Michael Sheen ‘shouldn’t have had to’ save the Welsh National Theatre, says Plaid Cymru
Meg Davies
Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru, has criticised the Welsh Government for their lack of funding for culture in Wales, saying Michael Sheen ‘shouldn’t have had to’ save the Welsh National Theatre.
His comments follow Michael Sheen’s announcement earlier this month that he would be self-funding a Welsh National Theatre, following government cuts to Arts Council Wales.
The National Theatre Wales “ceased to exist” after their final curtain came down in December, due to £1.6m in cuts to its core funding from Arts Council Wales.
‘Deeply worrying’
The Plaid Cymru leader said: “Under successive Labour Governments, Wales has slipped to the bottom of the European league table on cultural spend.”
Across Europe, governments spend 1.5% of their budget on the cultural sector, whereas in Wales it’s 0.15% – a tenth of the average European spend.
Iorwerth stated that “The lack of government support for the sector is deeply worrying.”
He explained that the government’s lack of support led to “one individual stepping in to the government’s work for it” referring to Michael Sheen’s decision to self-fund the Welsh National Theatre.
Sheen recently became the theatre’s artistic director after deciding to pay for the project himself.
‘Sense of shame’
Rhun ap Iorwerth noted Mr Sheen’s “deep commitment to Wales and Welsh culture”.
The Plaid Cymru leader asked the First Minister “whether she felt a sense of shame that the lack of her government’s support for culture had led to this”.
He also questioned her on whether she would “continue to outsource the work of her government”.
FM Eluned Morgan emphasised the “need to prioritise” and make “tough decisions” as she addressed the government cuts to the cultural sector.
‘New dawn’
Sheen recognised the importance of retaining a Welsh National Theatre, and said that self-financing it initially would allow it to stand “on its own two feet”.
Speaking to Nation.Cymru, he described the launch of the Welsh National Theatre, as “a new dawn for theatre in Wales”.
“We want to help create a world where the stories of Wales help us make sense of tomorrow. Where the people of Wales understand their power to change society thanks to the spark of a performance on our stage. Where Wales is respected as a nation with a powerful voice and a story to tell.”
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
So Plaid don’t want private philanthropy to pay for this new theatre company? They would if in government say to Michael Sheen, put your money back in your pocket. Instead Plaid would raid the health, education or perhaps social care budget to pay for this new theatre company?
Old-style neo-liberal thinking, Llyn… 1920s, 1880s, take your pick.
And there ain’t enough ‘private philanthropy’ around to properly fund the health, education and social care budgets either!
Nor many of the other aspects of our society being left to rot under the ideological blindness of Labour-Tory-Reform regime.
Our people, our communities, our small businesses need a better deal. Rhun ap Iowerth and Plaid are on the right track to provide it.
So from what public service(s) would you like this money taken to pay for this?
The ministers expenses pot, the few million the Royal family cost might be able to spare a few quid, or even a billion or so from the HS2 project??
All our wealth is being taken out of our country by the UK government in central taxation. If we were allowed control over our economy here in Wales we would have the investment for what we need. For example, our transport is struggling yet the budget for railways which we contribute to through UK taxation is spent in HS2 and London. Would any other country allow this to happen ? Another example, our large retail chains have stores in Wales, they are profitable, however when declare their profits it is attributed as an English income. This is lost to Wales.… Read more »
I’ll ask the question again. If you were an incoming Plaid administration in 2026, from what public service(s) would you like this money taken to pay for this? Just for clarification and incoming Plaid administration would not have the ability to take money from the King.
Cymru is in permanent recession – the extraction of rents and profits by foreign-owned (English included) firms impoverishes us.
Annibyniaeth is the only option if we wish to prosper.
I’m often in agreement with you, Ernie the Smallholder, and passionately believe that smallholdings (horticulture, specialist breeds, aquaculture, microclimate specialisms, medicinal cannabis etc) are the future for Cymru. Only an example you gave, I know, but I do have concerns about on what a post-independence government would spend transportation-wise. I have little confidence in the seemingly unaccountable Transport for Wales, for example. The Metro was over-engineered, out of scale, pursuing the grandiose Big Cardiff fantasy. Working from Home (WFH), surely predictable and inevitable given the time, energy, money and effort expended on commuting, tram-train (misrepresented as ‘tram’ in relation to… Read more »
After light Light Rail, please add Low cost, low-floors…
Anyone who knows anything about the economy knows it is not a zero-sum game. The UK government can create funding at will (they tell the Bank of England) but for purely dogmatic political reasons (ie. not economic reasons and they lie about that), they choose not to. The UK Government is NOT like a household or a business, which by and large are required to balance their budgets. In researching this more, you might also look at the other side of the balance sheet of the ‘national debt’ and search, in vain, for how high or how low it should… Read more »
Quite simply, the money Wales should be getting under Barnett. And don’t say it aint gonna happen. Remember Labour is in power in both places and as the sayng goes in Welsh, a dog and its tail is the same thing .
Brava, Michael Sheen! As any ful kno (ie. not the miserable and incompetent Rachel Reeves or her fellow travellers in the Single Transferable Party) that investing in people (health, education, culture) has a large positive multipliers. A government worthy of its name would dump this neo-liberal capitalist model as it doesn’t work for the vast majority of people. Only the 1 – 10%, and most of them feel guilty about the deprivation they see around them. Not only is this model ineffectual and inefficient, it is immoral to treat people with such contempt! Allowing them to be cold, hungry and/or… Read more »
I don’t think the Reform(UK) party will be any good.
It is fascist in nature and predatory against Cymru.
Reform is silent when it was proven that Tata Steel reduced production and jobs at Port Talbot due to UK’s Brexit withdrawal from the European Single Market and tariff zone.
Reform should be kicked out of Wales before this year and certainly before the next Senedd general election.
I certainly agree, Ernie the Smallholder. Though they have novelty value, we need to recognise that they represent supercharged austerity.
Just another unionist con, with menaces.
This could be Mr Sheen’s next step in his and the country’s destiny…
Does Michael Sheen have to make the news every day!
Indeed he should, I’ve noticed that the most awful of humanity find that he’s some sort of Kryptonite.
I once saw a Nigel Farage supporter burst into flames just by mentioning Michael Sheen.
Beats reading about our ineffectual political class any day.
Not only should he not have been the one to save it, but the government doesn’t even seem that grateful for it. In fact, sometimes it almost feels like they snub him—after all the effort, energy, and money he’s poured into his country! But this goes beyond just material help; Sheen is genuinely in love with his country. He’s always trying to promote and protect the culture and beauty of Wales in every way. He could’ve stayed and lived the good life in Hollywood, but instead, he chose to return to his homeland, he’s raising his family there and doing… Read more »
Labour have made a choice to defund the arts and culture of Wales – it does not matter to them.
Cultural vandalism under the cloak of “efficiency savings.”
Shame on Labour.
Well done Michael Sheen, but I agree it shouldn’t need the intervention of a good citizen with the means to save it; it’s the responsibility of Government.
Although the circumstances are disheartening for why Michael Sheen has done this, it is surly a good thing that private money is supporting the arts in Wales? I find it rather self defeating to say in the position we find ourselves, that instead of private funds the finite public funds for the arts should be used to fund the Theatre. All that will mean is less or no money for other arts projects or public sector projects which have no option of private funding.
You’re not learning, are you Llyn?
There are not ‘finite public funds’. There are always alternatives.
They are only made ‘finite’ by political, ideologically-driven Chancellors of the Exchequer (especially Madame GuilloTINA) who choose to have very little understanding of the real economy – being much more enamoured by the money economy of their friends in the City.
Time for change. Let’s bring some brains into the senior ranks of government, Treasury and the Bank of England, all of whom are out of their depth.
All of you reply is irrelevant. So I’ll ask again If you were an incoming Plaid administration in 2026, from what public service(s) would you like this money taken to pay for this?
Personally I would fund it from the arty farty self-regarding bunch of artists who have chosen to come to Wales for the arts grants that the English are savvy enough not to dish out to hopeless navel gazing second rate rubbish like street art and suchlike. The real trouble is that WAC is staffed by people many of whom have been shipped in rather than being rooted in Wales. OK so you did ask …