Pontardawe Arts Centre has been awarded a grant from The Arts Council of Wales to take The Revlon Girl to the Edinburgh Festival this summer.

The Revlon Girl is set eight months following the death of 116 children during the Aberfan Disaster in 1966 and tells the real life story of a group of bereaved mothers who met every week above a local hotel to talk, cry and laugh without feeling guilty.

At one of their meetings, the women looked at each other and admitted how much they felt they’d let themselves go. So afraid that people would think them frivolous, they secretly arranged for a representative from Revlon to come and give them a talk on beauty tips.

Angie Dickinson, Pontardawe Arts Centre Artistic Director, said: “Having experienced the huge impact made by The Revlon Girl on its recent Welsh tour the entire team at Pontardawe Arts Centre are delighted that the Arts Council have selected the play to represent Wales in Edinburgh this year.

“We are equally excited that we have enabled the play to be viewed on an international stage. What better way to promote Wales abroad than through its creative artists.”

Writer Anthony Neil Docking added: “The Edinburgh Festival is where people from all over the world come to see new work - not just audiences but promoters and producers and venues- and this is definitely a chance for us to take The Revlon Girl worldwide.

“Having the backing of Arts Council Wales and Pontardawe Arts is just fantastic. We were overwhelmed by the reaction from audiences in Wales last year and thought that it was as good as it was going to get. We’re hugely excited by this. Who knows what might happen.

“Maybe a small play from Wales could turn out to be the big hit in Edinburgh.”

The show will open at The Assembly Roxy and run throughout the Festival from August 2 until August 28.

Special preview shows will be held at Pontardawe Arts Centre from July 27 until July 29.