The son of a schoolmaster and seamstress, Dylan Thomas was born October 27th, 1914. Thomas was a well known, and celebrated author during his own lifetime, not always the case with poets. He slipped into a coma and died at 39 (November 9th, 1953) while on one of his reading tours to America.
Dylan Thomas seemed to follow the somewhat alarming pattern of male poets of the time. Perhaps that hasn’t changed much. Promiscuity, the pitch black results of excessive drinking, raucousness, a keen grasp of mortality, and intuitive cunning. Sidney Michaels wrote the drama: Dylan, based on the writings of John Malcolm Brinnin and his wife, Caitlin Thomas.
Despite his easy manner, and charismatic bearing, he seemed to be in great emotional and psychological pain. His visits to America were a boost to his self-esteem and his bank account. Poets (even the successful ones) are notoriously poor, so the remuneration was a great benefit, such as it was. And who wouldn’t love the adoration and sexual recreation afforded them, as they traveled America? His wife Caitlin was a long-suffering spouse, though not one to suffer in silence. She was well-aware of his infidelities, however brief. I was intrigued that we could always see her lingerie, perhaps a metaphor the intense lovemaking they shared.
As is often the case, those closest to poets have no interest in what they do, but who they are. Unless, say like Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes: a married couple who were both poets. There is a scene towards the end when Dylan is visiting a bar. His doctor has warned him, emphatically, meticulously, and without equivocation, that even the smallest dose of liquor would be his undoing. He has surrounded himself with shot glasses of sparkling, golden, bourbon. The effect is dazzling.
What could we make of this? He left this realm living as boisterously as possible. He was hoping for a spectacular departure. He died indulging his most pleasurable pastime. That he was determined to mock the Grim Reaper? He certainly wasn’t the first artist to practice flagrant intimacy with death, and certainly not the last.
The Classics Theatre Project’s production of Dylan (directed by Jason Craig West) shines for its extraordinary high wire act. His flaws and the brilliance are laid out for everyone to see. You can’t really pity or feel sorry someone who does exactly what he wants. All the time. It seems fairly clear when the show starts that Mr. Thomas has one foot on a roller skate, the other on a banana peel. Even when he’s made commitments, they’ve got to drag him. We incidentally might hear two complete poems. When all you have left is tone, the tone must be impeccable. As near as I can tell, we are not expected to grieve. You might describe Dylan as a prolonged elegy. Strangely enough, that might just work.
The Classics Theatre Project presents Dylan, playing September 13th-October 5th, 2024. The Core Theatre, 518 W Arapaho Rd, Ste 115, Richardson, TX, United States, Texas (214) 923-3619. theclassicstheatreproject.com