ONLINE clips of Paul Smith delivering sharp, unscripted roasts to audience members have propelled him to rapid fame, and now audiences will have the chance to see his debut special on the big screen at Mwldan.

Pablo Live will be screened on May 8 and May 22, offering fans an opportunity to experience Smith’s stand-up in full. 

Filmed in Dublin, the special showcases his uncompromising style, blending quick-fire audience interactions with incisive wit and candid stories drawn from everyday life.

Known for his fearless humour and crowd work, Smith delivers a performance that is both unfiltered and energetic, capturing the atmosphere that has made him a standout name on the comedy circuit.

Tickets are priced at £16 and are available via the Mwldan website or by contacting the box office between 12pm and 8pm, Tuesday to Sunday, on 01239 621200.

The screening is rated 18 by the BBFC due to strong language and adult humour.

TWO years ago, seven-piece band Hejira performed a magical show to a packed-out audience at Mwldan in Cardigan.

On May 1, the venue is excited to welcome them back for another spine-tingling show that truly

captures the poetry, passion and beauty of Joni Mitchell’s masterpieces.

Since their formation in 2022, the band has been a tremendous success, with sold out shows, standing ovations, over 1,500,000 views on their YouTube channel and more than 1,500 enthusiastic comments and audience reviews.

Hejira is a project that has rapidly blossomed from an initial ‘one-off gig’ into a highly successful touring band, set up to celebrate the music of Joni Mitchell.

In particular, the band performs the masterpiece works that Mitchell captured on her albums, ‘Court and Spark’ through to ‘Wild Things Run Fast’. Hejira comprises seven highly experienced, world-class musicians whose primary concern is to serve the music.

Within three years, Hejira have clocked up more than 130 shows, including many prestigious venues and festivals; they will be performing 40-50 shows in 2026 including theatres and festivals in America this July.

Tickets are priced at £23 and are available now from www.mwldan.co.uk (24/7) or by phoning their box office between 12 – 8pm Tue – Sun 01239 621 200.

We studied it in school, some of us may have re-opened its pages as adults and a few of us might even have been fortunate to see what’s hailed as Dylan Thomas’s greatest masterpiece – ‘Under Milk Wood’ – performed on stage. 

I fall into all three categories, but never have I been made so aware of Thomas’s sheer literary magnitude as I was during Theatr Clwyd’s production of ‘Under Milk Wood’, currently showing at The Torch Theatre, Milford Haven.

The cast’s command over this mighty work becomes manifest within minutes of curtain-up thanks to some exquisite stage definition and a magnificent yet unadorned script delivery.  This, after all, is a poem where rhythm and precise diction are essential. 

With each character dressed in white, characterised solely by a specific clothing item or prop, it was initially difficult to work out who was who.  But then ‘Under Milk Wood’ was first aired in 1954 for radio, where the spoken word was the audience’s sole pilot.

Throughout Theatr Clwyd’s production, I was constantly reminded of just how strongly the Llarregyb community – I’m deliberately spelling it this way to match Theatr Clwyd’s laudable captioning – unites.  So much happens during those intertwining 24 hours when everyone is interconnected in so many different ways.  And Theatr Clwyd makes one realise just how canny Thomas was in his social observations of the busy lives that bustled around him.  The play takes its inspiration from so many segments of the poet’s life, be it his childhood letters, his adolescent poems and the time he spent at his waterside homes in New Quay, Ceredigion, and Laugharne. The friendships and the social understanding that existed between the people of Llarregyb was intense but Thomas’ writing also depicts an honesty so indicative of post-war society.  How many houseproud women would echo the words of the controlling Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard – she who’s already nagged two husbands to death – as she  caws ‘Before you let the sun in, mind he wipes his shoes’?

In many ways the play typifies ‘Under Milk Wood’s’ ‘clock without hands’ as it presents a solid and changeless society, with many traits remaining just as strong in 2026.  How many of us know a Nogood Boyo (Jacob Coleman) who flirts shamelessly with that deliciously naughty sparkle in his eyes, an uptight Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard (Georgia Griffiths) who hates people breathing over her immaculate home and maybe even an Evans the Death (Macsen McKay) who loves his job just that little bit too much.

Theatr Clwyd has to be commended for some creative staging set against Llarregyb’s piled up, box-like houses, their windows illuminated by nightlights, capturing the dreamlike, often dark nature, of Llarregyb’s bible blackness.  Lighting, in many ways, is used to exemplify Thomas’ narrative as well as the relationship between darkness and light – good and evil – that’s found within the town.

The choreography is also exquisite, each character moving as one, with the result that the movement becomes an integral part of the production’s strength.  Not once did I feel this movement overpower the words, but rather support it and magnify the poem even more.

Initially I felt that being able to see the script printed on the backdrop would be a detraction from what was going on on stage.  But how wrong can one be?  Seeing the text helped me appreciate the way in which Dylan Thomas was able to metamorphose his words into such an overwhelming power force but is also reinforces them as we watch the actors on stage. 

Under Milk Wood also uses integrated BSL with signing, audio description (which doesn’t require headsets), and captioning, all built into the design of the show.  This, incidentally, doesn’t detract one iota from the performance’s strength.

The play has over 60 characters, played by a cast of 11.  And despite their considerable task, the actors capture the intimacy of this tightly-knit community so well. This particularly comes to the fore with Jacob Coleman’s Organ Morgan and Sean Carlsen’s portrayal of the Reverend Eli Jenkins who captures the Welsh passion and musicality so beautifully.  “Praise the Lord! We are a musical nation.”

Mirain Fflur oozes sexiness with her stunning looks and her slightly revealing costume, speaking in a seductive manner as she delivers Rosie Probert’s immortal words ‘Come on up, boys. I’m dead’.

Talking of voices, I was immediately struck by Georgia Griffiths’ dulcet tones as she plays Polly Garter and Mrs Ogmore-Pritchard. But when Griffiths breaks into song, her vocal quality takes on a completely new level.  Truly beautiful.

Also wonderful to watch is Macsen McKay as he flits through no fewer than five characters –  the local undertaker Evans the Death; the town’s draper Mog Edwards who’s hopelessly in love with Miss Price in the sweet shop; Mr Pritchard who is one of Mrs O-P’s two long dead husbands; the would-be wife murderer Mr Pugh and finally the sadly troubled Lord Cut-Glass, for whom darkness always lurks on the horizon.  McKay gives us five outstandingly quirky individuals, each displaying some fabulous facial expressions and a sizeable helping of humour. 

In a nutshell, this is a truly magnificent performance that captures every essence of Dylan Thomas’ legacy.

‘Under Milk Wood’ will be showing at The Torch Theatre, Milford Haven, from Tuesday April 21 to Friday, April 25.