In the heavy summer heat of a remote Welsh Valley, three teenagers are drawn together, awaking an ancient myth. A scratching in the ceiling and the discovery of a curious dinner service begin an unrelenting chain of events. Alison becomes obsessed with the strange pattern on the plates and the boys start to fight for her attention. As myth becomes reality and past becomes present, the three are driven to play out a haunting tale of betrayal and revenge. A power is loose: the owls are hunting.
All scenes happen in a small village in Snowdonia, 1965.
Alan Garner's novel 'The Owl Service' was first published in 1967, and was winner of both the Guardian Award and the Carnegie Medal.
The stage adaptation was commissioned by Plymouth Theatre Royal, and co-written with David Prescott. The theatrical world premiere was staged at the Drum Theatre July 2004. Directed by Greg Banks, designed by Claire Lyth, with live music composed by Thomas Johnson.
Text of the Mabinogion legend: http://www.webmesh.co.uk/09math.html
Alan Garner: http://members.ozemail.com.au/~xenophon/index.html
The Granada TV version from the 1960s:
http://www.cinedelica.com/2008/03/network-to-rele.html
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/976641/index.html
[Gwyn is sitting by the mountain path, looking at the view.]
VOICES1&2 -Mynyddoedd (Translation: "Mountains")
GWYN -Nothing but mountains
VOICE1 -Cracked rocks
VOICE2 -Torn grass
VOICE1 -Empty sky
[Roger arrives and stops beside Gwyn.]
ROGER -Gwyn.
GWYN -Been exploring?
ROGER -Didn't get very far. There's no shade up there.
GWYN -It is hot.
ROGER -Must be unusual for Wales.
[They look at the view, heavy with heat.]
VOICE2 -(Sings.) "Come meadowsweet murmur, come harp of my gladness, come"
GWYN -I could look at that view forever.
ROGER -It's too big.
GWYN -Eh?
ROGER -All those mountains. Miles and miles of them. Shutting us off from the rest of the world.
GWYN -That's 'cos you don't know it. See that peat-track? There.
VOICE1 -Paths we are walking for hundreds of years.
GWYN -Goes right over the pass. And see the stream…
VOICE2 -Follow it down.
VOICE1 -I lawr… (Translation: "Down…")
GWYN -…That goes from our Ravenstone right down to the sea. And there's the road too, of course.
VOICE1 -There is only one.
GWYN -That takes you all the way back to Birmingham. If it's not flooded, or snowed-in, that is.
ROGER -Very comforting.
VOICE2 -Listen…
VOICE1 -The wind in the grass. A farmer whistling for his dogs.
VOICE2 -A motorbike, far below.
VOICES 1&2 -In the village.
ROGER -You lived here all your life?
GWYN -Nah. First time I've set foot in the place. I live in Aber. Aberystwyth.
ROGER -But the way you talk…
GWYN -That's my Mam. Told me all about this place.
VOICE1 -Broken-down farms
VOICE2 -Empty cottages
GWYN -She grew up here, see.
ROGER -That's nice for her.
GWYN -If you don't like it you can always go home.
ROGER -Can't, can I? Got to stay and play happy families.
VOICE1 -At the end of the village…
VOICE1&2 -A standing stone
VOICE2 -With a hole going right through.
GWYN -I've not seen much of your Alison. Is she OK?
ROGER -Hard to tell. I don't really know her that well.
VOICE1 -At the end of the road…
VOICE2 -A gravel drive leads to…
VOICE1&2 -…a big house.
GWYN -Must have been tough for her.
ROGER -Yes.
VOICE1 -Slate walls
VOICE2 -Old dust
ROGER -Fancy a swim then?
GWYN -Love to. But I'd better get back. Some of us have got chores.
ROGER -See you later, then.
GWYN -See you.
VOICES1&2 -Inside the house…
VOICE1 -…a girl's bedroom. Curtains drawn against a sunny day.
VOICE2 -A beginning.
ALISON -(In bed) I don't feel well.
VOICES1&2 -Starting over.
"As Welsh as laver bread, this production skillfully sucks us, like a vortex, into the spell of the all-pervading legend the Mabinogion. From the start the company conjures a drama of cliff-hanger proportions as circumstances throw three teenagers together in a remote Welsh valley. Here simmering tension is brought teasingly to the boil as myth begins to eclipse reality. In the heat of high summer, punctuated with dramatic thunderstorms, secrets of the past are poised to consume the present. In transferring it from page to stage, adaptors Anita Sullivan and David Prescott have cleverly distilled the essence of Alan Garner's classic sixties novel, targeting a new youthful audience... this stage premiere gives the story a fresh, dynamic lease of life." Roger Malone, The Stage
"...Squeezes every shiver of spooky atmosphere from the tale. There are some terrific, almost gothic moments of pure tension... " Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
"...Creepy, captivating and even a little funny in places... we would recommend it to older children" Natalie and Rosie Soper (ages 15 and 13) for BBC Online
About Alan Garner's novel:
"Remarkable... A rare imaginative feat" The Observer
The poster
Sam Robinson (Alison), Elaine Claxton (Nancy), Brendan Hughes (Huw), Dominic Colenso (Roger), Oliver Wood (Gwyn)
Elaine Claxton (Blodeuwedd) and Ruby Aspinall (harpist)
Oliver Wood (Gwyn) and Samantha Robinson (Alison)
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