Huw Fyw review – take a sentimental journey around a war veteran’s living room

Dance House, Cardiff
Tudur Owen’s Welsh-language play about a second world war veteran is unashamedly heartfelt and anchored by very fine performances

This play by Tudur Owen tells the story of a curmudgeonly second world war veteran, an unexpected windfall, a clogged toilet and an entire Welsh village’s trip to London in 1994. It has the air of a fable that veers into more anguished terrain. PTSD, generational trauma, social exclusion and the weight of irreconcilable grief are never far from the surface.

One of Wales’s most popular comedians and broadcasters, Owen also stars in the eponymous role (the play’s title translates as Huw Alive). The Welsh-language production’s uncanniness is partly predicated by an expectation that there will perhaps always be an ironic punchline to puncture Huw’s unamused visage. But these seldom come and instead this is a play told with absolute and unironic sincerity, its heart unabashedly worn on its sleeve.

At Dance House, Cardiff, until 18 April. Then touring until 8 May.