The first production of Welsh National Theatre will star its founder and artistic director, Michael Sheen as The Stage Manager, who narrates Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Our Town… relocated to rural Wales.
Sheen explains, “Our Town is a play about life, love and community. That’s what matters to us in Wales; that’s what matters to me. It’s a play that compels us to celebrate the everyday, to hold the ones we cherish. I can’t think of a better play to welcome audiences around Wales and in London to the Welsh National Theatre, along with our co-production partners The Rose Theatre.”
Grover’s Corners is a quiet little town, full of ordinary folk, living everyday lives. They work, they laugh, they sing, they fall in love and raise their children, and grow old. But within those moments of ordinary, everyday life, there are truths that reach out to us all. And a passionate demand to cherish every moment, right now, while we still can.
Relocating the American playwright’s masterpiece to Wales, this new production, in partnership with Kingston Upon Thames’ Rose Theatre, aims to bring new life to the piece, allowing it to speak more directly to modern audiences. Directed by Francesca Goodridge with award-winning Doctor Who and Queer As Folk screenwriter Russell T Davies as creative associate, Our Town will open at Swansea Grand Theatre from 16 to 31 January 2026, before touring to Cymru in Llandudno from 3 to 7 February 2026, and then Theatr Clwyd, Mold, from 11 to 21 February 2026, culminating with a month long season at the Rose Theatre, where it will run from 26 February to 28 March 2026.
Russell T Davies, says, “The joyous thing about this project is to set the play in Wales, but to take it far beyond Wales. There’s a Welsh audience to be found in many cities, but Wilder’s genius is greater than that. He reaches out to all of us – the play’s about community, and friendships, and relationships, and that description makes it an absolutely perfect fit for the Rose. This is exactly what we need in these divisive times.”
Goodridge adds, “Our Town is a play that gets under your skin, shakes you into changing your perspective and opens your eyes to the beauty of life. Our Town reminds us of the little things that make life meaningful – it’s a wake-up call for all of us to think more deeply about our lives as we are living them, not after it is too late. Placing Our Town in Wales is a perfect match because at its heart, the play celebrates community and explores the close-knit nature of small-town life that we all recognise as it journeys through life, love and death. Our Town is famously performed with minimal set or props, relying on the audiences’ imagination to create the town; a challenge as a director that I’m incredibly excited for! For me, as the play suggests, the ‘things’ aren’t important – it’s the people and the human connections we make along the way that truly make life worth living.”
The new take on the play is inspired by the legacy of another great Welsh writer and poet, Dylan Thomas, who, when he created his own version of village life in Under Milk Wood, was said that have known both Wilder and his play. That common bond making Our Town the perfect inaugural production for Welsh National Theatre, showcasing the finest Welsh talent in a play with a universal and timeless resonance.
Christopher Haydon, artistic director of Rose Theatre, reflects, “Our Town is a play about the profound importance of the communities we live in. It’s a celebration of those with whom we share our lives – our friends, our family, our neighbours. It is a story of the ties that bind and as such feels especially important in these divisive and divided times. As a theatre rooted in our community, I cannot think of a better play for our stage at the Rose. Together we will make a show that has a universal resonance – for communities in Wales, Kingston, London and far beyond.”
On sale from Thursday 10 April. Tickets here.
