On Sunday night at The Ramada Hotel a full audience was spellbound for two hours by a chair, one man in pyjamas, some shadows on the plain backdrop and very occasional sound effects such as cows mooing gently.

Guy Masterson's consummate acting combined with Dylan Thomas's rich and powerful language worked on our imaginations to create the small Welsh town of Llareggub so that we could picture its streets, its hill, its wood and the ever present sea.

Using the smallest changes in voice and movements Guy alone peopled the stage with every character from Captain Cat, the blind sea captain whose sharp ears tell him everything that happens in the town, to Bessie Bighead who was kissed once when she wasn't looking and was never kissed again although she was looking all the time.

Becoming in seconds young men, old men, drunkards, proper young ladies, flighty young things, battleaxe wives, children and even animals Guy moved us and amused us as the daylong story of the inhabitants of the town unfolded.

This was not some hollow masterclass in acting techniques but a performance of a work in which the sincerity and humanity of both actor and author shone through.

I for one, feel privileged to have shared this experience.

By C.A.S