Gareth Gwynn is bringing a low-fi vibe packed with nostalgia and gags to his Work-in-Progress show ‘Cyril’ that re-creates how his great-grandfather would have performed his own poems.

While ‘Cyril’ started as a piece for a local poetry festival, initially growing into a show to avoid the wrath of a close friend, it has blossomed from straight storytelling to a stand-up set through the works-in-progress. ‘And it is good!’ as Gwynn succinctly summarises.

This isn’t just a show for people who like poetry and Wales (specifically the South-West). In fact, Gareth admits that ‘There’s even things in Wales that I think I will have to explain about Gower… and I quite like wrapping those things in gags.’ Even though he is reluctant for his cousins to come and see it in case they have corrections, this show is about family, place, and time.

Did this start as a stereotypically male pursuit of tracing your family tree?

Is that a stereotypical male pursuit? That’s fun! No, it came about because of a gig I didn’t want to do! I got asked to talk about my great grandfather at a poetry night… as part of the Gower Festival. They asked if I would go and not just read some of his poems but speak about him. So that meant I had to dig into the family history a bit. My great-grandfather was a farmer, and he worked in the Merchant Navy but he was also a poet. He wrote a small book of poetry which has become historically significant because – he didn’t make any money from it at the time – but because it is a recording of that part of Wales at that period of time, between the wars.

And what made you want to turn it into this show?

So, what I did was read the poems and my dad’s notes. The poems were funny and his life was weird and I did 20 minutes at the Gower Festival and thought ‘Oh, there’s more in this’ – both Cyril’s story and my reluctance to look into it.

There’s a real sense of atmosphere you’ve created with the music and books etc. What was your intention behind this?

I set a rule really early on, which was: I’m not going to use any technology that Cyril wouldn’t have. I’ve never seen footage of him actually performing in a corner of a pub in the Gower, but… I think that’s kind of the tone I was aiming for. I think there’s something quite nice about having physical elements in the room, Cyril’s book, magazines from the era (’50s) that he’s mentioned in, some of my dad’s notes. It’s all quite lo-fi.

You’ve done this as a WIP in London and Edinburgh already – what have you learned from those?

Edinburgh really helped to get a sense of what people know about Wales. There was a couple from Florida on the first day and at the end there was this really great moment where they were like, ‘Right, how does Wales work?’ And then… ending up explaining the legislative powers of the Welsh government, trying to compare it to the state of Florida!

I needed a map of Wales because I realised, I needed something that I could point on. I went online and ordered a tea towel! I maintain that Wales has been mapped more extensively by tea towel than by Ordnance Survey.

What are you hoping a Glasgow audience will bring?

Well, I got a text last week from my cousin going, ‘Are family members allowed to see your show in Glasgow?’ Turns out, first tickets of my show sold in Glasgow were sold to my cousin, who just happens to be there at the time. So, I’m now aware she is going to see it and report back.

I’ve never performed in Glasgow before but I co-wrote a sitcom for BBC Wales, called Tourist Trap, and that had a Scottish production company. I remember going, ‘This is good news,’ because I think… they’ll get having that slightly weird position inside the United Kingdom. They may not have the equivalent of this weird culture of poetry… farming events, but I have every confidence they will recognise something that they get.

What’s your favourite thing you’ve discovered about Cyril?

Somehow, he becomes friends with the Churchill family.

[You’ll have to see the show to find out more about this!]

Sum up your show in 5 words?

My great-grandfather wrote a book.

[We are allowing the hyphen]

‘Cyril (Work in Progress)‘ is at Gael & Grain on Mon 23rd Mar at 19:00 as part of thee Glasgow International Comedy Festival.