Actor Michael Sheen is to play the 15th-century Welsh nobleman Owain Glyndŵr in a major new stage production about his rebellion against the English crown, staged by Sheen's own company, Welsh National Theatre. Sheen said the project matters because Glyndŵr's story, despite his stature as a national figure, has never before been told on such a large scale, and because he himself was never taught about the rebellion while growing up in south Wales, since Welsh history was absent from the school curriculum.

The play, Owain & Henry, written by Olivier award-winning playwright Gary Owen, will run at the Donald Gordon theatre at Wales Millennium Centre, Europe's second-biggest stage, this autumn, performed in English. Sheen described Glyndŵr as a reluctant rebel who was born into privilege and served the English crown before a land dispute with a neighbour escalated into him being branded a traitor. He said the story resonates now given Plaid Cymru's recent Senedd election victory ending a century of Labour rule in Wales, framing the play as a timely exploration of leadership, power and Welsh identity.