Theatr Iolo celebrates 35th Birthday!

Penblwydd Poenus Pete (2019)

27 July 2022 marks the 35th anniversary of the creation of Theatr Iolo, but we weren’t always the company people know today!

Although the children’s theatre company was incorporated on 27 July 1987, Theatr Iolo existed in a different guise from as early as the 1970s, when it was known as Action PIE (Action Performance in Education). Due to a change in funding circumstances, Action PIE was disbanded in the ’80s and in its place South Glamorgan Theatre in Education was created, with the support of the Cardiff Council, Equity, Arts Council of Wales and National Teacher’s Union.

South Glamorgan Theatre in Education was one of eight regional Theatre In Education companies in Wales, working with schools throughout the county. South Glamorgan TIE’s first Artistic Director was James Carpmael, who worked for the company from 1987-1990.

In 1990, Kevin Lewis became Artistic Director and helped to shape the company into the one you see today. In 1993, when Cardiff Council were no longer able to fund South Glamorgan TIE, Kevin led the company through an important period of change. Up until this point, the company had received money from the local authority to tour theatre performances into schools at no cost to the school. When the funding situation changed, the company decided to continue to make work for schools, whilst also exploring new income streams by selling tickets to their productions to families and young people.

After undergoing this change, South Glamorgan TIE went on to change it’s name to Theatr Iolo , after Welsh activist and poet Iolo Morganwg, in 1996. This marked a formal change in direction of the company as they began to focus on making work that could tour to theatres around the UK and beyond.

In the late 1990s, one of the first shows that toured to a venue outside of Wales was Frog and Toad, which was shown at Polka Theatre in London. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Theatr Iolo was led by Kevin Lewis, developing new productions to be toured around Wales, the UK and internationally. The company developed a reputation for high quality theatre made especially for children. Working with theatres such as as the Unicorn and Polka, Theatr Iolo became the ‘go to’ children’s theatre company in Wales.

In 2018, following a long and successful tenure, Kevin handed over the reigns to Lee Lyford, who took over as Chief Executive and Artistic Director, alongside Michelle Perez as General Manager (now Executive Director).

Theatr Iolo now create new productions for children aged 0-16, in both Welsh and English, inspiring children, young people and families throughout Wales and beyond.

Since 1987 we have created over 100 shows ranging from adaptations of children’s books to brand new, original plays. We’ve also supported new artists through our Plattform program and have helped to grow new young writers with our Young Playwrights.

Although we started touring in local South Wales schools, in our 35 years we have toured around the whole of the UK and even internationally, to countries including Finland, Korea and even the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

This year we are taking Owl at Home, based on the children’s book by Arnold Lobel, to venues in Wales and in 2023 we will be touring an adaptation of Alys Conran’s Pigeon with Theatr Genedlaethol Cymru.

We hope to be able to welcome you to a Theatr Iolo performance soon!

Thank you to Kevin Lewis, who kindly provided us with information about the company’s history.