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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...
Catching up

Caught up with a former work colleague from Australia today. Over lunch discussed various sundry issues and gossip including:
  • Had I stayed in my old job I would now be out of a job as the office is being shut down. Well there was no chance of that happening but it is nice to have it reaffirmed that every now and then one can make the right choice in life...
  • It was a cold day today. I needed to have this pointed out to me as I work on the 10 deg rule. If it is above 10 deg then I am not cold, even if it is windy or wet.
  • There is a difference between a café laté and a skinny flat white. The latter is not sold here but I had suggested that there was no real difference in London between the two, until ordering coffee after lunch proved me wrong.
  • Swapping notes on the various artsy things we had seen. I pointed out that I was going to see On The Town again tonight as I had seen it previously in preview, and in the cheap seats. Had a much smarter seat in the stalls second time around so one could see Aaron Lazar, Caroline O'Connor and Adam Garcia much better...

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