Notorious criminal who became a folk anti-hero

You may or may not have heard of John Jones - The Red Rogue of Bala. But his story is now being told at Theatr Clwyd. Mike Green recently went to see the production. And this is what he thought

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HAVE you ever heard of John Jones, a notorious criminal who became a North Wales folk antihero throughout the area during the early years of the 20th century for his various crimes and daring escapes from imprisonment?

Apparently he has been the subject of ballads, plays and pub tales during the intervening decades but interestingly the first time theatre and TV critic Chris Ashworth-Bennion came across the story was when he visited Ruthin Gaol from where Jones had managed to escape twice in 1913, the last occasion eventually leading to his violent death at the hands of armed police.

It was a saga that prompted the critic to turn playwright for the first time and the result is The Red Rogue of Bala receiving its world premiere at Theatr Clwyd where North Wales native Ashworth-Bennion first felt the theatre bug bite as a member of a local youth group which performed at the Mold venue.

And what a breathtaking piece of work it turns out to be!

I have no idea how closely the writer ended up sticking to the facts but my guess would be not very closely at all because what obviously fascinates him is the myth, the legend, the almost supernatural aura which surrounds an historical figure who feels like an unholy mashup of Robin Hood, Houdini, Dick Turpin, Jean Valjean, Hannibal Lecter and Freddy Krueger.

But at the same time, the John Jones of this play most commonly known as Coch Bach y Bala or the Little Redhead of Bala - feels very much like the extraordinary creation of a fertile artistic mind which has actually come up with a character quite unlike anything I have ever encountered in a theatrical production before.