Latest news with #Season'sGreetings
News18
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
Celina Jaitly SLAMS Ageism In Film Industry: 'After 39, A Woman Begins To Fade…'
Last Updated: Celina Jaitly addressed ageism in the film industry on Instagram, emphasising women don't fade with age. Esha Deol and Sussanne Khan supported her. Celina Jaitly, who has starred in as many as 20 films, openly called out ageism in films via an angry post on Instagram. The Janasheen actor mentioned how she was recently told that a woman steadily starts to fade away after the age of 39 in the film industry. She urged her followers not to believe in such narratives and mentioned that she is only getting 'stronger, bolder, and unstoppable" with time. She also shared a new post on Thursday, reiterating what she previously called out clearly – to not feel guilty while growing up. Two days back, Celina Jaitly dropped a stunning photo of herself, standing in the backdrop of a scenic landscape. There, she defied age-related conversations that often float in the film industry. In a long note, the No Entry actor wrote, 'They said recently to me — after 39, a woman begins to fade in this industry. I was told, 'You may look 27, but the digits matter.' Well, here's my response, watch those digits, because they will be great. Some of my Instagram reels have more views than their full-length films at the box office. With reels having reached to phenomenal- 30 Million views." She directly addressed her audience and penned, 'Dear Men and women remember you have NOT been sidelined by age; Personally speaking I've been sharpened by experience. Motherhood didn't pause my journey, it empowered it. Every challenge, every reinvention, has only made me stronger. I'm not done, I've only just begun. I'm evolving, I'm rising, and I'm here to stay. Stronger. Bolder. Unstoppable. I will bring my own chair to the table where there are none for me!!!" The post was widely circulated online, and was liked by celebs such as Esha Deol and Sussanne Khan. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Celina Jaitly (@celinajaitlyofficial) On May 8, Celina's new post was equally stunning. She mentioned that she has personally invested in '50 shades of grey". 'The glow up is in the grow up …. Remember not to feel guilty about ANY THING & ANY TIME invested in your physical and mental growth… I personally also invested in 50 shades of Grey….. All in my closet," she posted. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Celina Jaitly (@celinajaitlyofficial) On the work front, Celina Jaitly last appeared in a short film titled Season's Greetings in 2020. She is married to Austrian entrepreneur Peter Haag and is a full-time mother to their twin sons. First Published: May 08, 2025, 18:00 IST
Western Telegraph
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Western Telegraph
Play on Banksy artwork in Port Talbot at Torch Theatre
The Sherman Theatre's co-production with Theatr3, Port Talbot's Gotta Banksy, will be performed at the Milford Haven theatre on May 20. The show will examine the effect of Banksy's 2018 mural Season's Greetings, which appeared on a Port Talbot steelworker's garage, on the community. The script is based on more than 100 hours of interviews with residents, conducted over six years, and tells the story of the Port Talbot Banksy in the community's own words. Paul Jenkins and Tracy Harris, artistic directors of Theatr3, wrote the play, with Mr Jenkins directing. Mr Jenkins said: "This will be the first time the story of the impact of a Banksy on a community has been told on stage, and the people whose remarkable stories we gathered have plenty to say. "It's been an extraordinary process, generating a script full of anger but also incredible resilience and laugh-out-loud humour." The play will be performed by Jalisa Andrews, Matthew Bulgo, Holly Carpenter, Ioan Hefin, Simon Nehan, and Kerry Joy Stewart. Sherman Theatre's chief executive, Julia Barry, said: "This is truly a south Wales story that speaks to the world; one that made global headlines, unfolded in a town with a huge artistic reach and whose community's voices demand to be heard. "We're delighted to bring this new play to audiences in Wales." The play will be performed at the Torch Theatre on Tuesday, May 20, at 7.30pm. Tickets are £22, £20 for concessions, and £15 for under 26s. For more information, visit the Torch Theatre website or call the box office on 01646 695267.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Banksy's legacy amid steelworks loss fuels new play
What happens to a town when the UK's most talked about artist leaves an unannounced drawing on a garage wall? Season's Greetings, by the anonymous artist Banksy, appeared in Port Talbot in December 2018, days before Christmas, prompting a rush of visitors to swell the back lanes where the commentary on the town's famous steel industry now resided. The drawing, across two walls at right angles, showed a boy playing joyously in a downfall of snow – but turn the corner and the viewer sees the "snow" is actually ash falling from a fire burning in a bin, echoing the larger plumes of smoke emitted day and night at the steelworks. Now that event – and the wider story of the town's fate – has been turned into a play, Port Talbot Gotta Banksy, based entirely on transcripts of the townsfolk's response. Tracy Harris and Paul Jenkins, south Wales-based playwrights, had worked together on a previous project using the same technique of verbatim speech, that time gathered from young people they were devising a show with, and were looking for ideas for another. When they heard about the Banksy and went to visit, a chance conversation with a fellow director who said "someone should write a play about this" gave Paul "one of those lightbulb moments," that the material might be right under their noses. However neither anticipated that what began as a plan to capture the response to a singular event would grow into a six-year labour of love documenting the end of a 100-year way of life for a working-class community. What to do if you wake up with a Banksy on your wall What do we know about Banksy? They hired Banksy for £50 then painted over his mural Paul said of Season's Greetings: "It was a beautiful piece of art and we realised that the people in Port Talbot recognised that as well and they really, really loved it and took it into their hearts." "We were at the site every day, talking and listening to the community's opinions and feelings and responses to the Banksy, what they thought about the theme of it, the pollution, steelworks, all of that. And it just started there." A version of the play could have happened at an earlier point but then "Covid happened". "And then by a stroke of luck or genius, the story kept developing," said Tracy. There were the twists and turns with the artwork itself – first it was protected by security at the site, then bought by an English art collector to go on display in the town, with a promise it would always remain there. That failed to happen and the piece was finally removed to an undisclosed location in England in February 2022. But the other story which weaved into and over the Banksy was the devastating news that steel production as it had existed for most people's lifetimes would end. And it was only when the works' blast furnace got switched off in September 2024 that Tracy and Paul finally decided it was time to stop gathering interviews and devise the play. Over the course of six years the pair collected more than 100 hours of recordings that they have managed to boil down to a two-hour play. "It's made it such a universal story now, much bigger than what we originally thought," said Tracy. Paul added: "When we started, we thought it was going to be a story about the Banksy, the first Banksy in Wales and what people thought of it. "But of course it became much more about the theme of the Banksy, drawing attention to the pollution from the steelworks, and then of course when the threat to the steelworks [happened] it's become much more a gritty portrait of that community and their resilience. "They were gifted the Banksy at Christmas – that was taken away from them. And now the blast furnaces, the industry that they've had for 100 years, although hopefully it is going to transition to green steel and an electric arc furnace, at the moment the blast furnaces have just been switched off. "So there's this terrible sense of uncertainty hanging over the town. The pollution, the theme that Banksy highlighted, is gone, but at the cost of thousands and thousands of jobs in the town." Every word said on stage is an absolute reproduction of words spoken by real people. Six actors represent people Tracy and Paul went back to again and again over the years as well as a host of other voices. Even their lines are not learned but delivered through headsets directly to the actors as they say them. The tale is told in chronological order but from a wide range of differing perspectives, with some news reports and headlines added to help the audience understand the latest development where necessary. One of the people represented in the show is a steelworker who's started spray painting, highlighting a type of transformation that has occurred within the town even as it faces the consequences of the loss of its industrial heritage. Tracy said: "Port Talbot's become the street art capital of Wales suddenly. Even though it's a sad story, it's also a story of hope because [the people] do bounce back. "They've decided to make the town a colourful town and start spray painting everywhere." "The legacy of the Banksy is there's an incredible street art scene now. So many local artists, so many walls are covered in colour and amazing art," adds Paul. "The colour of the town has changed. It's gone from being a grey, industrial town where the skies are full of smoke all the time to being a really colourful town." Doing the research for the play helped give voice to people who "often have no say in what's happening", but it also revealed to the pair the breadth of talent across the arts in Port Talbot. "What's beautiful about this play is you see it from a community's point of view, and you see it from all those voices you would never normally hear, who would never get a chance to tell their side of the story and what that art meant to them and how important it was to their town," says Tracy. "It's so poetic sometimes the way they describe it." Paul says at the start of the process they had assumed at some points they would have to write in some lines to join the pieces of the story together, but found that their interviewees had done it for them naturally. "The people of Port Talbot are incredible storytellers. I don't know what it is – it's probably a Welsh thing, it's definitely a Port Talbot thing – they are very good at telling their story," he says. Tracy chips in: "We couldn't have asked for them to say anything better. It's almost like you couldn't write it sometimes. You're like, 'how did you say that? It's exactly what we needed you to say'." Port Talbot Gotta Banksy is at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, from 2-10 May and then on tour to Port Talbot, Swansea, Milford Haven and Wrexham. Banksy confirms new 'snow' artwork is his A look at Port Talbot's steelworks over the years How Banksy sparked a steel town's love for colour Mum writes play about battle for son's support
BBC News
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Banksy legacy amid loss of Port Talbot steelworks fuels new play
What happens to a town when the UK's most talked about artist leaves an unannounced drawing on a garage wall?Season's Greetings, by the anonymous artist Banksy, appeared in Port Talbot in December 2018, days before Christmas, prompting a rush of visitors to swell the back lanes where the commentary on the town's famous steel industry now drawing, across two walls at right angles, showed a boy playing joyously in a downfall of snow – but turn the corner and the viewer sees the "snow" is actually ash falling from a fire burning in a bin, echoing the larger plumes of smoke emitted day and night at the that event – and the wider story of the town's fate – has been turned into a play, Port Talbot Gotta Banksy, based entirely on transcripts of the townsfolk's response. Tracy Harris and Paul Jenkins, south Wales-based playwrights, had worked together on a previous project using the same technique of verbatim speech, that time gathered from young people they were devising a show with, and were looking for ideas for they heard about the Banksy and went to visit, a chance conversation with a fellow director who said "someone should write a play about this" gave Paul "one of those lightbulb moments," that the material might be right under their neither anticipated that what began as a plan to capture the response to a singular event would grow into a six-year labour of love documenting the end of a 100-year way of life for a working-class community. Paul said of Season's Greetings: "It was a beautiful piece of art and we realised that the people in Port Talbot recognised that as well and they really, really loved it and took it into their hearts.""We were at the site every day, talking and listening to the community's opinions and feelings and responses to the Banksy, what they thought about the theme of it, the pollution, steelworks, all of that. And it just started there."A version of the play could have happened at an earlier point but then "Covid happened". "And then by a stroke of luck or genius, the story kept developing," said were the twists and turns with the artwork itself – first it was protected by security at the site, then bought by an English art collector to go on display in the town, with a promise it would always remain failed to happen and the piece was finally removed to an undisclosed location in England in February the other story which weaved into and over the Banksy was the devastating news that steel production as it had existed for most people's lifetimes would it was only when the works' blast furnace got switched off in September 2024 that Tracy and Paul finally decided it was time to stop gathering interviews and devise the play. Over the course of six years the pair collected more than 100 hours of recordings that they have managed to boil down to a two-hour play."It's made it such a universal story now, much bigger than what we originally thought," said added: "When we started, we thought it was going to be a story about the Banksy, the first Banksy in Wales and what people thought of it."But of course it became much more about the theme of the Banksy, drawing attention to the pollution from the steelworks, and then of course when the threat to the steelworks [happened] it's become much more a gritty portrait of that community and their resilience."They were gifted the Banksy at Christmas – that was taken away from them. And now the blast furnaces, the industry that they've had for 100 years, although hopefully it is going to transition to green steel and an electric arc furnace, at the moment the blast furnaces have just been switched off."So there's this terrible sense of uncertainty hanging over the town. The pollution, the theme that Banksy highlighted, is gone, but at the cost of thousands and thousands of jobs in the town." Every word said on stage is an absolute reproduction of words spoken by real people. Six actors represent people Tracy and Paul went back to again and again over the years as well as a host of other their lines are not learned but delivered through headsets directly to the actors as they say tale is told in chronological order but from a wide range of differing perspectives, with some news reports and headlines added to help the audience understand the latest development where of the people represented in the show is a steelworker who's started spray painting, highlighting a type of transformation that has occurred within the town even as it faces the consequences of the loss of its industrial said: "Port Talbot's become the street art capital of Wales suddenly. Even though it's a sad story, it's also a story of hope because [the people] do bounce back."They've decided to make the town a colourful town and start spray painting everywhere." "The legacy of the Banksy is there's an incredible street art scene now. So many local artists, so many walls are covered in colour and amazing art," adds Paul."The colour of the town has changed. It's gone from being a grey, industrial town where the skies are full of smoke all the time to being a really colourful town."Doing the research for the play helped give voice to people who "often have no say in what's happening", but it also revealed to the pair the breadth of talent across the arts in Port Talbot."What's beautiful about this play is you see it from a community's point of view, and you see it from all those voices you would never normally hear, who would never get a chance to tell their side of the story and what that art meant to them and how important it was to their town," says Tracy."It's so poetic sometimes the way they describe it."Paul says at the start of the process they had assumed at some points they would have to write in some lines to join the pieces of the story together, but found that their interviewees had done it for them naturally."The people of Port Talbot are incredible storytellers. I don't know what it is – it's probably a Welsh thing, it's definitely a Port Talbot thing – they are very good at telling their story," he chips in: "We couldn't have asked for them to say anything better. It's almost like you couldn't write it sometimes. You're like, 'how did you say that? It's exactly what we needed you to say'."Port Talbot Gotta Banksy is at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, from 2-10 May and then on tour to Port Talbot, Swansea, Milford Haven and Wrexham.
The Guardian
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Play to tell tale of surprise Banksy that appeared on garage in Port Talbot
It materialised just before Christmas seven years ago, turning the industrial town of Port Talbot into a destination for culture lovers, but – after much wrangling and soul-searching – was whisked away on the back of an art dealer's lorry and is more than 1,000 miles from home. The saga of Port Talbot's Banksy mural, Season's Greetings, is being told in a new play opening next week, prompting a flurry of reminiscences and recriminations about what happened after one of the world's most famous street artists paid a visit to south Wales. Paul Jenkins, the director of Port Talbot Gotta Banksy, said the idea was to tell the story of the mural and also depict the resilient community of Port Talbot, which is still reeling from the closure of the blast furnaces at its steelworks last year. 'It has turned into an endearing portrait of an embattled town and the celebration of one of the last true working-class industrial communities in the UK,' said Jenkins. 'We were rehearsing in Port Talbot last week and the actors got to meet the community members that they will be playing. The people whose remarkable stories we gathered have plenty to say.' The play features the reflections of a steelworker, Ian Lewis, whose garage the artist chose for his work; a security guard, Kevin Gregory, who had the tough task of protecting it; and the Essex art dealer John Brandler, who bought the mural. 'It's been an extraordinary process, generating a script full of anger, but also incredible resilience and laugh-out-loud humour,' said Jenkins. The Banksy appeared, as if by witchcraft, in the Taibach area of the town, close to the Tata steelworks (and the childhood home of Richard Burton). From one angle it showed a child apparently trying to catch snowflakes on their tongue. From another it became clear that what is falling on the child is ash. Tens of thousands of people visited and round-the-clock security was introduced to protect the artwork. It also created a cottage industry in souvenirs – mugs, coasters, keyrings – carrying images of the work. Brandler, bought the piece from Lewis and in May 2019 the Banksy, all 4.5 tonnes of it, was moved to a temporary exhibition space in the town. No permanent spot in the area could be found and on a bitterly cold February 2022 the piece was taken away on the back of a lorry. Season's Greetings is being exhibited alongside other works, by Banksy and Andy Warhol, in Rome. It is possible it could be heading to India and China to be shown there. Brandler said he was 'angry and frustrated' that Neath Port Talbot council had not found a way of keeping the Banksy but said he was pleased the play would tell the story. The council is unapologetic, saying it would have been too expensive to install it in a new venue and cover insurance and loan fees. But good came out of it. The Banksy may be gone but it has led to a street-art boom in Port Talbot. Bev Simmonds Owen, one of the leaders of a street-art trail in Port Talbot, said: 'Since the Banksy appeared we have had over 150 new pieces of street art in the local area. We created careers for at least four local street/mural artists. We have had artists go into local school and teach street art.' Simmonds Owen said the biggest achievement had been the Bridge Street gallery, an open air space that attracts street artists from across the UK. 'It changes monthly and there is a huge variety of art styles often of different topical issues or themes and it costs the local tax payers nothing. There is no entry fee, making art accessible for everyone in our community.' Simmonds Owen pointed out that the Hollywood stars Richard Burton, Anthony Hopkins and Michael Sheen had strong Port Talbot links. 'I think that the Banksy was a huge instigator for the community to find a new pride in our history as an important and historical place for the arts.' There is a fresh piece of art on the Banksy garage, a piece by Steve Jenkins highlighting the issue of pollution from cars in the town. He said: 'The Banksy lit touchpaper for art in the area. I think it should have stayed in Port Talbot as anywhere else it's seen totally out of context. It need the stack of the steelworks visible in the distance to make it perfect.' When the fight was on to keep the Banksy in Port Talbot, Paul Reynolds, who owns the motorbike shop Kickstart nearby, displayed posters in his shop windows calling for it to stay. He still keeps them rolled upstairs. 'Sad, really. It's great that we've got all this new street art. It gives the place some colour. But the Banksy should still be here.' Port Talbot's Gotta Banksy will be performed at Sherman theatre in Cardiff from 2-10 May 2025, then at the New Plaza, Port Talbot; Swansea Grand theatre; Torch theatre, Milford Haven and Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham.
