Culhwch & Olwen, a Welsh tale that sees Culhwch go on a quest in order to win the heart of the giant’s daughter, Olwen, with the help of Arthur, Gawain, Sir Cai and Bedwyr. This is a hidden gem of tales, one I personally had never heard before.  

 

With musical elements, audience interaction and jokes that were relevant to a modern audience the play had a somewhat pantomime feel to it with many comedic moments.  Forty-five minutes flew by, with strong energy from the cast who moved through the story quickly, getting straight to each point.  

 

The use of homemade props and puppets gave the piece warmth and a childlike story time quality, which partly made up for the messiness of the performance.  Although a whole the play seemed slightly under rehearsed, there is a lot of potential with this as a concept and would make a wonderful family show with more development.  

 

With a lot of action happening on the floor, there were many moments that I missed due to bad sightlines.  This was more due to the way the seating was set up rather than the direction.

 

Overall it was a funny, light hearted show.

 

Victoria Collins