The cover artwork for Martin Hutchinson’s On Track…The Kinks Every Album, Every Song, published by Burning Shed Books
ON Track…The Kinks Every Album, Every Song is the labour-of-love deep dive from music journalist, comedy writer and TV quizzer Martin Hutchinson.
In Episode 86 of Two Big Egos In A Small Car, culture podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson [no relation] interview Martin about why he chose The Kinks for his debut book and what research he undertook.
Graham and Martin then discuss why The Kinks and Ray Davies stood out, assessing their standing in rock history and why they were never rated as an albums band at their Sixties and Seventies’ peak.
Martin reveals his favourite Kinks songs and albums and speculates whether Ray and brother Dave will ever make up and tour again.
Diversity: Connecting through dance in the digital era
DIVERSITY’S Connected tour may have begun as a tenth anniversary show, but the disconnection caused by Covid lockdowns means the 79 gigs are being stretched across the London street dancers’ 13th year.
Already, their longest-ever itinerary on their tenth tour has taken in one York Barbican performance and afternoon meet-and-greet session with fans on April 4, when creator and choreographer Ashley Banjo, brother Jordan and Perri Kiely held a press day ahead of a run of Yorkshire dates.
Diversity, 2009 winners of ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent, will be returning to York Barbican on April 27, as well as playing Harrogate Convention Centre on May 8, with further Yorkshire shows in Halifax and Sheffield as part of a rearranged four-month trek to 34 British and Irish towns and cities from March to June.
79 shows, Ashley. Wow! “We could do more,” he asserts. “When you start to get towards 100, you think ‘why don’t we go up to playing arenas?’. The answer is, ‘we could, but it’s much harder to do the same quality of shows because the connection is different. This way, we get audience participation that’s just such fun.
Ready, teddy go: Diversity in action at York Barbican on April 5. Picture: Sarah Hollis
“We like to keep it at this size of venue, and even if we grow, I don’t think we would take it anywhere bigger because I love this scale of show.”
Ashley remembers the early days of touring after winning Britain’s Got Talent: “On our first venture into touring, we had 11 shows altogether, and not many promoters believed that dancers could fill venues.”
How wrong that perception was. Instead, Diversity have stayed true to their street dance roots while acquiring ever more devotees. Now they are presenting Connected, Ashley’s show about the internet, social media, the digital era and how it connects us all.
“We ask the audience questions around that idea, asking ‘how many of you use the internet?’, and they all put their hands up, but when you ask, ‘what is the internet?’, they can’t define what it is, and yet we use it every day. Our shows want to connect with people on a deeper level.”
Diversity’s Black Lives Matter-inspired routine in performance at York Barbican Centre: Picture: Sarah Hollis
This tour is the first chance to see Diversity give a live performance of their Black Lives Matter-inspired dance that prompted 24,500 complaints to Ofcom after they premiered the routine in a special appearance on Britain’s Got Talent on September 5 2020.
Ashley’s choreography took the form of a father guiding his son through the events of 2020, from the pandemic to police brutality against black people and George Floyd’s death that led to the Black Lives Matter protest marches.
The Mail Online published 20 articles on the matter, as complaints to media regulator Ofcom piled up over the dance routine’s “unsuitability for a family audience” and how it was “endorsing a political movement”.
Britain’s Got Talent was cleared of any breach of broadcasting rules, Ofcom declaring that Ashley’s dance was “a call for social cohesion and unity”.
“Our shows want to connect with people on a deeper level,” says Diversity creator and choreographer Ashley Banjo as they tour their tenth show, Connected. Picture: Sarah Hollis
“Creativity is always a leap of faith,” posted Ashley on Instagram in the immediate aftermath. “All I did was what felt right and I’d do it 100 times over … Sending love to everyone that stood by us.”
Looking back now, he says: “A huge amount of good has come out of it, and we’re including the routine in Connected. Having done it first on TV, this tour is the first time we get to see the audience reaction live. It’s quite magical when humans connect in that room.
“If you challenge – and you can say this about anything – things that feel they’ve been ingrained in our lives for so long, you’re always going to get an opposing opinion, but we were surprised at the intensity of the opposition.
“That only shows why the conversation is so important, and why being able to do almost 80 shows is an incredible opportunity for us.”
“With Diversity, people love the shows because there are so many talented dancers,” says Jordan Banjo. Picture: Sarah Hollis
Jordan and Perri have been part of the Diversity troupe from the start. “It’s an incredible feeling still doing the shows. The first thing you think after the TV success is, ‘they’ll give it a year’,” says Jordan.
“I was quite a cynical 16-year-old, thinking ‘make the most of it’. When Ashley first said ‘let’s do a tour’, I thought ‘that’s a bit crazy’.”
Thirteen years on, “People love Peri because they’ve grown up with him, and now they like listening to Peri and me in the morning on the Kiss Breakfast show. People loved seeing Ashley on Dancing On Ice,” says Jordan.
“With Diversity, people love the shows because there are so many talented dancers, with 15 of us on stage for most of the time, but it’s not just about being wicked dancers, or Ashley bring a brilliant choreographer, but with Ash, he really understands what people want to see and how to put it across.”
Perri is delighted by the reaction to the Black Lives Matter routine. “People are crying, we’re getting standing ovations,” he says. “It felt so negative after the TV broadcast that I remember thinking, ‘I don’t think we’ll ever do another show’, but actually we’ve got a lot of backing.”
Diversity: Connected, at Halifax Victoria Theatre, April 24, 3.30pm and 7.45pm; York Barbican, April 27, 7.45pm; Sheffield City Hall, May 1, 2.30pm and 7.45pm; Harrogate Convention Centre, May 8, 7.45pm. Box office: Halifax, victoriatheatre.co.uk; York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Harrogate, harrogateconventioncentre.co.uk.
Diversity’s poster artwork for their Connected 2022 tour
Purchaser Paul Martin and Pyramid Gallery owner with Don Lodge’s fundraising painting Impressions Of The Rally In York
YORK resident Paul Martin has bought Don Lodge’s painting Impressions Of The Rally In York. All proceeds will go to York City of Sanctuary to support refugees arriving from Ukraine.
The £500 oil on canvas captures a scene from a Ukraine rally held in York in March. All key individuals in the painting have given their consent for their images to be used for publicity for this cause. More details on York City of Sanctuary can be found at york.cos.org.uk.
Mr Martin is pictured, left, with Pyramid Gallery owner Terry Brett surrounded by paintings from Danny Barbour’s Unearthed exhibition, on show at the Stonegate gallery until April 24.
The man and the woman in black: Sam Jenkins-Shaw as Rochester and Eleanor Sutton as Jane in Jane Eyre at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
“I MUST have action! And if I cannot find it, I will make it,” says Jane in the new Stephen Joseph Theatre and New Vic Theatre co-production of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre.
The same proclamation could apply to playwright Chris Bush, whose new adaptation is running in Scarborough until April 30 before switching to Newcastle-under-Lyme from May 4 to 28.
Sheffield-born Chris cut her playwriting teeth while studying English Literature at the University of York in 2007, going on to win the National Student Drama Festival & Pleasance Edinburgh Competition.
In her York days, Chris also worked in the box office at the Grand Opera House, but the box-office figures that matter now are those applying to Bush’s own works, from The Assassination Of Katie Hopkins to Standing At The Sky’s Edge, her play with songs by Richard Hawley at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre.
Now comes Chris’s “witty and fleet-footed adaptation that seeks to present Jane Eyre to a fresh audience while staying entirely true to the original’s revolutionary spirit”, staged by Zoë Waterman’s playful cast of multi role-playing actor-musicians.
Playwright Chris Bush
“The SJT came to me to do this one,” she says. “Paul Robinson, the artistic director, got in touch with me. We’ve known each other for a little while; I’m on the artistic advisory board at the SJT; Paul was artistic director at Theatre 503 in London for ten years until 2016, and he knew my work from that time.
“The advisory board meets twice a year to talk about the work the SJT does, and he was saying, ‘wouldn’t it be lovely for you to do something here?’.”
Chris continues: “Opportunities for new work at the SJT are slightly limited by budgets, but Paul said they would be doing a Brontë festival and would I be interested in doing a play at the heart of it? Initially I was offered [Emily Brontë’s] Wuthering Heights, but then Jane Eyre, which I’m actually happier to do.”
Why? “I think I’m just really drawn to Jane both as a character and a figure. I’m a little shameful to admit my knowledge of the classic novels may not be definitive, but I love Jane’s determination to take control of her destiny,” she says.
Put bluntly, Jane may be “poor, obscure, plain and little, but that does not mean she is without passion”. Clever and uncompromising, with no patience for those who fail to meet her own high standards, she has no respect for authority, but lives by her own strict moral code, no matter what the consequences.
“I love Jane’s determination to take control of her destiny,” says Chris Bush of Jane Eyre, as played by Eleanor Sutton in his adaptation at the SJT. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
“I like a central character with a big arc, where she has to face fundamental change, but doesn’t compromise. Jane is rigid because she knows who she is and she will not bend.”
Chris considers Jane Eyre to be a proto-feminist text. “Charlotte Brontë has that authorial control, where she writes about the socio-political circumstances Jane finds herself in, where she is immoveable, and that brings problems for her as a woman without wealth and independent means,” she says.
“It’s totally out of the ordinary for someone like Jane not to compromise, whereas those born into privilege would have more of an opportunity.”
Chris’s adaptation retains the Victorian setting. “One of the things I didn’t want to do was to contemporise it, precisely because of everything I’ve just mentioned about Charlotte Brontë’s writing and the class structure that doesn’t exist anymore,” she says.
“I’ve done a few Shakespeare productions and I’m now doing Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle for CAST and the National Theatre Public Acts in Doncaster, working with 100 community actors.
Eleanor Sutton, left, and Zoe West in Jane Eyre. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
“Whether Shakespeare, Brontë , Dickens, Brecht or the ancient Greeks, I want to treat the text with respect but not reverence. They’re loved for a reason, and let’s acknowledge that but chuck out everything we don’t need when you can’t get everything in from a 500-page book.”
For Jane Eyre, Chris has “not changed anything drastically, in terms of the plot or Jane’s motivation, but it also has to make sense to a modern audience,” she says.
“You have to land it where it has the appeal of someone who has control over her destiny, rather than being weak or lovelorn.
“Jane is absolutely revolutionary, and what you note is how it chimes with the religious teachings of the text. She puts a huge amount of weight in Christian values that we might now find old-fashioned or socially conservative, but what makes her so revolutionary is that she follows those Christian teachings but has no truck with the presumptions of the men of the cloth.
“She has a great belief in Christian values, while believing they are not exclusive to Christianity and being a character who is free-spirited and fiery.”
Nia Gandhi, left, Sarah Groarke and Zoe West in Jane Eyre. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Chris’s adaptation eschews using a narrator. “I always feel a narrator is a bit of a cop-out, but there’s also a very practical reason this time: a narrator doesn’t work in a theatre-in-the-round, but someone playing a violin absolutely works,” she says.
“The conversation around music started with me and Paul, rather than Zoe, though I can’t remember if I said, ‘how about an actor-musician production?’, or if Paul did, but I’ve always liked musical theatre and using music in productions.”
In this instance, the songs are billed as “19th century pop hits”. More precisely, composer and sound designer Simon Slater oversees ballads, children’s tunes, hymnal music and songs that speak of Yorkshire and the North East to give a “real flavour of the period”.
“Using actor-musicians lets the whole thing feel light on its feet with that sense of being able to move forward through song,” says Chris.
Step forward Waterman’s cast of Eleanor Sutton’s Jane, Sam Jenkins-Shaw’s Mr Rochester, Nia Gandhi, Sarah Groarke, Tomi Ogbaro and Zoe West.
Stephen Joseph Theatre and New Vic Theatre present Jane Eyre at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarbrough, until April 30. Box office: 01723 370541 or at sjt.uk.com.
CBEEBIES superstar and children’s favourite Justin Fletcher presents an all-singing, all-dancing spectacular extravaganza in Justin Live! The BIG Tour at York Theatre Royal on Thursday and Friday.
Over 20 years, Justin has become a TV institution, piling up BAFTA award-winning appearances on Something Special, Justin’s House, Jollywobbles, Gigglebiz and Gigglequiz, as well as providing character voices for Tweenies, Boo, Toddworld and Shaun The Sheep, latterly voicing Shaun in the Aardman movie Farmageddon.
Tickets for his 11am and 2.30pm performances, presented by Imagine Theatre, are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Here Justin discusses his new live show and his inspirations with CharlesHutchPress.
Whatinspired you to make your first step into children’s entertainment?
“As a child, I used to watch Playschool with Johnny Ball, Derek Griffiths and Floella Benjamin and loved acting out the stories. During my three-year course at drama school, I was inspired by Philip Schofield and Chris Jarvis in the CBBC Broom Cupboard and thought I’d like to perform in some family theatre and television.
“I put a show reel together and managed to secure an audition for the theatre tour of Playdays, which was the show that took over from Playschool, and I landed the part of Mr Jolly. That was the very first part I played, which started my career in family entertainment.”
Who was your inspiration when growing up?
“I was very much inspired by the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy. I used to watch their slapstick routines over and over again. They had such an amazing chemistry between them.”
How has the world of family entertainment changed over the years and have you had to adapt your approach?
“The choice of family entertainment on television is now huge, whereas when I was a child there was avery limited number of programmes available to watch. However, having a good, strong, story-based script and engaging characters is still the key to having a successful programme.”
Although best known for your TV shows, you have produced and performed in plenty of theatre shows too. How important is live theatre for children and what do you enjoy most when playing to a theatre full of young people?
“Creating many family theatre productions over the last two decades has been incredibly important to me and hugely enjoyable. There’s nothing like performing on stage and meeting the families that support you and your television shows.
“Children’s theatre is so important, as it’s quite often their first live show experience. We’re hoping to inspire the next generation of theatregoers.”
Justin Fletcher’s map of destinations for The Big Tour
What do you enjoy about touring a live show?
“We have an amazing production team who work extremely hard to prepare the show before it goes out on the road. We’re like one big family. From the performers to the lighting and sound operators, the catering team, and the backstage crew, we’re all working together to put on the production.
“We also support each other whilst out on the road, which is really important when you’re away from home for fairly long periods of time. Touring provides a fantastic opportunity to experience so many different towns and theatres across the country and to meet so many new friends along the way.”
How did you start the creative process for writing Justin Live! The BIG Tour show and what inspired you?
“It always starts with a storyline. Once you have that in place, I think about the music content. Music is a vital element of all my shows, and I try to write some original songs myself, as well as featuring some of the much-loved traditional songs too.”
The BIG Tour will be full of slapstick. Why is this form of comedy timeless?
“Slapstick comedy has such wide appeal. It’s great when children and their families laugh out loud watching comedy routines by performers like Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. It’s a timeless format and you can’t beat the sound of belly laughter coming from the audience from children and adults alike.”
What interactive fun and games can audiences expect in theBIG Tour show?
“When children and their families come to see my shows, I don’t try to create a show that is simply to be watched, I create a show that they can be a part of. I love audience participation and almost every song we do is interactive and we always end with a big party that everyone can join in with.”
What are your favourite songs in the show?
“I love the action songs that we usually start the shows with. You can’t beat seeing the audience join in with classic songs such as Head, Shoulders, Knees And Toes, If You’re Happy And You Know It and The Hokey Cokey.
“Then, in a heartbeat, we can fill the auditorium with magical stars and all join in singing and signing Twinkle Twinkle. That’s the beauty of live theatre, you never quite know what’s coming next!”
Why should people come to Justin Live! The BIG Tour?
“It’s been a very long time since we’ve been able to tour. I can’t wait to get out on the road and to meet all of our friends once again.”
The sun always shines on a-ha in Scarborough in July
NORWEGIAN synth-pop trio a-ha will head to the East Coast on their 2022 World Tour to play Scarborough Open Air Theatre on July 3.
Forty years since forming in Oslo, vocalist Morten Harket, guitarist Pal Waaktaar-Savoy and keyboardist Magne Furuholmen will be playing Europe, the United States and South America in 2022.
a-ha made their breakthrough in 1985 with the chart-topping Take On Me and The Sun Always Shines On TV from debut album Hunting High And Low, since when they have released ten studio and two live albums, plus an MTV Unplugged album. Take On Me has been viewed 1.4 billion times on YouTube and repeatedly voted into MTV fans’ Top Ten Best Music Videos of all time.
a-ha The Documentary, a film that follows the Scandinavians over four years, will be released in British cinemas on May 27 to coincide with their series of UK arena shows.
a-ha: New album in October
The documentary charts a-ha’s rise to the peak of their popularity, portraying the challenging creative and personal dynamics of three strong individuals who achieved their dreams.
After their world tour, a-ha will not be taking time out. Instead, in October, they will release True North, their first collection of new songs since 2015’s I on their debut for Sony Music/RCA.
True North will be not only an album, but a film too, capturing a-ha while recording the songs over two early November 2021 days in Bodø, the Norwegian city located 25km inside the Arctic Circle, in a project completed with the Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic.
Venue programmer and promoter Peter Taylor, of Cuffe and Taylor, says: “a-ha are true pop pioneers, visionaries and one of the most loved bands of the last 40 years.
“Their 2022 tour sees them headline many huge venues, including the Hollywood Bowl, so we’re delighted to be bringing them to the UK’s very own iconic open-air arena, right here on the beautiful Yorkshire coast.”
Christina Aguilera: Follows Britney and Kylie in playing Scarborough Open Air Theatre
AMERICAN singer, songwriter, producer and entrepreneur Christina Aguilera, 41, will play Scarbrough OAT on August 2 as one of three UK shows this summer, with Liverpool and London to follow on August 3 and 5.
Promoter Peter Taylor says: “Christina Aguilera is a music superstar and true global icon and we’re absolutely thrilled she is coming to Scarborough this summer.
“Christina is only playing a handful of shows in the UK, so to bring her here is another major coup for Scarborough Open Air Theatre and the Yorkshire coast.
“First Britney [Spears], then Kylie [Minogue] and now Christina – three incredible women on the global stage – all headlining this special venue. Roll on August 2; this is going to be one of the must-see shows of the summer.”
More than 20 years after her self-titled debut album, New Yorker Aguilera has sold more than 43 million records worldwide, collected 18 million Spotify listens, received three billion YouTube views and achieved five American number one singles, making her the fourth female artist to top the charts over three consecutive decades (1990s, 2000s, and 2010s).
In 2010, Aguilera received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and she holds the honour of being the only artist under the age of 30 to be included in Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.
Aguilera’s British dates follow the release of her single Pa Mis Muchachas, a much anticipated return to her Latin roots in a Spanish-language celebration of Latina sisterhood that features Latin music superstar Becky G, explosive Argentinian rising star Nicki Nicole and Spain-based songwriter and rapper Nathy Peluso. Expect to hear it alongside Dirrty, Ain’t No Other Man, Fighter and Genie In A Bottle on August 2.
Sam Fender: Opening concert of Scarborough Open Air Theatre’s 2022 programme
NORTH Shields singer-songwriter Sam Fender will travel down the East Coast to open Scarborough Open Air Theatre’s 2022 season on May 27 on his biggest ever UK Tour.
The double BRIT Award winner, who turns 28 next Monday, will be airing songs from his two chart-topping albums, last October’s Seventeen Going Under and his 2019 debut, Hypersonic Missiles.
This year he added the Brit Award for Best British Alternative/Rock Act to his 2019 Critics’ Choice Award.
Fender will follow his Scarborough concert with summer headline festival sets at Tramlines, Truck and Victorious and a London outdoor show at Finsbury Park.
Tickets for Scarborough OAT gigs are on sale at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
At the double: Ryedale Youth Theatre’s two casts assemble for a Crunchem Hall Elementary School photograph
AND they’re back! After a long, Covid –enforced break, Ryedale Youth Theatre returned with a sold-out run of this fast-paced, energy-filled show – and what a show they gave us.
On account of the pandemic and because they have so many talented performers, the show was double cast in the principal roles, with Emily Umpleby and Alexa Johnson sharing the title role of Matilda herself.
On learning the show was double cast, I bought an extra ticket, and I’m so glad I did, as each cast was an utter joy to watch. Two very talented young girls who conveyed Matilda’s plucky spirit perfectly, beautifully acted and sung.
This spirit that was needed with parents like hers: a mother (Evie-Mae Dale/Matilda Gledhill) who wasn’t the least bit interested in her daughter, only her snake-hipped dancing partner Rudolpho (Charlie Fox/Lincoln Walsh), and a father (Alisdair Buck/Sam Piercy) who insisted until almost the end that Matilda was a boy.
Matilda, left, Mr and Mrs Wormwood and Michael in Ryedale Youth Theatre’s Matilda Jr The Musical
The comedic element was brought to the fore by all the cast but especially by the excellent portrayal of Miss Trunchbull, the nasty headmistress of Crunchem Hall, the school Matilda is sent to.
Both Joshua Lewis and Sam Spencer played the evil woman – who threw the hammer for her country – with ultimate nastiness and managed to make us all laugh at the same time, especially when she got a newt in her knickers.
The comedic timing by the all principals was a joy, and a skill that belied their youth. The hapless Bruce Bogtrotter, on confessing he had stolen a slice of cake from Miss Trunchbull’s tray, was made to eat the whole thing, and eat it most convincingly did Alex Bourke/Jack Robinson.
The put-upon and kindly Miss Honey (Abigail Rennison/Millie Kemp) – both with lovely vocals – was Matilda’s champion throughout, and Matilda’s friend at the library, Mrs Phelps (Lillian Willliamson/India Collier-Hield), was always ready to listen to Matilda’s stories about the Acrobat (Eloise Myers/Lola Weatherill) and the Escapologist (Callum Hodgson/Evie Bates). The scenes where this story was played out by the senior dance team were beautifully staged.
Miss Trunchbull, right, Bruce Bogtrotter and the Cook with the chocolate cakein Ryedale Youth Theatre’s Matilda Jr The Musical
With so many cast members, this company managed to convince us that the children really were all at school: little boys scooting around the stage, girls with a jump rope and skipping, my eyes didn’t know where to look to catch all the action.
The dancing and the choreography by ex-RYT member Lauren Hood was tight and perfectly in time with the music. The singing and harmonies, under the direction of Rachael Clarke, were absolutely marvellous and filled the stage with such tuneful voices – although when the children sang about being “Revolting Children” they were quite the opposite.
The music provided by The Invisible Band enhanced the show and never overwhelmed the songs or the cast singing them.
The production was under the direction of another ex-RYT pupil, Chloe Shipley, who brought the whole company together to present this vibrant and happy “comeback” show.
Miss Trunchbull, left, Miss Honey and Matilda, centre, with Crunchem Hall pupils in Matilda Jr The Musical
Mention must be made of the costumes – perfect school uniforms, so many of them – overseen by Jane Gledhill and Kerry Myers, who have assumed the role which Yvonne Young had held for the first 30 years of RYT.
The Backroom Boys and Girls and everyone else involved in this production deserve a mention too for their dedication to keeping this company going and ensuring that every performance ran like clockwork.
Ryedale Youth Theatre should have celebrated its 30th annual performance two years ago until Covid intervened. In that time, many members have left to further their education or careers but I’m glad to see there are so many talented members in the ensemble cast just waiting for their chance.
With such a multi-skilled and enthusiastic group as this, I’m sure they will be around to entertain audiences for another 30 years.
Review by Anne-Marie Gatford
Matilda, second from left, with Mrs Phelps, the librarian, The Escapologist and The Acrobat in Ryedale Youth Theatre’s Matilda Jr The Musical
WHAT’S in the chocolate box of Eastertide delights? Charles Hutchinson unwraps the goodies in store, from a sweet-flavoured festival to a musical premiere, a Led Zeppelin legend to two Big shows.
My cocoa shoe: Edible high heels at York Chocolate Festival
Festival of the week: York Chocolate Festival, oozing chocolate in Parliament Street, York, until Easter Monday, 10am to 5pm
RUN by York Food Festival and Make It York, York Chocolate Festival returns over the Easter weekend for the first time since 2019 in celebration of York’s heritage as the Chocolate City.
More than 40 stalls are complemented by workshops, demonstrations by chocolatiers, a chocolate sampling trail and chocolate pairing sessions with wine and whisky for adults. Look out for stands selling specialist origin chocolates, eggs, cakes, truffles, brownies, macarons, chocolate-flavoured drinks and liqueurs, even savoury outliers such as chilli jams, artisan pizzas and pies. Entry is free; some events are ticketed.
Robert Plant and Suzy Dian fronting Saving Grace, on tour at Grand Opera House, York
York gig of the week: Saving Grace with Robert Plant and Suzy Dian, supported by Scott Matthews, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7pm
SAVING Grace, the folk-blues co-operative led by Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, play York tonight, followed by a further Yorkshire gig at Halifax Victoria Theatre on April 26.
Singer and lyricist Plant, now 73, will be joined on the April and May tour by Suzi Dian (vocals), Oli Jefferson (percussion), Tony Kelsey (mandolin, baritone, acoustic guitar) and Matt Worley (banjo, acoustic, baritone guitars, cuatro). Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Celebrating the music of The Dubliners: Seven Drunken Nights rolled into one Sunday in York
Irish jig of the week: Seven Drunken Nights – The Story of The Dubliners, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
FROM their roots in O’Donoghue’s Pub in Dublin, Seven Drunken Nights raises a toast to the 50-year career of The Dubliners, telling the story of the Irish folk band that took the world by storm.
Irish musicians, singers and storytellers will evoke the atmosphere, theatre and cultural history of Ireland while invoking the spirit of Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna, John Sheahan, Ciaran Bourke and Jim McCann on a tour that will take in 20 countries in 2022 and 2023. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Bonding together: The BBC Big Band perform the 007 hits, shaken and stirred, at York Theatre Royal
Bond and band in harmony: The BBC Big Band, The Music Of James Bond…and Beyond, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 7.30pm
THE BBC Big Band are joined by guest vocalists Emer McPartlamd and Iain Mackenzie for a celebratory concert inspired by the music of James Bond film franchise.
Theme songs by York composer John Barry feature prominently in a set list sure to include Diamonds Are Forever, Thunderball and Goldfinger, alongside Monty Norman’s James Bond theme.
Expect a selection of more contemporary songs from the 007 musical library too, performed in the BBC Big Band’s inimitable style. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
BIG news: CBeebies’ Justin Fletcher is heading for York Theatre Royal on the BIG Tour
Children’s show of the week: Justin Fletcher in Justin Live, The BIG Tour, York Theatre Royal, Thursday and Friday, 11am and 2.30pm
CBEEBIES superstar and children’s favourite Justin Fletcher presents an all-singing, all-dancing spectacular extravaganza on The BIG Tour.
Justin is a TV institution, piling up BAFTA award-winning appearances on Something Special, Justin’s House, Jollywobbles, Gigglebiz and Gigglequiz, as well as providing character voices for Tweenies, Boo, Toddworld and Shaun The Sheep, latterly voicing Shaun in the Aardman movie Farmageddon. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Normal service resumed: Grayson Perry presents his rearranged Harrogate performance of A Show For Normal People on Friday
Who-knows-what-to-expect arty gig of the week: Grayson Perry in A Show For Normal People, Harrogate Convention Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
IN his own words, despite being an award-winning artist, Bafta-winning TV presenter, Reith lecturer and best-selling author, Grayson Perry is a normal person – and just like other normal people, he is “marginally aware that we’re all going to die”.
Cue A Show For Normal People, Grayson’s enlightening, eye-watering evening where existentialism descends from worthiness to silliness. “You’ll leave safe and warm in the knowledge that nothing really matters anyway,” he promises.
At a show rearranged from last autumn, Grayson asks, and possibly answers, the big questions on a night “sure to distract you from the very meaninglessness of life in the way only a man in a dress can.” Box office: harrogateconventioncentre.co.uk.
York Stage Musicals’ poster for the York premiere of Calendar Girls The Musical
Musical of the week: York Stage Musicals in Calendar Girls, Grand Opera House, York, Friday to April 30
THE true story of the Calendar Girls from Rylstone Women’s Institute has been turned into a beautifully poignant musical by writer Tim Firth and composer Gary Barlow.
Join York Stage Musicals as they bring the show to York for the first time. “Be prepared to laugh and cry throughout a truly memorable evening filled with unforgettable songs that prove there is no such thing as an ordinary woman,” says producer Nik Briggs. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.
The Chemical Brothers: Big beats and dance moves at Castle Howard this summer
Rave of the North Yorkshire summer: The Chemical Brothers at Castle Howard, near Malton, June 26
HEY boy, hey girl, electronic pioneers The Chemical Brothers will take to the grass at Castle Howard this summer.
Manchester big beat duo Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, both 51, will galvanize rave diggers in the North Yorkshire stately home’s grounds where gates will open at 5pm for the night ahead of Setting Sun, Block Rockin’ Beats, Hey Boy, Hey Girl, Let Forever Be, Galvanize, Go et al. Box office: castlehoward.co.uk.
Just the ticket: Berwick Kaler, left, Martin Barrass and David Leonard launch box-office sales for The Adventures Of Old Granny Goose at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: David Harrison
THEY’LL be back. All of them. Not only Dame Berwick Kaler, dastardly David Leonard and luvverly Brummie AJ Powell, but comic stooge Martin Barrass and principal gal Suzy Cooper too in The Adventures Of Old Granny Goose.
The Famous In York Five will resume pantomime business after all at the Grand Opera House after the initial pantomime ticket-launch press release left out Martin and Suzy, saying only that “further casting will be announced soon.”
“I was just finalising my contract through my agent,” clarified Martin after Wednesday’s meet-and-greet with the loyal queue that had begun forming at 3.40am outside the Cumberland Street theatre’s box office. “It was the same with Suzy, who doesn’t use an agent and does her own negotiations.”
Neither Suzy, nor AJ, was present on Wednesday but Dame Berwick, Martin and David pressed the flesh, then met the press to discuss their second year at the Opera House after their crosstown move from York Theatre Royal.
“I’m so glad Suzy will be back because I think she’s going to give us a run for our money as she’ll be playing two parts,” said Berwick.
Suzy Cooper as Donna Donut in Dick Turpin Rides Again last winter. Picture: David Harrison
“I gave you that idea,” interjected David. “She’s the fairy but she’s also my daughter and I don’t know she’s a fairy,” Berwick ploughed on. “Yes, that was my idea,” insisted David.
After last winter’s Dick Turpin Rides Again was produced by Crossroads Pantomimes [“the world’s biggest pantomime producer”], the Opera House panto has switched to new producers, UK Productions [“one of the country’s leading producers of musical theatre and pantomime, both nationally and internationally”].
“They’re a very good company, good on costumes and design, and they have The Kite Runner opening on Broadway,” said David.
“They’re a nice company, like a family,” said Berwick. “They were full of praise for the work we’ve done in pantomime, and I say ‘we’ because I had one discussion with Martin [producer Martin Dodd], where he thought he could easily find a replacement for one cast member…
“Martin!” interjected David. Berwick’s tongue had been in his cheek until this point, but he turned more serious to emphasise: “They’d come to York, and l’d said to them, ‘you can’t put a price on that rapport and how we’re just ordinary actors who’ve built up a reputation, and you can’t put a price on the way we work together. It’s taken us years’.
The Grand Opera House pantomime queue meets David Leonard, Berwick Kaler and Martin Barrass at Wednesday’s box-office launch. Picture: David Harrison
“I think the audience wouldn’t accept not having us in the show, and these Grand Opera House shows wouldn’t have happened without us all being in them.”
Berwick misses having a trapdoor for its potential comic mayhem, but describes the Opera House as “a great theatre for pantomime”. “It’s a joy to play here,” said David. “I love the vista of the seating,” said Martin. “That massive sweep of stalls, dress circle and grand circle. It’s like the West End theatre of York, and there are no bad seats.”
Covid restrictions prevented Kaler and co going walkabout in Dick Turpin Rides Again. “We couldn’t go down the steps for Covid-safety reasons,” said Berwck. “But hopefully that will be different this year.”
“The band had to be under the stage last time so that we weren’t spitting on them, but all being well they’ll be back in view in the pit.”
Berwick will be in triple threat mode once more at the age of 76 [his birthday falls on October 31], writing and directing the show as well as playing the venerable dame. Already he is bouncing script ideas off David and Martin and, as for the directorial role, he said: “I don’t have to do that much with this lot, so I can concentrate on the chorus and anyone new, if we have a ‘guest’ join us.
Berwick Kaler in the “Eric Sykes Bar” at Wednesday’s launch day for The Adventures Of Old Granny Goose
“They’re all family in the ensemble and they all want to come back. They had a good time with Dick Turpin Rides Again and they want another good time.”
Last winter’s pantomime played to audiences advised to wear masks. “You stopped thinking about it because you got used to it, and it didn’t affect the laughter,” said Berwick.
“I decided not to mention Covid because what would have been the point? There’s nothing funny about it.
But what I will do is never get away from being edgy in what I say on stage, though I will never insult anyone’.” Martin and David act out their mock surprise at this comment, but maybe ‘jests’ is a better word than ‘insults’ for Kaler’s adlibs and asides.
“You’ve never taken the easy line of picking on someone in the audience for what they’re wearing,” noted David.
Pantomime stars Berwick Kaler, centre, Martin Barrass and David Leonard reunite for playful pantomime japes at the Grand Opera House. Picture: David Harrison
“We’ve always taken the mick out of ourselves instead,” said Berwick. “But no in-jokes; there’s no place for those.”
Kaler and co last staged Mother Goose in 2014-2015 at York Theatre Royal under the title of Old Mother Goose. “I want it to be different. I don’t want it to be Old Mother Goose again,” said Berwick.
“Or even Mama Goose?” said David. “It’ll be The Adventures Of Old Granny Goose,” said Berwick. “The parents can tell their bairns, ‘yes, there will be a goose in it’. ‘Yes, there’ll be an old Mother Goose in it’. ‘Yes, there’ll be a goose egg in it’, but after that, leave me alone to come up with ideas.”
Whereupon Berwick, Martin and David started to recall their past encounters with Mother Goose, like the one with the motorised duck with a life of its own and…
“I remember in the first Mother Goose, we had an 8ft goose that we had to hide from the audience,” recalled Martin. “So, we put a pair of dog’s ears on it!”
The Adventures Of Old Granny Goose will run at Grand Opera House, York, from December 10 2022 to January 8 2023. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York
The Tragedy Of Guy Fawkes playwright David Reed outside the Guy Fawkes Inn in York. Picture: Matthew Kitchen
“THE theatre has always been a place where rebellion thrives,” says chief executive Tom Bird as York Theatre Royal sets its Rumours And Rebels season in commotion.
Two legendary York figures, Guy Fawkes and the Coppergate Woman, will come to life as the spotlight is turned on those who resist, rebel and stand up to injustice, corruption and persecution this summer and autumn.
“We wanted to talk about opposition and intrigue and how ‘sticking it to the man’ manifests itself, which is often in the form of rumours first,” says Tom. “We knew we were going to be doing this strand of work with rebellion shot through it, but we also wanted a nod to the fact that rebellion can start in a more subtle phase with rumour.
“We already had rebellion in the diary with Guy Fawkes, Julius Caesar and Red Ellen, which all start with ‘talk’, and I was thinking about how you’re naturally quite wary of making heroes of people who are seen as terrorists, so I didn’t want the season to be too on the nose in celebrating rebellion without also saying it’s a complicated business.
“Look at Guy Fawkes; we think of him as a York hero but actually he wanted to blow up hundreds of people.”
Long in the planning for its York Theatre Royal world premiere, York-born writer David Reed’s “explosive new comedy about York’s most infamous rebel”, The Tragedy Of Guy Fawkes, will run from October 28 to November 12, directed by Gemma Fairlie as Monty Python meets Blackadder.
“We’ve had the script since before I came here in December 2017,” says Tom. “David [one third of the The Penny Dreadfuls comedy trio] is a local writer; the script is brilliant and funny, and the pre-sale of tickets is fantastic.”
Co-director Juliet Forster, left, and playwright Maureen Lennon with JORVIK Viking Centre’s model of The Coppergate Lady
Further explaining the Rumours And Rebels season title, Tom says: “The other reason for ‘Rumours’ is the impact of social media, where it feels like we’re surrounded by an unsolicited swirl of rumour that could lead to action, even to direct rebellion, like you saw with Trump’s supporters marching on Capitol Hill.
“Uncurated rumours bother us a lot, and that’s why we’re curating the summer and autumn programme under this title to highlight the importance of curation when news has stopped being that and so many people no longer trust experts. Theatre is a place for resistance and for celebrating it since Athenian times.”
Standing alongside Reed’s Guy Fawkes tragi-comedy in the season ahead will be Maureen Lennon’s community play The Coppergate Woman, wherein a Valkyrie woman with the answers rises again to move among the people of York, a goddess resisting the havoc wrought by pandemic, from July 30 to August 6.
These in-house productions will be preceded by Northern Stage, Nottingham Playhouse and Royal Lyceum Theatre’s touring production of Red Ellen, Carol Bird’s epic story of inspiration Labour MP Ellen Wilkinson, who was forever on the right side of history, forever on the wrong side of life, from May 24 to 28.
“We’re super-excited about Red Ellen, which had been planned by Lorne Campbell before he left Northern Stage to move to the National Theatre of Wales. After The Ballad Of Johnny Longstaff, this is another unsung political hero to be celebrated by Northern Stage.”
Flicking through the brochure, in Shakespeare’s Globe’s Julius Caesar, on June 10 and 11, the protagonists fear power running unchallenged as Diane Page directs this brutal tale of ambition, incursion and revolution; in Conor McPherson’s Girl From The North Country, from September 5 to 10, the chimes of freedom flash through a story rooted in Bob Dylan’s songs; in Pilot Theatre’s revival of Noughts & Crosses, from September 16 to 24, the love between Selby and Callum runs counter to the politics of their segregated world.
In Frantic Assembly’s reimagined 21st century Othello, from October 18 to 22, Othello faces a barrage of racial persecution in Shakespeare’s tragedy of paranoia, sex and murder; the year ends with the Theatre Royal’s third pantomime collaboration with Evolution Productions, where Peter Pan joyously stands up to the tyranny of time, from December 2 to January 2.
York Theatre Royal chief executive Tom Bird
Delighted to welcome Shakespeare’s Globe, Tom says: “I left the Globe to move here, and as the Roman Quarter project gets underway in Rougier Street, we were interested in doing a Roman-themed work.
“We’d known for a while this would be a rebellion season, and the Globe knew we were keen to link up with them, so they gave us a couple of options. National companies are getting really good at that, and it’s great to have the Globe back for the first time since they did Henry VI.”
Tom says the season fell into place partly through the stars aligning. “If Frantic Assembly’s Othello is on tour, you take it,” he says. “It fitted perfectly with our own choices of Guy Fawkes and [York company] Pilot Theatre reviving Sabrina Mahfouz’s adaptation of Malorie Blackman’s Noughts & Crosses.
“The first tour did really well, there’s since been the TV series, and it’s a story really loved by young audiences as a Romeo & Juliet for the 21st century. It’s a no-brainer to bring it back.”
Bringing a “big show” to York Theatre Royal is not easy, says Tom, given the seating capacity of 750, but that does not deter him from seeking to do so. Take the double Olivier Award-winning West End and Broadway hit Girl From The North Country, written and directed by The Weir playwright Conor McPherson.
He reimagines the songs of Bob Dylan in a universal story of family and love set in the heartland of America in 1934, when a group of wayward souls cross paths in a time-weathered guesthouse in ‘nowheresville’ [Duluth, Minnesota]. As they search for the future and hide from the past, they find themselves facing unspoken truths about the present.
“God we had to fight to get it but I’m seriously glad we did,” says Tom. “It premiered at The Old Vic and it’s one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Bob Dylan had been badgered for years about doing a jukebox musical, and he said, ‘only if it’s a bit weird’. Luckily, he was involved in Conor getting to do it.
Girl From The North Country: “Doing a Conor McPherson on a Bob Dylan jukebox musical”
“It’s a marriage made in heaven! He does a Conor McPherson on a Bob Dylan jukebox musical: it’s an incredible, haunting story with a cast of odd characters you’d find travelling on a Greyhound bus, when you gather all this eccentricity in America and you can’t escape them, set to Dylan’s songs.
“Everyone knows Bob Dylan songs are sung better when Dylan doesn’t sing them, and for this show, they take a genuine cross section of songs from across his career, not only the Sixties.”
Among further highlights, York Stage will make their Theatre Royal debut in a 40th anniversary production of Howard Ashman and and Alan Menken’s musical Little Shop Of Horrors, from July 14 to 13, and Original Theatre will present Susie Blake as Miss Marple in Rachel Wagstaff’s new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d, from October 4 to 8.
“I’d been a bit worried whether a murder mystery is still what people want as we’ve seen that move from drawing-room plays to musicals in audience tastes, but The Mirror Crack’d has gone like a train at the box office,” says Tom.
Summing up the philosophy behind Rumours And Rebels, he concludes : “It’s not easy to have a themed season when we put on such diverse work here, but when we see ways to do seasons with connected themes we will do it, like the Theatre Royal did with seasons focusing on Yorkshire and women before I came here.
“By having a theme, hopefully it will encourage people to see more plays in the season having enjoyed one.
“Overall, for me, what we’re eliminating from York Theatre Royal is the middle-of-the-road. When we bring in touring shows, we might as well go ‘big’, bringing in new audiences; when we produce plays, we’re going to do new work like The Tragedy Of Guy Fawkes and The Coppergate Woman, not Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, which might be my favourite play but wouldn’t get an audience.”
For the full programme and tickets details for Rumours And Rebels at York Theatre Royal, go to: yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Box office: 01904 623568.
Copyright Of The Press, York
Susie Blake as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d
