WLTM PRODUCTIONS’ CAITLIN TO VISIT AMMANFORD AND LLANELLI THIS SUMMER

Carmarthenshire audiences are in for a treat this summer as Caitlin, WLTM Productions’ one-woman show about the life of Dylan Thomas’ long-suffering wife, Caitlin Macnamara, takes to the stage. Caitlin will be arriving at Ammanford’s Glowyr Theatre on Tuesday 12^th July at 7:30pm and Llanelli’s Ffwrnes Theatre on Wednesday 13^th and Thursday 14^th July at 7:30pm.

Before Dylan Thomas died at the tender age of 39, he and his wife Caitlin boozed, binged and brawled their way through the bars of Britain in the 1930s and 40s. Their marriage was stormy, passionate, and famously explosive. Starring Christine Kempell and directed by Steve Elias, Mike Kenny’s one-woman play tells their story in Caitlin’s own words.

Caitlin and Dylan were great lovers, artists and bohemians, mixing with other artists and writers of their day, spending all their time in pubs, doing scandalous things and being forgiven. Although Dylan had his tragic genius as an excuse for his behaviour, Kenny’s titular character feels that history judged 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 will be bringing the piece to Wales before heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Christine Kempell is thrilled to be taking on the role of Caitlin and says, “This is a gift of a part for a woman of my age. Behind the successful Welsh poet is this powerhouse of a 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.”

Both Christine Kempell (Coronation Street) and director, Steve Elias (Our Dancing Town) hail from Carmarthen, and Steve says, “We are thrilled to be touring venues close to home and our hearts in Wales. We hope to get plenty of support from friends, family as well as anyone who may be interested in learning about this complex character and hearing a different side to Dylan Thomas, from the woman who knew him the most”.

Tickets for Caitlin are priced at £12.50 (£10.50 concessions) and can be booked online at www.theatrausirgar.co.uk or with the Box Office on 0345 226 3510.