Dylan Thomas
Writing
Biography
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion"; the 'play for voices' Under Milk Wood; and stories and radio broadcasts such as "A Child's Christmas in Wales" and "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog". He became widely popular in his lifetime and remained so after his premature death at the age of 39 in New York City. By then he had acquired a reputation, which he had encouraged, as a "roistering, drunken and doomed poet". Thomas was born at the family home in Cwmdonkin Drive in the Uplands district of Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales, in 1914. An undistinguished pupil, he left school at 16 and became a journalist for a short time. Many of his works appeared in print while he was still a teenager; however, it was the publication in 1934 of "Light breaks where no sun shines" that caught the attention of the literary world. While living in London, Thomas met Caitlin Macnamara, whom he married in 1937. Their relationship was defined by alcoholism and was mutually destructive. In the early part of their marriage, Thomas and his family lived hand-to-mouth; they settled in the Welsh fishing village of Laugharne/Talacharn in Carmarthenshire. Thomas came to be appreciated as a popular poet during his lifetime, though he found earning a living as a writer difficult. He began augmenting his income with reading tours and radio broadcasts. His radio recordings for the BBC during the late 1940s brought him to the public's attention, and he was frequently used by the BBC as a populist voice of the literary scene. Thomas first travelled to the United States in the 1950s. His readings there brought him a level of fame, while his erratic behaviour and drinking worsened. His time in America cemented his legend, however, and he went on to record to vinyl such works as "A Child's Christmas in Wales". During his fourth trip to New York in 1953, after a night at the White Horse Inn, Greenwich Village, Thomas became gravely ill and fell into a coma, from which he never recovered. He died on 9 November 1953 at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Greenwich Village. His body was returned to Wales where he was interred at the village churchyard in Laugharne on 25 November 1953. The grace is marked by a simple white wooden cross. Though Thomas wrote exclusively in the English language, he has been acknowledged as one of the most important Welsh poets of the 20th century. He is noted for his original, rhythmic and ingenious use of words and imagery. His position as one of the great modern poets has been much discussed, and he remains popular with the public.
Known For
In Victorian England, graverobbers supply a wealthy doctor with bodies to research anatomy on, but greed causes them to seek an easier means of getting the job done.
The Doctor and the Devils
It's Christmas Eve in Wales. A young boy named Thomas is excited about the holiday, but he's also disappointed because it's raining instead of snowing. His grandfather gives him an old snow globe as an early Christmas present and starts telling colorful, amusing stories about his childhood Christmases that are shown in flashback. Thomas keeps asking his grandfather more questions because he likes the stories and because he doesn't want to go to bed. His parents finally insist that he go to bed, and his grandfather tells him one last story about going to bed on Christmas night while listening to his family singing carols downstairs. After Thomas falls asleep at last, his grandfather opens the bedroom window and sees falling snowflakes.
A Child's Christmas in Wales
The delightful if peculiar story of a day in the life of a small, Welsh fishing village called "Llareggub" in which we meet a host of curious characters (and ghosts) through the 'eyes' of Blind Captain Cat.
Under Milk Wood
An all star cast unite to perform a distinctive BBC Wales Television adaptation of Dylan Thomas's radio play, presented in collaboration with National Theatre Wales, to mark the centenary of Dylan Thomas' birth. The plot reveals the innermost thoughts of the residents of the small, Welsh fishing village Llareggub as it delves into the dreams of various townspeople including blind sailor Captain Cat, who is haunted by visions of drowned shipmates, Mog Edwards and Myfanwy Price, who dream of each other, and Mrs. Ogmore Pritchard, who dreams of her former husbands.
Under Milk Wood
Young aristocrat Anthony Raine returns home from India to find the farmers of Pembrokeshire protesting about the rates of a tollgate run by The Whitman Turnpike Trust, headed by the drunken Lord Sarn. So Raine dons a mask and, calling himself Rebecca, instructs his followers to dress as women as they attack the tolls, leading the common people to victory over their masters.
Rebecca's Daughters
Sheffield stands in as 'Smokedale', an industrial Everytown, in this stirring call for "new schools, new hospitals, new roads, new life", after WWII.
New Towns for Old
A young boy is sent to spend a summer with his charismatic and eccentric grandfather on a remote Welsh farm. Expecting dull days and strict rules, the boy instead stumbles into a world of delightful chaos and imagination – where outrageous stories are spun, and a world of wonder, memory, and mischief unfolds.
A Visit to Grandpa’s
A community is sleeping. If you listen closely, you can hear their dreams. The retired sea captain yearning for his lost love. The landlady living in terror of her guests. A father who can no longer access his memories. A son in search of redemption. As they awake to boiled eggs and the postman, the residents of a small Welsh village juggle old secrets and new realities.
National Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood
A journey into the BBC archives unearthing glorious performances and candid interviews from some of Britain's greatest poets.
Great Poets: In Their Own Words
One-off period comedy, peeping into the lives of a south Wales family's Christmases across the 1980s, written by comedian Mark Watson and inspired by a Dylan Thomas short story. Christmas in this household may be a less than poetic affair, but it is just as eventful. So much changes across a decade in any family, and yet so much manages to remain the same.
A Child's Christmases in Wales
Three older sisters live on their family estate in Wales. This household once proudly reigned over a mining town, but the mines dried up and the estate and the town have fallen on hard times. When the land crumbles and a number of homes in the town are destroyed the sisters promise to rebuild the homes.
The Three Weird Sisters
The social democrats of the sixties and seventies worked on their grand plan to build a highway network in Germany that every German citizen could reach within five minutes of their home. The little film hangs around between and on the streets of this network - where the country discos, pedestrian zones, shopping centers, hospitals and roads home are behind noise barriers.
Broads
A poet's tale of a day in the lives of the villagers of a Welsh fishing town of Llareggub.
Under Milk Wood
Coventry prepares to rise from the ashes of WWII in this docu-drama written by Dylan Thomas.
A City Reborn
Two versions of Dylan Thomas' classic play "Under Milk Wood" were shot, with the same cast, one in Welsh, "Dan y Wenallt", and one in English. Directed by Kevin Allen, narrated by and starring Rhys Ifans, the films were shot largely in the Pembrokeshire village of Solfa during the summer of 2014. This surreal and erotic interpretation of Dylan Thomas' work is the first theatrical production of the brilliant, haunting radio play since Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's 1972 film. Certain to astonish and excite in equal measures, this production reunites director Kevin Allen with actor Rhys Ifans over 15 years after the release of their cult classic "Twin Town". An ensemble Welsh speaking cast of familiar faces is led by Ifans as First Voice and Captain Cat, with Charlotte Church as Polly Garter.
Under Milk Wood
A group of children are evacuated during world war two into the care of an alcoholic woman.
No Room at the Inn
A poetic documentary following the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s journey through Iran in 1951 on a film assignment for the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Constructed almost entirely from archival photographic images and Dylan Thomas's lyrical reflections (performed in voiceover by Michael Sheen), the film captures the poet's haunting vision of oil and modernity in 1950s Iran, as it stands at the precipice of political turmoil.
Pouring Water on Troubled Oil
A short documentary to demonstrate what can be done with Technicolor film and to show various other colourful products.
This Is Colour
A romantic tour of Britain set to Dylan Thomas's poetry.
Our Country
A documentary about the precursor to the Arts Council, the wartime Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts (CEMA), featuring an introduction by education minister R A Butler, an art exhibition in a factory and live music and theatre performances in various English locations.