Huw Fyw Review: A Sentimental Journey Through a Veteran's Living Room
Tudur Owen's Welsh-language play Huw Fyw presents an unashamedly heartfelt exploration of a curmudgeonly second world war veteran's life, anchored by exceptionally fine performances at Dance House in Cardiff. This production masterfully blends elements of fable with anguished terrain, delving into PTSD, generational trauma, social exclusion, and the heavy burden of irreconcilable grief.
Plot and Themes: From Windfalls to Emotional Depths
The narrative revolves around Huw, a WWII veteran portrayed by Owen himself, whose life takes an unexpected turn with a windfall, a clogged toilet, and a village trip to London in 1994. Huw Fyw, which translates to Huw Alive, initially sets up expectations for ironic punchlines but instead delivers a story told with absolute sincerity, wearing its heart unabashedly on its sleeve.
While the plotting occasionally veers towards the convoluted—listen for Chekhov's radio bulletin—the direction by Steffan Donnelly ensures cohesion and deftness. The emotional resolutions are surprising, avoiding predictable outcomes and adding depth to the veteran's journey.
Setting and Atmosphere: A Plausibly Compact World
Mostly confined to Huw's grimy living room, designed by Elin Steele with lighting by Elanor Higgins, the production feels plausibly compact and winningly persuasive. This simplicity, perhaps even a naivety, in the drama allows generous sentimentality to emerge as a poignant survival strategy, keeping horrors at bay until they are belatedly revealed.
Performances: Grounding the Action with Emotional Resonance
The sentimentality of Huw Fyw resists mawkishness thanks to four very fine performances. Tudur Owen brings depth to the eponymous role, while Leah Gaffey narrates and grounds the action with compelling presence. Owen Alun delivers quietly devastating portrayals in two roles, and Dafydd Emyr shines in a memorable moment, transitioning from a pensioner in a clerical collar to a giddy teenager with a single broad and silly smile.
Nostalgia and Impact: A Double Layer of Remoteness
Adding to the play's uncanniness is a strange double nostalgia, as it harks back to the 1990s—a period that now feels as remote as the 1940s might have seemed then. This temporal layering enriches the themes of memory and trauma, making the production resonate on multiple levels.
Huw Fyw is showing at Dance House, Cardiff, until 18 April, with a touring schedule extending until 8 May. This Welsh-language gem offers a powerful, sincere look at survival and sentimentality in the face of past horrors.
