Artist Feral Practice researching in the field.Picture: Tony Bartholomew
QUESTION of the day: What can we learn from ants?
Artists and naturalists will come together on Zoom on January 19 from 7pm to 9pm to address this fascinating question in Ask The Ants.
In an event organised by Scarborough Museums Trust, designed to complement Scarborough Art Gallery’s ongoing exhibition, The Ant-ic Museum, artists Feral Practice and Marcus Coates will discuss what ants can teach us about our anthropological world in the company of ant ecologies specialist Dr Elva Robinson and natural world author Charlotte Sleigh.
Subverting a Gardeners’ Question Time format, the panel will draw on their specialist knowledge of ants to answer questions from the audience about human society. “Seeing our entrenched issues or thorny problems through the unusual position of the ant world opens up unexpected pathways of creative thinking for everyday life,” says the Scarborough Museums Trust literature.
Online attendees can submit questions in advance via https://bit.ly/AskTheAnts or ask it on the day. Questions can vary from the political and societal to the deeply personal. They should not be questions about ants, however!
An exhibit at The Ant-ic Museum exhibition at Scarborough Art Gallery. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
The January 19 event is part of Ask The Wild, a collaborative project by Feral Practice and Marcus Coates that offers fresh perspectives on personal, social and political issues in human society by bringing expert knowledge of natural history disciplines to bear on everyday human problems and dilemmas. Previous events include Ask The Sea at Tate St Ives, Cornwall, and Ask The Birds at Whitechapel Gallery, London.
Feral Practice’s Fiona MacDonald is an artist, curator and writer who specialises in human-nonhuman relationships, creating art projects that “develop ethical and imaginative connection across species boundaries”.
Performance artist, writer and filmmaker Marcus Coates seeks to draw parallel in his work through “examining how we perceive ‘human-ness’ in imagined non-human realities”.
Elva Robinson, senior lecturer in Ecology at the University of York, conducts research on the wood ants of the North York Moors. Her book Wood Ant Ecology And Conservation was published by Cambridge University Press in 2016.
Charlotte Sleigh is a researcher, writer and practitioner whose work is spread across the science humanities. Her research interests began in the history of biology and now have an emphasis on animals, and she is the author of Ant (Reaktion, 2003) and Six Legs Better: A Cultural History Of Myrmecology (Johns Hopkins, 2007).
Jacob George: Soloist for Schumann’s Violin Concerto
THE Academy of St Olave’s Winter Concert at St Olave’s Church, Marygate, York, on January 22 will feature Jacob George as soloist for Schumann’s Violin Concerto.
Jacob, the son of the York chamber orchestra’s musical director, Alan George, returns on solo duty after performing the Sibelius Violin Concerto in 2019.
As a teenager, he was principal second violin for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, topped off by three concerts at the BBC Proms.
Jacob has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras, including performances of Dvorak’s Romance with York Guildhall Orchestra and the Kabalevsky Violin Concerto with Sheffield University Symphony Orchestra. Outside music, he works as a senior planning officer in urban development management.
The Academy’s first concert since last September’s sold-out return will feature two works inspired by Italy: Schubert’s Overture in the Italian Style and Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony No. 4.
Musical director Alan George says: “We are looking forward to transporting our audience to sunnier Mediterranean climes with two Italian-inspired pieces, as well as welcoming Jacob back as soloist for the concerto.
“The Schumann Violin Concerto is a real curiosity, not performed for more than 80 years after it was composed, and still a relative rarity in the repertoire. It’s a wonderful piece, deeply affecting – dating from the end of his life, and well deserving of greater recognition: we hope to have another full house to sample its characteristic combination of sadness and joy.”
The 8pm concert is in aid of Musical Connections, a York charity that runs community choirs and weekly music groups in assorted care and community settings.
Tickets cost £15 (£5 for accompanied under-18s) at academyofstolaves.org.uk. Numbers are limited; book in advance to avoid disappointment. Check the academy website the week before the concert for any Covid-19 mitigation measures in place.
The Best Of Gilbert and Sullivan at Harrogate Royal Hall on Friday
THE International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival is holding a three-day spectacular at Harrogate Royal Hall from January 7 to 9 to mark the New Year.
First up will be The Best Of Gilbert and Sullivan, Friday’s concert that asks the question: which is your favourite Gilbert and Sullivan opera? “There’s no need to decide when you can have a cavalcade of the very best of G&S, from the wonderfully familiar to the surprisingly unfamiliar, performed by the best G&S singers in the world,” says festival trustee Bernard Lockett.
The National Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company (NGSOC), led by comic baritone Simon Butteriss and accompanied by the National Festival Orchestra, will be taking a whirlwind tour of the Savoy Operas, set in context by fascinating, historical, gossipy anecdotes that evoke the glitter and glamour of the 19th century Savoy Theatre.
Joining Butteriss on stage will be NGSOC stars Matthew Siveter, David Menezes and Amy Payne; the orchestra will be conducted by David Russell Hulme.
Enchantment awaits in The Magic Of Vienna New Year Gala Concert on Saturday. “Come on a magical journey through Vienna, the musical capital of the world, and celebrate the New Year in style,” says Bernard.
“Our annual gala concert will be an absolute treat, and what a fabulous Christmas present for that special person too. Enjoy a fantastic selection of the most beautiful pieces by Johann Strauss, Mozart, Lehar and more, brought to you by the renowned National Festival Orchestra, conducted by Aidan Faughey. Our soloists include international opera stars James Cleverton and Rebecca Bottone.”
The short winter season concludes with Charles Court Opera’s London production of G&S’s The Mikado, accompanied by the National Festival Orchestra, on Sunday night.
Behind closed doors at the British Consulate in the Japanese town of Titipu, the scheming, slippery Lord High Executioner is on the cusp of hatching one plot too far, with far-reaching, but humorous consequences for everyone involved, especially when the Mikado arrives.
“Containing such familiar songs as A Wandering Minstrel, I, Three Little Maids From School and I’ve Got A Little List, this punchy and hilarious satire promises to be a treat for operetta lovers and newcomers alike,” says Bernard.
Tickets for the 7.30pm performances are on sale on 01422 323352 or at gsfestivals.co.uk. Looking ahead, the 28th International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival will run at Harrogate Royal Hall from August 10 to 21, preceded by Buxton Opera House, Derbyshire, from July 30 to August 6. For more details, go to: gsfestivals.org.
From quips to quiff: Joker Tim Vine as Plastic Elvis
TIM Vine’s “unique tribute to a legend”, Plastic Elvis, shakes his hip and quivers his lip at Doncaster Dome on March 5 on the last night of his rearranged tour.
Please note, this is NOT a stand-up comedy show by the quick-quipping cracker of one-lines and pantomime regular but Vine’s tribute act to Elvis Presley.
First booked for May and June 2020, the 19-date tour was rescheduled for September 2021 to March 2022, including an October 5 date at Harrogate Theatre.
Billed as a “total sell-out at the Edinburgh festival” – more specifically, a one-off fully booked gig at the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe – Vine invites you to “feel the electricity as Plastic Elvis hits the stage backed by his incredible five-piece The High Noon Band”.
“He’ll shake, he’ll smoulder, he’ll try and control his hair and in the end, he’ll break your heart,” the show blurb promises. “Sing along with some of the King’s greatest songs on a breathless night of rock’n’roll.”
“This is it. The moment has arrived,” says Vine, who plays Doncaster the day after his 55th birthday. “This isn’t a stand-up show, but a concert dedicated to my favourite performer. When I was 11 years old, I would stand in front of my bedroom mirror and mime to the whole of 1972’s Elvis: As Recorded At Madison Square Garden album. This is a tribute act that is 40 years in the making. Well, the waiting is over. It’s time to go public.”
Be warned, Vine’s show “may contain moves that even Plastic Elvis himself isn’t expecting”. Support comes from special guests John Archer as Big Buddy Holly and song-writing legend David Martin, who wrote four songs for Elvis, A Little Bit of Green Let’s Be Friends, Sweet Angeline and This Is The Story.
Martin has sold 26 million records around the world in a career spanning more than 40 years. His songwriting and production team with Chris Arnold and Geoff Morrow has worked up with Cliff Richard, Dusty Springfield, Cilla Black and David Essex, among others.
Tickets for Tim Vine Is Plastic Elvis’s 7pm show are on sale on 01302 370777 or at dclt.co.uk.
Lotta bottle: Tim Vine in his Sunset Milk Idiot show at Grand Opera House, York, in May 2018
Tim Vine’s back story: Quips with everything
Born: Cheam, Sutton, March 4 1967.
Job description: English writer, actor, pantomime performer, comedian and presenter.
Best known for: One-liner jokes and his role from 2006 to 20212 as Lee Mack’s uptight, sensible best friend, Timothy Gladstone Adams, in 34 episodes of BBC One’s studio sitcom Not Going Out.
Stand-up DVDs: Time Vine Live, 2004; So I Said To This Bloke, 2008; Punslinger Live, 2010; Joke-amotive Live, 2011; Tim Timinee Tim Timinee Tim Tim To You, 2016; Sunset Milk Idiot, 2019.
Books: TheBiggest Ever Tim Vine Joke Book and The Tim Vine Bumper Book Of Silliness.
Awards: Winner of Best Joke at Edinburgh Fringe, twice.
TV shows: Not Going Out, BBC One; Tim Vine Travels Through Time, BBC One; hosting quiz show Football Genius, ITV; Taskmaster.
Radio: Hosts Tim Vine Chat Show on BBC Radio 4, interviewing audience members as he seeks to prove that not everyone has a story.
YouTube channel: Tim Vine Televisual (TVTV), regularly serving up nonsense.
Famous brother: Broadcaster Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2 and television show presenter, Strictly Ballroom Dancing alumnus and one-man cycling video vigilante.
Car Park Panto’s cast dishes up a Horrible Christmas to Sunday’s drive-in audience at Elvington Airfield
AS U2 once sang, all is quiet on New Year’s Day, but Charles Hutchinson has his diary out to note down events for the months ahead.
Drive-in pantomime: Car Park Panto’s Horrible Christmas, Elvington Airfield, near York, tomorrow (Sunday,) 11am, 2pm and 5pm
BIRMINGHAM Stage Company’s Horrible Histories franchise teams up with Coalition Presents for Car Park Panto’s Horrible Christmas.
In writer-director Neal Foster’s adaptation of Terry Deary’s story, when Christmas comes under threat from a jolly man dressed in red, one young boy must save the day as a cast of eight sets off on a hair-raising adventure through the history of Christmas.
At this Covid-secure experience, children and adults can jump up and down in their car seats and make as much noise as they like, tuning in to the live show on stage and screen. Box office: carparkparty.com.
Shaparak Khorsandi: Revisiting her 1900s’ experiences in It Was The 90s! at Selby Town Hall
Looking back, but not nostalgically: Shaparak Khorsandi, It Was The 90s!, Selby Town Hall, January 22, 8pm
SHAPARAK Khorsandi, the Iranian-born British stand-up comedian and author formerly known as Shappi, tackles the celebrated but maligned 1990s in her new show, It Was The 90s!.
Back then, she flew around London with hope in her heart, a tenner in her pocket and spare knickers in her handbag. “But how does the decade of binge drinking and walks of shame look now without snakebite and black-tinted specs?” asks Shaparak, 48.
“This is a show about how we ’90s kids are looking to young people to learn how to take care of ourselves, because if you survived the car crash of being a ’90s kid, then surely Things Can Only Get Better.” Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.
Round The Horne as re-created by Apollo Stage Company at the Grand Opera House, York
Looking back, nostalgically: Round The Horne, Grand Opera House, York, January 27, 7.30pm
FROM the producers of The Goon Show and Hancock’s Half Hour tours comes another radio comedy classic, re-created live on stage by Apollo Stage Company.
Compiled and directed by Tim Astley from Barry Took and Marty Feldman’s scripts, this meticulous show takes a step back in time to the BBC’s Paris studios to re-play the recordings of the Sunday afternoon broadcasts of Kenneth Horne and his merry crew in mischievous mood.
Expect wordplay, camp caricatures and risqué innuendos, film spoofs and such favourite characters as Rambling Sid Rumpo, Charles and Fiona, J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock and Julia and Sandy. Box office: atgtickets.com/York.
Kipps, The New Half A Sixpence Musical: Making its York debut at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in February
Heart or head choice: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Kipps, The New Half A Sixpence Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company, York, February 9 to 12, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
IN the coastal town of Folkestone, Arthur Kipps knows there is more to life than his demanding but unrewarding job as an apprentice draper.
When he suddenly inherits a fortune, Kipps is thrown into a world of upper-class soirées and strict rules of etiquette that he barely understands. Torn between the affections of the kind but proper Helen and childhood sweetheart Ann, Kipps must determine whether such a simple soul can find a place in high society.
Tickets for this fundraising show for the JoRo are on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Giovanni Pernice: This is him in This Is Me after his Strictly Come Dancing triumph
Strictly winner comes dancing: Giovanni Pernice: This Is Me, York Barbican, March 9, 7.30pm
GLITTER ball still gleaming, Giovanni Pernice will take to the road on his rescheduled tour after winning Strictly Come Dancing as the professional partner to ground-breaking deaf EastEnders actress Rose Ayling-Ellis.
The Italian dance stallion will be joined by his cast of professional dancers for This Is Me, his homage to the music and dances that have inspired Pernice’s career, from a competition dancer to being a mainstay of the gushing BBC show.
“Expect all of your favourite Ballroom and Latin dances and more,” says Giovanni. Tickets remain valid from the original date of June 11 2020. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Script: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre in July
Off to the East Coast part one: The Script, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 14
IRISH rock band The Script topped the album charts for a sixth time in October with their greatest hits collection Tales From The Script, matching the feats of Arctic Monkeys, Pink Floyd and Radiohead.
Those songs can be heard live next summer when lead vocalist and keyboardist Danny O’Donoghue, guitarist Mark Sheehan and drummer Glen Power return to Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the first time since June 2018.
Formed in Dublin in 2007, The Script have sold more than 30 million records, chalking up hits with We Cry, The Man Who Can’t Be Moved, For The First Time, Hall Of Fame and Superheroes. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Jane McDonald: Leading the line-up at Yorkshire’s Platinum Jubilee Concert at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Off to the East Coast part two: Jane McDonald and special guests, Yorkshire’s Platinum Jubilee Concert, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 4
WAKEFIELD singing star Jane McDonald will top the bill at next summer’s Scarborough celebration of Her Majesty The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. A host of special guests will be added.
“I’m absolutely thrilled to be headlining this very special concert, and where better to be holding such a brilliant event than in Yorkshire,” she says. “Everyone knows I’m a proud Yorkshire lass, so it will be so thrilling to walk on to stage in Scarborough for these celebrations.” Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Paul Hollywood: Sugar-coated secrets and special surprises
The Great British Baker gets cooking: Paul Hollywood Live, Harrogate Convention Centre, October 23
GREAT British Bake Off judge, celebrity chef and cookbook author Paul Hollywood promises live demonstrations, baking tasks, sugar-coated secrets and special surprises in next autumn’s tour.
Visiting 18 cities and towns, including Harrogate (October 23) and Sheffield City Hall (November 1), Wallasey-born baker’s son Hollywood, 55, will work from a fully equipped on-stage kitchen, sharing his tricks of the trade. Tickets for a slice of Hollywood action are on sale at cuffeandtaylor.com.
On the home straight: Christmas In Narnia at Castle Howard, All pictures: Charlotte Graham
THE last chance to experience Christmas In Narnia fast approaches at Castle Howard, near York, where magical furniture and storybook scenes have been installed this winter.
Inspired by C S Lewis’s Narnia Chronicles, the North Yorkshire country house invites visitors to step through the wardrobe door to explore a world of festive adventure in a dazzling interpretation of the places familiar to Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy.
“For our displays, visitors don’t just step into the world of Narnia, they retrace the steps of the Pevensie children from their familiar surroundings at the home of Professor Digory Kirke into the world of perpetual winter ruled over by the White Witch,” says Charlotte Lloyd Webber, who has returned to Castle Howard for a fourth year to orchestrate the displays that run through through the John Vanbrugh-designed house.
“Taking our explorers through the bedrooms of the children gives a hint of the character traits that become amplified in the magical world, before we step out of the wardrobe into the frozen lands.”
A soundscape by Karen Monid accompanies the trip around the house, evoking both the 1940s and the magical world to add an extra dimension and atmosphere to the visit.
Once back on the China Landing, the imposing door of the mirrored wardrobe awaits: the traditional entry point to Narnia. Stepping through a tunnel of fur coats, once through the wardrobe, visitors will discover that icy fingers of frost have touched every part of the path with a blizzard of white.
Stepping through the wardrobe door…
In the distance, the lamp-post marker surrounded by Mr Tumnus’s abandoned presents beckons visitors into a frozen world, where the White Witch’s enemies have been turned to stone. The Antique Passage is filled with frozen animals, twigs and icicles.
The Great Hall is usually the warm heart of the Castle Howard Christmas displays, but not this time. Under the White Witch’s icy gaze, the evergreen tree – standing at 28ft, making it probably the largest real indoor decorated tree in the country – has been caught in a snowstorm.
Every branch is covered with snow and thousands of icicles, together with a constellation of tiny, glistening white lights. Placed centrally beneath the dome, it is as though the spruce tree has grown out of the floor.
Stepping from the Great Hall into the Garden Hall, visitors enter the epicentre of the self-proclaimed Queen of Narnia’s domain, and there they find the White Witch, larger than life, frozen in time and covered in hundreds of icicles, on board her sleigh. Projections and sounds bring the scene to life and continue into the White Witch’s palace.
An icy passageway through the Cabinet rooms leads out of the land of snow, whereupon visitors return to the warmest and most comfortable place in all Narnia: Mr Tumnus’s house. The snow has started to melt and elements of the forest have taken refuge, winter evergreens growing over the fireplace, with its roaring blaze, and real trees creating a sylvan atmosphere.
The re-emergence of Christmas comes with the Fox’s dining room, set out for a magnificent feast with his woodland friends beneath an arbour dressed in glittering red to create a canopy above the table.
An icy passagewayat Castle Howard
Celebrations continue next door with the colours of the ocean in the Turquoise Dining Room, providing a backdrop for Narnia’s mermaids, singing at the coronation of the Pevensie children.
Onwards to the Long Gallery, where visitors will marvel as they mark the return of Aslan – and Father Christmas – to the magical kingdom. Stepping through another wardrobe door, they encounter suspended rainbow wooden Christmas trees and dancing lights en route to the Octagon, where the four thrones of the Pensive Kings and Queens await.
Located directly above the four thrones is a new feature for this winter, bringing the Octagon ceiling into play through the magic of projection, courtesy of digital-mapping pioneer Ross Ashton and Karen Monid, the team behind the Northern Lights light and sound installation at York Minster in June 2018 and October 2019.
The ceiling appears to open to reveal a starry sky above with an animation that evokes the very essence of Christmas.
Narnia would not be the complete without its noble lion. A giant model of Aslan, fashioned from pages from the CS Lewis novels painted gold, oversees the Long Gallery, surrounded by sculptures of other woodland animals.
The visit concludes in the Castle Howard Chapel, where a Nativity scene has been laid out by the main altar, and where Yorkshire Wildlife Trust’s donation tree stands, dressed with wooden ornaments decorated by children from Slingsby Primary School.
Bretta Gerecke stands by the Great Hall’s 28ft spruce tree, “caught in the White Witch’s snowstorm, every branch covered with snow and thousands of icicles and a constellation of tiny white lights”
“We are incredibly proud of this winter’s displays and very grateful to our friends at Harper Collins for permitting us to tell the Narnia story in Castle Howard’s unique way,” says the Hon Nicholas Howard, guardian of Castle Howard.
“The displays look marvellous at any time of the day, but I am particularly fond of the late afternoon and evening, as the light fades outside, making the glow of all the lights and candles inside the house seem just that little brighter. Even when you step back outside of the house into the winter evening, the avenue of illuminated trees running the length of the drive looks picture perfect.”
To reduce crowding, fewer people have been allocated a place per time slot, prompting the Castle Howard team to open the house until later on Saturdays throughout the run and Friday evenings in December.
“In previous years, we’ve hosted twilight visits on occasional evenings as we moved closer to the festive season, but this year, we’re adding soundscapes and projections that look particularly spectacular as the daylight fades,” says Abbigail Ollive, head of marketing.
Christmas In Narnia at Castle Howard is the work of the returning Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Bretta Gerecke and their team of specialist designers, lighting experts and even a “baublographer”, whose task was to instal dozens of trees, thousands of baubles and tens of thousands of fairy lights for the displays.
“When it came to planning this year’s installation, the Howard family were very keen that it should go back indoors and Narnia was a great idea. Nick [Nicholas Howard] used to work in publishing and had a very good relationship with the C S Lewis estate,” says Charlotte.
“It absolutely makes sense to do a story theme in a house like this, which was designed by a dramatist,” says Charlotte Lloyd Webber
“Victoria [Howard] had always been resistant to stories previously, but now, after seeing Christmas In Narnia, she’s saying, ‘OK, what’s next?’!
“It absolutely makes sense to do a story theme in a house like this, which was designed by a dramatist [Vanbrugh].”
Bretta agrees. “The rooms in this house feel episodic, suiting story scenes, and the apotheosis is how the Long Gallery is set out.”
Going back to the original books for inspiration for these displays has been a “fantastic” experience for Charlotte’s team. “C S Lewis writes with such colour and attention to detail, and yet it has given us scope to put our own individual interpretation on this magical world to weave familiar parts of Castle Howard into the story,” she says.
Charlotte finds resonance in 1940s’ wartime experiences being echoed by the pandemic’s lockdowns and restrictions of 2020 and 2021. “What struck us was the poignancy of the four children going through the worst disaster of the 20th century, the Second World War, and now we’re going through the worst disaster of the 21st century so far.
“What we wanted to do was emphasise the sense of stepping out of what’s happening in the world now, to step through the wardrobe door into the magical world of Narnia.”
The Octagon ceiling “opens to let in the universe”
Ross Ashton talks of a prevailing feeling of doom and existential crisis being lifted by experiencing Christmas In Narnia, before Bretta adds: “That’s what makes the pay-off in the Long Gallery so rewarding. That sense of hope. That final room is joyful and hopeful, but you have to have some tragedy first to have that release of potential joy.”
The Christmas displays at Castle Howard always take the form of a journey, but this year the experience has expanded to become multi-sensory, heightened by Ross Ashton’s projection and Karen Monid’s soundscape. “One of the things about the sense of sound is that it happens in real time and you have to be constantly alive to that, to let it reveal itself, as we can only take in things in real time too,” she says.
“It is the sound that envelops you, goes all around you, giving a voice to the room and the design, and because we’re telling a story in each room, the sound has to respond to that. I had to make a decision, room by room, as to what the important sounds should be.”
Rather than arriving with a fixed soundtrack for the 38 rooms, Karen had to consider the acoustics of each room, “rooms that could ring like bells,” she says. “When it came to choosing the sound of the wind, I went for a low-pitched variation, so it could travel down the passageways without having to turn the volume up.
“The Garden Room and the Great Hall have the same wind sound too; the idea is that it should keep pulling you onwards. That’s why I’ve tuned the winds all in the same key.”
Every detail is planned carefully. “There are curated tracks in the rooms, such as for the Mermaids’ music, which I put together with no bass in it because I wanted to take that weight out of the sound, so you feel lifted,” says Karen.
Aslan, the lion, made from paper from the C S Lewis books
When Karen and Ross work in tandem on a project, the sound always comes first, and then Ross plays his creative hand. “It’s the end result you’re interested in,” he says. “You react to the space; Castle Howard has a theatrical design and this space is a gift. Here it’s a half dome, an octagon, and in the room, there’s all this amazing décor to wonder at.
“It’s an unusual space; you look at it to see how it inspires you and I think it has an Arabic feel to it, with that Eastern flavour being different to Narnia – and of course Aslan is the Turkish word for ‘lion’.”
Ashton’s constantly moving animated projection design “opens the roof to reveal the universe to give a spectacular ending to the trail”. “You see Aslan, and of course the lion is the emblem of Castle Howard, and you see Father Christmas too, who turns up at the end of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe,” he says.
How can Charlotte and her team trump Christmas In Narnia? “That’s what we try to do each year…but it’s not a competition!” she says. “Next year we’ll find something totally different for a theme, maybe a fairytale, but definitely totally different.”
Christmas In Narnia runs at Castle Howard until January 3. All time slots are sold out, but any returns automatically will become available to book via castlehowardchristmas.seetickets.com/timeslot/christmas-in-narnia. Tickets include timed access to the house, with full access to the gardens and adventure playground.
Dirty Dancing In Concert: The digitally remastered film, the songs, the singers, the band, the after-show party
THE Dirty Dancing In Concert world tour takes a leap into the arms of York Barbican on May 20 2022 as part of a 12-city British itinerary.
The live-to-film concert tour marks the 35th anniversary of Emile Ardolino’s 1987 American romantic drama dance film, starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Gray and written by Eleanor Bergstein.
Relive the timeless love story of Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman and dance instructor Johnny Castle at a Catskills resort’s summer camp as Lionsgate, GEA Live and Karl Sydow present Dirty Dancing on a full-size cinema screen with a band and singers performing the songs live on stage, in sync with the digitally remastered film.
Immediately after the screening, the band and singers will throw an encore party for the Barbican audience “that will surely take you back to the time of your life as you sing and dance along to your favourite Dirty Dancing songs”.
Jennifer Grey’s Frances ‘Baby’ Houseman and Patrick Swayze’s Johnny Castle in Dirty Dancing, framed by the musicians for the concert tour
Set in the summer of 1963, Dirty Dancing charts the blossoming of Grey’s ‘Baby’ Houseman while on holiday with her family at the beautiful, outwardly placid Catskills resort of Kellerman’s.
Intrigued by the staff’s rebellious dance instructor, Swayze’s Johnny Castle, and newly aware of the vastly different lifestyle of those around her, ‘Baby’ finds herself learning to dance while having the time of her life and falling in love.
The film soundtrack generated two multi-platinum albums and multiple singles, topped off by the Academy Award-winning best original song, (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life, while Dirty Dancing grossed $213million worldwide from a $4.5million budget.
Tickets for May 20’s 6.30pm show are on sale at yorkbarbican.co.uk. The 2022 Dirty Dancing In Concert tour also visits Sheffield City Hall on May 17 and Hull Bonus Arena on May 22; tickets at sheffieldcityhall.co.uk and bonusarenahull.com.
Author and journalist Alex Johnson with his latest book, Art Day By Day. Picture: Vincent Franklin
LOOKING for a cultural book to read one day at a time in 2022? Look no further than Art Day By Day, 366 Brushes With History, edited by Alex Johnson, freelance journalist, writer, design and lifestyle blogger and half-decent snooker player, formerly of this parish.
Published by Thames & Hudson, Alex’s daily almanac presents a selection of historical art events for every day of the year, from the momentous and headline-grabbing to the intimate, amusing, and illuminating; from Donatello to Dennis the Menace, Fabergé to Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Spain to Senegal.
As Alex puts it, by taking a novel approach to the history of art, Art Day By Day “aims to change the pace at which the story is told”. Hence CharlesHutchPress’s advice to browse it in daily instalments.
Educated in York at Bootham School and trained in print journalism at the Yorkshire Evening Press, as it then was, this polymath of the written form contributes regularly to the Independent, Fine Books magazine and The Idler (on snooker, sheds and microarchitecture) from his St Albans home.
He runs the blogs Bookshelf (on creative bookcase designs) and Shedworking (a term he coined about garden offices) and has now added to that list his sites on tiny houses and “pubworking” (whose day is yet to come, he says). Oh, and he co-created the two The Writers Game games, Classic Authors and Modern Authors, with Laurence King.
Already he has written and edited such books as Bookshelf, Improbable Libraries, A Book Of Book Lists, Book Towns, Shelf Life, The Haynes Shed Manual, Edward Lear And The Pussycat (The Adventures Of Famous Writers And Their Pets), Menus That Made History, How To Give Your Child A Lifelong Love Of Reading and A Soundtrack For Life (Classical Music To Take You Through The Day) for Scala Radio.
Now he has edited Art Day By Day, “snapshots of the most exciting, unusual and noteworthy art events from around the world and throughout history, told through direct testimonies, eyewitness accounts and contemporary chroniclers”.
“I’ve always been interested in dates and almanacs,” says Alex, who studied Modern History at The Queen’s College, Oxford. “I’d done a couple of books with Thames & Hudson before, so they were perfect for this one.
“The truth is, with nearly all my book covers, I have no input. The publishers send me the cover, saying ‘everyone really likes it’, and I can’t really say ‘No’!” says Alex Johnson. “I think this one works really well”
“Lockdown was a good time to be able to sit down and research it, and like my other books, it’s a book about something I’d like to read about.
“I did lots of arts modules at university as part of my history studies, from Anglo-Saxon art to Renaissance art. Most Oxford History degrees weren’t very flexible but by chance they had several good art modules.”
How did Alex select the subject matter for each day? “There were some things I knew I wanted to write about and some things that jumped out as I looked through the dates; or going through letters and thinking, ‘I want to do something on that’,” he says.
“I wanted it to be as broad as possible, taking in film, comic strips, photography, architecture, even album covers, as well as those things you might expect, like Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling and Edvard Munch’s The Scream being stolen, because I didn’t want it to be too highbrow.
“At first it was a case of narrowing it down for each day, then getting down to the last few dates and thinking, ‘nothing happened on that day’, but I was determined to try to avoid too much ‘this or that artist was born or died on this day’, which I thought I could just put at the bottom.”
Comedian Tony Hancock is among the eye-catching entries, for the London premiere of his first leading film role in The Rebel on March 2 1961. “I’ve always been a big Hancock fan, and that was one of the ones I wanted to shoe in, where he played an appalling, childish, inept artist in Paris,” says Alex.
He likes the thought that going down “interesting rabbit holes” could lead readers to other places. “I really hope that they will have the same feeling as I did when they read about the first Fabergé egg and then want to read something far more interesting than those 400 words that will lead them somewhere else,” he says. “Likewise, by reading condensed versions of some of Van Gogh’s letters, I hope they will seek out more of his letters.”
Artwork – save for the cover design – does not feature in the book. “It’s a shame, but it would have made the book even bigger than its 464 pages, but it’s not like the art is hidden away. If I can find it, then other people can!” urges Alex.
The cover for Alex Johnson’s next book, Rooms Of Their Own
Summing up his philosophy behind Art Dy By Day, he says: “Art is all around us, whether a Woodstock festival poster, a Superman comic or Dennis the Menace’s 1951 debut in The Beano, so that’s why it’s art in the broadest sense, and in many ways, the book is not about art but creative production.
“It would be easy just do something that just features the Great Masters, but there’s no point in doing that, just repeating what we already know, with nothing new added, but this book pinpoints moments of inspiration, when something happened, rather than highlighting great trends.
“It’s about the human side of it all, as things happen to people doing their job, rather than just sitting and pondering!”
Alex has two more books in the pipeline. First up is Rooms Of Their Own: Where Great Writers Write, whether beds, sheds, cafés bathrooms, basements or libraries, published by Frances Lincoln (Quarto) in April with illustrations by James Oses.
The second will be one of Alex’s list books, this one for the British Library, The Book Of Book Jokes, coming out in June. “The trouble with a joke is that you look at it and think, ‘is that still funny?’!” he says. “Some of them are appallingly corny, some are highfalutin. Some are in French or German.”
In the meantime, this is the day when you should buy Alex Johnson’s Art Day By Day. After all, it was included in the arts section of Guardian Bookshop Christmas gift guide.
What features on the Leap Year day of February 29 in Art Day By Day? Sculptor Augusta Savage is born, 1892.
Alex Johnson’s Twitter profileat@shedworking: Writer. Books (art, sheds, food, music, bookish subjects). Columns (@finebooks + @idler). All sorts (@Independent since 2007). Coined term ‘shedworking’.
Where does Alex write and edit? “I used to work from a shed but now removed temporarily to the cellar.”
CBeebies’ Andy Day as Dandini in Cinderella at York Theatre Royal
YORK Theatre Royal’s pantomime resumes tomorrow for its final run of shows after a Covid-enforced week off.
Positive tests among cast members and understudies meant the management was seeking its fourth Cinderella when the decision was made to stop the revolving door of replacements and extra rehearsals.
Now, Cinderella will be going to the ball again, extra shows and all, until January 2, and among those returning to the stage will be Andy Day’s Dandini, Faye Campbell’s Cinderella, Benjamin Lafayette’s Prince Charming and ventriloquist Max Fulham’s Buttons (along with his dummy, the cheeky monkey Gordon).
CBeebies’ presenter Andy Day had already made one appearance in York this year before Cinderella…with his band, Andy And The Oddsocks. “We did nine festivals this year – we usually do loads of shows over the festival season – and among those getting in touch was York Balloon Fiesta, where we played in late-August,” he says.
“It was one of our favourites gigs, playing next to the racecourse. I’d been to York only a couple of times before, but my dad is a massive fan of York, so he’s coming to see the panto. He’s not bothered about seeing me, just seeing York!”
Andy is performing in his sixth panto for York Theatre Royal’s pantomime partners, Evolution Productions. “The first one I did for them was Cinderella: that was the last time I did Cinderella, playing Dandini that time too, in St Albans,” he says, going on to recall making his panto debut at 21 as the Genie in Aladdin in Ilford.
Andy is synonymous with CBeebies, not only as a presenter but as an actor too. “I was very fortunate to get into kids’ TV 16 years ago. I always wanted to do that; that was my aim when I was doing stuff at the Millennium Dome and theatre in education in Italy, which I really enjoyed.
“From there, I got an audition for CBeebies, and out of 2,000 applicants, I got down to the last 11, and it just so happened I was different to the others and so I was chosen.”
His wide-eyed expressions, affability, strong singing voice and bond with children make him a natural for pantomime. “The great thing about Evolution pantomimes – and I love Paul Hendy’s writing – is that they really are a show for everyone, making it my favourite form of family entertainment, because parents can enjoy it as much as their children,” Andy says. “Good comedy, good music, something for the adults, and then there’s the magic of it all, especially in Cinderella.”
Andy has worked with Cinderella director Juliet Forster previously, having appeared in her TV production of CBeebies Presents: Romeo And Juliet, premiered in April. “They’re always great fun to do,” he says. “I’d done The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream before, and though I don’t class myself as a Shakespearean actor, it’s really nice to do the roles and enjoy Shakespeare – and Juliet is a real joy to work with.
“I played Lord Capulet, after I was Caliban in The Tempest: I always seem to play the slightly nasty one, whether in CBeebies’ pantos or Shakespeare! Though I was Peter Quince, one of the Mechanicals, in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, so that was a humorous role.”
Luton-born Andy is making his York Theatre Royal debut at 40, but where might his pantomime ambitions lead him next? “I’d love to play Captain Hook [in Peter Pan] one day. That would be my dream panto role,” he says.
Faye Campbell tweeted her excitement at returning to York today to prepare for tomorrow afternoon’s resumption of stage business. Just as she had been excited at landing the title role. “I got a first taste of working with Juliet last year when I was in the Travelling Pantomime that we took around the city.
“We did a few performances on the main stage at the start and the end of the run, putting the Travelling Pantomime set on that stage, so I have been on a ‘stage’ on that stage before!”
Faye previously did a school tour of Snow White in late 2018, in the title role. “It was similar to the Travelling Pantomime, going to community centres and primary schools for hour-long performances,” she recalls. “Now, Cinderella is my first panto on a theatre main stage.”
As a child, Faye went to pantomimes at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre (and sometimes at Birmingham Hippodrome too). “We used to go every year, and it was my first experience of theatre, as it is for many families,” she says.
“That’s why panto is so special for everyone: they go to pantomimes, even if they don’t go to anything else. Pantomime is more accessible, which I think is important.”
When Faye does not have an acting commitment, she works at Wolverhampton Grand Theatre as an usher. “For a lot of people in the industry, we can’t pretend work has not been slow or hard to get, but it’s just exciting to see theatres re-opening – and it’s very emotional for theatres to be able to present pantomimes again,” she says.
Her Cinderella fits the 21st century style of the Theatre Royal and Evolution co-production. “I’m playing her more as an independent, modern-day woman,” says Faye. “I think it’s important to represent a strong, independent woman today, with the same themes as before but with an edge to her.”
Benjamin Lafayette’s Prince Charming with the York Theatre Royal pantomime ensemble
Benjamin Lafayette could not have had a more contrasting start to his professional career, first making his debut in the title role in Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello at The Mill Theatre, Dundrum, South Dublin, followed by his pantomime bow as Prince Charming in Cinderella.
“This is my first time in York, my first time working with Evolution Productions,” says Benjamin, continuing the theme of firsts. “It came about through my agent. I got the call in a busy period because I’d just found out I was going to do Othello in Dublin.
“I was already packing my bags, and then my agent said, ‘Oh, I have an audition for you for a pantomime’. I’d never done a panto, but I’m the kind of person who will give anything a shot’.”
His audition negotiated successfully, Benjamin headed off to Dublin, and then briefly to York. “The launch day for Cinderella was during my rehearsals for Othello, so I flew in and out on the same day,” he says. “I’d just rehearsed Othello’s final scene, and then had to fly in and be…charming at the Theatre Royal launch!”
What an experience was in store for him under the direction of Geoff O’Keefe in Dublin. “Safe to say, I was exhausted after every show, doing two performances a day after the intensive rehearsal period,” he recalls.
“There was no hiding place; there was so much to do, but it was brilliant. I’m still quite young, and playing Othello so young, at 24, was really special to do so early in my career. It was a real learning experience and I’ve really grown as an actor, realising the importance of different stage crafts.”
Performing in a cast with seven Irish actors, alongside Michael Ford from Surrey, Birmingham-born Benjamin drew good reviews – or so he was told. “I really try not to read them at the time, but from what my family and friends said, it went really well,” he says.
Benjamin completed his Othello run on October 22, and when he began rehearsals in York in November, doing pantomime initially “felt really foreign”, but gradually “the glitter of it all” took over.
“Prince Charming is seen as one of the ‘straight’ panto characters but we’ve been given licence by Juliet to have fun with our characters, which is an actor’s dream,” he says. “There are definitely moments of wanting to be part of the joke.”
Max Fulham’s Buttons with his misbehaving monkeypuppet, Gordon
Plenty of the humour in Cinderella emanates from Max Fulham and his irrepressible Monkey in the ventriloquist’s York Theatre Royal debut.
Already he has a prestigious award to his name: Best Speciality Act at the Great British Pantomime Awards from his 2019-2020 season in Aladdin at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley. “Because of lockdown, I received that award at home, eating crisps, getting a nice little trophy,” says Max. “I was in such esteemed company: I think we beat Sooty and a dance group.”
He began doing ventriloquism – talking with his mouth closed – at the age of nine. “The puppet came first. I’ve always loved puppets, and I’m from the era where it’s not like I saw someone doing a ventriloquist act at a theatre. No, I saw a video on YouTube,” says Max.
“I typed in ‘puppet’, watched a ventriloquist, watched some more, old and new, and I became obsessed with everything, from Paul Zerdin and Jeff Dunham to the earlier talents of Arthur Worsley and Ray Alan, who was the master technique-wise. Phenomenal.”
Max first acquired a monkey puppet when he was ten. “I named him Gordon and he stayed with me as I developed routines, starting to do children’s parties when I was 12/13, in Farnham, after we’d moved from Scotland, where I’d lived from when I was four to 11,” he says.
“I grew up there watching acts at the Edinburgh Fringe every summer, which made me think ‘I could do this’. I used to do shows for my grandmother when my parents were out at work, and I did my first paid gig for £25 when I was 12 for old people in a hall at a New Year’s party.”
Max performed his ventriloquist act throughout his school years. “Yes, of course I was seen as an oddball as I was talking to myself, though comedy is a social survival mechanism for us oddballs,” he says.
“It meant I could entertain people and I’ve always loved making people laugh. Now I can be a professional oddball, and a professional twit is a good thing to be. I like being unusual!”
Max was still in the sixth form when he did his first pantomime in 2017. “I was just turning 18, and I’d just learned to drive and had to drive from Surrey to Lincolnshire, so that was a baptism of fire, as was doing pantomime, because it’s so full-on. It’s great fun but it demands a lot of hard work,” he says.
He has performed in panto each winter since that Spalding debut, taking him to Cambridge, Bromley and the Garrick Theatre in Lichfield last year. “We managed to do our rehearsals for Jack And The Beanstalk, but saw what was developing, so we did a film version that was then streamed online when the performances were cancelled,” Max says.
Thankfully, this winter, Fulham has been able to perform to the Max in Cinderella…until the Covid outbreak in the cast intervened, but now the show can go on again in the finishing straight.
Cinderella’s remaining performances at York Theatre Royal: Thursday, 2.30pm, 7pm; Friday, 11am, 3pm; Saturday and Sunday, 1pm, 5.30pm. Tickets are available for all shows on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
UPDATE at 1.55pm on December 30
EVERYONE from the Cinderella principal cast is back on stage today except for Sarah Leatherbarrow. Amy Hammond, from the ensemble, will deputise as the Fairy.
Guitarist and bass player Luke Gaul is the musical director in place of Stephen ‘Stretch’ Price. Christian Mortimer, from the ensemble, is missing too. All three absences are Covid-related.
Installation artist Emma Gibson on Scarborough’s South Bay beach with maquettes of her large sculptures of grains of sand , soon to be on show at Scarborough Art Gallery. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
EMMA Gibson’s upcoming Quicksand exhibition aims to raise awareness of “one of our most under-appreciated natural commodities”.
On show at Scarborough Art Gallery from February 12 to June 5, Gibson’s triptych of sculptures transforms minuscule grains of sand into megalithic forms, putting this endangered but seemingly ubiquitous material – used to make anything from phone screens to windows, from plastics to paint – under the microscope.
Applying micro-3D scanning technology, Gibson worked with the Imaging and Analysis Centre at the Natural History Museum, London, to discover the otherworldly shapes of individual sand grains before recasting them as colossal forms.
Each piece was made using recycled plaster and clay, timber and a pioneering resin made from recycled plastic bottles that have been redirected from landfill and the oceans.
Simon Hedges, head of curation, exhibitions and collections at Scarborough Museums Trust, says: “Sand is running out all over the world – it’s a global problem; it’s climate change with bells on. It may be difficult to believe, but sand is limited – and it’s critical as a commodity for so many types of technology.
Emma Gibson holding a maquette of one of her grain-of-sand sculptures. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
“It’s estimated that, for construction alone, the world consumes roughly 40 to 50 billion tons of sand on an annual basis. That way outstrips the rate at which sand is being naturally replenished by the weathering of rocks by wind and water.”
As a museum in a coastal setting, Scarborough Art Gallery “feels it’s our responsibility to help raise awareness of this issue,” says Hedges. “Emma’s sculptures are a particularly stunning way of doing that. Three giant grains of sand, each over a metre tall, have been created after being magnified nearly 3,000 times,” he continues.
“They represent just three of the many different types of sand there are – a fossil foraminifera, a rolled-up piece of quartz and a chip from a shell.”
Gibson says: “Quicksand is about assumptions in relation to perceptions: we assume that there is the same amount of sand available as stars in the sky. People say: ‘Can’t you just use sand from the Sahara to build stuff? We’ve got loads of sand.’ But you can’t because it’s wind-blown and all the grains are circular.
“I started reading all these strange documents about people stealing sand because it’s a seriously valuable commodity. Some go to the beach to sunbathe; others turn up in the middle of the night in a truck to take the sand away. There are people getting murdered over sand, it’s really serious.”
Emma Gibson’s sculptures of grains of sand arrive in Scarborough for exhibiting at Scarborough Art Gallery from February 12. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Explaining her creative process, Gibson says: “Grains of sand are really tiny, so I wanted to explore how I could make them important to humans at their own scale.
“I’m hoping people will have some kind of murmuration – just a little moment in their minds where they recalibrate their belief system in nature and technology, and what their purposes are. Maybe it can offer an altered perspective and state of mind for a moment.”
Alongside the sculptures, Gibson will be re-creating her studio in Scarborough Art Gallery. “I’ll be showing films, digital and physical models and supporting materials as part of the development process of the work, which is as much about the science as the aesthetic,” she says.
Gibson will create a learning experience that will lay out globally significant issues in an inclusive and approachable space.
Scarborough Museums Trust’s learning team is devising hands-on learning experiences for primary-school children, in collaboration with geologist Dr Liam Herringshaw, including a Beach in a Box, to “bring an important part of the curriculum to life in new and engaging ways”.
” I’m hoping people will have some kind of murmuration – just a little moment in their minds where they recalibrate their belief system in nature and technology,” says artist Emma Gibson . Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Co-curated with theYorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, Quicksand has been gifted to Scarborough Museums Trust by Selfridges & Co, where it was first exhibited in The Art Block gallery, in London, in 2020.
Emma Gibson: the back story
BORN in 1980, this British installation artist explores the uncertain state of reality. She studied at Open School East and the University of the Arts in London and now lives and works in the Scottish Highlands.
Gibson’s large-scale installation works are the result of both traditional and technological making processes, often using 3D-scanning and digital representations to create physical sculptures and total environments. Regularly, she collaborates with scientists in her fields of interest.
Her creative practice revolves around coastlines and shores as a metaphor for the edge of reality, the end of the internet and a loss of control – a place “where science and nature collide and mimic each other, where so much is unknown, where human intervention can go no further”.
Scarborough Art Gallery is open from 10am to 5pm every day except Mondays, plus on Bank Holidays. Entry is free with a £3 annual pass that allows unlimited free entry to the Rotunda Museum, Scarborough, too.
