‘Owain & Henry’ Sets National Theatre at Home Debut for 2027
International audiences won't miss out on the Welsh National Theatre's first original work after all.
The Welsh National Theatre will launch its first original production next month: a new play titled Owain & Henry starring the company’s creative director, generally beloved actor, and The Celebrity Traitors contestant Michael Sheen. But if you can’t make it to Wales for the show’s inaugural run, don’t worry. National Theatre at Home has already announced it has picked up the pro-shot and set a debut for early 2027.
Sheen will play the legendary folk hero Owain Glyndŵr, an iconic figure in Welsh history who has essentially taken on a legendary status similar to King Arthur, but who was actually a historically verifiable real person. The last Prince of Wales who was a native-born Welshman, Owain ap Gruffydd led a revolt in 1400 to establish an independent Wales free from English rule.
Although the rebellion ultimately failed thanks to a lack of foreign aid and increased English military support, Owain continued sporadic resistance until he disappeared from the historical record in 1412. He was never captured and is presumed to have died somewhere around 1416. (Like Arthur, it is said he too will return one day in an hour of need.)
Alongside Sheen, Linus Roache (The Capture) will star as King Henry IV, and the play will explore the explosive struggle between the two men, as well as themes of leadership, nationhood, and power.
Here’s the play’s description:
It’s 1400. The washed-up lord of a tiny spit of land in north Wales is declared outlaw by King Henry IV. But rather than surrendering to his fate, Owain Glyndŵr rises in rebellion. Five years later, Owain is leader of a grand alliance of Welsh, English and French troops. He invades England and meets the army of Henry IV outside Worcester. The rebels have the bigger army, and the higher ground.
If the rebels win, it will be not just the end of Henry IV. It will be freedom for Wales – and the end of England.
Alongside Sheen and Roache, the production also stars Rakie Ayola as Mared Ferch Dafydd, a noblewoman and Owain’s wife; Emily Burnett as their daughter Catrin Ferch Owain; Sophie Melville as Lois; Ned Costello as Hal; Brendan Charleson as Percy; Sion Tudor Owen as Sir John Falstaff; Gruffudd Glyn as Bryn; Ian Hughes as Baron Reginald Grey; David Judge as Hotspur; Richard Lynch as Rhys; and James Wilbraham as Mortimer.
Gary Owen (Iphigenia in Splott) wrote the play, co-directed by Sheen and Steffan Donnelly. The creative team includes associate director Hannah Noone, set designer Jon Bausor, lighting designer Aideen Malone, associate lighting designer Cara Hood, costume designer Elin Steele, composer and sound designer Dyfan Jones, video designer Jack Phelan, video design assistant Livi Wilmore, movement director Anthony Matesena, fight and intimacy director Ruth Cooper-Brown, fight director assistant Rebecca Wilson, casting director Hannah Marie Williams, voice director Nia Lynn, and executive producer Kate Ferris.
Owain & Henry will run from November 5-28, 2026, at the Donald Gordon Theatre at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. It will stream on National Theatre at Home from Monday, March 1, 2027.
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