@ Spotlites, Edinburgh, until Mon 31 Aug 2015 @ 10:10
Devised and performed by Anne Rutter, Dylan’s Daughter is an affectionate, revealing, and moving tribute to the late Aeronwy Thomas.
Using photographs and video footage of an interview with Dylan’s daughter, taken by Rutter’s late husband Malcolm Taylor, Rutter narrates the course of Aeronwy Thomas’ life. She touches on Aeronwy’s relationships with her father, whose early death at 39 when she was just 10 years old impacted on her hugely; her relationship with her Bohemian mother, Caitlin Macnamara and her brothers Colm and Llewellyn; Dylan and Caitlin’s tempestuous marriage; and how places, including Chelsea, the US and their house in Laugharne, South Wales, shaped all of their lives.
A poet in her own right, Aeronwy Thomas was also known as an ambassador for her father’s work, the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. A personal friend of Aeronwy’s, having also being in the same “Words” group, Rutter reads with insight from a script, sometimes faltering on her lines. A woman of very little professional vanity, Rutter reads some of Aerowyn’s own poems, giving us the benefit of her unique perspective.
Rutter is joined on stage by Stephen Thorne, who reads some of Dylan Thomas’ poems, and these are interwoven to add depth to the performance, and to help put everything into context chronologically.
With plenty of original insights and honest home-truths, Dylan’s Daughter is a moving portrayal, and spoken with true personal knowledge.