History inspires drama group

A DRAMA group based in the valleys is using local history to inspire a generation.

As well as encouraging people of all ages to come together to perform, the Rhondda’s Avant Cymru hopes to preserve local history through the medium of theatre.

Founder of the company, Rachel Pedley Miller, explained that the group are currently looking for people from South Wales to share stories of the communities’ involvement with WWI.

The trained actress, who grew up in the Rhondda, said: “We like to get inspiration from the Rhondda, and surroundings areas, in order to develop our works. It’s very important to us to instil cultural heritage within our projects.

“We discovered a lot of interesting stories through the Lands of Our Fathers project that we recently carried out.

“It led us wanting to discover more.”

The Lands of Our Fathers project saw the group develop a production as part of the Gwanwyn Festival.

During this time, members of the group conducted research with local residents to find out what life has been like in the Rhondda throughout the years. They are now aiming to carry out a similar research process for the WWI project.

If you know of any local information about WWI that could help contact Rachel at hello@avant.cymru or call 07834 402 953.