Sherman Theatre in Cardiff are today announcing details of seven productions, including five brand new plays, that will form the company’s 2024 season.
The seven productions are:
The Wife of Cyncoed by Matt Hartley
(7-23 March 2024)
Set in the Cardiff suburbs of Cyncoed and Lakeside, this warm monologue introduces Jayne, a divorcee approaching a crossroads in her life. Directed by Hannah Noone, this is a tale of self-discovery and second chances, bursting with humanity.
The Women of Llanrumney by Azuka Oforka
(16 May-1 June 2024)
A searing historical drama that confronts Wales’ colonial past head-on, this bold new work is set in a sugar estate in Jamaica, where Cerys and her mother Annie are enslaved by the wealthy Welsh Morgan family. It is written by Azuka Oforka, a 2022 alumnus of Sherman Theatre’s Unheard Voices artist development programme, and will be directed by Sherman Theatre Associate Artist Patricia Logue (Lose Yourself, Sherman Theatre, 2019).
Couple Goals (working title) by Rhiannon Boyle
(May 2024 – exact dates tbc)
This will be Sherman Theatre’s ninth collaboration with its nearby neighbours, the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and is the company’s 2024 commission for the college’s NEW festival.
Iphigenia yn Sblot by Gary Owen
(August-September 2024 – exact dates tbc)
Gary Owen’s award-winning, international, smash-hit one-woman play is brought vividly to life in Branwen Cennard’s new Welsh language adaptation, directed by Alice Eklund. Since its premiere at the Sherman in 2015, Iphigenia in Splott has become a theatrical phenomenon; a furious yet compassionate state-of-the-nation play that shames a nation. Still startling, shattering, deeply human and shockingly relevant, it is a play that resonates deeply.
Iphigenia yn Sblot is supported by funding from Arts Council of Wales.
Odyssey 84 by Tim Price
(11-26 Oct 2024)
Staged during the 40th anniversary year of the 1984 Miners’ Strike, this new play written by one of Wales’ most successful writers will follow the story of a married couple caught up in the conflict, told through the lens of Homer’s Odyssey. Domestic meets epic, local meets global in this ambitious new work that sheds light on women’s role in one of the most explosive chapters of Wales’ history. Odyssey 84 will be directed by Sherman Theatre’s Artistic Director, Joe Murphy.
Little Red Riding Hood / Yr Hugan Fach Goch by Katie Elin-Salt
(1-2 Nov, 25 Nov 2024-4 Jan 2025)
Supported by Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru
Following Sherman Theatre’s tradition of staging English and Welsh versions of a brand new festive show for younger children aged 3-6, this festive treat will tour venues across south Wales before returning to the Sherman Theatre for a six-week run.
A Christmas Carol by Gary Owen
(23 Nov 2024-4 Jan 2025)
A revival of the company’s 2021 smash-hit festive show for older children, starring Hannah McPake as Ebenezer Scrooge, adapted by one of Wales’ greatest playwrights and writer of the Sherman’s recent hit Romeo & Julie.
The season announcement is made 50 years to the day since Sherman Theatre was officially opened, on Friday 23 November 1973.
The following productions are now on sale: The Wife of Cyncoed, The Women of Llanrumney, Odyssey ’84, A Christmas Carol and Little Red Riding Hood / Yr Hugan Fach Goch. For today only (Thurs 23 Nov 2023), tickets are available at half price, to celebrate the company’s half-century.
Announcing the season, Sherman Theatre’s Artistic Director Joe Murphy said: “2023 has been an extraordinary year for Sherman Theatre, not just because we celebrated a remarkable milestone, but because our work to deepen and widen our engagement with audiences has paid dividends. To welcome audiences, community members and artists through our doors in such great numbers, especially after the pandemic, is a huge vote of confidence.
“This, coupled with our tried and tested formula of telling local stories with a global resonance, gives us a fantastic platform from which to leap into the new year. Here are five exciting new plays – and the return of two old favourites – to whet audiences’ appetite for great theatre, which is as strong now as we’ve ever seen it.”