Kenny Thomas: Playing Grand Opera House, York, as the only Yorkshire date on next spring’s Him Tour, preceded by Leeds gig in October
ISLINGTON soul singer-songwriter Kenny Thomas will front his all-star band at the Grand Opera House, York, on May 19 on his nine-leg Him Tour 2024.
He will showcase songs from his “lost” third album, Him, for the first time alongside his greatest hits, soon to feature on a Best Of compilation, out on November 3.
By then Thomas, 55, will have opened this autumn’s Brit Soul Ascending Tour at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on October 31 at 7.30pm, his first Leeds show in more than 20 years.
“Live gigs are one of the most enjoyable aspects of being a musician and it’s where my fans come together for a night of soul music and serious partying. So, to announce the Him 2024 Tour is really exciting for me and the band, and it’s an opportunity for us to play songs from my third album Him, which was never commercially released,” says Londoner Thomas.
“Over three decades on from when I first started out, this tour demonstrates that soul music is here to stay.”
Kenny Thomas’s poster for his Him Tour 2024 date at the Grand Opera House
Thomas’s Best Of, released on vinyl and CD, will feature all his hits, such as Thinking About Your Love, Best Of You, Outstanding and Trippin’ On Your Love, plusfan favourites and thought-to-be lost masters from the rediscovered Him.
He sold 600,000 copies of his platinum debut album for Chrysalis Records, 1991’s number three-charting Voices, and his 1993 follow-up, the gold-selling Wait For Me, peaked at number ten en route to Thomas notching eight Top 40 singles and receiving two Brit Award nominations for Best Male Vocalist and Best Newcomer. He later released Crazy World in 2006 and Breathe in 2011.
In lockdown, Gary Barlow invited Thomas to sing Thinking About Your Love on his Crooner Sessions, which became a viral hit. In 2021, Thomas’s autobiography, Baring My Soul, was published, leading to a feature on the BBC’s Top Of The Pops documentary after performing on the show nine times.
In April 2022, he headed out on a club tour. Now come two theatre tours, Brit Soul Ascending in November and December, then the Him 2024 next spring. Box office: Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com, on sale now; York, atgtickets.com/york, on sale from Friday morning.
Dawn French: Frank confessions of a comedian at York Barbican
FRENCH comedy, a very English murder thriller, state-of-the-nation politics and police procedures stir Charles Hutchinson into action for the week ahead.
Comedy gigs of the week: Dawn French Is A Huge Twat, York Barbican, tonight and tomorrow, 7.30pm
HER show is so named because, unfortunately, it is horribly accurate, says self-mocking comedian and actress Dawn French. “There have been far too many times I have made stupid mistakes or misunderstood something vital or jumped the gun in a spectacular display of twattery,” she explains.
“I thought I might tell some of these buttock-clenching embarrassing stories to give the audience a peek behind the scenes of my work life.” Tickets update: Limited availability at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Tonight, meanwhile, Sarah Millican plays a Work In Progress gig at Pocklington Arts Centre at 8pm. Sold out already alas.
A scene from Original Theatre Company’s touring production of Torben Betts’s new play, Murder In The Dark, starring Tom Chambers and Susie Blake. Picture: Pamela Raith
Thriller of the week: Original Theatre Company in Murder In The Dark, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
TOM Chambers and Susie Blake star in Torben Betts’s new ghost story chiller cum psychological thriller, set on New Year’s Eve, when a crash on a deserted road brings washed-up singer Danny Sierra and his dysfunctional family to an isolated holiday cottage in rural England.
From the moment they arrive, inexplicable events begin to occur…and then the lights go out, whereupon deeply buried secrets come to light. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Robin Simpson: Pantomime dame and storyteller, bringing Magic, Monsters and Mayhem to York tomorrow afternoon. Picture: Joel Rowbottom
Children’s show of the week: Magic, Monsters and Mayhem with Robin Simpson, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, tomorrow, 4.30pm
YORK Theatre Royal pantomime dame Robin Simpson – he will be playing Dame Trott in Jack And The Beanstalk this winter – switches to storyteller mode to journey back to magic school on Sunday afternoon.
He will be telling stories of wonderful creatures, exciting adventures and “more magic than you can wave a wand” as he places the audience in charge of an interactive show ideal for Harry Potter fans. Suitable for Key Stage 2, but smaller siblings are welcome too, along with Potter-potty grown-ups. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk.
Hannah Baker, left, Harvey Badger, Eddie Ahrens and Rachel Hammond in Mikron Theatre’s A Force To Be Reckoned With. Picture: Anthony Robling
Police spotted operating in the vicinity: Mikron Theatre in A Force To Be Reckoned With, Clements Hall, Nunthorpe Road, York, tomorrow, 4pm
IN Amanda Whittington’s new play for Marsden travelling players Mikron Theatre, fresh from police training school, WPC Iris Armstrong is ready for whatever the mean streets of a 1950s’ northern market town can throw at her.
Joining forces with fellow WPC Ruby Weston, they make an unlikely partnership, a two-woman department, called to any case involving women and children, from troublesome teens to fraudulent fortune tellers. Box office: 07974 867301 or 01904 466086, or in person from Pextons, Bishopthorpe Road, York.
Kathryn Williams and Polly Paulusma: Songwriters at the double at Pocklington Arts Centre
Songwriting bond of the week: Kathryn Williams & Polly Paulusma: The Big Sky Tour, Pocklington Arts Centre, Tuesday, 8pm
AS label buddies on One Little Independent Records, Kathryn Williams and Polly Paulusma met on a song-writing retreat. They wrote songs together and tutored courses at Arvon Foundation and as their friendship developed and strengthened, they supported each other over lockdown.
It seemed a foregone conclusion that they would tour together at some point. Finally, those Thelma and Louise dreams – hopefully without the killing or the cliff finale – come true on a month-long itinerary, playing solo sets and uniting for a few songs. Box office: pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Mike Skinner: The Streets’ composer-turned-filmmaker discusses his debut film in Q&A appearances at Everyman Leeds and Everyman York
Streets ahead: Mike Skinner’s film The Darker The Shadow The Brighter The Light and Q&A, Everyman Leeds, September 21, 8pm; Everyman York, September 25, 7pm
THE Streets’ Mike Skinner presents his debut feature film, the “neo-noir” clubland thriller The Darker The Shadow The Brighter The Light, in an exclusive Q&A tour to Everyman cinemas.
Birmingham multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Skinner funded, wrote, directed, filmed, edited and scored his cinematic account of the seemingly mundane life of a DJ whose journey through London’s nightclubs turns into a tripped-out modern-day murder mystery. Each screening will be followed by a live question-and-answer session with Skinner, giving an insight into the music and story behind the film. Box office: thestreets.co.uk.
Mark Thomas: Comedian stars in Ed Edwards’s one-man play England And Son at York Theatre Royal Studio
Political drama of the week: Mark Thomas in England And Son, York Theatre Royal Studio, September 22, 7.45pm; September 23, 2pm and 7.45pm
POLITICAL comedian Mark Thomas stars in this one-man play, set when The Great Devouring comes home: the first he has performed not written by the polemicist himself but by playwright Ed Edwards.
Edinburgh Fringe award winner England And Son has emerged from characters Thomas knew in his childhood and from Edwards’s lived experience in jail. Promising deep, dark laughs and deep, dark love, Thomas undertakes a kaleidoscopic odyssey where disaster capitalism, Thatcherite politics and stolen wealth merge into the simple tale of a working-class boy who just wants his dad to smile at him. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rowntree Park, by Jo Rodwell, one of 26 printmakers taking part in the York Printmakers Autumn Fair
Print deadline: York Printmakers Autumn Fair, York Cemetery Chapel and Harriet Room, September 23 and 24, 10am to 5pm
IN its sixth year, the York Printmakers Autumn Fair features work by 26 members, exhibiting and selling hand-printed original prints, including Russell Hughes, Rachel Holborow, Michelle Hughes, Harriette Rymer and Jo Rodwell.
On display will be a variety of printmaking techniques, such as linocut, collagraphs, woodcut, screen printing, stencilling and etching. Artists will be on hand to discuss their working methods and to show the blocks, plates and tools they use.
Sir Alan Ayckbourn: The truth will out when he takes to the SJT stage tomorrow afternoon. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
In Focus:Theatre event of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s Truth Will Out, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, tomorrow, 2.30pm
IN a rare stage appearance, Sir Alan Ayckbourn plays Jim in a rehearsed reading of his Covic-crocked 2020 SJT premiere Truth Will Out, joined by John Branwell, Frances Marshall and the cast of his 89th play, Constant Companions.
Truth Will Out is an up-to-the-minute satire on family, relationships, politics and the state of the nation, wherein everyone has secrets. Certainly former shop steward George, his right-wing MP daughter Janet, investigative journalist Peggy and senior civil servant Sefton do.
Enter a tech-savvy, chippy teenager with a mind of his own and time on his hands to bring their worlds tumbling down, and maybe everyone else’s along with them, in Ayckbourn’s own “virus” storyline, written before Coronavirus stopped play.
“It’s ‘the one that got away’, with most of the cast in place, and we even did a season launch,” says Sir Alan. “The play was one of my ‘What ifs’: what if a teenager invented a virus that brought the whole thing down. A ‘virus’ play, like Covid, with the virus escaping and the play ending in the dark, waiting till dawn.”
Racism, trade unionism and infidelity all play their part in Truth Will Out too. “It’s a melting pot of wrongdoings,” says Sir Alan. Tickets update: limited availability on 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Tom Chambers’ troubled pop star Danny Sierra in a scene from Murder In The Dark. Picture: Pamela Raith
TORBEN Betts first made his mark at a North Yorkshire theatre when Alan Ayckbourn talent-spotted the fledgling playwright and gave him a residency at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in 1999.
That year, the Scarborough theatre presented the premiere of his debut play, A Listening Heaven. Now, Betts’s new thriller, the ghost story Murder In The Dark, is heading to York Theatre Royal from September 19 to 23 on Original Theatre Company’s tour, directed by Philip Franks.
“Horror films have been my guilty pleasure since I was a morbid child,” says Philip, who was at the helm of Original Theatre’s touring production of Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d at the Theatre Royal last October too.
“Now is the time to find out whether many years’ worth of jump scares and terrible nightmares can be put to good use. We’ll also see whether my more adult theory – that horror often puts its finger on what worries us most as a society at any given time – will also hold true.”
Betts’s setting is a modern-day New Year’s Eve, when a car crash on a lonely road brings famous but troubled singer Danny Sierra and his extended family to an isolated holiday cottage in rural England. From the moment they arrive, a sequence of inexplicable events begins to occur…and then the lights go out!
Susie Blake, Miss Marple in last year’s visit, will play farmer’s wife Mrs Bateman alongside 2008 Strictly Come Dancing champion, Top Hat leading man and Holby City, Waterloo Road and Father Brown star Tom Chambers as Danny, Rebecca Charles as Rebecca, Jonny Green as Jake, Owen Oakeshott as William and Laura White as Sarah.
Tom Chambers: “One of these flattering moments,” he says, of Torben Betts writing the role of Danny Sierra expressly for him
When the Covid19 pandemic shut down his tour in Dial M For Murder overnight, Tom appeared in Original Theatre’s remotely recorded lockdown film of Torben Betts’s Apollo 13: The Dark Side Of The Moon and subsequently in Original Theatre artistic director Alastair Whatley’s online piece Into The Night.
“About a year later, out of the blue I got a text from Alastair saying he’d commissioned Torben to write a ghost story with me in mind for the lead role,” he recalls. “It was one of those flattering moments you dream of!”
Ten pages arrived, then the full draft, and now here Tom is, two weeks into the tour. “The Dark Side Of The Moon was only 50 minutes. This [rather longer] new play has been really fascinating but also extremely challenging because Torben has written it like machine gunfire, firing off in all directions, so you think ‘who’s line is it next?’!”
Working on the play in rehearsals and now in its early weeks on stage, 46-year-old Tom says: “It’s one of those pieces where, as we’ve gone along, we’ve all thought on our feet, with none of us quite sure at first what it was.
“With its dysfunctional family at odds in a psychological thriller, I knew it was an emotional piece, with all the humour in there too, but you don’t know what you’re dealing with, because it is scary, funny and emotional at the same time, and so you’re not sure how the audience will take it!
“On stage, it’s become more like a dark comedy, and it’s been really interesting listening to the audience reactions and realising they’re laughing from very early on. But there are really scary moments too and a couple of twists that we’re asking people not to give away afterwards.”
Learning his lines has found Tom thinking: “Torben is like Marmite! I sort of love him and hate him at the same time. His script is very interesting, very exciting and an absolute pig to learn.
Tom Chambers, seated, shares a lighthearted moment with director Philip Franks in the rehearsal room for Torben Betts’s thriller Murder In The Dark. Picture: Pamela Raith
“I haven’t talked to him about the part, though he did sit quietly in the corner at rehearsals on a few occasions, typing away, but not interfering. Torben has allowed Philip to shave, trim and manipulate the script, letting the production grow under his directorship.”
In turn, “Philip is one of the best directors I’ve worked with, always very patient” says Tom. “He’s an actor as well as a director, and so he really lets you play with it at first, and then he very carefully re-shapes it, inspiring you with his ideas. He’s like a wonderful conductor working with an orchestra, a fantastic maestro.”
Tom describes his lead role, Danny Sierra, as a “washed-up pop star from 20 years ago”. “To play his character, to be aware of his body language, I approach him as someone who’s been in the limelight, which I’ve experienced: the shiny bits, the pitfalls, the facades, the truth and reality of how jaded he is,” he says.
“I just try to make him human. Like all of us, he tries to justify the reasons things have happened in his life. He’s made mistakes, but he does have a heart, he’s not soulless, not completely selfish.”
Danny has headed to the isolated cottage for a family funeral and must communicate with his brother for the first time in years. “Everything unravels in this old farm cottage, which is like a deserted island with very few creature comforts. That initially turns the play into a comedy, but then it becomes twisted, warped, deranged and strange, so it’s very intriguing!” says Tom.
As for the ghost story…wait and see.
Original Theatre Company in Murder In The Dark, York Theatre Royal, September 19 to 23, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age guidance: 14+.
“Torben’s script is very interesting, very exciting and an absolute pig to learn,” says lead actor Tom Chambers. Picture: Pamela Raith
Grace Lancaster at the piano in the role of Carole King in York Stage’s York premiere of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
FEEL the earth move as Beautiful: The Carole King arrives in York for the first time tomorrow in York Stage’s production at the Grand Opera House.
“This Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical phenomenon is filled with the songs you remember – and a story you’ll never forget,” says director-producer Nik Briggs, introducing the Broadway and West End hit with a book by Douglas McGrath and those songs. Oh, those songs.
“She created the sound of a generation, so iconic,” says Nik.” “Those songs have then passed through the generations because they’re so relatable, especially on Tapestry, after her break-up with Gerry Goffin.”
Will You Love Me Tomorrow?. Take Good Care Of My Baby. It Might As Well Rain Until September. Up On The Roof. One Fine Day. So Far Away. You’ve Got A Friend. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman. It’s Too Late. I Feel The Earth Move. All by the writer or co-writer of 118 hits on the American Billboard Hot 100. The most successful female songwriter of the latter half of the 20th century in the United States.
Beautiful tells the story of an ordinary girl, born Carole Klein in Manhattan, New York, with an extraordinary talent that took her from being part of a songwriting team with fellow teenager and later husband Gerry Goffin, through her creative relationship with fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, to solo success with Tapestry and beyond.
Taking the role of Carole King, opposite Frankie Bounds’ Gerry Goffin, will be York-born actress and singer, New York Brass Band saxophonist and Leeds Conservatoire teacher Grace Lancaster.
“With her voice, her stage presence and her musicality, Grace was the perfect choice to lead our cast of 30,” says Nik. “Grace is 28 now but she’s always had that Carole King girlish charm, so it’s great to watch her charting that same path in Carole’s story.
“We’ll have an 11-piece band on stage, plus Grace on piano, with Stephen Hackshaw returning as our musical director.”
Grace is “really looking forward to the show this week…if a little nervous about the magnitude of the role”. “I’ve grown up with the songs of Carole without even knowing that she was the mastermind behind the music,” she says.
“Everyone knows Natural Woman and The Loco-Motion, right, but I didn’t quite realise that she had written them until I saw Beautiful in the West End back in 2015.
“I was at drama school at the time, and Katie Brayben (who was then Carole King) had just won the Olivier award for her portrayal and I was acutely aware that she’d trained on the very same course as me at Rose Bruford!
“Watching that performance blew me away so much and I felt such a connection that I knew one day I would just have to play Carole King!”
Assessing what makes Carole King’s songs and life story so apt for a musical that is much more than a jukebox musical, Grace says: “Carole was in a golden era for songwriting. She was a young teenager when the one and only Elvis Presley came on the scene and was inevitably drawn to the rock’n’roll style. That type of music connects to a lot of people!
“The way Carole writes melodies is so organic and she often describes the music as just coming through her without her having to think. When music comes from a place of truth then there is something very Beautiful about it (no pun intended).
“I felt such a connection that I knew one day I would just have to play Carole King,” says Grace Lancaster
“The story weaves through Carole’s life and gives us an insight into how these songs were written in a ‘music factory’, the events that inspired them and how they reflect Carole’s life at that time.
“The fact that you’re watching a story that is about real people gives the musical a more personal feel and hopefully the audience will connect with this more than a regular jukebox musical.”
Picking a favourite Carole King song is almost like picking a favourite child, reckons Grace. “From what I’ve read, she’s written over 400 songs! You’ve Got A Friend and Will You Love Me Tomorrow? have popped up in other shows I’ve performed in, so I feel a deep connection to those,” she says.
“But Natural Woman is another strong contender: the gospel chords and the superb imagery make the song an utter delight to perform. These songs are multi-generational, passed on, still relevant today, and that’s another reason why Carole is such a wonder.”
Preparing for Beautiful has been the biggest challenge of Grace’s performing career. “I don’t think there’s a single point in the show where I have time to go back to my dressing room and sit down,” she says.
“A lot of work has gone into memorising the script, but even more time has gone into memorising the piano parts. As a musician, I would describe myself as a saxophone/clarinet player first; piano doesn’t come as naturally to me. So practising the piano to the point where my hands know what they’re doing without my brain getting involved – my brain needs to focus on acting/singing – has been the challenge of the last three months.”
Grace spent time aplenty researching Carole King’s story. “I read her memoir and watched interviews and have been delighted to find so many similarities in our beliefs and musical habits. She truly is an incredible woman,” she says.
Rehearsals have been an “amazing way” for Grace to reconnect with her York roots. “I first performed with York Stage back in 2007 in We Will Rock You, so I’m so delighted to see that the theatre scene is as strong here as it is!” she says. “The cast are all very talented and play such an important role in this show, so I’m very proud to have them supporting me.”
Out of rehearsals, Grace fills her time with an eclectic mix of work. “I play the saxophone and assist with managing the New York Brass Band, which has taken me as far away as China and Kuwait and this summer to Glastonbury festival for the fifth time!” she says.
“Last year I started teaching on the Actor Musicianship course at Leeds Conservatoire and I’m thrilled to be able to see the talent and drive that these students have – but also to be a part of the theatre industry in the north who are nurturing talent outside of London.”
Looking ahead, over the next few months Grace will be developing her own business as a solo singer/saxophone player at weddings and events. “I’m also looking after my four-month-old Labrador puppy Winnie. So I’ve definitely got my hands full!” she says. “Winnie has been subjected to my constant piano practice since moving in with us and now the music of Carole King sends her to sleep.”
York Stage in York premiere of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, September 15 to 23, 7.30pm except Sunday and Monday; 2.30pm Saturday matinees; 4pm, Sunday. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
One last question
DO you have Tapestry in your record collection, if such a thing as a record collection still exists in the house of Lancaster?!
“Tapestry is regularly played on my Spotify account,” says Grace.
James Wilbraham’s Simon in Philippa Lawford’s modern love story Ikaria. Picture: Tristram Kenton
PHILIPPA Lawford’s debut play Ikaria opens its autumn tour at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, on Saturday night.
When romance blossoms between two university students from different walks of life, the giddy excitement of first love initially preoccupies but then stifles the pair as they contend with their ultimate place in the world that lies ahead.
Exploring young love, set against the backdrop of university, this Tightrope Theatre production presents a nuanced look at mental health and the coexistence of love and self-destruction, ultimately illustrating how we can find salvation in someone else.
After taking a year out, Simon (played by James Wilbraham) has returned to university, determined to crack on with his finals and not to slip back into old, destructive habits.
First-year student Mia (Andrea Gatchalian) is embracing the explosive freedom of life away from home. While seemingly from contrasting worlds, the two easily slide into a relationship, spending every night together in Simon’s messy dorm room, staying up later and later, not going out, and skipping tutorials.
Andrea Gatchalian: Playing first-year student Mia in Ikaria. Picture: Patch Bell
Swept up in a dizzying romance, Mia is initially happy to sink into Simon’s nocturnal habits, until she begins to question whether this makes her happy – and whether it makes Simon happy too. Where once they found solace from the pressures of the outside world in Simon’s bedroom, now that space begins to reflect the growing unrest infiltrating their relationship.
Drawing on Philippa’s own university experiences, Ikaria takes a heartfelt look at the gritty reality of loving and caring for somebody who cannot love and care for themselves.
“I was 24 when I wrote Ikaria, three years after leaving uni,” she says. “I’ve tried to be as accurate as possible about what it felt like to be a student – how exciting and romantic it felt, and also the dizzying fear of feeling like an adult for the first time, fully able to make all your own mistakes.
“It’s been wonderful working with such talented actors and with my fantastic associate director Izzy Parriss as we’ve built the detailed world of the play inside Simon’s bedroom.”
Ikaria begins its tour in York before visiting Mold, Stafford, Guildford, Belfast, Whitley Bay and London. Please note, the play carries trigger warnings of references to anxiety, depression, suicide, sexual assault and drug use, with strong language and depictions of self-harm.
Writer-director Philippa Lawford at Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, London. Picture: Ian McIlgorm
Here writer-director Philippa Lawford answers CharlesHutchPress’s questions on university life, young love, student pressures, self-destruction, Icarus and advice to her younger self.
Where, when and which subject did you study at university, and what were yourexperiences of young love in that bubble of a hothouse environment?
“I studied my undergrad degree in English Literature at Oxford. I graduated in 2019, right before the pandemic. I had some experiences of very intense (and fun) romantic relationships during this time.
“The freedom to have someone in my room whenever I wanted was totally new, and meant that itwas very possible to spend a huge amount of time with my first uni boyfriend. It was very exciting but there were areas in which it became a bit dysfunctional, as we spent all of our time together.”
How much did your own experiences or those around you at that time influence Ikaria?
“The play is entirely based on my experiences and the experiences of my friends. The plot is fictional, but only in the sense that I have cobbled together a number of true things that either happened to me or to people around me.
“I like writing in this way as it allows me to feel like what I’m creating is truthful. You don’t have to have had particularly sensational life experiences in order to do this – you just have to be honest and accurate, I think.”
Andrea Gatchalian in the rehearsal room for Ikaria. Picture: Jake Bush
There was a time when students would believe they knew everything and were indestructible. Not now. The pressure, the demands, the expectations, the impact of social media, Covid/post-Covid, the exorbitant fees, now collide to take their toll on mental health. What are your thoughts on this?
“I think mental health is a massive problem at universities and the support systems don’t seem to be coping. During my undergraduate degree, so many people had to take years out or drop out because of pressure and mental health problems. University throws young people in at the deep end and it can be so isolating.”
What do you learn at university beyond a degree course?
“I think I learnt what the uninhibited version of my life looks like. And then I had to learn to dial that back.”
Is university still a place for Ian Dury’s triptych of sex’n’drugs’n’rock’n’roll?
“Yes…but the academic workload I experienced was also very full-on, so the balance between the two lifestyles can be pretty challenging. I’m not very productive when I’m hungover.”
The artwork for Tightrope Theatre’s tour of Philippa Lawford’s Ikaria. Picture: Scarlett Stitt
What is the relationship between love and self-destruction in that university world, one you describe in your play as “co-existence”?
“Self-destruction seems to be a dominant trait amongst high-achieving young people, probably as a natural release of internalised pressure. The people at my uni were very funny and very open about guilt and shame, which everyone seemed to feel, about work and deadlines.
“One thing I think is great about this generation is how comfortable they are expressing vulnerability. But being funny about your self-hatred doesn’t always negate the feeling.”
You say Simon and Mia come from “different backgrounds”. What is each character’s background; what subjects are they studying; what drew them together; what draws them apart?
Student pressure point: James Wilbraham’s Simon in rehearsal for Ikaria. Picture: Jake Bush
“Simon is very posh; he studies classics and he is in third year. Mia is from London and the first person in her family to go to uni. She studies English and does student journalism, and she’s in first year.
“They are drawn to each other’s sense of humour and in a sense they are magnetic opposites. They are charming and insecure and they have great chemistry. They’re fascinated by each other. They clash over their different approaches to life: Mia wants to get out into the world and soak up what it has to offer, and Simon wants to stay in his room.”
Which theatrical mask does Ikaria wear: tragedy or comedy or a blend of both?
A blend of both. We are laughing a lot in the rehearsal room, but there’s plenty of darkness (as you’ll be able to work out from the trigger warnings).
“Magnetic opposites”: Andrea Gatchalian’s Mia and James Wilbraham’s Simon connect in Tightrope Theatre’s Ikaria. Picture: Jake Bush
Why call the play Ikaria? A nod to Icarus, presumably?
“Yes. Ikaria is the Greek island where Icarus supposedly fell to earth when the wax glue of his wings melted. It’s also an island with a remarkably old population: people famously live into their hundreds. In this play, it’s the name of the university halls.”
If you could give your pre-university self a piece of advice, what would it be?
“People gave me plenty of good advice at the time which I didn’t pay enough attention to, so I doubt I’d have listened.”
Tightrope Theatre in Ikaria, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Saturday, 7.30pm. Age guidance: 14 plus. Box office:
Writer-director Philippa Lawford in the rehearsal room for Ikaria. Picture: Jake Bush
Philippa Lawford: the back story
Oxford-educated, London-based playwright and director. Directed plays on the Fringe for the past few years.
Trained as writer on John Burgess Playwriting Course and on MSt course in Writing for Performance from Cambridge University.
Worked as assistant director (Saviour, Jermyn Street Theatre) and reader (Finborough Theatre), alongside writing and directing work.
Ikaria is her first full length play.
Did you know?
IKARIA received a runner-up award in the 2022 ATG/Platform Presents Playwrights’ Prize and an OFFIE Short Run Commendation and came in at number two on Broadway World’s Best Theatre of 2022 list for its London premiere, climaxing with a November run at the Old Red Lion Theatre in November 2022.
The Joy Of A Kiss, drawing in pencil and watercolour on paper, by George Cappleman, who has returned to making art after a long hiatus for the Taking Pride In Queer Joy! exhibition at Pocklington Arts Centre
WOLDS Pride’s Taking Pride In Queer Joy! exhibition by LGBTQIA+ artists is making an impact at Pocklington Arts Centre (PAC).
Launched with live performances by York performance poet Crow Rudd and York spoken word artist and activist Mal Fox at an evening event hosted by Wolds Pride chair Adam Tipping, the show coincides with Sunday’s Wolds Pride day in Market Place and PAC.
“Over the past three years we’ve been doing our community outreach work, working with our partners to promote the opportunity for queer expression, and when some people got in touch to say they were interested in doing an exhibition, we set it in motion with Pocklington Arts Centre,” he says.
“We’re really thankful to the artists from Pocklington, York and Leeds who are taking part, and though at first we thought we would just be exhibiting local queer artists’ work, now it’s becoming an immersive show, so you can add to it because we’ll be leaving our resources out in the exhibition studio throughout the run. You can drop in whenever to be creative.”
Untitled, mixed media on canvas board in acrylkic, ink and paint, by George Cappelman
In addition, the Warm Space community café runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays when PAC is open for free community activities.
Adam champions the power of art. “It’s a way to express how you are feeling, exploring your identities through your imagination and creativity, and sometimes it can be easier to do that through creativity rather than speaking out,” he says.
“Everyone has creativity within them and that’s why we’d welcome anything for this exhibition, whether it’s a photograph, a poem, a story, a drawing, a colouring-in. Anything goes.
“But it’s also a space where you can just come and appreciate other people’s work, have a moment of silence and contemplation, in a safe place.”
Addressing the exhibition title, Adam says: “Taking Pride In Queer Joy! is a broad and open theme, allowing artists to say what it means to them and what being an LGBTQIA+ artist means to them.
Wolds Pride chair Adam Tipping, left, Dean Hodgson and Sophie Fox at the launch of Wolds Pride’s Taking Pride In Queer Joy! exhibition in the Pocklington Arts Centre gallery studio
“With ‘Queer’, it’s the power of reclaiming that word because for a long time it was used in a derogatory way, and it has to be acknowledged that for some people it still symbolises hurt, but we see reclaiming it as a means of empowerment, to be celebrated, as there’s something special about being queer.”
Adam will come on to ‘Joy’ but first he says: “We are living in a concerning time that’s very challenging for our community. If you look at the news at the moment, the trans, non-binary and gender-diverse communities are being challenged daily, by society’s debates around trans people playing sport, about access to spaces, access to health care.
“After five years of waiting and campaigning, we’re still waiting for the Government to deliver a fully inclusive ban on conversion therapy. It’s vital that this ban is delivered as a matter of absolute urgency to ensure no more LGBTQIA+ people are subjected to it.”
In the light of last month’s homophobic double stabbing outside the Two Brewers, the LGBTQ+ nightclub in Clapham, south London, Adam says: “If you look at the hate crime figures, they’re disturbing. We’re seeing a rise in those figures and a lot of that is likely fuelled by the culture wars in the media.
Pride Is Part Of Me, anatomy pieces in mixed media on canvas board, by George Cappelman, from the Taking Pride In Queer Joy! exhibition
“The reason we chose ‘Joy’ in the exhibition title was because of everything that’s going on right now, which is why an event like this exhibition launch, and a space like this, is so important, especially in rural areas.
“I grew up here [Adam is 29 now] and I barely knew any queer people in Pocklington, let alone there being a space for us, so it’s really empowering and special to be able to open a space like this, and hopefully people can come and find their own joy here.
“People that hold protected characteristics or identities that are outside the social norms, still often face funny looks, particularly in rural areas, but with the rise of smaller Pride organisations [in Scarborough, Bridlington, Goole, Beverley and Pocklington] over the past two years, I find hope that people are advocating for these communities and establishing safe spaces, without people having to travel miles to find them. There are fantastic people right across Yorkshire creating these spaces.”
Wolds Pride presents Taking Pride In Queer Joy! in the Pocklington Arts Centre gallery studio, Market Place, Pocklington, until September 22. Opening hours: 10am to 4pm, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday; 10am to 5pm, Thursday; 10am to 1pm, Saturday, plus during performances.
Festival focus: Wolds Pride 2023, Pocklington, September 17
The poster for Wolds Pride 2023
WOLDS Pride 2023 will be bigger and better on its return to Pocklington town centre on Sunday from 11.30am to 6.30pm, replete with live entertainment, resources, activities, freebies and stands.
“We got the ball rolling for Wolds Pride in 2020, gaining charitable status that year, and then held our first Wolds Pride event last September: the first ever Pride event in the Pocklington/Wolds area,” says chair Adam Tipping.
“We’ve thrilled to have attained funding from the National Lottery Community Fund, and as part of our 2023 offer, the main event will be on Sunday, taking over the whole of the Pocklington Arts Centre building and Market Place, so there’ll be a road closure in place.
“We’ve been working tirelessly to ensure this event is as memorable, pride-filled and jam-packed as possible for you all, and we can’t wait to come together with you for our 2023 celebrations.”
Run by a team of volunteers, Wolds Pride 2023 is completely free, all are welcome, and no tickets are required. “Simply come along and join in the family-friendly fun in a safe, affirming space,” advises Adam. “Be sure to dig out your favourite outfit, bring along someone you know, and join us in celebrating our local LGBTQIA+ community.”
Crow Rudd: Trans Joy panel discussion; performance poetry reading and poetry workshop leader
Festival highlights
11.30am: Flag ceremony to launch Wolds Pride in Market Place.
11.45am to 6.30pm: Quieter Zone, Pocklington Arts Centre Oak Room, run in collaboration with Autistic Pride at Pride. Chance to contribute to the paper chain alternative pride parade that has been making its way throughout Prides all summer.
12.30pm to 1.30pm: Trans Joy panel discussion, Pocklington Arts Centre main stage, with performance poet Crow Rudd, spoken word artist Malin Fox and moderator Journals of Dami.
1pm to 2pm: Join York company Thunk-It Theatre’s free family workshop to create a giant map of our dream world; Interactive Activities and Workshop Zone, Pocklington Arts Centre gallery. “Chocolate rivers, free houses for everyone, whatever you dream, let’s build it together!” say Thunk-It’s Becky Lennon and Jules Risingham. Suitable for all ages.
2.30pm to 3.30pm: Free tote bag painting and decorating workshop with Journals of Dami, Interactive Activities and Workshop Zone, Pocklington Arts Centre gallery. Suitable for all ages; children aged eight and under must be supervised.
4.15pm to 5.15pm: Free introduction to poetry workshop with Crow Rudd, Interactive Activities and Workshop Zone, Pocklington Arts Centre gallery. Suitable for age 16 plus.
12 noon to 5.30pm: Community Pride Flag; chalk boards; larger-than-life games, including Connect4 and hoopla; badge making and colouring sheets; messages of LGBTQIA+ joy; all in Interactive Activities and Workshop Zone, Pocklington Arts Centre gallery.
12 noon to 5.30pm: Health and Wellness Zone, delivered in collaboration with Pocklington businesses. Includes yoga, meditation and massage tasters, Interactive Activities and Workshop Zone, Pocklington Arts Centre gallery.
12 noon onwards: Make-up specialist Sonia Schofield will offer attendees free makeovers inside Pocklington Arts Centre, whether a touch of blush or rainbow eyeshadow.
Plus free face painting. Stilt walkers. Dancing to favourite Pride anthems. Free resources, information and signposting.
Pride Market, 25 stall holders, Market Place and Pocklington Arts Centre. From community stands publicising support, services, safe spaces, events and opportunities, to local businesses and vendors selling products, rainbow merchandise, arts & crafts and refreshments.
York spoken word poet, artist and activist Mal Fox
Festival artists
Mal Fox (he/they)
DISABLED, autistic, ADHD, aroace, non-binary, transmasc poet, crafter, artist and activist, who lives in York with his partner, child and two cats. His work focuses mainly on his experience of mental illness, neurodivergence and queerness.
Trans Joy panellist, PAC main stage, 12.30pm to 1.30pm.
Performing spoken word, PAC main stage, 4.15pm to 4.25pm.
Crow Rudd (they/them)
DISABLED, non-binary, queer, internationally published York performance poet, multiple slam champion, mentor, events producer, host, workshop facilitator, exhibition co-organiser and network founder based in York. Their work focuses on mental illness, queerness, activism, grief, identity, radical acts of love and the importance of cuddles.
Panellist on Trans Joy panel, Pocklington Arts Centre main stage, 12.30pm to 1.30pm.
Performing performance poetry, PAC main stage, 1.40pm to 1.50pm.
Running Introduction To Poetry workshop, PAC Interactive Activities and Workshop Zone, 4.15pm to 5.15pm.
Journals of Dami (she/he/they)
CULTURAL curator and photographer from Newcastle, focusing on creating multi-dimensional representation for marginalised communities such as Black people, disabled people, the LGBTQ+ community and those troubled by mental health.
Uses myriad forms of media and art, such as photography, spoken word, films, writing and more, to create a world where she and others like her can exist unapologetically.
Moderator for Trans Joy panel discussion, PAC main stage, 12.30pm to 1.30pm.
Performing spoken word, PAC main stage, 1.30pm to 1.40pm.
Leading free tote bag painting workshop, PAC Interactive Activities and Workshop Zone, 2.30pm to 3.30pm.
Andy Train
HOST for the day, offering the main-stage welcome at 1.50pm. Often dubbed “Mr Pride” with 21 years of Pride experience; vice-chair for Pride in Hull; co-founding co-chair of UK Pride Organisers Network and Interpride Global Advisory Council member.
Provides “pride team” support to Wolds Pride. His day job includes training and performing, often with a big blue steam engine called Thomas.
Abbadabbatwo – Abba tribute
ALEX and Toni pay tribute to super-trouper Swedes Abba with audience participation, crazy costumes and “undeniably dancey” music. Performing together since 1996, they formed this electrifying show in 2018.
Playing Pocklington Arts Centre main stage, 1.55pm to 2.40pm.
MXYM (pronounced M-X-Y-M)
NEWCASTLE singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, self-producing all their own work in a high-speed collision of avant-garde, goth and glam rock. Inspired by Grace Jones, Motley Crue, Madonna and Bjork, MXYM’s musical landscape is diverse and always extensively queer.
Performing on Pocklington Arts Centre main stage, 3pm to 4pm.
Veggie Stripper
BLACK drag king, from Newcastle, who is “the personification of organised chaos”. Expect powerful live vocals, dancing and lip-synching, action-packed into a high-energy, camp performance.
Performing on PAC main stage, 4.05pm to 4.10pm.
Wolds Wonders Theatre Group
BASED at Pocklington Arts Centre, welcoming adults with learning disabilities to explore song, dance and drama. The group provides a safe, friendly, fun environment for members to “try and achieve things they didn’t think they could do”.
Presenting special video performance, PAC main stage, 4.35pm to 4.40pm, preceded by Dance Time from 4.25pm to 4.35pm.
The Family Shambles Takeover!
DRAG collective from York, featuring Luna Hex, “life-sized Monster High doll and mother of Coven Events”; Tommy Boi, “the dancing tailor of York and bisexual drag king”; Miss Diagnosis, “the non-binary, scary, camp, punk drag clown of York”, and Cuppa T, “non-binary drag artist and the UKs hottest beverage”.
Also Linda from HR, a “delusional killjoy, overpromoted, and ready to push you under a bus at a second’s notice”. By the way, her host human form, Phil, is a writer of post-punk pop bangers and founder of the Trans and Non-Binary Open Mic nights at Over The Rainbow Café, above The Portal Bookshop, Patrick Pool, York.
Performing on PAC main stage, 4.45pm to 6pm, to be followed by closing speeches and the last dance.
Tha Family Shambles Takeover!: Drag diva finale to Wolds Pride on the Pocklington Arts Centre main stage
“People find comedy really disarming and they underestimate the power it can have,” says comedian Rosie Jones
COMEDIAN Rosie Jones is undertaking her first ever British tour with Triple Threat.
Join Bridlington-born Rosie, 33, at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall tonight and York Theatre Royal tomorrow as she ponders whether she is “a national treasure, a little prick, or somewhere in between” in a show full of unapologetic cheekiness, nonsensical fun and unadulterated joy.
A patron for Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, and campaigner for disability rights, she has two Channel 4 travelogue series to her name, Mission: Accessible and Trip Hazard, as well as her hard-hitting documentary Am I A R*tard, her response to online disability hate crimes, brought on by her having cerebral palsy.
Rosie has appeared on Live At The Apollo, The Jonathan Ross Show, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, The Last Leg, Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, Mock The Week, Hypothetical, The Ranganation, Jon Richardson’s Channel Hopping, Dating No Filter, The Last Leg Tokyo and Question Time too.
Rosie has written for the Netflix series Sex Education and wrote and starred in Disability Benefits, commissioned by Channel 4 for its 2022 Comedy Blaps collection. As an actor, she made her prime-time debut in Silent Witness and had a recurring guest role as Paula in BBC One’s Casualty.
2022 saw the release of her second children’s book, The Amazing Edie Eckhart: The Big Trip, published by Hachette Children’s Group.
Rosie Jones: A triple threat of unapologetic cheekiness, nonsensical fun and unadulterated joy
Here Rosie discusses her debut tour show, Triple Threat
Why is the show called Triple Threat?
“It’s the first joke in the show, so let’s keep that secret for anyone who might not know already. The whole show is about me, my life, my career and whether or not I’m on my way to being a national treasure or whether I’m hurtling down the road to becoming a national liability.
“I’m an optimistic person so I’m still fighting to be a national treasure, but it hasn’t happened yet, maybe because I keep accidentally talking about my boobs. National Treasure Judi Dench doesn’t talk about her boobs. Maybe she should.
“The show is also about how I branched out and started writing children’s books. People think of me as a disability activist and that’s lovely, but the show is about wondering whether I deserve that title. The secret is I don’t know anything about disability. I only know what it’s like to be me. So when they talk about getting awards and opportunities, I’m a bit like, ‘do I deserve them?’.”
Do you have any pre-show rituals? Are you very rock’n’roll on the road?
“I’m not rock’n’roll, you won’t see me throwing TVs out of windows. All I need is stuff to make a cup of tea and some Doritos, because I absolutely have to have my fix of crisps before I go on.”
How important is live performance to you?
“It was really lovely to start this year with my first love and where it began, writing new stand-up material, gigging around the country. I can’t believe that this is my first ever tour. In the last few years I haven’t been able to go out and meet people and do what I hope I do best, simply stand in front of an audience and make them laugh.”
Before you were a stand-up, you worked on shows such as The Last Leg. Were you always itching to be in front of the camera?
“I think the desire to be on the other side actually came quite slowly. When I was a researcher, I did a diploma at the National Film and Television School in writing and production and when I was writing jokes I thought, ‘you know what, if I write jokes and I genuinely believe in them, it doesn’t feel like a scary jump from that to performing’.
“The first time I did it I thought, ‘I won’t like it but I know I’ll be annoyed at myself if I never try it’. So I did it and obviously it was love at first sight.
“But on some level I’ve been performing my whole life because when I entered any room of any size I always had to have jokes in my back pocket and have the confidence to go, ‘hi I’m Rosie, how are you? Don’t worry, I’m disabled, I’m not drunk. Actually I am a bit drunk but don’t tell anyone’. Every time I went to a party or a pub I needed to do this comedy routine for people to be like, ‘oh right, I get you’.”
“Ableism isn’t taken as seriously as other minorities,” says Rosie Jones, who has cerebral palsy
What else are you working on?
“I’m writing more children’s books. Two more in the Edie Eckhart series and the other is a non-fiction book called Moving On Up, which is for nine to 12-year-olds navigating that awkward time moving from primary school, when small changes feel like your entire world has fallen apart.
“Hopefully, when that happens, they will have my silly guide to lean back on, like an older sister saying, ‘don’t worry, I’ve been through it’.”
Talk about Am I A R*tard, your documentary about online abuse and ableism – prejudice against people with disabilities – shown on Channel 4 in July.
“Having cerebral palsy and being in the media means I receive online abuse pretty much every day. 95 per cent of Twitter comments are lovely but it’s that five per cent that keeps me up at night and makes me doubt myself, so for my own mental health I pay a social media company to go through my tweets so I don’t have to read them.
“Ableism isn’t taken as seriously as other minorities. When we were filming, I went into central London and asked people what ableism was and only one in 20 knew.”
You have been described as an “accidental activist”…
“As my career was building, I recognised that I was a disabled person with a platform and could use it to make a difference. I’ve always spoken up for what I believe in, but it happened organically. I’m in a very privileged position where people listen to me and unfortunately a lot of disabled people still go unheard, so if I can change that and alter things then absolutely I will.”
Can comedy change the world?
“Billy Connolly is one of my heroes and he said the most intelligent people in the world aren’t politicians, they are comedians. We can tell jokes and at the same time we can tell everyone what it’s like in the world right now. People find comedy really disarming and they underestimate the power it can have.”
Have you considered a career in politics?
“No, I think I can make more of a difference as a comedian.”
Rosie Jones: Triple Threat, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, tonight (13/9/2023), 8pm; York Theatre Royal, Thursday, 8pm. Box office: Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Cellist Alice Neary: Festival trio with violinist Benjamin Baker and pianist Daniel Lebhardt
WHEN standards are already so high, it is hard to imagine that the best wine has been kept till last. Yet this final afternoon devoted to Schubert surpassed everything else I had experienced at this year’s North York Moors Chamber Music Festival. It was nothing short of sensational.
The ‘Trout’ Piano Quintet, D.667, was preceded by the B flat Piano Trio, D.898. The performers in the latter were violinist Benjamin Baker, cellist Alice Neary and pianist Daniel Lebhardt. Their ensemble was so taut, so larded with deep understanding and leavened with the utmost sensitivity to each other, that it seemed certain that they had collaborated before.
Within this delightfully Viennese pastry the ensemble gently drew attention to any number of Schubertian subtleties, teasing our tastebuds with the smallest of details, so that the total confection was constantly riveting.
When the breezy first movement’s second theme arrived, beautifully enunciated by Neary, it was impeccably emulated by Baker; they were in perfect agreement. The pause in the recapitulation was tantalisingly elongated, thanks to Lebhardt.
The slow movement was a lovely contrast, ruminative, thoughtful, even subdued. Its very intimacy drew us in, so that when the piano thinned down to a single line near the end, it was riveting in its simplicity.
Violinist Benjamin Baker: Hosting At The World’s Edge festival next month
The crisp Scherzo was balanced by an extremely smooth, legato Trio, while the frisky final Rondo was light on its feet, positively balletic. I do not expect to hear this account bettered. Equalled, perhaps, but never bettered. I would not be surprised if this threesome were to perform regularly outside this festival. It was no surprise to learn that Neary is to join Baker as a special guest at his New Zealand festival, At The World’s Edge, in October.
A completely new team took over for the ‘Trout’. It did not quite live up to its predecessor in the programme but was nevertheless extremely satisfying. Schubert wrote it while enjoying a holiday in the glorious countryside around Steyr, about 100 miles west of Vienna. So it was fitting that we should enjoy the piece in a rural setting.
The quintet, led by violinist Charlotte Scott, got off to an engaging start, with ensemble always taut. Her fellow string players were violist Simone van der Giessen, cellist Jamie Walton and bassist Siret Lust, with Christian Chamorel the eloquent pianist. But it was not until the second movement Andante that colours really began to emerge, highlighted by the close-knit duet between viola and cello, as also leavened by the rare streak of melancholy here.
After a brilliant scherzo, the variations that give the work its nick-name were slightly under-characterised, the song theme needing a touch more emphasis. Throughout I felt we required a little more from the double bass, which carries less well than the higher voices in this marquee. The finale was given its superb rhythmic impetus by Chamorel’s intelligent pianism.
This concert underlined the magic ingredient of the whole festival: spontaneity. Chamber music, at least outside London, is so often experienced at the hands of groups who repeat the same programme while touring. Many are extremely proficient. But they may lack the freshness that is always on display here, and the calibre of performers is unrivalled by any similar festival. Long may it thrive.
North York Moors Chamber Music Festival: ‘Which Dreamed It?’, St Mary’s, Lastingham, August 25
THIS was one of the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival’s more adventurous programmes, but that did not deter the punters: it was a full house.
There were two pieces each from Schumann and Debussy, balanced by four much more contemporary works by two Brits and two Germans. It made for a stimulating mix, not least because the performers were so utterly committed.
Ben Goldscheider began out of sight in the Saxon crypt, the church otherwise darkened, with Bernhard Krol’s Laudatio for solo horn (1966). Inspired by the ancient Christian hymn Te Deum Laudamus, it could hardly have been more appropriate as a scene-setter, journeying from plainsong into more modern, questing territory. Goldscheider was immaculate.
He also closed the evening, with Jörg Widmann’s Air (2006). The music conveys something of the atmosphere of alphornists signalling to each other between mountain-tops, so that there are constant echoes and imitations, given a third dimension by the piano strings being wedged open and resonating eerily. It is a favourite competition piece. Goldscheider was more than equal to its taxing variations and drew sustained applause.
He had been soloist in Schumann’s Adagio and Allegro, with Daniel Lebhardt offering tenacious piano support. After nicely sustained legato in the Adagio, he cantered through the succeeding rondo with immense panache, testing his rapid tonguing even further by speeding up in the coda.
In Mark Simpson’s Nachtstück (2021), he did not hold back from the work’s more nightmarish contrasts, varying his tone in the darkness, but becoming more triumphal after Lebhardt’s keyboard climax. He is a riveting performer.
Debussy’s Rhapsody (named ‘First’ but in fact the only one) for clarinet and piano (1910) saw the first appearances of Robert Plane and Christian Chamorel respectively. Plane captured the composer’s will-o’-the-wisp aura, much helped by Chamorel’s early restraint. They brought terrific verve to the work’s later stages.
They were joined by viola player Simone van der Giessen for Schumann’s Märchenerzählungen (Fairy-tale narrations). Three of the four tales are marked ‘lively’ and they got off to an effervescent start.
There were pleasing contrasts, though, both in the lovely central section of the second tale and in the martial, dotted rhythms of the last, which were crisp and to the point. The exception was the third, where a peaceful, rocking movement in the piano featherbedded a soaring line in the viola, not quite matched here by the clarinet.
The four berceuses from Thomas Adès’s opera The Exterminating Angel are not the stuff of sweet dreams, indeed the title is ironic. With Lebhardt returning to the piano, viola and clarinet brought an elegiac feel to the opening lullaby, followed by something altogether bolder with a terrifying ending in the second. Only the finale seemed likely to produce a soporific effect – and it was touchingly shaped.
Sweet Baboo’s Stephen Black: “Shimmering, lovely tunes” at The Crescent, York. All pictures: Paul Rhodes
ON supposedly one of the worst nights of the year to put on a gig – new school year just started and all that –Sweet Baboo nevertheless did his best to blow away the Tuesday late-summer torpor that hung over the city. Elsewhere Dexys took up the challenge at York Barbican.
Sweet Baboo is the stage name for Stephen Black, a shining light of Wales’s indie scene. While latterly he has paid his bills as part of better-known bands – he sets off again in October touring with Teenage Fanclub – he periodically resurfaces with his own shimmering, lovely tunes.
The stage name comes from Charles M Schulz and Peanuts. His music shares Schulz’s depths, his shiny and bright melodies carrying darker meanings, as great music tends to. More than one of his 13-strong setlist was written to “keep the s**t world at bay from his son”. The best of these was Clear Blue Skies, a song about father and son blasting melodically into space.
Sweet Baboo with his tape backing contraption at The Crescent
Black was performing solo, but like his friend and collaborator H. Hawkline, he trades a fine line in using tape backing. This contraption, which required a stolen eraser to keep it going, provided enough of the flavour of the rich band music from his latest album Wreckage. This machine was also the means to keep us laughing as Black paused to get the tape in the right place, no back, forward, pause, close enough and on with the song. They acted as a well-oiled double act.
Black played beautifully throughout, performing tunes from across his back catalogue. His feigned innocence, his off-kilter world view and innate romantism recalled Scandinavian performers like Sondre Lerche, another multi-instrumentalist. With his austere haircut and monochrome white outfit, if you squinted and listened to the finger picking on Walking In Tthe Rain, it could have been Paul Simon at the time of his Songbook.
Support act Rowan: “Ramshackle but fun”
Following support act Rowan’s ramshackle but fun opening set (a one-man Violent Femmes), Black was a welcome contrast. Where Rowan’s music sometimes lacks the heft to convey all those ideas, Black can work wonders with little.
New single Werewolves is a case in point; a clever twist on daydreams that could have wide appeal. Rowan’s Skeldergate – written for the saddest street in York – needed to be much glummer, although new song Sail Anywhere would be grand performed with a full band.
A song of farewell was the highlight of Sweet Baboo’s set too. Proving he can make magic of the daily blur, Goodbye is a gorgeous composition about taking a dog for lockdown walks, but so cleverly written and tuneful as to have far wider appeal.
Sweet Baboo’s songs: “Feigned innocence, off-kilter world view and innate romantism”
Expense ruling out touring with a band, Black is one of the very few who doesn’t need one. Adept on assorted instruments, he gave us snatches of flute, and even a temperamental Yamaha wind synthesiser that lent a Bernie Worrell or William Onyeabor-style squelch to Pink Rainbow.
Swimming Wild stretched out with no trappings, then Cate’s Song topped that, touching, funny and both better than the more arranged originals.
In Black’s hands there was no room for gloom, and for 80 minutes, we were in his palm. Catch this original if you can.
