Play Reading: Better Times by Barry Keefe

Residents of Halesworth may know Lansbury Road opposite the Coop, but maybe few are aware of the man who gave his name to that road.

George Lansbury, one time leader of the Labour party, grandfather of Angela Lansbury, was a passionate politician who went to prison for his support for women’s suffrage. He went to prison again for helping the poor of East London.

The play is a vibrant and warm-hearted depiction of the Poplar Rates Revolt in 1921, the conditions that led to it and the community who were involved. The themes of poverty, civil disobedience, democracy and representation have a particularly powerful resonance today.

Tickets £6.