By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ***1/2

WHEN? Saturday 28 March (matinee) and runs through 28 March 2026 RUNTIME: 140 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

‘No other play I’ve read or seen performed has ever affected me in quite the same way,’ writes star Michael Sheen (Nye, National Theatre) of this revival of a classic as the 1st production of the Welsh National Theatre.

• Read on for reasons including how there’s a world where there is a West End transfer for this show

Our Town was written by Thornton Wilder in 1938 and is the story of the fictional American town of Grover’s Corners between 1901 and 1913 told through the everyday lives of its citizens.

Sheen is the stage manager of the theatre where this play is being staged and is almost always treading the boards, commentating on what the audience is seeing but also occasionally playing minor parts in the production.

The ensemble use planks of wood and ladders to symbolise the town’s houses and mime conveys much of the action which is essentially played out on a mostly bare set with occasional props.

We meet young schoolfriends, doctor’s son George played by Peter Devlin, and local paper editor’s daughter Emily, given life by Yasemin Özdemir and warm to them as their blossoming friendship blooms into something more.

The vibe is like film It’s A Wonderful Life or musical Come From Away (Phoenix Theatre) with a real sense of however unimportant smalltown life feels, all communities are intertwined and the most important thing is spending as much time as you can with those you love before they are taken from you.

The accents in this 1st Welsh National Theatre production are, appropriately Welsh, a conceit which works if you follow the play’s logic that it’s being performed in front of us and there’s even a spot of mock audience interaction with characters asking those watching to ask questions at occasional points during the show.

Sheen is such a charismatic performer that it’s a real privilege to see him beam with pleasure or be struck dumb by shock as he allows others to take centre stage yet reacts with the audience to the events we’re seeing.

Occasionally it’s a little twee and the behaviour of most of the community towards 1 of its members struggling with an alcohol problem perhaps goes to show why smalltown life is perhaps not as embracing for everyone.

But it would be churlish to dwell too much on that while neglecting quite how uplifting, and occasionally devastating this story can be.

We can see a world where there is a West End transfer for this show and, even if not, it’s a tremendous start to what promises to be a thrillingly bright future for Michael Sheen’s Welsh National Theatre.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Rose Theatre, Kingston Tickets
• Have you seen Our Town before and what did you think of it? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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