| "Deliciously Dark Comedy Is a Triumph” |
The Red Rogue of Bala |
| Theatr Clwyd- Review Compilation , Theatr Clwyd , November 14, 2025 |
The words “sold out” at theatre box offices are not common.There is a trope, glibly given, that audiences in the era post-pandemic are hard to find. It is glibly given; it is repeated in board reports; it is parroted by funding bodies. It is false. Audiences know what they like. When it looks good they go. “Sold out” can be seen this month at Theatr Clwyd. There is a moral there. “The Red Rogue of Bala” has a cast of nine: Rhys ap Trefor, Wyn Bowen Harries, Geraint de Carvalho, Maxine Evans, Simon Holland Roberts, Julian Lewis Jones, Mia Khan, Qasim Mahmood, Theo Woolford. The production has a double benefit. The critics liked what they saw. It has been a good season for the projection of Welsh culture. National Dance and Theatr Cymru feature below. Sub-editors in the national UK press headed reviews with “This deliciously dark comedy about a notorious Welsh criminal is a triumph” and “Based on the story of the real-life ‘Welsh Houdini’, The Red Rogue of Bala is full of theatrical magic.” * * * * From the Telegraph: “By the early 20th century, petty criminal John Jones had become a local folk hero due to his notorious prison escapes, earning the nicknames Coch Bach y Bala (The Little Redhead of Bala) and the Welsh Houdini. Theatr Clwyd’s The Red Rogue of Bala imagines what happened when he went back to north Wales after breaking out of Ruthin Gaol for the final time in 1913. This debut play by Chris Ashworth-Bennion (The Telegraph’s former TV and radio editor) is a darkly humorous meditation on how legends are created and the things and people we choose to believe in. “Set in a local pub, with the First World War looming, the poacher and thief regales the punters with mythologised tales of his audacious escapades, captivating them and the audience alike. Yet as the illicit love affair between Jones’s son and the English landowner’s daughter is revealed, filial loyalty is tested when Jones Jr is asked to sell his father out and hand him over to the police. With the appearance of a giant cauldron and the mock trial of a dead badger, the play has overtones of Joe Orton and Martin McDonaugh’s black comedy, Dan Jones’s production mixes brio and pathos, enhanced by the evocative period costumes and Mark Bailey’s sparse bar room set design. “Reminiscent of Jerusalem’s Rooster Byron, the roguish character of Jones is played with a Falstaffian swagger by Simon Holland Roberts. Beneath the self-aggrandisement, he is at once rogue, magician and charlatan. “There are many other fine performances. Qasim Mahmood is suitably pompous as the Kipling-quoting landowner Reginald Jones-Bateman while Julian Lewis Jones is both delightfully dour and histrionic as the cuckolded publican Sian Pritchard.” With thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at the Telegraph, by subscription * * * * From the Stage: “Expansive scope and gleeful theatricality” “Some debut plays come out roaring, and so it is with Chris Ashworth-Bennion’s fiery comedy. In 1913, John Jones – aka Coch Bach y Bala, aka the Welsh Houdini – arrives back in a north Wales pub having escaped from Wandsworth prison for a crime no one wants to believe he committed, because John is a local legend. Claiming to be descended from the true princes of Wales, he’s a diminutive redhead with a bushy ginger beard and eyes that glow like coals, who tells the tallest of tales of audacious thefts and unlikely escapes. “Based on a real-life figure, this is a gift of a character – the audience also yearns to believe his impossible yarns, which tap into a rich seam of Welsh mysticism and myth-making. Simon Holland Roberts rises to meet the role with just the right roguish charisma. He can bellow mightily, but also has an impish twinkle and caper, and the way he pops up – as if by magic – all around Mark Bailey’s lovingly detailed pub set (flagstone floor, wooden beams, nicotine-yellow walls) is a joy. Comparisons with Rooster Byron in Jerusalem are inevitable, but not unhelpful. “Of course, the despised English landowners want this poacher safely back behind bars, and a battle begins, with the loyalty of the locals to this convicted criminal tested as private allegiances are revealed. It’s not a perfect play; characters tend to just enter and exit as needed, rather than with clear motivations, which can distract. Like many new plays, it seems to have a few too many endings. But it is roundly entertaining while tapping into various darker currents – the injustice of land ownership, the threat of war and the myth-making we indulge around masculinity, around nationality. “..it is cheering to see new work with such an expansive scope and gleeful theatricality – a confident writing debut Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at the Stage: by subscription * * * * From the Times: “You can tell Chris Ashworth-Bennion has seen a lot of theatre. The critic turned playwright's debut, The Red Rogue of Bala, is a myth and legend-whispering tale that sings with dramatic life. Set in 1913, in a family-run pub in the heart of Denbighshire, it imagines the story of Coch Bach y Bala, Wales's most notorious criminal, as he returns home after yet another prison escape. The full review can be read at the Times, subscription site. * * * * At Northwestend: “As we enter the Theatr Weston we are invited into the local pub, where the audience can buy a drink at the on-stage bar, sit in the pub and mix with the locals (cast) and join in with card games and conversations. We immediately feel involved as we are taken directly into this world and you become a part of it. With jolly music and frivolity, all is good and light, that is until the change in music and lighting and John Jones, otherwise known as Coch Bach y Bala, appears out of nowhere and the mood changes and the story begins. “...This lyrical rumination on incarceration and emancipation, the ever-changing nature of community, land ownership and power speaks to the moment with a moral urgency. In Ashworth-Bennion, Denbighshire has found a critic-turned-playwright intent on spreading some theatrical stardust. Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://northwestend.com/the-red-rogue-of-bala-theatr-clwyd/ * * * * From The Reviews Hub: “A particular standout is the bumbling policeman Constable Eifion Winstanley (Rhys ap Trefor), who for most of the production is considered the ‘village idiot’, receiving his own retribution towards the end. Trefor delivers brilliant comedic timing, and his use of the set provided by Mark Bailey, in combination with Roberts, works so brilliantly that it is impossible to be sure where they will pop up from next. “The set presents itself as an old and rundown inn, which soon bears its hidden tricks that Bailey adds for the Houdini to utilise, including trap floors and secret crevices in walls. At one point, a gigantic cauldron is brought into the pub, becoming a focal point underneath lighting by Simisola Majekodunmi, where spots and cross-fades work harmoniously to set the atmosphere. Several Welsh songs by Johnny Edwards (sound director) and Mared Williams (composer and musical director) are used. The musical moments lend a sense of place but at times disrupt the otherwise steady rhythm of the storytelling. “While The Red Rogue of Bala occasionally stumbles in tone, its sense of local lore, lively performances and inventive set design make it a production rich with character and charm. Rooted in Welsh myth yet strikingly timely, it offers a great night of theatre.” Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://www.thereviewshub.com/the-red-rogue-of-bala-theatr-clwyd-mold * * * * From Theatre Reviews North: “Was John Jones a lovable rogue, thief and poacher, taking back from landowning interlopers what belonged to him and his people? Was he a dangerous criminal, who died at the hands of the police in a shootout? Or was he a superhero, who could charm birds into song and drag huge cauldrons across from Ireland with his bare hands? “The answer is somewhere in the middle - and this is what this Theatr Clwyd production of Chris Ashworth-Bennion's The Red Rogue of Bala seeks to portray. “There is much to admire about the work and Dan Jones's direction. The set has a ring of authenticity, capturing the atmosphere of an early 20th Century bar, and is used effectively as the crowd mixes freely with the audience before the show.There is plenty of playful banter as John Jones - the Red Rogue (Simon Holland Roberts) - enters centre stage and dominates proceedings with his aggrandising storytelling. “The second act sees some burlesque humour, centred on the trial of a badger for crimes against cattle, and the subsequent beating of the local constable, who is mystifyingly confused with the badger. This is in keeping with Welsh storytelling, myth and lore. “...the second act builds towards a dramatic climax that on this night earned the cast a standing ovation and left audience members fairly silent and thoughtful as they left the arena. This warm reception merely confirms the fact that the show's run is already sold out. The play has left people talking; quite a compliment in itself.” Abridged, with thanks and acknowledgement, from the full review which can be read at: https://www.theatrereviewsnorth.com/post/the-red-rogue-of-bala * * * * Credits for “the Red Rogue of Bala” Writer – Chris Ashworth-Bennion Director – Dan Jones Set & Costume Designer – Mark Bailey Composer & Sound Director – Johnny Edwards Songwriter & Musical Director – Mared Williams Lighting Designer – Simisola Majekodunmi Fight Director – Bethan Clark Assistant Director – Em Dulson Casting Director – Olivia Barr Voice Coach – Nia Lynn Production Manager – Jim Davies Company Stage Manager – Helen Drew Deputy Stage Manager – Amy Clarke Assistant Stage Manager – Phoebe Storm |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
This review has been read 103 times |
