'Mr Jones' at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025

Aim: Help send critically acclaimed new play 'Mr Jones' to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Help us take 'Mr Jones' to the Edinburgh Fringe and beyond!

'Mr Jones' is a new play by Welsh playwright Liam Holmes, centred around the 1966 Aberfan disaster. 

If you are reading this - thank you! We are incredibly grateful for interest in donating to our crowdfunder, and helping take the play to the Edinburgh Fringe and beyond.

Below, you will find information about the play and the playwright, and why we need your support.

Any amount is gratefully received and will go directly towards the running costs of staging this important piece of theatre at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2025.

Don't forget you can also come to see the show yourself! Click the link below to book your tickets for the Edinburgh Fringe.

Edinburgh Fringe 

1 - 23 August 2025

Jade Studio - Greenside @ George Street, Edinburgh

Click here to be redirected to the Edinburgh Fringe website.

Keep your eyes peeled, as we will be announcing Guildford previews soon!

From all of the team, we'd like to thank you for your support.

Synopsis

'144 lives. 10% of this total shared a surname: Jones.'

Aberfan, 1966. As self-proclaimed rugby prodigy Stephen revels in his greatest kick, 150,000 tonnes of coal careen down the hillside towards Pantglas Junior School. Following sold-out, critically acclaimed performances at the Union Theatre, London, and on tour, Liam Holmes' powerful new play comes to the Edinburgh Fringe – blending drama, poetry, verbatim, and first-hand accounts of the 1966 Welsh mining disaster and its devastating aftermath. Exploring the complexities of grief, Mr Jones offers a poignant and honest portrait of a community irrevocably changed by tragedy.

About the Playwright

Liam Holmes is a Welsh actor and playwright, born and raised in Merthyr Tydfil. He attended Guildford School of Acting, graduating in 2023. He began work on 'Mr Jones' during his studies, wishing to tell a distinctly Welsh story and its impact on his community. As well as writing the play, Liam has also played the character of 'Stephen' at every performance so far, and will be reprising the role at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2025.

Why Support Us?

'Mr Jones' has big ambitions, and we are actively working towards mounting a main stage UK tour in Autumn 2026 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster. A big part of realising that aim is to have the show seen by producers, investors, programmers, creatives, press and audiences, which is why a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival is an integral part of the journey.

Performing a show at the Edinburgh Fringe is a huge financial undertaking for many companies. Taking into account the venue fee, registration, accommodation, actor and creative fees, technical support, marketing and rehearsal spaces, the cost of staging 'Mr Jones' for the duration of the festival amounts to over £12,000.

We are incredibly grateful to be in receipt of a 'Keep it Fringe' grant for £2,500, but this only goes a small way towards the overall costs of running the show.

All donations received will go directly to funding the production and ensuring that 'Mr Jones' has the platform it needs to continue its journey beyond the Fringe.

Critical Response

★★★★★ - Strand Magazine 

'PROFOUNDLY PROFICIENT PORTRAYALS OF LOSS AND GRIEF EMOTIONALLY RESONATE WITH AUDIENCES REGARDLESS OF NATIONAL IDENTITY'

★★★★ - Everything Theatre

'BOTH INTIMATE AND BREATHTAKING IT ITS SCOPE, THIS DARING EXPLORATION OF LOSS WILL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESS'

★★★★ - Green Room Reviews

'EMPATHETIC, IMPACTFUL AND SHIVERINGLY RAW'

★★★★ - Institute of Welsh Affairs

'MR JONES STANDS AS A TESTAMENT TO THE POWER OF THEATRE TO ILLUMINATE AND HONOUR THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE'

★★★★ - London Grip

'THEATRICAL GOLD'

★★★★ - Get the Chance

'THE THEMES OF LOSS, FAMILY, FRIENDSHIP AND UNSPOKEN LOVE WILL BE MET WITH UNIVERSAL ACCLAIM NO MATTER WHERE THIS IS VIEWED'

★★★★ - A Youngish Perspective

'AN INCREDIBLY MOVING TRIBUTE TO ONE OF THE WORST TRAGEDIES IN WELSH HISTORY'

★★★★ - Picnic Lightning Reviews

'WRITTEN WITH TENDER PRECISION AND FULL OF HEART. SIMPLY CAPTIVATING'

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 31st July 2025 at 5:00pm