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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...

Work life balance: The Sewing Group @RoyalCourt


The Sewing Group is a fabulously subversive piece of theatre at the Royal Court. The piece by EV Crowe explores secrets, the impact of technology, the overcomplicated and the over analysed. All within a wooden box-like set lit by candle light.

It starts out innocent enough, but then has you perplexed. There are a series of very short (and disorienting) scenes where very little is given away. There are long silences and long blackouts. In one scene all that takes place is a distant fart. It was so distant that it made me wonder whether it came from the audience.



The story centres around the arrival of a woman at a village in pre-industrial England. She wants to learn to sew and understand their simple way of life. But things don’t turn out to be what they seem. With anachronistic references and odd behaviour the piece slowly builds to its twist. It would be wrong to give this away but the twist is both amusing and a bit sad.

In keeping with the central message of the piece it would be wrong to over complicate things by saying too much about it. There is a strong central performance from Fiona Glascott as the resilient mystery woman. She may have strength but it also may be masking an emptiness.

Directed and designed by Stewart Laing, The Sewing Group runs until 23 December.


Photos: Production photos Stephen Cummiskey

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