I’ve just come back from the first Wales Arts Review Critics Roundtable in Cardiff. An enjoyable afternoon of talking about arts ‘n’ stuff in the amazing surroundings of the Richard Burton theatre in the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. This was my view from the stage as the audience was filing in.
It was a bit unusual for me. Rather than chairing, which is my usual role at these events, the Wales Arts Review editors persuaded me to join one of the panels. Our subject matter: politics, theatre and truth.
I’m not used to expressing opinions because in my day job I’m obliged to avoid anything which could be interpreted as bias. So it was quite odd for me to express opinions. And I tried to stop myself asking questions of the other panellists but not entirely successfully.
Once I was settled in the audience I really enjoyed listening to top notch debates. In the session devoted to Richard Burton (aptly, given the name of the theatre we were in) the novelist Niall Griffiths made a splendid observation:
‘Boredom is an insult to being alive.’
Today was also about relaunching the Wales Arts Review’s website. They’ve put a lot of thought and effort into something which looks as good as the content it contains whether you’re reading on mobile devices or your computer. Have a look at it here and let them know what you think.
