Now Rhys is 18, he can deal with a father that he can’t talk to, a mother he refuses to visit and a precarious future as a boxer while earning money in a dead-end job.
When Yasmin comes into his life everything changes, as she disrupts the status quo by forming bonds with his family, his best friend Chris and threatens to change the way his beloved boxing gym is run.
But could Yasmin also hold the key to Rhys’s future?
Mari Lloyd’s new play STILL HERE is both moving and sharply funny as it explores acceptance, loss, and belonging, when two young people discover what is worth fighting for in their small ex-mining town in Wales.
There are two Post-Show Discussions accompanying this production.They are free to all who have attended that evening’s performance.
Friday 10 March: Join writer Mari Lloyd, actors Phillip John Jones and Emma Kaler, director Julia Stubbs and Asa Clark, a coach at Double Jab Boxing Club in New Cross, to talk about the creation of the production and the role that boxing can play in young people’s lives.
Friday 24 March: Stay after the show to hear writer Mari Lloyd, actors Phillip John Jones and Emma Kaler, and director Julia Stubbs talk about the production and how theatre can explore the rich sense of identity and culture within communities.
Playwright MARI LLOYD grew up in the Rhondda Valley and now lives in Merseyside. After working for the NHS for 20 years, Mari began writing. Her plays for theatre include Evidence for Lantern Writers Showcase Boss New Plays 5, The Match at Lantern Theatre and Last Tango at St. Leonards at Unity Theatre, both for Liverpool Write Now Festival; Three Women at Manchester 24:7 Festival; Bread and Circuses at Lantern Theatre; Looking out for Jack as part of Lantern Writers Showcase and longlisted for the Papatango New Writing Prize; and Elegy for Liverpool Scriptshop at Liverpool Fringe Festival. She stays grounded and sane by engaging with a local boxing gym.
JULIA STUBBS is a director and producer of theatre, new writing and short films and the Artistic Director of 20 South Street, a creative home for collaboration between artists.
