Callum Scott Howells to voice free WMC immersive experience

A new free virtual reality coming-of-age story celebrating the Welsh party scene has been announced by the Wales Millennium Centre, set 20 years ago in Wales.

Opening at the WMC on March 1, Haunts is a brand-new VR experience set to take audiences on a nostalgic journey back to 2006 – twenty years on.

The bilingual experience has been made possible through the Wales Broadcast Archive project funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Welsh Government and is a Wales Millennium Centre, Pilot Theatre and Dreaming Methods co-production in collaboration with The National Library of Wales and The Museum of Youth Culture.

Narrated by Welsh star, Callum Scott-Howells (It’s a Sin), in English and Steffan Donnelly (Theatr Cymru) in Welsh, audiences are transported to Llanberis, a rural former slate town in Gwynedd, North Wales, on the cusp of a new world where Twitter has just been launched and young people are quickly getting used to a society where social media and technology are beginning to take hold.

The title and concept, Haunts calls to the nostalgia that co-directors, Lucy Hammond and Tom Chetwode-Barton, wanted to evoke in audiences through a new experience.

Speaking about the story and concept, co-director Lucy Hammond said: “A ‘haunt’ from our teenage years is not just a physical location; it can be a space that reminds us of emotions and experiences that resonate deeply with our youth. The places, people and music stay with us long after we’ve grown into adulthood.

“Whether seeing graffiti on walls in the local park transports you right back to hanging out with friends, or hearing the sound of an MSN notification makes you smile, Haunts captures that specific feeling of a moment in time.”

Imagery of the youth culture of the time is set against the backdrop of the dark slate mountains and quarries of the area’s industrial past and a narration written by Tom Chetwode-Barton, a BAFTA-nominated writer-director based in Anglesey, whose work often explores themes of class, regional culture, mythology and gender.

Wakefield-based VR studio, Dreaming Methods (Judi Alston and Andy Campbell) led on the concept development and the immersive creative.

With music by Welsh artists Super Furry Animals, John Cale and High Contrast, Haunts will take audiences on a multi-sensory journey, combining theatre, virtual landscapes and archive material from The National Library of Wales – which holds extensive material in the Wales Broadcast Archive from BBC Cymru Wales, ITV Cymru Wales and S4C.

HAUNTS
WALES MILLENNIUM CENTRE

1 March – 12 April 2026
FREE – No need to book, just pop in
Sunday – Monday – 12pm – 5pm (Last entry 4:30pm)
Tuesday – Saturday – 12pm – 6pm (Last entry 5:30pm)

https://www.wmc.org.uk/en/whats-on/2026/haunts