Sorter is listed by influential arts publication The Stage as one of last year’s top 50 productions across the UK and Ireland.
Staged across nine days in March, it was presented by the Grand-based Grand Ambition team.
Written by Grand Ambition co-founder Richard Mylan, Sorter tells the story of two heroin addicts and was seen by more than 1,300 people.
Starring Mylan and Swansea-born Sophie Melville, it was the team’s first original production.
It drew on Mylan’s own experiences in recovering from heroin addiction. It contained discussion of substance misuse, child loss, childhood abuse and suicide.
A Stage review reported: “This is Mylan’s own script – a superb writing debut.
“The almost unbearable authenticity is striking. This is not an outsider’s view – misery voyeurism – but the unconfined joy and despair of addiction laid bare.”
(Image: Swansea Council)
Grand Ambition is a collaboration between Swansea Council, which runs the theatre, and Swansea-based professional artists Mylan, Steve Balsamo, Michelle McTernan and Christian Patterson.
Enabled by the Welsh Government’s Economic Resilience Fund (ERF) in response to the effects of Covid-19 on the cultural sector, Grand Ambition was established in 2021 to become a company in residence at the council-owned Grand Theatre.
Supported by the council’s cultural services team, the short-term ERF was an opportunity for the theatre and Grand Ambition to develop new audiences, youth theatre and home-grown talent, including Sorter.
Following its initial success, Grand Ambition is now continuing its work thanks to the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund.
Since September last year, it has produced a series of new productions working with new talent and communities of Swansea, including Baba Joon and Mum Fighter, and has a series of exciting projects scheduled for this year.
Swansea Council cabinet member Elliott King said: “Sorter’s listing as one of The Stage’s top 2023 productions is a wonderful recognition of the hard work of the team to re-establish the Grand Theatre as a go-to venue for live arts, theatre and entertainment, showcasing Swansea’s cultural sector and talent.
“It was an incredible play and it’s great to see Grand Ambition continuing to do a whole host of other fantastic work with communities around Swansea.
“We hope to see accolades for other recent works including Baba Joon, which explored themes of identity and heritage for second generations, and the forthcoming Mum Fighter, based on a mother’s struggles to gain support for her disabled child.
“Also in development is I Need a Hero, a play with music and song about a young gay woman searching for a place to call home and finding out it was there all along.”
(Image: Swansea Council)
Grand Ambition aims to create new work that tells Swansea stories in a way that represents the diverse experiences of local residents and encourages new audiences to the theatre, helping to establish it as a contemporary arts centre.
Richard Mylan is a Swansea-born theatre, film and TV actor. His work ranges from drama to comedy in TV shows such as Waterloo Road and Coupling to leading roles in theatre productions in the West End.
He said: “It’s great that Swansea and Grand Ambition have been applauded in this way by The Stage.
“We want the premier theatre in our creative and talented city to be a world class producing house – and Sorter proves that this can be the case.
“We want to encourage, support and connect the arts to our home city. Swansea is regenerating fast and its cultural landscape is changing with it.”
(Lead image: Swansea Council)
