Under Milk Wood

Under Milk Wood is a “play for voices” by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas. First performed for radio in 1954, two months after Thomas’s death, the play depicts life in the small town of Llareggub. The play has been adapted many times since its first performance and has been hailed as a landmark achievement in Welsh literature.

This guide is written using the 2015 W&N edition.

Plot Summary

Under Milk Wood opens at night in the small Welsh coastal town of Llareggub. It is narrated by First Voice and Second Voice, who directly address the audience. First Voice leads the audience on a tour of the townspeople, visiting each one’s dreams. A blind ship’s captain named Captain Cat suffers from nightmares about his drowned friends. They want to return to the land of the living, but he cannot help them. Elsewhere, Myfanwy Price and Mog Edwards are in separate houses, dreaming of one another. Mr. Waldo’s dreams are memories of his youth and romantic failures. Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard dreams about her dead husbands.

The next morning, the local priest, Reverend Eli Jenkins, speaks about how much he loves the town during his regular sermon.