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Feeling lonely? Ruth Berkoff shares her thoughts in solo show full of sheep, humour and a rave in The Beauty Of Being Herd

Ruth Berkoff in the guise of Hannah in The Beauty Of Being Herd. Picture: Alex Kenyon

HAVE you ever felt like an outsider? Hannah has.

Her solution? She has decided to live as a sheep. “But don’t worry, she’s thought it all through. She’s even got a raincoat. And she’d love to tell you all about it at her Big Goodbye Party. Everyone is invited,” says Leeds writer-performer Ruth Berkoff, introducing The Beauty Of Being Herd, whose tour is booked into Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, for September 12 and Terrington Village Hall on September 28.

“Fresh from the Greater Manchester Fringe, where it was nominated for Best Newcomer and Best New Writing (runner up), this is my debut show and I’m touring it around Yorkshire in September as well as to Bristol [Circomedia, October 4],” says Ruth.

“Whether you’re shy, neurodivergent, have accidentally put your foot in it or simply had to spend time with people that weren’t ‘your people’, this is a show for anyone who’s ever found it hard to fit in.”

Ruth knits Hannah’s quirky yarn together with comedy, original songs, heartfelt sharing and even a rave scene, creating The Beauty Of Being Herd in tandem with director and dramaturg Georgia Murphy, sound designer Isolde Freeth-Hale and movement consultant Izzy Brittain.

Born and bred in Leeds, Ruth trained in contemporary circus at Circomedia, Bristol, and in theatre and clowning at Ecole Philippe Gaulier, France.

Now comes her first solo show, prompted in part by the consequences of suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2017. When she could not find any stories from other survivors, she decided to write her own.

“I write so that people don’t feel so alone,” she reasons. “As an ex-Samaritan, I care deeply about people feeling understood. As a four-time pantomime dame, I care passionately about people having a brilliant time at the theatre.”

Praised in the British Theatre Guide for her “warm hearted and empathic” performing skills, she takes The Beauty Of Being Herd on the road from tomorrow.

Here Ruth discusses feeling like an outsider, fitting in, sheep, clowning, the Samaritans and “the beauty of being herd” with CharlesHutchPress

“I write so that people don’t feel so alone,” says Ruth Berkoff. Picture: Alex Kenyon

What were your theatrical and creative experiences when growing up in Leeds?

“As a child I wanted to be an actor. I went to drama lessons outside of school and then got on the performing arts course at Intake High School. Intake was a state school that had an extra performing arts course for around 30 pupils in each year.

“Mel B, from the Spice Girls, famously attended Intake, leaving the year before I arrived. I stayed at Intake until Year 9 when my dad died and my acting spark faded. I did my drama GCSE at a different school, but didn’t return to acting again until I was 30.”

Did you fit in, like a sheep, or stand out like a zebra in a field of racehorses? 

“Haha. I’ve never been the best at fitting in, but I do try.”

Where do you live now? Did you choose it to fit in or stand out?

“I live deep in the city of Leeds, surrounded by buildings and roads, but I long for more nature. The area of Leeds that I live in (Harehills/Chapeltown) is such a mixing pot that I think everyone both fits in and stands out.”

What led you to studying contemporary circus at Circomedia, Bristol, and theatre and clowning at Ecole Philippe Gaulier, France? 

“At the risk of sounding morbid, it was actually another death. Deaths and big losses can really shake things up! One of my best friends died in a road traffic accident and it made me face my own mortality; I realised that when you die, people don’t talk about what was on your To Do list, they talk about what you actually did.

Ruth Berkoff with Philippe Gaulier when studying at Ecole Philippe Gaulier

“So I wrote down what I REALLY wanted to do and ‘get back into acting’ was there. I attended [Leeds company] Red Ladder’s Intro To Acting course, Red Grit, and I felt ALIVE again.

“On a recommendation from a friend, I went on the three-month Circus in Performance course at Greentop in Sheffield. I enjoyed it so much, I applied for a full-time course at Circomedia.

“In the summer holidays after my first year at Circomedia, I went to Ecole Philippe Gaulier on a four-week summer school and I fell in love with the challenge of working with Philippe, so I decided to leave Circomedia and focus full time on theatre.”

What life skills did the courses teach you?

“Circomedia taught me about consistent hard work; we trained so hard there! It also taught me about fun and the permission to explore and play; that place gave me a lot of confidence. “Gaulier taught me how to really listen to the audience and to play together. I had some beautiful moments on that stage (as well as many, many failures).”

The clown is the outsider in the circus world, the disruptive loon, like The Fool in Shakespeare’s plays. Discuss…

“The clown in the circus world is both on the outside and exactly in the centre. They say things that other people don’t put a voice to. And with an innocence. Learning clown with Philippe Gaulier was definitely an experience, it’s ironic how HARD it can be to be so simple, but Viggo Venn (winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2023, who I studied with at Ecole Philippe Gaulier) makes it look easy.”

How did you come to work for the Samaritans? All part of being warm-hearted and empathic?

“We had some brushes with suicide within our family when I was a child and as a result, I wanted people to know that they could always come to me if they needed. I learnt from a young age how to give people space to be heard – sometimes I think it’s my superpower (when I remember to use it!)

“When I was at university in Belfast, reading English and Philosophy, I joined the university listening service, Nightline, and then Samaritans. It gave me a sense of purpose. I knew I often helped people and also it was nice to be part of a secret group of people in a new city.” 

Balancing act: Ruth Berkoff on stage with Rosy Roberts when studying at Circomedia. Picture: Henry Buxtion, Circomedia

Those qualities seem to be increasingly rare in our solipsistic, me-me-me world. Discuss…

“I had to look up the word ‘solipsistic’ – every day’s a school day! Yes, we’ve got more and more solipsistic, more focused on the individual and less and less focused on community. The show discusses how this can leave some people behind.

“However, I don’t really think it’s quite as simple as ‘group’ being good and ‘individual’ being bad. Lots of great things have happened from people daring to be different, like challenging abuse and gender norms and so much innovation.

“Also, I’ve found I have to be a little selfish to make art, otherwise I would be forever reading stories to my nephews and never doing my own thing.”

What were the roots of the show? What inspired it? Would the answer lie within this revelation: “Ruth had a brain haemorrhage in 2017. When she couldn’t find any stories from other survivors, she wrote her own”?

“My brain haemorrhage definitely got me writing again. I wrote my story so that the people who had a brain haemorrhage after me didn’t feel as alone. I became the person who says the thing that others don’t dare say out loud, which can be really comforting for other people.

“I built up confidence writing and sharing the story of my brain haemorrhage. But the roots of the show are a mixture of my walks in the Yorkshire countryside, which is full of sheep, and also the feeling of not knowing how to really connect with other people sometimes. I guess it’s an exploration of loneliness. And sheep. But with a lot of humour. And a few songs.”

How did you then turn that into creating Hannah and her story?

“Hannah was created for a night called Leeds Pub Theatre. This was my first time writing for the stage (since drama GCSE). They run two events a year, each with a different theme, and this one was ‘From Darkness To Light’. 

Ruth Berkoff performing The Beauty Of Being Herd at the Cockatoo Club as part of Greater Manchester Fringe. Picture: Shay Rowan

“I wrote a monologue about someone at their first rave, talking to all these people she doesn’t know, then the sun rises. It was about that shift from ‘everything is possible!’ to ‘I think I need to leave’.

“I loved the character, I loved how she was so enthusiastic and innocent and up for it, yet lonely and unsuccessful at making friends. I wrote a few more monologues for her and at the same time, I was working on an idea of a woman who discovers strength through being with sheep. The sheep idea wasn’t quite working until I put Hannah into the story and then it was like, ‘Aha! We’ve got it!”

Is Hannah your stage alter ego or a character?

“Hannah isn’t me, she’s a different character. She’s much sweeter than me, but at the same time, I think there’s a lot of Hannah in me and all of her words did come from my head. I get her. Maybe she is my alter ego. Or one of them…”

You met director/dramaturg Georgia Murphy when you were at Ecole Philippe Gaulier. When did you first work together?

“I met Georgia on the first day of summer school in 2013. I liked her immediately. We worked together a few times at Ecole Philippe Gaulier, most notably in a clown number where I was waving at the audience (I don’t remember anything else about it – oh, other than Georgia and Steve were in a boat).

“That school, most of the time there, it was just failure after failure; that’s kind of how it works, but I always enjoyed spending time with Georgia and going on walks together and bounding through fields of flowers together.

“I knew I’d wanted to work with her from day one but she was in London and I was in Leeds and it was only when I got Arts Council England funding through the DYCP grant [Develop Your Creative Practice] that I was able to hire her.

“It was perfect because she was up north at the time, working as associate director for Bolton Octagon.”

Ruth Berkoff, right, and Georgia Murphy on stage together in student days at Ecole Philippe Gaulier with Steve Day, working on their assignment, Gibraltar. Picture: Philippe Gaulier

What drew you to working together? What do you bring out of each other?

 “I think we both have the same love for hilarity, the surreal, and we both know heartbreak too. It’s handy having the same shorthand after studying with Philippe for two years together, so that makes things easy.

“Like, Georgia can say, ‘Right, let’s play such and such game’, and I’m like, ‘Let’s go’. Also, I felt safe with her in the devising space because we’ve already been through quite a lot together. I was able to tell her what I needed, which was sometimes to go in the corner, put a timer on and rant for a minute, saying ‘This feels TERRIBLE, it’s rubbish! I can’t do it’. And once the timer went off, it was like, ‘OK, let’s crack on’.

“That was a tip I learnt from Kath Burlinson at Authentic Artists and it is so genius! Making something creative, we often come up against the inner critic. This gives it its little moment to shine, and then it’s time to get on. Georgia was understanding about that.

“I’m not sure exactly what I bring out in Georgia. I hope it’s freedom to get silly and experiment. I’m up for trying anything. And I trust her, so I guess that must be a joy for her too. I don’t know for sure though, I’d have to ask her.”

Georgia ensures the show remains playful despite covering some heavy topics. How does she do that, and why was that important in the show’s creation?

“Humour and fun and playfulness are so important, especially when you’re talking about the pain of feeling like you don’t belong. I’ve watched work that has a heavy subject matter and is presented in a heavy way, and it feels awful! Life is hard enough; we might as well laugh at it.

“Georgia brought in games, improvisations, Post-It notes and her general playful energy. We experimented a LOT in that space. Lots got put in the bin, but there was also some magic. And that’s the stuff we bottled up and put in the show.”

Sheep and cheerful: Ruth Berkoff in The Beauty Of Being Herd at The Kings Arms, Salford. Picture:
Shay Rowan

You write “so that people don’t feel so alone”. Develop that sentiment further…

“I know people who have taken their lives, and people who have tried. I’ve felt lonely many times in my life and sometimes, as I found at Samaritans, what you need isn’t to be told a solution, it’s just for someone to be with you, to hold your hand as you find your own way through it.

“Just someone to say, ‘I hear you. I get you’. Life can be very lonely but the more we talk about it or listen to other people talking about it, the more we realise, ‘Oh, I’m not the only one’.”

In practical terms, how can you help someone who feels so alone make the decision to come out to the theatre?

“These shows are so, so lovely. I fall in love with the audience every time. It’s a great show to come on your own to because, for a start, Hannah is on her own too, so you won’t be the only one on your own.

“I often have people come on their own to the show and somehow, as the show goes on, there’s a sense of connection that is born in the audience. I can’t explain it, but people often comment on it. And I always hang around afterwards to say hi to anyone who wants to talk.”

In a nutshell, why should someone see The Beauty Of Being Herd?

“To be entertained. To feel something. To laugh and possibly cry.”

“It’s an exploration of loneliness. And sheep. But with a lot of humour. And a few songs,” says Ruth Berkoff of The Beauty Of Being Herd

Sum up the show in six words.

“Bonkers, funny, heartfelt, many sheep facts.”

What is THE beauty of being herd?

“It’s a feeling of ‘not-aloneness’.”

What comes next for Ruth Berkoff?

“I want to keep on developing this show, get a new track for the rave scene and run more workshops for people to develop their creativity. And then I’d like to make another show. And another. And another. I’d also really like to get a team together so I’m not doing it all on my own.”

Ruth Berkoff: The Beauty Of Being Herd, Crookes Club, Sheffield, September 5, 7.30pm; Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 12, 7.30pm; Fire and Water, Sowerby Bridge, September 14, 7pm; HEART (Headingley Enterprise and Arts Centre), Headingley, Leeds, September 20, 7.30pm, and Terrington Village Hall, near Malton, September 28, 7.30pm. Age guide: 16+. Content warning: reference to non-consensual touch

Box office: Sheffield, trybooking.com/uk/DPPX ; York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Sowerby Bridge, trybooking.com/uk/DPUO; Leeds, trybooking.com/uk/DPRY;  Terrington, terringtonvillagehall.co.uk.

One more question:

Where do the original songs fit into the show? 

“You’ll have to come and find out! I love the songs. Isolde Freeth-Hale, an artist and musician living in Bristol, and an old friend, turned my improvised songs into show tunes and they get a lot of compliments, especially The Thing About Sheep. Isolde made a sheep synth for that song, and it brings me so much delight every time I hear it.

“I don’t play any instruments in the show, I just sing. But in real life, I do sometimes play the guitar or piano.”

The tour poster for The Beauty Of Being Herd, visiting Sheffield, York, Sowerby Bridge, Leeds, Terrington…and Bristol

Did you know?

RUTH Berkoff has played pantomime dame – a traditionally male role – with Wakefield company Pocket Panto. “We did a Rural Arts tour every winter,” she says. “We went round North Yorkshire and based ourselves in Thirsk. My first year there was Cinderella in 2017-2018. It was a three-person team so I played an Ugly Sister and Prince Charming.

“The next year, the long-established dame, Jeremy [Stroughair], had had enough of being away from his family every single year, so Darren [Johnson], the writer-director, asked if I would consider playing the dame. I had a LOT of doubts about whether people would want a female dame and a lot of imposter syndrome, but what I discovered is that at the end of the day, what people want at the panto is to have a good time. And I provided that!

“I played Sarah the Cook and Queen Rat in Dick Whittington and the following year I played Mother Goose. Then I did another year in panto with Same Difference Theatre, playing an Ugly Sister and Prince Charming again in a different takeaway on the traditional Cinderella story.”

Ruth Berkoff in dame mode as Sarah the Cook in Pocket Panto’s Dick Whittington with fellow cast members Chris Arkesden and Annie Bashford. Picture: Darren Johnson

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond when crabs turn psychedelic. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 32, from Gazette & Herald

Works by Alison Diamond, centre, Ade Adesina RSA, right, and Ian Burke, left, on show at Helmsley Arts Centre

FROM African storytelling to Milton Jones’s puns, Will Young’s joyous pop to Jason Wilsher-Mills’s inflatable psychedelic crabs, Charles Hutchinson finds reasons to smile.

Triple bill of the week: Three Approaches To Relief Painting by Alison Diamond, Ade Adesina RSA & Ian Burke, Helmsley Arts Centre, until November 1

THIS exhibition brings together three separate approaches to relief printing but a shared love of hand-made printing, lino cutting and woodcut.

Ade Adesina RSA, a Nigerian artist living in Aberdeen, has won the 2023 Academies des Beaux-Arts annual prize. Ian Burke, from Staithes, and Alison Diamond, from County Durham, produce work in regional galleries and print fairs. The connection between all three is the use of relief print to achieve something personal and produce multiple images.

Anna Hibiscus’ Song: Theatrical story of self-discovery from Nigeria at York Theatre Royal

Children’s show of the week: Utopia Theatre and Sheffield Theatres present Anna Hibiscus’ Song, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow and Friday, 10am and 1pm; Saturday, 11am and 2pm

THIS is the story of a young African girl named Anna Hibiscus, who lives in Ibadan, Nigeria, where she is so filled with happiness that she feels like she might float away. The more she talks to her family about it, the more her happiness grows. The only thing to do is…sing!

Told through music, dance, puppetry and traditional African storytelling, this theatrical story of self-discovery is adapted for the stage by director Mojisola Kareem from the book by Atinuke and Lauren Tobia. Suitable for children aged three upwards and their grown-ups. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Snake Davis: Making the saxophone talk at Helmsley and Pocklington

Snake at the double: Snake Davis, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm; Pocklington Arts Centre, Saturday, 8pm

THE choice is yours: Snake Davis solo, with his multitude of saxophones, in Helmsley on Friday, or Snake’s four-piece band – sax, guitar, bass and drums – in Pocklington on Saturday.

The first gig will be an informal acoustic evening of music and chat in two parts, showcasing his musical dexterity and the stories behind his work as a sax hired gun to the stars. The second night promises “something for everybody, from floaty to dance-able, from soul through pop to jazz and world, original material and classic sax pieces such as Baker Street and Night Train”. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk; Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Milton Jones: Not short of shirts for his Ha!Milton tour

Comedy gig of the week: Milton Jones, Ha!Milton, Grand Opera House, York, Saturday, 7.30pm

THIS is not a musical. Milton Jones is tone deaf and has no sense of rhythm, he admits, but at least he doesn’t make a song and dance about it. Instead, he has more important things to discuss. Things like giraffes…and there’s a bit about tomatoes.

The shock-haired, loud-shirted master of the one-liner promises a whole new show of daftness. “You know it makes sense,” he says. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Will Young: Showcasing Light It Up’s joyous pop at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Jamie Noise

Pop gig of the week: Will Young, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

MARKING the August 9 release of his Light It Up album, Will Young is embarking on his most intimate tour yet, an up-close-and-personal evening of acoustic performances, stories and conversation across 50 dates.

The ten tracks are a return to embracing joyous unashamed pop music for Young, who has teamed up with new collaborators pHD, the Scandinavian pop production/writing duo with Kylie and Little Mix credits, as well as reuniting with Groove Armada’s Andy Cato and long-term writing partners Jim and Mima Elliot, for “the go-to pop album for a dance, for a cry and for a celebration”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Beauty Of Being Herd: Ruth Berkoff’s debut show is “for anyone who’s ever found it hard to fit in”

Sheep and cheerful:  Ruth Berkoff: The Beauty Of Being Herd, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 12, and Terrington Village Hall, near Malton, September 28, both 7.30pm

HAVE you ever felt like an outsider? Hannah has. Her solution? She has decided to live as a sheep. “But don’t worry, she’s thought it all through. She’s even got a raincoat. And she’d love to tell you all about it at her Big Goodbye Party. Everyone is invited,” says Leeds writer-performer Ruth Berkoff, introducing her hour of comedy, original songs, heartfelt sharing and even a rave.

“Whether you’re shy, neurodivergent, have accidentally put your foot in it or simply had to spend time with people that weren’t ‘your people’, this is a show for anyone who’s ever found it hard to fit in.” Box office: York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Terrington, terringtonvillagehall.co.uk.

Scarborough Crab: Jason Wilsher-Mills’s inflatable psychedlic crab installation at Woodend Gallery, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Exhibition launch of the week: Jason Wilsher-Mills: Jason Beside The Sea, Woodend Gallery, The Crescent, Scarborough, September 14 to January 4 2025, Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm; Saturdays, 10am to 4pm

LOOK out for a giant inflatable installation of a psychedelic crab and colourful digital wallpaper featuring a pair of lovers inspired by Scarborough’s Peasholm Park in Jason Wilsher-Mills’s larger-than-life exhibition, a colourful explosion of artwork characters that reveals the stories of his memories of childhood seaside holidays, 1970s’ working-class experience and disability.

Scarborough Triptych, a three-panel wallpaper of argonaut characters, includes the Manchester Argonaut, inspired by Joy Division singer Ian Curtis. Wilsher-Mills, a Yorkshire-based disabled artist, will give a gallery talk on October 12. Gallery entry is free.

Setting up camp: Julian Clary is bringing his western-themed stand-up show A Fistful Of Clary to Harrogate and York

Gig announcement of the week: Julian Clary, A Fistful Of Clary, Harrogate Theatre, May 2 2025, 7.30pm; Grand Opera House, York, May 25 2025, 7.30pm

JULIAN Clary is extending his A Fistful Of Clary stand-up tour to next spring. “Oh no, do I have to do this?” he asks. “Rylan and I were going to go back-packing in Wales. Sigh.”

Yee-haw, The Man With No Shame is adding 28 dates, Harrogate and York among them. “Yes, it has a Western theme,” Clary confirms, setting up camp for his comedy. “It was only a matter of time before I eased myself into some chaps.” Box office: Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk; York, atgtickets.com/york.

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Harpist Lucinda Taylor to play at Dementia Friendly Tea Concert at St Chad’s Church

Harpist Lucinda Taylor

NORTH Yorkshire harpist Lucinda Taylor will play a varied selection of classical music at September 19’s Dementia Friendly Tea Concert at St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, at 2.30pm.

As usual, 45 minutes of music will be followed by tea and homemade cakes in the church hall. “The event is a relaxed concert, ideal for people who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, so we do not mind if the audience wants to talk or move about,” says co-organiser Alison Gammon.

“Seating is unreserved and there is no admission charge although donations are welcome. We give the hire cost to the church and the rest goes to Alzheimer’s charities.”

The church has a small car park; further parking can be found on Campleshon Road, but please allow plenty of time to find a space. Wheelchair access is via the church hall.

Musicians are confirmed for the remaining 2024 concerts: October 17, Billy Marshall, French horn, and Robert Gammon, piano; November 21, Giocoso Wind Ensemble; December 12, Ripon Resound Choir. All will start at 2.30pm.

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RIP Jeremy Muldowney, York performer, director, playwright, prop maker, teacher, linguist, church warden and sailor

Actor Jeremy Muldowney, with Her Majesty’s The Queen’s raven, Gabriel, when playing Noah in The Noah Project in 2012. Picture: Copyright of The Press, York

THE funeral of York Shakespeare Project founding member and stalwart Jeremy Muldowney will be held at Holy Trinity, East Parade, Heworth, York, tomorrow at 2pm.

In a Facebook statement announcing his death aged 70 on August 3, YSP’s committee said: “Jeremy was a great supporter of YSP and took part in Richard III in 2002 – our very first show – as well as eight further productions, including King John in 2006, which he directed.

“Many will also remember him as the first port of call for any prop, no matter how exotic or obscure. This was a role he first filled as early as our second play, The Taming Of The Shrew, in 2003. He returned to the committee in 2022 to help shape the new Project. A lovely man, much missed.”

Theatre@41, Monkgate, posted: “Having been part of York Shakespeare Project from its first ever production – Richard III in 2002 – to the beginning of its second act with a new production of Richard III in 2023, Jeremy embodied so much of what community theatre is about, pitching in all sorts of roles on stage and off, and finding creative ways to bring plays to life – no matter the setting or budget.

“At Theatre@41 particularly, he was involved as cast and crew on YSP’s productions of The Merchant Of Venice, Richard II, Troilus And Cressida and Julius Caesar. Our thoughts are with Jeremy’s family and friends.”

York Shakespeare Project actor and lawyer Clive Lyons commented on Facebook: “I can’t adequately express my sense of shock and loss – Jeremy was a friend, a teacher and a perfect gentleman.

“Though almost pathologically ‘nice’, he was never bland, and he wore his great learning so very lightly. Though his wisdom could be profound, in my own first YSP production, Merry Wives Of Windsor, he was Shallow. And infinitely kind, helpful and welcoming as I returned to acting in a new town among strangers after many years’ gap.

“At one rehearsal, I accidentally clobbered him in a staged fight. I was mortified – but Jeremy’s only, immediate and overwhelming concern was to reassure me.

“The more recent YSP Richard III #2, could be rather fraught backstage at times – but Jeremy’s calm, competent, good-humoured and reassuring presence in the wings just somehow made it all OK. In every best sense of the word, Jeremy Muldowney was a gentleman. And ‘was’ feels incomprehensible.”

Jeremy’s roles for York Shakespeare Project included Ratcliffe in Richard III, Prince Escalus in Romeo And Juliet, a Messenger in King John, Tubal in The Merchant Of Venice, Cicero and a Poet in Julius Caesar and Richard Scroop, Archbishop of York, in Henry IV.

In December 2006, he directed what Kenneth McLeish and Stephen Unwin’s A Pocket Guide To Shakespeare’s Plays described as “something of the runt in the litter of Shakespeare’s plays on English history”, King John, at Friargate Theatre.

The York Press review commented: “Director Jeremy Muldowney most certainly did not have such an attitude [to the play]. What others saw as unappealing as a fat chav’s tattoo, he viewed as the perfect opportunity for his debut Shakespeare show.

“Here were virgin fields to explore, and explore them he does within an idiosyncratic production where the most unlikely stage footwear, the docile slipper, is adapted for medieval, even militaristic purposes and swords have the look of toys from the children’s playpen.

“King John is not a tragedy – the king never rises before the self-inflicted fall – and so it has to fight its corner as a black political satire on the ineptitude of a regal buffoon. Rightly, Muldowney and his lead actor, Pulak Sahay, do not play for farcical laughs.”

In August 2012, Jeremy appeared in York company HidDen Theatre’s production of The Noah Project under the direction of Charles Hunt, York ghost walker, foreign student tutor and Mystery Plays enthusiast.

“Jeremy had the unique challenge of working with Her Majesty’s raven, Gabriel, and several doves in his role as Noah, and he did so admirably!” recalls HidDen’s tribute.

“Our big coup de theatre is a real raven and real doves,” said Mr Hunt at the time. “The raven is Her Majesty The Queen’s raven, Gabriel, from the Tower Of London, who now lives at Knaresborough Castle, where they have their own ravens, and the doves come from Dovejoy in Batley, where they’ll fly back to. We couldn’t get a real one to fly back to the ark, so that’ll have to be a stuffed one.”

The role of Noah was apt: Jeremy was an experienced sailor with his own boat and once sailed to America on the Golden Hind.

Beyond his contributions to the York stage scene as a playwright, director, performer and prop maker – drawing on his collection of objects, weaponry, muskets and swords for YSP – he was a teacher and linguist too.

Jeremy, of Second Avenue, Heworth, served as church warden at Holy Trinity for 30 years and worked as the learning and participation officer for more than 20 years at the York Minster Centre for School Visits, the young person’s educational service, where he specialised in looking at medieval texts.

Jeremy’s funeral will be taken by Holy Trinity’s vicar, the Reverend Michael Woodmansey, and will be streamed at the request of his family at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Oslo1PFwT0. Donations in memory of Jeremy may be made to the R.N.L.I (Royal National Lifeboat Institution).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tenor Sean Ruane

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

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

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

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

Alf Wight, author James Herriot, after receiving his OBE

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

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

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

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

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on North York Moors Chamber Music Festival, La Belle Époque, Welburn Manor Marquee, August 20

Pianist Katya Apekisheva

IN evocation of La Belle Époque – roughly 1871 to 1914 – the festival focus turned to French composers. A Fauré song cycle followed Debussy’s late violin sonata, with a second half devoted to Chausson: an extended song and what amounts to a double concerto.

Debussy’s Violin Sonata in G minor dates from 1917, the year before he died, so falls technically outside the belle époque. Nevertheless, its nostalgia harks back to an earlier age, more in regret for the ravages of war than self-pity at his terminal illness.

In a piece where you never quite know where the composer is going next, Charlotte Scott’s violin and Katya Apekisheva’s piano were alive to the many moods of the opening Allegro vivo.

There was dizzying staccato and pizzicato in the dry intermezzo, carrying more than a hint of its origins in fantasy. Apekisheva contrived to be both intimate and expansive at the start of the finale, with Scott scouring the lower regions of her instrument before soaring majestically into the concluding Presto. They remained in close harness, however, and revelled in the fireworks at the finish.

Violinist Charlotte Scott. Picture: Matthew Johnson

It is good that this festival remembers that the voice, too, is an instrument and includes vocal music especially when accompanied by more than ‘just’ a piano. Fauré was not the only composer to sense that extra instruments often suited the voice, and he expanded his 1892 song-cycle La Bonne Chanson by adding a string quintet (including double bass) six years later.

Conditions were particularly gusty for this recital. Even though mezzo-soprano Anna Huntley battled bravely, her words were not always easy to discern against the flapping of the tent. It became necessary to treat her voice as just another instrument in a septet – at which point the music became thoroughly satisfying.

Behind Verlaine’s nine poems lie strong undercurrents of romantic love, which suited Fauré’s affaire with Emma Bardac (who was to become Debussy’s wife). Huntley did her very best to explore the many facets of emotional entanglement, from early stirrings to full-blown ecstasy, reserving glorious full tone, for example, for ‘Ô Bien Aimée’ (O My Beloved) but toning it down for a confident C’est l’heure Exquise’ (Exquisite Hour).

The strings masterfully reflected the ebb and flow of excitement, not least in tremolo associated with a whirring flock of quails. Daniel Lebhardt’s piano carried the burden of the argument with subtlety and the instrumental postlude spoke of ultimate contentment, whatever the season.

Mezzo-soprano Anna Huntley: “Battled bravely with the gusty conditions”. Picture: Kaupo Kikkas

The wind had abated during the interval, when Huntley returned with Chausson’s Chanson Perpétuelle, this time with piano quintet in support. She brought fuller tone to Charles Cros’s picture of a woman abandoned in love and with it greater intensity, helped by individual instruments acting as her alter ego. Apekisheva’s agitated piano completed a well-rounded portrait.

Chausson’s Concert, Op 21 is a concertante piece for violin and piano (to all intents a concerto, here with Alena Baeva and Vadym Kholodenko respectively), with accompaniment from a string quartet rather than a full orchestra.

A bold duo-cadenza was the highlight of the portentous opening movement, followed by a pensive Sicilienne that threatened to wind up into a full-blown allegro but never quite managed it.

After a darkly elegiac Grave, which came to an anguished climax, all six players were asked to stretch themselves to the limit in the finale’s variation form. Marked ‘trés animé’, its thrills were much enhanced by the tautness of the ensemble. The soloists had previously predominated, but here they were subsumed into a glorious tutti.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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Miles And The Chain Gang take darker direction on cover of Griff’s Black Hole and confirm Food and Drink Festival gig

Miles And The Chain Gang: “It’s a lot more guitar orientated than the original”

YORK band Miles And The Chain Gang release a cover of Griff’s 2021 hit, Black Hole, as their eighth standalone track on September 6.

“I loved the song,” says band leader Miles Salter. “I thought it was one of the best pop songs of the last few years. It absolutely epitomised the sensation of heartbreak and loss at the end of a relationship.

“I wanted to see what we could do with it. I wanted to do a guitar band version. We changed one or two things – our version is slightly quicker, it’s a lot more guitar orientated than the original. I really like what we’ve done with it.”

Miles continues: “It’s nice to do something different. It’s a little darker than the other songs we’ve released, and Griff is not an act you’d associate with guitar bands.

“I’ve discovered music via having a teenage daughter. She’s introduced me to various things in the last four years. She’s very aware of female singer-songwriters. We’ve been to see gigs by Olivia Rodrigo, Caity Baser and Olivia Dean. A lot of the best pop that’s been released recently has come from female solo acts, it seems to me.”

Miles And The Chain Gang have released eight songs in total, clocking up 24,000 Spotify streams and 60,000 video views on YouTube and other platforms. “We play gigs in Yorkshire and are working on our debut album,” says Miles. “It’s taken ages, but we’re nearly there.” 

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Miles is joined on the recording by Mat Watt (bass), Mothers stalwart Rob Wilson (guitar), Ava Hegarty (backing vocals) and renowned York musician Charlie Daykin (keyboards), as well as Anthony Thompson (trumpet) and Jonny Hooker (drums).

“Jonny produces our music at Young Thugs Studio, in York, and always works hard to get great results,” says Miles. “The video was made my animator, Jamie Scrutton, and the song is distributed digitally by Kycker Music, a Sheffield-based company. I’ve worked hard to build a team and it’s starting to pay off.” 

Miles And The Chain Gang play the York Food and Drink Festival, in the Parliament Street marquee, on Thursday, September 26 at 8pm. Entry is free. Watch the video for Black Hole at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYLCkbb1I2Y

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Dancing brothers AJ and Curtis Pritchard step out together for Come What May’s love affair with Moulin Rouge

In the red: Brothers AJ, right, and Curtis Pritchard team up for Come What May this autumn

AJ and Curtis Pritchard bring the sultry, mysterious atmosphere of Paris to York Barbican on September 29 on the 24-date of Come What May.

A cast of West End performers will join the terpsichorean Stoke-on-Trent brothers in a song-and-dance show inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama Moulin Rouge.

“Come What May is going to get myself and Curtis back on stage performing together and that’s exactly what we love doing,” says Strictly Come Dancing alumnus AJ, the elder sibling at 29.

“This show embodies the big musical numbers we have all come to love with the dance routines that I love to watch, but I much prefer being on stage, which is exactly where I’ll be.”

2019 Love Island contestant, Dancing With The Stars dancer, choreographer and actor Curtis, 28, enthuses: “I’ve loved performing and entertaining an audience since my Ballroom and Latin dancing days, so this is the perfect tour for me: singing and dancing!”

“We’re ‘Irish twins’! Born 15 months apart. Everything done together,” says AJ Pritchard

Ahead of rehearsals starting in London on Sunday, he adds: “Having gone through the full show I know that you will be entertained start to finish. Come What May is going to blow you away, I guarantee it.”

In the week when sibling rivalry has been all the rage with the feuding Gallagher brothers announcing “the guns have fallen silent. The stars have aligned” for the return of Oasis next summer, how do the Pritchard brothers rub along?

“To be honest, Curtis and myself always perform together, having been brought up together,” says AJ. “We’re ‘Irish twins’! Born 15 months apart. Everything done together.

“When we’re performing, Curtis is more like controlled chaos, milking a number for two hours, whereas I’ll be saying, ‘Come on, we have to go on to the next number’, and that contrast works really well because we can play to each other’s strengths.

“Myself and Curtis competed all over the world, both training to the highest levels in Latin and ballroom, representing our country. We’ve always had a competitive relationship, doing extreme, high-adrenaline sports, and also to get the best audience reaction.

“We’ve always got each other’s back,” says Curtis Pritchard. “When working, be as competitive as you like, but when you are out and about, look after each other”

“Anything fun and dangerous we like to do, both of us breaking our arms. Curtis once broke his arm and leg at the same time.”

Curtis chips in: “We’ve always got each other’s back. When working, be as competitive as you like, but when you are out and about, look after each other.”

The brothers look forward to being on the road, away from the prying lens of the television camera that has charted their deeds, whether on Strictly or  Love Island, Celebrity SAS or Dancing With The Stars.

“Doing a show like this with a different audience every night, you can always tweak things, and every night it should be slightly different,” says Curtis. “I love performing on stage and the competitive side of that is so stimulating…feeding off the adrenaline of a live audience.

“Though they say, ‘never break the fourth wall’, let’s be honest: you can break that wall if the audience gives you something.”

The tour poster for Come What May, featuring AJ and Curtis Pritchard

The spirit of Moulin Rouge, a Luhrmann film the brothers love for its dancing and costumes, will be evoked in Come What May, capturing  the “sexy and disreputable underbelly of the city to the glamour and glitz of the Moulin Rouge, where you’ll be transported back in time to a place of dreams, adventure, and most importantly, love”.

Expect such songs as Come What May, Lady Marmalde, Your Song and Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend from the film soundtrack, together with hits from other modern movie musicals, such as The Greatest Show, Like A Virgin and The Show Must Go On.

“I will not be singing,” says AJ, “It’s not my forte! But we’ve got a fantastic band and singers. Fundamentally, Curtis and I will do what you see on the big numbers on Strictly.”

Now come the rehearsals and the tour run from September 20 to October 24, with the need to stay in tip-top condition. “If you have the best technique and really high-quality dancers, with lifts or without lifts, if you’re physically and mentally fit, the injuries don’t come,” says AJ. “You always have to be fit and ready”…come what may!

 Sisco Entertainment, Cuffe & Taylor and Live Nation present AJ and Curtis Pritchard in Come What May, York Barbican, September 29, 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk. Also: Sheffield City Hall, September 26, 7.30pm. Box office: sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.