A Child's Christmas in Wales: Christmas Musical
Adrian Mitchell, Jeremy Brooks, Dylan Thomas
Paperback
(Dramatic Pub Co, Aug. 15, 1984)
Musical. Adapted by Jeremy Brooks and Adrian Mitchell. Based on the classic by Dylan Thomas. Cast: 13m., 7w. (chorus, extras). All your Christmases will live again in the magic of Dylan Thomas' poetic language. "I can never remember whether it snowed for six days and six nights when I was twelve or twelve days and twelve nights when I was six." Despite the fact that this is a Welsh Christmas and the music is also Welsh, Dylan Thomas has managed to universalize the very essence of Christmas as any child anywhere might perceive it. If the play has a plot it is the story of Christmas Day itself, from its quiet, magical beginning full of thrilling expectations to the end when the boy Dylan creeps up to the bed, replete with the joy of a perfect Christmas. The cast is flexible and the staging should be kept simple. Attempts at "realism" would undermine the child's-eye view. Vincent Dowling produced the premiere at the Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival where it became a held-over smash hit! This is Christmas just the way Christmas always should be. Area staging. Sound effects CD available. Approximate running time: 2 hours. If you are interested in staging a reading of A Child's Christmas in Wales (C66) or the Dylan Thomas poem Memories of Christmas (M65), please call or write for details.