Don (John Lister) and Carol (Kate Caute) share a cycle but not political views in Paris in 1812 Theatre Company’s production of John Godber’s Scary Bikers
BIKERS divided by Brexit, beach encounters with Orpheus, a joyful mess in art, an Eighties rom-com revisited, Ukrainian opera and a big summer signing for Scarborough brighten Charles Hutchinson’s days ahead
Ryedale play of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Scary Bikers, Helmsley Arts Centre, February 21 to 24, 7.30pm
HELMSLEY’S 1812 Theatre Company stage their first John Godber comedy next week, his 2018 two-hander Scary Bikers. Outwardly, redundant miner Don (John Lister) and former private school teacher Carol (Kate Caute) have little in common, but beneath the surface their former spouses are buried next to each other. Soon widowed Don and Carol will bump into each other.
An innocent coffee leads to a bike ride through the Yorkshire Dales, then a bike tour across Europe to Florence. All looks promising for a budding romance, but their departure date is June 23 2016 and Don and Carol are on the opposite sides of the Brexit fence. Box office: helmsleyarts.co.uk or in person from the arts centre.
Grace Long as Ella Grey in Pilot Theatre’s A Song For Ella Grey. Picture: Topher McGrillis
York play of the week: Pilot Theatre in A Song For Ella Grey, York Theatre Royal; February 20 to 24, Hull Truck Theatre, March 5 to 9
IN Zoe Cooper’s stage adaptation of David Almond’s novel for York company Pilot Theatre, York Theatre Royal and Newcastle’s Northern Stage, Claire and her best friend, Ella Grey, are ordinary kids from ordinary families in an ordinary world where modern teenagers meet ancient forces.
They and their friends fall in and out of love, play music and dance, stare at the stars, yearn for excitement, and have parties on Northumbrian beaches. One day, a stranger, a musician called Orpheus, appears on the beach and entrances them all, especially Ella. Where has Orpheuscome from and what path will Ella follow in this contemporary re-telling of the ancient Greek myth? Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Hull, 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk.
Displayful artists Luke Beech, Wendy Galloway, Kate Fox and Liberty Hodes, exhibiting at Scarborough Art Gallery. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Coastal exhibition of the season: Displayful, Scarborough Art Gallery until May 7
DISPLAYFUL celebrates happy accidents and joyful mess, aiming to brighten the winter months by inviting visitors to enjoy uplifting contemporary artistic responses to objects from the collections of Scarborough Museums and Galleries.
The show combines new work by five regional artists, Luke Beech, Kate Fox, Wendy Galloway, Liberty Hodes and Angela Knipe, alongside historical artefacts, and asks audiences to consider new possibilities for the lives of objects.
Grant Harris: Making connections at Milton Rooms, Malton
Messages from beyond: Grant Harris: Medium, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow (15/2/2024), 7pm
MEDIUM Grant Harris returns to the Milton Rooms to “connect with your loved ones to provide messages of support, reassurance and much needed clarity at times we require it most”.
“There are things we don’t fully understand about life and death but what I do is bring some peace to those who need it,” says Harris, whose shows promise humour too. Tickets: 01709 437700 or 01653 696240.
Amber Davies’s Vivian and Oliver Savile’s Edward, centre, in Pretty Woman The Musical, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Pretty Woman The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 20 to 24, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
BILLED as Hollywood’s ultimate rom-com, live on stage, Pretty Woman: The Musical is set once upon a time in the late 1980s, when Hollywood Boulevard hooker Vivian meets entrepreneur Edward Lewis and her life changes forever.
Amber Davies plays Vivian opposite Oliver Savile’s Edward; 2016 Strictly Come Dancing champion Ore Oduba, last seen at this theatre in fishnets in March 2022 as Brad Majors in The Rocky Horror Show, has two roles as hotel manager Barnard Thompson/Happy Man, and Natalie Paris will be Vivian’s wisecracking roommate Kit De Luca. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The poster artwork for Dnipro Opera’s Madama Butterfly at York Barbican
Opera of the week: Dnipro Opera in Madama Butterfly, York Barbican, February 20, 7pm
DNIPRO Opera, the Ukrainian National Opera, returns to British shores after last year’s visit to perform Puccini’s favourite work, Madama Butterfly, sung in Italian with English surtitles.
Set in Japan in 1904, this torrid tale of innocent love crushed between two contrasting cultures charts the affair between an American naval officer and his young Japanese bride, whose self-sacrifice and defiance of her family leads to tragedy. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Comedian Chloe Petts heads for York with her If You Can’t Say Anything Nice show
Comedy gig of the week: Burning Duck Comedy Club presents Chloe Petts, The Crescent, York, tomorrow (15/2/2024), 7.30pm
BUOYED by her Edinburgh Fringe run and Soho Theatre sell-out debut in London, Chloe Petts serves up her follow-up hour, If You Can’t Say Anything Nice. Everyone complimented her on how polite she was with big issues in the last show, so now she is cashing in those points and plans on being really rude. “Expect routines on wedding dancefloors, the footie and calling you all a bunch of virgins,” she says. Box office: wegottickets.com/event/588889.
Look out too for Burning Duck’s 8pm show at Theatre@41 Monkgate, York, on Friday: the debut tour of northerner Paddy Young: Hungry, Horny, Scared..and “in the gutter but looking down on all of you”. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
James: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre in July. Picture: Lewis Knaggs
Gig announcement of the week: James, supported by Reverend & The Makers and Girlband!, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 26
MANCHESTER band James play Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the fourth time on July 26, the night when Leeds lads Kaiser Chiefs finish off the evening card at York Races.
“If you haven’t been there before, then make sure you come,” says James bassist and founder member Jim Glennie. “It’s a cracking venue and you can even have a paddle in the sea before the show!” New album Yummy arrives on April 12. Box office: James, ticketmaster.co.uk from 9am on Friday; Kaiser Chiefs, yorkracecourse.co.uk.
In with a shout: Jorvik Viking Festival returns to York
INVASION? Installation? Theatre innovation? Half-term challenges? Giants and dinosaurs? Yes, yes, yes. Charles Hutchinson signposts what to catch in the days and weeks ahead.
Festival of the week: Jorvik Viking Festival 2024, invading York from February 12 to 18
NOW in its 39th year, Europe’s largest annual Viking festival will be attracting up to 45,000 visitors of all ages over the week ahead. “We’d always advise booking in for some of the activities – including a visit to Jorvik Viking Centre and the Festival Finale – but many have booking slots available on the day too,” advises event manager Abigail Judge.
Family activities include Monday’s smelly, squelchy Poo Day! at DIG, St Saviourgate, from 11am to 3pm; daily Berserker Camp, family crafting and saga story-telling Arena! shows, and a new event, the Best Dressed Viking, Best Beast and Best Beard competitions, on February 18 at 12.30pm in St Sampson’s Square. For tickets and the full programme, visit: jorvikvikingfestival.co.uk
Georgia-Mae Myers and Nedum Okonyia in rehearsal for the Imitating The Dog and Leeds Playhouse co-production of Frankenstein. Picture: Ed Waring
Yorkshire theatre premiere of the week: Frankenstein, Leeds Playhouse Courtyard Theatre, February 15 to 24
PIONEERING Leeds company Imitating The Dog teams up with Leeds Playhouse for a “visually captivating and psychologically thrilling” multi-media exploration of Mary Shelley’s Gothic tale of fear and anxiety, posing the question “what is it to be human?”.
Georgia-Mae Myers and Nedum Okonyia play all the roles across parallel narratives, threading together the late-18th century’ story of Frankenstein with a contemporary conversation between a pregnant young couple, fearful of what it means to bring life into the world. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk.
Ironing 1924 style at Nunnington Hall over half-term. Picture: Arnhel de Serra
Half-term family activity of the week: Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, February 10 to 18, 10.30am to 4pm, last entry at 3.15pm.
TRAVEL back to 1924 this half-term when families can enjoy being tasked with carrying out activities performed by household servants 100 years ago, from ironing to dusting bannisters, cross stitch to flower arranging.
The National Trust property has created a fun, interactive trail around the manor house in the form of a CV that guides visitors through the various servant skills. Children can find out if they meet the requirements necessary to fulfil the responsibilities of the desired positions, and then decide which roles, if any, they would choose to accept. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.
Going Wilde in the country: Tiny & Tall Productions and Soap Soup Theatre’s touring production of The Selfish Giantvisits Helmsley
Children’s show of the week: Tiny & Tall Productions and Soap Soup Theatre in The Selfish Giant, Helmsley Arts Centre, February 11, 2.30pm
BRISTOL family theatre companies Tiny & Tall Productions and Soap Soup Theatre head north with their collaborative exploration of Oscar Wilde’s children’s story of an unusual friendship, The Selfish Giant.
In this version, the giantGrinter lives happily alone in her huge icy house, shutting out the world that long ago shut her out. Outside, very little greenery is left. One spring day, the children, tired of playing on hard roads and grey rooftops, climb through a chink in her garden walls, changing the course of their lives forever and Grinter’s too. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyartscentre.co.uk.
Jonathan Pie: Hero or villain? Time for a rant at York Barbican
York comedy gig(s) of the week: Jonathan Pie: Hero Or Villain?, York Barbican, February 14 and 15, 7.30pm
FOR the record, ranting political correspondent Jonathan Pie is a fictional character portrayed by British comedian Tom Walker, scripted by Walker and Irish comedian Andrew Doyle. In his latest slice of Pie, he hopes to answer the question: hero or villain?
Join him, on a St Valentine’s Day date or the night after, as he “celebrates the UK’s greatest heroes (nurses/Gary Lineker/24-hour off licence proprietors), takes a verbal blowtorch to its villains (the Tories/cyclists), kicks in the Establishment’s back doors and rifles through its kitchen cupboards”. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jurassic Live: Dinosaur adventures on a musical journey at York Barbican
Swimming dinosaur alert: Jurassic Live, York Barbican, February 16, 5pm; February 17, 11am, 3pm; February 18, 1pm
NEW for 2024 in this interactive theatrical dinosaur show is the Tylosaurus, a genus of Mosasaur: the largest predatory marine reptile to ever grace our oceans and now the largest marine puppet ever made as it swims in its gigantic purpose-built Jurassic tank on stage. Be warned: if you sit near the front, you will get wet!
Family show Jurassic Live undertakes a musical journey as little Amber, Ranger Joe and Ranger Nora strive to save the day from an evil man determined to close the Jurassic facility. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Barrie and the Bard: Barrie Rutter discusses Shakespeare’s Royals at the SJT, Scarborough, Salts Mill, York Theatre Royaland Ripon Theatre Festival
Regal tour of the north: Barrie Rutter: Shakespeare’s Royals, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, March 1, 7.30pm; Arrival Of Spring Gallery, Salts Mill, Saltaire, April 13, 7.30pm; York Theatre Royal Studio, April 26, 7.45pm; Ripon Theatre Festival, Ripon Cathedral, July 4, 7.30pm
BARRIE Rutter, founder and former director of Northern Broadsides, celebrates the Bard’s kings and queens – their achievements, conquests and foibles – with tales, anecdotes and memories from a career of playing and directing Shakespeare’s Royals.
After being told he could never play a king on account of his Yorkshire accent, Hull-born Rutter, now 77, took the revolutionary step of creating his own theatre company in 1992 in Halifax to use the northern voice for Shakespeare’s kings, queens and emperors, not only the usual drunken porters, jesters or fools. As he says on X: “Lover of language. Awobopaloobopalopbamboom – everything else is Shakespeare”. Box office: Scarborough, 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com; Salt’s Mill, https://bit.ly/RutterAtSalts; York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Ripon, ripontheatrefestival.org.
In Focus: Art installation Colour & Light, York Art Gallery, going full frontal until February 25
Colour & Light: Art from the York Art Gallery collection spreads over the gallery facade in Double Take Projections’ installation. Picture: York BID/Double Take Projections
YORK BID links up with York Museums Trust for the return of Colour & Light: an innovative project designed to warm up York Art Gallery’s facade in the cold winter with an art-filled light installation by David McConnachie’s Edinburgh company Double Take Projections.
This “high impact and large-scale visual arts project” uses 3D projection mapping to bring York’s iconic buildings to life, first York Minster last year, now York Art Gallery, where the projection will play every ten minutes from 6pm to 9pm daily in a non-ticketed free event.
Highlighting York’s UNESCO Media Arts status, this outdoor projection is the work of Double Take Projections, who architecturally scanned the gallery facade to generate a 3D model.
This model served as the template for content application. From there, they used multiple projections to create one seamless image by projecting from different angles and wrapping content on the irregularly shaped frontage.
Viewers can notice something new at each viewing, such as York’s skyline being hidden in different mediums or artistic elements of the gallery’s façade that they may not have spotted previously.
The William Etty statue in front of the gallery, in Exhibition Square, has been brought to life too. Born in Feasegate and buried just around the corner from the gallery in Marygate, Etty is York’s most iconic artist.
Considered the first significant British painter of nudes and still lifes, Etty’s 19th century paintings were somewhat controversial at the time, but he also played a role in the conservation of the city walls. His work Preparing For AFancy Dress Ball features in the Colour & Light display.
Not only York Art Gallery’s paintings are highlighted. Spot the reference to the extensive Centre of Ceramic Arts (CoCA) and the two tiled panels on the side of the building, Leonardo Expiring In The Arms Of Francis I and Michelangelo Showing His Moses
Viewers can pick up exclusive Colour & Light merchandise from the Sketch Box for £2 or less while watching the show, as well as churros, soft serve and hot drinks.
Carl Alsop, York BID’s operations manager, says: “This event is all about making world-class culture more accessible, and it’s been brilliant watching the show from Exhibition Square, traditionally a quiet and reserved space, with children playing, dancing and laughing, and people from all backgrounds enjoying the show together.
“It’s also been great to see people discovering some of the less obvious aspects of the projection on a second viewing. Audiences have enjoyed various buildings from York’s skyline reimagined in different mediums, as well as seeing elements of York Art Gallery, like the mosaics on each side of the building, brought to life.”
Richard Saward, York Museums Trust’s head of visitor experience and commercial, says: “We are thrilled to be involved with York BID’s Colour & Light show. This event kicks off a fantastic season at York Art Gallery, including The Aesthetica Art Prize 2024 exhibition and Claude Monet’s painting The Waterlily-Pond, which will be on display in York from May 10 to celebrate the 200th birthday of the National Gallery.”
Neil Vincent, left, Clare Halliday, Chris Pomfrett, Victoria Delaney and Mick Liversidge in rehearsal for York Actors Collective’s Beyond Caring
A GLUT of York theatre companies, a nocturnal sky festival, a Yorkshire musical and a colourful installation light up the dark nights of February for culture guide Charles Hutchinson.
Social drama of the week: York Actors Collective in Beyond Caring, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Tuesday to Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 5.30pm
DEVISED by Alexander Zeldin and the original Yard Theatre cast in London, this 90-minute play highlighting the social damage inflicted by zero-hours contracts forms York Actors Collective’s second production, directed by founder Angie Millard.
Performed by Victoria Delaney, Clare Halliday, Mick Liversidge, Chris Pomfrett and Neil Vincent, Beyond Caring follows meat-packing factory cleaners Becky, Grace and Sam on the night shift as they confront the reality of low wage employment, never sure whether their ‘job’ will continue. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Robert Rice: Recital at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate tonight
Late Music at the double: Steve Bingham, violin and electronics, 1pm today; Robert Rice, baritone, and William Vann, piano, 7.30pm tonight, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York
PET Shop Boys’ It’s A Sin chills with Bach’s Allemande in D minor, while a tango from Piazzolla is thrown in for good measure, as Steve Bingham explores four centuries of solo violin music this afternoon. World premieres of David Power’s Miniatures, Wayne Siegel’s Salamander (violin and electronics) and Rowan Alfred’s Cuckoo Phase will be performed too.
York composer David Power has curated Robert Rice and William Vann’s evening recital, featuring the first complete performance of Power’s Three Char Songs (1985 and 2016). Works by Gerald Finzi, Cecil Armstrong Gibbs, Herbert Howells, Robert Walker, William Rhys Meek, Charlotte Marlow, Liz Dilnot Johnson, David Lancaster, Hannah Garton, Ruth Lee, Hayley Jenkins and Phillip Cooke. Power gives a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm with a complimentary glass of wine or juice. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
Jonny Holbek as Sebastian in York Light Opera Company’s production of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Picture: Matthew Kitchen
Nautical adventure of the week: York Light Opera Company in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, York Theatre Royal, February 7 to 17, except February 12
BASED on the classic 1989 Disney animated film, The Little Mermaid tells the enchanting story of Ariel, a mermaid who dreams of trading her tail for legs and exploring the human world. Aided by her mischievous sidekick, Flounder, and the cunning Ursula, Ariel strikes a bargain that will change her life forever.
Martyn Knight’s production for York Light features stunning projection, dazzling costumes, unforgettable musical numbers, such as Under The Sea and Kiss The Girl, and choreography by Rachael Whitehead. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Colour & Light, soon to illuminate the facade of York Art Gallery
Installation launch of the week: Colour & Light, York Art Gallery, February 7 to 25
YORK BID is linking up with York Museums Trust for the return of Colour & Light: an innovative project that will transform the facade of York Art Gallery to counter the cold winter with a vibrant light installation.
This “high impact and large-scale visual arts project” uses 3D projection mapping to bring York’s iconic buildings to life, first York Minster last year, now York Art Gallery, where the projection will play every ten minutes from 6pm to 9pm daily in a non-ticketed free event.
Watching the detective: Steven Jobson’s Lieutenant Frank Cioffi in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Curtains. Picture: Jennifer Jones
It’s Curtains for…Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
WHEN the leading lady of a new musical mysteriously dies on stage, a plucky local detective must solve this 1959 case at Boston’s Colonial Theatre, where the entire cast and crew are suspects in Kander & Ebb’s musical with a book by Rupert Holmes.
Cue delightful characters, a witty and charming script and glorious tunes in the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s staging of Curtains. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Sunflower power: The Calendar Girls cast on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from Tuesday to Saturday
Touring musical of the week: Calendar Girls The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
YOU know the story, the one where a husband’s death to leukaemia prompts a group of ordinary women in a small Yorkshire Women’s Institute to do an extraordinary thing, whereupon they set about creating a nude calendarto raise money for charity.
Premiered at Leeds Grand Theatre in 2015, Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s musical is now touring with a cast of music, stage and television stars. Baring all will be Laurie Brettas Annie;Liz Carneyas Marie; Helen Pearson as Celia; Samantha Seager as Chris; Maureen Nolan as Ruth; Lyn Paul as Jessie and Honeysuckle Weeks as Cora. Once more the tour supports Blood Cancer UK. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Nicola Holliday (as Jean Tanner) and James Lee (as Charles Stratton) in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ Separate Tables. Picture: John Saunders
English manners of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Separate Tables, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 8 to 17, 7.45pm except Sunday and Monday, plus 2pm Saturday matinees
AFTER directing four Russian plays by Chekhov, Helen Wilson turns her attention to Separate Tables, two very English Terence Rattigan tales of love and loss, set in a shabby Bournemouth hotel in the 1950s.
Guests, both permanent and transient, sit on separate tables, a formality that underlines the loneliness of these characters in a play about class, secrets and repressed emotions. Chris Meadley, Paul French, Molly Kay, Jess Murray, Marie-Louise Feeley, Caroline Greenwood and Linda Fletcher are among the Settlement cast. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Festival of the month: North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales Dark Skies Festival, February 9 to 25
TEAMING up for the ninth time since 2016, the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Park authorities celebrate the jewels of God’s Own Country’s night sky this month.
Discover nocturnal activities to heighten the senses such as the Dark Skies Experience (February 9 to 25) night navigation (February 16); trail run and yoga (February 17, sold out); canoeing; planet trail and constellation trail at Aysgarth Falls (February 9 to 25); astrophotography workshops at Castle Howard (February 22), stargazing safaris, children’s daytime trails, art workshops and mindful experiences. More details: darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk; yorkshiredales.org.uk/things-to-do/whats-on/shows/dark-skies-festival/.
Richard Ashcroft: Heading to the woods for Forest Live at Dalby Forest in June. Picture: Dean Chalkley
Outdoor gig announcement of the week: Richard Ashcroft, Forest Live, Dalby Forest, near Pickering, June 23
FORESTRY England completes its Forest Live return to Dalby Forest for the first time since 2019 with Richard Ashcroft, the two-time Ivor Novello Award-winning Wigan singer, songwriter and frontman of The Verve.
Canadian rocker Bryan Adams and disco icons Nile Rodgers & CHIC were confirmed already for June 21 and 22 respectively. New addition Ashcroft’s set list will draw on his five solo albums, along with The Verve’s anthems Bittersweet Symphony, The Drugs Don’t Work, Lucky Man and Sonnet. Leeds band Apollo Junction will be supporting. Box office: forestlive.com.
In Focus: York Ice Trail, City of Dreams, York city centre, today and tomorrow, from 10am
York Ice Trail: City of Dreams this weekend
THE theme for York Ice Trail 2024 transforms York into the City of Dreams, inviting visitors to dream big.
The last York Ice Trail, in February 2023, drew 40,000 visitors to York to view 36 sculptures. Organised by Make It York, the 2024 event again sees the “coolest” sculptures line the streets of York, each conceived and sponsored by businesses and designed and created by ice specialist Icebox.
Sarah Loftus, Make It York managing director, says: “York Ice Trail is one of the most-loved events in the city for residents and visitors alike, and we’re excited to be bringing it back for another year in 2024.
“It’s a huge celebration of our city and businesses, and the concept will inspire everyone’s inner child, encouraging people to let their imagination run wild.”
Icebox managing director Greg Pittard says: “Returning to York for the 2024 Ice Trail is a true honour for us. The York Ice Trail holds a special place in our hearts, and we are thrilled to bring this year’s theme to life.
“Our talented team of ice carvers pour their passion into crafting magnificent ice sculptures that will transport visitors to a world of wonder and delight.”
The 2024 ice sculptures:
Our City Of Dreams, provided by Make It York, Parliament Street.
A Field Of Dreams, Murton Park, Parliament Street.
A Journey In ice, Grand Central, Parliament Street.
City Of Trees, Dalby Forest, Parliament Street.
Chasing Rainbows, in celebration of York band Shed Seven topping the UK official album chart in January, York Mix Radio, Parliament Street.
I’m Late, I’m Late! For A Very Important Date!, Ate O’Clock, High Ousegate.
Sewing Like A Dream, Gillies Fabrics, Peter Lane.
Mythical Beasts: The Yeti, York BID, Walmgate.
Hop On Your Bike, Spark:York, Piccadilly (Spark:York will be open from 12 noon).
Belle Of The Ball, York Castle Museum, Eye of York.
The best things in life are free…or on offer: York Residents’ Festival 2024
TWO days of York celebrating all things York lead off Charles Hutchinson’s tips for cultural fulfilment, from Eighties’ nostalgia to a monster musical, a ghost story’s return to a singing French iconoclast.
York Residents’ Festival 2024, today and tomorrow
YORK Residents’ Festival returns this weekend with free entry or offers on more than 50 York attractions, restaurants, bars and retailers.
For the weekend organised by Make It York, historical attractions such as York Minster, Jorvik Viking Centre, Clifford’s Tower, Fairfax House, Barley Hall, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall and Treasurer’s House will be opening their doors for free to residents across the weekend.
Residents can also take advantage of a free river cruise with City Cruises, free wizard golf at The Hole In Wand, in Coppergate Walk, and the first 100 visitors can visit for free at York’s Chocolate Story, King’s Square.
Offers at York eateries and restaurants include The Grand, Rio Brazilian Steakhouse York, Ambiente Tapas and Pearly Cow. Retail offers exclusive to residents are available at Avorium, York Gin, Love Cheese, Potions Cauldron and more besides.
For those preferring to explore by foot, offers and discounts apply to walking tours and outdoor activities. Mountain Goat will be taking residents off the beaten path to explore the beautiful Yorkshire countryside, while the family-friendly Wizard Walk of York promises to be spellbinding. Or why not learn to abseil and climb Brimham Rocks, at Brimham Moor Road, Summerbridge, Harrogate?
Step this way for The Wizard Walk of York
To take advantage of York Residents’ Festival offers, you must present a valid York Card, student card or identity card (e.g. driving licence or bus pass) that proves York residency by clearly stating ‘York’.
Make It York managing director Sarah Loftus says: ‘We’re delighted that we have so many York businesses providing fantastic offers for Residents’ Festival weekend. This is a great opportunity for residents to rediscover some of the brilliant attractions, retail and food offers on their doorstop.
“A huge thank-you to our Visit York members for coming together to provide so many brilliant offers; there’s something for everyone during this fun-packed weekend.”
Meanwhile, Ann Petherick is reopening Kentmere House Gallery, in Scarcroft Hill, York, for a new year of exhibitions in time to coincide with the second day of York Residents’ Festival: tomorrow, from 11am to 5pm.
On show are original works of York and Yorkshire by more than 50 professional artists, plus prints, books and cards exclusive to the gallery. The first full weekend opening in 2024 will be on February 3 and 4, 11am to 5pm. Admission is free.
For the full list of offers, and for booking information for York Residents’ Festival, visit visityork.org. Please note, some venues and activities require pre-booking.
Celia Crwys Finnigan and Laura Sillett: On song for The 80’s Movie Mixtape at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York
Nostalgic gig of the week: The 80’s Movie Mixtape, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm
THE 80’s Movie Mixtape is a truly independent theatre show showcasing West End singers and musicians from around London and Surrey in a new tribute to Eighties’ blockbuster movies and their electrifying soundtracks.
A band of six actor-musicians – Jamie Ross, lead vocals, keyboard; Celia Crwys Finnigan, lead vocals, keyboard, alto saxophone; Laura Sillett, lead vocals, keyboard, baritone saxophone; Dom Gee-Burch, lead guitar; Ed Hole, bass, and Luke Thornton, drums – combine songs from Footloose, Top Gun, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Dirty Dancing, Back To The Future, American Gigolo, Ghostbusters, Flashdance, Against All Odds and Electric Dreams with Eighties’ party anthems. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Percy: Performing at Navigators Art & Performance’s Basement Sessions 3 night of music, comedy, spoken word and poetry
On the move: Navigators Art & Performance, The Basement Sessions 3, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, February 23, 7.30pm
YORK creative collective Navigators Art & Performance is moving this weekend’s Basement Sessions 3 bill to next month. “Unfortunately, the Basement is ankle deep in flood water and we’re going to have to postpone the gig this Saturday,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen.
Taking part will be poet and actor Danae, from Mexico via York; “punk/jazz riot” Neo Borgia Trio, from the University of York Big Band; writer, poet, performer and multi-instrumentalist JT Welsch; comedian Will Glitch, from Norwich via Hull; left-field post-punk favourites Percy; acoustic duo The Jammingtons Experience and transatlantic guitar band Fat Spatula. Box office: https://bit.ly/nav-events-all.
English Teacher: Leeds band heading for York tomorrow
Independent Venue Week gig of the week: English Teacher, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
“LEEDS’ music scene is the best in the world,” proclaims Lily Fontaine, English Teacher’s vocalist, guitarist and synthesiser player, without a blink of hesitation. This weekend she heads to near-neighbour York with bassist Nicholas Eden, drummer Doug Frost and lead guitarist Lewis Whitling, who she first met at house parties while they all studied at Leeds College of Music (now Leeds Conservatoire).
After tinkering with projects of their own, they settled on playing together, developing their fusion of dream pop and post-punk noise. Coming next? Writing new songs “somewhere between Adele, Jockstrap and Fontaines D.C.”. Box office: for returns only, thecrescentyork.seetickets.com.
Mark Hawkins as The Actor, left, and Malcolm James as Arthur Kipps in The Woman In Black, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Mark Douet
Haunting return of the week: The Woman In Black, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
STEPHEN Mallatratt’s stage adaptation of Scarborough author Susan Hill’s spine-chiller returns to York for the umpteenth time, directed as ever by Robin Herford. As he did at York Theatre Royal in November 2014, Malcolm James plays lawyer Arthur Kipps, who engages a sceptical young actor (Mark Hawkins) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Following the science: James Willstrop’s Dr Frederick Frankenstein in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Young Frankenstein. Picture: Jennifer Jones
Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Young Frankenstein The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
WHEN the infamous Victor Frankenstein’s grandson, Dr Frederick Frankenstein (James Willstrop), inherits the family castle in Transylvania, will he be doomed to repeat the same mistakes in Mel Brooks’s musical adaptation of his 1974 monster horror-movie spoof?
Andrew Isherwood directs York company Pick Me Up Theatre as Frankenstein’s experiment yields both madcap success and monstrous consequences with the help and hindrance of hunchback henchman Igor (Jack Hooper), Scandinavian assistant Inga (Sanna Jeppsson), mysterious housekeeper Frau Blucher (Helen Spencer) and needy fiancee Elizabeth (Jennie Wogan-Wells). Box office: 01904 501395 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Guz Khan: York and Leeds gigs this winter
Comedy gig of the week: Guz Khan Live!, York Theatre Royal, Wednesday, 7.30pm
COVENTRY comedian, impressionist and actor Guz Khan is on his way to selling out York Theatre Royal after his February 25 gig at Leeds City Varieties already did so. Raised on a housing estate in Hillfields, he graduated from Coventry University and taught Humanities at Grace Academy in his home city before focusing on stand-up.
Khan, 38, is best known as the creator and star of the BBC Three comedy drama Man Like Mobeen, wherein he played a former Small Heath drug dealer now trying to live a good life as a Muslim. Box office: “Last tickets” on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Cantona Sings Eric: Maverick footballer-turned-musician returns to Leeds for April concert. Poster picture: supplied by Academy Music Group
Most unexpected Yorkshire gig announcement of the week: Eric Cantona, Cantona Sings Eric, Leeds O2 Academy, April 16, doors, 7pm
ERIC Cantona once told Leeds United fans from the balcony of Leeds Town Hall, “why I love you, I don’t know why, but I love you” as the 1992 league champions paraded the Division One trophy. Only 207 days later, he was gone…to bitterest rivals Manchester United. Never to be forgiven.
Now 57, the avant-garde French footballer, sardine philosopher, actor, English advert regular and painter “to the rhythm of jazz” is to return to the city. Not in one of those “An Evening With” shows full of nostalgic football chat but as Eric Cantona, singer and musician, performing solo, with piano and cello for company. Box office: academymusicgroup.com/o2academyleeds/events or ticketmaster.co.uk/eric-cantona-tickets.
David Hammond: Performing works by work by Erik Satie, Brian Eno, Federico Mompou, Howard Skempton, David Power and Derek O’Connell
Piano recital of the week: Late Music presents David Hammond, St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, York, Friday, 1pm
DAVID Hammond performs a crossover of ambient and classical solo piano music centred on work by Erik Satie, Brian Eno, Federico Mompou and Howard Skempton, with new works by David Power and Derek O’Connell in the first Late Music recital of 2024.
The full programme will be: Erik Satie, Gnossiennes 1-3; Harold Budd/Brian Eno, The Plateaux Of Mirror; Derek O’Connell, Je mesure le son (first performance); John White, Sonata 95; David Power, Seven Paces Of Stillness (first performance); Erik Satie, Pièces Froides: No.2 Danses de travers; Federico Mompou, Cants Mágics; Howard Skempton, Well, Well Cornelius; Howard Skempton, Rumba; Howard Skempton, Quavers; Budd/Eno/Power mash-up, Remembered, and Erik Satie, Gnossiennes 4-5. Tickets: £5, latemusic.org/david-hammond-piano-2/ or on the door.
In focus: Exhibition launch of the week: Pyramid Gallery, York, from 11am today
One of Linda Combi’s 52 Postcards, painted in 2023
FOUR exhibitions are opening simultaneously today at Pyramid Gallery: Gomery & Braganza, ceramics and painting; Linda Combi’s 52 Postcards; glassmaker Jo Kenny’s What Lies Beneath and Ringleaders’ contemporary handmade rings.
Di Gomery, Loretta Braganza, Linda Combi and Jo Kenny all will be attending the 11am to 2.30pm launch. “Come along to the opening and enjoy a glass of wine or soft drink with the artists,” says gallery owner and curator Terry Brett.
Di’s studio is at South Bank Studios, Southlands Methodist Church, in Bishopthorpe Road, York. Her paintings are lyrical responses to landscape, still life and the human form, painted primarily in oil on canvas or board, often large in scale. Her approach is one of playful energy with an underlying structure and solidity.
Di, who worked in the design industry for Courtaulds (England) and Jakob Schlaepfer couture fabric design (Switzerland), has exhibited previously at Pyramid Gallery, Partisan café, in Micklegate, York, HartLaw Solicitors, in Wetherby, Dean Clough Gallery, Halifax, and the Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield.
Paintings created specifically for this Pyramid exhibition explore edges and volume, make reference to other artists, and generally play with surface and colour combinations. Her artistic influences include the work of British and American women abstract expressionists.
Loretta was born in Mumbai, India, came to Great Britain in 1965 and lives and works in York. She began her practice as a ceramicist in 1990 via a career in dance, graphic arts, textile design and sculpture, as well as teaching drawing and painting at York College.
Loretta Braganza and Di Gomery
Her distinctive style comprising taut edges, clean lines and complex mark making swiftly earned her exhibitions and commissions, as well as awards from the Crafts Council and the Arts Council.
Artist and illustrator Linda Combi, raised in a California desert, now settled in York, returns to Pyramid Gallery, this time with 52 Postcards, a series of original collage paintings, print cards and booklets that reflect on migration.
“I was inspired to create 52 postcards around the theme of displacement,” she says. “I decided to create postcards as you’d typically send them when you’re on holiday to family and friends back home, but for refugees, they can have very different connotations. It’s grounded in the concept of refugees being in another place, writing a letter to home or to their former self.
“In many of my postcards I use birds as a symbol for people forced to flee. They’re innocent, and they’re on the move.”
Linda’s postcards are mixed media, primarily hand painted and printed papers, but also incorporating coloured pencil, pen, stickers and crayon.
“Refugees and other displaced people have to endure so much,” she says. “Everyone should support refugees – not only do they enrich society, but more than anything, it’s just basic kindness and human empathy to understand how frightening it must be to be to have to flee.”
Glassmaker Jo Kenny at work in her studio
Fifty per cent of Linda’s sale proceeds will go to UNHRC, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, and the Lemon Tree Trust, an organisation that works alongside displaced people to transform refugee camps through gardening.
Glassmaker Jo Kenny creates pieces at the furnace inspired by exploring the beaches at Whitby, where she now lives. Such a simple childhood pleasure revisited, she finds a contemplative quality in the act of poking around in rock pools. “I feel the joy and excitement of discovery under each pebble,” she says.
Her What Lies Beneath series encourages the viewer to “look a little deeper and maybe feel a little of that childlike excitement making their own discoveries”.
Awarded an Arts Council England grant, Jo was able to develop the series further in collaboration with Scottish master craftsman Gordon Taylor, who completed pieces with his cutting and polishing skills.
Jo splits her time between making and teaching. Her key themes are the effect of the passage of time, erosion, entropy, persistence of image and all things pertaining to the ocean.
Di Gomery and Loretta Braganza’s exhibition runs until March 11; Linda Combi’s 52 Postcards until March 9; Jo Kenny’s glass until March 7, at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York. Gallery opening hours are:Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturdays, 10am to 5.30pm. The project can be viewed at Linda’s website, lindacombi.biz, from where purchases can be made too.
Something wicked this way comes: Rob Wolfe’s Macbeth and Oriana Charles’s Lady Macbeth in Dickens Theatre Company’s Macbeth, on tour at Grand Opera House, York
FROM textbook theatre for GCSE studies to an original pantomime, a finally finished symphony to orchestral ABC, a silent cinema season to a night of Nashville honky-tonk country, Charles Hutchinson has all manner of recommendations.
York debut of the week: Dickens Theatre Company: Revision On Tour, Grand Opera House, York, Macbeth, Monday, 7.30pm, and Tuesday, 1pm, 7.30pm; Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Wednesday, 1pm, 7.30pm; Romeo & Juliet, Thursday, 1pm, 7.30pm
DICKENS Theatre Company, purveyors of exciting, educational and entertaining stage adaptations of literary classics and GCSE texts since 2015, make their York debut with three productions scripted and directed by Ryan Philpott.
A cast of seven presents Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy, Macbeth, narrated by the Porter, as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth make their perilous descent towards Hell; Robert Louis Stevenson’s Gothic horror story Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, set in the foggy, dimly lit streets of Victorian London, where an evil predator lurks, and Romeo & Juliet, breathing new life and wit into Shakespeare’s tragic tale of star-crossed lovers. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Rob Wolfe, as Dr Jekyll, and Felix Grainger, as Inspector Newcomen, in Dickens Theatre Company’s Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde at Grand Opera House, York
Pantomime of the week: Blue Light Theatre Company in Nithered!, Acomb Working Men’s Club, York, today, 1pm; Wednesday to Friday, 7.30pm
FORMED by York Ambulance Service staff, Blue Light Theatre Company’s family-friendly tenth anniversary production features an original pantomime script by Perri Ann Barley, with additional material by the dame, Steven Clark, directed by Craig Barley and choreographed by Devon Wells.
They are joined in the cast by Glen Gears, Brenda Riley, Simon Moore, Kevin Bowes, Kristian Barley and new members Aileen Stables and Audra Bryan, among others. Proceeds go to the Motor Neurone Disease Association (York) and York Against Cancer. Box office: 07933 329654 or bluelight-theatre.co.uk.
The (Riding) Hoods in Blue Light Theatre Company’s Nithered!: Kathryn Donley, left, Chelsea Hutchinson and Kalayna Barley
Classical concert of the week: Academy of St Olave’s, St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York, tonight, 8pm
THE “main event” of the Academy of St Olave’s second concert of their 2023-24 season will be Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony No. 8 in B minor, but in a finished version! Schubert famously completed only the first two movements, before setting the symphony aside (six years before his death in 1828).
The York chamber orchestra will be adding third and fourth movements compiled and composed by Schubert scholar Professor Brian Newbould, based on material left behind by the Austrian composer. Further works in a programme of late-Classical and early Romantic music will be Mozart’s Symphony No. 25 and Luigi Cherubini’s operatic overture Anacréon. Box office: academyofstolaves.org.uk or on the door.
Miles Kane: One Man Band at Leeds O2 Academy
Miles down the road: Miles Kane, Leeds O2 Academy, Thursday, 7pm
BIRKENHEAD guitarist and singer Miles Kane, former frontman of The Rascals and Alex Turner’s cohort in The Last Shadow Puppets, opens his January and February 2024 solo tour in Leeds. Expect the focus to fall on last August’s album, One Man Band, released on Modern Sky Records.
A deeply personal record, it found Kane reflecting on his journey as he returned to Liverpool, hooking up with Blossoms’ Tom Ogden, Circa Waves’ Keiran Shudall, Andy Burrow and regular writing partner Jamie Biles to record songs with longtime collaborator James Skelly, of The Coral, on production duties. Box office: mileskane.com.
Buster Keaton in Sherlock, Jr: Showing in the ReDiscover programme at City Screen Picturehouse
Time to rediscover: Buster Keaton season, City Screen Picturehouse, York, until February 9
CITY Screen Picturehouse is celebrating the silent cinema of Joseph Frank “Buster” Keaton, the American actor, comedian and director whose graceful physical feats of stoical comedy were marked by a deadpan expression that brought him the nickname “The Great Stone Face”.
Friday’s screening of Steamboat Bill, Jr (U), wherein the effete son of a cantankerous riverboat captain joins his father’s crew, will be followed on February 2 by Sherlock, Jr (U), in which Keaton’s hapless film projectionist longs to be a detective. The season concludes on February 9 with The General (U), with its peerless chase scenes as Keaton’s plucky railway engineer pursues Union spies doggedly across enemy lines when they steal his locomotive. Box office: picturehouses.com.
Dominic Halpin And The Hurricanes: Revelling in A Country Night In Nashville
Country shindig of the week: A Country Night In Nashville, Grand Opera House, York, Friday, 7.30pm
DOMINIC Halpin And The Hurricanes take a journey down country roads, visiting the songs of American stars both past and present as they recreate the atmosphere of a buzzing honky-tonk in downtown Nashville. The music of Johnny Cash, Alan Jackson, Dolly Parton, The Chicks, Willie Nelson and Kacey Musgraves, among others, will be showcased. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Martin Fry: Fronting the ABC Lexicon Of Love Orchestral Tour show at York Barbican
Gig of the week: ABC, Lexicon Of Love Orchestral Tour, York Barbican, January 27, doors, 7pm
MARTIN Fry leads ABC in an orchestral performance of their June 1982 chart-topping debut album The Lexicon Of Love, here coupled with further hits and favourites.
Fusing Motown soul with a steely Sheffield post-punk attitude, the album spawned the hits Tears Are Not Enough, Poison Arrow, The Look Of Love and All of My Heart,
now performed with the Southbank Sinfonia, conducted by longtime collaborator Anne Dudley, who orchestrated the original album sessions. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk or ticketmaster.co.uk.
Miles And The Chain Gang: New single and first gig of 2024
Miles on the doorstep: Miles And The Chain Gang, The Terrace, New Street, York, February 10, 8pm onwards, free entry
YORK band Miles And The Chain Gang precede their first gig of 2014 with the January 26 release of new single Raining Cats And Dogs, an Americana-tinged track that dates back 30 years.
“Everything takes time,” says songwriter and frontman Miles Salter. “The song started out at a jam session with my friends Dom Jukes and Syd Egan in the summer of 1994. It just came to me, as song ideas do.” Hearing the subsequent recording for the first time in years, Salter has decided to revisit the “very playful and tongue-in-cheek” country number with Egan on harmonica.
Making Mischief: Peter Pan Goes Wrong at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Pamela Raith
FROM Peter Pan mishaps to pantomime, rabbit obituaries to classic rock, prawn cocktail comedy to Eighties’ pop star nostalgia, Charles Hutchinson delights in all manner of arts events.
Theatrical calamity of the week…but in a good way: Mischief Theatre’s Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Leeds Grand Theatre, January 16 to 20, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees
FROM the mayhem-makers of The Play That Goes Wrong and the BBC television series The Goes Wrong Show comes Mischief Theatre’s riotous spin on a timeless classic in the West End hit Peter Pan Goes Wrong.
As the hapless members of the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society return to the stage, once more they must battle technical hitches, flying mishaps and cast disputes as they strive to present J M Barrie’s awfully big adventure, but will they ever make it to Neverland? Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
RIP Lee Scratch Perry from Bertt deBaldock’s book Good Rabbits Gone Volume Three
Book signing launch of the week: Bertt deBaldock’s Good Rabbits Gone Volume Three, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, January 16, 4.30pm to 7pm
PYRAMID Gallery owner, curator and artist Terry Brett launches his latest collection of cartoon rabbit portrait tributes to celebrities and remarkable individuals who have passed away in the 108-page book Good Rabbits Gone Volume Three.
The cartoons are drawn by Bertt deBaldock (Terry’s alias) at the time of the individual’s death and assembled with Terry’s tributes or memories of the person in a volume covering September 2021 to December 2022. The book is free but donations are invited in aid of Refugee Action York.
All in for Aladdin: The cast for Pickering Musical Society’s 2024 pantomime
Pantomime extra time: Pickering Musical Society in Aladdin, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 18 to 28, 7.15pm, except January 22; 2.15pm, January 20, 21, 27 and 28
PICKERING Musical Society has added two extra performances of Aladdin, now opening on January 18, rather than January 19, while a Sunday matinee on January 21 is a new addition too.
Director Luke Arnold’s cast includes Pickering panto favourites Marcus Burnside as Widow Twankey, Stephen Temple as simple son Wishee Washee, Danielle Long as principal boy Aladdin, Courtney Brown as principal girl Princess Lotus Blossom, Paula Paylor and Rachel Anderson as comedic double act Minnie Wong and Winnie Wong and John Brooks as the villainous Abanazar. Box office: 01751 474833 or thelittleboxoffice.com/kirktheatre.
The poster for One Night Of Classic Rock at the JoRo, York
New collaboration: The BJMC & Steve Coates Music Productions, One Night Of Classic Rock, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 20, 7.30pm
THE long-established BJMC (Bev Jones Music Company) is teaming up with new company Steve Coates Music Productions. Their first collaboration draws on Coates’s jukebox for a night of thunderous anthems from everyone’s favourite rock bands, such as AC/DC, Queen, Tina Turner, Status Quo, Eagles, Meat Loaf, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac.
Guitarist Mickey Moran combines leading a six-piece band with joining Annabel Van Griethuysen, Clare Meadley, Jack Storey-Hunter, Chris Hagyard and Ruth McNeill as the show’s lead singers. Box office for returns only: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Olga Koch: Prawn Cocktail on the menu at Theatre@41, Monkgate
From Russia with love of comedy on Valentine’s Day: Olga Koch: Prawn Cocktail, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 14, 8pm
RUSSIAN-BORN Olga Koch turned 30, achieved a master’s degree, went on an adult gap year, suffered salmonella, lost herself, found herself and washed it all down with a delicious prawn cocktail. “Think less Eat Pray Love and more Shake Scream Cry,” she says, ahead of her return to Theatre@41 after previous visits with Homecoming in October 2021 and Just Friends in October 2022. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
B C Camplight: Playing The Crescent after releasing his break-up album The Last Rotation Of Earth
Gig announcement of the week: BC Camplight, presented by Please Please You & Brudenell Presents, The Crescent, York, March 15, 7.30pm
DOES a curse dictate that Brian ‘BC Camplight’ Christinzio cannot move forward without being knocked back? Or that the greatest material is born out of emotional trauma? While making his 2023 album, The Last Rotation Of Earth, Christinzio’s relationship with his fiancé crumbled after nine inseparable years.
This break-up amid long-term struggles with addiction and mental health led to an extraordinary album of heartbreak, “more cinematic, sophisticated and nuanced than anything” that New Jersey-born BC has done before. Hear the results in York. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Martin Kemp: Trading in his bass guitar for taking to the decks for a night of Eighties’ pop hits and dancing
Nostalgia on the horizon: Martin Kemp, The Ultimate Back To The 80’s DJ Set, York Barbican, March 29, doors, 7.30pm
SPANDAU Ballet bassist and EastEnders star Martin Kemp takes to the decks to spin “all the best of the hits” from the Eighties in an unstoppable singalong. Dig out your best Eighties’ attire, grab your dancing shoes and prepare to enjoy a night of pure Gold! Yes, fancy dress is encouraged, he advises.
“It’s amazing! People absolutely lose themselves, singing to every word,” Kemp told ITV’s Good Morning show. “It’s the most euphoric atmosphere I have ever been in, in my life!” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich: York singer-songwriter, now based in London, returns to Yorkshire to play Leeds. Picture: Harry Pearson
New year, new album, new tour: Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Leeds Brudenell Social Club, April 4, 7.30pm
YORK singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich follows up Dirty Hit Records’ February 9 release of his fifth album, Some Things Break, with a nine-date spring tour that opens in Leeds.
First up is Ben’s new single, New York, a song that came from a writing session with labelmate Matty Healy, from The 1975. Healy asked his permission to perform it at a one-off show, opening for Phoebe Bridgers in 2021, and now comes Ben’s version. Box office: brudenellsocialclub.seetickets.com.
In Focus: Blue Light Theatre Company’s pantomime, Nithered!, Acomb Working Men’s Club, Acomb, January 18 to 26
The Three Pigs in Blue Light Theatre Company’s Nithered!: Simon Moore, left, Kevin Bowes and Kristian Barley
BLUE Light Theatre Company’s tenth anniversary pantomime, Nithered!, is a frosty fairytale adventure by regular writer Perri Ann Barley to match the wintry weather in York.
Formed by Yorkshire Ambulance Service staff, they performed their debut pantomime in 2013. “It was supposed to be a ‘one-off’ production to raise funds for a colleague who had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease but was so successful that it’s still going to this day, and we’ve even branched out into performing plays too,” says Nithered! director Craig Barley.
“Since that first panto, more than £22,000 has been raised for our chosen charities: the Motor Neurone Disease Association (York) and York Against Cancer. Extra performances have been added over the years to accommodate more people, due to our shows’ ever-growing popularity, and there’s also a waiting list for people wanting to join the cast.
Acomb Working Men’s Club has housed the show since 2013. “It’s been our home for so long as they gave us the space for free for so many years, so we could maximise our charitable donations,” says Craig.
“We can seat 200 and offer use of the bar, meaning a relaxed performance which has received so much good feedback. New audience members are pleasantly surprised when they arrive and see the size, layout and the room all dressed up accordingly – putting them immediately at ease and into the panto spirit.”
All ten pantomimes have utilised the same production team: co-producers Perri and Craig, alongside choreographer Devon Wells and stage manager Dave Holiday. “Between us, so much has been achieved on the tiny stage at Acomb Working Men’s Club, from magic carpets to levitating witches!” says Craig.
The (Riding) Hoods in Nithered!: Kathryn Donley, left, Chelsea Hutchinson and Kalayna Barley
The cast still consists of Yorkshire Ambulance staff along with other talented performers from in and around York.
“We like to do things a little differently, creating a brand-new storyline every year, among other things,” says Craig. “But at the same time adding some traditional elements, such as the Dame, played by Steven Clark, who writes additional script material too, and the villain, Glen Gears, who has been with the company since the very beginning. Both of them are very much audience favourites.”
Introducing the storyline in Nithered!, Craig says: “The usually bright and happy village has been shrouded in a permanent frost by the evil Snow Queen (played by Perri Ann Barley), who has enlisted the Big Bad Wolf’ (Glen Gears) to govern the land on her behalf and to keep the population down.
“Mother Goose (Brenda Riley) and the villagers are struggling to cope with the never-ending winter and, with the Wolf around, they are living in constant fear for their safety. Things take a dramatic turn when one of the Three Pigs (Simon Moore, Kevin Bowes, Kristian Barley) is kidnapped by the Wolf.”
Whereupon the villagers decide to take matters into their own hands and head out on a very risky rescue mission. They enlist the help of the Fairy Godmother (Steven Clark), who finds herself in a face-off with the Snow Queen herself, but who will prove to be the most powerful?
“Will the villagers overcome the Big Bad Wolf? Will the everlasting winter come to an end? To find out, come join us and step right into the weird but wonderful world of Nithered!,” says Craig.
The Three Bears in Blue Light Theatre Company’s pantomime: Linden Horwood, left, Harry Martin and Richard Rogers
The cast also features Richard Rogers, Linden Horwood, Julie Shrimpton, Nicky Moore, Pat Mortimer, Zoe Paylor, Chelsea Hutchinson, Kalayna Barley, Kathryn Donley and Harry Martin, plus new members Aileen Stables and Audra Bryan.
“With this being our tenth anniversary, the team have really gone all out to give the audience an amazing experience and cannot wait for everyone to see it.”
Looking ahead, this summer Blue Light will present Murder At Reptilian Park, a new comedy murder mystery by Perri Ann Barley, to be staged in conjunction with the Galtres Centre in Easingwold. “It will run there from June 20 to 22, including a Saturday matinee, bringing us a whole new audience and new challenges,” says Craig. Tickets will be on sale soon on 01347 822472 or at galtrescentre.org.uk.
“Perri masterfully crafts our unique pantos, giving audiences new and interesting storylines featuring some familiar characters, which take them away from some of the other tired classic panto stories to give our audiences an experience like no other, ” says Craig. “That’s why so many return year after year.
“Perri is now working with London Playwrights [a resource for emerging playwrights] as she branches out to try and make her passion for writing a career. Not only this, but she’s also in talks with another professional theatre in Yorkshire, but more about that later.”
Blue Light Theatre Company in Nithered!, Acomb Working Men’s Club, Front Street, Acomb, York, January 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26, 7.30pm; January 20, 1pm matinee. Tickets: £12 adults, £10 concessions, £8 children. Box office: 07933 329654 or bluelight-theatre.co.uk. All proceeds go to Motor Neurone Disease Association York and York Against Cancer.
The poster artwork for Blue Light Theatre Company’s 2024 pantomime, Nithered!
Black’n’White the Zebra and Hiran Abeysekera (Pi) in Life Of Pi, bound for Leeds Grand Theatre from Wednesday. Picture: Johan Persson
DRAMAS, circus, musical theatre, rock’n’roll, sorrowful folk, one more pantomime and the return of forest concerts attract Charles Hutchinson’s attention.
Theatre event of the week: Life Of Pi, Leeds Grand Theatre, January 10 to 13; 2pm and 7pm, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; 7.30pm, Friday
WINNER of five Olivier Awards, not least Best Play, the West End spectacle Life Of Pi is heading north on its debut British tour with its combination of jaw-dropping visuals, magic and puppetry.
Adapted from Yann Martel’s 15 million-selling, 2002 Man Booker Prize-winning fantasy novel, Life Of Pi finds Pi stranded on a lifeboat with four other survivors – a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan and a Royal Bengal tiger. Time is against them, nature is harsh, who will survive on this epic journey of endurance and hope. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
The poster for Meat Loaf By Candlelight at Grand Opera House, York
Tribute show of the week: Meat Loaf By Candlelight, Grand Opera House, York, January 12, 7.30pm
STARS of the original West End and international productions of Bat Out Of Hell will be accompanied by a rock band in a tribute to Texan rock-operatic singer and actor Meat Loaf “as you have never heard before”.
On the Meat Loaf menu will be I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That), Bat Out Of Hell, Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad, Dead Ringer For Love, You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth, Rock And Roll Dreams Come Through et al. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Cirque: Combining musical theatre bangers and circus skills at York Barbican
Move over PT Barnum and Hugh Jackman: Cirque: The Greatest Show, York Barbican, January 13, 2pm and 6pm
CIRQUE: The Greatest Show combines West End and Broadway musical theatre showstoppers with spectacular circus skills, ranging from aerialists and contortionists to thrilling feats of agility and flair.
West End performers join with mesmerising circus acts in the all-star cast for an enchanting variety show that vows to “charm and astonish in equal measure”. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Peter Panto: The PQA York pantomime at the JoRo Theatre
Still time to squeeze in another pantomime: PQA York in Peter Panto, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 14, 7.30pm
PETER Panto, the high-flying PQA Pantomime, features the talented young performers of the Pauline Quirke Academy York’s Friday Academy.
Join Peter Pan as he flies off on a new adventure for one night only in a show featuring “stunning visuals, gorgeous music and barrel-loads of laughter on a swashbuckling journey to Neverland unlike any before”. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Showaddywaddy’s 50th anniversary tour, taking in Grand Opera House, York
Hey, rock and roll nostalgia: Showaddywaddy 50th Anniversary Tour, Grand Opera House, York, January 19, 7.30pm
FORMED in Leicester in 1973, Showaddywaddy like to call themselves “the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world”. Their 50th anniversary travels rock’n’roll on into 2024 with a line-up featuring only one original member, drummer Romeo Challenger, aged 73.
Dave Bartram, the singer on such hits as Hey Rock And Roll, Under The Moon Of Love, Three Steps To Heaven, When, Blue Moon and Pretty Little Angel Eyes, now manages the band, having performed his last gig in Ilkley in 2011. Andy Pelos takes lead vocals. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Angeline Morrison: Performing songs of sorrow at the NCEM, York
Leaping ahead: Angeline Morrison, National Centre for Early Music, York, February 29, 7.30pm
SEEKING to make the most of the extra day in this Leap Year? Why not discover why the Guardian picked Angeline Morrison’s The Sorrow Songs: Folk Songs Of Black British Experience (Topic Records) as the number one folk album of 2022.
Birmingham-born, Cornwall-based folk singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Morrison explores traditional song with reverence, love and curiosity, a handmade sonic aesthetic and a feeling for the stories of ordinary human lives. York singer-songwriter Holly Taymar supports. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Paul French: Soon to play Major role in Separate Tables at York Theatre Royal Studio
Classic play of the season: York Settlement Community Players in Separate Tables, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 8 to 17, 7.45pm except Sunday and Monday, plus 2pm Saturday matinees
AFTER directing four Russian plays by Chekhov, Helen Wilson turns her attention to Separate Tables, two very English Terence Rattigan tales of love and loss, set in a shabby Bournemouth hotel in the 1950s.
Guests, both permanent and transient, sit on separate tables, a formality that underlines the loneliness of these characters in a play about class, secrets and repressed emotions. Chris Meadley, Paul French, Marie-Louise Feeley, Caroline Greenwood and Linda Fletcher lead the Settlement cast. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Bryan Adams: Canadian rocker will play Dalby Forest on June 21
Going down to the woods again at last: Forest Live concerts, Dalby Forest, near Pickering, June 21 and 22; gates open at 4pm
FOREST Live concerts are to return to Dalby Forest for the first time since Paul Weller and Jess Glynne’s shows in June 2019. Covid put paid to 2020, since when three more silent summers have passed in the woods, but the hiatus will come to an end after Forestry England’s announcement of two outdoor gigs for 2024.
Bryan Adams, forever associated with (Everything I Do) I Do It For You’s 16-week chart-topping run from the 1991 film soundtrack to the forest tale of Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, will play on June 21. Nile Rodgers & CHIC will be supported by Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Deco on June 22. Ellis-Bextor previously guested at Erasure’s Dalby date in 2011. Box office: forestlive.com.
Nile Rodgers: Good times ahead at Dalby Forest on June 22 in the company of CHIC
Sleuth and sidekick: Fergus Rattigan’s Matthew Shardlake, left, with Sam Thorpe-Spinks’s Jack Barak in Sovereign at King’s Manor. Picture: Charlotte Graham
Community show of the year: Sovereign, King’s Manor, York, July
YORK Theatre Royal’s best show of the year was not at the Theatre Royal, but across Exhibition Square in the courtard of King’s Manor, the setting for C J Sansom’s Tudor sleuth yarn, adapted typically adroitly by the golden pen of York playwright Mike Kenny.
Henry VIII was given the Yorkshire cold shoulder by a cast of 100 led by Fergus Rattigan and Sam Thorpe-Spinks, complemented by Madeleine Hudson’s choir.
Livy Potter in Iphigenia In Splott at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Solo performance of the year: Livy Potter in Black Treacle Theatre’s Iphigenia In Splott, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March
GREEK myth is smacked in the chops by modern reality in Gary Owen’s scabrous, “horribly relevant” one-woman drama Iphigenia In Splott, a stark, dark 75-minute play, played out on a single blue chair, with no props, under Jim Paterson’s direction.
Livy Potter kept meeting you in the eye, telling you the bruised, devastating tale of Cardiff wastrel Effie, and her downward spiral through a mess of drink, drugs and drama every night, with shards of jagged humour and shattering blows to the heart.
Crowded in: Comedian Rob Auton’s artwork for The Crowd Show
Comedy show of the year: Rob Auton in The Crowd Show, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24
COMEDIANS tend to play to a room full of strangers, hence the subject matter of Rob Auton’s The Crowd Show, with its discussions of crowds, people and connection.
Except that the crowd for this (London-based) York comedian, born in Barmby Moor and educated in Pocklington, was made up of friends, family, extended family, and loyal local enthusiasts. The home crowd, rather than the in-crowd, as it were. Auton revelled in a unique performing experience, even more surreal than usual.
Honourable mention: Stewart Lee, Basic Lee, York Theatre Royal, March 20. Serious yet seriously amusing dissection of the rotten state of the nation and comedy itself.
Christmas In Neverland at Castle Howard. Picture: Charlotte Graham
Exhibition of the year: Christmas In Neverland, Castle Howard, near York, running until January 7
IS it a Christmas event, an installation or an exhibition? All three, in that Charlotte Lloyd Webber Event Design makes an exhibit of the 300-year-old stately home at Castle Howard each winter.
This time, the theme is a Peter Pan-inspired festive experience, transforming rooms and corridors alike with floristry, installations, props, soundscapes, and projections, conjuring a Mermaid’s Lagoon, Captain Hook’s Cabin and the Jolly Roger with new innovations from Leeds company imitating the dog.
Honourable mention: Austrian artist Erwin Wurm’s absurdist sculptures in Trap Of The Truth, his first UK museum show, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, bringing a whimsical smile until April 28 2024.
Kevin Rowland leading Dexys through The Feminine Divine and old hits sublime at York Barbican
Favourite gigs of the year?
SPOILT for choice. At York Barbican: Suzanne Vega, vowing I Never Wear White in droll delight on February 22; James, bolstered by orchestra and gospel choir, hitting heavenly heights, April 28; Dexys’ two sets, one new and theatrical, the other laden with soul-powered hits, September 5; Lloyd Cole’s two sets, one ostensibly acoustic, the other electric, both eclectic, on October 22.
At The Crescent: The Go-Betweens’ Robert Forster, performing with his son; March 14; Lawrence, once of Felt and Denim, now channelling Mark E Smith and the Velvet Underground in Mozart Estate, October 7; The Howl And The Hum’s extraordinary, deeply emotional three-night farewell to the York band’s original line-up in December.
The long-dormant Pulp’s poster for their This Is What We Do For An Encore return to performing live
Outdoor experience of the year: Pulp, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 9
THE rain swept in on the Eighties’ electronic nostalgia of Being Boiled at the Human League’s Music Showcase Weekend at York Racecourse on July 28 too, but that was a mere watering can by comparison with the deluge that befell the Open Air Theatre half an hour before fellow Sheffield legends Pulp took to the Scarborough stage. “Has it been raining?”, teased Jarvis Cocker, but huddled beneath hastily purchased sheeting, the night was still plastic fantastic.
Cherie Federico: At the helm of all things Aesthetica in York
Driving force of the year in York: Cherie Federico, Aesthetica
2023 marked the 20th anniversary of Aesthetica, the international art magazine set up in York by New Yorker and York St John University alumna Cherie Federico. The Aesthetica Art Prize was as innovative and stimulating as ever at York Art Gallery; the 13th Aesthetica Short Film Festival, spanning five days in November, was the biggest yet. On top of that came the Future Now Symposium in March and the launch of Reignite to bolster York’s focus on being a fulcrum for the arts, media arts and gaming industry innovations of the future.
A star performance: Andy Cryer in The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) at Stephen Jospeh Theatre, Scarborough. Picture: Patch Dolan
Best Shakespeare of the year: The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less), Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, April
THE SJT teamed up with Shakespeare North Playhouse, Nick Lane paired up with co-writer Elizabeth Godber, and Eighties’ pop guilty pleasures rubbed shoulders with Shakespeare’s rebooted comedy as Yorkshire clashed with Lancashire and everyone won. This Comedy Of Errors got everything right. Not more or less. Just right. Full stop.
Nuno Queimado and Rumi Sutton in Gus Gowland’s Mayflies at York Theatre Royal
New musical of the year in York: Mayflies, York Theatre Royal, May
YORK Theatre Royal resident artist Gus Gowland deserved far bigger audiences for the premiere of the intriguing Mayflies, as confirmed by no fewer than nine nominations in the BroadwayWorldUK Awards.
O, the app-hazard nature of modern love under Covid’s black cloud, as two people meet up after two years of tentative communication online. In Tania Azevedo’s flexible casting, you could pick any configuration of Rumi Sutton, Nuno Queimado or Emma Thornett for the couple of your choice. Better still, you should have seen all three; the songs, the nuances, the humour, grew with familiarity.
Leigh Symonds’ engineer Winston and Naomi Petersen’s automaton house maid ED in Alan Ayckbourn’s Constant Companions. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Still delivering the goods in Yorkshire
ALAN Ayckbourn’s visions of AI in Constant Companions, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough; John Godber’s Northern Soul-powered Do I Love You?, on tour into 2024; Barnsley bard Ian McMillan’s Yorkshire take on The Barber Of Seville, St George’s Hall, Bradford; Robin Simpson’s dame in Jack And The Beanstalk, York Theatre Royal.
Shed Seven: Launching new album with meet & greet at HMV, York, on Friday
WHAT lies ahead in the New Year? Charles Hutchinson picks his path through highlights across the city’s venues.
It’s only A Matter Of Time before: Shed Seven release their new album
YORK band Shed Seven will mark the January 5 release of their sixth studio album, A Matter Of Time, on new home Cooking Vinyl with a meet & greet/signing session that day at HMV, in Coney Street, York, at 4.30pm (tickets: shedsevenn.lnk.to/instores). Their midday appearance and stripped-back performance on the same day at Vinyl Whistle, in Otley Road, Headingley, Leeds, has sold out.
In the summertime, when the weather is hopefully fine, The Sheds will celebrate their 30th anniversary with a brace of outdoor concerts in York Museum Gardens on July 19 and 20, supported by Peter Doherty, no less. Both have sold out already. Box office: seetickets.com.
Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company cast members peer out through and beneath the JoRo curtain in Curtains
It’s Curtains for…Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 7 to 10, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
WHEN the leading lady of a new musical mysteriously dies on stage, a plucky local detective must solve this 1959 case at Boston’s Colonial Theatre, where the entire cast and crew are suspects in Kander & Ebb’s musical with a book by Rupert Holmes. Cue delightful characters, a witty and charming script and glorious tunes in the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s staging of Curtains. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Steve Mason: Independent Venue Week gig at The Crescent. Picture: Gavin Watson
Beta times ahead: Brudenell Presents Steve Mason, The Crescent, York, January 30, 7.30pm
SCOTTISH indie songwriter Steve Mason, founder of The Beta Band, returns to The Crescent as part of Independent Venue Week. Combining a rare melodic gift with an itch to experiment, as heard on his 2023 album Brothers & Sisters, he investigates where the boundaries lie between the craft of songwriting, technology and free expression.
Taking part in Independent Venue Week too will be Leeds band English Teacher, whose January 28 night of dreamy pop and post-punk noise has sold out already. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Monster show: The Apatosaurus in Jurassic Live, bound for York Barbican
Dinosaurs take over York: Jurassic Live 2024 World Tour, York Barbican, February 16, 5pm; February 17, 11am and 3pm; February 18, 1pm
LIFE-SIZED monstrous beasts roar into York in an interactive all-star theatrical spectacular featuring the world’s only Tylosaurus in a giant tank (new for 2024), the last flying Pterodactyl, a Tyrannosaurus Rex called Suzie and more dinosaur species than any other show on Earth.
Join little Amber, Ranger Joe, Ranger Nora and the rest of the Jurassic Live rangers on a musical journey to help save the day from an evil man who is trying to shut down the Jurassic facility. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Amber Davies’s Hollywood prostitute Vivian Ward and Oliver Savile’s wealthy businessman Edward Lewis in Pretty Woman: The Musical at Grand Opera House, York
Most anticipated touring musical: Pretty Woman: The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 20 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday
BILLED as “Hollywood’s ultimate rom-com, live on stage”, Pretty Woman: The Musical is set once upon a time in the late 1980s, when Vivian (Amber Davies) meets Edward (Oliver Savile) and her life is changed forever.
Strictly champ Ore Oduba’s Happy Man/Mr Thompson and Natalie Paris’s Kit De Luca will be in the cast too for a musical featuring original music and lyrics by Bryan Adams and Jim Vallance and a book by Garry Marshall and the film’s screenwriter, J.F. Lawton. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The tour poster for Wise Children’s Blue Beard, opening the bl**dy door at York Theatre Royal from February 27
World premiere of the season: Emma Rice’s Wise Children in Blue Beard, York Theatre Royal, February 27 to March 9, 7.30pm and 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
BLUE Beard will be Wise Children’s fourth visit to York after Wise Children, Malory Towers and Wuthering Heights, this time in a co-production between Emma Rice’s Bristol company, York Theatre Royal, Birmingham Rep, HOME Manchester and the Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh.
Rice brings her brand of theatrical wonder to the beguiling and disturbing folk tale of Bluebeard meeting his match when his young bride discovers his dark and murderous secret. Summoning all her rage, all her smarts and all her sisters, she vows to bring the curtain down on his tyrannous reign. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rob Auton: At his most Rob Auton in The Rob Auton Show at The Crescent, York
Welcome home: Rob Auton, The Rob Auton Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club, The Crescent, York, February 28, 7.30pm
AFTER nine Edinburgh Fringe shows on themes as diverse as the colour yellow, the sky, faces, water, sleep, hair, talking, time and crowds, York writer, comedian, artist and actor Rob Auton delivers his most autobiographical work, exploring the memories and feelings that create his life on a daily basis. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Rhod Gilbert’s poster for his tour show with a Giant Grapefruit at York Barbican
Comedy comeback : Rhod Gilbert & The Giant Grapefruit, York Barbican, June 20, 8pm
IN his last show, The Book Of John, firebrand Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert dealt with “some pretty pungent life citrus” and an idiot called John. Little did he know that things were about to turn even more sour.
Gilbert, 55, required surgery for metastatic cancer of the head and neck as well as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, receiving his first clear cancer scan in October after undergoing treatment.
“Not bitter, he’s bouncing back and feeling remarkably zesty”, returning with a dark, passionate and way-too-personal tour show that squeezes every last drop out of life’s latest curveballs…with a little help from an old adversary. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jason Donovan: Doin’ fine at York Barbican in…wait for it…2025
Even further ahead:Jason Donovan, Doin’ Fine 25 Tour, York Barbican, March 8 2025, 8pm
IF 2023 was the year of Kylie, all that attention on Tension, Padam Padam and ITV’s An Audience With, then 2025, yes 2025, promises a York date with her Neighbours beau, Jason Donovan, in celebration of his “incredible ride” through 35 years in music, theatre, film and television.
His long-awaited sequel to Doin’ Fine 90 will feature Jason’s most beloved songs from his stage shows, nods to his TV times in Neighbours and Strictly Come Dancing and his biggest pop hits. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
In Focus: York Actors Collective in Beyond Caring, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, cleaning up from February 6 to 10
Neil Vincent, left, Clare Halliday, Chris Pomfrett, Victoria Delaney and Mick Liversidge in rehearsal for York Actors Collective’s February production of Beyond Caring
YORK Actors Collective follows March 2023’s debut production of Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr Sloanewith Beyond Caring, a play that highlights the social damage inflicted by zero hours contracts.
Devised by Alexander Zeldin and the original Yard Theatre cast in East London in 2014, later transferring to the National Theatre, the story of agency cleaners at a meat factory will be directed in York by Angie Millard, working with a cast of Victoria Delaney, Clare Halliday, Mick Liversidge, Chris Pomfrett and Neil Vincent.
Over 90 unbroken minutes, Beyond Caring follows two women, Becky and Grace, and one man, Sam (replacing Sarah from past productions in a directorial decision), as they confront the reality of low wage, zero-hour contract employment, never sure of how many hours they have to work, when they will be paid and whether their ‘job’ will continue.
Director Angie Millard says: “This play is remarkable in its structure and power. It totally represents 2024 where many workers are on the breadline, trapped in employment with no guarantee of further work and no way to improve their position.
“What drew me to the play, however, is the message it conveys about people surviving and keeping a sense of humour. I loved the intensity of the piece with its silences, its disappointments and its determination to get pleasure out of the smallest things. It gave me hope.”
Stage managed by Em Peattie, Millard’s production will play nightly at 7.30pm, Tuesday to Friday, followed by Saturday shows at 2.30 and 5.30pm. “Ticket sales for our first production indicated that a Saturday matinee was very popular,” says Angie.
“We thought that having two early Saturday performances would give the audience an opportunity to see the show and still have time to go for a drink or meal afterwards, making a night of it.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Chris Pomfrett and Victoria Delaney in rehearsal for Beyond Caring
Jake Lindsay’s Robinson Crusoe and Berwick Kaler’s dame, Dotty Dullaly, in Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse at the Grand Opera House. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
HEADING out of 2023 into 2024, Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations are not out with the old just yet, but definitely in with the new too.
Still time for pantomime: Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse, Grand Opera House, York, until January 6; Jack And The Beanstalk, York Theatre Royal, until January 7
DOWAGER dame Berwick Kaler goes nautical in Robinson Crusoe for the first time in his 43rd York panto and third at the Grand Opera House. Jake Lindsay takes the title role alongside the Ouse crew’s regulars, Martin Barrass, David Leonard, Suzy Cooper and AJ Powell. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Robin Simpson’s Dame Trott, in Clifford’s Tower attire, takes centre stage in York Theatre Royal’s pantomime, Jack And The Beanstalk. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
Nina Wadia’s Fairy Sugarsnap waves a magical artichoke wand over York Theatre Royal’s fourth collaboration with Evolution Productions, wherein CBeebies’ James Mackenzie’s villainous Luke Backinanger takes on returnee Robin Simpson’s Dame Trott, Anna Soden’s Dave the Cow, Mia Overfield’s Jack and Matthew Curnier’s very silly Billy in Jack And The Beanstalk. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
James Lewis-Knight and Emily Chapple, a teddy bear and a Dickensian ghost in Badapple Theatre Company’s tour of Farmer Scrooge’s Christmas Carol. Picture: Karl Andre
Last chance to see: Badapple Theatre Company in Farmer Scrooge’s Christmas Carol, Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe Village Hall, near Sutton Bank, Hambleton, December 27, 4.30pm; East Cottingwith Village Hall, near York, December 29, 4pm
A GRUMPY farmer? From Yorkshire? Surely not! Welcome to Kate Bramley’s rural revision of Dickens’s festive favourite, A Christmas Carol, now set on Farmer Scrooge’s farm and in his bed in 1959 as Green Hammerton company Badapple Theatre put the culture into agriculture.
York actors James Lewis-Knight and Emily Chattle play multiple roles in a tale replete with local stories and carols, puppets and mayhem, original songs by Jez Lowe and a whacking great dose of seasonal bonhomie. Tickets: Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe, 01423 331304; East Cottingwith, 07866 024009 or 07973 699145.
Navigators Art & Performance’s poster for A Feast Of Fools at the Black Swan Inn
Twelfth Night celebrations: Navigators Art & Performance, A Feast Of Fools, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, January 6, 7.30pm
DEVISED by York arts collective Navigators Art & Performance with White Sail, A Feast Of Fools: Folk Music and Words to Celebrate Old Christmas & Twelfth Night is billed as “the final festivity, when lords become servants, beggars rule and convention goes to the dogs. Summon the Green Man! Hail the Lord of Misrule!”
Taking part in this “seriously different and seriously good” gathering will be: Wiccan singer-songwriter Cai Moriarty; experimental neo-folk band Wire Worms; leftfield story and song dispensers Adderstone; poet, architect and musician Thomas Pearson and multi-instrumental alt-folk legends White Sail. Box office: TicketSource at bit.ly/nav-feast or on the door if available.
Roxanna Klimaszewska: Creative director of Be Amazing Arts
Audition time: Be Amazing Arts, Disney’s Beauty And The Beast, for staging at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 11 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
MALTON company Be Amazing Arts will hold open auditions for the spring production of Disney’s Beauty And The Beast at Huntington School, Huntington Road, York, on Thursday, January 11 from 5.30pm to 9.15pm, when performers aged seven to 18 are invited to attend.
For more information or to book your child’s place, visit beamazingarts.co.uk. “We can’t wait to bring this tale as old as time to life with some of the best young talent in York and beyond,” says creative director Roxanna Klimaszewska. Box office for April tickets: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Album showcase: One Iota, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 13, 7pm
YORK indie band One Iota return to the JoRo to showcase new album Shadows In The Shade. Expect strong melodies, rich harmonies, soaring guitars and epic soundscapes from a full band line-up, including a string section, topped off with a light show. James Merlin supports. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
John Otway, right, and Wild Willy Barrett: Reuniting at The Crescent
50th anniversary cartwheels: Mr H Presents John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett, The Crescent, York, January 13, 7.30pm
TWO “unlikely lads” from Aylesbury reunite for John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett’s Half A Sentry Tour, sure to feature Cor Baby That’s Really Free and Beware Of The Flowers (Cause I’m Sure They’re Gonna Get You Yeh), number seven in a poll of the best lyrics ever, one place behind Paul McCartney’s Yesterday.
Barrett, 73, will be equipped with acoustic and electric guitars, fiddle, balalaika and brown wheelie bin; singer and somersault enthusiast Otway, 71, will still be scampering around like an untrained puppy. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Robert Gammon: Playing at three Dementia Friendly Tea Concerts in 2024
New season: Dementia Friendly Tea Concerts, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, January to December 2024
AFTER raising £2,159 for the Alzheimer’s Society in 2023, the dates for next year’s 45-minute Dementia Friendly Tea Concerts are in place, beginning with organist Chantal Berry on January 18 at 2.30pm.
Further dates are: February 15, Isobel Thompson, trumpet, and Grace Harman, piano; March 21, James Sanderson, piano, and Friends; April 18, Alison Gammon, clarinet, Maria Marshall, cello, and Robert Gammon, piano; May 23, Flaute Felice, flute ensemble; June 20, David Hammond, piano.
Then come: July 18, Hannah Feehan, guitar; August 15, Robert Gammon, piano; September 19, Lucinda Taylor, harp; October 17, Billy Marshall, French horn, and Robert Gammon, piano; November 21, Giocoso Wind Ensemble, and December 12, Ripon Resound Choir. No charge but donations are welcome. Organiser Alison Gammon will be trying out new cake recipes alongside old favourites.
Ben Elton: Warning of the dangers of Authentic Stupidity at York Barbican
Looking ahead: Ben Elton, Authentic Stupidity, York Barbican, September 1, 7.30pm
BEN Elton returned to the live comedy circuit in 2019 after a 15-year hiatus, playing York Barbican that October. Next year, the godfather of modern stand-up will return with his new show, Authentic Stupidity.
“Since my last live tour, a whole new existential threat has emerged to threaten humanity! Apparently Artificial Intelligence is going to destroy us all!” he says. “Well, I reckon our real problem isn’t Artificial Intelligence, it’s good old-fashioned Authentic Stupidity! Forget AI! It’s AS we need to be worrying about.” Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.
In Focus: Kestrel Investigates, Christmas Eve episode of online paranormal comedy with York connection
O Holy Fright: The Christmas Eve episode of Kestrel Investigates
YORK filmmaker Miles Watts, of Zomlogalypse zombie movie fame, is producing the Christmas Eve episode of paranormal comedy Kestrel Investigates.
Entitled O Holy Fright, this festive special edition of the cult web series will feature a guest appearance by Reverend Lionel Fanthorpe, himself a cult icon from Channel 4’s 1990s’ show Fortean TV.
“The web series began screening online in 2018 and is now between its second and third season,” says Watts. “It follows inept paranormal investigator Agravain Kestrel (Stephen Mosley) and his reluctant documentarian, Mike, played by writer-director Oliver Semple.”
The pair worked previously on the fantasy comedy film Kenneth, directed and co-written by Peter Anthony Farren, now streaming on Amazon.
Reverend Fanthorpe, now aged 88 and retired, became involved after the idea of A Christmas Carol-style story was pitched to him by the creators. “Filming with the Kestrel team brought me as much fun and excitement as working on Fortean TV – and it made me feel 20 years younger!” says Fanthorpe, who hosted Fortean TV from January 29 1997 to March 6 1998 on Channel 4.
Filmmaker Semple and producer Watts – whose own web series Zomblogalypse has just been given the film treatment – will release online teasers ahead of the Christmas Eve episode that follows Kestrel and cameraman Mike as they are dragged unwillingly through a series of Scrooge-like visions.
Kestrel Investigates on Shambles in York
Semple says: “Kestrel is thinking about quitting his paranormal investigations until he is visited by three ghosts, kicked off by a zoom call from Lionel Fanthorpe in place of Marley’s ghost, with each ghost trying to convince Kestrel that for the good of mankind, he must not give up.
“Kestrel Investigates is very British in that it follows in the footsteps of classic sitcoms like Steptoe & Son or Only Fools And Horses: humour mixed with working-class misery and pathos. I’m also a huge fan of Christmas, so this is our take on the classic Dickens tale.
“Working with the Rev Lionel Fanthorpe has been a dream come true for us, as we were all huge fans of Fortean TV back in the day – and he was an absolute gentleman to work with.”
Both filmmakers have written a slate of feature film scripts and created a new film company, Outward Films, joining forces with producers to pitch a number of film projects for production from 2024 onwards. These include an action-horror, a creature feature and eventually a Kestrel movie.
Reverend Fanthorpe lauds the show’s blend of humour and the paranormal. “It has the same consequences as putting a drop of rum in a mince pie: it produces pleasure and excitement,” he says. “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to Kestrel – and the very talented team who created him!”
Watts concludes with a piece of advice: “You can subscribe to watch the episode on the Kestrel Investigates YouTube channel, and by searching for Kestrel Investigates on all social media outlets.”
