Why Michael Sheen is funding a new National Theatre in Wales

The actor Michael Sheen has taken it upon himself to fund a new National Theatre in Wales, following the devastating loss of the existing National Theatre Wales at the end of 2024. This was due to a 1.6 million pound cut in its funding by the Arts Council Wales (ACW), which forced it to disband. It was one of 81 creative organisations to be dropped from the funders most recent portfolio. The National Theatre Wales was established in 2009 and ran up until the end of last year, having received funding from the ACW the entire time.

The company had groundbreaking success with its production of The Passion in 2011, a play which lasted 72 hours and took place over a number of locations in Port Talbot, starring Michael Sheen himself as The Teacher. It drew in over 25,000 spectators, and was one of the most impressing plays to have been brought to life in recent years. The town of Port Talbot came together in support of this play, its residents comprising both the cast and crew. This sense of community is one of the many great things theatre brings about, and is exactly why the existence of National Theatres are so important, especially in the face of the crack down on funding for the arts.

Welsh stories are often under-represented on the stage, and yet there is so much to tell

Sheen has spent the better part of the past year playing Aneurin Bevan, the Welshman who founded the NHS, in Nye. This production moved between the National Theatre in London and the Wales Millenium Centre in Cardiff, and which was so popular that he is reprising this role for a second run in the summer. In an interview with ITV News, Sheen expressed his pride in getting to see ‘Welsh stories on a Welsh stage with Welsh actors written by a Welsh writer’, performed to sold out audiences every night. The immensely positive reception of Nye, both within Wales and outside of it, opened his eyes to the further possibilities of Welsh theatre and the audiences love for such stories.

Sheen speaks of the “immense, rich history of story in this country (Wales), which is to a large extent untapped”. Welsh stories are often under-represented on the stage, and yet there is so much to tell. We must make sure that they get told, otherwise, many of these stories will be lost to us. This is why the Welsh National Theatre company intends to bring these stories onto the stage: stories of “Wales’s past, present and future”. As well as new Welsh stories, they also intend in putting on many of the classic plays but adapting them through a Welsh perspective.

Sheen believes that people, such has himself, who have the means and opportunity to do something to help the arts, need to do it

He plans to fund the National Theatre initially on his own, not wanting to wait for investors. Sheen believes that people, such has himself, who have the means and opportunity to do something to help the arts, need to do it. In leading the way and putting his own money into it, as well as his time and commitment, he hopes others will follow suit. He believes that we can’t wait around and hope funding increases again in the arts sector, especially when the current climate unfortunately does not suggest it will. Sheen, as the artistic director, will also star in the first production brought onto the new Welsh National Theatre’s stage, set to be put on in 2026, and announced in the following months.

Michael Sheen has always done brilliant things with his money, having been a not-for-profit actor since 2021—all the proceeds he makes goes to charity

Michael Sheen has always done brilliant things with his money, having been a not-for-profit actor since 2021—all the proceeds he makes goes to charity. It is wonderful to see him using his earnings for another great cause, one which gives back to the community he came from, and which he obviously loves greatly.

The new National Theatre gives Wales “something that we can own, which is ours, and something which we are proud to share with each other and proud to share with the world”. I am excited to watch the company grow and flourish in the upcoming years and see the stories it will put on and tell.