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Showing posts with the label Lucinda Burnett

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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...

The fog of war: Correspondence @ORLTheatre

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Boys on Xbox, the crisis unfolding in Syria, a disappearance and a psychotic episode. It all happens in Correspondence, currently playing at the Old Red Lion Theatre . It's at times thrilling but its also a bit bewildering. Flicking through the programme twenty minutes into Correspondence, I read the note about psychotic symptoms. It seemed a little odd as until that point it seemed like this piece was about two boys on Xbox. One who just happened to be in Syria. But soon we're exploring mental illness. There is so much going on here that it is hard for the piece to get focussed on any of its broad themes it's exploring in its ninety minute duration.