Written by Owen Thomas, the award-winning writer of ‘Grav’, ‘The Wood’ and ‘Owain and Henry’ for the Welsh National Theatre, the play explores the lives of two Welsh people who fall in love and decide to leave Wales in order to build a life in the New World. It details the hardships and adventures they faced, focusing primarily on the theme of immigration. The play is written in a lyrical, poetic style and presented using minimal set and a physicalised performance style. It is performed by Gareth John Bale, the Welsh actor and director whose credits include ‘Grav’, ‘Steeltown Murders’ and ‘Nye and Jennie’; and Gwenllian Higginson, best known to Welsh theatre audiences for ‘Constellations’, ‘Gwlad yr Asyn’ and ‘Llanast!’.
West was commissioned by the North American Festival of Wales and received its first public performance in the Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel, Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Friday 30th August 2019. The first American performances received standing ovations from an enthusiastic American audience.