Fourth time lucky for Drama Medal winner
THE winner of 2017 National Eisteddfod Drama Medal had come close on three previous occasions, she said.
Heiddwen Tomos’ play, Milwr yn y Meddwl (Soldier in the Mind), which deals with PTSD was deemed worthy of this year’s coveted prize.
The teacher from Carmarthenshire came second in the competition in 2014, and third in 2013 and last year.
Writers were invited to submit a stage play of any length and the most promising play with the most potential for further development with a professional company is awarded the Medal.
The play is about a PTSD illness that follows the period of the main character as an active soldier in some of the most fierce and unpleasant wars of recent years.
“We follow him as he tries to cope with life as a civilian after he was injured and left in a wheelchair,” she said after the ceremony.
Adjudicator Tony Llewelyn Roberts said: “It’s great to see so many people attempting a difficult task which rarely results in their work being seen on stage.
“A poem is a poem from the second it is written on paper but a successful play is dependent on the commitment and vision of other artists so it can be shown in its final form.
“As adjudicators, we were very aware that we were considering the first step in the creative process.
“We were looking for individuals whose work showed the ability to develop dialogue and stage their ideas but also we were hoping to be presented with originality of expression and, if not a masterpiece, at least a vision that could be nurtured and refined.
Commenting on Mrs Tomos’work he said: “This is a play with a theatrical and powerful introduction. The language flows naturally throughout.
“There is extensive use of slang and some use of English but this is not linguistic laziness.
“The English language is used as the voice of the British military establishment that has oppressed the main character.”
Originally from Llanybydder, Heiddwen Tomos lives in Pengarreg, Carmarthenshire and is Head of Performing Arts, Ysgol Bro Teifi, Llandysul.
She won the Prose Medal at Lampeter Eisteddfod in 2012, the Taliesin and BBC short story competition in 2015, and has won the Young Farmers Eisteddfod Chair twice.
This year, she published her first novel, Dŵr yn yr Afon (Gwasg Gomer), and has also published stories for Gwasg y Bwthyn.
Heiddwen is married to Siôn and has three children, Gruff, Swyn and Tirion.