Are you a rock or a river?
It’s welsh cakes all round at the end of Hiraeth, but you shouldn’t need such bribery to persuade you to go to Underbelly to see a quirky, personal show from West Wales. Writer and star Buddug James Jones has teamed up to tell the story of her life with director Jesse Briton and multi-talented actor Max Mackintosh – whether you need a mime, a song or a beard Max is your man. So far Buddug’s only made it to 27, a bit young you might think for an autobiographical tale, but Hiraeth proves you don’t need to have been on TV or scaled Everest in a boat to have an interesting story. (BTW, if you type Hiraeth into Google in an attempt to find out what the title of the play you have just seen means, you get the unhelpful result: Hiraeth is a Welsh word that has no direct English translation. Further research suggests it is a strong form of home sickness).
The story purports to be merely the tale of Buddug’s life. Born on a Welsh farm in Newcastle Emlyn, she comes from a long line of farmers, the clustering of the family around local farms being neatly shown on stage. James Jones children are expected to stay nearby and grow potatoes or raise sheep. But Buddug longs to escape, though this will mean leaving no one to take over the running of the family farm. The play takes a humorous look at the effects of her decision to leave on her family, neighbours and local farmyard animals. We also follow her to Peckham and share her disappointments with art school, London and Portuguese men.
Buddug and Max share the stage throughout, whether miming terrible storms on the Severn Bridge, bringing to life pretentious art tutors or coaxing the audience into joining in with a Welsh song. They both wear heavy Aran jumpers, her’s with the most unusual vegetable design that is paired with some typical farming wellies. She narrates her story, whilst simultaneous being part of the action. Max plays guitar, sings and stands in for everyone in the village, including the sheep, and a local little bird. There’s a deliberately under-rehersed vibe that probably takes lengthy rehearsal to achieve and the audience quickly become caught up in the pacily-told story.
A little cliched language slips through, but overall Hiraeth is an engaging story and reflects the larger problems of rural areas in the UK. Rural depopulation is an unlikely subject for comedy but it has a relevance in much of the country.
To some extent the truth has been tweaked and prodded into shape. Was Buddug’s father really the first farmer to have CCTV in the whole of Newcastle Emlyn? Events on the Severn Bridge are, err, out of the ordinary – but underneath the humour there is a sense of sincerity. The project was one of the winners of the 2014 Underbelly award so will have been through some rigorous examination – it’s unlikely the writers were in fact two hipsters from Shoreditch who accidentally went on holiday to Wales.
From a seemingly ordinary life Buddug and co have crafted an infectious hour of comedy-theatre. It might teach you some Welsh (I learned that the Welsh for wellies is wellies), but it might also inspire you to bring a show to Edinburgh next year based on your life. If you can get your mum to bake something to hand out at the end so much the better. Doughnuts are always popular, though they might be a bit tricky to make in bulk. Some sort of biscuit might be best.
Find out lots more about the play here. (If you can understand Welsh)
the play hiraeth is the twin town, trainspotting and slum dog million not of just wales but from deep within the heart of west wales, the mid Teifi valley, near Llandusul upriver from Newcastle Emlyn. I would say one of the oldest and unspoilt parts of these Isles. It is true theatre a bloody good laugh, hilarious and very moving if you love Cymru and feel it in your belly.