It’s been three decades since ‘The Lost Harp - Y Delyn Golledig’, a show produced and performed by the Rhayader & District Community Play Association, brought the entire community of Rhayader together.

Now, CARAD are celebrating in style by putting on a special exhibition and throwing a reunion party.

‘The Lost Harp – Y Delyn Golledig’ was written for Rhayader & District Community Play Association by playwright Peter Cox, who is now a Trustee of Rhayader’s well established arts charity, CARAD.

In 1991 he was approached by Rhayader YFC and asked to write a play, which under his direction went on to win the UK National Drama competition.

Following on from this success, a small group of the production team got together and formed a steering group with the idea of producing a large-scale community play - and so ‘The Lost Harp – Y Delyn Golledig’ was born.

The play involved several hundred people from across Rhayader and the wider community, many of whom had never been involved in anything like this before, not just on stage, but also behind the scenes.

Rhayader & District Community Play Association.
A programme from The Lost Harp. (Rhayader & District Community Play Association.)

The play was seen by 2,500 people across 10 performances. Organisers facilitated more than 60 community-based workshops over three months covering a wide variety of creative and heritage subjects.

Its legacy is still felt today thanks to the work of CARAD, the local arts organisation that was born as a result of this project and has continued to work with communities over the last 30 years.

As part of the 30th anniversary celebrations, CARAD is creating an exhibition made up of as many pieces of memorabilia connected to the play as they can gather.

Lots of these items are already on permanent display in CARAD’s ‘museum-with-a-twist’ TimeScape Rhayader – their popular all-weather visitor attraction that tells the story of Rhayader and surrounding area. They have also reached out and reconnected with many of those who were involved or had a connection to the project to create a fantastic trip down memory lane.

This exhibition will be open to the public on Friday, November 15 and Saturday, November 16 (1pm-4pm).

‘The Lost Harp – Y Delyn Golledig’ reunion party event will be for everyone who has a connection to the play. It will be a great opportunity for those involved to catch up with friends, reconnect, share their stories and memories, and enjoy being together again.

Both exhibition and reunion will take place in the CARAD theatre space, East Street, Rhayader (LD6 5ER).