UNDER MILK WOOD Show & Performances
FAST FACTS:
SHOW TIMES:
Evening Performances at 8 pm: May 5, 6, 11, 12, & 13
Matinee Performances at 2 pm:
May 7 & 14
All current COVID-19 protocols practiced.
SHOW RUN:
May 5 -14, 2023
- Director’s Talk Back is Friday May 12, 2023 – immediately following the performance
- Running Time:
90 minutes with NO intermission
LOCATION:
1370 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC. Next to the on-ramp to the Arthur Lang Bridge by Marine Drive and Granville.
TICKET PRICING:
Adults $33 Student/Senior $27
* Group Discounts available by calling the Box Office 604 266 7191
Tickets can be reserved online at [email protected] or by calling the Metro Box Office 604 266 7191
BOX OFFICE WINDOW:
Opens one hour before the performance.
BOX OFFICE HOURS:
Wed to Sat 2 pm to 5 pm,
during the show run.
CONTACT:
Call 604 266 7191 voicemail or use the Contact METRO button on this page.
LICENSED LOUNGE HOURS:
Performance Evenings: 7:00 – 11:00 pm
Performance Matinees: 1:00 – 5:00 pm
PARKING:
There is plenty of easy parking – in the parking lot, on the street, reasonable ‘All Evening Parking’ at the Value Liquor Store Lot just up the street from Metro – 1450 SW Marine Dr, Vancouver, BC V6P 5Z9
BUS ROUTES:
We’re close to the Marpole bus loop and on the #10 route. Check 0ut
www.translink.ca for transit directions.
CONTACT:
Metro Theatre via the Contact Metro Button at the bottom of this page for more information, publicity photos, and arrangements for interviews.
Metro Theatre is a non-profit theatre company, dedicated to promoting and developing theatre arts. This is our 60th year of bringing laughter, intrigue and surprise to live audiences. Under Milk Wood is a co production with Vital Spark Theatre.
The Story
A story of dreams and desires,
loves and regrets
The play takes us to the small Welsh fishing village of Llareggub (spell it backwards!) in the 1950’s during the course of a single day, from before dawn till late night. Through the dreams and daily doings of the inhabitants we get to know their hopes and fears, their lusts and their loves. And these are not ordinary folk. Each in their in way is eccentric in their habits, lifestyle or wants. Yet despite all their strangeness, and despite the smallness of their town, what we come to see is that they are indeed just like us. That Llareggub is a reflection of life itself, of the human condition seen under the microscope, in all its glorious complexity.
And there is singing. Folk back then sang, at work, for fun, for community. Some of the inhabitants are quite comically ludicrous, but aren’t we all at times!
Show Page: UNDER MILK WOOD
“A dazzling combination of poetic fireworks and music hall humour”
Vital Spark Theatre in association with Metro Theatre Vancouver is pleased to present Dylan Thomas’s ‘play for voices’ Under Milk Wood. Directed by Joan Bryans.
On the Metro stage May 5 -14, 2023.
From its famous opening words “To begin at the beginning…” Under Milk Wood endures above all of Thomas’ work because it recognizes the goodness that people are capable of and the warmth of friendship, family and community.
Come to a tiny village where the inhabitants all seem a bit eccentric if not quite mad! Yet the more we follow them through the day, the more we come to identify with them if not love them.
Meet the blind Captain Cat, after a life “sardined with women”, NoGood Boyo up to no good in the wash-house, the obsessive Mrs. Ogmore Pritchard who “polishes her potatoes”, while young Mae Rose, 17 and never been kissed, yearns to be bad “I’ll sin till I blow up!”.
More than anything , Thomas’ flawed villagers, in their world of yearnings, gossip and memories, remind us of what it is to be human in all its glorious, intricate complexity.
“We all have yearnings we keep to ourselves, secret loves and odd habits we’d rather others not know about. Dylan Thomas gets below the skin of the villagers to reveal their own idiosyncrasies, perhaps a little larger than our own but oh so human, with resulting hilarious, sad and tender moments.”
Joan Bryans, director
Tickets: $27 Senior/Student or $33 (plus GST) can be reserved by calling the Box Office 604 266 7191, or Purchase Tickets
Cast and Production Team
Under Milk Wood is directed by Joan Bryans, asst. director Sarah Prato, musical direction by Pat Unruh, costume design by Catherine E. Carr, set design by Todd Parker, lighting design by Michael Methot, sound design by Joshua Osborne, props by Barbara Walsh and stage management by Andy Sandberg with assit. stage managers Radhika lal and Barbara Walsh.
Actors
The Women of Under Milk Wood: Isabella Ciccone, Meghan Grant, Joan Koebel, Allyce Kranabetter, Lindsay Nelson, Diana Sandberg, Dana Schindel, Rebecca Walters.
The Men of Under Milk Wood: Russell Blower, David Hollinshead, Daryl Hutchings, Gordon Law, Matt Loop, Roger Monk, Peter Robbins, William Rourke.
The Children of Under Milk Wood: Soleil Greenfeld, Bradley Mah, Ciara Mah, Dylan Mah.
Director’s Talk Back
Join director Joan Bryans and some of the cast and crew of UNDER MILK WOOD immediately following the show on Friday, May 12, 2023 for an informal chat about:
- How Dylan Thomas’s work, while capturing the small events and thoughts in everyday life of the villagers, captures the universal human condition.
- The difficulties of getting a radio play on the stage.
- Capturing a whole village in the production.
After which, the director will open the session up for questions from the audience.
There is no additional charge for the Director’s Talk, just stay in your seats or move up a bit closer to the stage. The session will last approximately 20 minutes.
Promo Photos
Promo Photos for UNDER MILK WOOD
Photo credit to Nancy Caldwell
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Reviews & Being Said
As one critic wrote: “It would be hard for any work of art to communicate more directly, funnily and lovingly what it is like to be alive”
Many thanks to Jo Ledingham Theatre Reviews for this excellent review.
Produced by Vital Spark Theatre Company and directed by Joan Bryans, the company’s artistic director, this is a rare opportunity to see a cast of 20 come together on a simple set (designed by Todd Parker) where they bring Thomas’s beautifully crafted homage to these characters and this place to life.
There is strong multi-cast ensemble work with some standout performances including Rebecca Walters, Dana Schindel, David Hollinshead and Matt Loop. The town’s children are confidently played by Soleil Greenfeld, Bradley Mah, Clara Mah and Dylan Mah.
Read the FULL REVIEW HERE
Huge thanks to COLIN THOMAS – Mapping the Intuitive for this awesome piece.
In Vital Spark’s production of Under Milk Wood, one of the first phrases that had me laughing with delight was “slow, black, crowblack, fishingboatbobbing sea.” And, in poet Dylan Thomas’s stage-adapted radio play, the unabashedly glorious language just keeps flowing.… Under Joan Bryans’s direction, an amateur cast of 20 — 20! — does an admirable job with the text. Ninety minutes is a long time to listen to poetry and there were stretches when I longed for more surprising theatricality. Mostly though, I luxuriated in the sounds and images of Under Milk Wood — and the delight this cast is taking in delivering them.
Read the FULL REVIEW HERE
Catch an INTERVIEW done by Director Joan Bryans with Arts Rational HERE
In Rehearsal
These REHEARSAL PHOTOS reflect the show from the first read-thru to the final rehearsals on the stage leading up to the preview.
Photo credit to Sarah Prato
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