UNCLEAN BEASTS / BWYSTFILOD AFLAN

for Music Theatre Wales

2024

Composer Conor Mitchell

Libretto Conor Mitchell & Jac Ifan Moore

Conductor Iwan Davies

Choreographer Eddie Ladd

Director Jac Ifan Moore

Design Elin Steele

Lighting Design Andy Pike

Sound Design Sion Orgon

Cast Eddie Ladd, Elgan Llyr Thomas & Sinfonia Cymru

Photography

“Filth!”

“On your knees and beg for forgiveness”

Cancelled and reviled in the media, Edward Prosser Rhys had to face a storm of abuse in reaction to his poem ATGOF winning one of Wales’s most prestigious cultural prizes. He dared to speak the truth through art, but was met with shock and repulsion.

This was 100 years ago, but it might just as well have been today, when voices daring to diverge from the norm are still met with resistance.

Edward Prosser Rhys's depictions of sex and lust and inclusion of a romance between two young men in his poem was a bold reflection of his reality, challenging the societal norms of his time, a time when homosexuality was still illegal, and would be for another 40 years. Yet, it was the response of those who chose to both "rebuke and reward" his creative expression that truly highlighted the era's complexities and biases.

Following his outrageously successful, Abomination: A DUP Opera, Conor Mitchell once again crafts an operatic exploration into the heart of societal upheaval.

This newly commissioned performance combines an operatic monologue performed by tenor Elgan Llŷr Thomas, and a reflective piece by dancer/actor Eddie Ladd. Bwystfilod Aflan will scrutinise the societal shockwaves triggered by Atgof, probing into the changes within the country, its retained secrets, and the undercurrents of modernism. Through the lens of opera, dance and film, we witness the clash between enduring beliefs and the imperative for change.

"Pollute and corrupt”

“better suited to Sodom and Gomorrah than to Wales”