Antony Dunn: Launching Inbetween Days at Friargate Theatre
LEEDS poet and dramatist Antony Dunn will launch his new collection, Inbetween Days, at the New Northern Poets (Word Up North) evening at Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, tomorrow.
Joining him will be special guests Rachel Curzon and Nicky Kippax at this Pay What You Can event, from which all proceeds will support the charitable work of Riding Lights Theatre Company, where Dunn worked earlier in his career (as well as at York Theatre Royal).
Inbetween Days can be pre-ordered from Valley Press at valleypressuk.com/products/inbetween-days. The poems inhabit the charged territory between childhood and parenthood: a place of intense pleasure, pressure, responsibility and joy.
In poems that call and respond to his previous collection, Take This One To Bed, Dunn traces lines of inheritance and succession, from not-quite-grandfather to “hard-born, hard-won” son, from poet to poet, from younger selves to older ones.
“These are poems of lives entangled with other lives, of sorrow accumulated and love stubbornly renewed, finding refuge in the most surprising places,” says Antony, 53. “Poised between celebration and lament, between the dead and the living, Inbetween Days is an urgent, intimate and vividly alive collection, written – after a decade’s distraction – during a year-long residency in my own back-garden shed.”
Fellow poet Fiona Benson says of Inbetween Days: “A collection I didn’t know I’d been thirsting for – absolutely gorgeous and a joy to read, keenly tuned to all our loves, guilts and griefs, punctuated by an aviary of strange winged prayers and written with a craft so deep and fluent that the whole collection is as musical and supple as wren-song.”
Poet, writer and broadcaster Paul Farley enthuses: “This is a wonderful collection, measured and lucid, economical and unclouded, full of poems that can make light work of heavy weather, often walking the microtonal terrain between childhood and parenthood – the borderlands of letting go – to cast a wry, level eye over proceedings, quietly revelatory and truthful.”
Antony Dunn: “Poems of lives entangled with other lives, of sorrow accumulated and love stubbornly renewed.” Picture: Sara Teresa
Inbetween Days is Leeds poet Dunn’s fifth poetry collection, after Pilots And Navigators (Oxford University Press), Flying Fish (Carcanet OxfordPoets), Bugs (Carcanet OxfordPoets) and Take This One To Bed (Valley Press).
He has written for the theatre too, including Goose Chase and Shepherds’ Delight for Riding Lights, Dog Blue, Timewarp 2000 at York Barbican and a screen adaption of Albert Camus’ stage play Cross Purpose for First Man Productions. In 2006 he contributed lyrics to Mark Ravenhill’s pantomime, Dick Whittington And His Cat, at the Barbican, London.
Dunn edited and introduced Ex Libris, the posthumous collection of poems by David Hughes (Valley Press); won the Newdigate Prize for Judith With The Head Of Holfernes in 1995 and a Society of Authors Eric Gregory Award in 2010; is a regular tutor for The Poetry School; has taught many times for the Arvon Foundation and has worked on translation projects with poets from Holland, Hungary, Israel, Palestine and China.
Dunn, who was born in London in 1973, was poet in residence at the University of York in 2006 and Ilkley Literature Festival in 2010 and was the first to hold that post for the People Powered Press, where his six-year residency ended in 2024-2025. Until 2018 he was artistic director of the Bridlington Poetry Festival.
Yorkshire writer Rachel Curzon received an Eric Gregory Award and was a New Northern Poet for 2025. Her her debut pamphlet was published in 2016 under the Faber New Poets scheme and her work has since appeared in Poetry London, The London Magazine, Poetry Review and elsewhere.
York poet Nicky Kippax, who also runs the Bluebird Bakery chain in York, Malton and Leeds, is a Northern Writers’ Award winner and her work is published widely, including in The London Magazine, Poetry Oxford, PN Review, The Rialto and Poetry News. She has received two Forward Prize nominations for best single poem (written).
Kippax has been shortlisted for The Brotherton Prize, The Bridport Prize, The Ginkgo Prize and The Bath Fiction Prize and co-hosts Rise Up!, a celebration of poetry and the spoken word, at Rise@Bluebird Bakery in Acomb, York. She is editing her first collection.
If you miss York, here is a second launch event for Antony Dunn’s Inbetween Days
Another day, another launch for Inbetween Days for Antony Dunn
ANTONY Dunn will hold a further poetry book launch for Inbetween Days, in partnership with New Northern Poets (Word Up North) and The Poetry School, at Headingley Enterprise & Arts Centre, Leeds, on Friday.
Laura Strickland was a New Northern Poet in 2025. Her publications include The North, Strix, The Frogmore Papers, Ink, Sweat And Tears, Northern Gravy, Propel, Atrium and Butcher’s Dog. She is a member of Dream Catcher’s editorial board and was longlisted in the National Poetry Competition 2023 and shortlisted for the Bridport Prize 2025.
Spencer Wood is a writer and facilitator from Leeds. His poetry has been published in journals and anthologies such as And Other Poems, Fourteen Poems, Broken Sleep’s Masculinity Anthology, a Verve Poetry Prize Anthology, Strix and Modern Queer Poets, among others.
Spencer’s creative non-fiction has been published in Hinterland and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His debut pamphlet, fain, was published by Seedlings in July 2026. Spencer works for an arts charity, leading shared reading groups in criminal justice settings across the north.
Did you know?
ANTONY Dunn has re-joined Riding Lights Theatre Company, based at Friargate Theatre, as head of communications.
York author Miles Salter holding a copy of his investigative rock biography A Dangerous Band: The Pretenders 1978-83ahead of the book launch and signing session at Topping & Company on November 10
YORK author, journalist, songwriter, band leader, podcaster, storyteller, festival organiser and poet Miles Salter will launch his new book, A Dangerous Band: The Pretenders 1978-83, at Topping & Company bookshop, Museum Street, York, on November 10 at 7pm.
“I hope you will join me as I talk to poet and author John Goodby about The Pretenders and their remarkable, strange, dark, sad tale,” says Miles, introducing his no-holds barred account of ego, bust-ups and drug usage that forms his first narrative non-fiction work and first book since 2020.
As long ago as December 1991, Miles wrote and recorded the song Voice Of A Dead Man at Old Dairy Studios in York. “It was all about rock stars who were no longer with us: Freddie Mercury, who had died the previous month, Roy Orbison, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix, and it also mentioned Pete Farndon, so I was aware of the Pretenders’ story already, but then I became really interested in it.”
Thirty-five years later, A Dangerous Band is the result. “It tells the compelling true story of The Pretenders, one of New Wave’s most exciting bands,” says Miles. “Chrissie Hynde arrived in London from America in 1973. Tucked under her arm were the three albums she most treasured.
“She wrote for the NME [New Musical Express] and fell in with Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood via Sex, the provocatively named shop they ran on King’s Road. She hung out with The Sex Pistols and The Clash. After numerous near-misses, she formed The Pretenders in 1978 with three young men from Hereford: guitarist James Honeyman-Scott, bassist Pete Farndon and drummer Martin Chambers.”
Within 18 months they had released “one of THE great albums of the era”, as Miles bills 1980’s “incredibly aggressive” Pretenders, whose chart-topping single Brass In Pocket launched the band to international success and fame.
Chrissie Hynde: Lead singer of The Pretenders
“But tragedy ensued: by mid-1983 both Farndon and Honeyman-Scott were dead from drug abuse, dying within ten months of each other,” says Miles. “Beginning in February 2025, and drawing on previously recorded interviews , including one with Martin Chambers, I spent 18 months writing and researching the book, returning to Honeyman-Scott and Farndon’s home city, interviewing band members, romantic connections, family members, friends, record company staff and music journalists.”
In his three poetry collections, Miles writes of garden gnomes, strange neighbours, a bloke who shouts at the moon, a Brummie vampire, global catastrophe and near-death experiences, so what drew him to the story of The Pretenders, with its “rise of Chrissie Hynde from Akron outsider to London rock royalty, the sonic genius of their self-titled debut and the chaotic drug-fuelled spiral that tragically cut short the lives of James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon”?
“The story was a gift to a writer,” says Miles. “Every time I thought ‘this can’t get any stranger’, something else came up. The more I talked to people, the stranger it became, the darker and darker it became. A story of totally living that rock’n’roll life but to their detriment as it cost them their lives.”
Miles found the writing experience “emotional”. “It’s just such a sad story. I wept often as I wrote. People told me how funny and charming and likeable Jimmy and Pete were, and they both died in the most appalling ways. I sent some of it to Lyn Honeyman Scott (sister of guitarist James Honeyman-Scott) and she said the same thing: ‘It’s desperately sad’.
“In terms of telling a story, I got lucky. Every time I thought things couldn’t get weirder, something more shocking emerged. It’s a real-life tragedy packed with all the elements of a compelling story.”
York author Miles Salter and the cover artwork for his book A Dangerous Band: The Pretenders 1978-83, published by Winter & May on November 1
That story has a Faustian element, suggests Miles. “They made a deal with the devil. It’s a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’. Chrissie Hynde wrote in one of her later lyrics, ‘what’s the price of fame?’. I think that sums up the book. It’s a question that has haunted her.”
Salter’s meticulous research uncovers the personal lives, conflicts and rivalries behind the hits, while exploring Hynde’s driven yet complex personality and the childhood trauma that shaped three of the band members.
“The book makes some pertinent observations about the psychology of creatives, showing how fame can destroy even the most talented,” says Miles of his behind-the-scenes look at the cost of success that weaves John Lydon, Sid Vicious, Ray Davies, Bruce Springsteen, Nick Lowe and music executive Seymour Stein, as well as McLaren and Westwood, into the tale.
“I learned that Pete Farndon felt nothing when Brass In Pocket went to number one,” says Miles. “It just felt anti-climactic, after watching footage of The Beatles at Shea Stadium and thinking that was the life he wanted.”
Miles did not interview Chrissie Hynde. “People kept asking, ‘have you spoken with Chrissie’, but the Pretenders’ story is not just about her, it’s about band members, brothers, sisters, family, friends, the whole community affected by Pete and James’s deaths.”
Book launch: A Dangerous Band: The Pretenders 1978-83 author Miles Salter, in conversation with poet john Goodby, followed by signing session, Topping & Company bookshop, Museum Street, York, November 10, 7pm (doors 6.30pm). Tickets cost £17.95, including hardback book or £5 “if you just want to come and listen”. To book, go to: https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/york/miles-salter-the-pretenders/.
Angela Hall’s artwork from York Created at Pyramid Gallery
FROM classic Coward in Present Laughter to Frayn’s finest farce, Noises Off, York’s unlocked buildings to Joe Jackson’s hope and fury, Charles Hutchinson piles up the good stuff for the week ahead.
Exhibition opening of the week: York Created: Paint-Clay-Print-Collage From The Heart Of The City, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until November 14
YORK Created: Paint-Clay-Print-Collage From The Heart Of The City features a “collection of talented artists from across our fair city”. “Some have exhibited with us before, others are new to us,” says Pyramid Gallery manager Fiona Macfarlane. “All the works are for sale.”
Taking part are potters Danny Aitkin, Chiu-i Wu, Loretta Braganza, Ben Arnup, Emily Stubbs, Jessica Jenyns and Ruth King, painters Rory Barke, Carolyn Coles, Jill Tattersall, Ric Liptrot, Lesley Birch, Mick Leach, Lesley Shaw and Angela Hall and stained glass artist Helen Bower. Opening hours are 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday.
Dennis Rollins: Delivering Funky-Funk! to YorkJazzFest’s Bishopthorpe Road Car park Finale tomorrow
Festival of the week: YorkJazzFest, today and tomorrow
TODAY, Beppe Lombardo’s inaugural YorkJazzFest features: 6pm, Flowerden, The Winning Post; 6pm, Mutant DJ Jazz, Angel On The Green; 6.30pm, Emma Foulds Quintet, York Arts Barge; 7pm, SwanNek, Young Thugs Studios; 8.30pm, Al Morrison Quartet, The Winning Post; 8.30pm, Olivia Cuttill, York Arts Barge; 9pm, Borgia, Angel On The Green, and 9pm, Lovedancin’ DJ, Young Thugs Studios. For tickets, go to: yorkjazzfestival.com.
Tomorrow, the Bishopthorpe Road Car Park Finale runs from midday with free entry and no ticket required. On the bill are: 12 noon, YorkJazzFest Orchestra; 1pm, Vipertime; 2.15pm, Big Bamboo; 4.15pm, Fergus Quill Sextet, and 6pm, Dennis Rollins’ Funky-Funk! Ian Chalk concludes the event at The Phoenix Inn at 8pm; free entry.
Federico Pendenza: Two world premieres at this afternoon’s York Late Music concert
Season finale of the week: York Late Music presents Federico Pendenza, Folk Roots To Classical Form, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviouragte, York, today, 1pm
UNIVERSITY of York guitarist Federico Pendenza concludes York Late Music’s concert season with Folk Roots To Classical Form, featuring William Walton’s only piece written for guitar (following a persuasive word from Julian Bream!), two intimate pieces by the “Chopin of the guitar”, Agustín Barrios, and two world premieres, Macey Collins’s Impressions Of Tension and Noor Hingorani’s Pomegranates On My Altar, which draws on the Persian Sofreh wedding ceremony, where pomegranates represent joy, passion and strength. Box office: latemusic.org/federico-pendoza-guitar or on the door.
York Unlocked: Unlocking York’s significant, hidden and secret buildings
Free discoveries of the week: York Unlocked, today and tomorrow
YORK Unlocked opens York’s most interesting, significant, even hidden and secret buildings to the public completely for free, although some buildings require free pre-booked tickets. This weekend’s festival enables residents and visitors alike to see York in a new way and aims to educate and inspire a love of architecture this weekend. To download the full programme, go to: https://www.york-unlocked.org.uk/_files/ugd/972e50_ba8593730b26433e8b060829ff5bd5ac.pdf.
Michael Shafar: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club at The Basement
Comedy gigs of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, 4pm and 8pm
LAUGH Out Loud promoter Damion Larkin has added an extra show at 4pm in response to ticket demand for tonight’s 8pm bill of Michael Shafar, Ant Dewson, Mike Carter and Gary Jennison.
Former lawyer Shafar left Australia to ply his comedy trade over here. Dewson is a comedian, mediocre piano player and singer of silly songs, many of them rude. Carter covers everything from living with your nan in your 30s to the realities of engaging in “kinky stuff” when you have a coordination disorder. Jennison promises dance-offs, game shows, magic and unbridled chaos. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Brian Bilston: Poetic words at Milton Rooms, Malton
Poet of the week: Brian Bilston, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 7.30pm
BRIAN Bilston, a poet with more than 500,000 followers on social media, returns to the stage this autumn with his latest book, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, as he takes a journey through the hows, whys and whats of reading, writing and enjoying poetry every day.
Bilston has published such collections as You Took The Last Bus Home, Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love? and Days Like These, along with debut novel Diary Of A Somebody, poetry for younger readers and his 2025 album of poetry set to music, Sounds Made By Humans, recorded with The Catenary Wires. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Tracy-Ann Oberman’s Geri Essendine and Seb Carrington’s David Stillington in Present Laughter. Picture: Simon Annand
Coward classic of the week: Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Augusta Productions present Present Laughter, Grand Opera House, York, October 6 to 10, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
TRACY-ANN Oberman stars as hugely successful actress Geri Essendine – who has been 39 for the best part of a decade – in Lindsay Posner’s new touring production of Noel Coward’s celebrated portrayal of the temptations and pitfalls of theatrical celebrity.
On the cusp of departing for a tour of Africa, Geri finds herself besieged by a bevy of would-be lovers, her long-suffering secretary, estranged husband and an obsessed young playwright. Will she ever disentangle herself from their tightening clutches and incessant demands? Then again, deep down, does she really want to? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Pick Me Up Theatre cast members Pearl Mollison, left, Craig Kirby, Alexandra Mather, Andrew Isherwood, Helen Spencer, Adrian Cook and Mark Simmonds, under the withering eye of Rory Mulvihill, right, director of the play-within-the-play in Michael Frayn’s Noises Off
Slamming doors, falling trousers and flying sardines of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Noises Off, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 6 to 10, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
MICHAEL Frayn’s backstage farce Noises Off takes a wicked look at the follies of theatre folk, whose susceptibility to out-of-control egos, memory loss and passionate affairs turns every performance into a high-risk adventure.
This play-within-a-play captures a touring theatre troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. Robert Readman directs a stellar York cast of Helen Spencer, Andrew Isherwood, Alexandra Mather, Rory Mulvihill, Pearl Mollison, Mark Simmonds, Craig Kirby, Jessica Hardcastle and Adrian Cook. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Joe Jackson: Returning to York Barbican
Gig of the week: Joe Jackson + Band, Hope And Fury Tour 2026, York Barbican, October 7, doors 7pm
JOE Jackson played York for only the second time at York Barbican on July 29 2022 as part of his Sing, You Sinners! Tour, having first shared a bill with Todd Rundgren and improvisational string quartet Ethel at the Grand Opera House in June 2005.
Now, the Portsmouth-raised singer, musician, songwriter, bandleader, producer, author and campaigner, 72, returns with his regular band to perform work from throughout his career and to showcase his 23rd studio album Hope And Fury, released in April. Conner Youngblood supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Acosta Danza in Andonis Foniadakis’s new work Pearls. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
In Focus: Carlos Acosta’s Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque, York Theatre Royal, October 3, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
IN this new double bill from Acosta Danza, the lush artistry of the Baroque period intersects with the energy, creativity and vibrancy of Cuban dance. Emerging from the 17th and 18th centuries, the creative movement was characterised by deep colour, elaborate detail and intricate decoration.
Produced by Valid Productions in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, Cuban Baroque opens with the world premiere of Andonis Foniadakis’s new work Pearls, a journey to the rhythmic heart of Baroque, followed by choreographer and set designer Goyo Montero’s 2011 work Chacona.
Artistic director Carlos Acosta says: “I am very excited about this programme which will encapsulate the essence of Acosta Danza, fusing as it will, classical, Cuban and contemporary vocabularies and styles.
“I am, of course, a big fan of both choreographers and am delighted that Andonis will create a brand-new piece on my dancers. I look forward to seeing how that develops over the coming months.
“The flavour of the evening is summarised neatly by the title Cuban Baroque, but essentially this is a programme that anyone interested in any kind of dance can enjoy. I look forward, as always, to seeing how audiences react to the atmosphere this programme will create at its premiere in our first-ever visit to the wonderful York Theatre Royal.”
Acosta Danza in Goyo Montero’s 2011 workChacona at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “It is truly wonderful that York audiences will be the first to experience this phenomenally exciting dance programme on our stage and we are really looking forward to working in collaboration with Carlos Acosta and his company on the show.”
Set to Esteban Sallas’s Salve Regina, the work explores the classic chaconne-looping structure that circles through phases of acceleration, fracture and rebound. As the score shifts from Baroque lyricism toward Cuban drive, Foniadakis showcases the fusion between memory and contemporary.
Andonis Foniadakis says: “The piece is being built as a chaconne in the broadest sense: a looping architecture that keeps circling back to the same theme like a mantra, each return opening a new variation in colour, density and impulse.
Cuban rhythmic principles will seep into the texture (clave, layered pulses, dance-derived momentum) and begin to tilt the baroque theme from within — bringing Sallas’s music fully into the present.
“In this dialogue, contrast becomes fusion: baroque memory meets Cuban propulsion; choral breath meets percussive drive; live sound meets a discreet electronic halo — shaping a single energetic trajectory that stays clear, intense, and emotionally resonant.”
Acosta Danza in Goyo Montero’s Chacona. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Closing the 1hr 20 min programme is Goyo Montero’s powerful Chacona, a piece that originally was created for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett during Montero’s 17-year tenure as director. Chacona is the final movement of Bach’s masterwork Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied in this performance by guitar and piano. Physically and musically demanding, classical in sound and contemporary in heart, it requires total cohesion from the ensemble of 16 dancers.
Goyo Montero says: “This is going to be my fourth collaboration with Acosta Danza since 2015. To bring this work to them and adapt it to their fearless and exceptional dancers is something I am looking forward to very much. To restage this early work and revisit it for them will develop the work further and keep it alive, relevant and ever changing, a choreographer’s dream!”
In addition, Acosta Danza will hold an Open Class today (3/10/2026) at 10am on the Theatre Royal stage in an exclusive opportunity to watch how the dancers warm up and prepare ahead of a performance. This non-participatory event is open to all ages.
The York Theatre Royal premiere of Cuban Baroque will be followed by performances at Sadler’s Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal with further 2027 dates to be added. Box office for shows and Open Class: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Did you know?
ACOSTA Danza performed Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker In Havana at the Grand Opera House, York, in January 2026.
Acosta Danza in Pearls at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Bread & Circuses, by Sarah Hall Baqai, from her exhibition at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York
FROM the terrors of Paranormal Activity to circus art, York’s four-day jazz festival to Brian Bilston’s egg-laying poetry, Charles Hutchinson looks ahead to October cultural opportunities.
Exhibition opening of the week: Sarah Hall Baqai, Bread & Circuses, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until November 19
YORK artist Sarah Hall Baqai’s new collection of artworks has the theme of Bread & Circuses, a phrase taken from Roman poet Juvenal’s work Satire X, written in 100AD. In a nutshell, “give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt”, on account of being distracted.
Distraction does not come brighter and more entertaining visually than Sarah’s paintings inspired by life behind the scenes at the circus (from her work with Gifford’s Circus and Fools Delight Circus at Ham Court, Bampton), complemented by lettering and graphic work celebrating York Minster and willow lanterns in the shape of jugglers’ sticks.
James Bye’s James arms himself with a baseball bat in Paranormal Activity. Picture: Credit: Johan Persson
Psychological thriller of the week: Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
IN a new story inspired by the worldwide horror phenomenon, Paranormal Activity is directed by immersive theatre pioneer and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, the playwright behind Broadway hit Grey House.
When James (James Bye) and Lou (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) move from Chicago to London to escape their past, soon they discover that places are not haunted, but people are. Can you hold your nerve in the face of this chilling production on its first British and Irish tour? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Roham Bayat’s poster for the inaugural YorkJazzFest
Festival of the week: YorkJazzFest, tomorrow to Sunday
BEPPE Lombardo, soprano saxophone player in his Italian teenage days and supremo of Trinicria Sicilian Ristorante in Bishopthorpe Road for 15 years, is running the inaugural YorkJazzFest with funding from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayor David Skaith.
Angel On The Green, York Arts Barge, Young Thugs Studio, the Phoenix Inn and The Winning Post play host to concerts on the first three days, culminating in the Bishopthorpe Road Car Park Finale on Sunday, topped off by sets by Dennis Rollins’ Funky-Funk and Ian Chalk. For full listings and tickets, go to: yorkjazzfestival.com.
Masked up: Pop Yer Clogs Theatre in Doctor Faustus. Picture supplied
Devil in the detail of the week: Pop Yer Clogs Theatre in Doctor Faustus, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York , tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Pop Yer Clogs Theatre delivers a devilishly clever new twist on Doctor Faustus, placing a woman, Doctor Joan Faustus, at the epicentre of Christopher Marlowe’s late-16th century cautionary tale of ambition, temptation and damnation.
Director Lydia McCudden plays Faustus, who strikes a terrible deal by selling her soul to Lucifer in exchange for knowledge, power and worldly pleasures, only to encounter the Seven Deadly Sins. Cue masks, commedia dell’arte, dark comedy and gothic tragedy as Hell awaits. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Ben Portsmouth: Performing Presley’s pearls with his Taking Care Of Elvis Band at York Barbican
King of The King tribute shows: Ben Portsmouth: This Is Elvis, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm
REGARDED as the “closest living performer to the legendary Elvis Presley”, Ben Portsmouth has enjoyed success in more than 20 countries and became the first European to be crowned by Elvis Presley Enterprises as the Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist in Memphis in 2012.
This Is Elvis takes an immersive journey through Presley’s greatest hits from his rockabilly roots to the dazzling Las Vegas years in the company of Portsmouth and the Taking Care Of Elvis Band. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican: Satirical comedy lyrics on folk instruments from Barnsley
“Sexy knitwear” gig of the week: The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 7.30pm
FOUNDED in Barnsley Rock City in 2006 by their outspoken and energetic ringleader Scott Doonican, The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican are on a mission.
Anything but a typical folk ensemble, this collective of like-minded knitwear enthusiasts – Scott, Mo-Jo Doonican, Dave Doonican and the Reight Reverend Jeremiah Rickenbacker III – are determined to follow in their spiritual father’s immortal footsteps, keeping his legacy alive while Bar-Stewardising other famous people’s songs with satirical comedy lyrics on folk instruments, from Jump Ararnd to Goat Yoga. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Mark Harrison Band: Songs and stories at Helmsley Arts Centre
Where folk meets the blues: Mark Harrison Band, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
MARK Harrison writes original songs for today in the spirit of the great troubadours, coupled with stories to make you smile, move and think in a world where blues, roots and folk collide.
Finger-picking and slide guitarist Harrison is joined by Charles Benfield on double bass and Ben Welburn on drums and percussion to create a rhythm section that defies convention, as heard on eight albums to date. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Alchemy Live: Performing the songs of Dire Straits at Kirk Theatre, Pickering
In Dire Straits: Alchemy Live, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm
ALCHEMY Live were formed in 2020 by life-long Mark Knopfler fans and full-time musicians Martin Ledger and Neil Scott, who used the Covid pandemic and resultant lockdowns to put their Dire Straits tribute project in motion. Rehearsals started in 2021 after the worst of the pandemic was over, their first show being scheduled in York for Friday the 13th of May 2022 (what could possibly go wrong)?
They have never looked back, progressing to playing theatres since 2023. “It’s always been our ethos to concentrate on getting the music and sound right, rather than just putting on headbands and shiny jackets,” says frontman Ledger. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
Brian Bilston: Showcasing his latest poetry collection at Milton Rooms, Malton
Poet of the week: Brian Bilston, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 7.30pm
BRIAN Bilston, a poet with more than 500,000 followers on social media, returns to the stage this autumn with his latest book, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, as he takes a journey through the hows, whys and whats of reading, writing and enjoying poetry every day.
Bilston has published such collections as You Took The Last Bus Home, Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love? and Days Like These, along with debut novel Diary Of A Somebody, poetry for younger readers and his 2025 album of poetry set to music, Sounds Made By Humans, recorded in collaboration with The Catenary Wires. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Olly Murs: Enjoying a Knees Up at Live At York Museum Gardens next July
Gig announcement of the week: Futuresound presents Olly Murs, Live At York Museum Gardens, July 9 2027
ESSEX singer-songwriter and The Voice UK coach Olly Murs is the first headline act to be confirmed for next summer’s Live At York Museum Gardens 2027 season, when the event will be expanded to two weekends for the first time. Special guests for that day’s bill are still to be announced.
Murs, 42, returns to the York outdoors after his hat trick of appearances at York Racecourse in 2010, 2017 and 2024. He rose to fame on The X Factor in 2009, since when he has released eight studio albums of pop, indie, ska and disco, the latest being last November’s Knees Up. Box office: York postcode pre-sale from today at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/olly-murs/york-museum-gardens/3730256?pre=postcode; general sale from Friday, 10am, at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/olly-murs/york-museum-gardens/3730256.
In Focus: Carlos Acosta’s Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque, York Theatre Royal, October 1, 7.30pm, October 2, 2pm, and October 3, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque. Picture: Johan Persson
IN this new double bill from Acosta Danza, the lush artistry of the Baroque period intersects with the energy, creativity and vibrancy of Cuban dance. Emerging from the 17th and 18th centuries, the creative movement was characterised by deep colour, elaborate detail and intricate decoration.
Produced by Valid Productions in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, Cuban Baroque opens with the world premiere of Andonis Foniadakis’s new work Pearls, a journey to the rhythmic heart of Baroque, followed by choreographer and set designer Goyo Montero’s 2011 work Chacona.
Artistic director Carlos Acosta says: “I am very excited about this programme which will encapsulate the essence of Acosta Danza, fusing as it will, classical, Cuban and contemporary vocabularies and styles.
“I am, of course, a big fan of both choreographers and am delighted that Andonis will create a brand-new piece on my dancers. I look forward to seeing how that develops over the coming months.
“The flavour of the evening is summarised neatly by the title Cuban Baroque, but essentially this is a programme that anyone interested in any kind of dance can enjoy. I look forward, as always, to seeing how audiences react to the atmosphere this programme will create at its premiere in our first-ever visit to the wonderful York Theatre Royal.”
Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “It is truly wonderful that York audiences will be the first to experience this phenomenally exciting dance programme on our stage and we are really looking forward to working in collaboration with Carlos Acosta and his company on the show.”
Set to Esteban Sallas’s Salve Regina, the work explores the classic chaconne-looping structure that circles through phases of acceleration, fracture and rebound. As the score shifts from Baroque lyricism toward Cuban drive, Foniadakis showcases the fusion between memory and contemporary.
Andonis Foniadakis says: “The piece is being built as a chaconne in the broadest sense: a looping architecture that keeps circling back to the same theme like a mantra, each return opening a new variation in colour, density and impulse.
Cuban rhythmic principles will seep into the texture (clave, layered pulses, dance-derived momentum) and begin to tilt the baroque theme from within — bringing Sallas’s music fully into the present.
“In this dialogue, contrast becomes fusion: baroque memory meets Cuban propulsion; choral breath meets percussive drive; live sound meets a discreet electronic halo — shaping a single energetic trajectory that stays clear, intense, and emotionally resonant.”
Closing the 1hr 20 min programme is Goyo Montero’s powerful Chacona, a piece that originally was created for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett during Montero’s 17-year tenure as director. Chacona is the final movement of Bach’s masterwork Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied in this performance by guitar and piano. Physically and musically demanding, classical in sound and contemporary in heart, it requires total cohesion from the ensemble of 16 dancers.
Goyo Montero says: “This is going to be my fourth collaboration with Acosta Danza since 2015. To bring this work to them and adapt it to their fearless and exceptional dancers is something I am looking forward to very much. To restage this early work and revisit it for them will develop the work further and keep it alive, relevant and ever changing, a choreographer’s dream!”
A Q&A with the company will follow tomorrow’s performance. In addition, Acosta Danza will hold an Open Class on Saturday at 10am on the Theatre Royal stage in an exclusive opportunity to watch how the dancers warm up and prepare ahead of a performance. This non-participatory event is open to all ages.
The York Theatre Royal premiere of Cuban Baroque will be followed by performances at Sadler’s Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal with further 2027 dates to be added. Box office for shows and Open Class: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Closing the 1hr 20 min programme is Goyo Montero’s powerful Chacona, a piece that originally was created for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett during Montero’s 17-year tenure as director. Chacona is the final movement of Bach’s masterwork Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied in this performance by guitar and piano. Physically and musically demanding, classical in sound and contemporary in heart, it requires total cohesion from the ensemble of 16 dancers.
Goyo Montero says: “This is going to be my fourth collaboration with Acosta Danza since 2015. To bring this work to them and adapt it to their fearless and exceptional dancers is something I am looking forward to very much. To restage this early work and revisit it for them will develop the work further and keep it alive, relevant and ever changing, a choreographer’s dream!”
A post-show discussion with the company will follow Thursday’s 7.30pm show. In addition, Acosta Danza will hold an Open Class on Saturday (3/10/2026) at 10am on the Theatre Royal stage in an exclusive opportunity to watch how the dancers warm up and prepare ahead of a performance. This non-participatory event is open to all ages.
The York Theatre Royal premiere of Cuban Baroque will be followed by performances at Sadler’s Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal with further 2027 dates to be added. Box office for shows and Open Class: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Matthew Wood’s cover illustration for John Wheatcroft’s collection of football-related short stories, The Strange Death Of Football
YORK author and journalist John Wheatcroft set out to write a volume of stories in which football was the subject or the starting point.
“I’m using the sport to explore universal themes such as love, friendship, family and loss,” he says of The Strange Death Of Football’s resulting tales of winners and losers. “Even the pastiche boys’ football story, Portsmouth v Jupiter, satirises English post-war insularity.”
Introducing the stories, John says: “The lives of two international players are changed forever following a road accident. A young orphan learns lessons for life from his great-uncle, helped by a shared love of fooball, words and story-telling.
“A referee faces the toughest decision of his career in a testimonial match. A vicar thinks about his life and faith as he watches his relegation-bound team losing heavily.
“These inter-connected stories often have the feel of a novel as their protagonists, from Manchester to Portsmouth and Glasgow to Naples, cope with life’s highs and lows. For them, football is occasionally a curse, more often a blessing but always more than a game. There’s also a sting in the tail, a warning from the future.”
After publishing two novels, Here In The Cull Valley (2016) and Rocket Boy (2019), John has ventured into short stories for the first time. “However, to some extent I’ve tried to have it both ways, giving the 11 stories the occasional feel of a novel by revisiting characters and themes.
“With one stand-alone exception, The Footballer In Spite Of Himself, every story ties up with at least one other tale. The book also offers a picture of what football was like during different stages of its development, from war-time to the modern (and perhaps final!) era.”
Nostalgia plays its part, albeit without the slightest sentimentality. “The misery of one former player in the 1950s (in The Daft Wee Game) suggests that there was never a truly golden age for the sport,” contends John.
Author John Wheatcroft
“The sting in the tail, which explains the title, is a rather gloomy view of football’s (and the world’s) future, although it should perhaps be read as a warning rather than a prediction. In any case, many stories are quite upbeat and the protagonists predominantly likeable. Problems and conflict arise from how other people (and the football world) treat them.”
Sports journalist, broadcaster and My Father And Other Working-Class Football Heroes author Gary Imlach says of the book: “Like all well-chosen starting XIs, this book is more than the sum of its parts. The stories play off each other, key figures recur, connections reveal themselves. The result is a heartfelt narrative that’s as much about family as football.”
The Guardian sports journalist, author, tactical historian and The Blizzard editor Jonathan Wilson describes The Strange Death Of Football as “a beautiful album of short stories that performs the rare feat of using football successfully as a stage, a structuring device and a metaphor. Wise and moving.”
“Both Gary and Jonathan seem to have really understood what I was aiming for,” says John.
Tickets for today’s 75-minute launch can be bought via Explore York’s tickettailor.com site, priced at £2.50. Published by Blue Bunting, of York, the book also is on sale at Little Apple Bookshop, High Petergate, York.
Author’s note by John Wheatcroft
“MOST of my football sides [in The Strange Death Of Football] are current names or clubs that existed in the past. The exceptions are Inter Campania, Valley Cordials and the war-time Forces United.
One story, The Footballer In Spite Of Himself, contains some unfamiliar teams. Most football fans with an interest in the past will have heard of Ardwick and Newton Heath. Not so many, perhaps, will know that Oldham Athletic were Pina Villa and Stockport County were Heaton Norris Rovers.
“It’s my whimsical nod to the way the history of football might have panned out quite differently. After all, Bury were winners of the FA Cup twice before Manchester City and Manchester United won anything. And United survived by the skin of their teeth during the inter-war years.
Perhaps, had they folded, there might have been a ‘phoenix club’ like FC Newton Heath. And Manchester Central might have thrived.”
The poster for the Pigeon Paint Off at City Screen Picturehouse, York, On Saturday
A COMPETIVE Pigeon Paint Off, the biggest of book fairs, top-drawer chamber music and Wright&Grainger’s new material are among Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for a particularly intriguing week ahead.
Bird show of the week: Dead Toe Society presents Pigeon Paint Off, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Saturday, 12 noon to 5.30pm
THE inaugural Pigeon Paint Off creative fundraising event in support of Columba Sanctuary and Advocacy for Pigeons features a live art competition with 11 artists and resulting picture auction, complemented by a Pigeon Social and Pigeon-themed Pub Quiz from 6pm, with the quiz starting at 7pm. Look out too for bird-themed arts and crafts on sale and a raffle with “some snazzy prizes”.
“Watch talented artists bring original works to life, each one inspired by our feathered friends, in two rounds of one-hour paint-offs with audience votes deciding the champion,” says organiser Sam Crick. “You’ll also be able to learn more about why pigeons are suffering, the issues they are facing, why they need our support and how you can help advocate for their wellbeing.” Tickets:https://www.tickettailor.com/events/deadtoesociety/2373410.
Book event of the week: York National Book Fair, Knavesmire Suite, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, Saturday, 10am to 5pm
AT Britain’s largest antiquarian book fair, 186 ‘bookshops’ are set up under one roof with prices ranging from only a few pounds to tens of thousands for more than 100,000 books. All subjects, all dates, from medieval to ultra-modern, are on sale, along with ephemera, manuscripts, prints, photographs and posters, while trade stands are selling marbled papers and binding materials.
York Racecourse offers unlimited free parking and a free shuttle bus is running from the Memorial Gardens on Railway Street to Knavesmire every 30 minutes. Tickets on the door cost £2. Alternatively, head to https://yorkbookfair.com/one-day-complimentary-ticket-2/ to book a complimentary ticket. Children aged under 16 are admitted for free.
Classical festival of the week: York Chamber Music Festival, Saturday and Sunday
THIS year’s festival has invited six of the best string players in Europe – Charlotte Scott and Tim Crawford, violins, Simone van der Giessen and Lilli Maijala, violas, and Adrian Brendel and festival artistic director Tim Lowe, cellos, to participate, along with regular festival artist Katya Apekisheva, the British-based Russian pianist.
On Saturdayy, at 1pm, at St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, Brendel plays Imogen Holst’s The Fall Of The Leaf and J. S. Bach’s Cello Suite No 2 in D Minor; at 7.30pm, at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, all seven perform Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49, Mahler’s Piano Quartet (movement) in A minor – Nicht zu schnell and Brahms’s Piano Quartet in C minor Op 60. All but Apekisheva return for Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major Op. 29 and Brahms’s String Quintet in F major, Op. 88, on Sunday at 3pm at St Olave’s Church, Marygate. Box office: ycmf.co.uk or 01904 658338.
Artist trail of the week: Staithes Festival of Arts and Heritage, Staithes, near Whitby, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm
DISCOVER 113 artists exhibiting across 67 venues through Staithes. Explore galleries, cottages, studios and hidden spaces transformed into exhibition venues across the fishing village. Find out who is taking part at https://www.staithesfestival.com/festival/artists.php.
Enjoy live music, buskers, creative workshops, demonstrations, outdoor cinema, family activities and festival extras too. For the full event programme, go to: https://www.staithesfestival.com/festival/events.php.
Americana gig of the week: James Felice & William Lawrence, Pocklington Arts Centre, Saturday, 8pm
JAMES Felice and drummer William Lawrence, two members of New York State’s Felice Brothers, are taking to the road to perform songs from their respective solo works in a dreamy and quiet evening of Americana music and storytelling. James and William last appeared at Pocklington Arts Centre alongside Ian Felice and Jesske Hume in the Felice Brothers gig in June 2021. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Songs old and new of the week: Michael Ball, Glow UK Tour, York Barbican, Saturday, doors 7pm
MUSICAL star and radio and TV presenter Michael Ball promotes his 23rd solo album, Glow, on his 25-date tour.
“There’s probably only one thing I enjoy more than being in the studio – writing, producing and singing songs with people I love – and that’s taking it all out on the road and performing those songs, as well as all the old favourites to the audiences I love,” he says. Liss Jones supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Comedy gig of the week: Urzila Carlson, Fatty On A Yacht, York Barbican, Sunday, 8pm
SOUTH African-New Zealander Urzila Carlson returns to the UK with her understated punchlines and signature deadpan delivery in Fatty On A Yacht. Ever felt like you don’t belong? Like everyone else got the memo – and you turned up in the wrong outfit, on the wrong day, on the wrong yacht? Carlson’s new show is for anyone who has ever tried to squeeze into a space, physical or social, and thought “This can’t be right”. “It’s about not fitting in, standing out and laughing about it anyway,” she says. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Country gig of the week: Ward Thomas, Celebrating 10 Years Of Cartwheels Tour, York Barbican, September 14, 7.30pm
HAMPSHIRE twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas perform their second album in its entirety, revisiting the record – written at home and in Nashville – that made history as the first by a British country act to top the UK Albums Chart in 2016.
“We had to plan a celebration for its ten-year anniversary,” says Lizzy. “We’ll be bringing our full band, doing a type of show we haven’t done in a long time.” The Wandering Hearts support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
New music, words and stories of the week: Wright& Grainger, Scratch An Itch, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 18, 7.30pm
IN a rare little moment of public-facing recklessness, Easingwold duo Wright&Grainger have some brand new stuff they wish try out in front of, and with, some other people. “It’ll defo involve a piano,” say Alex and Phil. “It’ll defo have music and words and story.
“There’s some tasty clues to follow, some sweet ideas to develop, some scary instincts to trust. And now there’s this big and warm open invite to you, to come join. So please do. We’d love that. Fingers crossed it’ll be good.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The poster artwork for York Printmakers’ Annual Print Fair next weekend
Art gathering of the week: York Printmakers’ Annual Print Fair, The Chapel & Harriet Room, York Cemetery, September 19 and 20, 10am to 5pm
YORK Printmakers’ Annual Print Fair offers a weekend packed with original, handmade artwork, from striking linocuts and detailed collagraphs to monoprints and wood engravings.
This is a chance to browse, meet the artists, discover their diverse techniques and take home an original work. See how different printmaking processes create distinctive results and discover artwork not to be found on the high street. Look out for information on upcoming printmaking workshops too. Everyone is welcome; admission is free.
In Focus: Navigators Art presents Moss Glow and Shadow Bloom, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, September 19, 7.30pm
Astral Light
YORK collective Navigators Art presents four inspiring York performers whose work conjures up unique worlds in a magical programme of electronic, acoustic and vocal sounds, influenced by folk traditions and environmental themes.
This bringing together of ancient and modern iconography, art, poetry and music in Moss Glow and Shadow Bloom: Folk, Myth & Magic has been re-arranged from the postponed original date of July 11 with tickets still valid.
Things Found And Made
Taking part will be:
Astral Light: Scrappy-folky-blues, spoken word and ritual, featuring a homemade menagerie of masks, microphones, dolls, instruments, sound equipment and magical implements.
Filipe Massumi: Cellist and singer whose original and beautiful songs derive from the culture of his native Brazil.
Filipe Massumi
No Spinoza: Welcome to the thematic universe of Thomas Pearson’s forthcoming album Jupiter’s Great Hurricane, bridging history and legend, ancient and modern, as featured in session on BBC Introducing.
Things Found And Made: Lost cinematic folk-tales comprising imagined histories and half remembered rituals of sound and nature.
The cover artwork for Robert Harris’s Agrippa, published byHutchinson Heinemann
“I CAN’T stand it when novelists read from their own books,” deadpans Robert Harris before reading to a full house in the lecture theatre at Tempest Anderson Hall, Yorkshire Museum, York Museum Gardens.
The author, who isone of the most successful and popular novelists of our time, was in town to promote his latest page-turner, Agrippa, at an event organised by Waterstones, York.
The comment extracted laughter from the audience, who were mostly white, middle-class and over 50. Harris is a likeable presence. An ex-journalist, he has a pithy and appealing way of communicating. He can get to the point and has a winning way with stories.
His books have been translated into 40 languages and converted to numerous films and television adaptations. But he’s also enviably committed. He writes seven days a week, turning out a focused 800 words a day, and has an enormous capacity for memory and research. His writing study is filled with hundreds of books.
Harris’ 17 historical novels have roamed from ancient Rome to Nazi Germany. Typically, they focus on a moment of crisis: Precipice dealt with the start of the First World War. Pompeii focused on the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.
They also tend to dwell in the corridors of influence, whether it is Whitehall or Rome’s Senate. “Power fascinates me,” says Harris.
The stories invariably are the preserve of men. In Conclave, the Papacy struggled to pick its next leader. In Act Of Oblivion, men hunt other men who signed the death warrant of King Charles I.
Some of Harris’s heroes share several similarities with their author: introverted, disciplined, methodical and with a strong moral backbone. In Agrippa, however, he writes in the voice of somebody less given to compromise. The man of the book’s title was one of Rome’s thugs, an enforcer for Octavius. Together, they overcame numerous obstacles.
The key to the novel, Harris feels, was getting the voice right. “Agrippa must have been a tough son of a bitch…he looks like a nightclub bouncer,” he says. (Anyone interested can soon find the bust of Agrippa’s face from 25BC on the web. He does, indeed, look like an uncompromising character.)
The Roman general could be ruthless, explains Harris: “He put down a rebellion in Spain with particular severity.” Yet Harris also notes his subject’s more sophisticated side. Agrippa was the man behind some of Rome’s aquaducts, including the one in the bay of Naples.
“Agrippa was a man of destruction and warfare, but then there’s all this creation,” says Harris. Unlike Cicero, whose speeches were recorded, there are hardly any surviving documents relating to Agrippa, just lots of dates and secondary sources.
This, Harris says, was great news. “For a historical novelist, this is fantastic…an empty slate to write on.”
Octavius was only 18 when he partnered with Agrippa, who was one year older. “Nobody would have given them a chance…they became rulers of the world,” says Harris, who retains objectivity about his characters. “Octavius was not a pleasant person. He is said to have gouged out the eyes of people. He was also a hypocrite. He had a lot of affairs with wives of his soldiers, at the same time he brought in strict moral laws about adultery.”
Harris has entered this world before. His highly successful Cicero trilogy explored the world of Ancient Rome with a focus on the machinations of power. The leaders were power-mad thugs. The books were not that far away from The Sopranos. Both have an Italian influence, if not the same weapons. Caesar, who appears in the new novel, was, says Harris “sinister and glamorous at the same time”.
Harris mentions powerful women and there’s a brief allusion to Sarah Netanyahu and the “demonic energy behind the scenes”. He seems to regret this comment. Naturally, I scribble it down.
The new book comes at a time when strong-arm politics are in force. Might is right. Agrippa,like Donald Trump, does what he wants, knowing he can rely on strongman tactics. Harris speaks about this, laughing a little at Trump’s recent enjoyment of gladiators on the White House lawn.
The novelist can sometimes be lacerating. When David Cameron’s autobiography came out in September 2019, Harris wrote a scathing review in The Sunday Times, lamenting Cameron’s arrogance and the tragedy-farce of Brexit. “It would be better,” he wrote, ‘if Cameron hadn’t been born.”
From the safety of his home in the Home Counties, Harris conjurs up whole worlds. In York, he spoke with relish about writing battle scenes. “When the blood is being spilled and you’re at a desk in Berkshire, it’s the best place to be.” His humour is enjoyable – the audience laughs several times.
Robert Harris did not come from grand origins. Born in 1957, he grew up on a council estate in Nottingham. It seems he was precocious. At the age of six wrote an essay entitled “Why me and my Dad don’t like Sir Alec Douglas-Home”. (Harris’s father was very engaged in politics, heckling Douglas-Home when the politician visited Nottingham market square.)
At school Harris wrote plays, getting his friends to act in performances, and edited the school magazine. He later went to Cambridge, the first person of his family to attend university, and was elected president of the Cambridge Union. His time there lent him confidence; he became the editor ofVarsity, the Cambridge student newspaper.
After Cambridge, he worked in journalism, contributing to Panorama, Newsnight, The Sunday Times and Observer between 1978 and 1992. His television work led to a close friendship with Jeremy Paxman. He wrote several non-fiction books, including Good And Faithful Servant, a profile of Margaret Thatcher’s press secretary, Bernard Ingham. Selling Hitler was about the fake Hitler diaries that caused a sensation in the early 1980s.
When he sat down in 1989 to write the opening lines of Fatherland, his first novel, he found the moment exhilarating. “I had to go and lie down,” he tells the York audience, who chuckle with amusement.
The contrast between non-fiction and fiction was intoxicating. “It was the difference between riding a bicycle and flying a helicopter,” he says. Fatherland imagined a world in which Germany triumphed in the Second World War. The novel was so appealing to publishers that a bidding war ensued. The advance was sizeable and led to Harris acquiring anice place in Berkshire that has sometimes been called sometimes been called “The House That Hitler Built”. The house is very grand and, according to one interviewer “…triggers little stabs of envy in the hearts of all the journalists who go and interview Harris”.
Some of his books emerge after a long time. Precipice, about the relationship between Prime Minister Asquith and Venetia, was published in 2024, four decades after Harris first read a book about their clandestine correspondence. The Ghost took 15 years to come to fruition. With Agrippa, there was also a sense of waiting. “I wanted to write about Agrippa for a long time,”says the author.
At the end of the reading and Q and A, he poses for photographs with fans. One senses he is a remarkable person, totally committed to his craft as a writer who entertains. I’ve read 11 of his books. They are always enjoyable, even if one or two had a dip in quality (The Second Sleep was not so hot, even if the idea was interesting). But that laser-like focus: 800 words a day. That’s really something.
Agrippa by Robert Harris is out now, published by Hutchinson Heinemann.
MILES Salter is a writer and musician based in York. He writes regularly for York Calling. His book about The Pretenders, A Dangerous Band, will be published on November 1. He fronts the band Miles and The Chain Gang.
York artist Mark Hearld’s poster illustration for the 2026 York National Book Fair
YORK National Book Fair, the largest antiquarian book fair in Great Britain, will be held in the Knavesmire Suite at York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, on September 11 , from 12 noon to 7pm, and September 12, 10am to 5pm.
As many as 185 ‘bookshops’ will be set up under one roof with prices ranging from only a few pounds to tens of thousands. All subjects, all dates, from medieval to ultra-modern, will be on sale, along with ephemera, manuscripts, prints and photographs.
Two new exhibitors specialising in collectable posters will join this year’s line-up at a fair organised by Tony Fothergill, of Ken Spelman Books, Lucius Books, based in Micklegate, and Janette Ray, who runs a rare and and out-of-print bookshop, focusing on architecture, design, art, photography and landscape subjects, in Bootham, on behalf of the Provincial Booksellers Fairs Association.
A range of trade stands will sell marbled papers and binding materials, complemented by providers of services to the book trade, including software and packaging material suppliers,
From modest beginnings with only 20 exhibitors at the White Swan Inn in York in 1974, the York Book Fair has grown into the largest, and many say friendliest, rare, antiquarian and out-of–print book fair in the UK and Europe.
Anyone interested in books and reading is encouraged to attend a fair that is not only for dealers or traders but also is open to everyone young and old and is an ideal place to start collecting, with more than 100,000 books – some more than 500 years old – for sale.
York Raceourse offers unlimited free parking and a free shuttle bus will run from the Memorial Gardens on Railway Street, to Knavesmire, every 30 minutes.
Towering performances: Matthew Rutherford’s giant, Smog, and Jared More’s giant, Miff, in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s The Selfish Giant
A GIANT in a garden, Wendy turning piratical in a re-imagined Peter Pan, Alan Ayckbourn’s 92nd play and Wilko Johnson’s miraculous renaissance spark Charles Hutchinson’s attention in the week ahead.
Inspirational tale of love and generosity of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in The Selfish Giant, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, today, 1.30pm and 4.30pm
STEP into the magical world of the Giant’s garden, a place full of music, beauty, bird song and stories in Jon Boustead’s stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant. The Giant, however, is cross when he returns to find children – children! – playing happily in his beautiful orchard, whereupon he erects a big wall to terminate the fun.
Once winter seizes the garden in its icy fingers, will summer ever return? Through storytelling, interactive games, live music and puppetry, York company Riding Lights presents a 50-minute play for family audiences. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk. Age recommendation: Three upwards.
Neverland revamped: York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre in Wendy & Peter Pan, York Theatre Royal, today, 2pm and 7pm
YORK Theatre Royal Youth Theatre returns to the Main House stage for the first time since 2019 for 46 performers, aged eight to 19, to present Ella Hickson’s feminist take on J M Barrie’s Peter Pan in Lydia Crosland and Sophie-Jade Howell’s large-scale production.
A quiet sadness permeates the Darling household, until the unexpected arrival of a mischievous young boy called Peter and a rather sassy fairy, Tink, whereupon Wendy leads the rebellious lost boys, takes on the terrifying Captain Hook, finds the key to her parents’ lost happiness and discovers the power of being brave and strong. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York actress Frances Marshall in rehearsal for Alan Ayckbourn’s first courtroom drama, The Trial Of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 4
ALAN Ayckbourn’s 92nd play is his first courtroom drama, one set in the future, as he explores the question that artists have been asking for centuries: what makes us human?
In 2194, humanity is scattered around the solar system and day-to-day life on Earth looks very different. Preparations are underway for a landmark legal case. Romeo Oscar, a military issue android, is on trial for murder: the first non-human to be tried in a court of law. The evidence is polarising and selecting an impartial jury is proving a challenge. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Silky: Hooking up at York Barbican tonight
Comedy bill of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, featuring Silky and Dave Johns, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm
SILKY, Liverpudlian-in-exile and international act, is joined by Dave Johns, North Eastern stand-up, scriptwriter and stage and screen actor, and Jimmy Shirley, whose material addresses growing up in Liverpool in the 1990s, the absurdity of being a Scouser in Greece and the everyday things that annoy him every day.
Completing the line-up will be Gary Jennison, a surrealist force of nature who brings unscripted, unbridled chaos to dance-offs, game shows and observations with a twist while inviting the audience to steer his performance with suggestions and participation. Box office: https://lolcomedyclubs.co.ukor on the door from 7.30pm subject to availability.
See the world more curiously in: Be Like Blippi, York Barbican, today, 1pm and 4pm
JOIN Blippi and Meekah for a one-of-a-kind interactive adventure that inspires children to move, play and explore like Blippi in a new show packed with high-energy music and surprises, featuring fan favourites The Excavator Song, Monster Truck, Dino Dance and Curious Like Me.
Equipped with Blippi’s signature mix of play, learning, and exploration, Be Like Blippi invites you to break out your orange Blippi glasses and ignite your spark of curiosity. Please note, Blippi and Meekah will be played by professional stage performers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Andrew O’Neill: Charting the history of punk through the comedy lens. Picture: Andrew O’Neill
When punk rock meets comedy: Andrew O’Neill, History Of Punk, Theatre@41, Monkgate, tonight, 8pm
FRESH from asking “How do we get out of this mess” in his Halfway To Edinburgh preview of his surreal, political show Escape at Theatre@41 on July 24, cult comedian Andrew O’Neill returns to York, switching from suggesting ways we can find our way out of disagreements to refracting punk rock through stand-up comedy.
In the wake of A History Of Heavy Metal, he delivers a full-volume love letter to punk, from The Stooges to Pussy Riot, Amebix to X-Ray Spex. “Punk’s not dead,” says O’Neill, who has appeared on Good Omens, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Steve Coogan’s Saxondale. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The Illegal Eagles: Checking in at the Hotel California
Tribute gig of the week: The Illegal Eagles, Hotel California Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Illegal Eagles mark 30 years on the road in 2026 with their new Hotel California Tour. Renowned for their vocal and guitar prowess and ability to re-create the legendary sound of the Eagles, the tribute act’s milestone itinerary features a full performance of the iconic Hotel California album, featuring Life In The Fast Lane, New Kid in Town and the unforgettable title track. Expect all the timeless Eagles greatest hits too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jeanette Hunter’s Pearl, Jackie Cox’s Jan, Nicky Clay’s Shelley and Gemma McDonald’s Linda in MARMiTE Theatre’s Ladies Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
Racing romp of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in Ladies Day, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 8 to 12, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
LIFE is one long slog for four fish factory packers from Hull, Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda, but their fortunes could change when they head to Knavesmire on the day Royal Ascot came to York in 2005.
Factory hairnets make way for fascinators as the friends hit the racecourse for an unforgettable day out. Secrets are spilled, along with copious amounts of champagne, as friendships are tested to the limits in Martyn Hunter’s s production of Amanda Whittington’s comedy gem. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Georgina Fairbanks and Johnson Willis in Jonathan Maitland’s Wilko:Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll. Picture: Nick Haeffner
Punk godfather of the week: Wilko:Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll , York Theatre Royal, September 10 to 12, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
WHEN Dr Feelgood co-founder and iconic guitarist Wilko Johnson faced a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2012, he was given only one year left to live. Declining medical intervention, Wilko chose to dedicate his remaining time to a meaningful farewell tour of the people and places that defined his life…only for an unexpected miracle to change the narrative entirely.
Jonathan Maitland’s Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll examines the life of this punk-movement godfather, tracing a career that spanned Dr Feelgood, the Solid Senders, Ian Dury and The Blockheads and a late-career turn to acting in Game Of Thrones. Integrating live music and storytelling with Wilko’s own words, this show serves as a practical masterclass in living life to the fullest. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Movies In The Moonlight in Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema’s season at York Museum Gardens
Cinema event of the week: Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, Movies In The Moonlight, York Museum Gardens, September 11 to 13, 6.30pm
CITY Screen Picturehouse moves outdoors for three evenings of open-air screenings, comprising Grease (PG) on September 11, The Shining (15) and Evolution Of Horror podcast introduction on September 12 and Jurassic Park (12A) on September 13. Screenings start at dusk or as soon as darkness falls.
Blankets, cushions and small picnic chairs are allowed. A limited number of deck chairs will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis; rain ponchos can bought at the event, should the need arise Guests are encouraged to take away waste for recycling where possible. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.
Uh Oh, here comes Phil Wang’s moustache, “bristling with wisdom”at York Barbican
New moustache of the week: Phil Wang: Uh Oh, York Barbican, September 11, 7.30pm
PHILIP Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi is a Malaysian-British stand-up comedian, comedy writer and member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, who co-created the BBC Radio 4 series Daphne Sounds Expensive.
Now comes his new stand-up show, Uh Oh. In the words of Phil, “he’s older than ever before. He’s got a moustache now. It bristles with wisdom. His eyes shine with good humour. His shoulders groan under the weight of being the only cool millennial left. Everyone’s an idiot but him. Nice is out. Right is in. The vibe shift is real. Old Wang’s riding it.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
RIPON Racecourse has appointed poet and author Antony Pickthall as its first Poet in Residence, believed to be the first role of its kind at a Yorkshire racecourse.
Supported by funding from Arts Council England, the six-month residency will see Pickthall create a series of original poems inspired by Yorkshire’s Garden Racecourse, its unique atmosphere and the people, traditions and stories that shape the world of racing.
The project aims to connect audiences with the racecourse in new and unexpected ways by combining creative writing with digital technology.
The poems will be published initially through Ripon Races’ Facebook channels before becoming permanently accessible around the racecourse using augmented reality. Visitors will be able to scan QR codes at key locations to hear performances of the poems read by the author.
The initiative is designed to celebrate the cultural heritage of racing while encouraging wider participation in creative writing and making poetry more accessible to new audiences.
Antony says: “The funding will allow me to explore my poetry and celebrate one of the best-loved racecourses in the UK in a different way, hopefully capturing some of what makes Ripon special. It’s also an opportunity to promote creative writing and to use new technology to present it.”
The residency reflects Ripon Racecourse’s commitment to broadening its cultural offer and creating new ways for visitors to engage with the venue beyond raceday traditions.
James Hutchinson, managing director of Ripon Racecourse, says: “Ripon Racecourse has always been about more than just the action on the track. We are proud of our heritage, our setting and the stories that make Yorkshire’s Garden Racecourse such a special place.
“Appointing a Poet in Residence gives us an exciting opportunity to celebrate those stories in a fresh and engaging way, while introducing new audiences to both racing and the arts.
“By combining poetry with augmented reality technology, we hope visitors will experience the racecourse differently, discovering moments of reflection and creativity alongside the excitement of a race day.”
Antony Pickthall is a British author, playwright, poet and screenwriter originally from West Sussex and now based in North Yorkshire. He writes across a wide range of genres, including children’s and literary fiction, horror and fantasy.
His theatre work includes All Heads Turn, Bath Party, Catch The Pigeon and The Stunning Flight Of Archibald Bone. His screenwriting credits include commissions for Channel 4, Granada and independent producers.
Pickthall published his debut short story collection in 2019 and is working on his first poetry collection. He also edits Charles Hutchinson and Graham Chalmers’ weekly arts podcast Two Big Egos In A Small Car.
