Catrin Mai Edwards: Cast as Martha in The Secret Garden – The Musical
THE cast and creative team is in place for John Doyle’s revival of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The Secret Garden – The Musical at York Theatre Royal.
Performed by a company of actor-musicians from March 17 to April 4, the show has music by Lucy Simon and book and lyrics by Marsha Norman.
Doyle, Theatre Royal artistic director from 1993 to 1997 and Tony Award winner, will direct a cast led by Catrin Mai Edwards as Martha; Joanna Hickman, Lily; Henry Jenkinson, Archibald; Elliot Mackenzie, Dickon; Ann Marcuson, Mrs Winthrop; Elizabeth Marsh, Mrs Medlock; André Refig, Neville, and Steve Simmonds, Ben.
Estella Evans: Sharing role of Mary Lennox
Estella Evans and Poppy Jason will share the role of Mary Lennox and Christian Buttaci and Dexter Pulling will do likewise as Colin. The ensemble is completed by Stephanie Cremona, Matthew James Hinchliffe, Lara Lewis, and Melinda Orengo.
Completing the creative team alongside director-designer Doyle are musical supervisor and orchestrator Catherine Jayes, co-designer David L Arsenault, costume designer Gabrielle Dalton, lighting designer Johanna Town, sound designer Tom Marshall and casting director Ginny Schiller CDG.
Adapted from American-English author Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 children’s novel, themoving and timeless story of love, loss, healing and hope is set in North Yorkshire (North Riding, as was) when newly orphaned Mary Lennox is sent to live with her widower uncle at the secluded Misselthwaite Manor, a moorland house inhabited by memories and spirits from the past.
Poppy Jason: Sharing role of Mary Lennox
On discovering her Aunt Lily’s mysterious garden, Mary is determined to breathe new life into its neglected greenery with the help of her new friends,as she learns the power of connection and the restorative magic of nature.
Director John Doyle says: “It’s such a privilege to bring the story of The Secret Garden back to its Yorkshire roots and to bring it to life on the York Theatre Royal stage with the support of this wonderful creative team. We have an immensely talented cast of actor-musicians on board and I can’t wait to start rehearsals next month.”
Theatre Royal chief executive officer Paul Crewes adds:“We are thrilled to be welcoming John Doyle, our former artistic director, back to York Theatre Royal for this incredible production of The Secret Garden – The Musical.
Director-designer John Doyle
“This will undoubtedly be one of the highlights of the spring season here at YTR and we are looking forward to York audiences experiencing this new take on such a beloved musical.”
The Secret Garden – The Musical, York Theatre Royal, March 17 to April 4; previews, March 17 and 18, 7.30pm, March 19, 2pm; press night, March 19, 7pm; March 20, 7.30pm; March 21, 2.30pm, 7.30pm; March 23, 6.30pm; March 24 and 25, 7.30pm; March 26, 2pm, 7.30pm; March 27, 7.30pm; March 28, 2.30pm, 7.30pm; March 30, 6.30pm; March 31, 7.30pm; April 1 and 2, 2pm, 7.30pm; April 4, 2.30pm, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Harry Summers’ Abanazar with Thomas Jennings’s Emperor in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime
YORK Shakespeare Project regulars Harry Summers and Thomas Jennings often share the car journey from Malton to York for rehearsals and performances.
No such need – except for this interview, conducted at City Screen Picturehouse – applies to their participation in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime.
Thomas has been appearing in the Milton Rooms pantos for more than a decade; from Saturday, Harry will be in his third show after making his debut in Dick Whittington in 2024, opposite Thomas’s King Rat.
“I think I can claim that I got you involved,” says Thomas. “Rory [regular dame Rory Queen] rang me up to ask ‘Do you know anyone who could play Alderman Fitzwarren’, and I suggested Harry.”
“The Alderman was a very nice but not terribly intelligent chap, shall we say,” says Harry. “Then last year I ended up being the third level-rated villain, as Rancid, still two spots below the giant and the witch in the villainy pecking order.
“Thomas was the giant, Buster Gutbucket, who didn’t do any rehearsals and then turned up and got all the glory!”
Harry will be joined in the cast by 17-year-old son Alexander. “I remember when he came to see Thomas as Abanazar, so this year it’s come full circle as I’ll be playing Abanazar and Alexander will be the Executioner,” he says.
In keeping with his York Shakespeare Project performances, and indeed his work at York Dungeon, Thomas tends to be drawn to darker roles. “It’s been 99 per cent baddies, and one per cent kings and fathers to the romantic interest,” he says.
Thomas Jennings’s Emperor with Isobel Davis’s Princess Jasmine in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime
“Villains tend to be particularly enjoyable to play, but it’s also a challenge to find the darker elements within a good character, or the goodness in a dark character.
“This year I’m a goody, but still one who employs an executioner and orders his daughter to get married. He’s a little perplexed why she keeps refusing! In truth, the Emperor is a terrible, terrible person, but I love how panto glosses this over!
“The main thing that upsets him is Princess Jasmine getting kidnapped, but if Abanazar had come to him to propose a marriage for her, he would have been interested!”
Harry found himself recalling a past performance as evil magician Abanazar when rehearsing the role. “It’s an absolutely wonderful opportunity to play him. I saw Ian McKellen’s Widow Twankey at the Old Vic [in the 2024-2005 pantomime season], when Roger Allam was Abanazar, which was fantastic.
“In rehearsals, I was thinking ‘why does this remind me of Roger Allam?’, and then I remembered I’d seen him in the London show!”
Abanazar can be played myriad ways. “I find it interesting, having played Abanazar not that long ago, to be watching Harry now and seeing how different his interpretation is,” says Thomas. “When I approached the role, I wanted to make him genuinely dark, whereas what I’m finding interesting about Harry is the naughtiness and mischievousness that he’s bringing to the character.”
Harry, who has played such villainous roles as Shakespeare’s Richard III and Lucifer in the York Mystery Plays, rejoins: “If you play the baddie only one way – all-evil, all-angry, all-ambitious – you miss out on a lot of the jokes in there. There’s a huge enjoyment to be had in the evil in Abanazar, and it does help when you get lines like, ‘oh, I love being evil’.
“I prefer the ‘poetic justice’ that happens in panto. In this one, I don’t change my evil ways! I just get stopped from doing what I was doing.”
Harry Summers’ Abanazar with Harriet White’s Aladdin in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime
Thomas comments: “Abanazar is also the anti-dame. There’s a nudge and wink to the audience, and you always get a response out of the audience, just as the dame does.”
He loves playing to pantomime audiences: “It’s interesting how every night that audience can be different,” he says. “Sometimes you get an audience where they’re waiting for someone to give them ‘permission’ to laugh, and you only need one person to make a noise to set off the ripple effect.
“Then sometimes magic can happen when an error is turned into something that is then used every show. Different actors work in different ways, and for some if they have to veer off script, they’re gone, but Harry and I have both been actors at York Dungeon, where we can keep to the script but you should expect to go off script too.”
Coming next for Harry will be Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, playing the dual servant roles of Parrott and Simpkin in Howard Brenton’s exploration of Anne as a revolutionary figure through James I’s perspective, at Theatre@41, Monkgate, from March 3 to 7.
Thomas will be going on tour with Parrabbola, performing Shakespeare works. Watch this space for more details to follow.
Joining them in Mark Boler’s cast for Aladdin will be Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isobel Davis’s Princess Jasmine, Rory Queen’s Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring, among others.
“We’re also reliant on the army of volunteers who do the set building and back-stage work and make such an important contribution behind the scenes,” says a grateful Harry.
Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; Sunday, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
“If you play the baddie only one way – all-evil, all-angry, all-ambitious – you miss out on a lot of the jokes in there,” says Harry Summers, pictured in rehearsal for his role as Abanazar
A scene from a previous production of The Choir Of Man, whose first tour is bound for Grand Opera House, York. Picture: The Other Richard
FULL casting is in place for The Choir Of Man, whose first UK & Ireland tour will play the Grand Opera House, York, from June 30 to July 4.
Direct from the West End, the Olivier Award-nominated worldwide hit will take to the road from March 14, when it opens at the New Wimbledon Theatre.
The producers have confirmed the participation of the Jungle Choir Community Project, a new nationwide initiative that invites choirs to take part in the production on opening night in every touring city.
Set in The Jungle pub on stage, The Choir Of Man is billed as “the best trip to your local you’ll ever have”, where the cast of nine (extra)ordinary guys combine beautiful harmonies and foot-stomping singalongs with world-class tap dance and soulful storytelling.
The tour cast will feature Gustav Melbardis as Maestro (The Choir Of Man NCL, Rent); Oluwalonimi (Nimi) Owoyemi as Poet (The Second Woman, Young Vic, The Wind In The Willows, Shakespeare North Playhouse); Levi Tyrell Johnson as Hard Man (The Choir Of Man, West End, Hamilton, UK & Ireland tour); Ben Mabberley as Joker (Calamity Jane, UK tour, Blood Brothers, UK tour) and Rob Godfrey as Beast (The Choir Of Leicester, Aladdin, Wolverhampton Grand).
In the cast too will be Joshua Lloyd as Barman (Chicago, The Lion King, UK & Ireland tours), Sam Walter as Romantic (The Choir Of Man, West End, Kinky Boots, NCL) and Aaron Pottenger as Bore (The Choir Of Man, NCL, Ragtime).
On swing duty will be Sam Ebenezer (TheChoir Of Man, West End, The Mousetrap, West End), Jared Leathwood(TheChoir Of Man, West End, Billionaire Boy, UK tour), Niall Woodson (TheChoir of Man, West End, Frankie’s Guys, UK tour) and Lewis Dragisic (TheChoir Of Man, West End, Twelfth Night, UK tour).
Featuring hits from Queen,Luther Vandross,Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns N’ Roses, Avicii andKaty Perry, to name but a few, this uplifting celebration of community and friendship offers “something for everyone – including free beer”!
The Jungle Choir Community Project will involve a search for choirs in each touring city, who will be invited to attend the opening night performance and take part in the show’s final moments.
Participating choirs will be offered discounted tickets and rehearsal materials in advance and will be invited to experience the opening-night performance as part of a wider celebration of music and community. Interested choirs should email officeassistant@kennywax.com.
Nic Doodson, creator and director, says: “The Choir Of Man has always been about individuality, generosity, humour and the joy of making music together, and this company embodies all of that.
“As we take the show around the UK and Ireland for the very first time, it felt vital to open the doors even wider and invite local choirs to raise their voices with us. Every city has its own musical heartbeat, and welcoming those voices into the show on press night is a powerful reminder of why this piece exists: to celebrate community, connection and the extraordinary feeling of singing together.”
The Choir Of Man has played three sold-out seasons at the Sydney Opera House, Australia, and multiple sold-out American and European tours. The show is on its fourth North American tour, playing in 45 cities until March 2026, with the 68 shows including two residencies in West Palm Beach.
The Choir Of Man’s West End journey began in 2021 at the Arts Theatre, where it has enjoyed more than 1,000 performances with many sold-out shows and an Olivier Award nomination for Best Entertainment or Comedy Play, before concluding its run on January 4 2026.
The Choir Of Man is created by Nic Doodson and Andrew Kay and directed by Doodson, with musical supervision, vocal arrangements and orchestrations by Jack Blume; movement direction and choreography by Freddie Huddleston; monologues written by Ben Norris; scenic design by Oli Townsend; lighting design by Richard Dinnen; costume design and co-scenic design byVerity Sadler; sound design by Sten Severson and casting by Debbie O’Brien.
The UK Tour is produced by HH Productions, Nic Doodson, Andrew Kay, Global Creative and Kenny Wax,whose collective credits include award-winning shows Six The Musical, Bluey, The Play That Goes Wrong, 42 Balloons,Maddie Moate’s Very Curious Christmas and many more.
The Choir Of Man, Grand Opera House, York, June 30 to July 2, 7.30pm; July 3, 4pm, 8pm; July 4, 2.30pm, 7.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Shadow play: Daniel Burke as The Actor in The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet
FIRST staged in a pub setting in 1987 by the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story The Woman In Black returns tonight to the Grand Opera House, York, two years to the month since its last visit.
Elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps (played by John Mackay) is obsessed with a curse he believes was cast over his family by the spectre of a “Woman in Black” 50 years ago. Whereupon he engages a sceptical young actor (Daniel Burke’s The Actor) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul, but as they delve into his past, the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur.
“It will be my first time performing in York,” says Daniel. “Though I did come up here in 2019 to rehearse with Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre in a big tent in a shopping-centre car park [more precisely the specially constructed rehearsal village at the York Designer Outlet, where eight productions were knocked into shape].
“I went down to Blenheim Palace for the summer to play Paris in Romeo And Juliet and multi-rolled a few smaller roles in Richard III.”
Daniel Burke’s The Actor with John Mackay’s Arthur Kipps in The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet
Daniel first auditioned for The Woman In Black a couple of years ago. “It didn’t go my way but Robin [director Robin Herford] kept me in mind,” he says. “I’d first auditioned with a self-tape, but this time I auditioned in person with Robin last June, when I was doing a production of The Girl On The Train (which came to Sheffield Lyceum Theatre and later Leeds Grand Theatre).
“The contract was rubber-stamped in mid-June, but I had to miss the first week of rehearsals when I was finishing the tour, so it was only three weeks for me, four for John, with the assistant director [Antony Eden] filling in for me in the first week.
“He’s worked with Robin for many years and is as familiar with the play as Robin is – he’s played both parts and he’s directing a tour that’s happening in the USA this year.”
Three weeks may look a short lead-in to a two-hander, but Daniel says: “By the time we got to the end of my third week with John, we’d reached the point where we felt we really needed an audience.”
Director Robin Herford in rehearsal for The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet
The tour opened at the Storyhouse, in Chester, in late-September last year for an itinerary that resumed after a Christmas break at Darlington Hippodrome last week.
“I hadn’t ever seen the play, and John hadn’t either, so I think Robin was pleased to work with two actors who were completely fresh to it,” says Daniel. “He knows it so well from directing it and from playing both characters numerous times that he found it refreshing to have actors new to the story as we asked new questions that Robin wouldn’t have heard before.
“Our production has developed really well; John is a lovely man to work with and he’s a very funny man too. It’s such an intense piece, where it’s beneficial if you can find some light to bring into the room.
“We found our rhythm organically on tour, and that’s especially important to my character, as he’s trying to convince Kipps to go with his idea, but once it gets rolling, you can really go along for the ride.”
Fright night: The Actor (Daniel Burke) in The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet
Daniel has thrived on the experience of putting a production together with such an experienced director. “Robin was very open to our suggestions. He had his ideas of what direction he wanted to go, but then sometimes you could have an idea for a scene or you might ask about the logic of why a character was doing something, when every so often you would need clarification, and we would try new ideas, and if they worked, he would incorporate them.”
In creating his version of The Actor, “Robin led me down the line of him being quite a successful young actor, who had played the young romantic leads that were available to him,” says Daniel.
“Robin steered me to go that way, and that was my instinct as well because The Actor has a lot of positive energy, thinks on his feet and sees Arthur as someone he can help but also maybe as one of the trickiest characters he’s had to deal with, but he sees that as a challenge rather than as a problem.”
The Woman In Black is proving as enjoyable to perform as Daniel could have wished. “It’s a good challenge and it’s very enjoyable, and when it’s a two-hander you can’t pop to your dressing room for a breather, so the audience is really getting its money’s worth. I’ve done other rewarding roles, but this is the one where you’re involved all the time,” he says.
Daniel Burke (The Actor) in an enlightening moment in The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet
“There’s also a big old human element to it, as it’s a sad story, not only for Arthur but also for the ghost, the Woman in Black, Jennet Humfrye, and you hope that the audience will walk away afterwards feeling sympathetic for Jennet as well as for Arthur.
“There was this attitude towards women who were pregnant out of wedlock and found themselves abandoned by family, and on top of that losing a child, and then that spirals into madness. I think that makes a ghost story better than if it’s just a horrible, evil spirit.
“It adds a layer of complexity to the story that become a lot more effective and satisfying, both for the audience and the actors playing it.”
PW Productions present The Woman In Black, Grand Opera House, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Daniel Burke
Daniel Burke: back story
DANIEL’S theatre credits include UK Tour of The Girl On The Train, Troilus And Cressida for Royal Shakespeare Company, and Imperium Part I and Part II, for RSC and at Gielgud Theatre, West End, London.
Also appeared in Bang Bang at Exeter Northcutt Theatre and on UK tour; Romeo And Juliet and Richard III, for Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, Blenheim Palace; Hamlet, Richard II and Romeo And Juliet for Guildford Shakespeare Company; The Comedy Of Errors, at Mercury Theatre, Colchester; Love All, Jermyn Street Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Great Gatsby, Storyhouse’s Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre; The Circle, Theatre Royal Bath and UK Tour.
Television credits include The Witcher for Netflix and Lord Of The Rings Rings Of Power for Amazon Prime.
IN his second guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.
Mike Newall: Topping Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club bill
Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8.30pm
WHEN Mancunian Mike Newall appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, judge Simon Cowell said it was like an Oasis concert where the music ran out and Liam decides to tell a few jokes.
Now, this storyteller with a breezy, casual style headlines tonight’s Laugh Out Loud bill, joined by affable charmer Peter Otway, observational Pete Phillipson, with his tales of misfortune and frustrations at the minutiae of everyday life, and host and promoter Damion Larkin. Box office: https://lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Ilaria Passeri: Darkly comic storytelling show for grown-ups at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
Storyteller of the week: Ilaria Passeri in Under The Lamp Post, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, tonight, 8.30pm (doors 7.30pm)
MANCHESTER writer and performer Ilaria Passeri steps into the darkly comic world of Under The Lamp Post, a captivating storytelling show for grown-ups that undertakes a journey sparked by a gift bag of ashes and fuelled by the eccentricity of a unique family as poignant reflection combines with finding humour in unexpected places.
Imagine navigating grief with puppets, a particular kind of pickled onion and the sort of inappropriate fancy dress that becomes a cherished and weirdly unforgettable memory in a 65-minute exploration of life, death and the beautifully absurd, produced by sitcom veteran Michel Jacob. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
John Mackay as Arthur Kipps, left, and Daniel Burke as The Actor in The Woman In Black, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Mark Douet
Ghostly return of the week: PW Productions present The Woman In Black, Grand Opera House, York, January 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees
FIRST staged in 1987 in a pub setting by the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story returns to the Grand Opera House two years to the month since its last visit.
Elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps (played by John Mackay) is obsessed with a curse cast over his family by the spectre of a “Woman in Black”. Whereupon he engages a sceptical young actor (Daniel Burke’s The Actor) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul, but as they delve into his past, the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Cellist Eloise Ramchandani: Performing Saint-Saens programme with pianist Robert Gammon at St Chad’s Church
Dementia Friendly Tea Concert of the week: Eloise Ramchandani and Robert Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, January 15, 2.30pm
ELOISE Ramchandani gives an all Saint-Saëns cello recital, accompanied by pianist Robert Gammon. The 45-minute programme includes the well-loved The Swan, the lively Allegro Appassionato and the beautiful Cello Concerto No. 1.
Ideal for those who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, the relaxed recital will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved; no charge applies but donations are welcome.
Death Of Gesualdo: Tableaux Vivants and The Gesualdo Six team up for world premiere at NCEM
World premiere of the month: Death Of Gesualdo, Gesualdo Six with Tableaux Vivants, National Centre for Early Music, York, January 18 and 19, 6.30pm
THE Gesualdo Six reunite with director Bill Barclay for the world premiere of a daring new successor to international hit Secret Byrd. Featuring six singers, six actors and a puppet, Death Of Gesualdo creates living tableaux that illuminate the life and psyche of madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo, a tortured genius most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in an explosive fit of jealousy, but revered among composers for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years.
This is the boldest look yet at how the life and sometimes chilling music of this enigmatic prodigy must function together for the true Gesualdo to emerge from the shadows. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Grace Petrie: Not the time for panicking at The Crescent. Picture: Fraser West
Comedy-folk combination of the month: Little Wander and Say Owt present Grace Petrie, This Is No Time To Panic!, January 18, The Crescent, York, 7.30pm
DO you like protest songs? Neither does Grace Petrie – and she has been singing them for 15 “politically disastrous” years. No longer able to meet the desperate hopes of left-wing audiences, the “British folk scene’s funniest lesbian” reckons there is no better time for a feel-good show.
After making her stand-up debut in 2022 with Butch Ado About Nothing, she combines music and comedy for the first time in This Is No Time To Panic! “I know folk songs can’t save the world, and neither can stand-up, but both at the same time?” ponders Petrie. “Read it and weep, Putin!” Box office for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.
John Doyle: Directing The Secret Garden The Musical on his return to York Theatre Royal this spring
Welcome back for garden re-wilding: The Secret Garden The Musical, York Theatre Royal, March 17 to April 4
TONY Award-winning John Doyle, artistic director of York Theatre Royal from 1993 to 1997, will return to his old patch to stage his trademark actor-musician interpretation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden in a new revival of the Broadway musical with a score by Lucy Simon and book and lyrics by Marsha Norman.
In 1906 North Yorkshire (North Riding, as was), newly orphaned Mary Lennox is sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her widowed uncle in a moorland house of memories and spirits. Determined to breathe new life into her aunt’s mysterious neglected garden, she makes new friends while learning of the power of connection and the restorative magic of nature. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Amber Davies in the poster for her lead role in Legally Blonde The Musical, visiting the Grand Opera House, York, in April
Casting announced for: Made At Curve presenting Legally Blonde The Musical at Grand Opera House, York, April 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing 2025 finalist Amber Davies will play Elle Woods in the 2026 tour of Legally Blonde The Musical, joined by York Theatre Royal pantomime villain Jocasta Almgill as Brooke Wyndham, fresh from playing wicked fairy Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty.
Davies had been set to appear as Hollywood hooker Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman The Musical at the Grand Opera House in February 2024, but Sydnie Hocknell understudied that week. Hannah Lowther, otherwise playing Margot, will step in for Davies at the April 23 matinee (2.30pm). North Yorkshireman Nikolai Foster directs the uplifting, totally pink tale of Elle’s transformation from ‘It Girl’ fashionista to legal ace at Harvard Law School, all in the name of love. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Lawyer Arthur Kipps (John Mackay) and The Actor (Daniel Burke) in The Woman In Black, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from January 13
IN his second guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.
Ghostly return of the week: The Woman In Black, Grand Opera House, York, January 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees
FIRST staged in 1987 in a pub setting by the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story The Woman In Black returns to the Grand Opera House two years to the month since its last visit.
Elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps (played by John Mackay) is obsessed with his belief that a curse has been cast over his family by the spectre of a “Woman in Black” for 50 years. Whereupon he engages a sceptical young actor (Daniel Burke’s The Actor) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul, but the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and John Brooks’s scheming Chamberlain in Pickering Musical Society’s Snow White at Kirk Theatre, Pickering. Picture: Robert David Photographer
First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25
DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and scripted by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime blends familiar faces with new turns, led by Alice Rose as Snow White in her first appearance since Goldilocks in 2018.
Local legend Marcus Burnside plays Dame Dumpling alongside mischievous sidekick Jack Dobson as court jester Fritz, his first comedic role. Company regular Courtney Brown switches to comedy too as Helga; Paula Cook turns to the dark side in her villainous debut as Queen Lucrecia; Danielle Long is the heroic Prince Valentine, John Brooks, the scheming Chamberlain and Sue Smithson, Fairy Dewdrop. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.
Cellist Eloise Ramchamdani
Dementia Friendly Tea Concert of the week: Eloise Ramchandani and Robert Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, January 15, 2.30pm
ELOISE Ramchandani gives an all Saint-Saëns cello recital, accompanied by pianist Robert Gammon. The 45-minute programme includes the well-loved The Swan, lively Allegro Appassionato and beautiful Cello Concerto No. 1.
Ideal for those who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, the relaxed recital will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved; no charge applies but donations are welcome.
Malton and Norton Theatre’s principal cast for Aladdin – The Pantomime: left to right, Amelia Little (So-Shy); Tom Gleave (Wishee Washee); Annabelle Free (Spirit of the Ring); Alexander Summers (Executioner); Isobel Davis (Princess Jasmine); Mark Summers (Genie of the Lamp); Harriet White (Aladdin); Harry Summers (Abanazar); Thomas Jennings (The Emperor); Evie-Mae Dale (Sergeant Pong); Malcolm Tonkiss (Mangle Malcolm) and Jack Robinson (PC World)
Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm
BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.
Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isobel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Death Of Gesualdo: The Gesualdo Six and Tableaux Vivants in tandem at NCEM, York
World premiere of the month: Death Of Gesualdo, The Gesualdo Six with Tableaux Vivants, National Centre for Early Music, York, January 18 and 19, 6.30pm
THE Gesualdo Six reunite with director Bill Barclay for this daring successor to international hit Secret Byrd. Featuring six singers, six actors and a puppet, Death Of Gesualdo creates living tableaux that illuminate the life and psyche of madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo, a tortured genius most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in an explosive fit of jealousy, but revered among composers for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years.
This is the boldest look yet at how the life and sometimes chilling music of this enigmatic prodigy must function together for the true Gesualdo to emerge from the shadows. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Grace Petrie: No time for panicking at The Crescent, York. Picture: Fraser West
Comedy-folk combination of the month: Little Wander and Say Owt present Grace Petrie, This Is No Time To Panic!, January 18, The Crescent, York, 7.30pm
DO you like protest songs? Neither does Grace Petrie – and she has been singing them for 15 “politically disastrous” years. No longer able to meet the desperate hopes of left-wing audiences, the “British folk scene’s funniest lesbian” reckons there is no better time for a feel-good show.
After making her stand-up debut in 2022 with Butch Ado About Nothing, she combines music and comedy for the first time in This Is No Time To Panic! “I know folk songs can’t save the world, and neither can stand-up, but both at the same time?” ponders Petrie. “Read it and weep, Putin!” Box office for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.
York Residents’ Festival: Weekend of experiences, attractions and offers
Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1
ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.
Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.
Self Esteem: Headlining Live At York Museum Gardens on July 10
Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10, 5pm
SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin being booked for July 9.
Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.
Nigel Burnham: The Band Room founder, concert promoter, journalist and music critic
THE funeral of The Band Room founder Nigel Burnham will be held at St Mary’s Church, Farndale, near Kirkbymoorside, on Thursday(8/1/2026) at 1pm.
Concert promoter, journalist and music critic Nigel passed away peacefully at St Leonard’s Hospice, York, on December 1 2025, aged 74, having written typically eloquently of his cancer diagnosis.
“I’m dying of cancer,” he wrote for the March 25 edition of Daily Mail +. “If your GP dismisses your symptoms or offers you Viagra instead of a life-saving test, beware. Too many are slipping the cracks like me: Nigel Burnham.”
Nigel, of East Farndale, held his first concert in August 1995, presenting the legendary Cajun band Balfa Toujours in the moorland wood and corrugated iron shed in “the middle of nowhere”, or more precisely, the “Daffodil Valley” hamlet of Low Mill that had first served as a silver band rehearsal room.
“There was a full moon, and it was so hot and sticky, very Mardi Gras and swampy, you could almost have been in New Orleans,” he recalled in 2014. “Since then I’ve lost count of the number of times people have exited the venue and looked upwards in amazement at the black velvet skies crackling with billions of stars.”
On that September night, Nigel speculated: “Could we reasonably claim to be England’s best Dark Sky music venue?”, asking concert-goers to bring binoculars to Tiny Ruins’ show. Six years later, in December 2020, the North York Moors National Park was designated an International Dark Sky Reserve.
“Astronomy has always been a bit of a leitmotif for me,” he said of the scientific study of celestial objects, space, and the universe, but Nigel was a star gazer in more ways than one, spotting talent that would go on to shine all the more brightly after playing the 100-capacity Band Room, its white walls bathed in a comforting womb of red light.
Tim Burrows, left, Mark Ellis and Nigel Burnham: The team behind the concert programming at The Band Room
Mark Ellis, one of Nigel’s team on regular duty on gig nights, says: “Nigel had a good nose for sniffing out new artists to play The Band Room long before anyone had really heard of them, like Willy Mason, Howe Gelb, The Handsome Family, Jesca Hoop, Michael Hurley, Valerie June, and many others. Sure enough, a year later, they would pop up on Jools Holland or be playing Glastonbury.
“He had a passion for country/folk music and keeping it live; the Band Room accommodated that perfectly. His musical knowledge was encyclopaedic. In the early days before social media, we travelled all over the North East to see artists we fancied getting to play the Band Room.”
Mark, who also runs the Dry Stone Wall Maze in the heart of Dalby Forest, continues: “Nige loved to reminisce about various bands he’d seen in his youth, the Sex Pistols in Doncaster, 1977, the [Rolling] Stones in Hyde Park, 1969, and I seem to remember him talking about wanting to see The Beatles in 1963 but his Dad wouldn’t let him go because he felt he was too young. His older brother was able to tell him all about it when he got back.”
Describing The Band Room as being “like no other venue you’ll ever stumble upon”, Nigel delivered to Low Mill such acts as post-Catatonia Cerys Matthews; Vashti Bunyan, after her long hiatus from the folk scene; Richmond Fontaine; Laura Veirs; Eilen Jewell; Caitlin Rose; York singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich; Martin and Eliza Carthy, from Robin Hood’s Bay; Ryley Walker & Danny Thompson; The Weather Station; Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo; Johnny Dowd and Hiss Golden Messenger.
The Handsome Family’s Brett and Rennie Sparks, the gothic Americana duo from Albuquerque, called The Band Room “the greatest small venue on Earth”; singer-songwriter Howe Gelb, from Tucson, Arizona, enthused, “It’s got a great vibe…and werewolves too”.
“We’ve had people fly over from Hong Kong to see a show at The Band Room,” said Nigel on the Band Room website. “A couple of guys flew in from Ohio to see The Groundhogs. And a Russian music fan showed up with his Hungarian girlfriend to see a band they had missed at Glastonbury.
“What’s so special about the venue? We think it’s because everyone’s blown away by the beauty of the location, the purity of the acoustic, the instantaneously magical atmosphere of a little wood-panelled room with no noisy bar to contend with (you bring your own drinks).”
The Handsome Family’s Brett and Rennie Sparks, who called The Band Room “the greatest small venue on Earth”
Mark says Nigel was attending gigs right up until the end of his life. “He was putting on shows at the Band Room – Steve Gunn and Sam Moss in 2025 – even when he was too poorly to see them himself.
“It was always for fun; nobody made any money out of it. It was just a group of friends [Nigel, Mark and Tim Burrows] putting on shows that they wanted to see and share. He also provided an opportunity for local artists to play their first shows, specifically Katie Lou McCabe, Charly McCabe, Nessy Williamson and Amy May Ellis.
“He was a warm, kind and humorous man, who always saw the funny side of life and would say farewell with a peace sign. Peace and love Nige, you will be missed.”
Further tributes are being gathered at https://nigelburnham.muchloved.com. One, by Susan, remembers Nigel driving his Land Rover around the field below Hillmead, held together with tinfoil and scrapped only days later.“When we lived in Leeds, Royal Park Avenue, I remember trudging up the hill to the phone box to telephone through to NME [New Musical Express] Nigel’s latest music review. (Trudging and a bit grudging on cold winter nights!),” she writes.
“I was stand-in for Emma Ruth, Nigel’s alter-ego in the music papers. Always fun, always a new adventure. His other alter-ego was Des Moines. Always funny and good with words. Unforgettable. Thank you Nigel. Rest in peace.”
Another, posted by Sandy, recalled “being drawn initially by his big red hair and flamboyant persona”. “I can picture him now at Hillmead, playing music, scoring beverages (never making tea or coffee) and warming the living room with his beautiful smile. I can’t believe he’s gone, and he will be much missed,” she writes.
Thursday’s funeral will be followed by a private cremation. Nigel will be very sadly missed by all his family and friends. Family flowers only, please, but donations if desired may be given to St Leonard’s Hospice and church funds; a plate will be provided at the service.
Farewell, Nigel, you knew how to tell’em; you knew how to pick’em; you knew how to sell’em.
Tiny Ruins in 2014
LET the final words go to Nigel Burnham, talent spotter, word weaver and chilled host, here tempting Band Room devotees to discover the joys of his latest new discovery, Tiny Ruins, in his website posting for September 5 2014.
“Tiny Ruins, by the way, is New Zealander Hollie Fullbrook. Gorgeous voice, crisp finger-picker, Hollie has spent the last three years touring the world opening for Beach House, Joanna Newsom, Fleet Foxes, The Handsome Family, Calexico and, in April and May, for Crowded House’s Neil Finn, with whom she also played,” he wrote.
“Her classy new album, Brightly Painted One on the Bella Union label, takes in folk, blues and pop, revealing similarities to Laura Marling, Karen Dalton and Sandy Denny, and heralds – oh come on, let’s get down off of the fence – the arrival of a bona-fide genius.”
Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcast Episode 253: Farewell Nigel Burnham
TWO Big Egos In A Small Car podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson reflect on Nigel Burnham’s contribution to the North Yorkshire music scene at The Band Room. Listen at: https://www.buzzsprout.com/admin/1187561/episodes/18456039 from 11.48.
York author Ben Porter with a copy of his latest book, Kids Just Wanna Fly, pictured at York Theatre Royal
YORK author, poet, photographer, filmmaker, publisher and York Creatives founder Ben Porter charts the growing pains and gains of life between age ten and 20 in his new photobook.
Published by his own independent publishing house, Overt Books, Kids Just Wanna Fly takes “a leap into the unknown, captured on disposable cameras, Polaroids, cheap point & shoots and early iPhones”.
“It’s a tale youthful ambition, aspiration and the quest to craft an identity through the tumultuous years of young adulthood,” says Ben. “Unfolding mostly between 2003 and 2013, it’s a raw portrait of youth in the pre-Smartphone era and life growing up in post-industrial northern England.
“The book asks you to consider how much of your ten-year-old self was left in you at 20? How the youthful energy of your teen years shaped the person you became, perhaps in spite of where society tried to direct it.
“It challenges you to think about the value of first-time experiences, of hazy memories that blend fact with fiction, and the advice you ultimately decide to pass on to the next generation.”
Launched at Patch@Bonding Warehouse as part of the Aesthetica Fringe at the 2025 Aesthetica Short Film Festival, Kids Just Wanna Fly complements 73 of Porter’s youthful photographs with “heartfelt” short stories and poems by eight contributing authors.
Seven hail from York: Kitty Greenbrown’s Stand And Face The Wind; Kathryn Tann’s The Sky Inside A Puddle; Atlas Rook’s Four Seconds; Luke Downing’s Snapshots; Bram Jarman’s Stood On Your Own Two Feet; Angel Jones’s Concerto and Jay Ventress’s Canvases, joined by Sheffield writer Oliver Manning’s When I Grow Up.
“Instead of doing the writing myself this time, I wanted to broaden it out to other people’s experiences, to go with my ‘roughly chronological’ photos (more in terms of telling the story, rather than when they were taken,” says Ben.
“Giving them a very loose brief to reflect on how much of their ten-year-old self was still there when they were 20, I gave them a set of images to respond to. Their contributions have beautifully brought to life the many emotions of young adulthood.”
Thanking everyone featured in his photographs for “contributing towards making my journey through life an utter thrill”, he says: “I took the images on disposable cameras, cheap consumer digitals and first-generation iPhones, before modern camera technology matured. Intimate and imperfect, they embody the raw possibility of a time when everything felt wide open.
Out of the blue: here comes Ben Porter’s book, Kids Just Wanna Fly
“Every picture was carefully selected because it represents an important part of the story – one of a child developing into adulthood, doing their best to navigate their own path in the face of so many conflicting directions,” he says.
Ben’s preface could not better express the vision and mission of a book “charged with youthful movement, capturing the exuberance, confusion and hopefulness of adolescence”. “We are reincarnated many times throughout our teenage years,” he writes. “We try on personas like outfits, switching between social circles that each have different cultures and expectations.
“We have no idea what the world wants from us, nor what we can reasonably offer. Our hopes of who we want to become hang delicately, forever at risk of being crushed before we grow the confidence to stand by them.
“We receive conflicting advice from elders, who we begin to realise have just as many questions as we do, and no convincing answers. All we can do is jump, and hope we fly, for a little while.”
Kids Just Wanna Fly follows Porter’s earlier photobook, Wanderings & Wonderings, his November 2024 exploration of the relationship between humans and nature that was marked by a meditative stillness that contrasts with the new book’s youthful exuberance.
“I’ve been a photographer all my life, but with no exhibitions at that point, but I really enjoyed doing that book, where I picked photos from a folder called ‘Nature, containing 300-400 from over 100,000 pictures I’d taken, spread 200 on the floor, then came up with the theme of our interaction with nature,” says Ben, whose book combined images with his poetic ‘reflections and provocations”.
Wanderings & Wonderings’ release was accompanied by his debut exhibition at Angel on the Green, in Bishopthorpe Road, where Ben’s photos were on show from November 2024 to March 2025.
“When I thought, ‘what should I do next?’, I went through my hard drives, going back to 2003, and just grabbed stuff off there, anything that caught my interest or images that I didn’t think I could capture again, with a theme of memory.
“Looking back, I was pushing boundaries as a child in Sheffield, annoying my parents, trying to see what I could get away with, like spending our time climbing old industrial Sheffield buildings..
“We always took pictures on family holidays, and I really got the bug for photography when watching skateboarding videos. I’d go skateboarding, take the camera with me, do bad videos and then rather better photographs – and those images are now more interesting than they were back then.”
Two photographs from Ben Porter’s stock of images from 2003 to 2013 for Kids Just Wanna Fly
Explaining the choice of book title, Ben says: “The flight image kept coming up. I thought, ‘why was that’, but then I looked back at how you know what you want to be at ten, but at 20, we’re not so sure, when others might have influenced you. It’s about aspiration. At ten you want to project into the future, and it doesn’t come into your head that you might not succeed.
“It’s that lack of fear, and Kids Just Wanna Fly is such a wonderful metaphor for kids to keep on trying…until parents or teachers convince them not to do so.” How apt that Ben should sign his book for CharlesHutchPress with the message: “It’s never too late to keep trying to fly.”
Ben grew up as the eldest of five brothers, sons of the Right Reverent Matthew Porter. “Our father was the vicar of a small parish church and he was the reason we moved to York from Sheffield in 2008 when he took over as vicar of St Michael le Belfrey,” says Ben. “He’s now the Bishop of Bolton, one of three Bishops for Manchester, looking after Bolton and Salford.
“My dad was working a lot, and my mum had her hands full looking after the children. I remember being frustrated that my parents wouldn’t let me go further than ten minutes from the house until secondary school at Birkdale. That required two bus rides, which took an hour, or 90 minutes to walk, and if it wasn’t raining, I would walk back home.
“From the age of 12-13, I thought of myself as adult, as the leader, with my youngest brother, David, being 11 years younger than me. I’d find that we would sit around not making decisions unless I did, so often I’d make a decision without adults around, but at that age you don’t know what the best option is, so often you make terrible decisions and someone gets hurt.”
Ben’s folder of photographic images from his passage through teenage days was once called “Rebelliousness”. “That was the underlying theme, and the first title I came up with for the book was ‘Once We Were Beautiful’, but some people said that sounded too sad, and it didn’t quite capture what I wanted to get across, whereas Kids Just Wanna Fly does,” says Ben.
“The beauty of being young is trying to do something you might not able to do, and what we do as photographers is pick the ones that resonate the most. They tend to be the ones that are photogenic, which is also why I changed the title as I didn’t want it to be shallow.”
Kids Just Wanna Fly, by Ben Porter, is published by Overt Books at £22 in hardback, £14 in paperback, available from overtbooks.com.
More photographs from Ben Porter’s Kids Just Wanna Fly
Ben Porter on York Creatives
“THE precursor was Plastic Fortune, which we started in 2014 to showcase creativity and alternative culture in York,” says Ben. “In 2016 I renamed it as York Creatives and became managing director and chair. My vision was to assemble 50 people but it grew to 300 – it was at the time when the Arts Barge was being slagged of as a ‘vanity project’.
“People had said, ‘where do you get funding for York Creatives?’, when there was already York Professionals for professionals in the city, but I just thought, ‘I’ll start York Creatives anyway’.”
Founder Ben has stepped back, now that he has a six-month-old son, Jacob. “I can still be involved in the strategy of the group, but now Sarah Williams in the managing director and John Rose-Adams is the chair, ” he says.
York Creatives is a free-to-join network that provides an online forum for arts conversations and sends out a monthly newsletter of upcoming arts events to 3,500 people, with details of upcoming opportunities.
In-person events include Creative Drinks on the first Friday of each month at Patch@Bonding Warehouse (having been held previously at Spark:York, with the capacity now doubling from 50 to 100).
Pop-up events for different arts sectors are held too. Board members cover the fields of art, design, poetry, performance, film, gaming, photography, creative writing and literature. “They’re all encouraged to organise events for their sub-sectors,” says Ben.
The cover artwork for Benjamin Porter’s book, York’s Creative Spaces
“I see York Creatives as a hub for finding out what’s going on in the city, to sign-post other things that are going on and to link people new to the city with what’s happening.
“There’s also an option to become a York Creatives supporter for £2.50 a month, giving access to events, or otherwise entry to events costs £5. A Pro option costs £6.25 a month with a bunch of other benefits.”
Ben Porter on Overt Books
BEN Porter set up the independent York publishing house Overt Books to publish artist books.
“I founded it as the next step in the journey, to help local creatives put their ideas to the page in the form of beautiful yet affordable artist books,” he says.
Already Overt Books has released Ben’s first book, York’s Creative Spaces, a collection of photographs and interviews profiling the studios, workshops, galleries, creative offices and independent venues of York.
“This book documents the quirky, historic, repurposed spaces York’s creative community inhabits and creates work from,” says Ben.
York floral artist Lesley Birch, whose book Flower Power is published by Overt Books. Picture: Esme Mai Photography
Next came Ben’s Wanderings & Wonderings and, in 2025, York floral artist Lesley Birch’s Flower Power, whose release is accompanied by an exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, that will run until mid-January.
“In 2026, we’ll be looking to publish works by a small number of local artists, which we hope to build upon each year. If you’ve got an idea for an artist book that you would like to discuss, contact me via hi@overtbooks.com. If you want to turn your work into a picture publication, I’d love you to get in touch.”
Coming next will be Katie Lou McCabe’s book of analogue photography, A Darkroom Exploration Of Ancient Egypt And The Quantum Void. “It’s a mixture of reflections on how she got into analogue photography, and the things she thinks about when processing in her darkroom on the North York Moors,” says Ben.
“She has linked together an Ancient Egypt creation myth about light and the sun with developments in quantum physics, discovering that if you keep breaking particles down, inside there is light, so as a photographer it’s fascinating to her that everything is made up of light.”
Did you know?
BEN Porter manages co-working office space for businesses in six rooms in premises next to the Golden Fleece, in Pavement, York.
Did you know too?
IN 2010, Ben Porter formed the band Likely Lads. “We were very much influenced by the indie bands of the time, such as Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines,” he says. “That band folded in late-2014, and we became The Blue Dawns. Our last album came out three years ago,” he says.
Robin Herford directing rehearsals for the 2025-2026 tour of The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet
ROBIN Herford commissioned and directed Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel The Woman In Black at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough in 1987.
First performed in the SJT bar over the Christmas season, it transferred to the London stage, where it ran for 33 years, including 13,000 performances at the Fortune Theatre, before closing in March 2023.
More than seven million people have seen Mallatratt’s play in the UK since the SJT premiere of its tale of elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps being convinced that a curse has been placed on his family by the spectre of the Woman in Black.
When Kipps hires an initially sceptical young actor to help him recount his story, as they delve into his past, the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur.
Now Herford is directing PW Productions’ 2025-2026 tour with a cast of John Mackay and Daniel Burke. Ahead of next week’s return to the Grand Opera House, York, he discusses The Woman In Black’s Scarborough premiere, longevity on the London stage, directorial challenges and ever-changing casts.
Did you anticipate The Woman In Black would have such a long life when it first opened at the SJT in 1987?
“No, absolutely not! When I commissioned my friend Stephen Mallatratt to adapt Susan Hill’s ghost story for the stage in the autumn of 1987, it was to run over Christmas for three and a half weeks in the bar of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, a space which doubled as an occasional studio theatre seating 70 people.
“We had a tiny budget, £1,000 for the set and costumes, enough money to pay for a maximum of four actors, and a very restricted acting area, so it had to be staged very ingeniously. Stephen’s brilliant solution – to turn it into a piece for only two speaking actors – actually meant we didn’t use up all of our allotted resources.
“By the end of the run, which went very well, we dared to wonder if it might warrant a London production.”
What happened next?
“We found a producer, Peter Wilson, who was willing to support us, and opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in January 1989. Favourable reviews enabled us to move into the Strand, then the Playhouse, and finally the Fortune Theatre by June of that year, where we stayed for 33 years. Extraordinary.”
What changes, if any, have you made to the production over that time?
“In essence, the play has changed very little. Moving into larger theatres gave us greater scope for special effects, for example the addition of a hidden staircase at the back of the stage, but its basic simplicity has been preserved, because that is built into the concept of how the story is told.
“Two people alone in an empty theatre, and the whole auditorium is the set – not just what happens on the stage – a fact which really unsettles audiences, since it is no longer their ‘safe space’.
“I have tried to create a product which can expand or contract to fit whatever size of theatre we are playing. We use the magic of theatre, with such basic tools of light/darkness and sound/silence to build tension and atmosphere, and all the time, I have tried to ensure that the audience’s imagination continues to be the main driver to the action of the play. I show as little as possible and try to rely instead on the power of suggestion.”
John Mackay as Arthur Kipps, left, and Daniel Burke as The Actor in The Woman In Black
How does returning to a project differ from working on something new?
“Returning to a project may seem for a director to be a safe option, engendering a feeling of confidence and security, but for the new cast of actors, it is absolutely a new experience as they bring their own imaginations, intelligence and emotional responses into contact with the script, and this means a renewed, fresh show.
“Though the way the production works might remain largely unchanged, the characters created by the actors will be enormously diverse.”
How have you kept the theatre magic alive after so many years?
“Again, it’s the transfusion of new blood that a new cast brings to the play which keeps the magic alive. But also, it’s the freshness of response from new audiences, who are such a vital component in the theatre experience.
“To perform a story to a group of people at the same moment, who have come together on that day with a common purpose to hear that story, is really powerful and carries its own magic.”
How do you feel when you hear audience reactions to The Woman In Black?
“Audiences react to this play in a surprising variety of ways. As a rule, people don’t expect to be frightened in a theatre, but this play seems to buck this trend. Quite often, they will come expecting to be scared and react accordingly.
“Sometimes, they are not quite sure how they will respond and are surprised to hear themselves yelp involuntarily, often leading to laughter immediately afterwards. Sometimes, the play is received in silence, the audience reserving their appreciation until the curtain call, when at other times, a lot of humour is discovered in the early exchanges. There is no ‘right’ way to respond.
“This play particularly appeals to young people, and I take huge pleasure in seeing our next generation of theatregoers finding a show they can relate to and appreciating it to the full. Teachers find it a very fruitful piece to teach from, celebrating, as it does, the art of acting, as well as the simple joys of live theatre.”
Why do you think we as audience members enjoy being scared?
“I find this hard to answer, since I don’t particularly enjoy being scared as a member of an audience! I tend to switch off when presented with too much blood and gore, or by the wildly improbable.
“With this play, the story it relates is tragic and horrible, but it is also a very believable, human story, and we really care about all the people affected by its outcome. It’s a play about courage in the face of really challenging circumstances, demonstrated in contrasting ways.
The Woman In Black has starred such actors as Frank Finlay, Edward Petherbridge, Joseph Fiennes and Martin Freeman.Does each cast bring something fresh to the production?
“We’ve already talked about the immense contribution made by actors to the show. Those four actors, two hugely established, and two right at the start of their careers (it was Joseph Fiennes’ first professional job, whom I cast while he was still at drama school!) demonstrates the huge variety of actors who have stepped up and brought their own particular brand of magic to this show. I have indeed been blessed.”
The Woman In Black haunts Grand Opera House, York, from January 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Joshua Arnold and Therine: On the bill for A Feast Of Fools III at the Black Swan
N his first guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.
Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7.30pm, doors 7pm
WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.
On the bill are Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony; North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of British folk songs; Pefkin, whose ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.
Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine and Alice Rose’s Snow White in Pickering Musical Society’s pantomime Snow White
First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25
DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and writer by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes.
The show features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.
Harry Summers in rehearsal for the role of Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime
Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm
BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.
Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
To her Eternal Shame: Sue Perkins announces return to the comedy circuit after more than a decade
Amusing musings of the month:The Eternal Shame Of Sue Perkins, Grand Opera House, York, January 18, 7.30pm
YOU may know her as Bake-Off Sue, Taskmaster Sue, Just A Minute Sue, or the Sue that gives you travel envy, but stand-up Sue is full of surprises. In this new show, Sue Perkins shares the unlikely happenings from a career in the spotlight.
What’s the fallout when your pituitary gland goes haywire on live TV? How do you convince the public you didn’t really fall on to that vacuum cleaner attachment? And when intimate photos are splashed all over the internet, how do you switch the shame to dignity and joy? Find out in Perkins’ first live show in more than a decade, wherein shedelivers a humorous treatise on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Deadpan Players’ poster for their Star Wars sci-fi and AI spoof at the JoRo
The spoof, the whole spoof and nothing but the spoof:Deadpan Players in Star Wars: May The Farce Be With You, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 23, 7.30pm, and January 24, 2pm and 7.30pm
IN a time of deep unrest, rebel forces are fighting for survival. Led by Garth Vader, the Empire has created a sinister network called The Dark Web, through which Vader could travel back in time to crush the rebellion. Plucky Princess Slaya has encrypted and uploaded the password, along with a desperate cry for help to cute droid R2Ai.
Can Fluke Skywalker decipher the message, find Only One Kenobi, enlist the help of rogue pilot Ham Solo and the legendary, if rather pungent, Gedi Master, the diminutive but powerful “Odour”, then rescue the Princess and save the Galaxy? Find out by attending this fundraising event, with all proceeds going to Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Candlelighters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Mike Joyce: Recollections of five years on the drummer’s stool with The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre
On the beat: Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm
DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.
To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
York Residents’ Festival 2026: Weekend of free attractions, experiences and offers
Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1
ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.
Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.
Self Esteem: Headlining Futuresound’s July 10 bill at Live At York Museum Gardens
Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10, 5pm
SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin being booked for July 9.
Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.
