I was seventeen years old and still at school on 21 October 1966, the day before half term, when a huge coal waste tip, unable to absorb weeks of heavy rain, high on the hills above the Welsh valleys’ village of Aberfan, collapsed, engulfing the village school and killing 144 people, including 116 children. Surprisingly, Liam Holmes’ play is the first to deal with the subject, and its 80 minutes prove to be very powerful.
We meet seventeen-year-old Stephen Jones, gauche, fast-talking, not academic – he works in the local bakery with no ambition to do much else with his life – but a self-proclaimed rugby prodigy: he has just made the kick of his life and his team is now in the final of the “cup”. His would-be girlfriend, Angharad Price, is older and certainly more mature than him; she is a nurse and has ambitions to move to London and study law. The play successfully combines a tender love story, Valleys’ humour and the haunting presence of what was lost: a whole generation of Aberfan, plus what we now know as PTSD for those who remained to carry on with their lives. Mr Jones is a poignant and honest portrait of a community irrevocably changed by tragedy, seen through the eyes of two young people.
Liam Holmes’ play, his first, uses poetry, verbatim and first-hand accounts of that day to produce a fascinating yet tragic glimpse into the world of those affected, especially as we are allowed to hear the rumblings of the slag heap beginning to move in the days running up to the catastrophe. Holmes was born and raised a few miles from Aberfan and has been able to witness first-hand the impact on future generations.
He also plays Mr Jones, speaking very quickly, which can make following what he is saying difficult at times, and his dialogue is also very “shouty”, especially in the intimate space of the Finborough Theatre, and larger than life.
However, Mabli Gwynne as Angharad is, quite simply, superb. She understands the complex person she has been asked to portray and is very believable and natural, whether she is teasing Stephen or looking to the future, which he is unable to do. They are deeply in love, but she knows what she wants, whilst he has no ambition whatsoever.
Michael Neri’s direction appears to have been very “light touch”, especially as he allows most of the action to take place stage right, with much of the acting area barely being used. Both Stephen and Angharad spend most of the time on two raised daises. Alastair Tombs’ lighting design totally fails to light the upper one of these, and whenever someone stands there, which they often do, they are in darkness! In addition, there are many ‘subtle’ but noticeable lighting changes which become irritating, especially as Tombs seems to have forgotten that actors’ faces always need to be lit!
The imaginative set, presumably representing seams of coal, has been designed by Juliette Desmoulin and James Barnes’ sound design – mainly of Welsh choirs or the movement of the tip – is very evocative.
Mr Jones is a moving snapshot of a moment in time whose effect still resonates nearly sixty years on and needs to be seen, whether or not you are old enough to remember it. More recent events, such as Grenfell, demonstrate that we and those “in charge” still have much to learn from disasters such as Aberfan – but we don’t! Highly recommended.
Review by John Groves
Aberfan, South Wales, 21 October 1966. One of Wales’ darkest days.
Self-proclaimed rugby prodigy Mr Jones has just made the kick of his life. As he boasts to local nurse Angharad Price, 150,000 tonnes of coal careen down the hillside towards Pantglas Junior School…
Blending drama, poetry, verbatim and first-hand accounts, Mr Jones revisits the harrowing events of the 1966 disaster, when a coal waste tip engulfed the village of Aberfan, claiming the lives of 144 people – including 116 children.
Combining a tender love story, rich Valleys humour, and the haunting presence of what was lost, Mr Jones is a poignant and honest portrait of a community irrevocably changed by tragedy, in a universal tale of resilience, heartbreak, and hope.
Cast – Mabli Gwynne, Liam Holmes
Writer – Liam Holmes
Director – Michael Neri
Designer – Juliette Demoulin
Lighting Designer – Alastair Tombs
Sound Designers – James Barnes, Zach North
MR JONES
Finborough Theatre
28 October to 22 November 2025
