Played at the UWTSD campus in Carmarthen, “The Visit” began showing on the 23rd of November by the Universities third year acting students. As exquisitely performed by the class, The Visit entails two intertwining stories about an acting group, and how their lives are mirrored by their characters in a play that they are currently rehearsing.
 
The original story, written by Swiss dramatist Friedrich Dürrenmatt, was “a tragicomic”; as explained by Taylor Dyderski, a third who was Deputy Stage Manager. This new self-aware outlook was adapted by Hannah McPake bringing the 1956 play up to speed with the modern era. 
While the play progressed, as did the set. Without spoiling the plot, in the play (within the play) Claire Zachanassian; who has become filthy rich since leaving her small hometown, has come back and is offering a large sum in return for the life of her previous lover. The town soon becomes obsessed by the money-ridden hanging-tree that looms over them, as they begin spending all their money in the run up to their big-cash-drop. 
Catherine Rimmer,Set & AV Designer explains: “We wanted the set to develop visually as the town becomes more self absorbed and materially obsessed”. The idea for the set was that it gradually looked more expensive and lush, this included the sound quality and the style of lighting to become better also. At half time a curtain was dropped, revealing another side to the stage which contained a large, diamond shaped platform, clearly symbolising the town’s descent into greed. As told by Dyderski, “There are two layers of gauze netting” [in the second half] “to symbolise the two layers of the story”. 
As well as this there is a panther which appears twice, and if you were paying particular attention, you would have noticed that this too became more luxurious, with better detailing and mechanics. 

As far as the storyline goes, it was most definitely confusing. They were actors doing a performance about actors, who were in turn playing characters, and they would switch between these two surfaces as quickly as you could say panther. 
However, the group of Carmarthen’s up-and-coming actors, joined by a small group of students from America, handled this task incredibly. They did so by analysing Stanislavski’s Method Acting approach to acting which vitalises the use of voice, gait, stance etc to further understand your character. 
As I was told by Jack Eriksen, who played Alex and Alfred Ill, by using Method Acting he was able to embody both characters at any given moment, making the swap between characters clear and easy for the audience to understand.  

This production was absolutely worth the watch and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys well-thought-through set design and modern outtakes on old classics. Not only this, but you would also be supporting many young actors on their career journey, and when they become famous you could say “I saw them when they were just starting out”. Now wouldn’t that be a conversation starter?