Welsh theatre unveils three productions for spring 2027

Three productions exploring escape, freedom and reinvention will take to the stage in north Wales next spring, including a world premiere by an acclaimed Welsh playwright.

Theatr Clwyd has announced the productions which will form its Spring 2027 season, beginning with Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.

Showing from 27 Mar until 17 April, the adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play, from the translation by Charlotte Barslund, follows a marriage in its final days.

While Nora appears to have the perfect life, a hidden debt is catching up with her, and one man holds the power to bring it all crashing down.

The show is directed by Wales’ Dena Davis, who has recently finished their professional training at Theatr Clwyd. Dena said: “A Doll’s House is a masterpiece of a play. It’s charged, gripping and still so relevant today. It’s a classic for a reason.”

The Secret Garden

This is followed by Linda Marshall Griffiths’ reinvention of a classic, The Secret Garden, which will play from 19 May to 5 June.

Another show inspired by a classic novel, this time by Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden is directed by Amy Leach and produced with Leeds Playhouse.

Surrounded by concrete and noise, Maya searches for stillness in a conflict-filled world, instead finding three teenagers each navigating their own way through the chaos.

The Secret Garden will include integrated creative captioning and creative audio description in every performance.

Director Amy Leach said: “This is such a well-loved story, and I’m so excited about this new adaptation, which stays true to the original whilst also speaking to the challenge and hope of our modern world. It’s going to be a magical production.”

The Last Train For Hope

Finally, the world premiere of acclaimed Welsh playwright Lucie Lovatt’s latest dark thriller, The Last Train For Hope, will play from 22 May until 12 June.

Directed by Theatr Clwyd Artistic Director Kate Wasserberg, the show follows Emerald and Gethin, whose future is called into question as their farm dies.

The unexpected arrival of Emerald’s free-spirited sister brings buried secrets to the surface and puts loyalties under strain, exploring marriage, murder, and survival.

Kate Wasserberg described the play as “A future classic. Think A Streetcar Named Desire, set on a farm in North Wales. Expect mystery, murder, romance, and a pressure-cooker of a story that explodes during a total eclipse of the sun.”

The Autumn 2027 programme will include a co-production with the Sherman Theatre, of the world premiere of the award-winning Daf James’ Princess of Wales.

Of the 2027 programme, Kate added: “Escape and reinvention runs through every story in this season. These are three very different worlds – a Victorian drawing room, a high-rise garden, a farmhouse in Flintshire – but they’re all asking the same question: when we find ourselves trapped in life, what does it take to break free”

Theatr Clwyd is Wales’ largest producing theatre and one of only four in the UK to create its sets, props, costumes and scenery in-house.

The north Wales organisation also runs community, artist development and music programmes, while its theatre has recently undergone a major redevelopment.

Theatr Clwyd’s 2026 successes include the launch of Wales’ National Development Studio, Stiwdio Clwyd, Welsh and UK tours of Under Milk Wood, Twelfth Night and Atlantis, and co-producing the Edinburgh Fringe First award-winning Amnesia.

For more information on the upcoming productions, visit the Theatr Clwyd site here.

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