Dirty Protest Theatre Company are celebrating their 10th Anniversary year with a
production of Lightspeed from Pembroke Dock, a new play by Pembroke writer Mark
Williams.
The play, currently touring to thirteen venues across Wales, will finish at its co-producer venue, the Torch Theatre in Milford Haven. The end of the tour coincides with May the
Fourth and to celebrate this and the wonderful town at the heart of the play’s story, the
company is organising a community led three-day festival, Pembroke Dock Celebrates,
sponsored by Valero.
Pembroke Dock Celebrates will involve a series of workshops and creative community
activities that will culminate in a locally-led festival on the weekend of ‘May the Fourth’
(unofficially celebrated worldwide as Star Wars Day), celebrating the area’s unique history and future. Workshops and masterclasses in local schools and Pembrokeshire college on 3rd and 4th May will build up to a large-scale community celebration day in the town on Saturday 5th May.
Producer Jennifer Lunn said: “Lightspeed from Pembroke Dock is inspired by the real-life construction in Pembroke Dock shipyard of the full-size Millennium Falcon spaceship, used in the film ‘Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back’.
We really wanted to bring the story home to Pembroke Dock. Through highlighting the town’s role in one of the most iconic film franchises of the last fifty years, we hope to broaden the aspirations and horizons of the local community by allowing them to see themselves reflected in this based-on- true-events story.”
Sian Davies and Jack Hammett star in Dirty Protest’s Lightspeed from Pembroke Dock currently touring Wales
The day will start with a procession through the Town Centre. A giant spaceship will be
created as part of the project and will lead the parade alongside costumed characters from Star Wars including Stormtroopers. The children involved in the schools’ project will carry the spaceships they have created. They will be joined by friends and family and other members of the community who will be invited to dress up and walk with them.
Accompanying the procession will be Stormtroopers and a band playing the Star Wars
theme tune . The Procession will lead to the Market Hall in Pembroke Dock where various locally themed and Star Wars related activities will take place.
These will include a fancy-dress competition, face painting, screenings of a short film about the building of the Falcon in Pembroke Dock, light sabre combat academy displays and workshops, Star Wars space ships and gun replica display, Star Wars Green Screen activities and showcasing of past and current work in the dockyard by local companies and stakeholders.
At the end of the event there will be buses available to take ticket holders over to the Torch Theatre in Milford Haven to see Lightspeed from Pembroke Dock and to bring them back afterwards. The Torch Theatre is offering subsidised tickets for residents of Pembroke Dockso that the show is more accessible to those less able to attend the theatre.
The festival has been created and planned in collaboration with local stakeholders including Dilys Burrell, Town Council, Stuart Berry, Pembroke Dock Heritage Centre, The VC Gallery and the Pembroke Town Team.
Kieron Self and Dick Bradnum will feature in Light Speed From Pembroke Dock
During the event volunteers will be collecting contributions towards the development of a new Town Centre Space for the VC Gallery.
Led by Artistic Director Catherine Paskell, the production Lightspeed from Pembroke Dock is designed by Cadi Lane, lighting design by Ceri James and Sound design by Dan Lawrence. The full cast for the play will be Keiron Self, Jack Hammett, Sian Davies and Dick Bradnum. Keiron and Dick will both be well known to audiences across Wales for their numerous television and theatre appearances including My Family (Self), and High Hopes (both actors). Pembrokeshire-raised Sian will be known to Welsh speaking audiences from Pobol Y Cwm. Jack is a relative newcomer to the theatre scene, but has already racked up performances with Dirty Protest, The Other Room and Volcano Theatre Company.
Now, Dirty Protest brings Mark’s story to the stage in a production that combines the thrill of 1980’s adventure movies with an intergenerational family saga all of its own.
- ‘Lightspeed from Pembroke Dock’ By Mark Williams a Dirty Protest co-production with Chapter and Torch Theatre plays the Torch Theatre on Friday 4 May and Saturday 5 May at 7.30pm Duration: 90 Mins Approx.