Launching Theatr Cymru and our 2025 Artistic Programme

Theatr Cymru is thrilled to announce a year of bold and innovative productions, alongside a new name and brand which represent our commitment to being a theatre company for Wales, and to put the nation and its people at the heart of our work.   

2025 will be a momentous year for us at Theatr Cymru as we present six productions. As well as new plays by Mared Jarman, Tudur Owen and Bethan Marlow, the company will present a reimagining of a Shakespearean classic, continue its community projects, and there will also be an opportunity to enjoy productions at home, on S4C and BBC iPlayer, for the first time. 

After winning a UK Theatre Award for Excellence in Touring last month, the 2025 programme reinforces Theatr Cymru’s commitment to touring ambitious theatre as close as possible to the doorsteps of people and communities across Wales, to create meaningful dialogue with audiences and to ensure a bright future for our language and culture. 

Byth Bythoedd Amen 
by Mared Jarman
25 January - 13 February 2025
Kicking off the new year, Theatr Cymru will present a new play by Mared Jarman, Byth Bythoedd Amen. Urban and darkly comic, this new play explores love, loss and life as disabled people in a world that prioritises the mainstream. Touring across Wales, Mared – a BAFTA Cymru winner and exciting new voice in Welsh-language theatre – will also appear as Lottie, alongside her co-star, the actor and presenter Paul Davies, directed by Rhian Blythe. 

Huw Fyw 
by Tudur Owen
May 2025

In May, the company will present Tudur Owen’s first stage play, Huw Fyw. Following the story of a grumpy veteran who experiences an unexpected stroke of luck, this production is a mischievous exploration of how to live for today, while honouring the past. 80 years since the end of the Second World War, Tudur – one of Wales’ most well-known comedians – will star as Huw Fyw, directed by Steffan Donnelly. Further cast announcements will be made soon. Supported by Galeri Caernarfon.

Brên. Calon. Fi
by Bethan Marlow
June 2025

Following the incredible response to its premiere performances during the 2024 Rhondda Cynon Taf National Eisteddfod, Bethan Marlow’s Brên. Calon. Fi will tour as part of Pride Month celebrations in June. A Welsh-language first, this is a hilarious and heart-wrenching monologue about lesbian love and desire, directed by Rhiannon Mair and starring Lowri Morgan. Supported by the National Eisteddfod of Wales.

Wrecslam!
Eisteddfod 2025 
Theatr Cymru will continue its long-term partnership with Theatr Clwyd to develop and produce new Welsh-language comedy plays. Following the format of Rwan/Nawr in 2023 and Ha/Ha in 2024, the companies will commission and develop 4 short plays rooted in North-East Wales to be performed in the Wrexham National Eisteddfod in August 2025.

Romeo a Juliet 
by William Shakespeare (Welsh adaptation by J. T. Jones)
September and October 2025
In the autumn, Theatr Cymru will take on one of theatre’s greatest classics with a new production of Romeo a Juliet. Offering a new perspective on the famous love story, this ground-breaking production – directed by Steffan Donnelly – will weave together Welsh and English, placing the violent feud between the Montagues and Capulets in bilingual Wales while exploring the extremes of passion and chaos. The show’s partners and cast will be announced soon, and a programme of workshops based on the production will be available to schools.

Christmas Show (to be announced)
December 2025 and January 2026
In collaboration with Sherman Theatre, Theatr Cymru will present a new Christmas production for children aged 3-6 years and their families. The show will open in Cardiff during the festive season, before touring in the new year.

As well as these opportunities to see the company’s work on stages across Wales, there will also be a chance to see two of Theatr Cymru’s past productions on the small screen as part of an exciting partnership with S4C. Parti Priodas, the hugely successful comedy play by Gruffudd Owen, will be broadcast on S4C on 8 December 2024, with a second broadcast in the new year. The company’s epic production of Rhinoseros by Eugène Ionesco (adapted by Manon Steffan Ros) will join Parti Priodas on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer from December 2024 to April 2025.
 
2025 will also see the continuation of our extensive participation work across Wales and beyond. As a finale to ourrecent project with Palestine’s ASHTAR Theatre, the two companies will release a short film at the beginning of 2025 to share creative work by young people from Wales and Palestine, who have been meeting online every week to write together in a safe space. Also, the long-term Ar y Dibyn project, which supports those affected by addiction, continues to go from strength to strength. With more than 1,000 participants involved in the project since 2019, the workshops – under the care of lead artist Iola Ynyr – have now begun in new locations, encouraging creativity to help people process life’s experiences. 

While sharing the news, Artistic Director Steffan Donnelly said:  

“Our productions in 2025 are filled with new writing by exciting Welsh voices that transport us to different worlds, challenge the status quo and celebrate the power of community and identity. Questions of identity also simmer through our season’s classic, a new version of the world’s most famous love story – Romeo a Juliet.

In a time of challenges and limitations to touring theatre, we’re offering 5 national tours to Welsh theatres in 2025, to entertain and inspire our audiences. I’m also looking forward to seeing two of our productions on television, S4C Clic and iPlayer for the first time – one of several ways we’re broadening access to our work.

I can’t wait to collaborate with hundreds of talented artists and freelancers next year, and welcome audiences to a wide variety of productions. Theatr Cymru will fire the imagination and captivate audiences in 2025.” 

Discussing the company’s new name, Executive Director Angharad Jones Leefe said: 

“We’re thrilled to launch a new brand and name, which feels true to our current vision as a company and conveys our desire to be welcoming and inclusive. 

This name clearly demonstrates our identity and purpose and showcases our passion for being a platform for Wales’s incredible theatre makers and workers. 

In a year where we’ve seen audiences return to their pre-COVID levels for the first time, we’re confident we can build on this with this ambitious programme and look forward to welcoming audiences across Wales to these productions.”  

We were delighted to work with Uned Studio to develop our new brand. The name change reflects Welsh confidence in our identity as a nation, demonstrating a natural evolution. The company itself has also changed substantially since being established in 2003 and it feels timely that the name and brand reflects this.