Wales Arts Review is proud to present our picks for the best of May 2017 for all things relating to the arts in Wales.
Best of May 2017:
Outstanding Achievement
International Dylan Thomas Day
A huge celebration of Wales’ iconic poet around May 14th, from New York to Argentina.
Live Music
John Cale: The Velvet Underground and Nico Reimagined
In the week of the atrocity in Manchester Craig Austin visits Liverpool Sound City to witness John Cale’s reimagination of The Velvet Underground’s debut album and a powerful display of civic solidarity.
Visual Arts
Diffusion: Cardiff’s International Festival of Photography
Revolution is the theme as Gary Raymond explores the opening night of Cardiff’s International Festival of Photography.
Theatrical Production
The Trials of Oscar Wilde (Mappa Mundi & Theatr Mwldan)
Nigel Jarrett is at the Abergavenny Borough Theatre to cast a critical eye over Mappa Mundi and Theatr Mwldan’s production of Merlin Holland and John O’Connor’s The Trials of Oscar Wilde.
Book of the Month
Discovering Dylan Thomas by John Goodby
In the second part of our series in the lead up to Dylan Day, Professor John Goodby explores the influences on Dylan Thomas, what we can learn from them, and how they helped form his work.
Event
Wales Arts Review Special Print Edition
Even is we do say so ourselves.
Television and Radio
Three Girls (BBC) and Little Boy Blue (ITV)
Gary Raymond shares his opinion on ITV’s Little Boy Blue and BBC’s Three Girls and draws comparisons between the two productions.
Blog of the Month
May’s Artist in Residence, Durre Shahwar, invited various people to share their experiences of mental health in a series of blogs. Here, motherhood and perinatal OCD is explored in a piece called, Mother Love by Cath Beard. Throughout 2017 artists, including Durre Shahwar will take a leading creative role in what Wales Arts Review publishes, centring their skills on a challenging project over the course of a month. We were inundated with applications, receiving hundreds of emails about the positions, and it was no easy task whittling down all that talent to this final eleven. Our team of six editors debated long into the night, and in the end, we decided on a collection of people who we most want to work with, and whose work excites us. We think you will be excited by them too.
Best in Music
A true fusion of Welsh and Indian folk and classical music with a healthy injection of Big Fun-era Miles Davis.
