Category: Theatre

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REVIEW: Wharfemede Productions in The Addams Family Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday ****

Meet the Addams Family and their butler in Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical: Abbie Law’s Wednesday, left, Matthew Warry’s Pugsley, Henrietta Linnemann’s Morticia, Chris Gibson’s Lurch, Zander Fick’s Gomez, Nick Sephton’s Uncle Fester and Rosy Rowley’s Grandma. Picture: Simon Trow

JOKE shop bats and giant cobwebs and director Helen “Bells” Spencer in a rather fetching wig greet Halloween week theatregoers on the stairway to Wharfemede Productions’  production of The Addams Family Musical.

Enter the black box theatre, where more bats and cobwebs fill the walls, and it is immediately striking how the audience is younger than usual at Theatre@41, now full of families. All this week’s performances are sold out, such is the reach of Netflix’s two seasons of Wednesday,  whose visual style carries the hallmarks of executive producer Tim Burton, full of fashion flair and camply dark humour while making Jenny Ortega “Gen Z’s scream queen”.

Combining properly tuneful music and smart lyrics by Andrew Lippa, worthy of musical theatre’s golden age, with a deeply kooky, devilishly witty book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, The Addams Family Musical spreads the focus more broadly, while giving the headline story to Abbie Law’s sourpuss Wednesday.

She may have a perma-scowl and carry a crossbow, but Wednesday Addams has fallen in love with a “normal” young  man, Dan Crawfurd-Porter’s floppy fringed, chisel-jawed Lucas Beineke, looking every inch the college jock in his varsity bomber jacket.

The masked Ancestors in director Helen Spencer’s nod to commedia dell arte in Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family. Picture: Simon Trow

When Wednesday invites Lucas’s ultra-respectable parents (Steven Jobson’s Mal and Connie Howcroft’s Alice) to dinner, two cultures will clash: the uptight Beinekes, from Ohio, with their unfortunate propensity for wearing yellow, and the eccentric, louche, strangely attractive Addams Family, from metropolitan, arty New York, with their penchant for black in both humour and clothing.

From the familiar theme tune opening to the disembodied hand in the picture frame and two cameo appearances by Cousin Itt (Lao Singhateh, face hidden beneath all that hair), everything is in place for a musical comedy that nods to the nostalgic TV past but also finds it own character, not least through the ghostly presence of the Ancestors, at the beck and call of Nick Sephton’s Uncle Fester.

Drawing on her own commedia dell’arte training in Italy, Spencer kits them out in masks – made with a 3D printer by Sephton – to complement their white clothing to add to their contrast to the Addams family members.

Each family member or retainer is established quickly, from Rosy Rowley’s loose-cannon Grandma to Chris Gibson’s taciturn, towering, gloom-and-doom butler Lurch and Matthew Warry’s Pugsley, whose unconventional relationship with sister Wednesday is rooted in stoic acceptance of being the target of her experiments in torture.

Zander Fick, the classically trained South African singer and actor – and software engineering director by day – has excelled on the York stage since his arrival in 2023 and here he gives his best performance yet as Gomez Addams, the father who often has to think on his feet to cover his initial actions.

Hair slicked back and turned jet black, pinstripe suit as immaculate and neat as his pencil moustache, accent a conflation of Hispanic and American, his Gomez leads the show with a showman’s panache, eyebrow-raised comic timing, nimble feet and a wondrous singing voice.

He combines delightfully with the glacial hauteur of Henrietta Linnemann’s Morticia, his elegant, aloof wife with her exacting standards and often contrasting strategy.  She sings superbly too, whether solo in Just Around The Corner or in the stand-out duet, Live Before We Die, with Fick’s Gomez.

Howcroft, always such a thrilling singer, brings the house down at the climax to Act One with her no-holds-barred rendition of Waiting, while Sephton’s love-struck Fester sings to his true love, the Moon at her fullest, in The Moon And Me, the show’s most unexpected yet beautiful moment.

Howcroft’s choreography is another joy, utilising the Ancestors to the max, capitalising on the clash between the itchy feet of Fick’s Gomez and sang-froid of Linnemann’s Morticia and exploring  the differing physicality within the company, not least Gibson’s lumbering Lurch and Rowley’s crumpled Grandma,  to humorous effect.

Musical director James Robert Ball has a ball with Lippa’s wonderful songs, his band at once playful and diligent, sprightly and fun.

Wharfemede Productions bring the “wonderfully weird world” of the distinctly dysfunctional Addams Family to glorious Gothic life, perfectly timed for Halloween. As Spencer puts it, “Beneath all the darkness, eccentricity and wonderfully questionable behaviour lies a story about love, belonging and celebrating things that make us different.” And that, by the way, is the very essence of theatre, whether performing or watching.

Wharfemede Productions present The Addams Family Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. SOLD OUT. For returns only: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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Strictly legends reunite as ‘Rat Pack of dance’ for glitz and glamour of Vegas: After Hours at York Barbican on November 4

Enjoying Vegas: After Hours: Strictly legends Pasha Kovalev, left, Brendan Cole, Vincent Simone, Ian Waite and James Jordan

STRICTLY Come Dancing legends Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite are on the road again, this time with Vegas:  After Hours.  

York Barbican awaits on November 4, after playing host to The Return Of The Legends on September 20 last year.

The terpsichorean quintet is promising “a breathtaking brand new show that captures all the glitz, glamour and excitement of Las Vegas, where the dance floor never sleeps”, bringing the spirit of Sin City to York in the company of their female dance partners.

Expect “stunning routines and non-stop entertainment, all set to a soundtrack inspired by the greatest Las Vegas performers of all time”. “Neon lights and electric nights, roulette tables spinning, glamorous showgirls, dazzling casinos, desert sunsets, lavish pool parties, whirlwind weddings, iconic hotels and world-class entertainment, Vegas: After Hours captures it all in one unforgettable evening,” promise Brendan and co.

“Anyone who saw our last two shows will tell you that a Vegas-themed show is the perfect next step for us,” says Brendan of the 31-date tour that runs from October 3 to November 8. “We are the Rat Pack of dance and we’re going to have a Vegas-style party. It’s going to be a riot.” 

James Jordan says: “We spent the last two years proving to everyone that we’ve still got it, so as long as my body holds up, I look forward to bringing our most dazzling dance spectacular yet, with my brothers in dance, to audiences across the UK.”

Called to the bar: The Legends raise a glass to their Vegas: After Hours tour as Brendan Cole, left, James Jordan, Ian Waite, Pasha Kovalev and Vincent Simone prepare to turn York Barbican into a dancefloor. Picture: Ryan Howard

Russian Latin and ballroom dancer  Pasha Kovalev exclaims: “Vegas, baby! The Legends shows have been such a blast, but I’ve got a feeling Vegas: After Hours is going to top them all!”

Vincent Simone says: “As if I haven’t got myself into enough trouble every single night of our last two tours together, our brand new show is inspired by Sin City. What could possibly go wrong? I can’t wait for everybody to find out!”

Ian Waite enthuses: “After having an absolute blast on tour with the guys, it’s now all about Vegas: After Hours for 2026. Maximum glitz, maximum glamour. I’m already there.”

One of the original professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, New Zealander Brendan appeared in every Strictly season until 2017, winning the coveted Glitterball trophy in the first series with celebrity partner Natasha Kaplinsky and later partnering presenter and actress Kelly Brook, supermodel Rachel Hunter and singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor, among others.

Now he feels happier than ever on the dance floor at 50. “There’s a maturity that comes with it now,” he says. “I was a better dancer 20 years ago, slicker, faster, but I prefer how I dance now. Looking back, it was bl**dy good,  if I don’t mind saying so myself, but now there’s an ease and beauty that my dancing didn’t have then.”

Whether in Legends Of The Dance Floor in 2024, The Return Of The Legends last year or Vegas: After Hours now, Brendan loves the camaraderie of the Strictly five. “We try to be a bit naughty, not too naughty, well, a little bit too naughty! We’re five I’d-like-to-say grown men, but we’re more like children!” he says.

“Audiences are enjoying it, we’ve been enjoying it, and we’ve been doing it for three years now, finding our feet again in the first few days of rehearsals. “

The tour poster for The Legends in Vegas: After Hours

Did he expect The Legends concept to succeed? “I was concerned at first, especially because egos can be huge,” says Brendan. “Our producer, Stephen Howard, came to us with the idea, after my wife first suggested ten years ago that we should get together, but at that time I said it would never work, but now we’re more mature in age, if not in mind, and we no longer have those egos.

“It was like we’d never been apart, mucking about again! The camaraderie was there, the chemistry was right – and it was an intangible feeling too.”

The Legends shows are directed and choreographed by Scott Coldwell. “He was new to the five of us, but he’s been on the scene for a while and he’s a fantastic dancer with a great vision,” says Brendan. “It’s not often you get five egos like ours that get together and give the choreography to someone else, and there may be bits thrown in where you think ‘I don’t want to do this’, but there’s no ‘I’ in team.

“We get it that it’s about being a greater show for Scott wanting to make us all look as good as we can be – and in some ways the girls are the stars of the show as dancers that we’ve each worked with over the years.”

Explaining the Vegas: After Hours title, Brendan says “After Hours” does not mean “being naked or effing and blinding”: “We’re five naughty boys just wanting to make a great theatre show for Strictly fans. It’s elegant with fun numbers too with a great combination of things that you liked about the old Strictly.”

Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite in The Legends in Vegas: After Hours, York Barbican, November 4, 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk or via legendsofthedancefloor.com.

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REVIEW: Melting Pot & Birmingham Rep in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Grand Opera House, York ***

Alex Keenan’s neurodivergent teenager Chris encountering a phalanx of police officers in Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep’s The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Picture: Johan Persson

IT would be unfair to compare and contrast Ned Bennett’s new vision of Simon Stephens’s stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel with Marianne Elliott’s remarkable piece of total theatre for the National Theatre (and subsequent tours), a show that defined the possibilities of movement (by Frantic Assembly), set design (Bunny Christie) and lighting (Paule Constable), integrated with music and video.

The new ‘Curious Incident’ must stand or fall on its own virtues. Nevertheless, all those ingredients are present anew in Bennett’s reinvention, one that is more playful yet darker, the language more visceral, the adults harsher. 

The one key change, beyond the addition of Minecraft and the teenage lead character not being allowed a mobile phone, is that 15-year-old Christopher Boone is now female: Chris, played by Alex Keenan and matinee alternate Imi Price, who are both neurodivergent, like Chris.

Joe McFadden’s Ed, Chris’s exasperated dad, in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Picture: Johan Persson

Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep’s touring production takes care to be as inclusive as possible for neurodivergent theatregoers. At the start, narrator and Chris’s teacher Siobhan (Bridgette Amofah) steps through the curtain to explain how each performance will be “relaxed”, retaining the auditorium lighting on a low level and using a gradually rising sound to build to moments of highest commotion.

This decision comes in response to reports of neurodivergent  audience members having found the National Theatre production too loud, too bright. Furthermore, Eleanor Bull’s set design has taken great care in its choice of colour, and indeed the pastel tone of that colour: a soft pink (and sometimes white) to match the soft play look of the cavernous open-plan stage with its moveable foam blocks for beds and more besides.

Everything is seen through the eyes and notebook notes of Keenan’s Swindon teen Chris, albeit sometimes filtered through the mouth of the narrator, as the science, Maths and rat-loving teenager opens the play prone over the newly dead dog of potty-mouthed neighbour Mrs Shears (Alex Murdoch).

Alex Keenan’s Chris with her mother, Charlie Brooks’s Judy, in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Picture: Johan Persson

Wellington’s body has been skewered by a gardening fork. Mrs Shears duly accuses Chris. Not so, says Chris, who never lies, vowing to turn detective to find out whodunit, against the orders of her father, the ever-stressed, prone-to-shouting Ed (Joe McFadden), who is struggling both with looking after Chris and the “loss” of his wife, Judy (Charlie Brooks).

She has died in hospital, from a heart attack, he tells Chris, whose investigations will lead not only to a revelation of the dog killer but her discovery of a web of sex, lies, infidelity and general unhappiness, whereas her own disposition is one of positivity, frankness and good cheer, in the face of falling foul of the police or frustrating her father.

Bull’s design combines with Laura Deward’s lighting, Hayley Egan’s video projections, Matt Hutchinson’s puppetry and especially Jennifer Jackson’s movement direction to best effect in ensemble scenes where the supporting company plays multiple roles or rolls gymnastically, enacting what’s going on inside Chris’s head, often with a humorous physicality or verbal punch to complement the technical craft.

Take note: Alex Keenan in her remarkable performance as Chris in Ned Bennett’s production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Picture: Johan Persson

However, Scott Graham and Stephen Hoggett’s choreography was wholly superior for the National Theatre, especially in the cacophonous set-piece zenith of Chris trying to negotiate her way through the rail transport system, from Swindon to her mother’s London address via the London Underground.

Typified by Chris being trapped in a cage full of product-promoting bouncing yellow balls – her least favourite colour – the accumulative effect is to capture Chris’s befuddlement at behaviour all around her and her determination to survive against the tide of anxiety and unfathomable adversity, but sometimes there are lulls in momentum.

Less impactful, to the ultimate cost of Bennett’s production, are Chris’s more intimate, emotional family scenes, whether with McFadden’s Ed, drowned by his large chair on an otherwise barren stage more than once, or with Brooks’s apologetic Judy. The design swallows up what should be the heightened drama of these key moments.

Rising above everything, however, is Keenan’s remarkable performance, one that encapsulates Chris’s characteristics of taking every utterance literally, her dislike of being touched, her boundlessly mathematical mind, her sensory and physical discomfort with strangers.

Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep present The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. 

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Black Treacle Theatre to stage York premiere of Poor Clare, Chiara Atik’s story of St Clare and St Francis Of Assisi

Isabel Azar’s Clare helps PJ Gregan’s Francis straighten himself out in Poor Clare in rehearsal for Jim Paterson’s production

MODERN meets medieval in the York premiere of American playwright Chiara Atik’s award-winning comedy Poor Clare, presented by Black Treacle Theatre at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from November 3 to 7.

The lives of the young St Clare and St Francis of Assisi receive a fresh telling in Atik’s story of noblewoman Clare being set for marriage to a rich aristocrat and a life of wealth and privilege in 13th century Assisi.

However, she then meets a young man named Francis, whose strong faith and commitment to rejecting the established order and serving the poor sparks a change in her that makes her look at her life in a new way. Clare will go on to found the Poor Clare order of nuns.

“The play has been hailed as a hilarious and off-beat take on these established religious and historical figures, told with modern, witty dialogue,” says Black Treacle Theatre director Jim Paterson.

Premiered at the Echo Theater Company in Los Angeles in 2020, Poor Clare won the 2022 American Theatre Critics/Journalists Association’s New Play Award and the Los Angeles  Drama Critics Circle Award for Best New Play and was shortlisted for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

P J Gregan’s Francis in contemplative mode in rehearsal for Black Treacle Theatre’s Poor Clare

“I was hooked from the moment I first read Poor Clare,” says Jim. “Chiara Atik has crafted a funny and unique play that makes Clare’s story come to life, whilst also posing questions for us about our own attitudes and responsibilities when it comes to questions of poverty and inequality.”

After productions of Howard Brenton’s Anne Boleyn and Willy Russell’s Educating Rita, Poor Clare completes York company Black Treacle’s informal trilogy of productions on the theme of women who reflect the quote that “well-behaved women seldom make history”.

“Clare’s growing commitment to a better world, driven by her faith and sense of justice, drive this story in unexpected directions and I’m really proud of the work the cast and creative team have done to bring it to Theatre@41’s stage,” says Jim.

Isabel Azar, who plays Clare, says: “Clare is such a deeply relatable role. She’s a young woman figuring out her vocation and she’s so raw and honest. I love her integrity, her fervent faith and her intense hunger and thirst for righteousness.

“The beauty of this play is its message that whatever our life circumstances may be, we are called to help the less fortunate and be instruments of the Lord’s peace. My wholehearted thanks to Jim for this incredible opportunity and to my amazing fellow cast-mates for making this production pure joy.”

Isabel Azar’s Clare seeks to provide clothes for the poor of Assisi in a scene in rehearsal for Black Treacle Theatre’s Poor Clare

PJ Gregan, taking the role of Francis, says: “In the play, Francis is very far from the idyllic holy leader that we know today. He’s brash, stubborn, angry, nervous, petulant and immensely fun to play as an actor.

“It’s been a pleasure working with Jim and Isabel to craft the journey of this rebellious young man taking his first steps toward the saint he will be, even if he stumbles a little along the way. You may laugh or cry – probably both – but one thing is certain: you must see Poor Clare!”

Black Treacle Theatre in Poor Clare, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 3 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. Running time: Two hours, including interval.  

Black Treacle Theatre’s cast and creative team for Poor Clare

Clare – Isabel Azar

Alma – Emily Hansen

Beatrice – Eleanor Stephenson

Bianchi/Beggar – Ben Reeves-Rowley

Francis – PJ Gregan

Peppa – Clare Meadley

Ortolana – Victoria Delaney

Black Treacle theatre director Jim Paterson

Director – Jim Paterson

Set and prop designer – Richard Hampton

Lighting designer – Kathryn Wright

Sound designer – Sage Dunn-Krahn

Production lead – Dave Robertson

Black Treacle Theatre’s past productions

NICK Payne’s Constellations (March 2022); Gary Owen’s Iphigenia In Splott (March 2023); Nassim Soleimanpor’s White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (November 2023); Dario Fo’s Accidental Death Of An Anarchist (October 2024); Laura Wade’s The Watsons (July 2025, co-production with Joseph Rowntree Theatre); Howard Brenton’s Anne Boleyn (March 2026) and Willy Russell’s Educating Rita (June 2026).

Did you know?

VICTORIA Delaney will be performing in York productions in successive weeks. From tomorrow to Saturday, she will play “power hungry” businesswoman Kat in York Actors Collective’s York premiere of Stephanie Jacob’s three-hander power struggle The Strongbox at York Theatre Royal Studio (box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk). Next week she will appear as Ortolana in Black Treacle Theatre’s York premiere of Chiara Atik’s Poor Clare.

Victoria Delaney in rehearsal for her role as Kat in York Actors Collective’s The Strongbox, opening at York Theatre Royal Studio tomorrow

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 44, from Gazette & Herald

Alex Keenan’s Chris and Charlie Brooks’s Judy, her mum, in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, staged by Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep. Picture: Johan Persson

FROM a new female spin on ‘Curious Incident’ to Ricky Gervais’s “most personal” tour, Halloween shows to Leo Sayer’s last tour, Charles Hutchinson finds ways to brighten up darker nights.  

Reboot of the week: Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep present The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

MELTING Pot and Birmingham Rep are touring a gender-swap reboot of Simon Stephens’s inventive adaptation of Mark Haddon’s compassionate novel, in which neurodivergent 15-year-old Chris Boone is now a female role, played by Alex Keenan and matinee alternate Imi Price.

Ned Bennett’s cast features Joe McFadden as dad Ed and Charlie Brooks as absentee mum Judy in the story of Chris becoming both detective and suspect when a neighbour’s dog is discovered killed, drawing her into a mystery that grows darker and more complex with every clue uncovered. Box office: atgtickets.co.uk/york.

The Addams family in Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Halloween family entertainment of the week: Wharfemede Productions in The Addams Family Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

COMPANY co-founder Helen Spencer directs North Yorkshire company Wharfemede Productions in Andrew Lippa, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice’s devilishly funny, deeply kooky comedy The Addams Family Musical.

When Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normal” young man and invites his respectable parents to dinner, chaos, secrets and macabre mayhem ensue in this spooky celebration of family, love and embracing the wonderfully weird, replete with sharp comedy, dazzling dance numbers, a witty score and a nine-piece band. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Victoria Delaney’s Kat, left, Beryl Nairn’s Ma and Clare Halliday’s Maudie in York Actors Collective’s The Strongbox

Struggle for survival of the week: York Actors Collective in The Strongbox, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow, 2.30pm & 7.45pm, Friday, 7.45pm, and Saturday, 2pm

YORK Actors Collective presents Stephanie Jacob’s study of freedom and control, The Strongbox,  in which a mother (Beryl Nairn’s Ma) and her daughter (Victoria Delaney’s Kat) keep a homeless woman (Clare Halliday’s Maudie) as a slave in their London home. Power shifts, however, when the daughter becomes distracted by business and the mother falls ill.

“Three women learn how to live and survive by making their own rules, but at what cost?” asks director Angie Millard. “As Ma says, ‘ If you do and do and do and do to someone, can it be undone?’ That’s the question the play explores with honesty and some humour.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

New York Brass Band: Having a blast at Malton’s Milton Rooms for the fourth time

Ryedale gig of the week: New York Brass Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 7pm

NEW York Brass Band return to the Milton Rooms for a fourth party night of big tunes, huge brass sounds and plenty of dancing. York-born, New Orleans-inspired and Glastonbury festival fixtures for eight years, they have performed for Kylie Minogue, Liam Gallagher, Ellie Goulding and Jamie Oliver with their trademark infectious energy. Tickets: 07813 889085 (Ali) or newyorkbrassband.co.uk.

Leo Sayer: Playing York Barbican on “what could well be his final full UK tour”

The show must go on…for one last tour: Leo Sayer, Can’t Stop Loving You, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

AFTER almost 60 years on the road, Leo Sayer, now 78, returns to the UK stage for “what could well be his final full UK tour”. “I love performing for my fans and look forward to doing so for many more years, but this will be the last time I play so many dates across the country. I am not retiring, just slowing the number of live shows down a little,” clarifies Sayer, in a year when he is releasing his autobiography and a career-spanning box set.

Meanwhile, Brighton folk-rockers Levellers have sold out tomorrow’s return to York Barbican. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Fladam Theatre’s Florence Poskitt and Adam Sowter cooking up their Halloween show Hallowbean

Children’s Halloween show of the week: Fladam Theatre in Hallowbean, Acomb Explore, Front Street, Acomb, York today, 3pm, and Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm

FLADAM Theatre, the madcap York musical comedy duo of Florence Poskitt and Adam Sowter, head to Acomb and Helmsley with their spooktastic musical comedy Hallowbean. In the town of Ghooul, Dr Frankenheinz is rustling up his Hallowbean for the annual Halloween cooking competition, hoping his tomatoey terror will dazzle Scary Berry, the most frightful food critic of them all.

However, his ‘eeny beany’ lacks scariness. Instead she is downright lovable. Problem! “Will Halloween have to be cancelled? Or can the Hallowbean find her scare in time?” ask Fladam. Find out in this hour-long, pun and puppet-packed Halloween treat for three to ten years olds. Box office: York, https://www.tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives/2432836; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Clare (Isabel Azar) helps Francis (PJ Gregan) to straighten himself out in rehearsal for Black Treacle Theatre’s Poor Clare. Picture: Jim Paterson

Life-changing story of the week: Black Treacle Theatre in Poor Clare, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 3 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

THE lives of the young St Clare and St Francis of Assisi are the subject of American playwright Chiara Atik’s comedy Poor Clare, presented in York for the first time by Black Treacle Theatre, directed by Jim Paterson.

Noblewoman Clare (Isabel Azar) is set for marriage to a rich aristocrat and a life of wealth and privilege in 13th century Assisi, but then she meets Francis (PJ Gregan), whose strong faith and commitment to rejecting the established order and serving the poor makes her look at her life in a new way. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ricky Gervais: Returning to York Barbican next February, this time in his Legend show

Gig announcement of the week: Ricky Gervais, Legend, York Barbican, February 15 2027

COMEDIAN Ricky Gervais will return to York Barbican as one of the newly added 2027 dates on his 2026-2027 tour after all this year’s shows sold out. Already Legend has been acquired for streaming on Netflix.

“This is my most personal show so far and because both cancel culture, and most people I knew growing up, are dead, I can really say what the **** I want now,” promises Gervais, who once again will donate a portion of the ticket-sale proceeds to charity after giving £2.43 million to worldwide animal charities from his Mortality tour in 2025. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at: https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/ricky-gervais-legend.

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York Actors Collective delves into battle of wills in the all-female white heat of Stephanie Jacob’s The Strongbox

Victoria Delaney’s Kat, left, Beryl Nairn’s Ma and Clare Halliday’s Maudie in York Actors Collective’s The Strongbox

YORK Actors Collective returns to York Theatre Royal Studio next week to stage the York premiere of The Strongbox, Stephanie Jacob’s powerful study of freedom, control and servitude.

First performed in 2018 at the VAULT18 Festival at Charing Cross, London, where it won the Origins Award for Outstanding New Work, was Pick of the Festival and Jacob played the role of Kat, this 75-minute three-hander charts the changing dynamics of a mother and daughter keeping a homeless woman as a slave in their London home. Power starts to shift when the daughter becomes distracted by business and the mother falls ill.

In her sixth production since setting up York Actors Collective in 2023, Angie Millard directs a highly experienced York cast of Beryl Nairn as Ma, Victoria Delaney as daughter Kat and Clare Halliday as Maudie.

“Three women learn how to live and survive by making their own rules, but at what cost?” ponders Angie. “As Ma says, ‘if you do and do and do and do to someone, can it be undone?’ That’s the question the play explores with honesty and some humour.”

In keeping with presenting Alexander Zeldin’s Beyond Caring in 2024, Nina Raine’s Tiger Country in 2025 and Beth Steel’s Till The Stars Come Down at Theatre@41, Monkgate, in April 2026, Angie has picked a play new to York audiences.

“That’s my bag. That’s one of the things I try to do,” she says. “If there are plays you haven’t seen or by new writers, when there are too many productions of shows you already know, I want to do works that make people think, and as long as you choose carefully…”

Describing the play, Angie says: “This one is a chamber piece, about a relationship between three women with a lot of cruelty in it, but with a sad acknowledgement that that’s what life can be about.

Beryl Nairn, left, Clare Halliday and Victoria Delaney in rehearsal for Stephanie Jacob’s three-hander The Strongbox

“It’s an intense drama – 75 minutes where there’s no breathing space – and the cast really understands the intensity of their characters.  They’re three very talented actresses who are very much up for the job. It would be impossible to have an interval because the intensity of the emotions wouldn’t tolerate it.”

Angie homed in on The Strongbox after researching Stephanie Jacob’s work. “I read a couple of things she’d written and loved her style. I wrote to her to ask, ‘why can’t I get a script for The Strongbox?’, and she explained it was out of circulation as a festival play in London, but she said I could have the script rights for £10 as she’s pleased that someone wants to have a go at it.

“I’ve since had phone conversations with her, though not recently, because the author, I think she would agree, needs to butt out!”

One significant change Angie has made is to change Maudie from a teenager [aged 17] to an older woman in her 30s. “I think the play is richer for that, because Maudie’s lived through a lot, and I feel an older character suits that better,” she says. “I’m sure Stephanie would not object to that change.”

After making that alteration, “one of the things I’ve been working on with the cast since we started rehearsals in early September is the ‘status’ of the characters, thinking about where I should place them on stage, which is as important as in a Harold Pinter play,” says Angie. “There’s this constant jostling for power, where it’s a life and death struggle for them.”

The set design will play into that power struggle. “There’s a bed, a table and two chairs – minimal – which will be great for Studio where there’s not much room!”

Introducing her character of Maudie, Clare says: “She’s a northerner who’s been through the care system and is used to living on the streets. She’s basically ‘rescued’ by Ma and Kat and she’s just trying to survive.”

Victoria Delaney rehearsing her role as “power-hungry” Kat in The Strongbox

“Kat is really tough,” says Victoria, “I’m going to play her as quite androgynous, but also a woman of the world who is power hungry.”

Beryl comments: “To say Ma and Kat are not close would be an understatement, yet they’re welded together. Ma is top dog…at the moment…but she’s being very closely followed her daughter, who want to be top dog. There are lots of dark secrets that are then shockingly revealed – with the odd laugh too.”

Whereupon Victoria chips in: “Every spine-chilling play has to have an element of horror. There are some disturbing things in the play and one of them is modern-day slavery, which is not often explored in contemporary dramas.”

Playing the 80-year-old Ma, Beryl notes: “One of the other important aspects is that it’s a play about women. Tough women. Ma and Kat have this empire in chauffeur-driven cars and want to accumulate more business.”

Clare says: “Maudie is the ‘victim’ at their house but she’s waiting for her chance.”  “There’s no lead role here; they each come to the fore as the dynamic changes,” says Victoria. “They’re all fighting for power in a battle of wills, and it’s fair to say Ma and Kat hate each other but need each other.”

“There’s no trust but there is co-dependency,” says Beryl. “Everything is transactional, including the relationships.”  

York Actors Collective presents The Strongbox, York Theatre Royal Studio, October 29, 2.30pm & 7.45pm; October 30, 7.45pm; October 31, 2pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age guidance: 14 plus.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond the spooks and ghouls of Halloween. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 43, from The York Press

York drag diva Velma Celli adding vocal oomph to oompah band The Bavarian Strollers in Yorktoberfest’s big top at York Racecourse

FROM a new female spin on ‘Curious Incident’ to Yorktoberfest in a circus big top, Halloween shows to Leo Sayer’s last tour, Charles Hutchinson finds ways to brighten up darker nights.  

Festival of the week: Jamboree Entertainment presents Yorktoberfest, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, today, 1pm to 5pm & 7pm to 11pm

FOR the first time, James Cundall’s Jamboree Entertainment is staging Yorktoberfest, York’s traditional Bavarian beer festival, inside a Big Top, launched last weekend by aerial artist Zoe Kulyk twisting and tumbling from the rooftop. 

Look out today for outrageous York drag diva Velma Celli’s powerhouse singing and quick-fire critique of the costumes on display, complemented by oompah band The Bavarian Strollers’ traditional drinking songs and disco classics. Tickets: www.ticketsource.co.uk/yorktoberfest and at the entrance, subject to availability.

Ghost event of the week: The York Ghost Merchants present Mischief Night Ghost Week Trail, York Mansion House, York, today to November 1, 10.30am to 5pm, last entry 4pm

GROWING up in York, the young Guy Fawkes was a mischief-maker who caused no end of havoc for his school masters, long before he set his sights on a more famous prize. Join ghostly headmaster John Pulleyn, who needs your help to keep the peace, before Guy forks out more misrule than the city can handle!

Follow the trail around York Mansion House, solving puzzles and clues as you go. Everyone who completes the trail puzzle book successfully will be entered into a draw to win a unique ghost designed by the Ghost Merchants and inspired by the Mansion House building.  Tickets: Available on the door on the day of visit (no online sales).

Troy Hawke: “Navigating conversational minefields” at York Barbican tonight

Comedy gig of the week: Troy Hawke, Never Stop, Never Change!, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

TROY Hawke is the internet sensation creation of Michael Patrick “Milo” McCabe, the British television presenter, actor and stand-up character comedian. In Never Stop, Never Change!, angry security guards, barked compliments and crossed wires abound as Hawke navigates various conversational minefields, both online and in real life. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Freedom versus control : Sarah Belcher’s Deborah and Phil Corbitt’s Colin in the shifting sands of Alison Carr’s All At Sea at the SJT

Claustrophobic couple of the week: Stephen Joseph Theatre and Live Theatre, Newcastle, present All At Sea, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 31

MARIA Crocker directs Phil Corbitt and Sarah Belcher in All At Sea, Alison Carr’s new play inspired by the escapades of John and Anne Darwin in the early 2000s. Colin and Deborah are a couple with spiralling debt, a sky-high mortgage and seemingly nowhere to turn. Then Colin comes up with the idea of faking his own death in a canoeing accident in the North Sea for an insurance payout. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Alex Keenan’s Chris Boone and her dad, Joe McFadden’s Ed, in Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep’s The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. Picture: Johan Persson

Reboot of the week: Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep present The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Grand Opera House, York, October 27 to 31, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

MELTING Pot and Birmingham Rep are touring a gender-swap reboot of Simon Stephens’s inventive adaptation of Mark Haddon’s compassionate novel, in which neurodivergent 15-year-old Chris Boone is now a female role, played by Alex Keenan and matinee alternate Imi Price.

Ned Bennett’s cast features Joe McFadden as dad Ed and Charlie Brooks as absentee mum Judy in the story of Chris becoming both detective and suspect when a neighbour’s dog is discovered killed, drawing her into a mystery that grows darker and more complex with every clue uncovered. Box office: atgtickets.co.uk/york.

Book talk of the week: A Way With Media presents John Lydon: I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right, Harrogate Theatre, October 27, 7.30pm

JOHN Lydon – aka Johnny Rotten – is a legend, an iconoclast, a revolutionary and a punk immortal, who changed the face of music, causing a political earthquake as frontman and lyricist of the Sex Pistols and Public Image Ltd (PiL).

To coincide with A Way With Media’s special-edition boxed Flexi Bind Version of his I Could Be Wrong, I Could Be Right collection of random thoughts, life philosophies and personal anecdotes, Lydon, now 70, is undertaking a pyrotechnic, one-off tour to discuss how he sees life and to reflect on his extraordinary career, taking audience questions too. Sharing his thoughts, he could be wrong, he could be right. Box office: 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk.

Playing by the ghouls: Halloween In Concert at York Barbican

Graveyard smash of the week: Halloween In Concert, York Barbican, October 27, 7.30pm

IN a frighteningly good night of raves from beyond the grave, Halloween In Concert’s cast and band unleash a thrilling crescendo of all things Halloween. Expect big vocals and killer moves as the greatest spooky hits are resurrected, from Monster Mash, Highway To Hell, The Time Warp and Running Up That Hill to Hungry Like The Wolf, Maneater, Bat Out of Hell, She Wolf and Thriller. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The Addams family in Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical at Theatre@41, Monkgate. Picture: Simon Trow

Halloween family entertainment of the week: Wharfemede Productions in The Addams Family Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 27 to 31, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

COMPANY co-founder Helen Spencer directs North Yorkshire company Wharfemede Productions in  Andrew Lippa, Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice’s devilishly funny, deeply kooky comedy The Addams Family Musical.

When Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normal” young man and invites his respectable parents to dinner, chaos, secrets and macabre mayhem ensue in this spooky celebration of family, love and embracing the wonderfully weird, replete with sharp comedy, dazzling dance numbers, a witty score and a nine-piece band. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Scrum down for former England prop forward Joe Marler’s probing questions at York Barbican on Wednesday

Live podcast tour of the week: Joe Marler Will See You Live, York Barbican, October 28, 8pm

SINCE retiring from Rugby Union in 2024, England prop forward Joe Marler has been pushed into the mainstream by his “Big Dog” theory, people-reading prowess and relentless Traitor hunting in the 2025 debut series of The Celebrity Traitors.

This sparked his show format for Joe Marler Will See You Now, wherein Marler and his co-host and research assistant, comedian Jake Bhardwaj, apply acute observational skills to delve inside the mind of a celebrity guest with probing questions and unusual mind games. Who will be their guest in York? Find out on Wednesday night. Cue “ludicrous set-pieces and immersive audience participation”. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Christopher Leslie in his haunting one-man adaptation of Jekyll & Hyde: Unbound at York Medical Society

Halloween solo show of the week: Christopher Leslie in Jekyll & Hyde: Unbound, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, October 27 to 30, 7.30pm

YORK writer, performer and Pop Yer Clogs Theatre company member Christopher Leslie presents his haunting one-man adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “bogey tale”, here re-titled Jekyll & Hyde: Unbound.

Lawyer Gabriel John Utterson, now living a sheltered, haunted  life, invites you into the Soho house once occupied by his former client, Doctor Henry Jekyll. Tonight, Utterson will speak at last, looking into the darkness of the human psyche and asking are we really who we appear to be? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Victoria Delaney’s Kat, left, Beryl Nain’s Ma and Clare Halliday’s Maudie in York Actors Collective’s The Strongbox

York premiere of the week: York Actors Collective in The Strongbox, York Theatre Royal Studio, October 29, 2.30pm & 7.45pm, October 30, 7.45pm, and October 31, 2pm

YORK Actors Collective presents Stephanie Jacob’s study of freedom and control The Strongbox,   in which a mother (Beryl Nairn’s Ma) and her daughter (Victoria Delaney’s Kat) keep a homeless woman (Clare Halliday’s Maudie) as a slave in their London home. Power shifts, however,  when the daughter becomes distracted by business and the mother falls ill.

“Three women learn how to live and survive by making their own rules, but at what cost?” asks director Angie Millard. “As Ma says, ‘ If you do and do and do and do to someone, can it be undone?’ That’s the question the play explores with honesty and some humour.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

“I am not retiring, just slowing the number of live shows down a little,” says Leo Sayer

The show must go on…for one last tour: Leo Sayer, Can’t Stop Loving You, York Barbican, October 30, 7.30pm

AFTER almost 60 years on the road, Leo Sayer, now 78, returns to the UK stage for “what could well be his final full UK tour”. “I love performing for my fans and look forward to doing so for many more years, but this will be the last time I play so many dates across the country. I am not retiring, just slowing the number of live shows down a little,” clarifies Sayer, in a year when he is releasing his autobiography and a career-spanning box set.

Cue The Show Must Go On, Thunder In My Heart, Moonlighting, One Man Band, When I Need You,  You Make Me Feel Like Dancing et al. Meanwhile, Brighton folk-rockers Levellers have sold out October 29’s York Barbican gig. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk. 

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Wharfemede Productions mark Halloween week with deeply kooky The Addams Family Musical at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Henrietta Linnemann‘s Morticia and Zander Fick’s Gomez Addams in Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical. Picture: Simon Trow

WHAT better way for North Yorkshire company Wharfemede Productions to mark Halloween week than by staging The Addams Family Musical.

Running at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from October 27 to 31, artistic director Helen “Bells” Spencer’s production of this deeply kooky, definitely spooky American musical comedy follows award-winning productions of Little Women and A Little Night Music. “We look forward to seeing you at Halloween – if you dare!” she says.

Combining music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa with book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, The Addams Family Musical opens with Wednesday Addams (played by Abbie Law) falling in love with a “normal” young man and inviting his respectable parents to dinner, whereupon chaos, secrets and macabre mayhem ensue in a celebration of family, love and embracing the wonderfully weird.

“We are thrilled to return with a show full of heart, humour and Halloween spirit, performed during Halloween week itself, when audiences can expect the perfect seasonal treat packed with gothic glamour, mischievous fun and spectacular entertainment,” says Bells. 

Director Helen “Bells” Spencer” holding two of Nick Sephton’s 3D-printed masks for the Ancestors in Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical. Picture: Simon Trow

“The Addams Family is darkly delightful, gloriously gothic and wickedly entertaining. Whether you’re a life-long fan of the Addams clan or discovering them for the first time, this is one family reunion you won’t want to miss!”

The success of the Netflix series Wednesday has stimulated renewed cultural interest in The Addams Family. “It had got into a nostalgic space, but by making it relevant to modern audiences, it’s led to the musical coming to the fore again,” says Bells.

Zander Fick, who will play Gomez Addams, concurs. “Wednesday has almost ground the family in more reality, whereas the old family was more of a caricature,” he says. “Now they seem to have a feeling of being eccentric but relatable.”

Helen first encountered the musical two years ago when her fiance, Nick Sephton, was cast as  Fester Addams in a production in Wetherby. Her early expectations of a “very panto show – and I hate panto” were confounded. “I thought I’d just be going along as the devoted partner, but I absolutely loved it. It was a really good musical,” she says.

Nick Sephton’s Uncle Fester in Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical. Picture: Simon Trow

“Unfortunately, Nick tore the cruciate ligament in his knee when dancing on the graves of the Ancestors on the first night, and for the rest of the run he had to deliver his Uncle Fester from a large armchair at the side of the stage. He was gutted that he didn’t get the chance to do the part properly, but I thought, ‘actually I think we can make this show work.”

Now Nick will reprise his Uncle Fester in Wharfemede’s production. “People will be surprised by his Fester as he usually plays authority figures, like generals, but with Nick you’re genuinely moved by Fester’s ‘oddness’, and with Nick being autistic he’s identified with that, having felt different from other people through his autism.”

Zander comments: “A key message in the show is that it’s OK to be different, so Fester is really loved by his family, The show has more depth than just having kooky characters, so you can really empathise with them. The story presents a conflict with outsiders who are uncomfortable with them, but  the show celebrates that difference, celebrating what makes you you.”

The masked Ancestors in Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical. Picture: Simon Trow

Helen rejoins: “The show says we are all unique. We’re all happier as human beings if we embrace our differences. Wharfemede was created by our wish to create a space where people can be themselves to make high-quality work. We have multiple people in the cast who are autistic or neurodivergent, and we always start rehearsal sessions with a check-in, asking if everyone feels comfortable in the space. That seems to work well.”

Zander, who moved to York from South Africa in 2023, is enjoying those rehearsals as he prepares to play Gomez, the father of the family. “I’m loving him so much,” he says. “He’s so comfortable in who he is, so unapologetic about who he is, when quite often male characters in theatre tend to be moulded as reserved, guarded and always holding back, but Gomez is not like that at all. I can relate that to when I feel in a comfortable place, striving to be myself in that place. I always leave rehearsals feeling energised.

“We’ve had discussions about who Gomez is, as this naive, aloof child in a man’s body, but with a very healthy relationship with his wife, Morticia, so that’s been really interesting to explore.”

Helen has handled the design brief for this Gothic tale. “I want it to be as realistic and gritty as it can be within the realms of the Addams Family,” she says. “I didn’t want everything to be Halloween costumes, but instead with every character having an individual sense of themselves. So we discussed it with the actors, like Abbie Law wanting to wear a black velvet dress for Wednesday: a classic Wednesday look, but in velvet, which is something Abbie really wanted.”

The Addams family in Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical: Abbie Law’s Wednesday, left, Matthew Warry’s Pugsley, Henrietta Linnemann‘s Morticia, Chris Gibson’s Lurch, Zander Fick’s Gomez, Nick Sephton’s Uncle Fester and Rosy Rowley’s Grandma. Picture: Simon Trow

Bells is particularly excited to be bringing elements of commedia dell’arte into Wharfemede’s interpretation of the show, not least in putting all the Ancestors in masks, created in 3D-printed form by Nick Sephton, to make them imposing in unison. 

“Having had the privilege of working with commedia companies in Trieste and Venice, I have long admired the genre’s physical storytelling, heightened characters and joyful theatricality,” she reasons.

“Those influences feel perfectly suited to the world of The Addams Family, and I look forward to blending them with the musical’s unique humour to create something that is both fresh and deeply entertaining.”

Wharfemede Productions presents The Addams Family Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 27 to 31, 7:30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: www.tickets.41monkgate.co.uk

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REVIEW: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, making waves until Saturday ***

Laura Broughton-Janes’ Antipholus  of  Ephesus, second from right, and her servant, Liz Duggan’s Dromio, in York Shakespeare Project’s The Comedy Of Errors. Picture: John Stead

KATIE Leckey and Emily Carhart buckle up to steer Shakespeasre’s “shortest and possibly funniest play” into piratical waters, replete with lusty sea shanties and the sound of crashing waves.

“The morally questionable, yet still comedic, nature of many (if not all) of the characters put us in mind of some of our favourite piratical antiheroes,” they said in their mission statement.

“We felt like the framing device of piracy gave us the chance to include slapstick violence between ‘masters and servants’ in a way that wouldn’t seem too brutal or alien to a modern audience.”

Two masts from a shipwreck hang over the stage to evoke seafaring in the black box theatre, where the staging is otherwise minimalist, largely left bare for physical comedy and fast-fizzing farce. 

Ben Reeves-Rowley’s Solinus, the Duke of Ephesus, in York Shakespeare Project’s The Comedy Of Errors. Picture: John Stead

A plinth is moved into place to denote the higher status of Solinus, the Duke of Ephesus (played by Ben Reeves-Rowley with the clipped vowels and tightened jaw of King Charles III). Later, two sets of doors – the time-honoured harbingers of imminent  farce – make appearances, one as the entrance to the abbey, the other with skeleton door knockers in keeping with the piratical reboot.

Andrew Wrenn’s vexed Egeon has to wade his way through a chunk of exposition before the play settles into its rhythm of mistaken identities,  spun around two sets of identical twins. Helen Clarke’s  flamboyant Antipholus of Syracuse and her servant, Kat Lazarus’s flirtatious  Dromio arrive on the corrupt pirate isle of Ephesus , where Laura Broughton-Janes’ Antipholus  of  Ephesus and her servant, Liz Duggan’s Dromio, are already caught up in the debauched shenanigans.

Add a tavern and booty, and let the misunderstandings and misbehaviour multiply, involving the likes of Ro Trimble’s haughty Adriana, wife of Antipholus of Ephesus, Leckey’s Luciano, always quick with a jest, and Harry Summers’ oft-baffled Angelo .

You will note that Antipholus times two are now female, all part of the gender fluidity brought to The Comedy  Of Errors by Leckey and Carhart, prompted by being “intrigued by the lack of traditional gender and romantic dynamics in the play”.

“In Elizabethan culture, there was a more flexible understanding of physical and romantic intimacy between same sex partners, as well as a fluid approach to the representation of gender on stage,” they say. “We feel our production is a celebration of relationships of many kinds, platonic, familial and romantic.”

Kat Lazarus’s Dromio of Syracuse, front, and Helen Clarke’s Antipholus of Syracuse in York Shakespeare Project’s The Comedy Of Errors. Picture: John Stead

Laura Broughton-Janes’ Antipholus  of  Ephesus and her servant, Liz Duggan’s Dromio, in York Shakespeare Project’s The Comedy Of Errors. Picture: John Stead

Luciana becomes Luciano, played by Leckey with a droll air and a cigarette in hand, in a late change of casting that affirms their relish for comic friction and interplay.

The slapstick even features slaps to the face; the likes of Trimble and Reeves-Rowley make the words sing; Andrea Mitchell’s Emilia, the Abbess, gives the peachiest cameo; the musicians on the mezzanine level (Rebecca Jackson, Izzie Burger de Fremol, Vicky Hatt and Emily Rowan) convey matters of the heart and sea, and the sets of twins are so identical that the audience may well have to keep looking twice.

The gender transitions add to the physical comedy, but this is not a play of memorable verbal wit or intellectual insight.

Carhart even called it “silly”, as light as a bubble, and certainly she and Leckey have fun with it, giving it fresh zest, although their claim of its status as “possibly Shakespeare’s funniest play” is debatable.

York Shakespeare Project presents The Comedy Of Errors, Theatre@41, Monkgate, 7.30pm nightly until Saturday, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 43, from Gazette & Herald

Teacher Miss Hedge (Katie Spencer) steps in between school bully Dean Paxton (Cain Branton), left, and dreamer Jamie New (Frankie Bounds) in York Stage’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

FROM a couple all at sea at the SJT to Yorktoberfest in a circus big top,  a piratical twist on The Comedy Of Errors to Bison Hip’s blues, Charles Hutchinson recommends ways to stay cheerful.

Bold and unapologetic musical of the week: York Stage in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday; 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

TOM MacRae and Dan Gillespie’s Sheffield musical plays the Grand Opera House for the first time in Nik Briggs’s production for York Stage that restores the grit to both complement and counter the glitz in the uplifting underdog story of Jamie New (Frankie Bounds), a 16-year-old schoolboy from a Steel City council estate with big dreams and the courage to stand out when it would be easier to stay quiet.

Equipped with the strength to face the world head on, Jamie fights prejudice, finds his voice and discovers the freedom of stepping into the spotlight on his own terms. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Over-reaching strategy: Phil Corbitt’s Colin puts yet another plan to Sarah Belcher’s exhausted Deborah in Alison Carr’s All At Sea

Premiere of the week: Stephen Joseph Theatre and Live Theatre, Newcastle, present All At Sea, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 31

MARIA Crocker directs Phil Corbitt and Sarah Belcher in All At Sea, Alison Carr’s new play inspired by the real-life escapades of John and Anne Darwin in the early 2000s.

Colin and Deborah are a couple with spiralling debt, a sky-high mortgage and seemingly nowhere to turn. Then Colin comes up with the idea of faking his own death in a canoeing accident in the North Sea for an insurance payout. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope comes face to face with Charlie Russell’s Odysseus in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Greek tragedy twist of the week: Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, Odyssey: Her Story, York Theatre Royal, until October 31

BOOKER Prize winner Margaret Atwood revisits Homer’s The Odyssey in an exuberantly irreverent and darkly humorous retelling where she gives voice to Odysseus’s silenced wife, Penelope – still awaiting his return 20 years after the Trojan War – and her chorus of maids in a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge that exposes the truth behind the myth. Creative director Juliet Forster’s cast is led by Happy Valley and Riot Women star Amelia Bullmore. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Ben Reeves-Rowley and Harry Summers in rehearsal for York Shakespeare Company’s piratical The Comedy Of Errors

Shakespeare shake-up of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

KATIE Leckey and Emily Carhart co-direct York Shakespeare Project in “ an exciting take on Shakespeare’s shortest and possibly funniest play”, giving a piratical, gender-swapping twist to The Comedy Of Errors in a convergence of the original text with slapstick, farce and physical comedy and a “celebration of relationships of many kinds, platonic, familial and romantic”.

“The morally questionable, yet still comedic, nature of many (if not all) of the characters put us in mind of some of our favourite piratical anti-heroes,” they say. “We felt like the framing device of piracy gave us the chance to include slapstick violence between ‘masters and servants’ in a way that wouldn’t seem too brutal or alien to a modern audience.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The poster for The Amy Winehouse Band’s Back To Black 20th Anniversary Tour

Going back to Back To Black: The Amy Winehouse Band, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm

AMY Winehouse’s original band, who played with her from the very start, are marking the 20th anniversary of her iconic second album, Back To Black, the one that brought her five awards at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Performing with Amy that evening, as these musicians had done since her earliest gigs in London pubs, was her band. 

Led by Amy’s long-time musical director and bass player, The Amy Winehouse Band features members who both toured and recorded with her throughout her career. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Hudson & Hudson: Combining the magical and the marital at Helmsley Arts Centre

Magic show of the week: Hudson & Hudson Magicians: Married At First Sleight, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

ORIGINALLY from Hull, husband-and-wife magicians Alan and Kat Hudson appeared separately on Britain’s Got Talent before eventually forming a double act. Ant & Dec had suggested they should work together while they were on the show, but they both said no at the time. Between them, they have appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, ITV’s The Next Great Magician and in the West End production Wonderville.

Married At First Sleight mixes magic, mind-reading, comedy and audience participation with the realities of being married to the person with whom you also rehearse, tour and perform. Cue marital banter alongside the tricks. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

York drag diva Velma Celli leading the Yorktoberfest celebrations in the Big Top with The Bavarian Strollers at York Racecourse

Festival of the week: Jamboree Entertainment presents Yorktoberfest, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, Friday, 7pm to 1pm; Saturday, 1pm to 5pm & 7pm to 11pm

FOR the first time, James Cundall’s Jamboree Entertainment is staging Yorktoberfest, York’s traditional Bavarian beer festival, inside a Big Top, launched last weekend by aerial artist Zoe Kulyk twisting and tumbling from the rooftop. 

Look out on Friday and Saturday for outrageous York drag diva Velma Celli’s powerhouse singing and quick-fire critique of the costumes on display and oompah band The Bavarian Strollers’ traditional drinking songs and disco classics. The Bavarian Bar and the Dog Haus serve up drinks and German-inspired food. Tickets: www.ticketsource.co.uk/yorktoberfest and at the entrance, subject to availability.

Bison Hip: A dose of the Glasgow blues at Ryedale Blues Club

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Bison Hip, Milton Rooms, Malton, October 29, 8pm

BISON Hip were formed by long-time friends Paul Sloway, Malcolm Button, Steven Radziwonik, John Gilmour Smith and Graeme Carswell during a lockdown Zoom call in 2020. “Maybe it was the mid-life crisis at play,” says vocalist Sloway.

“We wanted to take our love of blues and rock and mix it up with our experiences of life. Between us, we’ve been through so many things in life, ups and downs, some successes and plenty of failures, we wanted all that in the music. We needed to wrap it up in the DNA of our hometown, Glasgow, and hopefully that’s what we’ve achieved.” Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

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