An actor hailing from Aberbargoed is to star in an S4C docu-drama this weekend which explores the barriers to speaking Welsh in a community.
Chris Hoskins, an ex-pupil of Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni, plays the ex-boyfriend of an ambitious Welsh-speaking TV presenter in ‘Y Bont’.
The love story mixes fact and fiction with the back drop of the drama being a real life reconstruction in Aberystwyth of the Welsh Language Society’s first protest.
In 1963 a group of protesters went to Trefechan Bridge in Aberystwyth with the aim of bringing traffic to a halt, and thereby being arrested in the name of language.
In February this year, the event was re-staged to celebrate its 50th anniversary by Theatr Genedlaethol.
The focus of the S4C fictional drama is on the story of a young man and woman who meet on the day of the reconstruction. Both must make big decisions – about love and language.
Actress Lois Jones plays Dwynwen, an ambitious television presenter and producer from the Caernarfon area who is passionate about her work and the language.
Aberbargoed’s Chris Hoskins is her ex-boyfriend Kye, a Welshman from Merthyr Tydfil who grew up in a non-Welsh speaking household who feels that he has been excluded from the world of Welsh speakers.
Chris said: “We’re from the same area in Wales, where there are not many opportunities to speak Welsh. Often as I was growing up, the lack of ability to speak Welsh made me feel like a stranger to the language and also destroyed my identity as a Welshman. Although he has faith in himself, Kye tries to deal with these problems throughout the play.”
Y Bont is on S4C on Sunday April 7 at 8pm with English subtitles.