The North Wales theatre company reimagining Welsh culture
Celebrating its 40th anniversary, North Wales’ Frân Wen is redefining theatre with a season that goes beyond the stage. With bold productions like OLION and
a newly transformed venue,
Frân Wen brings Welsh stories to life in ways that resonate far beyond the local community. As funding challenges mount, the company remains focused on
risk-taking, innovation and a vision of Welsh theatre that embraces both tradition and cutting-edge technology.
Juliette Barber sits down with Frân Wen’s Artistic Director Gethin Evans
Frân Wen is marking a significant milestone with its 40th anniversary. Congratulations! Can you tell us what this season holds, and how it reflects the company’s evolution?
Thank you! Yes, we’re thrilled to be celebrating 40 years; this season really captures who we are and where we’re going. We started the season with OLION, a multi-art form trilogy that truly breaks the mould of traditional theatre. OLION spans stage, city and screen—it’s theatre, but also a site-specific production and a film. We’ve designed it so people can engage with different parts of the story in multiple ways, whether they’re at a community festival, in a theatre seat or watching on a screen.
The development process for OLION involved intense collaboration with young people, particularly those from vulnerable backgrounds. We worked with GISDA, an incredible charity which supports homeless 14- to 25-year-olds in Gwynedd, especially those identifying as Queer, to co-create the story. The whole process has allowed us to connect with audiences in new and profound ways whilst also continuing to place community at the heart of theatre making, which is essential to Frân Wen’s future.
It sounds like you’re pushing traditional theatre boundaries. How does Frân Wen fit into the broader landscape of Welsh theatre and culture?
Frân Wen has always been about embracing experimentation and giving a voice to contemporary Wales. Wales has a rich heritage of innovative storytelling, multidisciplinary practice and co-creation, and Frân Wen aims to build on that legacy. What excites me most is exploring how stories can transcend a single format, reflecting the way young people today experience narratives, culture and brands working across music, fashion, social media and more. We’re inspired by this cultural fluidity.
Being based in North Wales adds a unique dimension. We’re far from the hubs in Cardiff and other larger cities, which gives us a distinctive voice; we’ve always agreed that the most radical ideas are happening at grass roots on the fringes. Our theatre is a place where traditional narratives meet contemporary, experimental forms, and it’s critical for Welsh culture to see that blend—of old and new, local and universal.
Speaking of North Wales, what are the challenges and benefits of being based outside the main urban centres?
There’s definitely a uniqueness to being a North Wales theatre company. We’re rooted in communities that aren’t always recognised by institutions or in daily politics and reporting.Although we remain firmly rooted here, we have a hunger for broader connections. Over the last few years, we have committed ourselves to developing long-term partnerships with cultural organisations across the country and beyond.
Last year we moved into Nyth, a Grade II listed church in Bangor, which we transformed as part of a £4.8 million project. Our new building is a laboratory, a place where creativity, experimentation and community meet daily. It’s not a conventional theatre in any sense; rather, it’s designed as a flexible, open environment that encourages collaboration, interaction and risk taking. Picture our young company rehearsing in one area while, just next door, experienced artists and community members are developing a new piece alongside a local school in the studio on a creative learning project. We wanted a space that could truly adapt to the many needs of our work—and somewhere that brings all those different people together, fosters innovation and invites anyone who steps inside to participate.
The new building also serves as the perfect home for projects like OLION, which we developed to explore Welsh identity and history in contemporary reimagings that resonate with both local and wider audiences. OLION allows us to tell stories that might otherwise be overlooked, exploring themes that are distinct to our region but deeply relatable beyond North Wales. It’s one example of how we aim to connect
our local narratives with broader audiences across Wales
and beyond.
On the funding side, creating this building—and our ongoing work within it—was possible thanks to a mix of support, including grants from key funding bodies, including Arts Council Wales, Cyngor Gwynedd, Heritage Lottery and Welsh Government. Given the challenging current funding climate, we have been diversifying our funding sources, a challenging and ongoing process but one that has also pushed us to think creatively and engage even more directly with our community to ensure sustainability.
How is Frân Wen navigating the current challenges faced by the arts sector, especially with funding pressures?
It’s no secret that public funding is under strain, and we feel that, like everyone else. But it’s a balance: despite tighter budgets, the expectation for high-quality, impactful work is still there, and rightfully so. This environment can make it difficult to take creative risks. But we can’t let the pressure turn us into something risk-averse; if anything, we need to be bolder. Frân Wen is committed to experimentation and to challenging norms—whether through the stories we tell, the way we tell them or the spaces in which they’re performed.
One way we navigate these constraints is by partnering across disciplines and sectors – whilst this enables a pooling of resources it also ensures a greater impact, achieving more significant and sustainable outcomes. Last year, for instance, we collaborated with Wales Millennium Centre to create a Welsh-language musical, BRANWEN:DADENI, a huge risk to put a new Welsh language in a theatre that scale, but one that paid off. It sold out long before rehearsals even started, proving that risk-taking can unlock exciting new possibilities.
Looking to the future, how do you see technology shaping the way Frân Wen, and Welsh theatre in general, tells stories?
Technology offers a fascinating toolkit for theatre today,
from augmented reality to live-capture integration.
For younger audiences, the digital world is an integral part
of life, so it’s natural for us to incorporate that into our storytelling. This doesn’t mean replacing the magic of live performance, but rather extending the story’s reach and accessibility and getting excited by what tech can offer when embedded in the creative process.
How is Frân Wen navigating Welsh language and bilingualism in its productions? Does this impact funding or audience engagement?
As a Welsh-language company, the language is central
to our work, but it’s never about funding incentives—it’s about telling stories that matter in the language spoken by a large percentage of the population here. The Welsh Government and Arts Council Wales have committed to promoting Welsh language and culture, which aligns with our mission. Our productions are in Welsh or bilingual, and we’ve integrated access tools like surtitles and captions to ensure they’re accessible to all.
There’s a strong push across Wales through Welsh Government to increase the number of Welsh speakers by 2050, and culture plays a huge role in that. Frân Wen
isn’t just preserving the Welsh language—it’s evolving it, showing its contemporary vibrancy and relevance. And I think that, in itself, attracts audiences, whether they speak Welsh or not.
What’s your perspective on the current state and future of Welsh theatre and culture?
It’s a challenging but exciting time. Public funding cuts impact us, and we see a growing emphasis on reaching wider audiences with fewer resources. This pressure can discourage risk-taking, and it’s crucial for Welsh theatre to resist that. We need spaces where we can innovate and experiment, which is fundamental to keeping culture vibrant.
Despite these challenges, there’s a palpable energy across Wales. Artists are still pushing boundaries, telling dynamic and original stories that reflect the complexities of modern Welsh identity. The future of Welsh theatre lies in embracing change, in evolving with technology and in keeping the door open to bold new voices. It’s about balancing sustainability—financially and environmentally—with the drive to reach people in meaningful, unexpected ways.
Lastly, as you reflect on Frân Wen’s 40-year journey, what do you hope the next 40 years will hold?
Looking back, Frân Wen has always adapted, embracing change without losing sight of its core values. That’s what I want to see continue. There’s a resilience in this company, a readiness to shift with the times while remaining true to its purpose of representing contemporary Wales.
I think the way we make and share theatre will have to change. Touring, for instance, has a high financial and environmental cost, so we’re exploring new models, with digital offering exciting possibilities. Ultimately, the goal is to keep pushing forward, finding new, resonant ways to tell stories, while staying rooted in our community and connected to our culture.
Working with young artists every day gives me hope—they’re hungry for new ways to engage with the world, and they’re passionate about creating meaningful work. So, yes, I see continuous evolution for Frân Wen, driven by the same spirit of innovation and inclusivity that’s defined us so far.
To discover more about Frân Wen and its current season, visit franwen.com/en
