Author: Charles Hutchinson

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York River Art Market’s 10th anniversary as city’s answer to Paris’s Left Bank opens this weekend. 80 artists & makers to take part

Lucy Hook Designs’ poster for York River Art Market’s tenth anniversary

YORK River Art Market’s tenth anniversary season on the banks of the Ouse begins this weekend.

As many as 80 artists will take be taking part this year, split into 30 exhibitors on each of the six days, August 2 and 3, August 9 and 10 and August 16 and 17, from 10am to 5.30pm.

For details of each day’s participating artists and designers stationed at riverside stalls on Dame Judi Dench Walk, by Lendal Bridge, head to YRAM’s Facebook page at https://facebook.com/YorkRiverArtMarket/events.

As ever, the free event is organised by founder Charlotte Dawson, a graphics, jewellery and vocational art and design tutor and Fenwick Street artist, who specialises in abstract paintings, layered with paint and collage, and is now setting up her own jewellery business too after making pieces for ten years.

“York River Art Market is something I’ve always run on my own, albeit with a little help this year,” she says. “People can see my graft and my passion for it, and it has that drive behind it. It’s about supporting the artists of York and beyond; it’s free to attend; it’s a grassroots initiative– and that has a positive knock-on effect for the artists.

“It’s a collective enterprise, where I hold the reins but it wouldn’t be anything without the artists and the people who support it by attending.

“We care that each of the six events are never the same and so we host a different variety of creatives at each one, which means there’s always something for everyone’s creative tastes and budget. You can buy an original artwork for £500 or a card for £2.”

Her market has been called York’s answer to Paris’s Left Bank and its multitude of bohemian arts fairs by the Seine, but Charlotte says: “I’ve still not been there, so I’ll have to take people’s word for it.”.

Looking back to the York market’s origins, Charlotte recalls: “Like everything, inspiration came from various things. I was working with Sophie Jewett at York Cocoa House and she knew I wanted to do something after I’d left university. I knew there wasn’t an arts market in York, and that’s when the space at Dame Judi Dench Walk was brought to my attention by Sophie’s friend at the council.

“It was the right time for me to go off and do something more freelance, and when I looked into setting up a market positioned by railings, Bayswater Road Art Market, in London, came to my attention, so I contacted the organiser for advice and started the York market after that.”

Charlotte marked out the cornerstones for establishing a market. “Part of the running of this event involves strong quality artists, but a huge part of it is creating an atmosphere that is welcoming. Part of the drive for me was to make it accessible and less imposing that having to go into a shop,” she says.

“You get the direct relationship between the artist and the potential buyer. There’s no middle man. That relationship between maker and buyer, for me, when I purchase something, you know it’s hand-made, and if you can get a bit of a back story, you’re getting more for your money as a buying experience, which makes it more valuable.”

Charlotte Dawson: York River Art Market founder and organiser, teacher, artist and jewellery designer

Reflecting on ten years of York River Art Market, crowned by winning the Best Community Project/Event at the York Culture Awards, Charlotte says: “In the Covid year, the event went online and obviously it wasn’t the same,  but it survived and I  can honestly say that the amount and the quality of the submissions has really grown, especially over the past two years.

“There were hundreds of applications this year, and plenty of them were new. The call-out goes out in January and the six days were full by the end of February – and I don’t take people on just because they apply; I do select who will take part. The quality is really good this year.

“If I were to run my own gallery, the art might be exclusively more to my taste, but I see York River Art Market as being ‘by the people, for the people’. There’s something for everybody.” To prove the point, ceramics, jewellery, paintings, prints, textiles, ceramics, photography, woodwork, clothing, soaps, candles and cards will be on sale.

Among the artists and makers taking part this year will be regular participants Bejojoart, Adele Karmazyn, York 360 illustrator Elliot Harrison and FangFest potters Fangfoss Pottery; York singer and artist Heather Findlay; North Eastern ceramicist Amy Rutherford; York College graphics degree tutor and Ripon artist Monica Gabb, of Twenty Birds designs.

So will be Katrina Mansfield, from PICA Studios, in Grape Lane, showcasing her fluid art animal inks; conceptual artist Hannah Turlington,  whose paintings “evoke the fragility of emotions”, and Feis Crochet Studios. “With the way of the world right now, you think, ‘we need the vibrancy of her crochét flowers’,” says Charlotte.

Look out too for CharKnots’ eco-conscious macramé homeware and accessories, from Sheffield; LDM  Designs’ eco-friendly lino-prints that raise awareness of environmental issues, and York landscape painter Charley Hellier, who is working on two collections: the dark, stormy and gothic Tempestarii, related to medieval storm creation mythology, and the peaceful and quietly pensive Reverie.

Lucy Hook Designs had “the absolute pleasure” of designing this year’s poster to mark YRAM’s tenth anniversary. “I had so much fun designing it,” says Lucy. “We wanted to incorporate the tools used by all the makers, and also different parts of this wonderful city. My favourite part is the river coming out of the gouache tube!

“We’ve done some limited-edition Risograph printed versions that have been put up in some special businesses around York and I’ll have some prints for sale at the markets too. I’ll be down by the river for all six dates, so let’s all pray for nice weather. Come on down to say ‘hi’.”

York River Art Market not only nurtures artistic talent from York and beyond but also supports charities, led off by York Rescue Boat, whose tenth anniversary also falls this year. Amnesty International’s Bookshop will be on site on August 9 and graphic designer Laura Sanderson’s Art Is My Career Studio on August 17. Her charity specialises in investing in arts education, travelling around schools to promote art as a career. How apt for YRAM.

Will York River Art Market still be here in a decade’s time, Charlotte? “The next ten years? Well, I like to take it one year at a time but I would be honoured if YRAM could continue and, like Bayswater, be a staple of the art scene. Maybe I could even hand it over one day,” she says.

“There is scope, when so far it’s been a sideline for me from my teaching, doing it without support. There’s potential for working with a team and growing where it can grow, but I like the organic nature of it as it is now: working with a different artist each year for the poster, supporting charities and promoting local artists.”

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REVIEW: Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Jonathan Church Theatre Productions in A Man For All Seasons, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday ****

Principled politician: Martin Shaw’s Sir Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons. Picture: Simon Annand

SHAKESPEARE’S history plays still pop up. So too the ancient Greek tragedies and the Jacobean revengers’ tales, yet rarely do they tour, but why not in this turbulent political age?

Theatre should be more than an escape, more than yet another transfer from film to musical, a belief reinforced by the political dramas of David Hare and James Graham and indeed His Last Report, York Theatre Royal’s on-going community play about York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree.

Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Jonathan Church Theatre Productions’ West End-bound revival of Robert Bolt’s witty, wise and waspish A Man For All Seasons only emphasises how there should be a more regular place on our stages for proper, heavyweight political dramas that make us look at the malpractice of our own times.

Latterly in theatreland, Henry VIII has been infamous for his wives’ revenge musical, SIX, conducted like a cross between a pop concert and a rap battle. Harry makes no appearance in that show, where he is given six of the best in pugilistic putdowns. 

Gary Wilmot: Comedic star turn as The Common Man in A Man For All Seasons. Picture: Simon Annand

In Bolt’s 1960 play, Henry is restricted to a cameo, a look-at-me, pouting, petulant flash Harry in the manner of Rik Mayall’s Lord Flashheart in Blackadder, but his constant threat, his greater-than-God arrogance, is omnipresent.

Orlando James was absent on press night, but understudy Huw Brentnall did such a fine job that his rowdy, ruthless, buffoonish Henry received pantomime villain boos for all his narcissism, boasting of his best-in-class legs, boat, grasp of Latin (only to be outdone by Rebecca Collingwood’s bright spark Margaret More) and song-writing.

Bolt’s humour, such a strong suit throughout, is at its best here, and all the while, it is impossible not to think of President Trump and his need to be centre of attention, his need for an instant response, his constant craving of change.

By dint of his restriction to one scene, Bolt’s Henry III is a caricature, but the man for all seasons of the title, Martin Shaw’s Sir Thomas More is wholly rounded, a legal brain in the tradition of the brightest barriers, treated with due gravitas by Bolt.

Political intrigue and religious conflicts in A Man For All Seasons, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Simon Annand

Shaw had first played him in 2006 and wanted more of his More in 2025 for all manner of reasons: a chance to work again with Jonathan Church after their West End collaboration on Hobson’s Choice in 2016; a return to the beautiful Theatre Royal Bath; his appreciation of Bolt’s writing and his relish for playing More.

At 80, the erstwhile star of The Professionals, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently retains stage presence, theatrical heft and the timing and know-how of delivery, but the absence of amplification exposes his voice, which sometimes loses clarity in Act One, although he then over-compensates in his stentorian last speech. 

That said, his principled, prayerful Lord Chancellor More, refusing to endorse Henry’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, is a wholly admirable, decent and dignified figure, sticking to his religious beliefs under the kind of pressure that would have modern-day politicians buckling.

If Shaw’s More is steadfast, Gary Wilmot’s comedic star turn, The Common Man, is the chameleon with the survival instincts of a cat, playing all manner of downstairs roles, from messenger to pub landlord to jobsworth jailor. 

Orlando James’s Henry VIII making demands of Martin Shaw’s Sir Thomas More in A Man For All Seasons. Picture: Simon Annand

Each one finds him seeking to outwit yet live off the upstairs world at a price, tirelessly breaking down theatre’s fourth wall in direct address to the audience that recalls Shakespeare’s smart fools. Living on his wits, Wilmot’s Common Man is a radiant joy throughout, cheeky yet somehow never in danger of the chop amid the mayhem of all the political machinations around him.

Central to those machinations, as Henry VIII imposes the Church of England in a breakaway from Rome, is the relentless quest of Henry’s hitman, Edward Bennett’s venal Thomas Cromwell, to bring down More by stealth, applying every trick in the book, bending the truth, with cruel humour to boot.

Church’s direction brings out all the nuances, the intelligence, the lyricism, the delight in verbal jousts in Bolt’s supreme script, and while A Man For All Seasons may feel old-fashioned, right down to Simon Higlett’s dark, austere wooden set, that is only because plays of such depth, such vision, such brio, are too rarely staged today.

A Man For All Seasons runs at Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

 

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Martha Wainwright to play All Saints Church, Pocklington, and The Foundry, Sheffield, on 20th anniversary tour

Martha Wainwright

MARTHA Wainwright will play All Saints Church, Pocklington, on August 27 (7.30pm) and The Foundry, Sheffield, on August 28 (7.30pm) on her 18-date 20th Anniversary Tour.

The Montreal-born singer-songwriter will be marking 20 years since she released her self-titled debut album, when she stepped out of the shadow of her illustrious North American musical family (father Loudon Wainwright III; mother Kate McGarrigle; brother Rufus Wainwright).

On May 23, [PIAS] released this album on vinyl for the first time, alongside CD and digital versions with extra tracks and a bonus disc of 14 rarities and alternate versions: unheard songs, outtakes and early material from ten years of discovery that led to her first record. Gems include Bring Back My Heart, featuring Rufus Wainwright, Our Love with Kate & Anna McGarrigle and Far Away, featuring the late Garth Hudson, of The Band.

“In the years before my first album was released, I was doing my own version of ‘artist development’ – playing a lot of gigs and going into the studio to make demos,” recalls Martha. “I got to New York City in 1998. It was a magical blur of fun and discovery, meeting musicians, playing and seeing shows and going into the studio. Hopping from bar to bar in the Lower East Side and Williamsburg.

“These are some of the recordings that came out of that time. Some were released as EPs that I would sell at shows but others have never been released. These are the ones that best reflect that time and the wild eclecticism I’ve always had, for better or worse, as an artist.”

Vinyl track list: Far Away; G.P.T.; Factory; These Flowers; Ball & Chain; Don’t Forget; This Life;  When The Day Is Short; Bl**dy Mother ******* Asshole; TV Show; The Maker and Who Was I Kidding.

Digital/CD track list: Disc 1, 20th Anniversary: Far Away; G.P.T.; Factory; These Flowers; Ball & Chain; Don’t Forget; This Life;  When The Day Is Short; Bl**dy Mother ******* Asshole; TV Show; The Maker; Who Was I Kidding; Whither Must I Wander; Bring Back My Heart (featuring Rufus Wainwright); Baby and Dis, Quand Reviendras-Tu?

Disc 2, Outliers: Can You Hear Me *; The Sex Song *; The Dead *; Factory #2 *; Our Love *; Far Away (with Garth Huson) *; Pretty Good Day; The Car Song; It’s Over; I Will Internalize; Bye Bye Blackbird; New York, New York, New York; When the Day is Short (Demo) * and Year of the Dragon. *Never before released.

“Twenty years ago my life as an artist took shape when my first record was released,” says Martha. “In many ways that record defined me, as well as launched me into a now over-20-year-long career that has made me who I am.

“It was after ten years of playing in bars, making cassettes and EPs to sell at my shows, singing backup for my brother Rufus, falling in love and out of love, practising, writing, singing until I could barely sing anymore, partying, playing with musicians and listening to great artists, working with my ex-husband in the studio for two years, all that created this first record.”

Martha continues: “Labels wouldn’t sign me when I started and I had to craft, with the help of many people, an album that would finally be licensed and released in 2005. My first record tells my story and when it was finally released I was able to work and tour and have a career in music – something that I always wanted but wasn’t sure would happen. 

“Twenty years later, with six other albums under my belt, two kids and a career that is chugging along, I can safely say my first record paved my way forward.

On her tour with “a few great musicians”, Martha will be playing her debut record in its entirety, complemented by a few new songs. “There’s no 49-year-old me without the 28-year-old me,” she says.

Tour tickets are on sale at marthawainwright.com.

MICHELE Stodart, multi-award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, musical director and multi-instrumentalist, will be the special guest at Martha Wainwright’s Pocklington concert.

She is best known as bassist, vocalist and co-songwriter of the Mercury-nominated, double-platinum-selling The Magic Numbers, who have five studio albums to their name and have supported Neil Young, Radiohead, Brian Wilson, U2, The Who, Flaming Lips and Bright Eyes.

She continues to tour worldwide in the London band alongside brother Romeo and fellow siblings Sean and Angela Gannon, with a new album set for release next year. 

Born in Trinidad, she spent her early childhood there until she and her family fled a military coup attempt, leading them to Queens, New York, and eventually to London.

Inspired by Karen Dalton, Judee Sill, Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch, she has always pursued her own writing, nurturing a love for folk, country and Americana music. This can be heard on three solo albums, 2016’s Pieces, 2022’s The Hug and 2023’s Invitation, a confessional, melodic set of songs with an orchestral, cinematic feel that won the UK Album of the Year at the 2024 UK Americana Awards, where Michele scooped the coveted award for UK Artist of the Year too.

In addition to her Magic Numbers and solo commitments, away from recording and touring, she has built a name for herself as a musical director, collaborator and producer. She has been invited to curate stages at festivals and events and she curates and directs an annual multi-artist show marking International Women’s Day, as well as promoting and hosting regular nights at the Green Note in Camden Town, celebrating both established and emerging talent.

The cover artwork for Michel Stodart’s 2023 album, Invitation

Michele has worked as a tutor and held songwriting masterclasses at creative workshops and songwriting retreats, both for adults and children.

In 2019, Michele appeared in the Danny Boyle/Richard Curtis film Yesterday, having been chosen for her role for her melodic bass playing and electric, enigmatic stage presence. Working alongside Boyle, Curtis and musical composer Daniel Pemberton, Michele’s bass and vocals are featured on the Abbey Road Studios movie soundtrack, reinterpreting The Beatles’ most beloved hits. 

In 2022, she was awarded the AMA-UK Instrumentalist Of The Year Award. In 2023, she was invited back as musical director at the UK Americana Awards, where she put together an all-female house band and played with the likes of The Waterboys’ Mike Scott, Allison Russell and Lifetime Achievement award-winner Judy Collins, who took a moment on stage to compliment Michele on her “incredible” talent.

Since then, she has continued in the musical director’s role at the annual awards show, where she has collaborated with many different musicians and worked with Candi Staton, Billy Bragg, Lyle Lovett and many more.  

Michele’s diverse skills have led to many collaborative projects on stage and in the studio with Kathryn Williams, David Ford, Bernard Butler, Hannah White, Julian Taylor, Natalie Imbruglia, Charlie Dore, David Kitt, Rachel Sermanni, Bill Fay, Ren Harvieu, Emily Barker and O’Hooley & Tidow, among many others.

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The Coal Porters to play All Saints Church, Pocklington, and Filey Americana Festival

The Coal Porters: Led by Sid Griffin at All Saints Church, Pocklington, on September 19

THE Coal Porters, who claim to be the world’s first “alt-bluegrass” act, will play All Saints Church, Pocklington, on September 19 at 7.30pm.

Prominent figures in the UK Americana and Bluegrass scene for 17 years, Sid Griffin’s band are back in the saddle this autumn for eight dates that include a second Yorkshire concert at Filey Americana Festival at Filey Evron Centre on September 7 at 7.30pm.

Further highlights will be a first visit to Edinburgh in ten years at Leith Depot on September 6 and a special gig to mark Griffin’s 70th birthday at the Water Rats, London, on September 18. All Saints will be  one of  “two (count ‘em) encounters with church-based entertainment venues”.

The Coal Porters’ songs showcase the power of fiddle, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar and doghouse bass, all harmonised with four-part vocals and melodies.

The poster artwork for The Coal Porters’ September itinerary

Led by AMA Award winner and The Long Ryders luminary Griffin on vocals, mandolin, harmonica and autoharp, the line-up features Grammy winner and Adele string section leader Kerenza Peacock on fiddle and vocals; Paul Fitzgerald on banjo and vocals; Andrew Stafford on bass and Neil Robert Herd on guitar and vocals.

The Coal Porters have featured on NPR’s Morning Edition in the USA, performed live sessions for Bob Harris on BBC Radio 2 and Marc Riley for BBC 6 Music and made festival appearances at Glastonbury, SXSW (South By South West) and MerleFest.

“This is a rare opportunity to see a pioneering band – don’t miss it!” says promoter James Duffy. Box office: sidgriffin.com/tour; Pocklington, ticketsource.co.uk/hurricane-promotions/the-coal-porters/2025-09-19/19:30/t-eaoqmak; Filey, wegottickets.com/event/643969.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 33, from Gazette & Herald

Flo & Jones: Florrie Stockbridge, left, and Helmsley Arts Centre artistic director Natasha Jones team up to perform at Kirkbymoorside Gateway To The Moors Music Festival

KIRKBYMOORSIDE’S three-day music festival and The Three Inch Fools’ garden comedy catch Charles Hutchinson’s eye as August arrives.

Festival of the week: Kirkbymoorside Gateway To The Moors Music Festival, Friday to Sunday

BOOTLEG 60s play the Sixties Night at Kirkbymoorside Memorial Hall on Friday (8.30pm), followed by The Breeze, supported by PJ, at Saturday’s Country Night (8pm). PJ will be holding a line-dancing class that day too (3pm). Sunday afternoon’s 1940s Tea Dance combines afternoon tea and a glass of fizz with Forties’ music, featuring DJ Lynne and Bev Martin (2pm).

All Saints’ Church plays host to Carrie Martin and John Drakes on Friday, from 5.30pm; Saturday performances by Wounded Bear at 2pm, Flo & Jones at 4.30pm and Jazz with John Lane & Friends at 7.30pm, then Sunday’s 2pm concert by Moorland Voices & Friday Orchestra Quartet.

Ryedale singers play for free in pubs and cafes on Saturday; teenage band Chocolatebox perform at the White Swan on Saturday afternoon (12.30pm); David Swann & Friends are in action at the Methodist Church on Sunday (4.30pm). Look out for classical, brass band, children’s disco, open-mic and history walk events too. For more information and tickets, go to: kirkbymoorsidetown.co.uk/gateway-to-the-moors-music-festival.

The Three Inch Fools: Heading to Helmsley Walled Garden to present Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Outdoor play of the week: The Three Inch Fools in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Helmsley Walled Garden, Helmsley, Friday, 7pm. Gates open at 6pm

ON Midsummer’s eve, deep in an enchanted forest, mischief is stirring in Cumbrian company Three Inch Fools’ staging of Shakespeare’s comedy. The Fairy King and Queen are feuding, four runaway lovers are tying themselves in knots, and a troupe of “Rude Mechanical” actors is preparing a theatrical extravaganza destined to impress. Put shape-shifting trouble-maker Puck at the helm, and the course of true love will never run smooth.

Bring cushions and camping chairs, but no umbrellas, to James and Stephen Hyde’s tenth anniversary open-air adventure, part of a summer tour of 136 performances at 112 locations. Come prepared for the weather: the performance will continue, come rain or shine. Box office: helmsleywalledgarden.org.uk.

Faithless: Bringing Mass Destruction to Scarborough Open Air Theatre this weekend

Coastal gig of the week: Faithless and Orbital, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Saturday. Gates open at 6pm

RETURNING to the concert platform last year after an eight-year hiatus, Faithless remain one of the most influential, boundary-pushing electronic acts of the 21st century with 17 Top 40 singles and six Top Ten albums to their name. Here come Salva Mea, One Step Too Far, Mass Destruction, Insomnia, God Is A DJ et al.

First up will be  Phil and Paul Hartnoll’s electronic duo Orbital, whose music draws on ambient, electro, punk and film scores, spread across ten albums. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Orland James’s Henry VIII and Martin Shaw’s Sir Thomas More, right, in Robert Bolt’s A Man For All Seasons, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Simon Annand

Political play of the week: A Man For All Seasons, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

NOW 80, The Professionals, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently star Martin Shaw plays Sir Thomas More: scholar, ambassador, Lord Chancellor, friend to King Henry VIII  and a man of integrity in Robert Bolt’s play, directed by Jonathan Church.  

When Henry demands a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, clearing the way for him to marry Anne Boleyn, the staunchly Catholic Thomas is forced to choose between loyalty and conscience, committing an act of defiance that will lead only to the ultimate price. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Alligators: Snapping into blues action at Milton Rooms, Malton

Blues gig of the week number one: Ryedale Blues Club, The Alligators, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm

EAST Yorkshire electric blues trio The Alligators formed in 2004 to play old-style rhythm & blues with the classic line-up of guitar, bass and drums. Concentrating on a live sound rooted in Chicago, New Orleans and Texas blues, slide guitar features heavily in several numbers. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Alex Voysey: Best Of The Blues at Kirk Theatre, Pickering. Picture: Tony Cole Photography

Blues rock gig of the week number two: The Alex Voysey Blues Band presents Best Of The Blues, Kirk Theatre Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm

NOMINATED for Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Emerging Artist of the Year in the 2025 UK Blues Federation Awards, guitarist Alex Voysey combines tracks from his May 2024 album Blues In Isolation with material from his inspirations, Joe Bonamassa, Stevie Ray Vaughan, BB King, Keb Mo and many more. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

York Stage’s poster for Disney’s Dare To Dream Jr at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York

Musical revue of the week: York Stage in Disney’s Dare to Dream Jr, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2pm and 4pm

HONOURING 100 years of Disney music, this60-minute revue follows eager trainees on their first day at a fictional Walt Disney Imagineering Studio. As they set out to help each other discover their dreams, they work together to explore the power of those dreams to unite, inspire and make anything possible.

Disney’s Dare To Dream Jr includes songs that appear for the first time in a Disney stage musical, notably fan favourites from The Princess And The Frog, Coco, Enchanto and Frozen II in a showcase of contemporary songs, timeless classics and new medleys. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Hitting the sweet spot: Sweet Legacies exhibition at York Theatre Royal

Exhibition of the week: Sweet Legacies, York Theatre Royal, until August 3

YORK Theatre Royal’s foyer is transformed into a pop-up exhibition of photography, visual arts, audio, film and more as part of the Sweet Legacies community engagement project. The project has seen the Theatre Royal work with 22 community groups across the city to put on a series of fun, free and inclusive activities and events. Admission is free.

James Dowdeswell: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club at The Basement on Saturday

Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Saturday, 8pm

JAMES Dowdeswell, from the BBC’s Russell Howard’s Good News and Ricky Gervais’s Extras, combines deft stand-up with daft stories in his erudite, off-the-cuff headline set this weekend. A comedic authority on beer, wine and pubs, he is the author of The Pub Manifesto: A Comedian Stands Up For Pubs. 

On the bill too are northern humorist Anth Young, Scotland-based Singaporean comic Laura Quinn Goh and regular host Damion Larkin. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

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North York Moors Chamber Music Festival returns from August 10 to 23 with Sonnet theme at churches and Welburn Manor

Dusk through the tent: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival. Picture: Matthew Johnson

IN its 17th year, the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival returns next month with a programme designed to mirror the 14-line structure of a sonnet.

Fourteen concerts will take place from August 10 to August 23, guiding audiences through a pagan year with its unfolding seasons, solstices and equinoxes. 

The four elements – Fire, Air, Water and Earth – will be explored through the lens of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets and staged in four historic moorland churches: St Hilda’s, Danby; St Hedda’s, Egton Bridge; St Michael’s, Coxwold, and St Mary’s, Lastingham.

Sonnet: The theme for the 2025 North York Moors Chamber Music Festival

The remaining ten concerts will be held in an acoustically treated venue in the grounds of Welburn Manor, near Kirkbymoorside.

Festival curator and internationally renowned cellist Jamie Walton says: “This year’s festival, Sonnet, celebrates the art of collaboration in awe-inspiring settings, taking audiences on a musical quest through interwoven themes within a central storyline.

“Each concert is titled after a celebrated poem alongside music that reflects the time of year, guiding us through the 12 months, with the Summer Solstice as our opening and closing landmark.

Cellist Jamie Walton: Curator of the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival

“The festival promises to be another exhilarating and thought-provoking experience, and we hope you will join us as we explore the pagan cycle of the year.”

Combining moorland churches with the Welburn Manor acoustically designed venue – an innovation introduced in 2020 to allow the festival to continue despite the pandemic – has proven to be a popular formula for the festival, attracting international artists, many of whom commit to the entire fortnight by taking up residencies. 

This year, these will include violinists Alena Baeva, Benjamin Baker, Emma Parker, Oliver Heath, Charlotte Scott and Victoria Sayles; viola players  Simone Gramaglia, Simone van der Giessen and Gary Pomeroy; cellists Rebecca Gilliver, Tim Posner and Jamie Walton; double bass player Will Duerden; pianists Katya Apekisheva, Joseph Havlat, Daniel Lebhardt, Anna Tibrook and Huw Watkins and harpsichordist David Gerrard.

Tenor James Gilchrist performing at the 2024 North York Moors Chamber Music Festival. Picture: Matthew Johnson

Taking part too will be tenor James Gilchrist; clarinettists Julian Bliss and Matthew Hunt; French horn player Ben Goldscheider; flautist Silvija Ščerbavičiūtė and harpist Celine Souat. Completing the line-up will be The Waldstein Trio.

Jamie Walton says: “Many of our artists return every year, embracing residencies and immersing themselves in the festival as a creative retreat. This camaraderie allows the freedom to rehearse in a relaxed setting, forming ensembles that bring fresh interpretations to the repertoire, inspired by the landscape, the people and the atmosphere.”

Tickets for individual concerts are £18; a season ticket for all 14 costs £190. As ever, under-30s gain free entry to any of the concerts. To book, email bookings@northyorkmoorsfestival.com, call 07722 038990 or visit northyorkmoorsfestival.com.

For the full festival programme, head to northyorkmoorsfestival.com.

Violinist Alena Baeva playing at the 2024 North York Moors Chamber Music Festival. Picture: Matthew Johnson

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on York Early Music Festival, Cantoriá, St Lawrence’s Church, York, July 8

Cantoria exploring festive music of the Baroque from four different perspectives at St Lawrence’s Church, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

THE most striking feature of music in the Spanish Baroque is the similarity between the sacred and the secular: what works in church is fine outside it, and vice versa. There are few dividing lines. Even more startling, it is all filled with an irrepressible joie de vivre (or as the Spanish might prefer, alegría de vivir). All very un-Anglo-Saxon.

Cantoría’s eight singers and six players, conducted by the tenor Jorge Losana, explored festive music of the Baroque from four different perspectives.

Nowadays the term ‘villancico’ is often used to describe Christmas carols, especially strict ones that use verses (coplas) and refrains (estribillos). But it was originally secular and a cappella. By mid-17th century, many had acquired instrumental accompaniment.

Cantoria performing July 8’s A La Fiesta! programme at York Early Music Festival. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Thus we had Gitanillas cortesanas by José de Torres, gypsy girls dancing to the star of Jacob, in a style very similar to an English verse anthem, but much more balletic.

‘Between Heaven And Earth’ brought us españoletas, more reflective dance-songs of the late 16th century that remained popular throughout the 17th. Oddly enough, the Catalonian monk Joan Cererols contributed several in the vernacular, including a gently swinging eight-voice Suspended Cielos (Suspend, O Heavens) with effective pizzicato backing.

On an earthier level were the jácaras, romances that related the adventures of low-life characters and were therefore much more dramatic, often as intermezzos between acts of an opera. Here we seemed to be at the very heart of Spanish Baroque style. A jacarilla by Sebastián Durón, beautifully inflected by a soprano soloist, even brought the Christ-child into its catchy rhythms.

Cantoria singers and musicians at the In Tune studio

An extended fusion of the rowdier jácara with the Andalusian fandango was delivered by a charismatic baritone over choral backing. It proved the perfect transition into the fandango itself, here distilled instrumentally in one by Santiago de Murcia.

As if in remorse, Cantoría briefly moved back into a sacred lullaby, before a highly theatrical, not to say witty, finale involving bells of different sizes and, by implication, superiority.

It was left to an encore for us to hear castanets. But this was a wonderfully enjoyable, thoroughly professional survey of repertory we need to hear much more in this country. Maybe Cantoria might even consider staging a zarzuela, whose roots lie in the Baroque. Here’s hoping.

Cantoria’s concert was recorded by BBC Radio 3 for broadcast on July 20 and still can be accessed via BBC Sounds. Strongly recommended.

Ensemble Bastion

York Early Music Festival, Ensemble Bastion/Ayres Extemporae, National Centre for Early Music, July 10 and  11

TWO prize-winning ensembles from the International Young Artists Competition at last year’s festival returned this year as fully fledged participants. Both more than justified their new status in lunchtime recitals.

Graduates of the Schola Cantorum in Basel, the four members of Ensemble Bastion are led by the recorder player Maruša Brezavšček, with her three equally lively colleagues on viol, theorbo and harpsichord.

In a programme entitled Phantasma: Visions of Heaven and Hell, the group explored the stylus phantasticus, which had its roots in the freewheeling keyboard fantasias of the Venetian performer-composer Claudio Merulo.

Frescobaldi picked up the style and it was transmitted to Germany by his pupil Johann Froberger, whose harpsichord Tombeau on the death of a French lutenist was fluently played by Mélanie Flores.

Biber used it, too, in the passacaglia at the end of his Mystery (or Rosary) Sonatas, which was imaginatively arranged here, growing in intensity.

These German pieces were the programme’s centrepiece. On either side we heard works by slightly earlier Italians. Two sonatas by Dario Castello, another Venetian, proved that he had Merulo’s style very much in his blood, with plentiful imitations and volatile changes of tempo.

More surprising was an adaptation of a Palestrina madrigal lamenting the wounds of love and thus veering between heaven and hell.

Similarly there was virtuoso viola da gamba from Martin Jantzen in a sonata by Bovicelli and equally deft finger-work from Elias Conrad’s theorbo in a vivid sonata by Maurizio Cazzati.

Ayres Extemporae

Finally, Brezavšček’s ubiquitous dexterity was nowhere better than in Monteverdi’s cheery Moresca from L’Orfeo, in which she switched seamlessly between alto and piccolo recorders. I hope this ensemble will return soon.

Ayres Extemporae is a string trio with a rare five-string piccolo cello where you would expect a viola to be. The ensemble took as its title ‘Erbarme dich!’ (Have mercy!), the opening words of several arias by Bach, but in this case of an aria from Cantata 55 for tenor, with piccolo tenor taking the voice part, as also in another one from Cantata 97.

In the hands of Victor García García, the instrument’s plaintive tone was well calculated to emulate the voice’s prayerful pleas and eventual serenity.

The programme opened with a suite by Matthew Locke, where the dances had an improvised feel and were much illuminated by the delicate filigrees of Xenia Gogu Mensenin’s violin. Two violin sonatas by Biber contained sets of variations that the group differentiated carefully.

Teresa Madeira’s cello came into its own in movements from Bach’s three sonatas for viola da gamba. In the Andante from No 2, pizzicato interludes offered moments of meditation. In the Adagio of No 3, the piccolo cello played gamba and provided quietude amid the restive atmosphere of the arias mentioned earlier.

Finally, we enjoyed the complete No 1, where the trio developed powerful momentum while maintaining admirable clarity. This is a thoughtful group whose future looks assured.

BOTH these concerts were supported by the John Feldberg Foundation, set up in memory of the violinist and harpsichord builder, who died aged 30 in 1960, to showcase the achievements of young musicians.

Reiews by Martin Dreyer

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James Willstrop’s journey from world squash champ to Fringe theatrical stage brings him to Friargate Theatre

James Willstrop: Squash champ, actor and writer, taking Daddy, Tomorrow Will I Be A Man? to Friargate Theatre, York, and the Edinburgh Fringe

FROM squash court champion to stage leading man, James Willstrop explores what success really means and what really matters in his debut solo show based on true events.

In a preview of his Edinburgh Fringe run at The Space @ Niddry Street (Lower) from August 1, former squash world number one-turned-Harrogate writer-performer James presents Daddy, Tomorrow Will I Be A Man? at Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, on Monday night.

In his 50-minute musical ode, he ponders what happens when a self-obsessed, international squash player – dreaming only of becoming world champion – falls for someone who desperately wants a child before her body clock expires. “Where’s the solution when two dreams collide?” he asks.

James tries to find answers in the form of his beautiful mother, Lesley, who died ten years earlier, when he was only 16, nearly 17. Through his reflections and memories of her, while this supreme athlete endures one of the most brutal training sessions he has ever done, can he find a way to discover whether dedication to his lifelong craft and drive to become world champion matters most, or whether bringing a child into the world supersedes it?

“It’s a slightly nerdy, unique slant [on the subject of ambition]: you don’t get too many sporting plays,” says James. “I wanted to look at how much it overtakes you and how healthy is your desire to get to that level? What is the cost of it and what really matters?

“It does become quite skewed, but maybe it has to because what I achieved took a lot of dedication and effort. But it’s also a story about life and parenthood and how what matters changes over time. But if we didn’t have these ambitions, whether in art or sport, we wouldn’t get anywhere, would we?”

Father and son

Since childhood, Norfolk-born James has loved to act, perform and write, alongside his 23 years as a professional squash player, and now he combines the demands of parenthood with teaching squash and playing such Pick Me Up Theatre roles on the York stage as Dr Frederick Frankenstein in Young Frankenstein, Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist and acid-tongued theatre critic Patrick Burns in Nativity! The Musical.

He has written two books, Shot And A Ghost: A Year In The Brutal World Of Professional Squash and Interviews With Inspiration: Heroes And Icons…And What Drives Them To Succeed, as well as putting pen to paper for the Yorkshire Evening Post. Now he has taken on a very different writing challenge. “Everything has to be said in 50 minutes in this show,” he says.

“Sometimes I found myself thinking, I’m writing a story for the stage for the first time, I’m not an expert playwright, am I trying to squeeze in too much about my mum and my son? Is this too much?”

Those feelings, however, had to play second fiddle to his need to express himself. “A lot of it is written through the regrets of memory as you begin to entertain being a father, thinking about what  you get wrong [when growing up] and how you treated your parents. But it’s also about connection with my son Logan, Vanessa and Lesley.”

James attended a creative writing course at Leeds University just before the first Covid-19 lockdown. “They were encouraging me to keep theatricality in my writing,” he recalls. “I had Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads in my mind and I knew I didn’t want it is to be like a lecture.

“I want to ‘keep it theatrical’, so I’ve been working on how I can use movement, and it’s not a monologue as I’m trying to use other voices too.”

James Willstrop’s Doctor Frederick Frankenstein in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Young Frankenstein

He does make one comparison with squash. “On the squash court, you want to be in the centre, controlling the court, and you can do that on stage too,” says James.

A key ingredient in the show is the music: six original songs by Willstrop with arrangements by York musical director, orchestrator, composer and jazz group leader Sam Johnson, who will be playing keyboards on stage, complemented by recorded musicians.

“It’s been great to work on as James has written the words and tunes that I’ve fleshed out into fuller arrangements,” says Sam. “The thing I noticed from James’s voice notes is that they feel ‘through-sung’, as in a musical, where I’m putting form and structure to it.

“There’s still melody in the songs and they’re not forcing themselves into the story structure, so they feel natural where they are placed.”

James rejoins: “I’m just concerned to match how in good musicals songs are furthering the story, rather than just saying ‘I love you’ or expressing feelings. They must enhance the story,” he concludes.

James Willstrop in Daddy, Tomorrow Will I Be A Man?, Friargate Theatre, York, July 28, 7.30pm. Box office: ridinglights.org. Edinburgh Fringe, Venue 9, The Space@Niddry Street (Lower), August 1 to 9, 7.25pm; August 11 to 16, 5.25pm; August 18 to 23, 7.25pm. Box office: 0131 2260000 or edfringe.com. Age guidance: 12 plus.

The poster for James Willstrop’s Edinburgh Fringe-bound solo show, Daddy, Tomorrow Will I Be A Man?, previewing at Friargate Theatre, York, tomorrow

James Willstrop: the squash facts

ONE of only 23 world number one players in the history of men’s squash; one of England’s best ever players, gaining 80 caps. Won three world team championship titles for England. Became official world number one in January of 2012, a position held for 11 out of 12 months. British National Champion four times; Commonwealth Gold Medallist in 2018 and 2022.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when dinosaurs and Ronan return. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 33, from The York Press

Natural History Museum takes to the stage in Dinosaurs Live at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith 

THE dinosaurs are roaring and roaming anew and love is in the air in Charles Hutchinson’s top tips for summer joy.

Children’s show of the week: Natural History Museum presents Dinosaurs Live, Grand Opera House, York, today, 2.30pm and 4.30pm

FOR the first time since 1881, the “home of dinosaurs”, London’s Natural History Museum, is going on tour, teaming up with Mark Thompson Productions for a “dinosaur adventure like no other”.

Suitable for age three upwards, the show takes a pre-historic journey to the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods as  life-like dinosaurs come alive on stage. In addition, today’s audiences will learn more about fossils, time scales and how our planet has changed over hundreds of millions of years. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Junk Drawer Theatre Company exploring the vicissitudes  love in Thank You, I Love You at Theatre@41 

Love stories of the week: Junk Drawer Theatre Company, Thank You, I Love You, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today, 7pm

STEP into a world where love is found in the quiet moments, the whispered goodnights and the spaces between words in Lucy Connor-Mulhall’s Thank You, I Love You’s 70-minute exploration of connection: romantic, platonic and everything in between.

Through fragmented memories, late-night conversations and the weight of unspoken emotions, Junk Drawer Theatre Company’s Rachael Lanaghan, Emine Altinsoy, Billy Abbey, Holly Carter, Luke Quarrington and Isobel Pilot’s characters navigate love, loss, and longing. Some hold on too tightly, others learn how to let go, in a reminder that love is not so much the  grand gestures, more the smallest, softest things, such as a shared bed, a stolen glance, a promise to light the sky for someone who needs it. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri: On song at Scarborough Open Air Theatre tonight

Coastal gig of the week: Texas, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, tonight. Gates open at 6pm

THIS weekend, Sharleen Spiteri leads Glasgow band Texas through five decades of hits, from I Don’t Want To Be A Lover, Say What You Want and Summer Sun to Inner Smile, Mr Haze and Keep On Talking. Rianne Downey supports. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Ronan Keating: Returning to York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend today 

Irish craic of the whip of the week: Ronan Keating, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, today. Gates open at 11.15am; first race, 1.25pm; last race, 5pm

IRISH singer, presenter and talent-show judge Ronan Keating returns to the York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, back on the Knavesmire track where he performed with Boyzone in July 2018.

Expect both solo and boy band favourites. “If you’re going to a festival or a racecourse, you have to give the people what they want, what they’re expecting, and because of the Boyzone documentary that’s on Sky and NOW TV, I’ll be doing more Boyzone hits than normal this time,” he says. For race-day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk.

Helena Mackie: Oboe soloist at the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s concert at Ryedale Festival 

Ryedale Festival finale: Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Final Gala Concert, Hovingham Hall, Sunday, 6.30pm

THE ‘Liverpool Phil’ make their Ryedale Festival debut this weekend, exploring the Italian vistas of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No 4, complemented by Mozart’s Oboe Concerto (featuring soloist Helena Mackie), Faure’s serene Pavane and Poulenc’s mischievous, charming Sinfonietta. For the festival programme and tickets, go to: ryedalefestival.com. Box office: 01751 475777.

James Willstrop:  From squash court to stage in musical ode to beautiful mothers, sporting ambition and fatherhood at Friargate Theatre

Edinburgh Fringe preview of the week: James Willstrop in Daddy, Tomorrow Will I Be A Man?, Friargate Theatre, York, July 28, 7.30pm

JAMES  Willstrop, cynical and driven only by his sporting success, is on the verge of becoming world number one in squash. A chance meeting leads to an agonising dilemma that  threatens everything he has worked so hard to achieve.

Through tender recollections of his mother Lesley, who died when he was 17, and by undertaking the hardest training session of his life in real time, Willstrop learns lessons about ambition, success and love in the Harrogate sportsman, actor and writer’s solo musical ode to beautiful mothers, sporting ambition and fatherhood. Box office: ridinglights.org.

Annie Kingsnorth, left, Martin Shaw and Abigail Cruttenden in Robert Bolt’s A Man For All Seasons at the Grand Opera House, York

Political play of the week: A Man For All Seasons, Grand Opera House, York, July 29 to August 2, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

THE greatest, most powerful and dangerous figures who shaped English history are brought vividly to life in Robert Bolt’s award-winning play, directed by Jonathan Church on a tour that visits York in its only northern outing before a West End run.

Now 80, The Professionals, Judge John Deed and Inspector George Gently star Martin Shaw playsSir Thomas More: scholar, ambassador, Lord Chancellor, friend to King Henry VIII  and man of integrity. When Henry demands a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, clearing the way for him to marry Anne Boleyn, the staunchly Catholic Thomas is forced to choose between loyalty and conscience, committing an act of defiance that can only lead to the ultimate price. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

York Stage: Celebrating 100 years of Disney songs in Disney’s Dare To Dream Jr at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre 

Musical revue of the week: York Stage in Disney’s Dare to Dream Jr, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, August 1, 7.30pm; August 2, 2pm and 4pm

HONOURING 100 years of Disney music, this60-minute revue follows an eager group of trainees on their first day at a fictional Walt Disney Imagineering Studio. As the trainees set out to help each other discover their dreams, they work together to explore the power of those dreams to unite, inspire and make anything possible.

Disney’s Dare To Dream Jr includes songs that appear for the first time in a Disney stage musical, notably fan favourites from The Princess And The Frog, Coco, Enchanto and Frozen II in a showcase of contemporary songs, timeless classics and new medleys to surprise and delight Disney devotees of all ages. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Sweet Legacies: Exhibition at York TheatreRoyal  to tie in with this summer’s community play, His Last Report

Exhibition of the week: Sweet Legacies, York Theatre Royal, until August 3

YORK Theatre Royal’s foyer is transformed into a pop-up exhibition of photography, visual arts, audio, film and more as part of the Sweet Legacies community engagement project.

The project has seen the Theatre Royal work with 22 community groups across the city to put on a series of fun, free and inclusive activities and events.

The free exhibition is open to all to learn more about the project and the Rowntree family to coincide with the Theatre Royal and Riding Lights community play His Last Report.

In Focus: York Proms, York Museum Gardens, York, Sunday

Soprano Lucy Farrimond: Performing at Sunday’s York Proms

NO tickets will be available on the gate for Sunday’s seventh York Proms at York Museum Gardens, presented by classical chart-topping York soprano Rebecca Newman.

Topping the bill will be rising operatic singers soprano Lucy Farrimond and tenor Oscar Bowen-Hill, performing with the orchestra under director Ben Crick.

Royal Northern College of Music graduate Farrimond made her BBC Proms solo debut in 2019 aged 21, singing Haydn’s The Creation at the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, and has performed on the BBC, ITV, BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio 4.

Bowen-Hill has graduated with BSc 1st Class honours in Cognitive Science and Singing, sings with the London Philharmonic Choir and is embarking on the next steps of his career with scholarships at St Paul’s, Knightsbridge, London, and Oxford Bach Soloists.

Farrimond and Bowen-Hill will lead the Proms finale, including Jerusalem and Land Of Hope And Glory, rounded off with fireworks lighting up St Mary’s Abbey, as well as performing operatic arias and show songs. Classical orchestral pieces and film music will feature too.

The main stage will be complemented by York Proms’ biggest ever community stage, presenting more than 200 York performers, including the York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir in its centenary year, opening the event with a rendition of the National Anthem with the orchestra.

Taking part too will be York Rock Choir, Lucy’s Pop Choir, Bridge Shanty Crew, York Musical Theatre Company and the Katie Ventress Dance School.

Gates will open at 5pm for Fast Track tickets and at 5.30pm for Standard. Picnics are permitted, including alcohol and glass bottles but bags will be checked on arrival. Picnics are allowed, with alcohol and glass bottles, although bags will be inspected on arrival. Camping chairs? Yes. Tables, parasols, trolleys and BBQs? No. No dogs will be admitted, except for assistance dogs.

A quick check of the York Proms website confirms that Adult General Sale, Disabled and Child tickets are still on sale; Adult Fast Track and Teen tickets have sold out. To book, go to: yorkproms.com/collections/tickets-2025. 

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REVIEW: York Theatre Royal & Riding Lights Theatre Company, His Last Report, at York Theatre Royal, until August 3 ***1/2

Billy Heathwood’s Riley, left, and Antony Jardine’s Seebohm Rowntree in His Last Report at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

YORK Theatre Royal’s latest summer community play is in keeping with the progressive tenet of York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree’s trio of reports from 1899, 1936 and 1951. Community pulling together in enlightening enterprises. Welfare for the common man. Live well, play well, work well. He would probably have made the tickets free, but that isn’t practical.

“Made with passion, joy and enthusiasm”, in collaboration with York Christian theatre company Riding Lights, His Last Report involves 250 volunteers, from 100-strong cast and 55-larynxed York Theatre Royal Choir and new choir recruits, to wardrobe, props, stage management, hair & make up, technical, marketing, front of house and photography.

“The past is back. And it’s got something to say,” reads the tagline. It turns out it has a lot to say, arguably too much, over its two-and-three-quarter-hour span that crams in everything from politics to chocolate recipe improvements; cow parlour udder-pulling  to aerial acrobatics; King Lear to Lloyd George and Winston Churchill; Caribbean chocolate trade slavery to the  idyll of New Earswick; moo jokes to a salty dig at Saltaire visionary Sir Titus Salt.

Under the direction of Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch, everything is thrown in, including the kitchen-sink style of British  theatre and films of the gritty, grainy late-Fifties and Sixties, with echoes of Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera too.

Amelia Donkor, one of two professional actors leading Juliet Forster and Paul Birch’s cast, in the role of Gulie Harlock in His Last Report. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s script has the restless, questing energy of York-born professional actor Antony Jardine’s Seebohm Rowntree, his name taken from his mother’s surname of Swedish-German origin, we learn in one of many facts dropped in with humorous relish.

We start at the end, Seebohm despondent post-reports, before heading back to 1890s’ York with personal secretary Gulie Harlock (Amelia Donkor), where his Quaker family’s cocoa works is booming, new Rowntree factory et al, under the noble guidance of father Joseph (Mark Payton, in a performance as bubbly as Aero, with a lightness of humour to match).

But something is not hitting the sweet spot for chemist, industrialist and philanthropist Seebohm. Blue-collar life is bitter, when it needs to be better for the factory workers, housed in the city’s back streets and snickelways. In tandem with Donkor’s perspicacious Gulie, he advocates better working and living conditions, improved wages and the provision of education for all and facilities to bolster both mental and physical health.

He never invented a chocolate bar called Nirvana, but his vision of a promised land of healthier, happier, wealthier workers that in turn benefits the productivity of businesses provides the seed bed for the welfare state, attracting the support of Churchill (Colin Beveridge) and Lloyd George (Andrew Wrenn).

Maurice Crichton’s Frank Benson, centre, in King Lear guise in His Last Report, with principals and ensemble looking on in His Last Report. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Welcome to New Earswick, the model of a village to house the workforce, with a school and a library. Welcome to Rowntree’s world of Yearsley Swimming Pool, the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, gymnastics, pageants and plays. All’s well but can it end well?  Ah, there’s the rub. Finance. All the good things cost money.

Jardine’s Seebohm is haunted by the spectral figure of an impoverished child, Riley (Edmund Djimramadji/Billy Heathwood) that only he can see, and all around him the figures don’t add up. The second half turns post-modern, with modern clothing interwoven with period couture, references to writers Misha and Bridget and an in-joke impersonation of the Theatre Royal’s costume department Scottish supremo Pauline.

Rather than ending well it ends Orwellian, Jardine’s despairing Seebohm observing the Britain of today, the Britain of cuts to the arts and libraries, swimming pool and factory closures, robots replacing workers, jargon replacing plain speaking, and being number 52 on  the waiting list when phoning the GP at 8am.

Maurice Crichton gives us his best King Lear in the guise of grandstanding actor Frank Benson railing against the way Shakespeare is taught at schools. You may find yourself thinking, “are we going too far off the beaten track here?”, but Crichton, not for the first time, makes every second in the spotlight count.

There is nevertheless a feeling that His Last Report is preaching to the converted, those of us who do go to the theatre, who know of its value beyond cost. Who needs to listen? Those who don’t go, those who slash and burn.

A modern-day board meeting full of blue sky/dark cloud thinking as His Last Report turns theatre of the absurd. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

You might wish the solution were as simple as waving a magic wand. Seebohm Rowntree tried to do more than that, but the truth is that in this rotten world, the good things increasingly cost too much, when even chocolate bars and tins are forever diminishing in size.

Forster and Birch’s cast and choir, as much as Duncan-Barry and Foreman, make an impassioned, worthy case for wishing that life could be as Seebohm envisaged. The theatrical scale is grand, the humour uneven, the ensemble spectacle impressive, orchestrated by David Gilbert’s movement direction. Edwin Gray’s compositions and sound design, in tandem with Madeleine Hudson’s vocal musical direction, are impactful throughout.

Returning after designing previous Theatre Royal community productions The Coppergate Woman and Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes, Sara Perks’s set design is five-star quality, whether evoking the Rowntree building, factory floor, boardroom, train carriage or cow parlour, complemented by Craig Kilmartin’s lighting and Hazel Fall’s delightful costumes.

One last thought, where is the Seebohm Rowntree of today?

York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company present His Last Report at York Theatre Royal until August 3, 7.30pm except Sundays and Mondays, plus 2pm matinees, July 26 and August 2 & 3. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Gymnastic skill: Christie Barnes’s Brynhild Benson in His Last Report. Picture: Natasha Sinton