For those about to rock at York Barbican: Here comes The Classic Rock Show
THE Classic Rock Show’s 2023 tour is“easily the most challenging live set we’ve performed to date,” reckonsvocalist, guitarist and musical director James Cole.
Hear why at York Barbican on Tuesday (14/3/2023) as the 39-date itinerary heads for its last week after taking in many British cities and towns for the first time. Tickets for “the ultimate live jukebox” are on sale at yorkbarbican.co.uk and ticketmaster.co.uk.
Paying tribute to its favourite rock heroes, The Classic Rock Show thunders through a set list of Led Zeppelin, Dire Straits, The Who, Eric Clapton, AC/DC, Queen, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Boston, Pink Floyd, Meat Loaf, Aerosmith, Toto and Rainbow.
Expect note-for-note precision as Cole and co “bring the original and era-defining recordings back to life on stage, with an amazing sound and light show to match”. After anthem after anthem, riff after riff, solo after solo, the climax will be a show-stopping guitar duel.
Jesse Smith: Lead vocalist for The Classic Rock Show
Cole says: “We’re very excited to get back on the road in 2023 with easily the most challenging Classic Rock Show live set we’ve performed to date. To have 39 dates scheduled for the 2023 tour feels fantastic. The band and I really appreciate the ever-growing popularity of the show.”
Opening on January 17, the tour has visited Yorkshire already, playing Hull Bonus Arena on January 29 and Harrogate Royal Hall the next night. St George’s Hall, Bradford, awaits tomorrow (11/3/2023) with tickets on sale at https://theclassicrockshow.com/tour-dates
Performing alongside Cole will be: Wayne Banks, bass/vocals; Pete Thorn, guitar/vocals; Jesse Smith, lead vocals/guitar; Henry Burnett, keyboards/vocals; Jess Harwood, vocals/keyboards; Rudy Cardenas, lead vocals, and Tim Brown, drums.
“I’M probably nuts to try it, but it’s huge fun,” said Dame Prue Leith.
She was talking about mounting her debut tour at the age of 83, and not of her presence at a Parisian orgy aged 19.
As she would explain to her York audience, judge and jury, your honour, she did not know she would be entering such a party when accompanying a young man to the house.
He indulged, but not Prue. She merely took off her clothes to fit in, seated by the bar. She was being Prudent, not Prudish. Nothing on, but something in moderation, in a life where “I’ll try anything once”, to quote her autobiography’s title, but just not that.
As it happens, South African-born, French-trained, English-enterprising Dame Prue has always stood out, not only latterly in her choice of specs and jewellery, but in her culinary career, first cutting a swathe through the male-dominated restaurant scene of the Sixties, later often being the only female director on assorted non-executive boards, where the men put the bored into board meetings.
Prue, live in York: specs, tick. Funky jewellery, tick. Dark jeans, light jacket and pumps, tick. She wouldn’t have looked out of place on a rock concert stage. Always more Chrissie Hynde, than mumsy, our Dame Prue.
The poster for Prue Leith’s Nothing In Moderation tour
Complemented by photos and video clips, Nothing In Moderation was divided into two halves, the first a kind of fork-talk variation on stand-up as culinary queen Prue told funny stories and insightful anecdotes, from her African family roots to flailing around in assorted university studies, to French freedom and culinary finesse.
Then onwards to Swinging Sixties’ London, keeping her pop-star next-door-neighbours The Hollies’ stash of marijuana in her herb jars; flourishing at her restaurant with ground-breaking late-night opening; party cooking from her flat and a van; the Rolling Stones and The Beatles (“the Full English,” requested the nocturnal Fab Four and no greenery on Ringo’s plate). Cooking for Princess Margaret too.
Cue Prue’s cookery school, still going strong. Her branching out into cookery writing and novels (eight so far). Those non-exec posts. Journalism. Recipes in papers, with an accidentally erroneous measure for one ingredient causing a particular stir. TV work, 11 years’ judging on Great British Menu and now unintended innuendos (as innocent as that Parisian orgy) to Paul Hollywood’s side on The Great British Bake Off, whose theme tune had heralded Dame Prue’s arrival.
After the businesswoman in Dame Prue was exhibited during the interval in a revolving showcase on screen for her books, specs range and Pure Prue homeware, that perky Bake Off tune announced part two, Prue plus one, Prue and TV producer Clive Tulloh, the witty, gently teasing host for a question-and-answer session.
Tulloh had skilfully filleted the questions sent in by the audience, fishing out the best and finding connecting themes and juicy jousts for Dame Prue’s pondering in the confession chamber. As promised, nothing was “off the menu”, plenty of Bake Off, no back off.
Prue, what does Paul Hollywood smell like? “Grown-up crumpet,” she mused, before an unexpected revelation. She no longer needs glasses, after a cataract operation, but she just loves wearing her bright Prue-designed frames. To emphasise the point, she promptly stuck a finger through where the lens should have been. Well, that’s certainly better than a poke in the eye.
After stories of specs & drugs & maybe not sausage rolls, this show in praise of food, love and life found Dame Prue in a place of happiness, hitting the sweet spot on cake TV, the sun shining brighter than ever on Leith.
Simran Kular’s Ruby, left, and Jessica Kaur’s Amber in Pilot Theatre’s Run, Rebel. Picture: Pamela Raith
Pilot Theatre in Run, Rebel, York Theatre Royal, March 10 at 1pm and 7pm; March 11, 2pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
RUN, Rebel has only a short run in York, more of a sprint than a marathon.
However, Pilot Theatre’s premiere is a co-production with regular partners York Theatre Royal, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, Derby Theatre and Mercury Theatre, Colchester, ensuring a longer stretch across the theatre canvas for actress, children’s author, screenwriter and playwright Manjeet Mann’s adaptation of her 2020 debut verse novel.
Such has been the impact of Pilot’s stage versions of children’s and young adults’ books The Bone Sparrow, Noughts & Crosses and Crongton Knights that Mann was resolute in wanting the York company to mount the premiere.
Good decision, Manjeet! In return, she has delivered a superb, serious, searing drama that marries her knowledge of stage craft as an actress to how best to present words for maximum impact on stage under Tessa Walker’s astute direction (a Walker directing a play full of running!).
As the title would suggest, both running and rebellion feature, along with a third ‘R’, revolution. Midlands schoolgirl Amber Rai (Jessica Kaur), aged 15, is trapped by her Punjabi family’s rules (or more particularly her heavy-drinking father Harbans’ intransigence); their expectations (arranged marriage, like her sister Ruby (Simran Kular) and her own fears (represented in video designer Daniel Denton’s imagery of “The Man” and cast members cutting roses in bloom).
Jessica Kaur’s Amber and Pushpinder Chani’s Harbans in Run, Rebel
At the heart of Debbie Duru’s set is what looks like the Rowntree Park skateboard park, rising at both ends, but serving as a running track and symbolic of uphill struggles, topped by metal fencing. This open-plan design facilitates a smooth transition from outdoor to indoor, from school playground to schoolroom to house interior.
Niraj Chag’s compositions add to the Punjabi flavour, while Denton’s ever-changing video backdrop combines street photography with playful schoolroom scrawls, charting the path to revolution encouraged by Amber’s history teacher and imagery of Amber’s mother Surinder (Asha Kingsley) learning the alphabet and English language (leading to a shopping list), along with the aforementioned sinister face in close-up.
Physical theatre is as crucial to Run, Rebel as Mann’s dialogue (where her use of repetition works wonderfully), and significantly the cast is always in view, whether central to a scene or watching from the sides. Pushpinder Chani’s threatening, abusive Harbans, for example, feels ever present.
Physicality is double-edged for Amber. On the one hand, her prowess at running (to a national championship standard) gives her a sense of freedom, but her father threatens to kill her if she goes against his refusal to let her race.
Volume down, telly off, not even five minutes to themselves for mother and daughters when the drunk Harbans staggers through the door demanding his supper. Gradually, however, the seeds of revolution are sown not only by Amer, but by Surinder too, whether hiding her job earnings from him or finding support to break free when needing an escape.
Keep on running: Tessa Walker’s cast is always on the move in Run, Rebel
The school world is equally well drawn by Mann, both in Amber’s friendship complications and misunderstandings with David (Kiran Raywilliams) and Tara (Hannah Millward), and in Amber taking out her jealous teenage frustrations by bullying a classmate (Kular again). Chani’s hip History teacher will have everyone wishing he was their teacher too.
Suitable for age ten plus, Run, Rebel carries the warning of containing violence, domestic violence, alcoholism, bullying and discrimination, and it handles such subject matter with righteous ire, in the tradition of a Sixties’ kitchen-sink drama, but also with a deep understanding of different cultures. Mann finds room for flinty humour too, in the school banter and the mother-and-daughter relationships, and hope burns brightly as the fires of revolution spark up.
Walker’s thrilling, moving, uplifting production even revels in a burst of dancing as if from a Bollywood movie climax, when teenage love is a’fluttering too. Kuldip Singh-Barmi’s movement direction matches the physical force of the language, capturing the release of running as much as the running into trouble.
Walker’s cast does Run, Rebel proud, a six of the best led by Kaur’s troubled yet talented Amber, who is not a conventional gilded school sports hero, but a warts-and-all teenager, difficult for even her friends to love at times. Kaur captures all that, putting her in the running for a 2023 Hutch Award. And what better week to present Run, Rebel than in York International Women’s Week.
Having the time of his life: Dave Hearn, centre, in The Time Machine, with comedy compadres Michael Dylan and Amy Revelle. All pictures: Manuel Harlan
DAVE Hearn, co-founder of those clever clowns in calamitous theatre Mischief Theatre, is spending time away from his comedic cohorts to go travelling through the country in The Time Machine.
From March 14 to 18, his time travels will bring him to York Theatre Royal in Peepolykus duo John Nicholson and Steven Canny’s re-visit of H G Wells’s epic sci-fi story for Original Theatre.
“It’s a play about three actors who run a theatre company and are trying to put on a production of The Time Machine, with fairly limited success,” says Hearn of this “comic version like no other you’ve seen” as Wells’s storyline travels to the end of the earth’s life to reflect on our own.
“But then a big event happens that causes the play to spiral out of control and my character [Dave] discovers actual time travel.”
Doorway to time travel: Dave Hearn on tour in The Time Machine
Billed as an “out of this world, fast paced, wise-cracking comedy where science fiction and science fact collide and extraordinary, mind-boggling things can happen”, how does Orla O’Laughlin’s production contrast with such Mischief-making capers as The Play That Goes Wrong, The Comedy About A Bank Robbery and Magic Goes Wrong.
“In some ways it’s similar, though I’d say it’s less reliant on big set pieces and more focused on the relationships between the characters. And I think it’s possibly more intellectually challenging, in the nicest way! The writers have done a brilliant job.”
Hearn is not an H G Wells aficionado, but he is a science fiction fan in general. “I read the entire Dune trilogy, which took me the best part of my life, but it’s mind-blowing stuff,” he says. “I think the play does a great job of making Wells’s story accessible, even to those without knowledge of the source material.”
Hearn is playing Dave, H G Wells’s great-great-grandson, in Nicholson and Canny’s version. “He’s very excited to be presenting a production of The Time Machine. He’s quite assured of his own writing gifts, and really wants to prove himself in this regard, even when it’s not completely appropriate. I quite respect him for that in many ways.”
Making his point: Dave Hearn shocks Michael Dylan and Amy Revelle in The Time Machine
Should you be wondering, Dave was not named after him. “I originally auditioned for one of the other parts. I remember reading it and thinking I did an OK job, but felt intuitively that I’d be a better Dave,” Hearn says. “Eventually they asked me to read for Dave, and then everything made a lot more sense.”
Hearn began performing in his schooldays. “I did GCSE drama because – believe it or not – I was a very shy young man, and decided doing drama might help boost my confidence. I got an A* and then, after a spell doing odd jobs, decided to go to Harlow College and do a BTEC in performing arts,” he recalls.
“I always really enjoyed it, though I think I was quite arrogant as well. I genuinely thought I was a great actor, and I remember talking to my mum about going to drama school like it was completely my choice.”
To enable him to do the drama foundation course at LAMDA, his parents sold their house and car. “I don’t think I realised at the time just what a show of faith that was. They were so supportive,” he says.
Everything stops for tea: Amy Revelle and Dave Hearn take a breather in The Time Machine
LAMDA (the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) was to be the meeting place for the Mischief makers, Henry Shields, Henry Lewis and Jonathan Sayer, and regular performer Hearn, who hit the jackpot with The Play That Goes Wrong.
“That was around five or six years after we formed Mischief [in 2008]. We didn’t pay ourselves during that period, we just kept making sure we had enough to do Edinburgh every year. Then around 2012 we decided we would write a Christmas show, The Murder Before Christmas at the Old Red Lion,” he says.
“We performed it at 9.30pm each night and had to store the set on the roof under a tarpaulin, because there was no space. It was woefully unsafe, but we kept going and after we finished the run the artistic director asked us to come back a few weeks later because another show had cancelled. That show became The Play That Goes Wrong.”
On his shoulder: Dave Hearn, behind Michael Dylan, every step of the way in this scene from The Time Machine
Hearn went on to enjoy a decade of success with Mischief and foresees a return to the fold, but he was ready to spread his wings. “It felt like a big decision for me not to go to Broadway with Peter Pan Goes Wrong. There were some personal reasons for that, but I’d wanted for a while to step away from Mischief,” he reveals.
“I could feel the beginnings of resentment creeping in, because I felt like I had to be loyal to the company. Nobody put that on me, that was all from me, but it felt right to step away. I’m enjoying being in a room with other people again. With Mischief the work is always very collaborative, but it’s actually quite nice just being told where to stand.”
One last question: if Hearn had a real time machine, where would he travel? “I’d love to go to the future, and see what cool gadgets they have,” he says. “Maybe I could go to the year 3,000, and see if Busted were right.”
Original Theatre’s The Time Machine travels to York Theatre Royal from March 14 to 18, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Warning: May contain show tunes.
Copyright of The Press, York
Dave Hearn in the role of Dave, H G Wells’s great-great-grandson in Original Theatre’s The Time Machine
On fire: Gorka Marquez and Karen Hauer in Firedance
STRICTLY Come Dancing stars Gorka Marquez and Karen Hauer will reignite their chemistry in Firedance at the Grand Opera House, York, on March 12 at 5pm. Yes, 5pm.
In a show full of supercharged choreography, they will be joined by sizzling dancers and mesmerising fire specialists for a dance-off inspired by movie blockbusters Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo & Juliet, Moulin Rouge, Carmen and West Side Story.
Soundtracked by a live band, Firedance will take a journey through Latin and contemporary dance, igniting passion as Marquez and Hauer turn up the heat and hit their rhythm to Latin, rock and pop songs by Camilla Cabello, Jason Derulo, Gregory Porter, Gipsy Kings, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and more besides.
Marquez says: “Firedance is back! Karen and I are so excited to dance up a storm for you in 2023. Expect favourite moments and lots of new songs, dance, heat, fire and passion. We can’t wait to be back with our brilliant company doing what we love and hope you will join us.”
“Creating and performing this incredible show has been a career highlight,” says Karen Hauer
Hauer says: “I am so excited to be reuniting with Gorka to bring you Firedance: Reignite in 2023. Creating and performing this incredible show has been a career highlight and we are taking things to another level with original dances, new music and a lot more fire! We can’t wait to show you what we have created with this second chapter of the Firedance story.”
Originally from Bilbao, Spain, Marquez attended ballroom and Latin dance classes from the age of 11, quickly excelling and representing Spain across the globe.
He first graced BBC One’s Strictly dancefloor in 2016, partnering Alexandra Burke, Katie Piper, 2020 finalist season Maisie Smith, Katie McGlynn and 2022 finalist Helen Skelton since then.
He is a qualified personal trainer, fashion model and content creator, having worked with Facebook, Spotify and Tropicana, and has created his own range of apparel in collaboration with WIT.
“Karen and I are so excited to dance up a storm for you,” says Gorka Marquez
Born in Venezuela, Hauer grew up in New York from the age of ten. Joining Strictly in 2012, she is the show’s longest-serving professional dancer, partnering Westlife’s Nicky Byrne, the Hairy Bikers’ Dave Myers, Mark Wright, Jeremy Vine, Will Young and chef Simon Rimmer.
In 2018, she reached the quarter-finals with actor Charles Venn and went a step further in 2019, taking comedian Chris Ramsey to the semi-final. In 2020, she reached her second final when partnering Made In Chelsea’s Jamie Laing. Next came Greg Wise in 2021 and an all-female coupling with comedian Jayde Adams last winter.
Hauer is a certified personal trainer and launched her online at-home, equipment-free fitness programme, Hauer Power, in 2019.
Firedance: Reignite’s 2023 itinerary will take in a second Yorkshire show at Sheffield City Hall on April 1 at 7.30pm. Box office: firedancelive.co.uk; York, atgtickets.com/york; Sheffield, 0114 256 5593 or sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.
Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez in Firedance: Rhythm, passion and fire
Robert Hollingsworth: Conductor of The 24. Picture: Frances Marshall
YOU would not normally expect a choral concert to consist only of eight Mass sections, four each from the 16th and the 21st centuries.
That thought must have occurred to Robert Hollingworth, conductor of The 24, which is now the University of York’s chamber choir (although with eight more singers than its title suggests).
So he added – on the pretext that this was both St David’s Day and the first official day of spring – six seasonal poems along with extracts of birdsong. Not perhaps what paying customers had hoped to hear, but certainly original.
Equally controversial was the setting of Palestrina’s Missa Papae Marcelli, in what was termed an arrangement by Francesco Soriano, a former pupil of the great man and a one-time choirboy at San Giovanni in Laterano, Rome (St John’s Lateran) under his direction.
Soriano’s declared intention is to convert Palestrina’s four-voice setting into a double-choir, eight-voice polychoral one. But at times he departs so far from Palestrina’s original that what he produces is better described as a paraphrase. We would be better off leaving Palestrina’s name out of it altogether.
The 24 tackled it judiciously, if without much variation in tone or dynamics. When upper voices were heard alone during Palestrina’s Benedictus, it was both a welcome relief and beautifully done. The preceding Credo had enjoyed a strong finish, but there was no sign of a piano at the Crucifixion. The most homogeneous tone came in a smooth Agnus Dei.
The Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara completed his Missa A Cappella five years before his death in 2016 aged 87. It derives a certain mysticism from its regular use of a halo of sound around its main melodies, which otherwise appear without much accompaniment.
There was a new urgency in the choir here, which peaked in the rapid chanting at the end of the Credo. The ‘halo’ effect was at its best against the solo in the Sanctus; the otherwise calmer Benedictus closed with an unexpected crescendo.
There was even a glimpse of timelessness in the Agnus Dei, where the layering of the voices was at its clearest. Doubts remained however about how much weight the composer had given to the actual texts, as opposed to merely producing a spiritual aura.
The 24 is obviously a highly competent ensemble. But one could have wished for repertory that had stretched it more and provided contrast with the two masses. The poems were intelligently read but would have benefited from amplification. The birdsong remained, I fear, peripheral. But it was good to be back in a refurbished Guildhall.
On tour: The company for Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. Picture: Matt Crockett
Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap, 70th Anniversary Tour, Grand Opera House, York, snowed in until Saturday, 7.30pm nightlyplus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
PLEASING symmetry finds Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap retaining its habit of playing the Grand Opera House every three years since the mouse first escaped its London trap for a Diamond Anniversary Tour in 2013.
Giles and Mollie Ralston (Laurence Pears and Joelle Dyson) may be novice hosts at the newly opened Monkswell Manor Guest House, but the furniture and wallpaper at this converted Berkshire manor house look suitably well-worn to match a comfortingly ageing play in its 71st year, still featuring the original set design with its grand entrances and closed doors, wood panelling and faded carpets.
Snow is falling, denoted by somewhat large, sporadic flakes on coats and hats, as each guest arrives, greeted by thoroughly decent, off the cuff, somewhat grouchy Giles and very organised Mollie, who turn out to have something of Fawlty Towers’ Basil and Sybil about them in their mutual point scoring.
This is old England where rationing still simplifies the menu; the radio informing of a murder in London is still called a wireless, and every man wears a dark coat, a light scarf and a felt hat (just like the chap seen exiting the scene of the crime apparently), in an early nibble at a false trail. The audience’s laughter is of the knowing kind, happy to be played by Christie’s mind games.
Hard boiled:Gwyneth Strong’s Mrs Boyle
Christie has assembled a rum assortment of guests ripe for both humour and something altogether darker. “All our guests are unpleasant or odd,” Giles will later observe ruefully of this eccentric bunch.
Enter schizophrenic young architect Christopher Wren (Elliot Clay), a practical joker with a streak of Peter Pan in his refusal to grow up, outwardly charming but crazed inside.
Next come sourpuss old stick and former magistrate Mrs Boyle (Gwyneth Strong, with a bristling performance to match that surname); brusque lesbian Miss Casewell (a clipped Essie Barrow), and sinister Mediterranean man of mystery Mr Paravicini (Kieran Brown, parading his Barricade Boys singing chops too).
He is the only one to arrive without a booking, his car having overturned in the snow, or so he claims, but then again, he could be casing the joint. Brown’s melodramatic performance, deliberately dodgy accent to boot, is just about straight, but like Clay’s Wren, he is all the more humorous for straying towards campery.
Sanguine Major Metcalf (Nicholas Maude, understudying the unavailable Todd Carty all week) fits in well. Then whoosh, last through the door, or rather, announcing his entrance with a tap on the window, is young Detective Sergeant Trotter (Joseph Reed), who has defied the inclement weather on skis. In another gentle bend to humour under Ian Talbot and Denise Silvey’s direction, he swings them around his head, forcing guests to duck each time he turns.
Taking notes: Joseph Reed’s Detective Sergeant Trotter conducting his investigations
Once the guest house and phone line are both cut off, the humour begins to play second fiddle to the mystery (except for Brown’s mischief-making Mr Paravicini) as Reed’s Trotter conducts his investigations with rising frustration.
The truth will out, revelation by revelation, as to why everyone is there. All the while, the nursery rhyme refrain of Three Blind Mice plays its haunting part in Christie’s venerable story.
The Mousetrap, anachronistic English Fifties’ entertainment to the conservative manner born, is not the greatest play ever written, with a little stiffness in the dialogue’s limbs and an afternoon nap in its tempo in the second half.
However, without today’s gruesome gore, it is jolly good fun, replete with the requisite twists, turns and teases, suspicions and suspense, allied to psychological nous, to keep you guessing in the dark as the nerves tingle.
The affable cast members, with their dapper dress and plummy accents, have a period flavour about them that delights, and no rotter will surely defy Trotter’s request at the final curtain to keep schtum about whodunnit.
Lizzy Whynes, left, Megan Bailey and Paula Clark: The Bolshee trio running the Dancefloor Project for safer spaces for women
NEWSFLASH 8/3/2023: Bolshee Dancefloor Project’s Listening Project session with Pilot Theatre at York Explore Library on March 9 has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.
HAVE you ever felt unsafe on the bus? Or walking to work? Or on a night out? If so, Bolshee invite you to join their Dancefloor Project in York.
The York creative projects community interest company ran a pilot session at Brew York, in Walmgate, as part of York Design Week 2022 last October and is now delivering a series of nights around York in March and April on a “pop-up dancefloor where you make the rules”.
“Take up some space, soak up the vibes, bust a move, pick up a pen and tell us your demands,” say Bolshee creative director Paula Clark, associate director Lizzy Whynes and creative producer Megan Bailey. “When women don’t feel safe in so many spaces, what would make you feel safer on the dancefloor?
“The Dancefloor Project brings people together to explore ways we can make everyone feel safe and reduce sexual harm in public spaces – because everyone deserves to be free to be themselves and bust a move without fear.”
The first night, held at The Crescent community venue last Saturday with Lizzy on the decks, will be followed by a Saturday afternoon session at the StreetLife Hub, Coney Street, on April 1 from 1pm to 3pm, while a night at the University of York is being organised, hopefully in May.
Bolshee’s dancefloor for the Dancefloor Project, designed by Megan Bailey. Picture: Emily Richardson
In addition, as part of York International Women’s Week, Bolshee’s Dancefloor Project will be teaming up with York company Pilot Theatre for The Listening Project at York Explore Library and Archive, in Library Square, Museum Street, on March 9 from 5pm to 6.30pm.
Bolshee is running the Dancefloor Project in tandem with York St John University psychology researchers, in association with York St John University Institute for Social Justice, whose community research grant assists the project’s purpose of “creatively and collaboratively exploring prevalence and prevention of sexual harm in public spaces”.
The Dancefloor Project emerged from Megan’s ongoing studies for a Masters in Culture, Creativity and Entrepreneurship at the University of Leeds.
“We had a module where I had to come up with a project,” she recalls. Cue her “interactive pop-up dancefloor with a tiny dancefloor that can fit into the back of a van and Perspex walls that people can write on”.
“They can dress up, request a song, have a dance, chat to us, in a project that’s all about looking at sexual harm against women and girls in public spaces,” says Megan, who has designed the dancefloor space with its flashing walls.
Bolshee’s Lizzy Whynes DJing for the Dancefloor Project
“York St John is leading the research part of the project, under Dr Anna Macklin, which is basically an arts-based method of looking at sexual harm and prevention, where everyone can claim the dancefloor as their own, wear what they want, but also talk about these things that disproportionately affect women and girls in public spaces and nightclubs.
“The next step will be build on the research to work with partners to push for change. That’s what missing; everyone knows about the spiking of drinks and women being injected in nightclubs, but no-one knows what to do about it, so as part of my dissertation, I’m looking at embodied knowledge of women working collectively and individually to employ their own strategies.”
Paula says: “Why is it our responsibility as women? That’s why we want to discuss it. When you go on our dancefloor, you are asked: ‘what would you want in this space?’. Like, ‘don’t touch me’; ‘don’t spike me’, but also ‘can we make it brighter?’.
“The suggestions from what’s being written on the walls are coming in from women and from men too. Women are asking, ‘please give us more space’; ‘please don’t sit next to us when there’s loads of space on the bus’.”
Dotted around the dancefloor is a QR code to facilitate participants to write down their own experience, tell their story, that can then be submitted anonymously online to the project researchers.
Megan Drury and Alexander Flanagan Wright, from At The Mill, Stillington, dancing at the Dancefloor Project pilot session
The Dancefloor Project is methodical in making participants feel at home. “When they come in, we explain what the project is about, and they’re told what will be happening, with no photography allowed,” says Megan.
“Everyone has to consent to enter the space because of it being a research project, so it’s a closed space to anyone who doesn’t agree to provide that consent.”
Bolshee also will provide support on how to report an incident. Paula is a safeguarding lead on the York St John project, and Bolshee work with the York St John All About Respect team, wo train students and the university community to run campaigns on dealing with sexual violence and to signpost the support services that are available.
Among the questions asked most regularly by women relate to how they get home safely from a night out and how do they do so when walking home. “It’s something that tends to be overlooked by men, probably because they don’t experience those problems, but women do,” says Megan.
“Take up some space, soak up the vibes, bust a move, pick up a pen and tell us your demands” on the Dancefloor Project dancefloor. Picture: Emily Richardson
“That’s why we want to keep the Dancefloor Project open to men, so that they can see what’s being written on the walls, think about they can do, how they can contribute to ultimately make the quality of life better for everyone, not just women.”
In turn, the York St John researchers are exploring the psychology of how to make men be part of the conversation and not be mere bystanders.
Already in place nationwide is the Ask For Angela poster and window sticker scheme in bars, where, if someone feels unsafe, they can say that coded phrase to the bar staff to let them know they need help “getting out of their situation”.
Bolshee CIC would be delighted to partner with other organisations in schemes. “We’ve had a meeting with a chain of bars in Yorkshire, who have approached us and want to talk more,” says Paula.
“We’ve also been talking with The Egalitarian, an organisation at the University of Leeds, under the business strategy offices, where they run data-led training for venue and festival staff.”
Bolshee’s Paula Clark, left, Megan Bailey and Lizzy Whynes on hand at the Dancefloor Project
Bolshee noted how “no-one was reporting spiking of drinks because there was no formal information about it or what to do when it happened”. In the absence of such protocols, Bolshee can play their part in addressing such problems.
“Our projects are artistic, and we like to do things that are vibrant and make people talk about things,” says Lizzy.
“That’s why we’ll be taking it to both universities in York, as well as the Saturday late-night event at The Crescent and the afternoon pop-up at the StreetLife Hub.
“It’s not just nightclub culture, but safety for everyone, and this is a really good way to talk about it. It could be on the bus, but we’ve chosen a dancefloor because it should be a fun space.”
One collaboration already set in place is Bolshee’s one-off involvement in Pilot Theatre’s Listening Project on March 9, when the Bolshee dancefloor will be used in a workshop for 18 to 25-year-olds. “We’re doing a mash-up, with dancing, and then they’ll talk about what changes they would like to see in their city,” says Lizzy.
What is Bolshee?“Born out of the frustrations of trying to achieve autonomy and leadership roles in an industry that fears risk and, even more so, bolshie women, we champion women and girls by co-creating and producing projects that elevate the voice of and support those who identify as female,” say Bolshee. “We want to work with people of all ages, backgrounds and experiences, and collaborate with artists to produce vibrant multidisciplinary creative projects”
Bolshee will be receiving funding from the University of Leeds to expand the Dancefloor Project into Leeds as a result of Meghan winning the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Student Award.
“We’ve also been asked to do regular DJing with the Arctic Piranha team of learning-disabled adults at ARC [the arts centre] at Stockton-on-Tees, putting on safe, accessible, fun club nights once a month with a theme, guest DJs, dancers and singers each time and the chance to send in suggestions for the set list,” says Lizzy.
“Again, this has been all about coming together in a safe environment, where people feel included and accepted.”
In a further contribution to York International Women’s Week, Bolshee CIC will be taking over the Golden Ball Open Mic Night at York’s first community pub in Cromwell Road, Bishophill Senior, tonight (6/3/2023) at 8pm.
“Run by Hannah Hutchinson, it’s a very old pub that’s very supportive of York artists, spoken-word performers and musicians, with lots of creative people meeting there; it’s also inter-generational and it’s our local,” says Paula.
“Our projects are artistic, and we like to do things that are vibrant and make people talk about things,” says Lizzy Whynes, left, pictured with Bolshee co-founders Megan Bailey and Paula Clark
“Every week the pub runs an open-mic night, but usually not that many women perform. We wanted to do something for International Women’s Week last year but we’d only just started, and so now we’re doing it for this year’s festival.
“We’re encouraging all self-identifying women and non-binary people to take the mic, and everyone is welcome to join us for a night of music, spoken word, delicious pints and Bolshee women. It’s coming at a really busy time for us and just something we’re doing for everyone to have fun.
Lizzy adds: “It’s great to be part of International Women’s Week, doing things with people we love, and there’s no need to book to perform. You can just come along and sign up on the night to perform.
“It’s a nice way to celebrate female talent, whether they perform for fun, or professionally, or just want to try it out for the first time.” As a further incentive, there will be a free drink for each performer and a Bolshee badge. Entry is free of charge.
Definitely taking part will be women who attended The Bolshee Women autobiographical Perform Yourself course last October to December, now making their Open Mic debut.
Paula Clark: New post in Kirklees
What Paula did next after leaving York Theatre Royal
PAULA Clark has taken on a new full-time post as head of programming at Creative Scene in Kirklees, West Yorkshire.
Based at Brigantia Creative in Dewsbury, this project to “bring arts to the people and make art part of everyday life” commissions and produces arts and cultural activities and events in and around Dewsbury, Batley, Mirfield, Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike.
All the work is shaped by the people that live there, who become involved as co-commissioners, co-producers and participants.
Creative Scene puts on gigs and shows in pubs and libraries, family-friendly performances in community centres and rugby clubs, film screenings in old mills and outdoor arts events in town centres, parks and at festivals.
At the Brigantia creative meeting and making space, Creative Space hosts creative groups and activities and brings people together for creativity and learning, collaboration and conversations.
Creative Scene is a project of Brigantia Creative, a charitable organisation that supports positive social change through arts and culture.
“Spaces may be plentiful around Kirklees but they’re not always accessible or safe because of being left derelict,” says Paula. “We’re doing a learning research project for Arts Council England to see what works where. Already there’s been a load of involvement in Creative Scene projects going into housing estate communities that might otherwise feel excluded.”
Fellow Bolshee founder Megan Bailey is working for Creative Scene too.
On the run: Pilot Theatre in Manjeet Mann’s teenage drama Run, Rebel. Picture: Pamela Raith
A TEENAGE rebel, a vintage murder mystery, panel games, circus and singing feats and a diverse women’s festival command Charles Hutchinson’s attention.
Play premiere of the week: Pilot Theatre in Run, Rebel, York Theatre Royal, 7pm, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 1pm, Wednesday to Friday; 2pm, Saturday
SCHOOLGIRL Amber Rai is trapped by her family’s rules, their expectations, her own fears, but on the running track she is completely free. As her body speeds up, the world slows down, the tangled lines in her head becoming straighter.
York company Pilot Theatre combine physical theatre and mesmerising visuals in Manjeet Mann’s stage adaptation of her verse novel, suitable for age 11 upwards, as she addresses domestic violence, alcoholism, bullying and discrimination. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Blue diamond ceramic by Ilona Sulikova at Pyramid Gallery, York
Exhibition of the week: Abstract, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until March 28, open 10am to 5pm, Monday to Friday; 10am to 5.30pm, Saturdays
CZECH-BORN York ceramacist Ilona Sulikova will be at Pyramid Gallery today from 12 noon to 2pm to meet gallery visitors and give an insight to her large, full-bodied raku-fired vessels , decorated with intricate geometric patterns that repeat, expand and contract as they progress. “The intention is to create sequences of rhythm and movement,” she says.
Abstract complements ceramics by Sulikova and Carolyn Genders with oil paintings by Kimbal Bumstead and glass sculptures by Crispian Heath, Yuki Kokai and Jon Lewis.
Elysian Singers: Psalms, sonnets and songs at the Unitarian Chapel
Concerts at the double: Late Music presents Ruth Lee, Harp Recital, March 4, 1pm to 2pm; Elysian Singers, Psalms, Sonnets And Songs, March 4, 7.30pm; both at St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, York
IN an afternoon concert of folk-inspired new music for harp, Ruth Lee premieres a David Lancaster work, visits Eleanor Turner’s Alice In Escher’s Wonderland and gives a rare performance of Hindemith’s Sonata for Harp (First Movement).
At night, the Elysian Singers present a tripartite modern take on the milestone publication of William Byrd’s Psalmes, Sonnets and Songs Of Sadness and Piety in 1588. Composer Nick Williams gives a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm ahead of the premiere of his new work. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
Rachael Maskell MP: Taking part in York International Women’s Week
Festival of the week: York International Women’s Week, March 4 until March 12
UNDER the theme of Solidarity, York International Women’s Week embraces live and online events. A full programme is available at yorkinternationalwomensweek.wordpress.com or in print from community venues, libraries, cafés and independent shops.
Among the highlights will be End Period Poverty: A Community Conversation in the Priory Street Centre on March 10 from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. Confirmed for the panel are chair Justine Hughes, activist and period queen Anna Johnston, York Central MP Rachael Maskell, Freedom4Girls’ Tina Leslie and YorKits’ Janice Lawson.
I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue: Host Jack Dee and his panellists Tony Hawks, Pippa Evans, Marcus Brigstocke and Milton Jones at York Barbican
Spoilt for choice at York Barbican: Cirque, The Greatest Show, March 5, 1pm and 5pm; I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, March 6, 8pm; Giovanni Pernice: Made In Italy, March 9, 7.30pm
MUSICAL theatre meets circus spectacle in Cirque, where West End and Broadway hits combine with aerialists, contortionists, and feats of agility and flair.
Droll Jack Dee hosts BBC Radio 4’s antidote to panel games, setting the challenges to Tony Hawks, Pippa Evans, Milton Jones and Marcus Brigstocke. Cue inspired nonsense, Mornington Crescent and musical accompaniment from Colin Sell.
Strictly Come Dancing 2021 professional champ Giovanni Pernice journeys to his homeland in Made In Italy, promising hot, hot, hot action with his ensemble of ballroom dancers and singers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Giovanni Pernice: Made in Italy, performing in York
Murder mystery in York: The Mousetrap, Grand Opera House, York, March 6 to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
AGATHA Christie’s mystery The Mousetrap, “the longest running play in the world”, takes in a return to York’s Grand Opera House on its 70th anniversary tour.
Ian Talbot directs this twisting, turning tale of intrigue and suspense set at Monkswell Manor, a stately countryside guesthouse where seven strangers find themselves snowed in as news spreads of a murder in London. When a police sergeant arrives, the guests discover – to their horror – that a killer is in their midst, but whodunnit? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Conducting enquiries: Joseph Reed as Detective Sergeant Trotter in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Matt Crockett
Soulful musical journey of the week: Arsen Petrosyan, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, March 10, 7.30pm
ARMENIAN duduk specialist Arsen Petrosyan returns to the NCEM after his Making Tracks showcase there. This time he leads his quartet, featuring Astghik Snetsunts (on qanun), Avetis Keoseyan (dhol/percussion) and Vladimir Papikyan (santur), through Armenian traditional, early, classical and sacred music.
Hokin Janapar: My Soul’s Journeyis his nostalgic exploration of the music that has stirred his soul in turbulent times, reflecting the continued odyssey of his nation on the border between Europe and Asia. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Arsen Petrosyan: Playing Armenian duduk music at NCEM, York
The great gig in the café: 50 Years of Dark Side Of The Moon: Vinyl Listening Party, FortyFive Vinyl Café, Micklegate, York, March 23, 6pm to 7pm
CELEBRATING 50 years of one of the greatest albums of all time, FortyFive Vinyl Cafe is marking this momentous occasion by inviting you to bask in an early second issue of the original 1973 pressing of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon.
“These copies were produced for a short time only, between first pressing and first repress,” explains Dom White, from FortyFive. A short break for drinks will bridge the gap between Sides 1 and 2, the other side of the ‘Moon’. Reissued vinyl copies of the album will be for sale, along with a new book detailing the vinyl pressing history. Entry is free.
Dark Side Of The Moon: Welcome to the Pink Floyd Listening Party at FortyFive Vinyl Café, York
Kieran Brown in the role of the mysterious Mr Paravicini in The Mousetrap. Picture: Matt Crockett
SNOW could be on its way to York this week and definitely will be in Agatha Christie’s murder mystery The Mousetrap, the longest running play in the world.
The British and Irish tour to mark the whodunnit’s 70th anniversary opened last September at Nottingham Theatre Royal, where its world premiere took place in 1952 before transferring to London for its unbroken run ever since, playing 28,500 performances and selling ten million tickets at the St Martin’s Theatre.
Next stop for Christie’s beloved tale of intrigue and suspense will be the Grand Opera House, York, from tonight to Saturday.
So, what’s the story? As news spreads of a murder in London, seven strangers find themselves snowed in at Monkswell Manor, a stately countryside guesthouse. When a police sergeant arrives, the guests discover – to their horror – that a killer is in their midst. One by one, the suspicious characters reveal their sordid pasts, but which one is the murderer? Who will be the next victim?
Heading to York will be a cast of Nicholas Maude (replacing the unavailable Todd Carty) as Major Metcalf; Gwyneth Strong as Mrs Boyle; Joelle Dyson as Mollie Ralston; Laurence Pears as Giles Ralston; Elliot Clay as Christopher Wren; Essie Barrow as Miss Casewell; Joseph Reed as Detective Sgt Trotter and Kieran Brown as Mr Paravicini.
Unlike Clay and Barrow, who have both performed in Christie’s drama in London, Kieran is a Mousetrap novice. “To my eternal shame, I had never seen it, had no idea of what it was about, and I didn’t read it until the first day or rehearsals, so I went into it with a completely fresh set of eyes,” says the Scottish actor, from Falkirk. “When it’s a show that’s been around for a while, I don’t think it’s healthy to see it before you do it, because you don’t want to copy someone.”
His role of Mr Paravicini, the most mysterious of all in the murder mystery, is described in the character crib notes as “the unexpected guest who arrives at Monkswell Manor due to the severity of the storm”.
Is he from Europe or is he putting it in on? “Well, he does make a point of overly pronouncing his name so that the detective sergeant can spell it correctly!” says Kieran.
“The way I’ve approached it is that I was undecided if it was all just an act. Is he really foreign or faking it? The director gives you a little freedom as to how you play your character, without having to tell anyone what you’ve decided. So, I’m going for more a Mediterranean flavour to his accent rather than Italian.”
The cast for the 70th anniversary tour of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. Picture: Matt Crockett
Mr Paravicini’s character card – and he is a card! – says this of him: Occupation: Unknown. Manner: Roguish, game-player. Notes: Moves like a much younger man.
“He plays the markets. Read into that what you will,” says Kieran. “He says his car has overturned in a snowdrift, so he’s had to stagger through the snow to find a safe haven. There are lots of signs of him being a conman or robber, who’s gone there to case the joint, on the chance of making money out of it.”
Assessing the undying appeal of The Mousetrap after all these years, Kieran says: “The audiences love the twists and turns, and when they have the rug pulled from under their feet, you can hear the gasp of surprise.
“It also feels like you’re all part of a secret club, you are all partners in crime – cast and audience – and you respect being asked to keep the ‘reveal’ a secret. So many people have been a party to that and don’t want to break it.”
As for Agatha Christie, “I think she’s such a wonderful writer. Some of the characters she has written here are so ahead of their day,” says Kieran.
“There are signs and pointers, a representation of characters that weren’t being represented in theatre at the time, and not in a negative way. She was brave enough to present characters who would identify as lesbian or gay, which was alien to her day. Maybe she’s kind of the last person you would think of as being sympathetic, but she was.”
The Mousetrap has stood the test of time. “There were attempts to modernise it, like replacing the radio with a television, but that just didn’t work. There’s no point trying to keep things up to date. It doesn’t need it. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” says Kieran.
Next week’s run will not be the first time that he has played the Grand Opera House. “I performed there with The Barricade Boys two years ago,” says Kieran, who sang alongside Scott Garnham, the musical theatre actor and singer from Malton, whose paths first crossed at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Scottish Conservatoire). “But I was only in York for a day, so it will be lovely to spend a proper week there.”
His contract in The Mousetrap runs until May 6, concluding with three weeks back in his homeland in Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The perfect ending.
The Mousetrap runs at Grand Opera House, York, from March 6 to 11,7.30pm nightly plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york .
