Curtain to fall on vital part of our cultural heritage

WILL always regret that Swansea failed to win its bid to become the UK City of Culture.

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I thought the proposals put together by the team responsible for the council's bid were solid and certainly met the judging panel's criteria.

Our city would be in a very strong position now, as since losing out, the arts scene in Swansea has grown stronger than it has been for many years.

Since its unsuccessful bid, Swansea has gained the arena and become home to the recently formed Welsh National Theatre, with Michael Sheen as its artistic director.

Add to that Swansea's Grand Ambition, a group that has already produced highly acclaimed and award-winning theatre at the Swansea Grand.

However, there is one group that has been producing incredible theatre for many years but will soon drop the curtain for the final time. Fluellen Theatre, also based at the Grand, is renowned not only for its successful tours throughout Wales but also beyond the border.

It came as quite a shock to many when Fluellen’s founder and artistic director, Peter Richards, announced that after 25 years of producing top-quality theatre, their anniversary production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream would be their final show. In that 25-year period, Fluellen has produced 85 major productions and over 125 lunchtime theatre shows, which, as well as being great entertainment, have discovered and encouraged many new writers.