‘A Regular Little Houdini’ is the story of a boy from Newport. This boy comes from Pill and wants to do magic. The play is Newport through and through and refreshingly authentic.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise seeing as Daniel Llewelyn-Williams, who wrote, produced and performed, is from Newport himself and much of the story he tells relay the same ones his grandfather told him. His family are from Pill and these are the stories he grew up with.

The play is set in the docks between 1905 and 1913; the two occasions that Harry Houdini visited Newport. Through a young boy, the audience get a glimpse of Newport at the beginning of the twentieth century, from the opening of the ‘flying bridge’ to the horrors of the dock disaster.

Although he’s working with some fantastic material, Daniel is an incredible story-teller and delivered an almost flawless delivery during the 55 minutes of straight dialogue. There are some moments of exceptional acting, utterly absorbing the audience into the story without support from a set or props.

A mention has to go to St. Julian’s fiddle player, Meg Cox, 13, whose ‘Half Penny Waltz’ performed and composed by the teen, captures both the melancholy and the ambition of Daniel’s story. This compelling play was all the more powerful for being told in the city it portrays and should be vital-watching for all city dwellers.