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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...

Theatre: The 39 Steps



Catching up with all the theatre I hadn't yet seen but should have, on Tuesday night I caught The 39 Steps, which is a sort of sillier version of the Hitchcock classic film from the 1930s. It has been playing for some time and possibly should continue for a while. There is a line at the beginning about the main character feeling bored so he thought he would go for some mindless entertainment in the West End... The jokes keep flying thick and fast as four actors play all the roles.

As a bit of a fan of the film, I wasn't quite sure whether I liked this story being treated this way, particularly since the laughs all came from the acting and staging rather than any clever scripting. In the end however I succumbed to the silliness... Adding to the intrigue (well at least for me anyway) was the gay couple to my right. The one next to me seemed to enjoy invading my personal space. Not doing anything to encourage or discourage this, fights for the armrest ensued all throughout the first act... By second act suspect partner caught on what was going on the seat over so there was none of that...

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Play ball: Damn Yankees @LandorTheatre

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