Michael Sheen's The Passion

[lewys-gp]

Hey everyone!

I thought I would share something with the community, which happened in a town near my home, over 10 years ago. During the Easter break of 2011, National Theatre Wales joined forces with Michael Sheen and WildWorks for a one-off groundbreaking theatre event that placed the Port Talbot community at its very heart.

Taking inspiration from one of the defining narratives of our times, this riotous contemporary re-telling of The Passion story took place across the town, with the people of Port Talbot as its cast, crew and heroes. Supported by over 1,000 community volunteers, the production celebrated a town and its people, bringing over 22,000 people to the town.

I remember running around town, in a mad flurry, trying to keep up with it all! One moment, we'd be down the beach and the next, in the town centre. Michael Sheen even carried The Cross over his shoulder throughout the town.

At the time, he was dating Rachel McAdams, and she was there for the whole time following too. I remember meeting Iwan Rheon, Welsh actor and musician, who was performing during the theatre production. The Manic Street Preachers even played in a local labour club!

To give you an idea of how involved the town was, at the end of the above clip, I recognise someone playing a security guard as someone who also features in a local rugby club's panto 🤣.

• You can get a good idea of the plot of the play on this Wikipedia page
• The Guardian also reviewed the production at the time
• The photos above are from the NTW website, and more photos can be found there
• More photos can be found on the Wildworks website
• The BBC also covered the production too

You don't get many Easter weekends like this one, so it was definitely memorable 😂. I hope you enjoyed reading about the play! I would definitely recommend checking out the NTW website, as they often produce immersive experiences like this one.

Thanks! Happy Easter, all.

[Cleoriff]

What a wonderful experience that sounds @lewys-gp. Thanks for sharing x

[lewys-gp]

Hey, @Cleoriff. Glad you enjoyed reading about it! It was a very immersive experience, especially for the town.