The Welsh National Opera recently announced the programme for its 80th anniversary 2026/27 season, including the world premiere of composer Stephen McNeff’s highly anticipated new opera, Hedd Wyn: Eisteddfod Atomig as the grand finale of the landmark season.

A co-production with Theatr Cymru, the haunting work features a libretto by the celebrated singer-songwriter and author Gruff Rhys (of Super Furry Animals fame). Performed entirely yn Gymraeg (in Welsh) with English and Welsh surtitles, the tale reimagines the legacy of one of Wales' most tragic cultural icons.

Set in 2117, two centuries after the death of the iconic Welsh bard Hedd Wyn who was killed in World War I, the story follows a group of pilgrims who return to Trawsfynydd expecting a commemorative tour of the poet's ancestral home. Instead, they find an abandoned nuclear exclusion zone where time has warped. Guided by the eccentric survivors of the disaster, the group are thrust into a world where past, present, and mythology collide, and where Hedd Wyn’s legacy is distorted in pursuit of a dangerous new beginning.

Hedd Wyn: Eisteddfod Atomig will run from Tuesday May 18 to Saturday May 22, 2027 at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff. Tickets go on sale to the general public on May 22, 2026.

Find out more at the WNO website here.

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