Under Milk Wood
Reviewed by Taylor Kass
Coeurage Theatre Company
Through August 24
RECOMMENDED
It is night-time in the little Welsh town of Llareggub. The townspeople are asleep. They dream. They wake up, they go about their day, they sleep again. The quotidian plot is daringly simple, but it is the gorgeous language and fascinating characters in Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood that make it so exquisite. The inventive staging and dynamic ensemble of Coeurage Theatre Company’s production bring this radio play to its feet and make it spellbinding.
Ryan Wagner, who directed the play for Coeurage Theatre Company in its inaugural season ten years ago, has anchored the piece’s whimsical poetry in innumerable lifelike details. Through intricately choreographed movement and tableaus, he nails its fanciful tone while using minimal props. Production design is immersive and cohesive: Tom Buderwitz’s set is a multileveled structure of asymmetrical docks, bathed in dawn and dusk by lighting designer Azra King-Abadi. Charming fifties costumes and a few iconic accessories (costume designer Vicki Conrad) allow the cast to shift from character to character in mere seconds.
The ensemble, onstage for the entirety of the production, masterfully inhabit each of the wonderfully weird residents of Llareggub. From high-spirited children to dreamy teenagers to frustrated wives to lonely old men, these stellar performers bring both wacky humor and poignant dignity to each role they play.
Under Milk Wood revels in the beautiful sounds of the English language, shaped with the rounded vowels and lilting melody of an impeccable Welsh dialect. It is a sprawling love poem written to a time long ago, when neighbors harshly judged yet unconditionally cared for each other. Under Milk Wood is a celebration of community, of connection, of taking the time to truly experience the little, everyday moments that make up a life.
Greenway Court Theatre, 544 Fairfax Ave., West Hollywood; Thurs.-Sat., 8 p.m.; Wed., Aug. 14 (alternate cast), 8 p.m.; Sun., Aug. 18, 7 p.m.; Wed., Aug. 21, 8 p.m.; through Aug. 24. www.coeurage.org/buytickets/. Running time: approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.
