‘Port Talbot’s Gotta Banksy’ to receive world premiere in Wales

David Owens

It was the moment the world converged on Wales.

December 2018, Banksy gifts Port Talbot a unique Christmas present making it an international talking point when one of his murals appears on the garage of a local steelworker.

2024, Port Talbot hits the headlines again with the end of blast furnace steel-making synonymous with the town and the beginning of a new uncertainty.

In the weeks after Banksy’s artwork ‘Season’s Greetings’ first appeared, Paul Jenkins and Tracy Harris of Theatr3 spoke to people across the town.

What began as a project collecting responses to the first Banksy in Wales, over six years became a portrait of a community and a testament to its character and resilience.

Now, the voices of this Welsh community take centre stage, their words performed live by a professional cast.

Port Talbot’s Gotta Banksy is an urgent new play about people, power and street art. It’s a celebration of the strength of communities to withstand everything life has to throw at them.

The production which will receive its world premiere at the Sherman Theatre in Cardiff in May 2025 sees the people of Port Talbot share their story in their own words, in a compelling and compassionate verbatim play.

The play will also be performed at the Plaza, Port Talbot, Grand Theatre, Swansea, Torch Theatre, Milford Haven and Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham following the run at the Sherman.

Port Talbot’s Gotta Banksy
Directed by Paul Jenkins
A co-production with Theatr3
Supported by National Theatre Studio and with funding from Arts Council of Wales
1 – 10 May 2025.
Tickets on sale: 6 December

Find out more HERE

The announcement of this new production is part of six new productions and two returning audience and critics’ favourites that will form the 2025 Made at Sherman season.

These are:

Hot Chicks by Rebecca Hammond
Directed by Hannah Noone
A co-production with Grand Ambition
21 March-5 April 2025
Supported by Swansea Council, UK Government, Arts Council of Wales, National Lottery Community Fund, Welsh Government and People’s Postcode Lottery/Postcode Community Trust
On sale: Fri 6 Dec 2024

Teenagers Ruby and Kyla spend their evenings hanging at Cheney’s chicken shop dreaming of moving to Vegas and going viral. A chance encounter with older, cooler Sadie, means their dreams of pool parties and showering in dollars could become a reality…but at what price?

Rebecca Jade Hammond’s ferocious, witty and unsettling new play is contemporary Welsh theatre at its sharpest.

Hot Chicks will also be performed at Swansea Grand Theatre 16 – 25 April 2025.

The Frog Prince / Biwti a Brogs by Gwawr Loader
Directed by Elin Phillips
A co-production with Theatr Cymru
24 Nov 2025-3 Jan 2026
On sale now

Step into the Sherman Studio and enter a magical world with Gwawr Loader’s new version of The Frog Prince by the Brothers Grimm. This is the perfect introduction to the wonder of live theatre for ages 3-6. The Frog Prince / Biwti a Brogs is performed in English and Welsh at separate performances. Audiences across Wales can experience this enchanting new show as it tours south Wales before the Christmas performances, and across north and mid Wales in early 2026.

Alice: Return to Wonderland by Hannah McPake
28 Nov 2025-3 Jan 2026
On sale now

Next Christmas, Hannah McPake (Tales of the Brothers Grimm) will take audiences on a brand new adventure from bombed out streets in post-war Cardiff and into Wonderland, all from the comfort of their Main House seat. Another amazing, joyous and spectacular actor musician-led Sherman Christmas show for everyone aged 7+.

The Pilot by Jennifer Lunn
Directed by Francesca Pickard
6-8 April 2025
On sale: Fri 6 Dec 2024
Developed with the current cohort of Sherman Theatre’s Introduction to Playwriting programme
Performed by the Sherman Youth Theatre

An innovative and inspiring new collaboration unites the new voices of our two key creative development programmes (for ages 15-18) with one of Wales’s leading writers; award-winning playwright Jennifer Lunn.

Salem by Lisa Parry
Directed by Sara Lloyd
A collaboration with Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama for their NEW festival
May 2025. Exact dates tbc.

The latest play by Lisa Parry (The Merthyr Stigmatist) will be Sherman Theatre’s tenth collaboration with our close partners, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and is our 2025 commission for the college’s NEW festival.

Exact dates to be announced in the new year.

The two returning productions are:

Housemates by Tim Green
Directed by Joe Murphy and Ben Pettitt-Wade
A co-production with Hijinx
Supported by funding from Arts Council of Wales
21 Feb-8 March 2025
On sale now

The Housemates are back in 2025 by popular demand. Tim Green’s re-telling of a remarkable story which took place just metres from the Sherman’s doors captured the hearts of audiences and won huge praise from critics in 2023. It’s the story of the friends who started a revolution which marked the beginning of the end of institutionalised care with the creation of the UK’s first supported living home. Performed by a cast of neurodivergent and neurotypical actor-musicians including members of the Hijinx Academy, Housemates will tour to Aberystwyth Arts Centre and The Torch Theatre, Milford Haven following its performances at the Sherman.

The Women of Llanrumney by Azuka Oforka
Directed by Patricia Logue
26 April-10 May 2025
On sale now

Wales’ colonial past is confronted head-on in Azuka Oforka’s devastating historical drama which returns in 2025 following its five-star, sold out premiere run in May 2024. The Women of Llanrumney will be performed at Sherman Theatre following a run at Stratford East in London as previously announced.

Further productions will be announced in the new year.

Announcing the season, Sherman Theatre’s Artistic Director Joe Murphy said: “I’m excited that my final season as Artistic Director of Sherman Theatre blends brand new work, fresh new voices and fresh new ideas with shows returning by popular demand. We will be serving audiences with shows they’ve enjoyed and giving others the opportunity to experience them whilst pushing forward and keeping on challenging. In many ways this season is a convergence of all the work we’ve done since I arrived and it’s a real statement of intent for the future of this extraordinary company. Ultimately, it’s the people who make this place so special. We see this in the exceptional artists at the heart of the season, many of whom like our audiences have been on a journey with us. This season therefore couldn’t be more thrilling or perfect for me.”

Sherman Theatre Chief Executive Julia Barry added: “As we look ahead to 2025, I am delighted that the Sherman is presenting a huge breadth of work, both new and returning, for our audiences. The return of Housemates and The Women of Llanrumney shows the impact of, and the appetite for, new plays that tell local stories and truly connect with our audiences and communities and we can’t wait to share them with wider audiences in 2025. In tandem, we are working with some of the best writers and artists in Wales currently to bring new work to our stages in co-production with some brilliant partners. Both Hot Chicks and Port Talbot’s Gotta Banksy will tell the stories of communities across south Wales shining a light on contemporary issues.

“In particular, in 2025, I am thrilled that we are able to showcase the talents of our Introduction to Playwriting participants, who have been working in collaboration with Jen Lunn to write Pilot – specially written to be performed by our Youth Theatre. Offering creative experiences to our communities is central to our work at Sherman Theatre and to combine a number of initiatives into a production for our audiences is hugely exciting.”