The Welsh Theatre Company was a professional theatrical company that performed in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. The

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language family, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut P ...

section of the company was Cwmni Theatr Cymru and the two shared workshops and technical facilities until 1973.Martin Morley: A Life in Theatre and TV Design
Morley Theatre Design website The Welsh Theatre Company was established in 1962 in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

in Wales by the

Welsh Arts Council The Arts Council of Wales (ACW; cy, Cyngor Celfyddydau Cymru) is a Welsh Government-sponsored body, responsible for funding and developing the arts in Wales. Established within the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1946, as the Welsh Arts C ...

; its first director was Warren Jenkins. The majority of the company's productions were performed in English. The company received some criticism for producing plays with English actors and Welsh actors who lived and mainly worked in England but who acted in Wales only when they couldn't find work in England instead of employing Welsh actors who were based in their native land. The company's touring productions included

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (, ; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, , ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the greatest writers in the French language and world ...

's ''

The Miser ''The Miser'' (french: L'Avare; ; also known by the longer name ''L'Avare ou L'École du Mensonge,'' meaning The Miser, or the School for Lies) is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September 9 ...

'' (1962); '' A Man for All Seasons'' (1962) with

Philip Madoc Philip Madoc (born Philip Arvon Jones; 5 July 1934 – 5 March 2012) was a Welsh actor. He performed many stage, television, radio and film roles, and was recognised for having a "rich, sonorous voice" and often playing villains and office ...

Thomas Cromwell Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...

; ''

Period of Adjustment ''Period of Adjustment'' is a 1960 play by Tennessee Williams that was adapted in the film version of 1962. Both the stage and film versions are set on Christmas Eve and tell the gentle, light-hearted story of two couples, one newlywed and the ...

'' (1963) by

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

; ''Jackie The Jumper'' (1965), ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' (1969) with Angharad Rees as OpheliaAngharad Rees: Obituary
from thestage.co.uk and ''House of Cowards'' by Dannie Abse. In 1970 the company intended to make the Prince of Wales Theatre, Cardiff its base, but the plan was abandoned.

Cwmni Theatr Cymru

Wilbert Lloyd Roberts, Head of Drama at the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

in Cardiff, had directed Welsh language productions with a troupe of Welsh actors who worked for both the BBC and the Welsh Theatre Company. Roberts left the BBC to become director of the Welsh language section of the Welsh Theatre Company - Cwmni Theatr Cymru. Founded and based in 1968 in Bangor in Caernarfonshire, Cwmni Theatr Cymru was a touring theatre company which performed in small venues such as school and village halls in the towns of Wales. Its management committee included Dr Thomas Parry, Alun Llewelyn Williams and Helen Ramage while the

Marquess of Anglesey Marquess of Anglesey ( cy, Ardalydd Môn) is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for Henry Paget, 2nd Earl of Uxbridge, a hero of the Battle of Waterloo, second in command to the Duke of Wellington. The Marquess ...

was the honorary president. In 1966 the company toured the Absurdist ''Saer Doliau'' (''Doll Mender'' or ''Doll Doctor''), a play by the Welsh playwright

Gwenlyn Parry William Gwenlyn Parry (8 June 1932 – 5 November 1991) was a Welsh dramatist, the author of several plays in Welsh, including ''Saer Doliau'' (1966), ''Ty ar y Tywod'' (1968), ''Y Ffin (1973), ''Panto'', ''Sal'' and ''Y Tŵr'' (1978). Early life ...

with a cast that included

David Lyn David Lyn Jenkins (30 April 1927 – 4 August 2012), known professionally as David Lyn, was a Welsh television, film'David Lyn: Actor who fought for Welsh theatre'
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 17 October 2012 In 1972 the company toured in a Welsh language version of

's '' Le malade imaginaire'' which toured Wales and played at the Liverpool Playhouse. The company toured in ''Pethe Brau'' (1972), a Welsh language version of ''

The Glass Menagerie ''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his Histrionic persona ...

'' by

, in ''Esther'' by

Saunders Lewis Saunders Lewis (born John Saunders Lewis) (15 October 1893 – 1 September 1985) was a Welsh politician, poet, dramatist, Medievalist, and literary critic. He was a prominent Welsh nationalist, supporter of Welsh independence and was a co-found ...

and ''Y Twr'' by

, all three productions directed by David Lyn. The Welsh actress and teacher

Elen Roger Jones Elen Roger Jones (27 August 1908 – 15 April 1999) was a Welsh actress and teacher. Early life and education Elen was born in Marian-Glas (Llaneugrad), Anglesey, the daughter of William Griffith (1873–1935), (who was the Anglesey Educatio ...

performed with the company in the early 1970s. In 1973 Cwmni Theatr Cymru obtained a disused chapel in Bangor for use as its technical base making it independent from its parent company. It was the only fully professional Welsh language theatre company in Wales and it toured plays to all parts of Wales where Welsh was spoken. From 1975 the company was based in Theatr Gwynedd in Bangor and was managed by members of both the theatre and the theatre company. When a group of young Welsh-speaking actors wanted to produce more experimental plays Cwmni Theatr Cymru founded 'Adran Antur'. Cwmni Theatr Cymru also formed Cymdeithas Theatr Cymru (The Welsh Theatre Society) which was designed to publicise Welsh theatre through local representatives and committees. Cwmni Theatr Cymru closed in 1982 owing to financial problems.Papurau Cwmni Theatr Cymru - Welsh Theatre Company Papers
Gwynedd Archives Service - Caernarfon Record Office / Gwasanaeth Archifau Gwynedd, Archifdy Caernarfon A collection of Cwmni Theatr Cymru programmes and posters are held in the archive of

Bangor University , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

Cwmni Theatr Cymru Programmes and Posters
Archifdy Prifysgol Bangor / Bangor University Archives while the company's archive is held by the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million boo ...

.Cwmni Theatr Cymru

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh Theatre Company 1962 establishments in Wales 1968 establishments in Wales 1982 disestablishments in Wales Theatre companies in Wales