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English Touring Opera bring What Dreams May Come and The Capulets And The Montagues to York Theatre Royal

English Touring Opera rehearsing a scene from Bellini’s Italian opera The Capulets And The Montagues. Picture: Craig Fuller

ENGLISH Touring Opera return to York Theatre Royal today and tomorrow with two exciting new Shakespeare-themed productions.

What Dreams May Come makes its debut in the Studio tonight at 7.45pm and tomorrow at 2.30pm before Bellini’s The Capulets And The Montagues is performed for only night only in the main house tomorrow at 7.30pm, preceded by a pre-show talk at 6.30pm. Both operas will be performed in their original language with English surtitles. 

What Dreams May Come is a new studio piece that draws on hundreds of years of music inspired by and adapted from Shakespeare’s plays and poetry to depict the joys and sorrows of a long life, well lived.

Mixing puppetry with music by composers including Purcell, Finzi, Amy Beach and Britten, performed by a chamber ensemble, this 80-minute production explores the timeless appeal of Shakespeare’s words and characters for composers and audiences throughout history.

Singers include soprano Alys Mererid Roberts, mezzo-soprano Emily Hodkinson, tenor Tamsanqa Tylor Lemani and baritone Samuel Pantcheff.

Samuel Pantcheff, Tamsanqa Tylor Lemani, Alys Mererid Roberts  and Emily Hodkinson  in the rehearsal room for What Dreams May Come. Picture: Craig Fuller

The piece is devised and directed by Valentina Ceschi, whose past work for English Touring Opera (ETO) includes the 2023 production of Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims, children’s opera The Great Stink and the film for families The Firebird. Erika Gundesen conducts from the piano.  

The Capulets And The Montagues, Bellini’s gritty re-working of Romeo And Juliet, remains a fresh, vital take on a well-loved story, bringing the warring families’ emotional and political struggle to life with devastating power. Remarkably, the work was composed by Bellini in only six weeks.

Soprano Jessica Cale, a First Prize winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and audience prize winner at the London Handel Festival International Singing Competition, sings the role of Giulietta.

She plays opposite mezzo-soprano Samantha Price, a regular performer with the Royal Opera and English National Opera, as Romeo.

Brenton Spiteri, who last performed with ETO in Manon Lescaut and The Rake’s Progress last spring, stars as Tebaldo, with Timothy Nelson as Capello and Masimba Ushe as Lorenzo.

The poster for English Touring Opera’s The Capulets And The Montagues

Eloise Lally, who directed ETO’s 2023 production of Lucrezia Borgia, is the director, while conductor, pianist and Le Balcon founder member Alphonse Cemin conducts in his debut season with ETO.

ETO director Robin Norton-Hale says: “This spring ETO celebrates the enduring power and relevance of the works of William Shakespeare with a season featuring one of the landmark operas of the 19th century alongside new works that draw inspiration from his themes and characters to create something entirely fresh and original.

“Bellini’s The Capulets And The Montagues puts a new spin on one of Shakespeare’s best-loved stories and is a classic of bel canto repertoire, with a dramatic contrast of sumptuous music and destructive violence.

“What Dreams May Come combines puppetry and song in an intimate exploration of life, love and death, set to new orchestrations of music inspired by the works of Shakespeare. It is a season that will showcase the best of ETO: wonderful storytelling and exceptional musicality.” 

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

Casts and production teams:

English Touring Opera rehearsing What Dreams May Come, a new production featuring depictions of grief, death and palliative care. Picture Craig Fuller

What Dreams May Come   

Soprano – Alys Mererid Roberts   
Mezzo-soprano – Emily Hodkinson  
Tenor – Tamsanqa Tylor Lemani   
Baritone – Samuel Pantcheff   

Director – Valentina Ceschi  
Conductor/piano – Erika Gundesen  
Puppetry designer – Matt Hutchinson  

English Touring Opera cast members in rehearsal for The Capulets And The Montagues. Picture: Craig Fuller

The Capulets And The Montagues   

Giulietta – Jessica Cale   
Romeo – Samantha Price   
Tebaldo – Brenton Spiteri  
Capello – Timothy Nelson   
Lorenzo – Masimba Ushe   
Ensemble – Daniel Gray Bell   
Ensemble – Harry Grigg   
Ensemble – Tamsanqa Tylor Lemani   
Ensemble – Samuel Pantcheff   
Ensemble – John Ieuan Jones   
Ensemble – Wonsick Oh   

Director – Eloise Lally   
Conductor – Alphonse Cemin   
Designer – Lily Arnold   
Lighting Designer – Peter Harrison   
Répétiteur – Nicholas Bosworth   
Fight Director – Kaitlin Howard   
Movement Director – Carmine De Amicis  

English Touring Opera’s poster for What Dreams May Come

English Touring Opera: the back story

TOURED live productions and education and community projects to more towns and cities than any other UK opera company since 1979

At the heart of the company ethos is “making exceptional artistic experiences available and accessible to everyone”.

ETO reaches 40,000 people per year with full theatre-based productions, specially commissioned operas for infants, children, families and young people with special educational needs, a series of creative workshops for people living with dementia and their carers, opera-making workshops in secondary schools, and song writing workshops in Alternative Provision settings designed to benefit young people’s mental health. 

English Touring Opera complete climate change trilogy with The Vanishing Forest on March 2 return to Acomb Explore Library

English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Vanishing Forest, part three of a climate change trilogy of new operas. Picture: Julian Guidera

SOMETHING magical this way comes for families at Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, on Sunday (2/3/2025).

English Touring Opera present their family-friendly production of The Vanishing Forest, an enchanting adventure that blends Shakespeare, music and an environmental message.

“If you remember the mischievous Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you’re in for a treat,” promise ETO. “This brand-new opera picks up after the events of Shakespeare’s comedy, and things aren’t looking too good in the forest. The trees are being chopped down, and with them, the magic of the land is fading away. Puck knows it’s time to act – but he can’t do it alone!”

Enter Cassie and Mylas, the children of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta, who team up with Puck to save the forest before it is too late. Along the way, expect songs, puppetry, spells, mystical flowers and a story that will entertain and inspire young audiences while tackling the pressing issue of deforestation.

This musical adventure is the third and final instalment in English Touring Opera’s climate change trilogy, following The Wish Gatherer, winner of the Best Opera prize at the 2024 YAMAwards,  and The Great Stink.

English Touring Opera’s poster for The Vanishing Forest

Written by Jonathan Ainscough, composed by Michael Betteridge and directed by Victoria Briggs, The Vanishing Forest is ideal for children aged seven to 11, the performance being designed to make opera accessible, fun and absorbing for younger audiences.

“Whether you’re a Shakespeare buff or completely new to the world of opera, this show is a wonderful way to introduce children to the magic of storytelling through music,” say ETO.

“So, if you’re looking for a magical way to spend a Sunday morning with the family, why not step into The Vanishing Forest? Expect laughter, adventure and some Shakespearean sparkle – just what everyone needs!”

“Previous performances by English Touring Opera at Acomb Explore have really wowed audiences and given children their first experience of professional opera in a very approachable and accessible way,” says Explore York executive assistant Gillian Holmes. “The latest performance is coming up very soon and there are still a few tickets left!”

English Touring Opera in The Vanishing Forest, Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, March 2, 11am. Tickets: tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives/1516069.

EXPLORE York Libraries and Archives is committed to making the arts accessible to all, so if the ticket price is a barrier, don’t worry. Free places are available: pop into your local library or email acomb@exploreyork.org.uk to find out more.

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How Ellen Kent defies Russian war to keep Ukrainian Opera on tour, heading for York

Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre Kyiv in Ellen Kent’s production of La Boheme for Opera International

OPERA International director Ellen Kent returns to the Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow and on Saturday to present the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv in Puccini’s La Boheme and Madama Butterfly.

As ever, the insurgence of President Putin’s Russian forces into Ukraine – now past its third anniversary – has presented Ellen with logistical challenges to bring the Kyiv singers and musicians from Eastern Europe to British shores, but emotional challenges too.

“Last year, the wife of Vasily, the orchestra director, was killed in their flat by one of Putin’s bombs” she says. “Vasily had gone shopping with his daughter and they came back to find  her dead. He only recognised her in the rubble by her hair.

“He said: ‘I promise I will come on tour, but please let me bury my wife first’. Can you imagine what these people are having to go through? And yet he still came on tour.

“They are such proud people, and I almost feel Ukrainian myself, having worked with them since 2001, when I started with Odessa Opera. How can Trump and Putin meet without Volodymyr Zelensky? It’s completely undemocratic. Why are we so frightened of America? Because they are so powerful? If they leave Zelensky out of discussions, how outrageous is that?” [Editor’s note: Ellen was speaking on February 20.]

Every performance on tour climaxes with a show of support for Ukraine. “We bring out the Ukrainian flag and a great big banner at the end, when we sing the Ukrainian national anthem accompanied by the whole orchestra,” says Ellen.

A scene from Ellen Kent’s Opera International production of La Boheme, featuring the Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre Kyiv, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York

“All the audience rise to their feet without being prompted. It’s very emotional and a wonderful end to the opera. It’s a very, very moving experience and the audience love it, as it adds an extra level to the performance – and I’ve never had so many nice letters.

“We are the only company touring over here from Ukraine, which is significant, just as it was in 2001, but it’s even more so now.  I’ve even received medals in Ukraine as the first person to bring Ukrainian performers into the UK.”

Aside from 2020-2021, when Covid intervened, Ellen has continued to tour Ukrainian productions for more than two decades. “But this tour is probably the most difficult of my life – it’s been a bl**dy nightmare,” says the veteran director, who will turn 76 in April.

“We bring them, through the war, out of Ukraine into Moldova on buses, to stay in Air B&Bs and hotels for a month of rehearsals in November and December, and then they return to Ukraine till the end of January, when they come across the border to Krakow, from where we fly them over here.”

Ellen continues: “We’ve faced challenges every single day. Serious problems. We get the necessary permission to bring the men on tour, but any man aged over 25 has to fight in the war; any man under 25 doesn’t, but there are exceptions, like if they are working for the big opera houses, they are exempt over 25 too.

“It’s a right palava as it has to go through the Minister of Culture to get permission, but the thing that makes me nervous is that we heard there were gangs going round in vans, kidnapping men to round them up to fight, and I was terrified that would happen to our men.

Opera director Ellen Kent

“It’s been very stressful, with changes of rules all the time, with a change of Minister of Culture, and we’ve had to deal with the Minister of Defence too.”

Ellen and Opera International have faced these difficulties for three years. “We know the process, but it’s beset with problems, and the new Minister of Culture is from the military. It’s got more and more military, which is inevitable.”

There has been a resulting impact on the Opera International tours. “Sometimes my orchestra could be bigger and I have to use a lot of young men because of the situation,” says Ellen. We’re getting younger and younger musicians now, perhaps a little younger than we would normally have.”

Nevertheless, Opera International resolutely keeps on touring,  with three productions this time, Verdi’s La Traviata completing the line-up, with international soloists aplenty: Korean soprano Elena Dee,  Ukrainian soprano Viktoria Melnyk, Ukrainian mezzo-soprano Yelyzaveta Bielous, Georgian tenor Davit Sumbadze and Armenian tenor Hovhannes Andreasyan.

“I’ll be coming up for the York performances, to remind me of my days when I was a young actor, performing at York Theatre Royal in the days of Richard Digby Day [artistic director from 1971 to 1976],” says Ellen. “Happy days!”

Senbla and Opera International present Ukrainian Opera and Ballet Theatre Kyiv in La Boheme, tomorrow, 7.30pm, and Madama Butterfly, Saturday, 7.30pm; both sung in Italian with English surtitles (CORRECT). Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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The eyes have it as Rob Auton makes open and shut case for comedy in new show at The Crescent and Leeds City Varieties

Do not just adjust your lenses: Everything will become clear in Rob Auton’s The Eyes Open And Shut Show at The Crescent, York

ROB Auton, York comedian, author, podcaster, actor, poet, graphic designer and illustrator, returns north from London on March 5 to present his 11th themed solo at The Crescent, York.

After exploring the colour yellow, the sky, faces, water, sleep, hair, talking, time, crowds and Rob Auton himself, he turns his surrealist focus on to his eyes in the Eyes Open And Shut Show, on tour from January 27 to May 4.

“This is a show about eyes when they are open and eyes when they are shut,” says Barmby Moor-born Rob. “With this show I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut. After writing ten shows on specific themes, I wanted to think about what makes me open my eyes and what makes me shut them.”

Here, Rob only has eyes for Charles Hutchinson’s questions.

What colour are your eyes?

“Brown.” 

What colour might you have liked your eyes to be?

“Owl eye orange.”

How good is your eyesight at the age of 42?

“7/10. Good enough for me to not wear glasses but bad enough for me to have gone for an eye test and got some glasses that I never wear.”

What makes you open your eyes widest?

“Putting my hand to my coat pocket and my phone not being in that specific pocket. Where is it? Ah, it’s in my trouser pocket. Return eyes to normal wideness.”

What makes you shut your eyes tightest?

“Chocolate bars getting smaller.”

How lightly do you sleep (when eyes are shut)?

“Very lightly, unfortunately.”

If ‘the eyes have it’, what do they have? 

“Whiteness?”

What is your favourite saying about eyes?

“Imagine if you could have trainers that were as comfortable for your feet as your eye sockets are for your eyes.” Rob Auton. 

To get an eyeful of Rob Auton, head to The Crescent, York, on Wednesday

Who do you see eye to eye with?

“Myself.”

Who don’t you see eye to eye with?

“Politicians who think it’s acceptable to kill innocent people.” 

If you could have eyes in the back of your head, what would you want to see? 

“A more peaceful world.”

Do you believe in the third eye?

“I think I do actually. Well, I’m not sure what it is but, if I’m guessing, it’s feeling certain energies? Getting a sense of something without seeing it or hearing it. I definitely believe in that.”

As you said in the show blurb, “I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut”. What have those explorations revealed?

“They’ve revealed that getting people to shut their eyes in shows and getting them into a meditative state, then speaking to them straight after they’ve opened them, can result in an audience member saying, “sorry I completely zoned out there, what did you ask me?”.

How has the show changed since last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe trial run?

“It’s actually changed a fair bit to be honest. Last year was a particularly chaotic year for me as we had quite a big house move. We were staying in a fair few different people’s houses, which I’m very grateful for, but it was an unsettled year.

“Edinburgh came around really quickly and I felt like I just about got away with it. From September until the tour starting I was working on the show pretty much every day. The main thing that has changed is I’ve now put my notebook down and am performing the show more. It was a leap I needed to make and am pleased I made the leap.” 

Do you remember your dreams (eyes shut) and do you ever write material prompted by dreams (eyes open)?

“I remember my dreams for about ten seconds, then they are gone. Bye bye. I’d like to keep a dream diary but never got around to it. I had a dream that I got a birthday present from Father Christmas once. It was mad, just a random person who I didn’t know giving me a birthday present.

“I haven’t really written any dream-based material. I’ve had some good ideas in my dreams though, I think. I once had a dream that you could get photographs taken in your dreams and print them off when you wake up. Hmm, maybe I need to flesh that out a bit.” 

Have you seen Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, his last film, released in 1999 with married couple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman leading the cast?  If so, did it make your eyes open wider or shut?

“I saw it a long time ago, I remember it being a very well-lit film. It makes a difference, doesn’t it? A film being well lit. The most eye-based film I’ve seen recently was Blink Twice [Zoë Kravitz’s 2024 directorial debut]. That made me open my eyes wide and also shut my eyes.” 

Last June, French company Iris Galerie opened its first Yorkshire location at Low Petergate, York, that will turn your eyes into photographic pieces of wall art. Would you want that on your wall?

“Ah wow, yeah, I think I would. Maybe I’ll go and check it art! I’d like to have a massive picture of my eye on the wall.” 

If you were to lose a sense, in what order would you put them in terms of importance to keep: sight; hearing; smell; taste; touch?

“I think I agree with the order you’ve put them in there.” 

Burning Duck Comedy Club presents Rob Auton: The Eyes Open And Shut Show at The Crescent, York, on March 5, 7.30pm. Box office: thecrescentyork.com. Also playing Leeds City Varieties Music Hall on May 3, 7.30pm; 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 8, from Gazette & Herald

Director Joanne Lister in rehearsal for Art with 1812 Theatre Company cast members Ivan Limon and Mike Martin. Picture: Paddy Chambers

WHEN art meets theatre, a hit play leads off Charles Hutchinson’s picks for a week where prompt booking is advised for a host of here today, gone tomorrow events.

Ryedale theatre show of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Art, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm

JOANNE Lister is not only making her 1812 Theatre Company directorial debut but also, in the late absence of her husband John Lister, she will take over the role of Marc with script in hand in Yasmina Reza’s 1994 French comedy, Art.

Translated by Christopher Hampton, the play asks: can a friendship between three close friends – Marc, Serge (Ivan Limon) and Yvan (Mike Martin) – survive when one of them does something completely unexpected? Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Leeds poet Antony Dunn

Poetry event of the week: Rise Up!, A Celebration of Poetry and the Spoken Word, Rise @Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York tonight, doors 7.30pm; performance 8.30pm to 10pm

LEEDS writer and People Powered Press poet-in-residence Antony Dunn, Yorkshire-born poet, mezzo-soprano  and theatre-maker Lisa J Coates and York St John University Fine Art coarse leader and poet Nathan Walker take part in Rise Up!.

Hosted by Bluebird Bakery boss and poet Nicky Kippax and Elizabeth Chadwick Pywell, the evening has three open-mic slots too. The next Rise Up! bill on April 30 will feature poets Rachel Long, Ioney Smallhorne and Minal Sukumar. Tickets update: last few left at eventbrite.co.uk.

Something wicked but educative this way comes: Dickens Theatre Company in Macbeth at Grand Opera House, York

GCSE study aid of the week: Dickens Theatre Company, Revision On Tour: Macbeth, Grand Opera House, York, today, 1pm with post-show Q&A

THE infamous Porter acts as narrator for an ensemble of six actors to create a cauldron of characters as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth make their perilous descent towards Hell in Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy, adapted and directed by Ryan Philpott, with music by Paul Higgs.

Set against a back-drop of wars, witchery and treasonous plotting, Dickens Theatre Company aim to “entertain and educate to the bitter end” while highlighting how “the Scottish play” remains ominously relevant in the 21st century. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Dickens Theatre Company in Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, playing the Grand Opera House, York

The other GCSE study aid of the week: Dickens Theatre Company, Revision On Tour: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7pm

WITHIN the thick Fitzrovia fog and dimly lamp-lit streets lurks an evil predator. When Gabriel Utterson learns of the mysterious Mr Hyde, he commits his lawyer’s logic to the proceedings. Believing Hyde to be blackmailing Jekyll, he vows to bring Hyde to task to solve the mystery.

As with Macbeth, Dickens Theatre Company’s cast of six takes on an exciting, educational new stage adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Victorian gothic masterpiece, adapted and directed by Ryan Philpott. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Unpacking Nina Simone: Florence Odumosu in Black Is The Color Of My Voice at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Steve Ullathorne

Biographical drama of the week: Black Is The Color Of My Voice, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm

WRITTEN and directed by Apphia Campbell, Black Is The Color Of My Voice is inspired by the life of Nina Simone in an evening of storytelling and performances of her most iconic songs by Florence Odumosu.

Campbell’s 70-minute play follows the North Carolina singer and activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on her journey from piano prodigy destined for a life in the church to jazz vocalist at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Big Wolf Band: Ryedale Blues Club’s blues rock act in Malton tomorrow

Blues rock gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Big Wolf Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm

BIG Wolf Band, a formidable blues rock powerhouse formed in Birmingham in 2014 by guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Jonathan Earp and bassist  Mick Jeynes, now perform with Tim Jones on drums, Justin Johnson on guitar, and Robin Fox on keys.  They made the Top Five Best Blues Bands in the UK list at the UK Blues Awards in 2023 and 2024. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Vanishing Forest, bound for Acomb Explore Library. Picture: Julian Guidera

Climate change drama of the week:  English Touring Opera in The Vanishing Forest, Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, Sunday, 11am

ENGLISH Touring Opera present an enchanting adventure for seven to 11-year-olds that blends Shakespeare, music and an environmental message.

Jonathan Ainscough and Michael Betteridge’s new opera picks up the threads of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Cassie and Mylas, Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta’s children, team up with Puck to save the forest before it is too late. Expect songs, puppetry, spells, mystical flowers and a story to entertain and inspire while tackling the pressing issue of deforestation. Tickets update: last few available at tickettailor.com.

Diversity: Pouring Soul into their dancing at York Barbican in April 2026

Show announcement of the week: Diversity present Soul, York Barbican, April 20 and 21 2026

BRITAIN’S Got Talent’s 2009 winners, Ashley Banjo’s Southend dance ensemble Diversity, will base next year’s tour around the technological advancements of artificial intelligence, asking what the future holds and what it means to be human within the digital age.

“The future is now,” says Banjo. “Humans have become plugged in and completely connected to a world full of artificial intelligence – a world in which it is hard to distinguish reality from fiction. AI has become so advanced it’s considered a life form of its very own. Is this the next stage in our evolution? What exactly have we created? What makes us human?” His answer: “Soul.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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Kieran White RIP 1961-2025: a tribute

Kieran White at the keyboard, his sublime skills to be heard at events, restaurants, weddings, clubs, pubs, street corners, theatres, cinemas, care homes, wherever, whenever

YORK composer, pianist, busker, teacher, university tutor and Buster Keaton aficionado Kieran White has died suddenly.

His wife Kate posted on Facebook last Thursday “I am writing  with the sad news  that my beautiful husband Kieran died last night [19/2/2025] after a sudden heart attack on Monday and a few days in the ICU [Intensive Care Unit] at York Hospital.

“He was the love of my life and he will be greatly missed. He was a sweet, loving, funny, clever and talented man. Please leave your thoughts and wishes here.”

In response, so far, more than 200 tributes have poured into Facebook from fellow musicians, former piano pupils and friends, one recalling how Kieran would wheel his piano to his favourite busking spot, outside St Michael le Belfrey, even in the snow, that spot being on York’s windiest corner to boot.

York singer, event promoter and public speaker Big Ian Donaghy has posted two videos, one taken at a care home for dementia patients, where a curve-ball request for Kieran to play Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody had Kieran mopping his brow, exhaling , then saying “Go on then, let’s have a go…what could possibly go wrong?!”. He duly tamed that wild rock opera behemoth off the cuff.

“Kieran had a gentle way and a rare empathy with folks living with dementia,” wrote Big Ian, whose second video showed Kieran and a man who had played piano all his life until the onset of dementia seated side by side, responding to each other’s handiwork.

Kieran had featured too in Donaghy’s story A Fish Out Of Water in his book A Pocketful Of Kindness, charting the day Kieran coaxed  a former GP and school concert pianist, now 80 and  sitting frostily at a distance in a care home, into joining him on the stool. You will find the full chapter on a Donaghy Facebook post.

“He is Quirky with a capital Q but with a heart of gold,” wrote Donaghy on Page 185. “In a world of horses for courses, many don’t fit him. Social situations…he can just get up and wander off. He is more gas or liquid than a solid. He sees life differently…

Kieran White, in 2020, holding a copy of Ian Donaghy’s book A Pocketful Of Kindness, open at the chapter entitled A Fish Out Of Water that charted Kieran’s nursing-home encounter with a former school concert pianist

“But behind all the quirks and eccentricities is a phenomenal musician with a kind heart,” Donaghy continued. “Kieran started calling for people to call out their favourite songs as he took on the role of dexterous jukebox. There was nothing he couldn’t play. Even if he had never heard something before.

“He would ask, ‘Sing it to me’, and within a few seconds he could play it. If he can hear it, he can play it. A mixture of a natural gift and hours of toil with the lid up.”

Fellow York composer Steve Crowther, administrator of York Late Music, has posted: “I have known Kieran for 30+ years. He was a genuinely remarkable musician and composer. And he possessed very little ego, a rare quality these days.

“I remember bumping into him in the city centre. We chatted about stuff. He was working on some silent movie project. Related to that, I think, was the idea of a fugue, which he then went on to improvise. Who the hell improvises a fugue? ‘Something like this…’ off he went, ‘no that’s not right…like this.”

Steve continued: “It was a bl**dy remarkable experience. The result was like Bach via Blues on speed. He was a constant: busking, singing & performing in pubs, always good for a catch-up and chat. But not any more. I will miss him.”

Originally from Colchester, Essex, where Kieran attended Colchester Royal Grammar School, he studied at the University of York. He would go on to busk prodigiously in the city, run White Rose Opera, play solo in pubs, restaurants and care homes, at weddings and with function bands too, as well as accompanying theatrical productions and being a piano teacher and tutor at York St John University.

Ultra-bright, knowledgeable, unconventional and witty, he was a dab hand at chess too, as well as displaying his trademark ability to play anything on the keys by ear.

On February 11, he had posted on Facebook of his health “deteriorating rapidly in the last year”, leading to Kieran “giving up playing piano as a result of ‘Trigger thumb’ and uncontrollable hand shaking”. Tests had revealed those tests were “purely down to stress. Thank God,” he wrote, but he revealed he had not been able to play, compose or even teach for almost a year and a half.

Kieran’s post went on to quote in full his interview with CharlesHutchPress, published on January 23 2020 under the headline “Pianist Kieran White to ‘break the silents’ at Helmsley Arts Centre screening of Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr”.

Kieran White, pencil illustration by Ian Donaghy, from A Pocketful Of Kindness, 2020

Here it is again, to add CharlesHutchPress’s voice to myriad recollections of Kieran’s talent for conjuring magic from the ivories.

ACCOMPANIED  by Kieran White’s expressive, playful, gag-driven piano score, the Stoneface silent classic Steamboat Bill, Jr, will be shown “as it was originally intended to be seen in an authentic re-creation of the early cinema experience in the picture houses of the 1920s”.

Let Kieran make his case for why someone would want to see a black-and white, silent 1928 Buster Keaton film in 2020, the age of endless reheated Disney classics and myriad Marvel movies.

“We live in an instant world. A world governed by consumerism and technology. What we want, we can get just by clicking a mouse. We have forgotten how to slow down. How to breathe,” he says.

“But Buster takes us back to a time when time itself was a different thing entirely. A time when moments were savoured, rather than squandered.”

From past experience of his Breaking The Silents shows, White anticipates a largely middle-aged and older audience, but he believes Keaton’s comedic elan should appeal to “anyone with a love of history, a nostalgia for days of yore and an unfettered imagination”.

“Breaking The Silents offers a wonderful evening for all the family,” he says. “A lot of belly laughs. An appreciation of Buster’s incredible athleticism and craftmanship but, most of all, a reawakening of that state of wonderment that children have but never know they have.”

The relentless pace of Keaton’s comedy on screen leaves no gap, no rest, no breath, in White’s score, but still he finds room for quickfire references to the Steptoe And Son theme music, Porridge and The Barber Of Seville.

“The joy of Steamboat Bill, Jr is the raw energy,” says Kieran. “You know that if the stunts went wrong there would be no take two.”

White’s piano has accompanied screenings of Keaton’s 1927 film The General at locations as diverse as Helmsley Arts Centre, the Yorkshire Museum of Farming at Murton Park and City Screen, Fairfax House and the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in York.

Last September [2019], he presented a Breaking The Silents double bill of The General in the afternoon and Steamboat Bill, Jr in the evening at the JoRo. White’s labours of love had necessitated 11 days of writing for The General, a little longer for Steamboat Bill, Jr, drawing on his love of both Keaton’s comic craft and the piano.

“I was very inspired by my grandfather,” he says, explaining why piano was his instrument of choice. “He was a superb pianist and made the most complex music sound effortless.

“Ever since a very early age, I’ve been fascinated by puzzles too, particularly chess. Watching Pop play was like sitting inside a gigantic engine, seeing gears mesh, listening to the sound of tiny hammers. Music chose me!”

Where next might Breaking The Silents venture? “I think what I do is unique. Ultimately, I’d love to perform all over the world,” says Kieran.

In the meantime, here is a recommendation from York filmmaker Mark Herman, director of Brassed Off and Little Voice, to head to Helmsley Arts Centre on February 1 for the Keaton and White double act.

“Kieran White’s score and his live accompaniment raises an already almost perfect film to fresh heights,” he said after seeing The General. “It’s a shame that Buster Keaton never knew that his flawless performance could actually be enhanced.”

Rest in peace, Kieran Michael White, December 10 1961 – February 19 2025.

The arrangements for Kieran White’s funeral are yet to be announced.

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What’s in store in National Centre for Early Music’s 25th anniversary spring season?

Cellist Matthew Barley: Telling his Light Stories at the NCEM on May 18

THE National Centre for Early Music’s 25th anniversary spring season at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, is as close to opening as the new chorus of daffodils.

First up on March 4 will be multi-award-winning Portuguese fado singer LINA, who was recommended to NCEM director Delma Tomlin by colleagues at the University of Nottingham.  “It will be a lively and entertaining night, promoting her extraordinary 2024 album, Fado Camões,” says Delma.

The 7.30pm concert will feature the poetry of Portuguese poet Luiz Vaz de Camões, adapted to traditional fado, in a multi-media performance with Ianina Khmelik on piano and synths and Pedro Viana on Portuguese guitar, complemented by videos on the big screen by Collective Of Two, lighting design by Tela Negra and live sound by Marco Silva. “Bring your best dancing feet,” advises Delma.

The University of York Baroque + Day will be held on March 8, presenting Ensemble Hesperi and rising star soprano Claire Ward at 12 noon, Consort Of Viols and SVES’s 2.30pm programme of reflective pavans and sorrowful songs and the University of York Baroque Ensemble & Ensemble Hesperi celebrating the musical tastes and talents of Queen Charlotte, Consort to George III, on International Women’s Day at 7.30pm.

Acoustic and slide folk guitarist Martin Simpson will return to the NCEM on March 22 for a typically intense, eclectic, spellbinding and deeply moving solo concert of interpretations of traditional songs, full of passion, sorrow, love, beauty tragedy and majesty. In the 18 years of the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards, he has chalked up an unsurpassed 32 nominations, winning numerous awards.

Legendary Italian acoustic guitarist, composer and NCEM favourite Antonio Forcione will team up for the first time with Italian/Sardinian guitarist, composer and educator Giorgio Serci for a melodic 7.30pm programme on March 28.

Guitar virtuoso Martin Simpson: Returning to NCEM on March 22. Picture: Geoff Trinder

“Antonio performing with Giorgio will bring a different flavour,” says Delma. “Be prepared to both laugh and be moved as they celebrate the unexpected elements in life with delicacy, humour and, not least, passion.”

Triptic is the post-Moishe’s Bagel band formed by former members Phil Alexander, Greg Lawson and Mario Caribe, who explore a shared love of folk music in their new project that will head to the NCEM on April 6 at 6.30pm.

Dramatic tango meets joyful klezmer and folk-infused originals, wrapped up in irresistible jazz and Latin grooves, played on violin, piano, bass, mandolin, accordion and guitar, as they seek uncharted musical pathways. Unleashing their energy and passion on a new set of compositions, they also set their sights on music from Armenia to Sao Paolo with many melodic stops along the way.

Seven-piece band Hejira will be celebrating Joni Mitchell’s late-1970s “jazz period” in a return visit to the NCEM on April 10 at 7.30pm. Hattie Whitehead, Ollie Weston, Chris Eldred, Pete Oxley, Dave Jones, Rick Finlay, Marc Cecil and Rob Harbron will focus on the Canadian singer-songwriter’s albums The Hissing Of Summer Lawns, Hejira, Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter and Mingus.

Mitchell toured with jazz luminaries Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays, Michael Brecker, Jaco Pastorius and Don Alias in a brief collaboration that elicited the live album Shadows And Light, the primary source of inspiration for Hejira’s repertoire.

Trumpet player Jay Phelps and his band of supreme British talent will bring together the best of Miles Davis from 1958 and 1959 on April 24 (7.30pm), drawing on material from ’58 Miles and the iconic Kind Of Blue, the ground-breaking, improvisational “world’s greatest jazz album of all time”.

“We’re delighted that Jay also will be working with young jazz players from the York Music Forum Jazz Ensemble, run by Ian Chance,” says Delma.”Ian is building up the ensemble again after the exit of A-level students, and as we continue to develop our relationship with them, we hope they’ll be able to work with jazz guitarist Martin Taylor later in the season. We know the jazz stars so enjoy sharing the stage with these young talents.”

Hejira: Honouring Joni Mitchell’s late-1970s “jazz period” on April 10

Anglo-Irish band Flook are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year, touring the NCEM on May 4 at 6.30pm with a line-up of Brian Finnegan, whistles and flutes, Sarah Allen, flutes and accordion, Ed Boyd, guitar, and John Joe Kelly, bodhran.

Silent film pianist Jonny Best will bring Rupert Julian’s 1925 horror movie  Phantom Of The Opera newly alive with a new improvised score as Northern Silents mark the 100th anniversary of one of the silent screen’s most beautiful creations, a dark love story starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin, on May 6 from 7.30pm to 9pm.

Chaney experimented for two years with metal hooks, wax, putty and paint to create the skull-like appearance that terrified audiences a century ago.

The NCEM Young Composers Award 2025, presented by the NCEM in tandem with BBC Radio 3 and The Brook Street Band , will climax with the live final on May 15 at 7pm.

On May 18, Light Stories will tell the story of classical cellist Matthew Barley’s life through music and projected imagery – by video designers Yeast Culture – as he narrates his search for meaning in music-making and how, in time, he came to heal past wounds.

His 6.30pm performance will incorporate pieces by Joby Talbot, Anna Meredith, John Metcalfe and Bach, together with new woks by Barley, connected by moments of improvisation and electronics.

Lon Chaney in Phantom Of The Opera, presented by Northern Silents on May 6. Picture: from Northern Silents

“Matthew has branched out into multi-media, focusing on health and wellbeing and how you can use music to help your recovery,” says Delma. “It’s a performance about his personal issues and how he came out the other side, and a show like this is part of our wider brief.”

The NCEM will present three York Festival of Ideas events: Sam Kelly &The Lost Boys on June 7 at 7.30pm; OAE Tots’ enchanting story of magic spells and much mischief, Spin, Spin A Story on June 8 at 4pm and the Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment’s version of The Fairy Queen: Three Wishes, a huge party in a magical forest, on June 11 at 6pm (at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, please note).

Guitarist Martin Taylor and rising British jazz singer Alison Burns will perform songs from their duo album Songs For Nature, mixing the Great American Songbook with contemporary material, on June 18 at 7.30pm.

The spring season will close with the NCEM debut of husband-and-wife duo Kamaljeet Ahluwalia, on santoor, and Jas Ahluwalia, on tabla, in their Absolute Focus concert on June 22 at 6.30pm, staged in partnership with SAA/UK.

“We have worked with these partners for many years, and this concert makes a very nice conclusion to the season,” says Delma. “It will work very well at the NCEM, where we can accommodate the obligatory large carpet!”

Reflecting on the season as a whole, Delma says: “The diversity of our programme is important to us, in part because we’re always committed to presenting artists from other parts of the world – and our audiences seem to be keen to give music from all over the world a go.”

Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338 and at ncem.co.uk.

Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys, to be found at NCEM on June 7

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More Things To Do in York and beyond, from mind games to life on the wild side. Hutch’s List No. 8, from The York Press

Everything turns green: Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in Shrek The Musical at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

BLINK and you might miss it! Charles Hutchinson urges prompt booking for a host of here today, gone tomorrow events.

Ogre party of the week: Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in Shrek The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today, 2pm and 7pm

JENNA Howlett directs York company Flying Ducks’ two casts in today’s performances as they dive into a world where love knows no boundaries, friendships are forged in the most unexpected places and laughter is guaranteed.

Join Shrek, Fiona and Donkey on their journey to find true happiness in this David Lindsay-Abaire and Jeanine Tesori show, replete with catchy songs, quirky characters and a story that turns fairytales upside down. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Hammonds Band: Top brass at tomorrow afternoon’s concert in aid of York Against Cancer

Fundraiser of the week: York Brass Against Cancer, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 2.30pm

THE fourth York Brass Against Cancer concert to raise funds for York Against Cancer features the Hammonds Band, founded in 1855 by Sir Titus Salt, and the Shepherd Group Brass Band, from York, introduced by BBC presenter David Hoyle. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The hand of fate: The Witches in Dickens Theatre Company’s Macbeth at Grand Opera House, York

GCSE study aid of the week: Dickens Theatre Company, Revision On Tour: Macbeth, Grand Opera House, York, February 24 and 25, 7pm; February 26, 1pm with post-show Q&A

THE infamous Porter acts as narrator for an ensemble of six actors to create a cauldron of characters as Macbeth and Lady Macbeth make their perilous descent towards Hell in Shakespeare’s bloodiest tragedy, adapted and directed by Ryan Philpott, with music by Paul Higgs.

Set against a back-drop of wars, witchery and treasonous plotting, Dickens Theatre Company aim to “entertain and educate to the bitter end” while highlighting how “the Scottish play” remains ominously relevant in the 21st century. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Yemisi Oyinloye’s Carmen, left, and Hannah Genesius’s Elsa, right, in Tiny Fragments Of Beautiful Light, on tour at Theatre@41, Monkgate. Picture: Victoria Wai

Investigative play of the week: Tiny Fragments Of Beautiful Light, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 25

INSPIRED by writer Allison Davies’s diagnosis of autism, Tiny Fragments Of Beautiful Light is a journey of self-discovery wrapped in a celebration of the joy that comes when we live as we truly are.

Hannah Genesius takes the role of Elsa, who does not know why she has never fitted in. Could it be the way she is made? Quirky, kind, clever and funny, but school was always a nightmare, and romance was a mystery – until now. When Elsa meets Carmen (Yemisi Oyinloye), the real journey begins: to find out who she is and why an octopus is  living inside her head? Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Dickens Theatre Company in Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, lurking around the Grand Opera House, York, for two days

The other GCSE study aid of the week: Dickens Theatre Company, Revision On Tour: Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Grand Opera House, York, February 25, 1pm, with post-show Q&A; February 26, 7pm

WITHIN the thick Fitzrovia fog and dimly lamp-lit streets lurks an evil predator. When Gabriel Utterson learns of the mysterious Mr Hyde, he commits his lawyer’s logic to the proceedings. Believing Hyde to be blackmailing Jekyll, he vows to bring Hyde to task to solve the mystery.

As with Macbeth, Dickens Theatre Company’s cast of six takes on an exciting, educational new stage adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Victorian gothic masterpiece, adapted and directed by Ryan Philpott. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Unpacking Nina Simone: Florence Odumosu in Black Is The Color Of My Voice at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Steve Ullathorne

Biographical drama of the week: Black Is The Color Of My Voice, York Theatre Royal, February 26, 7.30pm

WRITTEN and directed by Apphia Campbell, Black Is The Color Of My Voice is inspired by the life of Nina Simone in an evening of storytelling and performances of her most iconic songs by Florence Odumosu.

Campbell’s 70-minute play follows the North Carolina singer and activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. She reflects on her journey from piano prodigy destined for a life in the church to jazz vocalist at the forefront of the civil rights movement. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Gordon Buchanan: Wild about wildlife at the Grand Opera House, York

Talk on the wild side: Gordon Buchanan, Lions And Tigers And Bears, Grand Opera House, York, February 27, 7.30pm

FILMMAKER and photographer Gordon Buchanan recounts thrilling encounters with pandas, grizzlies, tigers, jaguars and more as he charts the heart-stopping moments, the mud, sweat, and tears and the tender interactions that have shaped his career. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Elvana: When Nirvana meets Elvis Presley at York Barbican

Tribute gig of the week: Elvana: Elvis Fronted Nirvana, March 1, 7pm doors

FROM the bowels of Disgraceland, rock icons of the afterlife are raised from the dead when rock’n’roll meets grunge as Elvis fronts Nirvana to give the band the front man it has been missing since 1994. Elvana tear through Nirvana’s catalogue while splicing in grunge- up sections of the King’s finest moments, culminating in a whopper mash-up of overdrive and old-school rockabilly. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Vanishing Forest, bound for Acomb Explore Library. Picture: Julian Guidera

Climate change drama:  English Touring Opera in The Vanishing Forest, Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, March 2, 11am

ENGLISH Touring Opera present an enchanting adventure for seven to 11-year-olds that blends Shakespeare, music and an environmental message.

Jonathan Ainscough and Michael Betteridge’s new opera picks up the threads of A Midsummer Night’s Dream as Cassie and Mylas, Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta’s children, team up with Puck to save the forest before it is too late. Expect songs, puppetry, spells, mystical flowers and a story to entertain and inspire while tackling the pressing issue of deforestation. Tickets update: last few available at tickettailor.com.

Soul searching: Diversity to play York, Hull and Sheffield on 60-show tour of 31 cities and towns in 2026

Show announcement of the week: Diversity present Soul, York Barbican, April 20 and 21 2026

BRITAIN’S Got Talent’s 2009 winners, Ashley Banjo’s Southend dance ensemble Diversity, will base next year’s tour around the technological advancements of artificial intelligence, asking what the future holds and what it means to be human within the digital age.

“The future is now,” says Banjo. “Humans have become plugged in and completely connected to a world full of artificial intelligence – a world in which it is hard to distinguish reality from fiction. AI has become so advanced it’s considered a life form of its very own. Is this the next stage in our evolution? What exactly have we created? What makes us human?” His answer: “Soul.” Also playing: Hull Connexin Hall, March 11; Sheffield City Hall, March 13 and 14 (matinee). Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk; connexinlivehull.com; sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.

Poet, mezzo-soprano, theatre-maker and photographer Lisa J Coates: Picture: lisajcoates.co.uk

In Focus: Rise Up!: A Celebration of Poetry and the Spoken Word, Rise @Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, Feb 26

LEEDS poet Antony Dunn, Yorkshire-born Lisa J Coates and York St John University Fine Art course leader Nathan Walker take part in Rise Up! on Wednesday when doors open at 7.30pm for the trio of poetry performances from 8.30pm to 10pm.

Hosted by Bluebird Bakery boss and poet Nicky Kippax and Elizabeth Chadwick Pywell, the evening has three open-mic slots up for grabs. Email rise@bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise to apply.

The next Rise Up! on April 30 will feature poets Rachel Long, Ioney Smallhorne and Minal Sukumar.

Antony Dunn: Poet in Residence at People Powered Press. Picture: Sara Teresa

Antony Dunn 

PUBLISHED four collections of poems: Pilots And Navigators, Flying Fish, Bugs and Take This One to Bed (Valley Press). Winner of Newdigate Prize and Eric Gregory Award. Regular tutor for The Poetry School and Arvon Foundation. Worked on translation projects with poets from Holland, Hungary, China and Israel.

Has served as Poet in Residence at University of York, Ilkley Literature Festival and People Powered Press. Artistic director of Bridlington Poetry Festival from 2012 until 2018. For more details, go to: www.antonydunn.org.

Lisa J Coates

YORKSHIRE-BORN  multi-disciplinary artist, working as musician, writer and opera director. Poetry published in Southbank Poetry Magazine, Northern Gravy, York Literary Review, Bad Lilies, and Anthropocene. Undertaken commissions for Risky Cities, and Hull Maritime. Mentored by Helen Mort. Awarded DYCP (Developing Your Creative Practice) funding by Arts Council England in 2023 to develop her writing for the stage.

Classically trained mezzo-soprano, with distinction in PG Artist Diploma from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance and MA in Vocal Performance from University of York. Performed internationally on stage and in concert, recorded for Naxos, Delphian, Boreas and Touch labels and appeared on television and radio.

Nathan Walker

 ARTIST and writer from West Cumbria. Works across and between performance art and poetry, exploring the body and the page as sites for vocal exploration and manipulation of sound and speech. Their scores and poetry have been published in books, magazines and journals, including  100 Queer Poems anthology, edited by Mary Jean Chan & Andrew McMillan (Vintage, 2022), Prototype Anthology 5 (UK), Tripwire (USA) and Pamenar Magazine Online (UK).

First collection of poetry, Skirting, was published by Broken Sleep Books in 2024. Published two books of language-based artworks: Condensations (uniform Books) & Action Score Generator (If P Then Q). Course lead for Fine Art at York St John University, lecturing in .

Tickets update: last few left at eventbrite.co.uk. More details at bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Nathan Walker: First poetry collection, Skirting, was published last year

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REVIEW: York Settlement Community Players in Joe Orton’s Loot, York Theatre Royal Studio, until February 27 ****

Who’s conning who? Emily Carhart’s Fay, Jack Mackay’s Hal, centre, and Stuart Green’s Truscott in a scene from York Settlement Community Players’ Loot. Picture: John Saunders

THE monochrome cover to York Settlement Community Players’ programme for Joe Orton’s dark farce Loot takes the form of a death notice. Rest in Peace Mary McLeavy. Born 1916, called home 1966. Remembrance services will be held: 18th – 27th February 2025.

For “Remembrance Services”, read performances that raise Orton’s scandalous, scabrous first farce from the grave, directed by the “young (and probably) angsty” Katie Leckey with brio and brains, fresh from completing her MA in Theatre-making at the University of York.

Already she and lead actor Jack Mackay have made their mark on the York theatre scene with their company Griffonage Theatre, latterly swapping the roles of hitmen Ben and Gus for each performance of Harold Pinter’s menacing  1957 two-hander The Dumb Waiter at Theatre@41, Monkgate, last July.

Jack Mackay’s Hal, trying not to look alarmed in Loot. Picture: John Saunders

Now Mackay forms part of another “double act” on the wrong side of the law:  bungling thieves Hal (Mackay) and Dennis (Miles John), in essence representing Orton’s lover Kenneth Halliwell and Orton, in Loot.

Sixty years on from its Cambridge Arts Theatre premiere, when Orton deemed the play to be “a disaster” and the Cambridge News review called it “very bad”, it remains a shocking play. Not shockingly bad, but a shock to the system, still carrying a content warning.

It reads: “The show contains adult themes and offensive language (including sexism and xenophobia). There are also sexual references and references to sexual assault (including rape and necrophilia) and references to smoking on stage.” Sure enough, Stuart Green’s inspector, Truscott, hiding behind his smokescreen of being “from the Water Board”, smokes without fire, never lighting his pipe.

Emily Carhart’s nurse, Fay, and Miles John’s arch thief, Dennis, in Loot. Picture: John Saunders

Loot remains an iconoclastic play, even angrier than those Angry Young Men that preceded him, John Osborne, Harold Pinter, Kingsley Amis, John Braine, Alan Sillitoe, John Wain, et al. You might call it ‘odd’, or ‘strange’, but its audacious humour tugs persuasively at your arm, its attacks on convention beneath its conventional farce format landing blows on those cornerstones of the state, the (Catholic) church and the police force, as well as undermining the nuclear family. 

It makes you ask what has changed since the 1965 premiere, as Leckey highlights in her programme note, drawing attention to the continuing prevalence of violence, racism, homophobia and misogyny.

She quotes Orton, who wrote “I’m too amused by the way people carry on to give in to despair”. There, in a nutshell, is the role of comedy, to home in on the warts and all and laugh at our failings and foibles. The bigger shock here is that we have not moved on, but on second thoughts, in the week when every new Trump utterance trumps the last one, maybe not. 

Loot director Katie Leckey

Orton was once castigated for his play’s immoral tone, but it is the behaviour that is immoral, not Orton. Don’t shoot the messenger. Laugh, instead, at our failure to clean up our act, especially those in authority.

Leckey has not edited Orton’s text, letting it stand or fall in all its bold affronts, not least on life’s ultimate taboo: death. Preceded by Ortonian fun and games by a six-pack of support players, from a drunken priest (James Wood) to an excitable nun (Xandra Logan), Loot begins with an open coffin. Inside rests the aforementioned Mary McLeavy (a dead body played by a live actor [Caroline Greenwood] with Orton irreverence). Today is her funeral.

In the room, designed with kitsch Sixties’ detail by Wilf Tomlinson and Richard Hampton, matched by Leckey’s soundtrack, are widower Mr McLeavy (played with suitable befuddlement by Paul French) and Mrs McLeavy’s nurse, Fay, (Emily Carhart in her impressive Settlement debut). She may wear a cross, but Fay has an unfortunate of seeing off her husbands, seven in seven years, and now she has her eye on Mr McLeavy.

Eyeball to eyeball: Stuart Green’s Truscott carries out a close inspection in Loot. Picture: John Saunders

Enter Mackay’s Hal, who protests he is too upset to attend the funeral, and John’s Dennis, whose heart is lost to Fay. Rarely for a farce, there is only one door into the sitting room, but a second door is all important: the cupboard door, behind which they have hidden their stash from a bank job.

A glass eye, a set of teeth and the constant movement of Mrs McLeavy’s body will follow, involving the cupboard, the coffin and the stash, in classic farce tradition, with rising irreverence and desperation as the investigations of Green’s Truscott mirror the impact of  Inspector Goole in JB Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, written 20 years earlier, but this time with humorous results.

Green, in his Settlement debut after returning to the stage in 2023 from an hiatus, has spot-on comic timing, a twinkle in his eye and the over-confidence of Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Paul French’s Mr McLeavy, left, Stuart Green’s Truscott, Jack Mackay’s Hal, Emily Carhart’s Fay (seated) and Emily Hansen’s Meadows in Loot. Picture: John Saunders

Mackay and John evoke the Sixties in looks, acting style and attire, playing to the Orton manner born as the hapless thieves, somehow negotiating their way through a farce with a farce with aplomb and insouciance.

York Settlement Community Players in Loot, York Theatre Royal Studio, until February 27, 7.45pm nightly except February 23, plus 2pm matinee, February 22. Age guidance: 16 plus. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Post-show discussion tomorrow (21/2/2025).

TAKING part in pre-show and interval Orton-style vignettes, devised by James Lee, are: Xandra Logan (Sister Barbara); Chris Meadley (Sergeant Timothy Carruthers); Victoria Delaney (Mrs Edna Welthorpe); Helen Clarke (Edith, the church organist); James Wood (Priest) and Serafina Coupe (Keith Kevin O’Keefe).

Xandra Logan’s Sister Barbara and James Wood’s inebriated Priest in an interval vignette in York Settlement Community Players’ Loot at York Theatre Royal Studio. Picture: John Saunders

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English Touring Opera complete climate change trilogy with The Vanishing Forest on March 2 return to Acomb Explore Library

English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Vanishing Forest, part three of a climate change trilogy of new operas. Picture: Julian Guidera

SOMETHING magical this way comes for families at Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, on March 2.

English Touring Opera return to York to present their family-friendly production of The Vanishing Forest, an enchanting adventure that blends Shakespeare, music and an environmental message.

“If you remember the mischievous Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you’re in for a treat,” promise ETO. “This brand-new opera picks up after the events of Shakespeare’s comedy, and things aren’t looking too good in the forest. The trees are being chopped down, and with them, the magic of the land is fading away. Puck knows it’s time to act – but he can’t do it alone!”

Enter Cassie and Mylas, the children of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta, who team up with Puck to save the forest before it is too late. Along the way, expect songs, puppetry, spells, mystical flowers and a story that will entertain and inspire young audiences while tackling the pressing issue of deforestation.

This musical adventure is the third and final instalment in English Touring Opera’s climate change trilogy, following The Wish Gatherer, winner of the Best Opera prize at the 2024 YAMAwards,  and The Great Stink.

Written by Jonathan Ainscough, composed by Michael Betteridge and directed by Victoria Briggs, The Vanishing Forest is ideal for children aged seven to 11, the performance being designed to make opera accessible, fun and absorbing for younger audiences.

English Touring Opera’s poster for The Vanishing Forest

“Whether you’re a Shakespeare buff or completely new to the world of opera, this show is a wonderful way to introduce children to the magic of storytelling through music,” say ETO.

“So, if you’re looking for a magical way to spend a Sunday morning with the family, why not step into The Vanishing Forest? Expect laughter, adventure and some Shakespearean sparkle – just what everyone needs!”

“Previous performances by English Touring Opera at Acomb Explore have really wowed audiences and given children their first experience of professional opera in a very approachable and accessible way,” says Explore York executive assistant Gillian Holmes. “The latest performance is coming up very soon and there are still a few tickets left!”

English Touring Opera in The Vanishing Forest, Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, March 2, 11am. Tickets: tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives/1516069.

Explore York Libraries and Archives is committed to making the arts accessible to all, so if the ticket price is a barrier, don’t worry. Free places are available: pop into your local library or email acomb@exploreyork.org.uk to find out more.

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REVIEW: Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday ****

Top of the plots: Nic Myers’ Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

AFTER New York and London runs, Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble’s jukebox musical spin on Kumble’s too-cool-for-school 1999 movie Cruel Intentions arrives in York in only the second week of its debut UK tour.

Tickets are selling well, albeit with surprising availability for Saturday night, with audience members spread across age groups, from the film’s devotees to lovers of Nineties pop and outré musicals.

Bill Kenwright Ltd is mounting the tour, a rubber stamp that guarantees a high-quality production with hi-tech lighting by Nick Richings,  pin-sharp sound design by Chris Whybrow and, above all, a luxuriant set and especially costume design by Polly Sullivan to evoke the wealth of New York’s Upper East Side in the 1990s.

Jonathan O’Boyle’s cast for the 2025 tour of Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, heading to York, Leeds and Hull. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Cruel Intentions was the romance/thriller one with the budding Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair, re-setting Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s French novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses in the summer recess before the new term at the exclusive Manchester High School in Manhattan, 1999.

‘Tis the mischief-making season where high society does what it always does in thumb-twiddling lulls: match-making, love-making, plotting and counter-plotting, amid the loss of innocence and the need for inner sense.

Oh, and just like in Sex Education, what all the young seem to have on their mind is sex rather more than education. And like in Sex Education too, a soundtrack to die for. We’ll get to that.

The plotting thickens: Will Callan’s Sebastian Valmont and Nik Myers’ Kathryn Merteuil lay their wager in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

The show opens with a voiceover from Nic Myers’ Kathryn Merteuil, waspish and haughtily dismissive, potty-mouthed too, as New York calls on old York to turn off its mobile devices.

Sharp of dress, dark of glass and countenance, Myers’ Kathryn and her step brother Sebastian Valmont (Will Callan) are the “trust fund casualties of absentee parents”, toying with their prey as they place their “cruel” wager. She wins his 1950s’ roadster if he fails to seduce Annette Hargrove (Abbie Budden), virtuous daughter of the incoming new headmaster; he wins next-level sex with Kathryn if he does.

In a new opening song, Livin’ La Vida Loca, director Jonathan O’Boyle introduces all the principals, while Gary Lloyd establishes his choreography will be every bit as snappy, snazzy, fiery, fun and sexy as it was in Heathers.

Abbie Budden’s Annette Hargrove , the new headmaster’s virtuous daughter. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

In her interview with CharlesHutchPress, Abbie Budden, the only returnee from the London cast, said Cruel Intentions differed from other jukebox musicals in not taking itself too seriously. There was still the darkness of Kumble’s film, she added, but now a playful energy too.

In that way, it might remind you of how The Rocky Horror Show, down the years, has turned camper than the original Rocky Horror Picture Show. Especially here in the entanglements of Luke Conner Hall’s bleach-blond, mullet haired Blaine Tuttle and Joe Simmons’ sports jock Greg McConnell, expressing what they want, what they really, really want in The Spice Girls’ Wannabe.

You want it darker, as Leonard Cohen enquired in his last masterpiece? Well, Kumble and his co-conspirators don’t kill the flame but the darkness comes tongue in cheek, with knowing winks in the dialogue.

Head over heels: Luke Conner Hall’s Blaine Tuttle and Joe Simmons’ Greg McConnell performing Wannabe in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

The callous cruelty brought on by privilege stripping perpetrators of moral responsibility should not be this much fun, but as we know, the devil’s disciples always have the best lines. Witness Callan’s Sebastian, irresistible devourer of “insipid Manhattan dilettantes”.

They don’t always have the best tunes: these are splendidly spread out, from Budden’s Just A Girl and Foolish Games to Gabriella Williams’s No Scrubs in the guise of bigoted snob Mrs Bunny Caldwell (the Lady Bracknell of Upper East Side).

Lucy Carter is a scream as daughter Cecile Caldwell, blossoming in her sexual awakening and funnier scene by scene, whether with scandalous Sebastian, Kathryn or cello tutor Ronald Clifford (Kevin Yates), while Myers is spectacularly, seductively splenetic as the viperous Kathryn, her singing of Bitch  being the show’s high point.

Kiss Me: Nic Myers’ Kathryn Merteuil, left, initiates Lucy Carter’s Cecile Caldwell in the art of kissing in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

You will love Lloyd’s choreography in raincoats for the railway station scene; cheer the inner strength of Budden’s Annette, and enjoy how the show uses Nineties’ pop gems Lovefool, Kiss Me and Breakfast At Tiffany’s, alongside the rock stealth of Counting Crows’ Colorblind and R.E.M.’s Losing My Religion.

What better way to finish than with Bitter Sweet Symphony, as impactful as it was in the movie, in summing up the overriding theme, whether “Tryna make ends meet, you’re a slave to money then you die” or “Tryna find somebody then you die”.

Will Joy’s musical direction and Zach Spound’s orchestrations peak in this ensemble finale, the band fading away in climax of a cappella singing and orchestrated clapping. Earlier, familiar Nineties nuggets break out in new directions, new interpretations, whether in solos, duets, triplets of duets in a song, even bravura mash-ups as top of the plots meets top of the pops.

Bill Kenwright Ltd presents Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical, Grand Opera House, York, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; tomorrow, 7.30pm; Friday, 5pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Age guidance: 15 plus. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. Also playing: Leeds Grand Theatre, May 6 to 10, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Hull New Theatre, May 13 to 17, 01482 300306 or hulltheatres.co.uk.

Dismissive: Mrs Bunny Caldwell (Gabriella Williams) serves notice on cello tutor Ronald Clifford (Kevin Yates) in Cruel Intentions: The ’90s Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

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