Michael Sheen to fund new nationwide theater for Wales

Hollywood actor Michael Sheen is funding a brand new theater firm to fill the void left by the closure of the National Theater Wales.

He might be inventive director of the Welsh National Theatre, with the goal of telling “big stories on big stages for big audiences”.

The first manufacturing, set to debut in autumn 2026 and starring Sheen himself, might be introduced within the coming months.

National Theater Wales Said it had “ceased to exist” final month Following a £1.6 million minimize to its core funding from Arts Council Wales.

Sheen mentioned he was placing “everything” behind the enterprise, which might have “Welsh theatre-makers, Welsh stories and Welsh actors” on the centre.

The firm is looking for personal and public funding, however Sheen mentioned that originally self-financing will permit it to “stand on its own feet”.

He mentioned, “I want it to be something that represents the rich culture that we have in this country and have always had.”

“We want to please ourselves but thrill the world. I want to be able to tell big stories on big platforms for big audiences.”

Sheen mentioned the information to be broadcast by National Theater Wales was “incredibly sad, but not surprising” and that it impressed him to take motion.

,[I realised] 'If we don't discover a strategy to re-imagine the way in which ahead, it might be a very long time earlier than we have now the chance to create a nationwide theater in Wales once more – if ever.'

Sheen's announcement comes a day after Senedd Sports and Culture Committee Published a report exhibiting that Wales ranked lowest in Europe for public spending.

The actor mentioned the Welsh National Theater is open to working with different theater makers and had already been in touch with Theater Cymru, previously Theater Gendlaithol, about the potential for collaboration.

Sheen mentioned he was impressed to dream large after the large success of Nee, the place he performed Aneurin Bevan, the founding father of the NHS.

It was written by Welsh playwright Tim Price and co-produced by the National Theater and the Wales Millennium Centre.

He mentioned, “Welsh writers and Welsh theater makers have to be at the forefront of this. And our Welsh stories have to be at the heart of it.”

“I think if you approach it with ambition and audacity, with creativity and innovation, people will respond to it.”

He mentioned that his function as a trainer in National Theater Wales's first and most well-known manufacturing of The Passion in 2011 was a formative expertise.

Like that manufacturing, he cites Gavin and Stacey as one other inspiration for wanting Welsh National Theatre's performs to draw non-traditional theater audiences.

“You know, we just saw that at Christmas, Gavin and Stacey are getting massive figuresThis is because it is reflecting our lives, which we identify with, and not only that, but also offering us something positive and promising, and people will respond to that.

“There's no reason you can't do this through practical plays and some of the most wonderful pieces of literature. But it doesn't have to be just that.

“I suppose that's why I'm throwing the whole lot at it. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.”

Last month, the Welsh Government increased culture sector funding in its draft budget for 2025-2026 and, in partnership with Arts Council Wales, provided a £3.6 million jobs fund for the sector.

Dafydd Rhys, chief executive of the Arts Council of Wales, said it had provided both transition and flexibility funding for National Theater Wales to reimagine and restructure its operations.

He added: “It is exciting that the organization is now able to move into this new phase at the start of the New Year, and we look forward to seeing how both Team Collective Cymru and the Welsh National Theater develop their new creative programs “