{"id":387111,"date":"2025-08-31T12:24:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-31T12:24:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/387111\/"},"modified":"2025-08-31T12:24:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T12:24:14","slug":"unmissable-welsh-theatre-coming-up-in-september-and-october","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/387111\/","title":{"rendered":"Unmissable Welsh theatre coming up in September and October"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"has-xl-font-size\"><strong>Innovation, confrontation and high quality staging abound in Wales\u2019 theatre sector as we go into autumn 2025, and few are better placed than Hari Berrow to wax lyrical on this. So here she is, doing just that for four choice productions.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Utsav<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Seeking to platform South Asian artists from Wales and the wider United Kingdom, Samarpan\u2019s Utsav is an evening of Indian classical dance featuring Samarpan students and talented professional dancers from across the UK. Celebrating the place of classical dance in the South Asian diaspora, it showcases four classical dance styles: Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Kuchipudi and Odissi.<\/p>\n<p>Leena Menon and Santosh Nair, the directors of the company, state, \u201cWe felt there was a gap when it came to consistent, high-quality classical Indian arts programming in the region, and Utsav was our response. Utsav is a heartfelt offering to Wales, a celebration of classical Indian dance at its finest this year. Through Utsav, we hope to deepen appreciation for these ancient forms and spark new conversations around identity, heritage, and the power of the arts to connect us all.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Royal Welsh College Of Music &amp; Drama, Cardiff, Sun 7 Sept<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Info: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rwcmd.ac.uk\/events\/utsav\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"843\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Leo-Drayton-Dynolwaith-1024x843.jpg\" alt=\"Leo Drayton, Dynolwaith\" class=\"wp-image-147438\"  \/>Leo Drayton, Dynolwaith<\/p>\n<p><strong>Dynolwaith<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In another exciting collaboration, Fr\u00e2n Wen and Sherman Theatre are collaborating once again, following the success of their 2023 production Imrie, with another show that seeks to platform sidelined voices in Wales and beyond. Dynolwaith (loosely translated as \u2018man-made\u2019) is a Welsh-language production exploring what it was like to transition in the 2010s, the importance of support networks and what happens when we\u2019re pushed to the brink.<\/p>\n<p>The piece is written and performed by trans creator Leo Drayton, with support and insight offered by trans consultant Kay R Dennis. Drayton comments, \u201cit is a privilege to get to tell this story especially in the Welsh language. At a time when the trans community is being targeted and misrepresented it is even more important now that our voices are heard.\u201d The piece will be accompanied by a series of engagement events for the wider trans community, where they will be invited to share their experiences and stories.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Fri 26 Sept-Sat 4 Oct; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Tue 7 Oct<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Info: <a href=\"https:\/\/franwen.com\/en\/productions\/dynolwaith\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Romeo-A-Juliet-credit-Kirsten-McTernan-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Romeo A Juliet - credit Kirsten McTernan\" class=\"wp-image-147439\"  \/>Romeo A Juliet \u2013 credit Kirsten McTernan<\/p>\n<p><strong>Romeo A Juliet<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The last few years have been full of groundbreaking collaborations between Welsh and major English theatre companies, and now <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzmag.co.uk\/tag\/theatr-cymru\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Theatr Cymru<\/a> adds to the list with Romeo A Juliet, their collaboration with Shakespeare\u2019s Globe. A bilingual production, the script blends Shakespeare\u2019s original text with Chief Bard J. T. Jones\u2019 1983 Welsh translation. The production is directed by Theatr Cymru\u2019s Steffan Donnelly, who\u2019s graced the Globe stage as an actor and was named an Associate Artist with the company earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>The show features Steffan Cennydd (The Pembrokeshire Murders, The Feast) as Romeo, and Isabelle Colby Browne as Juliet. Isabelle has been learning Welsh for the past three years and recently appeared in Gwlad! Gwlad! at the National Eisteddfod \u2013 her casting marks a really exciting moment for Welsh learners looking to find their place in the wider Welsh-language arts scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Mon 29 Sept-Fri 3 Oct; Theatr Brycheiniog, Tue 7 Oct; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Thurs 9; Y Ffwrnes, Llanelli, Wed 22 + Thurs 23<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Info: <a href=\"https:\/\/theatr.cymru\/en\/shows\/romeo-a-juliet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/A-Visit-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"A Visit\" class=\"wp-image-147437\"  \/>A Visit<\/p>\n<p><strong>A Visit<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Following the success of the show last year, theatre company PaperTrail remount A Visit this autumn. They, and playwright Si\u00e2n Owen, began working on the play in 2019, interviewing women and children affected by maternal imprisonment in England and Wales. Through these interviews and conversations with academics and social workers, they discovered that families often have to travel hours to visit women in the justice system, due to the relatively small number of women\u2019s prisons across the country.<\/p>\n<p>The piece examines the complexities of being a woman in the justice system, and the impact that separation has on the children left behind. Performances are often accompanied by Q&amp;As with people knowledgeable about the area \u2013 prison workers, social workers, the creative team and more. The show received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buzzmag.co.uk\/a-visit-play-review-sian-owen-welsh-prison-system\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">amazing reviews<\/a> in 2024 and invites the audience into a conversation that many of us don\u2019t even know is taking place.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, Tue 7 + Wed 8 Oct; Grand Theatre, Swansea, Wed 15; Theatr Soar, Merthyr Tydfil, Fri 17; Aberystwyth Arts Centre, Fri 24<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Info: <a href=\"https:\/\/papertrail.org.uk\/projects\/a-visit\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">here<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>words HARI BERROW<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Innovation, confrontation and high quality staging abound in Wales\u2019 theatre sector as we go into autumn 2025, and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5010],"tags":[134177,748,134178,134179,134180,134181,134182,134183,4884,134184,134185,134186,134187,134188,134189,134190,134191,134192,134193,134194,134195,134196,16,15,134197,1764],"class_list":["post-387111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wales","tag-a-visit","tag-britain","tag-buzz-theatre-feature","tag-buzz-theatre-preview","tag-cardiff-theatre-feature","tag-cardiff-theatre-preview","tag-dynolwaith","tag-fran-wen","tag-great-britain","tag-hari-berrow","tag-kirsten-mcternan","tag-leo-drayton","tag-papertrail","tag-romeo-a-juliet","tag-royal-welsh-college-of-music-drama","tag-samarpan","tag-sherman-theatre","tag-sian-owen","tag-south-wales-theatre-feature","tag-south-wales-theatre-preview","tag-steffan-donnelly","tag-theatre-cymru","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-utsav","tag-wales"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115123366741538424","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}