Following two critically-acclaimed runs in London and a UK tour, which started at the Wales Millennium Centre, Chris Urch’s debut play Land of Our Fathers will come to London for one last time at FOUND111.
This funny and deeply moving Welsh mining drama, directed by Paul Robinson, is packed full of blistering comedy and echoes a generation of lost voices.
It’s May 1979 in South Wales. Thatcher is counting her votes, Sid Vicious is spinning in his grave and six Welsh miners are trapped down a coal mine. As the men await their rescue, secrets emerge and accusations fly. Within two weeks, everything they believe in and everything they know will have changed.
Co-producer, Tara Finney, says, Land of Our Fathers started its life in autumn 2013 in a 63-seat theatre in Battersea, Theatre503. We thought we had something special, but with a new play, there’s always nervousness about whether it will all come together. We were overwhelmed by the response from critics and audience alike. Two and a half years later, the production has had a West End run, visited 15 venues around the UK and we’re delighted to conclude its wonderful journey by bringing the production back to London one final time.
Graeme Farrow, Artistic Director and co-producer, Wales Millennium Centre, says, On its tour of the UK, audiences received Land of Our Fathers with incredible warmth and support. Following such success of this Welsh mining drama, it’s wonderful to see work we have co-produced – especially work with such a strong Welsh heart – returning to London, and to see our ambition to carry Wales across the border and onto an international map, beginning to take shape.
Described by Time Out (★★★★★) as ‘blisteringly good’ and The Times (★★★★) as ‘a high- voltage production’, Land of Our Fathers was also a winner of Time Out’s Critic’s Choice and Fringe Show of the Year 2013. Following an elusive five star review from The Stage at the Wales Millennium Centre, the production was awarded with a Critic’s Pick for the UK Tour.
Original cast members Joshua Price (Llwyth/Tribe) and Taylor Jay-Davies (Great Expectations – West End, The Passion) reprise their roles as Mostyn and Chewy. They are joined by John Cording (Pobol Y Cwm, Da Vinci’s Demons), Tomos Eames (Pride, Resistance), Cornelius Booth (Pride & Prejudice) and Robert Jezek (The Bodyguard – West End).
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