Apart from the environmental damage that this would cause, and the fact that the Welsh Government seem oblivious to the Vale Council’s plan, the service would be solving a problem that doesn’t exist.

This is a video I put together with Simon Clode for National Theatre Wales to encapsulate their entire opening season. Eventful to say the least; NTW produced 13 productions in 13 months, not just in venues, but many set in amazing locations the length and breadth of the country.

In this first year – NTW commited to engage local people in each of the towns they visited.

I was lucky enough to contribute to many of the productions in some small way and it was an exhilarating year to say the least.

The last production of the inaugural season embodied the spirit of everything the company set out for themselves in year 1. Event theatre, site specific and with massive community engagement; Michael Sheen’s The Passion transformed the town of Port Talbot. Not only for the whole of Easter weekend 2011; for many people, myself included, Port Talbot will never be the same again.

Dan and his fellow volunteers were helping to build a school with local tradesmen in Kumasi – Ghana’s second largest city. The Safe Foundation support local initiatives and education programmes around the globe as well as closer to home. Cardiff being what it is – I’m lucky enough to know the gals & guys behind the charity, and they are an inspiration.

We only made a couple of these books to accompany Dan’s work at his exhibition which runs till the end of this month at the Waterloo Gardens Teahouse. It was a joy to put the book together – if only to spend some time with these photos. Dan’s biggest talent as a photographer is putting his subject at ease, and this comes through in every shot.

There are framed and unframed prints for sale at the exhibition and 20% of all profits go to The Safe Foundation to help them continue their fantastic work around the world.

• dangreenphotography.com
• thesafefoundation.co.uk
• waterlootea.com

These are they, with a bit of a late 50′s early 60′s vibe à la Dr Seuss or Bruno Munari.

I’m a big fan of the overprinted colours in the rainbow. Hope you like them too, as ever, comments are welcomed.

Working with a small team of local bloggers, photographers, film-makers and editors our task was to document the action, getting it edited and uploaded in as little time as possible. The idea was to create a channel which would make it possible to follow the action from anywhere in the world, as well as adding a new dimension to the story for people lucky enough to be following it on the ground. The idea was to blog “in character”, meaning we were telling the story as real. This involved working as quickly as our laptops could muster from anywhere we could grab a Wi-Fi connection – including Fraser Maclennan‘s mum’s dining table and, at 1am on Monday morning, the front steps of Port Talbot civic centre!

I’ve included the videos that I edited over the weekend below, but you can see full story as well as a film shot by Michael Sheen himself as “The Teacher” at port-talbot.com. We shot on DSLR, FlipCam, mini DV and iPhone and got as close to the action as we possibly could – the name of the game was information and not aesthetic so apologies for the extremely hand-held nature of the footage.

You may have seen and read a lot about The Passion over the past few weeks, and will no doubt hear more after tonight’s programme airs; but I cannot over emphasise what an amazing event it was. I got to hear a lot of stories from and about Port Talbot, met some great people, had a genuinely good kebab and saw a town learn to walk a little taller all in just three days. I feel grateful to have been even a small part of it.

Here is a trailer for Mundo Paralelo, National Theatre Wales’ twelfth production, this time in partnership with the incredible NoFitState Circus who have ventured on to a stage for the first time in their long history.

The show is all about alternate realities and parallel universes. The idea that something completely ‘other’ could exist incredibly close, but beyond our perception is a really fun thing to play with. So we did. We (as ever) meaning Simon Clode and myself.

The show itself runs at The Torch Theatre in Milford Haven from 03 – 19 March 2011 before starting an alternate life as a touring show.

• nationaltheatrewales.org
• nofitstate.org
• torchtheatre.co.uk

Have a lovely day.

Snazzy!

Expect the best Afrobeat, Funk, Reggae and Brazillian available to humanity, all served up with a side order of acoustic loveliness and eco-friendly crafts.

Thoroughly wholesome.

watusifestival.com

We’ve also got profiles of 3 hotly felt-tipped illustrators: Colin Kersley, Iain Sellar and Nick Robertson. And 3 local music video directors: Ryan Owen, Ben Reed and Casey Raymond & Ewan Morris

There’s a lot here to love. I’d hate you to miss it.