Iphigenia yn Sblot

Made at Sherman Performances in Welsh Theatre

Written by Gary Owen

Directed by Alice Eklund

Overview

10 - 28 Sep 2024 (on tour)

Various

Further details

Language: Welsh (with captions in English)
Space : Studio
Duration: Approx. 85 minutes

Important Information

This production contains strong language, sexual references, sensitive themes and scenes which some audience members may find upsetting. For more information click here.

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Powerful. Urgent. Compelling.

Experience this modern Welsh classic in a major new production.

It’s nearly a decade since Gary Owen’s heart-wrenching Iphigenia in Splott took the world by storm, entrancing audiences and critics alike, winning awards and becoming an international smash-hit.

Now, in 2024, one of the most important plays in Welsh theatre history returns more relevant and resonant than ever. Alice Eklund’s powerful production of this new Welsh translation urgently brings this devastating classic to life once more, with a powerhouse performance from Seren Hamilton. Full of raw emotion, empathy, compassion and heart, this searing one woman play is a shattering wake-up call.

Performed in Welsh. Captions in English will be available at every performance.

Stumbling down Clifton Street drunk at 11.30am, Effie is the kind of girl you’d avoid. You think you know her, but you don’t know the half of it. Effie’s life spirals through a whirlwind of drink, drugs and drama every night, with a hangover worse than death the next day. Until one night she finds the chance to be something more.

Five things you need to know about Iphigenia yn Sblot:

Iphigenia yn Sblot’s title is a reference to Greek mythology
Iphigenia yn Sblot is inspired by the Greek character Iphigenia, who was offered as a sacrifice to appease a goddess and for the greater good of the Greeks. Gary Owen’s play takes the theme of sacrifice and applies it to our contemporary society.

Iphigenia yn Sblot is a new Welsh translation of Gary Owen’s smash hit play
First performed at the Sherman in 2015, Iphigenia in Splott went on to be performed internationally at locations including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the National Theatre in London, 59E59 Theatres in New York, The Schaübhne in Berlin and the Avignon Festival. Most recently it was revived at the Lyric Hammersmith in London. The play’s success led to it being featured on the Guardian’s list of “The 50 Best Theatre Shows of the 21st Century”.

The play uses the Welsh you might hear around Cardiff every day
This new Welsh language translation of Iphigenia yn Sblot captures Effie’s character through the way she speaks. Director Alice Eklund says “it feels like the Welsh that I heard when I was growing up, the kind of Welsh I shared with friends at school, the Welsh I hear now around the city.” The production also features integrated English captions at every performance.

Iphigenia yn Sblot’s design is inspired by Splott itself
The set, lighting and projection design weave together imagery from around Splott. Composer and sound Designer Tic Ashfield uses sounds recorded in Splott to create music embedded in the local area.

The creative team features some familiar names and a brand new face
Iphigenia yn Sblot introduces Seren Hamilton in her first professional role, directed by Alice Eklund (Associate Director Tales of the Brothers Grimm, Assistant Director Hansel and / a Gretel). Gary Owen’s work is familiar to Sherman audiences, with Romeo and Julie a hit in 2023, and A Christmas Carol returning to the Sherman this Christmas following its 2019 run.

Y stêt ar chi.
Yn eistedd nôl, taking it easy, disgwyl i fi
Be?
Impresso chi, amazo chi? Dangos chi be sy ‘da fi?
Wel, bechgyn a merched, ladies a gents, ‘fraid not.
Chi di cael pethau back to front, arse about tit
Ac mae upside chi’n definitely down. Chos fi’n gwybod be chi’n meddwl
Pan chi’n gweld fi’n pissed peth cynta y bore
Chi’n meddwl
Stupid slag. Nasty skank.
Wel guesso beth? Heno
Chi lot fan hyn i diolch
I fi.
Yeah, fi’n gwbod mae’n sioc.
Ond chi lot, pob un o chi….
You’re in my debt.
A heno – bechgyn a merched, boni-whatevers…
I’ve come to collect.

Funded by Arts Council of Wales

Seating in the Studio is unreserved. Choose Your Price allows you to select how much you would like to pay for your seat.

Audiences across Wales will also have an opportunity to see Iphigenia yn Sblot.

Wales-wide tour:

10-11 September 2024
Swansea Grand Theatre

12 September 2024
The Met Theatre, Abertillery

13 September 2024
Ffwrnes, Llanelli

14 September 2024
Awel y Môr, Porthcawl

17 September 2024
Mwldan, Cardigan

18 September 2024
Torch Theatre, Milford Haven

19-20 September 2024
Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tydfil

24 September 2024
Theatr Brycheiniog, Brecon

25 September 2024
Aberystwyth Arts Centre

26 September 2024
Neuadd Dwyfor, Pwllheli

28 September 2024
Galeri Caernarfon

Cast

Biography

Seren is currently completing her final year studying Acting at Rose Bruford College of Performing Arts. Her recent productions include Monica Page in To Sir With Love, Imogen…

Seren Hamilton: Effie

Creatives

Gary Owen: Writer

Alice Eklund: Director

Jacob Hughes: Designer

Katy Morison: Lighting Designer

Tic Ashfield: Composer & Sound Designer

Ryan Samuel Davies: Caption and Video Designer

Laura Meaton: Movement Director

Writer

Recent work includes: Romeo & Julie, a new play directed by Rachel O’Riordan, co-produced by the National Theatre and the Sherman Theatre, starring Callum Scott Howells and Rosie Sheehy; The Cherry Orchard, directed by Rachel O’Riordan for the Sherman Theatre, which translated the action of the play to 1980s Pembrokeshire, at the beginning of the Thatcher era; Killology, a co-production between the Sherman Theatre and the Royal Court and directed by Rachel O’Riordan, which won Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre at the 2018 Olivier Awards; Violence and Son for the Royal Court, which was nominated for an Olivier in 2016, and its star David Moorst won Best Emerging Talent at the Evening Standard Awards and Most Promising Newcomer at the Critics’ Circle Awards for his performance as Liam. In 2015, Gary wrote Iphigenia in Splott, which was directed by Rachel O’Riordan for the Sherman Theatre. After two sell-out runs at the Sherman, Iphigenia ran for a month at the National Theatre in London, toured the UK, played at the FIND festival at Thomas Ostemeier’s Schaubühne Theatre in Berlin and at the E59E Theater in Manhattan. Iphigenia in Splott won the UK Theatre Best New Play award and the James Tait Black Prize for Drama, and earned its lead, Sophie Melville, a Stage Award for Acting Excellence and an Evening Standard Award nomination for Best Actress, and has since been produced all over the world. The original production was revived to huge acclaim at the Lyric Hammersmith in autumn 2022. In 2024, Methuen will publish a Student Edition of the text with an introduction by Dr Lucy Jackson. In 2009 Gary adapted A Christmas Carol for the Sherman Theatre, directed by Amy Hodge. In 2021 Joe Murphy staged a brand new production of Gary’s adaptation, which relocated the play to Victorian Cardiff, and that production will be revived by the Sherman in 2024. Earlier work includes: Crazy Gary’s Mobile Disco, The Shadow of a Boy (winner George Devine and Meyer Whitworth awards), The Drowned World (winner Fringe First and Pearson Best Play awards), Ghost City, Amgen, We That Are Left, Blackthorn, Mrs Reynolds and the Ruffian (adapted by Meic Povey as Mrs Reynolds a’r Cena Bach), Perfect Match, Free Folk and Love Steals us from Loneliness. He has adapted Spring Awakening and La Ronde for RWCMD, and for children written Pen-blwydd Poenus Pete and Hartleby, Ooglemoore and Jeramee, a collaboration with Tim Crouch. He is a trustee of the Sherman Theatre, and part of the advisory panel of Grand Ambition at the Swansea Grand. His plays have been translated into more than a dozen languages, produced all over the world, and are published by Methuen.

Composer & Sound Designer

Tic Ashfield is a BAFTA Cymru award-winning composer and sound designer living in South Wales who studied at RWCMD. For Sherman Theatre: Housemates (& Hijinx Theatre); Heart of Cardiff (radio play series); Lung Water (online - National Theatre Wales / Sherman Theatre / Chippy Lane Productions); Constellation Street (online - National Theatre Wales / Sherman Theatre / The Other Room); Ripples (online - National Theatre Wales / Sherman Theatre / RWCMD). Theatre & Dance includes: Kill Thy Neighbour (Theatr Clwyd / Torch Theatre); Meta vs Life (Hijinx Theatre); Es & Flo (Wales Millennium Centre / Kiln Theatre); Pijin/Pigeon (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru / Theatr Iolo); Right Where We Left Us (Chippy Lane Productions); The Boy With Two Hearts (Wales Millennium Centre / National Theatre); Anthem (Wales Millennium Centre); Y Teimlad (online - National Youth Arts Wales); Rocket Launch Blaenavon (Tin Shed Theatre); Qwerin (Osian Meilir); Ghost Light (Ffwrnes Theatre); Are You O.K.? (online - Hijinx Theatre); Metamorphosis (online - Hijinx Theatre); Pryd Mae’r Haf? (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru); A Number, All But Gone, The Awkward Years, American Nightmare, The Story, Hela (The Other Room); The Gathering, {150}, The Tide Whisperer, For As Long As The Heart Beats, Storm III (National Theatre Wales); On Bear Ridge (National Theatre Wales / The Royal Court); Dear To Me | Annwyl i mi (National Dance Company Wales); The Invisible Woman (Alisa Jenkins); Peeling (Taking Flight Theatre); Cracked (Emily Hinshelwood); Blue (Chippy Lane Productions); Bottom (Willy Hudson); Richard III, Henry VI, Romeo & Juliet (Omidaze Productions); Saturday Night Forever (Joio), Momentos of Leaving, Moment(o)s (Elaine Paton); Hard Times (Lighthouse Theatre); Cold Rolling (Ballet Cymru); My People (Gwyn Emberton Dance); Tir Sir Gar (Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru). Film and television includes: Tree On A Hill (BBC/S4C); The Light In The Hall, STAD, Bregus, Hel Y Mynydd, Pili Pala (S4C); Hidden | Craith, Hinterland | Y Gwyll (S4C/BBC); Galesa (Joio); Andrew Marr: Great Scots (BBC2); The Girl In The Diary (S4C).