Fifty-one years ago, on 1st August 1957, the Parliamentary Bill to drown the valley of Tryweryn, near Bala, and provide a reservoir for Liverpool, received Royal Assent.
Local protests were ignored. Thousands had marched in opposition to the scheme, and 35 out of 36 Welsh MPs at Westminster had voted against the Bill. But Capel Celyn village – school, post office, chapel, farms, even the cemetery – was lost forever, and the community destroyed.
The imposition of Liverpool Corporation’s plan, in spite of all appeals, has become one of the landmarks in the development of the modern Welsh nation. It inspired political debate, aroused national passion, splintered opinion in both Wales and England, and sparked a reaction which eventually changed the fate of an entire nation.
These momentous events are the focal point of Drowned Out, a powerful new play by Manon Eames. This is the dramatised story of a lost community, and the events which led to its demise, as seen through the eyes of those who were there – those who lost, and those who gained.
The play also considers the universal theme of the struggle between the meek and the mighty : a beleaguered village, facing the force of a big city supported by Government. It is a powerful, personal, timeless - and tragic story.
Local protests were ignored. Thousands had marched in opposition to the scheme, and 35 out of 36 Welsh MPs at Westminster had voted against the Bill. But Capel Celyn village – school, post office, chapel, farms, even the cemetery – was lost forever, and the community destroyed.
The imposition of Liverpool Corporation’s plan, in spite of all appeals, has become one of the landmarks in the development of the modern Welsh nation. It inspired political debate, aroused national passion, splintered opinion in both Wales and England, and sparked a reaction which eventually changed the fate of an entire nation.
These momentous events are the focal point of Drowned Out, a powerful new play by Manon Eames. This is the dramatised story of a lost community, and the events which led to its demise, as seen through the eyes of those who were there – those who lost, and those who gained.
The play also considers the universal theme of the struggle between the meek and the mighty : a beleaguered village, facing the force of a big city supported by Government. It is a powerful, personal, timeless - and tragic story.