Category: Theatre

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 16, from The York Press

Collage and mixed-media artist Donna Maria Taylor: Participating in York Open Studios at South Bank Studios

FROM Rocky Horror film stars to Shakespeare in a suitcase, Bowie to Boe, Priscilla to The Psychic premiere, Charles Hutchinson is spoilt for choice again.

Art event of the week: York Open Studios, York and beyond, today and Sunday, 10am to 5pm

FOR a second weekend, 150 artists and makers within York and a ten-mile radius of the city are welcoming visitors to 107 workplaces and studios.

This annual event offers the chance to gain a sneak peek into where the artists work, their methods and inspirations, whether a regular contributor or the 27 new participants, spanning traditional and contemporary painting and print, illustration, drawing, ceramics, mixed media, glass, sculpture, jewellery, textiles and photography. For more information, visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk; access the interactive map at yorkopenstudios.co.uk/map.

Weather Balloons’ Anne Prior: Playing Navigators Art’s YO Underground #7 bill at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse

Arts collaboration of the week: Navigators Art/Projects presents YO Underground 7, The Basement, City Screen, York, tonight, 7.30pm

CONTINUING its mission to present adventurous left-field music and words from York and the region, Navigators Art plays host to a mixed bill of uniquely styled indie song-writing from Weather Balloons’ Anne Prior, the Joe Douglas Trio’s North African-inspired free jazz and a collaboration between audiovisual projections and Ben Hopkinson’s quartet Synaefonia. Box office: bit.ly/nav-events.

Limited ticket availability: Blue and special guests 911, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm; Alfie Boe, York Barbican, April 28, 7pm

REVITALISED boy band Blue have released the single Flowers, penned by good friend Robbie Williams and Boots Ottestad, ahead of their 25th anniversary tour date at York Barbican.

“Robbie reached out to me a while back and said ‘I’ve got a song for Blue’,” says Blue’s Antony Costa, who will be joined as ever by Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe. “We only got to record it recently and thought it would be perfect to release for the anniversary tour. We can’t wait for you all to hear Flowers.”

Tenor Alfie Boe plays York on Tuesday and Harrogate Royal Hall on Wednesday on his 35-date tour, combining his most iconic hits and fan-favourite classics with material from new album Face Myself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk; for Boe, https://gigst.rs/AB26.

Let’s do the Time Warp…again: The Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour 2026, York Barbican, Sunday, 7pm

JOIN the original Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick), Magenta (Patricia Quinn) and Columbia (Nell Campbell) for this once-in-a-lifetime screening event with a live shadow cast. Jim Sharman’s 1975 film of Richard O’Brien’s musical will be shown in a 4K remastered edition, preceded by a Q&A with the movie stars. Expect a costume contest, memorabilia display with film artefacts and a participation prop bag for every ticket holder. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Fantastical film and music event of the week: Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: In Concert, York Barbican, April 27, 7.30pm

JIM Henson’s musical fantasy film Labyrinth is on tour in concert in celebration of its 40th anniversary, transporting audiences to Goblin City in a fusion of film on a large HD cinema screen and live music on stage, performed by a band playing David Bowie and Trevor Jones’s soundtrack score and songs in sync with Bowie’s original vocals.

Taking on an ever-growing cult status since its release on June 27 1986, Labyrinth stars Bowie as principal antagonist Jareth the Goblin King, who rules the goblin kingdom, kidnaps protagonist Sarah’s baby brother and presents a charming yet menacing challenge, appearing as a rock star-like figure who lures and influences her journey. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Book event of the week: Rivers, Water and Wildness, A Talk by Amy-Jane Beer, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, April 28, 7.30pm to 9pm

THE Friends of Nun Ings invite you to Rivers, Water and Wildness, Our Rivers and Their Landscapes, a talk by biologist-turned-writer and former South Bank resident Amy-Jane Beer, author of The Flow, winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2023, who now lives on the Derwent.

The Flow is a book about water, and, like water, it meanders, cascades and percolates through many lives, landscapes and stories. From West Country torrents to Levels and Fens, rocky Welsh canyons and the salmon highways of Scotland to the chalk rivers of the Yorkshire Wolds, Beer follows springs, streams and rivers to explore tributary themes of wildness and wonder, loss and healing, mythology and history, cyclicity and transformation. Tickets are available via eventbrite; admission is free but donations are welcome.

Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 28 to May 2, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

STEVE Tearle, creative director of NE Theatre York, plays Bernadette, joined by Matthew Clarke as Tick and Kristian Barley as Adam, in the adventure of two drag artists and a trans woman embarking on a life‑changing road trip across the Aussie outback in their battered tour bus, discovering the power of love, identity, acceptance and true friendship.

“As they head west through the Australian desert to chase a dream aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, our three terrific travellers come to the forefront of a comedy of errors,” says Steve, whose high-energy production also features Helen Greenley as Shirley, Ben Rich as Jimmy, Steve Perry as Bob, the mechanic, Ali Butler-Hind as his wife Cynthia, plus disco divas Perri Ann Barley, Melissa Boyd and Aileen Hall. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

World premiere of the week: The Psychic, York Theatre Royal, April 29 to May 23

“IS any of it real,” ask Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman in The Psychic, the latest spook-fest from the writer-director duo behind Ghost Stories. In their twisted new thriller, popular TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case that brands her a charlatan, costing her not only her reputation but also a fortune in legal fees.

When a wealthy couple ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, she senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed and leads her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre presents Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre, York International Shakespeare Festival, York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium, April 29, 6.30pm

HAGS, hauntings, hobgoblins and more emerge from the spooky suitcase owned by Lady Macbeth (Dotty to her friends). These spectres from performances past need to retell their stories before they can find peace in the literary afterlife, but are they friends or will we need to be vanquished back into the supernatural suitcase?

Written, crafted and performed by Hoglets Theatre founder, director, writer and performer Gemma Sharp, this funny, energetic children’s theatre experience presents a world of hand-made puppets, music and storytelling, all performed from a single suitcase. “No prior knowledge of Shakespeare is required,” she says. Box office: https://yorkshakes.co.uk/programme-2026/spooky-shakespeare-suitcase-theatre/.

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By ‘royal appointment’: York actress Andrea Mitchell takes on regal role at short notice in Linda Gates’s The Thistle And The Rose

Andrea Mitchell

YORK actress Andrea Mitchell will be saving the day for American scholar and theatre coach Linda Gates when her play The Thistle And The Rose is staged on Monday (27/4/2026) at the York International Shakespeare Festival.

The 7.30pm performance was under threat after when Professor Gates’s acting partner, Marion Sybil Lines, suffered an accident that left her unable to perform at Theatre@41, Monkgate.

Fortunately,  Andrea Mitchell was ready and willing to ensure the show could go on, duly receiving praise from Linda for mastering the script at such speed.

The Thistle And The Rose offers a portrait of the tense relationship between two queens: Elizabeth I of England and her cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, as revealed through their coded letters.

Playwright Linda Gates

United by kinship, these two powerful women were nevertheless divided by religion and ambition, both craving the throne of England.

Told in their own words, Gates’s play sheds light on a 27-year relationship that begins with Mary’s first letter to Elizabeth as she prepares to leave France to claim her Scottish throne and is marked subsequently by political manoeuvring, personal longing and rivalry.

Although they never met, through decades of correspondence – originally written in French and then translated by Elizabeth’s secretaries – the two monarchs reveal their hopes, fears, alliances, betrayals and ultimately the fatal conflict that ended with Mary’s execution.

Full details (and tickets) can be found at yorkshakes.co.uk, along with the full programme for a festival that will run until May 3.  

The poster artwork for The Thistle And The Rose

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How a chance chat led to York Theatre Royal premiere of Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s supernatural thriller The Psychic

Andy Nyman, left, and Jeremy Dyson in rehearsal for their world premiere of The Psychic at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan

IT began with a chance conversation at a University of York honorary degree ceremony in 2024.

York Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes found himself next to actor, writer and comedy talent Steve Pemberton, who was in York with The League Of Gentlemen and Inside No. 9 collaborator Reece Shearsmith to be honoured with doctorates by the department  of theatre, film and television.

Crewes, who had taken up his post in October 2023, said he was seeking new work for the Theatre Royal: the perfect opportunity for Pemberton to reveal that League Of Gentlemen cohort Jeremy Dyson and regular writing partner Andy Nyman were working on a new play and looking for a theatre to stage the premiere.

“Finding creative partners is the secret to doing good work,” says Jeremy, seated in the Theatre Royal foyer alongside Andy in a break from co-directing rehearsals for their twisted dark thriller The Psychic, whose world premiere will open with previews from April 29.

“It was a moment of fate that Steve happened to be sitting next to Paul. To Paul’s credit, he contacted me straightaway and we arranged to meet in Leeds the next day as I live in Ilkley. We met at Paranormal Activity, which was having its premiere at Leeds Playhouse.”

Crewes read the script, loved it, and a new partnership was born in a city that has become a creative haven for Dyson and Nyman.

“I’m fascinated by [Carl] Jung’s Synchronicity, his concept of ‘meaningful coincidences’,” says Jeremy. “Anyone who does creative work knows it’s a phenomenon different from serendipity. It’s more mystical than that, like how me and Andy had taken to coming to York when we had creative problems, first when we were working on our novel The Warlock Effect [a Cold War spy thriller] that came out in 2023.

“We were a couple of years on from Covid, we both had lots on, and we thought, ‘let’s get away’. As Andy lives in London, I’m in Ilkley, we said, ‘let’s come to York’. I loved coming to York on day trips, growing up  in Yorkshire; but Andy had never been.”

They stayed at The Principal York, now The Milner, for two or three days and did so again when working on one of the drafts for The Psychic. “York has taken on this special meaning for us, and when we were looking for somewhere to stage The Psychic, somewhere outside of London that ‘got’ it, York Theatre Royal was that place,” says  Jeremy.

“It meant so much to us as York has become our problem-saving place, and it’s worth saying that Paul and his team have been fantastic, being so supportive and so enabling, and their ambition for the show is even greater than ours.”

Andy adds: “We also believe, as we did with Ghost Stories, starting that show at Liverpool Playhouse and the Lyric Hammersmith and going around the world for 16 years now, that we want to pay back those theatres.

“We deeply believe in subsidised theatre, how important it is for the city. Theatres are not for ‘posh people’’; they’re essential for all, and we love producing something new that can help put coffers back in the community.”

As Andy notes, York is a city “drenched in the supernatural”, making the Theatre Royal the perfect location for The Psychic,  wherein TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case, branding her a charlatan. 

It costs her not only her reputation, but a fortune in legal fees. When a wealthy couple ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, Sheila senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she  ever believed and leads her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life.

“One of the fascinating things about ghost stories, and spirituality in general, is that it exists, whether you believe it or not, in whatever form,” says Andy.

“So our play is exploring the questions without giving definitive answers, but looking at it from all sides,” says Jeremy.

“Pilate asked Jesus this question 2,000 years ago: What is truth? It’s a perennial question, and here we are 2,000 years later with Trump in power. In this play we are asking the deeper question about what really matters in life – and ghost stories are a very helpful lens to look at that because they give you a bridge to eternity as there are ultimate truths around mortality.”

Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s The Psychic runs at York Theatre Royal from April 29 to May 23. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Copyright of The Press, York

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REVIEW: York Shakespeare Project in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, partying until Saturday ***

Ardour on the dance floor in York Shakespeare Project’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. Picture: John Saunders

YORK has a new nightclub, Navarre, but hurry, because it will be shutting after Saturday night.

Welcome to Anna Gallon’s clubland take on Shakespeare’s early comedy Love’s Labour’s Lost in the Four Wheel Drive artistic director’s debut production for York Shakespeare Project as part of the 2026 York International Shakespeare Festival.

In March 2025, co-writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber packed the lads off to a stag do in Ibiza and the lasses off to a hen do in Menorca in the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s shake-up of Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). When both groups of revellers end up stuck on the same Mediterranean island, shoddy disguises, mislaid love letters and theatrical chaos ensue, all topped off with 1990s’ pop bangers, sung live on stage.

In April 2026, Gallon re-imagines Ferdinand, the King of Navarre, and his three companions, Nick Patrick Jones’s Berowne, Harry Summers’ Longaville and Nason Crone’s Dumaine, as the DJs who once ruled York’s Nineties’ club scene. Now, however, in 2005, they renounce the wild world of drink, dance and late nights, committing themselves instead to a retreat of abstinence: no women, no drink and definitely no dance floors for three years, in favour of fasting and study.

We first encounter them flat out, hung over, slumped on the Navarre dance floor after one heck of a party hosted by Tempest Wisdom’s Moth, the all-hands-on-decks club DJ with a licence to ad-lib. The audience had arrived to the sight of all the cast cutting the rug amid the ever-changing floor lights, as they took up their seats on the perimeter, seats that will be occupied by cast members on occasion too for moments of direct address, all adding to the highly energetic production’s “immersive tag.

The lads must sign off a long list of rules and regulations but this contract of abstinence looks as fragile as Liam “Glenn Huddle” Rosenior’s five-and-a-half-year deal at Chelsea turned out to be.

All it takes is the arrival of Charlie Barrs’ Princess of France, a not-so-diplomatic diplomat, and her entourage of Grace Scott’s Rosaline, Cassi Roberts’ Maria, Vicky Hatt’s Katherine and Helen Clarke’s Boyet to rip their paper-thin yet “solemn” vows to shreds.

Not that Love’s Labour’s Lost is that simple. Shakespeare stirs the pot, as is his wont in pursuit of comedy, to include multiple meddlesome figures, not only Wisdom’s droll, mischievous Moth, but also Elizabeth Duggan’s clown, Costard, Stephen Huws’ verbose schoolmaster Holofernes, and James Tyler’s not-so-bright constable, Dull. Then add Sarah McKeagney’s  curate, Sir Nathaniel,  and David Lee’s Forrester, a guide to the princess, who pops up on the mezzanine level every so often.

Bubbling away throughout is the absurdist farce of aged Spanish nobleman Don Adriano de Armado (Ian Giles) fancying his chances with luscious, lustrous country wench Jaquenetta (Pearl Mollison, dress code, Friday night, York city centre), as lack of reality meets fantasy.

Gallon describes Love’s Labour’s Lost as a “dazzling, witty play about language, love and self-discovery”, where   wordplay, vows and romantic mischief meet in the heat of York nightlife in a celebration of love, temptation and folly. Certainly her production is vibrant, with outbursts of dance, playful interaction and a balance between physicality and rhythmic verse, but while it re-locates to the modern world, the somewhat laboured humour still dwells in bygone times, tending to be clever and loquacious, rather than uproariously funny.

More often than not, typified by Huws’ Holofernes, a multitude of verbiage must be pushed up the hill to release the laughter, whereas Wisdom’s Moth can spin off in any direction with a quick impromptu quip.  

Nevertheless, Gallon achieves her central aim of sending up “ageing players trying to resist temptation, while nightlife culture collides with wellness culture and the irresistible force of love in this comedy of discipline versus desire”.

There is a pleasing frisson to the machinations and deceptions of Ferdinand’s group and the Princess’s posse, especially when the lads don leathers, black string vests and German accents (rather than the original Muscovite disguise), only to be countered by the resourceful women swapping clothes and jewellery to test their loyalty, in the show’s best scene.

Infatuated boy band balladry and assertive Girl Power anthems add amusingly to the friction, while Gallon has fun with club-culture references such as a megaphone, a dance beat replacing a trumpet as a herald of arrival and what appeared to be a little perk-you-up package in a plastic bag. 

Reeves Rowley, Jones, Scott and Wisdom are the stand-outs amid all the ardour on the dance floor, before Gallon’s daring direction delivers one final brave choice: turning on all the theatre lights for the mood-changing announcement of the death of the Princess’s father, the play no longer leading a merry dance.

York Shakespeare Project presents Love’s Labour’s Lost, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

P.S. Happy 462nd birthday to William Shakespeare today (23/4/2026).

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Inspired By Theatre to stage Spring Awakening in bravura 20th anniversary production at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Rianna Louise’s Wendla and Dan Crawfurd-Porter’s Melchior in rehearsal for Inspired By Theatre’s Spring Awakening. Picture: JJ Thornton

INSPIRED By Theatre will mark the 20th anniversary of Spring Awakening with a bold new production at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from May 20 to 23.

Continuing the York company’s reputation for presenting bravura interpretations of well-known works, the Tony Award-winning rock musical will be directed by Mikhail Lim.

Following artistic director Dan Crawfurd-Porter’s ambitious staging of Jesus Christ Superstar at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in February, Lim picks up the reins for one of the most powerful and emotionally raw musicals of the modern era.

Based on Frank Wedekind’s 1906 play, Spring Awakening follows a group of late-19th century teenagers in a small German village, navigating the confusion, curiosity and turmoil of adolescence in a rigid and repressive society at odds with their awakening sexuality.

Maz Machif’s Martha and JJ Thornton’s Hanschen. Picture: Tiggy-Jade

As these young people search for answers about sex, identity and self-expression, their world collides with an oppressive culture imposed by teachers and parents determined to silence them.

Combining music by Duncan Sheik with book and lyrics by Steven Sater, the show blends alternative rock, folk and punk influences with a deeply human coming-of-age story. Scenes unfold with grounded realism before erupting into powerful musical numbers that reveal the characters’ inner thoughts and emotions.

Opening on Broadway in 2006, starring Jonathan Groff, Lea Michele and John Gallagher Jr., Spring Awakening won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Next month’s production marks a full-circle moment for director Lim, who appeared in the northern premiere of Spring Awakening, staged by York Stage Musicals under Robert Readman’s direction at the Vaudeville Theatre, Joseph Rowntree School, York, in November 2010.

Spring Awakening director Mikhail Lim working on the guitar with cast member JJ Thornton. Picture: Tiggy-Jade

On returning to the show as director, Mikhail says: “Spring Awakening came out when I was almost exactly the age of the characters. It completely opened my eyes to different forms of musical storytelling and the kind of contemporary theatre I fell in love with.

“Being part of the northern premiere in York 15 years ago was incredibly special. Now, approaching the 20th anniversary of the original off-Broadway production, it feels extraordinary to be returning to this piece as a director. In many ways, it feels like fate.”

Lim leads an outstanding creative team assembled specifically for the project. Choreographer and assistant director Freya McIntosh, known for her work on Green Day’s American Idiot, RENT and Jesus Christ Superstar, reunites with Lim after their acclaimed Black Sheep Theatre Productions collaboration on Songs For A New World at the National Centre For Early Music, York, in October 2024.

Musical director Jessica Viner brings a wealth of musical expertise to Spring Awakening, drawing on her professional experience in touring productions, not least her role as musical director for Singin’ In The Rain, when she travelled across China.

Gemma McDonald, best known for her clowning silly-billy in Rowntree Players pantomimes each winter, takes on the role of Adult Woman in Inspired By Theatre’s Spring Awakening. Picture: Felix Wahlberg

Annie Roux steps into the producer’s role after serving as assistant producer on Jesus Christ Superstar. Costume design will be led by Julie Fisher, of The Costume Crew York, joined by fashion designer Gregory Harper, working together to create a visual world that supports the show’s striking aesthetic.

Dan Crawfurd-Porter swaps directorial duties for playing Melchior in Inspired By Theatre’s cast of 13, joined by Rianna Louise as Wendla; Eryn Grant, Moritz; Skye Pickford, Ilse, Maz Machif, Martha; JJ Thornton, Hanschen; Oskar Nuttall, Ernst; Lewis Jordan, Georg; Kailum Farmery, Otto; Ines Campos, Thea; Greta Piasecka, Anna; Stefan Michaels, Adult Man, and Gemma McDonald, Adult Woman.

 Utilising such a small cast requires every performer to play a vital role in bringing the story to life, as Mikhail explains: “This show demands performers who can truly act through song and move with real emotional honesty. We’ve assembled a phenomenal company of performers who bring enormous passion and skill to the stage.”

Eryn Grant’s Moritz at the microphone, with Sky Pickford’s Ilse in the background. Picture: JJ Thornton

Movement and physical storytelling will play a central role in the production. McIntosh’s choreography blends contemporary dance with expressive theatrical movement, creating moments that feel less like traditional choreography and more like living visual art unfolding on stage.

The show’s band will form part of the storytelling, with a mixture of professional musicians and actor-musicians creating a dynamic on-stage musical presence.

Lim’s production will take place in the John Cooper Studio at Theatre@41, creating an intimate and immersive environment where audiences are placed close to the action. “The black-box setting allows the production to feel particularly visceral,” says Mikhail.

“Performing in a smaller space is both a challenge and a gift. It allows every moment, every sound and every visual detail to be felt up close. The result is something incredibly immediate and powerful.”

Skye Pickford’s Ilse rehearing with Eryn Grant’s Moritz. Picture: JJ Thornton

Inspired By Theatre will draw visual inspiration from German Expressionism and folkloric imagery to create a haunting and symbolic world that sits between realism and surrealism as old-fashioned values are refracted through a 21st century lens in an exploration of sex, puberty, coming of age and a yearning for a more progressive future.

Inspired By Theatre presents Spring Awakening, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 20 to 23, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Content warning: Spring Awakening features mature themes, including sexual content, sexual assault, suicide, abortion, physical abuse and strong language. Minimum age recommendation: 15 plus.

Inspired By Theatre’s poster artwork for Mikhail Lim’s production of Spring Awakening

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 16, from Gazette & Herald

Jalen Ngonda: Returning to York for the first time since Futuresound’s Live At York Museum Gardens last July. Picture: Paul Rhodes

SHAKESPEARE is in the spotlight with international guests and a York nightclub rom-com while artists and makers open their studios, as Charles Hutchinson’s diary bulges with inviting opportunities aplenty.

Soul show of the week: Jalen Ngonda, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm

AFTER appearing on Nile Rodgers & CHIC’s bill at Futuresound’s Live At York Museum Gardens last July, willowy soul singer and pianist Jalen Ngonda opens his seven-date spring tour at York Barbican. Originally from Maryland and now based in Liverpool, Ngonda’s voice and music recall the best of the great Sixties and Seventies’ soul artists, delivered with a contemporary edge. Deptford Northern Soul Club support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Pink rocks: Amber Davies’s Elle Woods in Made At Curve’s Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matt Crockett

Musical of the week: Made At Curve presents Legally Blonde The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm

STRICTLY Come Dancing 2025 finalist Amber Davies plays Elle Woods in the 2026 tour of Legally Blonde The Musical, joined by York Theatre Royal pantomime villain Jocasta Almgill as Brooke Wyndham, after she appeared as wicked fairy Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty last winter.

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. North Yorkshireman and Curve artistic director 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.

Common Ground Theatre’s Nathan Brocklebank and Lydia Keating in rehearsals for Hamlet, bound for York International Shakespeare Festival. Picture: Magdalini Brouma

Festival of the week: York International Shakespeare Festival, until May 3

YORK plays host to two weeks of world premieres, unmissable performances, enlightening talks and world-class exhibitions, bringing together artists from Romania, Croatia, Ukraine, Poland and United States, along with British creatives and York talent, in celebration of Shakespeare’s impact across the globe.

Highlights include festival artist-in-residence Lisa Wolpe’s show Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender, York St John University Creative Centre, tonight, 7.30pm; Common Ground Theatre’s Hamlet, Creative Centre, April 25, 7.30pm, and April 26, 4pm; Petty Men – ShakeSphere Selection 2026, Theatre@41, Monkgate, April 29, 7.30pm, and Olga Annenko’s Codename Othello, performed in English and Ukrainian, Creative Centre, May 2, 6pm, and May 3, 2pm. Full festival programme and box office: yorkshakes.co.uk.

1812 Youth Theatre in Hadestown: Teen Edition

Folk opera of the week: 1812 Youth Theatre in Hadestown: Teen Edition, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee 

NATASHA Jones and Freya Popplewell direct 1812 Youth Theatre in Vermont singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell’s intriguing and beautiful folk opera that intertwines two love stories, young dreamers Orpheus (Mani Brown) and Eurydice (Ava Woolford) and immortal King Hades (Koen-Leigh Brown/Jay Stevens) and Persephone (Lena Chorazyk). 

Hadestown: Teen Edition invites audiences on a hell-raising journey to the underworld and back in a deeply resonant and defiantly hopeful theatrical experience. Box office:  01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

York Shakespeare Project’s cast on the dance floor in rehearsal for Anna Gallon’s nightclub version of Love’s Labour’s Lost

York nightlife drama of the week: York Shakespeare Project in Love’s Labours Lost, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

FOUR Wheel Drive co-founder and artistic director Anna Gallon directs York Shakespeare Project for the first time in Love’s Labour’s Lost as Shakespeare’s comedy of wit, wordplay, vows and romantic mischief meets the 1990s’ club scene in an immersive new take on the Bard’s early comedy, set in the heat and heighted passions of urban nightlife.

Her playful reinvention mixes verse, rhythm, dance and striking visuals to create a fresh and contemporary celebration of love, temptation and folly, wherein the King of Navarre and his three companions are DJs who once ruled York’s club scene but now have renounced the wild world of drink, dance and late nights, committing themselves instead to a retreat of abstinence: no women, no drink and definitely no dance floors. However, when the Princess of France and her entourage arrive, their solemn vows begin to unravel. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Collage and mixed media artist Donna Maria Taylor: Taking part in York Open Studios at South Bank Studios this weekend

Art event of the week: York Open Studios, York and beyond, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm

AS many as 150 artists and makers within York and a ten-mile radius of the city are welcoming visitors to 107 workplaces and studios this weekend.

This annual event offers the chance to gain a sneak peek into where the artists work, their methods and inspirations, whether a regular contributor or the 27 new participants, spanning traditional and contemporary painting and print, illustration, drawing, ceramics, mixed media, glass, sculpture, jewellery, textiles and photography. For more information, visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk; access the interactive map at yorkopenstudios.co.uk/map.

The Manfreds: Sixties’ hits, jazz and blues at Milton Rooms, Malton

Ryedale gig of the week: The Manfreds, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 7.30pm

ORIGINAL Manfred Mann members Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness are joined by Marcus Cliffe, Simon Currie, Pete Riley and Mike Gorman in The Manfreds’ two-hour performance of Sixties’ hits, dynamic jazz and powerful blues. Get Your Kicks On Tour ’26  features such favourites as  5-4-3-2-1, Pretty Flamingo, Mighty Quinn and Do Wah Diddy Diddy, alongside rhythm & blues-inspired gems and solo successes. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

The poster artwork for Labyrinth: In Concert: On tour at York Barbican

Film and music collaboration of the week: Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: In Concert, York Barbican, April 27, 7.30pm

JIM Henson’s musical fantasy film Labyrinth is on tour in concert in celebration of its 40th anniversary, transporting audiences to Goblin City in a fusion of film on a large HD cinema screen and live music on stage, performed by a band playing David Bowie and Trevor Jones’s soundtrack score and songs in sync with Bowie’s original vocals.

Taking on an ever-growing cult status since its release on June 27 1986, Labyrinth stars Bowie as principal antagonist Jareth the Goblin King, who rules the goblin kingdom, kidnaps protagonist Sarah’s baby brother and presents a charming yet menacing challenge, appearing as a rock star-like figure who lures and influences her journey. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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REVIEW: Legally Blonde The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday ****

Amber in pink: Amber Davies’s Elle Woods in Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matt Crockett

LEGALLY Blonde The Musical was last decorating a York stage in pink only 14 months ago in York Light Opera Company’s York Theatre Royal production. Now the 2011 Olivier Awards Best New Musical winner returns, even pinker and perkier, in North Yorkshireman Nicolai Foster’s hands in a fizzing, fabulous show shaped at Curve, Leicester, and now touring in tandem with ROYO.

Strictly Come Dancing 2025 finalist Amber Davies leads Foster’s cast in Laurence O’Keefe, Nell Benjamin and Heather Hach’s musical spin on the 2001 Reese Witherspoon film that charts the path of jilted Malibu fashion merchandising student Elle Woods (Davies) as she follows ex-lover Warner (Jamie Chatterton) to Harvard Law School with her cute Chihuahua Bruiser (Sprout) in tow.

Legally Blonde is a sugar rush of an all-American show, bursting with energy and joy, but beneath that E-number surface and the Omigod You Guys excitability, it also releases a surge of female empowerment and delivers a message of self-belief and self-discovery.

Hence the preponderance of women in the full house at Tuesday’s press night, drawn to Elle’s tale of staying doggedly true to herself as her sunshine-suffused Californian positivity rubs up against New York cynicism and Ivy League snobbery, enabling  her to defeat all preconceptions to cut the legal mustard.

Welsh actress Davies, winner of the 2017 series of Love Island, brings that winning personality to playing It Girl fashionista-turned-budding legal ace Elle, revelling in all shades of pink, eschewing convention and countering her vulnerability on new terrain with her  vitality, warmth and sassy humour.  

Amber Davies’s Elle Woods, second from right, with the “Greek chorus” in Legally Blonde, Rosanna Harris’s Serena, left, Hannah Lowther’s Margot and Remi Ferdinand’s Pilar. Picture: Matt Crockett

Davies’s Elle is fun company for audience and fellow students alike (aside from Chatterton’s stuffed-shirt Warner and his judgemental, sourpuss new girlfriend, Annabelle Terry’s Vivienne Kensington).  You know from her Strictly exploits that she will move well in Leah Hill’s choreography, while her singing grows more powerful, the more the performance progresses.

You will enjoy how Elle’s burgeoning legal nous is rooted in uncanny instinct and her knowledge of fashion trends and hair culture, rather than in quoting textbooks by rote. This does not make her a law unto herself, but shows how unconventional thinking can win the day, especially when bolstered by her determination to defy stereotypical “blonde” pigeonholing and leap over obstacles, whether preppy Warner and Vivienne or cynical, predatory Harvard professor Callahan (Adam Cooper).

Davies’s Elle has plenty of friends, old and new, to counter her foes. Closest to home are the Greek chorus (Rosanna Harris’s Serena, Remi Ferdinand’s Pilar and Hannah Lowther’s Margot), her Delta Nu sorority sisters, who now represent her inner thoughts in the style of American sports’ cheerleaders. They sizzle in Hill’s choreography in their ever-changing, brightly coloured attire, topped off by their lippy patter.

Elle bonds with fellow Harvard interloper, George Crawford’s principled, corduroy-clad Emmett, and especially with Karen Mavundukure’s trailer-trash hairdresser Paulette Bonafonte, who matches no-nonsense frankness in conversation with powerhouse singing with all the thunder of Ruby Turner.

Ty-Reece Stewart rather underplays the humour in cool-dude USP delivery stud muffin Kyle, Paulette’s sudden, unexpected love interest: a missed opportunity. By contrast, the camp swagger bubbling away throughout surfaces gloriously in the comedic high point of the courtroom number Gay Or European?, as Jamie Tait’s Nikos and Bradley Delarosbel’s Carlos celebrate their love so flamboyantly.

Resident director Jocasta Almgill leading the skipping-rope exercise session as murder suspect and fitness guru Brooke Wyndham in Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matt Crockett

Jocasta Almgill’s pantomime villain Carabosse in York Theatre Royal’s Sleeping Beauty last winter is still fresh in the memory, and  now she brings bags of character and high energy to exercise-video guru Brooke Wyndham, who is standing trial for murder.

Act Two surpasses Act One, not least because Almgill’s Brooke gives it such an adrenaline boost with the opening skipping number Whipped Into Shape, danced with her fellow inmates. Still to come is the best-known routine, Bend And Snap, wherein Davies’s Elle teaches Mavundukure’s Paulette the moves so resolutely.

Foster’s direction is full of panache and punch, even a sprinkling of pathos, and Hill’s choreography crackles like electricity, while Colin Richmond’s set design savours the power of pink and Tom Rogers’ costumes embrace every colour, without  ever putting pink in the shade. Cerys McKenna’s musical direction brings out the fizz in effervescent songs that are almost giddy with excitement.

Nikolai Foster’s Legally Blonde will leave you feeling tickled pink.

Made At Curve presents Legally Blonde The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Holding court: Adam Cooper’s Harvard lawyer Callahan, right, with law school students Warner (Jamie Chatterton), centre, Vivienne (Annabelle Terry) and ensemble member James Lim in Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matt Crockett

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Common Ground Theatre to stage innovative Hamlet at York International Shakespeare Festival on April 25 and 26

Nathan Brocklebank and Lydia Keating in rehearsals for Common Ground Theatre‘s Hamlet. Picture: Magdalini Brouma

COMMON Ground Theatre’s innovative new touring production of Hamlet plays York International Shakespeare Festival at York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium on Saturday at 7.30pm and Sunday at 4pm.

Championing accessibility, inclusion and bold storytelling, Sadie Jemmett’s company is bringing Shakespeare’s most iconic tragedy to theatres, festivals and communities across the UK and internationally this spring and summer.

Known for its visually striking, music-infused, highly accessible interpretations of Shakespeare, Common Ground Theatre continues its mission to break down barriers to the arts, taking Hamlet to venues ranging from outdoor amphitheatres and rural community spaces to international festivals, including the Craiova International Shakespeare Festival in Romania, Europe’s biggest celebration of the Bard.

The company also will visit locations across Yorkshire, Sheffield, the Midlands, Suffolk, Dorset and Cornwall. At the heart of the tour is a partnership with The Mount Camphill Community in Wadhurst, East Sussex, where performances will take place in the Stage in the Woods amphitheatre.

This collaboration reflects the company’s commitment to inclusive, community-driven performance, offering audiences an immersive theatrical experience in an inspiring natural setting.

Nathan Brocklebank’s Hamlet. Picture: Magdalini Brouma

Accessibility and inclusion are central to Common Ground Theatre’s ethos. Jemmett’s production features Nathan Brocklebank, who has dyslexia, in the title role of Hamlet, highlighting the company’s dedication to creating opportunities for neurodiverse performers.

Director Jemmett and Brocklebank worked closely to develop innovative and personalised techniques for learning the role: an undertaking involving approximately 1,500 lines of text. This collaborative process not only supported the actor’s performance but also re-imagined traditional rehearsal methods, demonstrating how classic works can be approached in new and inclusive ways.

“I was very nervous about learning the text at first, as sight reading is a real challenge for me, and Shakespeare is especially difficult,” says Nathan. “But by using audio methods, deep diving into the meaning of the text, working with my body and finding the rhythm in the verse, the lines began to stick in a completely new way.”

Alongside the tour, Common Ground Theatre continues its extensive educational outreach programme. The company works with schools, community groups and aspiring performers to deliver workshops, masterclasses and vocational training opportunities, with a particular focus on supporting neurodiverse individuals.

Nathan Brocklebank’s Hamlet in a scene from Common Ground Theatre’s Hamlet. Picture: Magdalini Brouma

These initiatives are designed to demystify Shakespeare, making his work engaging, relevant and accessible for all. “We believe Shakespeare belongs to everyone,” says Sadie. “This tour is about meeting audiences where they are – geographically, culturally, and personally – and creating theatre that is open, inclusive and alive.”

Fuelled by its bold artistic vision, commitment to accessibility and passion for storytelling, Common Ground Theatre’s Hamlet promises to be a powerful and thought-provoking production that will resonate with audiences from all walks of life.

“Infused with the raw power of live music and song, our production of Hamlet shifts the focus from revenge to the emotional impact of grief, mental health and family breakdown,” says Sadie. “At the heart of the play are three young people, Hamlet, Ophelia and Laertes, each struggling to cope with profound personal loss and intense expectations.

“After his father’s death and his mother’s sudden remarriage, Hamlet is driven into a deep inner conflict by revelations of betrayal. Ophelia, wounded by distance and her father’s death, becomes overwhelmed by spiralling sorrow. Laertes, returning to a shattered home, finds his family broken and his anger rising.

“Through these characters, audiences are invited to reflect on their own experiences of love, loss and grief. This is Hamlet told with empathy, clarity and relevance – a powerful exploration of the emotional truths at the heart of Shakespeare’s work.”

For tickets, go to: yorkshakes.co.uk.

Common Ground Theatre director Sadie Jemmett. Picture: Molly Hughes

Common Ground Theatre: back story

FOUNDED by director Sadie Jemmett and Lydia Keating  out of Footsbarn Travelling Theatre Company, where Jemmett served as artistic director for three years before departing in 2025.

The company marks a new chapter in bold, visually driven and accessible touring theatre. Keating, a Lecoq-trained performer and collaborator, brings a strong physical theatre and devising background to the partnership.

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York International Shakespeare Festival to stage 40 events of the best of the Bard

York International Shakespeare Festival artist-in-residence Lisa Wolpe in Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender

THE eighth edition of the York International Shakespeare Festival opens tomorrow (21/4/2026), featuring performances from across Europe and beyond, all grounded in William Shakespeare’s work, until May 3.

More than 40 events will be staged at festival partners York St John University and Theatre@41, Monkgate, the Yorkshire Museum and Merchant Adventurers’ Hall.

First up, at 1.30pm and 3pm tomorrow, is a new collaboration with York Museums Trust for the premiere of Friends, Romans, Yorkshiremen. Taking place on the Roman Mosaic at the Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, it draws on the four plays that Shakespeare set in Rome for an exploration of the history, memory and the seemingly insignificant. This event is free for those with tickets for the museum.

Highlights will include American performer and festival artist-in-residence Lisa Wolpe in Shakespeare and the Alchemy of Gender; With Love’s Light Wings, a theatrical experience inspired by Romeo And Juliet, from Georgia; Codename Othello, a UK/Ukraine collaboration, featuring performers from York and Ivano Frankivsk, Ukraine; Shakespeare-based improv from York company Riding Lights and the world premiere of A Kingdom Jack’d by American playwright Scott Bradley, who is in York for the festival.

Look out too for new work from York-based Ukrainian theatre company D.Space; Romanian productions of The Taming Of The Shrew and Richard III;  York composer Morag Galloway’s autobiographical piece Dog Daze; productions of Hamlet from Romania and the UK, complemented by  a day exploring David Gothard’s Hamlet archive; Timonopoly, a game-style show based on the rarely-seen play Timon Of Athens by Edinburgh Fringe award winner Emily Carding, and Petty Me, the ShakeSphere Selection 2026.

The full programme can be found at yorkshakes.co.uk, where tickets can be booked. Brochures are available at libraries across the city.

The Roman Mosaic in the Yorkshire Museum

Taking part in the festival too will be the York Shakespeare Project, directed by Anna Gallon for the first time in Love’s Labour’s Lost as Shakespeare meets the 1990s’ club scene in an immersive new take on the Bard’s early comedy.

Set in the heat and heighted passions of modern nightlife, Anna’s reinvention will run at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from April 22 to 25.

“We are absolutely delighted to welcome Anna as our director,” says YSP chair Tony Froud. “She emerged from an outstanding group of applicants, since when she has brought energy and excitement into the rehearsal room. This promises to translate into a totally memorable and entertaining show.

“York is very fortunate to have so many outstanding young directors. This production will show Anna as a key member of that group.”

Anna is co-founder and artistic director of York theatre company Four Wheel Drive, perhaps best known for its 2023 production of The Trial Of Margaret Clitheroe in the Guildhall. She also appeared as Lucetta in YSP’s The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, directed by Tempest Wisdom in 2024.

 “I’m thrilled to be directing Love’s Labour’s Lost for YSP,” she says. “It’s a dazzling, witty play about language, love, and self-discovery – and I can’t wait to bring it to life in a way that feels vibrant and connected to the world we live in today.”

Ben Reeves Rowley in rehearsal for his role as the King of Navarre in York Shakespeare Project’s Love’s Labour’s Lost. Picture: John Saunders

Set firmly in the here and now, Anna’s Love’s Labour’s Lost will re-imagine Shakespeare’s sparkling comedy of wit, wordplay, vows and romantic mischief in clubland. Her playful production promises to mix verse, rhythm, dance and striking visuals to create a fresh and contemporary celebration of love, temptation and folly.

The King of Navarre and his three companions are re-imagined by Anna as the DJs who once ruled York’s club scene but have now renounced the wild world of drink, dance and late nights, committing themselves instead to a retreat of abstinence: no women, no drink and definitely no dance floors.

However, when the Princess of France and her entourage arrive, their solemn vows begin to unravel, as Anna explores. “I want this comedy of discipline versus desire to play out not in a palace, but in a bar, where vows are as fragile as your morals after one too many tequila shots,” she says.

“My interpretation uses Shakespeare’s original language but finds playful, recognisable parallels for modern audiences: ageing players try to resist temptation, while nightlife culture collides with wellness culture and the irresistible force of love.”

As a key element of Anna’s production, the audience will find Theatre@41’s John Cooper Studio transformed from black box into a nightclub. “The bar setting will place Shakespeare into a familiar social space,” she says. “Instead of watching from a distance, theatregoers will find themselves inside the comedy: vows made across tables, love confessions unfolding on dance floors. It will be a shared night out for all.”

York Shakespeare Project’s poster artwork for Love’s Labour’s Lost

Anna’s cast features many faces familiar to York audiences, such as Ian Giles as Don Adriano de Armado, Tempest Wisdom as page Moth, Harry Summers as Longaville and Nick Patrick Jones as Berowne, complemented by six actors new to YSP, Nason Crone’s Dumaine, Vicky Hatt’s Katherine, Helen Clarke’s Boyet, Elizabeth Duggan’s Costard, Stephen Huws’ Holofernes and Sarah McKeagney’s Sir Nathaniel.

Tony enthuses: “We are very excited that Anna’s production has attracted so many actors who are working with us for the first time. Only three of this cast appeared in our last show, Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, at Theatre@41 last October. It’s a very healthy and invigorating mix.

“In a very strong cast, it’s particularly pleasing to YSP to see Grace Scott and Ben Reeves Rowley in the central parts of Rosaline and the King of Navarre. Both first appeared in our annual Summer Sonnets show and it’s great to see them progressing to major parts in a full production.”

Why should you see YSP’s Love’s Labour’s Lost? Let veteran cast member Ian Giles entice you: “Off the scale for daring entertainment, one of Shakespeare’s most verbal comedies is set in King’s Night Spot in 2005 with a soundtrack of Nineties and Noughties’ belters – what could possibly go wrong (or should that be right)? Come and find out.”

York Shakespeare Project presents Love’s Labour’s Lost, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 22 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

With Love’s Light Wings, a Georgian theatrical experience inspired by Romeo And Juliet, plays York International Shakespeare Festival on the opening day at York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium

Festival focus: With Love’s Light Wings, York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium, April 21 at 8.30pm

PROFESSOR Manana Anasashvili, from Georgia, Eastern Europe, participated in York International Film Festival for the first time last year with her documentary film about renowned Georgian theatre director Robert Sturua.

Now the head of the Georgian Shakespeare Association returns with her stage production of With Love’s Light Wings, her spin on Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet, in a co-production with the Giorgi Mikeladze State Puppet Theatre that uses minimalistic but highly transformative scenography.

“With Love’s Light Wings is a theatrical experiment inspired by Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet, presented as a variation on its central theme,” she says. “It draws loosely on the literary original – retaining only its artistic framework, while actively intervening in the text with a bold and playful approach.

“The result is a radically re-imagined interpretation, staged as a two-actor performance – plus two supporting roles – that challenges conventional theatrical norms. It defies genre boundaries, uniting diverse expressive tools and artistic forms to create an eclectic aesthetic.”

Manana continues: “Distinct scenes and characters are represented symbolically – often through objects – shifting focus from narrative to metaphor. This theatrical collage merges elements of dramatic theatre, puppet theatre, finger performance, pantomime, musical and vocal expression, choreographic elements, as well as other theatrical forms.

“Through the creative transformation of various items and scenic details, the performance generates unexpected artistic effects, opening possibilities for future experimentation and the development of new theatrical trends.

“In the context of the post-dramatic era, theatrical eclecticism emerges as both a cultural and aesthetic strategy, one that embraces the fusion of styles, genres, and historical periods. It is often used as a form of innovation, connecting tradition with contemporary expression.”

 In this production, eclecticism extends beyond scenographic form to resist stylistic uniformity. “The result is a bold theatrical experiment aimed at redefining performance modes and establishing a new artistic language,” she says.

What does Shakespeare mean to Manana? “Shakespeare has been in my life since childhood. My father was a theatre and Shakespeare lover,” she says. “He knew the To Be or Not To Be soliloquy from Hamlet and recited a monologue very often. Then, being the student of the Medical University of Georgia, I have seen film The Moor Of Venice: Othello (1960), the film-ballet starring Vakhtang Chabukiani.  It was unforgettable impression and I began read Shakespeare.

“Later, in 1979 when I was already studying theatre directing at the Shota Rustaveli Theatre and Film State University, I had seen Richard III staged by Robert Sturua: completely stunning and amazing impression.

“After this day I dreamed in my heart – maybe someday a miracle will happen and I can somehow make a film about this performance. Many years later I realised my dream. I made film about world- renowned Georgian theatre director Robert Sturua, who staged the most Shakespearean plays in the world.

“Shakespeare means for me, contemporary writer who helps us in our lives, who can show us the world in all its dimensions and make us think about who we are as humans, what we strive for, and what or who we live for.”

How has Shakespeare impacted upon your career, Manana? “After being a student of the University of Wisconsin in 2002/2003, taking there the course Acting Shakespeare, and also after finishing later my film about Robert Sturua, I finally decided that I can and I have to teach Shakespeare,” she says.

“Now I am professor of the American-Georgian joint undergraduate programme Liberal Arts at the Ilia State university, and from 2008 I am teaching Shakespeare for the bachelor programme students.  In 2023 I established the Georgian Shakespeare Association and I am the head of this association.”

What is the importance of festivals such as York International Shakespeare Festival, Manana? “This kind of festival helps artists to deepen meaningful cultural dialogues, to see live performances and films and to deepen our knowledge in the contemporary arts of foreign countries, as well as to create connections that help to establish new collaborations.”

Did you know?

WITH Love’s Light Wings was premiered on October 22 2025 in Beijing and Guilin, China, at the WTEA (World Education Theatre Alliance) International Theatre Showcase 2025.

Objectives of With Love’s Light Wings:

• To explore Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet as a thematic and emotional source, rather than a fixed narrative.

• To integrate diverse theatrical forms, including dramatic theatre, puppet theatre, finger performance, pantomime, musical and vocal expression and choreographic elements, as well as other theatrical forms.

Professor Manana Anasashvili: back story

THEATRE and film director, professor of joint undergraduate programme Liberal Arts of Michigan State University, Ilia State University and AGILE (American-Georgian Initiative for Liberal Education).

Teaching Shakespeare since 2008.

Her stage production In The Dark Room had a record run, being performed in Georgia for 23 years.

Her film Only Once was awarded at several international film festivals.

Head of International Relations of Georgian Film Academy; founder and head of Georgian Shakespeare Association.

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Panto villain Jocasta Almgill returns to York as fitness queen on murder charge in Legally Blonde at Grand Opera House

Jocasta Almgill’s Brooke Wyndham leading the skipping-rope exercise in her big number, Whipped Into Shape, in Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matt Crockett

WEST End star Jocasta Almgill is heading home to Yorkshire to play fitness-empire queen Brooke Wyndham, on trial for murder, in Legally Blonde The Musical.

Hull-born Jocasta last appeared on the York stage as villainous fairy Carabosse, East Riding accent and all, in Sleeping Beauty at Theatre Royal last winter, and now she is on tour in Heather Hach, Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin’s American musical.  Next stop, Grand Opera House, York, from tomorrow (21/4/2026) to Saturday.

“I auditioned for the part last summer before going to Japan to play Diana Morales in A Chorus Line. We were there for ten weeks, playing three cities, Tokyo, Sendai, Osaka and then back to Tokyo. Japanese is a tricky language to learn, but within the company there were lots of Japanese people, so I could practise my Japanese.”

How did that go? “Sometimes they would laugh at me! Like when I thought I was saying ‘That was delicious’ and in fact I’d said ‘Would you marry me’!”

She could not reveal her Legally Blonde role until the full cast was rubber stamped shortly after her panto run in York, one she had so enjoyed. “Playing Carabosse was fantastic. I really loved playing a baddie. That was fun!” says Jocasta. “It’s such an amazing time to be there, for Christmas, taking my dog, Luna, with me, who’s now doing this tour too.

Jocasta Almgill’s villainous Carabosse in York Theatre Royal & Evolution Productions 2025 pantomime Sleeping Beauty. Picture: Pamela Raith

“She’s a Lurcher, a big dog but a super theatre dog because she’s so quiet. She goes everywhere with me on tour, and there are only a few theatre that aren’t dog friendly. It’s absolutely wonderful I can take her with me, and though I could do it without her, it makes it so much better that she’s there, making friends in the theatre.

“When you’re on tour, touring becomes everything, but with Luna there, I get up every day and go on a walk with her and it’s a reminder that there’s more to life. It gives a broader sense of purpose.”

Jocasta’s Theatre Royal pantomime performance – her first as the baddie after myriad Fairy roles – featured her Act Two-opening big number Pinball Wizard, and likewise Legally Blonde calls on her to inject high energy straight after the interval. “Brooke opens Act Two with this amazing number [Whipped Into Shape]. She’s a fitness influencer, and in this scene we’re exercising with skipping ropes,” she says.

“It’s a really spectacular opening to the second half, and for me, it feels so exciting to play this role because previously it’s been played by very slender women, but I like to think of myself as curvy and strong, so it’s been interesting to show a different side to the fitness industry.

“In the Olympics, they’re all different body shapes, and I’m really finding joy in portraying this role, showing women you don’t need to be one shape to be fit.”

Hull-born actress Jocasta Almgill

Buoyed by the perennially pink perma-positivity of stereotype-shattering ‘It Girl’ fashionista-turned-Harvard Law School ace student Elle Woods (played by 2025 Strictly Come Dancing finalist Amber Davies), Legally Blonde is “such a feel-good show”, enthuses Jocasta. “It would be hard to watch this show and not feel uplifted,” she says. “It’s a story about being yourself, fighting and persevering, even in the face of being judged, discovering who you are and being happy with that.”

Legally Blonde will be Jocasta’s fourth show in York: “I was in the original tribute to The Blues Brothers, which came to the Grand Opera House years ago in my first job out of college [Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, from where she graduated in 2009],” she recalls. “Then I came back on tour in 2018 with Hairspray, when I was Peaches, one of The Dynamites.”

After her journey to the dark side as Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty last Christmas, now Jocasta will be in the dock in Legally Blonde, on the road in North Yorkshireman Nikolai Foster’s co-production for Curve Leicester and ROYO until next January.

 “That means no panto this winter, unfortunately, because I love panto, but there are very good reasons for that!” she says, as she revels in playing Brooke Wyndham. “The whole company are so wonderful, with a good working atmosphere among us, which is so important.”

Made At Curve & ROYO present Legally Blonde The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, April 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.