Cast joining Michael Sheen in new play Owain and Henry confirmed

The full cast and creative team have been revealed for Gary Owen’s new play, Owain and Henry, led and co-directed by Michael Sheen.

The piece was revealed as part of Welsh National Theatre’s jam-packed first season and is a Welsh National Theatre and Wales Millennium Centre co-production.

Examining the 15th-century rebellion against the English crown by outlaw Owain Glyndŵr, Sheen will star as the last Welsh-born Prince of Wales, coming up against King Henry IV in a battle that could lead to freedom for Wales and the end of England.

It has now been revealed that Linus Roache will take on the title role of King Henry IV.

They will be joined by BAFTA Cymru winner Rakie Ayola as Mared Ferch Dafydd, a noblewoman and Owain’s wife, with BAFTA Children’s Awards Performer Emily Burnett as their daughter Catrin Ferch Owain. WhatsOnStage Award nominee Sophie Melville will play mother turned warrior, Lois, while Ned Costello will play Hal, the heir to the English throne.

Also starring are Brendan Charleson as Percy, Martyn Ellis 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.

Completing the cast are Lizzie Caitlin Bennett, Beau Bradfield, Harrison Claxton, Caitlin Drake, Mirain Fflur, Orla Hardie, Aisha-May Hunte, Corey Mitchell, Jamie Morgan, Luke Rhodri and Joseph Tweedale.

Sheen, who is artistic director of Welsh National Theatre, will co-direct the play with Steffan Donnelly, artistic director and joint chief executive of Theatr Cymru, with associate director Hannah Noone.

Mab Gwalia, Sheen’s movement for change, is creating opportunities for Welsh artists through associate and assistant roles within the company.

The creative team is completed by Matt Hellyer as associate set designer alongside set designer Jon Bausor, Cara Hood is lighting design associate alongside lighting designer Aideen Malone, Elin Steele is costume designer, Dyfan Jones composer and sound designer, Livi Wilmore is video design assistant alongside video designer Jack Phelan, Anthony Matesena is movement director, Rebecca Wilson is fight director assistant alongside fight and intimacy director Bethan Clarke, casting director is Hannah Marie Williams, voice director Nia Lynn, and Kate Ferris is executive producer.

Sheen commented: “To stand alongside this extraordinary cast and to imagine the life, fire and humanity we will bring to the stage together is beyond thrilling.”

He added: “Owain and Henry brings two towering figures, two nations and two versions of history into the same room. It asks us to hold all that complexity: the politics and the poetry, the intimacy and the spectacle, the past and the questions it asks of us now. For years people have wondered why Wales hadn’t told this story on this scale. That’s exactly what we’re setting out to do, creating opportunities for Welsh artists in its telling.”

Owain and Henry is a Welsh National Theatre co-production with Wales Millennium Centre. It will run in the Donald Gordon Theatre from 5 to 28 November.