A £15,000 crowdfunding appeal for a new opera about one of the most dramatic chapters in Welsh history has won backing from two high-profile figures.
Former Plaid Cymru president Dafydd Wigley and harpist Elinor Bennett are supporting the campaign to stage Fflamau Penyberth which marks the 90th anniversary of the 1936 arson attack at an RAF base near Pwllheli.
The story began when three eminent, “God-fearing” Plaid Cymru members – Saunders Lewis, Lewis Valentine and DJ Williams – set fire to buildings at the “bombing school”, RAF Penrhos, at the site of the culturally and historically important Penyberth farmhouse.
The trio later drove to the police station in Pwllheli to give themselves up and were sentenced to nine months in prison at London’s Old Bailey court.
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Now their actions are being brought to the stage by OPRA Cymru in the new Welsh language production composed by Anglesey-based Gareth Glyn.
The libretto has been written by opera company founder Patrick Young, from Llan Ffestiniog, with help from collaborator Arwel Vittle, an author and historian from Caernarfon.
Organisers say they need public support to raise the final £15,000 to bring the production to the stage.
Fflamau Penyberth will receive its world premiere at Neuadd Dwyfor in Pwllheli on November 19 before touring venues across Wales.
It will also be performed in Rhosllannerchrugog, Bangor, Swansea, Barry, Brecon and Aberystwyth before returning to Pwllheli for the final performance of the tour.
Elinor Bennett, who has an international reputation as a soloist, master instructor, and founded the Harp College of Wales, fully supported the crowdfunding appeal.
She said: "This is a worthwhile cause. It is an event I first heard about from my father who was at Caernarfon to welcome the three men after their release from prison.
“My father was very passionate about the incident recognising they had committed a criminal act but believed it to significant and far-reaching.
"Gareth Glyn is a wonderful composer and has written some fantastic works in the past.”
Her husband, who is also a key figure in the history of Welsh nationalism, said he also supports the crowdfunding appeal.
OPRA Cymru was founded in 2008 by Patrick Young, a former opera director of the Royal Opera House in London.
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