Michael Sheen-led production among projects awarded major Welsh theatre funding

A new fund has awarded £600,000 to ambitious Welsh theatre productions, including a major new work at Wales Millennium Centre co-directed by Michael Sheen.

Arts Council of Wales is proud to announce the first recipients of its new Major Productions Fund — a bold, targeted investment launched in November 2025 in direct response to sector feedback.

The fund has been designed to unlock ambitious, large-scale productions that showcase Welsh creativity at its most compelling, reaching audiences across Wales and beyond.

Developed in close dialogue with the sector, the fund reflects Arts Council of Wales’ commitment to listening, adapting and investing in ways that enable artists and organisations to think bigger, collaborate more widely, and realise work of real scale and impact.

Supporting awards of between £100,000 and £300,000, the fund is designed to provide a significant opportunity to a small number of organisations with an established record of delivering exceptional theatre, dance and musical theatre.

Successful projects were required to demonstrate artistic ambition, strong audience reach, and robust planning — ensuring work that is both creatively ambitious and can be sustainably delivered.

Recipients 

The inaugural recipients are: Taking Flight Theatre Company: awarded £296,066 for The Mab, a landmark production to be created through their distinctive approach to bold, innovative theatre-making with Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent artists.

Reimagining stories from the Mabinogi, the project will bring together inclusive casting and integrated creative access to tell these stories in new and unexpected ways. Blending music, illusion and puppetry, The Mab will explore grief, acceptance and women’s empowerment, with diverse voices and lived experience at its heart.

The production will tour to five venues across Wales and beyond, alongside an outreach and education programme designed to remove barriers and engage younger, more diverse audiences.

Elise Davison, Artistic Director at Taking Flight Theatre Company, said:“I’m thrilled that ACW have awarded Taking Flight a Major Productions grant. After nearly 20 years of working inclusively, creating work with Deaf, disabled, neurodivergent and non-disabled artists, and pioneering the use of integrated creative access, I’m so excited to give this work the platform it deserves.

“We’ve been collaborating with our co-producers Theatrau Sir Gâr and The Riverfront Theatre on ‘The Mab’ for a number of years. It’s a beautiful book written by a fantastic collection of Welsh authors edited by Matt Brown and Eloise Williams.

“Eloise and Matt have created a wonderfully funny and touching script, with dramaturgical guidance from esteemed writer Branwen Davies, and an incredible Design and production team led by Ruth Stringer.

“This team will bring magic to audiences across Wales and we can’t wait to get started. Thank you to our co-producers for your valued input in the development of ‘The Mab’ and thank you to ACW for investing in this production and platforming Deaf, disabled and neurodivergent led work.”

Welsh-language drama

Theatr Cymru: awarded £125,000 for Gwenllian, a bold new Welsh-language drama by award-winning writer and producer Angharad Elen. Reimagining the story of the last Princess of Wales, the production will shine a spotlight on a pivotal but little-known moment in Welsh history — reclaiming Gwenllian’s voice and placing women’s experience at the centre of the narrative.

Blending historical storytelling with contemporary and surreal elements, the piece will explore themes of identity, women’s autonomy and the lasting impact of conquest.

This ambitious co-production with the BBC National Chorus of Wales will feature a cast of 30, including 20 professional singers and it has scale, ambition along with innovation and is of significant cultural importance. A national tour is planned for 2027, alongside a programme of workshops for Welsh speakers and learners.

Angharad Leefe, Theatr Cymru’s Executive Director and Joint Chief Executive, said:“We’re very grateful to the Arts Council of Wales for supporting Gwenllïan with the Major Productions fund.

“This support will ensure that we can realise the ambitious creative vision and tell this epic story that has been largely ignored by history – a story that throws new light on current conversations around identity and freedom.

“In partnership with the BBC National Orchestra and Chorus of Wales, this project allows us to invest in Welsh talent and ensures that this important story reaches audiences across Wales.”

Michael Sheen

Welsh National Theatre: awarded £299,829 for Owain and Henry, a major co-production with Wales Millennium Centre, co-directed by Michael Sheen and Theatr Cymru’s Steffan Donnelly, and starring Michael Sheen.

Olivier Award winning Welsh playwright Gary Owen brings to life Owain Glyndŵr’s rebellion against King Henry IV, one of Wales’s defining stories that explores power and national identity. The funding award recognises the production’s scale, ambition and significant national impact, as well as its potential for future touring.

Sharon Gilburd, Founding Chief Executive of Welsh National Theatre, said:“We founded Welsh National Theatre with a clear vision: to fill a gap in our national culture by telling Welsh stories at scale, with ambition, and for the widest possible audiences. Our aim was then and is now to showcase Welsh talent in Wales and beyond.

“Owain & Henry brings that vision to life: an under-told story of what Wales could have been, and what it might still become. It’s a powerful new play by one of our greatest playwrights and a platform for Welsh talent both on and off the stage.

“Together with our co-production partner, Wales Millennium Centre, we’re bringing it to the second biggest stage in Europe in a true act of collaboration across the arts. Support from Arts Council of Wales will help us fully realise that ambition, creating not just a production, but a cultural moment- one that invites audiences to reflect on our past and feel more confident about our future.”

Demand for fund

Dafydd Rhys, Chief Executive of the Arts Council of Wales, said:”With £600,000 available, we knew demand for this fund would be high — and the strength of applications more than confirmed that. These projects represent the ambition, creativity and confidence of the sector at its best.

“The Major Productions Fund is about the ability to develop and deliver work on a larger scale, to reach wider audiences, and to showcase Welsh talent. These are bold, distinctive productions with the potential to make a real impact here in Wales and beyond.”

The Major Productions Fund forms part of a wider shift in how Arts Council of Wales invests National Lottery funding. As outlined in October 2025, the fund was developed in response to sector feedback and informed by recommendations from the review into English-language theatre in Wales.

It sits within a restructured approach to Lottery funding through the flagship Create programme, which will open to six new funding strands from April 2026.

Together, these changes are designed to provide greater clarity, flexibility and opportunity — supporting artists and organisations at every stage, from emerging work to large-scale productions, and ensuring investment reaches more communities and a wider range of art-forms across Wales.