Michael Sheen will return to the West End to star in a revival of Peter Shaffer’s award-winning Amadeus, opposite Callum Scott Howells as Mozart.
Directed by Jeremy Herrin, the production will open at New Theatre Cardiff in March 2027, before transferring to the Noël Coward Theatre in London for a 16-week run in April. It marks the first major comeback of Shaffer’s play in over a decade.
Sheen will play court composer Antonio Salieri, a role he previously played in Sydney in 2022, having earlier portrayed Mozart in the West End and Broadway in the late 1990s. The production reunites him with Howells, who makes his debut as Mozart after their collaboration on the BBC drama The Way.
The show also marks the first time two Welsh actors have taken on the roles of Salieri and Mozart in the same production. It is a co-production between Second Half Productions and Welsh National Theatre – established by Sheen in 2025 with his own money, with himself as founding artistic director - in what will be the company’s first West End staging.
Sheen called the production a “full-circle moment,” adding that performing alongside Howells “feels very special.” Howells described the opportunity to play Mozart as a “dream come true”.
Herrin, who founded Second Half Productions, said he is “delighted to be working on this legendary and beloved play” with Sheen, who he considers “one of the world’s best”.
Set in Vienna in 1820, Amadeus follows Salieri as he reflects on his rivalry with Mozart, a composer whose talent he believes to be divinely inspired. As admiration turns to envy, the play charts Salieri’s growing obsession and a destructive campaign against the man he both reveres and resents.
Tickets go on general sale on 24 April.
