Mr Jones – An Aberfan Story by Liam Homes. The Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 until 22 November, 3☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

Photo Credit: Ali Wright.

Mr Jones – An Aberfan Story by Liam Homes. The Finborough Theatre, 118 Finborough Road, London SW10 until 22 November,

3☆☆☆. Review: William Russell.

“Powerful, moving tale set against the background of the Aberfan disaster.”

Somewhere there is an extra star lurking to be awarded but just as the Ulster accents defeated me at my previous night's play so do the Welsh accents of the boy and girl engaged in a teenage flirtation against the background of the Aberfan disaster. Maybe they have been performing it too long – it was a hit at the Edinburgh fringe – or possibly Liam Holmes, who plays the boy, just knows what it is all about and has forgotten the audience also needs to be told. Oddly in both plays the authors were performing one of the characters. The disaster occurred on 21 October 1966 when the coal bing above the village of Aberfan collapsed engulfing the village school and part of the village. 144 people died, 116 of whom were children. Against this background we meet Stephen Jones, a rugby mad youth and Angharad Price, a young nurse a little older than he is, which hasn't stopped him trying to get her to be his girlfriend. She is amused, but whereas he is clearly happy to remain a valley boy playing rugby and working in the family bakery she has ambitions, possibly to move to Cardiff, perhaps to emigrate; Against this not quite courtship we get their responses to the disaster which has affected how their lives – she had to nurse some of the survivors and it is not clear just whether he has lost a younger brother. Director Michael Neri keeps the play moving, although he could have toned Holmes down a bit as he has a tendency to shout his lines at times. It is undeniably moving – the Aberfan disaster is one of the worst in the history of mining, all the worse because it was there in plain sight waiting to happen. As a first play Mr Jones is undeniably very impressive, very well performed and constructed – a play not to be missed as are the fine performances from both Holmes and Mahli Gwynne as Angharad. The boy is trapped in the valleys, she will escape. It is also a reminder of a disaster long forgotten outside Wales.

Cast

Liam Holmes – Stephen Jones.

Mabli Gwynne – Angharad Price.

Creatives

Director – Michael Neri.

Set Designer – Juliette Demoulin.

Lighting Designer – Alastair Tombs.

Sound Designer – James 'Bucky' Barnes.