The Môr The Merrier
The Môr the Merrier is loosely based off Dylan Thomas’ 1954 play ‘Undermilk Wood’, a play in which an omniscient narrator invites the audience to listen to the dreams and innermost thoughts of the inhabitants of Llaregub a fictional, small Welsh fishing
village. I was brought up in a small, West Wales village not far from Laugharne where Thomas is from. While on exchange in Chicago I took a ‘Writing for Radio’ class. One of the first tasks was to write about a ‘fantasy village’, and the assigned text was Under- milk Wood. Being so far from home and being set this play I listen to every Christmas as if it was a fictional far away land made me think about my relationship with the play. Upon relistening, I realised how many people I know with the same names as the characters, even couples with the same set of names.
I began imagining a post-COVID, post-Airbnb, 21st-century Llaregub. Out of fear
of having to hand my text over and hear the script being read in an American accent, I began recording snippets of conversations between characters on iMovie and creating background foley from my bedroom. The two main characters Rhian & Gwen are based off the women I grew up around and the way middle aged Welsh women tell stories with a pacing and drama in their particularity of expression. There is a rhythm to the way Welsh people tell stories or ‘gossip’ that is quick witted and songlike when often in TV a Welsh accent is used as shorthand for someone foolish.
The Ceredigion-Pembrokeshire region is undergoing fast social change. The village next to me now has only a quarter of homes lived in year-round, meaning 3/4 are second homes or Air bnbs. These changes are made more insidious when a lot of the people being priced out are working class and Welsh speaking communities. It is not dissimilar to what has already happened in Cornwall. This raise in house prices because of people buying second homes means that many families who have been in these areas for generations can no longer afford to buy a home.
The Môr the Merrier aims to allude to these social relations and the gentrifi- cation of coastal communities through comedy. Often this attitude towards outsiders is conveyed in traditional media as pettiness when in fact it is a much more deep-rooted issue.
Translations & Glossary
Ar lan y Môr – By the Seaside
Ffogob – At first glance looks like a name of a Welsh place like Ffostrasol or Ffynone. It is actually ‘Bog Off ’ backwards. An ode to Dylan Thomas’ town ‘Llarregub’ which, is also a semordnilap for ‘Bugger All’ while it that sounds like Llandrindod or Llangranog.
Twp! – Stupid, Thick
Iesu grist – Jesus Christ
Shwdi Boi – Alright boy (informal)
Spear tackle arno fe! – ‘on him’ more like go spear tackle him in this instance, take him to the floor
Cer I Grafu – fuck off
Ych Y Fi! – worse than disgusting, if an older lady says this to you, you are a sick fuck.
Sospan Fach – Sospan Fach is an absurdist folk song commonly sung at rugby games in south Wales about a saucepan.