As part of their final few weeks of classes before the Summer break, AS Level Drama students at Gower College Swansea were given the opportunity to prepare a bilingual production of Sophocles' Electra.
Set in the city of Argos, the play recounts the tale of Electra and the vengeance that she and her brother Orestes take on their mother and stepfather following the murder of their father. This particular production used the set of a Jeremy Kyle-type TV programme as a backdrop for the developing story.
In order to develop this production, the students worked with experienced actor Gareth Bale, who is fluent in both Welsh and English and has experience in Welsh language productions for S4C and the theatre. Recently he has worked on the drama based around the life of Ray Gravell - Grav - which played at the Torch Theatre. Milford Haven, before beginning a tour of Wales.
"This was a great opportunity for our students to work with an experienced Welsh-medium actor and to see how the Welsh language can be used in the context of theatre when the meaning is portrayed through the acting, not just the language of the words," says Bilingual Officer Anna Davies. "Friends, family and members of the public were really impressed with this production, especially when you consider that the students had only just over a week to learn their lines, rehearse and perform."
Electra was played by Katherine Rees, who has enjoyed recent success at this year's Urdd Eisteddfod as well as being named the college's 'Welsh Language Student of the Year.'
This production was enabled by the college's Innovation Fund.