Welsh Journals

SOME RECENT WELSH PLAYS. THAT Wales is rich in the material necessary to the building up of a truly national drama would appear to be the almost unanimous verdict of those and they are many-who have recently devoted their attention to this subject. It is true that very little of the building is, as yet, visible, but the foundations are being prepared. The subject appears to command an increasing measure of general interest and support. It has even touched the hearts of some London Managers. If it has also touched their pockets we need, in the circumstances, feel no surprise. Two professedly Welsh plays have been produced in London Theatres, viz. Little Miss Llewellyn and The Joneses." The latter is the more recent production. Its advent had been extensively ad- vertised, and it had the advantage of being very well acted by a company of Welsh players who devoted themselves heroically to an impossible task, but as a contribution to the foundations of a Welsh National Drama it may be-and should be ignored. I doubt if it can fairly be described as drama I am certain it is not Welsh. Little Miss Llewellyn was brighter and more amusing than its successor, but as an attempt to portray the life of Wales was hardly more successful. This is not surprising, as it was, I believe, an adapta- tion of a French or a Belgian Play. These two productions will, however, have served a useful purpose if they impress upon us the fact that if Drama worthy of Wales is ever to be written, it will have to be done by people who have more than a passing acquaintance with Wales. It must be the work of men and women who are possessed of a close knowledge of the country, and a clean insight into the ways of its people, and who can view the national aspirations and ideals, if not with approval, at any rate with sympathy. In Wales itself there have been many productions which are more deserving of notice. It is not possible, in this article, to do more than refer briefly to a few of them. Mr. J. M. Edwards has done good work in dramatising the immortal Rhys Lewis," the performances of which have met with much success. Nowhere, perhaps, can be found truer pictures or more faithful portraits of every-day scenes and characters than in the works of Daniel Owen. They are, in fact, true to nature," but from the point of view of dramatic representation, they suffer in that they present a series of pictures rather than a sustained and connected story. Mr. R. A. Griffith in his play Y Bardd a'r Cerddor has some well-laid and well conceived scenes. The representation of a meeting of the Eisteddfod Committee, in particular, is capable of effective development. But although it contains many faithful portraits the play as a whole is unequal and fails, in parts, to maintain our interest. Beddau'r Proffwydi by Mr. W. J. Gruffydd, deserves more consideration than any of those men- tioned as a contribution to the building up of a national drama. The hero of the play is a young man who, after passing through many vicissitudes, is ultimately prevented from carrying out his in- tention to go to the devil by the love of a young girl who is able to show him a more satisfactory end to his journey. In the art of the dramatist, Mr. Gruffydd is not, of course, an expert and a good deal of what appears in his play would be more suitable as a contribution to literature rather than to the drama. Many of the speeches are couched in language which is hardly suited to the characters who deliver them, and though they give great pleasure, when read in the book, they are apt to tire one when heard on the stage. The play, however, is undoubtedly a serious contribution to the Drama of Wales. Many of the characters are well drawn, and if some of the dialogue is ineffective, a good deal of it is bright, shrewd, and successful. Mr. Gruffydd is certainly entitled to the credit of having reproduced conditions, and of having created an atmosphere that are distinctly Welsh. There still remains the question of the attitude which the Welsh dramatist is going to take up towards many of the institutions of the country. In this connection it should be remembered that the Welsh Drama is at present in its infancy, and there will be more likelihood of sturdy growth on its part if it appeals to the sympathy of all classes. This it will not do, if institutions which have played a great part in the life of the country are subjected to crude and unsympathetic attack. The dramatist may, and probably must use his work as the medium of protest against things which he abhors, but the Welsh dramatist of the future will have a better chance of being able to do so if the dramatist of to-day introduces a certain element of moderation into his protest. The dramatist is undoubtedly entitled to use his plays as a protest, but the public is entitled to ask that the protest shall be against fact, not fancy. He may, if he will,