Chicago-born and stage-trained actor and play director Darryl Maximilian Robinson provides some intriguing details on a unique 1990 staged dramatic reading of the late, great Welsh Poet Dylan Thomas' "A Child's Christmas In Wales And More Tales at The Utopian Loft Theatre and Gallery in St. Louis, Missouri.
RECALLING A 1990 STAGE ADAPTATION OF "A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS IN WALES AND MORE TALES" BY DYLAN THOMAS AT THE UTOPIAN LOFT THEATRE AND GALLERY IN ST. LOUIS!;
Almost 35 years ago, in November of 1990, Adapter, Director, Producer and Narrator Darryl Maximilian Robinson ( The Founder of the multiracial, non-equity professional chamber theatres Excaliber Productions, Ltd. in St. Louis and The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago ) gathered a group of highly-talented actors including Suzette Sutton, Walter Roberts, Phillip H. Dennis and Christian Kohn to present a critically-praised, staged dramatic reading of the works of Welsh poet and storyteller Dylan Thomas entitled A Child's Christmas In Wales And More Tales at The Utopian Loft Gallery and Theatre in The Midtown District of The Gateway City.
In the November 27, 1990 edition of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, on page 36, the headline of the notice by the late and highly-respected theatre critic Joe Pollack gave a full assessment of the Excaliber Productions offering: An Evening Of Pure Poetry.
This theatre article is presented in appreciation of the fine and committed work of all of Excaliber Productions, Ltd. Company Members of St. Louis, Missouri and as part of The Excaliber Shakespeare Company Los Angeles Archival Project.
An Evening Of Pure Poetry
By Joe Pollack
Of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Staff
The St. Louis-Post-Dispatch
November 27, 1990
READING the works of Dylan Thomas is a delightful experience; hearing them read is a memorable one. The Welsh genius wrote poetry and prose that carry a special ring and rhythm, bursting like a great holiday fruitcake with passion, wit, exciting descriptions, the persistence of memory. All those wonderful qualities came bounding back through "A Child's Christmas in Wales and More Tales," read by Darryl Maximilian Robinson and four other actors in a production that opened last weekend and will continue Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at The Utiopian Loft Theatre, 3524 Washington Avenue.
The players of Excaliber Productions, as Robinson calls the company, almost outnumbered the patrons on Saturday night, and until 8:05 p.m., while Walter Arley Roberts was playing classical cello in what might have been termed an overture, I was facing the unique prospect of being the entire audience, all by myself.
It's a charming evening of readings, with all the players showing the proper respect for Thomas' words by making every one clear and understandable. Robinson is director and narrator, joined by Philip Dennis, Christian Kohn, Suzzette Sutton and Roberts, who doubles as an actor. Each did a solo reading, and the company worked together on "Quite Early One Morning" and "A Story (A Day's Outing)," which was the highlight.
Robinson, a Chicago-based actor who has worked with the Theatre Project Company here, read the classic "Child's Christmas" in splendid style, and brought forth all the humor in "The Song of the Mischievous Dog," a poem written by Thomas when he was 11 years old.
A shortcoming is that Robinson shows too many acting mannerisms that detract from the words he is reading. He was superior, however, as the narrator and boy in A Story," which Thomas describes as having occurred "when I was so high and much nicer." It's a funny, rousing tale of an annual outing by a group of Welsh friends whose aim is to drink the entire stock of every pub in the area.
The supporting players added the other characters with considerable charm. "Quite Early One Morning," a description of his hometown as its people begin a wintry day, also received a lovely reading by the group.
Sutton showed all the proper passion in "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," and Kohn impressed with "Gaspar, Melchior, Balthasar."
Thomas' work proves the beauty and power of English, and it's a pleasure to hear it so nicely treated.
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