Theatre review: The Rolling Stone

Chris Urch had a miner hit* with Land of Our Fathers, which will be getting another London run later this year, and in the meantime another of his plays gets a further life (having originally played in Manchester after winning the Bruntwood Prize,) as Ellen McDougall directs Urch's look at a very different subject. The Rolling Stone takes its title from a Ugandan newspaper that takes particular glee in the country's anti-gay laws: Notoriously, it publishes the names, addresses and photos of homosexuals with the intention that they be arrested or, just as likely, lynched. It's a poisonous environment to set a gay love story, in which 18-year-old Dembe (Fiston Barek) meets Ugandan-Irish doctor Sam (Julian Moore-Cook,) and the couple start a surprisingly laid-back relationship. When Dembe's father dies, his older brother Joe (Sule Rimi) is elected pastor of their church, but not unanimously - those who object to such a young pastor will keep a particularly close eye on Joe and his family.

Theatre review: Land of Our Fathers

Another play about miners at the start of the Thatcher years, although any influence she might have on the men's fates is a purely metaphorical one in Chris Urch's Land of Our Fathers. But it's hard not to see a symbolism in the play opening on the election day that would first take Thatcher to power, with the roof caving in on six Welsh miners, leaving them trapped in a tunnel. As with Wonderland, we have a newcomer to the job to guide us into the darkness, but not only has Mostyn's (Joshua Price) first day been disastrous, the others are quick to point the finger at him for causing the accident. After a shaky start Mostyn manages to befriend the oldest member of the team, Bomber (Clive Merrison,) who in true Lethal Weapon style is days away from retirement when disaster strikes. As they wait for rescue they try to dig themselves out from the inside, led by Chopper (Patrick Brennan.) but the boss' ineffectiveness and impatience may be in part because of a secret he's keeping.