Author: Charles Hutchinson

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The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe heads for Grand Opera House, York, on 75th anniversary of C S Lewis’s novel

Edmund (Bunmi Osadolor), Peter (Jesse Dunbar) Lucy (Kudzai Mangombe) and Susan (Joanna Adaran) in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, and Hull New Theatre

MICHAEL Fentiman’s breathtaking production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe visits the Grand Opera House, York, from April 22 to 26 on the tour marking the 75th anniversary of C S Lewis’s novel. 

Step through the wardrobe into the enchanted kingdom of Narnia where a world of wonder awaits.  Join the Pevensie children, Lucy (Kudzai Mangombe), Edmund (Bunmi Osadolor), Susan (Joanna Adaran) and Peter (Jesse Dunbar) as they meet new friends, face dangerous foes and learn the lessons of courage, sacrifice and the power of love. 

Waving goodbye to wartime Britain, the children embark on the most magical of adventures in the frozen, faraway land, where they encounter Mr Tumnus, the faun (Alfie Richards), talking beavers, Aslan, the noble king of Narnia (Stanton Wright) and the coldest, most evil White Witch (Katy Stephens).

Stephens has played leading roles at Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she is an associate artist. She was part of the team that won the Olivier Award for Best Ensemble Performance for the RSC’s Histories Cycle, in which her roles included Joan of Arc and Margaret of Anjou.  

Katy Stephens’s White Witch in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe. Picture: Ellie Kurttz

“I’m thrilled to bring this show to life for audiences,” says Katy, who also plays Mrs Macready in Fentiman’s  production. “They won’t believe their eyes and ears! For two and a half hours, they’ll be completely transported. It’s the perfect way to spend an afternoon or evening – a show that will captivate both adults and children alike.

“The level of talent on stage is incredible. I’ve been in awe of the stunning musicianship, beautiful dancing, and powerful performances. I’ve laughed, I’ve been moved, and I feel so privileged to be part of this production.

“I know the audience will feel the same way. Above all, it’s a beautiful, powerful, and truly magical show – the warmest, most enchanting spectacle you could imagine.”

The cast also features  Archie Combe as Mr Pope and Foxtrot; Andrew Davison as Mr Wilson Schroedinger, Jack Rabbit, Aslan Puppeteer and Head Cruel; Anya de Villiers as Mrs Beaver; Molly Francis, as Mrs Pevensie, Aslan Puppeteer and Robin; Ruby Greenwood (on-stage Swing); Ffion Haf as Miss Gumley-Warmley and Phoenix) and Rhiannon Hopkins as Miss Chutney and Blue Badger.

Alfie Richards’ Mr Tumnus in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe

Alfie Richards has further roles as White Mouse and Badger; Joe Keenan plays Mr Granville, Spirit of the Moon and Red Squirrel; Ruby Greenwood,  Oliver Magor, J B Maya and Luca Moscardini, on-stage Swings;  Kraig Thornber, The Professor, Father Christmas and Wise Owl; Ed Thorpe, Mr Beaver;  Rhodri Watkins,  Mr Brinkworth, March Hare and Aslan Puppeteer;  and Shane Anthony Whiteley, Maugrim, Satyr and White Stag.

Fentiman, whose direction is based on the original production by Sally Cookson, is joined in the production team by set and costume designer Tom Paris; composers Barnaby Race and Benji Bower; choreographer Shannelle ‘Tali’ Fergus; lighting designer Jack Knowles and sound designer Tom Marshall.

In the team too are original puppetry director Toby Olié; original puppetry designer Max Humphries; aerial director Gwen Hales; fight director Jonathan Holby; Illusionist Chris Fisher; musical director Ben Goddard and hair and make-up designer Susanna Peretz.

Fentiman says: “I’m delighted to be taking our beautiful production of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe on a major tour of the UK and Ireland in 2025. The production celebrates the magic of live theatre and is led by a multi-talented cast of actors, singers, musicians, dancers and puppeteers; it is a celebration of the possibilities of the collective imagination and the boundless wonders of individual skill.”

Producer Chris Harper says: “We can’t wait for children and adults alike to join us on this spectacular new journey through the wardrobe, and are proud to be marking the 75th anniversary of the publication of CS Lewis’s novel with this tour.”

Lewis’s book was first published in October 1950, since when more than 85 million copies in 60 languages have been sold, making it one of the top ten best-selling books of all time. The stage adaptation enjoyed a London run in 2022-2023 and is now on a nationwide tour after a Christmas season at Leeds Playhouse, where it was first produced.

The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Grand Opera House, York, April 22 to 26, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Further Yorkshire runs will follow at Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, September 23 to 27, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees (box office, 01274 432000 or) and Hull New Theatre, September 30 to October 4, 7pm and 2pm Thursday and Saturday matinees (box office, hulltheatres.co.uk). Age guidance: six upwards.

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The Storm Whale takes the plunge in Easter holiday return to York Theatre Royal Studio

The poster for the return of The Storm Whale, playing York Theatre Royal Studio from tomorrow to Saturday

YORK writer-director Matt Aston’s revival of his uplifting stage version of The Storm Whale, adapted from Benji Davies’s brace of books, will make a splash at York Theatre Royal Studio from tomorrow.

Premiered in 2019, Aston’s play for ages four to eight combines puppetry, original songs and dialogue in a magical theatrical adventure of loneliness, love and courage rooted in Davies’s books The Storm Whale and The Storm Whale In Winter.

 “It’s so great to bring the show back to York Theatre Royal, where it all began, and to share this beautiful story with a whole new audience of children and their families,” says Matt, ahead of the Easter holiday run. “Benji Davies’s books have such a captivating and heartwarming message, and I think people of all ages will find something to love in the show.” 

In The Storm Whale, Noi  lives with his dad and six cats by the sea. One summer, while dad was busy at work, Noi rescued a little whale, washed up on the beach. A friendship began that would change their lives forever.

When his father takes one last trip in his fishing boat the following winter, Noi is alone once more and longs to see his friend again. Will it take another storm to bring them back together? 

 The Storm Whale writer-director Matt Aston in Rowntree Park. Picture: Livy Potter

“Our show follows the story of a young boy, Noi, and his friendship with a whale and looks at how, through the power of friendship and courage, you can overcome loneliness,” says Matt.  

“Those who know Benji’s books will absolutely believe that his characters have come right off the page and to life on the stage. Lydia Denno’s designs are stunning and the show is a real visual treat with puppets beautifully crafted by Keith Frederick.   

“The music by Julian Butler is also fabulous and there are some gorgeous earworms in there that you won’t be able to stop humming after seeing the show.”

 Matt had worked previously on a stage adaptation of Davies’s book Grandad. “That was a delight to make,” he says. “The Storm Whale was already published at this point but when Benji later wrote The Storm Whale In Winter, I saw straight away how both stories could work together as a complete story arc to make one show.  

“Bringing stories like these from the page to the stage is really all about pulling out the wider story of what’s going on underneath by developing the characters and their relationships. The book is the starting point and then you look at how you can bring it to life through the music, the puppetry and the sets.  

The Storm Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio in 2019. Picture: Northedge Photography

“Whenever I do a show for children, it’s always vital to think about the grown-ups who will be coming with them. It’s important to ensure that the parents, grandparents and carers are not forgotten and that there’s something for them to enjoy. It’s a really moving story about the power of friendship and love overcoming loneliness and both adults and children alike can relate to that.”  

Matt is an advocate for children experiencing theatre from a young age.  “For me, there isn’t anything like the experience of live theatre,” he says. “The power of just sitting in a room and listening to a good story being simply told is truly magnificent. I really believe that the art of storytelling is central to a child’s development, and whether that’s through music, movement or puppetry, it can make such a difference at an early age to have exposure to that.  

“We’ve had some really lovely feedback from parents about how children have been really transported by the stories and going home and acting them out. The power of the live experience of watching theatre is, for me, really special and I can’t wait for a whole new audience of four, five and six-year-olds to come and see it.”   

Finally, why should children and adults alike see this show, Matt? “It’s captivating, heartwarming and has a really good heart. There is something for all ages to love – it’s a theatrical experience for the parents as well as the children. For fans of the books, it’s a great way to see them brought to life on the stage and for those new to the stories, you’ll hopefully find a new favourite.” 

 York Theatre Royal, Engine House Theatre, Little Angel and The Marlowe, Canterbury present The Storm Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio,  April 15 to 19, 10.30am and 1.30pm.  Running time: 75 minutes, including interval.  Age guidance: Four upwards. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Gary Oldman’s theatrical journey from panto Cat to Krapp’s Last Tape at York Theatre Royal on return after 45 years

Gary Oldman in rehearsal for Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape. Picture: Gisele Schmidt

GARY Oldman’s return to the York Theatre Royal stage after 45 years in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape from today had sold out, but a combination of returns and additional seats are newly available. Hurry, hurry.

Once the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit in York, Oscar winner Oldman now directs himself – and provides the set design too – in Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd in his first stage appearance since 1987.

“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says Oldman.“It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” 

What happens over the course of 50 minutes in Krapp’s Last Tape? Each year, on his birthday, Krapp records a new tape reflecting on the year gone by. On his 69th birthday, Krapp, now a lonely man, is ready with a bottle of wine, a banana and his tape recorder. Listening back to a recording he made as a young man, Krapp must face the hopes of his past self.

Oldman, who turned 67 on March 21, now takes on a role premiered by Patrick Magee in 1958 and since played by the likes of Albert Finney, Harold Pinter, John Hurt, Stephen Rea and Kenneth Allan Taylor, the long-running Nottingham Playhouse pantomime dame, writer and director, in the play’s last performance at York Theatre Royal in 2009.

Gary Oldman with York Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes surveying the main house auditorium

Oldman has been considering going back to the stage for a long time. “I have never been far from the theatre and, in fact, have been discussing plays and my return to the theatre for nearly 30 years,” he posted on Instagram.

The April 14 to May 17 production of Beckett’s one-act monodrama was set in motion in March 2024, when Slow Horses star Oldman paid a visit to the St Leonard’s Place theatre , where he met chief executive Paul Crewes.

 “When Gary visited us, it was fascinating hearing him recount stories of his time as a young man, in his first professional role on the York Theatre Royal stage,” says Crewes. “In that context when we started to explore ideas, we realised Krapp’s Last Tape was the perfect project.”

The youngest of three children in a working-class London family, Oldman left school at 16 and began acting in productions with Greenwich and Lewisham Young People’s Theatre.

He applied for RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) but his rejection came with the advice to do something else for a living. Advice that he ignored, instead winning a scholarship to Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, from where he graduated with a BA in acting in 1979.

Pantomime puss: Gary Oldman’s Cat, with Berwick Kaler’s dame, centre, in Dick Whittington And His Wonderful Cat at York Theatre Royal in 1979-80

Whereupon he headed north  to start out in the repertory ranks at York Theatre Royal in 1979 in a repertory season of nine shows, taking in She Stoops To Conquer, Thark, Privates On Parade and Romeo And Juliet, topped off by  playing the Cat in furry suit, mittens and nylon whiskers in Berwick Kaler’s third York pantomime, Dick Whittington And His Wonderful Cat, that Christmas.

Dame Berwick later told the Guardian in an interview in 2018: “Gary has gone on to become one of our greatest screen actors but I’m afraid he was a bit of a lightweight when it came to pantomime.

“He kept fainting inside the costume. On at least three occasions I had to turn to the audience and say, ‘Oh dear, boys and girls, I think the poor pussy cat has gone to sleep’!”

Another actor in the rep company, Michael Simkins, has recalled the “bruising schedule of 50 performances in seven weeks, not to mention the drunken and relentless partying in various digs and rented bed-sits after curtain down”.

Oldman moved on to the Colchester rep and Glasgow Citizens Theatre, where he performed with Rupert Everett. He has called his time there “a coming of age – the work was joyful, bold and exhilarating. In the years that followed no other theatre experience could match it,” he said.

While appearing in Edward Bond’s controversial play Saved at the Palace Theatre, in Westcliff, he was “spotted” by Royal Court Theatre director Max Stafford-Clark.  Or, rather, he had Oldman drawn to his attention – by Oldman himself.

Gary Oldman in the York Theatre Royal dressing rooms. Picture: Gisele Schmidt

Like many young actors, he had written to the director setting out why he wanted to work at the cutting-edge London theatre. Stafford-Clark recalls that “it was a particularly well-argued letter”, so he went to see Saved.

Many of the audience – only about 30-strong – walked out but the director duly cast him in Bond’s The Pope’s Wedding, at the Royal Court. Saved, meanwhile, won him the British Theatre Association Drama Magazine award for 1985 and the Time Out Fringe award as best actor.

Roles ensued with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Royal Court in new works by Bond and Caryl Churchill. Harold Pinter was lined up to direct him in his play The Caretaker in the West End.

Oldman’s last stage performance was in 1987 in Churchill’s satirical play Serious Money at the Royal Court. By then, he had appeared in his break-out screen role as damaged punk Sid Vicious in Sid And Nancy, his 1986 alarm call to herald a career in films that have grossed 11 billion dollars. “I never thought I’d get into films in a thousand years,” he once said.

Today, he opens in a theatre show for the first time in 38 years, back in York for his “completion of a cycle”, banana in hand in Krapp’s Last Tape.

Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The poster for Gary Oldman’s return to York Theatre Royal after 45 years in Krapp’s Last Tape, performed, directed and designed by the erstwhile pantomime puss

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More Things To Do in York and beyond Gary Oldman as chocolate hits the sweet spot. Hutch’s List No. 16, from The York Press

Gary Oldman in rehearsal for Krapp’s Last Tape, opening at York Theatre Royal on April 14. Picture: Gisele Schmidt

GARY Oldman’s return to York Theatre Royal tops the bill of Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations. Chocolate is in the air too.

York theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17

ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit in York, Oscar winner Gary Oldman returns to the Theatre Royal to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.

“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Tickets update: New availability of returns and additional seats on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Margaret Beech: Making “paper magic” for York Open Studios in Oaken Grove, Haxby, York

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

YORK Open Studios showcases 163 artists and makers at 116 locations in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. Artists and makers, including 38 new participants, span ceramics, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood, Full details and an interactive map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk; brochures in shops, galleries, cafes and tourist hubs. Admission is free.

Wrongsemble: Performing Three Little Vikings, a tale of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard, at Helmsley Arts Centre

Ryedale children’s show of the week: Wrongsemble in Three Little Vikings, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm

LEEDS company Wrongsemble present a bold and funny adventure story for little rebels by Bethan Woollvin, creator of Little Red and I Can Catch A Monster.  

Once upon a time in a Viking village, everything seems to be going wrong. Chickens are disappearing, trees are falling down. When the silly Chieftain won’t listen, can the three littlest Vikings figure out how to save the day in a 50-minute tale of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Mark Stratford in Macready! Dickens Theatrical Friend, on tour at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Dickens of a good show of the week: Mark Stratford in Macready! Dickens’ Theatrical Friend, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

WRITER-PERFORMER Mark Stratford’s solo play tells the story of Macready, the Victorian actor-manager to whom Charles Dickens dedicated his novel Nicholas Nickleby. Capturing the joy, graft and tribulations of a life lived in theatre with passion, humour, emotion and multiple characters, Stratford journeys through the fascinating world of Victorian theatre and the extraordinary, conflicted life of Macready, from his first tentative steps on stage in a tatty country theatre to his final Drury Lane performance. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Daniele Coombe, left, Rebecca Wheatley, Maureen Nolan and Carli Norris in Menopause The Musical 2 – Cruising Through The Menopause at the Grand Opera House

Musical of the week: Menopause The Musical 2 – Cruising Through The Menopause!, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 6pm

CARLI Norris, from Doctors, Hollyoaks and EastEnders, Maureen Nolan, of The Nolans, Rebecca Wheatley, from Casualty, and West End actress Daniele Coombe star in the final UK tour of this menopausal sequel.

Fast forward five years as the same characters set off on the high seas in this heartfelt, reassuring look at the “joys” of the menopause. Cue hot flushes, mood swings, memory lapses and weight gain on a bumpy trip of self-discovery, love and friendship, backed by a soundtrack of parodied hits. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Storm Whale: Returning to York Theatre Royal next week after its first plunge in 2019. Picture: Northedge Photography

Revival of the week: The Storm Whale, York Theatre Royal Studio, April 15 to 19, 10.30am and 1.30pm

YORK writer and director Matt Aston revives his 2019 stage adaptation of Benji Davies’s tales of loneliness, love and courage, The Storm Whale, in a show built on puppetry, original songs and dialogue.

Noi lives with his dad and six cats by the sea. One summer, while dad was busy at work, Noi rescued a little whale, washed up on the beach. A friendship began that changed their lives forever. The following winter, his dad takes one last trip in his fishing boat. Alone once more, Noi longs to see his friend again. Will it take another storm to bring them back together? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

York Chocolate Festival: City centre will be chock-a-block with chocs’n’eggs for Easter

Festival of the week: York Chocolate Festival 2025, April 16 to 20, 10am to 5pm

YORK Chocolate Festival showcases everything sweet and chocolate from independent businesses in Parliament Street and around the city.

Highlights include the York Chocolate Festival Market; Chocolate Taste Trail; Ashley McCarthy’s Chocolate Sculpture and Family Easter Egg Hunt. Entry to the festival and market is free; some activities and events require tickets. Full programme at: yorkfoodfestival.com/programme.

Showaddywaddy: Rock’n’roll revivalists standing under the moon of love at the Grand Opera House

Rock’n’roll nostalgia of the week: Showaddywaddy, Grand Opera House, York, April 17, 7.30pm

SHOWADDYWADDY make the bold claim to be “the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world”, living up to that title for the past five decades, they say.

Formed in 1973 in Leicester, they have sold more than 20 million records. Here come Hey Rock And Roll,  Under The Moon Of Love, Three Steps To Heaven, When, Blue Moon, Pretty Little Angel Eyes et al. Box office: atgtickjets.com/york.

The Talkinator: Written by a human, performed by a human, Patrick Monahan

Comedy gig of the week: Patrick Monahan: The Talkinator, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 18, 8pm

IN 2024, amid much talk of about AI taking over humans, only one man can out-talk the chat-bots and robots. Step forward Irish-Iranian comedian Patrick Monahan for one hour of stand-up comedy written by a human, performed by a human. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The Divine Comedy: New album and York Barbican tour date. Picture: Kevin Westerberg

Gig announcement of the week: The Divine Comedy, York Barbican, October 21

NEIL Hannon will promote The Divine Comedy’s 13th studio album, September 19’s Rainy Sunday Afternoon, on a 16-date autumn tour. Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, April 17 at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/the-divine-comedy-2025/.

Written, arranged and produced by Hannon and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, the album spans his usual range of emotions – sad, funny, angry and everything in between – as he “works through some stuff”: mortality, memories, relationships and political and social upheaval. 

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XXX marks the spot for Harland Miller, man of letters of the Pop art variety on his home-city return to York Art Gallery

York Pop artist Harland Miller with his new work York from his XXX exhibition at York Art Gallery. Picture: Olivia Hemingway

IF brevity is the soul of wit – ironically a quote from Shakespeare’s longest play, the 40,000-word Hamlet – then that philosophy applies to Pop artist Harland Miller’s new exhibition in York.

“I wanted to use as little language as possible, to see if a short word like ‘If’ , for instance, could mean as much to someone as a long sentence,” he says, on his return to his home city the day after his 61st birthday to launch XXX at York Art Gallery: the gallery he first visited aged 16 on a lunch break from a job he had just started, setting him on his path to international acclaim as an itinerant painter in New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Paris as part of fellow Yorkshireman Jay Jopling’s stable of White Cube gallery artists.

“This show is entitled ‘XXX’ but it doesn’t flout any indecency laws so it should stay open longer than the last one [his Covid-curtailed 2020 show] , which was slated to run for six months but closed after only a few weeks (as was the whole of the city) due to lock down, so I never did find out what being given the keys to the city actually unlocked,” says Harland.

“But York is a city of perpetual mystery and history, including my own, and it always draws me back. It’s especially exciting to be sharing this with everyone – not once, but twice.”     

Harland Miller with his 2019 oil on canvas XXX at York Art Gallery. Picture: Olivia Hemingway

Coinciding with the publication of his new book of the same title by Phaidon, Harland is showcasing paintings and preparatory works on graph paper from his Letter Paintings series, topped off by the unveiling of several new oil paintings, not least York – a suitably short city name to match his project brief.  

He had built his 2020 York Art Gallery exhibition around its title work, York So Good They Named It Once, a work transformed into mugs, fridge magnets et al. “I knew I wanted to do something about York again, and I thought, ‘how can I bring York into the series I’m making?’. The answer was right in front of my face: all the works used letters that made short words and York is a short word!” says Harland.

“Then I thought, what is coming through that says ‘York’ to me. The white rose, though that was a bit obvious, and yellow from the daffodils that come out in the spring. When I was a kid, the Bar Walls were covered with them.

“My mother wasn’t the most positive person, but she equated the daffodils coming out with York regenerating each year in spring.”

Artist Harland Miller stands by his Oh No work, sporting his newly designed Oh No scarf, on sale at York Art Gallery. Picture: Olivia Hemingway

And so Harland Miller’s ‘York’ blossomed into life as his first ever flower painting:  York, so good he has now painted it twice. “Hopefully you see the rose and the daffodil in the white and the yellow, and not a fried egg,” he cautions.

York, a work created since the XXX book went to print, forms part of a hard-edged series that “melds the sacred seamlessly with the everyday”, drawing inspiration from medieval manuscripts, where monks often laboured to produce intricate illuminated letters to mark the beginning of chapters.

In these works, Miller applies bold colours and typefaces to accentuate the expressive versatility of monosyllabic words and acronyms such as ESP, If and Star, the series now expanding to take in Oh No (with an accompanying scarf among the exhibition merchandise), Kiss, Boss and Loop and his first hard-edged  diptych, Far Out.

The Letter Paintings present overlaid letter forms as their image, with a neutral band at the bottom in the form of a title alongside Miller’s own name as their author. By isolating, overlaying and reuniting individual letters, he creates a sense of depth in the image and encourages contemplation.

Far Out, Harland Miller’s first diptych from his Letter Paintings series at York Art Gallery. Picture: Olivia Hemingway

“From two letters, I moved on to three-letter words and favourite four-letter words and now a five-letter word, Eerie, though that’s cheating with three ‘E’s. I like to start with a word and then work with the feeling it evokes, like getting an eerie feeling from the word ‘eerie,” says Harland.

“I painted ‘Numb’ just a couple of years ago after my mother passed away. Yellow and purple felt natural colours for it, and I wanted that sense of walking through that numbness in the painting, which had come from that feeling.”

Yellow and purple might strike you as an unusual colour combination, but Miller had studied colour psychology back in the day when working in graphic design with Peter Turpin at Turpin Graphics.

“Yellow can make people feel violent, but what’s interesting is if you introduce purple, which can make people feel introspective, then by putting it with yellow, you can become violently introspective, which isn’t good for you, but part of my punk philosophy is to challenge that.”

Harland Miller, XXX, oil on canvas, 2019. Copyright: Harland Miller. Photo copyright: White Cube, Theo Christelis

The exhibition is defined by the letter X, so good he used it thrice. “Unlike any other letter in the alphabet, it’s also its own word without being a word. ‘X’ is more exciting than ‘I’. It sounds more exciting!  I don’t know if it’s exciting because it features in words we like, like ‘exciting’ or ‘sex’, but if was ‘secks’, you wouldn’t get a band called The Sex Pistols! Secks Pistols just wouldn’t look good. ‘X’ is a letter that makes a word look good and sound good.”

The exhibition’s themes will extend beyond the indoor gallery spaces into the gallery gardens, through a creative interpretation of Miller’s Far Out diptych, using a selection of flowering plants. Visible from the ground and the gallery’s balcony, the plantings will be sown on two wired raised planting beds on the sloping grass verge behind the gallery, leads up to the wildflower meadow. 

This floral installation will be planned so flowers appear from the end of June, peaking during the summer season, all adding to a show with the XXX factor.

Harland Miller: XXX, York Art Gallery, on show until  August 31. Opening times: Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk.

Beatrice Bertram

Dr Beatrice Bertram, senior curator at York Art Gallery, on Harland Miller’s XXXhibition:

“WE are delighted to welcome Harland back to York Art Gallery and his home city to show this extraordinary exhibition entitled XXX. The displays here in York explore his celebrated series of Letter Paintings, brought together for the first time alongside new work created exclusively for our exhibition.

“Harland’s distinctive, impactful paintings are instantly recognisable and repay close looking. His clever use of language and colour encourages us to encounter everyday words afresh, as he lays letters over one another in an intriguing process of deconstruction and reconnection.

“Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience Miller’s bright, bold, brilliant body of work produced during an exciting new phase in his career.”

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Leeds Song, Florian Boesch/Joseph Middleton, Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, April 5

Florian Boesch: “Unique approach to Schubert’s Winterreise”

YES, you read it correctly, Leeds Lieder – pithy, alliterative, euphonious – has been dumbed down to ‘Leeds Song’, lacking all the above epithets and centred on hissy sibilants. We might perhaps have had ‘Leeds Lieder and Song’, tautologous, of course, yet retaining a link to the past.

But the rebranding boys, much on the warpath lately – witness North Yorkshire ditching the white rose – have had their way, no doubt charging for the privilege.

That rant now over, the festival got off to a sensational start with Florian Boesch’s unique approach to Schubert’s Winterreise (not a title that needs translating for anyone who has read this far).

This was operatic monodrama. Forget making every note beautiful in a cosy song-cycle. Boesch delivered the traveller’s unvarnished mental anguish and fluctuating emotions with no holds barred.

‘Good Night’ was quite staccato, with the hint of a smile at the end. It was deceptive. Our traveller was angry at the weather-vane and his lukewarm tears provoked emphatic fury at winter’s ice. Numb with cold, there was no relief to be found in nature until he recalled the linden tree, whose branches rustled a friendly whisper.

The recollection of his beloved’s house rekindled his anger and his mental vacillations continued,on the river. With ‘A Backward Glance’ he was almost shouting his defiance – by this point Boesch was fully inhabiting the traveller’s shoes, rivetingly bound up in the drama even as the will-o’-the-wisp led him astray.

Boesch was weariness personified in ‘Rest’, finding no peace from his pain, but then he became all childish innocence for his springtime dream and there was even jauntiness in his anticipation of something in the post. There were subtle nuances everywhere, a sudden rubato here, a little tenuto there.

After the post horn had ceased, the final ‘Mein Herz’ was fractionally held back, with telling effect. As he transferred his friendship from nature to animals, he darkened his tone for the crow and turned sardonic over the barking dogs. Surviving the savage cold of the stormy morning, he found immediate pleasure in deluding himself.

By now, we were at the nub of the traveller’s loneliness and Boesch conjured a pin-drop moment of deep reflection as he faced the road of no return. Turned away from ‘The Inn’, in reality a cemetery, he brought tears to the eyes, his determination encapsulated by the boldness of the postlude.

That continued through ‘Courage’ and ‘The Phantom Suns’, until the latter ended in a whispered sotto voce. Then all that was left was the organ-grinder, whose lot was never going to improve. Just as our traveller faced an eternity of misery, he had at last found someone to identify with.

The cycle had been a searing experience for singer and audience alike and was followed by a prolonged silence. Middleton stuck bravely to his guns at the piano, caught out slightly once or twice by Boesch’s spontaneity, but it mattered not. They were a splendid team.

Review by Martin Dreyer

The Leeds Song festival continues until April 12. www.leedssong.com.

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Clap Trap Theatre to stage Switcheroo, one half comedy, then swap roles, second half serious drama, at York Theatre Royal

Thomas Frere and Cal Stockbrige in Clap Trap Theatre’s Switcheroo

NORTH Yorkshire company Clap Trap Theatre will stage Tom Needham’s Switcheroo at York Theatre Royal Studio from May 22 to 24.

Billed as “unique and entertaining”, the play is based on the very simple premise that “it’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it”.

Penned by the BAFTA-nominated Needham, the story follows three siblings who, when it comes to scattering their mother’s ashes, are hit with a bombshell revelation that turns their world upside down.

The first act is a full-blown, larger than life comedy. After the interval, the actors swap characters to repeat it as a serious drama. 

Directed by Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch, the cast features Thomas Frere (Alex/Sam), whose credits include Candide(Liverpool Everyman) and Return To The Forbidden Planet (UK tour), Clap Trap co-founder Cal Stockbridge (Sam/Pat), who has starred in A Midsummer Night’s Dreamand Doubt andDominic Goodwin (Pat/Alex), seen previously in Two, The Long Mirror and Not About Heroes.  

Dominic Goodwin, left, and Thomas Frere in Clap Trap Theatre’s production of Tom Needham’s Switcheroo

Clap Trap Theatre was founded in 2007 by Stockbridge and Gareth Jenkins to “bring intimate theatrical productions of both new and classical works to a wide variety of venues around Yorkshire and beyond”.

They rehearse at a small holding near Pickering, in Ryedale, in a converted barn shared with bats. “Over the past 18 years, we’ve performed in arts centres, major theatres, village halls, Methodist chapels, and Quaker meeting houses all over the UK,” says Cal.

“We’ve commissioned and performed seven new plays during this period and we’re delighted to be touring Tom Needham’s Switcheroo, opening at the York Theatre Royal Studio in May.”

Clap Trap Theatre in Switcheroo, York Theatre Royal Studio, May 22, 7.45pm; May 23, 7.45pm with post-show discussion; May 24, 2.30pm and 7.45pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Dawn Landes to perform The Liberated Woman’s Songbook at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb & Hebden Bridge Trades Club

Dawn Landes: Returning to York on July 2 after playing there in 2015 and 2018

AMERICAN country roots singer-songwriter Dawn Landes will present The Liberated Woman’s Songbook at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, on July 2.

She is to play ten British dates, including Glastonbury Festival on June 29 and Hebden Bridge Trades Club on July 3, on her return to British shores after last autumn’s stirring performance at the Barbican, London, where she captivated her audience with a powerful, history-rich set celebrating women’s voices. 

Folk icon Peggy Seeger, who appeared with Landes at the Barbican, said of The Liberated Woman’s Songbook shows: “Dawn Landes has conceived and carried out a stunning programme of selections from The Liberated Woman’s Songbook and is touring with it, using only female singers plus a band, all sourced from wherever her next programme will take place. 

“I was part of it in September 2024 at London’s Barbican and would gladly do so again wherever it travels.  A must-see, must-hear, must-applaud,  vigorously wonderful evening for men and women of any age. An about-time happening.”

The Liberated Woman’s Songbook reimagines music from the women’s liberation movement. Inspired by a 1971 songbook of the same name, Landes and producer Josh Kaufman (Bonny Light Horseman, Bob Weir, Cassandra Jenkins) breathe new life into 11 powerful songs spanning 1830 to 1970, amplifying the voices of women who fought for equality throughout history.

The album cover artwork for 2024’s The Liberated Woman’s Songbook. Design by Nathan Golub; photo by Shervin Lainez

The project began when Landes stumbled upon The Liberated Woman’s Songbook at a thrift store during the pandemic. Following the 2022 overturn of the Roe v. Wade case in the United States, the songs took on an even greater urgency.

 “We’re suddenly back in 1971 all over again,” Landes reflects. “I know we’re in for a long fight, and it helps to find solidarity where you can.” Kaufman adds: “Many of these songs were never meant to travel beyond the picket line. I hope our work helps to amplify their message of freedom and equity anew.”

Recorded in Upstate New York and Chapel Hill, North Carolina, The Liberated Woman’s Songbook features contributions from Emily Frantz (Watchhouse), Kanene Pipkin (The Lone Bellow), Rissi Palmer, Charly Lowry, Annie Nero and Lizzy Ross (Violet Bell).

The album was first brought to life on stage by Landes and Kaufman at the Newport Folk Festival in July 2023, when the set was recognised by Rolling Stone magazine as “one of the best things we saw at Newport”, reinforcing the record’s relevance and power.

 “There was always going to be plenty of room to roam within these centuries-old compositions,” Landes told Uncut magazine. “When we do the full show, it’s just so powerful, because there’s that great feeling of solidarity between women.”

Dawn Landes, The Liberated Woman’s Songbook, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, July 2, doors 7.30pm for 8pm start; box office: https://www.seetickets.com/event/dawn-landes/rise-bluebird/3372912?aff=id1bandsintown. Also Hebden Bridge Trades Club, July 3, 7.30pm; thetradesclub.com.

Dawn Landes: the back story

Dawn Landes: Wistful country singer, songwriter and guitarist

BORN in Louisville, Kentucky, December 5 1980. Spent many years living and performing in Brooklyn, New York, where she studied at university, then in Nashville. Now based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Recorded seven albums and five EPs since 2005, with her songs featuring in The Good Wife, House and Gossip Girl. Frequent collaborator with contemporary artists such as Sufjan Stevens, Nora Jones and composer Nico Muhly. Once part of the group The Bandana Splits.

Married to Idaho singer-songwriter Josh Ritter from 2009 to 2011. Ritter addressed their marital breakdown on 2013 album The Beast In Its Tracks, but rather than taking the chance to get things off her chest in response, Dawn chose to write a record that points more towards hope than heartache, 2014’s Bluebird.

Her transformative skill with covers caught fire with 2007 bluegrass rendition of Peter Bjorn And John’s whistling hit Young Folks.

February 2015’s Covers EP was led off by Bruce Springsteen’s Atlantic City, performed as a duet with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James, complemented by Tom Petty’s Southern Accents, Dolly Parton’s Longer Than Always, Roxy Music’s More Than This and Henry Mancini’s Moon River. Has French EP to her name too, Mal Habillee.

Has appeared with Boston Pops, NYC Ballet and on TED main stage. Her musical ROW, about fellow Kentucky native Tori Murden McClure’s quest to become first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean, premiered in 2021 at Williamstown Theatre Festival and is available on Audible.

Latest album The Liberated Woman’s Songbook was released on March 29 2024 during Women’s History Month, showcasing folk songs in her guide to women’s activism from 1800s to high times of 1970s’ Women’s Lib.

Last played York in November 2018 gig at The Basement, City Screen, with husband Creighton Irons on keyboards, in low-key show that contemplated the “big themes of midlife” in mid-tempo songs of heartbreak, youth fading into the distance, and love lost and found. Previously opened five-date UK and Irish tour at Fibbers, Toft Green, in January 2015. Played Fibbers twice in 2006, supporting The Earlies in May and Fionn Regan in September.

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What Shakespeare did to Richard III, now Richard III does to Shakespeare in Philipp Sommer’s Re-Lording Richard 3.0 riposte

Re-Lording Richard 3.0 writer-performer Philipp Sommer

YORK’S own King Richard III looks back at his history with Alexa at his side – a modern voice in 1485 – in Philipp Sommer’s Re-Lording Richard 3.0 at York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium on April 24 at 7.30pm.

The Berlin writer-performer is bringing his reimagining of Richard’s origin story to York as part of the 2025 York International Shakespeare Festival.

Re-Lording Richard 3.0 brings Richard III to the stage so that he may share his fears, his doubts, his joy and loyalty in this 50-minute retort to Shakespeare’s hatchet job, performed  in English.

“Shakespeare’s play underpins his person as the embodiment of evil, but is that all he was?” asks Sommer.  “Then, it was theatre; now, it’s social media that provides a platform for propaganda.”

The poster for Philipp Sommer’s Re-Lording Richard 3.0, playing York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium on April 24

Sommer describes his play as a “drama-dy”, combining drama and comedy. “‘Everyone has seen Richard III by Shakespeare, but have you seen Shakespeare by Richard III? This is the story from Richard’s point of view.”

Richard settles his accounts with Shakespeare, as Richard and Alexa ask the question: “Has the world really changed?”

Re-Lording Richard 3.0 supports the festival’s mission of bringing international voices to York to celebrate and elaborate upon Shakespeare’s work.

Founded in 2015, the festival is marking its tenth anniversary with this season’s April 22 to May 4 programme. For full details and tickets, go to yorkshakes.co.uk.

Produced by the community arts charity Parrabbola, the festival is now an annual event, returning to live performance in 2023 after a Covid-enforced break, with support from York St John University.

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Flautist Jenefer Fraser and pianist Chris Hughes to play Dementia Friendly Tea Concert at St Chad’s Church on April 17

Flautist Jennifer Fraser

JENEFER Fraser, flute, and Chris Hughes, piano, will perform this month’s Dementia Friendly Tea Concert on Maundy Thursday at St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York.

“I’m really looking forward to this solo flute recital, playing some really lovely and fun repertoire, including La Flute de Pan by Mouquet and Carmen Fantasy by Francis Borne,” says Jenefer, who  is studying for a MMus in Performance at the University of Leeds.

She will be joined by accompanist Hughes for the 2.30pm programme on April 17 that also will feature music by John Rutter and Massanet’s Meditation before concluding with Borne’s Carmen Fantasy, based on tunes from Bizet’s opera.

“It will be a great start to the Easter weekend,” says co-organiser Alison Gammon. “Please encourage your friends to come too! As usual, 45 minutes of music will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall.

“The event is a relaxed concert and ideal for people who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, so we do not mind if the audience wants to talk or move about.

“Seating is unreserved and there is no charge although donations are welcome. We give a donation to the church to cover heating and the rest goes to Alzheimer’s charities.”

Along with a small car park at the church, on-street parking can be found on Campleshon Road, but it can become busy, so do allow plenty of time. “If you are more mobile, it would really help if you could park on the street to allow for disabled parking in the car park,” advises Alison. Wheelchair access is via the church hall.

Dates for the 2025 diary of Dementia Friendly Tea Concerts are: May 22, York Guitar Quartet; June 19, Patrick Wilson, trumpet, Maria Marshall, cello, and Robert Gammon, piano; July 17, Flauti Felice flute ensemble; Aug 14, Tina Sanderson and friends, string ensemble.

The season will continue on September 18, Robert Gammon, piano; October 16, Giocoso Wind Ensemble; November 20, Billy Marshall, French horn, and Robert Gammon, piano, and December 11, Ripon Resound Choir.