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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...

Film: Enron The Smartest Guys in the Room

After Monday's play about corporate greed in Edwardian times, on Wednesday I saw a film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room which was a play about corporate greed in Bush times. Actually, it was more than greed. It was how a company managed to get away with criminal activity and even prospered with the support of the financial system, banks, regulatory bodies, the media, you name it. While the people at the top are facing criminal charges, others who invested (not always voluntarily) their pensions into the company find that they have no money.

Based on the book of the same name, it traces the rise and collapse of a company that never really made a profit, but managed to state its earnings on the potential for future profits (Arthur Andersen its accountants no longer exist as an accounting firm due to their work with Enron).

The company was good at one thing and that was publicity. And the video footage from the company is the basis for this great documentary. You feel like you want to punch any one of these assholes when they were on the screen. I couldn't help but cheer when a Californian protestor hit the Enron Chief Executive in the face with a blueberry pie during the rolling blackouts that were a direct result of Enron's activities. Whether the crooks get away with all the money is still a matter to be played out in the courts…  

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