Derren Brown’s Only Human comes to London’s Apollo Theatre
April 23, 2026
Returning for his first West End production since 2006’s Frost/Nixon, multi-award winning actor and director Michael Sheen (The Passion, Nye, Our Town) will star as embittered court composer Antonio Salieri, opposite BAFTA Cymru winner Callum Scott Howells (It’s a Sin, Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club) who makes his role debut as musical genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Peter Shaffer’s seminal play.
Sheen was the first major actor to perform both roles following critically acclaimed performances as Mozart in the West End and on Broadway (1998/1999) and as Salieri at the Sydney Opera House (2022).
Amadeus sees Sheen and Howells reunite for the first time since their collaboration on BBC drama The Way, also marking the first time two Welsh actors have taken on the iconic roles in the same production.
Further casting to be announced.
Jeremy Herrin directs following his recent acclaimed productions of Guess How Much I Love You at the Royal Court and The Spy Who Came In From the Cold, which is currently playing throughout the UK as part of a major UK tour.
Amadeus will feature set design by Olivier Award winner Bunny Christie with costume design by Lez Brotherston. Casting is by Sam Jones CDG.
Further creative team to be announced.
Vienna, 1820. A respected composer makes a shocking confession.
Antonio Salieri has everything – status, success, and the certainty that he has earned them. Until he meets musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Vulgar and childish, but utterly brilliant, Mozart possesses a gift so extraordinary that Salieri believes it can only be divine. And that God has chosen the wrong man.
Faced with a brilliance he cannot rival, Salieri begins a dangerous obsession that threatens to consume them both – channelling his jealousy into a calculated campaign to destroy the man he both worships and despises.
Fuelled by some of the greatest music ever written, Amadeus is an electrifying story of ambition, faith, and the unbearable cost of greatness – where talent battles genius, devotion turns to betrayal, and man dares to challenge God.
Michael Sheen is a multi-award-winning Welsh actor and RADA graduate, known for his extensive work across film, TV and theatre, as well as his charity work.
Michael is a four time Olivier nominated actor for AMADEUS at the Old Vic, LOOK BACK IN ANGER at the NT, CALIGULA and FROST/NIXON both at the Donmar Warehouse. Other notable roles include the title roles in HENRY V at the RSC, HAMLET at the Young Vic and NYE at the NT . He played Salieri in AMADEUS at the Royal Opera House Sydney’s majestic 50th anniversary production to great acclaim.
Callum Scott Howells’ theatre credits include: Ghosts (Lyric Hammersmith), A View From the Bridge (Theatre Royal Haymarket/Bath Theatre), White Rabbit Red Rabbit (@Sohoplace); Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club (The Kit Kat Club); Romeo and Julie (National Theatre/Sherman Theatre, Cardiff); Oliver! (UK tour); She Loves Me (Menier Chocolate Factory); Matthew Bourne’s dance production of Lord of the Flies; Crave (The Other Room) and several National Music Youth Theatre shows.
New Theatre Cardiff
First Preview: 09 March
Final Performance: 27 March
Noël Coward Theatre
17 April – 7 August 2027
Audio Described Performance: 2.30pm, Saturday 15 May 2027
British Sign Language Performance: 2.30pm, Saturday 12 June 2027
Captioned Performance: 2.30pm, Saturday 3 July 2027
