PAUL Hendy, award-winning Evolution Productions writer and director, is a familiar name in York from his five pantomime collaborations with the Theatre Royal.
Now, his new play The Last Laugh, premiered at last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe, will play the Grand Opera House from June 10 to 14 after a West End run in London.
Penned and directed by Hendy, the play re-imagines the lives of three of Great Britain’s greatest comedy heroes, Tommy Cooper, Eric Morecambe and Bob Monkhouse, in a nostalgic show replete with gags, badinage and poignant stories.
The tour is being mounted by Evolution Productions in tandem with producer Jamie Wilson, the impresario behind tours of Sister Act The Musical and The Devil Wears Prada. “Jamie flew up on the last day of our sold-out Edinburgh Fringe run at the Assembly Rooms and nudged me to say ‘we’re taking this to the West End’,” recalls Paul. “I knew I had something that people were responding to. The reaction was overwhelming.”
Jamie says: “The young team here at JWP were bowled over by the relevance of their timeless comedy and after seeing it myself in Edinburgh, I just knew it had to have a further life so many more people could experience it.
“What is so brilliant about this play is the audiences who love and remember Eric, Tommy and Bob will be able to relive their comedy greatness, and those that don’t will be introduced to the genius of these national treasures. I’m so pleased these icons will be back on stage for audiences to enjoy.”
The Last Laugh will run at the Noel Coward Theatre, London, from February 25 to March 22 before heading out on tour in June.
In the cast will be Bob Golding as Eric Morecambe, after his Olivier Award-nominated portrayal of Eric in the West End hit Morecambe at the Duchess Theatre; Sheffield Lyceum pantomime dame Damian Williams as Tommy Cooper, after starring in the tour of Being Tommy Cooper, and actor and impressionist Simon Cartwright as Bob Monkhouse, fresh from appearing as York-born Frankie Howerd in the UK tour of Howerd’s End.
Why feature Monkhouse, rather than Howerd as the third comedy legend in The Last Laugh, Paul? “When you see it, it will make sense. Ultimately it’s a show about comedy, but more than that, the life and death of three contrasting comedians, gathered in a dressing room to talk about life, death and comedy, with their three differing approaches to comedy” he says.
“Tommy Cooper was a natural comedian. That was almost a curse as people would just laugh in his presence. He was an innate comedian: whatever he did was funny.
Damian Williams’s Tommy Cooper, left, Bob Golding’s Eric Morecambe and Simon Cartwright’s Bob Monkhouse in The Last Laugh. Picture: Pamela Raith
“Eric was born funny but he needed writers, whereas Tommy didn’t: even a rubbish Tommy joke would get a laugh!
“Bob Monkhouse – who I met, what a lovely man – was not a naturally funny man but he really understood comedy and was a scholar of comedy, working a joke down to the minimum number of words, and polishing it, to make it work.
“Bob was fascinated by how Tommy Cooper was naturally funny; he would say, how do you do it?’, and Tommy would say, ‘I just do’. Eric was in the middle, so funny but requiring material.”
The Last Laugh lets them have fun together. “It was interesting to see how the three of them would work off each other,” says Paul. “I’d already done a 20-minute film version, which did really well on the film circuit in 2017, winning a Best Film award in Manchester and at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, and I’d always thought there was more to be mined, more to be explored.
“I analyse how comedy works for my play and panto scripts – I’m a massive Eric and Tommy fan, but I’m more like Bob in working out how comedy works, and that’s what they’re talking about in this play. What do they do when they get a laugh and then chase the next one and why do they do that?
“They were three people at the top of their game undoubtedly, which is why there’s still a lot of love for them. Tommy and Eric died within six weeks of each other 40 years ago and yet here we are, still discussing them. Is there anyone today who will have that lasting impact? Maybe Peter Kay.”
Paul wrote The Last Laugh expressly for Golding, Williams and Cartwright. “Damian is a great friend who I direct each year in the Sheffield Lyceum pantomime, where he’s been the dame for 17 years,” he says.
“Bob plays panto dame too in St Albans, and they both have as much passion for these comedians and the world they’re in as I do. We’ve all read the books, so this show is done with love. Simon was incredible in Howerd’s End, and he’s wonderful in this show too.”
The Last Laugh will be bound for the Brits Off Broadway season in New York, but as for old York, why is Paul’s play playing the Grand Opera House, not the Theatre Royal? “It came down to availability when Jamie Wilson was putting the tour together,” he says.
Last question, Paul: who has the last laugh in The Last Laugh? “I don’t want to give it away,” he says. “You’ll have to see it to find out! But it’s a good expression for what they do, with three comedians each trying to top each other as they always do.”
Jamie Wilson Productions and Emily Wood for Evolution Productions present TheLastLaugh, Grand Opera House, York, June 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Just like that….and that…and that in Paul Hendy’s The Last Laugh
BRITISH electronic music pioneers Faithless and Orbital will unite for a night on the Yorkshire coast on August 2 at TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre.Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Orbital – aka brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll, from Otford, Kent – will open the double bill before headliners Faithless take to the stage at Great Britain’s biggest outdoor concert arena.
Almost 30 years since releasing 1996 debut album Reverence, Faithless continue to deliver boundary-breaking dance music. Rollo Armstrong, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz’s London band have sold more than 20 million albums, including 17 Top 40 singles and six top ten albums (three peaking at number one), while amassing more than a billion streams.
Among their UK top ten singles are Salva Mea, We Come 1, One Step Too Far, Mass Destruction, Insomnia and God Is A DJ.
Last year, Faithless returned to the live arena after an eight-year hiatus to play sold-out shows across Europe.
At the seaside: Orbital’s Phil and Paul Hartnoll
In the mid-1990s, Orbital reinvented the notion of what a dance act could do live, turning multitudes of rock fans on to the limitless pleasures of electronic music.
They have crafted a catalogue of ambitious yet accessible music, informed by a wide range of genres from ambient and electro to punk and film scores.
Since breaking through with their landmark 1990 Top 20 hit Chime, Orbital have released ten studio albums, including 1993’sOrbital 2 and 1996’s In Sides. Their most recent release, 2023’s Optical Delusion, included furious lead single Dirty Rat, a collaboration with Sleaford Mods.
Faithless and Orbital join Basement Jaxx, Pendulum, Craig David, Rag’n’Bone Man, Snow Patrol, Judas Priest, Blossoms, Shed Seven, Texas, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, The Corrs, Gary Barlow and The Script among the artists confirmed for the summer ahead at Scarborough OAT.
“Belle is everything I wished I could be when I was growing up,” says Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company lead actress Jennifer Jones
THE Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company will present Disney’s spin on the timeless tale of Belle, a young woman in a small provincial town, and the Beast, a prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress, at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from tomorrow to Saturday.
If the Beast can learn to love and be loved, the curse will end and he will be transformed into his former self, but time is running out. Should the Beast not learn his lesson soon, however, he and his household will be doomed for all eternity.
“This ‘tale as old as time’ is filled with the classic songs that you know and love, so please ‘be our guest’ and join us for this family favourite,” says director Kathryn Lay, who is joined in the production team by musical director Martin Lay and choreographer Lorna Newby.
The cast comprises Jennifer Jones as Belle; Adam Gill as the Beast; Tom Menarry, Lumiere; Jen Payne, Mrs Potts; Anthony Gardner, Cogsworth; Heather Stead, Babette; Helen Barugh, Madame de la Grande Bouche; Jim Paterson, Gaston; Kit Stroud, Lefou; Paul Blenkiron, Maurice; Alex Schofield, Monsieur D’Arque, and Stan Richardson and Paige Sidebottom as Chip.
“Belle is everything I wished I could be when I was growing up,” says Jennifer Jones. “She’s confident in who she is and willing to stand up for herself, but also kind and incredibly loyal. There are actually quite a lot of similarities between Belle’s past and my own experiences (up until the ‘being imprisoned by a cursed beast’ part), so getting to channel that into the performance is a real privilege.”
What is Jennifer most looking forward to in the show? “I’m a sucker for a big ball gown. But honestly, my favourite part of any show is listening to the overture backstage with the whole company as we wait to go on. There’s absolutely nothing like it!”
Jennifer Jones’s Belle and Adam Gill’s Beast
Naming her favourite scene, she says: “Be Our Guest is such a delight! It’s the big song from Beauty And The Beast and it’s been so exciting to see it coming together and everyone giving it so much energy. I’m lucky that my character gets to watch it all, and the grin on my face is 100 per cent genuine.”
Looking forward to playing the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, Jennifer says: “To have a full theatre so easily available to you as an amateur performer is really special. I’ve performed in nearly every theatre in York, but the Joseph Rowntree Theatre feels like home.
“It’s really an amazing community asset, and it provides so many opportunities for literally anybody to get involved, even if they’ve never stepped foot in a theatre before.”
She loves the experience of rehearsing and performing. “For me, it’s all about the people you do shows with. Of course, it’s very nice to sing for an audience that is more appreciative than my cats are, but getting to spend several nights a week having fun in rehearsals with an excellent group of people with a shared sense of purpose and belonging is the most important thing for me.”
Adam Gill shares his first name of Adam with the Beast: ”Of course that 100 per cent proves that I was made to play this part!” he says. “He’s one of the most iconic Disney characters, easily the best Disney prince, and I love the way that he changes and grows throughout the show: it’s a story that has always resonated with me.”
Adam, who picks the musical number Gaston as his highlight, “even though I’m not in it!”, has fond memories aplenty of performing at the JoRo. “I love the warm, intimate atmosphere that surrounds it,” he says.
Jim Paterson rehearsing his role as Gaston in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Beauty And The Beast
“I love the escapism taking part in shows provides, watching brilliant people build confidence and grow into characters and trying to be the best performer I can.”
Jim Paterson has one reason above all others to look forward to playing Gaston. “This is the first show I’ve done that my eight-year-old daughter can actually come and see – and it’s special as we used to play with her Disney dolls a lot and I would often be Gaston getting into various scrapes trying to marry Belle!” he says.
Beauty And The Beast contains Jim’s favourite set of Disney songs. “I can’t wait for us to share the energy of the big chorus numbers like Belle, Be Our Guest and, of course, Gaston,” he says.
What does he enjoy most about performing at the JoRo? “It’s always a delight to step on the stage and see that beautiful auditorium, but what makes it special is the sense of camaraderie among the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company team, with everyone pitching in and supporting each other,” he says.
Summing up why he loves to perform, Jim says: “Someone once asked a writer why they wrote plays rather than novels and they replied, ‘because I like it when they applaud’. There’s something about spending weeks creating something as a team in rehearsal, then finally putting it in front of an audience and suddenly it’s an entirely different performance because of how their presence and reaction changes how it feels. It’s why live theatre is so special.”
Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Disney’s Beauty And The Beast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 4 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee.Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
“There are actually quite a lot of similarities between Belle’s past and my own experiences,” says Jennifer Jones
Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company: the back story
FOUNDED in 2017, the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company is the JoRo theatre’s official in-house production company, established to help raise funds for the maintenance and development of the Haxby Road theatre, while entertaining audiences with innovative productions of both classic and contemporary musicals.
So far the company has raised more than £23,000 from such shows as The Producers (2018), Kiss Me Kate (2019), Hello, Dolly! (2023) and Curtains (2024).
Rick Wakeman: Caped Crusader heading back to York Barbican. Picture: Lee Wilkinson
RICK Wakeman and the English Rock Ensemble will play York Barbican on the second night of his 14-date autumn tour, The Return Of The Caped Crusader Part 2, on October 14.
Keyboard wizard Wakeman, 75, first teamed up with the ensemble on February 22 and 23 2023 at the London Palladium. The response from fans and critics alike was so enthusiastic that Wakeman decided to take the band on the road for a UK tour, The Return Of The Caped Crusader, in 2024, featuring the second night’s programme, 1974’s Journey To The Centre Of The Earth, combined with a first-half medley of Yes hits.
Pre-tour, he said: “I was amazed to discover that we could have sold the Palladium shows many times over and the clamour for extra shows by fans who missed out was overwhelming.
“Following the great reaction and reviews of the shows, I am really pleased that we can again perform the Classic Yes/Journey To The Centre Of The Earth Palladium programme. Who knows? If these are successful, maybe we can do the Six Wives/King Arthur show at a later date!”
Wakeman played York Barbican on February 24 on an itinerary where the response was rapturous with standing ovations at every show, prompting fans to ask: what about a repeat performance of the first night’s Palladium set list?
“To still be playing both of these suites of music at the age of 76 is another remarkable milestone in my life,” says Rick Wakeman. Picture: Lee Wilkinson
That wish will be granted in October 2025, when Wakeman and his ensemble will perform 1973’s The Six Wives Of Henry VIII and 1975’s The Myths And Legends Of King Arthur And The Knights Of The Round Table.
York Barbican will be the only Yorkshire venue on the October 12 to 29 tour destined for Aylesbury, Liverpool, Glasgow, Gateshead, Manchester, Birmingham, Cambridge, Northampton, Eastbourne, Bournemouth, Torquay, London and Bristol.
Wakeman will be accompanied by the same line-up as in 2024: Dave Colquhoun, guitars and backing vocals, Adam Falkner, drums, Lee Pomeroy, bass and backing vocals, and Adam Wakeman, keyboard, guitars and backing vocals. Mollie Marriott will be lead vocalist, joined by three yet-to-be-announced backing singers.
Wakeman says: “For me, historical events, myths and legends, and great stories, should never have a date stamped on them, as they will be talked about for centuries to come. Henry’s wives and King Arthur are great examples of ‘here forever’.
“Writing music for all these fascinating people was magical and thoroughly enjoyable in every aspect, and so to still be playing both of these suites of music at the age of 76 [his birthday falls on May 18] is also another remarkable milestone in my life.
“With a stunning array of musicianship surrounding me, I only wish I could be in the audience watching and listening, so all those sitting out there will have to do it for me!”
Nina Gilligan: Headlining today’s Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club gig at The Basement
CHEEKY drag fun and games, a dandy giant, outsider art, folk luminaries aplenty and a terpsichorean comedian light up Charles Hutchinson’s early February diary.
Afternoon gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club presents Nina Gilligan, Ryan McDonnell, Adam Anwar and Damion Larkin MC, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, 4pm to 6.30pm, doors 3.30pm
2021 Leicester Mercury Comedy Award winner Nina Gilligan tops this afternoon’s comedy bill with an act described by Scottish culture magazine The Skinny as “a bolshier Mrs Merton”.
Belfast’s Ryan McDonnell interjects wit and Irish charm into his observation of everyday life. “Sometimes bizarre, often dark, he’ll guide you on a unique journey through the world as he sees it,” says master of ceremonies and club promoter Damion Larkin. Third act Adam Anwar’s stand-up material draws on themes of identity, race, and social issues. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
The Isolation Creations: Bingo meets drag in The Old Paint Shop
Looking for an evening of fun, games, bingo and daft prizes with a party atmosphere?Haus Of Games with The Isolation Creations, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight, 8pm
CHEEKY comedy drag double act The Isolation Creations host a variety show to leave you blushing, giggling and maybe even holding a “crappy prize or two”. “Don’t come expecting RuPaul’s Drag Race,” they say. “We’re here to remind you that drag can be a bit saucy, rough around the edges and a whole lot of fun! Step into our world where the heels are a bit lower, the banter is a lot cheekier and the wigs have a delightful hint of nostalgia.”
Inspired by Les Dawson, Dame Edna, Dick Emery and Lily Savage, and begun in the pandemic lockdown, Alan and Jamie’s characters embody the spirit of classic British drag. Think of cheeky barmaids, seaside B&B landladies and your Nanna’s gossipy friends. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Untitled 7, by Neil Bunting, from Art Of Protest’s Outsider Inside York exhibition
Exhibition of the week: Outsider Inside York – An Exhibition of Words and Pictures, Art of Protest Gallery, Walmgate, York, today until February 16
OUTSIDER Inside York celebrates the diverse voices of five artists who have used creativity to reshape their lives and challenge the status quo, revealing art’s transformative power in overcoming adversity.
Taking part will be Boxxhead, alias York mixed-media artist Kevin McNulty; former British Army soldier and PTSD sufferer Kevin Devenport, who began painting as a form of self-expression while in prison for drug offences; Peter Stapleton, who discovered a gift for painting in oils after 22 years behind bars, and late neurodivergent artist and musician Neil Bunting, who died last year, having struggled with mental health issues and personal loss throughout his life and never exhibiting his work in his lifetime. Their works are complemented by poems by Geoff Beacon, whose latest collection, Foreboding, engages with activism and politics in York.
Meet The Smartest Giant In Town in Little Angel Theatre’s show at the Grand Opera House, York
Comedy gig of the week…and next spring too: Chris McCausland, Yonks!,Grand Opera House, York, Monday (3/2/2025) and May 17 2026
AFTER lifting the glitterball trophy as the ground-breaking first blind contestant on Strictly Come Dancing, Liverpool comedian Chris McCausland returns to his “day job” on his Yonks! tour, now to be extended into 2026. He has added a second York date after selling out the first. Meanwhile, virtuoso ventriloquist Nina Conti’s Whose Face Is It Anyway? show on February 7 has sold out too. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Jennifer Jones’s Belle in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Beauty And The Beast at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Fairytale of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Beauty And The Beast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 4 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
THE Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company presents the timeless tale of Belle (Jennifer Jones), a young woman in a small provincial town, and the Beast (Adam Gill), a prince trapped under the spell of an enchantress. The Beast must learn to love and be loved in order to break the spell, but time is running out.
Further principal roles in Kathryn Lay’s cast go to Jim Paterson as Gaston; Tom Mennary, Lumiere; Paul Blenkiron, Maurice; Helen Barugh, Madame de la Grande Bouche; Heather Stead, Babette, and Anthony Gardner, Cogsworth. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Meet The Smartest Giant In Town in Little Angel Theatre’s show at the Grand Opera House, York
Children’s show of the week: Little Angel Theatre in The Smartest Giant In Town, Grand Opera House, York, February 5, 1pm and 4pm, and February 6, 10am and 1pm
GEORGE wishes he were not the scruffiest giant in town. When he sees a new shop selling giant-sized clothes, he adopts a new look: smart trousers, smart shirt, stripy tie, shiny shoes. Now he is the smartest giant in town…until he bumps into some animals that desperately need his help – and his clothes!
So runs Little Angel Theatre’s latest puppet-filled stage adaptation of a typically heart-warming Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler picture-book tale of friendship and helping those in need. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The good folk of the Transatlantic Sessions, bound for York Barbican on Wednesday
Folk and Americana gig of the week: Transatlantic Sessions, with Loudon Wainwright III, Julie Fowlis, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams and Niall McCabe, York Barbican, February 5, doors 7pm
TRANSATLANTIC Sessions 2025 celebrates 30 years since the original television series. Taking to the stage will be the all-star, virtuoso house band, led as ever by Aly Bain and Jerry Douglas, plus guest vocalists Loudon Wainwright III, Julie Fowlis, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams and Ireland’s Niall McCabe.
Joined by Phil Cunningham, John Doyle, Michael McGoldrick, Tatiana Hargreaves & Allison de Groot, John McCusker, Donald Shaw, James Mackintosh and Daniel Kimbro, they will interweave original material with age-old tunes and songs as they explore shared roots and find new common ground, celebrating the rich musical traditions that connect Scotland, Ireland and the United States. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Beverley Beirne: Fronting her trio at The Old Paint Shop on Friday
Jazz gig of the week: The Beverley Beirne Trio, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 7, 8pm
BEVERLEY Beirne sings songs of hope, passion, of living life to the full, of day dreaming, regret, love lost and love found and ultimately of dancing through the game and rhythm of life from Dream Dancer, long-listed for a Grammy Best Jazz Vocal Album.
Listen out for interpretations of David Bowie’s Let’s Dance, Let’s Face The Music And Dance and a bluesy take on The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Should I Go. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Craig David: Parading his singing, MC and DJ skills at Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer
Gig announcement of the week: Craig David Presents TS5, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 19
SOUTHAMPTON rhythm & blues musician Craig David parades his triple threat as singer, MC and DJ at his TS5 party night – patented at his Miami penthouse – on the East Coast this summer. Expect a set combining old skool anthems from R&B to Swing Beat, Garage to Bashment, while merging chart-topping House hits too.
“I cannot wait to bring my TS5 show to Scarborough and the beautiful Yorkshire coast in July,” enthuses David, 43. “2025 is a massive year for me as it’s the 25th anniversary of my debut album [Born To Do It] and my debut number one single (Fill Me In]. What better way to celebrate than bringing the party to Scarborough this summer.” Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
In Focus: What’s the line-up for Futuresound Group’s first York Comedy Festival in York Museum Gardens? ADDED ON 3/2/2025
Dara Ó Briain
THE inaugural YorkComedyFestival will take place on Sunday, July 6 in the finale to Futuresound Group’s second season of Live At York Museum Gardens shows.
Irish comedian, broadcaster and writer Dara Ó Briain and Canadian comedian, writer, presenter, actress and singer Katherine Ryan will co-headline the open-air bill of nine acts, also featuring Maisie Adam, Joel Dommett, Clinton Baptiste, Angelos Epithemiou, Vittorio Angelone, Scott Bennett and host Stephen Bailey.
Ó Briain will be playing York for a second time this year: his 2025 tour show Re:Creation is heading for a sell-out at York Barbican on May 14 with tickets on sale at yorkbarbican.co.uk. He hosted 21 series of Mock The Week from 2005 to 2022 among myriad TV appearances on such shows as Have I Got News For You, Robot Wars, Dara And Ed’s Big Adventure, Dara Ó Briain’s Science Club and Three Men In A Boat.
Katherine Ryan
Ryan is a team captain on 8 Out Of 10 Cats and has appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, A League Of Their Own, Mock The Week, Would I Lie to You?, QI, Just A Minute, Safeword and Have I Got News for You.
Maisie Adam, who grew up in Pannal, Harrogate, is an award-winning stand up, podcaster and comedy panellist; whip-smart stand-up, broadcaster and author Joel Dommett hosts ITV’s The Masked Singer.
Also taking part in the first comedy festival in York since Martin Witts’s Great Yorkshire Fringe (2015-2019) will be Phoenix Nights’ resident clairvoyant, Clinton Baptiste; cult surrealist comedian Angelos Epithemiou, from Shooting Stars; Italian-Irish offbeat comic, podcaster and rising star Vittorio Angelone and the brain behind viral hit Stand Up From The Shed, Scott Bennett. Comedian and presenter Stephen Bailey will be on compere duty.
YorkComedyFestivalwill follow Futuresound’s three Museum Gardens concerts, headlined by Elbow on July 3 andNile Rodgers & CHIC on July 4, with one more name to be announced for July 5.
Maisie Adam. Picture: Matt Crockett
Andy Smith, of Futuresound Group, said: “We’re thrilled to be introducing York Comedy Festivalthis July as part of our second series; building on our collaborative offering with a wider variety of entertainment beyond music.
“Our inaugural sell-out concert series last summer gave us the opportunity to see the lasting cultural impact that these large-scale outdoor events have on the city so this year we’re really excited to be bringing world-class comedy to York Museum Gardens alongside some incredible live music”
Richard Saward, head of operations at York Museums Trust, said: “The introduction of a comedy festival as part of Live at York Museum Gardens is a fantastic addition to the programme and York Museums Trust is delighted to be hosting this special evening. We are looking forward to welcoming these amazing comedians to York.”
BINGHAM String Quartet’s programme for tomorrow’s York Late Music concert at the Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, will be a tale of two promoters.
The 7.30pm concert at features two first performances: Anthony Adams’s String Quartet No. 2 and Steve Crowther’s String Quartet No. 4 in a celebration not only of two composers but also a friendship spanning more than 40 years of these co-founders of Soundpool and York Late Music.
Here is Anthony Adams’s take on the historical journey, but bear in mind that the story begins in a pub, so perhaps not all details can be guaranteed as factual.
“Soundpool was conceived at a meeting in a pub in York sometime during 1981, between me, Michael Parkin, Ian Taylor and Steve Crowther (still one of the main driving forces behind Late Music), who by that time had met Mike Parkin and was a student of his,” recalls Anthony.
“Soundpool was initially conceived as a vehicle for the performance of our work and for the promotion of contemporary music in general. We planned to form ensembles using York musicians, most of whom at that time we did not know and had not met.”
These included Barry Russell and Nick Williams (composers, conductors), Edwina Smith (flute), Tim Brooks (trombone and piano), Christopher Fox (composer, conductor), Tom Endrich (composer, conductor), Amanda Crawley (soprano) and Barrie Webb (trombone, conductor). Ian Taylor was a regular on both classical and electric guitar too.
York Late Music administrator and composer Steve Crowther: Premiering his String Quartet No. 4 at the Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, tomorrow
“In 1991, Tony and Mike Parkin decided they had taken Soundpool as far as they could and invited Steve Crowther and David Power to take the project forward. In 1995, at the suggestion of Martin Pople at York Arts Centre, it was renamed Late Music. And there we have it.”
Adams’s 15-minute String Quartet No. 2 falls roughly into two parts. “The first part is constructed of many overlapping layers,” he says. “The second half is compositionally simpler, acting as a ‘foil’ to the first half, in some ways a second movement, a long-drawn-out coda.”
Crowther’s String Quartet No. 4 has the dedication “Slava Ukraini!”, which has been a “symbol of Ukrainian sovereignty and resistance … since 2018” (Wikipedia).
“This is the subjective, political driver of the piece, a response to Putin’s barbaric land grab,” says Steve. “The abstract narrative, however, is a soundscape of fast musical moments, often repeated, the potential energy of the work, and release, the kinetic.
“Counterpoint in the form of canonic dialogue can be heard throughout the one-movement piece. Yet there is song, and harmony in the form of symmetry.”
Haydn’s String Quartet in F, Op.77 No.2 and Philip Glass’s String Quartet No.3, Mishima, book-end the two world premieres to complete a hopefully innovative programme.
Mishima was written in 1985 for the soundtrack to the film Mishima – A Life In Four Chapter, a biopic about the life of Yukio Mishima (1925-1970), a quirky Japanese author, poet, playwright, actor and model, who attempted a coup and committed ritual suicide by seppuku in 1970.
Steve Bingham will give a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm with a complimentary glass of wine or juice for all attendees. Box office: latemusic.org/product/bingham-string-quartet-tickets-1-feb-2025 or on the door.
Anthony Adams: the back story
Composer Anthony Adams: World premiere of his new work String Quartet No. 2 at the Unitarian Chapel tomorrow
IN an attempt to address the existential questions of “Why are we here? What is the meaning of it all?”, composer Anthony Adams was drawn to science, studying Biochemistry and Bacteriology at Liverpool University.
He and fellow student Tom Burke (later director of Friends of the Earth and other environmental organisations) found common purpose in philosophy.
Disillusion with science resulted, eventually, in a rejection of academic study at Liverpool and, during five years working as a bus conductor and driver, Adams resumed his piano studies and developed a consuming interest in music. He then enrolled at Bangor University to study music composition.
“By the time I went to Bangor, I already had quite a strong background in music and had made many compositional attempts,” he says. “I was totally ready for William Mathias’s composition teaching methods.
“He would usually analyse a piece of music at the piano, discussing it with us as he went along, which I found an ideal way to learn as I already had an extensive background in many genres and periods of music.
“He would then set us a compositional task to be completed in a week. That discipline I found really helpful. Concurrently with weekly composition lessons, there were weekly lectures on 20th century music with Jeffrey Lewis.
“These were seriously helpful, as Jeffrey was also a composer and had an extensive knowledge of current trends in contemporary music as well as a deep knowledge of the music of the first half of the 20th century.”
Adams met fellow composers Michael Parkin and Ian Taylor and, along with lecturers John Hywel and Jeffrey Lewis, formed a strong bond of friendship.
As a composer, Adams flourished in this supportive and creative environment. Notable works written at this time were: La Morte Meditata for Soprano and Orchestra (1976); a large ensemble piece Changes, Modes And Interludes (1977) and The Closing Of Autumn for String Quartet and Soprano (1980).
He moved to York in early 1981, meeting up again with Michael Parkin and Ian Taylor. However, at university there had been plenty of opportunities for performance and those did not now exist. They decided to create an organisation to address this need. Soundpool was duly born.
In 1984, as part of that year’s York Festival, Soundpool staged its last completely “homegrown” concert, an evening of music theatre, comprising Cheap Tricks by Michael Parkin and Adams’s Mishima: Part One, as well as a work by Christopher Fox and one or two other pieces. Many weeks of rehearsals were held with a considerable number of performers. “It was quite an achievement for all involved and the whole evening was a success,” he says.
An abstract artwork by composer Anthony Adams
“Over the next few years, I recall some memorable concerts: the Delta Saxophone Quartet, and Michael Nyman and Alexander Balanescu (violin) with an evening of Nyman’s music (mainly from The Draughtsman’s Contract) among them. This latter was, at the time, the best attended concert that Soundpool had promoted.
“Three other short-lived ensembles were formed in the mid-1980s as spin-offs from Soundpool and gave performances at Soundpool concerts and elsewhere: Commedia (flute, trombone, cello, dancer), Ancient Voices and Firebird.
“Barrie Webb (still on the staff at the University of York as a trombone teacher) was involved in Commedia (trombone) and Firebird (conductor). Alan Hacker and Karen Evans were involved in Ancient Voices.”
During the Soundpool years in the 1980s, Adams wrote mainly for small and medium-sized ensembles. Notable pieces included Six Winter Haiku (soprano and ensemble); Nine Summer Haiku (soprano, flute, guitar); The Reflective Mirror (clarinet and piano); 2 + 2 for saxophone quartet; Five Pictures (large ensemble) and Arabesque (large ensemble).
During the mid-1980s he started drawing and painting and Five Pictures (1986) was a musical response to coloured drawings he had done.
In 1991, Tony and Mike Parkin decided they had taken Soundpool as far as they could as invited Steve Crowther and David Power to take the project forward. In 1995, at the suggestion of Martin Pople at the York Arts Centre, it was renamed Late Music.
By 1992 Adams had divorced and remarried. He had two teenage children, a baby, and the responsibility for three other children under ten. That did not leave much time for composing, although in the 1990s he wrote two more pieces: Dace, a celebration of the birth of his third child, Candace (1993); and Lewis, solo violin (1994). Both works were commissioned by Late Music and premiered as part of the Late Music Festival.
In 2011 he started to think more again about composition and over the next three years produced 40 electronic works totalling around 30 hours of music. “Apart from exploring a new sound world, I used them to investigate ways of structuring compositions which were very difficult using conventional instruments, especially in small ensembles – in particular working in ‘layers’.”
“The 2nd String Quartet was begun at the close of this period of creating electronic works, sometime in 2014. I started it with the idea that the material would be manipulated electronically as in the works of the previous period,” he says.
“However, possibly because I had exhausted my interest in electronics at that point, nothing came of what I had started, and it was abandoned for a couple of years. After writing a set of piano studies in about 2017, I had the idea that the string quartet material could be turned into a piano piece and I spent about three years, on and off, working at that.
“By 2020, it was obvious that that wasn’t going to work, and I returned to the idea of a string quartet, this time without any electronic input. Without any pressure to finish it and with no performance in view, I worked on it for about three years until I was satisfied with it; it was finished in early 2024.”
Tomorrow, the world premiere will be performed by the Bingham String Quartet.
Max Westwell and Holly Saw performing the Divorce Ballet in Opera North’s Love Life. Picture: James Glossop
KURT Weill interrupted Alan Jay Lerner’s partnership with Frederick Loewe in 1948 when he needed book and lyrics for Love Life, which turned out to be his penultimate completed work for the musical theatre.
It was a shrewd move. Their joint decision to create a ‘vaudeville’ on the topic of married life was soundly rooted in their own experience, Weill having divorced and remarried Lotte Lenya, with Lerner at that time enjoying his second marriage (with six more to come).
With Love Life you get two for the price of one. On the one hand,there is a series of sketches, at roughly 30-year intervals from 1791 to 1948, charting the vagaries of a typical American marriage, with a couple and their two children weathering a changing society’s various pressures.
Interwoven with these are essentially music hall acts, which have varying degrees of relevance to the main narrative. This division only breaks down in the finale. Here Sam and Susan the central couple, having realised that their marriage is on the rocks, are lured into an Illusion Minstrel Show where they are encouraged to decide that they are no better apart than together. We leave them at opposite ends of a high wire, about to re-embark on the balancing act of marriage.
Quirijn de Lang’s Sam Cooper in Opera North’s Love Life. Picture: James Glossop
Matthew Eberhardt’s avowed mission as director was to make the distinction between these two strands abundantly clear. He succeeded, with considerable help from Zahra Mansouri’s designs. She kept the ageless family foursome in black – they were immune from changing fashions – while vivid colour was reserved for the variety acts.
In what was technically a semi-staged production, with the orchestra on a raised platform upstage, there were no fixed props, only movable furniture, with one intriguing exception. Overhead was an assemblage of geometrical trusses, the bare bones of lighting rigs, which grew more elaborate as the industrial and technological ages progressed, representing added complications for the couple while distilling the growing New York skyline.
What is absolutely stunning about this piece is Weill’s chameleon ability to adapt to the multiplicity of styles prevalent in America and elsewhere: jazz, blues, soft shoe shuffle, big band, barbershop, madrigal, not to mention standard operetta and operatic procedures.
In all of these James Holmes’s sense of style and command of the orchestra were vital to the success of the whole enterprise. Rhythms were everywhere crisp and alive, the players’ obvious enthusiasm inspiring the singers at every turn.
Quirijn de Lang and Stephanie Corley were well contrasted as the central couple, he more and more focused on bringing home the bacon and hustling for business, while she agonised over fitting her domestic role into the early throes of women’s lib.
His forthright baritone was especially witty in I’m Your Man, attempting to be all things to all men. Her soprano was at its most tender in Is It Him Or Is It Me?’, which summarised the difficulties in their relationship after they had decided on divorce. Louie Stow and Tilly Baker were their impeccable children.
Joshua da Costa, left, Andrew Randall, Masimba Ushe and Will Hopkins as the Quartet in Opera North’s Love Life. Picture: James Glossop
A broad spread of roles once again revealed the versatility of the Opera North chorus, not least as a male octet in Progress and as a taut mixed-voice madrigal group in Ho, Billy O!. Among the invitees, Themba Mvula was a spirited magician at the start and a wily MC in the closing minstrel show.
Justin Hopkins made a warmly avuncular Hobo, and there was sparkling bonhomie from the male quartet in a wry Economics and in Susan’s Dream. The Three Tots earn a mention for the unfettered joy of their song-and-dance routine.
Indeed, the choreographer Will Tuckett and his assistant Daisy West played an outstanding role, given that the cast included only two professional dancers. They were Holly Saw and Max Westwell, who delivered a poignant Divorce Ballet.
Finally, a word for Christine Jane Chibnall, returning as dramaturg here after retiring in the autumn after more than 40 years with the company, mainly as director of planning. Her vision and determination have not often received the appreciation they deserve.
The only disappointment of this show was that it received only two performances. It will surely be revived and soon. No-one should miss it.
Review by Martin Dreyer
Themba Mvula as the Magician/Con Man/Interlocutor in Opera North’s Love Life. Picture: James Glossop
Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton in Here You Come Again, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
ON Tuesday, queen of country and philanthropist Dolly Parton announced her new autobiographical stage show, Dolly: An Original Musical, would be opening in Nashville in July, ahead of a Broadway debut in 2026.
Previously, Dolly wrote the music and lyrics for 9 To 5 The Musical, premiered in 2008, having starred as secretary Doralee Rhodes in the 1980 film version.
Here she comes again in Here You Come Again, a musical full of Dolly songs, both familiar and not so familiar (Me And Little Andy), picked with Dolly’s approval for the story of diehard Dolly devotee Kevin, who needs dollops of Dolly advice on life and love in Covid times.
Written by Bruce Vilanch, director Gabriel Barre and Broadway actress Tricia Paoluccio, the show first ran in the United States and is now visiting its 33rd city on its debut British tour, produced by Simon Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse.
The setting is an attic in Halifax in lockdown 2020, not Halifax, Nova Scotia, but now in West Yorkshire, home of the Halifax Courier et al, after Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey was entrusted with a British re-write.
Or, as the programme credits put it, “additional material” that brings British humour to the core story, along with Covid references, such as a UK news bulletin, banging a pan for the NHS, singing Happy Birthday twice through when washing hands, and stocking up on loo rolls.
Kevin (Aidan Cutler, understudying very capably for Steven Webb at Wednesday’s matinee) has returned to his parents’ home from London, on furlough from his job at a comedy club. His attic is a chapel of adoration to Dolly Parton, as well housing as the best hi-fi and finest retro turntable, a pink flamingo by his bedside and a pulley system for delivery of meals made by his parents on the floor below.
Only he can enter, by a ladder from the outside. His boyfriend, money-man Jeremy, is keeping more than a six-foot distance. Indeed Jeremy has just sent a message to say the relationship is over.
We need to talk about Aidan Cutler’s Kevin: Impressive understudy for Steven Webb at Wednesday’s matinee
Kevin may play by the Covid rules, but what he needs is an agony aunt angel to lift him out of the doldrums. Who could that possibly be but a fantasy vision of rhinestone splendour. Yes, Miss Dolly Parton, y’all.
Nothing is a barrier to Tennessee’s queen of Dollywood, who enters as if by magic, through a poster turning into a real-life Dolly (Tricia Paoluccio, every inch Dollied up to the max), equipped with quips, bon mots, kind words and a song for every scenario.
They need to talk about Kevin. He does, she does, and only occasionally do we see or hear from the parents (Austin Garrett and Emma Jane Fearnley, popping up on backing vocals too) in a show where the two leads do the heavy lifting, backed by a band of Jordan Li-Smith, keyboards, Luke Adams, guitar, Ben Scott, drums, and Kevin Oliver Jones, bass/harmonica. Sometimes musicians appear in the attic, more often they are behind Paul Wills’s set design.
Paoluccio is the perfect Dolly mixture: wholesome, whole-hearted, glamorous yet home-spun, supportive in her philanthropic way. She sings like Dolly, talks like Dolly, moves like Dolly, but this is no mere 2D impersonation. As her Dolly says, she is not only in 3D, but “make that triple D”, and there are plenty more Dolly one-liners where that one came from.
Favourite moment? After Paoluccio’s Dolly sings the tragic, lachrymose tale of Me And Little Andy, Dolly and Kevin discuss why she has written so many sad, sad songs. To make us all feel better about ourselves, she explains.
By this stage, spoiler alert, Kevin, on the wrong side of 40, has lost his boyfriend, his job, his home, but the Dolly hits keep coming (after finding a corny excuse to include Jolene early on) as the matinee audience starts chipping in with encouragement for Dolly and Kevin alike. Two Doors Down, 9 To 5, Islands In The Stream, I Will Always Love You and the climactic Light Of A Clear Blue Morning go down particularly well, aided by Lizzi Gee’s fun choreography.
Understudy Aidan Cutler’s Kevin, camp and lovable, crushed but uplifted by Dolly, more than holds his own in such glittering company, with a sweetness to his singing chops too. As for Paoluccio’s Dolly, you will always love her.
Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, runs until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Ric Liptrot: Exhibiting in The Other Collective exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
FROM dollops of Dolly Parton advice to Stewart Lee’s werewolf encounter, devilish storytelling to a Cinderella prequel, Charles Hutchinson, cherry picks highlights for the days ahead.
Exhibition of the week: The Other Collective, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until March 13
CURATED by Bluebird Bakery, The Other Collective brings together the work of Lu Mason, Ric Liptrot, Rob Burton, Liz Foster and Jill Tattersall.
“These wonderful artists were all missed off the billing for York Open Studios 2025 and we felt that was a real shame,” says Bluebird boss Nicky Kippax. “So The Other Collective was born and we hope the work will get a lot of interest from our customers.”
Mark Reynolds’ tour poster illustration for Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, playing York Theatre Royal until Saturday
Comedy gigs of the week: Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm
IN Stewart Lee Vs The Man-Wulf, Lee shares the stage with a tough-talking werewolf comedian from the dark forests of the subconscious who hates humanity. The Man-Wulf lays down a ferocious comedy challenge to the “culturally irrelevant and physically enfeebled Lee”: can the beast inside us all be silenced by the silver bullet of Lee’s deadpan stand-up? Tickets advice: Hurry, hurry as all shows are closing in on selling out; 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tricia Paoluccio’s Dolly Parton and Stevie Webb’s Kevin in Here You Come Again at Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Here You Come Again, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
SIMON Friend Entertainment and Leeds Playhouse team up for the tour of Here You Come Again, starring and co-written by Broadway actress Tricia Paoluccio, who visits York for the first time in the guise of a fantasy vision of country icon Dolly Parton.
Gimme Gimme Gimme writer Jonathan Harvey has put a British spin on Bruce Vilanch, director Gabriel Barre and Paoluccio’s story of diehard Dolly devotee Kevin (Steven Webb) needing dollops of Dolly advice on life and love in trying times. Parton hits galore help too! Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Hayden Thorpe: Performing Ness with Propellor Ensemble members at the NCEM, York, tonight
Arthouse gig of the week: Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, doors 7pm for 7.30pm start
PLEASE Please You and Brudenell Presents bring Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble to the NCEM to perform Ness, with the promise of a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show”.
Thorpe, former frontman and chief songwriter of Kendal band Wild Beasts, promotes his September 2024 album. Using a process of redaction, Thorpe brought songs to life from nature writer Robert Macfarlane’s book Ness, inspired by Suffolk’s Orford Ness, the former Ministry of Defence weapons development site during both World Wars and the Cold War. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Sylvie (Aileen Hall), centre, demonstrates her skills to friends Amelie (Perri Ann Barley), left, and Helene (Devon Wells), right, in rehearsal for Blue Light Theatre Company’s Where The Magic Begins!
Premiere of the week: Blue Light Theatre Company in Where The Magic Begins!, Acomb Working Men’s Club, York, tonight to Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2pm matinee
BLUE Light Theatre Company stage York playwright and actress Perri Ann Barley’s new play Where The Magic Begins!, a prequel to Cinderella based on characters from the original Charles Perrault version.
“We meet many beloved characters in their younger days, such as a young Fairy Godmother, who is about to discover her ‘gift’. We follow her journey as she struggles with a secret that could put her life, and that of her family, in grave danger,” says director Craig Barley. Box office: 07933 329654, at bluelight-theatre.co.uk or on the door.
Hannah Rowe: Performing in the cabaret setting of The Old Paint Shop at York Theatre Royal Studio
Cabaret night of the week: CPWM Presents An Evening With Hannah Rowe, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow, 8pm
YORK promoters Come Play With Me (CPWM) welcome Hannah Rowe to The Old Paint Shop’s winter season. This young singer writes of experiences and shifts in life, offering a sense of reflection within her rich, authentic, jazz-infused sound. Friday’s 8pm show by upstanding York pianist Karl Mullen has sold out. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Adderstone’s Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott
Devilish delight of the week: Tim Ralphs and Adderstone, Infernal Delights, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Friday, doors 7.30pm
TIM Ralphs and York alt-folk storytellers Adderstone serve up a winter night’s double bill of dark delights. Let Adderstone’s Cath Heinemeyer and Gemma McDermott lead you down the steps to the underworld with story-songs from wild places in their Songs To Meet The Darkness set.
In Beelzebub Rebranded, Tim Ralphs’s stand-up storytelling exhumes the bones of ancient Devil stories and stitches them into new skins for fresh consumption in his wild reimagining of folktale, fairytale and urban legend. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/adderstone/infernal-delights/e-xjjber.
Saxophonist Snake Davis, right, double bassist Don Richardson, left, and concertina player Alistair Anderson: Playing together at Helmsley Arts Centre on Sunday
Trio of the week: Snake Davis, saxophones, Don Richardson, double bass, and Alistair Anderson, concertina and Northumbrian pipes, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm
ADD an old mucker to a new pal, whereupon saxophonist to the stars Snake Davis sounds excited. Snake and Don Richardson go back decades, too many gigs and shows to remember. Lulu and Paul Carrack were particularly memorable. Snake and Alistair Anderson met at a wonderfully quirky Northumberland venue in late 2023 and decided to make music together. Here comes folk, jazz, world, pop and more. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Craig David: Combining his singing, master of ceremonies and DJ skills at Scarborough Open Air Theatre this summer
Gig announcement of the week: Craig David Presents TS5, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 19
SOUTHAMPTON rhythm & blues musician Craig David parades his triple threat as singer, MC and DJ at his TS5 party night – patented at his Miami penthouse – on the East Coast this summer. Expect a set combining old skool anthems from R&B to Swing Beat, Garage to Bashment, while merging chart-topping House hits too.
“I cannot wait to bring my TS5 show to Scarborough and the beautiful Yorkshire coast in July,” enthuses David, 43. “2025 is a massive year for me as it’s the 25th anniversary of my debut album [Born To Do It] and my debut number one single (Fill Me In]. What better way to celebrate than bringing the party to Scarborough this summer.” Tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
PLEASE Please You and Brudenell Presents bring Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble to the NCEM to perform Ness tonight, with the promise of a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show”.
Thorpe, 39-year-old former frontman and chief songwriter of Kendal and Leeds band Wild Beasts, promotes his September 2024 album, Ness, released on Domino Records.
Using a process of redaction, Thorpe brought songs to life from nature writer Robert Macfarlane’s book Ness, inspired by Orford Ness, a ten-mile long shingle spit on the coast of Suffolk that housed the former Ministry of Defence weapons development site during both World Wars and the Cold War.
Acquired by the National Trustin 1993 and left to re-wild, to this day it remains a place of paradox, mystery and constant evolution.
Thorpe’s ode to Orford Ness, the physical place and the book, features Macfarlane’s words and illustrations by Stanley Donwood. He premiered Ness with fellow Cumbrian musicians from Propellor Ensemble at Orford Ness on September 28 and 29 last year.
Here Hayden discusses working with Robert Macfarlane and Propellor Ensemble, the Cold War, nature and past York experiences with CharlesHutchPress.
Do you have any past experiences of York, whether on a school visit or whatever, Hayden?
“My parents used to take us to the Jorvik Viking Museum when me and my siblings were young. I was always amazed by the fake open sewer smell they would pump into the space.”
The album cover artwork for Hayden Thorpe’s Ness
When did you last play in York, either solo or with Wild Beasts?
“I believe it was in 2006 or 2007. A rather long time ago. In any case, it’s been too long. It was somewhere quite familiar to me when Wild Beasts were coming up in Leeds. We’d make a regular dash across.”
How did the Ness project come about with Robert Macfarlane?
“In a really old fashioned manner. I fan-mailed Rob and he wrote back with all the generosity and open heartedness of his books. He’s as good as his word in the truest sense.
“Rob and I decided to perform some improvised music to his reading of Ness. It was a Eureka moment. The atmosphere and drama of the sound we made demanded that we commit to expanding it.”
Did you visit Orford Ness, now the Orford Ness National Nature Reserve, for research purposes?
“Yes. Orford Ness is an astonishing place. It’s a monument to rejuvenation and a monument to destruction. The very best and the very worst of us.”
By the way, Hayden, York has a Cold War Bunker Museum, in Monument Close, Holgate: a two-storey, semi-subterranean bunker built in 1961 to monitor nuclear explosions and fallout in Yorkshire, in the event of nuclear war.
“I had no idea that a Cold War museum existed in York. That’s fabulous. Bizarrely, I’ve developed a Cold War romance. I guess the conflicts and hostilities we face today have brought these conversations back into our everyday consciousness.”
The Black Beacon at Orford Ness. Picture: Arnhel de Serra, National Trust Images
How have you turned the album into a concert performance?
“The album is very much made of sounds we’ve made with our hands and lungs, so with enough pairs of those it actually translates in a very true way. The unusual instrumentation, with orchestral percussion and clarinet foregrounded alongside me, creates a very distinct ‘Ness’ sound. The shows have been really emotional as a result.”
Were you tempted to feature strings in the Ness project for their emotional heft?
“We deliberately did not use strings. We opted to use the elemental forces at my play at Orford Ness: wind and resistant materials like metal and wood. It creates a haunted, volatile soundscape.”
Which Propellor Ensemble members will play in York?
“Jack McNeill plays clarinet and Delia Stevens plays orchestral percussion. Molly Gromadzki performs the spoken-word parts and sings in the choir. Brigitte Hart and Helen Ganya make up the choral section. It’s been a joy to work with such expressive and capable performers.”
What does a “sonically spectacular and transformational live show” entail?
“Something which is sonically ambitious and immersive. Once we start the show we don’t stop, it’s the album in full back to front. We want to take the audience to Ness, have them come face to face with the monster.”
The full Propellor Ensemble line-up. Percussionist Delia Stevens, right, and clarinet and bass clarinet player Jack McNeill, third from right, will be among the performers at the NCEM tonight. Picture: Propellor Ensemble
Why was the National Centre for Early Music, in the former St Margaret’s Church in Walmgate, chosen for the York gig rather than The Crescent community venue, a classic working men’s club design?
“We’ve heard such great things about NCEM. Much of the story of Ness takes place ‘In The Green Chapel’, so the work lends itself to a space of worship.”
What is your own relationship with nature? Wild Beasts hailed originally from Kendal, with all that Lake District beauty around you…
“Nature has become increasingly important to my life and work. As artists we’re forced to ask what side of the conversation we sit on, one which acknowledges the existential crisis facing us or one which excuses it. Music can carry non-human voices really effectively. Ness is very much a meditation on that.”
What will be your next project?
“Good question. Ness has certainly expanded my palette. I’ve come to feel maybe my strength is in making strange and ambitious works which would otherwise not get made. It’s crucial to keep the flame burning on works of exploration and oddity in an industry which increasingly incentivises conformity.”
Hayden Thorpe & Propellor Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight (29/1/2025), doors 7pm, start 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
