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Theatr Brycheiniog in Brecon is the home base of the Mid Wales Chamber Orchestra, and as such the theatre is a producing partner on The Mare’s Tale. Thanks to the support of the Director at Brycheiniog, Paula Redway, in August we have a clear fortnight of rehearsals scheduled on the stage, leading to an invited performance for the funding bodies who’ve supported the commission.
The Mari lies on a chair backstage, awaiting its on-screen debut. (Many thanks to Geraint Thomas for the image.)
Yesterday James Slater (artistic director of the MWCO) and I spent an afternoon on the Brycheiniog stage, working through some visual aspects of the production with Technical Manager Geraint Thomas. Geraint and his team will be crucial contributors to the way we intend to present The Mare’s Tale, and the session was an opportunity to live-stream images of my recently completed Mari Lwyd puppet to a back-projection screen. In the absence of a puppeteer (I had to sit in the auditorium to see how things will look to an audience) James proved surprisingly deft in animating the Mari, though he won’t be doubling up his conducting duties with puppetry once we get into rehearsals!
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Discussions with Paula Redway have confirmed that the Mare’s Tale stage-set is to be constructed by the Brycheiniog team under the supervision of Geraint Thomas, and before too long I’ll be posting more here at the Artlog on the stage-design aspects of the production.
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The auditorium at Theatr Brycheiniog
what a beautiful theater! such an exciting time….
Oh, that is a grand setting. And the Mari is up to it, I’m sure… Enjoyed this entirely, all save the name of the theatre, which reminded me uncomfortably of the sad impossibility of recording something with Welsh names! And how would you pronounce the name of the theatre?
What a good looking theatre, so exciting this!
It’s beginning to feel so, Phil.
How EXCITING! How large is the house? The stage? Everything? [Never mind, I'm googling now!!!] We await details! Inquiring minds wish to know…
xo AM
Hi Anita. I’ve answered you in an e-mail.
Yes, exciting developments. What’s particularly good is that we have the entire rehearsal period on the stage, which is almost unheard of, but will be such a help given the technical demands of the production. One of the most trying times for any orchestral project is moving from the rehearsal space to the stage. This is especially the case for a chamber ensemble, and so it’s a massive bonus not to have to worry about factoring in that transition.