New artwork for Private Jones puts James Spence front and centre as Gomer Jones, ahead of the musical's European premiere at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 14 December.
The campaign image for Private Jones is out, and it belongs to the leading man. James Spence, who won Best Performer in a Musical at the 2026 Stage Debut Awards, is pictured in uniform as Gomer Jones against an open hillside. Performances begin at Southwark Playhouse Elephant on 14 December 2026, press night is 17 December, and the limited run ends on 30 January 2027.
The show is set during the First World War. Gomer is a young man who has recently lost his hearing and feels shut out of the world he wants to join. Among a company of mismatched young recruits he becomes an unlikely hero, then finds that the prize he set out to win may not be the one worth having.
Access is built into the staging. Sign language, live captioning, a Foley soundscape and an original score are woven together, and the company mixes hearing, hard-of-hearing and deaf performers. BAFTA winner Rose Ayling-Ellis MBE plays The Storyteller. She is joined by Ffion Haf (Gwenolyn/Evans), Nadeem Islam (Henry and others), Bronwyn James (King and others), Luke McCall (Father and others), Jacob Ethan Tanner (Alwyn and others) and Jacob Young (Trystan and others). Lili Mohammad and Thea Munoz-Buirski complete the ensemble, with George Karanja as swing and Katie Louise Pritchard as swing and pit singer.
Marshall Pailet wrote the musical and directs it. Choreography is by Misha Shields and artistic sign language direction by Alexandria Wailes, with Màth Roberts as music director. Design comes from Anna Kelsey (set), Tim Deiling (lighting), Yvonne Gilbert (sound) and Ben Glover (video). Alice Eklund is associate director, Daryl Jackson is BSL director and Rob Kelly is casting director. Lowri Morgan provides Welsh language consultancy, Myrna Conn music consultancy and Jac Moore dramaturgy, and production management is by Sam Kelly. Seth A. Goldstein and Isaac Robert Hurwitz of Hugo Six are the producers.
London gets a reworked version. The musical was first seen at Goodspeed Musicals in Chester, Connecticut, in October 2023, and its world premiere at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia, in February 2024 won four Helen Hayes Awards, Outstanding New Musical among them. It has since been revised with input from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, where it was workshopped in 2025.
The new artwork was photographed by Charlie Flint and designed by Laura Whitehouse of Mighty Fine Design.
Private Jones is booking now at Southwark Playhouse Elephant from 14 December 2026 to 30 January 2027.
