Day Dreamer, by Abigail Rooney, one of the works selected for the New Light Prize Exhibition, as are all those featured below
IN its tenth year, the New Light Prize Exhibition will open at Scarborough Art Gallery on September 19 for its biggest show yet.
Work by more than 100 contemporary northern artists will be on show until January 17 2021, their artwork ranging from “the hyper-real to the purely abstract” across a range of media by artists at all stages of their career.
Rebekah Tadd, New Light’s development director, says: “We’re delighted by the positive reception to the 2020 New Light Prize Exhibition. It’s one of the few open art competitions able to continue this year due to its predominantly online nature and the collaboration of our partner galleries.
Seeing, by Linnett Rubaya
“With over 2,000 entries, the judges had a tremendous challenge. Their shortlist features 125 artworks from 105 of the most talented artists in the UK, making this our biggest exhibition ever and giving a unique insight into contemporary northern art.”
Against the backdrop of the Coronavirus pandemic presenting “huge challenges and hardships to the whole of the UK and particular challenges for the art world”, Rebekah says: “We’re very fortunate that Scarborough Art Gallery was the first gallery in the country to devise a Covid-secure visitor experience, enabling us to open the exhibition to the public while operating within Government guidelines.
“In order to make the exhibition available to those unable to attend the gallery in person, we’re working to ensure that we share as much as possible through online sources.
Salmon Fishing On London Bridge, by Norman Long
“We aim to enhance visitor enjoyment by providing as much information as possible about the artists and their work to enable them to make informed decisions if they wish to purchase art work.”
Simon Hedges, head of curation, collections and exhibitions at Scarborough Museums Trust, says: “This brilliant exhibition will showcase a wide range of media and styles from a diverse range of artists at all stages of their career. The very essence of the North shines through the unique qualities of our region’s artists and the physical as well as notional spaces they occupy.”
The New Light Prize Exhibition is open to artists who were born, live or have studied in one of the historic counties of the North of England (Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, Westmorland, County Durham and Northumberland).
Jon, by Laura Quin Harris
Shortlisting took place over the summer, with a panel comprising printmaker and artist Anne Desmet, RA Magazine editor Sam Phillips, Huddersfield Art Gallery curator Grant Scanlan and New Light chair Annette Petchey.
Annette says: “The calibre of work being produced by the region’s artists has, once again, underlined the wealth of talent the North of England attracts and nurtures. While the very high standard made the judging task incredibly difficult, it also affirmed the rationale for the New Light Prize.”
The competition winners will be announced at a private view on September 18. Prizes include the £10,000 Valeria Sykes Award, open to all artists over 18 with a connection to the North of England, and the £2,500 Patron’s Choice Award, presented that night.
KIng And Queen, by Andrew Tyzack
After its Scarborough launch show, the New Light Prize Exhibition will move on to Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle, The Biscuit Factory in Newcastle and The Bankside Gallery in London.
Established in 2010, New Light not only celebrates and promotes well-known and emerging artists by offering awards and opportunities with the biennial open exhibition, but also runs New Light Art For All, an education programme that combines talks, workshops and school projects.
Behind The Doll Paint, by Catherine McDiarmid
In addition, the New Light Collection will be launched next spring with the aim of making the best northern visual arts available to more people by loaning pieces free of charge to public bodies and charities.
“The common thread through everything New Light does is a deep belief that the visual arts matter and the North of England deserves to be celebrated,” says Annette. “New Light is run by a dedicated group of people who are passionate about the visual arts in the north. It relies entirely on donations and sponsorship.”
Digital arts high point in York: Jason Bruges Studio’s light installation at York Minster for Illuminating York in October 2016
YORK artists are invited to take part in a global exhibition online on the theme of Human Responsibility.
York is one of ten UNESCO Creative Cities of Media Arts working together to create five artworks, made collaboratively by ten artists working in pairs across the world.
Artists in Austin (Texas, United States), Braga (Portugal), Calí (Colombia), Changsha (China), Guadalajara (México), Karlsruhe (Germany), Kosice (Slovakia), Sapporo (Japan) and York (UK) will present their work online from November 24 to 29.
The works will feature in York Mediale 2020 and Kosice’s Art & Tech Days Festival too.
The selected York artist will receive an award of £1,000; the runner-up, £300. A further £1,200 will be available to support the costs of production and presentation of all five works in York.
Chris Brown: Clerk to York’s Guild of Media Arts
Applicants are invited from any creative field, including core media arts technologies, although they need to undertake online collaboration and to create work that can be distributed and consumed via digital media.
They must have a demonstrable connection to York, such as living or working in the city or membership of the Guild of Media Arts.
A panel representing Mediale, the Guild and York Creatives will select the artist to represent York.
Chris Bailey, clerk to York’s Guild of Media Arts says: “It’s great to be able to put York in the spotlight as one of the pioneer cities in media arts. We are delighted to be part of this global opportunity for artists from diverse cultures to work together to make innovative art about these huge questions that face us all.”
More details are available from Chris by emailing clerk@guildofmediaarts.com.
Chairing the event: Richard Upton in a moment of high drama in York Stage Musicals At Rowntree Park in August. Picture: Jess Main
SHOULD theatre companies be more adventurous, like you, and crack on with finding ways of getting out there and performing, despite Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden’s caution over when theatres can reopen fully, Nik?
“AS long as people are being sensible, following the guidelines and keeping safe, then, yes, of course people should be pushing forward! It’s not easy, there is a hell of a lot of risk, but it’s certainly worth it.
“People can go sit in restaurants and bars, so I really dont see why, with social distancing and if it’s financially viable, we shouldn’t be producing?
“If any city can produce work in these weird times, it’s York, where we have a strong history of successfully mixing professional and community casts. Damien Cruden really led the way with this in the city, when he was artistic director at York Theatre Royal, and in fact was the inspiration for the way I have ran York Stage over the past seven years.
“There really is enough professional talent locally to make it work in some way, as shown by our Rowntree Park concerts, York Theatre Royal’s Pop-Up On The Patio series and Engine House Theatre’s Park Bench Theatre shows!
“My biggest fear for the future, though, is that we are going to be sat with our larger venues sitting empty and artists all around the city desperate to work.”
York Stage Musicals present Jukebox Divas at Rowntree Park Amphitheatre, York, September 18 to 20, 7pm. Box office: www.yorkstagemusicals.com
Baby Driver: Car thrills movie at Elvington Airfield as part of AA Getaway Drive-In Cinema programme
THE new AA Getaway Drive-In Cinema will park up at Elvington Airfield, near York, from September 18 to 20, with the now customary social-distancing measures in place.
“We are working hard to provide the ultimate viewing experience for guests,” say the organisers of the AA’s first drive-in enterprise. “Each car will be provided with a high-quality remote sound system and films will be projected onto three giant, back-lit LED screens. Independent locally sourced food and drink will be available to order direct to cars, contact-free.”
AA Getaway’s logo for the drive-in film shows at Elvington Airfield
Saturday’s screenings are available exclusively to AA Members, with free tickets being offered on a first-come, first-served basis for James Gunn’s 2014 space chase, Guardians Of The Galaxy (12A), at 2.30pm and James Mangold’s 2019 Ford v Ferrari race-track clash, Le Mans 66 (12), at 7.30pm.
Public bookings can be made, however, for Guardians Of The Galaxy on September 18 at 2.30pm and September 20 at 7.30pm and Edgar Wright’s 2017 getaway-car heist thriller, Baby Driver (15), September 18, 7.30pm, and September 20, 2.30pm.
Guardians Of The Galaxy: Coming to an airfield near you
Tickets cost £30 per vehicle, each with a maximum of five people, and are on sale at https://www.theaa.com/about-us/aa-getaway or at seetickets.com (searching for AA Getaway).
AA Getaway’s celebration of high-speed action movies at Elvington Airfield will be the second open-air cinema event of the summer in the York area after Daisy Duke’s Drive-In Cinema on Knavesmire from July 31 to August 2, when Grease, Rocketman, Toy Story, Mamma Mia!, 28 Days Later, Pulp Fiction, Shrek 2, A Star Is Born and Joker were shown.
THE 2020 York Chamber Music Festival is going online to live-stream three concerts from the National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, from September 18 to 20.
Festival artistic director Tim Lowe says: “This year, we can’t have an audience because of the Covid-19 virus, but we were determined to put on some wonderful concerts anyway.
“We’ll be able to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth as first planned, and the only change is that we’ve decided it’s not possible to stream the lunchtime recitals”
Cellist Lowe will be performing with Simon Blendis and Charlotte Scott, violins; Matthew Jones, violin and viola; Jon Thorne, viola, and Katya Apekisheva, piano.
On September 18, their programme will be: Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, Op. 95, Serioso; Herbert Howells’ Fantasy String Quartet, Op. 25 and Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E Flat major, Op. 44.
On September 19, they will play: Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op.18, No. 1; Josef Suk’s Piano Quartet in A minor, Op.1 and César Franck’s Piano Quintet in F minor.
September 20’s festival climax will open with Beethoven’s String Quintet in C major, Op. 29, followed by Antonín Dvořak’s String Quintet in E Flat major, Op. 97.
“In each of the three online concerts, I’ve selected one work to represent or point to key moments in Beethoven’s artistic evolution and spiritual journey,” says Tim. “It was Beethoven’s great tragedy that for much of his adult life he became progressively deaf until there was nothing left. It would seem that as his outer-ear faded, so his inner-ear quickened.”
Assessing each Beethoven piece, Tim says: “In the String Quartet No. 1 in F major, Op.18, No. 1, we catch Beethoven thinking hard about his entry to this genre and already changing convention, poetic and assured.
“The String Quintet in C major, Op. 29 is a pivotal work that is the harbinger of his middle-period chamber music, a bubbling attractive piece that belies Beethoven’s realisation of impending deafness.
“The enigmatic, experimental F minor String Quartet, Op. 95 is the forerunner of his last series of ‘late’ quartets, already reaching for the stars but with a new sort of music never heard before, light years ahead.”
Summing up the accompanying works, he says: “Almost everything else in the programme can be thought of as a legacy of this one man [Beethoven]. A feature of the 2020 event is that we’re playing piano quintets, which was more or less invented as an ensemble by Robert Schumann – having immersed himself in a study of Beethoven’s trios and quartets – Mozart and Haydn too – while his wife, international pianist Clara, was away on tour.”
A Yorkshireman’s favourite price will apply. “To maximise our outreach, we’ve decided that the concerts will be free to listen to and we hope you will join us this month to enjoy them,” says Tim. “But we ask that you make a donation if you possibly can, in lieu of buying tickets.
“Putting on these concerts and recording them is very costly. York Chamber Music Festival is a non-profit charity that depends on support from donors and sponsors. Please help if you possibly can: there is a ‘Donate’ button on our website, ycmf.co.uk, should you wish to help.”
Over the past seven years, York Chamber Music Festival has presented more than 40 concerts and recitals. “We’ve brought to the city some of the country’s best, internationally renowned players,” says Tim.
“Feedback and press reviews both refer to the freshness and vitality that the festival artists bring to core and less familiar chamber music repertoire. Steven Isserlis, Anthony Marwood, Ian Brown, Adrian Brendel, Charles Owen, Emma Johnson, to name but a few, have joined us for great music-making.”
For full details on the 2020 festival programme and participating musicians and on how to watch the concerts, go to www.ycmf.co.uk.
“We hope you can join us for some wonderful live concerts from York. Stay safe and well,” concludes Tim.
The Bev Jones Music Company cast in rehearsal at York Maze for Strictly Live In The Park
THE Bev Jones Music Company will stage a full-sized musical theatre concert with more than 20 socially distanced singers and a five-piece band at the Rowntree Park Amphitheatre, York, on September 13.
Strictly Live In The Park promises a “spectacular show for all the family, with popular show music, pop music, dance and comedy” from 3pm to 5m.
“York deserves this fun Sunday afternoon,” says producer Lesley Jones, Bev’s widow. “We just want to give the public, mainly families, the chance to enjoy entertainment once more.
Bev Jones Music Company cast members maintaining social-distancing at the Rowntree Park Amphitheatre
“The cast are so happy to be performing once again, especially when our big spring production, Calamity Jane, was cancelled by the lockdown in March, just four days before the curtain would have gone up.”
The first York community theatre company to stage a musical theatre concert on this scale since the easing of lockdown, the Bev Jones Music Company will perform “typical Bev Jones spectacular music”.
“All the music was arranged by Bev, the company mentor, so we’ll have a huge variety with numbers from Adele to Robbie Williams, Cabaret to Hairspray, Mack & Mabel to South Pacific, The Full Monty to Chess, Miss Saigon to the finale, Les Miserables,” says Lesley.
The Strictly Live In The Park poster for the September 13 concert
“Every number has been changed to suit the current guidelines regarding singing and live music. The huge dance numbers are limited but we’re adapting what we can.”
The company rehearsed at York Maze for the first time last week. “We only get three rehearsals to put this show together, because we cannot rehearse indoors yet, and thankfully the Maze allowed us those three rehearsals,” says a grateful Lesley.
“We have directed the show ourselves; John Atkin is the musical director with his five-piece band; Claire Pulpher is the choreographer and all our usual cast members are performing.”
Taking shape: First day of rehearsals for Strictly Live In The Park at York Maze
Among the company for this Not For Profit production will be Chris Hagyard, Sally Lewis, Larry Gibson, Terry Ford, Kelly Bolland and two returning members, who had moved on to become full-time professional performers, Nathan Lodge and Jordan Langford.
“Our concert has been risk assessed thoroughly and all audience members will have hand sanitisers and temperature checks, plus all seating will be in socially distanced, marked-out bubbles. All the cast will be checked too,” says Lesley.
“Picnic blankets, rugs and chairs are welcome, as are picnics as there’ll be no public refreshments on sale, in line with Government guidelines. We’ll have a large number of stewards to offer assistance and all safeguards will be in place to ensure that people feel happy and safe in every way.”
Strictly Live In The Park is strictly an all-ticket event, with tickets on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk. Seats will be sold in bubbles for two (£15) or up to six people (£30).
In a rush like Jennifer Clark’s Gretel in Opera North’s Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel And Gretel? You should be if you want tickets for tomorrow’s shows at the NCEM, York. Picture: Tom Arber
NEWSFLASH! More tickets are being released for Opera North’s three sold-out performances of Whistle Stop Opera: Hansel And Gretel in the National Centre for Early Music garden, in Walmgate, York.
Tickets are suddenly available for tomorrow’s three performances at 11.30am, 1pm and 3pm. The urgent advice is: “Get in quickly. Only a few pods remain. Buy online from ncem.co.uk.”
They’ll say owt to entertain you: Stu Freestone, Henry Raby, Hannah Davies and Dave Jarman
DO you want an assortment of noisy, slam-winning York performance poets, word-weavers and gobheads to perform at a social distance near you?
If so, the Say Owt Showcase luminaries Henry Raby, Stu Freestone, Hannah Davies and Dave Jarman are the quartet to entertain you, being “ideal for socially distanced spaces and audiences”.
“We’re York’s lovable and raucous poetry gang and we’re available to programme and present high-energy, 60-minute showcases of the sharp, relevant, hilarious and engaging spoken word,” says Henry, director of the Say Owt’s “war of the words” slam nights.
Stu Freestone: “Cheekiest of rogues”
“Say Owt’s word-warriors have delighted in ripping up stages at the Great Yorkshire Fringe and the Arts Barge in York, the Edinburgh Fringe and the Ilkley Literature Festival, and last month we performed as part of York Theatre Royal’s Pop-Up On The Patio festival, a bubbled and socially distanced event.
“Our Say Owt Showcase on August 28 sold out and played to a drizzly, but happy, audience.”
Performance poet in residence at the Deer Shed Festival, author, playwright and event organiser Raby is noted for his punk poetry being anarchic and raw, with a sharp political edge, much like his regular Tweets.
Taking the mic: Henry Raby in action
He has performed at Latitude Festival, Boomtown Fair and the Intentional Youth Arts Festival and toured with Creative Arts East and Apples and Snakes’ Public Address Tour.
His latest solo show, Apps And Austerity, looks back over the past decade of technology and stultifying, stringent political policies, as aired at the Pop-Up festival last Friday.
Freestone, Raby’s fellow co-founder of Say Owt, is the cheekiest of rogues with his devilish facial hair and a penchant for Hip-Hop. His work is blissful, engrossing and, above all, unflinchingly honest.
Hannah Davies: Addresses themes of young love, female identity and the small moments that makes us smile
An actor too, he has worked with various York companies and in 2015 was nominated for Best Spoken Word Artist at the Saboteur Awards. The only thing remotely cheesy about him is when he may have served you from behind the counter at The Cheese Trader in Grape Lane.
When playwright, actor, poet, writing course tutor and stage director Hannah Davies “isn’t trying to smash the patriarchy”, she is busy with her York theatre company Common Ground.
Hannah has won slams across the UK and was a finalist in the BBC Fringe Slam 2017, and her work encapsulates themes of young love, female identity and the small moments that make us smile.
Dave Jarman: Plucking words out of the air like the ripest of fruit
Say Owt associate artist Dave Jarman describes himself as a “word-gobbing, ukulele-strumming, bodhran-abusing poet from t’North”.
Resident poet for the Great Yorkshire Fringe in 2017, playwright, actor and occasional Elf, he reflects on community, people, places and our national identity in his poetry and performances.
For more information on how to send for the four wordsmen of the apocalypse to do a show for you, email info@sayowt.co.uk.
Badapple Theatre Company’s poster for this month’s Suffer Fools Gladly tour
BADAPPLE Theatre Company can look forward to an autumn harvest of outdoor shows after hitting the Arts Council England deadline to find at least six willing venues for Danny Mellor’s new short play, Suffer Fools Gladly.
Awarded a £14,998 grant, the Green Hammerton purveyors of theatre on your doorstep will perform a Hybrid-Live season of Covid-secure outdoor and filmed shows in the months ahead.
Up to ten open-air performances of Suffer Fools Gladly will be staged at private gardens, campsites and hall car parks across North and East Yorkshire area from September 15.
Danny Mellor and Anastasia Benham in last winter’s Badapple play, The Snow Dancer. Now they are to perform together in Suffer Fools Gladly
In addition, the ACE funding will support the “creative filming” of Badapple’s hit 1960s-era comedy Eddie And The Gold Tops for a new film-theatre partnership with small halls and arts centres from November to February.
Furthermore, Badapple can now film their Christmas show The Snow Dancer, first toured last winter, to enable free distribution in Yorkshire schools, and Badapple Youth Theatre activities can resume too.
Thanking Arts Council England, founder and artistic director Kate Bramley says: “We’re bowled over by this continued support from ACE at this difficult time that supports our concept of feel-good and safe small-scale events for the communities we partner with and support for our team of creative artists.
Anastasia Benham: On a front door step near you soon
“We’ve always specialised in Theatre On Your Doorstep and now for some garden owners in Yorkshire it’s just got even closer to their front door!
“We had as many as 25 offers of interest in hosting the show, and some wonderful hosts will be throwing open their gardens to audiences to experience this great new play from young Yorkshire writer Danny Mellor.”
Suffer Fools Gladly is a witty short comedy, around an hour in length, that drills down on the perils and perks of always having to tell the truth. “Appealing to young and old alike, this upbeat tale narrates the comic fall from grace of Ozzy, the court jester, who is exiled from the magical kingdom of Marillion,” says Danny.
“We’re bowled over by this continued support from ACE at this difficult time,” says Badapple artistic director Kate Bramley
“It takes an unlikely friendship with a cynical 17-year-old Earth girl called Stevie to bring the joy back to both their worlds.”
Co-directed by Bramley, with costume and puppetry design by Catherine Dawn, the premiere will be performed by Mellor and Anastasia Benham, resuming their stage partnership from The Snow Dancer tour last December.
Watch this space for updates on the Eddie And The Gold Tops film-theatre tour, with dates filling up in the Badapple diary for November, December and February.
Danny Mellor: Suffer Fools Gladly writer and actor
Suffer Fools Gladly tour itinerary in September:
15: Stonegate Farm, Whixley, 5pm;
16: Private garden, Stockton on the Forest, York, 2pm and 4pm; 17: The Poplars, Myton on Swale, 6pm; 18: Beech Cottage, Green Hammerton 2pm; 19: Colton Farm, near Tadcaster, 2pm; 20: St. Alban’s Church, Hull, car park, 2pm; 21: Private garden, Driffield, 2pm; 22: Private garden, Gilberdyke, 5pm; 23: To be confirmed.
Details on how to apply for tickets will be updated regularly on the Badapple website, badappletheatre.co.uk
From Caribbean cruise-ship crooning in spring to York igloo in late-summertime: Conor Mellor performing at the August 23 performance of York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park. Picture: Jess Main
YORK Stage are heading back to the Rowntree Park Amphitheatre from September 18 to 20, building on the sold-out success of last month’s debut open-air concerts by staging Jukebox Divas.
York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park marked the company’s first ever outdoor venture, when six professional performers with YSM history, Joanne Theaker, Ashley Standland, May Tether, Richard Upton, Emily Ramsden and Conor Mellor, performed with Jessica Douglas’s band from August 23 to 25.
Conor, back in York from singing on the international cruise-ship circuit, returns for YSM show number two, joined by Dan Conway, Sophie Hammond, Grace Lancaster and Eleanor Leaper.
York Stage Musicals performers aglow with the joy of performing to an audience at last, after the lockdown hiatus, at the Rowntree Park Amphitheatre. Picture: Kirkpatrick Photography
Producer and director Nik Briggs says: “We really were blown away by the reaction to our York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park concerts last month. To bring live musical theatre back to the city really was an honour and to sell out so quickly and feel the buzz that surrounded the concerts was just crazy!
“I knew, stood there watching the show, that we had to keep going, we had to do more…especially as we’d joked originally that we’d been compelled to do a thing, something, anything. This time we feel the need to do another thing.”
Jukebox Divas will celebrate the art of the Jukebox musical. “With music from shows such as We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia! and more modern releases like & Juliet and Moulin Rouge, audiences will be entertained with vocal tributes to artists such as Elvis Presley, Queen, Meat Loaf, Katy Perry, Carole King and many more,” says Nik.
York Stage director and producer Nik Briggs and musical director Jessica Douglas
York Stage musical director Jessica Douglas again will lead a live band on stage from her keyboards, backing the latest line-up of professional performers. “One of my hardest things to do last time was to decide who to choose to perform from all the professional talent that has worked with York Stage over the past few years; there are so many brilliant performers who I wanted to bring back!” says Nik.
“I had hoped to do two shows originally but only having three nights at first, this wasn’t possible, so when we were able to secure a second slot I knew straight away who to ask.”
Step forward Dan Conway (York Stage: Ghost; UK tour: Kinky Boots, where he understudied and played the male lead); Sophie Hammond (York Stage: Footloose; now back from training in musical theatre in New York), Grace Lancaster (York Stage: Footloose and Whistle Down The Wind; UK tour: Footloose; Watermill: Assassins; Eastbourne: Return To The Forbidden Planet); Eleanor Leaper (York Stage: Joseph; BBC’s Pitch Battle finalist) and Conor Mellor (York Stage: Rock Of Ages; international cruise vocalist).
“I knew, stood there watching the show, that we had to keep going, we had to do more,” says producer Nik Briggs, explaining why York Stage Musicals will perform in Rowntree Park again this month. Picture: Kirkpatrick Photography
Delighted with how well the first show went after three fast-moving weeks of preparation and rehearsal, followed by stage assembly in only two hours on a Sunday afternoon, Nik says: “Audiences can again expect to be wowed by brilliant sound and lighting from Adam Moore and his Tech247 team. The giant igloo stage covering will be back to glow like a Technicolor beacon in the heart of the park once more.
“We’re again working to ensure the safety of our performers, staff and of course audience in the planning of this event. We’re remaining up to date and working to ensure everything we do is guided and informed by City of York Council and the current Government guidance as the event approaches.
“We’ve had so many compliments about the brilliant front-of-house team and a lot of audience members messaged to say how safe they felt watching the show. This was one of the biggest compliments of all. We know for lots of people it was their first outing in months, so for them to feel safe and comfortable was great.”
Hitting the heights: Richard Upton leaps onto a chair in a high spot of the York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park concert last month. Picture: Jess Main
As with last month’s shows, to ensure they can seat everyone and maintain suitable social distancing of two metres between groups, York Stage have taken the decision to sell spaces for a “Bubble Blanket” for families or support bubbles to sit in, rather than sell individual tickets.
“These spaces are positioned to make sure there’s a two-metre gap minimum between the spaces in every direction while keeping the audience three metres away from the performers,” says Nik. “We’ve created two sizes of ‘Bubble Blanket’ spaces: one holds up to three people and a larger one holds four to six people. Please note, no physical blanket is provided, but you can bring your own or a camping chair.”
Performances will start at 7pm and run for 90 minutes without an interval. Tickets: available only online at www.yorkstagemusicals.com; Bubble Blanket Space for 1-3 people, £40; for 4-6 people, £65.
Emily Ramsden performing at last month’s York Stage Musicals at Rowntree Park. Picture: Jess Main
Five questions for producer and director Nik Briggs
What did you learn from mounting your first outdoor venture last month?
“Working outside was a daunting prospect, having not done it before. Doing it , while also ensuring we were working within the ever-changing Covid guidelines, was a whole other ball to juggle.
“One thing we were certain about was we knew we wanted to give audiences the same high-quality production and performance standards that they have come to expect from a York Stage show.
“But with that comes a lot of wires, lights, instruments and of course electricity…in an outdoor area, where we can’t stop weather!
“When we arrived at our outdoor rehearsal venue in Leeds to tech the show, the weather was nothing short of torrential. Driving across the A64, my heart was sinking but, with the brilliant team of theatre professionals we work with, we came away from that day knowing that our planning and preparation had left us ready to succeed: ,we could do this in (nearly) all weathers!
Ashley Standland in the solo spotlight at last month’s open-air concert. Picture: Jess Main
“We were lucky to have great weather up to the final show when it was raining all day through to ten minutes into the show, but the audience were brilliant! They all showed up with waterproofs and wellies and really got into what we renamed our festival version of the concert! So the biggest lesson was to not be scared of rain!”
Are you doing anything differently this time?
“It’s a whole new set of songs, nearly a full set of new singers – Conor [Mellor] managed to wangle his way back in again – and a new band. We really wanted to reach out and help as many people as possible with the concerts when those who work in our industry have had such a tough time. There may be a few extra surprises this time around but we’re still working on those at the moment!”
How are you conducting rehearsals? On Zoom? In a room, socially distanced?
“Like last time, rehearsals are happening in a range of ways. There is lots of independent learning of harmonies etc, where we have sent out recordings to the performers, so we only have to come together to piece all the parts together and keep contact to a minimum.
“When we are together social distancing, temperature checks and hand sanitiser are all aplenty! We keep at least two metres apart and never sing face to face to also mitigate any risk.”
Joanne Theaker centre stage at York Stage Musicals’ first outdoor performance. Picture: Jess Main
Should other theatre companies be more adventurous, like you, and crack on with finding ways of getting out there and performing, despite Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden’s caution over when theatres can re-open fully?
“As long as people are being sensible, following the guidelines and keeping safe, then, yes, of course people should be pushing forward! It’s not easy, there is a hell of a lot of risk, but it’s certainly worth it.
“People can go sit in restaurants and bars so I really don’t see why, with social distancing and if it’s financially viable, we shouldn’t be producing?
“If any city can produce work in these weird times, it is York, where we have a strong history of successfully mixing professional and community casts. Damien Cruden really led the way with this in the city – when he was artistic director of York Theatre Royal – and in fact was the inspiration for the way I have ran York Stage over the past seven years.
Emily Ramsden, left, Joanne Theaker and May Tether keep their distance in the Rowntree Park igloo
“There really is enough professional talent locally to make it work in some way, as shown by our Rowntree Park concerts, York Theatre Royal’s Pop-Up Patio On The Patio series and Engine House Theatre’s Park Bench Theatre shows.
“My biggest fear for the future, though, is that we are going to be sat with our larger venues sitting empty and artists all around the city desperate to work.”
The definition of ‘Diva’ is: noun: ‘a famous female singer of popular music’…or ‘a self-important person who is temperamental and difficult to please (typically used of a woman)...but your Jukebox Divas show brazenly has a cast of three women and three men. Outrageous! Explain!
“Charles, it’s 2020, you can be whatever you want to be…and looking back, the men I’ve worked with are often way bigger divas! And no, I’m not naming any names!”
