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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...

Somewhere that's green: Potty the Plant at Wiltons Music Hall

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"I'm Potty the Plant," sings a potted plant in this odd little fringe concept of a show. It's hard not to get the tune out of your head, even if the show is brief. It's an earworm for a show that features a worm-like plant as a puppet. And given the show's brevity, running at only an hour, it's hard to get too annoyed by a lack of a coherent story, even if it still seems like the show could use a bit more development (which is underway). It has made its London debut at Wilton's Music Hall.

The premise is that Potty, the plant, lives in the hospital office of Dr Acula (geddit?) and dreams of a life with the cleaning lady Miss Lacey (Lucy Appleton). But Dr Acula might be responsible for why all these children are disappearing while trying to romance Miss Lacey for her family's money that she doesn't have. Three nurses are on the case, trying to solve the mystery. 

Production photo

If the show settled on a convincing plot, location and set of characters, it could make a lot more sense. The musical numbers seem to be more about exposition and scene setting than anything else, and to borrow from another quirky musical, Urinetown, when Officer Lockstock tells Sally in the opening number, "You're too young to understand it now, but nothing can kill a show like too much exposition." 

Despite the show's shortcomings, the idea of a gentle plant yearning for a life beyond its pot is an amusing one. Co-writer, director, composer, and Potty Plant performer Baden Burns infuses the character with a sense of timing and sincerity that the rest of the show could benefit from. All Potty needs is a proper adventure. 

Directed by Baden Burns and with musical direction by Zach Burns, Potty The Plant concludes at Wilton's Music Hall on 28 June. It heads off to the Edinburgh Fringe again this summer. 

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