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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...

Dancing in the streets: The Theatre Channel


The Theatre Cafe continues its online series of showcasing performers with well-known songs from Broadway and the West End and available through  Stream.Theatre. The site has become a source for West End-flavoured entertainment over the past year, and its a musical revue and showcase for some of the West End's best-known performers.

Shot at the Theatre Cafe and locations around the West End The Charing Cross Theatre, the production uses the empty spaces that would typically be where tourists, workers and Londoners would be. The episodes are a celebration and reminder of what we've been missing with the closure of theatres. 

The performers include Kerry Ellis singing Always Starting Over from If/Then, Layton Williams singing Hold Me In Your Heart from Kinky Boots. And Katie Deacon performing Music And The Mirror from A Chorus Line across the empty streets of London, serving as a reminder about the pandemic's toll on both the city and the industry. 

There's an additional commentary for A Chorus Line as a tribute to choreographer, director and producer Bob Avian, who passed away in January. John Breglio, Baayork Lee, and Antonio Banderas talk about the background of the show and the 2019 Spanish Production. There are hopes to take this production to Broadway in the not too distant future. 

Directed by Thom Southerland with musical supervision by Michael England and choreography by Ashley Nottingham, The Theatre Channel's latest episode is available to stream now. Previous episodes are also available to download and enjoy at your leisure. 

Photo by Edward Johnson

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