Unicorns, Almost

I have to admit to having never heard of Keith Douglas before - Second World War poets are just not as celebrated as the poets of the First World War. He was a tank commander in the Western Desert, and died 3 days after the D-Day landings, at the age of 24. Although Ted Hughes considered his poetry to be a major influence, Keith Douglas's work has not become more widely known.
However, Owen Sheers (who also wrote Resistance, which was set in the Olchon Valley near to Hay) has now written a play about Keith Douglas, and it's going to be performed at The Swan, twice nightly (at 5pm and 8pm - the play runs for an hour), from 25th May to 7th June, over the Festival period.
They're transforming the hall at the back of the Swan now, making the space into a huge canvas tent (made at a mill in Bradford, according to their website at https//:unicornsalmost.com).

The ticket price is quite expensive at first glance, at £20, but for that you also get an exhibition of items from the Keith Douglas archives in the half hour before the show, and music from the Blind Bookworms Jazz Band, a group of blind and partially sighted musicians supported by Hereford's Royal National College for the Blind and Ronnie Scott's Charitable Foundation (so they're probably a bit good, then - if you like jazz).
Each play goer will also receive a letterpress printed copy of one of Keith Douglas's poems.
There will be some discounted tickets available for schools, blind and visually impaired young people and some community groups.

This show really brings together some of the passions of Emma Balch, who is the producer of the play. She has links with the Hereford College for the Blind, and organises the Wayzgoose for small printers as well. Also during the run of the play there will be a free exhibition at 20 Castle Street about the life and poetry of Keith Douglas and the making of the play.