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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...

Batter up: Jam @Finborough


No doubt there are days when teachers just wish they had a baseball bat to put a little bit of distance between themselves and their students.

In Jam by Matt Parvin, teacher Bella Soroush is lucky enough to do just that. It's currently playing at the Finborough Theatre.

The premise in this two-hander is that ex-pupil Kane ruined Bella Soroush's life. Something happened and so she moved schools, moved towns and got on with her life. But now Kane has tracked her down and claims they have unfinished business.


With all this potential for malevolence, you never get a sense of any real peril facing either character.  An uneasy soundtrack underscores the proceedings, but as the piece wears on it's hard to understand where the drama is.

One of Kane's past atrocities amounted to bringing a smelly cheese board to school. And Bella doesn't like smelly cheese. At this point you could be forgiven for thinking Bella is a touch neurotic.

There isn't much time to explore why British school standards lag behind many other developed countries. Nor does it equip the nation for the skills it needs given its heavy reliance on immigrants (at least for now). Perhaps the answer lies in the pointless discussions that take place here.

But even if the story doesn't add up to much Jasmine Hyde as Bella and Harry Melling as Kane are terrific to watch.

Melling's Kane is a bit of a man-child. Alternating between stand over man and schoolboy, you get the sense he realises the best years of his life (being at school causing trouble) are behind him.

Hyde is a revelation as she shifts from being a victim to being yet another teacher with dubious motives for entering the profession.

Directed by Tommo Fowler, Jam is at Finborough Theatre until 17 June.

⭐︎⭐︎⭐︎



Photos by Matthew Foster


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