Golden opportunity: Tom Rosenthal announces Pocklington date
TOM Rosenthal, star of Channel 4’s Friday Night Dinner and ITV2’s Plebs, will bring his new stand-up show, Manhood, to Pocklington Arts Centre on March 14 next year.
His 8pm performance will tell the story of how he spent his life trying to avenge the theft of his foreskin.
Tickets for this past winner of the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year award will go on sale at £17.50 on Friday at 10am on 01759 301547 or at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Arts centre director Janet Farmer says: “We’re delighted to be able to bring Tom Rosenthal to Pocklington as part of his latest stand-up tour.
“This booking only strengthens an already fantastic line-up of comedy, which features our popular Punchline Christmas Comedy Gala on December 13 and TV regulars Arthur Smith and Andy Parsons on January 31 and April 28 respectively.
“As with all our live comedy, Tom is likely to sell out, so I would advise you to book your tickets in advance.”
Director Maggie Smales in the role of Joe Ryan on the preview night of When The Rain Stops Falling. Picture: Michael J Oakes
YORK director and designer Maggie Smales is reviving a
theatre company name from her Seventies’ student days to present Andrew
Bovell’s When The Rain Stops Falling, a multi-layered mystery spread across 80
years and four generations of one family in England and Australia.
Smales chose this apocalyptic story of betrayal, abandonment and destruction for Rigmarole Theatre Company’s debut venture because it addresses “the most important question of our times”: Are we prepared to pass on the damage from the past to our children?
Ahead of this Yorkshire premiere opening at 41 Monkgate, tomorrow (November 14), Maggie answers Charles Hutchinson’s questions.
What prompted you to
set up a theatre company now, Maggie?
“We’re lucky to have
a lot of heritage theatre and musicals here in York. While that is wonderful,
for both performers and audiences, I feel it’s important that there is
contemporary work on offer.
“There’s such a lot
of great work that offers a more direct connection to our lives today. TV
dramas are often fantastic, but I don’t think you can beat live drama where the
audience is in the room with the events playing out before them.”
Why make the link
with your student past by reviving the name Rigmarole?
“A bit frivolous, I suppose, but it is
somewhat in the spirit of sustainability and re-use, which are part of
Rigmarole’s ideals.
“Also, I’m constantly
reminded while I work, whether directing or acting, that I’m still a student,
and long may that last!
Why did you choose
this play for your launch production?
“Taking on a directing task is a large
job, so when I take it on, it has to be for a text or project that matters to
me.
“This play deals with
the most pressing question of our times. Can we change to save ourselves? A
question that is played out through the narratives of characters in the play
and set in the context of a climate that’s changing and threatening our very
existence.
“That sounds heavy,
but like other great plays, it just uses great storytelling. I was completely
blown away by it.
“Furthermore, it’s a
play that offers fantastic opportunities for actors. It’s beautifully crafted
and has a deliciously poetic text. As a director, it has a canvas that spans
the globe and 80 years of time, so it offers the fantastic challenge of
realising it all within a simple black box.”
Rigmarole Theatre Company’s cast for When The Rain Stops Falling: James Coldrick, left, Louise Henry, Adam Sowter, Stan Gaskell, Sally Mitcham, Beryl Nairn, Mick Liversidge, Maggie Smales and Florence Poskitt. Picture: Michael J Oakes
Where did you come
across this play? Have you seen it?
“I haven’t seen it, but I read it before
seeing Andrew Bovell’s other well-known piece, Things I Know To Be True, which
he wrote for Frantic Assembly.
“His adaptation of
The Secret River by Kate Grenville was recently at the Edinburgh Festival and
at the National Theatre. I went to see it and was captivated by the way he uses
personal narrative to convey the story of a nation and the crimes at the very
heart of its growth.”
What resonates most
with you about this play?
“Something that has emerged as an
increasingly important feature is that of legacy and inheritance: that we live
among the presence of our ancestors but also with them inside our hearts. This
is something maybe the Australian aborigines understand much better than us.”
What do you read into
the title?
“With the weather
we’ve been having lately it’s become a bit of a sore point really! Or spookily
prophetic.
“Our story as humans
is of carrying on, of finding a way forward and sometimes of bearing the burden
of our own and others’ crimes. The final year of the play is set at the brink
of our possible extinction and leaves us wondering if we always will ‘carry
on’.”
Do you believe we can
change, as Bovell’s play calls on us to do?
“I don’t think we do change. I think it
is more in our DNA to ‘carry on’ and adapt our behaviour to suit the demands
around us as we find them.
“Our current crisis
shows that some of us are more prepared to adapt sooner rather than later. Put
differently, there are various types of self-interest at work in humankind, but
I’m fairly optimistic because there’s a lot of goodness in most people.”
Have you had any
discussions with Andrew Bovell?
“We’ve been in touch through his agent and
received a fantastic and insightful reply regarding the recent development
banning the ascents of Uluru. Such a climb is featured in the play but why a
‘fair-skinned Englishman’ went there in search of his father is something you’d
have to come and find out!
“The play has been
performed all around the world but this its first appearance in Yorkshire and
he wished us good luck.
“Bovell uses Australian
culture, Greek myth, French philosophy and meteorological events in history to
create a powerful allegory, which can be appreciated as both high opera and as
accessible soap opera.”
And finally, why
should we see When The Rain Stops Falling?
“If you like to be moved by what you
see, if you like to see a mystery unfold as the puzzle pieces come together, if
you like a powerful story that has something to say about who we are and where
we are going, this is one to see.”
Rigmarole Theatre Company presents When the Rain Stops Falling, John Cooper Studio, 41 Monkgate, York, November 14 to 16, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 623568, yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal box office in person.
So….why does Elf Lyons love guinea pigs? Find out on November 21
ELF Lyons concludes her autumn travels at the Burning Duck Comedy Club in York on November 21, but this tour might never happened.
In August 2018, comedian, writer and actress Elf – real name Emily Ann – was planning a physical clown show with dance, tap, rock’n’roll and the splits, but soon disaster struck.
She was taken to hospital and told it would be best that she never performed again. After months spent lying on her back and being wheeled in and out of MRI machines, she had to rethink how to return to the stage. Thankfully inspiration struck, and Love Songs To Guinea Pigs was born.
Elf, the 28-year-old daughter of an economist and painter, presents a surreal tale of love and loneliness, embodying her inner Katherine Hepburn through an absurd narrative of heartbreak and love with live music, terrible mime, silly characters, enthusiastic accents and true stories. “This is Brief Encounter, but with rodents,” she says.
Love Songs To Guinea Pigs is billed as “the perfect show to take a tinder date to, a friend who is going through a difficult divorce, your step-mum as an attempt to ‘bond’ or indeed just come on your own and be a legend”.
Tickets for next Thursday’s 8pm show in The Basement, City Screen, are on sale via thebasementyork.co.uk/elf-lyons or burningduckcomedy.com
SHOCK! HORROR! Darren Lumby left, Alan Park, Emma Louise Dickinson, Tony Froud and Andrew Isherwood in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Monster Makers
Monster Makers,Pick Me Up Theatre, John Cooper Studio, 41 Monkgate, York, October 23 to 26
“THEY did such a good job with Thrill Me, I knew that this was the company I wanted to premiere Monster Makers in the UK,” said writer-composer Stephen Dolginoff.
Pick Me Up Theatre staged the New Yorker’s murder musical two-hander in January 2018 at York Medical Society.
Now they darken the doors of the John Cooper Studio with a “triple feature horror show”, and once more it is a job well done by Mark Hird’s multi-role-playing cast of five, Andrew Isherwood, Alan Park, Darren Lumby, Tony Froud and Emma Louise Dickinson.
Designer Robert Readman has turned the black-box studio side on, with seating on an angle to the left and right and on the mezzanine level above, from where musical director Sam Johnson surveys all from his keyboard.Entrances on to a black-painted, revolving stage are made through a seemingly tight side door, adding to the sense of suspense or surprise as to who might enter next.
Dolginoff tells three “monstrously true” horror stories behind the making of landmark horror films through a combination of often witty dialogue, B-movie exaggeration and storytelling, emotional songs.
First up, German director FW Murnau (Isherwood) must face Bram Stoker’s furious widow, Florence (Dickinson), in court as she accuses him of stealing Dracula for 1922’s Nosferatu, with lead actor Max Shreck (Froud) showing a moral decency beyond the shifty “THEY did such a good job with Thrill Me, I knew that this was the company I wanted to premiere Monster Makers in the UK,” said writer-composer Stephen Dolginoff.
Next, maverick make-up artist Jack Pierce (Lumby) comes up against autocratic director James Whale (Isherwood) as he strives to convert Boris Karloff (Froud) into Frankenstein’s Monster.
Lastly, Peter Cushing (Froud) knocks the final nails into Hammer Horror’s coffin, making a Frankenstein and Dracula film simultaneously with a paltry budget, an unflappable director (Isherwood’s Terence Fisher], a scene-stealing stuntman (Lumby), doubling stoically and silently for the absent Christopher Lee, and the ever-willing, busty Victoria (Dickinson).
Isherwood’s trio of roles is the stand-out, Froud’s urbane Cushing is a joy too, while Dickinson, Park and Lumby add to the gothic, graveyard humour of this monster smash.
York Ceramics Fair exhibitor Doug Fitch, using a sponge as he makes a pot in his studio. Picture: Kim Ayres
YORK Ceramics Fair is returning for a second year as a “top of the pots” gathering of British ceramicists in The Hospitium on November 23 and 24.
Running alongside will be the newly expanded Days Of Clay, a ceramics discovery programme run by the Centre of Ceramic Art (CoCA) at nearby York Art Gallery
Forty potters from Britain and beyond have been chosen through competitive selection by the fair’s organisers, the Craft Potters Association, to showcase their hand-crafted pieces.
Yellow Wavy Cat, front, and Glorious Cat, back, by Jenny Southam
On display and for sale in the medieval Hospitium, in the Museum Gardens, will be hundreds of pots of all shapes and sizes work ranging from vibrant to serene, minimal to magical, sculptural to utilitarian.
Among those taking part are Jenny Southam, whoseeccentric figures explore her love of gardening, as well as her interest in both Staffordshire mantelpiece figures and Etruscan tomb sculptures.
Dylan Bowen’s bold expressionistic ceramics capture the spontaneity and energy of how they are made. His work is sought by leading interior designers and his collaborations include the interior lighting specialist Porta Romana for their Bohème collection.
One of Kerstin Gren’s exhibits at York Ceramics Fair
Lara Scobie’s ceramics balance composition and form with pattern and bright pops of colour; Shipton-by-Beningbrough ceramicist Ruth King, one of the event organisers, specialises in the salt glaze technique and a preoccupation with structure, containment and balance in her luminous pots. RAMP Ceramics is a partnership between Alice Hartford and Rupert Johnstone, wherein he throws the pots and she decorates them and they share a liking for simple, clean forms.
Anna Lambert, from Crosshills, near Keighley, makes hand-built arthenware ceramics using such techniques as slab-building and painted slips. Her creative ideas reflect an interest in place, exploring narratives relating to farmland, floodwater management, woodlands and the regeneration of orchards. Inspired by new nature writing, she combines drawing with abstract qualities of pots, their spaces, edges and surfaces.
RAMP Ceramics pieces by Alice Hartford and Rupert Johnstone
Over the same weekend, York Art Gallery’s annual Days Of Clay offers the chance to “get your hands dirty” at live demonstrations by makers on the Saturday and to enjoy a series of talks, conversations and demos on the Sunday, showing how raw clay can be pinched, carved, rolled, thrown and transformed through this ancient craft.
Animal sculptor Susan Hall and potters Milena Dragic and Mila Romans are taking part; esteemed ceramicist Alison Britten gives the annual CoCA lecture; David Horbury discusses the memoirs of studio potter and arts and crafts writer Emmanuel Cooper, and the event coincides with the launch of a new exhibition by “the most radical ceramicist of the 20th century”, Gillian Lowndes: At The Edge.
York Ceramics Fair, The Hospitium, Museum Gardens, York, November 23 and 24, 10am to 5pm; entry £5, under 16s, free. For more details, visit yorkceramicsfair.com.
Days Of Clay, York Art Gallery, November 23 and 24. Visit yorkartgallery.org.uk for details and tickets.
Katie Braida at work in her studio
The 40 potters taking part in York Ceramics Fair 2019 are:
Justine Allison; Matthew Blakely;Dylan Bowen; Daniel Boyle; Katie Braida; Ben Brierley; Karen Bunting; Rebecca Callis; Isabel Denyer; Antje Ernestus; Doug Fitch; Hannah McAndrew; David Frith; Kerstin Gren; James Hake; Richard Heeley; RAMP Ceramics; Ruth King; Anna Lambert; Tony Laverick; Wendy Lawrence; Sophie MacCarthy; Sean Miller; Jenny Morten; Stephen Murfitt; Jeremy Nichols; Adela Powell; Michaela Schoop; Lara Scobie; Jill Shaddock; Patricia Shone; Jenny Southam; Ilona Sulikova; Tricia Thom; Keith Varney; John Wheeldon; Emily-Kriste Wilcox; Deiniol Williams; David Wright; Paul Young.
FESTIVAL TRIUMPH: Sasha Rainbow’s Kofi & Lartey wins the Best Of Fest prize
SASHA Rainbow has won the Best Of Fest Award at the 2019 Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York.
More than 400 films competed in the Official Selection for the grand festival prize at the five-day event, which climaxed with Sunday’s awards ceremony at the Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens.
Rainbow’s documentary Kofi & Lartey tells the true story of a man who escaped Agbogbloshie, the electronic waste dump site near the centre of Accra, Ghana’s capital, dubbed one of the most toxic places on Earth. The 20-minute film follows him as he empowers two young boys to do the same.
New Zealander Rainbow’s film, along with all the category winners, becomes available for consideration for the 2020 BAFTA awards.
Kofi And Lartey was among the films selected by ASFF director Cherie Federico for the Opening Night Ceremony showcase that launched the festival last Wednesday night.
Iain Cunningham was awarded Best Featurefor Irene’s Ghost, his BIFA-nominated debut feature documentary account of his search for information about the mother he never knew, as Narrative and Documentary Features returned to the festival for a second year.
Delving into hard-hitting topics, the Drama strand provides the largest part of ASFF’s programme. Best Dramawas awarded to Thomas Vernay for Miss Chazelles,the story of two young rivals.
Best Thriller went to Madame, directed by Garth Jennings, best known for 2016’s Sing and 2005’s Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. Norteños, directed by Grandmas, took home the award for Best Comedy; Leszek Mozga won Best Animation for Roadkill; Charby Ibrahim, Best Documentary for the animated Bright Lights – The Perils Of The Pokies, a reflection on the devastating consequences of gambling.
Tapping into the brand ethos, LEONE’s L’Incredibile, in partnership with Nike, was awarded Best Advertising; Best Fashion went to Lola’s Manifesto, directed by Gsus Lopez and Cristian Velasco.
Usurping the idea of convention, Best Artists’ Filmwas presented to Rhea Storr for A Protest, A Celebration, A Mixed Message; Best Experimental was awarded to Samona Olanipekun for Kindred, a spirited interpretation of life in the 21st Century.
The Golden Age, directed by Eric Minh Cuong Castaing, won Best Dance, while Best Music Videowent to Emmanuel Adjei for Shahmaran – Sevdaliza.
Introducing new digital playgrounds, ASFF welcomed Virtual Reality and Immersive films into the competition for a second year. Best VR & Immersive was awarded to Virtual Viking – The Ambush, directed by Erik Gustavson, who used 106 cameras to capture Norway’s west coast, marking one of the first techniques in scripted VR drama.
New for 2019, the Hijack Visionary Filmmaker Award recognises directors with exceptional vision and a unique cinematic voice, with the prize going to Ellie Rogers for They FoundHer In A Field.
The Polaris Award celebrates the achievements of filmmakers in the North of England, with sponsorship from Film Hub North and BFI Network, and this year’s award was received by Charlene Jones for Henceforth, an honest and raw project highlighting the grief of three siblings after the loss of their parents.
Across the five-day run, festival-goers were invited to vote for their favourite film from the Official Selection for the People’s Choice Award, won by Garry Crystal for Down, from the Drama category. This claustrophobic short about two strangers trapped in a lift stars Amanda Donohoe, James Eeles and Paul Barber.
Chosen by students at the Youth Engagement programme, the Youth Awardwas given to Lasagne, directed by Hannah Hill.
This year’s festival drew entries from 53 countries and welcomed thousands of visitors, including industry professionals, students, tourists and film enthusiasts, some travelling from as far afield as Canada, Norway, Germany. Australia, Japan and New Zealand.
Entries for the tenth anniversary festival open on December 1, with the 2020 festival dates confirmed for November 4 to 8.
