Posts

Featured Post

The Green, Green Grass of Home: Mr Jones An Aberfan Story - Finborough Theatre

Image
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...

Hot news this week in London...

Image
'I've been trying to die in Southwark for the past two weeks but I just can't afford it' , originally uploaded by rensenbrink78 . Well London is so expensive no matter what you want to do...

Overheard in the bathroom department of Habitat Monday

Man: Oh take a look at that. Now you won't like that will you? Woman: Oh no... No! NO!

Movies: The Orphanage

Image
The Orphanage was a funny sort of film to be watching on Easter Sunday... A movie about dead orphans that don't seem to be dead. But since it was in Spanish it had an art house feel to what is essentially a mystery about a boy who disappears while his parents are moving in to the old orphanage his mother went to. To give away any more of the story would be to ruin the fun(?), thrills(?) of the film. Of course, if you have seen The Others or The Sixth Sense, you will know that dead people are not to be feared as they are your friends (or at the very least they just have a few issues like the Maitlands in Beetlejuice ). Bearing this in mind I didn't find it scary. But it still was a creepy way to spend a few hours in the dark... Particularly with that kid (pictured above) popping in every now and then...

Scenes from Albert Embankment Friday

Image
210320084275 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Albert Embankment is the best place where one can admire the natural beauty of London and its iconic architecture...

Music: Maria Frieman Re-Arranged

Image
Meeting Maria Friedman , originally uploaded by Andrew Orange . I don't normally go for photos with performers but West End Whinger Andrew made me do it since he hassled Maria Friedman enough to get her to pose for photos. Why not blind her in the process? I don't quite recall what the distraction was... Nor why I am covering my mouth... Anyway, Maria Friedman has just started doing a concert series at the Menier Chocolate Factory through until May. Maria has been around for ages (particularly if you note her very long timeline on her website), and I had seen her in the concert version of Follies last year. But not being a Friedman devotee (or should that be groupie?), I wasn't particularly won over by the music, performance or banter of the first half of the show. I wasn't alone with this view either, since the guy next to me fell asleep. By the second half however, the show picked up the pace and turned out to be quite a treat. Particular highlights were he...

Overheard at the gym Monday...

Man #1: You go to Trade yesterday Man #2: Nah. Couldn't get tickets. Went to Joiners Arms instead... Man #1: You went to... Vaginas??? Man #2: No we didn't go there. Joiners not vaginas! Joiners Arms... It's in Shoreditch...

Scenes from Royal Festival Hall Sunday...

Image
160320084215 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . Well... the best service comes from the automated ticket machines there anyway...