Michael Sheen’s ‘Our Town’ Arrives on Streaming
If you couldn't swing tickets to the first production from the Welsh National Theatre, you can soon stream it online.
It’s a truth universally acknowledged that British theater is some of the best in the world. But it’s also a sad fact that for Anglophiles who aren’t U.K. citizens, we’ll only ever see a tiny bit of it. (Sigh.) That’s why things like the cinema series National Theatre Live, and its streaming counterpart, National Theatre at Home, are so essential for those of us who wish we could somehow teleport across the pond to catch the latest West End openings.
Now, it’s also captured a piece of history: The inaugural production of the new Welsh National Theatre, launched last year to fill the gap left behind by the 2024 closure of National Theatre Wales. Led by Artistic Director Michael Sheen (Good Omens), the new company aims to tell stories grounded in the culture and history of the actor’s homeland. The WNT’s first effort, a revival of the Thornton Wilder classic Our Town, played to sold-out crowds across Wales and in London earlier this year, and will now be available to stream at home for those of us who missed out.
Given that Wilder’s play is a distinctly American story, it may feel like something of an odd choice for such a stridently Welsh endeavor. But it’s a traditional choice for the launch of a new company, and this particular endeavor leans into the universality of its story while adding some unique cultural flourishes, including references to specific towns and the inclusion of several Welsh hymns.
Sheen stars as the Stage Manager, the omniscient, fourth-wall-breaking narrator who guides the audience through the story of Grover’s Corner and gets a handful of banging monologues extrapolating on the play’s larger themes.
Here’s the play’s synopsis.
Michael Sheen leads the cast in the Welsh National Theatre and Rose Theatre production of Our Town, Thornton Wilder’s masterpiece, told through a Welsh lens and bringing new resonance to its timeless story of life, love and community.
Alongside Sheen, the production’s all-Welsh cast includes Rithvik Andugla (Death Valley) as Howie Newsome, Aisha-May Hunte (Mudtown) as Wally Webb, Rebecca Killick (Nye) as Rebecca Gibbs, Alfie Llewellyn (Mr. Burton) as Joe & Si Crowell, Rhodri Meilir (Under Salt Marsh) as Mr. Webb, Rhys Warrington (Great Expectations) as Simon Stimpson, Peter Devlin (Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning) as George Gibbs, Christina Modestou (Tick, tick … Boom!) as Mrs. Soames, Yasemin Özdemir (The Merry Wives of Windsor) as Emily Webb, Glyn Pritchard (The Crucible) as Constable Warren, Sian Reese-Williams (Dreams) as Mrs. Gibbs, Nia Roberts (Hedda Gabler) as Mrs. Webb, Kingdom Sibanda (Stranger Things: The First Shadow), Gareth Snook (Ragtime) as Professor Willard & Joe Stoddard, and Matthew Trevannion (A Streetcar Named Desire) as Dr. Gibbs.
The production is directed by Francesca Goodridge (Nye) and its creative team includes Doctor Who’s Russell T Davies as Creative Associate alongside Designer Hayley Grindle, Movement Director Jess Williams, Lighting Designer Ryan Joseph Stafford, Composer and Sound Designer Dyfan Jones, Casting Director Sam Jones CDG, and Assistant Director Deena Davies, on secondment from Theatr Clwyd.
Our Town will debut on National Theatre at Home on Tuesday, August 4 2026. The Welsh National Theatre’s next production will be the original play, Owain & Henry, which will premiere at Cardiff’s Millennium Centre in November.
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