A flagship programme to support Welsh Language Dramaturgy
Gair i Gall is an ambitious programme for Welsh language theatre – dedicated support for the development of text-based dramaturgy skills and the role of the dramaturg in the creation of new work.
Designed specifically for artists working in the Welsh language, the programme will bring together playwrights and directors interested in new writing to explore how new plays are developed, challenged and strengthened – from early ideas to large-scale ambition – supported by award-winning dramaturgs.
This paid dramaturgy programme offers Welsh-language playwrights and directors paid time, tools and collaboration to develop ambitious text-based work in the future.
This is a statement of Stiwdio Clwyd’s commitment to Welsh-language theatre making.
Director of Stiwdio Clwyd Suzanne Bell is quick to point out, Gair i Gall isn’t your typical training course. “This is not a ‘how-to’ programme,” she explains, “there is no single formula for developing a brilliant play.” Instead, Suzanne adds, “the journey is about the tools to help theatre-makers make sure a play fulfils its theatrical ambition – from background research and the structure of the story to the choices that connect it to the audience.”
The beating heart of Gair i Gall is its first cohort – nine remarkable theatre-makers from across Wales. There’s Mary Davies from Carmarthenshire, who completed her PhD with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Melangell Dolma, from Gwynedd, is an actor-playwright-director whose debut premiered at the National Eisteddfod. Sarah Bickerton, formerly Associate Director at Theatr Cymru, brings experience across film, TV and theatre.
Cardiff-based Gwawr Loader is a playwright and actress whose recent credits span Theatr Sherman, Theatr Na n’Òg and Theatr Clwyd. Rhiannon Mair holds a practical Welsh-language PhD. Leo Drayton, a queer trans writer from Cardiff, made history when Dy Enw Marw became the first Welsh-language play staged at London’s National Theatre. Rounding out the cohort are Nia Medi, returning to her first love of writing; bilingual Anglesey-raised creative Tom Mumford, co-founder of queer audio collective Coven Xperience; and Caernarfon-based novelist and poet Kayley Roberts, whose work champions marginalised voices in Welsh culture.
The programme brings together a roll-call of brilliant practitioners. Suzanne Bell herself received the Kenneth Tynan Award for Excellence in Dramaturgy. Joining her are multi-award-winning dramaturg Jeanie O’Hare; Olivier-nominated director Guy Jones; Lowri Morgan, Literary Associate at Sherman Theatre whose play Ceridwen toured Wales last year; Gethin Evans, Artistic Director of Frân Wen; and BAFTA Cymru Breakthrough Award nominee Bethan Marlow.
The hope is that Gair i Gall will do more than develop individuals, it will also create space for collaboration and debate – laying the groundwork for a more confident, connected, and creatively ambitious Welsh-language theatre scene.
The Gair i Gall Cohort
