National Theatre Wales (NTW) is a theatre company known for its large-scale site-specific productions and its grassroots work with diverse Welsh communities. It is the English-language national theatre of

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, and refers to Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, the

Welsh-language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has al ...

national theatre of Wales founded in 2003, as its sister company. NTW's current artistic director is Lorne Campbell, and its executive producer is Lisa Maguire. Its previous artistic directors are John E. McGrath and Kully Thiarai.

Notable productions

Among the company’s productions are: * ''The Persians'' (2010) by Kaite O’Reilly, Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes. A reimagining of one of Europe’s earliest recorded plays on a military training range in the Brecon Beacons, which won the 2010

Ted Hughes Award The Ted Hughes Award is an annual prize given to a living UK poet for new work in poetry. It is awarded each spring in recognition of a work from the previous year. Background The award was established in 2009 with the permission of Carol Hughes i ...

. * ''The Passion'' (2011). A 72-hour secular passion play created by

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage rol ...

, which won the UK Theatre Award for Best Director. * ''The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning'' (2012) by

Tim Price Tim Price (born 3 April 1979) is a New Zealand equestrian, competing in eventing. He is married to Jonelle Price (née Richards), also a New Zealand eventing rider. They are both competing at top international level. Price was born in 1979 in ...

. A fictionalised account of whistleblower

Chelsea Manning Chelsea Elizabeth Manning (born Bradley Edward Manning; December 17, 1987) is an American activist and whistleblower. She is a former United States Army soldier who was convicted by court-martial in July 2013 of violations of the Espionage A ...

’s teenage years in Pembrokeshire, which won the 2013 James Tait Black Prize for Drama. * ''CORIOLAN/US'' (2012) by Mike Pearson and Mike Brookes. A multimedia reimagining of

Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same yea ...

in a World War II aircraft hangar in

St Athan St Athan ( cy, Sain Tathan) is a village and community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan in South Wales. The village and its parish church are dedicated to Saint Tathan. The church dates to the 13th–14th century, though an earlier ch ...

, produced with the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of the World Shakespeare Festival. * ''In Water I’m Weightless'' (2012) by Kaite O’Reilly. A provocative exploration of disability and the human body combining movement and live projections, co-produced with Unlimited for the London 2012 Festival. * ''De Gabay'' (2013). An immersive production created by a group of young Welsh-Somali performers in Butetown, Cardiff, which was shortlisted for a Gulbenkian award. * ''Mametz'' (2014) by Owen Sheers. Play commissioned as part of 14-18 NOW, which transformed an ancient woodland near Usk, Monmouthshire into the trenches and battlefields of the Somme. * ''The Gathering/Yr Helfa'' (2014) by

National Poet of Wales The post of National Poet of Wales ( cy, Bardd Cenedlaethol Cymru) was established in May 2005 by Academi – the Welsh National Literature Promotion Agency and Society for Writers. The current holder of the position is Hanan Issa, who was appoin ...

Gillian Clarke Gillian Clarke (born 8 June 1937) is a Welsh poet and playwright, who also edits, broadcasts, lectures and translates from Welsh into English. She co-founded Tŷ Newydd, a writers' centre in North Wales. Life Gillian Clarke was born on 8 J ...

, and Louise Ann Wilson. An exploration of the annual cycle of sheep-farming on a working hill farm on Snowdon. * ''Bordergame'' (2014). An interactive production exploring migration and contemporary border regimes, which won the first Space Prize for Digital Innovation. * ''Roald Dahl’s City of the Unexpected'' (2016). A Cardiff-wide celebration of Roald Dahl with 7,000 people performing, making and volunteering, billed as “Wales’ largest-ever cultural event.” * ''We’re Still Here'' (2017) by Rachel Trezise and the people of

Port Talbot Port Talbot (, ) is a town and community in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, situated on the east side of Swansea Bay, approximately from Swansea. The Port Talbot Steelworks covers a large area of land which dominates the south ...

. A co-production with Common Wealth Theatre sited in a disused steelworks which won a 2018

Nesta Nesta (formerly NESTA, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) is an innovation foundation based in the UK. The organisation acts through a combination of programmes, investment, policy and research, and the formation of part ...

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

New Radicals Award. * NHS70 (2018). A season of one-person plays celebrating the

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

taking place in intimate settings all over Wales, including new work by

Maria Fusco Maria Fusco is a Belfast-born writer, lecturer, art critic, and events organiser. She was Director of Art Writing at Goldsmiths, University of London between 2007 and 2013 where she founded and led MFA Art Writing. She was a Senior Chancellor's ...

, Alan Harris and Elis James. * ''Tide Whisperer'' (2018) by Louise Wallwein. An acclaimed immersive production on the shores of

Tenby Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community. Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...

tackling the global phenomenon of displacement and mass movement. * ''On Bear Ridge'' (2019) by Ed Thomas. A co-production with

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England ...

whic
was named
one of the U.K.’s five best new plays of 2019 by

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

. * ''Refrain'' (2019) by Sean Edwards. A radio play produced with Wrexham’s

Tŷ Pawb Tŷ Pawb (; ) is a multi-purpose centre in Wrexham, Wales. It serves as a venue for arts, cultural and community events, as well as being a market, art gallery and museum. A redevelopment of the former Wrexham People's Market ()) prior to its ...

as part of the Wales in Venice presentation at the 58th Venice Biennale. * ''Mission Control'' (2019). A fantasy musical co-produced with Hijinx Theatre and created with Seiriol Davies, staged at the Millennium Stadium.

References

External links

*
National Theatre Wales Community
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Theatre companies in Wales