YORK Theatre Royal will reopen on May 17 with a celebration of York’s creativity, pending any Government update on the roadmap rollout.
A call-out has gone out to York artists – poets, writers, performers, singers, dancers and digital artists – to mark the return of live performance to the St Leonard’s Place building, 14 months since its Covid-enforced closure.
The Theatre Royal is commissioning a series of “love letters” from York artists – under the umbrella title Love Bites – to be performed on the opening night of The Love Season, a programme of plays based on the theme of love. The commissions will then be presented across the following fortnight as a prelude to the theatre production playing each night.
The theatre aims to commission 20 Love Bites love letters, each lasting up to five minutes. Artists will be offered £1,000 per commission plus £150 every time it is performed.
“The love letter could be to a person, a place, an object, the city of York itself – or anything else,” says York Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster
Creative director Juliet Forster says: “We want artists working in any form or medium and living in York to join forces with us in celebrating the start of live performances when restrictions lift in May.
“We’re looking for artists to create love letters through any medium. The love letter could be to a person, a place, an object, the city of York itself – or anything else.
“We’re very keen to incorporate as wide a mix of art forms and interpretations of what a love letter is as possible. It could be a poem, a song, a piece of digital art, a dance piece, but should be able to be performed or shared both live and in digital form.
“The piece should have a duration of up to five minutes. If the artist doesn’t want to perform the piece themselves, we will work with them on engaging an appropriate performer.”
“We’re ecstatic at the prospect of reopening in May with the much-anticipated Love Season,” says York Theatre Royal chief executive Tom Bird
Those interested in being commissioned are asked to write a short proposal for what their love letter might be and how it could be performed live and translated into digital form. They should submit links to their website or previous work too.
Submissions must be emailed to commissions@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk by March 22 2021. Details of how to apply can be found on the website at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York Theatre Royal is set to reopen for socially distanced performances from May 17, once Government restrictions are lifted. Chief executive Tom Bird says: “We’re ecstatic at the prospect of reopening in May with the much-anticipated Love Season.
“After the challenges that the pandemic has brought for freelance artists, we’re particularly delighted to be able to commission 20 York artists to relaunch the theatre programme with Love Bites. We’ll be announcing the remainder of the season in April. We can’t wait to welcome the people of York back to their wonderful theatre.”
Phil Grainger in the studio, recording Half Man//Half Bull
THE Flanagan Collective and Gobbledigook Theatre had to cut short their 18-month international tour last March, the pandemic forcing Alexander Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger to fly back to North Yorkshire from Australasia.
A year later, however, a brand-new work, created in tandem with fellow theatre-maker Oliver Tilney, will drop today in the global digital form of Half Man//Half Bull, a narrative-led double album of two ancient myths and 20 original songs to be “experienced at home”.
Fusing spoken word, electronica and soul, Half Man//Half Bull retells the interlinking myths of Theseus & The Minotaur and Daedalus & Icarus, presented in a listening pack designed by Lydia Denno that will be sent out in the post.
Over the past few years, Alex and Phil, friends since Easingwold schooldays, have taken their international award-winning shows Orpheus, Eurydice and The Gods The Gods The Gods to packed rooms across Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Bali and New York, performing an enthralling, electrifying brand of spoken word and live music.
Artwork for Half Man//Half Bull
Once back home, they teamed up with long-time collaborator Oliver Tilney – he played Jay Gatsby in Wright’s adaptation of The Great Gatsby for the Guild Of Misrule at 41 Monkgate, York, in 2016 – to create Half Man//Half Bull.
“From the get-go, we wanted to make a new piece of work that wasn’t contingent on being performed live,” says Oliver, who first brought the idea to Alex and Phil last June. “We didn’t want a watered-down version of something to give to audiences; we wanted to create a new piece of work in its correct form. For us, that form is a double narrative-led album.”
The trio have partnered up with 15 organisations to bring the idea to life, among them the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Theatr Clwyd, Leeds company Slung Low, Rural Arts, Thirsk, and The Barn Theatre, their involvement affirming the appetite for this type of work.
Alex says: “We started talking with our brilliant pals at Streatham Space Project, where we managed to bring a socially distanced version of Eurydice in September. It quickly became clear there would be an appetite for a theatre, or an organisation, to be able to deliver content to their audience while people couldn’t gather in a more traditional setting.”
Alex Wright at a recording session for Half Man//Half Bull
An Arts Council Project Grant allowed the team to grow: the trio have collaborated with producers, designers and host of musicians to realise this project, alongside the family of theatres, venues and partner organisations.
After years of touring, lockdown has provided an opportunity to create and develop, says Phil. “Alex and I have been writing and touring shows for a while, with an ambition to grow our sound. This felt like a great opportunity to work with more people, collaborate with more artists and, crucially, create some work for as many freelancers as we could afford,” he explains.
That team includes Aminita Francis, from BAC BeatBox Collective; Zimbabwean-born musician Tendaii Sitima; designer Lydia Denno and project producer Charlotte Bath. “We were also able to spend a lot of time at Crooked Room studios working with Isaac McInnis, which really helped grow the sound,” says Phil. “It’s crucial that as this is an audio project, that it sounds flipping great.”
Billed as “an epic storytelling adventure for our time”, Half Man//Half Bull is designed expressly as an At-Home experience. “If you buy, you’ll get a physical pack through your door with artwork, listening instructions and an invitation to step back out into the real world,” says Alex.
For further information and to buy the albums, go to: HalfManHalfBull.com.
Half Man//Half Bull: A double narrative-led album to be experienced at home
The credits:
Created by Phil Grainger, Oliver Tilney and Alexander Wright.
Guest artists: Aminita Francis as Theseus; Tendaii Sitima as Daedalus. Project producer: Charlie Bath; music producer, Isaac McInnis; designer, Lydia Denno.
Recorded and mixed by Isaac McInnis at Crooked Room Studios; mastering by David Lawrie.
Additional music: Frances Bolley, Tom Figgins, Isaac McInnis, Emil Ryjoch and Gavin Whitworth.
Additional voices: Angie Alle, Hille Auvenin, Joanna Bongowska, David Calvitto, Laura Darling, Megan Drury, Inês Sampaio Figueiredo, Peter Groom, Lucas Jones, James Lawrence, MJ Lee, Serena Manteghi, Iona McInnis, Marnie Silver and Jess Zilleson.
With thanks to: Angie Alle, Anikdote, Darren Lee Cole, James Dale, Megan Drury, Luke Langley, Helen Simpson, Michael Slater, Simon Victor and Paul & Maggi Wright.
Made with: At The Mill, Stillington; Birmingham Hippodrome; NEAT; November Club; Rural Arts, Slung Low; SoHo Playhouse; Stephen Joseph Theatre; Storyhouse; Streatham Space Project; The Barn Theatre; Theatr Clwyd; Theatre Deli; The Place and The Roses Theatre.
Oliver Tilney: First brought the idea for Half Man//Half Bull to Alex Wright and Phil Grainger last June
Shed Seven: Yorkshire day out at The Piece Hall, Halifax, on the move again
YORK band Shed Seven’s all-Yorkshire bill at The Piece Hall, Halifax, is being rescheduled for a third time.
The Coronavirus lockdown put paid to the original date of June 26 2020, first moved to September 19 2020, then to June 26 this summer.
Now, fourth time lucky, the Sheds’ show will take place on August 28. All the support acts first signed up for last June have confirmed their participation on the new date.
Joining the Sheds that West Yorkshire day will be Leeds bands The Pigeon Detectives and The Wedding Present and Leeds United-supporting York group Skylights, plus the Brighton Beach DJs.
Tickets for this Futuresounds Events open-air concert are on sale at £42.50, premium seats £55, at lunatickets.co.uk, seetickets.com and gigantic.com.
August 28? Doesn’t that clash with Leeds Festival, co-headlined that day by Stormzy and Catfish And The Bottlemen? Indeed so, but “let’s just say our fans are not their demographic,” quips lead singer Rick Witter, aware of the predominance of teens at the post-exam-results gathering at Bramham Park.
This is the second outdoor Shed Seven show in 2021 to be in need of a new date. They should have been chasing winners as well as Chasing Rainbows at Doncaster Racecourse on May 15, but that Don 2021 Music Live debut is now a non-runner under the Government’s lockdown restrictions.
Witter confirms an announcement on when the Sheds’ show will finally come under starter’s orders will be made tomorrow. Expect a delay until 2022.
When first setting up the Halifax headline gig, Witter said: “We’re doing this Piece Hall show partly because our 2018 gig at Manchester’s Castlefield Bowl went so well.”
The revived Britpoppers drew 8,000 that June day; the maximum capacity is 5,500 for the Piece Hall, a renovated 18th-century Halifax cloth hall that now houses history exhibits and independent shops, bars and restaurants.
Skylights: York band will support Shed Seven on August 28 at The Piece Hall
In 2019, the Sheds mounted their biggest ever Shedcember winter tour, chalking up their record run of 23 shows between November 21 and December 21, with Leeds First Direct Arena on December 7 at the epicentre.
“After we did those Shedcember gigs, we just fancied doing something similar to Castlefield Bowl, but this time a Yorkshire gig,” said the Stockport-born Witter.
Stockport, Mr Witter?! “I know, but I consider myself a Yorkie now,” said Rick, who attended Huntington School in York. “To do an outdoor Yorkshire show in such a salubrious setting will be a great buzz.”
The Sheds are making provisional plans for a 2021 series of Shedcember shows. Watch this space for updates.
Meanwhile, The Piece Hall Trust and Futuresound have confirmed their rescheduled programme of live music events for 2021 and 2022, in the wake of the Government roadmap rollout.
The partners have worked hard to keep as many acts as possible in 2021, with the vast majority rescheduled for August and September. “But due to the complex nature of artist touring schedules, we have had to move some of the gigs, including Nile Rodgers featuring Chic and Doves, to 2022,” says the trust.
“We have managed to secure a second date for Nile Rodgers & Chic following strong sales demand seen this year. Tickets for the new show will go on general sale at 10am on Friday [12/3/2021], with a 24-hour Piece Hall Trust member pre-sale starting on Thursday.
“We hope that the return of live music to the venue will help bring some joy and a sense of normality back to music lovers.”
The dates now confirmed for The Piece Hall:
2021
Shed Seven, August 28; The Specials, August 29; The Cribs, September 3; Richard Hawley, September 4; Manic Street Preachers, September 10; Kaiser Chiefs, September 11 and 12.
Kaiser Chiefs: Two nights in Halifax in September
2022
Doves, June 18; Nile Rodgers featuring Chic, June 24 and 25.
All tickets purchased for deferred events remain valid, and ticket holders do not need to do anything to secure their spot for the new date.
Those unable to make the new dates should contact their booking platform to discuss making alternative arrangements. Refunds will be available from the point of purchase if they cannot make the rescheduled dates.
Visitor safety continues to be the number one priority for The Piece Hall Trust, and so the team has been working closely with partners to determine the safest way to reinstate live music events.
Essential maintenance and a significant deep clean have been undertaken during the Lockdown 3 and the logistics of the large-scale events are being planned meticulously.
Nicky Chance-Thompson, the trust’s chief executive officer, says: “We’re thrilled that we have been able to reschedule our planned Summer 2021 artists to the autumn in what has been a turbulent year for all of us.
“By moving the events to the later dates, we hope we’re providing peace of mind for ticket holders not just around the certainty of the gigs going ahead, but around individuals’ safety and wellbeing, which remains our main priority.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel, and for the first time in a long while, we can re-imagine a thriving and vibrant live music scene returning to Halifax once again. Live music events have always been the jewel in the crown of The Piece Hall, and we sincerely look forward to welcoming these world-renowned artists to our venue.”
For tickets, go to: lunatickets.co.uk, seetickets.com and gigantic.com.
Is this The Greatest Play In The History Of The World…? Yes it is! Catch Julie Hesmondhalgh’s one-woman show at the SJT from May 18. York Theatre Royal and Hull Truck Theatres will follow
THE Stephen Joseph Theatre will reopen its doors to the public on May 17, with the first live show a day later.
Further ahead, the SJT summer season will begin with a new play by director emeritus Sir Alan Ayckbourn but the title and dates are yet to be confirmed.
Under the Government’s roadmap out of lockdown, pending the latest pandemic data, entertainment venues can play to Covid-secure limited capacities to allow for social distancing from May 17.
The reopening show, from May 18 to 22, will be the first dates of the debut UK tour of The Greatest Play In The History Of The World, a one-woman show written by the Bruntwood Award-winning Ian Kershaw for his wife, the former Coronation Street and Broadchurch star Julie Hesmondhalgh.
The SJT programme of live theatre will be announced for the summer and autumn next month. The SJT cinema programme in The McCarthy will re-start from Tuesday, May 25; full details will be released shortly.
Having taken over the first-floor lounge bar last August, Eat Me Café will continue its residency until at least the autumn, open Mondays to Saturdays from 10am, with last orders at 6.30pm, Mondays to Wednesdays, and at 7.30pm, Thursdays to Saturdays. All the usual Covid restrictions will be in place.
The SJT’s joint chief executives, Paul Robinson and Caroline Routh, say: “We can’t wait to open our doors again to our wonderful audiences. We know from their messages how much they’re missing being in the building for live theatre, films and the Eat Me Café.
“We’ll be keeping all the Covid security measures that made them feel so safe when we reopened briefly last year in place for quite some time. These will include temperature checks and hand sanitising on entry, social distancing everywhere in the building, and regular ‘fogging’, or safe disinfecting, of both auditoria in between shows or films.”
“We can’t wait to open our doors again to our wonderful audiences,” says SJT joint chief executives Paul Robinson and Caroline Routh. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Martyn Hyde and Stephen Dinardo, owners of Eat Me Café, say: “We’re absolutely delighted to continue our residence at the SJT. It’s a great space.”
Like all other British theatres, the SJT closed its doors suddenly when the first lockdown was announced last March, reopening in August with rigorous safety procedures in place.
After the second closure was imposed in November, the SJT was able to re-open in time to present its Christmas show, Nick Lane’s The Snow Queen, starring Polly Lister throughout December, but the doors have since remained shut throughout 2021.
Whet the lips for The Greatest Play In The History Of The World, set to be staged in the Round at 7.30pm from May 18 to 22, plus 1.30pm on May 20 and 2.30pm on May 22.
After the 2018 Edinburgh Fringe premiere at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, the play transferred to Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre Studio in September 2018 and later to London’s West End.
Winner of The Stage Edinburgh Award in 2018, Raz Shaw’s production has been adapted especially for the Covid-safe tour in light of these pandemic times and performances will be housed in the larger spaces of each theatre.
Kershaw’s playheads out on a heartfelt journey that starts and ends in a small, unassuming house on a quiet suburban road, as Hesmondhalgh narrates the story of two neighbours and the people on their street, navigating the audience through the nuances of life, the possibilities of science and the meaning of love.
“A man wakes in the middle of the night to discover that the world has stopped,” explains Kershaw, who has written for Coronation Street, Cold Feet and Shameless. “Through the crack in his bedroom curtains, he can see no signs of life at all, other than a light in the house opposite where a woman in an over-sized Bowie T-shirt stands, looking back at him.”
“A beautiful play that shows us, the human race, in all its glorious messiness, confusion and joy,” says Julie Hesmondhalgh of The Greatest Play In The History Of The World…
Recalling the play’s roots, Hesmondhalgh says: “I had a notion, a romantic notion, that my husband, the writer Ian Kershaw, should write a one-woman show for me and we could tour it together into our dotage, like travelling troubadours (or something).
“A couple of Christmases ago, Ian kept disappearing to the cellar for an hour at a time, wrapping presents maybe, I thought. And then he presented me with this lovely thing.
“A beautiful play, a love story, but a universal one – literally! – about learning in time what matters in the end, about leaving a mark on the world – and maybe beyond – that shows us, the human race, in all its glorious messiness, confusion and joy.
“It was the best present I ever got. In these dark and confusing times, it offers a bit of love and light as we enter 2021 with fresh hope.”
Dates for the rearranged tour will be announced for York Theatre Royal and Hull Truck Theatre too.
Chief executive Tom Bird had pencilled in announcing the Theatre Royal’s reopening plans today or tomorrow, but the launch of The Love Season is on hold until further notice. The Theatre Royal will be applying for a grant from the £300 million third tranche of Culture Recovery Fund funding announced by Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden.
Tickets for The Greatest Play In The History Of The World…at the SJT cost £10 upwards on 01723 370541 or at sjt.uk.com.
Socially distanced arrangement at the Stephen Joseph Theatre from May 17:
FOR the first show, The Greatest Play In The History Of The World…, regulations will be as they were in the autumn and for the Christmas show: the two-metre rule will apply and the nature of the show means the audience will be on three sides, with a capacity of 80.
The SJT is working on the way ahead, when Government regulations will allow audiences of up to 50 per cent of capacity: 202 in the full Round. “We will certainly be continuing to operate with social distancing for the foreseeable future,” says press officer Jeannie Swales.
York-Shires: Crissie Rhodes and Ben Earle move their Barbican concert again
COUNTRY duo The Shires are rescheduling their May 23 show at York Barbican for May 6 2022.
All tickets remain valid for the new date, but ticket holders are advised to contact their point of purchase if they have any questions.
Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes, Britain’s best-selling country act, had first moved their York show from May 20 2020 to November 1 2020, but the pandemic continues to play havoc with the best-laid plans of Crissie and Ben.
York Barbican is the only Yorkshire venue of their rearranged 25-date tour, when they are billed to be joined by Texan country singer and songwriter Eric Paslay.
The first Brits to win Best International Act in the American Country Music Association awards, Earle and Rhodes released their fourth album, Good Years, in this anything but good times on March 13 2020, reaching number three in the charts.
As with their past albums, 2015’s Brave, 2016’s My Universe and 2018’s Accidentally On Purpose, the recording sessions took place in Nashville, Tennessee.
“We are so excited to be releasing Good Years,” said Earle and Rhodes last spring. “Honesty and storytelling have always been such an important part of our song-writing. We’ve poured some of the incredible experiences and life we’ve lived into these songs.
“We can’t wait to play these live across the country. The songs mean so much to us personally, but there really is nothing like looking out at our fans in the crowd and seeing how much of an impact they can have in someone else’s life. It’s truly a very special thing”.
The Shires last played York Barbican in May 2018 and performed a headline set at Pocklington’s Platform Festival at The Old Station in July 2019 .
For an update on ticket availability for May 6 2022, go to: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
THE Lovely Eggs will play The Crescent, York, on May 29 next year after reorganising the gig for a second time.
The Lancaster lo-fi psychedelic punk rock band had rescheduled their York date already from February to summer 2021.
Married couple Holly Ross and David Blackwell last released an album in April 2020 when I Am Moron went straight to number one in the UK Independent Album Chart.
“The response to I Am Moron blew us away and we couldn’t wait to get on tour and play the songs live”, said Holly last year.
“We just can’t wait to play live again,” echoed David. “We’re really looking forward to playing all the songs off I am Moron. This is a way of life for us.”
The duo run a Lovely Eggs WhatsApp Lockdown group for supporters to offer support and a friendly ear to anyone struggling during the pandemic. “We’ve just got to try and get through this together” said Holly.
“We set up one What’sApp Group and it was oversubscribed, so we had to set up another. Our fans have always been there for us and it’s important at this time that we are there for them.”
The Lovely Eggs’ York concert is promoted by Please Please You and The Brudenell; tickets cost £15 online via seetickets.com.
Steeleye Span: 50th anniversary tour date at Pocklington Arts Centre is on the move
FOLK legends Steeleye Span are moving their May 7 show at Pocklington Arts Centre to May 5 2022 in a further delay to their 50th anniversary tour.
Those golden celebrations should have taken place from 2020 onwards but the pandemic ruled out the original Pocklington date in 2021 and now the rearranged tour is being put back to next year.
Pocklington Arts Centre (PAC) will be among the smallest venues on the 2022 itinerary, when the seven-piece band, fronted by Maddy Prior, will complement key songs from their ground-breaking June 1970 debut album, Hark The Village Wait, with familiar career favourites.
PAC director Janet Farmer says: “We were, of course, disappointed that Steeleye Span were unable to perform as part of our 20th anniversary programme of live events last year, but we are incredibly excited to be able to bring the legendary band to Pocklington next year for a night of celebration filled with some absolute gems from their famous first album.
“Things may have been delayed due to the pandemic, but it will absolutely be worth the wait.”
Next year’s concert will be Maddy’s second visit to PAC after appearing there more than a decade ago, billed as Maddy Prior & Friends.
Tickets for Steeleye Span’s 8pm gig are on sale at £35 at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk. Visit the website too to keep up to date with PAC’s planned live events once reopening is permitted.
UB40, featuring Ali Campbell & Astro: New date for Scarborough show
UB40, featuring Ali Campbell & Astro, is the first concert of the Scarborough Open Air Theatre summer season to be rearranged after the Government’s roadmap roll-out.
The Birmingham reggae-pop stalwarts will play on August 28, switched from June 19, with tickets remaining valid.
Promoters Cuffe & Taylor say: “We now have a roadmap for live shows to return and we cannot wait to welcome audiences back to Scarborough OAT this summer. However, due to new Government guidelines, a number of shows scheduled to take place before June 21 will need to be rescheduled.
“Rest assured we are working with artists to find alternative dates for these shows, so please bear with us and we will announce further details very soon. Take care and stay safe x.”
Should pandemic lockdown-easement measures be lifted fully on June 21, the other concerts now in need of a new date are Crowded House on June 8; Lionel Richie, June 12; The Beach Boys, June 13 and RuPaul’s Drag Race: Werq The World, June 20.
In the Scarborough OAT diary for this summer too are Bryan Adams on July 1; Snow Patrol, July 3; Duran Duran, July 7; Keane, July 9; Olly Murs, July 10; Kaiser Chiefs, July 11; Lewis Capaldi, July 25; Westlife, August 17, and Nile Rodgers & Chic August 20.
UB40 founding members Campbell and Astro, re-united seven years ago and will play with a seven-piece band on their second visit to the Yorkshire coast, following their 2017 debut.
They have been active during the pandemic-enforced hiatus, writing songs for their forthcoming album and reassembling their touring band remotely to record a lockdown single, a poignant cover of the late Bill Withers’ Lean On Me, in aid of NHS Charities Together.
Campbell and Astro will return to the road in 2021 with bassist Colin McNeish, guitarist Winston Delandro, keyboardist Michael Martin, drummer Paul Slowly, backing singer Matt Hoy and a brass section of trumpeter Colin Graham and saxophonist Winston Rose.
A handful of new songs will complement multiple UB40 classics, notably King, a hymn to the legacy of American Civil Rights leader Dr Martin Luther King and One In Ten, a paean to the rising tide of unemployment in Margaret Thatcher’s Britain, both as resonant today as they were when first sung in 1980 and 1981.
Campbell says: “We wrote King 40 years ago, but it’s still representative of what’s happening in America. It’s depressing that nothing has changed. It’s the same with One In Ten in the UK. With the impact the Coronavirus could have on jobs, we could soon be looking at unemployment figures on a par with the early Eighties.”
Campbell adds: “Those songs will feature in a show we’ve been honing for the past 12 years. We’ll always play the classics, like Red Red Wine and (I Can’t Help) Falling In Love With You, but we like to change the beginning and end of the show.
“We’ll play Lean On Me and maybe add three or four new songs. The band members are all fantastic musicians and we’ve climbed back up to the biggest venues.”
Tickets for the Scarborough OAT season are on sale at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Hands up for the Children’s University online workshops led by Ernest Acquah
THE Stephen Joseph Theatre is teaming up with the Scarborough & North Yorkshire Children’s University to present exciting and entertaining online versions of their after-school clubs.
Three sets of four workshops, separately covering dance, drama and junk band music, are available from the Children’s University’s Vimeo channel and via the Scarborough theatre and the university’s social media.
Aimed at children aged five to 11, the lively and fun 15-minute workshops will be led by regular tutors Clare Maxwell (dance) and Ernest Acquah (drama and junk band music) and will count towards learning hours in a Children’s University passport.
Cheryl Govan, the SJT’s associate director for children and young people, says: “These are join-in, fun taster sessions: young people can pick when they want to do them and whether to do all of them or just one or two, if they prefer. They’re lively and a great way to try something new at home and maybe encourage children to have a go in ‘real life’ when we can.
“The SJT is a learning destination for the Children’s University and we’ve been running after-school clubs with them for several years now. This is a great way to continue them at the moment and reach even more children.”
Richard Adams, outreach officer for the University of Hull, hosts of the Scarborough Children’s University, says: “Watching and taking part in these videos counts towards learning hours in their passports for those participating in Children’s University through local schools, but also for children from any area in the UK where the Children’s University operates.
“They are also available for any individual child, whether they are part of a participating school or not.
“This programme forms part of a wider outreach Covid response for North Yorkshire coast schools and colleges by the University of Hull, which includes online after-school clubs in a range of subjects, alongside progression support throughout secondary and college year groups.”
Ernest Acquah works at the SJT in stage and production support, creating props, looking after actors and stage-managing shows behind the scenes. He is a sound designer too, also composing music and creating sounds for various productions.
He has run youth theatre groups at the SJT, teaching drama skills and directing plays with young people.
Clare Maxwell is a dance and drama teacher who works with the Stephen Joseph Theatre. She teaches children of all ages all over Scarborough in schools, after-school clubs, in the theatre, for shows and now on video.
The Children’s University charity works in partnership with schools to develop a love of learning in children by encouraging and celebrating participation in extra-curricular activities in and outside of school. For more information, go to: childrensuniversity.co.uk.
The Minster men: The Howl & The Hum pose for “the ultimate York band press shot”
AFTER a year of living under the pandemic cloud, The Howl & The Hum’s Sam Griffiths is judging his mood by a combination of his mental health and what TV programme is catching his eye.
“So, at the moment, I’m very well, and I’m watching Gordon Ramsay, and it does seem that everyone is feeling a little more positive,” says Sam, who will be feeling all the better for the announcement that his ground-breaking York band will play a live-stream concert at York Minster on May 25 from 8pm to 9.30pm.
The last time he graced a York stage with The Howl & The Hum, he was wearing angel wings with a nod to Christmas and Nativity plays at The Crescent in December 2019.
Might we see those wings again in the Nave of northern Europe’s largest medieval Gothic cathedral? “I feel like that’s been done,” says frontman Sam, whose show announcement promises “a unique set to compliment the unique venue”.
“We’re thinking about a different way to approach it because it’s probably the most important gig we’ve done. Definitely no animal sacrifices and no indoor fireworks! But we do have a lot of exciting plans, though some of them I can’t tell you!”
York’s long-standing independent promoters Please Please You, independent York grassroots venue The Crescent and legendary Leeds venue and promoters The Brudenell [Social Club] are teaming up with the Chapter of York to present this one-off live performance by the York alternative rock outfit.
Confirmed at the fourth attempt of settling on a date, the show will be live-streamed at 20:15 (GMT) via ticket.co, and depending on Covid-19 restrictions at the time, a “very limited socially distanced audience may be able to attend”.
“We’re thinking about a different way to approach it because it’s probably the most important gig we’ve done,” says The Howl & The Hum’s Sam Griffiths, front, as he contemplates their York Minster concert
Indoor performances with reduced capacities could re-start from May 17 under the Government’s four-step roadmap, and so updates on this possibility will be delivered exclusively via the band’s mailing list.
What’s more, this concert could turn into the first in a series of York Minster shows promoted by Joe Coates (Please Please You) and Nathan Clark (manager of The Brudenell), “though they will first see how this one goes,” says Sam. Watch this space.
So much happened for The Howl & The Hum last year, headlined by the May release of their debut album, Human Contact, but so much more should have happened until the pandemic tore up their diary.
“All the post-album tour plans were scrapped, hundreds of shows; that all got decapitated. Our jobs were deemed ‘unviable’ by the Government, and so many friends, musicians, technicians, sound engineers, are still not working, so we’ve got friends involved in our show,” says Sam.
“Joe and Nathan, and friends who are musicians, will help on the day, so this our attempt at rebirth and rejuvenating our corner of the music world, and we’ll be able to pay them properly and fairly.”
Singer, songwriter and guitarist Sam, bassist Brad Blackwell, guitarist Conor Hirons and drummer Jack Williams have all supported themselves through the past year by returning to past jobs when Covid measures permitted: Sam as a barman at the Cardigan Arms in Leeds; Brad and Conor in the Rafi’s Spicebox warehouse and Jack at Bettys in York.
“It’s been a really strange in-and-out time, but we’ve been in the privileged position of being able to regain employment,” says Sam.
“We’re in the studio four or five days a week this year with no distractions because there’s nothing else to do,” says Sam, pictured with Jack Williams, Conor Hirons and Brad Blackwell in pre-Covid times
Meanwhile, The Howl & The Hum have not gone into hibernation. “We’re now at the stage of discussing second album deals, and giving ourselves a wage again, and we’ve got a lot done, which lends itself to our mental health being healthier,” says Sam.
“We’ve been lucky that we’ve had the opportunity to go to our studio because it’s our place of business, so we’ve been there over the past nine months, wearing masks and social distancing.
“We’re in the studio four or five days a week this year with no distractions because there’s nothing else to do.”
Sam anticipates The Howl & The Hum releasing two themed EPs “not too far away”, over the months ahead. Will Covid loom large in the subject matter? “It’s a fine line, because I don’t think you can ignore what’s been happening,” he says.
“There’s no way to pretend it’s not happening, but it’s a challenge to address it in an interesting way, though I’ve always written about isolation. Some songs do allude it, some don’t.”
New material may well feature in the May 25 live-stream. “I reckon it will,” says Sam. “We’re really proud of these songs. They’re sounding almost irritatingly good! We really like them; I’m 80 per cent sure some will be in the Minster setlist.”
That setlist will be built around debut album Human Contact, whose prescient title chimed with pandemic times as such contact became more restricted, even barred, through the alienating cycle of pandemic lockdowns.
The artwork for The Howl & The Hum’s 2020 debut album, Human Contact
“At the time it came out, the title was a good line for the press and the press release, though I was worried it was going to haunt us and it would be seen as a joke, a bit of a throwaway, a sly little reference point, but at the end of the day, we were calling it Human Contact because it was about distance in the digital age.
“We’ve had people finding us on social media and telling us about their experiences, about love at this time. It has hit home in more ways than we would have expected, when we suddenly have no idea how to behave as humans towards each other.
‘“Human Contact’ has now taken on such a meaning in itself that the songs seem to resonate even more.”
The Howl & The Hum will be the first rock act to play York Minster since York singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich on March 29 2019. What advice on performing there would Ben pass on to Sam, who happened to be busy co-writing songs on Zoom on the day of this interview?
“If he asked me, I would say, ‘sing from your heart, perform like your life depends on it, though I would advise that for all gig nights, and pray in your own way, whether you’re religious or not; just surrender to it,” he suggests.
This will not be the first time Sam has sung in the Minster. “I went to one of the Easter services there, in the congregation, singing along…to very few people around me, if any were looking at me at all! This time they’ll all be looking at me!” he says.
York singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich at York Minster, where he performed in March 2019
The cathedral setting will have an impact on The Howl & The Hum’s performance. “I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself to be religious, but there’s definitely a spiritual feeling to it, and the Minster is such an iconic representation of a city that has been so good to us: the city that gave me a fresh start ten years ago,” says Sam.
“Also, I think it was the week I moved to York that Laura Marling played the Minster, and I love the CD she released of that concert.”
A blue sky greeted The Howl & The Hum on the day they lined up for their Minster photoshoot. “It’s the press shot for a York band!” says Sam. “We were very aware we were there, standing outside the Minster, because we’re not comfortable as models…but it is one of my very favourite buildings.”
Looking ahead to the prospect of gigs resuming from the summer onwards with crowds, The Howl & The Hum have September shows in place for Paris, Milan, Zurich, Berlin, Amsterdam, Cologne and Antwerp, along with 13 British dates in October that will culminate in two nights at Leeds Brudenell Social Club, close to where Sam now lives, on October 30 and 31.
“It will be such a burst of joy to play to audiences again,” he says. “I think ‘overwhelming’ will be the word for how everyone will feel as we try to make our way through the first song.”
Live-stream tickets for May 25 are on sale via thehowlandthehum.com/.
Did you know?
THE Howl & The Hum’s guitarist, Conor Hirons, designs the band’s artwork. “He’s self-taught,” says Sam. “He basically got bored on tour, got himself an iPad to draw with, and now he’s so in demand he’s designing everyone’s posters and artwork.”
Band member Conor Hirons’ poster for The Howl & The Hum at York Minster
