Theatre Review: Branwen: Dadeni

A modern twist on traditional Welsh culture.

Summary

Rating: ★★★★★
Running Dates: 8th November - 11 November 2023
Where to see it: Wales Millennium Centre 
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes (including interval) 
Keywords: Cymraeg, Folk Tales, Musical

Review

A great production of the tale of Branwen and Bendigeidfran from the second branch of the Mabinogion. This musical adaptation gives a more modern twist the classic legend.

Firstly, I would like to congratulate the whole crew and actors for producing the largest Welsh language show to ever be staged at the Millennium Centre. This is an achievement in itself, but to also create such a powerful and amazing show as well, they should all be proud of themselves.

The show is a new musical adaptation of the classic Welsh folk tale of Branwen and Bendigeidfran. The music was much more modern than I was expecting, as it’s such a traditional story, I was half expecting it the music to also reflect this and to take closer inspiration from traditional Welsh folk music. At one point in the show I was really worried that it was going to go down a Disney Frozen storyline, when the two sisters are in a prison cell singing about strength and love. I was glad when this wasn’t the case, as I would’ve been really disappointed if it had turned the legend of Branwen into the next Disney movie. Although, ‘The Black Cauldron’ a Disney movie from the 1980s was inspired by this legend. The movie took inspiration from the Llŷr family’s magical cauldron that brings dead soldiers back alive to create a strong unbeatable army. 

Even though the show has a more modern twist to the legend it still has elements of traditional Welsh culture. The most obvious example is that the whole show is performed in the Welsh language, and tells the story of one of the Mabinogion folk tales. But they also have a harpist in the band who plays the harp throughout the whole show, and they perform some Welsh folk dancing when Branwen meets Matholwch, the king of Ireland, for the first time. I was really happy to see these nods to Wales’ rich heritage in the production. 

As part of making the production accessible to all they provided screens that translated everything the actors said and sang. These screens were similar to the subtitles the Millennium Centre provide in a number of their shows for those who are deaf. In this show they had 4 screens in total, 2 in English and 2 in Welsh. These were really useful throughout the show. Even though I have spoken Welsh my whole life there were a few words I wasn’t completely certain on the meaning of them, when I felt confused over a word I could look at the screens to clarify the meaning of them. I think this would really good for those learning to speak Welsh, as instead of watching Pobl y Cwm on S4C with subtitles, you could do the same thing here, but make it a night out as well. 

I can’t recommend this show enough, even if you don’t speak Welsh. My only disappointment with the show was that the soldiers sailed from Wales to Ireland, instead of being carried over on the shoulders of Bendigeidfram the giant like in the original legend. But I can understand the logistical difficulties of portraying this while performing on stage. 

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Cynhyrchiad gwych o’r chwedl Branwen a Bendigeidfran o’r ail gangen y Mabinogi. Sioe llawn canu a dawnsio yn rhoi twist newydd i’r chwedl. 

Yn gyntaf rydw i eisiau canmol yr holl griw a’r actorion am gynhyrchu’r sioe fwyaf yn yr iaith Gymraeg i gael ei llwyfannu yng Nghanolfan y Mileniwm erioed. Mae hwn yn gamp fawr i ddechrau gyda, ond i hefyd greu sioe mor bwerus a wych, dyle pawb sydd wedi cymryd rhan i greu'r cynhyrchiad yma bod yn falch iawn.

Cynhyrchiad gwych o’r chwedl Branwen a Bendigeidfran o’r ail gangen y Mabinogi. Sioe llawn canu a dawnsio yn rhoi addasiad newydd i’r chwedl. Roedd y caneuon yn fwy modern nag oeddwn i’n disgwyl, gan fod stori Branwen mor eiconig oeddwn i’n hanner ddisgwyl i’r gerddoriaeth bod fwy traddodiadol. Ar un adeg roeddwn i’n disgwyl y sioe cymryd ysbrydoliaeth o ‘Frozen’ pryd roedd y ddwy chwaer Branwen ac Efnisien yn gell yn canu am gryfder a chariad ar ôl i’r fam farw. Ar yr adeg yma roeddwn i’n poeni am weddill y sioe, doeddwn i ddim eisiau Branwen bod y ffilm Disney nesaf. Roeddwn i’n falch iawn pryd doeddwn nhw heb fynd lawr y ffordd yma. Gallaf ddeall eisiau creu addasiad mwy modern o’r chwedl i wneud y chwedl yn fwy addas i gynulleidfa ifanc, ond plîs peidiwch roi twist Disney ar stori mor draddodiadol Cymru. Er yn ôl bob sôn, mae’r ffilm Disney ‘The Black Cauldron’ wedi’i ysbrydoli gan y chwedl yma efo’r pair hudol y teulu Llŷr, sy’n gallu dadeni milwyr sydd wedi marw i greu byddin gref.

Er bod y sioe wedi rhoi twist mwy modern i’r chwedl maen nhw wedi cadw diwylliant Cymru yn y sioe hefyd. Yr enghraifft fwyaf amlwg yw bod yr holl sioe yn yr iaith Gymraeg, ac mae’r holl stori’r sioe yn chwedl eiconig y Mabinogi. Ond hefyd mae yna delyn yn y band yn chwarae trwy’r sioe, ac mae yna dipyn o ddawnsio gwerin pryd mae Branwen a Matholwch, brenin Iwerddon, yn gwrdd am y tro cyntaf. Roeddwn i’n falch o weld darnau o ddiwylliant moethus Cymru yn cael ei ddangos yn y cynhyrchiad.

Fel rhan o sicrhau bod y sioe yn addas i bawb, mae yna ddwy sgrin sydd yn cyfieithu popeth mae’r actorion yn ddweud ac yn canu. (Yn debyg i sioeau eraill yn y Ganolfan Mileniwm ble mae’r is-deitlau'r sioe ar gael ar sgrin i’r ochr y llwyfan am bobl fyddar.) Yn y sioe yma mae yna bedwar sgrin, ddwy yn y Saesneg a ddwy yn y Gymraeg. Roedd y sgriniau yma'n ddefnyddiol iawn, er fy mod i wedi tyfu lan yn siarad Cymraeg, roedd yna rhai geiriau yn y sioe doeddwn i ddim yn hollol siŵr o’r ystyr, felly roedd y sgriniau yn helpu ar yr adegau yma. Dwi’n credu bydd hwn yn gynhyrchiad gwych am ddysgwyr Cymraeg hefyd, yn lle wylio Pobl y Cwm efo is-deitlau i ymarfer eich Cymraeg gallwch neu hyn a chael noson allan. 

Ni allwn argymell y sioe yma'n fwy i bawb, hyd yn oes os dydych chi ddim yn siarad Cymraeg. Yr unig siom i fi oedd y ffaith oedd y milwyr wedi croesi’r môr efo cychod ddim ar ysgwyddau Bendigeidfran y cawr, fel mae’r chwedl yn disgrifio’n wreiddiol. Ond gallaf ddeall y problemau logisteg o wneud hwn ar lwyfan.

Written by Ceiran