Category: Film

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More Things To Do in York & beyond from Aug 29 as Making Waves waves goodbye. Hutch’s List No. 35, from The York Press

Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, from Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print at York Art Gallery, on loan from Maidstone Museum

FROM Making Waves’ finale to 50 years of Aardman, a comic convention to a slapstick Three Musketeers, Charles Hutchinson highlights a diverse week ahead.

Last chance to see: Making Waves: A Closing Celebration, York Art Gallery, Exhibition Square, York, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm

YORK Art Gallery marks the closing of the Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print with a two-day festival of music, workshops, creative activities and food and drink for all the family in the gallery and York Museum Gardens. Making Waves talks take place at 11am and 2pm each day; The Art of Kokedama in the Studio today has sold out  but limited tickets are available for 11am tomorrow.

Highlights in the gardens include the Ippuku Tea Stand today, 10am to 5pm (free); Japanese Gardening Society today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm (free); face painting, today and tomorrow, 10am to 4.30pm; Paddle in the Surf: Mokuhanga printmkaing, today and tomorrow, 10.30am to 4.30pm; sun ring making, 10.30am to 4.30pm (free); Jiu Jitsu performance, today and tomorrow, 2pm (free); Taiko drumming performance, Sunday, 11am and 3pm, with interactive session at 1.30pm (all free), and Micklegate Choir performance of Sound Waves, tomorrow, 12 noon (free). Koto Japanese harp music performances will be at 10am, 11.20am, 12.40pm, 2pm and 3.15pm in the Foyer tomorrow (free). Exhibition admission tickets: yorkartgallery.co.uk.

York singer-songwriter Beth McCarthy: Opening August 29’s bill on The Grid Stage at Leeds Festival at Bramham Park. Picture: Leeds Festival

Festival of the week: Leeds Festival, Bramham Park, near Wetherby, continuing August 29 and 30

TODAY serves up York singer-songwriter Beth McCarthy (12.30pm to 1pm), James Marriott, Declan McKenna, Skepta, Charlie XCX and bill-topping Fontaines D.C. on The Grid. Catch Geese in The Gallery too. Sunday’s Grid finale features Absolutely, Slayyyter, Maisie Peters, Sombr, Raye and the festival-closing Dave. Box office for day tickets: leedsfestival.com/tickets.

Aardman In Concert: Celebrating 50 years of clay, comedy and creativity with a live orchestra at York Barbican

Film celebration of the week: Aardman In Concert, York Barbican, August 29, 1pm and 3.30pm

FIFTY years of Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Timmy Time, Morph and Creature Comforts are marked in a heart-warming big-screen celebration, clay, comedy and creativity.

Presented in partnership with Aardman, Carrot Productions’ new show takes a joyful journey through five decades of stop-motion clay animation from the Bristol studio with its blend of treasured characters, oh-so British humour and music, climaxing with a screening of Wrong Trousers accompanied by a live orchestra. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

York Unleashed Comic-Con: Comics galore on the Knavesmire

Convention of the week: York Unleashed Comic-Con, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, August 30, 10am to 4pm

YORK Unleashed Comic-Con promises a cosplay-friendly atmosphere, Yorkshire artists and comic creators, traders, collectables and geeky merchandise, gaming and interactive zones, a comic book chill-out zone, family-friendly activities and accessible, inclusive spaces. Media guests include Alex Jordan, Harry McEntire, Alan Fletcher, Richard Price and Jamie Kenna. Tickets: unleashedtickets.co.uk.

The Rocket Man: Playing Elton John’s greatest hits on his Yellow Brick Road Tour at Grand Opera House, York

Tribute gig of the week: The Rocket Man – A Tribute to Sir Elton John, Yellow Brick Road Tour, Grand Opera House, York, August 30, 7.30pm

THE Rocket Man and his band travel down the Yellow Brick Road to perform two hours of Elton John hits, from Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting), Crocodile Rock, Daniel and Your Song to Philadelphia Freedom, I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues and I’m Still Standing. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Dead South: Progressive bluegrass and alternative Americana at York Barbican

Recommended but sold out already: The Dead South, Europe 2026 The Return, York Barbican, August 31, doors 7pm

WHATEVER you call The Dead South’s music – progressive bluegrass, alternative Americana, country, folk or Western – people from different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, languages and ages love it, clubbing together as the cosplaying “Good Company” at gigs. 

Formed in 2012 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, the line-up comprises Nate Hilts, Scott Pringle, Danny Kenyon and Colton Crawford, always attired in bolo ties and custom brims. Carter Family meets Addams Family in songs that address themes of murder, disloyalty and ghosts while going from weepy to weird, wistful to wicked. Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra support. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Snake Davis: Celebrating the art of the sax solo at Pocklington Arts Centre

Saxophonist of the week: Snake Davis Band, Classic Sax Solos, Pocklington Arts Centre, September 3, 8pm

AN instrumental solo can break hearts, lift spirits, even change lives. Saxophone is the favourite instrument of many folk, and for good reason; so emotional, so passionate; it sings, screams, whispers. Step forward saxophonist to the stars Snake Davis, leading his five-piece band through more than  20 classics, from Baker Street, Careless Whisper, Respect and Yakety Yak  to his own solos from Take That’s Million Love Songs, M People’s Moving On Up and Lisa Stansfield’s Change.

Davis reveals their background and history as well as playing them in context. What is their individual magic ingredient; what makes these solos classic? How did they emerge; how did the players produce that magic? Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The poster for Pete the Temp’s Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries

Spoken-word gig of the week: Say Owt presents Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries by Pete the Temp, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

POET, author and comic Pete the Temp’s Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries is a spoken-word show about rebellion, resistance and wild imagination. The 1800s’ Romantic movement began as a rebellion: against empire, industry and the mechanisation of the soul. Yorkshire became the epicentre of its rebellion. ​

Tomorrow’s storytelling stage show fuses scholarship with music, comedy and poetry in a spellbinding history of riot, repression and psychedelic experimentation. As we face this age of despair, find out what we can learn from past dreams of freedom and renewal. Bangladeshi-Geordie spoken-word poet and creative practitioner Tahmina Ali supports with her explorations of identity, belonging, motherhood, mental health and cultural inheritance, viewed through a distinctly northern lens. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Our Star Theatre Company: Turning up the slapstick quotient in The Three Musketeers

Slapstick silliness of the week: Our Star Theatre Company in The Three Musketeers, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, September 4, 7.30pm  

OUR Star Theatre Company’s re-telling of The Three Musketeers is packed with humour, audience participation and energetically silly performances as a small troupe of performers gears up for its debut performance of Alexandre Dumas’s story.

However, what starts as a simple theatrical endeavour soon unravels into a whirlwind of confusion, mayhem and comical mishaps. From forgotten lines to chaotic set changes, the actors become entangled in a series of blunders. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Louisa Ashdown in rehearsal for her role as The Actor in Hephaestus Theatre’s Richard iii Redux

Introducing: Hephaestus Theatre in Richard iii Redux, The Basement, City Screen Playhouse, York,  September 10, 7.30pm

UNIVERSITY of York theatre graduates Eleanor Doig (producer) and Louisa Ashdown (director and performer) introduce new York company Hephaestus Theatre in Kaite O’Reilly and Phillip Zarrilli’s dark comedy Richard iii Redux.

The company’s mission is to tell disabled stories and put disabled and neurodiverse actors on stage and behind the scenes, this time with Ashdown playing The Actor opposite Georgina Way’s Presenter (on film) in a journey to find who the real Richard iii was while exploring the challenges of being a disabled actor. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No 35, from Gazette & Herald

Dave: Headlining The Grid stage at Leeds Festival on Sunday. Picture: Leeds Festival

NOEL Coward at the double, Snake’s sax solos, Aardman model making and Leeds Festival’s summer serenade offer contrasts aplenty in Charles Hutchinson’s choices for the days ahead.

Festival of the week: Leeds Festival, Bramham Park, near Wetherby, tomorrow to Sunday 

KASABIAN headline day one of Leeds Festival on The Grid stage, where The Lathums and Arkayla play tomorrow too. Friday’s line-up on The Grid includes Blossoms, Role Model, Florence + The Machine and headliners Chase & Status Live, while headline-grabbing Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap play The Gallery that night. Look out too for Westside Cowboy and Paris Paloma in The Ballroom.

Saturday serves up York singer-songwriter Beth McCarthy (12.30pm to 1pm), James Marriott, Declan McKenna, Skepta, Charlie XCX and bill-topping Fontaines D.C. on The Grid. Catch Geese in The Gallery too. Sunday’s Grid finale features Absolutely, Slayyyter, Maisie Peters, Sombr, Raye and the festival-closing Dave. Box office: leedsfestival.com/tickets.

Justin Fletcher: Director of CBeebies House Party Live! featuring Mr Tumble at York Barbican

Children’s show of the week: CBeebies House Party Live!, York Barbican, today, 11am and 2pm

DIRECTED by CBeebies superstar Justin Fletcher, CBeebies House Party Live! is a fun-packed family stage show full of sensational songs, stupendous surprises and mega moments.

Throwing an epic party just for you will be Mr Tumble, Mister Maker, York Theatre Royal pantomime alumni Andy Day and Evie Pickerill, Duggee, Nigel Clarke and George Webster, who promise dancing, singing, streamers, giant jellies, bubbles galore and a CBeebies bedtime story. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Seascape artist Carolyn Coles: Hosting workshop for beginners at South Bank Studios, York

Workshop of the week: A Day At The Seaside with Carolyn Coles, South Bank Studios, Southlands Methodist Church, York, Friday, 10am to 5pm

SOUTH Bank Studios seascape painter Carolyn Coles hosts A Day At The Seaside, a workshop for beginners, in the Garden Room at South Bank Studios. “Start the day with the ‘Loosen Up and Feel The Flow’ workshop,” says Carolyn. “Then, in the afternoon, paint a panel and frame it.” Everything is included for £75. For more information and to book a place, email [email protected].

Looking ahead, Carolyn will take part in Staithes Festival of Arts & Heritage 2026 from September 11 to 13, when 113 artists will exhibit at 67 pop-up venues, alongside live music, heritage talks and outdoor screenings. General entry and the Artist Trail are free.

Lee Gemmell’s Egyptology student Edward Bellingham in Baron Productions’ The Mummy Lot No. 249

Thriller of the week: Baron Productions presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Mummy Lot No. 249, St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, Friday and Saturday, 7.30pm

FOUNDED by Daniel Wilmot in 2015, York company Baron Productions presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1892 one-act play The Mummy Lot No. 249 as its 2026 summer show, in which Oxford student Abercrombie Smith discovers his neighbour, Egyptology student Edward Bellingham, has used ancient magic to reanimate a malevolent mummy to terrorise and attack his rivals.

Wilmot’s cast features Jack McAdam as Smith, Lee Gemmell as Bellingham, M. Alder as Peterson, Lauren Hegarty as Hastie and Ellie Guffick as Monkhouse Lee. Box office: https://www.ticketsource.com/baron-productions.

Matt Price: Outrageous stories at York Barbican

Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, York Barbican, Friday,doors 7.30pm for 8pm start

CORNISH comedian Matt Price tops Friday’s bill with his  extraordinary and outrageous stories drawn from the wilder side of life, bringing warmth and heart to the stage while finding audacious humour in unexpected places.

Irish storytelling comedian Jack Hester supports, along with force-of-nature surreal humorist Gary Jennison, who promises dance-offs, game shows and magic in his 100 per cent unscripted, unsupervised set, where the audience can try to steer the unbridled chaos with suggestions and participation. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

The poster for Queen Of The Night: Whitney in focus at York Barbican

Tribute gig of the week: Queen Of The Night, A Tribute To Whitney Houston, York Barbican, Friday,7.30pm

THIS touring production honours the music and legacy of Whitney Houston in an electrifying show that combines sensational vocalists with a full live band. Prepare to be captivated by a journey through three decades of hits such as I Wanna Dance With Somebody, One Moment In Time, I Will Always Love You, My Love Is Your Love, So Emotional,  Saving All My Love, How Will I Know, Million Dollar Bill and The Greatest Love Of All. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.  

Noël Coward double bill of the week: UK Foundation For Dance and Pickering Musical Society in Noël & Gertie and Red Peppers, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

TRAVEL back to the 1930s of Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence in this first co-production between Scarborough’s UK Foundation For Dance and Pickering Musical Society in a double-bill of Coward’s comedy, wit and music.

The first-half revue, Noël & Gertie, introduces the legendary stage partnership and lifelong friendship of Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, with songs by Coward, Gershwin, Cole Porter, Kurt Weill and Rodgers & Hammerstein. Bill Scott on piano accompanies Tim Tubbs and Rachel Anderson, co-stars of Pickering’s 2025 hit Hello, Dolly!

Then comes Red Peppers, a short play from Coward & Lawrence’s 1936 production Tonight At 8.30. This comic interlude with music, set in a northern town’s palace of varieties, features a feuding husband and wife in a corny song and dance double act, in the dying days of music hall. Pickering actor Paula Cook join five Scarborough actors in this amusing backstage bickering match, bookended by two corny song and dance routines. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Aardman Animation: Model-making workshops at York Barbican

Activity of the week: Aardman In Concert: Model Making Workshops, York Barbican, Saturday, 11.45am, 2.15pm and 4.45pm

MAKE your very own Aardman character at one of three self-led model-making workshops, where you keep your creation to take home. Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run and Morph, have created special instruction guides to enable you to create clay versions of their much-loved characters.

Choose between Gromit (11.45am), Shaun the Sheep (2.15pm) and Feathers McGraw (4.45pm). All materials will be supplied. The workshops are suitable for all ages from five upwards; children must be accompanied by a participating adult. Tickets: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The Dead South: Progressive bluegrass and alternative Americana at York Barbican

Recommended but sold out already: The Dead South, Europe 2026 The Return, York Barbican, August 31, doors 7pm

WHATEVER you call The Dead South’s music – progressive bluegrass, alternative Americana, country, folk or Western, people from different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, languages and ages love it, clubbing together as the cosplaying “Good Company” at gigs. 

Formed in 2012 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, the line-up comprises Nate Hilts, Scott Pringle, Danny Kenyon and Colton Crawford, always attired in bolo ties and custom brims. Carter Family meets Addams Family in songs that address themes of murder, disloyalty and ghosts while going from weepy to weird, wistful to wicked. Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra support. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Heather Leech in Gleowit Productions’ Anne Boleyn’s Mother

Play of the week: Gleowit Productions in Anne Boleyn’s Mother, Milton Rooms, Malton, September 3, 7.30pm

WEDNESDAY, October 13, 1537: another ordinary day, except that a new queen, Jane, has given birth to a son, an achievement beyond compare in Henry VIII’s court. Elizabeth, Countess of Wiltshire, feeling the loss of her son George and her daughter Anne, previous queen of England, struggles to find cause for celebration, wholly aware of the treachery within the English court.

On the path to greatness, her losses have been heavy. Were they worth it? She is Anne Boleyn’s mother and grandmother to the motherless future Queen Elizabeth I, her story now told by actor, writer and director Heather Leech. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Snake Davis: Celebrating the art of the sax solo at Pocklington Arts Centre

Saxophonist of the week:  Snake Davis Band, Classic Sax Solos, Pocklington Arts Centre, September 3, 8pm

AN instrumental solo can break hearts, lift spirits, even change lives. Saxophone is the favourite instrument of many folk, and for good reason; so emotional, so passionate; it sings, screams, whispers. Step forward saxophonist to the stars Snake Davis, leading his five-piece band through more than  20 classics, from Baker Street, Careless Whisper, Respect and Yakety Yak  to his own solos from Take That’s Million Love Songs, M People’s Moving On Up and Lisa Stansfield’s Change.

Davis reveals their background and history as well as playing them in context. What is their individual magic ingredient; what makes these solos classic? How did they emerge; how did the players produce that magic? Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk. 

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New-look Basement at City Screen Picturehouse launches monthly Sunday comedy club from August 16

Nice touch: Chloe Petts feeling lippy at the prospect of headlining first Basement Comedy Club bill at City Screen Picturehouse on August 16

CITY Screen Picturehouse, York, has redecorated The Basement for the first time in 15 years for concerts, comedy and more.

The refurbishment will be marked by the launch of a new comedy night. “Although we’ll still be working with Damion Larkin for Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club nights on the first Saturday of the month, we’ve now set up our own Basement Comedy Club,” says City Screen general manager Cath Sharp.

“It’ll be held on the third Sunday of the month, so as not to compete with Laugh Out Loud. It’s been many years since we had our own club – remember The Other Side?”

The first bill, on August 16, at what will be the regular early evening kick-off of 6pm, will feature Chloe Petts, Faizan Shah and Lovdev Barpaga, introduced by MC Sara Barron.

Sara Barron: Compere for August 16 bill at The Basement

Petts has been touring their 2025 Edinburgh Fringe show Big Naturals, addressing lad culture and identity politics. Manchester comic Shah sheds light on his experiences growing up in an immigrant household, along with the mental health challenges this journey often entails.

Barpaga is a comedian, breakfast show presenter on FreeRadio in Birmingham and podcaster, hosting “Crazy Little Thing Called Lovdev”. On the comedy circuit for ten years now, he specialises in crafting old school-style one liners and puns.

Compere Barron made her Edinburgh Fringe debut in 2018 and has toured such shows as For Worse (2018), Enemies Closer (2019), Hard Feelings (2022) and Anything For You (2024). She co-created the Succession recap podcast Firecrotch and Normcore and presents They Like to Watch, a weekly TV discussion podcast.

She is taking her work-in-progress show Slop to the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe, where she will explore topics ranging from grannies and dogs to adult films and Jeffrey Dahmer.

Looking ahead, in the diary for September 20 are Daliso Chaponda, Hannah Platt, Dom Hatton-Woods and MC Raul Kholi, followed on October 18 by Lauren Pattison, Nicola Mantalios, Aaron Simmonds and MC Aaron Wood.

The redecorated Basement at City Screen Picturehouse

“It’s us and the Hackney Picturehouse, in East London, that will be running comedy clubs among the Picturehouse cinemas,” says Cath. “Hackney Picturehouse is doing a Saturday programme organised by Jon Barrenechea, and we’ve chosen to do Sundays with an early-doors policy with three acts and a compere from 6pm.”

As part of the Basement revamp, “we’ll be running a menu downstairs – the cinema auditorium menu – served on paper plates, and on cabaret nights, on crockery,” says Cath.

“The Basement capacity will be 100, seated in rows or standing, with a cabaret night capacity of 50, making it York’s most intimate venue.”

Veteran performer and producer Poppy Pout Presents will be putting on burlesque and cabaret nights, while the York Filmmakers club will continue to hold bi-monthly selection of shorts and BFI (British Film Institute) screenings.

The poster for Pigeon Paint Off, the live art competition at The Basement on September 12, in aid of Columba Sanctuary and Advocacy for Pigeons

RARE Collective artist Sharon McDonagh (alias spAm) and artist/DJ Sola will hold a DJ Night on a date yet to be confirmed. The Dead Toe Society’s Pigeon Paint Off day will take over The Basement on September 12 from 11am until late in a day filled with live music, talks and stalls, as well as the centrepiece of two rounds of the paint-off featuring pigeon-loving artists from all over the country. 

Visitors will have the chance to “learn more about why pigeons need our support and how you can help advocate for their wellbeing”. The artworks will then go on display in a three-week exhibition.

The Basement upgrade, carried out by Picturehouse Cinemas to a design by architect Marta Tavares, has introduced a new lighting rig and sound panels, ox-blood red chairs and a French navy colour scheme on the walls, topped off by flamingo-pink on the stanchions.

Further features are a new screen for York Filmmakers and new microphone stands, while the floor has been re-painted and the adjoining green room for performers has new carpeting. Meanwhile, the old Basement chairs have found a new home at St Oswald’s Church, Fulford.

New red-and-black carpeting has been fitted at City Screen for the first time since 2000, with off-cuts being used in The Basement as flooring for drummers. The City Screen bar is to be re-fitted in October and new furniture will be provided for the first-floor terrace space.

Gill Riley’s exhibit from A Northern Landscape, on display in the Upstairs Gallery at City Screen Picturehouse

New mustard-yellow blinds have been installed on the first-floor corridor, where the latest exhibition, York Learning’s summer show, A Northern Landscape, is running in the Upstairs Gallery until September 4.

Course tutors challenged painting, drawing and watercolour learners aged 19 upwards to capture the essence of landscapes on plywood canvases, and now the work of more than 70 artists is on show.

This year also has welcomed the introduction of The Book Club programme at City Screen, launched on May 31, when Elizabeth Strout was in conversation with broadcaster Francine Stock, broadcast live from Picturehouse Central.

On August 4, Jaqueline Crooks marked the release of her new novel, Sky City, a spellbinding portrait of 1990s’ London, in conversation broadcast live from The Ritzy in Brixton.

Next up,  Waterstones York presents Tidings: Poetry Quarterly featuring Kimberly Campanello at The Basement on September 22 from 7pm to 9pm. Contact event coordinator Nick Newman for more details at [email protected].

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 27, from The York Press

SledOne’s mural, What Walks Amongst Us, taking shape at AcombFest. Picture: Art of Protest

MURALS in Acomb, early music beyond borders, Mystery Plays on waggons, a political swansong and compact Shakespeare keep Charles Hutchinson’s thoughts off the July heatwave.

Art event of the week: AcombFest, Acomb, York, today and tomorrow

CURATED by Art of Protest, York’s first international street art festival continues today and tomorrow with its theme of A Return To Nature, featuring 20 art installations, live murals, RARE Collective’s Paint Jam, spray battles and more than 30 bands, DJs and performers, across 22 venues.

Look out too for interactive family-friendly workshops, an art market, history walks and talks, special events and tastings and a community cinema. Muralists taking part include SMUG, from Australia, Sheffield muralist Peachzz, wildlife artist Curtis Hylton and Acomb’s very own SledOne. For full details, go to: https://acombfest.co.uk/.

Baroque collective Solomon’s Knot: Performing Friedrich Nicolaus Bruhns’ St Mark Passion, directed by Jonathan Sells, at The Quire, York Minster, on July 10

50th anniversary event of the summer: 2026 York Early Music Festival, Beyond Borders, until July 11

THE premier British early music festival marks its 50th anniversary with a celebration of “just how far early music has travelled – beyond the borders of the myriad historic venues of our city to a worldwide audience,” says director Delma Tomlin.

The festival welcomes The Sixteen, B’Rock Orchestra & Vocal Consort, Imago Mundi, mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, Solomon’s Knot and NCEM Platform Artists Anacronia and Contre le temps, among others. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk/yemf.

Bodhan Pitel’s Herod in DSpace Ukrainian Theatre’s The Massacre of the Innocents in the York Mystery Plays 2026. Picture: John Saunders

Theatrical outdoor event of the week: 2026 York Mystery Plays, streets of York, tomorrow, 10.30am to 4.50pm

THE four-yearly staging on the York Mystery Plays on pageant waggons takes place at four locations across the city: free viewing at the Minster Refectory Gardens, Deansgate, (from 10.30am) King’s Square (from 11.10am), St Sampson’s Square (from 11.50am) and ticketed seats at Dean’s Park (from 12.30pm). Ten core plays will be complemented by further extracts to tell the story from The War In Heaven to Doomsday. For full details, go to yorkmysteryplays.co.uk; tickets, ticketsource.com/york-festival-trust.

Clive Francis as Sir Humphrey Appleby in I’m Sorry, Prime Minister. Picture: Johan Persson

Political drama of the week: I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, Grand Opera House, York, July 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

JIM Hacker is back, older, but perhaps not wiser, and still utterly baffled by the real world. Hoping for a quiet retirement from government as the master of Hacker College, Oxford, Jim (Robert Kitson, replacing Simon Rouse) instead finds himself facing the ultimate modern crisis: cancelled by the college committee. Enter Sir Humphrey Appleby (Clive Francis), who has lost none of his love for bureaucracy, Latin phrases and well-timed obstruction.

Can Humphrey and Jim outmanoeuvre the hostile students, the Fellows and reality itself? Or is it finally time to say “I’m Sorry, Prime Minister”? Brimming with wit, nostalgia and more double-speak than a press briefing, the final chapter in the evergreen comedy series is written and directed by Jonathan Lynn,co-directed byMichael Gyngell and presented by The Barn Theatre, Cirencester. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Reduced Shakespeare Company’s 2026 tour cast for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

Shakespeare shake-up of the week: Reduced Shakespeare Company in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), York Theatre Royal, July 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

MARKING 30 years of performances in the UK, the Reduced Shakespeare Company’s 2026 tour company of Efé Agwele, Woogie Jung, Tom Pavey and Kiran Raywilliams presents Hamlet told backwards, a micro-condensed Othello scored to a ukulele, a carnage-filled Titus Andronicus presented as a YouTube cookery tutorial and the History Plays as a manic football game, passing the crown from king to king.

Californian co-founders Adam Long,  Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield have re-booted, re-imagined, reinvented and updated the restless comedy for a new generation to undertake a rollercoaster ride through all 37 of the Bard’s First Folio of plays. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Stephen Smith’s Claude Monet in A Montage Of Monet

Busiest actor of the week: Threedumb Theatre presents Stephen Smith in A Montage Of Monet, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, July 8, 7.30pm and July 11, 3pm; One Man Poe, Ripon Theatre Festival, Ripon Arts Hub, July 10, 8pm; One  Man Poe world premiere, York Medical Society, July 11, 7.30pm

THREEDUMB Theatre artistic director and actor Stephen Smith performs Joan Greening’s new play exploring French Impressionist artist Claude Monet’s life and loves: his two marriages, his first wife’s devastating death, his lover’s erratic behaviour, his suicide attempt, his thoughts on fellow Impressionists and the torment of his failing eyesight. The 55-minute Monet montage combines projection design and Joe Furey’s music with Smith’s storytelling in  two York performances.

Smith also presents four of Edgar Allan Poe’s Gothic horror  works (The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and The Pendulum, The Black Cat and The Raven) in Ripon, followed by the world premiere of his latest Poe double bill (The Business Man and The Case of M. Valdemar) in York. All six, amounting to 18,000 Poe words, will be performed at the Edinburgh Fringe. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Ripon, ripontheatrefestival.org.

Musical of the week: Top Hat and Tails Theatre in Little Shop Of Horrors!, Friargate Theatre, York, July 9 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

MEEK floral assistant Seymour Krelborn stumbles across a new breed of plant he calls Audrey II, a foul-mouthed carnivore that promises him fame and fortune if he keeps feeding it with blood. Over time, however, Seymour discovers Audrey II’s plans for global domination in Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s sci-fi B-movie monster spoof, presented here with a live band and professionally hand-crafted puppets.  Box office: ridinglights.org.

Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys: Summer of Hits show at York Museum Gardens on Thursday

Music festival of the week: Futuresound presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, July 9, gates 5pm; Self Esteem, July 10, gates 5pm, and Super Furry Animals, July 11, gates 4pm

WIRRAL synth-pop pioneers Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark open Futuresound’s third season of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts on Thursday with a Summer of Hits bill featuring Heaven 17, China Crisis and rising Newcastle singer-songwriter Andrew Cushin.

Mercury Prize nominee Self Esteem, aka Rotherham singer, songwriter and actress Rebecca Lucy Taylor, tops Friday’s line-up, featuring London indie group The Big Moon, South African ghetto funk musician Moonchild Sanelly and Nigerian-born musician and spoken-word artist Joshia Idehen.

Welsh psychedelic rock band Super Furry Animals are next Saturday’s headliners, joined by singer-songwriter Baxter Dury, indie-pop septet Los Campesinos!, Nottingham alt-country band Divorce and North Wales psychedelic act Pys Melyn.  Box office for July 10 and 11: futuresoundgroup.com/york-museum-gardens-events.

If I Knew The Way, I Would Take You Home, by Matt Sewell

In Focus: Birds of the week: Matt Sewell exhibition for RARE Collective at WET, Micklegate, York, until mid-July

SHROPSHIRE artist, illustrator and author Matt Sewelll is the latest street art luminary to be showcased in RARE Collective’s collaboration with WET wine bar, in Micklegate, York, in aid of SASH (Safe and Sound Homes), the York youth homelessness charity.

“We’re really chuffed to have Matt return to York with his fabulous Riso prints,” says RARE Collective exhibition organiser Sharon McDonagh. “If you came to the Vandalfest charity street art show last year, you would have seen his cracking bird mural on Floor 3 of the big disused office block in Low Ousegate.

Artist Matt Sewell at work

Sewell is an avid ornithologist, contributing regularly to the Caught By The River website and publishing the books Our Garden Birds, Our Songbirds, Our Woodland Birds, Owls, Penguins and A Charm Of Goldfinches And Other Collective Nouns.

He has illustrated for the Guardian, Barbour, V&A Museums, BBC, National Trust, Greenpeace, Big Issue and Levi’s and painted walls for Helly Hansen, Puma and the RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds). He has exhibited in Great Britain, New York, old York, Tokyo and Paris.  

Cuckoo Cuckoo Cuckoo, by Matt Sewell

Under RARE Collective’s partnership with WET, artists and photographers exhibit their work in a six-week solo show.  As well as at WET, work can be bought online both during and after the exhibition run at rarecollective.co.uk.

In addition, a selection of Sewell’s prints is featuring in RARE Collective’s exhibition for AcombFest at The Crooked Tap, on show until August 15 in support of SASH.

Matt Sewell’s wall of bird prints for sale at WET

Exhibiting too are: spAm (Sharon McDonagh), Sola, Alison Jagger, Al Murphy, Anthony Appleyard, Boxxhead, HazardOne, Lady Mkei, Lincoln Lightfoot, Liskbot, Michael Dawson, Nicolas Dixon, Slice Of Lino, STATIC and Stephen Bottrill.

“RARE are working in collaboration with the Art of Protest Project, after being invited by AcombFest curator Jeff Clark and the AOP team to curate the live PaintJam at the Carlton Tavern, in Acomb Road, Holgate, today and tomorrow,” says RARE Collective curator Sharon McDonagh.

“This will involve nine artists painting live from 10am to 4pm each day (Boxxhead, HazardOne, Lady Mkei, Lincoln Lightfoot, Liskbot, Nicolas Dixon, Sola, spAm and VYZ); live DJ sets by Alilou, Bob Yenz, Conor Rogan, Free Da Karlos and Sola plus guests, audiovisual artists Fred DWolf, Sonas and JohnManBand on a huge screen, cocktails and mixology by Tulum Spirits Collective and street food by El Chappo, all in support of SASH.”

Did you know?

MATT Sewell is also a musician, performing as Sewell &The Gong with Chris Tate and as the deep-cut compiler of the compilation series A Crushing Glow.

Matt Sewell’s work environment

In Focus too: Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance, 30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, July 6 to 8, 7.45pm

THE 30th anniversary tour of Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance promises a grand celebration of the revolutionary Irish dance production’s legacy after captivating more than 60 million fans in 60 countries since its 1996 debut.

The 30 Years of Standing Ovations tour will feature “brand-new choreography, stunning costumes, state-of-the-art special effects and cutting-edge lighting, ensuring that the production continues to push boundaries and deliver an unforgettable experience”. 

Creative manager James Keegan says: “Michael Flatley has taught me that there are no boundaries in the creative space. When he burst onto the scene in the mid-90s, he took traditional Irish dancing to a place nobody had ever dreamed of, and that has been the key to the show’s success.

“Michael often says in rehearsals that we need to push the boundaries as much as we can, and if it’s too far or doesn’t work, we can always pull it back. That mindset is what keeps Lord Of The Dance evolving.”

Lord Of The Dance on its 30th anniversary tour. Picture: Brian Doherty

Keegan believes that the core elements of Flatley’s visionary production – choreography, music and storytelling – remain timeless while still evolving. “What made Lord Of The Dance famous 30 years ago is still what makes it work today: 40 of the greatest Irish tap dancers in the world performing in one line in perfect sync. It’s a spectacle that never loses its magic,” he says.

Reflecting on Flatley’s impact, Keegan says: “Professional Irish dancing didn’t really exist until Michael created his shows and added a more entertaining twist to the art form.

“He wasn’t just a dancer; he was a highly tuned athlete who could perform at astonishing levels for a full two-hour show, seven days a week. Today, we see young competitive dancers around the world striving to reach the levels he set.”

But beyond the footwork and the spectacle, Keegan reckons Flatley’s greatest legacy is his ability to inspire. “Michael’s motto has always been, ‘Nothing is impossible.’ He took an already intricate dance form and pushed it even further, breaking records like 38 taps per second and incorporating upper body movements that defied tradition,” he says.

Michael Flatley

“I’ve seen it time and time again: a dancer who never thought they could be a lead receives Michael’s encouragement, and before long, they are fulfilling their dream on stage.”

For Keegan, one moment stands out above the rest. “In 1997, I was a ten-year-old competitive Irish dancer in Manchester, struggling with the name-callers and the challenges of being a young male dancer,” he says.

“Then Lord Of The Dance came to town. Watching Michael and the cast that night at the Apollo Theatre changed everything for me. The masculinity, the precision, the energy, it was like nothing I’d ever seen before.

“I met Michael at the stage door, and suddenly, I knew that being an Irish dancer could mean being a superstar. Nineteen years later, I had the honour of sharing his final show with him at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, in 2016. It was a full-circle moment I will never forget.”

Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance dancers

As Lord Of The Dance embark on its 30th anniversary tour, Flatley reflects on the journey. “The magic of Lord Of The Dance lives on in the hearts of our audience, and I am thrilled to bring this iconic show back to the UK in 2026,” he says.

“30 Years of Standing Ovations celebrates the incredible journey we’ve shared with fans over the years. It’s a tribute to the enduring power of dreams, the joy of dance and the unwavering support of our audience. This tour is our way of saying thank you for three decades of unforgettable memories.”

Although Flatley, now 67, retired from performing during his final tour in 2016, he has remained at the helm of Lord Of The Dance, guiding its evolution while preserving its timeless magic.

Now, as the production prepares for its biggest celebration yet, fans can look forward to a breathtaking spectacle that honours the past, embraces the present, and inspires the future of Irish dance.

The 30th anniversary tour also visits Hull New Theatre, July 22 to 25, and Sheffield City Hall, August 20 to 23. For full tour dates and ticket information, go to lordofthedance.com. York tickets:  https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/lord-of-the-dance-30th-anniversary/.

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AcombFest, York’s first international street art festival, is under way with 90 activities, events and murals across 22 venues

SledOne’s mural, What Walks Amongst Us, taking shape for Acomb Fest. Picture: Art of Protest

ACOMB is hosting AcombFest, York’s first international street art festival for York, from today to Sunday featuring 20 art installations, live mural painting, RARE Collective’s PaintJam and spray battles, plus 30 bands, DJs and performers, across 22 venues.

Look out too at this Return To Nature-themed festival for special events and tastings, community cinema, family-friendly interactive workshops, art market, Acomb history walks and talk, plus shopping opportunities in support of independent businesses.

Featuring more than 90 activities and events, AcombFest is the creative brainchild of Art of Protest, Jeff Clark’s York-based  street and urban art business “dedicated to transforming cities, towns and communities one spray can at a time in artist-led, community-shaped and stakeholder-driven projects”.

Funded by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Vibrant and Sustainable High Street Fund, Great Acomb Community Forum and City of York Council and supported by York St John University and York School of Art, AcombFest presents a long weekend of highly visual and participatory events.

The centrepiece will be the painting of four large-scale murals in and around Front Street by renowned international artists. This work will be complemented by a further ten art installation paints featuring York artists with community collaborations, alongside a range of workshops, music and cultural happenings.

“Nothing of this scale will have been seen in York before, never mind in Acomb” says Jeff, Art of Protest creative director and lead curator of AcombFest.

Jeff Clark: Art of Protest creative director and lead curator of AcombFest

“Normally, activities of this scale would be confined to the city centre, but this event is a fantastic example of how to broaden out creative and cultural engagement to the people in the wider city and wards.

“Not only does this inject life into local high streets to make them more vibrant and sustainable, it also does the same for the communities themselves.”

Jeff continues: “The ambition for AcombFest is to be a bi-annual event attracting the best international, national and more local artists from across the region to really put Acomb on the map as ‘the creative quarter’ of York.

“This is something that has been much needed as a way of balancing the city’s reliance on its fantastic heritage. Not only that, it will act as an inspiration and a pathway for young creative people in the Acomb and surrounding communities to develop their skills and start their own creative journeys – hopefully into related jobs and industries.”

The mural artist headliners will be Australian superstar SMUG, known as “the world’s best photorealistic artist”; Sheffield muralist Peachzz, 2024 runner-up for Best Mural in the World; wildlife artist Curtis Hylton and Acomb returnee SledOne.

Only one magpie? Phew, luckily plenty more are being added to SMUG’s mural, What Flies Around Us, at AcombFest. Picture: Art of Protest

Creative events and activities will be centred on Front Street with free street art workshops. Venues include Bluebird Bakery, SoJo, The Crooked Tap and all the way down Acomb Road to The Fox, connecting all the green spaces and parks.

Each venue will have its own bespoke offer – from bush craft and nature art to artist talks – with individual tickets, availability information and listings to be found on the AcombFest website at https://acombfest.co.uk/.

RARE Collective are putting on DJs and nine artists will be showcasing their skills in live spray battles at the Carlton Tavern. The community cinema will run at Acomb Explore library and spoken word events at Books & Bevs. 

A full programme of family-friendly free activities will run at Acomb Methodist Church; That Acomb Arty Thing will play host to an artist market; the Gateway Church will present art exhibitions; Fishponds Wood will run mini-beast trails. Further attractions will be history tours, Jim Grant and Ben Grant’s Rock Soil Sky light installations in Holgate Windmill and pop-up stalls for Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and York Civic Trust. 

Specialist food and drink offerings throughout the festival will include Spirit of Yorkshire and an international mixologist.

The festival was shaped by speaking to more than 1,100 residents and nine schools to learn of Acomb’s rich tapestry of history, flora and wildlife, leading to the festival theme of returning to nature. Acomb Alive and Acomb Methodist Church have supported the event too, the church playing host to music therapy sessions, flower arranging with Acomb Flower Guild, drop-in crafts with Crafty Fox and an art fair with Acomb Artists.

The festival map for AcombFest

What’s On at AcombFest

Friday, July 3

Explore Library
9:30am – 12:30pm
Mosaic Workshop
10am & 1pm
Hidden History Walk

Gateway Centre
10am – 6:30pm
Oak Room Art Exhibition and Art Workshops – Exhibitions & creative workshops curated by That Acomb Art Thing.

The Carlton Tavern
2pm – 5:30pm
PaintJam – RARE Collective & Art of Protest setting up PaintJam ready for artists, DJs & mixologist
7pm – 9pm
Live World Cup Mega-Screen 

Acomb Front Street
3pm – 4pm
Art of Protest Street Art Workshops

The Fox
3:30pm – 6pm
Water Art – After-school fun! Join the Fox team in a free-for-all floor art event
4pm – 9pm
Clucking Oinks Fried Chicken
6pm – 8pm
Tri-Starss – Beer garden gig of 1970s-1990s rock

DJ Sola: Leading a bill of live music, dancing and craft beer at The Crooked Tap

The Crooked Tap
All weekend
RARE Collective Urban Art Exhibition
4pm – 10:30pm
DJ Sola & Friends – Live music, craft beer and dancing
6pm – 9pm
Philly’s Woodfired Pizza – Neapolitan wood-fired pizza

SOJO
5:30pm – 8:30pm
Yorkshire Beer & Cheese Tasting – Celebration of Yorkshire produce
8:30pm – 11pm
Live bands – Local bands performing live sets

Bluebird Bakery/Rise
6pm – 7:45pm
AcombFest Talks – Curator Jeff Clark and muralists discuss AcombFest (Whisky-Highball on arrival, tickets required)
7:45pm – 8:30pm
Whisky Tasting – Spirit of Yorkshire + Tulum Spirits (tickets required)
8:30pm – 10:30pm
Flour Power Sound System with Yeastie Boy – Live music (tickets required)

The Hand
8pm – 9:30pm
Josh Pulleyn – Live music

Inn on the Green
8:30pm – 11pm
Live music – Local bands performing live sets

Saturday, July 4

York pianist Karl Mullen: PIaying outside the bakery at Rise@Bluebird Bakery from 1pm to 3pm

Bluebird Bakery/Rise
9am – 12pm
Wild Bee Flowers – Sustainable florist & flower farm
10am – 3pm
Fresh Bakes – Bluebird’s fresh bakes & goodies
1pm – 3pm
Karl Mullen Live Piano – Busker extraordinaire playing outside bakery
All day
Craft Beer and Speciality Cans – Fridges of craft beers & small brewery cans in regular rotation
7pm – 11pm
Groovetone + The Unknown Stuntman – Jazz, blues, Latin, funk and Ska tunes (tickets required)

The Place
10am – 12pm
Leo Morrey Art Workshops
12:30pm – 2pm
Drummers
12pm – 4pm
Stephen Hodgkins Art Workshops

West Bank Park
10am – 3pm
Trapeze classes

Holgate Windmill
10am – 3:30pm
Wind, Soil, Rock Art Installation – Video, sound and life-size puppet

The Carlton Tavern
10am – 6pm
PaintJam – Watch nine artists begin their paints
10am – 10pm
RARE Collective DJs + Audiovisual – Eclectic mix of DJs and audio visual producers for PaintJam. Decks will be pumping out tunes while the paint dries
10am – 10pm
Tulum Spirits Collective – Flying in from Mexico, mixologist Craig Feather serves up menu of luxury bespoke cocktails from 11am, preceded by non-alcoholic delights from 10am
11am – 8pm
Streetfood

The Crooked Tap
All weekend
RARE Collective Urban Art Exhibition
10:30am – 12pm
The Art of Kokodema Workshop – tickets required
12pm – 8pm
Yuzu East Asian Street Food
12pm – 1:30pm
Charlie Swainton – Live music
2pm – 3:30pm
Amy & Rob – Live music
4pm – 5:30pm
Craig Long – Live music
6pm – 7:30pm
James Scanlan – Live music
8pm – 10pm
Melting Pot – 90s’ Indie, Britpop & dance tribute

Acomb Methodist Church
10:30am – 2pm
Bloom Baby – Fiona Price Baby Classes
11am – 2pm
Music Therapy
12pm – 1pm
Jazzy J’s – Live music
12:30pm – 6pm
Cafe
1pm – 2pm
Ten Thousand Pairs of Hands – Live music
1:30pm – 4:30pm
Acomb Flower Guild – Adult & Child Workshops
3pm – 3:30pm
Acomb Choir
3:45pm – 8:45pm
Acomb Community Cinema

Explore Library
11am – 3pm
Acomb History Group
4pm – 7pm
Open Cinema: Hoppers – Cinema with popcorn (tickets required)

Acomb Front Street
11am – 3pm
Art of Protest Street Art Workshops

Storyteller Lara McClure

Books & Bevs
12:30pm – 3:30pm
Storytelling with Lara McClure

Fishpond Woods
2pm – 3:30pm
Mini Beast Safari

The Fox
12pm – 8:30pm
Posca Doodle Wall
12pm – 9pm
Clucking Oinks Fried Chicken
2pm – 4pm
The Mothers – Live music
4pm – 6pm
Ten Thousand Pairs Of Hands – Live music
6pm – 8pm
Steam Pigeon – Live music
6pm – 8:30pm
Beermat Art Lost Property Collage

Inn on the Green
2pm – 11pm
Open Mic Night

The Sun
3:30pm – 5pm
BBQ
4pm – 8pm
Fireball Rockband

The Hand
8:30pm – 11pm
Pete Hale – Live music

Sunday, July 5

Fishpond Woods
10am – 11am
Moth Reveal

Acomb Methodist Church
10am – 12pm
Interactive Worship
12pm – 6pm
Pop-Up Cafe
1pm – 4:30pm
Crafty Fox Kids Club – Hands-on art & craft activities for two to four-year-olds
1pm – 4pm
Bio-Diversity Collage – Reacting to ecological crisis
6pm – 8pm
Art Speedquiz

West Bank Park
10am – 3pm
Trapeze classes

Freida Nipples: Baps’N’Bingo at Rise@Bluebird Bakery

Bluebird Bakery/Rise
10am – 3pm
Bluebird’s Sunday Ritual – Sunday specialties such as Bengali five-spice rolls, spinach & chickpea rolls, plus artisan pastries.
6pm – 8pm
Baps’N’Bingo – Burlesque bingo with Dolly Trolly and Freida Nipples (tickets required)
8pm – 11pm
Guilty Pleasures Disco – Closing party of pop bangers, disco, R&B & power ballads (tickets required)

Holgate Windmill
10am – 4pm
Wind, Soil, Rock Art Installation – Video, sound and life-size puppet

The Crooked Tap
All weekend
RARE Collective Urban Art Exhibition
10:30am – 12pm
Posca Pebble Art
12pm – 8pm
Yuzu East Asian Street Food
12:30pm – 5:30pm
Acomb Artists’ Kids Art Classes
12:30pm – 11pm
Cask Ale Festival
6pm – 10:30pm
AcombFest Closing Party – DJ Sola & Friends of RARE Collective

The Fox
12pm – 4pm
Bush Craft and Nature Art – Session with Tom Rawson of Branch Out
12pm – 9pm
Clucking Oinks Fried Chicken
2pm – 4pm
Bare Brass Band – Live music
4pm – 6pm
V2 – Live music

Inn on the Green
12pm – 5pm
Sunday Roast – OMNI Darts challenge & simulators

The Carlton Tavern
1pm – 6pm
PaintJam – Artwork continues
10am – 10pm
RARE DJ Sets – Live music
10am – 5pm
Tulum Spirits Collective – Flying in from Mexico, mixologist Craig Feather serves up luxury bespoke cocktails from 11am, preceded by non-alcoholic delights from 10am
11am – 8pm
El Chappo – New takes on traditional Mexican from Sheffield, ahead of Mexico v England in the World Cup last 16
12pm – 3:30pm
The Tavern Sunday Roast – Traditional roasts
9pm – 11pm
Live World Cup Mega-Screen

Gateway Church
2pm – 4pm
Little Green Fingers – Plant up container pot to take home

The Sun
4pm – 7pm
BBQ
4pm – 7pm
York Turnpike Trust – Five-piece band’sR&B covers

The Hand
5:30pm – 9pm
The Dunwells – Leeds indie-folk/Americana band

The Dunwells: Plating at The Hand on Sunday

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Corrie star Mollie Gallagher to make stage debut as Clarice Starling in The Silence Of The Lambs. Grand Opera House awaits

Oliver Farnworth, left, Mollie Gallagher, John Partridge and Sam Jackson in the poster for the world stage premiere of The Silence Of The Lambs

CORONATION Street star Mollie Gallagher will make her professional theatrical debut as Clarice Starling in the world stage premiere of The Silence Of The Lambs, touring the Grand Opera House, York, from March 15 to 20 2027.

Mollie is departing the ITV soap after almost seven years in the role of Nina Lucas, long-lost niece of Roy Cropper, to tread the boards.

She joined Coronation Street straight out of drama school and has since been central to some of Corrie’s biggest storylines, including the Nina & Seb hate crime storyline, based on the attack of Sophie Lanacaster.

She won the Serial Drama Performance prize in the National Theatre Awards and took part in ITV’s Dancing On Ice in 2023, reaching the semi-finals.

Mollie will join the already confirmed John Partridge’s Dr Hannibal Lecter, Emmerdale soap star Oliver Farnworth’s Jack Crawford and Skins actor Sam Jackson’s Buffalo Bill (a.k.a Jame Gumb) in the spine-tingling psychological thriller.

Adapted for the stage by two-time Pulitzer finalist and Tony-nominated playwright Gina Gionfriddo from Thomas Harris’s classic novel, the touring production is directed by North Yorkshireman Nikolia Foster, artistic director of Curve, Leicester.

Produced by Curve in tandem with  Indigo Productions and Crossroads Live, the UK and Ireland tour of The Silence Of The Lambs will open at Curve on August 1 2026, featuring an ensemble of Minal Patel as Frederick Chilton; Jo Mousley as Senator Ruth Martin; Lottie Amor as Catherine Martin; Mark Peachey as Pilcher; Andrew Joshi as Peterson and Jonny Magnanti as Wertimer, with Mary Timbrell Hill completing the completing the company, all taking on a variety of roles.

Lancashire actor, singer, presenter, writer and director John Partridge is best known for his long-running role as Christian Clarke in BBC 1’s EastEnders and extensive range of West End credits, from Cats to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

Now he will don the iconic mask as the refined and sadistic Dr Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist and infamous murderer who FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent to interview in the hope that his brilliant mind will help to catch Buffalo Bill, a sadistic serial killer still at large.

Another girl is missing, time is running out, but Dr Lecter has questions of his own, and now Clarice must decide: should she keep a safe distance or let Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ into her head?

Gionfriddo’s theatrical adaptation delves into the psychological tension of Harris’s novel, drawing the audience deep into Clarice and Lecter’s intelligent, intricate and bone-chilling game of cat-and-mouse as the FBI scramble to catch Buffalo Bill.

The tour’s award-winning creative team includes theatre designer Michael Taylor, whose credits include his Olivier Award-nominated design for The Ladykillers and Billy Elliot at Curve; sound designer Carolyn Downing, Olivier Award winner for  Chimerica and Tony Award winner for Life Of Pi, and projection designer George Reeve, 2025 Tony Award recipient for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Maybe Happy Ending, with further credits for Disney’s Hercules and Oliver! (West End and Chichester Festival Theatre).

In the team too are Tony-nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning composer Grant Olding, who has collaborated regularly with Nicholas Hytner at both The Bridge and National Theatre, including One Man, Two Guvnors, and Tony and Olivier-nominated lighting designer Howard Hudson (Starlight Express, Troubadour Theatre; & Juliet, Broadway, West End, international and UK tours). 

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, director Nikolai Foster grew up in North Yorkshire and trained at Drama Centre London and at the Crucible, Sheffield, going on to create work for many of the UK’s major producing theatres, touring houses and international venues.

He has been director on attachment at the Crucible, the Royal Court Theatre, London, and National Theatre Studio, London, and served as an associate director at Leeds Playhouse. In 2024, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of the Arts by Leicester’s De Montfort University for his contribution to theatre in Leicester.

At Curve, Nikolai has worked on numerous musical revivals, new plays and musicals and championed emerging artists. Many of the Made at Curve productions Nikolai has directed have transferred to London, toured the UK and internationally.

Tickets for The Silence Of The Lambs’ York run are on sale at atgtickets.com/york.

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A temporary inconvenience…

Out of touch: Phone woes for CharlesHutchPress

PLEASE note, phone calls are not being ignored. Alas, the CharlesHutchPress mobile has breathed its last, without warning, necessitating a replacement selection process that is under way.

In the meantime, contact is more than welcome by email at [email protected].  Hutch is very happy to arrange interviews on Zoom too.

Normal lines of communication will be resumed pronto and the website will function as normal.

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York Festival of Ideas 2026 event of the day: National Centre for Early Music presents Olivia Chaney, Sons Of Art: Purcell Revisited, NCEM, York, June 5, 7.30pm

Olivia Chaney

OLIVIA Chaney, York musician, Grammy nominee and haunting voice of Emerald Fennell’s “Wuthering Heights”, plays a sold-out concert for York Festival of Ideas tonight.

Olivia’s deep connection to the music of Henry Purcell runs throughout her life. Now comes Sons Of Art, her latest performance and album project highlighting the deep affinities between the Baroque composer and the modern singer-songwriter: a shared immediacy, a delight in word-setting and a fearless mix of high art and street culture.

For Olivia, this is not classical crossover but a radical reclamation – a conversation across centuries that feels startlingly fresh. Tonight’s show is part of a tour heralding the upcoming Purcell album, as this modern English songwriter, now 44, reimagines Purcell’s works in a refreshingly natural and contemporary way, alongside original compositions and a chamber ensemble.

“It’s kind of a home show, as I’ve lived in York for seven years,” says Olivia. “My now husband [George Younge] was a lecturer in medieval history at the university, but he’s quit to be a furniture designer and maker, with his workshop in Escrick, though we may be moving from York.

“For this concert, I’ve been corresponding with Delma (NCEM director Delma Tomlin] and thought how nice it would be to combine with the York Festival of Ideas.

“I’ve played a few shows in York before, but usually at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall [at the University of York].”

Olivia, however, also took part in a poignant concert on February 28 at the NCEM, where Eliza Carthy and Special Guests performed The Songs of Martin Carthy in celebration of the Robin Hood’s Bay folk titan’s 60-year legacy.

“It was a really emotional night, and I did something – I wept,” she recalls. “We’d just done The Life & Songs of Martin Carthy, a huge event at EartH Theatre, in Hackney, in September put on with Jon Wilks, with all the great and good of the folk world, Maddy Prior, Billy Bragg, Peggy Seeger, Martin Simpson, Eliza, Martin, and video contributions by Paul Weller, Van Dyke Parks and Bob Dylan. That one was particularly moving, Dylan saying Martin was a huge influence on him.”

Since then, Olivia had been to America to record her next album. “I came home, jumped in the shower and headed to the NCEM to pay tribute to Martin. I hadn’t expected him to be there [given his health], but then I saw him shuffling out of the green room to watch the concert. It was such a moving night.”

Now, Sons Of Art finds Olivia renewing her creative partnership with New York producer-pianist Thomas Bartlett. “The first album I made with him was called Shelter,” she says. “I’d written it on the North York Moors at Hawnby – before I lived in Yorkshire – when I’d been touring heavily in America and wanted to get away from everything. I had a Bechstein piano that my friends helped me transport there, then I had this surreal experience of writing songs in this bucolic setting and then recording them in mid-Manhattan!”

The release of next album Circus Of Desire, was delayed by Covid’s intervention, being held back until 2024. In the hiatus, her Six French Songs EP emerged in 2023.

“My third album with Thomas [the aforementioned Sons Of Art] will come out next year, and this season’s shows are a signposting of the start of the project: one that I’ve wanted to do for more than a decade, revisiting Purcell.”

Meanwhile, Olivia’s profile has been heightened by the presence of her stark, haunting rendition of the 19th century traditional folk ballad Dark Eyed Sailor in a pivotal scene in Emerald Fennell’s outre film “Wuthering Heights”.

“In a sense, I can’t answer completely how it came about in that the director ‘stumbled across the song’, like how after I made Six French Songs, French director Andre Techine – who had Catherine DeNeuve in all his films – found my song Auprès de ma Blonde, one of the first things I put on YouTube, which I then re-recorded for him.” she says. “The film was premiered at Cannes but never got taken up, so I’ve never seen it.”

Back to Emerald… “Having seen other movies by both Andre and Emerald, I think they were each looking for music to drive their narrative, so maybe that’s why Emerld settled on Dark Eyed Sailor, which she decided would be in “Wuthering Heights” right from the beginning.”

What’s more, Emerald was insistent on using the version she had first heard, rather than a new recording. Namely, Olivia’s recording to harmonium accompaniment for BBC Radio 2’s The Folk Show, made on May 22 2013. “There’s something about the rawness of radio sessions, and that was my first ever live session for Mark Radcliffe’s show,” she says.

“I remember painting my nails on the way to the studio, and I guess that session was the beginning of me finding my sound, delving back into folk music.

“In a way it’s a surprise that Emerald hasn’t chosen something from my albums, but she ended up using the song twice, once when  Cathy realises she has married the wrong man, and then later an instrumental version, orchestrating out my harmonium.”

How did Olivia react when she attended the premiere. “What was a big surprise was that I thought it might be a little bit imperceptible, or be swamped  by all the other music [by Charli xcx], but I was struck by how spare it was, so that you could hardly hear my harmonium,” she says.

“Emily Brontë’s novel is in my top ten, and I thought, ‘how can they use this happy song?’, but Emerald uses it so cleverly, where it’s seven years since Heathcliff went away and has now returned, so the theme is fidelity, as so many songs about sailors and soldiers are.”

Olivia reckons Fennel’s previous work, Saltburn, is superior. ““Wuthering Heights” is so ambitious, so hard to pull off, but where it maybe fails is in its humour,” she says. “But then there is no humour in my work. I’m not into humour in my art. I like humour but I want to be moved by art.”

Olivia Chaney, Sons Of Art: Purcell Revisited, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm. SOLD OUT.

Olivia Chaney: back story

BORN in Florence to a writer and painter-turned-academic, Olivia  grew up listening to everything from Prince to Joni Mitchell to Henry Purcell.

This eclectic mix of influences sparked a passion for song-writing that she nurtured at Chetham’s School of Music and The Royal Academy.

After showcasing at SXSW and a stint as lead singer for electronica outfit Zero 7, she signed with Nonesuch, leading to collaborations with Kronos Quartet and a Grammy nomination for Offa Rex, The Queen Of Hearts, a collection of Fairport Convention-era classics made with Portland, Oregon band The Decemberists in 2017.

Olivia’s first solo album, 2015’s The Longest River, produced by Leo Abrahams, was followed by 2018’s Shelter,  recorded in New York City with producer-pianist Thomas Bartlett. Both explored inherited trauma, the clash of tradition and modernity and the paradoxes of love. 

In 2023 came Six French Songs, her spontaneous set of French chanson, from medieval ballad to 1960s’ pop, made over two summer evenings at Reservoir Studios with Bartlett and violinist Sam Amidon.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 21, from Gazette & Herald

John Robb: Discussing his new memoir, Punk Rock Ruined My Life: And Other Stories, at Pocklington Arts Centre

WILDLIFE photography and nature-inspired poetry and music turn Charles Hutchinson’s thoughts to the sunnier days ahead. 

Talk of the week: John Robb, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 8pm

JOHN Robb is a multi-faceted creature: author, musician, journalist, Louder Than War music website boss, Louder Than Words and Louder Than War Live festivals boss, Eco champion, vegan behemoth and punk rock warlord, as well as TV and radio talking head, frontman of post-punk mainstays The Membranes and ambassador for home-town Blackpool. 

To mark the May 12 publication of his memoir, Punk Rock Ruined My Life: And Other Stories, he is undertaking a spoken-word and book tour, where each show comprises a one-hour talk by Robb, followed by a conversation and Q&A with a special guest. Tomorrow, he welcomes Pauline Murray, Penetration singer and author of Life’s A Gamble, her 2023 autobiography. Box office:  01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Nobody puts Baby’s poster in the corner for Dirty Dancing In Concert at York Barbican

Film event of the week: Dirty Dancing In Concert, tomorrow, 7.30pm

RELIVE the film that stole the hearts of generations with this live-to-screen concert event featuring Emile Ardolino’s 1987 American romantic drama projected in full, accompanied by a live band and singers performing every song from the soundtrack. 

Feel the romance, rhythm and emotion as the love story of Baby and Johnny (Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze) comes to life on a full-size cinema screen. A dance-along encore party follows the final scene. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk

Now you see him, now you don’t: Daniel Davis and Georgina Sockett in Our Star Theatre Company’s The Invisible Man, to be spotted at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

Vanishing act of the week: Our Star Theatre Company in The Invisible Man, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm

THE thought of invisibility, and the advantages it could bring, has captured the imagination since HG Wells’s science-fiction novella was published in 1897. The Invisible Man has been adapted many times for film, but rarely for the stage. 

Here comes Derek Webb’s original, fast-paced and riotous adaptation boasting 15 characters, split between  three energetic actors, Daniel Davis, Georgina Sockett and Rhys Harris-Clarke, aided by quick and daft costume changes, prop manipulation, whacky imagination and tons of tongue-and-cheek fun in Herefordshire company Our Star’s touring production, directed by founder Ben Mowbray. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

The poster for The Future Is Vintage, the latest Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox concert at York Barbican

Retro gig of the week: Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, The Future Is Vintage Tour 2026, York Barbican, Friday, doors 7pm

SCOTT Bradlee’s troupe of singers, dancers and instrumentalists perform a new show in signature time-twisting style, putting a retro spin on everything from Seventies’ rock classics and Britpop hits to the latest chart toppers and movie and video game soundtracks. 

“We’re humbly presenting our own unique vision of a spectacular future; one that is built upon the timeless musical genres of the past and the authentically human spirit of creativity that inspired them,” says founder and arranger Bradlee, who invites you to dress in your vintage best for the full time-travel experience. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The Ocelots’ Ashley and Brandon Watson

Literature-inspired musings of the week: The Ocelots, The Arts Barge, Foss Basin Moorings, Tower Street, York, Friday,7.30pm

BLOOD harmonies are at the centre of The Ocelots’ sound with its Americana echoes of Neil Young and Sufjan Stevens. Twin brothers Ashley and Brandon Watson, from Wexford, Ireland, blend absurdity and sincerity in an array of literature-inspired musings.

Open tunings and clawhammer banjo merge country-folk contemplation with urban imagery, as heard on 2020’s Started To Wonder and 2025’s Everything, When Said Slowly albums and 2023’s Addlepated and March 2026’s Revisions EPs. Fionnuala Mary Bradbury supports. Box office: artsbarge.com.

Ian Smith: Stories of stress, love and buying a magic spell off Amazon in Foot Spa Half Empty at Helmsley Arts Centre

Comedy gig of the week: Ian Smith, Foot Spa Half Empty, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday 8pm

EDINBURGH Comedy Award nominee and Northern News podcast co-host Ian Smith heads out on tour with Foot Spa Half Empty, his new show about stress, love and buying a magic spell off Amazon, in his follow-up to 2023’s Crushing.

Smith, 37, from Goole, has appeared on Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For You, The Stand Up Sketch Show, BBC Radio 4’sThe News Quiz, The Unbelievable Truth and Just A Minute and hosted his own Radio 4 series, Ian Smith Is Stressed. Box office:  01439 771700  or  helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Mike Amber: Taking on Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock songs with Lola-Mae at Navigators Art’s Back To The Garden night of poetry and music

Nature lovers of the week: Navigators Art presents Back To The Garden, York Festival of Ideas, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Saturday, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

NAVIGATORS Art has invited York performers to celebrate and explore the York Festival of Ideas theme of Place and Space with a focus on the peaceful, wild, mythical, inspirational green worlds of gardens.

Original words and music feature alongside well-loved works by familiar names in the company of storyteller Lara McClure; Mike Amber & Lola-Mae, taking on Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock; poet and novelist Janet Dean; performance poet Carrieanne Vivianette and alt folk band Sofa Sofa, whose songs are rooted in nature and people, woods, weather, long walks, short thoughts, longing and love. Box office: ticketsource.com/navigators-art-performance or on the door.

Country Bound: Performing upbeat country songs, complemented by floor fillers re-imagined in a country music style, at Milton Rooms, Malton

Country gig of the week: Country Bound, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm

COUNTRY Bound put the ‘fun’ into country function band, performing upbeat modern and classic country songs, complemented by classic floor fillers re-imagined in a country music style.

Fronted by Micki Consiglio, they cover hits by Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, Zach Brown Band, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Dolly Parton, Lady A, Blake Shelton, Faith Hill, Morgan Wallen, Billy Cyrus, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Kacey Musgraves, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Kelsea Ballerini, Kenny Rogers, Patsy Cline and more. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Rick Wakeman: The Wizard of Prog reunites with the English Rock Ensemble at York Barbican next March

Gig announcement of the week: Rick Wakeman, The Wizard of Prog, Ultimate Highlights Concert Tour with English Rock Ensemble, York Barbican, March 11 2027

KEYBOARD player extraordinaire Rick Wakeman, who turned 77 on May 18, will be reuniting with the English Rock Ensemble to focus on a broad sweep across his classic back catalogue, including extracts from epic concept albums Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and The Myths & Legends Of King Arthur & The Knights Of The Round Table, Yes material and surprises.

The band line-up reassembles from 2025’s Return Of The Caped Crusader Part 2 tour: Wakeman, Jesse Smith (lead vocals), Adam Wakeman (keyboard, guitars and vocals), Dave Colquhoun (guitars and vocals), Lee Pomeroy (bass and vocals), Adam Falkner (drums) and backing vocalists Sara Davey, Jo Goldsmith-Eteson and Jo Marshall. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/rick-27.

Paul Hobson’s A Toad Swims Across Its Woodland Pond: Grand Prize winner in British Wildlife Photography Awards 2026, on show at Nunnington Hall

In Focus: British Wildlife Photography Awards 2026, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, until July 5, open Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm

THE winners of the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 have been unveiled at the National Trust’s Nunnington Hall, where 75 photographs are on show.

Paul Hobson’s A Toad Swims Across Its Woodland Pond, photographed from a pond-floor perspective in Sheffield, has taken the top prize from more than 12,000 images submitted by professional and amateur photographers. 

“I am lucky to have a pond close to my house that has relatively clear water,” says Hobson. “Toads use this pond to breed in, and I decided I wanted to try to capture an image looking up from the bottom of the pond.”

To accomplish this, he housed the camera inside a home-built glass box, complete with old tripod legs and ballast to prevent sinking, and triggered the camera using an adapted long cable release.

“I had to wait quite a long time until a toad swam across the surface,” says Hobson. “Most of them would usually swim below it and rest on the glass. He was eventually successful, however, and the outcome provides a rare view of a toad in its woodland home.

Ben Lucas’s Feathery Pillow: Winner of the Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award 2026

Ben Lucas won the Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 award with Feathery Pillow, his charming image of a mute swan cygnet taking a nap on its sibling’s back. “Nature can often be so cruel, but tender moments like this warm my heart,” he says.

The annual showcase of nature photography is a crucial reminder of what value British woodlands, wetlands and other ecosystems still hold.

“This year’s winners celebrate the wonder, diversity and character of British wildlife in truly exceptional ways,” say British Wildlife Photography Awards director Will Nicholls. “From familiar species to rarely seen moments, the portfolio showcases the skill and passion of the photographers behind the lens.

“Together, they offer a joyful celebration of Britain’s natural world, while also reminding us why these places and species are so deserving of our care and protection.”

Photographers competed in 11 categories in the adult competition: Animal Behaviour, Animal Portraits, Botanical Britain, Black & White, Coast & Marine, Habitat, Hidden Britain, Urban Wildlife and Wild Woods, plus British Seasons and Documentary Series making up the special awards.

Three photographs from the British Wildlife Photography Award 2026 exhibition

Further awards were given for Wildlife in HD Video and three age groups in the youth competition: age 11 and under, 12 to 14 and 15 to 17.

All awarded images are published by Graffeg Books in a hardback coffee-table book, available online at bwpawards.org, with a foreword by actor, writer and director Mackenzie Crook.

The 2027 competition is open for entries at bwpawards.org, inviting photographers of all levels of experience to submit their photos of Britain’s nature at its best.

Nunnington Hall invites visitors take time in the organic gardens overlooking the River Rye to spot many birds and insects and maybe the occasional otter or kingfisher that calls the garden home.

Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall. Entry is free for National Trust members and under-fives.

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More Things To Do in and around York when wizards wander and Romans rise. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 20, from The York Press

The Wizard of York (Dan Wood): Presenting the second WizardFest in York city centre. Picture: The Story Of You

FROM WizardFest to the Wizard of Prog, Roman festivities to musical & poetic nature lovers, Charles Hutchinson picks his hot spots for the Bank Holiday weekend and beyond.

Magical event of the week: WizardFest, York, today until Monday

WIZARDFEST, York’s official Festival of Wizardry, waves its magic wand over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend as The Wizard of York conjures up spellbinding events, tours, trails, workshops, shows and fantastical food and drink.

Wizardry fans can book for the Wizard Walk of York, Brick Magic LEGO workshop, Wizard Family Rave, Giant Bubble Show or Wicked at City Screen Picturehouse.  Expect owl appearances, dragons and the new Wizard Activity Zone on Parliament Street with wand making, face painting and more. Dress to impress for the free fancy dress parade from St Helen’s Square on Monday at 3p.m A digital map and full list of events with booking links can be found at wizardwalkofyork.com/wizardfest.

The Roman Camp in York Museum Gardens, part of the Eboracum Roman Festival in York. Picture: Gareth Buddo

Festival highlight of the week: Living History, Crafts and Combat, Eboracum Roman Festival, York, today and tomorrow

THIS weekend showcases the best of Eboracum with live performances, creative storytelling and historical demonstrations alongside fun family activities, insightful talks and opportunities to dive into archaeology in York.

At the Living History Camp in York Museum Gardens, discover how the Romans lived by talking to the legions in their camp and watch demonstrations of weaving, carpentry, pottery and blacksmithing. Check out military demonstrations and formations with Ermine Street Guard or join York Museum Trust’s Garden Team for a guided tour of the Edible Garden today. Look out too for artillery demonstrations and the Kids Barbaric Battle. For full festival details, visit: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/eboracum-roman-festival-2026.

Live baking on stage: Ellen Carnazza’s TV cook in crisis Petronella Parfait in Badapple Theatre Company’s Crumbs. Picture: Karl Andre

Bake-off of the week: Badapple Theatre Company in Crumbs, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 2pm and 7.45pm

DISGRACED TV baking celebrity Petronella Parfait is out of a job and out of her depth, trying to reinvent herself in the cut-throat world of social influencers. Can she keep the lights on – and the oven – as her live comeback show descends into devilishly delicious disaster? 

Expect big laughs, bold flavours, live bread making and a tasty treat for the audience at the end of Kate Bramley’s play as Green Hammerton’s Badapple Theatre returns to the Theatre Royal Studio, where solo performer Ellen Carnazza plays multiple roles. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The Upbeat Beatles: Celebrating the Fab Four from the Cavern to Abbey Road at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Tribute gig of the week: Joseph Wilson Productions presents The Upbeat Beatles, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

THE Upbeat Beatles travel the Fab Four’s long and winding road from the early Cavern days through Beatlemania and Shea Stadium, New York City, to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and  Abbey Road, with narrative and full multi-media presentation. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Nobody puts Baby’s poster in the corner: Dirty Dancing In Concert at York Barbican

Film event of the week: Dirty Dancing In Concert, York Barbican, May 28, 7.30pm

RELIVE the film that stole the hearts of generations with this live-to-screen concert event featuring Emile Ardolino’s 1987 American romantic drama projected in full, accompanied by a live band and singers performing every song from the soundtrack. 

Feel the romance, rhythm and emotion as the love story of Baby and Johnny (Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze) comes to life on a full-size cinema screen. A dance-along encore party follows the final scene. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk

John McCusker: Leading his trio at the NCEM on Friday

Recommended but sold out already: John McCusker Trio, York Festival of Ideas, National Centre for Early Music, York, May 29, 7.30pm

SCOTTISH violinist John McCusker is joined by virtuoso multi-instrumentalist and singer Sam Kelly and flute, whistle and guitar player Toby Shaer in his trio to perform a thrilling combination of instrumental dexterity, heartfelt songs and live energy. Their fusion of original compositions, traditional melodies and contemporary folk bursts with innovation, joy and soul. Box office for returns only: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

The Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox poster for the The Future Is Vintage tour, visiting York Barbican on Friday

Retro gig of the week: Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, The Future Is Vintage Tour 2026, York Barbican, May 29, doors 7pm

SCOTT Bradlee’s troupe of singers, dancers and instrumentalists perform a new show in signature time-twisting style, putting a retro spin on everything from Seventies’ rock classics and Britpop hits to the latest chart toppers and movie and video game soundtracks. 

“We’re humbly presenting our own unique vision of a spectacular future; one that is built upon the timeless musical genres of the past and the authentically human spirit of creativity that inspired them,” says founder and arranger Bradlee, who invites you to dress in your vintage best for the full time-travel experience. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Ben Moor on his ‘Three Thing Day’. Picture: Andy Lane, Barbican, London, January 11 2025

Oddball storytelling of the week: Ben Moor, A Three Thing Day, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, January 29, 7.30pm

A STORYTELLER for 30 years and counting, Ben Moor has a show opening later, but first he has a family meeting, and before that there’s a funeral. A single day can encompass the past, present and future; friends, family and strangers; the ridiculous, the moving and the inspirational. Like life.

Surreal and ‘melancomic’, Moor’s2025 Edinburgh Fringe hit is crammed with one-liners and observations, alongside beautiful and poetic digressions. Under discussion will be good gullibility, dolphin infestations, snacks and unreliable phones. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Mike Amber: Performing Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock songs with Lola-Mae at The Basement next Saturday

Nature lovers of the week: Navigators Art presents Back To The Garden, York Festival of Ideas, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, May 30, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

NAVIGATORS Art has invited York performers to celebrate and explore the York Festival of Ideas theme of Place and Space with a focus on the peaceful, wild, mythical, inspirational green worlds of gardens.

Original words and music features alongside well-loved works by familiar names in the company of storyteller Lara McClure; Mike Amber & Lola-Mae, taking on Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock; poet and novelist Janet Dean; performance poet Carrieanne Vivianette and alt folk band Sofa Sofa, whose songs are rooted in nature and people, woods, weather, long walks, short thoughts, longing and love. Box office: ticketsource.com/navigators-art-performance or on the door.

Rick Wakeman: Performing with English Rock Ensemble in The Wizard of Prog show at York Barbican next March

Gig announcement of the week: Rick Wakeman, The Wizard of Prog, Ultimate Highlights Concert Tour with English Rock Ensemble, York Barbican, March 11 2027

KEYBOARD player extraordinaire Rick Wakeman, who turned 77 on May 18, will be reuniting with the English Rock Ensemble to focus on a broad sweep across Wakeman’s classic back catalogue, including extracts from epic concept albums Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and The Myths & Legends Of King Arthur & The Knights Of The Round Table, Yes material and surprises.

The band line-up reunites from 2025’s Return Of The Caped Crusader Part 2 tour: Wakeman, Jesse Smith (lead vocals), Adam Wakeman (keyboard, guitars and vocals), Dave Colquhoun (guitars and vocals), Lee Pomeroy (bass and vocals), Adam Falkner (drums) and backing vocalists Sara Davey, Jo Goldsmith-Eteson and Jo Marshall. Tickets go on sale on May 29 at 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/rick-27.

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