Our new cover created by illustrator Georgia Wieczorek
I’m honoured to be bringing a third series of Welsh stories to you this Friday.
With everything that’s going on at the moment I was unsure of whether now was the right time to produce another series. Would I be in the right mindset to do it, would people want to be interviewed and talk about their work when work at the moment has stopped or is continuously changing?
But, ultimately the reason I started this podcast was to provide a platform for people based in Wales to share their stories, inspirations and work – something to celebrate even more at the moment.
This series, I have reached out to different members of the community. I hope what this series brings is a connection between us all and a little bit of joy when we need it most.
This week Daisy sat down with friend Caitlin Wood to find out more about her time as an exchange student here in Wales, how she's adapting to teaching theatre over zoom and about her life in the US.
It actually hit me today; the fact that I’m not going to see people for such a long time. It had hit me before this, but rather than it being a gust of wind hitting me in the face, this time it was more like a massive slap in the face.
The worst bit is we don’t know when this is going to end. I’m a person who likes deadlines, and work best when I have something to aim for. If we all knew ‘hey, we’ll be back to normal on June 11th at 12pm’ I think we’d feel a whole lot better. But the reality is we’re all floating around trying to keep busy, whether that’s exercising (nope), drinking (YES) or something else; such as investing time planning my amazing fashion ensembles (see example 1 below)…
My amazing fashion ensembles
And I’m one of the lucky ones who is living with someone I like and enjoy spending time with, but it can still be difficult with us both working from home. There have been numerous interrupted zoom calls by one of us going to grab a cuppa from the kitchen or grabbing a pair of socks from the office/bedroom.
I have also started working 10 hours a week in my local shop after losing many of my freelance contracts (like so many other colleagues I know). This can be soul crushing on many different levels. But on the one hand, I’m glad I’ve found something to keep me busy 2 days a week. It gets me out of the house and there have been some lovely customers thanking us for being there. But then on the other, unwashed & unsanitized hand, you have the customers who are just plain ridiculous. There’s no other way to say it really. I’m not going to get into the details but let’s just say that this experience has really opened my eyes to how non-sensical and short-sighted humanity can be.
In reality, I know I’m extremely fortunate. I’m being supported by a great theatre company (Theatr na nOg) who are letting me work with them from home, I have great family, friends and colleagues that I can connect with over Zoom, Whatsapp, carrier pigeon…
And I’m fortunate to have this podcast, with the aim of connecting with people all around Wales. How totally brilliant is it that? I have this as an excuse to talk to people! Connecting with friends, colleagues or strangers and learning about what they’re passionate about is the greatest gift I could have asked for in a time like this.
I hope to connect with as many amazing Welshies as possible over the coming weeks, and I hope it brings you a sense of community as we move forward. Whether you’re self-isolating, working in the NHS, a delivery driver, post-y or working from home I hope you find something here that brings you joy.
Of course I’ll be recording these episodes remotely (goes without saying) but it will only make the time I get face-to-face with everyone all the more special when we can enjoy a cuppa in each-others company again.
This week Daisy sat down with friend Caitlin Wood to find out more about her time as an exchange student here in Wales, how she's adapting to teaching theatre over zoom and about her life in the US.
Through the scheme, I’ve also had the opportunity to work on a production with Parama 2 called Tic Toc, and as we move into our final week of rehearsals, I wanted to take a moment to tell you a little about it.
Tic Toc tells the story of a group of women who worked together in a factory in South Wales up until the factory was closed in the late 80’s. Now in 2019 a reunion is being planned, but one person has not been invited… Cue the drama!
Directed and written by Valmai Jones, we see how close these women are through moments of reminiscing, laughter and trials and the score, written by Catrin Edwards takes us through our characters’ journeys as they strive for equal pay and acceptance.
My role as Assistant Director has been to support the whole
company and it has been great to try my hand at all areas of production. One
thing in particular I have loved doing is working on emotional moments in the
play, something Valmai does extremely brilliantly and it’s been a joy to see
these scenes shape and grow.
The show, as well as being a massively emotional and poignant piece has side splitting hilarious moments brought about not only by the script but by the actors’ performances. Which brings me to the cast, who are an absolute joy and are beyond talented. I have laughed non-stop and have been moved by their performances brining these characters to life. Seeing the relationship between Gillian Elisa, Lowri-Ann Richards and Clare Hingott’s characters grow as the family unit of the show and the sad pasts of Ri Richards, Olwen Rees and Mary-Anne Roberts’ characters come to light has been an invaluable and moving experience.
That’s why my Wonderful Welshies this week are the brilliant company of Tic Toc and the real-life factory workers of South Wales on which this story is based on. Their stories reflecting on Welsh landscape and community that’s changed in the 21st century. When I set up Have Another Cuppa, telling these stories were the main reason why I wanted to meet and have conversations with Welsh people and being on a project like Tic Toc just reminds me of that.
I have to say a big thank you to Theatr Gen and Parama 2 for allowing me to be a part of this great production.
This week Daisy sat down with friend Caitlin Wood to find out more about her time as an exchange student here in Wales, how she's adapting to teaching theatre over zoom and about her life in the US.
I’m so glad Pete agreed to be a guest on the podcast. At 90 years old he still has more energy than me! I’ve known him since I was 9 and he always makes me laugh out loud when I see him and I’m honoured he shared some personal stories with me during our chat.
Pete was born on July 11th 1929 in Newport. He’s served in the army, was a comedian, radio presenter, performer and everything else in between and during our episode you’ll hear about ALL of his adventures. But I’m not going to say more. I’ll let Pete tell you himself when the episode airs on July 30th.
So excited that Jennie agreed to come on the podcast. I’ve known her for a few years now and I was really interested to learn more about her job as a lawyer. She’s originally from Cornwall but has been living in Cardiff since moving here to go to University in Swansea 8 years ago. She has lived in Cardiff for over 5 years working as a lawyer first and has now gone on to complete her Masters and is currently doing her PhD at Cardiff University.
It was brilliant to sit down and talk to her about her research, some of which has just been featured in a new book; ‘Problems of Debt: Explorations of life, love and finance.’ I learnt some really interesting things talking with her, not just about her career but also about her move to Wales and learning Welsh and I am so excited for you all to listen to the episode.
A big welcme to our next guest Carys Wehden. Carys is currently studying an MA in Arts Management at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama and earlier this month I got to sit down with her to talk about her course and her passion for accessibility in the arts as well as finding out why she decided to go back into education.
At the moment Carys is taking on her first solo project as part of her placement at the Sherman Theatre; ‘Sherman Plays’ which is taking part on the 4th of July. The aim of the project is to welcome an older audience into the theatre by supporting with transport and other elements of the day. Here’s the link for more information about the project on the Sherman’s website.
Delighted to announce that Rosey Cale is our next guest. Rosey is a Country pop artist and actress based in Pembrokeshire and it was great to talk to her about her writing, performances and new projects coming up over the next few months. I met Rosey over 5 years ago at University and we have worked together professionally since in the theatre world, so it was great to get an insight into the different world of music.
Her most recent song ‘Mary Jane’ was released in March and you can have a listen to all of her songs (my personal favourite is ‘Whiskey Than Wine/Y Gytgan Anghyflawn) on her website – http://www.roseycale.com/
Our second guest is the brilliant Rhian Hutchings, Creative Director of Operasonic, a company based in Newport who is passionate about Opera and young people; “We enable young people to own opera, as audiences, as participants, as creators, as leaders. Young people need contemporary opera created on their terms and in their communities, venues, schools, and online spaces. The opera of the future should be driven by them”.
I loved sitting down with Rhian and talking about the company and how she discovered Opera, and you’ll all be able to hear it on July the 2nd!
Tom, originally from Barry is an actor who has been based in London for the past 10 years. He’s recently moved back to Cardiff and as well as acting is producing his own TV script. He’s worked with many theatre companies like Arad Goch, Theatr Clwyd, Theatr na nOg and Illumine Theatre as well as appeared in different television and film productions.
I’ve known him for the past 4 years and I’m so pleased I got to sit down with him and talk abut his experience as an actor living in London and what it’s been like returning to Wales.
His episode will air on June the 25th, so make sure you all tune in and listen.
Have another cuppa 