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More Things To Do in York as Guy Fawkes heads home. Remember, remember, Hutch’s List No. 103, from The Press

Greg Haiste, left, and York-born writer and actor David Reed cross swords in rehearsal for York Theatre Royal’s premiere of Guy Fawkes. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

POLITICAL fireworks, street art indoors, beer and bratwurst, a Velvet Underground pioneer and the history of ghosts spark up Charles Hutchinson’s interest.

Premiere of the week: Guy Fawkes, York Theatre Royal, Friday to November 12

WAR-WEARY, treasonous son of York Guy Fawkes vows to restore a Catholic monarch to the English throne, whatever the cost. In the private room of an upmarket tavern, a clandestine of meeting of misfits takes place between this dark dissident, a Poundshop Machiavelli, a portly boob, a clumsy princess, a preposterous toff and a shoddy ham as they plot the most audacious crime ever attempted on British soil.

David Reed, from comedy trio The Penny Dreadfuls, plays York’s traitorous trigger man in his long-awaited combustible comedy-drama with its devilishly dangerous mix of Blackadder and Upstart Crow. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Torrents (Willow Herald Speak), by Michael Dawson, from Navigators Art’s Coney St Jam art intervention at the StreetLife project hub

Exhibition of the week: Navigators Art, Coney St Jam: An Art Intervention, StreetLife project hub, Coney Street, York, until November 19

YORK collective Navigators Art draw inspiration from the city’s rich heritage and vibrant creative communities to explore ways to revitalise and diversify Coney Street. On show is painting, drawing, collage, textile and 3D work, complemented by photography, projections, music and poetry.

Taking part are: Steve Beadle; Michael Dawson; Alfie Fox; Alan Gillott; Oz Hardwick; Richard Kitchen; Katie Lewis; Tim Morrison; Peter Roman; Amy Elena Thompson; Dylan Thompson and Nick Walters.

Woman To Woman: Julia Fordham, left, Rumer, Judie Tzuke and Beverley Craven will be in harmony at York Barbican

Collaboration of the week: Woman To Woman (Beverley Craven, Judie Tzuke, Julia Fordham & Rumer), York Barbican, tonight, 6.30pm

NOT a rumour, definitely true, Beverley Craven, Judie Tzuke and Julia Fordham have invited Rumer to join them for the latest Woman To Woman tour.

In this collaboration between the four female singer-songwriters, they present hit singles and album tracks, such as Promise Me, Happy Ever After, Welcome To The Cruise, Slow, Holding On, (Love Moves In) Mysterious Ways, Aretha and Stay With Me Till Dawn.

“We cannot wait to share a stage together, create beautiful vocal harmonies with each other and collaborate on some possible new material,” they say. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Self aware: Comedian Helen Bauer discusses herself at Theatre@41. Picture: James Deacon

Comedy gig of the week: Helen Bauer, Madam Good Tit, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm

SELF-AWARE stand-up Helen Bauer is on the road with her Edinburgh Fringe show about self-confidence, self-esteem and self-care. “It’s the year of ‘the self’ and I’m trying to be the change I want you to see,” says Helen, who grew up in Hampshire blandness and honed her comedic craft in Berlin. 

Expect adult themes and language, including natural disasters and eating disorders, forewarns Theatre@41, as York awaits the co-host of two podcasts, Trusty Hogs with Catherine Bohart and Daddy Look At Me with Rosie Jones. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Velma Celli: York drag diva supreme adds sauce to all the bratwurst and beer at Yorktoberfest

Festival of the week: Yorktoberfest Beer Festival, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, today and next Saturday, 1pm to 5pm, 7pm to 11pm; Friday, 7pm to 11pm. Doors open: evenings, 6.30pm; daytime, 12.30pm.

FOLLOWING up last year’s debut, Yorktoberfest returns in party mood for beer, bratwurst, bumper cars and all things Bavarian. This beer festival mirrors the first Oktoberfest staged in 1810 in Munich, where the citizens were encouraged to eat, drink and be merry at the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and his princess bride.

Step inside a giant marquee to discover the rustic Bavarian Bar and Dog Haus, full of bratwurst, currywurst, schnitzel, apple strudel and pretzels; live music by the Bavarian Strollers oompah band and vocal drag queen entertainment by York’s own Velma Celli. Dodgems and a twister add funfair thrills. Box office: yorktoberfest.co.uk.

Underground overground: Velvets legend John Cale to be spotted at York Barbican on Monday

THE gig of the week, John Cale, York Barbican, Monday, 8pm

VELVET Underground icon John Cale’s only Yorkshire gig of his rearranged 2022 tour has moved from July 19 to Monday on his first British itinerary in a decade.

The Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, who turned 80 in March, will be performing songs from a career that began in classical and avant-garde music before he formed The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York in 1965.

Over six pioneering decades, Cale has released 16 solo studio albums, while also collaborating with Brian Eno, Patti Smith, The Stooges, Squeeze, Happy Mondays, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Super Furry Animals and Manic Street Preachers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Doctor Dorian Deathly: Will his face melt in his horror show at Theatre@41?

From ghost walk to ghost talk: Doctor Dorian Deathly: A Night Of Face Melting Horror (or The Complete History Of Ghosts), Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Wednesday to October 31, 8.30pm

VISIT York Tourism Awards winner Doctor Dorian Deathly, spookologist and ghost botherer, celebrates Halloween season with six nights of ghost stories, paranormal sciences, theatrical trickery, horror, original music and perhaps the odd unexpected guest (with the emphasis on ‘odd’?).

“Together we will huddle around the stage and explore spine-chilling tales of hauntings, both local and further afield, dissemble horrors captured on film and follow the ghost story through from the origins to the Victorian classics and modern- day frights,” says Deathly, whose face-melting macabre amusements are suitable for age 13 upwards. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Black History Month concert at Grand Opera House, York

Harmonies of the week: Ladysmith Black Mambazo, supported by Muntu Valdo, Grand Opera House, York, October 29, 7.30pm

SOUTH African singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s York concert marks Black History Month on their first British tour for many years.

When Paul Simon incorporated their harmonies into his ground-breaking 1986 album Graceland, that landmark recording was seminal in introducing world music to mainstream audiences.

Founded by the late Joseph Shabalala, the Grammy Award winners have since recorded with Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Barnsley folk singer Kate Rusby. Box office: 0844 871  7615 or atgtickets.com/york.

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Normal service resumed as Henry sits down for night of relaxed, thoughtful poetry that’s easier on the legs at Selby Town Hall

In the red chair: Poet, storyteller and comedian Henry Normal

ARMED only with a chair, a microphone, stories, jokes and poems, Henry Normal takes on the world at Selby Town Hall on October 22, looking for a win-win situation.

Writer, poet, TV and film producer, Manchester Literature Festival founder and BAFTA-winning BBC Radio 4 perennial, Normal will be delivering his Sit Down Poetry show at 8pm.

“Henry Normal is a magnificent, idiosyncratic chronicler of the quotidian,” says Selby Town Council arts officer Chris Jones. “He delivers understated, wryly observed yet incredibly powerful poems from the heart with a wonderfully warm and easy style. We’re honoured to be hosting one of just a handful of tour dates he’s undertaking across the country this autumn.”

Labelled “the Alan Bennett of poetry” by the Scotsman newspaper, Normal has written and presented nine of his own comedy, poetry and storytelling shows for BBC Radio 4, the latest being this summer’s series A Normal Community.

For television, he co-wrote and script-edited The Mrs Merton Show and the first series of The Royle Family. Alongside Steve Coogan, he co-wrote the BAFTA-winning Paul And Pauline Calf Video Diaries, Coogan’s Run, Tony Ferrino, Doctor Terrible and all three of Coogan’s live tours.

In 1990, Normal set up comedy production company Baby Cow, executive producing the entire output while at the helm, with highlights including Gavin And Stacey, Alan Partridge, Marion And Geoff, Nighty Night, The Mighty Boosh, Red Dwarf and the Oscar-nominated film Philomena. In 2017, he was honoured with a special BAFTA for services to television.

Born in St Anne’s, Nottingham, Normal now lives in Fairlight, near Hastings, with his wife, screenwriter Angela Pell, and their artist son, Johnny. He performs at literature festivals across the UK and has published 11 poetry collections, while his memoirs, A Normal Family, were an Amazon best seller.

He has been given honorary doctorates by both Nottingham and Nottingham Trent universities and has a beer and a bus named after him in the city, where he founded the Nottingham Poetry Festival.

Praised by the Guardian for work that is “succinct, heartrending and peppered with gentle punchlines”, “stuff of proper substance, marrying the suburban beauty of Beatles ballads with the blunt candour of the kitchen sink”, Normal describes new show Sit Down Poetry as being “like stand-up poetry but more thoughtful and relaxed and easier on the legs”.

“I’ve been looking forward to this one for a good while,” concludes Chris Jones. “It’s definitely a highlight of our autumn programme.”

Tickets cost £15 on 01757 708449 or at selbytownhall.co.uk.

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Jeremy Smith and John Hewer revive warring Albert and Harold in The Steptoe And Son Radio Show at Grand Opera House

John Hewer, as Harold, left, and Jeremy Smith, as Albert, in The Steptoe And Son Radio Show, on tour at Grand Opera House, York

THE Steptoe And Son Radio Show, adapted for the stage by John Hewer, visits the Grand Opera York, on October 18 on its nationwide autumn tour.

Marking 60 years since the first broadcast of the classic BBC television comedy, the show is based on Ray Galton and Alan Simpson’s original TV scripts.

The cast sees the return of Jeremy Smith and Hewer as Albert Steptoe and son Harold respectively, having starred in the UK tours of Steptoe And Son in 2017-2018 and Christmas With Steptoe And Son from 2019 to 2021.

The Steptoe And Son Radio Show cast

Smith trained at the National Youth Theatre, was a member of the Young Vic Company and has toured in productions ranging from farce to Shakespeare. Hewer works as a writer and director but is best known for his portrayal of Tommy Cooper in Just Like That! The Tommy Cooper Show and his performance as Tony Hancock in Hancock’s Half Hour – The Lost Episodes.

Steptoe And Son ran for eight series from 1962 to 1974 and spawned two film spin-offs. Telling the story of two warring rag-and-bone-men in their Shepherd’s Bush scrapyard home, Albert and Harold became household favourites across the generations and continue to entertain audiences today. One proclaims to be “a poor old man” while the other protests that he is “a dirty old man”. Both are right!

This latest adaptation features three classic episodes, transformed into a radio play. “The attraction is that these vintage stories will be presented with the emphasis now squarely on the script and the dynamism between the central characters,” says Hewer.

The tour poster for The Steptoe And Son Radio Show

“It’s a different theatricality. We’re still in costume and ‘in character’, but this time it’s a mock-up of a live studio recording, with its flashing ‘Applause’ lights and direct address from the performers making the audience feel directly involved.

“The three chosen episodes – Is That Your Horse Outside?, A Death In The Family and Upstairs, Downstairs, Upstairs, Downstairs – will easily familiarise and reacquaint audiences with the Steptoe saga, allowing them to explore all the foibles and tropes of this most iconic father-and-son pairing.”

Produced by Hambledon Productions and Apollo Theatre Company, The Steptoe And Son Radio Show is suitable for age 12 upwards. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/york.

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More Things To Do and York and beyond when a design week has plans to make it better. Hutch’s List No. 101, from The Press. UPDATED 11/10/2022

Tudor girl power: Jennifer Caldwell’s Anne Boleyn in SIX The Musical. Picture: Pamela Raith

HENRY VIII’s vengeful wives are not the only show in town. Charles Hutchinson finds alternatives aplenty.

Don’t lose your head over this but…SIX The Musical has sold out at Grand Opera House, York, October 11 to 16. 8pm, Tuesday to Thursday; 6pm and 8.30pm, Friday; 5pm and 8pm, Saturday; 3pm, Sunday

DIVORCED, beheaded, scuppered. Those without a ticket for York’s hottest theatre show of the autumn are too late. Not one seat, even with a restricted view, is still available for Toby Marlow and Lucy Marlow’s irreverent historical musical romp that began as a Cambridge University show at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Welcome to their Queendom where Tudor queens turn into pop princesses as the six wives of Henry VIII take to the mic to tell their tales, remixing 500 years of heartbreak into a 75-minute celebration of 21st-century girl power.

Tom Chaplin: Solo songs of midlife musings from the Keane frontman

Take your pick at York Barbican: Uriah Heep, tomorrow, 8pm; Tom Chaplin, Tuesday, 8pm; Will Young: 20 Years Tour, Thursday, 7.30pm; Boyzlife, Friday, 7.30pm

SPOILT for choice at York Barbican in a busy, busy week. British rock titans Uriah Heep’s 50th Anniversary Tour is now taking place in their 52nd year after playing 4,000 shows in 60 countries. Keane frontman Tom Chaplin showcases September’s release of his second solo album, Midpoint, exploring a part of life that everyone goes through: midlife.

On the pop front, singer, radio presenter, actor and writer Will Young marks two decades since his Pop Idol blossoming. No sooner have Boyzlife performed to 20,000 people at the Yorkshire Balloon Fiesta on Knavesmire than their Old School Tour sends the boy band duo of Boyzone’s Keith Duffy and Westlife’s Brian McFadden back to York. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Will Young: From Pop Idol young man to the polymath of today

Toasting the trailblazers: A Celebration Of Gilbert & Sullivan, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm  

A 26-piece orchestra and soloists perform favourites from The Mikado, The Pirates Of Penzance and HMS Pinafore, complemented by less familiar gems in a glorious night at the light opera.

Taking part will be singers from Opera North, English National Opera, Scottish Opera, Welsh National Opera, Carl Rosa and D’Oyly Carte, such as Alexander Robin Baker, Rebecca Bottone, Barry Clark, Siân Dicker, Yvonne Howard, Judith Le Breuilly, Timothy Nelson and Matthew Siveter. Box office: 0844 8717615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Bongo’s Bingo: A rave new world for a British classic at York Barbican

House music but not as you know it: Bongo’s Bingo, York Barbican, tonight; doors, 6pm; last entry, 7:30pm; first game of bingo, 8pm

MAKING its York debut only a stone’s throw from the demolished Mecca Bingo, Bongo’s Bingo “rejuvenates a quintessentially quaint British pastime with an immersive live show featuring rave rounds, nostalgia-soaked revelry, dance-offs, audience participation and crazy prizes in a night of pure and unadulterated escapism”.

Looking for a full house, promoter Jonny Bongo promises magic and music, mischief and mayhem in a bingo rave experience. Box office: bongosbingo.co.uk or yorkbarbican.co.uk.


Sayaka Ichikawa in Ballet Black’s Black Sun at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Bill Cooper

Dance pioneers of the week: Ballet Black, Say It Loud & Black Sun, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 7.30pm

CELEBRATING their 20th anniversary, Black Ballet present two new works on tour. Choreographed and directed by founder and artistic director Cassa Pancho and company artists, Say It Loud charts this pioneering company’s progress, from the uncomfortable reasons behind its existence to the frenetic, creative energy that makes it such a necessary part of the British ballet industry. 

South African choreographer Gregory Maqoma’s Black Sun, danced to an original score by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, extracts energy from the sun and the moon giving rise to descendants of ancestors. These forces only meet to blacken, allowing us to draw from their powers as we prepare for life after life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Dr Richard Shepherd: Pathologist, professor, lecturer, author, television presenter, apiarist and aviator, whose Unnatural Causes theatre tour will York and Leeds

Bringing death to life: Dr Richard Shepherd, Unnatural Causes theatre tour, York Theatre Royal, Thursday; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, Friday, both 7.30pm

MEET Dr Richard Shepherd, a forensic pathologist who has solved the mystery of sudden and unexplained deaths aplenty, performed 23,000 autopsies and handled such cases the Hungerford Massacre, the Princess Diana inquiry and 9/11. 

In Unnatural Causes, he not only tells the story of the cases and bodies that have haunted him the most, but also reflects on how to live a life steeped in death. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.co.uk

Make It Better: The theme for Day One of York Design Week

Festival of the week: Kaizen Arts Agency, United by Design and Dogeatcog unite for York Design Week 2022, Make It Work, October 13 to 17

YORK Design Week turns the spotlight on projects, organisations and people who are breaking and bending rules to create a fairer society, inviting you to explore how we can come together to “Make It Work”. “Let’s find creative and practical solutions to complex problems through collaboration, performance, and play,” say the organisers.

“The idea is to positively shift conversation and behaviour around what design means and how it can offer innovative solutions to knotty problems. Our approach is open, accessible, and seeks to provide space for participants to experience unexpected perspectives and express their own voice.” Full details can be found at: yorkdesignweek.com.

Make It Grow: The green theme for Day Four of York Design Week

120 years and still going strong: York Musical Theatre Company in A Musical Celebration, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Thursday and Friday, 7,30pm

YORK Musical Theatre Company’s 120th anniversary will be marked with two evenings of songs from past productions such as West Side Story, Oklahoma, Guys & Dolls, Annie, Acorn Antiques, Jekyll & Hyde, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Pirates Of Penzance, the company’s first show in April 1903.

Company members combine with guest solo artists in a celebratory production directed by John Atkin. Founded in 1902 as York Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society, York’s longest established amateur theatre company changed its name in its centenary year. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ellen Carnazza, Andrew Purcell and Zach Atkinson in Badapple Theatre’s revival of The Frozen Roman, on tour this autumn. Picture: Karl Andre

What did the Romans ever do for us? Badapple Theatre in The Frozen Roman, on tour until November 13

GREEN Hammerton’s theatre-on-your-doorstep proponents Badapple Theatre take to the road this autumn with three actors new to the company: Zach Atkinson, Andrew Purcell and Ellen Carnazza.

In this revival of Kate Bramley’s play, they came, they saw, they built a wall, they went away again….or did they? When hapless villagers try to prevent a housing development being built in their midst, could the discovery of a burial site throw them a lifeline?  Expect twists, turns and Latin puns as the situation in the village goes “ballisticus maximus”. For tour details, go to: badappletheatre.co.uk. 

Ocean travel: Billy Ocean heads for Harrogate and Sheffield in 2023

Looking ahead: Billy Ocean, The Very Best Of Billy Ocean Tour, Harrogate Convention Centre, March 31 2023

BILLY Ocean will perform a hand-picked set of greatest hits and fan favourites on his 21-date tour next spring.

The Trinidad and Tobago-born British R&B singer, 72, has notched 30 million worldwide record sales and top ten singles on both sides of the Atlantic, such as Love Really Hurts Without You, Red Light Spells Danger, Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run), When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going, There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry) and Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car. The tour also takes in Sheffield City Hall on April 6. Box office: harrogatetheatre.co.uk; sheffieldcityhall.co.uk.

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REVIEW: An Evening With Graham Norton, York Theatre Royal, 3/10/2022

Graham Norton: Forever Home and first ever away day in York

MAKE that An Entire Evening With Graham Norton and part of an evening with Konnie Huq that should have been the first half but became the second at this novel event of the week.

The first clue was the change of start time to 7.45pm and the accompanying note, “We Apologise For Any Inconvenience”.

The inconvenience, it turned out, had been caused to chatterbox Graham, BBC broadcaster, Virgin Radio presenter, own label wine & gin dispenser, agony uncle and novelist, and the late-arriving Konnie, TV and radio presenter, screenwriter and children’s author, once of Blue Peter (1997 to 2008).

Train delays. A problem on the track. Exit Graham from King’s Cross, taking the car to York, for his first ever visit. “What a lovely city,” he said, dashing hopes of a more waspish critique in the manner of his quizzical Eurovision quips.

Konnie would be taking a later train, he explained. From Peterborough. “Not going well,” he stage-whispered. Once a stand-up, always at ease on stage, and if part one should have been Graham in conversation with Konnie about his fourth novel, Forever Home, newly published by Coronet, instead it became Graham in conversation with the full house, roaming back and forth in a suit that tricked the eye at first. Not stains, surely, dapper Graham? No, some far trendier detailing!

Ask away. “Did you get the book we left for you in reception, Graham?”. Come on, York. Ah, here comes the excitable woman in the front row, the one in a group all (bar one) wearing T-shirts emblazoned with cherry-topped buns. Buns, geddit. “Did you get the cakes we left for you, Graham?”. Come on, York, you really can do better than such distractions, handled knowingly by gracious Graham.

York did thankfully do much better than that, mainly asking about his TV shows, the big interviews, one about his wines, another about the beard – should it stay or should it go? – but  not the books, leaving that to Konnie.

Favourite guests? The list kept growing. Worst guest? Very definitely, Harvey Weinstein, accompanied by an anecdote that revealed much about the jailed film producer’s sense of entitlement. Most wanted guests yet to appear? Brad Pitt. Julia Roberts. William & Kate.

Does he ever watch back old episodes? No, he said, the question prompting Graham to imagine himself sitting there thinking, “aren’t I marvellous”. Eurovision popped up too, reflections on Sam Ryder and Ukraine, and no, he couldn’t say where 2023’s jamboree would be held, Liverpool or Glasgow, until Friday. Liverpool, for the record.

Part stand-up, part Q&A, he held back his own excruciating Red Chair revelation to the last, ever the comedian with timing. In a nutshell. Gentleman caller. Departs. Next morning, stretchy item gone missing. Dog. Morning walk in the park. What’s that protruding from pet Bailey’s posterior? Graham stretched the story to the max. Just look at his face.

Time for a break, then Graham reading an excerpt from his new book on the screen, and… here’s Konnie. She’d arrived halfway through act one, watching from the wings, laughing as much as the rest of us. Time to discuss Forever Home, its themes, characters, locations, set in a small Irish town, where divorced teacher Carol’s second chance of love brings her unexpected connection, a shared home and a sense of belonging in a darkly comic story of coping with life’s extraordinary challenges.

Darkly comic. Why darkly comic, Graham? Small rural Irish communities, where they live outside rather than inside the villages, have that darkness to them, that mystery, that something to hide, even if everyone thinks they know everything but everyone else. That side comes out in Graham’s novels, rooted in his experiences of growing up (as Graham William Walker) at 48, St Brigid’s Road, Clondalkin, County Dublin, and leaving at 20, first for America, then London.

Not until three decades later did he reconnect, both physically and in his novels that he began writing as a new challenge on turning 50. His mother’s habits, the butt of his humour, but in affectionate way rather than the mother-in-law jokes of Les Dawson, feed into one of the characters in Forever Home. He has given her a copy, but not told her about the resemblance. No doubt he will delight audiences with an update as and when.

Graham, newly married in West Cork in July, turns 60 next April. A new decade, another new venture? To beard or not to beard? These are the questions. Can’t wait for the answers.  

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Comedian Russell Howard to play Grand Opera House, York, at the double next May

In the good news: Russell Howard announces a brace of York gigs for next spring

COMEDIAN Russell Howard will perform two shows in one day at the Grand Opera House, York, on his Live 2023 UK Tour.

As we reel from one global crisis to the next, the TV host of Russell Howard’s Good News and The Russell Howard Hour will put the world to rights in his observant, questioning way at 3pm and 7.30pm on Saturday, May 23.

Bath-born Howard, 42, who made appearances on the now-departed Mock The Week, cites Lee Evans, Richard Pryor and Frank Skinner as comic influences.

Tickets are on sale at £31.75 on 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

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Comedian Maisie Adam’s Harrogate homecoming has her buzzing on first tour

“The hair is fun, the live performance is way funnier,” said the London Evening Standard of Maisie Adam’s haircut, the one to rival David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane for multiple choices across one barnet. Picture: Matt Crockett

MAISIE Adam took her first stage steps in youth theatre sessions in the Harrogate Theatre Studio.

Born in Pannal just outside the spa town, this former head girl at St Aidan’s High School would later return to the top-floor Studio in her fledgling days on the comedy circuit to perform at the Harrogate Comedy Festival.

Now, comedian, actor and writer Maisie is looking forward to tomorrow’s homecoming when she graduates to Harrogate Theatre’s main stage on her first UK tour, Buzzed.

The gig has sold out, as has tonight’s date at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, although tickets remain available for The Leadmill, Sheffield, next Thursday.

“It’s super-exciting,” says a suitably buzzing Maisie, 28. “It’s wonderful any time I go back, but going there with this show, in that specific venue, will be special. Whenever I’ve performed there, it’s always been in the Studio, but this time, being in the big room, feels very touching.

“I’ll be channelling Tim Stedman,” says Maisie Adam, who every winter visits Harrogate Theatre’s pantomime, led by the boundless comic buffoonery of Stedman’s village idiot, pictured here in Snow White

“Me and my family go to the pantomime every year to watch Tim Stedman. He is pantomime! He’s fantastic. That’s the level of comedy you have to bring to the stage, so I’ll be channelling Tim Stedman!”

Post-Harrogate Youth Theatre and the National Youth Theatre, Maisie trained at East 15 Acting School in Southend, graduating with a BA in Acting and Community Theatre. However, after initial plans to act and write, including a Laurence Marks sitcom-writing mentorship in 2015, a return home to Yorkshire and temp jobs led to her comedy road-to-Damascus conversion in 2016.

Wholly inexperienced, Maisie did a full hour’s set in her stand-up debut gig at Ilkley Literature Festival as her first show took shape under the title of Living On The Edge.

Acting involves subsuming yourself to play another character, sometimes using it as a shield for shyness, in a team environment, whereas stand-up comedy is all about being yourself on stage, on your own, maybe even playing an exaggerated version of you, performing your own words.

“I think it’s that whole thing of fear,” starts Maisie. Not in comedy, but in theatre. “When you’re doing comedy, you’re in control. If it goes well, you get all the cheers. If it goes wrong, you can’t blame anyone else.

“If you’re continually doing the same play, you can get bored, but with stand-up, it’s different every night,” says Maisie. Picture: Matt Crockett

“But with acting, you could be a really good actor, but if the script isn’t good, or the other actors aren’t particularly good, or the director isn’t, or the show just isn’t working, you’re not in control.

“With comedy, there’s definitely that thing of being an extension of yourself, and there’s loads you can do with that, because it’s a chance to improvise.

“The more you do comedy, the better you get at it – and it’s fun as well! If you’re continually doing the same play, you can get bored, but with stand-up, it’s different every night, the venue, the audience, the interaction.”

Maisie made rapid advances on the comedy circuit with her anecdotal material and convivial manner. Within months of that Ilkley debut she won the UK’s largest stand-up contest, So You Think You’re Funny?, followed a year later by the Amused Moose National Comic Award for Vague, her 2018 debut Edinburgh Fringe show about being diagnosed with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy at 14.

Television appearances on Have I Got News For You, A League of Their Own, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Mock The Week and The Last Leg have piled up, and a podcast with fellow comedian Tom Lucy, That’s A First, has been running since 2019.

“The worst thing that can happen with comedy is that you feel safe and secure,” says Maisie. “If that happens, you’re not doing it right.” Picture: Matt Crockett

She loves the unpredictability of stand-up, the need to stay on her toes and keep her comedy radar tuned. “The worst thing that can happen with comedy is that you feel safe and secure. If that happens, you’re not doing it right,” says Maisie.

“You should want anything to happen on the night, and as long as you have a loose structure, knowing that ‘x’ and ‘y’ will be happening, then you can move things around and be open to anything.”

Buzzed, her follow-up to her 2019 show Hang Fire, has been extended from the regulatory 60-minute maximum at the Edinburgh Fringe – or 70 minutes as the Guardian review said – for the 2022-2023 tour. “It was 60 minutes,” says Maisie. “It was just that when you have other shows going on before and after you every day, that day the shows were running ten minutes late.”

Buzzed now opens with a 30-minute “very spontaneous, anything-can-happen” first half, then a break, followed by the full Buzzed show. One that the Guardian reviewer said was “bursting with puppyish pleasure”.

“Don’t tell me about reviews,” steps in Maisie. “I don’t read them. You’re being judged by someone who’s never done comedy but just goes and watches. That would be like me ‘reviewing’ Wimbledon. I mean, I enjoy watching tennis but why would I need to review what was good about someone’s tennis performance?!”

Leeds United: One of the two great loves of Maisie Adam’s life

While on the subject of sport, Wikipedia’s Maisie profile sums up her personal life as: Lives in Brighton. Engaged to Mike Dobinson as of December 2021. Also a Leeds United fan.

Mr Dobinson or the maddening LUFC, Maisie, who do you love more? “I think they’re of equal status! They’re the two loves of my life. 100 per cent.” One is much better for her mental health, however, she adds.

Her relationships, whether in love or with houseplants, feature in Buzzed and so does the footballing aplomb of 5ft 11inch Maisie. “I played at a relatively high standard as a kid. I got to county level,” she says. “I still play in a league in Brighton, but more of that in the show.”

Why settle in Brighton, Maisie? “I just needed to be nearer London, but the idea of living in London filled me with dread.”

Maisie Adam: Buzzed, Leeds City Varieties, tonight, 8pm, sold out; Harrogate Theatre, tomorrow, 8pm, sold out; The Leadmill, Sheffield, October 13, doors 7pm; Pocklington Arts Centre, February 17 2023 and The Wardrobe, Leeds, March 3 2023. Box office: Sheffield, 0114 272 7040 or leadmill.co.uk; Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 3838800 or theboxoffice.com.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond: The Mirror Crack’d and other cracking ideas. Hutch’s List No. 100, from The Press

On the case: Susie Blake’s bandaged Miss Marple and Oliver Boot’s Detective Inspector Craddock in the Original Theatre Company’s production of The Mirror Crack’d. Picture: Ali Wright

COINCIDING with Miss Marple’s arrival, Charles Hutchinson  applies his investigative skills to to pick out the best prospects to see, whether usual or unusual.  

Mystery of the week: Original Theatre Company in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2pm, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday

SUSIE Blake’s Miss Marple, Sophie Ward and Joe McFadden lead the cast in Rachel Wagstaff’s stage adaptation of Agatha Christie’s 1962 psychological thriller, a story of revenge and the dark secrets that we all hide.

In the sleepy village of St Mary Mead, a new housing estate is making villagers curious and fearful. Even stranger, a rich American film star has bought the Manor House. Cue a vicious murder; cue Jane Marple defying a sprained ankle to unravel a web of lies, tragedy and danger. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

On the move: Dance time for the Barbara Taylor School of Dancing at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Every body dance: It’s Dance Time 2022, Barbara Taylor School of Dancing, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

IT’S Dance Time is “a festival arrangement of dance, infused together to arrange a variety of dance styles”, featuring the whole Barbara Taylor School of Dancing intake.

From tiny toes to fully grown, this song-and- dance parade through the years takes in Commercial Ballet, Tap, and Freestyle Jazz, finishing off with excerpts from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Bingham String Quartet: Playing the first Saturday evening concert of the new York Late Music season

Season launch of the week: York Late Music presents Jakob Fichert, today, 1pm, and Bingham String Quartet, today, 7.30pm, St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, York

ON the first weekend of its 2022-2023 season, York Late Music returns with its regular format of a lunchtime and evening concert. First up, pianist Jakob Fichert marks the 75th birthday of American composer John Adams by performing his works China Gates and American Berserk.

Later, the Bingham String Quartet play string quartets by Beethoven, Schnittke, LeFanu and Tippett, preceded by a talk at 6.45pm by Steve Bingham with a complimentary glass of wine or juice. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.

Graham Norton: Discussing his darkly comic new novel, Forever Home, at York Theatre Royal

Novel event of the week:  An Evening With Graham Norton, York Theatre Royal, Monday, 7.30pm

BBC broadcaster, Virgin Radio presenter and novelist Graham Norton is on a promotional tour for his new book, Forever Home, published this week by Coronet. Set in a small Irish town, it revolves around divorced teacher Carol, whose second chance of love brings her unexpected connection, a shared home and a sense of belonging in a darkly comic story of coping with life’s extraordinary challenges.

In conversation with author and presenter Konnie Huq, Norton will discuss the novel’s themes and how he creates his characters and atmospheric locations, share tales from his career and reveal what inspired him to pick up a pen and start writing, with room for audience questions too. Tickets update: sold out; for returns only, check yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Sax to the max: Jean Toussaint leads his quintet at the NCEM

Jazz gig of the week: Jean Toussaint Quintet, National Centre for Early Music, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST Jean Toussaint, who came to prominence in Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers in 1982, after his Berklee College of Music studies in Boston, has released 12 albums since moving to London in 1987.

His latest, Songs For Sisters Brothers And Others, reflects on the turbulent Covid-19 years. “The pandemic caused me to focus on the fragility of life and the fact we’re here one moment and gone the next,” he says of penning songs as a “tribute to my wonderful siblings while they were still around to enjoy it”.

Joining him in York will be Freddie Gavita, trumpet, Jonathan Gee, piano, Conor Murray, bass, and Shane Forbes, drums. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Feel like dancing? Leo Sayer steps out at York Barbican on Friday

The rearranged show must go on: Leo Sayer, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

DELAYED by the pandemic, Leo Sayer’s York show now forms part of a 2022 tour to mark his 50th anniversary in pop.

Sayer, 74, who lives in Australia, is back on home soil with his not-so-one-man band to perform a setlist sure to feature  One Man Band, Thunder In My Heart, Moonlighting, I Can’t Stop Loving You, More Than I Can Say, Have You Ever Been In Love, When I Need You, You Make Me Feel Like Dancing and, yes, The Show Must Go On. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Buzzing: Maisie Adam heads home for Harrogate Theatre gig. Picture: Matt Crockett

Homecoming of the week: Maisie Adam: Buzzed, Harrogate Theatre, October 8, 8pm

BORN in Pannal and former head girl at St Aidan’s in Harrogate, anecdotal stand-up Maisie Adam heads home next Saturday on her first full-scale British tour to discuss relationships, house plants, her footballing aplomb, hopefully her beloved Leeds United and that haircut, the one to rival David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane for multiple choices across one barnet.

Adam played her first gig at the Ilkley Literature Festival in 2016 and won the nationwide So You Think You’re Funny? Competition in 2017. Now she pops up on Mock The Week and Have I Got News and co-hosts the podcast That’s A First. She also plays Leeds City Varieties on Friday. Box office: Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Digging the digital: The poster for Foto/Grafic’s Human After All digital-media exhibition at Fossgate Social and Micklegate Social

One exhibition, two locations: Foto/Grafic, Human After All, at Micklegate Social and Fossgate Social, York, today until November 27.

TWO sister bars that “show a bit of art every now and then championing local and innovative creativity” present Foto/Grafic’s group show from this weekend.

Human After All features digital-media artwork by young and early-career artists in celebration of their “leap from physical earthbound creations to the stratosphere of the unlimited digital toolbox”.

December Morning, by Judy Burnett

Exhibition launch of the week outside York: Judy Burnett, Time And Tide, Morten Gallery, High Street, Old Town, Bridlington, today until November 13; open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm

YORK artist Judy Burnett’s latest show of paintings and collages at Morten Gallery winds its way across the Wolds from the River Ouse in York to the sea.

Over time, water in all its forms has created the East Yorkshire landscape, firstly as a melting glacier at the end of the Ice Age, gouging out deep valleys and folds on its way down to the Vale of York.

The River Ouse then connects with other Yorkshire waterways to spill out into the North Sea at the mouth of the Humber and return on the tide to crash onto the cliffs of the Wolds coastline.

Judy lives by the Ouse in York, with a view from her studio window directly onto the riverbank, leading to the changing effects of light on moving water being an inspiration for her work. The colours and rhythms of the water alter with the weather, the time of day, the seasons and the frequent floods.

This interest in the luminosity and movement of water is also reflected in Judy’s many paintings of the Yorkshire coast, most particularly at Flamborough Head and Bridlington.

During the past year, she has made many trips across the Wolds, observing the rich tapestry of the countryside that links the river to the sea.

Her sketches are completed on-site in varying weather conditions. Back in the studio, they are developed in a range of media, utilising hand-printed collage paper and paint. The aim is to keep all the mark-making fresh and spontaneous, to echo the power of the elements at the time of observation.

 A Meet The Artist event will be held on October 22, from 1pm to 3pm, when “you are welcome to join us for a glass of wine and to enjoy the 30 pieces of work, together with Judy’s sketchbooks on display,” says gallery owner Jenny Morten.

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More Things To Do in and around York: when the love of music and food combine, plan on. List No. 99, courtesy of The Press

Over the Moon: Chef Stephanie Moon, delighted to be cooking in the York Food and Drink Festival demonstration kitchen on Wednesday at 1pm

FOOD for thought from Charles Hutchinson as he contemplates what’s on the menu for autumn days and nights out. 

Festival of the week: York Food and Drink Festival, Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square, York, packed with flavour until October 2

IN its 26th year, York Food and Drink Festival offers demonstrations and hands-on participation, taste trails and wine tastings, markets and street food, with two marquees and live music until 9pm.

Look out for the free Food Factory cookery classes in the Museum Gardens and the Coppergate Centre; trails through the doors of artisan food producers, delicatessens and restaurants; Bedern Hall crowning York’s finest pork pie at its York Pork Pie competition and York Mansion House hosting a week-long tea exhibition and tasting. Head to yorkfoodfestival.com/programme for the full five-course details.  

For the love of Nina Simone: Apphia Campbell in Black Is The Colour Of My Voice, Grand Opera House, York, Monday, 7.30pm

Apphia Campbell: Brings her play to York on Monday

INSPIRED by the life of Nina Simone, writer, director and performer Apphia Campbell’s play follows a successful jazz singer and civil rights activist as she seeks redemption after the untimely death of her father. 

Complemented by many of Simone’s most iconic songs sung live, she reflects on the journey that took her from a young piano prodigy, destined for a life in the service of the church, to a renowned jazz vocalist at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Cameron Sharp: Confirmed for Stacee Jaxx role in Rock Of Ages

Musical of the week: Rock Of Ages, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2.30pm Saturday matinee

CAMERON Sharp returns to the rock demi-god role of Stacee Jaxx on the latest tour on Rock Of Ages after earlier appearances in the West End and on the road. He joins Coronation Street legend Kevin Kennedy, playing ornery Bourbon Room owner Dennis Dupree once more in this tongue-in-cheek musical comedy kitted out with classic rock anthems galore, from The Final Countdown to We Built This City, all played loud and proud.

The storyline invites you to “leave it all behind and lose yourself in a city and a time where the dreams are as big as the hair, and yes, they can come true.” Box office:0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/york.

Lucy Worsley: Uncovering the real, revolutionary, thoroughly modern Agatha Christie

History meets mystery: An Evening With Lucy Worsley On Agatha Christie, York Theatre Royal, Monday, 7.30pm

THE Queen of History will investigate the Queen of Crime in an illustrated talk that delves into the life of such an elusive, enigmatic 20th century figure.

Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was just an ordinary housewife, a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure, when clearly she wasn’t? Agatha went surfing in Hawaii, loved fast cars and was intrigued by psychology, the new science that helped her through mental illness. 

Sharing her research of the storyteller’s personal letters and papers, writer, broadcaster, speaker and Historic Royal Palaces chief curator Lucy Worsley will uncover the real, revolutionary, thoroughly modern Christie. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Steve Hackett: Revisiting his Genesis past in Foxtrot At Fifty at York Barbican

Golden celebrations of the week: Steve Hackett, Genesis Revisited – Foxtrot At Fifty + Hackett Highlights, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm; Don McLean, 50th Anniversary of American Pie, York Barbican, Wednesday, 7.30pm

GUITARIST Steve Hackett, 72, revisits Genesis’s landmark 1972 prog rock album Foxtrot, the one with the 23-minute Supper’s Ready, preceded by an hour of highlights from his six years in the band and his solo career.

New Rochelle troubadour Don McLean, 76, marks the 50th anniversary of his 1971 album American Pie and its 1972 top two single, the poetic 8 minute 36 sec title track, a double A-side that had to be split over two sides of the vinyl with its mysterious, mystical tale of lost innocence “the day the music died”. Expect Vincent, Castles In The Air and  And I Love You So too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Missus in action: Katherine Ryan mulls over life, love, marriage and motherhood at York Barbican

Comedy gig of the week, Katherine Ryan, Missus, York Barbican, Thursday, 8pm

AFTER previously denouncing partnerships, Canadian-born comedian, writer, presenter, podcaster and actress Ryan has since married her first love…accidentally.

“A lot has changed for everyone,” says the creator and star of Netflix series The Duchess and host of BBC Two’s jewellery-making competition All That Glitters, who looks forward to discussing her new perspectives on life, love and what it means to be Missus. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Budge up! Everyone tries to find Room On The Broom in Tall Stories’ staging of Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s picture book. Picture: Mark Senior

Children’s show of the week: Tall Stories Theatre Company in Room On The Broom, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 1.30pm and 4.30pm; Wednesday, 10.30am and 1.30pm

IGGETY Ziggety Zaggety Boom! Jump on board the broom with the witch and her cat in Tall Stories’ adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s picture book.

When they pick up some hitch-hikers – a friendly dog, a beautiful green bird and a frantic frog – alas the broomstick is not meant for five. Crack, it snaps in two  just as the hungry dragon appears.

Will there ever be room on the broom for everyone? Find out in this 60-minute, magical, Olivier Award-nominated show for everyone aged three upwards. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Wild Murphys, wild times: Tribute band revel in Irish bar favourites in One Night In Dublin

Irish craic of the week: One Night In Dublin, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

IRISH tribute band The Wild Murphys roll out the Irish classics, Galway Girl, Tell Me Ma, Dirty Old Town, The Irish Rover, Brown Eyed Girl, Seven Drunken Nights, Whiskey In The Jar, Wild Rover and Molly Malone.

Kick back in Murphy’s Pub, sing along and imagine being back in Temple Bar as Middi and his band roar into York. “Ah, go on, go on, go on!” they say. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Tom Robinson at 72: Sing if you’re glad to be grey at The Crescent

2-4-6-8, don’t be late: Tom Robinson Band and TV Smith (solo), The Crescent, York, Friday, 7.30pm

PUNK veteran, LGBTQ rights activist and BBC 6 Music presenter Tom Robinson returns to The Crescent with his band to reactivate 2-4-6-8 Motorway, Glad To Be Gay, Up Against The Wall, The Winter Of ’79 and the cream of his early albums, 1978’s Power In The Darkness, 1979’s TRB Two, and beyond, maybe War Baby.

Support comes from  TV Smith, once part of Seventies’ punks The Adverts, of  Gary Gilmore’s Eyes notoriety. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Don McLean: Marking American Pie’s golden landmark at York Barbican on Wednesday