.30pm

CYMBELINE

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

A rare production of Shakespeare`s wonderful late romance which skillfully combines menace and horror with comedy and melodrama in a moving story of two young lovers driven apart by deceit and self-doubt.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

CHARLES DICKENS

in a new version for the stage by FRANCIS HARDY

Dickens`s timeless story of Eberneezer Scrooge, the miser who is taught the true meaning of Christmas by a series of ghostly visitors, is one of the most loved stories in literature. This new production will feature a specially commissioned sparkling script from Francis Hardy.

GRAND THEATRE ARTS WING

Singleton Street, Swansea SA1 3QJ

PERFORMANCES

Saturday 19th November at 1.00pm

Monday 21st November at 1.00pm & 7.15pm

Tuesday 22nd November at 1.00pm & 7.15pm

Wednesday 23rd November at 1.00pm & 7.15pm

Thursday 24th November at 1.00pm & 7.15pm

Friday 25th November at 1.00pm & 7.15pm

Saturday 26th November at 7.15pm

(Morning school matinees available, see www.swanseagrand.co.uk)

BOX OFFICE : 01792 475715

WEMBERLEE! WEMBERLEE!

PETER READ

Peter Read`s great new comedy, very loosely based on The Canterbury Tales, follows a bunch of Swans supporters on a coach to Wembley in order to support their beloved team as it becomes the first Welsh football club to play in the Premier League. Written with the help of interviews with hundreds of supporters who experienced that great day, WEMBERLEE! WEMBERLEE! brings together the same team that produced the two previous phenomenally successful Swansea City plays (Toshack Or Me! and To Hull And Back) writer Peter Read, director Peter Richards and, of course Kevin ("This Is Our Day") Johns as Lee Davies, who may be the worst poet in the world but is certainly one of the Swans` greatest fans.

On at The Grand Theatre's Arts Wing 21-24th February 2012

THE LATE MARILYN MONROE

IN PREPARATION

JESSICA SANDRY

THE LATE MARILYN MONROE

Francis Hardy`s new one-woman show, especially written for JESSICA SANDRY, traces the life of this 20th century icon from her fractured childhood, to her great movie successes, her many marriages and love affairs, through to her tragic and enigmatic death.

LYSISTRATA

The government is fighting an everlasting overseas war. The women at home want it all to end. But what can they do? Their answer is to go on a sex strike until their men not to promise not to fight any more. A perfect solution.

Or is it?

THE CORN IS GREEN

The Swansea Grand is on a roll at the moment in terms of attracting audiences, and Fluellen Theatre Company`s latest production, directed by Peter Richards, is a wise choice indeed. Emlyn Williams` classic story of one man`s struggle to transcend his circumstances might be rooted in the past, but its message is as timely and relevant today as when it was first written.

Romeo and Juliet

Shakespeare`s great lyrical tragedy in which, despite their conflicting backgrounds, a boy and girl fall deeply - and fatally - in love.

A DOLL`S HOUSE

One can always rely on Swansea-based Fluellen Theatre Company to breathe life into material which, in less skilled hands, could so easily be perceived to be dour and dispiriting, and this immensely absorbing adaptation of Henrik Ibsen`s classic story is a case in point. Originally staged in 1879 under the title of Et Dukkehjem, the story revolves around finanhcial deception, a sham marriage and a syphilitic suitor - not a combination calculated to cheer up audiences suffering from the winter blues, or so one might think.