Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond the endless rain when films turn Dead Northern. Hutch’s List No. 40, from The Press, York

Rievaulx Abbey, mixed media, by Robert Dutton, on show in A Yorkshire Year at Nunnington Hall

YORKSHIRE landscapes, campsite class division, horror movies to the max and a talkative traveller herald the arrival of the arts autumn for Charles Hutchinson.

Exhibition of the week: A Yorkshire Year, Nunnington Hall, near Helmsley, until December 5

THE changing landscape of the Yorkshire countryside and coastline is captured by Yorkshire artists Robert Dutton, from Nunnington, and Andrew Moodie, from Harrogate, in seasonal images.

Dutton presents a dramatic interpretation of the untamed expanses of Yorkshire, from meandering freshwater rivers and hidden woodlands to the stark beauty of the moors. Moodie directs his attention to the undulating valleys of the Yorkshire Dales, as well as coastal villages. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm, last entry at 4.15pm. Normal admission prices apply at nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.

The artwork for the Dead Northern 2024 Horror Film Festival at City Screen Picturehouse, York

Film event of the week: Dead Northern 2024 Horror Film Festival, City Screen, Picturehouse, York, today and tomorrow

IN “the world’s most haunted city”, Dead Northern presents a festival of movies, music and social gatherings. Today opens with Demonic Shorts at 11am, followed by the regional premiere of Scopophobia, 12.30pm; Slasher, Thriller and Creature Shorts, 2.30pm; UK premiere of The Healing, 4.30pm; Dead Talk film-making panel, 7.30pm; regional premiere of Kill Your Lover, 9pm, and VIP Awards Party at Revolution, York,11pm.

Tomorrow features the Mad Props documentary, 11am; mini-feature Strike,12.45pm; feature film The Monster Beneath Us, 1.15pm; music mini-feature The Black Quarry, 3.45pm; Music Videos, 4.30pm; UK premiere of Kill Victoria, 6.30pm, and world premiere of Lake Jesup, 8.30pm. Guests must be aged over 18 to access screenings and live events. Box office: deadnorthern.co.uk/dead-northern-2024-film-festival.

Tom Gallagher, Annie Kirkman and Laura Jennifer Banks in a scene from John Godber’s revival of Perfect Pitch

Touring play of the week: John Godber Company in Perfect Pitch, Harrogate Theatre, today, 2pm and 7.30pm; Pocklington Arts Centre, October 9 and 10, 7.30pm; Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 13 to 16, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

WHEN teacher Matt (Frazer Hammill) borrows his parents’ caravan for a week on the Yorkshire coast with partner Rose (Annie Kirkman), they are expecting four days of hill running and total de-stressing. However, with a Tribfest taking place nearby, Grant (Tom Gallagher) and Steph’s (Laura Jennifer Banks) pop-up tent is an unwelcome addition to their perfect pitch.

The class divide and loo cassettes become an issue as writer-director John Godber reignites his unsettling1998 state-of-the-nation comedy, set on an eroding coastline, as Matt and Rose are inducted into the world of caravanning and karaoke. Box office: Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk; Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; Scarborough, 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

The bird man of RedHouse Originals Gallery: artist Jim Moir at his Birdland exhibition in Harrogate

Last chance to see: Jim Moir, Birdland, RedHouse Originals Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, today, 10am, 10am to 5pm

“PEOPLE think that I am a comedian, but art comes first,” says Jim Moir, aka Vic Reeves, as he mounts his second RedHouse show. “This one is Birdland because of my love of birds. I spend most of my days bird watching and painting,” he says.

On show – and for sale – is an exclusive collection of 50 new paintings celebrating his favourite subject ahead of the October 24 release of his second bird book, More Birds, Paintings Of British Birds, published by Unbound. Free entry.

Clare Ferguson-Walker and Robin Ince: Plenty to discuss at Pocklington Arts Centre

Double act of the week: Clare Ferguson-Walker & Robin Ince, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm

TAKE a tour around two marvellous minds via the vehicles of poetry, storytelling, jokes, and general silliness when Clare Ferguson-Walker and Robin Ince link up in Pock. Poet, comedienne, sculptor and singer Clare’s explosive second collection, Chrysalis, lays bare the poet’s soul on a journey laced with humour and humane observation.

Humorist, presenter, poet and author Ince co-hosts the BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. His books include Bibliomaniac, The Importance Of Being Interested, I’m A Joke And So Are You and his next work, Normally Weird And Weirdly Normal: My Adventures In Neurodiversity, will be published next May. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The cover design for Michael Palin’s new diary collection

Globe-trotter of the week: Michael Palin, Grand Opera House, York, October 3, 7.30pm

IN the words of Monty Python alumnus, actor, presenter and Yorkshireman Michael Palin: “In There And Back – The Diary Tour 2024, I’ll bring to life the fourth collection of my diaries and the first to be released for ten years.

“Lots of fun as I go through the Noughties, and some dark times too. I constantly surprise myself with the sheer amount I took on.” Tickets update: still available at atgtickets.com/york.

Barbara Dickson: Acoustic October concerts in Pocklington and Leeds

Folk gigs of the week: Hurricane Promotions present Barbara Dickson & Nick Holland, All Saints Church, Pocklington, October 4 (sold out) and October 16, 7.30pm. Also Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, October 20, 7.30pm

SCOTTISH folk singer Barbara Dickson and her pianist Nick Holland explore her catalogue of songs in these acoustic concerts in intimate settings, where the pair will let the words and melodies take centre stage as they draw on Dickson’s folk roots, contemporary greats and her classic hits, from Another Suitcase In Another Hall to I Know Him So Well. Box office: barbaradickson.net; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Mundane matters: Josh Widdicombe mulls over really niche observations about silly little things in 2025 and 2026

Gig announcement of the week: Josh Widdicombe, Not My Cup Of Tea Tour, Hull City Hall, October 2 2025, and York Barbican, February 28 2026

PARENTING Hell podcaster and comedian Josh Widdicombe, droll observer of the absurd side of the mundane, will take stock of the little things that niggle him, from motorway hotels to children’s parties, and explain why he has finally decided to embrace middle age, hot drinks and doing the school run in his 58-date tour show, Not My Cup Of Tea.

“That’s my favourite type of stand-up: really niche observations about silly little things that you wouldn’t think about. I’ve got no interest in the big topics.” Box office: joshwiddicombe.com; yorkbarbican.co.uk; hulltheatres.co.uk.

In Focus: Mark Thomas: Gaffa Tapes…Old Title, New Show, The Crescent, York, tomorrow. More Yorkshire shows to follow

This is the modern world: Mark Thomas returns to stand-up venting at The Crescent, York. Picture: Tony Pletts

LAST appearing in York in Ed Edwards’s one-man play England & Son in the Theatre Royal Studio last September, South London’s grouchy “godfather of political comedy”, Mark Thomas, returns to polemical stand-up in Gaffa Tapes…Old Title, New Show at The Crescent tomorrow night.

One of the longest-surviving alternative comics after close to 40 years of stand-up, theatre, journalism, human rights campaigning and the odd bout of performance art, his latest tour’s fusillade of jokes, rants, politics, play and the occasional sing-song adds up to “generally mucking about trying to have fun and upset (shall we say) the right people”.

Gaffa Tapes…Old Title, New Show? Explain the extended tag, Mark. “What happened is I liked the idea of ‘Gaffa Tapes’ as a title and had it last year for my Edinburgh Fringe show, but halfway through the Fringe run I got Covid and had to stop.

“Last year I toured England & Son, written by Ed Edwards, which I was really pleased with. It picked up more awards than I’d ever done before – six awards – and one of them was to perform the play in Australia, taking it out to Adelaide for five weeks – and we might be going to New York …

“But we made no money out of it. I thought, ‘right, how do we make some money?’, so it’s great to be getting back to stand-up. What I love about stand-up is… and this is simple…if you stop doing it, they say you’ll feel rusty, so if you have a hiatus, what you have to learn to do is put your hand on the neck of the beast.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to do all the clubs at the bottom of the eco-system, doing ten minutes here, ten minutes there, doing shows in different places, and the thing about it is, I died on my arse a couple of times, which feels horrible each and every time…

“But if you take a break, you need to get your muscle memory back working again. That’s why I loved doing Edinburgh this summer. I did 26 gigs. It’s just bang, bang, bang, every night. You can muck around, try things out.

Mark Thomas in England & Son, toured to York Theatre Royal Studio in 2023. Picture: Alex Brenner

“The riots were happening around that time, so I wrote about them – and it’s important to be able to talk about that. It’s a living, breathing affecting thing. I love being a warrior in the culture wars, and it’s good to be back on the battlefield.”

The tectonic plates of the political landscape keep shifting: fresh meat to a polemicist comedian’s grist. “Things are always changing,” says Mark. “What I love is that when I started work on the show, there was loads going on, because the Tories were no longer in power, and it’s good to be able to react to that and to suggest what should be happening.

“I was at the Diggers Festival, celebrating Gerrard Winstanley [English Protestant religious reformer, political philosopher, activist and leader and co-founder of the ‘True Levellers’ or ‘Diggers’], doing a talk in a church, where someone said, ‘if you get rid of the oath to the King, that would be the most radical thing you could do’.

“I said, ‘well, actually, I don’ think it is. If you want democracy to work, you should have voting at 16, proportional representation, and you need to abolish the House of Lords’…whereas they’re just tidying up what [Tony] Blair started all those years ago. The most radical thing would be to ban donations to political parties. Make it state-funded, giving money to run parties and campaigns, making it a level playing field.

“Do you know who is the only other country in Europe to have a ‘first past the post’ electoral system? Belarus. So if anyone is out of step, it’s us. I think eventually PR [proportional representation] will come in; it’s just a question of what form it takes.”

How does the change of ruling party in Westminster from the Conservatives to Labour after 14 years have an impact on Thomas’s venting? “It changes the goalposts because it’s a new set of people to attack for a new set of reasons,” says Mark. “It’s the new austerity that they’re proposing that’s not great.

“The fact is that Starmer got some of the things right over the riots. I find it fascinating that there is this a disconnect; the idea that everyone who rioted was a racist, but not everyone was, because riots have a movement of their own, but certainly the organisers were far right.

“I didn’t vote Labour. I’m a Socilaist, why on Earth would I vote Labour?” says Mark Thomas. Picture: Art by Tracey Moberly

“You can be a Zen Buddhist but if you set fire to an asylum seekers’ hotel, then you’re a racist.”

Long associated with spouting anti-Tory sentiment aplenty, Thomas will hold the incoming Labour Party to account too. “I think it’s healthier that way in politics. The honeymoon period is over already,” he says.

“I didn’t vote Labour. I’m a Socialist, why on Earth would I vote Labour? There shouldn’t be a honeymoon period anyway,  but I expect the right-wing press to go at Labour with gusto because they want to shape not only this government, but the next Tory one too.”

Any suggestions for policy change, Mark? “Local government can run the bus companies, but it’s really important that it’s not about making the maximum profit. That’s what used to happen until Thatcher changed it,” he says.

“I’m lucky now – because I’m 61, I get the 60+ London Oyster card for £20 [administration fee] that allows me to travel everywhere in London for free and I use buses a lot. That’s one of the great things about London: wherever you are, there will be a night bus coming along in a moment.”

He is looking forward eagerly to tomorrow’s return to The Crescent. “I love The Crescent,” he enthuses. “What they may lack in technical facilities, it’s a proper community venue. I always say, when talking about what community venues could be, take a look at this place.”

Mark Thomas: Gaffa Tapes, Burning Duck Comedy, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm; Marsdsen Mechanics, November 8, 8pm; Social, Hull, November 16, 8pm; Sheffield Memorial Hall November 10, 8pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, February 5 2025; Wakefield Theatre Royal, February 6 2025, 7.30pm.

Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Marsden, 01484 844587 or marsdenmechanics.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Hull, socialhumberstreet.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Wakefield Theatre Royal, 01924 211311 or theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk (on sale soon) Age guidance: 16 plus.

Mark Thomas: the back story

The next step for Mark Thomas: Touring Gaffa Tapes

“IF you don’t know what Mark does, ask your parents. In his time, he has won eight awards for performing, three for human rights work… and one he invented for himself. He has made six series of the Mark Thomas Comedy Product and three Dispatches for Channel 4, made five series of The Manifesto for BBC Radio 4, written five books and four play scripts, curated and authored two art exhibitions with artist Tracey Moberly and was commissioned to write a show for the Royal Opera House.

“He has forced a politician to resign, changed laws on tax and protest, become the Guinness Book of Records world-record holder for the number of protests in 24 hours, taken the police to court three times and won (the fourth is in the pipeline), walked the length of the Israeli Wall in the West Bank (that’s 724km), and generally mucked about trying to have fun and upset (shall we say) the right people.”

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond from September 21 onwards. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 39, from The Press, York

Kate Hampson in the matriarchal role of Marmee in York Theatre Royal’s production of Little Women. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

GARDEN ghosts, a coming-of-age classic, a political groundbreaker, astronaut insights and an awful aunt stir Charles Hutchinson into action as autumn makes its entry.  

Play opening of the week: Little Women, York Theatre Royal, September 21 to October 12

CREATIVE director Juliet Forster directs York Theatre Royal’s repertory cast in Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age story of headstrong Jo March and her sisters Meg, Beth and Amy as they grow up in New England during the American Civil War.

Adapted by Anne-Marie Casey, the production features Freya Parks, from BBC1’s This Town, as Jo, Ainy Medina as Meg, Helen Chong as Amy and York actress Laura Soper as Beth. Kate Hampson returns to the Theatre Royal to play Marmee after leading the community cast in The Coppergate Woman. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Steve Wynn: A night of stories and songs at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb. Picture: Guy Kokken

York gig of the week: Steve Wynn, I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True: A Night Of Songs And Stories, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, September 21, 7.30pm

STEVE Wynn, founder and leader of Californian alt. rock band The Dream Syndicate, promotes his first solo album since 2010, Make It Right (Fire Records), and his new memoir, I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True (Jawbone Press), both released on August 30.

Touring the UK solo for the first time in more than ten years, his one-man show blends songs from and inspired by the book with a narrative structure of readings and storytelling. Expect evergreens and rarities from The Dream Syndicate’s catalogue, coupled with illuminating covers and reflective numbers from the new record. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Ghosts In The Garden: Returning for fourth season with more locations and more wire-mesh ghosts. Picture: Gareth Buddo/Andy Little

Installation of the week: Ghosts In The Gardens, haunting York until November 5

GHOSTS In The Gardens returns with 45 ghosts, inspired by York’s past, for visitors to discover in the city’s public gardens and green spaces, with the Bar walls, St Olave’s Church and York Railway Station among the new locations.

Organiser York BID has partnered with design agency Unconventional Design for the fourth year to create the semi-translucent 3D sculptures out of narrow-gauge wire mesh, six of them new for 2024. Pick up the map for this free event from the Visitor Information Centre on Parliament Street and head to https://www.theyorkbid.com/ghosts-in-the-gardens/ for full details

Points Of View, stainless steel, by Tony Cragg, at Castle Howard. Picture: Nick Howard

Last chance to see: Tony Cragg’s Sculptures, Castle Howard, near York, ends September 22

TONY Cragg’s sculptures, the first major exhibition by a leading contemporary artist to be held in the grounds and house at Castle Howard, closes on Sunday after a successful run since May 3 that has seen a 12 per cent rise in visitor numbers since the equivalent period last year.

On show are large-scale bronze sculptures in the gardens plus works in wood, glass sculptures and works on paper, some being displayed for the first time in Great Britain. Opening hours: grounds, 10am to 5pm, last entry 4pm; house, 10am to 3pm. Tickets: 01653 648333 or castlehoward.co.uk.

Making her point: Lauren Robinson as politician Jennie Lee in Mikron Theatre’s premiere of Jennie Lee. Picture: Robling Photography

Political drama of the week: Mikron Theatre Company in Jennie Lee, Clements Hall, Nunthorpe Road, York, September 22, 4pm to 6pm

IN Marsden company Mikron Theatre’s premiere of Jennie Lee, Lindsay Rodden charts the extraordinary life of the radical Scottish politician, Westminster’s youngest MP, so young that, as a woman in 1929, she could not even vote for herself.

Tenacious, bold and rebellious, Lee left her coal-mining family in Scotland and fought with her every breath for the betterment of all lives, for wages, health and housing, and for art and education too, as the first Minister for the Arts and founder of the Open University. She was the wife of NHS founder Nye Bevan, but Jennie is no footnote in someone else’s past. Box office: mikron.org.uk/show/jennie-lee-clements-hall.

Crime novelists Ajay Chowdhury, left, and Luca Veste team up for The Big Read in York and Harrogate on Monday

Book event of the week: Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival presents The Big Read, Acomb Explore Library, York, September 23, 12.30pm to 1.30pm; The Harrogate Inn, Harrogate, September 23, 2.30pm to 3.30pm

THE North’s biggest book club, The Big Read, returns next week with visits to York and Harrogate on the first day, when visitors can meet the festival’s reader-in-residence, Luca Veste, and fellow novelist Ajay Chowdhury, who will discuss Chowdhury’s Sunday Times Crime Book of the Year, The Detective.

More than 1,000 free copies of tech entrepreneur, writer and theatre director Ajay Chowdhury’s 2023 novel from his Detective Kamil Rahman series will be distributed across the participating libraries. Entry is free.

Astronaut Tim Peake: Exploring the evolution of space travel at York Barbican

Travel show of the week: Tim Peake, Astronauts: The Quest To Explore Space, York Barbican, September 25, 7.30pm

BRITISH astronaut Tim Peake is among only 610 people to have travelled beyond Earth’s orbit. After multiple My Journey To Space tours of his own story, he makes a return voyage to share stories of fellow astronauts as he explores the evolution of space travel.

From the first forays into the vast potential of space in the 1950s and beyond, to the first human missions to Mars, Peake will traverse the final frontier with tales of the experience of space flight, living in weightlessness, the dangers and unexpected moments of humour and the years of training and psychological and physical pressures that an astronaut faces. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Neal Foster’s Aunt Alberta and Annie Cordoni’s Stella in Birmingham Stage Company’s Awful Auntie at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Mark Douet

Children’s show of the week: Birmingham Stage Company in Awful Auntie, Grand Opera House, York, September 26 to 29

CHILDREN’S author David Walliams and Birmingham Stage Company team up for the fourth time. Ater adaptations of Gangsta Granny, Billionaire Boy and Demon Dentist, here comes actor-manager Neal Foster’s stage account of Awful Auntie.

As Stella (Annie Cordoni ) sets off to visit London with her parents, she has no idea her life is in danger. When she wakes up three months later, not everything Aunt Alberta (Foster) tells her turns out to be true. She quickly discovers she is in for the fight of her life against her very own awful Auntie! Suitable for age five upwards. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Posted on

‘Art comes first,’ says twitcher and comedian Jim Moir as he launches Birdland exhibition at RedHouse Originals Gallery

Jim Moir at RedHouse Originals Gallery in Harrogate

“PEOPLE think that I am a comedian, but art comes first,” says Jim Moir, as he mounts his second exhibition at RedHouse Originals, Harrogate.

“This one is ‘Birdland’ because of my love of birds,” he told the crowded preview gathering that spilled out of the gallery doors. “I spend most of my days bird watching and painting.

“My mother said to me, ‘are you going to retire?’. I said I retired at 21 when I was never going to work for anyone again. I wanted to be an artist and then took a diversion into acting and comedy, and this is now the third act, doing what I was doing at 12. I’m 65 now, and I’m loving it.

 “Back in Yorkshire, where I was born, for this exhibition. I’ve been all over the world, but I never get a reaction like I do in Yorkshire – and people buy paintings here!”

Black Cap, watercolour on paper,by Jim Moir

On show – and for sale – until September 28 is an exclusive collection of 50 new paintings celebrating his favourite subject ahead of the October 24 release of his second bird book, More Birds, Paintings Of British Birds, published by Unbound.

 “I’m a big wildlife fan,” says Leeds-born Moir, alias comedian Vic Reeves. “When I started birding, I was very young. I remember all I had was natural history books. I’d just look at them on me bed, all day, all night, and then if it wasn’t that, I’d be looking at birds.

“I loved bird watching as a kid and I could probably tell you what any bird was, to this day. It’s really important.”

Birdland marks Moir’s return to RedHouse, having first exhibited there in 2022 when Yorkshire Rocks & Dinghy Fights captivated visitors and featured in the first season of Sky Arts’ Painting Birds With Jim & Nancy Moir. Two paintings that featured in the documentary are now on show in the new collection, by the way.

Pigeon Mob, watercolour on paper, by Jim Moir

Described as “the Warhol of bird painting” by the Guardian art critic Jonathan Jones, Moir’s enduring fascination and wonder at nature is expressed through his depictions of peregrine falcons, lapwings, curlews, barn owls and ospreys, even elevating the pigeon to iconic status. “To paint a bird and put it in its environment gives a bit more of a clue about its life and its personality,” he says.

Why birds, Jim? “It’s what I grew up doing: I was bird watching because I grew up before tablets and mobile phones,” he says. “Birds. That’s what I liked looking at. I liked outdoor pursuits. Nature. I still do.”

What is his favourite bird and why? “It’s always the one I see that day, and if I have to make a special trip, it definitely will be that one,” he says.

Jim Moir: Birdland, on show at RedHouse Originals Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, until September 28. Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm; Sundays by appointment. Free entry.

Barn Owl, watercolour on paper, by Jim Moir

Jim Moir: the back story

BORN James Roderick Moir in Leeds on January 24 1959.  

First came to prominence as a comedian, actor, and musician with the stage alias of  Vic Reeves, writing TV sketches with long-term writing partner Bob Mortimer.

Long before the rise of Reeves, Moir was a practising artist. “Painting is what I always liked doing and if you can get the opportunity to live your life doing what you like doing, then grasp it,” he advises.

After completing an engineering apprenticeship, he studied Fine Art Foundation at Sir John Cass College in 1983, leading to a curator position at The Gardner Gallery and his first exhibition in 1985.

Moir had applied to Goldsmiths but was rejected on the grounds of being “too accomplished” already. “I wanted to go to Goldsmiths but they wouldn’t let me in, so I just walked in and started using the facilities and went to the lectures,” he recalls.” I did that for three years.”

Roc, mixed media on canvas, by Jim Moir

The influence of Pop Art giants from the 1960s such as Gilbert and George, Andy Warhol and Peter Blake, is evident within his paintings, both thematically and stylistically. Often dreamlike and peppered with satirical humour, Moir’s fantastical compositions have been likened to the Surrealist and Dadaist movements of the late 1910s and early 1920s.

Moir’s passion for image-making and sculpture has been integral to his career, through set design and props on such shows as Vic Reeves Big Night Out, The Smell Of Reeves And Mortimer and Shooting Stars, His artwork has remained ever present on television screens as the backdrop to his comedic vision.

Since presenting Turner Prize Moments in 2011, he has tipped the balance of focus from performance towards visual art.

“When I started doing comedy, it was kind of a side-line to my artwork,” he says. “I’ve never not painted. Now I’ve got to a stage where I thought, I’ve done the comedy. I’ve done the TV. I’ll just do bits on TV and film if I want to do it. But all day long I’m going to paint pictures. That’s what I like doing.”

From October 31 to November 3 2012, he transformed the botanical York Museum Gardens into a “magical wonderland” for the Illuminating York festival, lighting up the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey, the Yorkshire Museum and the inners wall of the city’s bar walls with three large-scale, psychedelic, audio-visual  projections as part of the York 800 celebrations.  

Vic Reeves’ Purple man having a fight with green elephant seal in his Wonderland projections for Illuminating York in 2012. Copyright: The Press, York

Given “free rein to unleash his absurd and magical creations” and inspired by absurdist works such as Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Reeves and partners Bright White Ltd, Bar Lane Studios, Chetwoods and Arup created “a new world that turns the expected upside down and revels in the beauty of the unexpected” at a cost of £500,000.

Organisers invited the public to take part in a projection of dancing figures on St Mary’s Abbey or to power bicycles with wings of light. Among the surreal visions in Reeves’ Wonderland were a bright red elephant, standing on tiptoe while wearing a fez, and a lurid green giant elephant seal fighting a man in purple, while the entire facade of the Yorkshire Museum was transformed into a moving projection of music, pictures and colour.

The third display, beamed onto the city walls behind the bowling green, featured Reeves trapped in a surreal landscape, desperately trying to escape by swallowing blue or red pills to shrink or grow in size.

“Art should be fun,” Reeves told The York Press. “I have ideas and if I think they are funny or peculiar I draw them. I draw because I get a kick out of it. It’s my drug. I’m just doing what I do and it’s projected onto a building that is Georgian.”

Lives and works in converted Georgian schoolhouse in Charring, Ashford, Kent.

Long Tailed Tits, watercolour on paper, by Jim Moir

Naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author Chris Packham on Jim Moir

 “JIM doesn’t just see birds, he looks at them, so intensely that he understands them. Not just anatomically or behaviourally – he knows how they feel. That transcends painting or art – that is using a brush and pigment to make a future.

“Jim has imbued the bird with imagination. You can’t do this just because you can paint beautifully; it’s not about reproduction, it’s about translation. About being able to speak bird with paint.

“To me, Jim’s process actually appears more instinctive than constructed, which in turn makes it far more admirable and valuable than ‘clever’. There are plenty of clever artists; sometimes I enjoy unravelling their art, but I prefer art that talks to me, talks straight. Art made from love.” 

Special event: Jim Moir In Conversation With Tony Pitts

When: September 27. Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 7pm.

Where: RedHouse Originals Gallery, 15 Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, HG1 1DW. Limited seating plus standing room.

RSVP for gallery Friends: info@redhouseoriginals.com.

The invitation to Jim Moir In Conversation With Tony Pitts
Posted on

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond as poet John Hegley talks potatoes. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 34, from Gazette & Herald

John Hegley: Two poetry peformances at Helmsley Literary Festival. Picture: Jackie di Stefano

HELMSLEY Literary Festival leads off Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations to fill the cultural diary, joined by drag, folk and blues acts and an American coming-of-age classic.

Festival of the week highlight: Helmsley Literary Festival, Helmsley Arts Centre, John Hegley, New & Selected Potatoes, Saturday, 7pm to 8pm; I Am A Poetato, Sunday, 11am to 12 noon

POET, comic, singer, songwriter and spectacles wearer John Hegley heads to Helmsley with two shows, the first being his seriously funny, cleverly comic “best of golden oldies compilation with some new stuff” about love, family, France, art, the sea, dogs, dads, gods, taxidermy, carrots, glasses and…potatoes.

Second gig I Am A Poetato features An A-Z of Poems about People, Pets and other Creatures! Spelling it out for Helmsley, he promises Hedgehogs. Elephants. Laughing. Mandolin. Singing. Luton. Even a cardboard camel with moving parts. Yo!  For full details of two days of talks, signings, readings, open mic and a quiz, with Hegley, Anne Fine, Joanne Harris, Harriet Constable and The Chase’s Paul Sinha, visit helmsleyarts.co.uk. Box office: 01439 771700.

Bianca Del Rio: Discussing politics, pop culture and political correctness at York Barbican

Drag show of the week: Bianca Del Rio, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm

COMEDY drag queen and RuPaul’s Drag Race champion Bianca Del Rio heads to York on her 11-date stand-up tour. Up for irreverent discussion will be politics, pop culture, political correctness, current events, cancel culture and everyday life, as observed through the eyes of a “clown in the gown”, who will be “coming out of my crypt and hitting the road again to remind everyone that I’m still dead inside”. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Ryan Adams: Heading back to York Barbican on Friday

Return of the week: Ryan Adams, Solo 2024, York Barbican, Friday, doors 7pm

NORTH Carolina singer-songwriter Ryan Adams returns to York Barbican next week after playing a very long, career-spanning set there with no stage lighting – only his own side lamps – in April last year. This time he will be marking the 20th anniversary of 2004’s Love Is Hell and tenth anniversary of 2014’s self-titled album, complemented by Adams classics and favourites. Adams, who visited the Grand Opera House in 2007 and 2011, will be performing on acoustic guitar and piano. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Harp & A Monkey: Songs of everyday life, love and remembrance at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

Folk gig of the week: Friday Folk presents Harp & A Monkey, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm

GREATER Manchester song-and-storytelling trio Harp & A Monkey specialise in poignant, uplifting and melodic short stories, both original and traditional, about everyday life, love and remembrance. In a nutshell, the extraordinary ordinary, from cuckolded molecatchers and a lone English oak tree that grows at Gallipoli to care in the community, medieval pilgrims and Victorian bare-knuckle boxers.

This versatile collective of artists, animators, storytellers and multi-instrumentalists has undertaken bespoke songwriting for soundtrack, film and art projects for the likes of Sky Arts and the Department of Sport, Media and Culture. Fylingdales Folk Choir will perform too. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

York actress Kate Hampson in the matriarchal role of Marmee in Little Women at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Play of the week: Little Women, York Theatre Royal, Saturday to October 12

CREATIVE director Juliet Forster directs York Theatre Royal’s new production of Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age story of headstrong Jo March and her sisters Meg, Beth and Amy as they grow up in New England during the American Civil War.

Adapted by Anne-Marie Casey, the production features Freya Parks, from BBC1’s This Town, as Jo, Ainy Medina as Meg, Helen Chong as Amy and York actress Laura Soper as Beth. Kate Hampson returns to the Theatre Royal to play Marmee after leading the community cast in The Coppergate Woman. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Seedling, by Sarah Sharpe, on show in Leeds Fine Artists’ 150th anniversary show at Blossom Street Gallery

Exhibition of the week: Leeds Fine Artists Celebrating 150 Years, Blossom Street Gallery, York, until October 31

LEEDS Fine Artists is celebrating its 150th anniversary with an exhibition at its regular York host, Blossom Street Gallery, featuring an inspirational collection of work demonstrating a wide range of styles and different media.

Taking part are: Sharron Astbury-Petit; Dawn Broughton; Jane Burgess; Mark Butler; Pete Donnelly; Alison Flowers; Roger Gardner; Margarita Godgelf; Dan Harnett; Peter Heaton; Nicholas Jagger; Michael Curgenven; Catherine Morris; Martin Pearson; Clare Phelan; Trevor Pittaway; Neil Pittaway; Annie Robinson; Annie Roche; Sarah Sharpe and John Sherwood. Opening hours: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10am to 4pm; Sundays, 10am to 3pm.

Tim Peake: Exploring the evolution of space travel at York Barbican

Travel show of the week: Tim Peake, Astronauts: The Quest To Explore Space, York Barbican, September 25, 7.30pm

BRITISH astronaut Tim Peake is among only 610 people to have travelled beyond Earth’s orbit. After multiple My Journey To Space tours of his own story, he makes a return voyage with his stellar new show, sharing the collected stories of fellow astronauts as he explores the evolution of space travel.

From the first forays into the vast potential of space in the 1950s and beyond, to the first human missions to Mars, Peake will traverse the final frontier with tales of the experience of spaceflight, living in weightlessness, the dangers and unexpected moments of humour and the years of training and psychological and physical pressures that an astronaut faces. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Lightning Threads: Showcasing their debut album, Off That Lonely Road, at Milton Rooms, Malton

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club, Lightning Threads, Milton Rooms, Malton, September 26, 8pm

SHEFFIELD blues-rock trio Lightning Threads are influenced by the great rock musicians of another time, drawing comparisons with The Black Keys, Gary Clark Jr, Cream and The Doors.

Tom Jane, guitar and vocals, Sam Burgum, bass and vocals, and Hugh Butler, drums and keyboards, have been nominated for Best Album in the 2024 Blues Awards for their November 2023 debut, Off That Lonely Road, recorded with Andrew Banfield, of Superfly Studios, and graced by Kelly Michaeli’s gospel vocals. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Posted on

The Big Read welcomes crime novelists Ajay Chowdhury and Luca Veste to Acomb, Harrogate and Bradford on Monday

Authors Ajay Chowdhury, left, and Luca Veste, right, at the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival in Harrogate. Picture: Andrew Stevens

THE North’s biggest book club, The Big Read, returns from September 23 to 25, travelling to libraries across the North of England. First up will be Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, York, next Monday from 11.30am to 12.30pm.

Produced by Harrogate International Festivals and sponsored by the Inn Collection Group and Vintage Publishing, this free event is part of the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival and is designed to celebrate and create awareness of literacy, while paying homage to the legacy of crime fiction’s greatest writers.

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet the festival’s reader-in-residence, Luca Veste, and fellow novelist Ajay Chowdhury, winner of The Sunday Times and The Times Crime Book of the Year, who will travel to seven libraries from Merseyside to Teesside, discussing Chowdhury’s The Detective, as they take the festival on tour. 

More than 1,000 free copies of tech entrepreneur, writer and Rented Space Theatre Company artistic director Ajay Chowdhury’s 2023 novel will be distributed across the participating libraries.

Luca Veste is the author of numerous crime novels, such as You Never Said Goodbye and The Bone Keeper. As well as hosting of the Two Crime Writers And A Microphone podcast and co-founding the Locked In Festival, he plays bass guitar in the band of authors, The Fun Lovin’ Crime Writers.

The cover artwork for Ajay Chowdhury’s novel The Detective

Sharon Canavar, chief executive of Harrogate International Festivals, says: “We know that reading stimulates the brain, reduces stress and helps us relax, and the aim of the Big Read is to bring people together from all walks of life through their shared passion for reading.

“This event is also a brilliant opportunity to raise awareness of local library services, which really are at the heart of our communities.

“The Detective is a cracking read and illustrates the rich variety that can be found in the crime-writing genre, and I’m sure it will encourage readers to explore the rest of Ajay Chowdhury’s books.”

Chowdhury’s latest novel in his Detective Kamil Rahman series, The Spy, was published by Harvill Sacker/Penguin Books in April, preceded by last year’s The Detective, The Cook in 2022 and The Waiter in 2021. First came his children’s novel, Ayesha And The Firefish, in 2016.

“I am both honoured and humbled that The Detective has been selected for this year’s Big Read,” he says. “I’m excited to join Luca on the road and looking forward to meeting readers across the North of England.”

The Harrogate Inn general manager Daniel Marshall, with a copy of The Detective, as staff member Lawrence Rhodes-Ibarra looks on from behind the bar. Picture: Andrew Stevens

Andrew Robson, of The Inn Collection Group, says: “The Big Read is a great way of supporting our libraries and bringing local communities together. Reading is one of life’s great pleasures and books have the ability to inspire us and show the world in a fresh light, which is why it’s a genuine pleasure for us to be involved in such a wonderful and rewarding project.”

Reader-in-residence Luca Veste says: “I’m delighted once again to be able to take the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival on tour with the Big Read. Local libraries are a cornerstone of our communities and have been an important part of my own life from an early age. I’m really looking forward to discussing this brilliant book with crime writing fans new and old.”

Crime novel devotees can head to a choice of seven participating libraries in York, Harrogate, Bradford, Formby (Liverpool), Stockport, Hexham and Stockton-on-Tees (Billingham) to collect a free copy of The Detective and sign up for the North’s biggest book club.

The Big Read 2024 schedule in Yorkshire:

Monday, September 23: Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acom, York, 1.30am to 12.30pm. The Harrogate Inn, Ripon Rd, Harrogate, 2.30pm to 3.30pm. Bradford City Library, Centenary Square, Aldermanbury, Bradford, 6.30pm to 7.30pm. Entry is free.

Posted on

The Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn to present night of music and stories at Rise@Bluebird Bakery on Saturday

“I don’t see this show as a stodgy reading or as a random selection of songs but, rather, a tiny play of sorts,” says Los Angelean musician and author Steve Wynn. Picture: Guy Kokken

ON his first UK solo tour in more than a decade, The Dream Syndicate founder and leader Steve Wynn visits Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, on Saturday night.

The Paisley Underground legend will be promoting his first solo album since 2010, Make It Right (Fire Records), along with his new memoir, I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True (Jawbone Press), both released on August 30.

Wynn’s one-man show blends songs from and inspired by the book with a narrative structure of readings and storytelling. Expect evergreens and rarities from The Dream Syndicate’s 1980s’ catalogue, coupled with illuminating covers and reflective numbers from the new record, adding up to a show of a past revisited.

His debut book details the winding path from growing up as music fan and pre-teen bandleader in Los Angeles, through the formation and ultimate dissolution of The Dream Syndicate at the end of their first era in 1988.

Stops along the way make room for tales of cross-country Greyhound trips to track down Alex Chilton to wild, off-the-rails tours with U2 and R.E.M. and the epic heart-of-darkness making of his Californian indie-rock band’s controversial second album, Medicine Show, and plenty more.

The new album is a similarly reflective and intimately revealing collection, written and recorded in tandem with the writing of I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True, featuring contributions from R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, The Bangles’ Vicki Peterson, Psychic Temple’s Chris Schlarb, Serena Maneesh’s Emil Nikolaisen, The Baseball Project’s Linda Pitmon and a cast of dozens.

Wynn says: “I don’t see this show as a stodgy reading or as a random selection of songs but, rather, a tiny play of sorts, a way of giving a flesh-and-blood companion to the book. I’m looking for that magic place where, say, Lenny Bruce and Spalding Grey and Ray Davies and Bob Dylan and maybe Hedwig might meet in a dimly lit cabernet on the back streets of Hollywood. I’ve never done this kind of show before but if I can hit all those markers, I’ll be happy.”

Steve Wynn, I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True, A Night Of Songs And Stories, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, September 21, 7.30pm. Box office: Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise. Wynn will be selling and signing copies of I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True (book) and Make It Right (CD/LP) after the show. Further Yorkshire gig on Wynn’s eight-date tour at The Greystones, Sheffield, September 18, 8pm.

The poster for Steve Wynn’s show at The Greystones, Sheffield

Steve Wynn: the back story

Founder, singer and guitarist of The Dream Syndicate, revered 1980s’ Los Angeles indie-rock band. 1982 debut The Days Of Wine And Roses is regarded as cornerstone of indie/alternative rock scene.

Prolific solo career, touring the world and recording on regular basis and touring/performing in indie supergroup Gutterball, Danny And Dusty and The Baseball Project (also featuring R.E.M. founders Mike Mills and Peter Buck).

Wrote scores for two hit Norwegian TV shows, Dag and Exit.

His songs have been covered by Luna, Yo La Tengo and Concrete Blonde among others

Lives in New York City.

I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True in a nutshell:

A TALE of writing songs and playing in bands as a conduit to a world its author could once have barely imagine: a world of major labels, luxury tour buses and sold-out theatres, but also oneof alcohol, drugs and a low-level rock’n’roll Babylon. Ultimately, a tale of redemption, with music as a vehicle for artistic and personal transformation and transcendence.

Steve Wynn on Make It Right

The artwork for Steve Wynn’s new album, Make It Right

“I WROTE and recorded these songs in tandem with working on I Wouldn’t Say It If It Wasn’t True, my memoir, which comes out on Jawbone Press the same week as Make It Right, my first solo album since 2010.

“With each chapter, I would get ideas for songs inspired by the deep dive into my past and vice versa. The reflections became intertwined after a while, a mutual commentary between literal and metaphorical ruminating.

“The songs here aren’t directly autobiographical although the album does start with Santa Monica, the city and boulevard where I was born, and concludes with Roosevelt Avenue, the main thoroughfare of the Queens neighbourhood in New York City that I call home today.

“You write what you know – even when you’re not aware it’s what you’re writing about at the time.

“If the book recounted a tale of trepidation and dread and questionable choices, then that tale would turn into a song of similar intent like What Were You Expecting. A step back for perspective and positivity, in turn, found its way into a song like You’re Halfway There.

“The cataclysmic ‘one big open drain’ of Simpler Than The Rain was resolved by the resolute ‘I’m just trying to make it right’ on the title track. A gauzy and melancholy where-did-it-go-wrong Southern California flashback on the Long Beach-inspired Cherry Avenue would steer me towards a steelier determination and reset on Making Good On My Promises.

“It was a dialogue between the memoirist and the musician, a one-man Q&A, a gentle volley in the tennis court of my mind. 40-love, game, set and match.

“As I’ve found the melodies and words to stir and simmer with the stories I told in the book, I’ve simultaneously brought friends and collaborators from my recent and distant past to help flesh them out on the record. The likes of Vicki Peterson, Mike Mills, Stephen McCarthy, Scott McCaughey, Jason Victor, Dennis Duck and Mark Walton and my wife Linda Pitmon are all in the book and – look! – there they are on the record as well!

“And much like life itself, new faces and hit-and-run collaborators would pass my radar during the sessions and provide new light as well. Chris Schlarb, from California dream pop ensemble Psychic Temple, added his cinematic touch; Emil Nikolaisen, of Norway psych-grunge combo Serena Maneesh, chimed in with his trademark sonic anarchy and then Eric “Roscoe” Ambel (Del Lords, Joan Jett) used his studio savvy producer chops to tie it all together at the end.

“It feels perfect and very appropriate that the book and record came out in the same week. Not that one is needed to understand the other. Hey, you can just put on Make It Right and use it as the catalyst to create your own life story, dig into your own past. It belongs to you now. Let it tell your own tale while I tell mine. We’re all just trying to make it right.”

Make It Right track listing:

1. Santa Monica. 2. Make It Right. 3. What Were You Expecting. 4. You’re Halfway There. 5. Making Good On My Promises. 6. Cherry Avenue. 7. Then Again. 8. Madly. 9. Simpler Than The Rain. 10. Roosevelt Avenue.

Posted on

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond when musical theatre goes back to school. Hutch’s List No. 33, from Gazette & Herald

Finn East’s Dewey Finn and Eady Mensah’s Tomika in rehearsal for York Stage’s School Of Rock: The Next Generation

FOR those about to rock, or celebrate jazz greats, or glory in Henry V, Charles Hutchinson stacks up reasons to head out and about.

Musical of the week: York Stage in School Of Rock: The Next Generation, Grand Opera House, York, September 13 to 21, 7.30pm, except September 15 and 16; 2.30pm, September 14 and 21; 4pm, September 15

YORK Stage is ready to rock in the riotous musical based on the 2003 Jack Black film, re-booted with a book by Julian Fellowes, lyrics by Glenn Slater and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Failed rock musician Dewey Finn (Finn East), desperate for money, chances his arm by faking it as a substitute teacher at a stuffy American prep school, jettisoning Math(s) in favour of propelling his students to become the most awesome rock band ever. Will he be found out by the parents and headmistress, leaving Dewey to face the music? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Artistic director and cellist Tim Lowe: Running his 11th York Chamber Music Festival next week

Festival of the week: York Chamber Music Festival, various venues, September 13 to 15

FOR its 11th season, York Chamber Music Festival artistic director and cellist Tim Lowe is bringing together pianist Andrew Brownell, violinists Ben Hancox and Magnus Johnston, viola players Gary Pomeroy and Simone van der Giessen, cellist Marie Bitlloch and flautist Sam Coles.

The centenary of French composer Gabriel Fauré’s death will be marked prominently in the five concerts. For the full programme and tickets, go to: ycmf.co.uk.

Ronnie Scott’s All Stars: Presenting Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Shawn Pearce

Jazz gig of the week: Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club Presents The Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook, York Theatre Royal, September 13, 7.30pm

RONNIE Scott’s Jazz Club returns to York Theatre Royal with a new collection of music, narration and projected archive images and rare footage, celebrating Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook.

Hosted and performed by the award-winning Ronnie Scott’s All Stars, led by musical director James Pearson, the show offers a glimpse into the London club’s storied world with its litany of legendary jazz players and vocalists. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568.

Paul Carrack: Celebrating 50 years since his first hit, Ace’s How Long, at York Barbican. Picture: Nico Wills Cornbury

Ace memoir of the week: Paul Carrack, How Long: 50th Anniversary Tour 2024, York Barbican, September 14, 7.30pm

IN 1974, Sheffield musician Paul Carrack was in “fun London band” Ace when he penned How Long, a song that would reach number three in the US Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 20 in the UK Singles Chart. Phil Collins named it among his top ten favourites in a 1981 issue of Smash Hits.

“How Long is probably the first song I wrote,” recalls Carrack, now 73. “I wrote the song about a real situation, a situation that many people could relate to. Little did I know that it would become a classic and touch the hearts of so many.”  His 50th anniversary tour takes a journey through his career, from his days with Ace, Squeeze and Mike + The Mechanics to his solo years. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Alchemy Live: In Dire Straits in Helmsley

Tribute gig of the week: Alchemy Live, A Tribute To Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits, Helmsley Arts Centre, September 14, 8pm

FORMED in 2022 by frontman Martin Ledger, Yorkshire band Alchemy Live bring together a group of professional players and friends that shares a common love of the music of Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits.

Alchemy Live are “all about the music, no lookalike competitions here”, re-creating the Dire Straits sound as accurately as possible. Every guitar solo is taken from a specific show and reproduced note for note. “Close your eyes and you’re right there, at the Hammersmith Odeon back in 1983,” says Ledger. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Historian and author Dan Jones

Book event of the week: Kemps Presents Dan Jones, Henry V: The Astonishing Rise Of England’s Greatest Warrior King, Milton Rooms, Malton, September 17, 7.30pm

HISTORIAN, television presenter, journalist, podcaster and author Dan Jones says he has been waiting to write Henry V’s biography for many years on account of Agincourt victor Henry being considered as the pinnacle and paragon of medieval kingship, both his own time and for centuries thereafter.  

Jones will discuss “one of the most intriguing characters in all medieval history, but one of the hardest to pin down” and sign copies of the book post-discussion. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.  

Charlie Parr: Showcasing blues and folk songs of community and communing with nature at Pocklington Arts Centre

Troubadour of the week: Charlie Parr, Pocklington Arts Centre, September 19, 8pm

RAISED in Austin, Texas, and now living in the Lake Superior port town of Duluth, folk troubadour and bluesman poet Charlie Parr has recorded 19 albums since 2002, this year releasing Little Sun, full of stories celebrating music, community and communing with nature.

Taking to the road between shows, this American guitarist, songwriter, and interpreter of traditional music writes and rewrites songs as he plays, drawing on the sights and sounds around him, his lyrical craftsmanship echoing the works of his working-class upbringing, notably Folkways legends Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Iago Banet: Fingerstyle acoustic guitarist plays solo in Helmsley. Picture: Sue Rainbow

Guitarist of the week: Iago Banet, Helmsley Arts Centre, September 20, 8pm

IAGO Banet, “the Galician King of Acoustic Guitar” from northern Spain, visits Helmsley on the back of releasing his third album, the self-explanatory Tres, in 2023.

Featured on BCC Radio 2’s The Blues Show With Cerys Matthews, this solo fingerstyle acoustic guitarist has played such festivals as Brecon Jazz, Hellys International Guitar Festival and Aberjazz, displaying skill, complexity and versatility in his fusion of gypsy jazz, blues, Americana, country, Dixieland, swing, pop and folk. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond, from a love letter to theatre to a teatime tiger. Hutch’s List No. 36, from The Press

York actress Frances Marshall in rehearsal for Alan Ayckbourn’s 90th play, Show & Tell at the SJT. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

ALAN Ayckbourn’s 90th play and the Fangfest arts weekend lead Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for the weeks ahead.

Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s Show & Tell, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, September 5 to October 5

BILL Champion, Paul Kemp, Frances Marshall, Richard Stacey and Olivia Woolhouse will be the cast for the 90th play by Scarborough writer-director Alan Ayckbourn, a love letter to theatre. 

In a delightfully dark farce that lifts the lid on the performances we act out on a daily basis, Jack is planning a big party for his wife’s birthday. Pulling out all the stops, he has booked a touring theatre company to perform in the main hall of the family home. Unfortunately, Jack is becoming forgetful in his old age, rendering him unable to remember all the details of the booking.

The Homelight Theatre Company is on its knees, desperately needing a well-paid gig – and Jack’s booking is very well paid. Pinning him down on the details has been tricky, however, and something does not feel quite right. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Mealtime mayhem in The Tiger Who Came To Tea at the Grand Opera House, York

Children’s show of the week: Nicoll Entertainment presents The Tiger Who Came To Tea, Grand Opera House, York, today and tomorrow, 11.30am and 2.30pm

JUDITH Kerr’s picture-book story The Tiger Who Came To Tea is celebrating 15 years on stage in writer-director David Wood’s 55-minute production that returns to York this weekend, exactly a year on from its last visit.

The doorbell rings just as Sophie and her mummy are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? What they don’t expect to greet at the door is a big, stripey, tea-guzzling tiger in a family show packed with oodles of magic, sing-a-long songs and clumsy chaos! Age guidance: three upwards. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Allied Air Forces Memorial Day at the Yorkshire Air Museum, pictured in 2023

We will remember them: Allied Air Forces Memorial Day, Yorkshire Air Museum, Halifax Way, Elvington, near York, tomorrow (Sunday), from 1.45pm

THE Yorkshire Military Marching Band will lead the 1.45pm parade featuring standard bearers from 16 Royal British Legion and RAF Association branches in one of the biggest events in the museum’s calendar.

Representatives of the RAF will join with counterparts from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and France in honouring the bravery and sacrifices of the allied air crews who flew from the airfield during the Second World War, many of whom did not survive. The day will climax with a 2.15pm service in the main hangar, under the nose of Halifax Bomber Friday the 13th. Open to museum visitors and invited guests.

Busted: Concluding the 2024 season at Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Saturday

Coastal gig of the week: Busted, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, today, gates open at 6pm

BUSTED close Cuffe & Taylor’s summer of outdoor gigs in Scarborough 22 years after first bouncing into the charts with the pop-punk energy of What I Go To School For and a year on from releasing Greatest Hits 2.0, an album of re-recorded hits with guests to mark the reunion of James Bourne, Matt Willis and Charlie Simpson.

Expect number one smashes Crashed The Wedding, Who’s David, Thunderbirds Are Go and You Said No to feature in Saturday’s set list, along with Year 3000, Air Hostess, Sleeping With The Lights. Support comes from Skinny Living and Soap. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/busted.

William Dalrymple: Reflecting on India’s impact on the ancient world in his Grand Opera House talk

History talk of the week: William Dalrymple, How Ancient India Transformed the World, Grand Opera House, York, September 2, 7.30pm

HISTORIAN William Dalrymple, co-host of the Empire podcast, tells the story of how, from 250BC to 1200AD, India transformed the world: exporting religion, art, science, medicine and language along a Golden Road that stretched from the Red Sea to the Pacific, creating a vast and profoundly important empire of ideas.

Dalrymple explores how Indian ideas crossed political borders and influenced everything they touched, from the statues in Roman seaports to the Buddhism of Japan, the poetry of China to the mathematics of Baghdad. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Kiri Pritchard-McLean: Tales of a foster parent in her Peacock show at Pocklington Arts Centre

Comedy gig of the week: Kiri Pritchard-McLean: Peacock, Pocklington Arts Centre, September 5, 8pm

KIRI Pritchard-McLean has had a busy few years, hosting Live At The Apollo, fronting the BBC Radio 4 panel show Best Medicine, co-hosting the All Killa No Filla podcast, starting a comedy school and becoming a foster parent. 

After a couple of the eggiest gigs of her career in boardrooms, a show about being a foster carer has been signed off, wherein she lifts the lid on social workers, first aid training and what not to do when a vicar searches for you on YouTube. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance, left, and Janet Bruce: Making their Fangfest debut with  a magical and adventurous story for two to eight-year-olds, featuring music, games and puppetry, on both days at 2.30pm in the Fangfoss Hall orchard

Festival of the week: Fangfest Festival of Practical Arts, Fangfoss, near York, September 7 and 8. 10am to 4pm

THE annual Fangfest returns with its celebration of traditional and contemporary art and craft skills as creatives, businesses and charities gather next weekend.

The event features a flower festival, vintage and veteran cars, archery, Stamford Bridge History Society, music on the green, the Story Craft Theatre Company, a teddy bear trail, produce stalls and free craft activities, as well as 30 working craft exhibitors and workshops in needle felting, wood carving, spinning and embroidery. Entry to Fangfest is free; parking is £2 per vehicle in aid of Friends of St Martin’s School.

Bjorn Again: Thanking Abba for the music at York Barbican and Connexin Live, Hull, on their 2025 tour

Gig announcement of the week: Bjorn Again, York Barbican, September 28 2025, and Connexin Live, Hull, October 29 2025

AFTER festival appearances at Wilderness and Glastonbury this summer, Bjorn Again announce a British and Irish tour from September 26 to November 2 2025, taking in York Barbican on the third night and Connexin Live, Hull, a month later.

Founded in 1988 in Melbourne by Australianmusician/manager Rod Stephen, the tribute show carries the endorsement of Abba’s own Agnetha Fältskog. Designed as a tongue-in-cheek, rocked-up, light-hearted ABBA satire, the show is in its 37th year, having seen more than 100 musicians and vocalists and 400 technical crew/support staff contribute to 5,500 performances in 75 countries. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk and connexinlivehull.com.

In Focus: 60 songs, 50 years, four concerts, two nights, add up to Elvis Costello & Steve Nieve at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall

Elvis Costello: 60 songs from 50 years in four shows in two nights at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall in September

ELVIS Costello brings his new career-spanning presentation, 15 Songs From 50 Years, to Leeds City Varieties on September 2 and 3 for four unique performances over two days, all sold out.

Walking in the footsteps of Harry Houdini and beyond the long shadow of Charlie Chaplin, Frank Carson and Leonard Sachs at the Swan Street music hall, Costello will be joined at each 75-minute show by keyboard player Steve Nieve, his long-serving, Royal College of Music-trained  cohort in The Attractions and The Imposters.

Each day, the 7pm soiree will feature an entirely different repertoire to the 9.30pm set list, the songs being selected from each of the five decades of Costello’s songwriting, whether solo or in the company of Flip City; American country rock band Clover; The Attractions; Squeeze’s Chris Difford;  The Coward Brothers, with T-Bone Burnett; the Confederates; Paul McCartney; the Brodsky Quartet; The Imposters; Burt Bacharach, Allen Toussaint or the Roots.

A 15-song programme will be printed in advance of each concert with few, if any repeats anticipated but with the possibility of impromptu choices along the way. Costello. 69, and Nieve, 66, very occasionally take requests but should never be mistaken for a jukebox.

The third and fourth performances, on the second day, will “propose a deuce of delights”: two entirely different 15-song set-lists selected from half a century of popular songwriting craft.

“Leeds City Varieties Music Hall has always been known for magic, melody, mirth and mayhem,” says Elvis Costello

“The four shows are guaranteed to feature 60 different songs, but we suspect this is just the start,” predicts the shows’ publicity machine.

Those who wanted to attend all four contrasting shows in this exclusive engagement were able to obtain a special season ticket to include premium seats for each show in the front rows or boxes with exclusive use of the bar in between shows.

Asked about the involvement of his perennial cohort, Steve Nieve, Costello said: “Well, to paraphrase John Lennon, Steve Nieve will ‘leap over horses, through hoops, up garters and lastly, through a hogshead of real fire’ to bring his particular brand of musical magnificence to these performances.”

Costello added: “The City Varieties Music Hall has always been known for magic, melody, mirth and mayhem. These are all well within our grasp. By the way, had my father not taken a trumpet-playing engagement in London, just before my arrival into this world, I would have been a Chapeltown boy and this would be my hometown gig.“

In the wortds of the City Varieties blurb: “Unsurpassed in variety and voluminosity, Costello’s renowned refrains, romances, broadsides, bulletins and ballads are perfectly matched by Steve Nieve’s pulchritudinous and pulsating piano playing.

“The paragon of the profound and the peculiar, these premier performers present a penetrating pageant for perceptive and perspicacious patrons.”

For ticket updates on late availability, visit leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/costello-and-nieve-2024.

Posted on

York String Quartet to play at World of James Herriot’s 25th anniversary dinner at Garden Room, Tennants, in Leyburn

York String Quartet: Performing at the World of James Herriot’s 25th anniverrsary gala dinner in October

YORK String Quartet will play at the World of James Herriot’s 25th Anniversary Black Tie Dinner at The Garden Rooms, at Tennants, Leyburn, on October 5.

The 6.45pm to 11.45pm event will feature a live performance by tenor Sean Ruane too. Special guests will include late author James Herriot’s son and daughter, Jim Wight and Rosie Page, family and friends and Yorkshire Vet and Channel 5 TV teams, hosted by BBC Radio York’s Elly Fiorentini. Fans from Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Germany, Japan and the USA will be attending. 

Managing director Ian Ashton said: “The 25th anniversary gala dinner will be a fabulous evening and it’s especially pleasing that it will bring together so many family, friends, fans and colleagues of Alf Wight, some of whom will have travelled thousands of miles for the event.

“It all adds up to a fantastic tribute to a very special man, vet and author and to the vision of the then Hambleton District Council in setting up the attraction in his original surgery and home in 1999, following the Skeldale surgery’s move to new premises.” 

Tenor Sean Ruane

The 25th anniversary coincides with the attraction recording record numbers of visitors of around 43,000 in the past year, up from around 15,000 when the attraction was taken over to be run as a private sector business in 2012. 

 “Alf’s books, films and TV series were the biggest thing to ever have happened to promote the dales and moors of North Yorkshire, which have become world renowned as ‘Herriot Country’,” said Ian.

“The recent Yorkshire Vet and remake of All Creatures Great And Small TV series have contributed in no small measure to the continuing success of his legacy, which would probably not have happened had the attraction closed in 2012.”

A fund-raising auction will be held during the evening and proceeds from the event will be donated to Herriot Hospice Homecare

Alf Wight, author James Herriot, after receiving his OBE

Looking forward to the gala, Jim Wight and Rosie Page said: “This is a lovely opportunity to celebrate our father’s legacy and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the opening of the World of James Herriot. Our father would be proud to be associated with this initiative and we are delighted that the dinner has been organised and supported by so many friends and colleagues.” 

Alf Wight’s stories, based on his experiences of being a young veterinary surgeon who worked among the North Yorkshire farming communities, have sold in their millions and have touched readers from all over the world. 

James Alfred Wight was born on October 3 1916 in Sunderland (at his mother Hannah’s former home before she married Alf’s father James in July 1915). When Alf was only three weeks old, the family moved back to their own home in Glasgow and Alf remained there for most of his young life.

In December 1939, at the age of 23, Alf qualified as a veterinary surgeon with the Glasgow Veterinary College, taking on a brief post in January 1940 in a veterinary practice in Sunderland. He moved on in July 1940 to work in the rural practice of Donald J Sinclair in Thirsk, located close to the sweeping hills and rich valleys of the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors National Parks, where he remained for the rest of his life, writing under the name of James Herriot. 

Posted on

Scatterbrain Shaparak Khorsandi takes whirlwind tour of her ‘sometimes frantic’ mind at Scarborough, Hull and Farsley

Shaparak Khorsandi: “Letting you back into her mind after ADHD diagnosis”

AFTER reassessing her life through the prism of an ADHD diagnosis in last year’s Fringe show, ShapChat, and her Scatter Brain memoir, Shaparak Khorsandi lets you back into her mind in her new show at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre on October 2.

“Warning: it’s cluttered in there,” says the 51-year-old British Comedy Award-nominated comedian, raconteur, I’m A Celebrity contestant and author of fiction and non-fiction.

Among other things, her Scatterbrain show will be a love letter to letter-writing, a trip back through Khorsandi’s early years as a comic and woman-about-town, and a whirlwind tour of her “hilarious and sometimes frantic brain”. At least, it might be, given the promise of “delightfully shambolic” comedy.

As the tour publicity puts it: “Although it might not be remembered by Shaparak herself, that’s part of how ADHD works. And actually, we’ll probably check in with her in case she’s decided to start a career as an antique furniture expert instead.

“The diagnosis has helped Shaparak make sense of many aspects of her behaviour and personality, as movingly chronicled in Scatter Brain (subtitled How I Finally Got Off The ADHD Rollercoaster To Become The Owner Of A Very Tidy Sock Drawer, published by Penguin Books).  

“In this national tour of the same name, a woman who deserves the tag of national treasure uses her newly liberated mind as a springboard for a comedic rollercoaster ride.” 

Impatient Productions present Shaparak Khorsandi: Scatterbrain, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, October 2, 7.45pm. Box office: 01723 370541or sjt.uk.com. Khorsandi’s 23-date September 11 to December 3 tour also visits Hull Truck Theatre, October 3, 7.30pm, and Old Woollen, Farsley, Leeds, October 16, 8pm. Box office: Hull, 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk; Farsley, oldwoollen.co.uk.