The poster for Navigators Art’s YO Underground #5 bill at The Basement on Saturday
YORK arts collective Navigators Art will hold a Folk & Word Open Mic upstairs at The Artful Dodger, Micklegate, tonight and subsequently on the third Thursday of each month.
Poets and singers can sign up from 7pm for the 7.30pm start. “We welcome writers and ‘wordful’ acoustic musicians who’d like to share their work,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen. “Bring a poem, a guitar, a voice. All are welcome. We have a safe, friendly ethos. Access is by stairs only, sorry.” Entry is free with a purchase from the bar.
Navigators Art’s regular fulcrum of bold, left-field new music, words and performance will return to The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, for YO Underground #5 on Saturday at 7.30pm.
York flute and recorder player Carmen Tronsoco
“This edition features ethnic instruments, acoustic-electronic improvisation, words and guitar-based fusion, plus passionate new songwriting,” says Richard. “Expect bold, beautiful and adventurous sounds.”
On the bill will be Carmen Troncoso’s ethnic woody wind-blown instruments; York oboe musician Desmond Clarke & Osc~, featuring Barrington Brook, Iris Casling, Nika Ticciati and Gaia Blandina; No Spinoza’s words and guitar-based fusions, and a new York ‘supergroup’, the NSC Sound Union, combining members of Soma Crew, Namke Communications, Simon Micklethwaite and two others.
Carmen Tronsoco is a flautist, recorder player and creative researcher. “In my artistic projects, I explore imaginative ways of engaging with my instruments, viewing them not as mere tools but as autonomous entities — or even creatures — capable of unfolding and revealing their own character,” she says.
York oboe player Desmond Clarke
“My practice aims to express the evolving, dynamic relationship between human and non-human agents.”
Desmond Clarke’s performances explore the boundaries and overlaps between acoustic instruments and their electronically inflected mirror images. Osc~ is a loose collective of musicians, based in the north, interested in long-form improvised musical performances. Previous performances have included four, seven, eight and 24-hour-long improvised megastructures.
No Spinoza is Thomas Pearson, a musician, poet and artist from the north east whose music – electronic folk with an art-rock edge – has received airplay on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio York and on radio and playlists worldwide. His fourth album will be released later this year.
No Spinoza’s Thomas Pearson
As Thomas Pearson, his writing has been published in various books and magazines, from Litmus to the Architects’ Journal. His artwork has been exhibited at the National Poetry Library, the Royal Academy of Arts and as a large-scale landscape installation at RSPB Saltholme, near Middlesbrough.
NSC Sound Union, formed by members of long-standing York bands Neuschlaufen and Soma Crew, meets the two bands half way: the improvisation from Neuschlaufen versus the discipline of Soma Crew. “Find out at each show which one comes out on top,” says Richard. “It’s never the same show twice.”
Raising their voices: Rachael Wooding, left, Jessica Daley, Emma Crossley, Bobbie Little, Syndey Isitt-Ager, Kayla Carter, Ashleigh Gray and Caroline Sheen in York Theatre Royal’s world premiere of Military Wives The Musical. Picture: Danny With A Camera
AFTER Sir Gary Oldman’s spring return to York Theatre Royal after 35 years in the banana-munching, tape-spooling Krapp’s Last Tape, here comes the second Theatre Royal coup of 2025.
Again opening with a week of previews before press night, Debbie Isitt’s Military Wives The Musical is receiving its world premiere.
This has HIT written all over it. Isitt is the BAFTA-winning writer-director behind the Nativity! film and stage show franchise and the Stock Aitken Waterman musical I Should Be So Lucky. Likewise, Military Wives is a highly successful brand already, with a Gareth Malone TV series, a Christmas number one single and the 2019 film.
Military Wives writer-director Debbie Isitt in the rehearsal room. Picture: Danny With A Camera
Now Isitt’s musical brings together the best Isitt ingredients – comedy, high emotion, colourful, populist characters – fused with the pop appeal of chart hits and power ballads, and the Military Wives true story already familiar to many.
York is an apt location for this world premiere, given the long history of Strensall and Imphal Barracks and the proximity of Catterick Garrison up the A1. Last night’s press night was preceded by a special pre-show foyer performance by the Military WAGS Choir from Catterick Garrison, and the presence of military wives in the audience had a palpable impact on the response throughout.
All this will be music to Debbie Isitt’s ears. She had maximised the authenticity of her storyline by her detailed research, meeting wives from barracks and Military Wives choir members.
In the line of fire in Afghanistan: Billy Roberts, left, Joe Kelly and Adrian Hansel’s soldiers in Military Wives The Musical. Picture: Danny With A Camera
What results is a nascent musical that already feels complete, that ticks every box, that is much more than a mere jukebox musical, that has broad appeal, all-important momentum, comedy and tragedy in tandem.
The show carries the content warning of “including depictions of war and violence in a military conflict and themes of bereavement”. Plus haze/theatrical smoke. Tick. Pyrotechnics and loud noises/explosion effects. Tick. Strong language. Tick. Prop firearms. Tick. You have been warned. Tick.
Military Wives is billed as a “funny, feel-good story of female empowerment and the perfect harmony of laughter, emotion and fun in a joyous celebration of female friendship, courage and ‘unsung’ heroes”. That might suggest the target audience is female, but to a man, every man around your reviewer was drawn to its winning formula too.
Across the divide: Caroline Sheen, left, Ashleigh Gray, Syndey Isitt-Ager, Emma Crossley, Jessica Daley, Rachael Wooding, Billy Roberts, Joe Kelly and Adrian Hanselin a scene from Military Wives The Musical. Picture: Danny With A Camera
The words “joy” and “feel-good” jump out, but what makes Military Wives more than that is that it never hides away from the reality of war: the fear of death, of no return, of PTSD, of loss of faith, of the loneliness of absence, of the importance of letters in the dearth of physical contact.
All life (and death) is here on Katie Lias’s set of boxes, barbed wire and poppies as Isitt introduces us to the wives and their soldier husbands as the men head out to Afghanistan. Bex (Emma Crossley) and soldier partner Paula (Bobbie Little), struggling with IVF; Faith (Kayla Carter) and Luke (Adrian Hansel), questioning his faith (but not Faith); potty-mouthed, chain-smoking Krissy (Rachel Wooding), at loggerheads with Dale (Billy Roberts); posh, wasp-tongued Susannah (Caroline Sheen), “Snuffle Bottom” to husband Simon (Roberts), the colonel.
Jessica Daley’s ever-harassed Jenny and Stewart Wright’s ever-chirpy Dave the Welfare Officer in Military Wives The Musical. Picture: Danny With A Camera
We also meet newly-weds Sarah (Sydney Isitt-Ager) and Adam (Joe Kelly), yet to go on honeymoon; pregnant Terri (Ashleigh Gray); mother-of-five shopkeeper Jenny (Jessica Daley), the can of Pringles of the barracks (“have one and she can’t stop”).
On hand at all times is Dave, the welfare officer, (Stewart Wright), always perky, always coming up with a new idea, always available to help, and throughout he is Isitt’s primary source of humour (along with the putdowns of Wooding’s Krissy).
Into this world, where the women have been living separate lives behind closed doors, comes choir leader Olive (Bobbie Little) to bring them together through song. Isitt in turn brings together all social classes and the frictions that go with that, leading to a superlative Spice Girls gag.
Ann Summers’ night for the Military Wives: Emma Crossley, left, Rachael Wooding, Ashleigh Gray, Kayla Carter, Jessica Daley, Syndey Isitt-Ager and Caroline Sheen. Picture: Danny With A Camera
All the while, on the choir’s journey from Bicester show to the Royal Albert Hall, songs are suddenly interjected with gunfire and explosions in Afghanistan, climaxing in the Act One cliffhanger with parallel dramas of childbirth on a hilltop and a medical emergency on the warfront. The shadow of death is never far away, but so too are revelations of past loss, infidelity, dementia and fatherhood.
George Dyer, arranger, orchestrator, musical supervisor and musical director, is on superb form at the piano, for Adele, Coldplay and Pink hits alike, matched by the moving, amusing performances of Isitt’s West End cast –and that is surely where Military Wives will be heading.
Maybe a tour first, given that this world premiere was made in association the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, and Buxton Opera House. Just as Seven Brides For Seven Brides and The Railway Children made their way from York Theatre Royal origins to London, so will Military Wives.
Debbie Isitt’s Military Wives The Musical, York Theatre Royal, until September 27, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Vaughan’s Lady Susan in Dyad Productions’ Austen’s Women: Lady Susan. Picture: Ben Guest
JANE Austen’s Lady Susan, supreme chamber musicians, nature photography and Inspector Morse’s stage debut keep September busy for Charles Hutchinson.
Magnificently crafted tale of manipulation and manners of the week:Dyad Productions in Austen’s Women: Lady Susan, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow and Friday, 7.45pm, Saturday, 2pm; Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm
DYAD Productions return with a new solo comedy show, Jane Austen’s 1794 tale of manipulation and manners. Directed by Andrew Margerison, company regular Rebecca Vaughan plays devil-may-care widow Lady Susan, oppressed, rebellious daughter Frederica, long-suffering sister-in-law Catherine, family matriarch Mrs De Courcy and insouciant best friend Alicia.
At the vanguard of Vaughan’s wickedly humorous adaptation is the charming, scheming and witty Lady Susan, taking on society and making it her own, but has she met her match? Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Classical festival of the week: York Chamber Music Festival 2025, Friday to Sunday
YORK Chamber Music Festival artistic director Tim Lowe brings the cream of European string playing to York for three days. Taking part in five concerts at the National Centre for Early Music, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, and St Olave’s Church will be Charlotte Scott and Jonathan Stone, violins; Helene Clement and Gary Pomeroy, violas; Lowe and Jonathan Aasgaard, cello, and Katya Apekisheva, piano. For the full festival programme and tickets, go to: ycmf.co.uk.
Comedy gig of the week: Russell Kane, Hyperactive, York Barbican, Friday, 8pm
WHIRLWIND physical comedian, presenter, actor and author Russell Kane is out on the road again with his latest tour carrying a safety warning: “Wear strong underwear. Pants will be spoiled”. This show will be high-energy, high-octane and hyper-active. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Film event of the week: Mother Vera with Q&A, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Friday, 6pm
IN a hidden Orthodox monastery in Belarus, Mother Vera weaves the inner world of an unorthodox young nun with the community that saved her life. After 20 years as a monastic, Vera faces deep inner conflict. Now, she must confront her past and trust her instincts to find the liberation she desires.
Friday’s screening of Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson’s winner of Best Documentary at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival – shot in black and white – will be accompanied by a question-and-answer session with Tomlinson, conducted by Aesthetica writer and curator Rachel Pronger. Box office: picturehouses.com/cinema/city-screen-picturehouse.
Americana gig of the week: The Coal Porters, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Friday, 7.30pm
THE Coal Porters, who claim to be the world’s first “alt-bluegrass” act, will be led as ever by Sid Griffin in Pocklington, a day after celebrating his 70th birthday.
Prominent figures in the UK Americana and bluegrass scene for 17 years, Griffin’s band are back in the saddle this autumn for eight dates. Their songs showcase the power of fiddle, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar and doghouse bass, all harmonised with four-part vocals and melodies. Box office: sidgriffin.com/tour; ticketsource.co.uk.
Ryedale exhibition launch of the week: All The Wood’s A Stage, Nunnington Hall, near York, from Saturday to March 29 2026
ALL The Wood’s A Stage will continue the 2022 showcase Woodland Sanctuary, exhibited originally at the Moors Centre in Danby. This latest chapter features predominantly new photographs that celebrate the beauty and vital significance of trees, woodlands and forests across the UK.
Photographers Joe Cornish and Simon Baxter depict trees as silent performers on nature’s stage, encouraging us to observe, listen and reflect. Trees provide joy, peace and inspiration, being lungs of the Earth, guardians of biodiversity and a crucial part of our mental and physical well-being. Through changing seasons, they symbolise life, death and renewal. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall.
Dance show of the week: The Return Of The Legends, starring Brendan, James, Pasha, Vincent and Ian, York Barbican, Saturday, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing alumni Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite follow up 2024’s Legends Of The Dancefloor with new Latin, tango, rumba and ballroom routines and more Strictly stories in The Return Of The Legends. Joined by a supporting cast, they deliver a night of dancing, camaraderie, music and laughter. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Murder mystery of the week: Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts, Grand Opera House, York, September 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
BIRMINGHAM Repertory Theatre and Simon Friend Entertainment are touring the Inspector Morse franchise’s debut original stage play, House Of Ghosts, penned by Alma Cullen, directed by Anthony Banks and starring Tom Chambers.
A chilling mystery unfolds when a young actress dies suddenly on stage during a performance, prompting Detective Chief Inspector Morse to embark on a gripping investigation. What begins as a suspicious death inquiry takes a darker turn when the legendary inspector, in tandem with Detective Sergeant Lewis, uncovers a connection to sinister events in his own past, 25 years earlier. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club, The Della Grants, Milton Rooms, Malton, September 25, 8pm
LEICESTER band The Della Grants’ songs seamlessly bridge the gaps between blues, rock and Americana. Since their inception in 2014, they have made a name for themselves among industry professionals and fellow musicians for their song-writing ability and performances. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
The poster for Friday’s screening of Mother Vera at City Screen Picturehouse
IN a hidden Orthodox monastery in Belarus, Mother Vera weaves the inner world of an unorthodox young nun with the community that saved her life. After 20 years as a monastic, Vera faces deep inner conflict. Now, she must confront her past and trust her instincts to find the liberation she desires.
Friday’s screening of Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson’s 91-minute film, winner of the Grierson Documentary Award for Best Documentary at its UK debut at the 68th BFI London Film Festival in 2024, will be accompanied by a question-and-answer session with Tomlinson, conducted by Aesthetica writer and curator Rachel Pronger.
“Shot in breathtaking black and white, Mother Vera is a visually arresting and deeply meditative portrait of a woman confronting the shadows of her past,” says Alys. “The film originally came out of a photograph, so it’s an interesting story that tackles themes around community, spirituality and addiction.”
Mother Vera was released by SheMakes Productions to British and Irish cinemas on August 29. “We are a totally independently made and distributed film, so are reliant on word of mouth to attract audiences,” says Alys.
Introducing her film, she says: “Vera has spent 20 years in a convent on the outskirts of Minsk, living among men undergoing addiction rehabilitation. When a conversation with her mother stirs long-buried memories, Vera is compelled to revisit her own past and the tragic events that led her to this secluded life. What unfolds is a quiet, powerful story of resilience, healing and spiritual transformation.”
The film poster for Mother Vera
Combining haunting cinematography with contemplative pace, Mother Vera invites audiences into a world rarely seen on screen — one of silence, struggle, and redemption. View the trailer at https://vimeo.com/797081818?fl=pl&fe=sh.
Tickets can be booked at picturehouses.com/cinema/city-screen-picturehouse.
Mother Vera synopsis
AFTER two decades in a Belarusian Orthodox monastery, Vera reflects on her unexpected path to nunhood, rooted in a history of addiction. Facing her lingering guilt, she finds herself at a crossroads between her monastic sanctuary and an uncertain future.
With a poignant gaze, Vera’s quiet journey of self-examination offers an intimate glimpse into the complexities of faith, recovery and personal transformation within cloistered walls.
A scene from Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson’s documentary feature Mother Vera
The directors
Cécile Embleton
British-French documentary director. Her directorial debut The Watchmaker’ screened at Hot Docs, Dok Leipzig and SXSW (South By South West).
Mother Vera is her first feature documentary. The project is supported by the Sundance Institute and won second prize at the Hotdocs Forum 2021 and first prize at Locarno First Look 2023.
Alys Tomlinson
British photographer, working with black-and-white analogue film. Work featured in more than 20 international exhibitions. Named Sony World Photographer of the Year in 2018. Long-term project Ex-Voto was published by GOST Books in 2019. Mother Vera is her directorial debut.
SheMakes Productions: back story
SheMakes was founded by producer Laura Shacham in 2018. Focusing on artist moving image and documentary film (and the intersection of the two), the company works primarily on projects led and imagined by women: short and long form documentary film for theatrical release, broadcast, online and artist film for international art institutions.
Work includes Mother Vera (supported by Sundance, HotDocs, Locarno, winner of BFI LFF Grierson Award for Best Documentary 2024) and I Will Keep My Soul (commissioned by The Rivers Institute for Contemporary Art + Thought, New Orleans) by Turner Prize-winning artist Helen Cammock.
Rebecca Vaughan’s Lady Susan in Dyad Productions’ Austen’s Women: Lady Susan. Picture: Ben Guest
DYAD Productions sweep into York Theatre Royal Studio with Rebecca Vaughan’s new solo comedy account of Lady Susan, Jane Austen’s 1794 tale of manipulation and manners, from Thursday to Saturday. Helmsley Arts Centre follows on Sunday.
Directed by Andrew Margerison, multi-role-playing London company regular Vaughan will switch between devil-may-care widow Lady Susan, oppressed, rebellious daughter Frederica, long-suffering sister-in-law Catherine, family matriarch Mrs De Courcy and insouciant best friend Alicia.
At the vanguard of Vaughan’s adaptation of Austen’s wickedly humorous depiction of Georgian society and the women trapped within it – their struggles, desires, temptations and manipulations – is the charming, scheming and witty Lady Susan, taking on society and making it her own, but has “the most accomplished coquette in England” met her match?
Here Rebecca Vaughan and Andrew Margerison discuss Lady Susan, Jane Austen, GK Chesterton and solo shows with CharlesHutchPress.
What attracts you to Austen’s women, as opposed to, say, to the Brontë sisters?
Rebecca: “I do actually love both! And I see Austen and the Brontës as all fabulous, but very different beasts. Austen’s writing is so witty and economical, and her commentary on society is biting and incisive. Her female characters reveal so much about the social mores of the time, and the ways in which women are trapped by society.”
Andrew: “They’re all wonderful and have created incredible work. Certainly in this case, one of the things that really piqued my interest was the comedic element.
“Whilst they’re all using satire in their works, the sharpness of the satire in this particular piece along with the very modern feeling characters was a match made in heaven from a creative standpoint, to really gift us some very interesting, engaging and mostly unknown material.”
“Creating a far darker character in Susan reveals so much about the ways in which Georgian society treats widows, even higher up in society.” says Rebecca Vaughan. Picture: Seamus Flanagan
GK Chesterton said of Lady Susan: “I for one would have willingly left Lady Susan in the wastepaper basket.” Why is Chesterton wrong and where would you place Lady Susan?
Rebecca: “Chesterton is so wrong! Lady Susan is of course a very different piece to any of Austen’s other work – but that’s what makes it so fascinating. The space between the letters and the epistolary nature of the work only add to the humour.
“The dissonance between Lady Susan’s machinations and Catherine’s increasing frustrations are hilarious (and this is certainly borne out with the audiences reactions to our show).
“Also, creating a far darker character in Susan reveals so much about the ways in which Georgian society treats widows, even higher up in society, especially those without a son to inherit property. Whilst Lady Susan was created by a younger Austen, there’s a freshness to it which is so apparent, and which audiences really respond to.”
Andrew: “Chesterton is wrong simply because it would seem that he can’t see the characters for the wonderful cross-section of society that they represent. They’re naive, cutting, foolish, pompous, entitled, maligned, ignored, raised up and mistreated. For all those reasons they belong on your bookshelf and on your stages!”
On the other hand, Margaret Drabble said of Lady Susan, Austen’s first full-length novel: “In no other novel is Jane Austen so evidently writing at a turning-point in the morals of the nation. The machinations of the wicked, witty and beautiful heroine clearly identify it with the outspoken and ribald 18th century.” Discuss…
Rebecca: “Absolutely! It’s thought that she finished the novel in 1794, and it certainly feels more of a Georgian piece than a Regency piece. There are more references to sexuality (and sensuality) and Lady Susan herself is outspoken and powerful in a way even Lizzie Bennet isn’t [in Pride And Prejudice].
Rebecca Vaughan in multi-role-playing mode in Austen’s Women: Lady Susan. Picture: Seamus Flanagan
“She’s aware of herself and those around her and has the maturity to understand the situation she’s in, and thus try to use everything in her armoury to survive. It’s the 18th century nature of the novel we were drawn to – and really wanted to bring this into our adaptation.”
Andrew: “I think that’s an absolutely accurate insight into the character of Lady Susan. As we know, Jane Austen was fascinated by her own times and had the most incredible eye making her the consummate commentator on society. Her ability to transform what she observed into narrative and character are hugely impressive.”
Austen’s writing style is magniloquent/grandiloquent/detailed. How do you transfer this into action on stage?
Rebecca: “It’s the absolutely detailed nature of her language which makes it so easy to transfer to the stage. Austen is so clever at writing dialogue which fits perfectly into the mouths of each character, and when spoken aloud, reveals so much of what that character is about.
“Whether it’s overblown, or languid, or almost tripping over itself, she’s an absolute genius at fitting the language to the character – which makes it perfect for theatre.”
Andrew: “We make that transfer with a lot of time in the rehearsal room! We start from our adaptation and no matter what’s on the page, nothing is sacred. More often than not, it’s very clear what works when one lifts it off the page and breathes it into being.
“Austen is so clever at writing dialogue which fits perfectly into the mouths of each character,” says Rebecca Vaughan. Picture: Seamus Flanagan
“There’s a natural simpatico with the moment presented on stage whereby one recognises if it sounds ‘right’ or not. Which isn’t to say you can’t go backwards and forwards with ideas and alternatives, but quality will out!”
What are the strengths of solo shows that Dyad Productions stages so consistently? Cost effective to tour, for sure, but it must be more than that?
Rebecca: “We’re fascinated about going back to the origins of theatre, and the storytelling nature of witting in a dark room and hearing a story told. By the breaking of the fourth wall, which forms such a part of our solo work, we can create a space where the audience is absolutely part of the action, and not just passively watching it.”
Andrew: “I’d suggest that we all go to the theatre to experience something. A connection of some variety with the work being shown. Breaking the fourth wall, speaking directly to the audience is a fantastic method in which to connect. The audience from the very start becomes party to the piece, an integral player and that connection cannot be undersold in its importance.”
Does it ever become lonely on stage?
Rebecca: “I do absolutely love sharing a stage with other actors – and it’s certainly easier being on stage with loads of others! – but there’s nothing like sharing the story each night directly with the audience. The audiences bring such variety and it’s a real honour to be able to share these great stories. So no, no loneliness at all!”
Hospital drama incoming: Dyad Productions will be teaming up with Company Gavin Robinson to create General Medical Emergency Ward 10 next spring
What’s coming next for Dyad Productions?
Rebecca and Andrew: “We’re touring three other shows this autumn: That Knave, Raleigh (about Elizabeth I’s dandy warrior, Sir Walter Raleigh) in October and November across the UK and Northern Ireland, then two Christmas shows, Christmas Gothic and A Christmas Carol in November and December.
“Then, next spring, we’re collaborating with Company Gavin Robertson to devise and create a very different piece, where there’ll be three of us on stage!
“To give you an idea of it: imagine a pastiche and parody of every hospital soap opera/drama you can think of, called simply General Medical Emergency Ward 10! It’s going to be lots of silly fun!”
Dyad Productions in Lady Susan, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight and tomorrow, 7.45pm; Saturday, 2pm. Also Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or nhelmsleyarts.co.uk.
Dyad Productions: the back story
“In the dark between life and death, a haunted woman tells strange and terrifying tales”: Rebecca Vaughan in Female Gothicin 2021
THIS year marks Dyad Productions’ 16th year of touring in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.
“Specialising in high-quality literary adaptations as well as original work, we’re always thrilled to bring something fresh and new to often believed well-known works,” states the London company.
Producer, actor and writer Rebecca Vaughan has adapted and performed in Austen’s Women, A Room Of One’s Own, Orlando, Jane Eyre: An Autobiography, I, Elizabeth, Dalloway, Christmas Gothic, and Female Gothic.
Andrew Margerison has directed Dyad’s A Christmas Carol and Frantic Assembly’s Macbeth and Fatherland.
Lady Susan was created in collaboration with The Old Town Hall, Hemel Hempstead, where Dyad Productions are the resident company.
The UK Tour 2026 poster for James and Clair Buckley’s Out With The Buckleys
“THE internet’s favourite husband-wife duo”, James and Clair Buckley, are taking their vlog offline and around Great Britain on an unfiltered, unedited live tour next spring.
Inbetweeners star James and Glasgow-born Clair will visit York Barbican on April 10 2026 on their 13-date Out With The Buckleys tour. Tickets go on general sale on Friday (19/9/2025) at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/out-with-the-buckleys.
The Buckleys will be embarking on their first live itinerary after four years of At Home With The Buckleys, their YouTube channel that has drawn 275,000 subscribers to the couple “documenting their relationship in its authentic form”.
The live show will “deliver everything fans know and love about the pair, plus much more”. Expect James and Clair’s signature banter, never-heard-before stories, everyday gripes and a few surprises along the way.
“We’re genuinely thrilled to be announcing our first ever tour, Out With The Buckleys,” they say. “It’s really exciting to have the chance to share a room with some of the amazing people who have supported our channel over the years and hopefully have some new faces in the audience too.
“It’s going to be an entertaining night where you will get to know us in the most authentic way we’ve ever shared before: no editing, no filters, no topic off limit!”
Last November, James and Clair launched their comedy podcast The Buckleys, subsequently reaching number one on Spotify and Apple Podcasts charts and chalking up 80 million social views and counting.
Earlier this year, they were announced as new cast members on Channel 4’s Celebrity Gogglebox.
Next spring’s tour will offer a different side of The Buckleys with no cameras and no producer edits. Who knows what they might share in a night of open, honest and delightfully nonsensical chat, plus audience participation and maybe even a song or two with James on his favourite guitar?
Out With The Buckleys will play a second Yorkshire show at Sheffield City Hall on April 12; tickets, from Friday at 10am, at https://www.sheffieldcityhall.co.uk/out-with-the-buckleys/.
Grainne O’Hare: Discussing her debut novel, Thirst Trap, a study of friendship in Belfast, with York theatre-maker and university tutor Bridget Foreman at Helmsley Literature Festival
HELMSLEY’s book festival, musical premieres, Ayckbourn’s 91st comedy and the Yellow Brick Road are beckoning Charles Hutchinson.
Festival of the week: Helmsley Literature Festival, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday to Sunday.
HELMSLEY Literature Festival presents an entertaining weekend of writers, theatre and music, opening with Joanne Harris & The Storytime Band’s musical storytelling show on Friday at 7.30pm and concluding with the Studio Bar literary quiz on Sunday at 8.30pm.
Saturday presents retired clinical oncologist Grahame Howard at 2pm; Belfast-born debutant novelist Grainne O’Hare (Thirst Trap), 4.30pm; Debbie Cannon’s play The Remarkable Deliverances Of Alice Thornton, 7pm, and Poets’ Corner, hosted by Steve Harvey in the Studio Bar, 8.30pm. Sunday features Cliff Hague’s Cup Finals: Football Stories Of Great Games, Heroes And Villains, 2pm; northern authors Jenn Ashworth (The Parallel Path: Love, Grit And Walking The North) and Wendy Pratt (The Ghost Lake), and Saltburn bookshop owner and The Hometown Bookshop novelist Jenna Warren, 7pm. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Musical world premiere of the week: Military Wives – The Musical, York Theatre Royal, today to September 27, times vary
YORK Theatre Royal stages the world premiere of writer-director Debbie Isitt’s musical based on the 2019 film, rooted in Gareth Malone’s The Choir: Military Wives project.
Faced with husbands and partners being away at war, the women are isolated, bored and desperate to take their minds off feelings of impending doom. Enter Olive to help them form a choir. Cue a joyous celebration of female empowerment and friendship, courage and ‘unsung’ heroes. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Interdimensional journey of the week:Wharfemede Productions in Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
DIRECTOR Helen “Bells” Spencer and musical director Matthew Clare follow up 2023’s Musicals In The Multiverse 2023 with another blend of iconic musical theatre hits reconfigured with surprising twists.
“Think unexpected style swaps, minor to major key switches, gender reversals, era-bending reinterpretations, genre mash-ups and more,” says Bells. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
York premiere of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Fun Home, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, today to September 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees
ROBERT Readman directs the York premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Krow’s five-time Tony Award winner, based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel.
When her volatile father dies unexpectedly, Alison (Claire Morley) recalls how his temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, she relives her unique childhood at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her sexuality and the looming, unanswerable questions of her father’s hidden desires. Box office: ticketsourse.co.uk/pickmeuptheatrecom.
Exhibition of the week: Paint & Print, Beryl Braddock, Judith Ellis & Pauline Brown, Helmsley Arts Centre, until October 31
SINCE gaining a Fine Art degree at Leeds and Goldsmiths as a mature student, Beryl Braddock has enjoyed more than 40 years of drawing and painting, using watercolours, crayon, inks, charcoal and oils in still life, landscape and life drawing works, often in portraits of family and friends.
Judith Ellis’s paintings and prints utilise the process of mark making – colour, shape, form and texture – developed with elements of order and chance. Her work evolves with or without a pre-conceived idea; sometimes fragments of diaries are used to develop texture and form or a poem might provoke a colour. Artist, art therapist and theatre designer Pauline Brown paints and draws mostly outdoors in nature, following the changing seasons, using layers of colour and texture to capture the landscape’s moods and atmosphere.
Brass band gig of the week: Stape Silver Band, Brass Across The World, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm
STAPE Silver Band takes a musical journey around the world in the company of Pickering Musical Society members, performing works associated with myriad genres of brass band music. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk/events/stape-silver-band/.
Tribute show of the week: Abba Sensation, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm
KIRK Theatre “simply had to have them back” after Abba Sensation’s sold-out last visit. Combining costume changes, lighting effects and a faithful account of the Abba sound, the band welcomes audience participation, whether singing, clapping or dancing. Anyone “too posh” to join in can rattle jewellery instead. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk/events/stape-silver-band/.
Ruby slippers of the week: York Stage in The Wizard Of Oz, Grand Opera House, York, Friday to September 20
UNDER Nik Briggs’s direction, York Stage skips down the Yellow Brick Road as Erin Childs’ Dorothy, Toto and her friends, the Scarecrow (Flo Poskitt), Tin Man (Stu Hutchinson), and Cowardly Lion (Finn East), journey to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard (Ian Giles).
In navigating the enchanting landscape of Oz, Dorothy is watched closely by Glinda, the Good Witch (Carly Morton) as the Wicked Witch of the West (Emily Alderson) plots to thwart Dorothy’s quest and reclaim the magical ruby slippers. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Theatre event of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s 91st premiere, Earth Angel, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Saturday to October 11, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm, Wednesday and Thursday, and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
GERALD has lost his wife of many years. Amy was the light of his life, almost heaven-sent. Trying his best to put a brave face on things, he accepts help from fussy neighbours. Then a mysterious stranger turns up at Amy’s wake, washing the dishes and offering to do a shop for Gerald, but is he all that he appears?
Alan Ayckbourn’s 91st play digs deep into one of life’s greatest mysteries: what makes someone a good person – and in this day and age, can you ever be sure? Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Cinderella cast members Luke Attwood, Brandon Nicholson, Lisa George, Tobias Turley, Rachel Grundy and Jimmy Bryant
THE Grand Opera House pantomime cast has assembled for the first time in York to give a flavour of what lies in store in Cinderella this winter.
In attendance for the UK Productions press day were Rachel Grundy (Cinderella); Tobias Turley (Prince Charming); Lisa George (Fairy Godmother); Jimmy Bryant (Buttons); Yorkshireman Bradley Judge (Dandini), and Ugly Sisters double act Luke Attwood (Harmony Hard-Up) and Brandon Nicholson (Melody Hard-Up).
“I was here at the Grand Opera House in The Rocky Horror Show, though I’ve never been in York at Christmas, which I’m looking forward to,” says West End musical actress Rachel Grundy, who has appeared in such shows as Legally Blonde and Starlight Express.
“The first time I worked with UK Productions was the Legally Blonde UK tour. I’ve done pantomimes at Bath Theatre Royal, Blackpool Grand Theatre, New Brighton, Bournemouth and Basingstoke, where I did Cinderella.”
Tobias Turley, who came to fame on ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream, has appeared on the York stage previously in the Strictly Come Dancing Tour. “My first job out of drama school [at Doreen Bird College] was in Sleeping Beauty at Mansfield, but I haven’t come back to pantomime since then until now. That was four years ago,” he says.
“I’ve been very lucky working in theatre since being on telly, playing one of the Jets, Diesel, in West Side Story, appearing in Heathers and Mamma Mia! The Musical, then White Rose at the Marylebone Theatre and Hot Mess in the Pleasance Courtyard at the Edinburgh Fringe, which will be going in to the Southwark Playhouse Elephant for three weeks.”
Traditionally, Cinderella and Prince Charming are this pantomime’s straight roles. “You need that to keep the story flowing, with the story arc being continued throughout,” says Rachel. “You need those strong pillars.”
New addition:Leeds lad Bradley Judge, confirmed for Dandini role in Cinderella
Tobias adds; “The first time I did panto, I was thinking ‘I’m not getting laughs’, but you need both types in panto. They’re the fluff and we’re the plot – and what wonderful fluff they are!”
Neither Rachel or Toby will be heading home for Christmas Day. “My brother lives near Huddersfield,” she says. “I’ll be staying with a good friend of mine,” he says.
Coronation Street star Lisa George, whose sister lives in a village on the outskirts of York, is no stranger to pantomime, especially Cinderella. “This will be my fourth Cinderella,” she says. “I played Dandini with Jimmy Cricket, Suranne Jones and Linda Nolan at Tameside Hippodrome in 1997; Petunia Pumpkin [the Fairy Godmother role] at Oldham Coliseum in 2013; Fairy Godmother in Swindon, at the Wyvern Theatre, last Christmas, and now York.
“I’ve played Fairy Bowbells in Dick Whittington too. I love playing fairy! She’s just a lovely character and she’s ageless – though one day I’d love to see her in a pinny and rubber gloves!”
Actor and comedy performer Jimmy Bryant will be working in York for the first time. “Buttons is especially there for the children, as he’s the closest to them in his character,” he says. “Part of his role is to be their voice on stage; he does the most direct speaking to the audience. He’ll be their best friend.”
Buttons will be a contrasting role to his pantomime appearance last winter. “I usually play the funny chap who’s there to have loads of laughs and bring the audience with me, but last year I was the villain – a very stupid villain – at the Cheltenham Everyman, where I was Herr Kutte, a German villain, which was really fun to do as they wanted someone who wasn’t too scary.”
Bradley Judge, from Leeds, has appeared previously in pantoland in Aladdin in New Brighton and Jack And The Beanstalk in Mansfield and has done musicals aplenty since studying musical theatre at Guildford School of Acting. “The last big show I was in was Sister Act, which came to the Leeds Grand,” he says.
Lisa George: Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother
“For playing Dandini, I’ve not got the whole script yet, but from what I’ve seen he’s got a little comedy in his role, with a bit of a cheeky wit about him.”
West End drag double act and real-life partners Luke Attwood and Brandon Nicholson will bring Harmony and Melody to Cinderella in their York debut. “This is our seventh year together in pantomime,” says Luke. “I used to be a dancer in pantomime for many years. One year I auditioned for Ugly Sister at Wimborne, on my own to be paired with someone else, and then Brandon auditioned to be Dandini…
…”I didn’t want to wear women’s clothing!” interjects Brandon. “Then the director, Lee Redwood, said Brandon had auditioned for Dandini, and he suggested we should work together as Ugly Sisters,” says Luke.
“Since then we’ve built up a full set of costumes, stored in Brandon’s old bedroom at his mum and dad’s house.”
After playing such Strictly Come Dancing–rooted double acts as Tess and Claudia and Shirley and Darcey, Luke and Brandon will be adding Harmony and Melody Hard-Up to their repertoire. “It’s our first time with UK Productions,” says Brandon. “We saw their Cinderella in Blackpool and thought, ‘we want to be in that’!
“Anthony Williams [UK Productions’ executive pantomime director] came to see us in pantomime in Blackpool, and now we’re doing Cinderella in York. It’s the number one-selling pantomime, so it’s great to be in it this winter.”
UK Productions presents Cinderella at Grand Opera House, York, from December 6 to January 4 2026. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Willow sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon at her Whispers Of The Wilderness exhibition. Picture: National Trust/Anthony Chappel-Ross
DO Laura Ellen Bacon’s willow sculptures draw nature into Beningbrough Hall’s Reddihough Galleries and Great Hall or reach out to the grounds beyond the walls?
You decide, when encountering the National Trust’s exhibition, Whispers Of The Wilderness: Exploring Wilderness Gardens.
On show until April 12 2026, this immersive exhibition invites visitors to explore the dynamic relationship between art and nature through contemporary sculpture, historic artefacts and interactive experiences.
Curated to coincide with garden designer Andy Sturgeon’s transformative work on Beningbrough’s Wilderness Garden, the exhibition features the Derbyshire artist’s large-scale willow works, whose organic, flowing forms bring the essence of the Wilderness Garden indoors, evoking movement, energy and the untamed beauty of nature.
“It was a joy to discover Beningbrough across various seasons while designing and making the work,” says Laura, who has complemented her sculptures with new drawings in graphite on paper, inspired by Beningbrough and existing sculptures, with such titles as Bud, Unfurl, Whispers and Emergence, plus her original exhibition sketchbook.
“My imagination has drifted easily in the gentle landscape and within the lamp-lit interior views. Beningbrough is a place for daydreams.”
Drawing in the Drawing Studio with artist Tanya Raabe-Webber at Beningbrough Hall’s Whispers Of The Wilderness exhibition. Picture: National Trust/Anthony Chappel-Ross
Utilising willow from Musgrove Willows, in Somerset, exhibition highlights include two woven sculptures, entitled Whispers, in the Great Hall that spill over plinths – the size of the plinths on the 1841 map of Beningbrough’s Wilderness Garden – suggesting wild grasses swaying in the wind. Together with a monumental willow thicket in the Saloon Gallery, they invite visitors to step inside and reflect on nature’s resilience.
Look out too for nine historic pieces from the National Trust collection, tracing the 18th-century fascination with wilderness gardens as sensory retreats.
In addition, visitors can engage creatively in the new Drawing Studio, designed by artist Tanya Raabe-Webber, where all ages and abilities are encouraged to sketch, collaborate, and contribute to the exhibition.
Monthly artist-led sessions and talks will allow visitors an opportunity to delve deeper into the different elements of the exhibition.
The exhibition experience is designed to engage all the senses, with fragrant willow installations, touch spaces to explore weaving techniques, an audio chair featuring literary excerpts from Jane Austen’s novels Pride And Prejudice and Mansfield Park, poetry by CE Lansdowne and Arabella Green, and The Sounds of Nature soundscape inspired by the exhibition.
Outside, visitors can discover Beningbrough’s own Wilderness Garden, the latest area being redeveloped with improved paths, seating, views and planting, all part of Andy Sturgeon’s long-term vision for the garden.
Close-up of Whispers, willow sculptor Laura Ellen Bacon’s works on plinths in the Great Hall at Beningbrough Hall. Picture: National Trust/Anthony Chappel-Ross
Laura Turner, creative producer for the National Trust, says: “I’ve been working at Beningbrough for three years, and before that it was very much a space for showing paintings, but I wanted to invite artists to respond to this space with installation pieces.
“When we were commissioning for this exhibition, we really wanted an artist we felt could respond to the Wilderness Garden, so we shortlisted four artists that specialised either in work in natural materials or had a direct connection to nature.
“We used exhibition staff and volunteers to make the final decision after each artist put forward a formal proposal, so the staff have been involved from start to finish, including the exhibition design, such as the wooden title frames.”
The final choice was Laura Ellen Bacon, who grew up on a Derbyshire fruit farm with free rein to explore and to build secret and ever more ambitious dens. “I think Laura’s sculptures will really excite and surprise our visitors,” says Turner.
“Made in response to both the Wilderness Garden and the exhibition space, this exhibition is a celebration of creativity, heritage and the natural world. It’s a chance for visitors to connect with Beningbrough’s past and present through art that speaks to the soul.”
Turner highlights the impact of Thicket, Bacon’s sculpture in the Saloon, made from 30 willow bundles. “It hugs the wall, as if pointing towards the Wilderness Garden. It’s almost as though it’s leading you to that space, but equally it feels it comes from that space,” she says.
Laura Ellen Bacon with her willow sculpture Thicket in the Saloon at Beningbrough Hall. Picture: National Trust/Anthony Chappel-Ross
“I love how she has called two sculptures ‘Whispers’ because there’s something lovely about gardens whispering to you, calling to you to go out into there.”
Bacon has worked in willow for more than 20 years, developing her own technique to create ambitious forms that draw on her love of drawing and buildings, inspired by her architect father, who painted abstract works prolifically.
Her work has been exhibited at Chatsworth, the Holburne Museum in Bath, Denver Art Museum and most recently in the Chapel at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield (from April to September 7 this year).
She is delighted to be exhibiting at a National Trust property. “I’ve been a member of the National Trust since I was a teenager, going to so many with my [late] mum, mainly in Derbyshire,” says Bacon.
“My dad worked in the architect department for Derby County Council, where she would take him his sandwiches, and she used to say that if you listened carefully, you could hear the swish of ladies’ ballgowns on the walls, so I’ve always been interested in the idea that buildings hold things within the walls.”
As for Bacon’s answer to the opening question: “It’s up to the viewer to decide whether the garden is coming into the hall or the sculptures are leading out into the garden,” she says.
Beningbrough Hall is open from Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm, during September. For more information and further opening hours, or to plan a visit, go to: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beningbrough.
Laura Ellen Bacon’s willow sculpture Thicket, weaving its way up the Saloon wall at Beningbrough Hall. Picture: National Trust/Anthony Chappel-Ross
Did you know?
THE Reddihough Galleries on the first floor of Beningbrough Hall are named in honour of the late Mr Ian Reddihough, a passionate supporter of the National Trust charity. His legacy gift enables Beningbrough to continue to showcase high-quality art that reflects the hall’s rich history and evolving landscape.
Did you know too?
TO provide a framework for the Thicket sculpture in the Saloon, artist Laura Ellen Bacon made hundreds of simple loop structures, which are then joined together, using willow to weave and knot together. The sculptures take hundreds of hours to create.
How is willow turned into a sculpture?
“IN order for the willow to be supple enough to work with, you put the willow bundles in water for a week, which makes it more malleable to shape it,” says Laura Turner.
Musgrove Willows uses both modern and traditional techniques to harvest, sort, grade and process the willow. Different willows have a different quality, scent and appearance, Old French and Dickie Meadow among them.
Emma Burke’s wartime nurse performing Anthem, from Chess
“THE show’s concept is playful, radical too, and has the potential to be rolled out again,” predicted your reviewer, when encountering June 2023’s “out of this world” Musicals In The Multiverse.
Sure enough, here comes the bigger, bolder sequel, still with a “big cast, bags of energy and enthusiasm, and a fun idea for a show”, still with Helen “Bells” Spencer as director and Matthew Clare in charge of the remarkable musical arrangements as songs are freed from the chains of their usual presentation.
The company and venue has changed, from the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company and art deco Joseph Rowntree Theatre to Spencer and Nick Sephton’s Wetherby-based Wharfemede Productions and black-box Theatre@41, Monkgate.
The show title has replaced ‘In’ with the broader-sounding ‘Across’ to reflect an even more expansive multiverse: alternative worlds where musical favourites and newer works are turned on their head, taking on a new life with a change of gender, era, key or musical style, as musical director James Ball and his band, out of view behind curtains but worthy of a standing ovation in their own right, deliver Matthew Clare’s diverse, dazzling arrangements with such brio.
Nick Sephton and Helen “Bells” Spencer’s tender rendition of I Don’t Need A Roof
Attending Monday night’s dress rehearsal, the technical rough edges with the projection would be ironed out by tonight’s opening show, and likewise Bells Spencer was keeping herself busy in taking notes, and even adjusting actors’ stage positions mid-number to achieve the right balance. Choreographer Connie Howcroft, when not performing, kept an eye on the big numbers too.
Musicals Across The Universe sits inside an end-on set design, usually bare to enable use of the full stage, even the stairway, with the occasional addition of chairs too, while projections, whether of a blur of Fake News or images of wartime Poland, accompany assorted numbers. Costume changes are frequent, sometimes amusing, often witty, always striking.
Act One opens with the full company finding its voice in Facade, a number from Jekyll And Hyde that is the essence of putting on a front, but with the truth still bursting through. As Long As He Needs Me, Nancy’s troublesome song from Oliver!, becomes more mournful, less desperate, in Jai Rowley’s interpretation.
The Place Where The Lost Things Go, from Mary Poppins Returns, is transformed into a children’s song, all the more moving in Matthew Warry’s performance, supported by Laertes Singhateh and Emelia Charlton-Matthews.
Lauren Charlton-Matthews: Outstanding rendition of Dear Bill from Operation Mincemeat. Picture: Simon Trow
Anthem, from Chess, takes on a Jazz Age air in Emma Burke’s rendition; Lauren Charlton-Matthews chose Dear Bill, from the Grand Opera House-bound Operation Mincement for her solo number, duly delivering the show’s best storytelling singing.
Go The Distance/Defying Gravity, from Hercules/Wicked, vie for centre stage in a mash-up for David Copley-Martin, Emily Hardy, Naomi Mothersille and Zander Fick; partners Spencer and Sephton bring tender romance to Big Fish’s I Don’t Need A Roof and Tess Ellis revels in the stark solo spotlight in Miss Saigon’s Why God? Why?
Two Act One favourites follow in quick succession, first Rosy Rowley’s lonesome Mr Cellophane, from Chicago, her face marked by a painted tear, accompanied by the Dance Core in white masks with crimson lips and matching dark tears.
Listen, from Dreamgirls, branches out from dialogue to Jai Rowley expressing himself in British Sign Language, learned expressly for this performance, to be interpreted in song by James Ball as Matthew Warry takes over on piano.
Exchanging sign language: James Ball, left, and Jai Rowley in Listen
After the men-in-black smooth chops of When She Loved Me, from Toy Story, you will go potty for Connie Howcroft’s polka-dotty reinvention of Friend Like Me from Aladdin, with her Dance Core in tow.
Mickey Moran, outstanding in the 2023 show, comes to the fore in Act Two’s opening Queen Medley from We Will Rock You, both on lead vocals as bravura as Freddie Mercury and on guitar too. The show must go on, and indeed does with Naomi Mothersille leading Make Them Hear You from Ragtime.
Richard Bayton and James Ball address songs to each other as gay lovers on the path to separation, first in Bayton’s confessional Just Not Now, from I Love You Because, then Ball, wrought with tragedian drama in Abba’s The Winner Takes It All, from Mamma Mia!, the show’s outstanding solo turn.
It’s Never That Easy/I’ve Been Here Before, from Closer Than Ever, find Spencer, Howcroft, Emily Hardy and Naomi Mothersille in harmony; Tess Ellis, in cream, stands out from the crowd in the heartfelt Someone Like You, from Jekyll & Hyde, and Ben Holeyman does likewise in Gypsy’s Don’t Rain On My Parade. Take note of Kirsty Barnes, notebook in hand, in Santa Fe, from Newsies.
Life is a Cabaret for Zander Fick, surrounded by the Dance Core in Musicals Across The Multiverse. Picture: Simon Trow
Zander Fick, fresh from playing drag star Loco Chanel in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, dons fishnets, shiny red Latex top and matching high heels and lipstick, to darken Sally Bowles’s Cabaret, from Cabaret, into being more in keeping with the Emcee.
Bayton and Ellis, Holeyman and Barnes play two couples in declamatory tandem in the mash-up of Million Dreams and How Far I’ll Go from The Greatest Showman and Moana, and mother and child partnerships, Spencer and Singtaheh, Rowley times two and Charlton-Matthews a deux, express the bond movingly in Mamma Mia’s Slipping Through My Fingers. Abbie Law savours the last solo showcase in Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You, from I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.
The full company assembles for Blame It On The Boogie, from MJ The Musical, a celebratory finale led flamboyantly by Rosy Rowley and Mickey Moran that has everyone dancing to the Multiverse max.
Wharfemede Productions present Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 10 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Rosy Rowley. front, left, and Mickey Moran, front, right, lead the outbreak of dancing in Blame It On The Boogie, the finale to Musicals Across The Multiverse
