Sherman Theatre

The Sherman Theatre stands in Cardiff’s Cathays district as a twin-auditorium venue built in 1973. University College Cardiff provided the funding, and the building was named after the Sherman brothers, founders of Sherman’s Football Pools. The theatre opened with Ken Russell’s film The Savage Messiah in October 1973, and the Duke of Edinburgh attended the official ceremony later that year. Between 1990 and 2006, Phil Clark served as artistic director, and from 1993 to 1997 HTV filmed plays for television under the series title The Sherman Plays. The current artistic director is Joe Murphy, who took over in 2019 after Rachel O’Riordan’s tenure from 2014 to 2019. The theatre has earned recognition for its productions, including the UK Theatre Award for Best New Play in 2015 for Gary Owen’s Iphigenia in Splott. Sophie Melville’s performance in that play won The Stage Award for Acting Excellence at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Another play, Killology, received the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in 2018. The Sherman also won Regional Theatre of the Year at The Stage Awards in 2018 and a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival in 2008 for Deep Cut. Inside, the main auditorium seats 452 while the studio or arena holds 100. The building was designed by Alex Gordon and Partners in dark-brown brick, matching the nearby Cardiff University Students’ Union. A refurbishment in 2010–12 by Jonathan Adams gave the theatre a new metal-clad facade and reorganised its internal layout. Recent premieres include Azuka Oforka’s The Women of Llanrumney, which won The Stage Debut Award for Best Writer in 2024. The theatre remains a key cultural venue in Cardiff, known for bold new writing and touring productions.