Delivering a one-man monologue for an hour and a half is no easy feat. The ability to capture the attention of the audience for the entire duration of a theatrical performance requires the utmost skill, as well as the proficient knack of deploying different styles of delivery. Yet, Bob Kingdom did just that with a mesmerised audience for the opening night of his worldwide tour dedicated to Welsh poet, Dylan Thomas.
Return Journey is a tribute not only to the majesty of words but also to the power of sole performance. Drifting between poetry recitation and random ramblings, Kingdom’s personification of his fellow Welshman is the epitome of theatrical craft.
From the moment Bob Kingdom steps onto the stage in the intimate Street One, his deep, resonating voice transfixes the theatre. Fluttering between booming crescendos and rolling, lyrical, assonance, Kingdom provides a powerful vehicle for Thomas’ words. Whether he is delivering gibes about T.S Eliot, interjecting humorous anecdotes about his uncle’s wife or describing the wondrous Welsh countryside around Thomas’ birthplace of Swansea, Kingdom’s impeccable delivery smacks of consummate professionalism.
Having toured extensively with the show across several continents amassing over 80,000 viewers worldwide, Kingdom has certainly had the opportunity to perfect his craft. The payoff is well worth it with a polished performance that will unfortunately retire in its prime since Kingdom will be rounding off his tour soon due to ill health. Being well into his 70s it’s a marvel that Kingdom can maintain the stamina to prolong the 80 minute performance without an interval. Yet he sustains the pace and rhythm of the show without any hint of a lull, starting out initially with light-hearted yarns that highlight Thomas’ dry wit before divulging into the more recognisable lines of poetry that reflect the writer’s battle with alcoholism, which ultimately cut short his life at 39.
Anthony Hopkins’ direction makes no pretences in the delivery of the performance. A lectern lit with a single spotlight illuminates a bow-tie adorned Kingdom, replete with comfortable skate shows. A lone black chair forms the only other prop on stage which later performs a purely utilitarian purpose. The spotlight alternates between a stark white singular beam and a moodier toned bluer theme. Besides the crisp period era recording played to herald Kingdom’s entrance to and departure from the stage, no other sound effects are deployed. Kingdom’s minimal use of physicality and expression make it clear that the focus of the play is solely and squarely on the spoken word.
Return Journey’s piecing together of poetry, discourse and impersonations forms a narrative structure that would struggle in any other context. However, the commonality of affinity with the Wales homeland ties the performer, poet, director and subject-matter of the production neatly together in an evocative package. The result is a transformative experience that breathes new life into the familiar, haunting lines of Thomas’ work, such as ‘And death shall have no dominion’ and ‘Do not go gentle into that good night’. Enthusiasts of the spoken word will no doubt be enthralled with this recreation of Thomas’ work made up of various tomes and signifying a key event as part of the 2014 Centenary of Dylan Thomas in celebration of his work.
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Dylan Thomas: Return Journey
The Street Theatre
Performed by Bob Kingdom
Directed by Anthony Hopkins
21-25 July 2015
