Hedd Wyn: Eisteddfod Atomig

Hedd Wyn: Eisteddfod Atomig runs at the Donald Gordon Theatre in the Wales Millennium Centre from 18 to 22 May 2027. It's a joint production from Welsh National Opera and Theatr Cymru, an opera that takes the story of the poet Hedd Wyn and puts it in a setting you wouldn't expect.

The plot is set in Trawsfynydd in 2117, two centuries after Hedd Wyn died. A group of pilgrims returns to a town that's become an abandoned exclusion zone after a catastrophic failure at the nearby nuclear power station. They're there to reconnect with their Welsh heritage, but they find a fractured landscape where radiation has blurred time itself. Guided by the disaster's strange survivors, they venture deeper into their ancestry and into the heart of Welsh mythology, as conflicting visions for Wales's future emerge. The whole thing asks how a poet's story can be misrepresented, mythologised and reclaimed.

It comes from the imagination of Gruff Rhys, with music by Stephen McNeff and direction by Steffan Donnelly. It's sung in Welsh, with surtitles in English and Welsh on screen, so you can follow along regardless of your Welsh. The running time is about two hours with one interval.

Performances are 7.30pm, 18 to 22 May, at the Donald Gordon Theatre within the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff.