Still Here (revival)
by Mari Lloyd
Revival produced by Still Here Productions in association with 20 South Street and Grey Swan
Directed by Julia Stubbs
In 2025, Still Here Productions, in association with 20 South Street and Grey Swan, revived this celebrated production with its original cast. In March, it toured to venues across South Wales and in September, it returned to the London Fringe and visited Liverpool – the home base of playwright Mari Lloyd – for the first time, all to further acclaim.
Our 2025 Theatre Wrapped: The Top 20 Shows We Saw Across Wales
The Edit
Still Here – Blackwood Miners’ Institute
This Welsh indie production captured real Welsh life with authenticity and care. It never felt condescending or forced — just honest, local and deeply researched. Its universal acclaim is well deserved.
London-Liverpool Tour – September 2025
Tuesday 2 – Saturday 6 September
Golden Goose Theatre, London
Thursday 11 – Friday 12 September
The Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool
I‘m a fighter. It’s in my DNA
Cast
Phillip John Jones | Emma Kaler.
Creative Team
Director: Julia Stubbs | Set and Costume Designer: Rachael Rooney | Lighting Designer: Jonathan Samuels | Sound Designer: Jamie Lu | Technical Operator: Julia Stubbs | Produced by Still Here Productions in association with 20 South Street and Grey Swan.
Suitable for 14+ | Content information: strong language throughout; reference to self-harm; reference to attempted suicide.
Running time: approx. 70 minutes with no interval.
The playtext of Still Here was reprinted for its revival by Grey Swan Press
View the London/Liverpool tour programme here
STILL HERE was first performed at the Jack Studio Theatre, London in March 2023 and for more on the original production, please go here
MARI LLOYD, originally from the Rhondda Valley where much of her family still lives, is now based in Merseyside. After working for over 20 years in the NHS, she transitioned to playwriting and has since made a notable impact.
Her celebrated work to date includes The Match and Last Tango at St. Leonards at the Liverpool Write Now Festival, Three Women at the Manchester 24:7 Festival, and Elegy at the Liverpool Fringe Festival.
Her plays Evidence and Charity have been featured in showcases on the London Fringe, with Bread and Circuses and Looking Out for Jack being part of showcases in Liverpool. Looking Out for Jack was also long-listed for the esteemed Papatango New Writing Prize.
Mari stays grounded and sane by engaging with a local boxing gym.
Once again, playing Rhys is PHILLIP JOHN JONES, an award-winning Welsh working-class actor and writer who won an ‘It’s My Shout’ Best Actor Award for his role as Jack in Packaged for BBC Wales. Recent credits include Blood On Your Hands, Offie Nomination for Lead Actor in a Play 2024, Patch Plays/Southwark Playhouse. His debut film, Bwl Boy, was screened by BBC Wales in 2022 and nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Drama. His debut full-length play Dog Hair appeared as part of the Vaults Festival 2023.
Returning to the role of Yasmin is EMMA KALER, an Indian/Welsh actress from Cardiff. Recent credits include the short film Grandfather Rights for BBC Wales, Shireen in Torchwood’s radio series Suckers for the BBC, Harper Collins Publishers audiobook The Halfways, BBC’s Bitesize, and The Tuckers on BBC1. Emma also attended the 76th Cannes Film Festival in 2023 as part of their Young Performers Opportunity.
Reviews & Press
Set in a boxing ring, this powerful two-hander follows Welsh teens as they navigate identity, family, and growing up, creating a vivid, emotional world that’s both intimate and deeply affecting.
★★★★ Excellent
“The Golden Goose is a typical pub theatre: a compact black box in an unassuming room. For Still Here, the sparse seating is arranged on three sides in a thrust stage formation, with boxing ropes marking the performance space. A simple design, it creates an intimacy between performer and audience while anchoring us to the physical and metaphorical home of the piece: the boxing ring.
Scattered just outside the ropes are a few personal items, mostly boxing-related, and a couple of chairs, which are moved in and out to signal presence. And that’s it. Yet with a cleverly nuanced script, powerful performances, and subtle lighting, the audience is transported. We travel from a school to a care home, a supermarket, a park, and a boxing gym: all in the Rhondda Valley. Although just two actors are on stage, the voices of their families and friends ring clear: it becomes hard to remember these characters aren’t physically there.
Rhys (Phillip John Jones) and Yasmin (Emma Kaler) are both 18, Welsh and struggling to communicate with their parents. Yasmin has ended up at Rhys’s local comprehensive having been excluded from her ‘posh’ all-girls school in Cardiff. He’s White Welsh, she’s Asian Welsh: her skin colour an obvious differentiator in The Valleys. She’s bright, clearly, but is rebelling against her middle-class parents, so is now living with her nan. Rhys lives with his dad, although he hankers after his mum, who is no longer there. The most significant piece of furniture in his house is a battered fridge, which his father continues to fill with fish every week despite neither of them eating it. The local fishmonger keeps portions by for them every week: an unexplained habit that is linked to Rhys’s mother. It is initially unclear as to where she is. Rhys’s friend’s mum occasionally provides home-cooked food for him: the emotion inherent in such a maternal gesture and his struggle to accept it is gut wrenching. Yasmin loves her nan’s cooking, which is filled with exotic spice, colourful and fragrant: similarly emotive.
The play spans their summer, following their growth, struggles and steps toward adulthood as they wait for their A level results and the life choices they will bring. They’re ordinary teenagers, filled with frustration and uncertainty, which is deeply compelling. The boxing ring isn’t just a setting; it’s a sanctuary for Rhys, a space where he feels in control. When Yasmin enters it, tension flares. The end brings a fragile truce, mutual acceptance and understanding.
A few things are worthy of note. Firstly, the writing by Mari Lloyd: it’s almost musical in its use of rhythm and the choice of tone and delivery frequently demands the audience’s attention as it changes pace and plot. It’s clever, imaginative and layered. The set, both concept and design by Rachael Rooney, reinforces the dual purpose of the boxing ring, which is a space for confrontation whilst simultaneously protective. Jonathan Samuels’ lighting, seemingly simple, fades and rises as needed, highlighting emotion and danger. And then the acting: wow. These two young actors are accomplished, moving between emotion and scenes seamlessly, never less than absorbing. There’s also the seemingly small touches: a thoughtfully chosen gift is cast aside in embarrassment and frustration but left in sight of the audience: a poignant reminder of love and loss and a teenage inability to vocalise emotion.
This seemingly modest black box production is incredibly powerful and resonates long after the end.”
Everything Theatre
What stands out is the chemistry between the two characters
“London is blessed to have so many small theatre spaces that give room to small fringe theatre productions and ensure the theatre scene remains vibrant. Some productions might come as part of a festival and leave after a few performances, but many shows can find continued life in these smaller spaces. The Golden Goose Theatre has the honour to welcome Still Here by Mari Lloyd for a few nights.
Originally produced in 2023, this two-hander has this short run after the success of touring South Wales earlier this year. Still Here focuses on the lives of two 18-year-olds on the cusp of leaving school in a small Welsh town: Yasmin, played by Emma Kaler, a relative newcomer to the town, and Rhys (Phillip John Jones), who, uninspired by any academic path, just wants to be a boxer…
Lloyd’s script is witty and thoughtful. The show gently builds to its sombre finish without lacking pace or feeling sluggish. There are wider themes that are touched on, from identity and mental health, that could certainly have been explored further, but it is pleasing that those are not too heavily handled here.
Surprisingly, what stands out is the chemistry between the two characters on stage. Although the show is told in monologues, there is a nice tension between the two throughout. Having both cast members return after previous runs certainly pays dividends on that front.
The minimalist staging and stripped-back storytelling are perfectly suited for smaller rooms and performance spaces. For a piece of fringe theatre, Still Here is tight and resists the urge to play for something grander or cast its net too far.”
Southwark News
Read the London Pub Theatres Magazine interview with Director Julia Stubbs on hit show STILL HERE returning to London
Read the Uncover Liverpool interview STILL HERE: Mari Lloyd brings her acclaimed play home to Liverpool
Read the Beyond the Curtain interview with our creative team on STILL HERE
Read the Theatre Reviews North preview Still here, and back in the ring
I don‘t know. I don’t know how I feel.
South Wales tour – March 2025
WEEK 1
Thursday 13 March
Soar Centre – Sparc | Valleys Kids, Penygraig *supported by the Arts Council of Wales Night Out scheme
Saturday 15 March
Studio Bar – Blackwood Miners’ Institute
WEEK 2
Friday 21 March
Moondance Studio – YMa, Pontypridd
Saturday 22 March
Studio Theatre – The Riverfront Theatre & Arts Centre, Newport
WEEK 3
Thursday 27 March
Porter’s Theatre – Porter’s Cardiff
Friday 28 March
Cwmavon Village Hall, Pontypool *supported by the Arts Council of Wales Night Out scheme
Saturday 29 March
Tylorstown Welfare Hall *supported by the Arts Council of Wales Night Out scheme
View the South Wales tour programme here
Reviews & Press
“Still Here at the historic Blackwood Miners’ Institute transported the audience to the heart of a Welsh ex-mining town, where the weight of the past clashes with the uncertain dreams of the future. Mari Lloyd’s observational writing, coupled with an incredibly talented cast, delivered a play that is both deeply moving and unexpectedly humorous.”
“The direction by Julia Stubbs deserves particular praise for its ability to balance the play’s moments of levity with its heavier emotional beats. A standout scene, where Rhys and Yasmin finally turn to communicate face to face as the play reaches its emotionally charged conclusion is inspiring.”
“The performances were equally compelling. Phillip John Jones as Rhys was a powerhouse, capturing the exuberance of youth alongside the vulnerability of a young man grappling with his identity and emotions. Yasmin was brought to life with sharp wit and charm by Emma Kaler, who commanded the stage in every scene she was in.”
“Lloyd has crafted a piece that feels specific to Welsh culture yet is actually universal, while grounded in the culture and challenges of a Welsh community it resonates far beyond its setting. The themes of cultural identity, generational struggles, and the desire to forge a path in life are beautifully articulated and performed.”
“Still Here is not just a play – it’s an experience that lingers in the heart long after you leave the theatre. Mari Lloyd’s work stands as a testament to the enduring power of Welsh storytelling to connect, challenge, and inspire Welsh writers to pick up the mantle and forge their own stories of what it means to be Welsh.”
The Edit
“There can be a sense of helplessness associated with the Welsh valleys. It’s often perceived as something desolate: an in-between place where hope is only available to those who dare to leave. Mari Lloyd’s new play Still Here challenges that assumption.”
“Still Here expertly explores the pressure young men put on themselves to be strong, and the lengths young working-class men will go to in order to avoid showing weakness.”
“Phillip John Jones gives a powerhouse performance as Rhys, showcasing enormous emotional range… Lloyd’s script effectively presents a young man who has kept things afloat for just a little too long, and is beginning to drown… Rhys, as a character, is as humorous and bright as he is empathetic.”
“Emma Kaler’s Yasmin is strong, energetic and funny… Lloyd goes against the grain here by showing a young woman who has grown up in privilege and wants to better understand the world around her without falling into the trap of poverty tourism”
“Kaler offers a sharp, stylish and nuanced performance… it seems like this is a very early career role for Kaler; if this is where she starts, I’m very excited to see where she goes.”
“a brilliant cast.”
“English-speaking Welsh theatre has been scared of showcasing Welsh people for a long time; it’s exciting to see a company not only doing it, but doing it well.”
★★★★ Buzz Magazine
Read The Edit article A Global Celebration and a Welsh Call to Creativity published on World Theatre Day
Read the Creative Cardiff interview with our creative team to discover The Story behind STILL HERE
The South Wales tour of STILL HERE was supported in three venues by the Arts Council of Wales Night Out scheme.
The scheme works with communities around Wales to bring performing arts to local halls and community venues.
Since 1980, Night Out has worked with a network of voluntary promoters to bring over 14,000 shows into local spaces. Shows are hosted by volunteers from community groups who want to bring live arts into their local venues. Community groups (known as ‘Promoters’) can choose from a huge range of great professional performers and put them on in local spaces and other non-traditional venues across the country. Around 500 shows are booked through the scheme each year, by over 300 different promoters.
Thank you Night Out for your support in bringing this play to South Wales!
Still Here was also being supported on its South Wales tour by the Unity Theatre Trust.
The Trust was set up as a charity in the spirit of the traditions of the theatre and its history with the purpose:
“To advance the education of the public by fostering, promoting and increasing the interest of the public in the art of drama and in the co-related arts”
Thank you to the Unity Theatre Trust for supporting this production.
