Dylan Thomas: Return Journey

In Return Journey, Bob Kingdom re-enacts Dylan Thomas’ final lecture tour of the US in impeccably naturalistic fashion. There are no embellishments, no twists, and no surprises: just one man pretending to be a paunchy little Welshman. It is, if nothing else, convincing. It also happens to be elevating, moving, and quietly riveting.

The lecture begins with a verbal auto-portrait before moving on to anecdotes which only a poet could make amusing, and then seamlessly into recitation of the works which inspired a young Robert Zimmerman to trade in his unwieldy surname and style himself Bob Dylan.

Throughout the 75 minutes in a stuffy room, Kingdom skilfully commands the stage. Indeed, he relies on little besides his own considerable presence. The only music he employs is some Romantic string pieces at the beginning and end of the monologue. The lighting is minimal but evocative, only deviating from a general, blue-tinted stage cover during some of the poetry recitations, when his torso is framed against the dark backdrop by a stark square of light.

Added to the beauty of Kingdom’s diction and his oratorical verve is a rare subtlety in mannerism and demeanour which sets him apart as an actor of real quality. His Fringe run has benefitted from original direction by Anthony Hopkins – together, the two have created a superb production. The obvious drawback is that it holds absolutely no interest to anyone whose heart doesn’t skip a beat when Dylan Thomas is mentioned.