Category: Exhibitions

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More Things To Do in York and beyond Gary Oldman as chocolate hits the sweet spot. Hutch’s List No. 16, from The York Press

Gary Oldman in rehearsal for Krapp’s Last Tape, opening at York Theatre Royal on April 14. Picture: Gisele Schmidt

GARY Oldman’s return to York Theatre Royal tops the bill of Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations. Chocolate is in the air too.

York theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17

ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit in York, Oscar winner Gary Oldman returns to the Theatre Royal to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.

“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Tickets update: New availability of returns and additional seats on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Margaret Beech: Making “paper magic” for York Open Studios in Oaken Grove, Haxby, York

Art event of the week: York Open Studios, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm

YORK Open Studios showcases 163 artists and makers at 116 locations in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. Artists and makers, including 38 new participants, span ceramics, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood, Full details and an interactive map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk; brochures in shops, galleries, cafes and tourist hubs. Admission is free.

Wrongsemble: Performing Three Little Vikings, a tale of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard, at Helmsley Arts Centre

Ryedale children’s show of the week: Wrongsemble in Three Little Vikings, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm

LEEDS company Wrongsemble present a bold and funny adventure story for little rebels by Bethan Woollvin, creator of Little Red and I Can Catch A Monster.  

Once upon a time in a Viking village, everything seems to be going wrong. Chickens are disappearing, trees are falling down. When the silly Chieftain won’t listen, can the three littlest Vikings figure out how to save the day in a 50-minute tale of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Mark Stratford in Macready! Dickens Theatrical Friend, on tour at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Dickens of a good show of the week: Mark Stratford in Macready! Dickens’ Theatrical Friend, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

WRITER-PERFORMER Mark Stratford’s solo play tells the story of Macready, the Victorian actor-manager to whom Charles Dickens dedicated his novel Nicholas Nickleby. Capturing the joy, graft and tribulations of a life lived in theatre with passion, humour, emotion and multiple characters, Stratford journeys through the fascinating world of Victorian theatre and the extraordinary, conflicted life of Macready, from his first tentative steps on stage in a tatty country theatre to his final Drury Lane performance. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Daniele Coombe, left, Rebecca Wheatley, Maureen Nolan and Carli Norris in Menopause The Musical 2 – Cruising Through The Menopause at the Grand Opera House

Musical of the week: Menopause The Musical 2 – Cruising Through The Menopause!, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 6pm

CARLI Norris, from Doctors, Hollyoaks and EastEnders, Maureen Nolan, of The Nolans, Rebecca Wheatley, from Casualty, and West End actress Daniele Coombe star in the final UK tour of this menopausal sequel.

Fast forward five years as the same characters set off on the high seas in this heartfelt, reassuring look at the “joys” of the menopause. Cue hot flushes, mood swings, memory lapses and weight gain on a bumpy trip of self-discovery, love and friendship, backed by a soundtrack of parodied hits. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Storm Whale: Returning to York Theatre Royal next week after its first plunge in 2019. Picture: Northedge Photography

Revival of the week: The Storm Whale, York Theatre Royal Studio, April 15 to 19, 10.30am and 1.30pm

YORK writer and director Matt Aston revives his 2019 stage adaptation of Benji Davies’s tales of loneliness, love and courage, The Storm Whale, in a show built on puppetry, original songs and dialogue.

Noi lives with his dad and six cats by the sea. One summer, while dad was busy at work, Noi rescued a little whale, washed up on the beach. A friendship began that changed their lives forever. The following winter, his dad takes one last trip in his fishing boat. Alone once more, Noi longs to see his friend again. Will it take another storm to bring them back together? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

York Chocolate Festival: City centre will be chock-a-block with chocs’n’eggs for Easter

Festival of the week: York Chocolate Festival 2025, April 16 to 20, 10am to 5pm

YORK Chocolate Festival showcases everything sweet and chocolate from independent businesses in Parliament Street and around the city.

Highlights include the York Chocolate Festival Market; Chocolate Taste Trail; Ashley McCarthy’s Chocolate Sculpture and Family Easter Egg Hunt. Entry to the festival and market is free; some activities and events require tickets. Full programme at: yorkfoodfestival.com/programme.

Showaddywaddy: Rock’n’roll revivalists standing under the moon of love at the Grand Opera House

Rock’n’roll nostalgia of the week: Showaddywaddy, Grand Opera House, York, April 17, 7.30pm

SHOWADDYWADDY make the bold claim to be “the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world”, living up to that title for the past five decades, they say.

Formed in 1973 in Leicester, they have sold more than 20 million records. Here come Hey Rock And Roll,  Under The Moon Of Love, Three Steps To Heaven, When, Blue Moon, Pretty Little Angel Eyes et al. Box office: atgtickjets.com/york.

The Talkinator: Written by a human, performed by a human, Patrick Monahan

Comedy gig of the week: Patrick Monahan: The Talkinator, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 18, 8pm

IN 2024, amid much talk of about AI taking over humans, only one man can out-talk the chat-bots and robots. Step forward Irish-Iranian comedian Patrick Monahan for one hour of stand-up comedy written by a human, performed by a human. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The Divine Comedy: New album and York Barbican tour date. Picture: Kevin Westerberg

Gig announcement of the week: The Divine Comedy, York Barbican, October 21

NEIL Hannon will promote The Divine Comedy’s 13th studio album, September 19’s Rainy Sunday Afternoon, on a 16-date autumn tour. Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, April 17 at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/the-divine-comedy-2025/.

Written, arranged and produced by Hannon and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, the album spans his usual range of emotions – sad, funny, angry and everything in between – as he “works through some stuff”: mortality, memories, relationships and political and social upheaval. 

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XXX marks the spot for Harland Miller, man of letters of the Pop art variety on his home-city return to York Art Gallery

York Pop artist Harland Miller with his new work York from his XXX exhibition at York Art Gallery. Picture: Olivia Hemingway

IF brevity is the soul of wit – ironically a quote from Shakespeare’s longest play, the 40,000-word Hamlet – then that philosophy applies to Pop artist Harland Miller’s new exhibition in York.

“I wanted to use as little language as possible, to see if a short word like ‘If’ , for instance, could mean as much to someone as a long sentence,” he says, on his return to his home city the day after his 61st birthday to launch XXX at York Art Gallery: the gallery he first visited aged 16 on a lunch break from a job he had just started, setting him on his path to international acclaim as an itinerant painter in New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Paris as part of fellow Yorkshireman Jay Jopling’s stable of White Cube gallery artists.

“This show is entitled ‘XXX’ but it doesn’t flout any indecency laws so it should stay open longer than the last one [his Covid-curtailed 2020 show] , which was slated to run for six months but closed after only a few weeks (as was the whole of the city) due to lock down, so I never did find out what being given the keys to the city actually unlocked,” says Harland.

“But York is a city of perpetual mystery and history, including my own, and it always draws me back. It’s especially exciting to be sharing this with everyone – not once, but twice.”     

Harland Miller with his 2019 oil on canvas XXX at York Art Gallery. Picture: Olivia Hemingway

Coinciding with the publication of his new book of the same title by Phaidon, Harland is showcasing paintings and preparatory works on graph paper from his Letter Paintings series, topped off by the unveiling of several new oil paintings, not least York – a suitably short city name to match his project brief.  

He had built his 2020 York Art Gallery exhibition around its title work, York So Good They Named It Once, a work transformed into mugs, fridge magnets et al. “I knew I wanted to do something about York again, and I thought, ‘how can I bring York into the series I’m making?’. The answer was right in front of my face: all the works used letters that made short words and York is a short word!” says Harland.

“Then I thought, what is coming through that says ‘York’ to me. The white rose, though that was a bit obvious, and yellow from the daffodils that come out in the spring. When I was a kid, the Bar Walls were covered with them.

“My mother wasn’t the most positive person, but she equated the daffodils coming out with York regenerating each year in spring.”

Artist Harland Miller stands by his Oh No work, sporting his newly designed Oh No scarf, on sale at York Art Gallery. Picture: Olivia Hemingway

And so Harland Miller’s ‘York’ blossomed into life as his first ever flower painting:  York, so good he has now painted it twice. “Hopefully you see the rose and the daffodil in the white and the yellow, and not a fried egg,” he cautions.

York, a work created since the XXX book went to print, forms part of a hard-edged series that “melds the sacred seamlessly with the everyday”, drawing inspiration from medieval manuscripts, where monks often laboured to produce intricate illuminated letters to mark the beginning of chapters.

In these works, Miller applies bold colours and typefaces to accentuate the expressive versatility of monosyllabic words and acronyms such as ESP, If and Star, the series now expanding to take in Oh No (with an accompanying scarf among the exhibition merchandise), Kiss, Boss and Loop and his first hard-edged  diptych, Far Out.

The Letter Paintings present overlaid letter forms as their image, with a neutral band at the bottom in the form of a title alongside Miller’s own name as their author. By isolating, overlaying and reuniting individual letters, he creates a sense of depth in the image and encourages contemplation.

Far Out, Harland Miller’s first diptych from his Letter Paintings series at York Art Gallery. Picture: Olivia Hemingway

“From two letters, I moved on to three-letter words and favourite four-letter words and now a five-letter word, Eerie, though that’s cheating with three ‘E’s. I like to start with a word and then work with the feeling it evokes, like getting an eerie feeling from the word ‘eerie,” says Harland.

“I painted ‘Numb’ just a couple of years ago after my mother passed away. Yellow and purple felt natural colours for it, and I wanted that sense of walking through that numbness in the painting, which had come from that feeling.”

Yellow and purple might strike you as an unusual colour combination, but Miller had studied colour psychology back in the day when working in graphic design with Peter Turpin at Turpin Graphics.

“Yellow can make people feel violent, but what’s interesting is if you introduce purple, which can make people feel introspective, then by putting it with yellow, you can become violently introspective, which isn’t good for you, but part of my punk philosophy is to challenge that.”

Harland Miller, XXX, oil on canvas, 2019. Copyright: Harland Miller. Photo copyright: White Cube, Theo Christelis

The exhibition is defined by the letter X, so good he used it thrice. “Unlike any other letter in the alphabet, it’s also its own word without being a word. ‘X’ is more exciting than ‘I’. It sounds more exciting!  I don’t know if it’s exciting because it features in words we like, like ‘exciting’ or ‘sex’, but if was ‘secks’, you wouldn’t get a band called The Sex Pistols! Secks Pistols just wouldn’t look good. ‘X’ is a letter that makes a word look good and sound good.”

The exhibition’s themes will extend beyond the indoor gallery spaces into the gallery gardens, through a creative interpretation of Miller’s Far Out diptych, using a selection of flowering plants. Visible from the ground and the gallery’s balcony, the plantings will be sown on two wired raised planting beds on the sloping grass verge behind the gallery, leads up to the wildflower meadow. 

This floral installation will be planned so flowers appear from the end of June, peaking during the summer season, all adding to a show with the XXX factor.

Harland Miller: XXX, York Art Gallery, on show until  August 31. Opening times: Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk.

Beatrice Bertram

Dr Beatrice Bertram, senior curator at York Art Gallery, on Harland Miller’s XXXhibition:

“WE are delighted to welcome Harland back to York Art Gallery and his home city to show this extraordinary exhibition entitled XXX. The displays here in York explore his celebrated series of Letter Paintings, brought together for the first time alongside new work created exclusively for our exhibition.

“Harland’s distinctive, impactful paintings are instantly recognisable and repay close looking. His clever use of language and colour encourages us to encounter everyday words afresh, as he lays letters over one another in an intriguing process of deconstruction and reconnection.

“Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience Miller’s bright, bold, brilliant body of work produced during an exciting new phase in his career.”

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 14, from Gazette & Herald

Mr Willy Wonka, played by Jonathan, in Ryedale Youth Theatre’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Milton Rooms, Malton

MISSING out on Gary Oldman’s sold-out Krapp’s Last Tape on his York Theatre Royal return? Charles Hutchinson digs up plenty of consolation prizes.

Ryedale musical of the week: Ryedale Youth Theatre in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Milton Rooms, Malton, tonight to Saturday, 7.15pm plus 2pm Thursday and Saturday matinees

RYEDALE Youth Theatre brings Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory to the Malton stage in a magical adventure that journeys into Willy Wonka’s fantastical world.

Expect stunning performances and enchanting music in a family-friendly production perfect for all ages. Only 100 tickets are still available after sales of 1,200. Box office: yourboxoffice.co.uk/ryedale-youth-theatre.

Inspired By Theatre’s principal cast members in Rent, playing the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from tomorrow

York musical of the week: Inspired By Theatre in Rent, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK company Inspired By Theatre follow up Green Day’s American Idiot with another groundbreaking rock musical, Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award-winning story of love, resilience and artistic defiance. 

Set in New York City’s East Village at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Rent follows a group of young artists struggling to survive, create and hold on to hope in the face of uncertainty. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Welcome back: Gary Oldman in the York Theatre Royal dressing rooms

York theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17

ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit, Oscar winner Gary Oldman returns to the Theatre Royal to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.

“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Tickets update: New availability of returns and additional seats on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Abigoliah Schamaun: In pursuit of the “Holy Visa” in Legally Cheeky, on tour at Pocklington Arts Centre

Comedy gig of the week: Abigoliah Schamaun, Legally Cheeky, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 8pm

ABIGOLIAH Schamaun thought she had it all; the flat, the career, the life partner. This US transplant was living the American Dream…in London. Then one day, the Wicked Witch of Westminster, told Abigoliah to click her sparkly heels and go “home”. In that moment, everything changed. To lose would mean losing everything. 

Abigoliah’s quest for the Holy Visa began, and the fight was very much on. Legally Cheeky charts her journey in a heart-warming tale of highs, lows, twists and turns as she recounts the year that shook her and partner Tom to the core. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Snake Davis, right, will be teaming up with Stu Collingworth at Helmsley Arts Centre on Friday night

Jazz gig of the week: Snake Davis with Stu Collingworth, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST to the stars Snake Davis will be joined by Hammond organist, composer and vocalist Stu Collingwood for an evening of soul pop and jazz. Davis performs regularly with famous artists at huge venues but is “far happier being himself at Helmsley Arts Centre”.

Collingworth has toured with Tony Christie, Alan Barnes and Elaine Delmar and has a residency at Charts in Newcastle. He and Davis have enjoyed a creative partnership for a decade, fired by a love of melody and groove. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Aleysha Jade in Curious Investigators at Pocklington Arts Centre on Saturday. Picture: Grant Archer

Family show of the week: One Tenth Human in Curious Investigators, Pocklington Arts Centre, Saturday, 1.30pm

SCRIBBLE and Clipboard have a job to do, sorting out the recycling, but Scribble keeps finding new things to investigate. When she discovers a mysterious egg hidden in the rubbish, the pair needs the audience’s help to rescue an unborn chick. Can you save a mysterious egg from a smashing and what will you discover along the way?

Curious Investigators is a cracking adventure, created in collaboration with engineering experts from Lancaster University, in a delightfully surprising, highly visual show for three to seven-year-olds and their grown-ups, hatched by One Tenth Human. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Wrongsemble in Three Little Vikings, a story of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard at Helmsley Arts Centre

Children’s show of the week: Wrongsemble in Three Little Vikings, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm

A TRIO of brave little Viking girls saves the day in Leeds company Wrongsemble’s bold and funny adventure story for little rebels by Bethan Woollvin, creator of Little Red and I Can Catch A Monster.  

Once upon a time in a Viking village, everything seems to be going wrong. Chickens are disappearing, trees are falling down. When the silly Chieftain will not listen to the three littlest Vikings, can they work together to figure out how to save the day in a 50-minute tale of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard. Suitable for age three upwards. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Mark Druery: Taking part in York Open Studios this weekend

Art event of the month: York Open Studios, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm

YORK Open Studios showcases 160 artists and makers at 117 locations in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. Artists and makers, including 38 new participants, span ceramics, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood, Full details and an interactive map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk; brochures in shops, galleries, cafes and tourist hubs. Admission is free.

The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon: New album and York Barbican autumn date. Picture: Kevin Westenberg

Gig announcement of the week: The Divine Comedy, York Barbican, October 21

NEIL Hannon will promote The Divine Comedy’s 13th studio album, September 19’s Rainy Sunday Afternoon, on a 16-date autumn tour. Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, April 17 at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/the-divine-comedy-2025/.

Written, arranged and produced by Hannon and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, the album spans his usual range of emotions – sad, funny, angry and everything in between – as he “works through some stuff”: mortality, memories, relationships and political and social upheaval. 

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More Things To Do in York and beyond as a blaze of colour hits the streets. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 14, from The York Press

Sinead Corkery: Making her York Open Studios debut in Monkton Road, York

PERFECT weather greets the opening of studio doors as artists parade their skills while politics comes under the spotlight in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations.

Art event of the month: York Open Studios, today and tomorrow; also April 12 and 13, 10am to 5pm

YORK Open Studios showcases 160 artists and makers at 117 locations in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. Artists and makers, including 38 new participants, span ceramics, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood, Full details and an interactive map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk; brochures in shops, galleries, cafes and tourist hubs. Admission is free.

Rob Rouse: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club’s bill at The Basement tonight

Comedy bill of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, Rob Rouse, David Eagle, Ben Silver and Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm

ROB Rouse, from The Friday Night Project, Spoons, BBC3’s Comedy Shuffle, Mad Mad World, Upstart Crow and Rob And Helen’s Date Night self-help podcast, headlines tonight’s bill, hosted by Laugh Out Loud promoter Damion Larkin.

Support act David Eagle, a member of north eastern folk band The Young’uns, mines comedy from exploring how his blindness turns the most ordinary, commonplace events into surreal, convoluted dramas. Box office: 01904 612940 or lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

Ged Graham: Leading the Seven Drunken Nights celebration of The Dubliners, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Prestige Productions

Irish craic of the week: Seven Drunken Nights: The Story of the Dubliners, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

SEVEN Drunken Nights takes a trip down memory lane in celebration of The Dubliners’ 50-year performing career on a 2025 global tour of 300 shows across 42 weeks. The Irish Rover, The Town I Love So Well and Dirty Old Town will be joined by new additions Paddy On The Railway and The Lark In The Morning in a new production for this year’s travels.

The show’s 2017 founder, frontman and narrator, Dublin-born writer and director Ged Graham, says: “The connection we’ve built with the audience over the years is incredible; they know we’re keeping the iconic music of The Dubliners alive with the same passion that they have for it.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Telling the whole story: Writer-performer Andrew Margerison in Dyad Productions’ That Knave, Raleigh

Historical play of the week: Dyad Productions in That Knave, Raleigh, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm; Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 9, 7.30pm

DYAD Productions follow up I, Elizabeth with a return to the Elizabethan era in That Knave, Raleigh, writer-performer Andrew Margerison’s story of Elizabethan explorer, sailor, dandy and warrior Sir Walter Raleigh, Elizabeth I’s favourite and James I’s knave. 

The Huguenots, America, the Armada and execution: is that the whole story? “There is so much you don’t know,” says Margerison of Raleigh, father, husband, writer, poet, adventurer, philosopher, soldier, tyrant, egotist, lover, traitor, alchemist, visionary and victim.

“The final chapter of Raleigh’s life is perhaps the most daring, strange and utterly heart-breaking. See the fall from grace taken directly from historical record; marvel at the magnetism of a man who seized every opportunity.”Box office: Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk; York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The Manfreds: Playing Joseph Rowntree Theatre for the first time this weekend

Sixties’ nostalgia of the week: The Manfreds, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

TICKETS are down to the last few for the chance to see The Manfreds in their Joseph Rowntree Theatre debut, featuring original Manfred Mann members Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness, both 83.

The set list takes in such Sixties R&B hits as 5-4-3-2-1, Pretty Flamingo, The Mighty Quinn and Do Wah Diddy Diddy, intermixed with jazz and blues covers from their solo albums. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Al Murray: Rolling out his barrel of laughs at York Barbican as the Guvnor puts you right on Sunday night

Political insights of the week: Al Murray, Guv Island, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

THE people have spoken. The Pub Landlord is back for another round of Guv Island with “New Extra Brew Material”in 2025, having pulled pints and punters at the Grand Opera House in March 2024.

Standing up so you don’t have to take it lying it down anymore, the Guvnor will “make sense of the questions you probably already had the answers to”. “Country, the UK, lost its way, seeks life partner/mentor/inspiration. Good sense of humour essential. No timewasters, tedious show-offs or offend-o-trons need apply. HR free zone,” says Murray. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Inspired By Theatre’s principal cast for Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter

Musical of the week: Inspired By Theatre in Rent, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 10 to 12, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK company Inspired By Theatre – the new name for Bright Light Musical Productions – follow up Green Day’s American Idiot with another groundbreaking rock musical, Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award-winning story of love, resilience and artistic defiance. 

Set in New York City’s East Village at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Rent follows a group of young artists struggling to survive, create and hold on to hope in the face of uncertainty. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Jan Noble in his verse drama Body 115. Picture: jannoble.co.uk/body115

Odyssey of the week: Jan Noble in Body 115, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 11, 7.30pm

EVER wished you were somewhere else? Ever wished you were someone else? Escaping the rain, a journey on the London Underground becomes a descent into the underworld in Body 115, 2023 winner of the London Pub Theatre Award for Best Innovative Play.

Written and performed by Jan Noble, directed by Justin Butcher, this tale of broken hearts, old flames and open roads follows Noble’s down-and-out poet-hero through the sewers and tubes of King’s Cross Station to the heart of Italy. Part invocation, part rain dance, this poetic odyssey is delivered with a contemporary kick. From the terraces at Millwall to fashionable Milan, expect shadowy encounters, dodgy connections and chance meetings with a host of poet ghosts.

“Body 115 is an epic poem, a tale of inner and outer journeys in explicit homage to Dante’s Divine Comedy,” says Noble. “From the rain-washed, subterranean underworld of King’s Cross, ‘Body 115’ – the long-unidentified victim of the 1987 fire – becomes Virgil to my Dante in a rhapsodic paean to the trammelling ecstasy of loss: a trans-European odyssey turned safari of the soul.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Dianne Buswell & Vito Coppola: Strictly Come Dancing professionals team up for Red Hot And Ready

Show announcement of the week: Burn The Floor presents Dianne Buswell & Vito Coppola in Red Hot And Ready, York Barbican, July 6, 7.30pm; Leeds Grand Theatre, July 18, 7.30pm, and July 19, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

STRICTLY Come Dancing’s stellar professional dancers, 2024 winner Dianne Buswell and 2023 victor Vito Coppola, will star in the new show from the Burn The Floor stable, created by Strictly creative director Jason Gilkison.

Billed as “a dynamic new dance show with a difference”, Red Hot And Ready brings together Buswell, Coppola and a cast of multi-disciplined Burn The Floor dancers from around the world, accompanied by vocalists and a band. Expect “jaw-dropping choreography, heart-pounding music and breathtaking moves, from seriously sexy to irresistibly charming”. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

John Simpson: BBC News world affairs editor puts leaders and lunatics in the dock at the Grand Opera House, York, on Monday

In Focus: More political insights of the week: John Simpson: The Leaders & Lunatics Tour, Grand Opera House, York, April 7, 7.30pm

IN his bold, unflinching look at leadership, veteran BBC journalist and broadcaster John Simpson CBE ponders why some inspire while others descend into tyranny. “And…are all tyrants ‘lunatics’,” he asks.

After six decades of unparalleled access to world leaders – and lunatics – Simpson explores the personalities that have shaped history. From notorious figures such as Assad, Saddam, Mugabe and Gaddafi to admired leaders Gorbachev, Mandela, Havel and Zelensky, he reveals their common threads, unique quirks and lasting impact.

Drawing on his first-hand encounters and personal dealings, Simpson will unravel the enigmatic personas of Putin, Xi Jinping, bin-Laden and Thatcher, while pondering what links Mandela and Princess Diana or Zelensky and Mugabe.

In an increasingly volatile world, BBC News world affairs editor Simpson will navigate the intricate web of international relations, delving into the complexities of the most pressing global challenges of our time – conflicts, war, famine, economic crises and climate change – to reveal how the actions and decisions of leaders, from despots to visionaries, have shaped these crises and continue to influence our world today.

Simpson, now 80, has spent all his working life with the BBC, reporting from more than 120 countries, including 30 war zones, and interviewing myriad world leaders on his foreign correspondent beat.

As a household name who has covered almost every major event in the world from the 1960s to present day in his fearless journalism, he will turn from interviewer to interviewee to take questions from the audience in the second-half Q&A.

What on earth is going on, John? Hear his answers at this talk “truly for our troubled times”, when Simpson promises to entertain, enlighten, and inspire as he provides “insights into past and present events, with no doubt some focus on Trump and the shifting global order”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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world affairs editor of BBC News. He has spent all his working life with the BBC, and has reported from more than 120 countries, including thirty war zones, and interviewed many world leaders.

In an increasingly volatile world, John will also examine the most pressing challenges of our time – war, famine, economic crises, and climate change – to reveal how the actions and decisions of leaders, from despots to visionaries, have shaped these crises and continue to influence our world today.

In the second half, the floor is yours. Ask your questions as John offers sharp insights into past and present events, with no doubt some focus on Trump and the shifting global order.


John Simpson: Leaders and Lunatics Tour

After a sell-out tour in 2024, legendary journalist and broadcaster John Simpson CBE is returning to the stage for an exclusive evening packed with unparalleled insights from one of the most distinguished foreign correspondents of our time.

With decades of first-hand encounters and personal dealings, John will explore the enigmatic personas of global figures such as Putin, Xi Jinping, bin-Laden and Thatcher.

John will navigate the intricate web of international relations, delving into the complexities of our global issues – from conflicts, war and famines, to world economies and climate change.

What links Mandela and Princess Diana? Or Zelenskiy and Mugabe? John will reveal the common threads linking these figures, and offer a unique perspective on the impact they’ve had on world affairs.

As a household name who has covered almost every major event in the world from the 1960’s to present day, you will have an opportunity to ask John your questions – what were these leaders and lunatics really like, and what on earth is going on? Don’t miss John for an evening that promises to entertain, enlighten, and inspire with his fearless journalism and captivating storytelling.

What on earth is going on? An event truly for our troubled times – don’t miss this enlightening and compelling evening.

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York Open Studios is ready for its biggest ever event with 163 artists and makers

York Open Studios newcomer Sinead Corkery in her studio in Monkton Road, York. She paints on recycled and reclaimed wood

IN the largest event of its 24 years, York Open Studios will feature 163 artists at 116 venues on April 5 & 6 and April 12 & 13, preceded by a preview evening tomorrow (4/4/2025).

Artists and makers within a ten-mile radius of York will be showcasing their work and inspirations, inviting visitors to “see where the magic happens” in this not-for-profit annual event run by volunteers.

Full details of participants and an interactive map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk and a free directory with a tear-out map of all the locations is available from libraries, shops, galleries and artist locations throughout the city centre and the wider city region to enable visitors to “plan your route to maximise the range of artists”.

Scott Dunwoodie: Architectural aspects, nature and still life are common themes of his photography, on show at The Homestead, Moor Lane, Bishopthorpe

As ever, the diverse range of arts and crafts will take in painting, printmaking, illustration, collage, digital art, mixed media, photography, ceramics, glass sculpture, jewellery, textiles and furniture.

Many artists open their doors to invite the public into their workspaces; some artists share venues or exhibit their work in other spaces.

No fewer than 38 artists and makers will be making their Open Studios debut, including painters Dave Cooper, Marcus Callum, Ala Jazayeri, Julie Mitchell, Mo Nisbet, Mark Kesteven, Denise Duncan, Peter Monkman, Leon F Dumont, Dabble Doodle, Emily Littler, Sinead Corkery and Julia Leonard and ceramicists Wait And See Ceramics, Rock Garden Ceramics, Jackie Maidment and Schiewe Ceramics.

Paper artist Margaret Beech: Making her York Open Studios debut in Oaken Grove, Haxby

So too will be illustrators Alice Elizabeth Wilson and Rachel Merriman; printmakers Kate Hardy, Nic Fife, Drawne Up and Kai West; mixed-media artist Daisy Age Art; photographers Mark Pollitt, Alasdair McIntosh, Laurence Tilley and Jake Straker; drawing exponent Suzanne Young; paper artist Margaret Beech; furniture makers George Younge and Dominic Brown and York St John University  students Emma Parker (paper) and Angela Stott (drawing).

York Open Studios chair Christine Storrs has been an enthusiastic visitor to the event since moving to York in 2003, joining the committee from 2012 to 2018 before taking a break and rejoining in 2022.

“We open the applications in the summer, starting in June, open to anyone within a ten-mile radius of York, and every year we get many new applicants,” says Christine.

“Selection takes place in September, and it’s made by an independent panel who assess applications based on images and artist statements submitted. They come from outside York, which was a deliberate decision taken some years ago, because it means they don’t know the artists, so they’re unbiased.

Zak and Lydia of Rock Garden Ceramics, Sutton Road, Hot Box Stoves, York

“They work independently of each other, and we ask them to say Yes or No on the set of criteria we give them. They also don’t know if an artist is a new applicant or a regular participant, so the decision is based entirely on the merits of the work.”

Christine continues: “The selection is also about the quality of the work. It’s not an open event in terms of just applying and taking part. We want selectors to judge whose work they think is of the right quality to take part. No-one has a guarantee of getting on to the list of participants. That’s why we need independent selectors.”

The names of the 2025 selection panel is not made public until they have made their selections, but you will now find their names in the directory: Helmsley Arts Centre artistic director Natasha Jones, jewellery designer Mari Thomas and former Leeds Beckett University research director Simon Morris.

“We never have the same selectors from year to year,” says Christine. “They can each do it for no more than two years in a row, but not three, so there’s always a change.”

Drawing exponent Mark Druery, who will open his studio in St Paul’s Terrace, Holgate

Reflecting on 24 years of York Open Studios, she says: “The event has evolved over the years. Several years ago, there was a renewed emphasis on it being held in studios, rather than groups of artists exhibiting together, because people enjoy seeing how artists work, where they work and what tools they use. That’s why we get so many visitors going from studio to studio, rather than it just being a series of exhibitions.”

Committee member and jewellery designer Charmian Ottaway, who will open her studio in Penleys Grove Street, adds: “York Open Studios is for anyone with a discerning eye for quality, an interest in art and those keen to find out more about the inspirations and techniques used to create the work.

“It’s also a lovely opportunity for artists to meet potential buyers and welcome those who just want to enjoy a day out in our lovely city. There’s certainly a sense of anticipation, and I can’t quite believe April is here at last!”

York Open Studios: public preview, tomorrow, 6pm to 9pm (check individual listings at yorkopenstudios.co.uk to see who is participating); April 5 and 6, April 12 and 13,  10am to 5pm. Look out for the yellow balloons to indicate studio locations.

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Artist Jill Tattersall and ceramicist Sylvia Schroer keep The Wolf At The Door on show on April 5 & 6 and April 12 & 13 UPDATED

MIXED media artist Jill Tattersall and ceramicist Sylvia Schroer unite for an Artists’ Open House at Jill’s studio, The Wolf At The Door, 11 Mount Parade, York, on April 5 & 6 and April 12 & 13 in an alternative to the York Open Studios on those two weekends.

“All are welcome from 10am to 4pm each day,” says Jill. “It’s not a formal open house/studio, more an informal chance to see friends (and anyone interested), show some new and ongoing work and some of the processes involved, and generally catch up on life after a long and drear winter.

“I’ll be joined by my friend Sylvia Schroer with her innovative and distinctive ceramics. Always good to have excellent company when opening the doors.”

Dr Schroer had been set to take part in York Open Studios at Lady Kell Gardens in Haxby, but instead she will be showing her sensitive figurative sculptures – busts and torsos – as well as hand-built and wheel-thrown functional and decorative pottery at Wolf At The Door after being “deselected” since the 2025 brochure was printed.

“I had done a lot of work preparing for York Open Studios but was sadly unable to take part,” Sylvia posted on Facebook on March 27. “I was absolutely heartbroken and it was costing me a lot of money. So I am very glad to be able to show my work at an independent open house with such a fantastic artist and lovely person as @jilltattersallartist.” More on this subject later.

Jill jumped at the chance to offer Sylvia an exhibition space, in keeping with her long-standing commitment to collaboration. “I have 20 years’ experience of taking part in and helping to run Open Studio schemes in Newark, Lincolnshire and Brighton and try to avoid wearisome and unnecessary politics,” she says. 

“An artist’s life has never been an easy one, and current world events don’t help. Mutual support and collaboration are essential to us all. We just need to get on, represent local artists, and create some colour and joy and fun for the local community. So much needed right now!”

Jill Tattersall’s Wolf At The Door studio in Mount Parade, York

Why call the studio Wolf At The Door, Jill? “There is a Wolf, a large one,” she says. “When I spent more than ten years or so in Brighton, sculptor Iaian Tatam made the Wolf from recycled materials and, more than life-size, it became part of our lives.

“This was what set the tone for some truly interesting and offbeat collaborations. Brighton was a good place for this! We held many art-related events, as well as taking part in Brighton and Hove Artists’ Open House.

“We wanted to embrace and celebrate all aspects and varieties of art and to have some fun at the same time! Some of our collaborations and star turns involved: books, paintings and sculptures, recitals, previews and performances, garden art, ceramics, puppetry, science…you name it!”

Reflecting on those south coast days, Jill says: “I do miss the Brighton Wolf At The Door events when we hosted so many inspirational creative people: artists, writers, actors and singers even! Though a propos of that, I shall again be taking part in Brighton and Hove Artists’ Open House all May as part of the wonderful Art In Bloom.”

Jill has brought her brushes and brio to York, setting up her Artists’ Open House days and taking part in The Other Collective exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, in February and March, featuring five artists not selected for York Open Studios 2025: Jill, Rob Burton, Liz Foster, Ric Liptrot and Lu Mason. Or “the Five Refusés”, as former medieval French university lecturer Jill called them.

Down the years, Jill has taken part in many exhibitions, projects and commissions. “My work’s all over the place, from Peru to Tasmania, even the official residence in Rwanda,” she says.

“My main obsession is with patterns. They’re all around us; we’re made up of them ourselves. Force meets counter-force and patterns emerge: coasts and weather systems, stars and galaxies, trees and blood vessels, maps and mazes. It’s where science and art intersect!

“I constantly experiment with materials and techniques, often using my own hand-made paper and water-based paints, inks, dyes and pigments to build up intense and glowing colour. Throwaway or reclaimed elements often sit side by side with gold and silver leaf. Value, price, worth…who decides.”

Sylvia Schroer in the basement at Wolf At The Door

Jill, whose latest works take the theme of sunshine, will be holding a solo show at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, from May 5 to the end of June and will make her North Yorkshire Open Studios debut on June 7 & 8 and June 14 & 15, from 10am to 5pm, followed by a further NYOS weekend on November 1 & 2, from 11am to 4pm. More than 200 artists will be taking part” in an event that she describes as “friendly and collaborative”.

Now, let’s return to Sylvia Schroer’s frustrations with York Open Studios. In an earlier Facebook post on March 13, she wrote: “I did not withdraw from York Open Studios. I would not have withdrawn after the directory was printed unless I was ill. This would have been letting down visitors – who in my case would be travelling to an out-of-town venue. It would have been letting down artists with whom I was sharing a venue & working with.

“I had been making and preparing work for months for Open Studios and was greatly looking forward to taking part. So, I was upset when I missed the email/ deadline for the Taster [at the Hospitium, York Museum Gardens, on March 22 and 23] – by one working day – along with others and told I couldn’t take part.”

She went on: “Although I had already made all due apologies I was informed of my deselection on 3/3/25 & informed I had upset others & broken the Terms & Conditions by speaking out.

“We are trying our best here as artists and Open Studios is important financially, so deselection can feel like losing a job. It’s sad for us and hard for us and I don’t think it has to be like this. Other cities don’t run their Open Studios like this. It’s hard when an artist isn’t selected or is deselected & I see artists being very upset indeed & hard hit financially. Why not print a bigger directory? We pay to be part of Open Studios and pay £hundreds in commission. £thousands in some instances.”

Her post concluded: “Speaking out here [on Facebook] will probably result in my being refused the right to apply ever again. But I do not want to be part of something that humiliates artists, punishes them and makes them feel their work isn’t good enough. I am looking forward to a more joyful experience showing my work at an independent artist’s house/studio.”

In a further statement, Sylvia said: “Unfortunately I had a disagreement with the chair/committee and there was no way to resolve it. It was never my intention to cause offense (sic) and hurt. I just wanted my work and that of other artists who had missed an email about the Hospitium Taster event (and just missed the deadline of Feb 14th) to be included. I apologise, once again, for any offense (sic) I may have caused.”

An interview with York Open Studios 2025 chair Christine Storrs will appear in The York Press and at charleshutchpress.co.uk on Thursday.

Visitors to Wolf At The Door on the first weekend of Jill Tattersall and Sylvia Schroer’s exhibition

UPDATE, 11/4/2025

How did the first weekend go, Jill?

“WE had a truly delightful and inspiring weekend: 240 visitors (a third or so of last year’s total, but plenty) and massive appreciation, pleasure – and fascinating conversations. The weather of course helped.  A mix of repeat visitors and new friends in the making – and some sales (though not an easy year for that I guess.) 

“There seems a strong will for more creative effort and collaboration in York. I had some really good talks with younger visitors as well as older ones.

“So it has worked beautifully.  I love the interchange of ideas and information, the coincidences – and the sociability. And, somehow, we’ve squeezed it all in.

“Times are bleak and, for many, there’s not much cash to spare.  Our main aim is to celebrate art and to share some light and colour so, truly, no-one should feel pressure to buy.  

“Just come and enjoy yourself (I do hope!).  My art concentrates on light and dark, colour and natural patterns (such as the starling murmurations so much discussed amongst us all). Sylvia’s work in the basement has attracted lots and lots of praise for its inventiveness and variety.”

Comments in the Wolf At The Door visitors’ book on the first weekend. “A huge thank-you to all our visitors of last weekend,” says Jill. “We had a truly delightful, sun-filled time opening the house and studio and chatting to old friends and, it feels, new”

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What’s On in Ryedale, York & beyond when not only Poirot exercises the little grey cells. Hutch’s List No. 12, from Gazette & Herald

Printmaker Pamela Knight: Exhibiting at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb, York

SPRING has sprung, the cue for the arts world to have an extra spring in its step, much to Charles Hutchinson’s joy.

Exhibition of the week: Three Printmakers, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until May 7

YORK Printmakers members Pamela Knight, Vanessa Oo and Sandra Storey are taking part in the Three Printmakers: Energy, Atmosphere & Light exhibition. York artist and former theatre set and costume designer Knight specialises in collagraphy, enjoying the textures and effects she creates using this process, often enriched with monoprint and chine colle.

Oo, from York, is displaying monotypes for the first time. “My work is about capturing the magic of the moment; an unseen energy and rhythm,” she says. Harrogate artist Sandra Storey’s work evokes the “talisman-like quality” of plants, birds and natural objects found within the North York Moors landscape. Admission is free.

Lucy Bailey’s cast for the Fiery Angel production of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York

Thriller of the week: Fiery Angel in Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

FIERY Angel follow up November 2023’s visit of And Then There Were None with another Agatha Christie murder mystery directed by Lucy Bailey, this time with Michael Maloney on board for a “deliciously thrilling ride” as Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.

In Winter 1934, an avalanche stops The Orient Express dead in its tracks. Cue a murder. A train full of suspects. An impossible case. Trapped in the snow with a killer still on-board, can the world’s most famous detective crack the case before the train reaches its final destination?

Meanwhile, Wise Children’s world premiere of Emma Rice’s theatrical take on Alfred Hitchcock’s North By North West continues at York Theatre Royal until April 5. Box office: GOH, atgtickets.com/york; YTR, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Mark Simmonds in rehearsal for his role as Prospero in Black Sheep Theatre’s The Tempest at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Shakespeare debut of the week: Black Sheep Theatre in The Tempest, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AFTER making their mark with musical theatre productions, York company Black Sheep Productions branch out into Shakespeare territory under Matthew Peter Clare’s direction. “Prepare for The Tempest like you’ve never seen it before,” he says, promising magic, music and mayhem in a dark re-telling of the one with “a storm, a shipwreck and the torment of it all”, featuring Mark Simmonds as Prospero, Freya McIntosh as Miranda, Mikhail Lim as Gonzalo, Deathly Dark Tours guide and Kisskisskill singer Gemma-Louise Keane as Ariel, Meg Conway as Antonia and Josh Woodgate as Caliban.

“With a phenomenal cast and a live eight-piece band, our production re-imagines Shakespeare’s tale of power, revenge, and redemption in a truly immersive and unforgettable way.” Box office:  tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Public Service Broadcasting: York Barbican debut tomorrow

Past meets future in the present: Public Service Broadcasting, York Barbican, tomorrow, doors 7pm

PUBLIC Service Broadcasting make their York Barbican debut with  J. Willgoose, Esq on guitar, banjo, other stringed instruments, samples and electronic musical instruments; Wrigglesworth on drums, piano and electronic instruments; J F Abraham on flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums and vibraslap and Mr B on visuals and set design.

“Teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future” for more than a decade, the corduroy-wearing Londoners will select material from their five themed albums, 2013’s Inform – Educate – Entertain, 2015’s The Race For Space, 2017’s  Every Valley, 2021’s Bright Magic and 2024’s The Last Flight. She Drew The Gun support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Laura Veirs: Art meets science via geology in her songs at The Crescent, York, tomorrow

Folk gig of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents present Laura Veirs, supported by Lucca Mae, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, doors 7pm

PORTLAND, Oregon, folk singer, songwriter, children’s author, artist, Midnight Lightning podcaster, Stanford University songwriting teacher and mother Laura Veirs draws on her 14 albums in her Crescent set. Growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she spent summers camping with her family, inspiring her songwriting as much as her fascination with the intersection of art and science from days of studying geology (and Mandarin Chinese) at Carleton College.

This year, polymath Veirs is working on new paintings, an instrumental guitar album and a book about creativity. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Kiki Dee & Carmelo Ruggeri: Playing together for 25 years, bound for All Saints Church, Pocklington, this weekend

Acoustic duo of the week: Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Saturday, 7.30pm

JOIN Bradford-born  singer Kiki Dee and guitarist Carmelo Luggeri for an acoustic journey through their songs and stories, taking in songs from 2022 album The Long Ride Home, Kate Bush and Frank Sinatra covers and hits from Kiki’s 55 years and more in the music business,  Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, I Got The Music In Me, Loving & Free and Amoureuse. Box office:  kikiandcarmelo.com.

Top brass: Brighouse & Rastrick Band at Pocklington Arts Centre on Sunday afternoon

Brass concert of the week: Brighouse & Rastrick Band, Pocklington Arts Centre, Sunday, 2pm

FOREVER associated with 1977 number two hit and “unofficial encore”The Floral Dance, West Yorkshire’s Brighouse & Rastrick Band presents a highly entertaining concert suitable for casual listener and connoisseur alike.

The majority of premier band championships have been held by ‘Briggus’, most recently becoming the 2022 British Open and Brass in Concert champions. ‘Briggus’ are noted too for collaborations outside the brass band tradition, from the late Terry Wogan to Kate Rusby, classical actor Simon Callow to The Unthanks at York Minster in 2012. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Lynne Hanson: “Hard-living brand of porch music” at Milton Rooms, Malton, on Sunday

Here comes Canada’s queen of Americana: Lynne Hanson, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 8pm

TOO tough for folk and too blues-influenced for country, Lynne Hanson’s hard-living brand of porch music with a little red dirt can turn from a sunshine, blue sky ballad to a thunderstorm of gritty Americana swamp from one song to the next.

Her deep, bluesy croon has drawn comparisons with Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch, but the poetry of her lyrics sets her apart. In concert, she is noted for her high energy, roots guitar-driven performances, whether playing solo or with her band The Good Intentions. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

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Return Of The Oaks mural and tree-inspired benches launched by Art Of Protest’s return to nature project in Front Street, Acomb

The launch of the Return Of The Oaks mural in Acomb

THE launch of Art Of Protest’s new mural and street benches drew a big community turnout to Front Street, Acomb, York, last Saturday .

The Return Of The Oaks mural is part of the wider project designed to return nature to the high street. 

Eight public benches have been painted to denote the trees in Acomb, each featuring a carved-out leaf emblem. The trees’ names feature on the benches, serving as a reminder of the diverse ecology in the area. 

In the week leading up to last Saturday’s launch, residents and visitors praised the installation for its brightness and welcoming vision.

The views of the Acomb community were central to the designs. A comprehensive engagement programme featuring 17 events and street art workshops at locations in Acomb captured residents’ wishes. This conveyed the community’s strong voice, now reflected in the geometric design. 

An innovative Street Art Academy trained up the community and four residents were chosen to take part in the talent development programme and assist on the mural. This has created a legacy, boosting the skills and confidence of the participants.

Art Of Protest creative director Jeff Clark said: “I’m beyond pleased to say that this public art project has been a huge success. Getting to know the Acomb community was not only paramount to influencing the design of the artwork but also a real pleasure in itself.”

Art Of Protest lead artist Tom Jackson said: “Working on a project in the place where I live is a privilege. My children and I will walk past this mural almost every day, and I’m fortunate that the people of Acomb have embraced it in such a positive way.”  

A mood of celebration and excitement marked the weekend event at the mural. The Lord Mayor of York, Sheriff and councillors took part in the pop-up street art workshops.

Art Of Protest organised an exhibition of the community art produced from the engagement sessions, held at Rise@ Bluebird Bakery in Acomb Road.

The Rt Hon Lord Mayor of York, Councillor Margaret Wells, said: “It was great to be at the event at the weekend to see the amazing new artwork and other changes around Acomb. This is an incredible piece of work which speaks volumes about working together as a community.

“It is wonderful to see the links to Acomb’s heritage and the local woodland within the paintings. Thank you to everyone involved.”

Councillor Katie Lomas, City of York Council executive member with responsibility for finance and major projects, said: “I am very proud of Acomb and the way the local community has come together to shape these recent changes. This new artwork is a fantastic addition and really pulls together all the work that has been going on to improve the area.

“The wider scheme, funded through the Government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund, has seen some real investment in the area over recent months. It has brought not only this incredible artwork but also upgraded seating, planting, wayfinding and many other improvements to help ensure Front Street is a great place to be for years to come.

“I would like to thank everybody involved in making this happen and anyone who has got involved along the way. I especially want to pay tribute to the wider engagement work done by the Art Of Protest team to engage and inspire young people across the Acomb area, making sure they know that art is for them too.”

Acomb resident Kat Hunt, mother of one of the talent development students, said: “Throughout the project and the community engagement sessions, my daughter has developed new skills and she has so much more confidence in her artwork as a result. It’s really inspired her. It’s fantastic that Acomb now has such vibrant artwork, inspired by the views of the community.”

Art Of Protest, York’s urban art and engagement specialists, are experts in ‘placemaking’ and approved ‘Alternative Providers’, offering a Street Art Academy through the Danesgate Community Pupil Referral Unit. “We are driven by partnering with the local community, public sector and businesses to transform spaces through public art,” says Jeff. “If you would like to work with us, please contact us at info.aopprojects@gmail.com.”  

The Return Of The Oaks art project is part of the broader scheme to improve Front Street and create a more accessible, vibrant, people-friendly space. City of York Council received £570,000 of UK Shared Prosperity Funding to deliver Phase 2 improvements that include new seating and planters, improved Blue Badge parking, wide and level pedestrian crossings, wayfinding signs and upgraded public loos.

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More Things To Do in York & beyond when not only Poirot exercises the little grey cells. Hutch’s List No. 12, from The York Press

Freya Horlsey: Among the 163 artists and makers taking part in York Open Studios

SPRING has sprung, the cue for the arts world to have an extra spring in its step, much to Charles Hutchinson’s joy.

Art event of the weekend: York Open Studios Taster Exhibition, The Hospitium, York Museum Gardens, today and tomorrow, 10am to 4pm

YORK Open Studios will showcase 163 artists and makers at 116 locations on April 5, 6, 12 and 13 in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. To whet the appetite, this weekend’s Taster Exhibition showcases works by participating artists to “help you choose which studios you would like to visit”. Full details of the April event can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk. Admission is free.

Stevie Hook: Spinning The Wheel Of Nouns

Queer cabaret night of the week: York Literature Festival presents Stevie Hook in The Wheel Of Nouns, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

REJOICE…or beware! The Gender Fairy is loose and has found their way to York. What is gender anyway and why should you care? Discover why it may be easier than you think in Hook’s new cabaret comedy: an evening of spinning game show wheels, jokes, bribes, and voluntary audience participation.

Audience interaction and cabaret-style games create a light-hearted, accepting environment to explore key issues around queerness and gender identity in 70 minutes of thought-provoking, mischievous queer cabaret.

The Wheel Of Nouns is presented by York trans, non-binary, neurodivergent mythical creature, writer and cabaret artist Stevie Hook. They are an associate artist with Roots Theatre and uses the pronouns they/them and hehe/hym.

At the heart of everything they create is a passion for subverting expectations, using games and audience interaction mechanics to invite audiences into silly, unapologetically trans worlds. They believe empowering audiences to participate and play in these silly worlds with them can open doors for meaningful change. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Printmaker Pamela Knight: Exhibiting at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb

Exhibition of the week: Three Printmakers, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until May 7

YORK Printmakers members Pamela Knight, Vanessa Oo and Sandra Storey are taking part in the Three Printmakers: Energy, Atmosphere & Light exhibition. York artist and former theatre set and costume designer Knight specialises in collagraphy, enjoying the textures and effects she creates using this process, often enriched with monoprint and chine colle.

Oo, from York, is displaying monotypes for the first time. “My work is about capturing the magic of the moment; an unseen energy and rhythm,” she says. Harrogate artist Sandra Storey’s work evokes the “talisman-like quality” of plants, birds and natural objects found within the North York Moors landscape. Admission is free.

Close up for Kim Wilde: Songs from Close and Closer at York Barbican

Pop gig of the week: Kim Wilde: Closer Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.45pm

EIGHTIES’ pop star Kim Wilde performs songs from her sixth album, 1988’s Close, complemented by new numbers from Closer, her 15th studio set, released on January 25. Expect the familiar hits too: Kids In America, You Came, You Keep Me Hangin’ On, Never Trust A Stranger, Four Letter Word et al. Cutting Crew support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Fiery Angel head to the Grand Opera House from Tuesday with Lucy Bailey’s production of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express

Thriller of the week: Fiery Angel in Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, Grand Opera House, York, March 25 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

FIERY Angel follow up November 2023’s visit of And Then There Were None with another Agatha Christie murder mystery directed by Lucy Bailey, this time with Michael Maloney on board for a “deliciously thrilling ride” as Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.

In Winter 1934, an avalanche stops The Orient Express dead in its tracks. Cue a murder. A train full of suspects. An impossible case. Trapped in the snow with a killer still on-board, can the world’s most famous detective crack the case before the train reaches its final destination?

Meanwhile, Wise Children’s world premiere of Emma Rice’s theatrical take on Alfred Hitchcock’s North By North West continues at York Theatre Royal until April 5. Box office: GOH, atgtickets.com/york; YTR, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Mark Simmonds in rehearsal for his role as Prospero in Black Sheep Theatre’s The Tempest at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Shakespeare debut of the week: Black Sheep Theatre in The Tempest, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 26 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AFTER making their mark with musical theatre productions, York company Black Sheep Productions branch out into Shakespeare territory under Matthew Peter Clare’s direction. “Prepare for The Tempest like you’ve never seen it before,” he says, promising magic, music and mayhem in a dark re-telling of the one with “a storm, a shipwreck and the torment of it all”, featuring Mark Simmonds as Prospero, Freya McIntosh as Miranda, Mikhail Lim as Gonzalo, Deathly Dark Tours guide, Kisskisskill singer Gemma-Louise Keane as Ariel, Meg Conway as Antonia and Josh Woodgate as Caliban.

“With a phenomenal cast, a live six-piece band, our production re-imagines Shakespeare’s tale of power, revenge, and redemption in a truly immersive and unforgettable way.” Box office:  tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Public Service Broadcasting: York Barbican debut on March 27

Past meets future in the present: Public Service Broadcasting, York Barbican, March 27, doors 7pm

PUBLIC Service Broadcasting make their York Barbican debut with  J. Willgoose, Esq on guitar, banjo, other stringed instruments, samples and electronic musical instruments; Wrigglesworth on drums, piano and electronic instruments; J F Abraham on flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums and vibraslap and Mr B on visuals and set design.

“Teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future” for more than a decade, the corduroy-wearing Londoners will select material from their five themed albums, 2013’s Inform – Educate – Entertain, 2015’s The Race For Space, 2017’s Every Valley, 2021’s Bright Magic and 2024’s The Last Flight. She Drew The Gun support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Laura Veirs: Art meets science via geology in her songs at The Crescent, York, on March 27

Folk gig of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents (CORRECT)present Laura Veirs, supported by Lucca Mae, The Crescent, York, March 27, doors 7pm

PORTLAND, Oregon, folk singer, songwriter, children’s author, artist, Midnight Lightning podcaster, Stanford University songwriting teacher and mother Laura Veirs draws on her 14 albums in her Crescent set. Growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she spent summers camping with her family, inspiring her songwriting as much as her fascination with the intersection of art and science from days of studying geology (and Mandarin Chinese) at Carleton College in rural Minnesota.

Her 25-year career has taken in collaborations with Neko Case and kd lang in case/lang/veirs, Sufjan Stevens, Jim James of My Morning Jacket and The Decemberists. Now she is working on new paintings, an instrumental guitar album and a book about creativity. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Freida Nipples: Baps & Buns is back at Bluebird Bakery

Burlesque show of the week: Freida Nipples presents Baps & Buns Burlesque, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, Bakery, March 28, doors 7pm for 8pm start

YORK’S award-winning queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, returns to Rise with the first Baps & Buns cabaret bill of 2025. On the menu at York’s regular burlesque night in a bakery will be a collection of sensational cabaret artists, fronted by Freida, of course.

Further Baps & Buns will be on the Rise on May 30, June 27, September 19 and December 13. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk.

Will Smith: Off to the seaside to perform at Scarborough Open Air Theatre in August

Gig announcement of the week: Will Smith, Based On A True Story Tour, TK Maxx Presents  Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 24

WILL Smith, the Grammy Award-winning American screen actor, entertainer and recording artist, will promote his first full-length album in 20 years, Based On A True Story, on his debut UK headline travels that will open on the Yorkshire coast.

Songs from his March 28 release will be complemented by such hits as Jiggy Wit It, Miami, and Summertime. “Yo UK, my first ever tour. You got to go get it. I’m on my way,” says Smith, 56. “That’s my airplane. Scarborough, Cardiff, Manchester, London, it’s going to be hot! I’m about to go to the airport. I’m leaving now!” Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

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Art Of Protest nature-inspired bench art and mural revealed ahead of Front Street celebration in Acomb on Saturday

Art Of Protest creative director Jeff Clark with Gemma Waygood-Senior, project manager for the Return Of The Arks project in Front Street, Acomb. All pictures: Jeff Clark

ART Of Protest has installed the Return Of The Oaks benches in Acomb, York, ahead of Saturday’s  mural and bench “reveal” and celebration event in Front Street and Cross Street.

That afternoon comes the opportunity to meet the artists, join in creative spray paint activities and see the unveiling of the mural from 4pm. Further celebrations will follow with a DJ set and community art show at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, in Acomb Road, from 6pm.

Eight wooden benches have been transformed, each painted with a leaf design from the woodland to reflect links to nature.

Return Of The Oaks mural artist Tom Jackson and Art Of Protest workshop leader Chloe Mae. “Both live within a mile of the mural, and this is the closest paint project to their homes they have ever done,” says Jeff Clark

This follows an extensive programme of engagement events and workshops, led by Chloe Mae  where Art of Protest gathered the views and ideas of the Acomb community and gained an understanding of what people would like to see.

Alongside the benches, Art of Protest has been working on the new mural that aims to capture the spirit and sense of community in Acomb.

This art project is part of the wider scheme to improve Front Street and create a more accessible, vibrant, people-friendly space. City of York Council received £570,000 of UK Shared Prosperity Funding to deliver these Phase 2 improvements, including new seating and planters, improved Blue Badge parking, wide and level pedestrian crossings, wayfinding signs and upgraded public loos.

The Oak bench from Art Of Protest’s Return Of The Oaks project in Front Street, Acomb

Councillor Katie Lomas, executive member with responsibility for Finance and Major Projects, said: “This is an incredibly exciting part of the project and it is great to see even more improvements take shape on Front Street.

“This scheme is funded through the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund and is helping to create a more accessible and attractive space for people to live, work, shop or visit.

“The newly painted benches are a very welcome addition and do a fantastic job of brightening up the area. The designs for both the artwork and wider Phase 2 improvements are based on significant engagement with the local community, so it will be great to be able to celebrate the progress with local people this weekend.

“I am very much looking forward to seeing the finished mural and would encourage those who live or spend time in Acomb to come along and get involved.”

Chloe Mae and Tom Jackson take advantage of Thursday’s sunny, dry weather to work on the Return Of The Oaks mural in Acomb

Art Of Protest creative director Jeff Clark said: “It was great to see the evolution of the project, taking the community on the journey and developing local talent through the Street Art Academy and artist Tom Jackson, Art Of Protest’s production manager and one half of the Static street art duo with Craig Evans. The feedback was inspirational and there is so much love and pride in the community.

“We are celebrating the return of local trees and a wonderful idea of each bench having a local leaf emblem, so visitors to the area can say ‘see you at the oak bench’.

“Each bench also has a carved-out leaf emblem so they are accessible and engaging. The return of the oaks is then incorporated into the mural design. We are so grateful to the Acomb community, the support and great ideas. Please come and celebrate as this is your hard work.”

Find more information about the Front Street improvement scheme at:  https://www.york.gov.uk/AcombFrontStreet.

Taking shape: Art Of Project workshop leader Chloe Mae, centre, working on the mural with Art Of Protest production manager and Static artist Tom Jackson and Sarah, from the Street Art Academy

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