Jon Tregenna
In 1999 I sold a car to writer Alan Bennett who came into a VW dealership in St John's Wood, London looking for, ‘...a four door automatic car, small enough for town, big enough for the country, with a boot big enough for a picnic hamper.' Mr Bennett bought a VW Polo 1.6GL automatic in sage green which matched his raincoat. The fact that I was, albeit briefly, a car salesman was a clear indication that my indie pop career was on the wane. A few years earlier my raffish band, Fur-lined had John Peel and Radio One plays, were reviewed in the NME (Love Is Dead was described as 'baffling and oddly enjoyable'), and Liam Gallagher danced at our gigs.
Further back in the 1980s I had a similarly fitful career as an actor, the highlight being a rave review from the Guardian critic Nick de Jongh for my performance as an apple salesman in a play (The Scam) in the Old Red Lion in London. I also went down in history as the first body to be cut from a car in Casualty, and played the character Julian in the classic Welsh TV comedy, C'mon Midffild.
Further back in the 1980s I had a similarly fitful career as an actor, the highlight being a rave review from the Guardian critic Nick de Jongh for my performance as an apple salesman in a play (The Scam) in the Old Red Lion in London. I also went down in history as the first body to be cut from a car in Casualty, and played the character Julian in the classic Welsh TV comedy, C'mon Midffild.
I moved back to my home town of Llanelli in 2000 after a hungry young BBC script editor (who later morphed into the celebrated playwright Gary Owen), found a script I'd written with my sister Catherine, in a slush pile. This led to several years storylining and writing scripts for drama series for BBC, ITV and S4C, as well as a period spent story-lining the BBC's longest running soap, Pobol y Cwm.
From 2009-2012 I created over 100 videos for the David Garland Jones Youtube comedy channel.
From 2009-2012 I created over 100 videos for the David Garland Jones Youtube comedy channel.
In 2010 I relocated to Laugharne, the 'strangest town in Wales' as described by Dylan Thomas. I scripted an eBook Dylan Thomas: The Road to Milk Wood (BBC 2014); contributed an essay to Dylan Thomas: A Centenary Celebration (Bloomsbury 2014), and co-created (with artist Marc Rees) Raw Material: Llareggub Revisited (National Theatre Wales/BBC 2014, pic above), which was subsequently developed into a Digital Arts project for The Space in December 2014. Raw Material made The Guardian's Alfred Hickling's 'Top 10 Theatre Of 2014'.
In 2014, I acted for the first time in many years appearing as Sinbad Sailor in Under Milk Wood (BBC 2014, directed by Pip Broughton) & 4th Drowned in the big screen version directed by Kevin Allen and starring Rhys Ifans (Ffatti Ffilms 2014). Click the pic above to see the trailer.
I also did the Laugharne Lines website (click pic below)... full of curious tales, which won a grant in 2021 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to upgrade to smartphones.
I also did the Laugharne Lines website (click pic below)... full of curious tales, which won a grant in 2021 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to upgrade to smartphones.
I create digital and video content for Penderyn Distillery and help run the Penderyn Music Book Prize. I've also written a number of viral videos.
Hail Cremation is a wild Welsh 'psychedlic musical odyssey' based on the life of Dr William Price (above) for National Theatre Wales. It was set for production in the Newbridge Memo in March 2020, but was cancelled at the tech run due to the first Covid lockdown. It was going to be performed by NTW in 2024 but Arts Council Wales pulled the grant,
In 2025 James Minas has now done the music, so maybe...
From the 15th May 2020 to the 16th March 2021 I created a 'furious, bleakly funny and often offensive' project with Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson called Plague Songs. We created 3 albums, 52 songs and worked with 25 performers. A CD has been released.
Director Ken Loach called it, 'Powerful stuff. Words and music as angry and disturbing as these present times.' And Jon Gower in Nation Cymru called it, 'Art as public enquiry.' And to hear 'Tory Scum, Tory Scum, you are not Tory Scum...' on BBC Radio made it all worthwhile.
In 2025 James Minas has now done the music, so maybe...
From the 15th May 2020 to the 16th March 2021 I created a 'furious, bleakly funny and often offensive' project with Guardian cartoonist Martin Rowson called Plague Songs. We created 3 albums, 52 songs and worked with 25 performers. A CD has been released.
Director Ken Loach called it, 'Powerful stuff. Words and music as angry and disturbing as these present times.' And Jon Gower in Nation Cymru called it, 'Art as public enquiry.' And to hear 'Tory Scum, Tory Scum, you are not Tory Scum...' on BBC Radio made it all worthwhile.
Thank you for reading. If you want to get in touch, email [email protected]
Jon Tregenna
Laugharne
January 2025
Jon Tregenna
Laugharne
January 2025