| A Timeline of Events- January 2025 to March 2026 |
Welsh National Theatre |
| Artists Protest Funding Awards, Artistic Programme, Corporate Culture , Theatre of Wales , June 1, 2026 |
The Arts Council of Wales faces the largest protest from the artistic community of Wales about its policies in 26 years.By way of history on 12th January 2000 Gwent Theatre announced a legal challenge. Their cause, and those of other small companies, escalated to the House of Commons. Welsh MP's called for the Auditor General to investigate. Thirty-four MPs of Wales voted unanimously in protest against the Arts Council's decision-making. The Stage's newspaper used language of the Council that was not usual: “its senior personnel had, through a series of bungled funding decisions, lost the confidence of the arts community and that of the council's own staff.” After much delay the Chief Executive fell. * * * * The public record as of today is straightforward. The Chair of the National Theatre of Wales owed that company, and that company only, a fiduciary duty. That is what being a director means. In the winter of 2024-2025 she and the Board rescinded money from the National Theatre of Wales towards a new organisation, as yet unincorporated, which she was founding. The Arts Council of Wales colluded in making a payment of £200,000. This, in the absence of any denial or correction, is the public record. The Council should issue a public statement of clarification. This should state the date that the decision on the £200,000 was made and the individuals who were involved in meetings on the issue. * * * * The internet is a medium of fragmentation. This is a timeline of events over 16 months. * * * * 9th January 2025. Welsh National Theatre is incorporated. 9th January 2025. A BBC feature article is headed “Sheen to fund new national theatre for Wales.” “The company is seeking private and public funding, but Sheen said self-financing it initially would allow it to stand "on its own two feet". * * * * 21st January 2025. Sharon Gilburd resigns as Chair of the National Theatre of Wales. * * * * 2nd April 2025. Arts Professional has a headline story. “Sheen’s Welsh National Theatre reveals chief executive.” Sharon Gilburd is described on the Welsh National Theatre website and at theatre conferences as “founding chief executive.” * * * * 21st May 2025. The Arts Council of Wales' list of grants includes grant ID 2025004862, £200,000 to Welsh National Theatre. * * * * 23rd October 2025. The Arts Council of Wales issues a statement: “Arts Council of Wales has announced it will launch Major Productions — a new fund designed to support ambitious, high-quality live arts experiences that celebrate Welsh creativity on a larger scale – this November. “Guidelines for the fund have been published on the Arts Council of Wales website and organisations are being encouraged to check the eligibility of their projects before applications open on Monday 3 November 2025.” The guidelines are no longer available for public view. * * * * 30th October 2025. In the Stage Natasha Tripney writes about Michael Sheen. “He is conscious of the fact that there are complicated considerations in the context of funding. “One of the big fears around this company is that it’s going to take away funding for companies that already exist." “Anyone who is dependent on Arts Council funding understandably feels nervous.” * * * * 3rd December 2025. Lucent Dreaming is a publishing company of Wales which has for several years had the support of the Books Council of Wales. It issues a lengthy consideration of the new company. The report on the Welsh National Theatre covers a range of subjects. It closes with “allegations of a major conflict of interest in the awarding of ACW funding to WNT, on the basis that Sharon Gilburd was allegedly Acting Chief Executive at WNT while Chair of the Board at the now-defunct NTW....my understanding that Sharon Gilburd allegedly failed to disclose her private gain when acting as then-Chair of the Board of NTW, overseeing the NTW’s board’s decision to revoke a greater portion of their Transition and Resilience funding back to ACW to be awarded to WNT, from which she would personally benefit. “ACW deviated from due process here, in accepting revoked funds and re-awarding them to an under-developed ‘National’ organisation, with ACW allegedly also going back on their word about actions they would take if affected parties were able to prove this conflict of interest had taken place.” * * * * 26th January 2026. The National Theatre of Wales' report for 2024/2025 records a board meeting in January 2025. The agenda included discussion of the transition funding from the Arts Council of Wales. “The board agreed that of the remaining amount, £200,000 ought to be revoked to be given to Welsh National Theatre.” The Welsh National Theatre was unincorporated until 9th January 2025. * * * * 30th March 2026: The Arts Council of Wales stated of the major productions fund in October. “Open to Wales-based organisations only, Major Productions is for experienced producers with a track record of delivering outstanding work.” Welsh National Theatre had by autumn 2025, the season of applications, put on no theatre productions. “Welsh National Theatre: awarded £299,829 for Owain and Henry, a major co-production with Wales Millennium Centre, co-directed by Michael Sheen and Theatr Cymru’s Steffan Donnelly, and starring Michael Sheen.” The production and venue was announced in January 2025. Tickets have been on sale for five months. Sharon Gilburd: "Ticket sales have already been exceptional." The Arts Council of Wales: "In order to allow companies to maximise marketing and other funding opportunities, it was also within the guidelines that productions already announced with tickets on sale prior to application would qualify." "For significant large-scale productions this is normal practice within the industry." The last statement would benefit from examples to establish its credibility. |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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