The Sheenant Chronicles, Michael Sheen Edition: A Traveling Theatre Man
A road trip through South Wales celebrating the theatre work of Port Talbot's native son
Since the April announcement that Michael Sheen was heading up The Welsh National Theatre (WNT) as both artistic director and actor, it can be accurately noted the timeline in his career has come full circle. Granted, the obvious prefix “Hollywood star” is still hoisted up in nearly every introduction. Yet nowadays he’s more likely to answer to “Welsh activist and patron” more than anything else.
In a career that has spanned nearly four decades – in theatre, film, and television – when the Port Talbot native returned full-time to his country in the latter part of the 2010s, his sights were set on celebrating the heritage of the country that has more often than not taken a backseat in the cultural landscape of UK theatre. A situation that Michael has begun to rectify with his presence and more importantly, his actions.
However, with every stroke of the pen that attempts to course correct the backstory of Wales’ considerable creative influence, there’s always another hill or mountain to climb, another fable to bring back down to reality. In this article, I’ll shed a little light on how Michael used his diverse and considerable skillset of his youth to forge a talent that will blaze a path for today’s Welsh pool of hearty talent.

Like most start-ups in their infancy, The Welsh National Theatre has no fixed home. Instead, as Michael discovered during his early appearances in the ‘80s, this was and is about an ensemble of people who have a passion for performing, especially those in local communities. He began his time as an actor with the West Glamorgan Youth Theatre Company (WGYTC) founded in 1976 by the late Godfrey Evans. And proving the bonds are wound through time (travel), Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies (who was born in Swansea) was already a well-established writer and actor at WGYTC, and as someone who was six years Michael’s senior, directed the young 17-year-old in the January 1987 production of David Copperfield.

At the WGYTC Michael was able to hone his craftsmanship in a potpourri of roles and genres. Most were interpretations — Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, John Challen’s Before Your Very Eyes — and one that celebrated Wales’ most famous poet and writer Dylan Thomas, in a ‘devised’ piece entitled For As Long As Forever Is — and in a rare instance where Michael is not portraying the heralded storyteller.

Michael spent most of the mid-late ’80s as a thespian splitting time between the WGYTC and at the National Youth Theatre of Wales (NYTW), a 45-minute drive east from Port Talbot, in Cardiff. Michael has acknowledged that the NYTW was an important stepping stone and opened up his vista by forging long-lasting friendships with Jason Hughes (his co-star in the National Theatre’s 1999 production of Look Back In Anger) and Matthew Rhys (who was his London roommate during Michael’s filming of the 2006 Kenneth Williams’ biopic Fantabulosa!). One of his more memorable roles during his time in Cardiff found him cast in a 10th-anniversary celebration of the NYTW in a touring production of Oh! What a Lovely War in September 1986.
However, Michael would face an academic choice as he reached a point on where to take his training to a more serious level. His middle-class working background — his late father Meyrick was a personnel manager for British Steel Corporation and his mother Irene was a secretary — was forged by the Tata Steelworks that were the backbone of life in Port Talbot. But by 1987, Michael had decided after one college acceptance that was an inconvenience distance-wise, that taking a gap year while earning money at Burger Master in Baglan was a way to take on his monetary deficit and help gain independence when he would travel to London as a first-year student at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in September of 1988.
There would be more work ahead in the coming years, as he rose to prominence not only for his student work at RADA, but as a future West End player, theatre company director, award-winning practitioner of Shakespeare, and then, “Hollywood star”
Wales-based photographer Jon Pountney’s book Valleys is available for purchase in various tiers through Crowdfunder.
So much fun to read about how the amazing Michael Sheen became the amazing Michael Sheen. Thanks you, Amy!