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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...

Sights: On the underground

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Down in the underground, you'll find someone true... Down underground... Posted by email from paulinlondon's posterous

Front door conversation stoppers...

Pushy man from Npower : You know we are so much cheaper than British Gas Paul: Yeah but what are your kilowatt hours like? Pushy man from Npower: Uhhhhhhh....

Sights: On oxford street...

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The men are workin' it... Posted by email from paulinlondon's posterous

Theatre: Joan Rivers A Work In Progress by a Life in Progress

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I asked my friend Adam if he wanted to see Joan Rivers in her show and his response (in his best Joan voice) was, "Doo eye??? Doo eye ever???" Such is the pull of Joan Rivers with gay men. They love her. Can't get enough of her. Well, it was a silly question for me to ask. So there we were on Wednesday night in the Leicester Square Theatre watching her new show. The show is part drama, part autobiography, and part stand up routine and it is great from start to finish. Joan doesn't quite look like she does in the picture when she first walks on, but that is part of the story as well. Being Joan Rivers she doesn't hold back talking about ageing. And she goes into every detail about things that drop... I always love a filthy mouth and as Joan herself says (to paraphrase of course as I was laughing too much to really note the line), "When you reach 75 why can't you say motherfucker if it gives you enjoyment?" Well she says a lot more than that during t...

At the theatre: joan rivers

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She was gorgeous, great and at 75 still getting a great reaction from the audience... And when she didn't she told us what a lousy audience we were... Memorable moments included pointing out what a dump the west end is... Well those paving bricks look like they have been there for a while... More later... Posted by email from paulinlondon's posterous

Trends in London this week...

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I don't know about you, but I can't wait to piss on the high street... Posted by email from paulinlondon's posterous

Icons of London: Bus stops

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250820088463 , originally uploaded by Paul-in-London . That Olympic handover ceremony in Beijing yesterday was really a chance for an overlooked London icon to have its moment in the sun: the bus stop (not to be confused with the bendy bus in the background). While a bus stop looks like a needle in haystack in a large stadium, in its natural habitat it seems to be of sensible enough proportions... Looking forward to seeing other pieces of public infrastructure on display for the opening ceremony such as, double yellow lines and burst water mains ...

Theatre: The Year Of Magical Thinking

Saturday night I finally caught up with The Year of Magical Thinking which has been playing since April at the National Theatre. Featuring Vanessa Redgrave on a chair, it tells the story of American author Joan Didion and how over a year she lost both her husband and her daughter and the process she went through in dealing with it (or more to the point not dealing with it). The play is based on her book however it exapnds the story to include the loss of her daughter as well. There is such a frank honesty to this story that even with the subject matter you can't help but be drawn into it. Perhaps it is the way it constantly asks the audience to reflect on this story as it will happen to all of us: the details will be different but the end result is the same. It was certainly was a novel way of reminding us all about our own mortality and how dealing with it is part of life. Perhaps the subject matter (people die), the fact that it was the bank holiday weekend and people may not ...