As part of the World War I commemorations in June, National Theatre Wales will stage a site-specific production inspired by Welsh writer Owen Sheers’s poem Mametz Wood.
The show will take place in a field and nearby forest near Usk, providing a vivid glimpse into life—and death—in the trenches and battlefields of the Somme.
The Battle of Mametz Wood was one of the bloodiest conflicts of the Somme in which 4,000 of the 38th (Welsh) Division were killed or wounded. Among the soldiers who took part were Welsh and English war poets, including Robert Graves, David Jones, Siegfried Sassoon and Llewelyn Wyn Griffith, and Sheers’ own great, great uncle, William Cross.
Owen Sheers is a Welsh poet, author and scriptwriter. As well as poetry collections he has published the novel Resistance which has been translated into ten languages and been adapted (by Owen) as a screenplay of the same name which starred Andrea Riseborough and Michael Sheen.
Sheers also wrote and presented A Poet’s Guide to Britain, a six-part series for BBC 4 about poetry and landscape.
Twice Olivier–nominated director Matthew Dunster's credits include Before the Party at Almeida Theatre, A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Open Air Theatre, Regents Park, Mogadishu at Royal Exchange, Manchester / Lyric Hammersmith and Love the Sinner at the National Theatre.
Casting for Mametz and the full performance schedule have not yet been announced. It is suitable for those aged 14 and over.