Director: Michael Neri
Until 21st October 1966, most people had never heard of the village of Aberfan, nestled in the Vallies, just down the road from Merthyr Tydfil and a good 45 minutes from the metropolis of Cardiff. In 2026 it will have been 60 years since the collapse of a coal tip in the Taff Valley on that day led to 150,000 tonnes of coal waste engulfing the village, killing 144 people, including 116 children who were at school.
Mr Jones focuses on an emotional and social perspective of the moments before and the aftermath of the traumatic event that almost entirely wiped out a generation of children from the village, seen through the eyes of Steve Jones and Angharad Price, two fictional young people, with close connections to the events.
This outstanding piece of theatre uses very little in the way of props and set, relying almost entirely on the dialogue between these two characters with beautiful welsh accents, who use colloquialisms and the odd Welsh phrase and who talk to, with and over each other in the way that only the closest of friends can do.
A slice of beautifully honed drama, this production is raw and honest and superbly written from beginning to its heart bruising end. Liam Holmes, writer/performer knows his character inside out and behaves so naturally that it takes long minutes to snap out of the sense of loss and sorrow the audience has for him once the hour has taken its course. Mabli Gwynne is Angharad, the beautiful girl next door, one better than even, having lived with the Jones’s for a number of years. She is warm, sharp, funny and caring and its easy to see why Steve ‘loves her to bits’.
This piece knows and understands the small community affected by this tragedy and demonstrates how grief affected different people in altogether different ways. A stunning play that deserves to be seen by many, many Fringe goers, and with any luck even more audiences across the United Kingdom and beyond into 2026. If you see Mr Jones advertised, get yourself a ticket and take a pack of tissues with you – this production is a gem, not to be missed.
Runs until 23rd August 2025
The Reviews Hub Star Rating
100%
Powerful, stunning theatre