WHAT’S IN STORE IF SWANSEA WINS?

The full details of Swansea’s UK City of Culture 2021 bid are now being carefully considered by the judges, but here is a small taste of just some of the vivid cultural events the city could enjoy if successful...

■ Twin Town Live: Swansea was undisputably one of the stars of Twin Town – the raucous cult film that put actor Rhys Ifans and director Kevin Allen on the map. As part of the Swansea 2021 bid, some of the key Twin Town scenes could be performed in the city’s streets, cafes and hot-spots, with members of the audience becoming part of the story.

■ Michael Sheen: The Hollywood star has a great track record of putting on large-scale outdoor productions on his doorstep, what with his Passion in Port Talbot. He would stage a city-wide theatre production at locations around Swansea, provisionally called Sally Rhubarb – the local term for Japanese knotweed. Most of

Sheen’s plan is under wraps, but there is no doubt he’ll play a major part in celebrating Swansea’s UK City of Culture success if we win.

■ Bonnie on the Beach: Being Swansea born and bred, Bonnie Tyler will of course feature in the bid activities. Bonnie on the Beach would see Bonnie’s biggest hit, Total Eclipse of the Heart, performed on the sands of Swansea Bay, with a team of choreographers working with a large crowd to perform what is expected to be an unforgettable rendition of the hit. Let’s hope the city has enough hairspray to go around! ■ National Companies Heading This Way: A number of national companies, including National Dance Company Wales, Welsh National Opera and Wales Millennium Centre have committed to staging large-scale productions in support of Swansea 2021. The most recent UK City of Culture, Hull, has welcomed the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Turner Prize to its venues during its tenure, so major events such as these would be expected to come to Swansea. ■ New Work From Owen Sheers: The feted playwright and poet, who is a professor of creativity at Swansea University, has plans for an artful new theatre production about the intricacies of the dark web. ■ Artist-in-Residence Rachel Whiteread: It is fitting that Swansea will have an artist-in-residence during its UK City of Culture era and Rachel Whiteread CBE is expected to step into the role.

A Turner Prize winner, Rachel, who has a home in Llandeilo, is known for her large-scale casts. Her concrete cast of the outside of a Victorian terraced house from London’s East End caused stir in the art world and she went on to create a sculpture for the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. She would work with local artists and arts students to conjure up new pieces to mark Swansea’s UK City of Culture status.