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The Green, Green Grass of Home: Mr Jones An Aberfan Story - Finborough Theatre

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A life of hope and promise, interrupted, lies at the heart of Mr Jones: an Aberfan Story. The play follows two young people in Aberfan before and after the disaster that killed 144 people, including 116 children. It’s an emotional coming-of-age tale of intersecting lives, family, love, and the shock of tragedy. With two vivid performances and strong characterisations, you feel immersed in 1960s Welsh small-town life. It’s now running at the Finborough Theatre , after performances at the Edinburgh Festival and across Wales.  The Aberfan disaster is well known in the UK but perhaps less so elsewhere. The facts of the tragedy are confined to the programme notes rather than in the piece. On 21 October 1966, the catastrophic collapse of a colliery spoil tip on a mountain above Aberfan engulfed a local school, killing many. The play avoids the causes and negligence, instead focusing on those working and building lives in the town.  Writer-performer Liam Holmes plays Stephen Jones, a...
I have not often walked down this street before...
* But there is less trash walking down the other side of the street where I live.
* I don't bother looking into the dark alleyways

Job on offer I can start next week. But there are a few others (that pay more £££) in the pipeline but they look like they are going to take a bit looooooonger to happen. A job in the hand I suppose is worth many more that could be out there...

Touristy things...
* After yesterday mornings interview I hit the internet cafe and then went to the National Portrait Gallery. There were quite a few things to fascinate and amuse there. The civil war section was interesting and so was the Victorian era and early 20th Century paintings. Incidentally on this day in 1658 the Lord Protector of England died trying to work out what sort of republic and system of government England should have. Silly git. By the time one got to the Andy Warhold silk screen print of Joan Collins, you couldn't help think that the last half of the 20th Century seemed to miss something that the previous five hundred years of portraiture offered.
* After spending a couple of hours at the NPG, I took the tube to the British Museum. I really wasn't in the mood for seeing room after room full of stuff the Empire had plundered from Egypt and Greece, although the Rosetta Stone was pretty interesting. I focussed mainly on the European history which was quite fascinating. The Roman occupation and the Viking invasions were most interesting. There was also a special exhibit on London in 1753 that also caught my interest. All told, four hours had elapsed before I emerged out of the museum. I believe my brain was full by then.

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