‘MAMIAITH’ with Music Theatre Wales
Wales has a complex linguistic history. The decline of Welsh wasn’t accidental—it was the result of systemic suppression: The Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 made speaking Welsh in court illegal (in a country at a time where most people only spoke Welsh). Welsh was not a valid form of pleading in court until the Welsh Courts Act in 1942; during the 18th-century and the industrial revolution, it was reported that workers speaking Welsh down the mines could lose their jobs, the only family income in most cases; and The Welsh Not was a practice that started around 1840-1940, where school children were actually punished for speaking Welsh in school. If caught, they would wear a wooden plaque with the letters “WN”. Then, whoever was wearing this at the end of the day would be caned by the headmaster. There are reports of this still happening up until the 1940s! There are public reports of this broader cultural marginalisation that made many feel their mother tongue was inferior even to this day. These experiences, though rarely discussed in mainstream history, have left deep scars.
Our operatic scenes centre on one such ‘forgotten’ story—a real but overlooked moment in Welsh history where communities fought to keep their language alive against overwhelming pressure to assimilate - Cymdeithas yr Iaith campaigners in the 1980s. Many of the people who lived through these struggles are still with us, yet their stories are rarely given space in national discourse.
Many know of the men who fronted much of Cymdeithas yr Iaith and the Welsh-language movement from 1960s onwards - Dafydd Iwan to Meic Stephens. But many do not know about the sheer amount of woman who were imprisoned. Those who were silenced. Those mothers who were ripped from their children. Families upended. This, we felt, was an important part of our story that needed to be told.
With new libretto by Siwan Llynor - MAMIAITH - is a work-in-progress music theatre piece, currently with three scenes for soprano, tenor, baritone, piano, and fixed electronics. These three operatic scenes explore the experience of a Cymdeithas yr Iaith campaigner from the 1980s, ripped from her family and imprisoned for her protest for the promotion for her mother tongue - the Welsh language.
When can i hear this being performed live?
For more information about when you can hear this in concert, please visit this webpage (link embedded)
More information about MAMIAITH
For full information about this new work, please visit this dedicated webpage. (lInk embedded)
