Micheal Sheen leads Owain and Henry as the full cast and creative team for Gary Owen’s new play are revealed, with the production set for the Donald Gordon Theatre from 5 to 28 November. He will star as Owain Glyndŵr and co-direct the Welsh National Theatre and Wales Millennium Centre co-production with Steffan Donnelly.
Sheen said: "To stand alongside this extraordinary cast and to imagine the life, fire and humanity we will bring to the stage together is beyond thrilling." The scale is built around a large ensemble and a historical conflict that has rarely been handled in this kind of company-wide form, which is why the announcement lands as more than a routine cast list.
Gary Owen and Michael Sheen
Sheen also said: "Owain and Henry brings two towering figures, two nations and two versions of history into the same room. It asks us to hold all that complexity: the politics and the poetry, the intimacy and the spectacle, the past and the questions it asks of us now. For years people have wondered why Wales hadn’t told this story on this scale. That’s exactly what we’re setting out to do, creating opportunities for Welsh artists in its telling."
That line points to the real business of the production: not just a historical drama, but a staging built to widen the field for Welsh artists through the company around it. Mab Gwalia is described as Sheen’s movement for change, and the production update fits that approach by putting Welsh performers and creatives inside a major season title rather than on the margins.
Linus Roache and Sophie Melville
Linus Roache will play King Henry IV, Rakie Ayola will play Mared Ferch Dafydd, Emily Burnett will play Catrin Ferch Owain, and Sophie Melville will play Lois. That matters because Melville’s role is described as a mother turned warrior, a sharper dramatic function than a standard supporting part and one that suggests the production is aiming for character weight rather than simple pageant.
Ned Costello will play Hal, Brendan Charleson will play Percy, Martyn Ellis will play Sir John Falstaff, Gruffudd Glyn will play Bryn, Ian Hughes will play Baron Reginald Grey, David Judge will play Hotspur, Richard Lynch will play Rhys, and James Wilbraham will play Mortimer. The cast also includes Lizzie Caitlin Bennett, Beau Bradfield, Harrison Claxton, Caitlin Drake, Mirain Fflur, Orla Hardie, Aisha-May Hunte, Corey Mitchell, Jamie Morgan, Luke Rhodri, and Joseph Tweedale.
Donald Gordon Theatre dates
Hannah Noone is the associate director, and the production’s run from 5 to 28 November gives the company a tight window to turn a first-season title into a flagship event. For anyone tracking Welsh theatre as an industry, the practical takeaway is simple: the roster is now set, the creative leadership is in place, and the next real test is how much of that historical scale lands once the doors open in November.
