Sara Allen, producer for Ugly Lovely Swansea, talks about how winning the trust and commitment of the Townhill community was key to the series.
We begin at the beginning. Early January and what seemed like a very big task ahead; to persuade the people of Townhill to write and perform in their own version of Under Milk Wood and be filmed during the process. Along with assistant producer Huw Crowley, we set about getting to know the people on the hill.
Our job was made more difficult due to the furore caused by ‘Benefits Street’ - the Channel 4 series which many felt had exploited and misled contributors. Understandably, a lot of people in Townhill were worried that we were going to do the same. As a community they’ve had a lot of bad press over the years leaving them hugely protective and proud of their home.
Benjamin chats to Townhill resident Ricky Simpson.
We were lucky to have the of the Phoenix Centre, the hub of the community run by Mike Durke, himself a Dylan Thomas fan. Mike introduced us to Townhill born and bred Ricky Simpson who is the Captain Cat of the estate; Ricky’s help was invaluable. Many hours were spent distributing leaflets and gaining the trust of the local residents.
We invited everybody to come along to Benjamin Zephaniah’s performance at the West End Social Club. Although we had done our best to connect with as many people as possible, we had no idea whether we would get five or five hundred through the door. The event was a success, Benjamin wowed a packed club with his own poetry as well as a heartfelt performance of Do Not Go Gentle. It was an evening that had people laughing, crying and on their feet applauding. The people of Townhill were onboard.
Benjamin performs his own poetry on stage at the West End Social Club, Townhill.
The auditions took place the following night and from there we had a core of 22 people aged between five and 81 who wanted to take part. We had our cast.
Antic Theatre’s Nikki Neale and Michael Waters, with the help of poet Rhian Edwards, got started on the rehearsals. The cast were asked to come along every Saturday to rehearse over a six week period as well as occasional weekday evenings. It was a big commitment for people who have complex lives to lead, children to care for and jobs to hold down.
In the early weeks, I felt huge relief when everyone arrived at the church hall and nobody had pulled out, but as the weeks went by I realised that they had become gripped by the process and were beginning to feel an ownership and a responsibility for what they were taking part in. They wanted it to be a success as much as we did.
It took time to get to know the individual characters within the cast but as we filmed with them, they revealed a humour and a humility that made us roar with laughter at times and moved us to tears at others.
Co-ordinating a cast of 22 strong-minded individuals to put on a theatre performance wasn’t the easiest task but it was great fun. The credit goes to the people of Townhill who threw themselves into it and gave it their all. I think they will agree that it was an unforgettable experience.
Full cast on stage during the performance at the Dylan Thomas Theatre, Swansea.
The challenge of wrestling the footage into a coherent programme narrative fell to Martyn Ingram and series producer, Ian Durham. With its modern language and colourful characters I think Dylan Thomas would be pleased with the outcome.
Ugly, Lovely Swansea: A Poet on the Estate is next on Sunday 4 May, at 10.25pm on BBC One Wales.
To discover more about the life, work and legacy of Welsh poet and broadcaster Dylan Thomas go to bbc.co.uk/dylanthomas.
