John Bevan: Team Player – from Lions to League

John Bevan: Team Player – from Lions to League

A new play by Mari Lloyd

A speedy winger from Tylorstown, John Bevan became one of fewer than twenty Welshmen ever to score more than 200 tries in rugby league. Mari Lloyd’s one-man play follows his remarkable journey from the valleys of South Wales to sporting greatness across two codes, from a British Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand to thirteen seasons and 201 tries for Warrington.

Capped by Wales in 1971 and famed for his part in the Barbarians’ victory over the All Blacks in 1973, John Bevan crossed to rugby league later that year, joining Warrington while teaching in schools across the North West. Team Player is a warm, funny and big-hearted portrait of a player, teacher and Welshman whose catchphrase, “my granny could do better than that”, inspired generations of young athletes long after he hung up his boots.

John Bevan: Team Player – from Lions to League was first performed on 1 July 2026 at The Blake Theatre, Monmouth, before touring South Wales and playing The Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington, as part of Warrington Wolves’ historic 150th anniversary. The production is by Still Here Productions in association with 20 South Street and Grey Swan, directed by Julia Stubbs and performed by Scott Gutteridge, with lighting by Jonathan Samuels and sound by Jamie Lu.

Mari Lloyd grew up in the Rhondda Valley and now lives on Merseyside, turning to playwriting after more than twenty years in the NHS. Her previous play, Still Here, toured South Wales and Liverpool after premiering in London.