HIRAETH to Play Soho Theatre, 18-21 March
This March, Hiraeth and Welsh cakes aplenty come to London - following a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe 2014 (winner of the IdeasTap Underbelly Award 2014) and a much-lauded tour of Wales. Hiraeth, along with its creator/performer Buddug James Jones, is undoubtedly this year's find (The Evening Standard).
In the summer of 1989, a farmer's wife gave birth to a baby girl. In this moment Buddug James Jones became heir to her family's three hundred year old farming dynasty. Now, Bud is desperate to change her destiny. Leaving five generations of tradition behind, she sets out alone into the big smoke encountering men, heartbreak, drama and hilarity along the way.
Buddug James Jones, Max Mackintosh and new musician David Grubb perform this warm, comforting, cwtch of a show; where nostalgia, poignancy and laughter sit side by side (Gareth Lloyd Roberts, Artistic Director, Aberystwyth Arts Centre). Hiraeth follows Bud's story (in English!), retelling her life with honesty, humour and integrity.
Hiraeth is a Welsh word with no direct English translation; it is a pride you feel for your roots and a sadness for the loss of a way of life. The show rejoices in this universal emotion with which everyone can empathise even as Bud wrestles with the knowledge that her departure marks a time of change and sounds the death knell for the family farm. Through one woman's struggle to escape and let go, Hiraeth explores the decline of Welsh identity and tradition.
The show is a personal reflection on the wider contemporary issues currently affecting the UK countryside as younger generations leave behind rural life for more secure urban futures and feel the burden of the impact this has on the people and places they leave behind. Hiraeth has been nominated for best English language production at the Wales Theatre Awards 2015.
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