“You should ask Wallace”-BBC – Blogs – Wales – Play hopes to reveal little-known character of Wallace to masses

BBC – Blogs – Wales – Play hopes to reveal little-known character of Wallace to masses.

“This year dozens of events are taking place to mark the centenary of the death of Wales’ answer to Charles Darwin – Alfred Russel Wallace.

The Victorian naturalist was born in Wales and discovered the theory of evolution by natural selection independently from Darwin, yet never received the same widespread levels of acclaim.

As part of the celebrations the Neath theatre company Theatr na Nog has revived its production You Should Ask Wallace, which it is taking on an extensive tour from next month.

The title takes inspiration from an anecdote that, when Darwin was stumped for an answer why certain species were the way they were, the advice given to him was: “You should ask Wallace”.”

I will look forward to seeing this production performed in Hertford in November.

Our group ‘praesentia’ will also be presenting their ‘Art Trail’ around this time too, to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the death of Wallace.Our preparations are gaining momentum by the week as our works progress and the Art trail grows.

My personal research for this project has taken me further into the fascinating life of Wallace:the man; his childhood; education and his adventures. I am drawn to his quiet determination to follow his aspirations and despite obstacles and various drawbacks he continued to search for answers.