Welsh National Theatre launches 2027/28 programme with classics, collabs and star names

Acting legend Dame Siân Phillips is to join Welsh National Theatre’s 2027/8 programme alongside artistic director Michael Sheen and Callum Scott Howells as plays, partnerships and pathways were today announced.

Following April’s announcement of Welsh National Theatre’s co-production with Second Half Productions of Amadeus, WNT has launched its full 2027/28 programme, with revivals of classics, collaborations with leading Welsh talent and amplification of new work, alongside new writing opportunities, industry partnerships, talent development, accessibility and wellbeing services.

In an unprecedented announcement the WNT revealed:

• After a celebrated eight-decade career, Dame Siân Phillips is to return to the Welsh stage in Samuel Beckett’s Rockaby, presented in a triptych alongside Not I and Footfalls

• Revived four decades on from its first production, Frank Vickery’s Valleys wedding comedy A Night on the Tiles will tour in spring 2028, ten years on from the death of its Treorchy-born playwright

• A modern take on the Welsh wedding – writer/performer Katie Payne’s full throttle My Mix(ed up) Tape – is set to go to Edinburgh Festival in 2027, and tour with Dirty Protest and Welsh National Theatre support, following a sold out run earlier this year

• Today’s new productions join the previously announced Amadeus, which sees Callum Scott Howells as Mozart and Michael Sheen as Salieri in Peter Shaffer’s dazzling modern classic, directed by Jeremy Herrin in the first show by a Welsh national theatre to run in the West End and Wales

• New plays from Azuka Oforka, Siân Owen, Rhys Warrington, Emily White, Owen Sheers, Katie Elin-Salt, Mathilde Lopez and Bethan Marlow – some of the most exciting voices in Welsh theatre today- are under development

• New Stage & Screen Writers’ Scheme announced with Industry, The Other Bennet Sister and His Dark Materials producer Bad Wolf

• Discussions underway for a Broadway run and streaming of the Sunday Times five-star reviewed Playing Burton, starring Emmy Award winner Matthew Rhys

• Pilot scheme with Oshi’s World, Wales’ first and only dedicated theatre company making work exclusively with and for people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), to explore creating sensory adaptations of WNT productions

• Green Room Coaching wellbeing pilot to be launched, offering therapeutic support services to everyone working with WNT

• Next two Culture Scouts announced in Welsh Net talent pathway scheme

The plays

Today’s announcement sees Dame Siân Phillips return to the Welsh stage in Samuel Beckett’s Rockaby, presented in a triptych alongside Not I and Footfalls, directed by Richard Beecham. The production will tour Wales and wider in 2027.

Born and raised in the Welsh-speaking community of Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen in the Neath Valley, Dame Siân has had one of the most distinguished and enduring careers in British theatre. Now aged 93, her work has spanned more than eight decades across the West End, National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and international stages.

Dame Siân Phillips said: “I am delighted to have been asked to join the Welsh National Theatre. I have waited a long time for this moment. Thank you Michael Sheen.

“I look forward to returning to the work of the great Samuel Beckett and reuniting with my director Richard Beecham. It will be like coming home in every way.”

Further Welsh female acting talent will be announced to join the cast, alongside the hire of an associate director.

First staged in 1987, Frank Vickery’s Valleys wedding comedy A Night on the Tiles, which was workshopped during WNT’s recent Studio, will tour in spring 2028. The Treorchy-born playwright remains one of Welsh theatre’s most beloved voices, and the Welsh National Theatre co-production with RCT Theatres will mark 10 years since Vickery’s death.

Ross Vickery, grandson of the playwright Frank said: “We are thrilled that Welsh National Theatre is reviving A Night on the Tiles. Seeing our grandfather’s work reach new audiences is a real honour for our family, and we’re grateful that his voice and storytelling continue to be celebrated.”

Fresh from a sold-out tour of Wales, My Mix(ed up) Tape at Edinburgh Fringe 2027 is a co-production between Dirty Protest, Welsh National Theatre and partners. Written and performed by Katie Payne, directed by Stef O’Driscoll and originally produced by Dirty Protest, RCT Theatres and Grand Ambition, this new play takes audiences into the chaos of a Valleys wedding, where dodgy buffets, brutal banter and family politics collide. Told with a live DJ through a mixtape of memories and iconic tracks, it’s a funny, fierce and full-throttle portrait of identity, class, rage and belonging in modern Wales.

Katie Payne said: “My Mix(ed up) Tape was born from wanting to see Welsh working-class women represented truthfully on our stages. For Welsh National Theatre to back new writing like this feels genuinely important for the future of bold, new voices in Welsh theatre. I’m so excited to reunite with Dirty Protest and our Partners, and now with the support of WNT, taking this story even further and continuing to shine a light on an experience that audiences will recognise and connect with.”

Tim Price, Literary Programming Manager at Welsh National Theatre said: “By giving audiences what they want with big, bold shows like Owain & Henry and Amadeus we can subsidise programming that is vital to our culture but less driven by commercial needs. The pilot scheme with Oshi’s World will break new ground in access and inclusion bringing national theatre resources to a marginalised community. A diverse audience is a resilient audience and we hope sensory adaptations of theatre will one day become as commonplace as captioned, BSL and relaxed performances.

“2028 will be the 10th anniversary of Frank Vickery’s passing. It is difficult to state the importance of Frank to Welsh playwriting and Valleys culture. He is simply one of the greatest playwrights Wales has ever produced and his work has been long overlooked. As a national theatre, it’s our duty to revive and refresh the canon and to have A Night On The Tiles in our second season feels like Frank is finally where he belongs – at the heart of our theatre culture.

“Standing on the shoulder of giants like Frank is Katie Payne, another Valleys writer whose brilliant My Mix(ed) Up Tape toured Wales this year. As a national theatre it’s incumbent on us to platform the best work in Wales, whether we make it or not. Taking Katie to an international festival is the best way to take Wales to the world.

“Having Dame Siân Phillips in our second season is an honour and privilege. Not I / Rockaby / Footfalls and the chance for audiences to thank Siân for her service, this will be a true ‘I was there’ moment – this is what a national theatre is for.”

Last month saw the reveal of Amadeus, a Welsh National Theatre and Second Half Productions co-production where Michael Sheen and Callum Scott Howells will star as rival composers Salieri and Mozart in Peter Shaffer’s dazzling masterpiece, directed by Jeremy Herrin. Playing Cardiff’s New Theatre (9 – 27 March 2027), before moving to London’s Noël Coward Theatre (17 April – 7 August 2027), the production is the first from a Welsh national company to secure a major run in London’s West End, signalling a new chapter for Welsh theatre on the UK’s commercial stage. Tickets are on sale now with 15,000 tickets available at £30 or under.

Michael Sheen, Artistic Director at Welsh National Theatre said on announcement of Amadeus: “It’s a full-circle moment for me to return to the West End with Amadeus. To play Salieri opposite a fellow Welshman as Mozart -a role that has meant so much to me – feels very special indeed. I directed Callum in my television drama The Way; he’s an extraordinary talent who deserves this stage, and audiences should be excited for what’s to come. To bring this vital new production to both Cardiff and the West End – a first for a Welsh national theatre – feels like an important next step on our journey.”

New plays from Azuka Oforka, Siân Owen, Rhys Warrington, Emily White, Owen Sheers, Katie Elin-Salt, Mathilde Lopez and Bethan Marlow – some of the most exciting voices in Welsh theatre today- are under development with Welsh National Theatre with announcements on the plays to follow in due course.

Stage & Screen Writing Scheme

Welsh National Theatre has joined forces with Cardiff-based, award-winning production company Bad Wolf — the producers behind Industry, The Other Bennet Sister and His Dark Materials — to launch a new initiative championing bold new voices and original storytelling across Wales.

Announced today at an event held at Wolf Studios Wales, the new Stage & Screen Writers’ Scheme will offer Welsh and Wales-based early to mid-career writers working across theatre and television the opportunity to receive a commission for an original new play from Welsh National Theatre, while simultaneously developing the television adaptation with Bad Wolf. Applications open Monday 1 June via the Screen Alliance Wales web site.

Jane Tranter, CEO and Co-Founder, Bad Wolf, joined Michael Sheen on stage at the event in conversation. She said: “Many of today’s most highly regarded television writers first found their voice in our theatres. We’re delighted to partner with Welsh National Theatre on this new initiative, which aims to discover, nurture and champion unknown and emerging Welsh writers whose work can resonate across both stage and screen. Together, we will develop an original piece that we hope audiences will soon experience both in theatres and on screen.”

Sharon Gilburd, Welsh National Theatre’s founding Chief Executive Officer said: “Over our first year, we’ve made huge strides in establishing a theatre from scratch. We have a tiny team and yet we’re working with giants of the sector and making work that belies our size. With limited resources but bucketloads of spirit, as founders we remain as committed as ever to creating an institution the nation can be proud of.

“We now begin production planning in earnest and seek partnerships to secure the funding to bring the 27/28 programme to the stage. As we mature, we’ll be now investing in people, infrastructure and expertise to build a sustainable organisation for the future.”

Accessibility and well-being

Founded by Anna Liddell and Katie Elin-Salt and inspired by Anna’s son Osian, Oshi’s World make sensory-led theatre that is designed to be accessible and meaningful for audiences with profound disabilities.

After running for almost a decade as a social inclusion charity, Oshi’s World evolved into a theatre company for audiences with PMLD after noticing the total lack of accessible provision for profoundly disabled theatre audiences in Wales. Through their use of sensory-led storytelling and creating spaces that are tailored to the needs of a PMLD audience, Oshi’s World are determined to finally make Welsh theatre a space that is accessible, inclusive and welcoming to the PMLD community.

Oshi’s World and Welsh National Theatre will collaborate on a pilot for assessing theatrical productions through the lens of sensory storytelling, to determine whether a production could be adapted with and for audiences with PMLD.

Anna Liddell, Chief Executive, Oshi’s World said: “We are hugely excited to be collaborating with WNT on this project, and are thrilled for the opportunity to consider and explore how our currently chronically underserved audiences may be able to finally access mainstage work in a way that is accessible and meaningful for them. Our work is a collaboration between ourselves as theatre makers and members of the PMLD community, who we believe have so much to both offer and gain from access to theatre and the creative process. We are delighted to be able to share our sensory-led practice with other theatre companies in Wales, and hoping to excite and inspire others to consider how they may include this work and the needs of our audiences in the future.”

Green Room Coaching is launching a pilot with Welsh National Theatre to offer confidential and unlimited therapeutic services for everyone working with WNT, both during and for six months following their engagement. Founded by psychotherapist Rachel Curtis, who said: “Given the recent report issued by The Actors’ Trust, citing frankly terrifying statistics such as more than a quarter of actors have felt they’d be “better off dead” or had thoughts of self-harming in the last year, it’s clear that there is a need for support – which could actually save lives.

“Most professionals in the sector are self-employed and may struggle to access therapeutic services. This pilot with Welsh National Theatre will provide critical support to those that need it, but importantly, we are also going to monitor the demand and report anonymised data on themes we are seeing to help the sector understand which areas may need to be adapted and improved to support mental wellbeing.”

The Welsh Net

Catrin Mair Jones and Nick Davies have been named as the next Culture Scouts in the Welsh Net. Casting their eyes across the whole of Wales and building out a network that reaches every area, the scouts will watch youth, amateur and professional theatre.

The Welsh Net aims to create pathways that have vanished, or may never have existed, to help talented theatre makers and creatives across Wales overcome the barriers they face in the industry. In partnership with BBC Studios, who are funding one of the roles, The Welsh Net is about finding and developing talent across both stage and screen.

At home and around the world

Following a “sensational” and “stunning” (Sunday Times) sold-out five-star fundraising run of Playing Burton with Emmy Award winner Matthew Rhys last November, discussions are taking place for a Broadway run of the Mark Jenkins play, as well as streaming across the world.

Discussions are also underway with co-producers the Rose Theatre about the potential for an international tour of Our Town, following a hugely successful Welsh tour and a run in Kingston upon Thames of Thornton Wilder’s classic play on life.