Manon Eames is an experienced writer, actress and presenter based in South Wales. She has worked throughout Wales and beyond, initially in theatre for young people and community audiences in both Welsh and English, but also appearing in and scripting, many main stage productions as well as TV plays, series and several films in both languages.
Her translations into Welsh from English and French for the stage won critical acclaim, and her film “Eldra” many national and international awards, including 5 BAFTA Cymru Awards, including Best Drama, and Best Film awards at Wurzburg, Cardiff International Film Festival and Kansas City, as well as the US Moondance Spirit of the Festival Award 2002
She has worked in radio drama as a performer and writer and also presented several series of children’s TV for the BBC, and S4C’s award winning “Clwb Garddio” (Gardening Club) for a decade. Her ambitious original TV drama series “Treflan” based on the novels of Daniel Owen ran for 3 series on S4C, and her trilogy of Cordell stage adaptations for Clwyd Theatr Cymru were ground-breaking : “Standing ovations are not dished out lightly at Clwyd Theatr Cymru, so to have witnessed three in one day must signify something pretty special – the trilogy was a complete triumph from start to finish.” North Wales Chronicle, 2000.
Between 2007 to 2013 Manon wrote the plays “Drowned Out” and “Porth y Byddar” for Clwyd Theatr Cymru and produced the film “Omlet”. She was also Writer in Residence with the National Youth Theatre of Wales for three seasons. She played DI Williams in the BBC soap “Pobol y Cwm”, and also appeared in “Ar y Tracs 2”, played Rachel Roberts in the BBC series “Welsh Greats” and Gwen in “Talking to the Dead” (Sky Drama). On stage she toured with “Wyneb Dros Dro” (Cwmni 3D). She was Script Consultant on the film “Pianissimo”, and joined the production team on BBC’s “Pobol y Cwm”, script editing and storylining, followed by 2 months as Acting Script Producer. She has since written regularly for the series. She has also written many plays for BBC Radio Cymru including “Tridiau yn Chwefror” (starring Sian Phillips), and “Tu Hwnt i Ddagrau” (starring Matthew Rhys). Her TV series/adaptation of “Y Stafell Ddirgel/The Secret Room” was repeated on S4C and in 2013 Clwyd Theatr Cymru staged a revival of Manon’s adaptation of “Rape of the Fair Country” which had been Liverpool Daily Post’s Production of the Year in 1997. Manon was also a mentor at the University of Wales, Cardiff with MPhil Scriptwriting students, and taught Welsh for Adults for Swansea University.
Manon’s extensive contribution to the cultural life of Wales was recognised when she was finalist for the Welsh Woman of the Year Award in 2002, and honoured as a member of the Gorsedd of Bards at the National Eisteddfod in 2018. She is a full member of Equity and The Writers’ Guild of Great Britain, for whom she was Wales Chair for many years. She also has a Higher Certificate in Translation from Aberystwyth University. See Manon’s SPOTLIGHT PAGE here.
2015 to present
Manon appeared on the theatre tour “The Good The Bad and the Welsh” (Frapetsus), wrote more radio plays BBC Radio Cymru and was one of the scripting/storylining team on “Gwaith Cartref” Series 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 (Fiction Factory), while continuing to write for “Pobol y Cwm” (BBC). In 2016 she initiated and won funding for the major drama ‘Swansea’s Three Night Blitz” which played to packed houses. Her first novel “Porth y Byddar” was published in 2017 “campwaith… nofel epig, triniaeth fforensig o’r holl haenau cymleth…eithriadol o empathetig”/ “a masterpiece… an epic novel, forensic examniation of all the complex layers.. exceptionally empathetic” (Y Silff Lyfrau, BBC Cymru). More recent work includes writing an episode of the children’s series “Hei Hanes” (Cwmni Da) which won the BAFTA Cymru 2022 Children’s award, and Script Producer on the children’s series “Bex” (Ceidiog) which was also nominated for a BAFTA Cymru, and the following series “Bextra”. She readapted her translation of “Shirley Valentine” for Theatr Na Nog which toured in 2022. She was also recently Script Consultant on the S4C film “Sŵn”, wrote the radio horror drama “Ci Du” for BBC Radio Cymru, and scripted animations for BBC Bitesize. She has recently translated animations including episodes of Bluey for S4C, and has recently been thrilled to be mentored on a new screenplay at the prestigious Writers Lab UK and Europe, 2025.
Publications : “Shirley Valentine” CBAC 1996, “Ty Jac/The House That Jack Built” Lolfa 1994, “Tapas” (contrib.) Gwasg Gwynedd 2012, “Porth y Byddar” Bwthyn 2017. “Parc Dylan” (trans.) to be published 2026.