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The nation of Wales is our stage:

From forests to beaches, from aircraft hangars to post-industrial towns, village halls to nightclubs.

We bring together storytelling poets, visual visionaries and inventors of ideas. We collaborate with artists, audiences, communities and companies to create theatre in the English language, rooted in Wales, with an international reach.

You’ll find us around the corner, across the mountain and in your digital backyard.

National Theatre Wales was launched in November 2009, and staged its first production in March 2010.

Operating from a small base in Cardiff city centre, National Theatre Wales creates theatre across Wales, and each production has a unique relationship to local communities and audiences.

For its launch programme, the Theatre Map of Wales, running from March 2010 to April 2011, the company staged a new show each month: 13 productions in all, each one in a different location, and each using a different approach to theatre-making.

National Theatre Wales also undertook a real, in-depth engagement with local communitities: by basing most rehearsals in local spaces; through its TEAM programme, which recruited and trained advocates; and through the NTW Assembly, staged in each location where the company worked - using theatre to engage with debate around local issues.

Behind all of this activity lay a digital presence and an online community that has established the company at the forefront of digital thinking in theatre.

In Autumn 2011, National Theatre Wales began its second season of work, taking shows to village halls, major stages, nightclubs, aircraft hangars and forests. The company also set up WalesLab - an initiative for emerging theatre ideas using the Welsh landscape as an inspiration and laboratory.

"these brilliant offerings from the National Theatre of Wales... mean that we can no longer talk of 'the National' and mean only the South Bank."
- The Observer

National Theatre Wales reinvents the language of theatre every time it puts on a show"
- The Daily Telegraph

The company's third year of productions is based around four in-depth residencies in locations ranging from Anglesey to Tokyo. At the same time, new experiments range from the company’s first touring live music gig to the takeover of our local castle!

National Theatre Wales has a sister company Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru, which produces work throughout Wales and internationally in the Welsh language.

Hi, I'm Michael Salmon
I'm the Executive Assistant

Hi I’m Mike, Executive Assistant at National Theatre Wales. I graduated from Aberystwyth University back in 2007, after studying a three year theatre performance and research degree.

After graduating I joined Sherman Cymru working on projects including New Arrivals, Yr Argae and Sgript Slam. After a stint at the Film Agency for Wales I am pleased to have been at National Theatre Wales since 2009. I’m interested in how digital will play a part in changing the shape of theatre, cinema and the creative industries. I am a fluent Welsh speaker, and have a particular interest in theatre audiences and contemporary writing.

Jenny McCarthy
Gavin Porter
Matthew Lawton
Michael Salmon
John E McGrath
Stephen Grant
Anna Poole
Michelle Carwardine-Palmer
Abdul Shayek
Katherine Jewkes
Devinda De Silva
Matt Ball
Julia Coles
David Evans
Jen Thornton
Catrin Rogers

National Theatre Wales works with artists at all stages of their development ranging from internationally renowned theatre makers to individuals at the very start of their artistic lives.

There is a range of different ways that you can engage with the company, and we are always interested in hearing your ideas. In general we work with Welsh and Wales-based artists, or artists who have an interest in Wales and our way of working. Opportunities for artists include:

  • WalesLabWhere you can develop new ideas in their early stages, working in unique spaces throughout Wales.
  • TEAMSupports people who want to get involved with NTW, who want to learn more about theatre, or who need some help in setting up their own initiatives.
  • Artist of the YearIs our annual initiative for an experienced artist to be based within NTW for a year and to help us in our decisions and development.
  • Wales Drama AwardIs our biennial collaboration with the BBC to identify exciting new drama writers.
  • thestudioIs our online experiment encouraging collaboration between artists.
  • Artists and Writers IdeasWe welcome your ideas and examples of your work, and we’ve created some guidelines so you know how best to tell us about what you do.
  • Emerging DirectorsEach year NTW offers paid Assistant Director placements on a number of its productions.

National Theatre Wales is international in its outlook and is collaborating with a wide range of artists and companies world-wide. We also reflect the many cultures and languages of contemporary Wales.

In its first years, international companies who have made new work for NTW include Rimini Protokoll with Outdoors and Constanza Macras/Dorky Park with Branches: The Nature of Crisis. National Theatre Wales has also invited a number of companies and artists from other parts of the UK to work with us in Wales, including Told by an Idiot, Fevered Sleep and Hide and Seek.

In 2013, NTW will create its first work in an international location, with The Opportunity of Efficiency at the New National Theatre, Tokyo. The production will be accompanied by a wide range of residency work by National Theatre Wales, including our first international Assembly.

The company started to present its work internationally at the Edinburgh festival in 2011 and has also presented work in London and

Just like everyone else we recycle and reuse as much as we can. We use low energy bulbs where possible, use Ecover cleaning products, rarely print and use our company bikes for most short journeys. But these are the low hanging fruit of a Sustainability Policy.

Every decision that a company makes has an environmental impact; when will we put on a show? How do we lay out the office? Who provides our electricity?

We try to consider the environmental impact of every decision that we make and we weigh this against our other responsibilities, responsibilities such as the need to put on shows, the need to have artistic integrity, the need to be a good and considerate employer.

In 2013 we aim to develop a ‘Green Prism’ to assess the environmental impact of our work, and help us make informed choices about what we do and how we do it. Drawing on the work of experts such as Cynnal Cymru and Julie’s Bicycle, and on our own experience to date, we hope to build informed environmental decisions into all of our artistic and production planning.

Hello, I'm Phil George
I am the Chair

Phil George (Chair) is the Co-Founder and Co-Creative Director of BAFTA award winning television production company, Green Bay Media Ltd in Cardiff. Phil was educated at Porth County Grammar School before going on to read English at Oxford University. Formerly Head of Arts, Music and Features for BBC Wales, Phil co-founded Green Bay Media Limited in 2001, where he will continue with his role as Creative Director.

Judi Richards
Chris Ryde
Richard Hogger
Professor Steve Blandford
Deborah Martell Powell
Phil George
Gemma McAvoy

Pop in for a pot of tea and a homemade Welsh cake?

National Theatre Wales

30 Castle Arcade
Cardiff/CF10 1BW

Contact us with a general enquiry?

info@nationaltheatrewales.org
@ntwtweets
+44 (0)29 2035 3070

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The National Theatre Wales Online Community is a space where people passionate about theatre can come together to discuss, debate and collaborate. Join a community of over 4000 members who are sharing opportunities and shaping the future of theatre in Wales and beyond.

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