Breaking News

Posted on

Matt Goss is much more than the hits on his return to York Barbican for April 25 show

Matt Goss: Tipping his hat to The Hits & More in Hull, York and Leeds in April. Picture: Paul Harris

ANNOUNCING The Hits & More tour, Matt Goss proclaimed: “Trust me, what I’ve learnt over the years being on countless stages around the world, this will be your best night of the year!”

Three Yorkshire shows in quick succession offer the chance to take the Bros pop star-turned- Las Vegas showman at his word at Hull Connexin Live on April 24, York Barbican on April 25 and Leeds Grand Theatre on April 28, the tour’s closing night.

On the road since March 8, Goss will be celebrating all he has achieved in his music career and beyond since Bros’s 1987 debut smash with When Will I Be Famous?

He will be returning to York two years to the week since The Matt Goss Experience show with the MG Big Band and The Royal Philharmonic, rearranged to April 20 2023 on medical advice after the recurrence of a shoulder and collar-bone injury.

“I couldn’t believe how much I loved York, the history, the buildings. I fell in love with it,” recalls Matt. “Everything I love about this country was there. I really enjoyed it a great deal – and I loved the audience there.”

“There are challenges here compared with the States, but I’m very lucky to be part of the furniture,” says Matt Goss

The 2023 tour show combined Goss’s biggest hits with new original music and a tribute to Cole Porter in an evening of “unashamed swing, glitz and swagger”. “I take great pride in my arrangements with the horn section,” he says of that show. “This time it will be more of a rock’n’roll set-up , still with a horn section, but a bit harder sounding, taking things I’ve  learned from my Caesar’s Palace residency in Las Vegas, adding rock’n’roll.”

Matt would prefer not to have to “compartmentalise my Matt Goss career, my Bros career , my Las Vegas career”. “I don’t  have to go through this in America, where I’m allowed to be a singer, to be more much more  expressive, but there’s so much history here, and as much as I love it here, they can compartmentalise you,” he says. “In America, it’s more profound, more supportive.

“But I have landed in a very fortunate place here. There are challenges here compared with the States, but I’m very lucky to be part of the furniture.”

So, yes, there will be the hits, but the “And More” element is equally important. “It’s everything I’ve learned in Las Vegas; how I connect with my audience, the communication side. It’s everything I’ve learned in the last 38 years of my career,” says Matt, 56.

“I couldn’t believe how much I loved York, the history, the buildings. I fell in love with it,” says Matt Goss, recalling his 2023 visit to the York Barbican. Picture: Paul Harris

In practical terms, there is more immediacy to a rock’n’roll show than “the big turning circle of a big band”. “You’re meant to feel the difference,” says Matt. “You can get away with more when you play live, pushing it harder, breaking it down instantaneously.”

Going forward, Matt says: “I want my live work to be much more frequent here, and not all my big moments to be on the States, as it’s what I do best.”

Matt  loves being in control in his live shows, where there is “always room for a laugh” and he looks at ease. “The second you’re uncomfortable is the second the audience is uncomfortable. You’ve got to remove fear as the audience can pick up on that. I’m single-minded on stage, taking pains to make sure they’re enjoying themselves and  not worrying about their bills in that moment.”

By comparison, he found taking part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2022, straight off the plane from America, to be a restrictive experience, losing out in a Week Four  dance-off against Kym Marsh when paired with professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova. 

“I respected everyone on there,” he says. “But you’re told what to say, you’re told how to dance, and I just felt completely removed from myself because, by definition, on that show you never have communication. They want soundbites. It was everything I didn’t want to do.

The poster for Matt Goss’s The Hits & More tour

“I don’t mean that negatively but it didn’t agree with me on any level. Nadiya was fantastic, but I didn’t feel it was me. I know how to move on stage, I’ve been doing it for 38 years, but suddenly you’re beholden to the dance you’re given. It’s not a space to communicate. It’s not for me.

“I’m a singer, I’m an artist, I don’t mind presenting or having my own show, but I don’t want to be in this celebrity force-fed atmosphere. There are very few shows that don’t erode your artistry. In  a weird way, it’s like being a dancing monkey in a zoo. It’s not encouraging a cerebral connection. It’s all soundbites.”

After 25 years of blue skies in America, Matt made the “massive decision” to move to central London last year. “There was an element of fear, but in my relationship with the media, no-one has thrown a side-swipe for a long time.

“The weather is pretty challenging, but I love the architecture, the parks, the venues; I love my food, I love travelling around the country too. I’m happy to be back.”

Matt Goss: The Hits & More, York Barbican, April 25, 8pm. Also plays Hull Connexin Live, April 24 and Leeds Grand Theatre, April 28. Box office:  mattgossofficial.co.uk; yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Copyright of The Press, York

Posted on

REVIEW: The Storm Whale, York Theatre Royal Studio, until Saturday ****

Laura Soper’s Noi with the beached Storm Whale in The Storm Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio. Narrator Charlotte Benedict looks on. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick Photography

YORK writer-director Matt Aston launched his premiere of The Storm Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio in December 2019.

Now his adaptation of two enchanting Benji Davies stories, The Storm Whale and The Storm Whale In Winter, takes the plunge for a second time in a run that coincides with the Easter holidays in a co-production by Aston’s company, Engine House Theatre, York Theatre Royal, The Marlowe, Canterbury and Little Angel Theatre, London.

Apparently it takes only two and a half minutes each to read Davies’s award-winning works. Put together in one show, they are stretched to 75 minutes, including an interval, with your reviewer’s guarantee that children aged four upwards will have a whale of a time, topped off by a little “mild peril” in Act Two.

Lydia Denno’s original set was metaphorically lost at sea after Covid,  and so she has re-created the delightful sea-front design with its scaled-down versions of a lighthouse and the island home where a little boy, Noi (York-born Laura Soper) lives with his fisherman Dad (Richard Lounds).

So do their six cats with such Kent town names as Deal and Sandwich, the family favourite represented by a puppet that has a habit of leaping onto Dad’s shoulder. The other five occupy picture frames, or more precisely, appear to be bursting out of the frames with playful intent.

The Storm Whale writer-director Matt Aston

The house front seen in miniature is then replicated in full scale, with a washing line, fishing netting, steps, a boat and a porch, from where Soper’s awkward, restlessly inquisitive Noi surveys the waves, craving company when hard-working Dad is fishing at sea.

Noi tries to reassure himself that “it’s OK to be on your own but not OK to be lonely”, but that loneliness is threatening to come crashing over him like a wave.

Loneliness that is shared by Flo, Davies’s narrator, played with a joyous heart by York actress Charlotte Benedict (formerly Charlotte Wood), who begins by looking back on the story from the distance of humorously erratic adult memories.

Childhood days when she would lick her strawberries and cream-coloured lighthouse home in the hope of a sweet flavour. Flo’s own story will flow in and out of Noi’s tale, and she too is often on her own, both back then and 20, 30, 40 years on.

Charlotte Benedict’s Narrator in The Storm Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick Photography

Aston’s beautifully told production delights in theatre’s time-honoured tools of storytelling and puppetry, coupled with Julian Butler’s acoustic folk songs (one with a hint of The Pogues’ Fairytale Of New York, no less), as we encounter the height of a storm and Noi’s subsequent encounter with a little whale, washed up on the sand.

Soper brings comedic physical theatre skills to Noi’s struggle to lift the whale into the   house bath (later to double as Dad’s fishing boat) as the bond of friendship grows and audience hearts swell with the loveliness of it all.

Post-interval, the forewarned “mild peril” takes the form of Dad undertaking his last fishing trip, when his boat becomes stuck in the frozen waters of deep winter. In his enforced absence, Noi desperately wants to see the whale once more, whereupon two storylines overlap with a sense of wonder at the finale, enhanced by the puppetry’s finest moment.

Soper captures the insatiable curiosity of a ten-year-old boy, in movement and facial and vocal expression, depicting a child seeking treasures, experiences and friendship alike, with bountiful love to give, as he comes to terms with the loss of his mother.

Lounds’ widower Dad has a phlegmatic front, necessary for his fishing work, but a jolly disposition too, full of kindness yet burdened by the weight of responsibility of now being Noi’s sole guide on their isolated island.

The poster for Matt Aston’s production of The Storm Whale

You will love the detail in Denno’s set and costume designs, from the cotton-wool snowy rooftops in winter to the starfish “badge” on Noi’s striped jumper.

Hayley Del Harrison’s movement direction flows as pleasingly as the storytelling, and when the lighthouse light switches on as a beacon to guide Dad to safety, it also serves to remember the work of original lighting designer Jason Salvin (whose  torch is now carried by Christopher Flux).

“The Storm Whale was Jason’s last show before he passed away in November 2020,” says Aston. “The show is always now dedicated to him.”

What a magical, moving, beautiful show it is.

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

Posted on

Step inside Flat Number Two as Declan Vink launches EP with debut full band show at The Basement, City Screen, tomorrow

Declan Vink: the creative musical and filmmaking force behind Flat Number Two

YORK alternative pop artist  Flat Number Two launches his Cherish EP at The Basement, underneath City Screen Picturehouse, Coney Street, York, tomorrow.

“What better place for my first ever headline show,” says cinephile Declan Vink, the film school drop-out who is inspired as much by film as music in his creative project as a singer, songwriter, producer and filmmaker to boot.

“I became fascinated with the visual power of music and the ability to create imagery through words and sounds,” says Declan, who works as a producer for the BBC Radio York breakfast show by day.

“Adopting the philosophy of artists such as Frank Ocean to inject meaning into every sonic element of a track, Flat Number Two utilises a mixture of analogue synths, self-recorded soundscapes and drum samples to communicate my vision.”

His rare upbringing of Dutch, Irish and British heritage led to an unconventional approach to his immersive sonic and visual art. “More concerned with painting a picture than adhering to genre, Flat Number Two is far from predictable,” says Declan.

This is typified by his experimental approach to making music videos. His first, for the song Wet, was shot on VHS across The Balkans, while Bleach, his March 28 single,  was filmed using an iPhone in New York.

In between, in February, Declan released a deeply personal and beautiful music video for Empty, another single to be taken from his Cherish vinyl EP, filmed on Super8 film in the desolate landscapes of Jyväskylä, Finland.

“It captures the overwhelming feelings of guilt and longing I felt when I moved to another city, leaving behind the empty nest my mother experienced after me and my sisters left home,” he says. “I dealt with it the only way I know how… by song-writing,” he says.

In the wake of his debut EP, I Don’t Want To Dream Anymore, urgings listeners to “recognise their power as a human being and their ability to change the world around them for the better”, his new EP “explores the complexities of change, impermanence and imperfection while holding on tightly to the things we treasure most”.

“I really wanted to start a new project when I moved to York from Keighley when I was 22/23, after performing under my own name,” says Declan. “I couldn’t think of a name but I was living at Flat Number Two at the time and the rest is history!

“I guess in a sense I was making a new name for myself, and it was a time of change. That flat was in Tang Hall, but now I’ve moved to Lawrence Street and it’s not Number Two and it’s not even a flat but I’ve kept the name.”

The artwork for Flat Number Two’s Cherish EP, newly available on vinyl

For tomorrow’s  show, Declan will be joined by Kanani Vierra and Mickey Dale. “It’ll be the first time I’ve played with a full band  – I previously did a small-scale acoustic gig at Guppy’s. Just me. A lot has changed since then.

“Kanani  is a drummer who’s played with Jack Johnson; we met through a mutual friend.  Mickey is from Bradford; he’s the keyboard player with Embrace and he’ll play bass, synth and keys, with me on guitar and vocals.

“He’s amazing  at working with up-and-coming talent,  and again I met him through a friend, when I was studying at Leeds Conservatoire .

“He has his own studio, the Cellar of Dreams, and we’ve been rehearsing for the gig which will have a visual side to it too, with a projector set up for the show.”

Declan is delighted to be playing tomorrow’s gig in a cinema building. “I approached City Screen because I liked the idea of my first headline show being below a cinema, and there’s a lot of visuals to my music,” he says.

“I love a lot of film soundtracks, like Lost In Translation and other Sofia Coppola films. I like the way artists convey a mood through their work and that’s something I like to do. Some of the projection will be the stuff I’ve  filmed, like the film I shot in Finland and the VHS footage shot on holiday in North Macedonia and Albania, which has a nostalgic feel to it.”

Should you be wondering why Declan dropped out of the Northern Film School , he says: “It’s not that I’m not an academic person because I did go on to further education studies,” he says. “I failed my Maths A-level but I went on to gain a First Class degree in music production.

“But I struggle with learning the rules; I struggle to learn the language of the medium I’m trying to use, but the creative side is where I really thrive.  I dropped out right at the end of the first year. For the final project, you had to direct a film to be screened in front of the whole year’s intake, and I got absolutely rinsed for my film.

“I was out of my comfort zone, and I thought, ‘this is not part of the creativity I want to be part of. This is meant to to be fun’ – but  it wasn’t.”

Flat Number Two, by contrast, allows Declan to be fully expressive, combining his musical and film-making skills. Take a look inside his flat tonight.

Flat Number Two, supported by special guests and rising stars Em Louise and Bennett Elliott, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tomorrow (18/4/2025), 7pm to 11pm. Box office: eventbrite.com/e/flat-number-two-the-basement-at-cityscreen-picture-house-tickets-1146731557959.

Posted on

REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on Hejira: Celebrating Joni Mitchell, National Centre for Early Music, York, April 10

Hejira: “Light years from a bunch of impersonators imitating the big hits”

MORE than sold out, it goes to show that York audiences have a good ear. Hejira provided a wonderful two-hour concert to celebrate the music of Joni Mitchell.

With six jazz musicians on stage, this was light years from a bunch of impersonators imitating the big hits. Instead, we were treated to sensitive re-workings of songs drawn mainly from Mitchell’s mid-late 1970s’ jazz period.

If that sounds rather dry, the musicians enthused the night with a good measure of warmth and good humour. The set list was superb, mixing the better-known songs alongside lesser-known gems, and thankfully not leaning too far into jazz fusion.

This masterclass in set construction was typical of the care and thought that Hejira bring to their performance. There were new arrangements (Hissing Of Summer Lawns), instrumentals (Pat Metheny’s Song For Bilbao the pick) and also The Last To Come Along from Hattie Whitehead’s slow-burning solo record, Bloom.

Of her peers, Mitchell perhaps caught the jazz bug the hardest. Unlike the only other contender, Tim Buckley, Mitchell managed to not lose her audience in the process (at least until the unfortunate Mingus).

Her most covered hit, the freewheeling Free Man In Paris, shows her conflicted relationship with the music industry (itself very ‘jazz’). Yet her ambivalence and flight inspired some of her very finest material.

No mean feat for Hejira to re-imagine. Fortunately, Hattie Whitehead has a voice that can stop hearts in the space of a bar, a stunning instrument that is the equal to Mitchell’s, best heard on A Case Of You or a contemplative take on Woodstock.

The story behind Mitchell’s Hejira would make a great road trip movie, as she drove cross-country with no driving licence and a couple of friends intent on kidnapping one of their children.

The trio of songs, Amelia, Pat’s Tune and Hejira, was the towering centrepiece of the night, to these ears the equal of the originals (take your pick from the choice offerings in the latest archive box set that covers this fertile period).

The way Hejira started with only Whitehead then gradually introduced the guitar (Pete Oxley), then bass clarinet (Ollie Weston), bass (Dave Jones, ably re-creating those Jaco Pastorius lead bass lines) and piano (Chris Eldred) was breathtaking. Indeed, a real feature of the concert was Oxley’s knack for introducing musicians to build the songs, with Song For Sharon another great example.

It wasn’t entirely flawless (although it was close) , the extra solos at the end of A Case Of You were unnecessary and even musicians of this calibre struggled to make a case for reappraising Mitchell’s 1980s’ work.

Bland good taste didn’t propel Mitchell to superstar levels in the ’80s (her spark didn’t return until 1998’s Taming The Tiger, no apologies necessary for that one) but the musicians did at least improve on Be Cool (from 1982’s lacklustre Wild Things Run Fast).

A wonderful night of music as the full moon shone beatifically overhead.

Review by Paul Rhodes

P.S. You can see the real thing, Joni Mitchell herself, in Paris this autumn (Casino de Paris, November 17).

Posted on

Lottie Adcock to hold Tudor dance workshop at York International Shakespeare Festival on April 27

Tudor dance workshop leader Lottie Adcock

HISTORICAL dance teacher Lottie Adcock will lead a Tudor dance workshop at York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium on Sunday, April 27 at 2pm as part of York International Shakespeare Festival.

“Enthusiasts and newcomers alike are invited to come and learn dances from the time of Shakespeare,” says Lottie, who teaches regular Dance The Past workshops in York and the surrounding area and has more than 15 years’ experience in this dance form.

Her repertoire spans hundreds of years, from medieval to early 20th century dances. For her three-hour workshop of popular Tudor dances, she takes inspiration from the references to dance in Shakespeare’s writing.

“Come and learn the Scotch Jig, the Cinquepace, the Galliard and maybe even the controversial Lavolta, amongst others,” says Lottie, who will lead participants through dances accompanied by music after relevant quotes are read to set the scene as Shakespeare, the social commentator, gives an insight to the popular entertainment of his time.

“You don’t need prior experience or a partner and there’s no need to dig out your Tudor costume.  Those taking part are just encouraged to wear comfortable shoes and bring water.”

Historic dance was a hobby for Lottie that turned into a passion and now a business. “I love  learning about social history and feel that historic dance is a great way to gain insight into the minds of our ancestors,” she says.

When she is not dancing, Lottie works as a living history interpreter at Murton Park, home of the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, in Murton Lane, York. In her spare time, she loves playing board games, Dungeons & Dragons and travelling whenever possible.

Workshop tickets are on sale at parrabbola.co.uk/booking-calendar/dance-the-past. The full tenth anniversary festival programme can be found at yorkshakes.co.uk.

Posted on

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 16, from Gazette & Herald

Gary Oldman in rehearsal for Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, now in its preview week at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Gisele Schmidt

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

York theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, until 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 1987.

“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.

Laura Soper’s Noi with the beached Storm Whale in The Storm Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio. Narrator Charlotte Benedict looks on. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick Photography

Children’s show of the week: The Storm Whale, York Theatre Royal Studio, until Saturday, 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 and eggs for Easter

Festival of the week: York Chocolate Festival 2025, today to Saturday, 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, York

Rock’n’roll nostalgia of the week: Showaddywaddy, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 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.

Mark Radcliffe and David Boardman: Two voices, two guitars, original songs and carefully chosen covers at Pocklington Arts Centre

Duo of the week: Mark Radcliffe and David Boardman, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 8pm

MARK Radcliffe and David Boardman are singing, songwriting, strumming and swigging buddies from Knutsford in the Badlands of the Cheshire Plain. BBC radio presenter and author Radcliffe was a member of folk-rock bands The Family Mahone and Galleon Blast and is now one half of electronic duo UNE and drummer and lyricist for Americana band Fine Lines.

Guitarist, guitar teacher and visual artist Boardman cut his teeth on the rock circuit with Darktown Jubilee. On board with Radcliffe, they deliver two voices, two guitars, original songs, carefully chosen covers and the occasional rambling anecdote. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Patrick Monahan: The Talkinator fights back against AI at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Comedy gig of the week: Patrick Monahan: The Talkinator, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 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.

Alfie Richards’ Mr Tumnus in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York

Touring show of the week: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Grand Opera House, York, April 22 to 26, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

STEP through the wardrobe into the kingdom of Narnia for the most mystical of adventures in a faraway land. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as they wave goodbye to wartime Britain and say hello to Mr Tumnus, the talking Faun (Alfie Richards), Aslan, the Lion (Stanton Wright), and the coldest, cruellest White Witch (Katy Stephens). 

Directed by Michael Fentiman, this breathtaking stage adaptation brings magical storytelling, bewitching stagecraft and stellar puppets to CS Lewis’s allegorical novel. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Alex Hamilton: Playing the blues with his trio at Milton Rooms, Malton

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Alex Hamilton Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 24, 8pm

ALEX Hamilton (formerly Lewis Hamilton) has been part of the British blues rock scene for more than ten years, touring Great Britain and Europe. First making his mark as a young guitarist with skills beyond his age, he has matured and developed a technique redolent of Robben Ford and Matt Scofield.

Hamilton’s debut album aged 18 won the Scottish New Music Award in 2011 and his subsequent albums have been nominated for the British Blues Awards. He tours in a trio with his father Nick on bass and Ian Beestin on drums. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

In Focus: 1812 Theatre Company in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d, Helmsley Arts Centre, April 23 to 26, 7.30pm

Jean Sheridan’s Miss Marple, left, and Jeanette Hambidge’s Cherry Baker in rehearsal for Miss Marple in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d. Picture: Joe Coughlan

HELMSLEY Arts Centre’s resident troupe, the 1812 Theatre Company, present Rachel Wagstaff’s stage adaptation of Miss Marple in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d, a story of revenge and dark secrets set in late-summer 1962 England, when the wind of change blowing through the land reaches sleepy St Mary Mead.

A new housing estate, The Development, is making villagers fearful of changing times. Stranger still, a glamorous Hollywood movie star has bought the manor house, Gossington Hall, throwing the village into a frenzy.

Meanwhile, Miss Jane Marple (played by Jean Sheridan) has injured her ankle, a temporary impairment that confines her to a chair, making her question if life has passed her by. Enter Scotland Yard’s Chief Inspector Craddock (Richard Bannister), the son of a very dear friend of the spinster sleuth, after the vicious murder of a woman, poisoned at a party held by film star Marina Gregg (Lucy Wilshaw). Now Miss Marple must unravel a web of lies, tragedy and danger.

All the party guests are suspect; as ever, everyone’s version of events is different. Who would have guessed that a famous poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson would provide the key to the mystery?

Wagstaff’s play is an adaptation of Christie’s 1962 novel The Mirror Crack’d From Side To Side, first toured in 2019 with a cast led by Susie Blake as Miss Marple and Simon Shepherd as Chief Inspector Craddock. Blake reprised the role on tour at York Theatre Royal in October 2022.

Lucy Wilshaw rehearsing her role as American film star Marina Gregg. Picture: Joe Coughlan

“The title of the novel, and the shortened version for the play, is taken from the moment when the mirror of ‘The Lady of Shalott’ (from the Tennyson poem) cracks and the curse she’d feared now befalls her,” says director Julie Lomas.

“The novel’s plot was undoubtedly inspired by Agatha Christie’s reflections on a mother’s feelings for a child born with disabilities, and it is thought that she was influenced by happenings in the life of beautiful real-life actress Gene Eliza Tierney.

“There are several themes running through the novel, and the play, covering some of the changes in social history since the Second World War, including the class structure, racism and ageism.”

The novel was made into a film in 1980, with a multitude of star names, includimg Angela Lansbury as Miss Marple, Elizabeth Taylor as Marina Gregg and Edward Fox as Chief Inspector Craddock.

All the Miss Marple’novels were adapted for a BBC TV series shown in the 1990s, starring Joan Hickson as Miss Marple.

For tickets, ring 01439 771700 or book at helmsleyarts.co.uk.  

Who’s in the cast?

Becca Magson’s Lola Brewster and Richard Bannister’s Chief Inspector Craddock in the rehearsal room. Picture: Joe Coughlan

THE Mirror Crack’d was scheduled to be staged by 1812 Theatre Company in 2024, but that old enemy Covid intervened. After a few cast changes under new director Julie Lomas, the production is ready for next week’s run.

Miss Jane Marple: Jean Sheridan

Marina Gregg: Lucy Wilshaw

Cherry Baker: Jeanette Hambidge

Chief Inspector Dermot Craddock: Richard Bannister

Heather Leigh: Michele Hopley

Cyril Leigh: Steven Lonsdale

Jason Rudd: Beaj Johnson

Giuseppe Renzo: Barry Whitaker

Dolly Bantry: Lynn Goslin

Ella Zielinski: Linda Tester

Lola Brewster: Becca Magson

Who’s in the production team?

Jean Sheridan’s Miss Marple, left, and Lynn Goslin’s Dolly Bantry on the phone in rehearsal for 1812 Theatre Company’s production. Picture: Joe Coughlan

Director: Julie Lomas

Production assistant: Julie Wilson

Stage manager/properties: Anna Hare; Marcie Hughes

Technical director: James Bentley

Set design: Julie Lomas; Sue Elm

Set construction: Michael Goslin; Peter Ives; Russell Smith

Set painting: Pauline Noakes; Heather Linley; Denise Kitchin; Liz Ives; John Lomas

Sound design: Julie Lomas; John Lomas

Lighting design: Julie Lomas

1812 Theatre Company’s poster for next week’s production of Miss Marple in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d

Posted on

Here comes The George Harrison Project at Joseph Rowntree Theatre on May 10

The George Harrison Project

THE George Harrison Project celebrates “the quiet Beatle’s” best-loved hits from the Fab Four, his solo career and The Traveling Wilburys at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, on May 10 at 7.30pm.

Alongside John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, Harrison helped The Beatles become the best-selling music act of all time with 600 million units shifted worldwide.

After the Liverpudlian four-piece called time on Beatlemania, Harrison released 12 solo studio albums, including 1970’s triple disc All Things Must Pass, 1973’s Living In The Material World, 1974’s Dark Horse, 1987’s Cloud Nine and 2002’s posthumous Brainwashed, following his death on November 29 2001.

 The George Harrison Project’s artwork, featuring multiple Harrison song titles

In 1988, in Malibu, California, Harrison co-founded the British-American supergroup with Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty and Roy Orbison.

Returning to York as part of the tribute act’s 2025 tour, The George Harrison Project combines such songs as Taxman, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Something, Here Comes The Sun, All Things Must Pass, My Sweet Lord, Blow Away, Handle With Care and  Got My Mind Set On You with video footage and interesting facts about Harrison and his music.

For tickets, 01904 501935 or go to josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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.

Gary Oldman’s programme note for Krapp’s Last Tape: Returning Home

Gary Oldman: Picture: Gisele Schmidt

“I MADE my professional public acting debut on the stage in front of you.  It is on that stage, over four decades ago, I gained confidence and self-discipline; no small thing. More importantly, I learned a work ethic – one that has never left me to this day.

“It’s impossible to think that I have spent nearly the entirety of my professional life since then in front of the camera. But, camera or not, the theatre never leaves you. Shortly after I entered the world of film, I met Douglas [Urbanski], my producing partner, whose roots in the theatre were as deep as it gets.

“In the thousands of conversations we have had, spanning more than 30 years, a theatre reference or an anecdote or experience is almost always present. We both pull from a giant mental museum of theatre references, knowledge and experience. And, he and I, in fact, have been discussing plays  and my return to the stage since the day we met.

“Recently my wife, Gisele [Schmidt], and I adapted a television comedy pilot based solely in and around a British theatre. The writing process, as you might imagine, was punctuated with fond remembrances of my days on the boards.

“It was this project, in part, that reignited the conversation. If I were to do a play, where would I do it? We danced around the usual suspects and ultimately landed on York Theatre Royal. After all, it is the where it all began. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home.  I met with YTR’s chief executive, Paul Crewes, and the play, the how,  and the when , were mapped out.

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

“York Theatre Royal is one of the oldest theatres in England, with a rich and varied history dating back to 1744. This ancient building still holds many charms, but has undergone some massive redevelopment.

“You no doubt entered through the glass and concrete extension on the building’s north face. A 1960s addition by architect Patrick Gwynne. A new cafe, box office, studio theatre, and a renovation to the main auditorium were completed in 2016.

“Yet, despite all the structural upgrades, the same old challenges remain. Finding funding, the upkeep of the building, and, more importantly, getting the people to come.  It’s not easy. There are just too many distractions for the eyes, ears, and pulling at one’s purse strings, particularly for the new, younger audience.

“I think it’s important to remember, for those who live outside London, a local theatre is their only access to the arts. Without a local theatre, the younger generation will never get the chance to see theatre. We need these future generations if theatre is to thrive.

“I hope this production of Krapp’s Last Tape whets the appetite, giving those new to the theatre a completely revelatory experience. And who knows? It may encourage them to visit the theatre again. And again. And again. They may even invite a friend. And hopefully a devoted theatregoer, or two, will emerge!”

Programme note: copyright of York Theatre Royal