Our History

Theatr Mwldan is established by Cardigan Theatre, a local amateur drama company, who begin a project to convert the town’s disused abattoir into a community theatre. Cardigan Art Society provide equipment for the exhibition space and help to make much of the theatre equipment. Many members of the community work together to realise the vision of a theatre venue for Cardigan.

Many members of the community work together to realise the vision of a theatre venue for Cardigan.

Back Row L - R: Sian Beynon-Lewis, unsure, Brenda Madden, Christine Rees, unsure, Debbie Newman.

Front row L - R: Annie Colgan, Jenny Harris.

A fundraiser is held at Castell Malgwyn to raise money for the Mwldan development.

Artistes taking part include Dafydd Edwards, Washington James, Dic Jones, Odette Jones, Eluned Phillips and the Blaenporth Male Voice Choir.

Sees the formal opening of Theatr Mwldan by the late distinguished opera singer Sir Geraint Evans. Theatr Mwldan quickly establishes itself as a multi-purpose centre of arts activity for all ages and abilities. Building from its base in community performance, a professional arts programme begins.


Cardigan Theatre’s first pantomime is Aladdin.

The newly formed Theatr Mwldan Film Society organises the first cinema screenings on 16mm film at Theatr Mwldan. The season opens on 18th September 1988 with a 10min. short, ‘Tout Rien’ by Frederic Back followed by “The Mosquito Coast” starring Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren. In this first season the society screens 9 films. The screen is a white painted square on the rear wall of what is now Mwldan 1 and the projector is carried into the auditorium for each screening. 

Theatr Mwldan receives the Prince of Wales Award. Cardigan Youth Theatre win the Theatre Olymiad in Delhi, India. Opera Teifi holds its inaugural production at Mwldan.

Theatr Mwldan Film Society wins Best New Film Society in the UK Award.

Cardigan Theatre vote to transfer the lease of Theatr Mwldan to independent management. Anthony Stevens is appointed as Director.

The theatre acquires a second-hand 35mm projector and a mainstream cinema programme is started alongside the Film Society’s screenings. One of the first titles screened is Edward Scissorhands.

Theatr Mwldan, a company limited by guarantee is formed, governed by a voluntary Board of Trustees. Soon to become a registered charity, Theatr Mwldan is also a community enterprise, a company owned and managed by the community that it serves.

Membership of the company is open to all, with Trustees appointed democratically by the membership.

In November 1992 and summer 1993, the Mwldan river burst its banks. The river walls were later reinforced as part of the Mwldan 2 development, which was completed in 2023.

Theatr Mwldan Film Society wins the coveted British Film Institute Best Film Society of the Year Award.

The now legendary ‘Viva Africa’ African Music Festival takes place at Mwldan. Over the course of three years legendary artists such as Remmy Ongala & Orchestre Super Matimila, Hukwe & Charles Zawose, Ifang Bondi, Ayub Ogada, Oliver Mtukudzi, and The Bhundu Boys play in Cardigan. 

Dilwyn Davies is appointed as Director.

A successful application to the EU European Regional Development Fund sees the creation of four new full-time jobs, doubling the existing staff team. Within three years the company generates enough income to fully support the new jobs, and the roles become permanent. 

The ERDF scheme is targeted at lifting up poorer, remote communities and recognises the regenerative role that culture and the creative industries can play in transforming those communities. 

The professional and community live programme continues to develop alongside the film programme, with the programme growth supported by the new jobs. Audience numbers and income increase as a result. The theatre pursues an ambition to persuade major distributors to supply major cinema titles on their release date. 

By the late 1990s, Mwldan's small 160-capacity auditorium faces overwhelming demand, thanks to growing audiences and increased access to major film releases. Expansion and increased investment become increasingly necessary to address these issues.

Mwldan’s Board of Trustees take a speculative risk and purchase two blocks of land adjacent to the theatre building, fundraising and using earned reserves to acquire them. Talks begin with Arts Council of Wales (ACW) about the need to expand (at this point Mwldan is not a revenue-funded client of ACW). A small amount of funding is granted by ACW for an initial feasibility study to sketch what expansion might look like. 

A proposal is presented for a physical development project to enlarge the existing theatre building using the newly acquired land, build a new auditorium and refurbish the existing building, and to acquire an adjacent derelict farm building and restore it as a business centre for creatives. Further funding is secured to move the initial proposal through development study and RIBA design stages, to a fully costed plan. 

Mwldan is edging closer to full funding applications for the capital project, but multiple funding partners are necessary to realise its aims. Towards the end of the 90s, a new European Union funding initiative is announced: Objective 1 for West Wales and The Valleys (2000-2006) with the intention of raising the GDP of the Welsh economy and helping one of the poorest regions of Europe. 

Backed by a fully completed development study, Mwldan applies to the EU fund in 2000, and to the ACW Capital Lottery Fund investment scheme in parallel. The EU application is successful, and, with a £1.6 million-sized lever on the table, the ACW bid is approved soon after. Backed by that substantial support, match funding is confirmed from Welsh Government and the (then) Welsh Development Agency to secure the entire £7 million budget. 

There follows a further eighteen months of project progress - the appointment of a design team, development of full plans, and the tendering for and appointment of contractors - before construction work finally begins in September 2002. Twenty-one months later, in June 2004, precisely on time and on budget, construction is completed and the new venue is fully opened. Through all the construction period, by means of a carefully phased programme, the building remains open to the public, operational and bringing a loyal audience with Mwldan on the journey. The entire capital project has taken close to seven years from inception to completion. Against all the odds, in a town of just 4,500 people on the edge of rural West Wales, where the nearest train station is a request stop twenty miles away, the organisation has achieved what many said was impossible: persuading and convincing multiple funding partners to invest £7 million in a small community’s cultural asset, delivered on time and on budget, an investment that would build the foundations for the transformation of a town and its community.

The Theatr Mwldan Development Project is completed in June 2004 and delivers a vast improvement in the range of facilities available, the level of activity and the quality of experience for its customers.

The new venue comprises two theatre/cinema auditoria (seating 250 and 146), a rehearsal studio (Mwldan 3), a visual arts exhibition space and improved front of house, catering and administrative facilities.

The new building is officially opened by opera singer Buddug Verona James and the opening is celebrated with the Big Weekend, a weekend of free events. The Peter Gould Music Trust choose Theatr Mwldan as their home venue, starting their first season in residence with a piano recital by Nikolai Demidenko.

With Arts Council of Wales Lottery funding, the Peter Gould Music Trust acquire a Steinway Model C concert grand piano and a Steinway Boston upright piano, both of which are located at Theatr Mwldan and are available for community use.

2005 saw the first full year of trading in the new venue. 

Audience and income doubled, new jobs were created, and the local community was inspired and delighted as the needs of both commercial drivers and community access were met. Hollywood blockbusters sit side by side with local community performance and participation, proving you can achieve something amazing in the unlikeliest of places. 

As the new venue settles in, there is an increasing frustration with the lack of world-class world music artists touring into Wales. Mwldan begins to invite some personal favourites to tour the country, organising successful small tours of up to a week of gigs to like-minded colleagues in venues across Wales. This sees the beginning of Mwldan’s potential as a producing venue, and in 2005 this is formally recognised as Mwldan is named a Regional Performing Arts Centre by The Arts Council of Wales.

This new strategic role includes a remit for production and origination of performance, specialising in world and traditional music, drama and music theatre, and co-promoting and co-producing tours of artistic excellence.

Mwldan tours this year include: Side by Side By Sondheim, Yair Dalal & Friends (Iraq/Israel), Eugenio Bennato and Taranto Power (Italy).

Theatr Mwldan tours extend into England for the first time.

Theatr Mwldan tours this year include: A Knife at The Opera, Billy Cobham & Asere (US/Panama/Cuba), Le Trio Joubran (Palestine), King Naat Veliov & Original Kocani Orkestar, Cegin Ceri Series (Wales), Kroke (Poland), Mappa Mundi’s Canterbury Tales, and Bellowhead (UK).

Mwldan joins the digital screen network. A new generation digital projector is installed in Mwldan 1 auditorium, funded by the UK Film Council.

Theatr Mwldan receives Investors In People status – a recognition of the dedication and hard work of all the staff.

In partnership with Creative Mwldan Creadigidol, Mwldan delivers the Accessible Cinema project, equipping 10 arts centres / independent cinemas across Wales with Audio Description and Soft Subtitling equipment.

Theatr Mwldan tours this year include: Bellowhead, Mappa Mundi’s Moll Flanders, Yasmin Levy (Israel), Billy Cobham and Asere (US/Panama/Cuba), Paco Pena Flamenco Dance Company (Spain), The Eagle Dances (US), Catrin Finch and Cimarrón (Columbia).

Theatr Mwldan receives a Beacon Award from The Arts Council of Wales – one of only 22 arts organisations in Wales to do so.

Mwldan releases its first album in partnership with Astar Artes, Billy Cobham and Asere’s ‘De Cuba Y De Panama’.

Cinema admissions top 1,000 in a day for the first time ever as audiences flock to Mamma Mia.

Mwldan presents its very first ‘Alternative Content’ event in November 2008; a screening of Glyndebourne Opera’s operatic production of Hansel and Gretel, followed by a production of La Cenerentola (Cinderella) in December 2008. This marks the beginning of a whole new advent of high-quality theatrical and operatic productions and Live and ‘As Live’ experiences for the big screen, with National Theatre Live, Met Opera and Royal Opera House becoming familiar names to Cardigan audiences, all at a fraction of the cost of visiting such an event  in person. 

Mwldan tours this year include: Bellowhead (UK), Mappa Mundi’s The Importance of Being Earnest, Tinariwen (Mali), Billy Cobham and Asere (US/Panama/Cuba), Mappa Mundi’s Canterbury Tales, Stella Chiweshe & The Heart of The Earthquake Band (Zimbabwe).

Mwldan launches their new website and starts selling tickets online – by the end of the year a third of all tickets are sold via Mwldan’s website.

In October 2009 Digital 3D is installed in Mwldan 1. Disney Pixar's 'Up' is the first film to screen in 3D.

Mwldan tours this year include: Bellowhead, Catrin Finch and Cimarrón, Mappa Mundi’s She Stoops To Conquer (co-produced with The Torch Theatre), Le Trio Joubran (Palestine), and produces a tour for Billy Bragg to mark the 25th anniversary of the Miners Strike, which toured to 9 Welsh venues with support at each from Welsh artists, including Cate Le Bon, .

Mwldan expands its programme of live broadcast events screening in HD via satellite: The Met Opera (screening live from New York) and National Theatre Live soon become a regular fixture on Cardigan’s high street.

Mwldan tours this year include: Bellowhead (UK), Catrin Finch and Cimarrón (Colombia), Mappa Mundi’s Dangerous Liaisons, and Morecambe.

Mwldan is named as one of the new Arts Council of Wales portfolio of 71 revenue funded organisations following a national review of the arts.

The Arts Council of Wales names Mwldan as one of their new core network of 8 arts centres, described as exemplar organisations across Wales that are at the heart of ACW’s future strategy, a fantastic national recognition of the success and excellence of the company. 

In 2011, Mwldan begin to lead and project manage the conversion from 35mm to digital projection of eleven cinema screens at arts centres across Wales. The project is realised in partnership with the Digital Funding Partnership and Arts Council of Wales, with part-funding towards peripheral equipment and conversion costs from the Arts Council of Wales via their Capital Lottery fund.

In April 2011 Mwldan 1 has a new Series 2 digital projector installed.

Mwldan 2 has a brand new digital projector installed in December 2011, and is digital 3D enabled. 

The project ensures that the cinema operations at the participating venues could continue into the future via digital cinema technology, including the installation of digital 3D systems and equipment to receive and screen live satellite broadcasts. This enabled the participating venues to maintain their income generation activities from cinema operations and also to take advantage of the new commercial and artistic opportunities offered by the growing live satellite ‘event cinema’ market.

A new series of Live broadcasts from the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, begin by satellite.

Mwldan tours this year include: Chronicles of Long Kesh (Co-produced with Green Shoot Productions) Salsa! (Co-produced with Theatr Na Nog), Mappa Mundi’s Much Ado About Nothing, and Circus Trick Tease (Co-produced with Pontardawe Arts Centre).

Following the opening of the Vue multiplex in Carmarthen in 2010, Mwldan’s cinema audiences decline rapidly by 35% in 2011. In response, Mwldan activates a plan to create a third cinema screen, and in February 2012 work starts to convert the Mwldan 3 dance studio into a 101-seat cinema screen, fully digitally equipped and satellite and 3D enabled – which opens in August 2012. The new third screen enables a rise in cinema screenings from 2000 to 3000 per year, an increase in programme diversity, and a recovery of the audiences lost to the Vue.

The third screen occupies the former site of the theatre's studio space, which is subsequently moved to bigger premises for community classes and hiring. The new studio space, Mwldan 4, is completed in February 2012 and hosts regular classes held by local tutors, community groups and arts practitioners. Complete with sprung wooden flooring and full height mirrors, Mwldan 4 is located alongside Mwldan’s Business Centre, and offers a fantastic new space for classes, hirings and meetings. 

Mwldan tours this year include: Catrin Finch (Wales) and Toumani Diabaté (Mali), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream co-produced with Torch Theatre and Mappa Mundi.

The first phase of digital conversions at eleven screens is completed in 2013.

Mwldan embarks on project managing a second phase of digital conversions at a further six venues across Wales.

Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita’s debut album Clychau Dibon is released in partnership with Astar Artes. Clychau Dibon wins the fRoots Magazine Critics Poll Album of the Year for 2013.

Mwldan tours this year include: Catrin Finch (Wales) and Seckou Keita (Senegal), who also appear at WOMEX, Cardiff. Mwldan coordinates and produces the WOMEX ‘Horizons’ tour, pairing WOMEX artists with Welsh bands for a four day post-WOMEX tour of Wales to 16 venues. Bands include Cumbia All Stars (Peru) with support from DnA (Wales), Ghazalaw (Wales / India) with support from Ballet Nimba (Wales), Les Tambours de Brazza (Republic of the Congo) with support from 9Bach (Wales), Ebo Taylor (Ghana) with support from Alaw (Wales). 

Mwldan launches a new website. Clychau Dibon wins the Songlines Magazine Best Fusion Album award.

Mwldan tours this year include: The Adventures Of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer - a house and Theatr Mwldan presentation produced by The Perth Theatre Company (Australia), It's Dark Outside - a house and Theatr Mwldan presentation produced by The Perth Theatre Company (Australia), Cylchcanu / Songchain – a Theatr Mwldan | Gerard Kilbride co-production (Wales), Dammed Nations 2014 (Wales / Egypt) - A Theatr Mwldan | Access All Areas | 30ips Co-Production, Catrin Finch (Wales) and Seckou Keita (Senegal).

Mwldan works alongside Cardigan Castle to acquire a Prolyte stage and Saddlespan tent as part of the castle refurbishment project, with a view to programming larger-scale live events on the castle site during the summer.

The first Cardigan Castle concert, co-promoted by Mwldan and Cardigan Castle, takes place on 25th July and features 9Bach and Bellowhead. The concert sells out and is attended by 1,500 people.

Mwldan tours this year include:

Catrin Finch: Tides (Wales), Catrin Finch (Wales) and Seckou Keita (Senegal), Seckou Keita: 22 Strings with support from Gwyneth Glyn (Wales), Mappa Mundi: Still Life, Cylchcanu / Songchain 2 – a Theatr Mwldan | Gerard Kilbride co-production.

Mwldan tours this year include: Ghazalaw (Wales / India), Seckou Keita: 22 Strings with support from Gwyneth Glyn, Catrin Finch – Tides, Catrin Finch (Wales) and Seckou Keita (Senegal).

Catrin Finch and Seckou Keitas Ceffylau (from the 2013 album Clychau Dibon) is sampled by Robbie Williams on the track 'When You Know' on the Deluxe edition of 'The Heavy Entertainment show'.

Cardigan Castle open-air performances include:

Russell Kane, The 3 Welsh Tenors, Only Men Aloud, From The Jam, Talisman, Ffug, No Fit State Circus’ BLOCK, Illyria’s Danny The Champion of The World, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Ruddigore

Mwldan establishes the ‘bendigedig’ record label in partnership with ARC Music Productions International Ltd. in September 2017. Gwyneth Glyn’s ‘Tro’ is the first album to be released on the label. 

Mwldan tours this year include: Catrin Finch (Wales) and Seckou Keita (Senegal), Mappa Mundi: The Trials of Oscar Wilde, AKA Trio – Antonio Forcione (Italy), Seckou Keita (Senegal) and Adriano Adewale (Brazil), Omar Sosa (Cuba) and Seckou Keita (Senegal): Transparent Water.

Cardigan Castle performances include:

Illyria’s Pride and Prejudice, The Comedy Of Errors, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Lost World and The Mikado, Noel James, Jeremy Hardy, Barbara Nice, Phil Jupitus, Drew Taylor & Steffan Evans, Dreadzone plus Mr Phormula, Tinariwen plus Kizzy Crawford, Catrin Aur and Friends, A Night With The Stars, Classics In The Castle.

Conversations begin between South Winds Blows (the producers of Ireland’s iconic Other Voices festival), Mwldan, and Triongl regarding the possibility of an ambitious Cardigan-wide Wales-Ireland music festival.

Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita’s second album SOAR releases on bendigedig in May 2018. The album wins the Songlines Magazine Best Fusion Award and The Root Critics Poll Album of the Year for a second time running.

The duo are commissioned to compose the theme tune for Philippe Sands' Podcast 'The Rat Line', starring Stephen Fry and Laura Linney, one of the most downloaded BBC podcasts of all time.

Touring Productions in 2018 include: Catrin Finch (Wales) and Seckou Keita.

Cardigan Castle open-air performances include:

Mark Steel, Lou Sanders and Ed Gamble, Matt Forde and Glenn Moore, Legend - The Music Of Bob Marley, Huw Stephens Presents…featuring Serol Serol, Omaloma and GWENNO, and Illyria’s The Pirates Of Penzance, The Hound Of The Baskervilles and Dr Dolittle.

Touring Productions in 2019 include: Gwyneth Glyn: Calennig,  Catrin Finch (Wales) and Seckou Keita (Senegal), AKA Trio – Antonio Forcione (Italy), Seckou Keita (Senegal) and Adriano Adewale (Brazil). Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita win Best Group / Duo at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards. 

Cardigan Castle open-air performances include:

Thank You For The Music, KT Tunstall, Billy Bragg, The Magic of Motown, Charlotte Church’s Late Night Pop Dungeon, and Illyria’s Frankenstein, The Tempest and Ali Baba and The Forty Thieves.

Outdoor cinema screens for the first time at the castle, with films including singalong versions of The Greatest Showman and Bohemian Rhapsody.

Following two years of discussions and fundraising, the first physical edition of Other Voices Cardigan takes place 31 October - 2 November 2019; a magical weekend of music, performance, ideas and connection, celebrating the cultural and artistic ties between Wales and Ireland. The event is presented by Huw Stephens and produced in partnership between Mwldan, South Wind Blows and Triongl, and funded by Welsh and Irish Governments with broadcast partners S4C and RTÉ. Over 90 concerts are held in bars, cafes, pubs and arts venues around the town, with the Clebran talks taking place in Cardigan’s Guildhall. Church headliners include Celeste, Lankum, 9Bach, GWENNO, Gruff Rhys, Lucy Rose, Haydn Thorpe and Carwyn Ellis.

Mwldan records its best year ever for turnover, topping £1.7 million, with an employed staff team of 26.

Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita play Hay Festival Abu Dhabi, and Sydney Opera House, WOMADelaide and WOMAD NZ just prior to lockdown. 

Mwldan closes its doors to the public on March 17th 2020 and remains closed for the rest of the year. A fallow year follows for Cardigan Castle events due to Covid.

The Rheingans Sisters release their album ‘Receiver’ on the bendigedig label in September 2020.

 Voluntary redundancy reduces the staff team down to 9, with the entire staff team bar one furloughed.

Omar Sosa (Cuba), Seckou Keita and Gustavo Ovalles release SUBA on bendigedig.

 A digital edition of Other Voices Cardigan takes place online as part of a digital festival Gwyl 2021 when four major Welsh festivals – FOCUS Wales, Llais, Other Voices Cardigan and the Machynlleth Comedy Festival – join forces to take their events online via the BBC platform. Local Covid / lockdown restrictions in Ceredigion see filming for the Other Voices Cardigan event move to The National Museum in Cardiff.

Artists include Ani Glass, Aoife Ní Bhriain, BERWYN, Juice Menace, Catrin Finch, The Gentle Good, Sinead O’Brien. Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain play together for the first time, sparking the start of a new collaboration.

Another fallow year follows for Cardigan Castle events due to Covid.

Mwldan reopens in September 2021 for socially distanced screenings, having undergone a major redevelopment and transformation of the Front of House area carried out by its staff team during closure. 

VRï release islais a genir (‘a sung whisper’) on bendigedig, in October 2022.

Mwldan launches a series of community-led Clwb Nights, Open Mic Nights and Happy Awr – to take advantage of the newly improved foyer area, which lends itself well to social gatherings and meetings.

Cardigan Castle open-air performances include:

Cantorion o Fri, Dynamix: Matilda Jr, Lost In Music: One Night At The Disco, 40 Years of Fflach, RADIO GA GA: Celebrating The Champions Of Rock, Richard Thompson. Outdoor cinema takes place at the castle screening Greece, Rocketman and West Side Story.

The second physical edition of Other Voices Cardigan takes place over three days across the weekend of 3-5 November 2022. 99 performances take place in 12 venues around Cardigan, plus 5 ‘Clebran’ discussion panels at Mwldan, including a very special appearance by Wales’ First Minister Mark Drakeford.

Church headliners include Welsh electro-pop superstar Gwenno, virtuosic harp & fiddle duo, Catrin Finch & Aoife Ni Bhriain, Australian - Welsh indie sensation Stella Donnelly, pioneering Welsh drill artist Sage Todz, South London neo-soul act Poppy Ajudha, Canadian alt-popstar mauvey and Llareggub Brass Band.

Cardigan Castle open-air performances include: Cor Cymru Gogledd America / North America Welsh Choir, The Bootleg Beatles, Catrin Finch and Cimarrón, Only Men Aloud + support Only Boys Aloud (West Group), Natalie Imbruglia, Cloudbusting: The Music Of Kate Bush, Bootleg Blondie, and Illyria’s Twelfth Night and Robin Hood.

Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain tour the UK throughout 2023 prior to the release of their debut album, Double You, on bendigedig in October 2023. The album hits #1 in the iTune Classical charts, and is nominated for Best Album in the 6th RTÉ One Folk Music Awards.

Mwldan tours include: Polish Trio Kroke for their first UK tour since 2006, Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain, and VRï.

The third physical edition of Other Voices Cardigan takes place across the weekend of 26-28 October. Church headliners include one of Wales' most exciting exports, The Joy Formidable, alt-pop superstar Sans Soucis, extraordinary triple harpist Cerys Hafana, double Welsh Music Prize-winning rockers Adwaith, King Creosote, Mercury Music Prize nominees Yard Act, singer-songwriter Susan O'Neill, and Irish musical royalty Colm Mac Con Iomaire.

Mwldan is successful in the ACW investment review and receives a further three years of funding (albeit at a lower level).

Ceredigion County Council announces a 100% cut of its funding for the arts in Ceredigion, including its support to Mwldan for 2025.

The aftereffects of the pandemic and other global events produce a serious combination of challenging economic circumstances. Rising overhead costs, energy prices and staffing costs combine with loss of public funding and a slow recovery of post-pandemic cinema audiences to produce a substantial operating loss for the company. As a result, the summer’s Castle programme has a fallow year, and emergency funding support is successfully sought to offset the economic crisis. 

Other Voices Cardigan is held for its fourth physical edition between 31 October and 1 November. The festival programme grows further, as do the number of attenders. 

The track 'Gobaith' from Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita's album ECHO (bendigedig) features on the soundtrack of Netflix series 'Baby Reindeer'.