Michael Sheen has quite a history with Peter Shaffer’s masterpiece Amadeus. He first starred in it as a young man, way back in 1998, playing the naive, vulgar, supernaturally gifted Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Old Vic, opposite David Suchet as his embittered nemesis Antionio Saliere. A few years back, Sheen took on the mantle of Salieri for a production in Sydney that undertstandably made relatively few waves over here. Now he’ll bring a fresh take on Salieri to the West End – the next London outing for his new Welsh National Theatre.
Sheen has been no stranger to the London stage of late, but the fact Amadeus will be his first West End outing in 20 years underscores the fact that he seems to have thoroughly changed his life and habits for the sake of WNT, which he leads. It’s the company’s biggest show to date, and the first without a Welsh director, with the experienced Jeremy Herrin doing the honours. It will, nonetheless, debut in Cardiff (at the New Theatre, Mar 9-27 2027) before locking in a 16-week run at the Noël Coward. It will also feature a major rising Welsh star alongside Sheen in the form of It’s A Sin man Callum Scott Howells.
Set in Vienna, 1820, the story follows an obsessed Salieri’s attempt to destroy the incadescently talented prodigy Mozart – exactly how ‘true’ it is, it remains a remarkable work about jealousy and genius.
Note that there appear to be no weekday matinees, presumably connected to Sheen’s new side hustle presenting quiz show Pointless.
