Scritti Politti’s poster for next year’s 35th anniversary celebration of Cupid & Psyche (albeit in its 36th year)
SCRITTI Politti are to commemorate the 35th anniversary of Cupid & Psyche 85 by performing the gilded album in its entirety for the very first time next autumn.
Among the nine dates will be September 28 2021 at the City Varieties Music Hall in Leeds, the city where Welshman Green Gartside first formed his agit-pop band in 1977 while studying at Leeds Polytechnic. Tickets will go on sale at 10am on Friday (4/12/2020) at aegpresents.co.uk/events.
Released on June 10 1985, the immaculate, technologically complex Cupid & Psyche is described today by Gartside, 65, as “pyrotechnics of pointillist syncopation”.
Overseen by legendary Turkish-American producer Arif Mardin (1932-2006) and featuring myriad New York session musicians, the album spawned five singles, all hits on one side of the Atlantic or the other: Wood Beez, The Word Girl, Absolute, Perfect Way and Hypnotize.
After witnessing a show by The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Damned and The Heartbreakers in 1976, Green Gartside – real name Paul Julian Strohmeyer – felt as if he had been “given permission” to form a band.
Scritti Politti gradually took shape as a squat-dwelling Camden collective who produced what Cardiff-born Gartside called “scratchy-collapsy” music, all tumbling drums, tinny guitars and breathless vocals.
After releasing a clutch of singles and EPs, most notably The Sweetest Girl, later covered by Madness, Scritti underwent a tectonic shift, inspired by black American R&B pop of the early 1980s. “Just fantastic, liberating music…a sort of epiphany,” Gartside recalls.
Geoff Travis, at Rough Trade, introduced him to keyboard wizard David Gamson and drummer Fred Maher, whereupon this new configuration of Scritti began work on what would become Cupid & Psyche 85.
“The Scritti of Fred, David and I never did play live,” says Gartside. “We had a tour lined up and we kinda reluctantly went into a rehearsal place somewhere in Manhattan to figure out how the **** this album could be played. If I recall correctly, it became apparent immediately that we couldn’t reproduce the sound. The project was abandoned.”
Now, however, that project has been revitalised by the new-variant Scritti Politti, featuring Robert Smoughton, Rhodri Marsden and Dicky Moore, who have played alongside Gartside for the past decade.
Next autumn’s shows will complement Cupid & Psyche 85 with material from across Scritti Politti’s history, taking in 1987’s Provision, 1999’s Anomie And Bonhomie and 2006’s Mercury Prize-nominated White Bread Black Beer.
EXPLORE York libraries, archives and reading cafés will re-open for browsing and drop-ins from this week post-Lockdown 2.
The reading cafés at Hungate and Rowntree Park will resume eating-in and takeaway service from today (2/12/2020). On Friday (4/12/2020), all libraries will re-open for drop-ins, browsing and computer and printer use.
The Archives at York Explore will be open for pre-booked appointments from Friday; reading cafés at York Explore, Acomb and Tang Hall will open from that day too.
Hare today, back tomorrow, when Gerard Hobson Printmaker, in Lord Mayor’s Walk, York will reopen
AFTER opening his new shop for one day only before Lockdown 2 clocked on, York wildlife artist Gerard Hobson is looking forward to re-opening for rather longer from tomorrow (2/12/2020).
Gerard Hobson Printmaker had taken up residence in the old Bulmers building just beyond the corner where Monk Bar turns into Lord Mayor’s Walk, but he was rudely interrupted by Lockdown’s killjoy claw tapping on his shoulder.
The lights illuminating his lampshades have remained on, however: a window-shopping beacon to the boxing hares in this former zoologist’s beautifully decorated window display and the walls beyond with their abundant bursts of wildlife and fauna in myriad forms: prints; cut-outs; mugs; tea towels; cushions; cards and more.
“Now I’m looking at opening from 10.30am to 4pm, Wednesdays through to Saturdays (closed Mondays, Tuesdays and Sundays), with late-night opening until 7.30pm on Thursdays,” says linocut artist Gerard. “If things get really busy, I might open on Mondays and Tuesdays in the run-up to Christmas.”
Online sales and a click-and-collect service on Saturdays have been the order of the day in Lockdown 2. “I’ve been very busy with online orders, which has been great but requires quite a lot of organisational skills, so I’m very much looking forward to meeting people face to face and them buying in-store,” says Gerard, whose Clifton home studio will feature once again in York Open Studios next spring.
“Everything for sale in the new shop has my designs on it. Limited-edition hand-coloured prints; bird, animal, tree and mushroom cut-outs; cards; mugs; cushions; coasters; chopping boards; lampshades; tea towels; notepads and wrapping paper.
“There are even some handmade candles made locally. I didn’t make them but I did the logo on the box. Something for everyone, I hope.”
A Very Magical Christmas: York’s new children’s attraction, running from December 2
A VERY Magical Christmas, York’s new children’s attraction, will “offer families an experience they have never seen before” from tomorrow (2/12/2020) to January 5.
Prepare for a live interactive theatrical quest, magical spell-casting and a fun, festive afternoon tea with special effects that promise to knock your socks off!
A Very Magical Christmas will embrace the season of magic and excitement on an adventurous journey through the spirit of Christmas with spells and sparkle at every turn, and even a visit from old St Nicholas himself, where you can give your Christmas wish to his elves and hear tales of yore.
The quest will begin at St Michael le Belfrey, where you will meet your guide, the Potions Professor from Old Jacob’s School of Magic. The guide will take you through the city to teach you how to cast spells and find clues that will lead you to the secret location of the wizard school. You can be sure to bump into more characters along the way to help you in your quest.
Once you have located the school, set in a magically medieval building hidden among the cobbled streets of York, be prepared for a magical potions lesson before you tuck into your feast. The two-hour experience will conclude with an eccentrically magical afternoon tea.
Daniel Wilmot’s Potions Professor from Old Jacob’s School of Magic
A Very Magical Christmas will be suitable for “children aged two to 99”, with dressing up being encouraged for children and adults alike.
A Very Magical Adventure was set up during the Coronavirus pandemic to offer families a fun and interactive experience – at a Covid-compliant social distance – that allows children and adults the opportunity to escape the woes of 2020.
“It has been a difficult year for everyone, but within our magical adventure, we want to create a safe, family-friendly event that enables children to escape and fully immerse themselves in our story,” say the hosts.
The stories of A Very Magical Adventure pay homage to a boy called Frank, who passed away in February 2019, aged 14, nearly three years after he was diagnosed with Ewing Sarcoma, a form of bone cancer.
Magical adventure: The Potions Professor on the streets of York
“As Frank did, we want to find the light through the dark times, and offer an experience which brings joy and playfulness to all who attend, while supporting causes close to our heart,” say the adventure hosts.
“We hope, in doing so, we drive awareness to causes like Frank’s Fund while providing joy and entertainment through the winter season and more. A Very Magical Adventure, at its core, wants to create magical children’s experiences, while driving funds and awareness to children’s causes.”
Tickets start at £16.95; you can pre-book a place for a £3.20 deposit at averymagicaladventure.co.uk and receive a free Frank’s Fund wristband.
Another Night, Another Town, another live album from Shed Seven: their fifth but first since re-forming as a five-piece in 2007
SHED Seven’s release date for their live album Another Night, Another Town is being put back by a fortnight…and Covid-19 is to blame.
“We haven’t been able to do the signing for the signed copies,” explains lead singer Rick Witter. “But everything will now be ready for December 18.”
Specially curated by the York Britpop luminaries and available exclusively through the Sheds’ store, Another Night, Another Town “captures their dynamic live performances and anthemic songs over 21 tracks”.
As trailed on the shedseven.com website, Sheds’ followers can pick up a limited-edition coloured gatefold vinyl edition, a special double CD set, a 180g heavyweight triple vinyl version and a download, plus a selection of new merchandise.
Pre-ordering signed copies has come with the enticement of downloads of album opener Room In My House and Ocean Pie.
“We’re delighted with the results, which we think are as close as we can get to capturing the Shed Seven live experience on record,” says frontman Rick Witter of the Another Night, Another Town recordings
“A few words” from frontman Rick Witter accompanied the album announcement: “When it became clear virtually no live events would be taking place this year and with no Shedcember [December tour] to look forward to, we thought it was a good time to go through recordings from our 2019 [Shedcember] tour and 2018 Castlefield Bowl show [in Manchester] to curate the best live album we could.
“From 10,000 people singing along to Chasing Rainbows at Leeds Arena to playing the classic outro of I Am The Resurrection in the home of the Stone Roses, this 21-track album features the best from our live shows over the last couple of years.”
The live album has been mixed by Chris Sheldon, who produced the Sheds’ 1996 album A Maximum High and 1999 single Disco Down (whose lyrics have been raided for the ‘Another Night, Another Town’ title).
“We’re delighted with the results, which we think are as close as we can get to capturing the Shed Seven live experience on record,” continues Rick, 48. “We haven’t released a live album since we returned as a five-piece in 2007 and we certainly haven’t released one as good as this!
The poster for Shed Seven’s all-Yorkshire bill for The Piece Hall, Halifax, now rearranged for next summer
“We hope this album provides just a little bit of the live experience we’re all missing before we return in 2021.”
Another Night, Another Town will be Shed Seven’s fifth “live” album after Where Have You Been Tonight? Live, in 2003; Live At The BBC, in 2007; See Youse At The Barras: Live In Concert, 2009, and Live At Leeds 2007, digital download only, in 2009.
The track listing will be: Room In My House; Mark; Where Have You Been Tonight?; People Will Talk; Devil In Your Shoes; Butterfly On A Wheel; She Left Me On Friday/I Am The Resurrection; Better Days; On Standby; It’s Not Easy; Getting Better; Enemies And Friends; Ocean Pie; Dolphin; High Hopes; Disco Down; Bully Boy; Going For Gold; Parallel Lines; Invincible and Chasing Rainbows.
Meanwhile, after a frustrating year of Covid-cancelled gigs, Shed Seven’s diary for outdoor engagements in 2021 is taking shape: Don 21 Music Live, Doncaster Racecourse, May 15; Neighbourhood Festival, London, May 29; Isle of Wight Festival, Newport, June 18; The Piece Hall, Halifax, June 26; Corbridge Festival, July 3; Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Beaufort, July 31, and Watchet Music Festival, Somerset, August 29.
Samantha, by Karen Winship, one of 300 paintings of essential workers selected for Tom Croft’s book, Portraits For NHS Heroes, to raise funds for NHS charities. Creases on Samantha’s face come from wearing a PPE mask
YORK artist Karen Winship’s ever-expanding portrait tribute to the tireless and selfless work of NHS workers during the Covid-19 pandemic is on show in Pocklington until January 4 2021.
Eleven of Karen’s front-line NHS Heroes were first shown at York Art Gallery in the Our Heroes Welcome thank-you to essential workers from August 1 when Lockdown 1 eased.
Thirteen more made their debut at City Screen, York, in August, where the exhibition included a montage of all 24. “It will be gifted to York Hospital eventually,” says Karen, whose self-portrait of herself painting one of the NHS Heroes completes the collection.
Now the 24 portraits are lined up side by side on the railings to the front of All Saints Church, on The Pavement, Pocklington, this time printed on biodegradable boards for outdoor display at a bigger size than the originals, 60 by 60cms, rather than 30 by 40 or 30 by 30.
The Reverend Dr Jacob Belder, of All Saints Church, Pocklington, artist Karen Winship and Janet Farmer, director of Pocklington Arts Centre
“Originally what was supposed to happen was that I had a small window before sending the originals to the NHS workers I’d portrayed from photographs sent to me,” says Karen.
“I was thinking it would all be over by Christmas and was planning to deliver the paintings, but then none of that could happen, and so they were going to go on show at Pocklington Arts Centre instead, but that couldn’t happen either.”
Whereupon Pocklington Arts Centre (PAC) teamed up with the church known locally as “the Cathedral of the Wolds” to mount the outdoor exhibition as part of the arts centre’s increased commitment to community outreach work after its temporary Covid-enforced closure since March.
PAC had forged links previously with All Saints Church to stage concerts there by the likes of BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards winners Lau and The Unthanks. “We are delighted to be working with Karen and All Saints Church on this exhibition,” says director Janet Farmer.
Amanda, by Karen Winship. Note the masked Batman insignia above her visor
“During the past six months, we’ve been increasing PAC’s community outreach work and accessibility to events while the venue is closed, so an outdoor exhibition was a natural extension to this policy.
“Karen has produced a wonderful series of images that are both poignant and emotive. This is the first of several outdoor events we’ve planned for winter and spring, as we look to evolve our programme due to the pandemic and social distancing.”
Karen, artist and educator, had begun her career as a graphic designer, later gaining a teaching degree and subsequently working for 15 years at a maximum-security prison as head of art.
Embarking on her journey as a professional artist in 2012, she is “living the dream” in her words, not least as a community-minded artist who enjoys “giving back” through her involvement in community art projects.
Reaching Out Of Isolation: Karen Winship’s self-portrait to accompany her series of paintings of NHS Heroes in Covid-19 2020
NHS Heroes is her latest public-spirited endeavour, this one inspired by Tom Croft’s #portraitsfornhsheroes project for artists to complete a free portrait in appreciation of the NHS for gifting to the worker depicted.
“There was a shout-out on Facebook across the country from Tom Croft, calling for artists to take part, and I was inundated with ten requests. Then I appeared on Look North and got even more. They’re still coming. I keep getting requests,” says Karen.
“Tom Croft has now put together a book of 300 of the portraits, including one of mine, the one of Samantha, when she hasn’t got a mask on but you can see all the creases on her face from the mask.
“Portraits For NHS Heroes is available in hardback on Amazon with all proceeds going to NHS charities.”
Karen Winship’s painting of her daughter Kelly, NHS occupational therapist. “I even had to do her portrait from photographs”
Among Karen’s portraits is one of her daughter, Kelly, who works for the NHS as an occupational therapist, bringing home the challenges faced by frontline workers in the pandemic. “I even had to do her portrait from photographs,” says Karen, to whom most of her subjects were unknown.
“They were a few people I know from York, but the photographs came from all over. Newcastle, Northern Ireland, Scotland. At first, I thought it might be difficult to work just from a photo, because I’m used to doing portraits from people sitting for me, but because these photographs were taken as they were working, looking into their eyes, you can see the trauma, the sadness, the exhaustion.
“Normally, you can see a sitter’s mouth, but invariably in these photographs the mouth had to be covered with a mask, so the eyes become even more important.”
Karen’s portraits were first “exhibited” informally. “My neighbours in my cul-de-sac [St Thomas Close in Osbaldwick] put them in their windows,” she recalls. “People even came from Beverley and Newcastle to walk down the street, and one told me their back story…and you then carry those stories with you.”
Eileen And Her Lovely Friends, by Karen Winship
She found creating the NHS Heroes portraits “so intense”, she eventually had to stop. “I tend to work quickly because I like spontaneity,” says Karen. “Normally with portraits, I work from one sitting and then photos, but what was different with these portraits was that I was totally absorbed just in painting. Normally, we would be chatting at a sitting.
“I was exhausted, doing one after another from photographs. I just kept going until they were done. Afterwards, I immediately went on to do something that was colourful: a couple of autumn paintings, still lifes. I had to do something that was completely contrasting.
“And I’ve also been lucky that since the NHS project, I’ve had various commissions as I’ve had to cut back on my teaching during the lockdowns.”
Gloved up: Joan, by Karen Winship
In her artwork, Karen tends to go from “intense” projects to lighter work. “Last year I completed a series of paintings on the theme of dementia, shown at Spark:York, which was very cathartic for me to do as my mother had died from dementia,” she says. “Again, I had to do contrasting work after that.”
Karen’s latest paintings, post-NHS Heroes, will go on show from December 4 at Created In York, the new pop-up exhibition space in Coney Street, York, set up by Phil Dodsworth’s Blank Canvas programme for the arts charity Skippko in the former Dorothy Perkins/Burtons store, leased from the Helmsley Group.
“There’ll be eight artists on the ground floor, four on the bottom floor, not just 2D artists, but printmakers, ceramicists, photographers and jewellery designers too,” says Karen. “I’ll be there initially for two months, and the location is almost guaranteed for a year at least.”
York artist Karen Winship: Look out for her latest paintings in the new pop-up exhibition space run by Skippko in the former Dorothy Perkins/Burtons store in Coney Street
The Stephen Joseph Theatre’s artwork for the Christmas Selection Box film season
THE Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, will unwrap a Christmas Selection Box of festive screen favourites from December 15 to 24.
The mini-festival of films and show recordings for all ages will feature the Royal Opera House’s The Nutcracker; It’s A Wonderful Life; Die Hard; Love Actually; Home Alone and The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Presented on the McCarthy screen at the former Odeon cinema, the screenings will be OC (open captioned), where stated.
The Christmas Selection Box comprises:
The Royal Opera House’s 2016 production of The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker, Royal Opera House, recorded in 2016, December 15, 6.30pm; December 17, 1.30pm
PETER Wright’s interpretation of The Nutcracker has been enchanting children and adults alike since its first performance by the Royal Ballet in 1984.
Filmed in 2016, this charming and magical production of Lev Ivanov’s 1892 ballet, combined with Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous, iconic score, are presented in a festive period setting with vivid designs.
James Stewart and Donna Reed in It’s A Wonderful Life
It’s A Wonderful Life (1946), December 16, 6.30pm, and December 18, 1.30pm
JAMES Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore and Henry Travers, as Clarence the angel, star in Frank Capra’s classic festive fantasy, considered by many to be the greatest Christmas film ever.
Bruce Willis lighting up Die Hard
Die Hard (1988), December 17 at 6.30pm; December 18 at 6.30pm; December 19 at 1.30pm (OC)
JOHN McTiernan’s action thriller is the ultimate “Is it or isn’t it a Christmas movie?”. Definitely it transformed Alan Rickman from a British stage actor into a top-notch international screen villain, starring alongside Bruce Willis, Alexander Godunov and Bonnie Bedelia in a wild romp around Los Angeles’s Nakatomi Plaza on Christmas Eve.
Bill Nighy in Love Actually
Love Actually (2003), December 19, 6.30pm; December 21, 6.30pm
THERE are stellar casts…and there are stellar casts. Love Actually finds room for Bill Nighy; Colin Firth; Liam Neeson; Emma Thompson; Martin Freeman; Joanna Page; Chiwetel Ejiofor…
…Hugh Grant; Martine McCutcheon; Andrew Lincoln; Nina Sosanya; Julia Davis, Alan Rickman and Adam Godley. Even Ant and Dec sneak in there.
Then accommodate cameos from Billy Bob Thornton, January Jones and Jeanne Moreau, and it must be one of the starriest movies ever.
Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone
Home Alone (1990), 30th anniversary screenings, December 21, 1.30pm; December 22, 6.30pm; December 23, 1.30pm
SCHITT’S Creek fans will enjoy seeing a young Catherine O’Hara as Kate, trying desperately to return home to her eight-year-old son Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), who has been left – yes – home alone and apparently at the mercy of two ruthless burglars, played by Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. Guess who comes out on top!
Michael Caine as Scrooge with Kermit and co in The Muppet Christmas Carol
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), December 22, 1.30pm; December 23, 6.30pm; December 24, 1.30pm
IT should not work, but it does: the Muppets’ take on the Dickens Christmas story sees Michael Caine’s Scrooge meet his match in Kermit and Robin the Frogs’ Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim, alongside all the familiar Muppet characters. It all adds up to the perfect introduction to a perennial favourite for younger members of the family.
Tickets can be booked at sjt.uk.com/whatson or on 01723 370541 (Tuesday to Saturday, 12 noon to 5pm, or to 8pm on days with live performances, for both phone calls and in-person bookings).
VILLAGE Gallery, in Colliergate, York, will reopen on Wednesday (2/12/2020), when Lockdown 2 ends, to present the first collective exhibition for York’s Westside Artists.
Running until January 23 2021, Immersed will showcase the work of Adele Karmazyn; Carolyn Coles; Donna Maria Taylor; Ealish Wilson; Fran Brammer; Jane Dignum; Jill Tattersall; Lucy McElroy; Marc Godfrey-Murphy; Richard Rhodes; Robin Grover-Jacques and Sharon McDonagh.
Cayton Bay, by Carolyn Coles
“2020 has been an extremely hard year everyone, not least of all for artists, with many exhibitions and events being cancelled,” says gallery owner and curator Simon Main.
“So, Village Gallery is delighted to announce that its next post-lockdown exhibition will feature a group of local artists in their first collective showing.
Beehives & Sunflowers, by Jane Dignum
“The ‘Westside Artists’ is a small group of artists based around Holgate in York, who work in varied disciplines, such as painting, photomontage, print making, collage textile art, pottery and mixed media, and in varied subjects, from landscapes and seascapes to portraiture and abstract.”
Village Gallery’s opening hours are 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday, with Covid-secure social distancing measures in place.
Moon jars, by Richard Rhodes
“This exhibition is opening in time for everyone to find a truly unique Christmas gift while supporting local artists,” says Simon.
“Aside from its regularly changing art exhibitions, Village Gallery is York’s official stockist of Lalique glass and crystal, and additionally sells art, jewellery, ceramics, glass and sculpture, much of it the work of local artists.”
Palisander: Dynamic young recorder quartet will be performing the competing composers’ works on award day at the 2021 NCEM Young Composers Award in York
THE call-out for entries for the 2021 NCEM Young Composers Award in York is under way.
Launched on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show today, the annual competition invites composers aged 25 and under to write a new work for recorder quartet.
Each year, the award is presented by the National Centre for Early Music, at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, in association with BBC Radio 3, joined for the 2021 award by the vibrant young recorder quartet Palisander.
This major national award is open to young composers resident in the UK and is divided into two categories: 18 years and under and 19 to 25 years.
Composers are asked to create a new work for recorder quartet based on any dance form from across all eras and cultures, from the bransle and the galliard to the Charleston and the tango.
The work may be a single movement rooted in a single dance form, a continuous movement that combines different dance forms, or a suite made up of two, three or four short movements. The entire piece should last between three to four minutes.
Shortlisted composers will be invited to the award day at the NCEM on Thursday, May 13 2021 when the shortlisted compositions will be presented by Palisander in a workshop led by composer Christopher Fox. In the evening, Palisander’s Lydia Gosnell, Teresa Wrann, Miriam Monaghan and Caoimhe de Paor will perform each of the pieces for a panel of judges.
The two winning pieces, one from each age category, will be premiered by Palisander in a public performance at St John’s Smith Square, London, on May 20 2021 as part of the London Festival of Baroque Music and recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show.
“We can’t wait to hear what people come up with,” says NCEM director Delma Tomlin
NCEM director Delma Tomlin says: “We are delighted to introduce an exciting new element of dance into this year’s awards. This really helps us to open up the award, giving us the opportunity to work with an ever-broader community.
“Palisander are well versed in supporting school groups and emerging musicians and we are thrilled to work with such a dynamic young ensemble. We can’t wait to hear what people come up with!
“Shortlisted candidates will be able to enjoy an action-packed day of workshops in York with Palisander plus composer Christopher Fox. The winning compositions will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show, a feather in the cap of any young composer.”
Alan Davey, the Beeb’s controller of BBC Radio 3 and classical music, says: “Supporting young talent and promoting new music are both central to BBC Radio 3 and we are proud to continue our commitment to supporting the next generation of composers inspired by early music.”
Palisander, all alumni from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, are “very proud” to be partnering with the NCEM and Radio 3 for next year’s award. “Our programmes, though rooted in history, are not bound by it. Contemporary compositions, arrangements and performance presentation play a central role in our concerts, so we’re eager to hear the next generation’s take on one of our favoured genres: music to dance to!” say the London quartet.
“We look forward to introducing the young composers to our plethora of recorders of varying shapes and sizes, as well as the different timbres and extended techniques at their disposal. As passionate ambassadors of our instrument, we hope that the young composers will be as inspired as we are by the plentiful possibilities of the recorder family.”
The closing date for registration is Friday, February 19, 5pm; the deadline for submission of scores is Friday, March 19, 12 noon. Shortlisted candidates will be informed on Friday, April 9 and will be invited to attend the award day and workshops in York on May 13.
Terms and conditions and details of how to take part, including Palisander’s advice on composing for recorder quartet, can be found at: www.youngcomposersaward.co.uk/2021. Alternatively, email: info.composers@ncem.co.uk.
Christmas At Home with Palisander : York Early Music Christmas Festival launches an online weekend to complement the socially distanced concert programme at the NCEM. Palisander will play their part in both
PALISANDER will present Mischief & Merriment at the York Early Music Christmas Festival at the NCEM, Walmgate, York, on December 4 at 4.30pm and 7pm.
The recorder quartet of Lydia Gosnell, Miriam Monaghan, Caoimhe de Paor and Teresa Wrann will recall how Christmas was the highlight of the Tudor calendar when strict Advent fasting would be followed by 12 indulgent days of mischief and merriment.
These elaborate celebrations were presided over by the Lord of Misrule, who co-ordinated the Christmastide entertainments for the court. For their December 4 programme, Palisander will return to the NCEM to take on the role of Lords of Misrule, presenting festive songs and dances to keep toes tapping throughout December.
Traditional Renaissance settings of familiar carols will be paired with music to accompany the whopping 20-plus course Tudor Christmas dinner, complemented by Yuletide courtly dances and playful contemporary takes on the Lord of Misrule’s spectacles.
Palisander will showcase their full recorder family, from the six-inch garklein to the six-foot contrabass, plus everything in between, and among the featured composers will be Antony Holborne, John Dowland, Thoinot Arbeau and Michael Praetorius.
York Christmas At Home will present nine online concerts in three days from December 11 to 13. Palisander’s Mischief & Merriment will be streamed at 1pm on December 12 and will be available to view on demand until January 6 2021. Tickets are on sale at: https://tickets.ncem.co.uk/en-GB/shows/palisander%20online/events.
Tickets for the York Early Music Christmas Festival can be booked at ncem.co.uk. Hurry, hurry, is the advice
Alan Ayckbourn in his garden at his Scarborough home in May 2020. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
GHOST stories are as much a part of Christmas as pantomime dames.
What a delight, then, that Alan Ayckbourn is revisiting his 1994 play Haunting Julia in a brand-new audio recording that will feature the voice of the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s director emeritus.
Or, rather, the three voices of Ayckbourn, 81, who will be playing all three parts in the online version, available exclusively on the SJT website, sjt.uk.com, from December 1 to January 5.
Directed by Ayckbourn, the “comic but scary” Haunting Julia was recorded at his Scarborough home studio, where he and his wife, Heather Stoney, had made his first ever audio play, his 84th premiere Anno Domino, in the first lockdown.
Released by the SJT in May, Ayckbourn’s tale of marital breakdown and toxic politics drew a worldwide audience. “We enjoyed the experience,” says Alan. “I think it went pretty well and the response was good, very positive.
“Although we did jump in at the deep end a bit, as we hadn’t acted on stage for years, Heather even more so than me.
The Stephen Joseph Theatre poster for the 1994 premiere of Haunting Julia, described by Alan Ayckbourn as “a second Woman In Black”
“The only time I would act is when doing a new play and I would act it out at the first reading.”
After the Coronavirus pandemic put paid to this summer’s Ayckbourn’s stage premiere of Truth Will Out, he turned his attention to Anno Domino instead. “That kept my hand in, when the lockdown was announced and we thought, ‘what the hell are we going to do?’,” he recalls.
“My new play was kicked into touch, along with everything else, but then I got the taste for the audio play and we ended up rather enjoying it – though Heather has had enough after one play! So, I thought I’d do my only all-male play.”
Ayckbourn, who played characters ranging in age from teenage to septuagenarian in Anno Domino, will now take the parts of Julia’s father, Joe, her former boyfriend, Andy, and psychic Ken in Haunting Julia, wherein “other voices” – previously off stage – are provided by Naomi Petersen.
Haunting Julia is set 12 years after the suicide of musical prodigy Julia Lukin. Her father Joe, still struggling with her death, meets with her boyfriend and a psychic to seek out the truth, but some questions are better left unanswered.
“Over the years, I have always enjoyed creating off-stage characters almost as much as on-stage ones. They serve to provide, at their simplest, a depth and perspective to an overall stage picture,” says Alan.
“I consider Julia Lukin to be among the most complex and intriguing of my characters never physically to appear. Although a male three-hander, the play definitely belongs to her.”
The Stephen Joseph Theatre artwork for the 2020 audio version of Haunting Julia, performed and directed by Alan Ayckbourn
Haunting Julia was premiered at the SJT in its former home at Westwood in 1994 and its ghostly presence has haunted many theatres since then, not least in two revivals at the SJT.
“I started it as a response to the phenomenal success of The Woman In Black, the most successful play we ever did, thinking ‘oh, there’s gold in them thar hills’.”
Seven years would pass between the SJT premiere of Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s novella and Ayckbourn’s birth of Haunting Julia, his first ghost play, as he strove to settle on a distinctive, winning format.
“You have to build up the audience’s confidence in the story first, and then scare them, which is not that different from a farce, where you’re trying to make them laugh by surprising them,” he says.
“The first thing I discarded was the supernatural. Instead, I wanted to explore these three men, with the girl, Julia, being a very strong off-stage character, having an enormous influence on them.
“I became interested in writing a séance, where the three men see her from different angles, creating her as a hologram where the audience will know her better than the three men.
“It was an exploration that took me on another journey, rather than pursuing the P D James thriller style, but it still has a spooky element to it, though the aim was not to make people jump from horror shocks.”
Alan Ayckbourn with his cast for the 1994 premiere of Haunting Julia. Picture: Copyright of Scarborough News
Dealing with pressure became the driving force of the play. “I wanted to set up a story where the parents had a gifted child and the obvious gift you could give them was a musical talent,” says Alan.
“Children rarely write a novel at three or four, but they do create elemental music, so I wrote about an ordinary couple who gave birth, quite by chance, to a musical prodigy, and then show their bewilderment, yet pride, thinking ‘it’s not our music, we listen to pop music’, whereas she becomes a serious Radio 3 composer.
“Then, because of the mounting pressure that ends her life, it was fascinating for me to explore what that meant to the people left behind. Suicide is tragic and awful, but what about those people left, who ask ‘what did we do wrong?’. The questions they ask themselves are just as awful as the suicide itself.”
Analysing how being gifted, be it musical, sporting or whatever, can be isolating, even to the point of someone contemplating suicide, Alan says: “It’s always interesting reading about people you admire, and you read the section where they say they ‘got so depressed, they felt they were going nowhere’.
“You think, ‘why did they lose confidence in their special gift?’. On the other hand, is it something they don’t quite understand or treat in the way they should? I don’t think I solved that question.”
As with Anno Domino, Alan faced the prospect of recording differing, distinguishable voices for the audio play. “Joe is much older than the other two, and they are all well-defined,” he says. “Joe is a bluff, successful northern businessman; Andy was a contemporary of Julia, being her boyfriend, and his accent is more southern RP [Received Pronunciation].
“Ken, I had to find another voice for, and he comes into my stock range of little men that started with Sidney Hopcroft [a small-time tradesman] in Absurd Person Singular in 1972, so I’ve given Ken my own native Cockney.”
The Stephen Joseph Theatre’s 1999 revival of Haunting Julia
The age range “wasn’t that challenging,” reveals Alan. “I would do Joe in the morning, when my voice was rougher, and Joe and Ken in the afternoon.”
Important to the recording too is Ayckbourn’s prowess with soundscapes, or “sound effects as they used to be called”. “When I do a new play, I always do the soundscapes,” says Alan, who honed his skills when working for five years at the BBC Sound Studios in Leeds.
“For years, back in the Sixties, I was dubbing stuff on reel-to-reel recordings, tapes, then mini-discs. Now it’s all computers and it’s become increasingly sophisticated, where I can mix in all sorts of effects.
“When doing a production at the SJT, the main scenic elements, apart from the set, are sound and lighting, so the soundscapes can be even more crucial to an audio play – though Haunting Julia doesn’t call for huge soundscapes, except at the end.” You will have to listen to find out what that ending involves.
Rather than recording a new work, Alan settled on exhuming Haunting Julia for the SJT’s winter season. “I could see a time-frame, once I’d finished Anno Domino, that if we started another recording, we wouldn’t be finished much before autumn, which would be good for the Christmas programme, and Paul [artistic director Paul Robinson] jumped at it,” he says.
“With the second lockdown now happening, thankfully we got it in the can in good time. It’s opportune timing for a ghost story; I don’t think I could have launched it on Midsummer’s Day, but now, with the light drawing in for winter, if you’re going to tell a story around a fire, then a ghost story is ideal.”
Alan Ayckbourn and his wife, actress Heather Stoney, in their garden in the spring when they recorded his debut audio play, Anno Domino. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
At 81, prolific writer-director Alan is at an age where the greatest care must be taken in the face of Covid-19; likewise, Heather has turned 80.
“I’m still optimistic for the future of theatre, but not so optimistic for myself. We’re in the vulnerable bracket,” he says. “Days of jumping into rehearsals with a lot of actors breathing all over each other is not a good idea, so I’m not going to be doing that.
“The other thing is, how long will I keep going? The only dispiriting feeling is thinking, ‘Are my new plays going to get done?’. There are four or five now. Normally, a play is written and then it’s performed and that’s wonderful encouragement, but for me, until a play is done, has run the gamut of rehearsals, performances, audience response and post-mortem, I’m marking time, but the plays keep coming.”
Tickets for Haunting Julia can be booked any time up to and including January 5 2021, either via https://www.sjt.uk.com/event/1078/haunting_julia or from the box office, initially by phone only from 10am to noon, Monday to Friday, on 01723 370541 until December 2. Opening times for booking in person will be announced as soon as possible.
Once a £12 ticket has been bought, the buyer can access the audio show as often as they want between December 1 and January 5, and as many people as are in their household or social bubble can listen in. Go to the website for more details.
Naomi Petersen: Voices from beyond in Haunting Julia
