Welsh National Theatre to stage new play, Owain and Henry, with Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen will lead a new play by Gary Owen.

Examining the 15th-century rebellion against the English crown by outlaw Owain Glyndŵr, Sheen will star as the last Welsh-born Prince of Wales, coming up against King Henry IV in a battle that could lead to freedom for Wales and the end of England.

The piece was revealed as part of Welsh National Theatre’s first season.

Sheen established the company earlier this year and serves as artistic director. His vision is to create world-class work from Wales and take it to the world, “bringing together Welsh talent to create ambitious theatre which makes the country’s story come alive.”

Owain and Henry is a Welsh National Theatre co-production with Wales Millennium Centre. It’ll run in the Donald Gordon Theatre, which is the second-largest stage in Europe, in November 2026. Pádraig Cusack is executive producer. Tickets will be available from 4 August 2025 for WMC Members and to the general public on 8 August 2025.

Sheen commented: “Owain and Henry is one of the origin stories of our nation, as relevant in today’s complex world as it was when Glyndŵr declared Wales an independent nation six hundred years ago. Gary Owen’s play is one of the most ambitious Welsh plays I’ve read; and is the biggest and boldest of Gary’s career. That’s the creative benchmark and ambition we want to set with Welsh National Theatre.

On leading the piece, he added: “Playing the iconic Welsh prince on one of Europe’s biggest stages in our capital city will, I hope, be a defining moment for us as a people, and a culture. This is what Welsh National Theatre is all about.”

The playwright commented: “I knew that to tell Owain’s story on stage would mean a epic show, at huge scale,” continuing, “I’d tried writing smaller versions of the story and they didn’t work.  They didn’t give you a sense of what was at stake.  Owain’s play, like Owain’s struggle, would have to be all or nothing.”

The production, alongside a new revival of Our Town, is announced as Arts Council of Wales confirms transition funding to help the new theatre develop its structures and vision.

Owen concluded: “Huge plays cost money, so they’re a huge risk for producers – that’s why we hardly ever do them in Wales. We don’t dare. Until one day, Michael emailed me.  And told me he that he dared. And so here we are, presenting this huge story on the epic stage of the WMC. All or nothing.”