Saul Henry: Performing at second Funny Fridays night at Patch
THE second Funny Fridays comedy night at Patch, at The Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, will feature Saul Henry, Gemma Day, Ethan Formstone, Lucy Buckley and headliner Jack Wilson.
Once again, the 7.30pm bill will be hosted by founder and comedian Katie Lingo, alias Katie Taylor-Thompson, managing director of Katie Lingo, award-winning provider of copywriting, content strategy, journalism, digital marketing, reporting and data visualisation services – and now comedy too.
Katie Lingo hosting the first Funny Fridays bill on May 9 at Patch. Picture: Laurence Tilley
“I’m over the moon that the first Funny Fridays event on May 9 was a huge success,” says Katie. “We had more than 130 guests crammed into the Bonding Warehouse and they all loved our comedians, Kenny Watt, Tuiya Tembo, Matty Oxley, Saeth Wheeler and John Pease. They also had record bar sales!
”It’s an honour to have performed in such an iconic space and pillar of York’s comedy scene. I look forward to hosting many more.”
Saeth Wheeler performing at the inaugural Funny Fridays night at Patch. Picture: Laurence Tilley
Thom Feeney adds: “Funny Fridays was such a rip-roaring success that we’ve been forced to do another one! The support from York folk to make the Bonding Warehouse sing, laugh and cry again is heart-warming. It’s a special building and Patch are proud custodians.”
Looking ahead to June 13’s line-up, comedian Nish Kumar said of bill-topping Jack Wilson: “This man’s got the game locked down.” Gemma Day, from Stoke-on-Trent, defines herself as “stand-up comedian, sit-down mardy bum”.
Ethan Formstone: The witty York brickie, constructing jokes at Funny Fridays on June 13
Lucy Buckley took third place in the Hull Comedian of the Year 2024; stand-up comic and writer Meryl O’Rourke has described Saul Henry as “very naturally funny”, while Blue drummer Dave Rowntree called him a “great performer – one to watch”.
Ethan Formstone’s profile reveals he is a bricklayer from York, who grew bored and now, “using his natural stage presence and wild imagination, lays surreal stories that will delight you and leave you slightly confused”.
Dominic North in New Adventures’ 2025 production of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Johan Persson
NEW Adventures return to York Theatre Royal from Wednesday to Saturday with Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell.
Last staged in York in October 2021, this award-winning work is on a 17-week tour from May 15, also visiting the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, from September 30 to October 4.
Inspired by the novels of Patrick Hamilton, such as Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky and Hangover Square, The Midnight Bell is set in 1930s’ London, where ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions, hopes and dreams in the pubs and fog-bound streets of Soho and Fitzrovia.
Step inside The Midnight Bell, a tavern where one particular lonely-hearts club gather to play out their lovelorn affairs of the heart in bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption.
Bourne says of his 14-strong cast: “This is, without doubt, the finest company of quintessential New Adventures actor/dancers ever assembled for a single production. Together they represent nearly 30 years of critically acclaimed performances and created roles in my work.
“In fact, it would be hard to imagine a cast more perfectly suited to the challenging world of Patrick Hamilton and his exploration of the darker reaches of the human heart.”
“I’ve been lucky with injuries and not really looking my age,” says New Adventures dancer Dominic North, aged 42
Reece Causton, Glenn Graham, Daisy May Kemp, Andy Monaghan, Liam Mower, Bryony Pennington and National Dance Awards Outstanding Female Modern Performance winner Michela Meazza return from the original cast.
Making their Midnight Bell debuts alongside them are “some of New Adventures’ most beloved stars of the last 25 years”, Cordelia Braithwaite, Dominic North, Edwin Ray, Danny Reubens, Ashley Shaw and Alan Vincent, joined by rising star Hannah Kremer, last seen as Juliet in Romeo And Juliet.
Guiseley-born Dominic North, a stalwart member of Bourne’s company for 22 years, is undertaking his first new New Adventures role in “ten years, maybe eight, definitely a while”, playing Bob, the bartender.
“I took it for granted that knowing shows I could count the music, but I’d only seen The Midnight Bell a couple of times, and it was nice to have that adrenaline feeling, thinking ‘what is this?’? It was like being new again with loads of old friends around me.”
The Midnight Bell finds 42-year-old Dominic performing in a New Adventures tour of mid-scale theatres for the first time in 13 years, after taking on such parts as Edward in Edward Scissorhands on and off over a decade.
In the spotlight: Dominic North in The Midnight Bell. Picture: Johan Persson
“I think it’s the multiple lead stories, not just one story, that make The Midnight Bell such a hit with audiences. Everyone in the ensemble has their story to show what they can do, and that makes it exciting and dramatic,” he says, as he looks forward to his debut York Theatre Royal appearance in a career that has taken him to Japan at least seven times, Korea, five, Australia and the United States too.
“It’s such a cool show with so much intricateness and cleverness, and I’m just glad I’ve got to do it. In particular I love the lip-synching to the amazing songs, which gives the show comic relief.”
He has special memories of his lead role in Edward Scissorhands. “I first did it at the age of 24 at the Sydney Opera House. I’d probably be nervous to first do it now, but back then you’re young and naive, going to Japan for four months and Korea for a month, whereas now I’d be petrified!”
Working with Bourne for more than two decades has stretched him “massively”. “I think when I started I was very much a dancer-dancer; I didn’t see myself as an actor, but when I understudied The Prince in Swan Lake at 22 , I had to learn on the job very quickly,” says Dominic, who took his first steps at NYDZA dance classes at Bingley railway station four days week until the age of 18 before attending the Central School of Speech and Drama.
“You realise it’s not just about dance, but helping the audience to understand what they’re seeing through the storytelling in the dancing.”
Dominic is based in London with his young family – he has two daughters – but still has a flat in Guiseley and family in Menston and Horsforth too. He is in fine fettle at 42. “I’ve been lucky with injuries and not really looking my age and still being able to play diverse roles on stage,” he says.
Dominic North, centre, in New Adventures’ production of Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands. Picture: Johan Persson
“It helps that this company is good at seeking to sustain careers, and that’s a shift in the dance world from ten years ago. There are dancers in this cast who are in their 50s, and when I did Edward Scissorhands, we had dancers in their 40s and 50s too.
“It’s nice to reflect the different ages, rather than putting 20-year-olds in wigs and facial hair, as we’ve realised that experience is key to our performances and doing our job.”
He loves performing in Bourne’s works for New Adventures. “It’s so rewarding,” says Dominic. “We’re lucky that we’re so loved; everywhere we sell out. We’re so fortunate that we can tour around the globe, because there’s no language barrier with dance, but we never take our following for granted.
“Working with Matthew is a dream, getting to work with him closely on creating new roles. He gets things out of you that would never imagine to be possible, and he does it in a very modest way. He couldn’t be further from how directors are depicted in films.”
New Adventures in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal, June 4, 7.30pm; June 5, 2pm, 7.30pm; June 6, 7.30pm; June 7, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Age guidance: 14 plus. Content warning: Scenes of a sexual nature, including sexual violence and mental distress, smoking on stage (e-cigarettes), haze and flickering lights (not strobe).
Here Sir Matthew Bourne discusses The Midnight Bell, novelist Patrick Hamilton, working with composer Terry Davies and the universal truths of loneliness
Choreographer and director Sir Matthew Bourne. Picture: Hugo Glendinning
When did you become aware of the work of Patrick Hamilton?
“His most famous works, and the ones that kept him financially secure throughout his life, were actually two very successful plays, Rope (1929) and Gaslight (1938), and it was through the film versions of these plays that I first became aware of Hamilton as a writer.
“In fact I toyed with the idea of staging Rope as a play some years ago, having seen the famous Hitchcock movie. The novels came later for me and they represent a very different world to the plays.
“I think Hamilton was consciously trying to write something with popular appeal for his theatre work and he succeeded in creating two of the most commercially successful melodramas of their day.
“However, the novels tell a different story, born out of mostly bitter personal experience and failed relationships. Painfully honest, but also beautifully observed and even finding humour in these mesmerising tales of lonely lives looking for love.”
What aspects of his novels appealed to you as a storyteller?
“I think initially I just fell in love with these characters and the truthful way that Hamilton gets to the heart of them. Hamilton’s world could be seen as the flip-side of his close contemporary, Noel Coward, whose witty and glamorous world of cocktails and high society was the epitome 1930s’ fashion and imagery.
“Hamilton, on the other hand, wrote about the working man (and woman), born out of years of observation and social interaction at his favourite location – the rather unglamorous London pub. The characters are therefore very relatable and their ‘voices’ ring true.
“For many years, I have held the belief that dance can tackle, in depth, unconventional and complex relationships, rather than the standard boy/girl romances that dance often favours, and these characters and stories require us to ‘dig deep’ and find a non-verbal language to do them justice.
“You can learn so much about 1930s’ attitudes to sex and relationships through Hamilton’s novels and I must admit that much of it was revelatory and unexpected.
“Hamilton has been called ‘a connoisseur of alcoholic behaviour’ and this aspect appeals greatly to me as a non-verbal storyteller as it suggests ‘altered states’ and even ‘gin-soaked’ fantasies that are particularly useful when exploring the inner life of a character.
The poster artwork for the New Adventures tour of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell
“The Midnight Bell is the name of one of Hamilton’s early novels that went to make up the trilogy entitled Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky. However, rather than a straightforward adaptation, this is a devised piece inspired by the world in which Hamilton’s various novels take place.”
How did you go about this creative process?
“I made a devised piece in 2001 called Play Without Words, which looked at various British movie classics of the 1960s, such as The Servant and Look Back In Anger amongst many others. From this I created a kind of ‘mash-up’ of stories and characters from different movies that dealt with changing attitudes to class and culture of that time.
“I think that I was looking for another fascinating era to apply this very free approach to when I hit on the idea of exploring the very particular world of Patrick Hamilton in the 1930s.
“The main novels that we have explored in the piece are Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky (1929-1934), Hangover Square (1941), The Slaves Of Solitude (1947) and the Gorse Trilogy (1952-1955), taking characters and situations from all the novels and sometimes even suggesting relationships with characters from different novels!
“So, as you will see, we weave six interconnecting stories or relationships throughout the piece, without telling the full story of each novel, but rather creating a kind of ‘essence’ of Hamilton’s world. The only thing that they all do have in common is that they are all regulars or employees of The Midnight Bell pub that gives our show its title.
“As I said earlier, much of Hamilton’s work was deeply personal and became the source from which he created his finest and most individual work, so it was with some trepidation that I have taken the liberty to include a touching gay story amongst our Soho tales.
“The homosexual ‘underworld’ was not as hidden as you might expect at this time, despite regular police raids of known gay haunts. There is much evidence that gay pick-ups and cruising, through a complex series of coded signs and signals, would be a regular occurrence at the very pubs that Hamilton regularly frequented in Fitzrovia.
“Indeed, I also unearthed some research in letters that Hamilton wrote in later life that suggested a very liberal and, for the time, uncharacteristically open attitude towards homosexuality.”
How did you collaborate with Terry Davies on the original musical score for The Midnight Bell?
“It’s always exciting to be able to commission a score from Terry, who has written such varied scores for New Adventures in the past such as Lord Of The Flies, Dorian Gray and his memorable jazz-inspired score for Play Without Words.
A scene from the 2021 tour of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell that visited York Theatre Royal. Picture: Johan Persson
“Finding a musical language for a new work is always challenging to begin with and the relationship with a composer is so important as you need to share as much of your vision for the piece as possible, so that the musical world can properly come from the chosen source material.
“However, the first thing that I said to Terry was that I didn’t want a 1930s’ ‘pastiche’ score. I wanted a contemporary score that reflected the emotion and inner life of the characters, the themes of loneliness, furtive relationships, erotic obsession, drunken oblivion and bittersweet longing.
“Terry also loved the Hamilton books and our work together has been driven by a desire to be true to the atmosphere of the novels and characters. We have, though, added the odd period ‘surprise’ in our score that reflects the words and music that our characters may have been listening to at that time.”
Alongside Terry Davies, you have also gathered many of your creative team and even some of the original dancers from Play Without Words, your last fully devised piece from 20 years ago. How come?
“New Adventures is a family that sticks together. As a team, we love creating together and The Midnight Bell is set in a period that we have not worked on before. It’s also a very unglamorous, nicotine-stained, fog-bound, slightly seedy world that we are delving into and that is inspiring us all too…
“…Sometimes it’s finding the beauty in a battered old armchair or the golden fractured light coming through the stained glass of a tavern window that creates a memorable image. It’s certainly a gift for Lez Brotherston (set and costumes) and Paule Constable (lighting design) to be able to revel in such a richly atmospheric world that swiftly changes location and mood whilst keeping six different scenarios going!
“This is certainly a totally collaborative project and I was thrilled to have such an incredibly generous and talented cast to create with, including some dancers who have been with me for over 20 years, along with some of our brightest young talent.
“This is a piece where they need all their skills as non-verbal storytellers and where the acting is as important as their formidable movement skills.”
Hamilton’s novels were written primarily in the first half of the last century and you have set your piece in the early 1930s. What does The Midnight Bell have to say to the audiences of today?
“One of the reasons that many New Adventures productions can be revived again and again is that they deal in universal and timeless truths. Of course, there is a place for work that directly addresses very contemporary concerns and issues but this work does inevitably date much more quickly.
“I prefer to make work that finds its relevance through the making of the piece and the people who make it; work that can resonate in a different way many years after its premiere. It’s why our Swan Lake is always relevant with its story of a young man looking for love; that story never dates. It’s why our Romeo And Juliet will always be relatable to an audience who remember what it was like to fall in love for the first time.
“I originally created this piece as we were slowly emerging from the pandemic, which saw many of us isolated from loved ones and missing that social contact that we so thrive on. Four years on, we continue to deal with some of those universal truths of loneliness and the need to connect … it seems like a trip to the Midnight Bell could be the perfect way to spend an evening?”
* IN Conversation With Matthew Bourne will follow the 7.30pm performance on June 6, facilitated by York Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes, with BSL Interpreted and Audio Described services provided.
FESTIVALS full of ideas and comedy lead off Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for cultural sustenance and enlightening entertainment.
Festival of the week: York Festival of Ideas, today to June 13
YORK Festival of Ideas 2025 explores the theme of Making Waves in more than 200 mostly free in-person and online events designed to educate, entertain and inspire.
Led by the University of York, the festival features world-class speakers, performances, exhibitions, tours, family-friendly activities and much more. Topics range from archaeology to art, history to health and politics to psychology. Browse the programme at yorkfestivalofideas.com.
Pocklington Comedy Festival: The headline show will be hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLean, centre, tonight
Comedy event of the week: Pocklington Comedy Festival, Pocklington Arts Centre, today, from 12 noon
KIRI Pritchard-McLean hosts tonight’s 8pm bill of Chris Cantrill, Joe Kent-Walters as alter ego Frankie Monroe, eccentric owner of The Misty Moon working men’s club in Rotherham, Seeta Wrightson, from Bradford, and Lee Kyle.
Earlier today, in the studio, look out for work-in-progress Edinburgh Fringe previews of Seeta Wrightson’s It’ll Be Allrightson On The Night (12 noon); Chris Cantrill’s On Your Marks (1.30pm); Frankie Monroe’s Dead Good (3pm) and Newcastle’s Louise Young (4.30pm).
This afternoon’s Family Comedy Show, introduced by Lee Kyle, features the comically chaotic antics of York magician Just Josh (aka Josh Benson) and mischievous Hull duo Jeddy Bear & Gary. Box office: pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Kaiser Chiefs: Chief attraction at Temple Newsam, Leeds, today. Picture: Cal McIntyre
Yorkshire gig of the week: Kaiser Chiefs, Temple Newsam, Leeds, today, gates open at 1pm
LEEDS indie rock titans Kaiser Chiefs mark the 20th anniversary of March 2005 debut album Employment with a homecoming celebration. Employed on the bill too are: Ellur, 1.50pm; Hotwax, 2.45pm; We Are Scientists, 3.40pm; The Coral, 4.50pm; The Cribs, 6.05pm, and Razorlight, 7.20pm.
Kaiser Chiefs will be on stage from 8.50pm to 10.30pm with a special guest appearance by the Championship trophy won by Leeds United on May 4. Tickets update: still available at gigandtours.com; ticketmaster.co.uk or livenation.co.uk.
Rachel Croft: Heading back to York to play The Crescent. Picture: Michelle Fredericks
Welcome back: Rachel Croft, The Crescent, York, tonight, doors 7.30pm
AFTER re-locating from York to London, singer-songwriter Rachel Croft returns north to promote her vinyl EP A Mind Made Of Sky as part of a summer series of tempestuous shows across the UK. Expect drama, energy and thunderous alt-rock songs from Rachel “as you’ve never seen her before”. Stereo Cupid and Flat Number Two support. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Strictly between us: Dance couple Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara promise A Night To Remember at York Barbican
Strictly show of the week:Aljaž And Janette: A Night To Remember, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing husband-and-wife duo Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara team up in their new show with their live big band, fronted by boogie-woogie maestro Tom Seals and an ensemble cast of dancers and singers.
Strictly regular Aljaž and It Takes Two and Morning Live host Janette take to the York Barbican dancefloor to perform routines to music from the Great American songbook to modern-day classics. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Stephen Smith in One Man Poe. Picture: Cat Humphries
Edinburgh Fringe 2024 Best Horror Solo Show winner: One Man Poe, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 6pm
USING Edgar Allan Poe’s original text from the 1840s, actor-director Stephen Smith brings to life the most terrifying examples of the gothic genre from the pioneering Godfather of Gothic Horror.
In Act One, The Tell-Tale Heart, a madman strives to convince you of his sanity, while explaining the meticulous details of a murder he committed. Then, in The Pit And The Pendulum, a prisoner seeks to escape the various torture devices of the Spanish Inquisition.
In Act Two, arguably Poe’s darkest tale and definitely not one for the faint hearted, The Black Cat, documents an alcoholic’s last confession on the eve of his death. Last comes the poem that made Poe famous: The Raven. In the midnight hour, as an elderly man laments the loss of his love, an ominous visitor is heard tapping on his chamber door. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
New Adventures in the 2025 tour of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, on tour at York Theatre Royal next week. Picture: Johan Persson
Dance return of the week: New Adventures in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal, June 4 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
IN 1930s’ London, ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions, hopes and dreams in the pubs and fog-bound streets of Soho and Fitzrovia. Step inside The Midnight Bell, a tavern where one particular lonely-hearts club gather to play out their lovelorn affairs of the heart; bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption.
Inspired by the work of English novelist Patrick Hamilton, Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell returns to York Theatre Royal, where it first played in October 2021, with a 14-strong cast of New Adventures’ actor-dancers, music by Terry Davies and set and costume design by Lez Brotherston. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Steve Tearle: Directing NE Theatre York in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel
Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Carousel, Tempest Anderson Hall, Museum Gardens, York, June 5 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
STEVE Tearle directs NE Theatre York in fully staged concert performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel with an 18-piece orchestra conducted by Joe Allen. The cast for this tale of hope, redemption and the power of love will be led by Kit Stroud as Billy Bigelow; Rebecca Jackson as Julie Jordan; Maia Beatrice as Carrie Pepperidge; Finlay Butler as Mr Snow and Perri Ann Barley as Aunt Netty.
Cue such R&H classics as June Is Burstin’ Out All Over, If I Loved You, When I Marry Mister Snow, Blow High, Blow Low and the iconic Liverpool and Celtic terrace anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/netheatre-york.
King Creosote’s Kenny Anderson: Serving up a Storm In A Teacup at The Crescent, York
Scottish visitor of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents host King Creosote, The Crescent, York, June 5, 7.30pm
KING Creosote follows up 2024’s springtime tour Any Port In A Storm with his Any Storm In A Teacup travels from April to June this year, again with a mix of modular synths, his back catalogue from 50 studio albums and his November 2023 album I Des, the first King Creosote recording in seven years.
As ever, Scotsman Kenny Anderson’s performance will be marked by his singular voice, allied to roguish, roving, ever-evolving, gorgeous songs in the key of Fife. Box office, for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.
In Focus: International collaboration of the week: Say Owt presents chamæleon, So Many Ways To Move, Fulford Arms, Fulford Road, York, Sunday, 5.30pm
chamæleon: Collaboration of Palestinian poet Farah Chamma and Brazilian electronic musician Liev at the Fulford Armson Sunday
SAY Owt, York’s champions of raucous performance poetry and sizzling spoken word, play host for the first time to an Arabic artist and South American musician, Palestinian poet Farah Chamma and Brazilian electronic soundscape producer Liev, on Sunday.
In their poetic and political collaboration as chamæleon, Chamma and Liev explore the intersection between spoken word and musical texture, diving into the unknown to search for belonging and identity in So Many Wayes To Move.
Since 2014, Say Owt has hosted poets from Sweden, Nigeria, the United States and Canada, now adding Brazil and Palestine to that list. chamæleonhave performed in Portugal, Holland, Spain and the United Arab Emirates and this weekend they make their York debut in their only performance in the UK outside London on their 2025 travels.
So Many Ways To Move encapsulates their belief in the power of art not only to reflect the times but also to move with them. “We see art as a force of transformation, a channel for resistance and renewal,” say chamaeleon. “By weaving together sound, text and imagery, we illuminate our shared experiences and struggles.”
Farah Chamma: “Speaking truth to power from festivals to demonstrations”
Farah Chamma’s performances are described as “vital and urgent, speaking truth to power from festivals to demonstrations”. “If ever words could tear down the gates of power, it would be those spoken by Farah. Besides her native Arabic, she also writes and performs in English and French and speaks German, Spanish and Portuguese,” Say Owt states
Chamma holds a master’s degree in Performance and Culture from Goldsmiths, University of London and a BA in Philosophy and Sociology from the Sorbonne in Paris.
Based in Brazil, multi-instrumentalist and electro-organic music producer Liev uses his research to “dive into the intersectionality between machine and human-made sounds”.
Within his body of work, everyday noises and the human voice – mostly in spoken word pieces – are the raw material that ends up mixed with more complex machine and AI-generated sounds, birthing soundscapes and music that delves into the contemporary human experience.
Sunday’s support acts will be Nadira Alom and electro riot grrl act Doberwoman. Box office: https://www.fatsoma.com/e/5b1ew8fs/la/jt04.
Micklegate Arts Trail: 35 artists, 20 free events, one festival of art, music film and poetry
YORK creative collective Navigators Art launches the 2025 Micklegate Arts Trail today featuring works by 35 York artists on display in 14 shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants until June 15.
The launch day, running from 12 noon to 5pm, will present street buskers Joel Wilson (The Typing Poet), Borgia Trio, Jasmine Lowe and Nathan Kirby, along with music improvisations by Joe Allen, Desmond Clarke, Fin O’Hare, Tom Maynard (The Sounen Project) and Nick Walters at Holy Trinity Church, where Walters has coordinated the display of 3D sculptures and events.
Keep an eye out for the Extreme Knitting demonstration with giant needles by Hippystitch, alias Sally Stone in the church grounds. All these events are free.
Coordinated by Steve Beadle and George Willmore, Micklegate Arts Trail has expanded from last June’s inaugural Micklegate Art Trail – note the change from ‘Art’ to ‘Arts’ – to embrace music, film and poetry as well as art in a festival run in tandem with York Festival of Ideas that opens on the same day.
On show for the next fortnight will be works by:
Sinead Corkery: Work on show at No 84 Deli & Cafe
Raginie Duara at Lucius Books; Mark Kesteven at Old School Barber Shop; Barry Lewis, Desmond Clarke, Lu Mason, Nick Walters, Peter Baker, Richard Mackness, Sally Stone and Tom Maynard at Holy Trinity Church and Bill Oakey and Julia Leonard at Cads of Micklegate.
Look out for Nick Kobyluch, Sharon McDonagh and Sola at Skosh; Jane Dignum, Jo Rodwell and Lois Folkard at The Falcon; Chalky the Yorkie, Jasmine Foo, Jude Redpath and Sinead Corkery at No 84 Deli & Cafe; Susan Bradley at Divine Coffee Roasters; Fiona Kemp and Ali Hunter at Hudson Moody and Skulldog at Mack & Lawler Builders.
Isabel Bullon Benito and Marc Godfrey-Murphy (Marco Looks) can be found at Oxfam Bookshop; Chrissy Buse at Cafe Fleur; Elizabeth Smallman and Linda Combi at the Amnesty Bookshop and Melisaa Hill, Michael Campbell, Richard Thompson and Sarah Schiewe at The Hooting Owl in Rougier Street. Opening times may vary between venue.
“Micklegate Arts Trail is a rare community event of its kind in York,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen. “It’s been hard work to put it together, probably harder work than last year, because it’s not just an art trail now but we also have spoken-word and music events, taking place in three pubs, The Artful Dodger, The Falcon and The Hooting Owl.
“The great thing about the art trail is that all the work on show is chosen is chosen by the traders and shops themselves, and not by a panel. So the work is what they like and what suits their premises. That means there are no preconceptions about who will be chosen, and some quite big York names are missing out this year – the selection process is what makes it a true community event.”
Collage drop-in session at The Artful Dodger on June 8
Richard continues: “Our starting point for the festival is that Navigators Art likes Micklegate as a street, an historic street, but some people just see it as a cut-through, and some shops and traders are struggling, especially after the parking price increases, so we want to draw attention to what Micklegate has to offer.
“Hopefully the arts trail will attract pedestrians to visit the street. We’re very much doing this festival to support both Micklegate traders and the York artists they chose to display. That’s why it exists and we hope this second trail is a step to making it an annual event.”
Arts Trail events will include free live music sessions at The Falcon and The Hooting Owl on June 1, 8 and 15 at 2pm and 7pm featuring Andy Bowen and Liv Quigley, One Iota, Jasmine Lowe, Mike Amber and Will Martin.
Martin will return to The Falcon on June 4 and 11 at 7pm and further sessions will follow at The Hooting Owl on June 5 and 12 at 7pm.
The Falcon will play host to board game (in house or bring your own) on June 3 and 10. A spoken word, music and open-mic session will be held upstairs at The Artful Dodger on June 5 at 7.30pm when invited guests will include poets Janet Dean and Jessica Van Smith and singer Mike Amber. Bring your poem, an original song, guitar, or whatever, for the open-mic in a safe, supportive, non-discriminatory environment.
The poster for tonight’s YO Underground 3 bill of live & left-field music words & performance at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse
Experimental short films by Timothy Marvell, Nick Walters and Tom Walters will be shown in the Nativity hut at Holy Trinity Church on June 7 from 9pm to 10pm.
To coincide with the arts trail launch, Navigators Art presents YO Underground 3, a night of live new music and words at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, tonight from 7.30pm to 10pm.
Step forward Desmond Clarke, improvisers Joe Allen & Friends, Spartacus T ruth, University of York students Katie Laing and Dan Fishwick and The Jammingtons Experience (Tom Nightingale and Mark Stokes), purveyors of idiosyncratic songs that take an ironic look at life. Tickets are on sale at bit.ly/nav-events or on the door.
In the first art demonstration, George Willmore will hold collage sessions on June 8 at 1.30pm and 3.30pm upstairs at The Artful Dodger. Two days later, upstairs at The Hooting Owl at 7.30pm, artist Melissa Hill and poet-researcher Becca Drake will team up for Creative Arrangements, where Melissa will discuss her three vases on display for the arts trail that inspired Becca to write and perform her new work.
You are invited to draw or write verses in response to the vases, poetry and talk. Free materials will be provided at both demonstrations but you can bring your own too.
Further details will follow on two more Navigators Art contributions to the Festival of Ideas: the Making Waves art exhibition at City Screen Picturehouse from June 8 to July 4 and About Time Too!, a concert of music and words to complement a day of free talks celebrating ‘Time’ at St Olave’s Church, Marygate, on June 14 at 7pm.
Navigators Art’s music programme for the Micklegate Arts Trail
Navigators Art’s inclusivity policy
NAVIGATORS Art rejects racism, misogyny and other forms of bigotry. “We strive to achieve gender balance and across-the-board inclusivity at all times,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen.
National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Award winners Avram Harris, left and Kit McCarthy at the NCEM on the awards day. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
First published on May 17 2025
KIT McCarthy and Avram Harris have won the 2025 National Centre for Early Music Young Composers Awards.
Kit received the prize for the 19 to 25 age group with his composition Molten Kaleidoscope; Avram triumphed in the 18 years and under category with Transient Variations.
The final of the 18th Young Composers Award was held at the NCEM, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, presented in partnership with BBC Radio 3, on May 15.
This year, the organisers invited aspiring young composers to compose a new trio sonata movement for two violins, cello, and harpsichord. Composers were asked to explore a particular musical world and character in their piece lasting three to four minutes, focusing especially on the interplay between the instruments, and could take a movement from Handel’s Opus 5 Trio Sonatas as a reference point.
Compositions by the eight young finalists were workshopped during the day by composer Professor Christopher Fox and The Brook Street Band, led by cellist Tatty Theo. In the evening, the pieces were performed by The Brook Street Band in a public performance at the NCEM, from where the performance was live streamed to ensure that friends and families were able to join in.
The streamed performance is available on the NCEM Young Composers Award website at youngcomposersaward.co.uk.
Kit McCarthy: Winner of the 19 to 25 age category. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
The shortlisted composers and pieces:
19 to 25 category:
Kit McCarthy, Molten Kaleidoscope
Parmida Eslaminazari, Celestial Reverie
Brandon Craig, Petit Matin
18 and under category:
Avram Harris, Transient Variations
Pol Macip Porter, Fugue (Tristesa)
Laura Kesiak, A Vintage Television
Ben Greenwood, Drowsiness Changes
Edward Harris-Brown, Sir Trip-a-lot’s Merriment
The 2025 panel of judges comprised BBC Radio 3 producer Les Pratt, NCEM director Delma Tomlin and The Brook Street Band cellist Tatty Theo.
Molten Kaleidoscope and Transient Variations will be premiered on October 3 at the love:Handel festival, run by The Brook Street Band in and around Norwich. The performance will be recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.
Avram Harris: winner of the 18 and under category. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Delma Tomlin said: “The Young Composers Award is one of the highlights on the NCEM’s calendar and it’s always a joy to discover these young people’s extraordinary wealth of talent, and, of course, enjoy their fabulous new compositions.
“This year we’ve been working with the all-female group The Brook Street Band in an exciting new partnership. Our composers spent an inspiring day working on their compositions with the band and our esteemed colleague, composer, musician and teacher Dr Christopher Fox.
“The Young Composers Award continues to be recognised as an important landmark in the careers of young musicians and it was a privilege to welcome these talented young people to York for an inspiring day sharing music and ideas at the NCEM’s home, St Margaret’s Church.
“I’d like to say a special thank-you to Dr Christopher Fox, BBC Radio 3 and, of course, my fellow judges.”
Les Pratt, lead producer of The Early Music Show, said: “BBC Radio 3 has been partnering with the colleagues at NCEM for 18 years, supporting this award and nurturing young talent – which is one of our core missions, as the home of classical music and a place where audiences can discover the latest trends and creations.
Tatty Theo, left, and fellow members of The Brook Street Band at the National Centre for Early Music. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
“Providing a platform for young composers is key in order for classical music to always keep fresh, reflect the present and look to the future. That’s why we can’t wait to share these wonderful new compositions with listeners at home on the Early Music Show and on BBC Sounds.”
Tatty Theo said: “It’s been a real privilege for The Brook Street Band to get to know these eight shortlisted compositions, and we’ve enjoyed exploring the wonderfully engaging and creative sound worlds these young composers have conjured up for our period instruments.
“The repertoire has been thought-provoking and technically demanding in very different ways to the music that inspired it, Handel’s opus 5 trio sonatas, and we’ve loved finding the links between the Handel of the 1730s and these fresh pieces of 2025.
“There’s been humour, surprise, some crazy counting and lots of questions, but we’ve relished the challenge of doing this music justice and look forward to performing the two winning compositions in October at our love: Handel festival, and hopefully incorporating them into Handel programmes in the years to come.”
The Young Composers Award is open to young composers resident in the UK up to and including the age of 25 for the aforementioned age categories. The 2026 edition of the award will be announced in late autumn.
Gary Oldman and chief executive Paul Crewes survey the York Theatre Royal auditorium on the Slow Horses star’s visit in February 2014. Picture: Gisele Schmidt
GARY Oldman’s “coming home” to York Theatre Royal after 45 years for “the completion of a cycle” in directing, designing and starring in Krapp’s Last Tape could not have gone any better.
More than 18,000 tickets sold for the April 14 to May 17 residency; every performance sold out; 700 bookers from overseas; 60 per cent of the audience attending a Theatre Royal show for the first time; Policeman Sting, Slow Horses co-star Freddie Fox and clothes designer Paul Smith among the Gary Oldmania throng.
Hundreds of minutes spent signing autographs and posing for photos post-show by the Stage Door after every show bar the matinees; 100 bananas munched on stage, Gary’s chomping progress charted on a banana counter on a dressing-room mirror.
Then add screen star Gary being photographed with Theatre Royal staff in the auditorium on the last Friday; Gary leading a session with York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre members the day before; Gary writing farewell cards to staff; Gary enjoying his visits to Bettys, The Ivy and the Minster Gate Bookshop.
“Gary told me that it was one of the highlights of his career,” says delighted Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes, whose first meeting with Oldman 14 months earlier set in motion Oldman’s first stage appearance since Caryl Churchill’s Serious Money at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in 1987.
Gary Oldman in Samuel Beckett’s melancholic monodrama Krapp’s Last Tape on his return to the York Theatre Royal stage after 45 years: a case of two men in their 60s and their memories. Picture: Gisele Schmidt
“They [Gary and his wife Gisele Schmidt] had a wonderful time here and were a joy to have in the building. They loved being in the theatre, they loved being in the city, and we knew we weren’t just selling a name but a very high standard piece of theatre. ”
Oldman’s career had begun in 1979 in his debut professional season in the Theatre Royal repertory ranks, culminating in his pantomime appearance as the Cat in Dick Whittington And His Wonderful Cat. He contests dame Berwick Kaler’s recollection that the Cat fainted three times, by the way. “Not true,” he told Crewes.
“It all started with me taking Gary up to the roof when we did a tour of the building in February 2014. That triggered his thought that he should do a show here, and then it took months and months to feed it to fruition, growing from the seed of an idea to what you saw on stage,” says Paul.
Now that the posters, the security team, the Krapp’s Last Tape T-shirts, have gone, Paul reflects: “It was great to work with him over that time – and it was good for the theatre to get people locally, nationally and internationally to come to the Theatre Royal. That can only benefit our profile within the industry, with actors, as we’re not just thinking about projects now, but projects in 2026 and 2027. The more profile we get, the more opportunities will come with that.
The poster artwork for York Theatre Royal’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape starring returnee Gary Oldman
“We also had national coverage of Emma Rice’s company, Wise Children, opening the world premiere of her adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest here earlier this year.
“Both Gary and Emma’s teams left here extremely happy with the organisation and the staff, and that’s one of the things we’re most proud of.”
One key decision was to put the quality of audience experience before maximum commercial gain. “We didn’t sell the gallery seating, because we felt that 570 seats was the right amount artistically,” reveals Paul.
“A commercial producer would have sold all the seats, but Gary and I made the decision to forego the gallery so that people could see him on stage as close as they could.”
Gary Oldman in the stalls on his exploratory visit to the York Theatre Royal in 2024. Picture: Gisele Schmidt
Krapp’s Last Tape attracted 33 reviews at the last count, from The New York Times to Tatler, but Oldman restricted himself to only one newspaper interview. “Part of that was retaining the mystery of it all, through the play saying why he was here, rather than telling people all about why he was here. He wanted to concentrate on the work, and he took it all very seriously,” says Paul.
That included Oldman working his way through the potassium overload of more bananas than a Grand Slam-chasing tennis player. “The way Gary talked about it psychologically is that he would go out for a meal and have no puddings, so the bananas were like his dessert,” says Paul.
Just as Oldman was meticulous in his preparation, so was the Theatre Royal. “We spent a lot of time on the planning. Lots of nuances had to be really thought through, and I don’t think it could have gone any better: looking after Gary, looking after the audiences; working out how to bring a global film star to York Theatre Royal,” says Paul. “He enjoyed it, we enjoyed it, everyone enjoyed it – and we had the boost of selling out before opening the run.”
Even then, you could not be sure that a production would be deemed an artistic success. “That’s the joy and the risk of theatre. The interpretation that Gary brought to the play was really well thought through. Locating it in an attic, it was clear where Krapp was and why he was there.
“Normally Samuel Beckett’s play is not so naturalistic. Often it has just a desk and a few items, but here it was an attic, as full of clutter as memories. Edward Beckett, Beckett’s nephew, came to see it in the first week or two and was very positive – and he’s seen a lot of them!”
As for the future, Paul says: “For me, it’s only ever about ambition, and you’re never going to be successful with all the shows you do, but you have to be ambitious in what you want to present.
“We have to make theatre as exciting as we can. Having Gary here was like winning the lottery, but what we have to do is keep the momentum going. Everything we do has to have the same energy and enthusiasm. We want all the work we are producing to be of a standard that’s recognised nationally and potentially internationally too.”
Gary Oldman, front centre, and York Theatre Royal staff gather in the stalls on the last Friday of his Krapp’s Last Tape residency. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Martin Roscoe: Stepped in as late replacement. “The orchestra was fortunate to secure him”
YORK Guildhall Orchestra observed two anniversaries at this entertaining Sunday matinee conducted by Simon Wright.
Shostakovich died a century after Ravel was born, in 1975 (he had visited York three years earlier). So 2025 conveniently marks both the sesquicentenary of the former’s birth and 50 years since the latter’s death. Before we heard from them, there were bonbons from Kabalevsky and Khachaturian. It was good family fare, with a sizeable audience to match.
The centrepiece was Shostakovich’s Second Piano Concerto, Op 102 in F, which dates from 1957. The composer was beginning his operetta Moscow, Cheryomushki at the same time and the concerto is in similarly light-hearted vein. That was certainly the line taken by Martin Roscoe, the doughty soloist; he had stepped in as replacement: the orchestra was fortunate to secure him.
Gone from the first movement are the grandiose gestures that other Russians, say Tchaikovsky or Rakhmaninov, might have given us. Roscoe penetrated its sense of humour immediately. He took its light, capricious textures in his stride, sustaining a sparkling staccato.
There was a lovely restraint just before the piano’s thunderous quadruple octaves, after which the orchestra briefly drowned him. But his accelerating cadenza made ample amends.
The introspective slow movement, almost a single line melody in the piano, was profoundly elegiac here and all the more effective for its simplicity. Almost as telling as the piano’s aggressive dance in the finale was the way Wright kept the pizzicato strings in such close attendance. It added brio to the excitement and seemed to inspire Roscoe through his virtuoso passages.
The overture to the first of Kabalevsky’s five operas, Colas Breugnon – he also wrote an operetta –was notable for the slickness in the orchestra’s handling of its syncopation. Listeners of an older generation will recall the Adagio from Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus as the signature tune of that rollicking sea series, The Onedin Line.
More aptly, perhaps, it was heard here the day before the ballet’s great choreographer Yuri Gregorovich died, at the age of 98. Wright built up the sweeping theme to a juicy climax.
After the interval it was all Ravel. The reduced orchestra gave a tender account of the Pavane Pour Une Infante Défunte. His colourful orchestration in the second Daphnis et Chloé suite – where we had one player, David Hammond, unusually doubling on double bass and celesta – was fully demonstrated by the huge percussion section.
The opening heat-haze was delicately drawn and the closing Bacchanale properly rumbustious. Ravel threw the kitchen sink at it – all we lacked here was the (optional) wordless chorus.
Bolero conjured Torvill & Dean – and much more. It calls for three saxophones, but Rachel Green played all those roles single-handed. Such is the versatility of this orchestra. These afternoon sessions are proving ever more successful, judging by the growing audiences, and the players are clearly revelling in it.
Medical matters: Mick Liversidge, left, and Chris Pomfrett in discussion in York Actors Collective’s Tiger Country
TIGER Country is drama on the cutting edge, taking its title from the term used by a surgeon when conducting an operation near a major blood vessel.
Hospital dramas are two a penny on TV, whether made in the UK or imported from the USA and beyond. They are, however, a lesser spotted breed of theatre: York Actors Collective director Angie Millard could recall Peter Nicholls’s 1969 black comedy The National Health, but nothing since.
It would be too much of a stretch to include the 1997 musical version of Jekyll & Hyde or Dr Frank N Furter in Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Director Angie Millard and stage manager Em Peattie
What’s more, Nina Raine’s focus falls on the doctors and nurses, rather than the patients, whose stories tend to be front and centre in the TV shows.
Premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in 2011, and last performed at the same London theatre in 2014, Tiger Country receives its belated York premiere this week, reaffirming Millard’s knack for reactivating works that may otherwise have escaped our attention, in her desire to bring more political, thought-provoking theatre to the York stage.
After Joe Orton’s Entertaining Mr Sloane, Alexander Zeldin’s slice of agitprop Beyond Caring and Millard’s adaptation of J M Barrie’s rediscovered 1920 supernatural drama Mary Rose, now Millard matches Raine’s meticulous research in her theatrical representation of operations and procedures.
Sri Lanka-born actor and nursing care assistant Madusha Fernando in Tiger Country
She calls them “mimes”, but they have the feel of authenticity, albeit making allowance for being in a theatre, not a hospital theatre.
Millard has drilled into her cast the need for speed at all times, on entries and exits, to match the hectic day in a life of a hospital for her “most challenging production” to date.
Drawing on her extensive research observing daily practice in hospitals in London, West Sussex, Staffordshire and Oxford, and her interviews with candid doctors, Raine favours quick scenes, in keeping with TV and film editing.
Glove story: Victoria Delaney, left, and Clare Halliday in Tiger Country
In turn, Millard uses hospital signs, and sometimes video footage, to denote a change from A & E to the Doctors’ Mess to the Consultant’s Room with the minimum fuss on an open-plan set where beds, a desk, mess chairs, a wheelchair and a CPR dummy are whizzed on and off.
All human life (and death) is here amid the badinage and the bandages. As Millard observes in her programme note, “what shines through is the humanity needed to be an NHS worker in today’s world”, one she she updated to post-Covid times. Humanity is shown in both a good and a bad light, not least in the machinations of the NHS, where medics and surgeons argue over procedure and protocol, to the detriment of patients.
Victoria Delaney’s consultant, uncompromising and demanding in a male-dominated environment, stands out. Friction sparks in the mess, especially between Laurence O’Reilly’s cynical medic and Xandra Logan’s restless trainee doctor, whereas Chris Pomfrett’s unflappable consultant always suggests a good night’s sleep is the solution to any problem.
The impatience of being earnest: Xandra Logan’s trainee doctor, anxious to learn on the job in Tiger Country
Lucinda Rennison, Mick Liversidge and Clare Halliday multi-role play with impressive diversity, and Madusha Fernando brings humour when most needed.
Teamwork is everything in the play and performance alike, but with individual will having a huge impact too, both positive and negative. When Delaney’s consultant has to inform Liversidge’s cancer patient that he is dying, a chill stillness takes over Theatre@41. Theatre at its most powerful, when even medicine is powerless to change life’s path.
York Actors Collective in Tiger Country, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until May 31. 7.30pm tonight, Thursday and Friday; 2.30pm and 6pm, Saturday. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
York artist Karen Winship’s painting from the Tiger Country programme cover, painted for her series of Covid portraits in 2020
Simon Withyman’s photograph of an urban fox from the British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition at Nunnington Hall. Picture copyright: British Wildlife Photography Awards/Simon Withyman
GO wild in the country, have fun at the fete or make a date with dramatic dancing, recommends Charles Hutchinson.
Exhibition of the week: British Wildlife Photography Awards, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, on show until July 13
THE British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition celebrates the diversity of British wildlife and wild spaces through a collection of inspirational photographs and films, while raising awareness of British biodiversity, species and habitats. Normal admission prices apply, with free entry to National Trust members and under fives. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall.
Mick Liversidge, left, and Chris Pomfrett in a scene from York Actors Collective’s York premiere of Tiger Country
Hospital drama of the week: York Actors Collective in Tiger Country, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm, tonight to Friday; 2.30pm and 6pm, Saturday
NINA Raine’s doctors-and-nurses drama, last performed at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2014, is revived by Angie Millard’s company York Actors Collective.
This fast-paced play considers doctors’ dilemmas as a range of clinical and ethical issues come under the spotlight in a busy hospital. Professionalism and prejudice, turbulent staff romances, ambition and failure collide as Raine depicts an overburdened health service and the dedicated individuals that keep it going. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
May half-term event of the week: Fun At The Fete, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, until Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm daily; last admission 4pm
BE transported to the fun of a village fete with themed games throughout the gardens. Families can compete against each other in hoopla, tin can alley, stilt walking and more besides.
For children who prefer a more relaxed day out, a creative hub is set up in the cutting garden for drawing and painting, while inside the house they can create their own mini-maypole wand to take home. Normal admission applies, with free entry for National Trust members and under fives. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall.
Nick Mohammed’s alter-ego, Mr Swallow, in Show Pony, cantering into the Grand Opera House next week and in the autumn. Picture: Matt Crockett
Comedy gig of the week: Nick Mohammed Is Mr Swallow in Show Pony, Grand Opera House, York, tonight and October 23, 7.30pm
COMEDIAN, writer, Ted Lasso regular and Taskmaster loser Nick Mohammed transforms into his alter-ego, Mr Swallow, in Show Pony, a new show that will “cover everything from not having his own sitcom to not having his own sitcom… and everything in between (critical race theory). As per – expect magic, music and a whole load of brand-new mistakes”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Jenny Don’t And The Spurs: Country meets garage at Pocklington Arts Centre. Picture: Chris Hogge
Country cowpunk gig of the week: Jenny Don’t And The Spurs, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm
AFTER playing Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, the Portland, Oregon garage, country, honky-tonk and rock’n’roll band Jenny Don’t And The Spurs bring their European tour to Pocklington for one of only four English shows, kitted out as ever with rhinestones on their custom outfits, handcrafted by Jenny herself.
As heard on June 2024 album Broken Hearted Blue, her songwriting is influenced by the contrasting landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and Southwestern desert, with her band of drummer Buddy Weeks bass player Kelly Halliburton and lead guitarist Christopher March merging their garage-rock origins with country driving tempos, gritty fuzz tones and outlaw attitude. London-based Californian country singer Savannah Gardner supports. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Sir Tim Rice: Mulling over a life in musicals at the Grand Opera House, York
Musical knight of the week: Sir Tim Rice, My Life In Musicals – I Know Him So Well, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
LYRICIST supreme Sir Tim Rice reflects on his illustrious career at the heart of musical theatre, sharing anecdotes behind the songs, both the hits and the misses, complemented by stories of his life and live performances by leading West End singers and musicians, led by musical director Duncan Waugh. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Freida Nipples: Baps And Buns Burlesque at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb
Cabaret night of the week: Freida Nipples presents Baps And Buns Burlesque, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, Friday, 7pm to 11pm
YORK’S queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, returns to Rise with her latest selection of sensational cabaret artists, from drag queens to acrobats. Prompt booking is advised as her Baps And Burlesque shows have a habit of selling out, in keeping with her burlesque nights at York Theatre Royal Studio, The Basement at City Screen and Impossible York.
“Prepare yourselves for an evening of debauchery and glamour in Acomb,” says Freida. “The big question is: are you ready for it?!” Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
New Adventures in the 2021 production of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, returning to York Theatre Royal next week. Picture: Johan Persson
Dance return of the week: New Adventures in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal, June 4 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
IN 1930s’ London, ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions, hopes and dreams in the pubs and fog-bound streets of Soho and Fitzrovia. Step inside The Midnight Bell, a tavern where one particular lonely-hearts club gather to play out their lovelorn affairs of the heart; bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption.
Inspired by the work of English novelist Patrick Hamilton, Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell returns to York Theatre Royal, where it first played in October 2021, with a 14-strong cast of New Adventures’ actor-dancers, alongside the Olivier and Tony award-winning team of Terry Davies (music), Lez Brotherston (set and costume design), Paule Constable (lighting design) and Paul Groothuis (sound design). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Strictly between us: Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara look forward to A Night To Remember at York Barbican
Strictly show of the week: Aljaž And Janette: A Night To Remember, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing husband-and-wife duo Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara team up in their new show with their live big band, fronted by boogie-woogie maestro Tom Seals and an ensemble cast of dancers and singers.
Strictly regular Aljaž and It Takes Two and Morning Live host Janette take to the York Barbican dancefloor to perform routines to music from the Great American songbook right up to modern-day classics. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Going One Step Beyond: left to right, Liz Quinlan, Chris Meadley, Stuart Green, director Jon Mills, Jess Murray and Pamela Gourlay
THE Direct Approach is York Settlement Community Players’ scheme to support first-time or emerging directors, but in this case it is giving a boost to the writer too.
Jon Mills steps into the director’s chair after making his mark already as a filmmaker, script writer, theatrical prop and set designer and producer of promo videos for YSCP shows.
Likewise, fellow polymath Miles Salter adds play writing to his skills as a poet, songwriter, band frontman, journalist, podcaster and festival director.
One Step Beyond has its roots in Salter’s application for a York Theatre Royal commission for its Love Bites showcase of York creative talent when lockdown was lifted. His monologue, It Must Be Love, was rejected but central character Steve re-emerges in a 45-minute play – it just had to be 45 or 33 – that again takes its title from a Madness hit.
Steve (Stuart Green) goes nuts for the Nutty Boys, still the nuttiest sound around, collecting rarities obsessively, but this could be the vinyl countdown for his marriage to Kerry (Pamela Gourlay), who is doing her nut. Welcome to the house of no fun. The Madness and the maddening.
Married in 1999, the couple is in a rut of routine, now that the children have flown the nest. Steve does pretty much what he likes: she doesn’t like what he does. He feels the same, because each day she packs him off to work with the same sandwiches; every night, she lines up two crackers, little chunks of cheese and a dab of pickle for his final nibble before bed. Steve sees this metronomic behaviour as being controlling. Kerry carries on regardless.
Steve likes to go to record fairs and meet up at the pub with his steady Eddie of a friend, Boring Ryan (Chris Meadley), so named because he is, well, boring.
Taking his next step:One Step Beyondwriter Miles Salter
Except that maybe he isn’t because he is full of facts that he is wont to drop into the conversation in the quiet moments. Such as? Did you know that the elephant is the mammal that requires the least sleep? You’ll sleep better for knowing that one.
Salter’s play has a stock of such minutiae, coupled with an observant eye that he brings to his poetry too with a humorous flourish that had him worrying that maybe One Step Beyond is too much of a nod to John Godber’s combative northern plays and Nick Hornby’s culturally savvy southern books. Yes, he shares their ear for fractious dialogue and eye for telling detail, but Salter’s humour is his own.
Boring Ryan, for example, is a collector of trouser presses, forever advocating their value and recommending their purchase to all and sundry. Cue a Baggy Trousers gag that is beautifully timed.
Steve is essentially contented; Kerry, discontented, because he is contented. She is sharper of mind, unfulfilled, bored, and, truth be told, Steve would annoy any partner.
This can go only one way: off to the marriage guidance counsellor they trudge, Steve more reluctantly, but at least he turns up. Counsellor Marcia (Liz Quinlan) emerges as the one-woman Greek chorus of the piece, stepping out of scenes to break down the fourth wall in candid direct address. She’s a realist, but one drawn to the bright side of the road like Van Morrison.
Some of Salter’s best writing comes from this ostensibly dispassionate observer, whose role is to steer discussion, to keep order, to ensure equal say, but not to judge (but passes her thoughts on to the audience instead). He wrote the part initially for a Marcus, not a Marcia, but it wholly suits being played by Quinlan – a boon for smart casting by Mills.
Faced by such negativity, like batteries connected the wrong way, Marcia seeks to find a way for Steve and Kerry to re-energise the lost spark, only for them to explode. Comedy on a tightrope, always better that way, when something is at stake.
The poster artwork for York Settlement Community Players’ One Step Beyond
Time for a time out, a re-set. Kerry takes up pottery, the cue for a lovely, calming cameo in stripes, polka dots and headband by Jess Murray’s ceramics tutor Jen, “exuding warmth – like a Zen hot water bottle,” as Salter put it in his character profile. Steve, meanwhile, writes a poem: the cue for another dip into Madness.
Salter manages that trick of making the dislikeable and unreasonable – selfish nerd Steve, overbearing Kerry – very watchable in Green and Quinlan’s performances, and as can be the case with writers, there is something of him in each of the characters, even the Zen Jen.
Ultimately, the Marcia/Marcus and Zen Jen in him win out, encouraging us to do exactly what the title says: go that One Step Beyond, as he applies the writer’s principles of “Make’em laugh (plentifully); make’em cry (not so much here); make’em wait (for that closing pay-off line).
Mills’s direction is suitably playful, not least in his use of cartoon imagery on a screen that depicts a row of houses for domestic scenes and the football scores on rotation on the pub telly.
I could say it would be madness to miss One Step Beyond, but given that all three performances have sold out, let’s say you will be mad at yourself for not booking earlier if you have missed out on a ticket.
York Settlement Community Players present One Step Beyond, The Wolfe Room, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, tonight, 7.30pm, SOLD OUT.
The next Direct Approach plays will be in September at the Black Swan Inn. More details to follow.
