Cultural highlights 2025: A tale of two Welsh acting titans

Ceidiog Hughes

My top cultural highlight of 2025 is a no-brainer.

It’s a tale of two Welsh acting titans, Richard Burton and Matthew Rhys.

Everything started with the mercurially talented collier’s son from Pontrhydyfen who dreamt big and blazed a trail for others to follow.

It’s the dramatic equivalent of the famous Fly Half Factory which made Welsh rugby heroes during the golden age that saw the likes of Barry John and Phil Bennett take your breath away while running rings around international opponents.

Richard Burton, who would have been 100 this year,  got the ball rolling with a stellar career that was the stuff of Hollywood legend in defiance of a working class background and growing up in a poor mining community when coal was king.

Ironically, Burton always said he would rather have played rugby for Wales at Cardiff Arms Park than Hamlet at the Old Vic when he was hailed as the “natural successor” to Laurence Olivier.

But rugby’s loss was acting’s gain. He was nominated for an Oscar seven times but never won – and yes, he was robbed.

The off-screen drama in his life was equally compelling, jaw droppingly so at times, fuelled in large part by alcohol consumption in mind-bogglingly huge quantities and his on-off rollicking romance with glamorous screen goddess Elizabeth Taylor whom he married and divorced twice.

But his achievements paved the way for other supremely gifted Welsh actors, with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen notably following in his illustrious footsteps.

The latest off the production line is the wonderful, Emmy Award-winning Matthew Rhys who has deservedly carved out a reputation as one of the finest actors of his generation.

So, it was entirely fitting that he brought Richard Burton’s story to life in a new production of a remarkable one-man play, Playing Burton, celebrating the Welsh-speaking icon’s centenary.

And wow, just wow, what a performance it was. I count myself incredibly fortunate to have been in the audience at the William Aston Hall in Wrexham during the sell-out tour that raised much-needed funds for the Welsh National Theatre which has been revived by none other than Michael Sheen.

Disbelief was fully suspended as Cardiff-born Rhys became Burton, inhabiting his soul, exposing the “light and dark” shades of his life, the alcoholism and his tumultuous love affair with Taylor whose heart he captured amid a lifestyle of lavish excess.

It was hard to believe that this was his first time performing on stage in 16 years because make no mistake this was a theatrical tour de force like none other we have seen in Wales in a very long time.

Viewed purely as a mammoth feat of memory, it was an incredible achievement, being alone on stage for 90-minutes non-stop. But it was so much more than that. 

In the eponymous role, Rhys peeled back the layers of Burton’s brilliance and brokenness with wit, tenderness and raw emotion.

It was an unforgettable night because it was not just about watching a captivating performance but also about becoming part of a very special moment.

While Playing Burton was truly exceptional, there were many more cultural highlights that I’ve been privileged to enjoy this year.

My day job running a PR agency brings me up close and personal with great opportunities to experience culture in its various forms

My favourite word is synergy and I love bringing organisations together for mutual benefit.

Among our fantastic clients is the pioneering care organisation, Pendine Park, whose arts loving owners Mario and Gill Kreft are huge supporters of the arts.

Among others, they sponsor the North Wales International Musical Eisteddfod at St Asaph Cathedral where I was in the audience for the mesmerising performance of the Maltese tenor, Joseph Calleja, whose voice has rightly been compared to that of opera legend Luciano Pavarotti.

Which brings me on to Llangollen International Eisteddfod. As a boy growing up in Coedpoeth my family hosted international competitors every summer, including members of a Czech choir and Zulu dancers. It was always a joyful and eye-opening pleasure.

This year marked a double celebration at the Eisteddfod,  the 70^th anniversary of Pavarotti’s first experience of the festival when he sang and won with his father’s choir, Chorus Rossini, and the 30^th anniversary of his triumphant return as a global superstar in 1995.

What made it even more special was that Pavarotti’s widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, made an emotional return visit to the Eisteddfod, bringing two of my worlds together.

She was particularly keen to present the trophy to the winner of a competition to find a new opera star, the Pendine International Voice of the Future, sponsored by Pendine Park via the Pendine Arts and Community Trust.

I’m also a fan of more low brow cultural pursuits and it’s become something of an annual tradition in the Hughes household to watch the two best Hollywood films ever made, Godfathers I and II, between Christmas and New Year, a pleasure I’m glad to say has been enthusiastically adopted by my three sons.

In the words of Don Corleone, it’s an offer they weren’t able to refuse.

My Top 10 Cultural Highlights

1. Matthew Rhys in Playing Burton
2. The success of the National Eisteddfod in my hometown of Wrexham
3. Blaenau Ffestiniog based, internationally renowned sculptor David Nash’s brilliant exhibition at Ruthin Craft Centre – on until January 11
4. Watching sublime Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja sing at the North Wales International Music Festival at St Asaph Cathedral
5. Tenth anniversary concert of the inspirational North Wales Music Cooperative, also at St Asaph Cathedral
6. The community opera, Gresford – Up From Underground, being shortlisted for an Ivor Novello Award
7. Llangollen International Music Eisteddfod, including visit by Nicoletta Mantovani, widow of opera legend Luciano Pavarotti to celebrate double anniversary
8. The rebirth of Theatr Clwyd in Mold after £56 million redevelopment
9. Promotion of my hometown club, Wrexham AFC, to Championship after injection of Hollywood glitz
10. The annual viewing of  Godfather I and Godfather II, the best Hollywood films ever made