Jeff Clark: Creative director of Art Of Protest Projects
INTERNATIONAL mural artists will deliver York’s first creative mural festival at the Acomb Fest from July 3 to 5.
Run by Art Of Protest Projects and York & North Yorkshire Combined Authority, the three-day event will add up to 15 venues, four live mural paintings, ten art installations, more than 30 bands, DJs and performers, plus paint jam and spray battles, in a packed programme of creative events for all ages.
Watch the live paints with headliners including Australia superstar SMUG, known as “the world’s best photorealistic artist”; Sheffield muralist Peachzz, 2024 runner-up for Best Mural in the World; leading wildlife artist Curtis Hylton and returnee Acomb superstar Sledone.
“Look out for surprise renowned acts and secret pop-ups to follow for some pre-festival installations that will create a nature-inspired open-air art gallery,” says Art Of Protest creative director Jeff Clark.
Creative events and activities will be centred on Front Street, Acomb, with free street art workshops. Venues include Bluebird Bakery, SoJo, The Tap and The Fox, connecting all the green spaces and parks.
Each venue will have its own bespoke offer with individual tickets and availability being released on the Acomb Fest website, with live announcements to follow for details of bush craft, nature art, water art and artist talks.
Rare Collective will deliver DJs; nine artists will showcase their skills in live spray battles at the Carlton Tavern; a community cinema will run at Acomb Explore library and a spoken-word event at Book and Bevs.
A full programme of family-friendly free activities will be held at Acomb Methodist Church; That Acomb Arty Thing will host an artist market; the Gateway Church will mount art exhibitions and Fishponds Wood will run mini-beast trails.
Further events will be local history tours, light installations in Holgate Windmill and pop-up stalls run by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and York Civic Trust.
There will be specialist food and drink offerings throughout the festival, including Spirit Of Yorkshire and an international mixologist. Tickets and listings will become available at https://acombfest.co.uk/
Acomb Fest was shaped by speaking to more than 1,100 residents, leading to the theme of returning to nature. The festival was made possible by funding from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Vibrant and Sustainable High Street Fund, Great Acomb Community Forum, City of York Council, York St John University, York and business and the community.
David Skaith, Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, says: “High streets are constantly changing, but they have, and always will be, hubs for our communities. That’s why I’m backing community-led projects across York and North Yorkshire.
“Like Acomb Fest, which will transform Front Street, Acomb, into an open-air gallery and event centre, creating legacy and vibrancy through co-production, talent development and sustainability.
“Residents and businesses understand most of what is needed in their communities, and I am proud to be backing their plans with my Vibrant and Sustainable High Street Fund.”
If you would like to be involved, please email acombfest.aop@gmail.com. Creative director Jeff Clark says: This is an inclusive project, so we would love to hear from community groups and businesses that would like to deliver activities during the festival or host events.
“We are keen to transform and uplift the area, so will be creating a wall library, so please get in touch if you have a wall to paint. We are here to celebrate local creatives so will be arranging a programme of events for artists to exhibit and be part of the festival.
“We are also keen for local musicians to come forward to perform at one of the local venues. There will be volunteer opportunities as well as the talent development programme.”
The Wizard of York: Bringing magic and wizardry to York’s streets in May. Picture: The Story of You
PHOENIX the Red, The Wizard of York is to host his second WizardFest from May 23 to 25.
York’s official Festival of Wizardry will be a city-wide magical event, spread across such sites as Parliament Street, Shambles, St Helen’s Square and York Minster.
“It promises magical fun for wizards and witches of all ages and is shaping up to be a lot bigger than last year,” says organiser Dan Wood, alias the wand-ering Wizard of York, as he looks forward to casting a spell over York once more.
“There’ll be lots of new things going on, including taking over Parliament Street with a Wizard Activity Zone with face painting, wand making, performers and a Wizard Family Rave at Thor’s Tipi.
The WizardFest Fancy Dress Parade crowd at the 2025 festival. Picture: The Story of You
“We have 25 activities on the magical map, including trails, tours, bubble shows, dragons, owls, wand making, LEGO workshops, a Magical Night Market, Fancy Dress Parade and more.”
The festival announcement follows in the wake of magical mirth-maker Dan’s Wizard Walk of York winning Independent Business of the Year at the Visit York Tourism Awards, as well as Experience of the Year for the second year running, while last May’s inaugural WizardFest was a top three finalist for Festival of the Year.
Dan says: “Championing local businesses is at the very heart of what we do. We work with companies who we believe offer something special, and great value, for locals and tourists. WizardFest is all about putting them on the map, quite literally!”
He will be collaborating with Little Vikings to spread the wizarding word and has lined up six sponsors including York’s Loopy Scoops, Baby Boy’s Burgers and The Cat Gallery.
Meet a Dragon at Wizard Fest. Picture: The Story of You
Face painting at WizardFest. Picture: The Story of You
“We were blown away by the support for the first festival,” adds Dan. “Tickets vanished quickly and we can’t wait to do it all again. Fan favourites will return, including extra Wizard Walks, Brick Magic LEGO workshops and a wizard twist at Professor Kettlestring’s Puzzling World.
“Visitors can enjoy free trails, including The Black Cat Quest from The Cat Gallery – with new locations – and The Magical Owl Trail in Shambles Market by Make it York.
“Real owls will be appearing at St Crux Church on York’s Shambles on the Saturday, courtesy of The Flying Squadron, and Make It York will be bringing back The Magical Night Market, with more than 30 traders appearing – as if by magic – on the Monday evening. Expect a spellbinding setting, with wonderfully whimsical characters to meet and greet.”
Parliament Street will be transformed by Dan into a new Wizard Activity Zone. “There’ll be face painting, wand making, and families can get in a spin with the Party Octopus 360 video experience,” he says. “Thor’s Tipi is getting the party started with their Wizard Family Rave and offering Butterbeer with free wizard specs for every child.
The Wizard of York leading the Fancy Dress Parade at the 2025 WizardFest. Picture: The Story of You
“Chocolate unicorns can be made and decorated at York Cocoa Works and The Giant Bubble Show at Friargate Theatre is new too for 2026. Families can enjoy 60 minutes of jaw-dropping bubble tricks from The Bubble Wizard.”
Wandering wizards will not go hungry either. “The Dragon Sundae returns to Loopy Scoops, with the chance to meet Ignis (Iggy) the Dragon nearby too,” says Dan. “You can sink your teeth into a Beastly Burger from Baby Boy’s Burgers at SPARK: York or try the fiery Phoenix Fries in Shambles Market.”
A highlight last year was the free Fancy Dress Parade and Best Dressed Contest on the final day. “This will return for 2026, on May 25, starting at 3.15pm in St Helen’s Square, then heading down Stonegate to York Minster,” says Dan. “Visitors are encouraged to dress to impress for the chance to win some spellbinding prizes.
“We’d love to see some really different or unusual outfits. The theme isn’t limited to one particular wizarding world. You could take inspiration from Harry Potter, The Lord Of The Rings, Discworld or Wicked. Perhaps come as a magical creature or your own original creation!”
TheBubble Wizard performing at WizardFest
Prizes are donated by The Wizard Walk, The Society of Alchemists, Stonegate Teddy Bears and The Shop That Must Not Be Named.
Activity listings can be found at www.wizardwalkofyork.com/wizardfest, where bookings can be made too. “I can’t wait to see everyone at the festival and to celebrate the best of magic and family fun in York,” says Dan.
“Plan your visit at www.wizardwalkofyork.com/wizardfest and follow @wizardwalkofyork on Facebook and Instagram for updates. Almost all events sold out last year, so early planning is recommended before tickets…vanish!”
A magical map will be available to download, along with printed copies during the event.
On fire: Dan Wood, alias Phoenix the Red, the Wizard of York: Organiser of WizardFest
More wizard news for Dan
THE Wizard Walk of York has ranked in fourth place in Family Friendly Experiences worldwide in the 2026 TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice Awards.
“The accolade puts the activity above experiences such as turtle snorkelling in Bali and a ninja experience in Tokyo,” says the Wizard of York, alias Phoenix the Red, the creation of York magical mirth-maker Dan Wood.
The tours leave from York’s Shambles and can run up to six times daily in the holidays, organised by Dan, who lives near York with his wife and two boys and loves creating magic moments for locals and tourists alike.
“We were actually awarded first place last year in same awards, but are still absolutely spellbound with the fourth position globally. It’s mind-blowing to think that our small family business – with big ideas – can reach such heights worldwide.”
The awards are based solely on visitor feedback, complemented by York’s wand-ering wizard having many other awards up his sleeve too. The business won Experience of the Year for the second time in the Visit York Tourism Awards 2026, as well as Independent Business of the Year.
In the Little Vikings Awards for Kids, The Wizard Walk of York has picked up the Best Tour prize four years running and Best Birthday Party Entertainer twice.
The Wizard of York on his Wizard Walk of York. Picture: The Story of You
“We put magic first in all that we do,” says Dan. “We’re all about making magical memories and bringing fun and laughter to families visiting our enchanting city. Visitors often describe it as the highlight of their whole visit, and we can’t ask for more than that.”
The Wizard Walk Of York tour is a quest to find magical creatures around York – led by either Dan himself as Phoenix the Red or second guide Viridian the Green. “The interactive experience combines magic, illusion, storytelling and more jokes than you can shake a wand at,” says Dan.
“We love York’s rich history, but this isn’t a historical tour. There are lots of those, and we set out to create something totally different. There are no ghosts stories, and it’s not a Harry Potter tour either – although the theme makes it popular for fans of the wizarding world.”
Dan’s company is expanding, to the point where he is seeking a third wizard guide, while conjuring new ideas and partnerships too.
The magic never stops for Dan and his team: as well as running public tours, birthday parties and school trips weekly, he is busy working on the city’s second official Festival of Wizardry, Wizard Fest (see story above).
In the York Barbican spotlight: Jalen Ngonda on the first night of his spring tour at York Barbican. Picture: Paul Rhodes
JALEN Ngonda is a stylist. He doesn’t lay things on too much or too little.
The rising American-born soul star doesn’t overdo his incredible vocals or over-extend his scratch guitar playing or showboat on the piano. Instead, he lets the grooves and the vibe carry the day.
His is a sunlight and birdsong sort of a voice, bright, energetic and brimming with life.
This was the first night of the tour, and Ngonda and his three-piece band (who remained un-introduced, but were Michael Buckley ,keyboards and guitar, Vincent Chiarito, bass, and Sam Merrick, drums) showed no hint of nerves as they delivered an assured 68-minute set.
Seemingly effortless, Ngonda didn’t seek to seduce, to tease or to milk his audience, who treated him like a superstar anyway. While he has been playing the music trade in the UK for more than a decade, and his breakout album Come Around And Love Me came out in 2023, you sense Ngonda is about to become something of a big thing.
Jalen Ngonda performing with drummer Sam Merrick, keyboard player Michael Buckley and bassist Vincent Chiarito. Picture: Paul Rhodes
To this point Ngonda could be viewed as a singles artist, reeling off would-be hit after would-be hit. Tunes such as Just As Long As We’re Together and That’s All I Wanted From You could stand with the best soul of any era.
Fortunately, he hasn’t gone psychedelic but is doubling down on affairs of the heart. His piano numbers revealed a man who could go in any number of musical directions.
This Maryland man with the high, androgynous voice, now an adopted Liverpudlian, is in every sense a star turn. True, his songs are all cut from the same cloth, but it’s a very stylish cloth that captures the best of 1960s’ Motown soul, the Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, Smokey Robinson sound.
The contemporary edge is well hidden, but Ngonda is more than a tribute to a great period. It’ll be interesting to see the reaction to his forthcoming much-anticipated new LP, Doctrine Of Love.
On this showing, he seems poised to take his material to the next level, as evidenced by his multi-generation appeal and the response to his music. Ngonda was clearly pleased to be in such an appreciative setting, and his natural modesty only endeared him more to the crowd.
Kristian Barley’s Adam, left, Steve Tearle’s Bernadette and Matthew Clarke’s Tick in NE Theatre York’s Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
FROM Priscilla in the outback to dark thriller The Psychic, the Romanian Richard III to Neon Crypt’s Holmes and Watson, Charles Hutchinson picks the week ahead’s best shows and gigs.
Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
STEVE Tearle, creative director of NE Theatre York, plays Bernadette, joined by Matthew Clarke as Tick and Kristian Barley as Adam, in the adventure of two drag artists and a trans woman embarking on a life‑changing road trip across the Aussie outback in their battered tour bus, discovering the power of love, identity, acceptance and true friendship.
“As they head west through the Australian desert to chase a dream aboard their lavender bus, our three terrific travellers come to the forefront of a comedy of errors,” says Tearle, whose high-energy production also features Helen Greenley as Shirley, Ben Rich as Jimmy, Steve Perry as Bob, the mechanic, Ali Butler-Hind as his wife Cynthia, plus disco divas Perri Ann Barley, Melissa Boyd and Aileen Hall. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Andy Nyman, left, and Jeremy Dyson in rehearsal for their world premiere of The Psychic at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan
World premiere of the week: The Psychic, York Theatre Royal, today to May 23
“IS any of it real,” ask Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman in The Psychic, the latest spook-fest from the writer-director duo behind Ghost Stories. In their twisted new thriller, popular TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case that brands her a charlatan, costing her not only her reputation but also a fortune in legal fees.
When a wealthy couple ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, she senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed and leads her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Gemma Curry in Hoglets Theatre’s Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre
Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre presents Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre, York International Shakespeare Festival, York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium, today, 6.30pm
HAGS, hauntings, hobgoblins and more emerge from the spooky suitcase owned by Lady Macbeth (Dotty to her friends). These spectres from performances past must retell their stories before they can find peace in the literary afterlife, but are they friends or will we need to be vanquished back into the supernatural suitcase?
Written, crafted and performed by Hoglets Theatre founder, director, writer and performer Gemma Sharp, this funny, energetic children’s theatre experience presents a world of hand-made puppets, music and storytelling, all performed from a single suitcase. “No prior knowledge of Shakespeare is required,” she says. Box office: https://yorkshakes.co.uk/programme-2026/spooky-shakespeare-suitcase-theatre/.
Dirty Ruby: Playing the blues at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Dirty Ruby, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm
SPECIALISING in sharp-edged blues rock, East Midlands five-piece Dirty Ruby have drawn comparison with 1970s’ acts Stone The Crows and Vinegar Joe with their energetic combination of Hammond organ, beautiful bluesy guitar, tight rhythm section and soulful lead vocals. After a five-track EP and debut single, they are working on completing their debut album. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Paulus The Cabaret Geek in the Victoria Wood tribute Looking For Me Friends
Tribute of the week: Looking For Me Friend: The Music Of Victoria Wood, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 7.30pm
PAULUS The Cabaret Geek and pianist Michael Roulston marks the tenth anniversary of Victoria Wood’s death in Looking For Me Friend. Directed by Sarah-Louise Young (from An Evening Without Kate Bush), the show is filled with Wood’s best-loved songs, such as Ballad of Barry & Freda’ (Let’s Do It) and It Would Never Have Worked. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Sarah McQuaid: Playing Helmsley Arts Centre on Friday
Folk gig of the week: Sarah McQuaid, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
SINGER and songwriter Sarah McQuaid draws on her seven albums of velvet-voiced folk songs, performed with wit and warmth in concert on acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and occasionally drums.
Born in Spain, raised in Chicago, holding dual Irish and American citizenship and now settled in rural England, she brings the eclecticism of her background to her contemplative ballads, playful blues and atmospheric instrumentals, her music inviting reflection, connection and a deep appreciation of the quiet power of a well-crafted song. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Liviu Cheloiu in Richard III – The Man at York International Shakespeare Festival. Picture: Teatrul Tony Bulandra
Discontented son of York of the week: Tony Bulandra Theatre in Richard III – The Man, York International Shakespeare Festival, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 7.30pm
SHAKESPEARE’S “most captivating character” returns to York in Targoviste company Tony Bulandra Theatre’s Richard III – The Man, performed in Romanian with English surtitles by versatile actor and festival director Liviu Cheloiu, celebrated in the Eastern European country for his film roles and theatre work.
Exploring themes of power and its corrupting allure, the nature of evil, the manipulation of language and the thin lines between reality and fiction, the show delves into Richard III’s psyche while attempting to relate the Bard’s description – or character assassination? – with the historical truth about the Yorkist Plantagenet king in a series of scenes inspired by the Bard’s plays, showcasing Richard’s chameleon-like personality to reveal how he utilises those around him to achieve his goals. Box office: yorkshakes.co.uk or tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Laura Castle’s Dr Watson, left, and Laura McKeller’s Sherlock Holmes in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles
Mystery thriller of the week: Neon Crypt in The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 5 to 9, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
JOIN York company Neon Crypt for side-splitting stupidity, hot dog disguises and absolute terror in Jamie McKeller’s staging of Peepolykus co-artistic director John Nicholson’s incredibly high-brow adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s mystery The Hound Of The Baskervilles.
Sherlock Holmes (Laura McKeller) and Dr Watson(Laura Castle) are summoned to investigate the ancient curse of the Hound of the Baskervilles and unravel the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, found dead on his estate with a look of terror still etched on his face and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body. Look out for Michael Cornell popping up as Sir Henry Baskerville and Yokel 2. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
KATIE Leckey and Emily Carhart will co-direct York Shakespeare Project’s autumn production of The Comedy Of Errors from October 21 to 24 at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.
Katie and Emily worked together previously on York Settlement Community Players’ February 2025 production of Joe Orton’s Loot and Griffonage Theatre’s showcase of Lady Augusta Gregory plays, FourTold,last October.
“We promise an exciting take on Shakespeare’s shortest and possibly funniest play, re-imagining his early farce with a piratical twist, setting sail to the corrupt island of Ephesus, a land rife with crime, debauchery, swashbuckling action and a fair bit of slapstick,” they say.
Now all they need is a cast. Auditions will take place at Southlands Methodist Church, Bishopthorpe Road, York, from 2pm to 5pm on May 16 and 17, then 6.30pm to 9.30pm on May 18 and 19.
“No prior knowledge of Shakespeare is required,” says Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre puppeteer Gemma Curry
HAGS, hauntings, hobgoblins and more emerge from the spooky suitcase owned by Lady Macbeth (Dotty to her friends). These spectres from performances past must retell their stories before they can find peace in the literary afterlife, but are they friends or will we need to be vanquished back into the supernatural suitcase?
Written, crafted and performed by Hoglets Theatre founder, director, writer and performer Gemma Sharp, this funny, energetic children’s theatre experience presents a world of hand-made puppets, music and storytelling, all performed from a single suitcase.
“This production is aimed at primary children – and no prior knowledge of Shakespeare is required!” says Gemma, whose performance is part of the 2026 York International Shakespeare Festival.
“It’s designed to be a fun, silly, ‘spooky’ show, with no jump scares, but as we’re covering Macbeth and Hamlet amongst others, there’ll be mentions of death and murder, ghosts, witches and monsters. All children are different, so please consider this when booking.” Box office: https://yorkshakes.co.uk/programme-2026/spooky-shakespeare-suitcase-theatre/.
Hoglets Theatre’s puppets in Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre
Julia Bisby’s Doll, left, and Rosy Rowley’s Jack Falstaff rehearsing Scott Bradley’s A Kingdom’s Jack’d. Picture: Scott Bradley
IOWA playwright Scott Bradley is in York for a month, working on the world premiere of “alternative history play” A Kingdom Jack’d with his fellow American, director Tempest Wisdom.
Together they are putting the ‘international’ into the York International Shakespeare Festival while putting the most English of cult figures in the spotlight in York company 1st Zanni Theatre’s production of his uproarious black comedy twist on Henry IV Part 1 at Merchant Adventurers’ Hall on Wednesday (29/4/2026) and Thursday at 7.30pm.
Tradition has it that Queen Elizabeth I was so delighted by the character of Sir John Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2, she duly commanded Shakespeare to write a play showing the old rogue in love. Cue The Merry Wives Of Windsor.
Now, Bradley boldly, mischievously re-imagines an iconic moment in political and Shakespearean history: what if disgraced knight Jack Falstaff – played by York stage regular Rosy Rowley – somehow found his way on to the throne of England in 1399, instead of serious warrior-king Henry IV?
In a nutshell, here comes Shakespeare turned upside down, where brutal satire meets broad comedy, delivered in tightly wrought verse in an irreverent that play draws on the medieval world of Henry IV, the Elizabethan imagination that reshaped it and our own contemporary political absurdities.
“Stupid, lecherous, selfish but hilarious, Shakespeare’s most (in)famous clown must somehow fund the army, balance the budget and make foreign policy, between naps of course,” says Scott. “His government is drunk, his enemies are plotting, his allies are scheming, and even his girlfriend’s getting in on the action.
“Falstaff is king…but for how long, as chaos ensues with all these different factions clashing and backstabbing left, right and centre?”
A Kingdom Jack’d playwright Scott Bradley: Presenting his alternate history of kings, rebellion and political chaos inside one of York’s most historic buildings
He wrote an initial version in 2016 in response to the impact on the arts and beyond of Donald Trump’s first term as President of the United States, whereupon Tempest’s mother, Robyn Calhoun, first saw a Playwrights Workshop version in 2017, performed by theatre students at the University of Iowa, where Scott was a lecturer.
Now, with Trump exercising power so erratically in his second term, A Kingdom Jack’d emerges in full bloom in York, with a brisk running time of 45 minutes each half. “I initially contacted Scott asking if I could read the play and maybe bring a staged reading to the Shakespeare festival, and he gave me an incredible amount of licence – I could take it as far as I’d like!” recalls Tempest. “I can only hope I’ve deserved the immense amount of trust he’s put in me and the team.”
After studying theatre at the University of Chicago, Tempest pursued a Masters degree in theatre-making at the University of York, making their mark on the York theatre scene as the creator and host of the bi-monthly Bard at the Bar at Micklegate Social and directing York Shakespeare Project in The Two Gentlemen Of Verona in October 2024.
“I’ve worked on many devised shows before – processes where the writing happens in the rehearsal room and the decisions are largely made through group discovery and consensus, but this is my first time having a playwright in the room, making creative decisions in response to my direction and the cast’s choices,” says Tempest.
“I’ll admit, I was intimidated by the prospect, but it’s been really cool, and Scott is too kind of a person and too good of a collaborator to be intimidating. Of course, I’m not the one who has to re-memorise the script changes, so take that with a grain of salt!”
Rosy Rowley’s bibulous Jack Falstaff – King “Jack” John II – during rehearsals at Southlands Methodist Church. Picture: Scott Bradley
Scott, who studied drama at the University of Hull in 1986, and later drag with Bloo Lips in London, has worked as an actor, director and producer in a career taking in New York, Chicago and Washington DC before returning to Iowa to teach on the Playwrights Workshop course.
“But in 2016, the election went the wrong way, the way we didn’t want, with Trump winning, and that was devastating,” he says. “I knew I wanted to respond to what was happening in the country, particularly being in the middle of Iowa, which is a red-meat, conservative world: the place I ran away from as a kid.
“I wanted to respond to this crazy, populist President, who was using his presidency to make him and his cronies rich, whereas now, in his second term, he’s just authoritarian.”
Scott was studying Shakespeare’s Henriad, his History plays, at the time. “I thought, what makes Falstaff so enjoyable, and made Trump so enjoyable, as buffoonish provocateurs, was that Falstaff was a crook with no real power and Trump was just a reality TV star.
“They are just these ridiculous guys, whose immorality makes them fun, because they have no power, but what happens when you put that funny buffoon, that funny drunk [Falstaff] in charge? He becomes really terrifying. Falstaff is still very funny, but it’s just that now he has the power to have people beheaded.
“It’s that idea of taking this buffoon, this foolish man, and suddenly he’s in charge of governing the country, when before that luckily there were a few that put up guard rails, but now he has none of that and he’s much more dangerous. But Falstaff is redeemable in that he’s a fictional character.”
Rosy Rowley’s Jack Falstaff in the poster for 1st Zanni Theatre’s premiere of A Kingdom Jack’d at York International Shakespeare Festival
The influence of Charles Ludlam and the Ridiculous Theatre Company in New York can be seen in the politics in Scott’s work. “He was a ‘smarty pants’ who mined pop culture and hooked into history and drag,” he says.
Hence, for A Kingdom Jack’d, you can read A Kingdom Trump’d into the play too. “There’s a bit of Trump in my Falstaff but also some of Boris Johnson too because of how he behaved in Covid, when everyone knew he lying but people loved him anyway,” says Rosy, whose birthday coincides with the opening performance.
“I first read the play about 18 months ago – and I never thought I’d be playing Falstaff as I thought I’d be auditioning for [Mistress] Quickly. As a woman of a certain age, it gets much harder to play leading parts, so to get the chance to play this odious man is amazing.
“I’ve played a lot of male roles, but with Falstaff, the danger lies in over-caricaturing him as a ‘bloke’, so I’m trying not to do that. There’s a vulnerability to Falstaff that you don’t see in Trump.”
Julia Bisby, who is travelling from Sheffield to play the smart London harlot Doll Tearsheet, says: “Because it’s a comedy, they’re exaggerated characters and it’s larger than life, with an emphasis on clowning and physicality.
“One of my favourite things about Doll is her abundance of insults,” says A Kingdom Jack’d actress Julia Bisby. Picture: Scott Bradley
“Doll uses her body as her way of making money, but it’s her brain, her mind, that stands out. She’s super-smart. Amid the greed of all these people fighting for the crown, Doll’s not chasing power, but she has the power, wanting to avoid bloodshed for the good of the country. One of my favourite things about her is her abundance of insults.”
Scott says: “One of the things that I was interested in – and I’m still interested in – is that it’s everyday people that can make a difference, can make changes, and that’s why I was interested in Doll being that figure, the one who has a sense of direction, a sense of morality, and wants a world that’s not craven.”
“But so do all the women [in the play],” says Rosy. “They are the ones who want to make changes…”
…”What happens when you’ve killed off all the men?” ponders Scott. “Perhaps we should give women the chance to have their voice – and the female characters get to do that in this play.”
An alarming moment for Rosy Rowley’s Jack and Julia Bisby’s Doll in A Kingdom Jack’d. Picture: Scott Bradley
He was delighted that Tempest wanted to stage the play with a professional cast and crew at the Shakespeare festival after doing an initial reading with Rosy. “I was all in for that,” he says. “What a great way to present this play, in York, in the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, in English and Welsh voices that I imagine would have been the voices of that time – making sure we are saying the Welsh words right.
“Having first workshopped the play with young American actors, it’s just such a dream to have British actors of the age of the characters – though we have a couple of Americans in the cast too!”
Scott continues: “I was so thrilled when this production was proposed that I really wanted to be here to kick the tyres. I arrived at the very top of April, so I’ve been here for a month, after I’d done a new draft of the play, where I’d cut a lot of air out of it. I’ve been at most of the rehearsals and it’s been invaluable to hear it spoken.
“I was working on the play as a political satire, where Tempest wanted to pick it up and play with it with clowns. Now I’m really excited to see the play on stage and to see some of the other plays at the festival too.”
1st Zanni Theatre in A Kingdom Jack’d, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York, York International Shakespeare Festival, April 29 and 30, 7.30pm. Scott Bradley will conduct a post-show Q&A with Tempest Wisdom after each performance. Box office: yorkshakes.co.uk.
Tempest Wisdom
Q&A with A Kingdom Jack’d director and 1st Zanni Theatre founder Tempest Wisdom
What attracted you to directing this new play?
“The challenges and opportunities of this play are twofold: one is a question of comedy, and one is a question of history.
“Henry IV, Part I and Love’s Labour’s Lost are my two favourite Shakespeare plays, largely because they both break the generic mold. ‘Love’s’ is a bubbly comedy that ends with an uncomfortable injection of reality, and Henry IV is characterised by a profound tension between comedy and history, with Prince Hal as the fulcrum balancing the two.
“There’s the world of the court, dominated by King Henry, where the serious Shakespearean history business of state occurs: war, treasury, public relations, diplomacy.
“And then there’s the world of the Boar’s Head Inn, the trashy Eastcheam tavern where Falstaff reigns over the comedy side of things: elaborate wordplay, plays-within-plays, wine and women and song.
“Scott has taken that push-and-pull in the source material and dialled it up to 11. The script is clever, funny, a bit mean, and moves at a breakneck pace through a catalogue of jokes that range from pure blue humour to all-too-real barely-satire.
“So the first challenge, the comedy challenge, has been managing that tightrope walk: the cycle of warming up an audience to laughter, then bringing the humour around to a darker and darker tone until it’s difficult to laugh at…and then pushing it even further into the absurd, so we’re laughing again…and then starting the cycle all over.
“The history challenge: Picking this play apart is kind of like delving into a fossil record! Many of the characters in Henry IV, as in all of Shakespeare’s history plays, were real people, and so the first layer of ‘sediment’ we can draw from is their lived reality: the King Henry, Prince Hal, and Owain and Catrin Glyndŵr lived and breathed and died (and in the case of Harry Hotspur, their heads were occasionally mounted on Micklegate Bar!).
“They were also public figures, of course, and so the second and third layers of the fossil record are the public perception of them: the perceptions of their fellows and subjects – and how we understand them today.
“Then, naturally, there are the fictionalised, narrativised versions of them we get in Shakespeare’s plays and their various stagings and adaptations, which colour our understanding of the historical fact significantly (not as much as the case of Richard III, but that’s another story).
“Finally, there’s the script itself, Scott’s reworking of ALL of those prior layers, which brings a modern political filter and an entirely new context. So for myself and the actors, working through these semantic layers of history, narrative and cultural consciousness and using all that rich data (those beautiful fossils!) to construct something fresh and new and immediate has been so rewarding.”
Tempest Wisdom in rehearsal for role as Moth in York Shakespeare Project’s Love’s Labour’s Lost earlier this month
How would you sum up Falstaff in Shakespeare’s plays and how does he contrast with Scott’s Jack Falstaff?
“I have a pet theory that all of Shakespeare’s clowns and fools fit on a spectrum ranging from Genuinely As Stupid As They Seem (Touchstone I don’t believe that man has any idea what’s going on at any point) to Not Even Bothering To Couch Their Opinions In Jokes Anymore (Lear’s Fool).
“Falstaff is unique among his motley peers because he slides up and down that spectrum scene by scene and play by play, even line by line. It puts him in a powerful position, because it makes him unpredictable. You can’t quite tell when he’s playing dumb.
“Scott has made Falstaff not only unpredictable, but dangerous. He now has institutional power on top of his pre-existing social power, and the thrill of watching the effects of that power unfold is hilarious and sickening in equal measure.”
How exciting is it to be premiering an American-written and directed play at York International Shakespeare Festival?
“This show might as well have been written specifically for the York International Shakespeare Festival. The purpose of the festival is to celebrate Shakespeare as ‘the world’s playwright’’, and so our focus is on bringing together culturally specific understandings of and responses to Shakespeare’s work.
“Scott’s play fits that bill to a T, having been born of a particular socio-political anger that I, as an American emigrant, share. (The first draft was written in 2016…a moment of upheaval on the American and global political stage, to put it lightly).
“I hope we’re able to convey some of the rage, despair, absurdity and hope driving this production, as well as getting a few laughs out of people!”
Tempest on founding 1st Zanni Theatre in York:
““It feels like the York theatre scene is having a reckoning. All across the city there are conversations happening: how can we help each other? What do we need to build in order to succeed together? It’s because of that supportiveness that I felt capable of committing to a career as an artist, and I want to build this company based on that same ethos.”
Julia Bisby rehearsing her role as Doll Tearsheet in A Kingdom Jack’d. She first worked with director Tempest Wisdom on Shakespeare Speakeasy play-in-a-day productions of Twelfth Night and Macbeth (re-spun as a comedy) at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Scott Bradley
Who is in the cast for A Kingdom Jack’d?
Rosy Rowley: King “Jack” John II
Julia Bisby: Doll Tearsheet. Performed in Shakespeare’s Speakeasy, York (Twelfth Night, Macbeth)
Oliver James Parkins: Henry “Hal” Bolingbroke. Bristol Old Vic Theatre School graduate
Effie Warboys: Lord Francis/Lady Catrin “Cat” Glendower
Stuart Green: Earl of Worcester/Earl of Northumberland
Jodie Foster: Lady Quickly/Owen Glendower
Liz Bailey: Sir Bardolph/Welsh Guard
Lainey Shaw: Lord Chief Justice/Henry Bolingbroke
Lou Dunn: Ned Poins/John Bolingbroke
Jimmy Johnson: Sir Pistol/Sir Walter Blunt. Performer with Deathly Dark Tours and Wetwang Hauntings
Katie Leckey: Sir Nym/Harry “Hotspur” Percy. Founder of York company Griffonage Theatre
Ro Trimble: Edmund Mortimer/Lady “Kate” Percy
Who is in the production team?
Tempest Wisdom: Director, founder of 1st Zanni Theatre
Scott Bradley: Writer
Pearl Mollison: Stage manager/fight choreographer
Anna Gallon: Producer, from York company Four Wheel Drive Theatre
Grae Heidi-Brookes: Hand-made costume designer
Jai Rowley: Composer, as part of final-year placement at University of Huddersfield
Helena Kerkham: Assistant producer, joining project as part of 1ZT’s on-going work to develop and champion emerging local creative talent
Tia Thompson: Assistant director
Scott Bradley: back story
AWARD-WINNING Iowa-born theatre-maker, director, producer and writer, whose credits span New York, Chicago and Washington DC. Works include cult musicals Alien Queen, Carpenters Halloween and We Three Lizas and solo memoir Packing. Holds fellowships and residencies across the United States. A Kingdom Jack’d marks his first full-length UK production.
The impact of Merchant Adventurers’ Hall on A Kingdom Jack’d
MERCHANT Adventurers’ Hall amplifies the play’s resonances. Completed shortly before Henry Bolingbroke’s real-life ascent to the throne, the timber-framed hall is steeped in the same history A Kingdom Jack’d rewires so gleefully. Its vast oak beams, Great Hall proportions and centuries-old mercantile heritage provide a setting where Shakespearean rebellion feels strikingly at home.
The hall offers an inspiring backdrop, its deep historical roots – medieval, Tudor and contemporary – make it an ideal home for A Kingdom Jack’d’s layered world of kings, rebels and political chaos.
Producer Anna Gallon says: “The Hall is a treasure. Bringing new theatre into such a significant space feels like a natural next step in York’s cultural growth. This show plays with three different historical periods at once, and the building meets that challenge beautifully.”
Collage and mixed-media artist Donna Maria Taylor: Participating in York Open Studios at South Bank Studios
FROM Rocky Horror film stars to Shakespeare in a suitcase, Bowie to Boe, Priscilla to The Psychic premiere, Charles Hutchinson is spoilt for choice again.
Art event of the week: York Open Studios, York and beyond, today and Sunday, 10am to 5pm
FOR a second weekend, 150 artists and makers within York and a ten-mile radius of the city are welcoming visitors to 107 workplaces and studios.
This annual event offers the chance to gain a sneak peek into where the artists work, their methods and inspirations, whether a regular contributor or the 27 new participants, spanning traditional and contemporary painting and print, illustration, drawing, ceramics, mixed media, glass, sculpture, jewellery, textiles and photography. For more information, visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk; access the interactive map at yorkopenstudios.co.uk/map.
Weather Balloons’ Anne Prior: Playing Navigators Art’s YO Underground #7 bill at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse
Arts collaboration of the week: Navigators Art/Projects presents YO Underground 7, The Basement, City Screen, York, tonight, 7.30pm
CONTINUING its mission to present adventurous left-field music and words from York and the region, Navigators Art plays host to a mixed bill of uniquely styled indie song-writing from Weather Balloons’ Anne Prior, the Joe Douglas Trio’s North African-inspired free jazz and a collaboration between audiovisual projections and Ben Hopkinson’s quartet Synaefonia. Box office: bit.ly/nav-events.
Blue: In full bloom at York Barbican tonight
Limited ticket availability: Blue and special guests 911, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm; Alfie Boe, York Barbican, April 28, 7pm
REVITALISED boy band Blue have released the single Flowers, penned by good friend Robbie Williams and Boots Ottestad, ahead of their 25th anniversary tour date at York Barbican.
“Robbie reached out to me a while back and said ‘I’ve got a song for Blue’,” says Blue’s Antony Costa, who will be joined as ever by Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe. “We only got to record it recently and thought it would be perfect to release for the anniversary tour. We can’t wait for you all to hear Flowers.”
Tenor Alfie Boe plays York on Tuesday and Harrogate Royal Hall on Wednesday on his 35-date tour, combining his most iconic hits and fan-favourite classics with material from new album Face Myself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk; for Boe, https://gigst.rs/AB26.
Alfie Boe: Tenor dramatics at York Barbican. Picture: Ray Burmiston
Book event of the week: Rivers, Water and Wildness, A Talk by Amy-Jane Beer, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, April 28, 7.30pm to 9pm
THE Friends of Nun Ings invite you to Rivers, Water and Wildness, Our Rivers and Their Landscapes, a talk by biologist-turned-writer and former South Bank resident Amy-Jane Beer, author of The Flow, winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2023, who now lives on the Derwent.
The Flow is a book about water, and, like water, it meanders, cascades and percolates through many lives, landscapes and stories. From West Country torrents to Levels and Fens, rocky Welsh canyons and the salmon highways of Scotland to the chalk rivers of the Yorkshire Wolds, Beer follows springs, streams and rivers to explore tributary themes of wildness and wonder, loss and healing, mythology and history, cyclicity and transformation. Tickets are available via eventbrite; admission is free but donations are welcome.
Nell Campbell (Columbia), Barry Bostwick (Brad Majors) and Patricia Quinn (Magenta) celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show
Let’s do the Time Warp…again: The Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour 2026, York Barbican, Sunday, 7pm
JOIN the original Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick), Magenta (Patricia Quinn) and Columbia (Nell Campbell) for this once-in-a-lifetime screening event with a live shadow cast. Jim Sharman’s 1975 film of Richard O’Brien’s musical will be shown in a 4K remastered edition, preceded by a Q&A with the movie stars. Expect a costume contest, memorabilia display with film artefacts and a participation prop bag for every ticket holder. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: In Concert: David Bowie on screen at York Barbican
Fantastical film and music event of the week: Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: In Concert, York Barbican, April 27, 7.30pm
JIM Henson’s musical fantasy film Labyrinth is on tour in concert in celebration of its 40th anniversary, transporting audiences to Goblin City in a fusion of film on a large HD cinema screen and live music on stage, performed by a band playing David Bowie and Trevor Jones’s soundtrack score and songs in sync with Bowie’s original vocals.
Taking on an ever-growing cult status since its release on June 27 1986, Labyrinth stars Bowie as principal antagonist Jareth the Goblin King, who rules the goblin kingdom, kidnaps protagonist Sarah’s baby brother and presents a charming yet menacing challenge, appearing as a rock star-like figure who lures and influences her journey. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Degrees Of Error’s poster for you-do-it whodunit Murder She Didn’t Write
Sleuthing opportunity of the week: Degrees Of Error in Murder She Didn’t Write, Grand Opera House, York, April 28, 7.30pm
DON your deerstalker, grab your magnifying glass and prepare your “finger of suspicion” as Edinburgh Fringe favourites Degrees Of Error return for your sleuthing pleasure, creating a classic murder mystery on-the-spot in this ingenious improvised comedy.
You, the audience, become the author as the cast acts out your very own Agatha Christie-inspired masterpiece live on stage. At each show, the company uses your suggestions to create an original and comical murder mystery. All you have to do is solve it. Ms Gold poisoned at a synchronised swimming gala? Dr Blue exploded by cannon during a hot air balloon race? Professor Violet crushed to death at a Love Island re-coupling? You decide – but will you guess whodunit before the killer is revealed? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Kristian Barley’s Adam, left, Steve Tearle’s Bernadette and Matthew Clarke’s Tick in NE Theatre York’s musical Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 28 to May 2, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
STEVE Tearle, creative director of NE Theatre York, plays Bernadette, joined by Matthew Clarke as Tick and Kristian Barley as Adam, in the adventure of two drag artists and a trans woman embarking on a life‑changing road trip across the Aussie outback in their battered tour bus, discovering the power of love, identity, acceptance and true friendship.
“As they head west through the Australian desert to chase a dream aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, our three terrific travellers come to the forefront of a comedy of errors,” says Steve, whose high-energy production also features Helen Greenley as Shirley, Ben Rich as Jimmy, Steve Perry as Bob, the mechanic, Ali Butler-Hind as his wife Cynthia, plus disco divas Perri Ann Barley, Melissa Boyd and Aileen Hall. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Eileen Walsh, left, Jaz Singh Deol, Megan Placito, Andy Nyman, Nikhita Lesler and Jeremy Dyson in rehearsal for the world premiere of The Psychic at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan
World premiere of the week: The Psychic, York Theatre Royal, April 29 to May 23
“IS any of it real,” ask Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman in The Psychic, the latest spook-fest from the writer-director duo behind Ghost Stories. In their twisted new thriller, popular TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case that brands her a charlatan, costing her not only her reputation but also a fortune in legal fees.
When a wealthy couple ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, she senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed and leads her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Pulling Shakespearean strings: Gemma Curry in Hoglets Theatre’s Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre at York International Shakespeare Festival
Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre presents Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre, York International Shakespeare Festival, York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium, April 29, 6.30pm
HAGS, hauntings, hobgoblins and more emerge from the spooky suitcase owned by Lady Macbeth (Dotty to her friends). These spectres from performances past need to retell their stories before they can find peace in the literary afterlife, but are they friends or will we need to be vanquished back into the supernatural suitcase?
Written, crafted and performed by Hoglets Theatre founder, director, writer and performer Gemma Sharp, this funny, energetic children’s theatre experience presents a world of hand-made puppets, music and storytelling, all performed from a single suitcase. “No prior knowledge of Shakespeare is required,” she says. Box office: https://yorkshakes.co.uk/programme-2026/spooky-shakespeare-suitcase-theatre/.
The poster for Scott Bradley’s premiere of A Kingdom Jack’d at York International Shakespeare Festival
The poster for Scott Bradley’s premiere of A Kingdom Jack’d at York International Shakespeare Festival starring Rosy Rowley, whose birthday coincides with the opening night
Shakespeare spin-off of the week: 1st Zanni Theatre in A Kingdom Jack’d, York International Shakespeare Festival, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York April 29 and 30, 7.30pm
IN A Kingdom Jack’d, American playwright Scott Bradley re-imagines an iconic moment in political and Shakespearean history: what if disgraced knight Jack Falstaff (Rosy Rowley) somehow found his way onto the throne of England in 1399, instead of serious warrior-king Henry IV?
Stupid, lecherous, selfish but humorous, Shakespeare’s most (in)famous clown must somehow fund the army, balance the budget and make foreign policy between naps. His government is drunk, his enemies are plotting,his allies are scheming, and even his girlfriend wants a piece of the action. Falstaff is king but for how long? Box office: yorkshakes.co.uk.
Nell Campbell (Columbia), left, Barry Bostwick (Brad Majors) and Patricia Quinn (Magenta): Reuniting for The Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour
THREE stars from The Rocky Horror Picture Show are doing the Time Warp again on a 13-date tour to mark the cult film’s 50th anniversary. Next stop, York Barbican, tomorrow night (26/4/2026).
Barry Bostwick, the original Brad Majors; Nell Campbell, the original Columbia, and Patricia Quinn, the original Magenta, are touring Great Britain together for the first time to take part in a question-and-answer session at each show before the screening of Jim Sharman’s film version of Richard O’Brien’s musical.
The August 1975 movie will be shown in a new 4k print, accompanied by a shadow cast performing key scenes ‘live’ on stage while the full unedited film is shown behind them.
Tomorrow’s audience will have an opportunity to meet the stars; view a memorabilia display with film artefacts; participate in a costume contest (judged by Patricia); interact with the shadow cast and utilise the participation prop bag included with every ticket for use throughout the show.
Barry Bostwick’s Brad Majors in the 1975 film
Barry, now 81, says: “It’s coming back where it all began: London, Bray Studios in Windsor, then the world! Thank you to my friends of inclusion and weirdness for welcoming me 50 years ago and again today!! I look forward to sharing my amazing 50 years of Rocky with all of you.”
Patricia, 81, says: “[More than] 50 years ago, I auditioned for The Rocky Horror Show at the 60-seat Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London. I asked my agent, ‘what’s it about?’. He replied, ‘something to do with a circus’. He wasn’t wrong. I’ve been in this circus ever since! ‘Cirque du Rocky Horror’. I’m lucky! We’re all lucky!! Don’t dream it, be it.”
Nell Campbell, 72, says: “It is extraordinary that five weeks’ filming in 1974, belting out the joys of transvestites and dancing The Time Warp in fishnets and corsets, resulted in a movie so beloved that a fifth generation of fans are frocking up to join in our celebrations. What a thrill to meet the UK fans, share our stories and together shiver with aaaaanticipation.”
Quick refresher course: The Rocky Horror Picture Show is the iconic little movie of O’Brien’s musical that conquered Hollywood starring Tim Curry as the devious and fabulous Frank-N-Furter; Bostwick and Susan Sarandon as nerdy American college couple Brad and Janet; Meat Loaf as ex-delivery boy Eddie, who dates a groupie, Campbell’s Columbia, and Quinn’s Magenta, servant to Riff Raff, O’Brien’s role.
Patricia Quinn’s Magenta in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
“We’ve already done the tour across America, 15 states” says Patricia, when speaking ahead of the UK tour’s opening show in Manchester on April 10. “More like 32 cities,” says Barry.
The reaction? “It was truly beyond belief,” says Patricia. “It was beyond my wildest dreams. I thought I knew everything about Rocky Horror. I thought I knew all the fandom. I thought I knew everything. I do a lot of Comic Cons and there’s grandmas and their daughters and their granddaughters all dressed as Magenta, whatever, asking for one’s autograph.
“And I thought, there’s nothing I don’t know about the fan situation of this. But I hit the States and I was beyond overwhelmed. I mean, 1,000, 2,000, sometimes 3,000 people a night would be at the film. Beyond extraordinary – and they don’t clap when one comes on. They stand up and yell!”
Patricia and Nell are no strangers to audience cheers. “Pat and I were both in the original London stage production,” says Nell. “We were witness to the show being written and put together, and the songs came out throughout what was only a three-week rehearsal period. But the show came together and sort of doubled in its size to what it began as.
Nell Campbell’s Columbia in The Rocky Horror Picture Show
“But because Tim Curry [Frank-N-Furter] especially was so unbelievable on stage and worshipped, we did have an audience going nuts every night after he came on.”
Barry first saw Curry in the role at the Roxy in Los Angeles. “From the moment I saw him on stage and running around, I was in ball!” he recalls. Cue audience participation: “Well, the ghouls, they come and they seat you. And then they do things to you, apparently, to warm you up for the craziness! And I felt underneath my table that my toes were being sucked on by Kim Milford, who was playing Rocky at the time.”
Why has Rocky Horror endured, both on screen and stage? “Because it’s good,” says Patricia. Is it that simple? “Yes, of course. The music’s wonderful.”
“It’s a rock’n’roll show, you know, and rock’n’roll never gets old,” says Barry. “It’s for everybody, sexually; hetero, trans, bi,” says Nell. “Don’t dream it, be it. Well, it’s got great songs. The characters are great.
The poster artwork for The Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour
It looks fantastic – and it whizzes along. It’s a celebration of all types of sexuality. It’s a musical that does liberate people and there is no other musical I think that affects people like that and embraces every sexuality and encourages people to be who you are and love every bit of it.”
Nell is revelling in the audience interaction. “It really is a party of everyone getting together. We dress up, they dress up, and we all have a hoedown – and I do encourage the audience to think beforehand what question they would really love to have us answer because we might be the very key to unlock something they’ve always wondered about,” she says.
“But they should also dig in the back of their closet and find that feather boa from maybe 30 years ago,” says Barry, who likes to give a prize to whoever asks the best question.
There is still time to put on your thinking cap, York. “We always get the question, ‘who is sleeping with who?’”, says Barry. So, not that one.
The Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour 2026, York Barbican, tomorrow (26/4/2026), 7pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Courtney Marie Andrews: Completing hat-trick of Pocklington appearances on May 21. Picture: Wyndham Garnett
VALENTINE’S Day falls on May 21 at All Saints Church, Pocklington, when Phoenix, Arizona singer, songwriter, poet, musician and artist Courtney Marie Andrews promotes her new album.
“Valentine is a record in pursuit of love,” says Grammy nominee Courtney Marie, 35. Love, however is “a lot more than I gave it credit for. It’s built over years, it’s built with trust; with changes, it becomes something new and unrecognizable, the deeper you go”.
Released in January, Valentine is her most sonically explorative record: she plays flute, high-strung guitars and myriad synths, while drawing heavy inspiration from her art outside music.
Courtney Marie is a vivid poet and an accomplished painter, and across Valentine you can feel these disciplines interwoven, everything feeding the beauty and clarity of everything else.
Written at the junction of intense endings and beginnings in her life, Valentine demands more of those we love and reveals a stronger, wiser and more clear-eyed Courtney Marie in the process. The album is both lush and elemental, precise in its construction but rich with sonic and lyrical layers. In love and on Valentine, there is no quarter for empty gestures.
From her first recordings in 2008 to 2016’s breakthrough, Honest Life, 2020’s Grammy-nominated Old Flowers to her ninth studio album, Loose Future, Courtney Marie has challenged herself, finding new interplays of folk and Americana.
“As a songwriter, you can make the same record over and over again, and I’m not interested in that,” she says. “I make records to stand alone and stand apart from each other.”
Co-produced with Jerry Bernhardt and recorded almost entirely to tape, Valentine features complete in-studio performances. “We thought a lot about Lee Hazlewood, about Big Star’s Third and Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk,” says Courtney Marie.
“I was in one of the darkest periods of my life, and songs were the only way I could reckon with it. I felt cursed, and the only mental cure felt like songwriting and painting.”
The near-death of a loved one loomed over everything, and while that person eventually recovered from both sickness and psychosis, Courtney Marie was more sure that death was coming, rather than recovery.
Her grief was acute, volatile. The decline coincided with a new romance, but rather than lift her up, the two emotional poles seemed to bleed into each other to sow doubt, trouble, even obsession.
“I was grappling with what I felt sure was death, and with the end of that relationship, while I was also grappling with something new but quite unstable,” she says. “Here was this new relationship evolving alongside the collapse of another.”
The result was a feeling of “limerence, but a somehow empowered limerence,” she says: consuming and fierce, piled high with insecurity and fantasy, and filling every inch of a space she feared was hollowing out.
The poster artwork for Courtney Marie Andrews’ All Saints Church concert in Pocklington
It was painful, she says, and not far off from the pain of grief, but through her own exploration of music and art, Courtney Marie found a way to grow stronger inside this feeling. “I didn’t want to slink into my pain; I wanted to embrace it, own it,” she explains.
The songs that emerged are devotional in their lyrics but defiant in their energy: a high-wire balance that permeates Valentine, typified by lead single Everyone Wants To Feel Like You Do with its indictment of the type of man who feels he can move through the world whatever way he wants without consequence.
Here, Courtney Marie’s singing is classic honey-and-vinegar, sounding sweet but carrying a sting. “It’s this funny double-edged thing because you do want to feel like that person, but you’re not sure if you should, because it’s a person so disconnected, without a care in the world or a care for other people,” she says.
“I played the guitar solo like I didn’t care in that song. I thought ‘I’m just gonna play it like I don’t give a s**t what anyone else is doing.’”
Little Picture Of A Butterfly is another example, one where the reclamation of power in the lyrics (“Soulmates what a pretty thought/but either you do, or you do not”) mirrors the same in the music. “It’s such a trad song in a lot of ways but we added flute, we added organ and all these Brian Wilson harmonies,” she says.
Keeper is the only co-written song on Valentine, one whose back story reads like a short film. “I was at dinner with a dear friend [singer-songwriter Kate York] , and I was really going through it. I asked her if I’m a keeper, and we both just started crying,” recalls Courtney Marie. “We wrote the song then and there, line by line over dinner. I went home and put a melody over it after.”
As she releases her tenth studio set, only now is she appreciating the centrality of her power as a singer. “Historically my favourite artists weren’t looked at as singers. They were looked at as writers,” she says. “And I sort of dissociated myself from singing; I chose to use it when it behoved me, but I wasn’t connected with it.”
However, the more interdisciplinary her work became, the more that belief seemed to dissolve. “Singing is another stroke. The most direct line to your heart. Everything is colour, texture. The way you sing can change everything, for both you and the people listening,” she says.
In rejecting the objectification of love, the love filled with gestures and objects instead of trust, mess, and growth, Courtney Marie has delivered her most beautiful and loving album to date.
Come May 21, at 7.30pm, Courtney Marie will be completing a hat-trick of Pocklington appearances. She had been booked to follow up her December 2018 debut at Pocklington Arts Centre on June 17 2020, but the pandemic restrictions put paid to that show and its rearranged date of June 17 2021. Third time lucky, she finally returned on June 19 2022.
Promoted by Hurricane Promotions, tickets for Courtney Marie’s Valentine’s night in Pock are on sale at £25 via courtneymarieandrews.com.
Question: What is “limerence”?
Answer:The involuntary state of intense romantic infatuation, obsession and emotional dependency on another person (the “limerent object”). The term was coined by psychologist Dorothy Tennov in 1979, defining a feeling that differs from love by being focused primarily on the uncertainty of reciprocation, often causing obsessive thinking, idealisation and emotional volatility, ranging from ecstasy to despair.
