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One of the 13 productions being staged by National Theatre Wales as part of its exciting first year

IT MAY be new but Wales finally has a National Theatre to add to the family clan. Its Welsh-language sister company, Theatr Genedlaethol, of course having been established back in December 2007. But this is not just another institution in a post-devolution Wales. This is quite deliberately a ‘theatre without walls’. The National Theatre Wales will not be building-based – a concept that it has borrowed from its Scottish counterpart.

And there were no physical boundaries at the launch of its programme in its small Cardiff office at the beginning of November. Taking full advantage of digital technology, it simultaneously broadcast its launch on the web to what it calls its ‘community of supporters’ be that in Cardiff, in Wales, or further afield.

Launching its inaugural programme its chair, Phil George, surmised in three words the ethos of National Theatre Wales as ‘engaged, innovative and international’. He perhaps should have added ‘excited’ to that list; both Artistic Director John McGrath and Producer Lucy Davies kept telling their audience how excited they were as they introduced us to their ‘theatre map for Wales.’ The bigger question was would there be something to excite theatre audiences?

National Theatre Wales’s supporters had already been promised an ambitious 12 performances in 12 months, between March 2010 to April 2011. What we actually got was 13 performances – more of which later.

The programme will kick off with a new play exploring life in the South Wales Valleys. Set in a traditional venue – Blackwood Miners’ Institute – it will then tour four other local communities in the Valleys. From there it’s West next in April to Swansea Old Library for a joint venture with Welsh National Opera and local physical theatre group, Volcano

May sees National Theatre Wales’s first visit to Cardiff and arguably its first real milestone. The company will premiere a new play, The Devil Inside Him, by John Osborne. Pre-dating Look Back in Anger, the play, which is set in Wales, was banned from being performed by the then Lord Chamberlain, the drama communities’ regulator – a sort of ‘Ofdram’ of its time. It will be staged in Cardiff’s New Theatre.

National Theatre Wales extends its reach to communities in North Wales in the early part of the summer. In June it will produce a work in association with award-winning choreographer Marc Rees in Barmouth. And in July it will work with new and emerging playwrights such as Caernarfon born Bethan Marlow, to create a piece of theatre played out on local beaches. This promises to be ‘theatre for the playstation nation’.

Sennybridge is probably as well know for its Army training base and its plunging temperatures. In August, it will stage Aeschylus’ The Persians – the oldest surviving play in history. The play is based on true events during the Greco-Persian war. Given the resonance that the war in Iraq and Afghanistan still has in the media in particular it will be interesting to see to how current issues will impact this age-old play. Audiences to this play will be ferried to the Army training base which almost elevates the venue from location to dramatic personae.

The half-way point of National Theatre Wales’s first season is a new work by established playwright Gary Owen which will take place in the newly refurbished Sherman Theatre in October 2010. His play will focus on the spate of unexplained suicides in Bridgend in 2008 and the lives of young people in the area.

In November the company will travel to Newport to perform a new physical theatre work based on the stories of Gwyn Thomas before moving to Snowdonia in December to perform a piece based around the nation’s favourite topic – the weather.

In January 2011, international artists will work with Butetown community to transform Cardiff’s Coal Exchange into a ‘Soul Change’ by looking at the people who have passed through this historic part of the Capital.

Berlin’s famous Rimini Protokall – best known for delivering ‘reality theatre’ will perform a piece on the environment in Aberystwyth in February. This will be the company’s first ever UK commission and is surely an international coup for National Theatre Wales. Cardiff based circus company No Fit State will join forces with the Torch Theatre in Milford Haven for a mix of theatrical storytelling and circus

That’s the full 12 performances in 12 months. And then National Theatre Wales produced its first theatrical coup: a thirteenth production on an epic scale. Port-Talbot born actor and Hollywood star Michael Sheen will co-produce a version of The Passion Play in his home town, starring a community cast. This will be a new version by poet Owen Sheers that will explore the themes of faith and redemption during the Easter weekend.

So there we have it. The 13 performances that will define National Theatre Wales’s first year. Does it rise to Phil George’s self-imposed triumvirate of being engaging, innovative and international?

If we consider them in reverse order, then there is a distinct international flavour in the choice of playwright and companies that National Theatre Wales will work with. The way in which it was broadcast globally across the web is another subtle way of securing an international impact. But at the same time the company is very much a company for Wales. While their first play, set in the Valleys miners institutes might be seen as being a predictable start but set against the context of the overall programme it suggests that it is paying homage to its tradition rather than being afraid to try something new. I’ve not seen Gwyn Thomas staged in a long while and using Sennybridge Army base as a theatre location is an interesting, possibly even exciting, idea.

Is it innovative? There is an diverse mix of old and new playwrights, traditional theatre venues and novel locations and interesting partnerships that have the potential of setting National Theatre Wales apart from other national theatres. Is it being to diverse and promising too much? Time will tell.

Crucially, will this programme engage an audience? At first glance there does seem to be something for every taste here and National Theatre Wales will travel the length and breadth of the country. Well almost. The glaring exception is that it is not visiting the north east of the country where Theatre Clwyd has been busy carving out a reputation for excellence. Sceptics would suggest that a National Theatre shouldn’t be working with established companies which receive funding from the Arts Council Wales but should concentrate on developing its own style and engaging its own audience.

Wales has its National Theatre at last. Now it’s time to play.