Y Llyn reviewed: Bando! bring Welsh culture and language to life in motion

Molly Stubbs

While herding his meagre stock of cattle, Gwyn comes across the reflection of a beautiful woman in a lake. She emerges from the Otherworld and agrees to marry the farmhand.

So in love is the lady of the lake that she brings with her into the human world a few cows of the lake too. She tells Gwyn that they will live a life wealthy in both love and money unless he hits her three times, in which case she will return whence she came and take the cows back with her.

In the interest of good plot structure, Gwyn, though initially promising he will never lay a hand to her, breaks this promise and loses his love and wealth. That is the (very condensed version of the) legend of Llyn Y Fan Fach.

Despite growing up in Wales, I had very little exposure to Welsh fables and fairytales such as this.

After reading the Mabinogion in its simplest translation, I made a point to rectify this in adulthood, not only because these stories provide connection to those who came before us, but also as I may indeed tell them myself someday.

So, when I was offered to see Y Llyn, an adaptation of Llyn Y Fan Fach by new theatre collective Bando!, I had my seat secured four months in advance.

At the Richard Burton Theatre on the 23rd of January 2025, I joined a sold-out crowd for a “story-telling experience…with music, movement and both Welsh and English.” Greeted by Stacey Blythe, Bando!’s resident musician, playing accordion, we took our seats.

Charm

Since we’re here, let’s begin with Blythe. As a multi-instrumentalist, the aforementioned accordion was one of two she played during the show, alongside harp and organ and, most notably, her voice.

Owing in part to the theatre’s acoustics and majorly to Blythe’s awe-inspiring control, every note rang out so strong it created its own backing track.

That there was no additional sound in the performance bar some well-timed sound effects made little difference.

Blythe provided a sonic landscape so rich that any canned melodies would’ve not only been unnecessary but an insult to her talent.

In due time, Blythe was joined on stage by Eeva-Maria Mutka, Bando!’s movement artist, in tinkerbellian green.

The only performer to embody a single character on stage throughout, Mutka did so fully and until the very end. With no dialogue, her charm and cheekiness expressed only through movement, she became whole alongside the narrative.

Each beat peeled back layer after layer so that her full command of the role was only appreciated in witnessing every second.

Now, bear with me here as the audience bore with the production. Initially faced with fifteen minutes of flowing dance and Blythe’s accompaniment, Mutka’s work struck slight fear into me.

Her movement was calming, but I did begin to wonder whether I’d in fact signed myself up for an hour of silent storytelling shared through waving arms and writhing on the floor. I’m sure there are those out there with the artistic sensibilities necessary to appreciate such a performance, but I am most certainly not one of them.

Hard to describe how relieved I was, then, when storyteller Michael Harvey bounded out from the wing. With Bando!’s trio of music, movement, and narration all present and accounted for, Y Llyn’s first spoken lines spilled out into the auditorium.

This interpretation of the original legend is told in both Welsh and English, but rather than translate lines directly, essentially sharing the whole thing twice for anyone who’s bilingual, the switch between languages was used to push the plot forward.

Through use of tone and gesture on part of Harvey, and some contextual analysis on part of the audience, the Welsh lines that I would not have understood if offered on their lonesome became as clear as those in English.

It helped that much of the Welsh used felt very familiar, as if my primary school teachers were once again addressing a gaggle of unruly children.

This familiar lexis, archetypal on part of the mother and Gwyn, both ‘played’ by Harvey, also lent itself well to the performance’s more humorous moments.

Epiphany

At around the halfway point, as Harvey’s Gwyn and Mutka’s lady of the lake came together in dance, I shared in an epiphany of how those with no common ground accomplish communication through motion.

Herein lies Y Llyn’s greatest strength, and it’s one I hope subsequent productions from Bando! will replicate.

With that in mind, I probably could have imagined the story’s locations through the performers’ mime. Even so, there was a quaint set present throughout.

Maximalist by no means — structurally it included only a doorframe, a stool, and a washing line — it did a lot through texture. Dried flowers and herbs used for their crisp crunching, rusted and shining pots clanged at the climax, and soft fabrics forming the border between our world and that of the lake married the visual and auditory exactly as the performers did.

Additionally, a cane and a few pebbles made up the prop selection, and achieved much of the same sensory immersion.

As for Y Llyn’s interpretation of the original legend, I enjoyed the extended attention to each story beat, even if it did start to become slightly repetitive in its latter half.

Director Paula Crutchlow is owed praise here, bringing together the performers in complement, their individual roles bolstering each of the others.

Usually at this point in the review I would tell you whether or not Y Llyn is worth your time and money, and send you off to the Richard Burton Theatre’s website to buy your tickets.

But, since the show’s run ended with the performance I attended, I now find myself in the curious position of not needing to do that at all.

So, what else is there to say other than that Bando! succeeded in paying homage and adding to Welsh culture, and gave this writer a belated but appreciated introduction to the stories of her homeland.

I would encourage you to, as the saying goes, watch this space because I’m sure there is much more of the like to come from Bando! in the future.

Y Llyn ran from 14 September 2024 to 23 January 2025 in various venues around Wales.

Find out more about the show and its performers at Bando!’s website.