The Ballad of Billy McCrae review - beware the quarryman's beautiful daughter

★★★ THE BALLAD OF BILLY MCCRAE Welsh neo-noir packs nasty punch but falls short

Welsh neo-noir packs a nasty punch but falls short

An entertaining but undernourished industrial-domestic neo-noir set in South Wales,The Ballad of Billy McCrae depicts the power struggle between bent quarrying company boss Billy (David Hayman) and gullible failed businessman Chris Blythe (Ian Virgo), the story’s fall-guy protagonist.

The Barber of Seville, Welsh National Opera review - back to work in an old banger

★★★ THE BARBER OF SEVILLE, WELSH NATIONAL OPERA Back to work in an old banger

Some excellent singing struggling with a weary production and an unhelpful translation

Welcome back, WNO! Yes, emphatically, and with a loud hurrah, which is precisely what the company received, and rightly received, from the somewhat arbitrarily scattered first night Millennium Centre audience for their opening revival of The Barber of Seville.

The Toll review - once upon a time in west Wales

★★★★ THE TOLL Brassy indie flick provides a fun slice of pulp cinema

Brassy indie flick provides a fun slice of pulp cinema

Budget constraints. In the hands of the right filmmakers, they can be a blessing in disguise, forcing creativity from simplicity. That’s exactly what works for The Toll, a dark comedy set in the wild west of these isles: Pembrokeshire.

Under Milk Wood, National Theatre review - Michael Sheen at his most magnetic

★★★★ UNDER MILK WOOD, NATIONAL THEATRE Michael Sheen at his most magnetic

One Welshman honours another in National Theatre return to the Dylan Thomas mainstay

There's commanding, and then there's Michael Sheen, who sweeps on to the Olivier stage 15 minutes or so into the new National Theatre revival of Under Milk Wood and scoops up the entire production with it. Inheriting a role made to order for this Welshman, Sheen takes to his fellow countryman Dylan Thomas's 1954 classic as if on a date with destiny.

Reissue CDs Weekly: Sunshine Theatre

SUNSHINE THEATRE Stunning early Seventies Welsh quartet are rediscovered

Stunning early Seventies Welsh quartet are rediscovered

Sunshine Theatre were based around Aberdare in South Wales. In 1971, they recorded their only single. Fifty copies of “Mountain” / “I Want” were pressed. The quartet also used the name Albert and gigged with fellow Welsh outfits Budgie and Man. In August 1972, they played at Malvern Festival. There was an appearance on the Welsh TV pop programme Disc a Dawn. And that was it.

Album: Tom Jones - Surrounded by Time

★★★ TOM JONES - SURROUNDED BY TIME The man with the big voice looks age in the eye

The man with the big voice looks age in the eye

“I'm growing old,” laments Tom Jones as his 40th studio album draws to a close. Sir Tom is “growing dimmer in the eyes” and “drowsy in my chair”. These blunt observations are not sugared with the mordant humour that, say, Randy Newman or the late Leonard Cohen might apply to a bad case of codgerdom. The only apt listener response to the song "I'm Growing Old" is: “Well you're 80, I guess you are.”

Keeping Faith, Series 3, BBC One review - is the drama turning to melodrama?

★★★ KEEPING FAITH, SERIES 3, BBC ONE Last orders for the Carmarthenshire-based family saga

Last orders for the Carmarthenshire-based family saga

After arriving with a bang in 2018, Keeping Faith (BBC One) disappointed many (though not all) of its fans with 2019’s second series. It’s had a bit of a breather before this third – and final – series, first seen in its Welsh version Un Bore Mercher on S4C last November. So, how is it shaping up?

Roald and Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse, Sky One review – twinkly tale for troubled times

★★★★ ROALD AND BEATRIX,  SKY ONE Twinkly tale for troubled times

Dahl-meets-Potter Christmas drama with Dawn French, Rob Brydon and Jessica Hynes

They say "never meet your heroes". That may be true, but it forms the premise of a new TV drama concerning two of the worlds most famous childrens authors – Beatrix Potter and Roald Dahl – who encounter each other at opposite ends of their life. 

Brecon Baroque, Podger, Brecon Cathedral online review - Bach recoloured

★★★★ BRECON BAROQUE, PODGER Bach's Goldberg Variations recoloured by Chad Kelly

Revealing Goldbergs arrangement superbly played

Bach’s Goldberg Variations, written for harpsichord in about 1741 supposedly (or perhaps not) for a certain Johann Goldberg to play to the insomniac Count Keyserlingk, have enjoyed – or suffered – countless arrangements for other instruments, including jazz trio (Jacques Loussier), string trio with electronics, and viol consort. Busoni did a version for piano that, like many of his transcriptions, takes off into a world of its own and leaves poor old Bach standing.