The Passion of Port Talbot

Michael Sheen was a Hollywood star when the newly formed National Theatre of Wales approached him to produce a show in his hometown of Port Talbot. Inspired by the Passion plays he watched as a kid, he suggested they create a modern version of the Biblical stories.

Port Talbot was famous for its steel and chemical plants, but in 2011, local people were struggling with looming job cuts and still recovering from the 2007 crash. Sheen wanted to bring a new sense of pride to the town. Months of planning and rehearsals resulted in a three-day Easter weekend spectacle that took over the town and captured the imagination of the world.

Joining Kirsty Wark to recall that miraculous weekend is Sheen who played “The Teacher”, a modern-day incarnation of Jesus, and took the part so seriously that he slept on a mountain on the eve of Good Friday. “We had no idea how many people would come or if it would be pouring with rain.” But the weather was glorious and people came in their thousands.

Port Talbot actress Di Botcher played Sheen’s mother and described the warm feeling of being in The Passion as like “a crazy holiday romance – with God”.

Sarah Hemsley-Cole masterminded the show's logistics, which featured an actor in a suicide vest, a crucifixion on a roundabout, and a cast of 1,000 locals. During the production, she also met her wife, the leader of the local circus school.

The National Theatre of Wales partnered with landscape theatre experts Wildworks. Founder member Mydd Pharo recalls standing up to his waist in a rising tide, waiting for Sheen to arrive for the baptism scene. His colleague Mercedes Kemp led the hunt for local people’s memories which informed the resulting narrative. And Michael’s school drama teacher Ken Tucker, who played the Mayor in The Passion, also joins us.

Producer: Karen Pirie
Series Producer: David Prest
A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4