Background
Why was this website created?
There is really no one place where you can get an overview of drama in Wales. In many ways we lack a collective memory of the theatre in Wales, in either Welsh or English. Changing tastes and social environments, along with the high cost and difficult economics, have combined to make re-publication unprofitable, meaning that large swathes of the past drama history of Wales are now confined to the shelves of large libraries, or the relatively expensive second-hand book market. Many plays, even from relatively recent periods like the 60s and 70s, and especially plays in Welsh, are at serious risk of becoming, to all intents and purposes, 'extinct'.
Features of the website
The website is a work in progress.
It has been designed for use on a PC/laptop, but most features will also work on a tablet or phone.
So far the following features have been implemented:
- Bilingual interface.
- Listing of plays by title, date, or author.
- Information on translators, editors and adaptors.
- Listing of other works on the site by the same individual.
- Full attribution of copyright.
- Out of copyright playtexts use a Creative Commons open licence.
- Links to gwales.com to buy a printed version of a play where it exists.
- Playtexts broken down by act and/or scene for easy reading.
- One-act plays marked as such.
- Stage directions and inline directions shaded to stand out from the text.
- Display textual notes where they exist.
- Select all lines spoken by a particular character with one click.
- Create cuesheets for a character's lines with one click.
- View all instances of a particular word in a play.
- View the context for a line containing a particular word with one click.
- List of plays relevant to Wales which are not on the website yet.
Are there other websites about theatre in Wales?
Yes. Here are the most important:
- Y Llyfrgell Dramâu, Theatr Gydweithredol Troed-y-rhiw
- Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, digitised dramas
- Drama Association of Wales
- Theatre Wales, catalogue of performances
- Martin Morley's website
Copyright
This is a complex area, but we're using an approach which we think balances the cultural heritage aspects with the need to protect authors and publishers.
Where the play is out of copyright (in effect, where the author died before 1951), we will put the full text of the play on the website (though we haven't completed that yet for all the out-of-copyright plays we have). Our version is licensed under a Creative Commons licence.
Where the play is still in copyright but appears to be no longer in print, we try to find the copyright holder to ask for permission to put the full text, or at least a portion of it, on the website.
Where we have made efforts to trace the copyright holder, but have been unsuccessful, we treat the play as an "orphaned work", and put the text on the website on a provisional basis, copyright the author. This means that if the copyright holder contacts us, we can then discuss with them what they would like to do - for instance, if they would like us to take the text off the website, we will do that.
In cases where the play is still in copyright and is still in print, we contact the copyright holder to ask whether it would be possible to put at least the first act on the website, with a copyright notice, to give a taste of the playwright's work. In these cases, we also provide a link to the published version on gwales.com, so that readers can purchase a print version if they want to.
Allowing partial or whole texts to be displayed on the website does not affect the copyright of the text. A copyright notice is displayed on each page of the text.
Can I get involved?
Of course! The more volunteers we have, the more plays can be uploaded.
- Help us proof-read and format the texts so that they can be loaded onto the site.
- Send us reviews, programmes, images or anecdotes from performance or rehearsal of these plays.
- Put us in contact with copyright holders, or if you are the copyright holder for a play, contact us to discuss putting that play (or a portion of it) on the site.
- Send us copies of plays which we can consider for inclusion on the site once copyright attribution can be resolved.
- If you have web-design or coding experience, help us make the site more accessible, add new features, and improve its functionality on a tablet/phone.