SINCE Miles’ last tour finished at The London Palladium in 2017, he’s been in The Full Monty on Disney Plus, The Durrells and Why Didn’t They Ask Evans? on ITV, as well as a heap of episodes of Frankie Boyle’s New World Order and Have I Got News For You. He’s made an award-winning radio series and he’s published a novel. But for Covid, he would have played a lead at the RSC. Hey ho. Nevertheless, he’s done a play in the West End and played the Emperor of Austria and Europe in a Ridley Scott film and now he heads here to the Torch Theatre in Milford Haven!

Yet one sunny day in the middle of all this, he suddenly suffered a brain seizure. This led to the discovery of a tumour the size of a cherry tomato, and a rather pressing need to undergo major neurosurgery. Obviously, one doesn’t wish to make a big deal of it, but the experience has left him with a story to tell and a few things that he’d like to share with the room. So that’s exactly what he’s doing in his new show On I Bang – a tale about surprise, fear, luck, love and qualified medical practitioners. 

Having received rave reviews by The Times, The Guardian and The Telegraph, On I Bang with Miles Jupp is one not to be missed here at the Torch, and tickets are selling like hot cakes. Awarded four stars and described as “Elegantly funny, terrible English account of a tumour” by The Guardian and awarded five stars by The Arts Desk 2024, this a performance that will be talked about for months to come.

Join Miles Jupp: On I Bang when he visits the Torch Theatre on Friday 10 January at 8pm.Ticket price: £25. For tickets phone the Box Office on 01646 695267 or visit torchtheatre.co.uk.

Welsh households have faced an increase in the cost of living over the last few years. Between 2022 and 2023, nearly half of Welsh residents (43%) reported a worsening of their financial situation. 

With bills ever on the rise, things like home improvements have taken a back seat in an effort to save money. However, making some improvements to your home can be advantageous and there are plenty of ways to make positive changes without having to break the bank. 

Benefits of home improvements 

Enhanced comfort 

Your home should be a positive and comforting place to be. When there are aspects of your home that you’re not happy with, it can create a negative environment. As the cost of living crisis takes its toll on people’s mental wellbeing, creating a safe and comfortable space is more important than ever.  

Increased house value 

Perhaps the biggest advantage to home improvements – increasing the value of your home. It’s important to make your home as valuable as possible if you’re looking to sell. A few touch ups and improvements here and there can make a significant difference to your home and increase its value substantially. 

Better energy efficiency 

Swapping out older elements, like lightbulbs, for more energy efficient ones is a great way to not only improve aesthetics but also keep costs down in the long run. 

How to improve your home for less 

Get painting 

Painting is one of the easiest and most effective ways to transform a home. A fresh coat of paint on a tired looking wall or a splash of colour in a dull room can make all the difference in a bedroom, living room, or hallway. Professional decorators in Wales cost around £15 to £25 per hour or £150 to £190 per day, but you can save a lot of money by doing it yourself.  

Kitchens and bathrooms can also benefit from a lick of paint. Painting kitchen cabinets is an easy way to modernise the space and bathrooms can be completely revamped with a bit of colour.

Upcycle furniture 

With platforms like Facebook Marketplace, eBay, and Gumtree, it’s easy to find inexpensive furniture that you can transform into great pieces for your home. Instead of spending hundreds of pounds in IKEA, you can spend significantly less purchasing old furniture that with some cleaning, sanding, and painting, can be remoulded into a lavish piece for your home. 

Swap out old lighting

Lighting can make a huge difference to the ambiance of a room. Consider replacing old bulbs with energy efficient warm white LEDs. Not only will the room have a cosier feel, but you’ll also be lowering your energy bills.

Add a touch of nature 

Plants are a great way to make a house feel more like a home, and they have plenty of health benefits. To keep costs down, fake plants are a great alternative. They offer the same aesthetic benefits but are less expensive and require very little maintenance.  

Home improvements worth spending more on

Some aspects of home improvements are better left to the professionals in order to get it right the first time. 

Upholstery cleaning 

Refreshing something you already own is almost always a cheaper and easier alternative to buying brand new. Professional upholstery cleaning services start from £49 per hour which is significantly cheaper than re-carpeting your entire house or purchasing a new sofa which could set you back thousands. By giving dull furniture a good clean, you can give your home a new lease of life.

Electrics and plumbing 

Whilst there is a lot you can do yourself, it’s important to leave things like plumbing or electrical elements to the professionals as it can be difficult, or even dangerous, and getting it wrong could cost you considerably more in repairs. On average, the hourly rate of an electrician is £33 and a plumber is £32 per hour in Wales. 

Small changes can have a big impact 

Improving your home during a cost of living crisis is entirely possible as long as you’re smart about it. By doing things yourself or giving old items a new lease of life, you can massively cut down on costs and give your home the refresh that it needs.

The digital age is radically changing entertainment. As time passes, more shows are being released for online platforms, rather than having drawn-out residencies at theatres. This allows producers to showcase their work to billions of people worldwide, without having to put on a show, night after night.

A single show can be recorded at a prestigious venue, and then released in a format that allows the user to experience the performance at home. With that being said, trends like this don’t mean that theatre is dying out. In fact, it’s now more prevalent than ever.

Theatres are embracing technological advancements 

Theatre is, in a way, more popular than ever right now. Various theatres are embracing the digital era by uploading their shows in a digital format, or by posting snippets of them on social media to try and encourage people to buy tickets.

By providing people with a snapshot of the experience they could be having, theatres can reach more fans, while encouraging attendance at venues across the country. The movement as a whole is comparable to that of the live casino sector. Live online casino games can be played across a range of devices, with the opportunity to connect with a live dealer in the same way you would if you attended a game at an establishment. This hasn’t taken away from traditional casinos, as it’s made such games more accessible for all.

The theatre sector is working in the same way, as people who don’t have an interest in theatre may be a bit reluctant to pay a lot of money for a show. This is especially the case if they have no idea what the story is about, or the theme of it. People can delve into stories and performances by uploading key moments of shows to social media. This can translate to more tickets being bought, helping to ensure that the art of theatre survives the digital transformation.

Source: Pexels

Theatres across Wales are thriving

Theatres across Wales, including the Wales Millennium Centre and the Venue Cymru are thriving right now. The Donald Gordon Theatre, which can be found at the Wales Millennium Centre, is the second biggest in Europe. It also hosts several opera performances, including drama and music celebrations. You also have the Aberystwyth Arts Centre, which is the biggest centre in Wales for art.

As bigger theatres find ways to navigate the digital era, smaller venues stand to benefit. Simple advancements like screens, effects and the opportunity to use digital tickets on a mobile device help to make the process of attending a show more convenient. Effects can also be programmed, using tech as a way to take the manual process of managing a show, out of the equation. This makes it easier to put on different shows, as the effort to manage each one is significantly reduced.

Another important element is that even though live-streaming theatre shows are helping to bolster the sector, the acoustics and atmosphere you get to experience when attending a show at the theatre cannot be compared. The thrill of hearing an opera singer live evokes emotion on a whole new level. Even though tech is paving the way for the theatre sector, and is helping to bring more people to shows, the shows themselves still have a lot to offer.

Regardless of how many shows might be uploaded to social media, YouTube or released on DVD, live shows will always have a place because they help to show a side that can only be experienced if you’re there in person. The way the performers connect with the audience cannot be translated the same through a digital format, so although live shows and digital releases benefit each other, live shows will always have something to offer music fans in Wales. With people travelling from across the country just to attend the live shows held here, it’s evident that the theatre scene is now thriving more than ever.