Me, Myself and Dai!

An Interview with Myself

Dai: So why have you got 3 names then David?

David: Well, I was christened David to Welsh speaking parents who thought that they might have to move to England for work and didn't want me to be teased because of a very Welsh name like Dafydd.

Dai: So when did you start calling yourself Dafydd? 

David: Well I have been Dafydd for as long as I can remember. A teacher in primary school asked which I would like to be called and I said Dafydd immediately.

Dai: So why have you started using David again? 

David: Well the names Dafydd and Dewi are Welsh for David which is Hebrew for beloved. I go through phases and I felt that David would be a good name on any written work that I produce although I use Dafydd on any Drama and Theatre work that I write.

Dai: So where has this Dai come from?

David: I was doing some voluntary work on an allotment project and somebody piped up  'David is Dai in Wales', thus came about my third name so I answer to David, Dafydd and Dai. 

Dai: Isn't this confusing for other people?

Dafydd: Probably, I've never asked.

Dai: You don't really care about other people do you?

David: Not really, if I'm perfectly honest. People, I can take them or leave them and I usually leave them.

Dai: But aren't people the meat and drink for any writer? What about characters? Who are they based on?

Dafydd: All my characters are based on me! Each character I have ever written has always contained a facet of my personality. 

Dai: Do you think this is why you have not been more successful with your Playwriting?

David: Probably, you are very perceptive Dai. I've been on a lot of courses, I'm even completing a Masters in Playwriting but my characters are still one or two dimensional.  I find it very difficult and challenging to push and promote my Playwriting because I am very weary of people and the Theatre Establishment. I think its just a dream and I'm scared of the dream actually being fulfilled because what would I dream about then?

Dai: I see you've moved into Poetry?

David: I've moved back into Poetry. I've always liked it as a medium because it is the short form and it doesn't feel as strained and forced as my Theatre work. I actually enjoy writing poetry. I don't enjoy writing drama and plays. The irony is, that during my Masters Course in Playwriting I have published two volumes of Poetry, perhaps as a form of sublimating my frustration.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/david-williams/genius-loci-poetry/paperback/product-21567917.html

I think writing plays is incredibly difficult. I might crack it one day, perhaps when it's time to pull the pension from the Post Office. I anticipate being the 'oldest playwright in town' and then dying unfulfilled.

Dai: So who and what do you write about?

David: As if you need to ask that Dai, the dispossessed and the disenfranchised, those on the fringes. I write about the shadows and those who lie within. I write about the underdogs and the places that they come from. I write about Cardiff, Liverpool, Aberystwyth, Manchester and London. I write about mental health & inner conflict.

Dai: That is not going to get bums on seats is it Dafydd?

Dafydd: I don't really care. I care about what I care about, not about what others care about.

Dai: Couldn't you lie? Couldn't you pretend?

David: No mate, I am on a continuous course to be conscious and authentic. I don't want to please others and appease people.

Dai: You wont play the game will you?

David: No

Dai: It must make for a lonely life?

David: I am alone much of the time but I cannot say that I feel lonely. Through my writing I have come to gain a greater respect for myself because despite my protestations I know that I do care deeply about the world and the state that the world is in. This is what my writing is about. It is not meant to be easy reading or entertainment. It is meant to be political.

Dai: Well, we have to wrap up now David but thank you for giving us a brief insight into such a conflicted psyche.

Dafydd: Could I ask that the next interview is conducted in my mother tongue, the indigenous language of Wales, Cymraeg?

Dai: You've got a real chip on your shoulder about that haven't you?

Dafydd: Is that a No then?

Dai: I'll see what I can do. Nos da!

Dafydd: Nos Da. 

If you have enjoyed this interview with myself, you might be interested in the further thoughts of 'Chairman Dai' on Theatre.

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/in-yer-face-theatre.html 

http://sharkfishinginwales.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/free-theatre-movement.html