When it comes to the stuff of local legend, there is no one better equipped to assume the role of storyteller than the very community the folklore concerns.
For the people of Merthyr, delving back into the area's history for an arts and heritage project has yielded great hidden gems, which now form the basis of an opera being staged next week.
Ynys Gwydr: Island of Glass tells the story of the fall of the royal court of the Kings of Brycheiniog and follows on from outreach work undertaken by Head for Arts, based at the Llanhilleth Miners Institute in Abertillery, which has involved as many as 500 local people.
Rehearsal photograph from Ynys Gwydr: Island of Glass. Photo: Darren Warner
The production is set to the music of Handel but with a new libretto devised by the community in a series of workshops with artistic director Peter Morgan Barnes.
It tells how the royal residence, once built on a man-made island on Llangorse Lake, toppled from supremacy following a series of scandals involving arson at the behest of a Saxon queen and abduction.
Peter Morgan Barnes said: "This is just the type of historical story
that would have appealed to Handel, who regularly re-used his favourite
pieces of music, updating them with new lyrics.
"We have tried to bring the story to life using both modern language and some sections in medieval Welsh."
The tale, which according to archaeological surveys has some origins in truth, has been a big source of inspiration for the work created for Fragments, an exhibition Head for Arts put on in January.
Now in this second phase of the History and Mystery project, which is being staged at Theatr Soar in Merthyr, soloists from the local community and students from Merthyr College have ed forces with a community choir, schoolchildren, a small team of professional opera singers and a string quartet for two unique performances.
Young people in Ynys Gwydr: Island of Glass. Photo: Darren Warner
Dan Perkin, the opera's musical director, said: "This has been a chance to bring together people of all ages to demystify the world of opera and show them that it is something that everyone can enjoy."
One of the aims of the project was to give performers at all stages of their life a springboard for their creativity and give those who have never sung in public before, a moment in the limelight.
The team of professional singers, soprano Phillippa Scammell, mezzo
Jeanie Larkin, baritone Nicholas Dunbar and tenor Paul Rothwell, sing
with the local performers to encourage them and are ed by Emanuela
Barazia – a Merthyr resident who is singing the role of the bard
Llywarch Hen.
Local amateur singer Steve Williams, who is playing King Alfred, added: "I am really looking forward
to the performances, thoroughly enjoying this experience, which I
thought would not have been possible."
In rehearsal for Ynys Gwydr: Island of Glass. Photo: Darren Warner
Merthyr College students not only perform in the opera, but are working backstage and have created projections for the show as well as documenting the whole project in a film to be shown immediately before the performances.
Head for Arts project officer Bethan Watkins said: "I am really pleased that several of the participants have been with us from the start, and have been involved in different of the project, not only taking part in the background research but also developing ideas for the opera storyline, helping to make the costumes and even singing in this unique performance."
Performances will take place at Theatr Soar on Friday 12 April (7.30pm) and Saturday 13 April (2pm and 7.30pm). Tickets for the performance can be purchased from Theatr Soar on 01685 722176 and cost £5/£3.50.
Further information can be found on the Head for Arts website.
