Dylan Thomas Play In New Film Adaptation

A new cinematic adaptation of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas’s radio play Dan Y Wenallt (Under Milk Wood) is to premiere in cinemas across Wales on December 11.

The Welsh-language film will reunite director Kevin Allen with Rhys Ifans, some 15 years after the release of Twin Town. An ensemble cast is led by Ifans as First Voice and Captain Cat, alongside Charlotte Church as Polly Garter.

The film will also be screened on S4C at 21:00 on 27 December. The Welsh broadcaster has co-financed the project in partnership with Ffilm Cymru Wales and Goldfinch Pictures, with fFatti fFilms producing.

The play has been adapted into Welsh by T. James Jones and features a screenplay by Murray Lachlan Young, Michael Breen and director Kevin Allen.

Mr Allen said: "I was determined to craft a cinematic rendition that challenged the common perception; that poetry should remain in the domain of the reader."

This is the first cinematic dramatization of Thomas's text since Richard Burton’s 1972 version and marks the 100th anniversary of his birth.

Dan Y Wenallt will premiere on December 11 at Cardiff’s Chapter Arts Centre and will open simultaneously in cinemas and arts centres across Wales.

Shot back-to-back with Dan Y Wenallt, an English-language version, Under Milk Wood, will be released in UK cinemas in Spring 2015.

(IT/MH)