A cheeky but charming personal account of the outrageous Stifyn Parri in the first ever bilingual, back to back autobiography. He has starred in theatre and TV across the UK, and worked with some of the biggest names in the industry. He is full of anecdotes of backstage drama, tantrums, & embarrassment with celebs, royalty and even his poor mother.
(English review follows)
Mae’n ddiddorol sut y gall unigolyn fod â phersonoliaeth wahanol mewn dwy iaith, ac mae penderfyniad Stifyn Parri i gyhoeddi ei hunangofiant yn ddwyieithog yn ymgorffori’r deuoldeb hwnnw sydd oddi fewn i berson sy'n dymuno creu rhywbeth all apelio at ddwy gynulleidfa. Mae’r fersiwn Cymraeg yn pwysleisio materion fyddai’n taro nodyn gyda chymuned Gymreig lle nad oes angen egluro cyd-destunau, fel gyda chynulleidfa Theatr y Stiwt yn Rhos, pentref genedigol Stifyn. Byddai theatrau rhanbarthol Cymru yn gyfarwydd efo’r agosrwydd hynny – rydych chi’n mynd i’r theatr oherwydd eich bod chi’n nabod y person ar y llwyfan, nid fel person enwog, ond fel person cyffredin – dach chi’n ei gofio fo’n cystadlu yn Eisteddfod yr Urdd pan oedd o’n grwtyn bach ac yn adnabod y teulu.
Mae’r fersiwn Saesneg yn osgoi hynny; yn wir mae’n dychanu hynny mewn ffordd fyddai’n diddanu cynullleidfa Saesneg ei hiaith sydd weithiau yn wamalus o’r ffaith fod perthyn a chysylltiadau rhwng pobol mor gynhenid i’r meddylfryd Gymreig.
Yn y llyfr yma, mae Stifyn Parri yn anelu i greu sioc, ac mae’r bersonoliaeth ‘drychwch arnaf fi’ yn ysu am yr ebychiad ‘elli di ddim sgwenu mastyrbe— a ff— mewn llyfr Cymraeg!’ gan ei ddarllenwyr. Bydd rhai darllenwyr, felly, yn gwrthwynebu’r ffaith fod Stifyn wedi ennyn yr ymateb hwnnw ganddynt.
Ei ganmol neu ei gasáu, yr hyn sy’n amlwg drwy’r llyfr yw bod Stifyn yn berson sy’n gwneud ei orau i fwynhau y bywyd sydd ganddo. Does dim llawer o bobol, ac yn enwedig awduron hunangofiannau, yn gwneud hynny. Mae ei bositifrwydd a’i frwdfrydedd yn ganolog i’w stori, ond holaf a yw’n cynnwys ambell air bachog (sy’n weithiau’n air sbeitlyd neu’n anweddus) er mwyn cael sylw a chreu effaith yn unig?
Mae’r Stifyn Parri sydd yn ymddangos rhwng cloriau’r llyfr yma’n berson sydd yn hawdd i’w gasau – a’i garu. Mae’n gosod y sbotlamp yn llwyr arno fo ei hunan, gan roi pawb arall yn y cysgodion, ond ceir yr argraff hefyd mai perthynas caru/casáu yw perthynas Stifyn Parri ag ef ei hunan. Teimlwn ei fod o’n gweithio’n galed i greu Stifyn Parri mae’n ei garu er mwyn osgoi cwrdd â’r Stifyn Parri y mae’n gasáu wrth gael rhyw gipolwg damweiniol yn y drych.
Mae Allan â Fo! yn llyfr difyr a diddorol am gymeriad sy’n denu ystod o ymatebion, o edmygedd i genfigen. Fe fwynhais yr hunanbortread deuol hwn o berson deuol yn arw.
Stifyn Parri’s autobiography Out With It! gives a rare insight into the duality of bilingualism. The book is published with Welsh and English versions back to back, and although broadly similar, with tales of a mistaken belief in the recreational habits of Siân Phillips, the casting of Prince Charles in an impromptu performance of Cinderella, and the lost kiss of Catherine Zeta-Jones on a paper napkin, there are some notable points of duality.
In Welsh Stifyn Parri regales us with the bizarreness of his Jones Jones Jones event – an attempt to create a world record for the largest number of collective Joneses in a room. He surmises that half the audience would have been unable to identify the singer Grace Jones, and the other half would have had no idea who the broadcaster Dai Jones was. This is absent from the English version, presumably because the English-speaking readers of this book would similarly have no idea about the (London-born) broadcaster of matters Welsh and rural, Dai Jones.
Sifyn Parri is a self-confessed attention seeker, and therefore there are sections of this book where his intention is unashamedly to shock. Portions of the book are therefore shrines to toilet humour, and he seems to revel in his ability to disgust and to elicit the: ‘You can’t say THAT about Tom Jones!’ response. What shines out in this book however, is that love him or loathe him, Parri enjoys the life he is living. Many people, and in particular those who write their autobiography, do not enjoy their lives. His positivity and enthusiasm glitter on the page, even though there is a tendency to smut and salaciousness which will screech ‘attention-seeking’ to some readers.
The Stifyn Parri chronicled within these pages is someone who is easy both to love and to hate. He places the spotlight squarely on himself, banishing everyone else to the shadows. But this love/hate pendulum seems to be Stifyn Parri’s relationship with himself; within this book there appears to be a man who works hard to be the person he can love, in order to avoid the possibility of encountering a Stifyn Parri that he hates, perhaps accidentally, in the mirror.
Out With It! is an amusing and interesting portrait of someone who elicits a variety of responses along a broad spectrum, from respect to envy. But whatever your view of Stifyn Parri the person, this dual book about a dual person is both entertaining and enjoyable.
~Catrin Huws @ www.gwales.com
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