Michael Sheen has launched a theatre company called Welsh National Theatre, which he says will bring “a new dawn” in the country.
The organisation is envisioned as separate from but complementary to Theatr Cymru, which was established in 2003 as the Welsh language national company.
National Theatre Wales closed its doors in its current form as a theatre company in December, after funding was withdrawn in 2023.
Sheen, artistic director of the Welsh National Theatre, said: “This is a new dawn for theatre in Wales.
Its a beautiful morning @WelshNatTheatre https://t.co/LYrA46TFAI
— michael sheen ? (@michaelsheen) January 10, 2025
“We’ll be a home for our greatest talent, bringing them together to create ambitious theatre which makes our national story come alive. That’s what national theatres should do.
“Wales has such a rich storytelling history but our stories are underexplored in the English language, both at home and internationally.”
He has played Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, credited with the founding of the NHS, in Nye at Cardiff’s Wales Millennium Centre and the National Theatre, to “packed houses, both in and out of Wales”, and added: “Audiences have a huge appetite for our stories if we give them the chance to experience them.”
The production by Welsh playwright Tim Price has received critical acclaim, and Sheen was nominated for the best performer in a play award at the 2025 WhatsOnStage Awards.
“Our plays and performances will tell the stories of Wales’ past, present and future, as well as classics seen through a Welsh lens,” Welsh actor Sheen also said.
“They’ll be produced on the grandest stages around the world, by world-class Welsh talents.
“We want truly ambitious writing from Welsh playwrights for the best actors in Wales, to be the pinnacle of our creative talent, raising the bar for excellence in entertainment.
“We want to help create a world where the stories of Wales help us make sense of tomorrow. Where the people of Wales understand their power to change society thanks to the spark of a performance on our stage. Where Wales is respected as a nation with a powerful voice and a story to tell.”
In December, National Theatre Wales decided it would “evolve” its community engagement section Team (Theatre, Education Arts, Music) into its own organisation.
This off-shoot will be relaunched this year, it said.
Good Omens star Sheen has experience of directing, including the three-part BBC drama series The Way, which was filmed in and around Port Talbot.
In 2011, he performed as a Christ-like character in a 72-hour live National Theatre Wales production called The Passion, of which he was co-director and creative director.
Sheen, who grew up in Neath Port Talbot, is known for playing interviewer Sir David Frost in Frost/Nixon, the Underworld film series, portraying the Duke of York in Prime Video show A Very Royal Scandal, and US researcher William Masters in Showtime series Masters Of Sex.
The new theatre’s first production will be announced in due course.
