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Full cast and creative team announced for The Penelopiad at York Theatre Royal

The cast for York Theatre Royals’ revival of The Penelopiad

AMID the summer buzz over Christopher Nolan’s film account of The Odyssey, the full cast and creative team is in place for York Theatre Royal’s autumn revival of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad.

Joining the already announced Amelia Bullmore in the leading role of Penelope will be Nell Baker (Laertes), Danielle Bird (Eurycleia), Olivia Burton-Laws (Naiad Mother), Theatre Royal pantomime alumna Faye Campbell (Melantho), Pena Iiyambo (Helen), Kat Johns-Burke (Antonius), Syakira  Moeladi (Telemachus) and Charlie Russell (Odysseus).

Directed by Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster, the production will open on October 14, with previews from October 10, and will run until October 31.

“Margaret Atwood is such a phenomenal writer – she’s clever, witty, subversive and her insights into human dynamics are acutely well observed,” says Juliet. “The Penelopiad is a funny, moving, fast-paced, visual feast, a classical tale told through a contemporary lens. The epic, heroic story of The Odyssey will never look the same again! I am thrilled we will be staging it here at York Theatre Royal, and I can’t wait to get started on the show.” 

The Penelopiad writer Margaret Atwood. Picture: Luis Mora, 2020

Adapted for the stage by Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood from her 2005 novella, The Penelopiad’s feminist retelling of The Odyssey reimagines Homer’s epic through the eyes of Penelope and her chorus of maids.  

Atwood, author of the modern feminist classic The Handmaid’s Tale, presents a powerful, irreverent and darkly humorous retelling that unpicks one of the oldest of myths.  Immortalised as the devoted and faithful wife to the glorious Odysseus, Penelope waits 20 years for her husband to return from the Trojan War, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again. Now it is time to hear the story of those left behind. 

Reimagining this ancient tale, Atwood gives voice to the silenced Penelope and her maids. Wandering the underworld, Penelope spins a different kind of thread: her side of the story – a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge. 

 Forster, director of such York Theatre Royal productions as Little Women and Around The World In 80 Days-ish!, will deliver an exuberant and witty retelling that questions the version of events we think we know and exposes the truth behind the myth.

Juliet Forster: Director of York Theatre Royal’s production of The Penelopiad

Juliet says: “It has been such a joy to meet so many brilliant women over the last couple of months, and what a phenomenally talented cast and creative team we have lined up for The Penelopiad. It is clear just how strongly this story resonates with people today, and I am looking forward to a rehearsal room buzzing with excitement and creativity. 

“Margaret Atwood’s powerful script is so rich with wit and humour as she unveils a new feminist perspective on the familiar Odyssey myth. The show is interwoven with songs and exuberant movement and we hope to offer audiences an entirely different way of understanding the story of Penelope and her maids – and most importantly a great night out.”   

Amelia Bullmore will return to the stage to star as Penelope, having last trod the boards in the 2018 revival of Annie Baker’s 2009 play Circle Mirror Transformation at HOME, Manchester.

Amelia says:“I’m thrilled I’m going to be working at York Theatre Royal – such a beautiful theatre – on this fantastic play. The Penelopiad manages to be funny, dark, moving and provocative by turns. And it’s Margaret Atwood, so the writing is uniquely brilliant. I think audiences will love how playful it is and how directly it connects with them.”

Amelia Bullmore: Cast as Penelope in The Penelopiad

Welcoming her to York, Juliet says: “It is wonderful to have Amelia on board to lead the cast for The Penelopiad. Penelope is such a fascinating and complex character in Margaret Atwood’s retelling and I know Amelia will do her justice! I can’t wait to work with her to bring this compelling story to the stage for York audiences.”

Joining Forster in the all-female creative team will be designer Sara Perks, lighting designer Alexandra Stafford, composer, musical director and sound designer Kate Marlais, movement director Michelle Edwards and casting director Ellie Collyer-Bristow.

To ensure as many people as possible can enjoy the show, the first preview on October 10 will be offered on a ‘Pay What You Choose’ basis, allowing audiences to pay as little or as much as they wish. 

The York Theatre Royal Choir will present special foyer performances for audiences on October 10 and press night, October 14, before the 7.30pm shows start.  

Tickets are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

York Theatre Royal’s poster for The Penelopiad. Concept: Émilie Chen. Photography: Camilla Greenwell

Did you know?


MARGARET Atwood’s The Penelopiad premiered at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, in July 2007 in a co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Canada’s National Arts Centre. York Theatre Royal’s production marks the first major UK revival since that original staging. 

Amelia Bullmore: back story

THEATRE credits include Circle Mirror Transformation (HOME Manchester); A Christmas Carol (Noël Coward Theatre); The Norman Conquests (The Old Vic and Circle in the Square Theatre, New York); The Crucible (Sheffield Crucible); Really Old, Like Forty Five (National Theatre); Road and The Queen And I (Leicester Haymarket, Royal Court Theatre and UK tour).

Also, The Thickness Of Skin (Royal Court Theatre); A View From The Bridge, Romeo And Juliet (Royal Exchange Theatre and UK Tour); All My Sons and How The Other Half Loves (Cheltenham Everyman); Be-Bop-A-Lula (Liverpool Playhouse and UK tour); The Red Balloon (Contact Theatre); The Threepenny Opera (Birmingham Rep);  Major Barbara and Sweet Bird Of Youth (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow);The Way Of The World (Wilton’s Musical Hall) and Ladies In The Lift (Red Stockings Theatre Company.)

Her television credits include Riot Women; The Buccaneers; Happy Valley; Gentleman Jack; Scott & Bailey (as series regular DCI Gill Murray and co-writer); Twenty Twelve; The Crown; Vienna Blood; I’m Alan Partridge; Jam; Big Train; State Of Play; Ashes To Ashes; The Jetty; Marble Hall Murders;The Larkins and Coronation Street (as series regular Steph Barnes).

Her films include Mrs Dalloway, Festival, The Truth, Endgame and What We Did On Our Holiday.

She is an acclaimed writer for TV, radio and stage. Her play Di And Viv And Rose premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London before transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End.

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York Art Gallery to mark finale of Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints exhibition with Bank Holiday events

Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa, c.1829-32. Image courtesy of Maidstone Museum

YORK Art Gallery will mark the finale of Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints during the August Summer Bank Holiday.

This special event will run on Saturday, August 29 and Sunday, August 30 August, with more details to be announced to complement the activities, times, tickets and more information posted already at yorkartgallery.co.uk.

Look out for Japanese-themed crafts and food, traditional harp playing and drumming sessions, as well as performances from York choir groups, plus Kokedama, a traditional nature-based craft.

Visitors are encouraged to enjoy all these activities, staying all day to eat, play and relax in the beautiful Japanese Garden at the back of the gallery.

Hashimoto Chikanobu’s Evacuation Of Chiyoda Palace, from the series The Inner Palace Of Chiyoda, 1896, on show at Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints at York Art Gallery. Picture: York Museums Trust

Throughout the August Bank Holiday weekend, a range of activities will be available to try inside the gallery too.

This will be the final chance to see Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa on loan from Maidstone Museum, and to learn more about Japanese art and culture as the exhibition bids farewell with this special closing celebration. 

Visitors can create their own print as part of the exhibition, view kimonos from Durham Oriental Museum, discover samurai armour and swords from the Royal Armouries, Leeds, and buy from the gallery gift shop’s Japanese ranges.

More than 38,000 people have visited Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints already. To book tickets, go to: yorkartgallery.co.uk.

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York Museum Gardens to open for evenings of cocktails, live music and street food on August 14 and 28 from 6.30pm to 9.30pm

York Museum Gardens. Picture: York Museums Trust

VISITORS are invited to experience York Museum Gardens “like never before” as the botanical gardens open after hours for exclusive Friday evening events on August 14 and 28.

Guests can enjoy Evening In The Gardens, a relaxed adults-only experience offering rare access to one of York’s most beautiful green spaces after the gardens have closed to the public at 6pm.

York Museum Gardens will reopen exclusively for ticket holders from 6.30pm to 9.30pm, giving visitors the chance to be in the gardens at this peaceful time of day.

Against the backdrop of the ruins of St Mary’s Abbey, guests can unwind with a cocktail, listen to live music, sample street food and soak up the atmosphere as the sun sets over the historic gardens, whether you are on a date night, linking up with friends for the evening or simply wanting to experience this iconic spaces in a completely different way.,

Run by York Museums Trust, the event is suitable for age 18 upwards. Tickets cost £7.50 and include a cocktail on arrival. Additional drinks and street food will be available to buy throughout each evening. To book, go to: yorkmuseumgardens.co.uk.

York Museum Gardens, leading to the rear of York Art Gallery. Picture: York Museums Trust

York Museum Gardens: back story

ESTABLISHED in the 1830s by Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS). Noted for collection of trees, shrubs, perennials and bulbs.

The land was granted to YPS  under the condition that botanical gardens would be established on the site. These were created Sir John Murray Naysmith and originally contained a conservatory, pond and menagerie.

In 1960, the gardens and Yorkshire Museum were given in trust to the City of York Council. Since 2002, they have been managed by York Museums Trust.

Opening hours: 9am to 6pm, daily. For more information, head to yorkmuseumgardens.org.uk.

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His ‘teenage kids no longer find him funny’, but comedian Simon Brodkin has Unleashed his biggest tour yet. York Barbican awaits on March 14 2027

Simon Brodkin: Unleashed tour

COMEDIAN and world-famous prankster Simon Brodkin once showered FIFA president Sepp Blatter with cash, handed Prime Minister Theresa May her P45 and created the BBC comedy series Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show. Now he is to play York Barbican on March 14 2027 on his 56-date Unleashed tour.

Hampstead-born Brodkin, who pivoted to stand-up comedy in 2019, is launching his 2026-2027 travels with ten international shows between May and July, taking in Australia, Sweden, Greece and Cyprus.

Unleashed will hit the UK and Ireland for 46 shows from September 11 2026 to March 20 2027. Combining outrageous punchlines with electric crowd work, Brodkin, 48, will rip into broken Britain, the American Dream, religion, marriage, Genghis Khan, vape shops and wild swimmers.

 “I can’t wait for my biggest ever tour!” he says. “The timing feels perfect. I’ve not toured for two years, so I’ve got a lot to say, and my teenage kids no longer find me funny.”

Tickets for York are on sale from https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/simon-brodkin/.

Brodkin’s last tour, Screwed Up, was extended four times, running to 170 shows around the world, culminating in three sold-out nights at London’s Hammersmith Apollo, as well as a headline-grabbing appearance at the Royal Variety Performance.

He is breaking records on social media with his stand-up clips, averaging more than 50 million views across his platforms every month. He has more than one million followers on Facebook and four million across all platforms.

Screwed Up became the most viewed UK special to premiere on YouTube. Filmed at Theatre Royal, East London, Brodkin tore into social media, celebrities, the police, Prince Andrew, Putin and God. Nothing was off limits, including his own mental health, his family, his five arrests and how he once found himself at an underground sex party.

Brodkin first rose to fame with his outrageous characters that became household names in the UK, such as Lee Nelson and superstar footballer Jason Bent. He wrote and starred in three BBC series of Lee Nelson’s Well Good Show and Well Funny People.

Brodkin has made global headlines frequently with his audacious stunts on the world’s most powerful people, from Sepp Blatterand Theresa Mayto joining Kanye Weston stage at Glastonbury Festival and ambushing President Donald Trumpon his golf course by surrounding him with “creatively decorated” golf balls.

Brodkin last played York on November 10 2024 at the Grand Opera House on his Screwed Up tour.

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The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time to play Grand Opera House in October with teenager Chris now female

The full cast for Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep’s tour of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, playing Grand Opera House, York, from October 27 to 31

ALEX Keenan and Imi Price will become the first women to portray fearful yet fearless teenager Chris Boone in Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep’s bold new interpretation of The Curious Incident In The Night-Time, booked into the Grand Opera House, York, for October 27 to 31.

Directed by Ned Bennett, this fresh perspective on one of contemporary theatre’s most iconic characters will honour the heart of the original story while inviting audiences to experience Simon Stephens’ adaptation of Mark Haddon’s novel through a new lens.

The story combines the intrigue of a whodunit with a coming-of-age story, wherein 15-year-old schoolgirl Chris Boone is gifted with a brilliant mind for numbers but is unsettled by the unpredictability of people and everyday life, distrusting strangers deeply, never venturing alone beyond the end of her road.

Novelist Haddon never called Chris autistic or attributed Asperger Syndrome to the character, but she does not like to be touched, is incapable of lying, can count binary numbers to infinity and has powers of logic beyond conventional reasoning or normal patterns of behaviour.

When a neighbour’s dog is discovered killed, Chris comes under suspicion. Determined to prove her innocence, Chris becomes both detective and suspect, drawn into a mystery that grows darker and more complex with every clue uncovered.

Charlie Brooks as Teresa Phillips in her York debut at the Grand Opera House in 2017 in Alan Ayckbourn’s How The Other Half Loves

What begins as the search for a culprit soon reveals secrets closer to home, forcing Chris to confront truths that will test her courage, family and understanding of trust, independence and the wider world.

Keenan and Price will alternate the lead role on tour, joined by Charlie Brooks and Joe McFadden as Chris’s parents Ed and Judy.

Brooks is best known for her long-running soap opera role since 1999 as wildcat Janine Butcher, caught up in cocaine addiction, murder and prostitution in EastEnders. Rumours began yesterday that Janine is to return after four years [on release from prison] for “two explosive episodes in the autumn”.

Brooks made her York debut in October 2017 in Alan Strachan’s revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s 1969 comedy of matrimonial mishaps How The Other Half Loves, playing Teresa Phillips on tour at the Grand Opera House. “Teresa is fiery and strong, like Janine, but I think the similarities end there,” she said at the time.

McFadden has appeared in the BBC’s The Crow Road and Holby City and ITV’s Heartbeat and was the 2017 Strictly Come Dancing Glitterball winner to boot. He played film director Jason in the Original Theatre Company’s production of Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d at York Theatre Royal in October 2022 and was last seen on a Yorkshire stage as Andy Dufresne in The Shawshank Redemption at Leeds Grand Theatre in May this year.

Joe McFadden’s Jason, the film director, in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d at York Theatre Royal in October 2022, playing opposite Sophie Ward

Completing the ‘Curious Incident’ cast will be Bridgette Amofah as Siobhan; Alex Murdochas Mrs Alexander/Posh Woman/Voice One; Matthew Bulgo as Roger (Mr Shears)/Duty Sergeant/Voice Two/Mr Wise/Man Behind Counter/Drunk One and Jerone Marsh Reid as Mr Thompson/Man with Socks/London Policeman/Voice Three.

Carla Garratt will play Punk Girl/No. 40/Voice Five/Information; Tom Clegg, Reverend Peters/Uncle Terry/Voice Four/Station Policeman/Station Guard; Robert Penny, Voice Seven, and Sera Mustafa, Mrs Gascoyne/Woman on Train/Shopkeeper/Police Officer One/Voice 6. All will perform ensemble roles too.

Alongside Ned Bennett in the production team will be set & costume designer Eleanor Bull; lighting designer Laura Howard; composer & sound designer Giles Thomas; video designer Hayley Egan; movement director Jenni Jackson; costume supervisor  Izzy Pellow; props supervisor Eve Hall; casting director Abby Galvin and associate director Anastasia Osei-Kuffour.

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time premiered at the National Theatre, London, in 2012 and has been seen globally by more than five million people. The National Theatre’s inaugural tour visited the Grand Opera House, York, in January 2015. York company Pick Me Up Theatre staged the play in April 2025 at Theatre@41, Monkgate.

Pick Me Up Theatre in Andrew Isherwood’s production of The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, in April 2025

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Dowland’s Foundry/Lukas Sternath & Aris Quartet at Ryedale Festival, All Saints Church, Northallerton and  St John the Baptist, Easingwold, July 20

Dowland’s Foundry. Picture: Ryedale Festival

OUR first great songwriter, John Dowland, is normally experienced today with a single voice singing to lute or viol accompaniment, but this is not necessarily how his contemporaries heard him.

The secret lies in the subtitle of his First Book of Songs (1597), “or Airs of Four Parts” (in modernised spelling). This simple revelation lies behind what Dowland’s Foundry does with his music. As a vocal quartet, accompanied by the lute of Sam Brown, they tend to sing all four parts, thereby obviating the need for viols.

The songs in this book are all strophic (with tunes repeated for each verse), so variety depends on performers enlivening the texts. This ensemble was also adept at adjusting to Dowland’s many moods, by no means all of them as melancholic as his reputation.

At times we heard only two voices, or conversational-style exchanges, rather than straight four-part delivery. Dowland’s songs are an amalgam of madrigals, consort songs, broadside ballads and even dance music, which largely accounts for their enduring popularity. Dowland’s Foundry were attuned to these styles and able to draw in their audience very quickly through the enthusiasm of their approach. Brown’s eloquent lute added further colour.

Pianist Lukas Sternath performing at St John The Baptist, Easingwold, at Ryedale Festival. Picture: Jonas Cradock

That evening, five players from among the current BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artists brought Schubert and Dvořák to the generous acoustic of Easingwold parish church. The pianist Lukas Sternath is an accomplished technician who was unashamedly forthright in his approach to Schubert’s Sonata in G major, D.894 (‘Fantasie’), which dates from October 1826.

All but one of its four movements begins either piano or pianissimo; only the minuet (effectively a scherzo) starts forte, but its trio sets out pianissimo and quickly moves into triple piano.

You would rightly surmise that Schubert had in mind an intimate work. Sadly Sternath had other ideas. He played as if in a hall ten times the size. He used every excuse to move directly from relative quietness to fortissimo, hammering out accents at every opportunity.

He was not oblivious to Schubert’s melodic possibilities and spiced his phrases with rubato, robbing the tempo in the name of musicality. But such a move has to be compensated. He rarely moved back into his original tempo, so that the overall effect was that he couldn’t see the wood for the trees.

Aris Quartet playing at St John The Baptist, Easingwold, at Ryedale Festival. Picture: Jonas Cradock

Perhaps he was misled by the work’s nickname, ‘Fantasie’, which would possibly allow some latitude in interpretation, but this was a publisher’s idea, not Schubert’s. What we lacked was serenity. Nevertheless the closing rondo was exciting, if rather more rumbustious than the composer intended.

An entirely different side to Sternath’s musical personality emerged when he returned to collaborate with the Aris Quartet in Dvořák’s Second Piano Quintet. Where some pianists are inclined to treat the work as a piano concerto, leaving the strings trailing in their wake, Sternath was a model of restraint throughout. The work is very much built around dance rhythms and the pianistic underlay here was at the heart of all these.

The Aris are a beautifully balanced group. There was a strong contrast between the two themes of the opening Allegro, and the eloquent viola of Caspar Vinzens was positively soulful in the slow movement’s Dumka.

The lively Furiant in the scherzo was partnered by a much more intimate trio, while the polka-based finale was again bursting with high spirits, but even here Sternath was relatively subdued. The overall ensemble, however, was never less than engaging.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/Corderoy at Ryedale Festival, St Peter’s Church, Norton, July 18

Conductor Charlotte Corderoy. Picture: Ryedale Festival

THE oldest professional orchestra in Britain in the world premiere of a flugelhorn concerto, alongside two classical symphonies, together constituted a mouth-watering opportunity. It offered precisely the kind of adventure for which Ryedale Festival has become renowned.

Although still in her 20s, Charlotte Corderoy is a conductor of considerable promise. All sides of her musical personality were on view here. At first, she took a cautious approach to Weber’s Second Symphony, meticulously strong on detail. The tension in her body language, however, did not always reflect the moods she was attempting to capture.

By the second slow movement, she had shaped some fine ensemble in the woodwinds, allowing the solo bassoon to shine. The busy final Scherzo was neatly clipped, with important attention to the composer’s telling rests – and his throwaway ending.

Gabriel Jackson built his new Flugelhorn Concerto, with accompaniment for strings, harp and percussion, around the numerical positions in the alphabet of the letters in ‘Roy Anthony Hargrove’, a trumpeter and flugelhornist in whose memory it was written.

The result, as he freely admits, is a pastoral reminiscence, but his method came across as something of a straitjacket, allowing very little room for any type of virtuoso display from the soloist, Imogen Whitehead.

Trumpet and flugelhorn soloist Imogen Whitehead. Picture: Matthew Johnson

It got off to a strong start, with some leaping string figures that recalled Britten, but these were barely recalled later. He soon toned things down by muting his soloist, in company with long, elegiac phrases to which Whitehead brought a lovely legato.

It is true that there were some fanfare-like moments and even string syncopation, but these soon dissipated into a duet between flugelhorn and vibraphone in full warble mode.

Much of what followed was similarly dream-centred, built around a dominant pedal, with only fleeting moments of activity in the strings. There was full-blown trumpeting at the very end. Whitehead had added some tightly decorative little roulades to her otherwise slow lines and was in admirable control throughout, but the piece as a whole never quite caught fire.

In Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony, Corderoy was right in her element and altogether more relaxed. After a suitably weird opening Adagio, the entry into the Allegro was truly exciting, with syncopation taut and accents fierce. Some of the fortes in the slow movement were a touch forceful for the context, but the succeeding Scherzo was light and airy by contrast.

Excitement returned in the finale, where the composer’s ma non troppo was effectively ignored and Corderoy chose a cracking pace. The orchestra stayed right with her and the return of the main theme was absolutely gripping.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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More Things To Do in and around York. Hutch’s List No. 30, from The York Press

Tom Grennan: Performing after this afternoon’s race card on Knavesmire

VETERANS James Taylor and Tom Jones on the coast, Knavesmire’s music showcase, York Proms and Johnny and June’s country musical stand out in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for the week ahead.

Race day concert of the week: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Knavesmire, Tom Grennan, today

BEDFORD singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is today’s post-racing performer, drawing on such hits as Little Bit Of Love, Let’s Go Home Together, Remind Me, Here and How Does It Feel, plus songs from his number one albums Evering Road, What Ifs & Maybes and Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn’t Want To Be and top-five debut Lighting Matches. Tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk; no booking fees; free parking on race day.

Tom Jones: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre tomorrow

Coastal concerts of the week: Scarborough Open Air Theatre, An Evening with James Taylor and His All-Star Band, today; Tom Jones, with Stone Foundation, tomorrow; gates open at 6pm

MASSACHUSETTS singer, songwriter and guitarist, Laurel Canyon folk luminary, six-time Grammy winner and Rock and Roll and Songwriters Halls of Fame inductee James Taylor, 78, draws on six decades of songs, from his self-titled 1968 debut to 2021’s 19th studio album, American Standard, tonight.

Tom Jones, or Sir Tom Jones since 2006, to be more formal, returns to Scarborough this weekend aged 85 to perform such favourites as It’s Not Unusual, What’s New Pussycat?, Delilah, Green, Green Grass Of Home, A Boy From Nowhere, Kiss, Mama Told Me Not To Come and Sex Bomb. Joining Sir Tom will be the eight-piece soul collective Stone Foundation. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Hannah Maxwell: Fiercely hopeful exploration of human connection in the Information Age at Theatre@41, Monkgate. Picture: Christa Holka

Fringe shows of the week: Halfway To Edinburgh at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, presents Hannah Maxwell: Turn Your ****ing Phones Off (Work in Progress), today,6.30pm; Kate McCabe and Adam Perrott, The Name Of The Dame, tomorrow, 7.30pm

PERFORMED in traverse with an immersive technical design by Benji Huntrods, theatre-maker Hannah Maxwell’s Edinburgh Fringe-bound new performance artwork is a dark, absurd and fiercely hopeful exploration of human connection in the Information Age, expounding playfully on the rise of Big Tech, attention-hacking innovations and surveillance capitalism, while recounting Maxwell’s personal struggles with phone addiction and her bid for a life in analogue.

Dames, detectives, stylish hats and ‘car chases’ combine in comedians Kate McCabe and Adam Perrott’s hour-long film-noir parody. “If you like Airplane and Police Squad, the oeuvre of Mel Brooks, dicey puns and sight gags, this show is probably for you,” they say. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Totally Visible Theatre Company in a scene from Invisible, to be spotted at Friargate Theatre tonight

Bonds of friendship of the week: The Totally Visible Theatre Company in Invisible, Friargate Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm

FIVE women meet up on a Saturday morning, as they have done every week for years, but this time they have a plan. Fast forward one year and their lives have changed irrevocably.

Celebrating the bonds of friendship and the fascinations and pitfalls of contemporary life, Invisible is a frank, fast-paced, all-female comedy-drama that ruminates on how older women are perceived in society, the relationships they forge and, most importantly, their “invisibility” in writer-director Jane Barrie’s exploration of sisterhood, motherhood and the effects of upbringing. Box office: 01904 655317 or ridinglights.org/friargatetheatre.

Ashley Stillburn: York-born tenor making his York Proms debut tomorrow

Picnic concert of the week: York Proms, York Museum Gardens, tomorrow, 5.30pm

RUN by classical chart-topping York soprano Rebecca Newman and now in its ninth year, York Proms features music from the world of classical and opera, film soundtracks and show songs. Increasing the orchestra size this summer enables the inclusion of John Williams cinema compositions.

The soloists are York-born tenor and West End musical actor Ashley Stillburn in his York Proms debut and British/Irish soprano Jennifer Coleman, making her third appearance. Tickets update: Available today but NOT tomorrow at yorkproms.com/collections/tickets-2026.

Christopher Ryan Grant’s Johnny Cash and Christina Bianco’s June Carter Cash in The Ballad Of Johnny & June, on tour at Grand Opera House, York, next week. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Musical of the week:The Ballad Of Johnny & June, The Johnny Cash Musical, Grand Opera House, York, July 28 to August 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday & Saturday matinees

THIS thrilling musical from Jersey Boys director Des McAnuff celebrates the love, music and mayhem of country music couple Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Electrifying chemistry marks the performances of Christopher Ryan Grant’s Johnny and Christina Bianco’s June in a story observed through the eyes of Ryan O’Donnell’s John Carter Cash, their son. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

In addition, the trio gives a special pop-up performance of songs from the show at Forty Five Vinyl Cafe, the Nashville-inspired concert venue, record store and coffee house in Micklegate, on July 29 at 1pm.

“Tribute” show of the week: Songs Of presents The Songs of Joni Mitchell, with Jesca Hoop & Lail Arad, The Citadel, York, July 31, doors 7pm, show 7.45pm

JESCA Hoop & Lail Arad, acclaimed singer-songwriters in their own right, perform intimate interpretations of their favourite Joni Mitchell songs, accompanied by Richard Sears on piano and special guest Naima Bock. Hoop presented Legend: The Joni Mitchell Story, the award-winning six-part BBC radio documentary and podcast on the Canadian singer-songwriter. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Jesca Hoop: Intimate interpretations of Joni Mitchell songs at The Citadel

Political drama of the week: Handbagged, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, July 31 to August 29

MOIRA Buffini’s 2014 Olivier Award-winning play imagines what happened behind closed palace doors when two of the 20th century’s most powerful women, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, locked handbags. Meeting once a week for 11 years, one believed there was no such thing as society; the other committed her life to serving it.

Spanning 1979 to 1990, Handbagged asks if The Queen and the Iron Lady ever found common ground or did their stiff upper lips reign supreme? Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder directs the SJT cast of Pandora Clifford, Liz Garland, Alexandra Mathie, Deven Modha, Simon Darwen and Meriel Scholfield. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Alexandra Mathie, left, and Pandora Clifford in rehearsal for Handbagged at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Shakespeare show of the week: Four Forty Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 31, 7.30pm

FOUR Forty Theatre (or 440 Theatre, as their website uses both names) tackle Shakespeare’s romantic romp of a chaotic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with their trademark irreverence, wit and theatrical ingenuity, directed by Dominic Gee-Burch, formerly of fellow high-speed Shakespeare humorists Oddsocks Productions.

Lovers are enchanted, fairies feud and a troupe of hapless players rehearse their way into disaster, all in a single moonlit night. Inventive staging, breakneck character changes and playful dismantling of tradition mark out Four Forty’s mischief-making take on Shakespeare’s best-loved comedy: part affectionate homage, part riotous reinvention. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Four Forty Theatre: Mischief-making in the woods in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Art event of the week: Carolyn Coles & Mike Marshall, Beyond The Nab, St Mary’s Church, Sandsend, near Whitby, today, tomorrow & Monday, 10am to 5pm

ARTISTS and fossil collectors Carolyn Coles and Mike Marshall are sharing their love of the north east coastline in Beyond The Nab at St Mary’s Church, Sandsend, near Whitby.

Held at this beautiful church located at the end of the Sandsend Valley at the bottom of Lythe Bank, the special four-day event takes place in one of Yorkshire’s prettiest valleys, noted for its picturesque, high-end stone cottages, rich local history, tied to the Mulgrave Estate, and ancient woodlands leading to the ruins of Mulgrave Castle.

On show and sale are contemporary paintings with a traditional twist, sculptured fossils, evocative photography, jet jewellery, cards and prints, with both York seascape artist Carolyn Coles and East Coast fossil legend Mike Marshall on hand to guide you through the works.

South Bank Studios artist Carolyn will be demonstrating painting techniques while Mike, who runs Yorkshire Coast Fossils, will be glad to identify any fossil you bring along. A pop-up cafe will serve light refreshment in aid of the church, championed by volunteer Helen Lloyd.

Mike Marshall looking out to sea

Carolyn explains the idea behind the event as a “brilliant medley of art and heritage, combining contemporary art and sculpture with traditional techniques”. “We talked about coming together professionally as our work is a perfect compliment and we have such a shared love of the area,” she says.

Carolyn has had a busy 2026, joining wildlife sculptor Karen Fawcett and PICA Studios ceramicist Emily Stubbs in The Sky’s The Limit exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, York, from late-January to mid-March and taking part in York Open Studios in April.

“My dream is to open a studio and gallery and live by the coast, so this event is a huge pleasure to hold,” she says.

York artist Carolyn Coles enjoying painting in plein air at Sandsend

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REVIEW: Rowntree Players in Boeing Boeing, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, in the air tonight until Saturday ****

Lizzie Lawton’s Robert, left, and Max Palmer’s Bernard in vexed conversation with Val Debenedetti’s Italian air hostess Gabriella in Rowntree Players’ Boeing Boeing. Picture: Jamie McKeller

LEEDS Conservatoire musical theatre masters graduate and freelance theatre-maker Hannah Shaw is directing her second Rowntree Players production of 2026.

After her LGBTQ+ exploration of gay playwright Oscar Wilde’s “trivial comedy for serious people” The Importance Of Being Earnest in March, she now pilots Marc Camoletti’s high-flying French farce Boeing Boeing, cleared for take-off with five cast members – Bethan Olliver, Jorja Cartwright, Lizzie Lawton, Max Palmer and Rebecca Thomson – returning from her Wilde nights.

Newly on board is Val Debenedetti, who draws on her Italian heritage to play the hot-blooded Gabriella, one of three air hostesses engaged to Palmer’s philandering American architect Bernard.

Rebecca Thomson’s house maid Bertha, fielding yet another problematic phone call in Boeing Boeing. Picture: Jamie McKeller

Shaw introduces all three fiancées, along with Bernard, his gloriously blunt, long-suffering French housemaid, Thomson’s Berthe, and his long-lost friend, Lawton’s callow, gauche Robert, from Wisconsin, in a pre-show sequence in the style of TV credits (think Friends, for example), set to Jennifer Carney’s choreography of Max Barron’s Sixties sitcom theme pastiche.

This establishes both the characters’ individual style and the location, Bernard’s Parisian apartment, with its seven doors – or eight if you count the central double doors – in Camoletti’s 1960 setting, adapted in 1962 by Beverley Cross and Francis Evans. In front is a large sofa, with a leather chair to one side, a bean bag to the other, a drinks trolley, a spinning globe, bannisters by the doors and a regularly ringing phone.

In the tradition of farce, Camelotti’s  smart, stylish comedy starts in a haven of calm, where Palmer’s self-satisfied  Bernard is the cat with the full-fat cream,  utilising the timetables dextrously to juggle his time with his airline fiancées, first  Olliver’s apple-pie American Gloria, next Debenedetti’s tempestuous Gabriella, and lastly, Cartwright’s slightly frightening, no-nonsense German, Gretchen.

Jorja Cartwright’s German air hostess Gretchen: All in yellow, right down to her painted eye lids. Picture: Jamie McKeller

Each entry is designated by their airline colour – red, blue, yellow – lighting up a door, immediately followed by a sound ‘sting’ from Barron’s  compositional tool box,  keeping the audience one step ahead every time those signals are repeated.

Into the farcical mix is stirred the interruptive presence of Lawton’s Robert, who has not seen Bernard for more than 18 years and is determined to make up for lost time, never leaving the apartment, always interjecting with a suggestion and then playing his own cards with Cartwright’s  Gretchen.

As in The Importance Of Being Earnest, Lawton (they/them) favours a physical form of comedy acting, constantly on the move and no less frenetic in their line delivery.

Lizzie Lawton’s jaunty, livewire Robert in Boeing Boeing. Picture: Jamie McKeller

It plays well against Palmer’s more laidback performance style, his calm-in-the-face-of-a-storm Bernard contrasting with the almost volcanic flow of suggestions and reactions from busy Lizzie’s Robert.

Shaw does not update the Sixties setting, but she has cut the backside-patting tropes, the women all the stronger for being empowered to be the decision makers, including Thomson’s ever-exasperated  Berthe demanding an ever-rising pay increase.

Camelotti’s men are exposed as chancers, flippant and indeed weak, despite thinking they hold the upper hand, when in fact the women call the shots.  

Bethan Olliver’s American air hostess Gloria: Bust-up incoming over her discovery of the discarded bras of another of brazen Bernard’s trio of fiancees. Picture: Jamie McKeller

Consequently, Camelotti’s French frolic retains its Parisian air, Sixties chic and outrageously clichéd national stereotypes – from the jet-set age when air hostesses were the height of glamour – but the humour is liberated from its period chains and now feels more truthful.

Shaw’s cast delights in the ever-quickening chaos of comedy that is frothy and frivolous, but deftly delivered, choreographed slickly with the doors in constant use. The performances are fun, the men, flighty; the air hostesses, saucy but sassy; Berthe, the Shakespeare’s Fool of the piece. 

Rowntree Players present Boeing Boeing, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight until Saturday, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.   

Hannah Shaw directing a rehearsal for Boeing Boeing. From December 5 to 12, she will step the other side of the footlights to play the villainous Maleficent in Rowntree Players’ pantomime Sleeping Beauty, directed and co-written by Howard Ella. Tickets will go on general sale from August 8 on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

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Christina Bianco has Cash in the palm of her hand in The Ballad Of Johnny & June, on tour at Grand Opera House next week

Christina Bianco in the role of June Carter Cash in The Ballad Of Johnny & June. Picture: Michael Wharley

AFTER sold-out seasons at La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, California, and  the Citadel Theatre, Edmonton, Canada, Christopher Ryan Grant is playing Johnny Cash on tour in The Ballad Of Johnny & June. Next stop, Grand Opera House, York, from June 30 to June.

Joining him as June Carter Cash will be Drama Desk Award nominee Christina Bianco, the American actress, singer and impersonator last seen in York playing the multi-voiced LV in Jim Cartwright’s tragic-comedy The Rise Of Little Voice at York Theatre Royal in July 2022.

Christina had hankered after the role of the reclusive LV for a decade and what a performance she delivered, mastering an Oldham accent, suitably quiet and diffident yet full of stage presence as she brought the house down with her myriad voices.

“I had the time of my life there because York was one of those places where, when I opened a book, I thought it looked so beautiful, so magical,” she recalls. “Then when Ian [York-born actor and fellow cast member Ian Kelsey] took me around all the sights, it was hard to take it all in, so this time I have a list of things I’d like to see and others I want to go back to.”

Christina Bianco on her guided tour of York with Ian Kelsey, her fellow actor in The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice at York Theatre Royal, in July 2022

Christina has been living in the UK for “coming up five years now”. “In fact, it was just before ‘Little Voice’ that I made the move with my husband Bill and our dog Jeff Vader, who’s an adorable Schnauzer/Poodle mix,” she says.

“He’s almost 17 years old, so I guess I started the ‘oodle’ mix trend, though I didn’t know I was trendy at the time! I’m a life-long New Yorker but Jeff Vader’s life has been improved by living in the UK.”

Now Christina is enjoying starring in the new musical co-created and shaped by the recollections of John Carter Cash, Johnny and June’s son, whose role in the show will be played by Ryan O’Donnell, who narrates the story from the son’s perspective.

In that story, love is a burning thing, and no-one burned brighter than Johnny and June. He was a small-town musician and storyteller with a volcanic voice that stirred the soul. She was a multi-talented performer and a music pioneer. The pair married in 1968 and remained together until June’s death in 2003.

“I feel a great responsibility to present June as accurately as possible, without doing an impression,” says Christina

“I’d heard of the show when it was at La Jolla Playhouse, where I had a couple of friends in the cast,” says Christina. “I’m a big fan of Johnny and June Carter Cash, with my dad being a DJ, so I had my eye and ear on it when it was being built, but then I did sort of forget about it.

“But then I remember sitting in my dressing room when playing the Narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Dreamcoat – an absolute dream come true, doing my eight shows a week,  when the Narrator does more than usual, playing other roles, working my booty off – and I was thinking it would be great to do more of an acting role next.”

Whereupon she received Des McAnuff and Robert Cary’s script for The Ballad Of Johnny & June from the show’s producers, Trafalgar Theatre Productions. “It was so true to Johnny and June’s story, and the fact the piece has the blessing and input of John Carter Cash makes it a show like none other,” says Christina. “The film [James Mangold’s 2005 biopic Walk The Line] is only about 60 per cent accurate, whereas it’s so special that this show comes from the family.”

No doubt that is music to the ears of John Carter Cash, who has said: “It has meant a great deal to me to be involved in bringing this new musical to the stage and see my parents Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s story told with such care, heart and honesty.

“Johnny and June’s music was inseparable from their lives, and this musical captures that truth through powerful story telling by a brilliant company, set to their genre-defining music. I have loved working with the creative team, and my family and I are both delighted and proud that audiences across the UK and Ireland get to see this celebration of their legacy.”

Christina Bianco with Christopher Ryan Grant, her fellow American co-star in The Ballad Of Johnny & June. “We got on like a house on fire immediately, bringing out the New Yorker in me. We just seemed to fit together perfectly,” she says. Picture: Michael Wharley

In turn, Christina is delighted to be working with two-time Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff, whose credits include Jersey Boys, The Who’s Tommy and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

“Des and musical director and arranger Ron Melrose, who worked with Des on Jersey Boys, are names I have respected and revered all my working life, and nothing can prepare you for the first meeting,” she says.

“You know the music well, but there was a pressure to get it right, every word, every line, and it went so well that I was sure I wasn’t going to get the part! But it turned out I got the job very early on, and it did feel like a marriage made in heaven.

Christopher Ryan Grant’s Johnny Cash and Christina Bianco’s June Carter Cash in a scene from The Ballad Of Johnny & June. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

“I then met Christopher Ryan Grant – who my friends in America said had been so marvellous as Johnny – at the photo-call last November and we got on like a house on fire immediately, bringing out the New Yorker in me. We just seemed to fit together perfectly.”

As for playing June, Christina says: “Without giving too much away, the story focuses a lot on June, her story. Like Johnny, she had her problems with addiction [prescription pills in later life], though people didn’t know that, but it’s in John Carter Cash’s book. I feel a great responsibility to present her as accurately as possible, without doing an impression.”

Summing up a show that is as much a play with music as a musical, Christina says: “Like any good musical, it will have you singing along, it will make you laugh, make you cry and hopefully leave you thinking there’s hope in the story of love and redemption – and  who doesn’t need that?”

The Ballad Of Johnny & June – The Johnny Cash Musical, Grand Opera House, York, July 28 to August 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The latest tour poster for The Ballad Of Johnny & June, The Johnny Cash Musical

NEWSFLASH

ON July 29 at 1pm, the Grand Opera House has organised a pop-up performance by The Ballad Of Johnny & June principal cast members Christina Bianco (June Carter Cash), Christopher Ryan Grant (Johnny Cash) and Ryan O’Donnell (John Carter Cash) at Forty Five Vinyl Cafe, Micklegate, York’s Nashville-inspired home of concerts by American country acts, record store and coffee house.

“They will play a short selection of songs from the show, which we are really excited about,” says marketing and communications manager Lucy Perrins.