Magical imagery in quaint Llareggub

By BERNADETTE RAE

Dylan Thomas' poetical play for voices, Under Milk Wood, has a fourth dimension, says young director Caroline Bell-Booth. And that fourth dimension - "sparkly, magical, spiritual even" - has enchanted people since the work was first broadcast in 1954, a year after Thomas' death.

In language that has a music of its own, Under Milk Wood exposes the innermost fabric of the lives of citizens of the imaginary town of Llareggub with warmth, humour and great affection.

Quaint though they are - Mrs Organ Morgan, Sinbad, the Rev Eli Jenkins, Mr Pugh, Mrs Myfanwy Price, Polly Garter, Little Willy Wee and Nogood Boyo - the themes that emerge range from innocence, through sex and desire, to religion and death.

"All the big ones," says Bell-Booth.

Llareggub is "bugger all" spelt backwards, although early editors primly renamed it Llaregyb. "But it is hardly 'bugger all'," says Bell-Booth, who, at 26, has a sparkle of her own, two degrees and a career that boasts four notable theatrical coups in the three years since she finished her studies. French Toast, written by class mate Kathryn van Beek, picked up the best theatre award at the Wellington Fringe Festival in 2002. The Story of Funk, with comedian Dai Henwood, gained a Billy T James Award, and Bell-Booth also directed Restless Ecstasy, an extract from Tennessee Williams' Baby Doll, and Danny and The Deep Blue Sea, with Sara Wiseman and Scott Wills, which both had successful seasons at the SiLo.

It was at the Edinburgh Festival last year - with The Story of Funk - that Bell-Booth's fascination with Under Milk Wood was rekindled by a one-man performance of the work.

"When I saw that I thought that doing the play with five people, which was my original plan, would be dead easy," she says.

Under Milk Wood was written as either a radio play - Thomas wrote several of these post-war, for survival money - or as a stage play.

Bell-Booth has chosen to present it on stage, set in a typical broadcasting studio of the 1950s, with the actors gathered around microphones, scripts in hands.

With such minimal staging she hopes to capture the magic of radio plays, in which the world of imagination opens up. The thrust of her creative emphasis is on the elements of sound.

So there had to be a foley artist (Matt Brennan) - who creates the sound effects, such as footsteps, doors shutting, the wind. And there had to be live music, an original score by Andrew McMillan, a master's student at the School of Music at the University of Auckland, which incorporates an organ, cello, saxophone and vibraphone.

There are five core actors: Sophia Hawthorne (Insiders Guide to Happiness), Michelle Langstone (The Strip), Keith Adams (Macbeth), Paul Barrett (Spreading Out) and Jon Brazier (Scarfies).

Because it is possible with a script-in-hand performance, Bell-Booth has also invited guest celebrities to join the permanent cast for three-day shifts. Those who have accepted the challenge include Tim Balme, Katie Wolfe, Stuart Devenie, Sally Stockwell and Sara Wiseman.

"I have been so lucky with it," Bell-Booth says. "There has been great energy for the production from the start. Everyone I have asked to join has come with love and open arms.

"Of course there have been the usual ups and downs and problems to solve. But it is a great text and I have such great actors. I can't remember ever seeing such a quality group gathered together at the SiLo.

"I have learned so much from everyone. It has been a very collaborative process. It has been like throwing doors wide open and amazing ideas have just flown in."

*What: Under Milk Wood

*Where and when: SiLo Theatre, August 25-September 18