Free Arena screening, followed by a Q&A with writer Nigel Williams and director Anthony Wall at the Museum of Soho.

The Museum of Soho presents a special screening of the acclaimed Arena documentary Dylan Thomas: From Grave to Cradle, as part of our West End at War exhibition for Open House Festival 2026.

The evening begins with a screening of the documentary followed by a Q&A featuring the film’s writer and presenter, Nigel Williams, and its director, Anthony Wall.

Made in 2003, the documentary tells Dylan Thomas’s story backwards. Beginning with his much-written-about death in New York in 1953, it travels through his turbulent life and returns to his childhood in Cwmdonkin Park in Swansea, the source of so much of his work.

Along the way, the film separates the man from the mythology that grew around him. Did Thomas really die after drinking eighteen straight whiskies? How did an unruly schoolboy, determined from childhood to become a poet, become one of the most celebrated literary figures of the twentieth century?

The documentary explores Thomas’s poetry, reputation and enduring cultural influence while searching for the man behind the legend.

RUNNING ORDER

6:00 pm — Doors open

6:20 pm — Screening begins.

Approximately 7:20 pm — Screening ends.

7:30 pm — Q&A with writer, Nigel Williams and director, Anthony Wall.

VENUE

The Museum of Soho

75 Dean Street

London W1D 3PU

The screening takes place in our 80-seat cinema, formerly part of the Warner Bros/De Lane Lea recording studios.

TICKETS

Admission is free, but advance booking is essential because seating is limited.

This event forms part of The West End at War, presented by the Museum of Soho for Open House Festival, 12–20 September 2026.

Description supplied by the event organiser.