Category: Exhibitions

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when honey infuses artworks. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 45, from The York Press

Nick Walters’ Honey Dipper, on show in The Wisdom Of The Desert at the Red Tower, York

FROM Jane Asher as The Queen to honey artworks at the Red Tower, the Aesthetica Film Festival to Neon Crypt’s ghost story, Charles Hutchinson highlights more November gems.

Pop-up art show of the week: Navigators Art presents No Spinoza & Nick Walters, The Wisdom Of The Desert, The Red Tower, Foss Islands Road, York, today, 6pm to 9pm; tomorrow, 1pm to 4pm

GROUNDBREAKING multi-media York artists No Spinoza (Thomas Pearson) and Nick Walters share an interest in the immersive, provocative, multi-sensory experience of film, sound and sculpture, now on show in York’s historic Red Tower.

No Spinoza presents Jupiter’s Great Hurricane (2026), a cycle of experimental music and film that broadly explores themes of temptation, progress and inheritance with references to desert spirituality. Walters’ Honey Dipper (2026) passes electrical current through honey to create mysterious and ever-changing textures of sound, while Ex-voto (2026) is a series of small sculptures set in niches in the tower walls that alludes to beeswax votive statues placed in shrines as a gesture of gratitude and devotion.

Victorian Penny Farthing Rider lit up at Ghosts After Dark at York Museum Gardens. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

Sculpture trail of the week: York BID and York Museums Trust present Ghosts After Dark, York Museum Gardens, today and tomorrow, 5.30pm to 9.30pm; timed entry slots until 8pm

IN the wake of Ghosts In The Gardens’ free public art trail of 70 wire-mesh sculptures across 32 city-centre locations, Ghosts After Dark brings storytelling, light, smoke and sound to York Museum Gardens, plus King’s Manor courtyard and Library Lawn, the Anglian Tower, Edible Wood, Artists’ Garden, St Olave’s churchyard and the area beside York Art Gallery.

Representing a fascinating person, creature or story connected to York’s history, each sculpture was made by York creative agency Unconventional Design. A new immersive experience (the Witch Encounter) and the inaugural night market are further highlights of the 90-minute trail. Bookings: www.theyorkbid.com/ghosts-after-dark/.

The VR Lab at the National Centre for Early Music, in Walmgate, at the Aesthetica Film Festival

Festival of the week: Aesthetica Film Festival, York, until tomorrow

IN its 16th year under the artistic directorship of Cherie Federico, Aesthetica Film Festival welcomes filmmakers, games developers and virtual reality experts from around the world. The five-day programme comprises  screenings, VR & games labs, a podcasting lounge, industry masterclasses and workshops, networking sessions, live performances, pitching opportunities, the New Music Stage and much more. For the full programme and tickets, go to asff.co.uk.

Gareth Malone: Inviting you to Sing-A-Long-A-Gareth’s afternoon of movie songs

Instant choir of the week: Sing-A-Long-A-Gareth At The Movies, Grand Opera House, York, today, 4pm

LIGHTS, camera, sing! Choirmaster supreme Gareth Malone returns with a new tour show in an immersive celebration of the greatest songs from the movies and the joy of singing together. Please note, there is a maximum of ten tickets per household and seats in higher levels or with restricted views may not have full visibility of the on-stage screen. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Gipsy Kings by Andre Reyes: Championing flamenco music at the Grand Opera House, York

Flamenco gig of the week: The Gipsy Kings by Andre Reyes present Viva El Arie, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

THE Gipsy Kings  by André Reyes transcend musical borders with their flamenco music and rumba. Led by Gipsy Kings co-founder Andre Reyes, the family project combines the band’s original essence with a renewed energy.

Together with his son and nephews, Reyes still conquers the world’s most prestigious stages after three decades. His dedication celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the gypsy community while ensuring this music continues to resonate with new generations. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Ellie Mackenzie in a montage for Oddsocks Productions’ Motherhood

Maternal matters of the week: Oddsocks Productions in Motherhood, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

REGULAR visitors to the JoRo, Matlock company Oddsocks Productions present an amusing and moving look at the bizarre and downright unbelievable aspects of raising children while running a family business in Motherhood. Actress and writer Elli Mackenzie explores the highs and lows, the frustrations and joys of being a working parent alongside her husband Andy, an orangutan and a giant woodlouse. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Laura Main as The Dresser and Jane Asher as The Queen in Daisy Goodwin’s play By Royal Appointment, on tour at York Theatre Royal

Regal drama of the week: By Royal Appointment, York Theatre Royal, November 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2pm Wednesday & Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

THE late Queen Elizabeth II had one way of expressing what she really thought –through her wardrobe. Daisy Goodwin’s funny, poignant and celebratory By Royal Appointment takes a behind-the-scenes peek into the world of our most popular monarch and the image she presented to the world.

Here, The Queen (played by Jane Asher) is uninterested in fashion. Instead, her look is managed by her Designer (David Robb), her Milliner (Matthew Cottle) and most powerful of all, her Dresser (Laura Main), a working-class girl who goes from advising Her Majesty on the colour of her lipsticks to the real power behind the throne. Like all royal favourites, however, the Dresser is living on borrowed time. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Michael Cornell, left, Laura Castle, Laura McKeller and Jamie McKeller in Neon Crypt’s production of 2:22 A Ghost Story at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Supernatural thriller of the week: Neon Crypt in 2:22 A Ghost Story, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AFTER two visits to the Grand Opera House, Uncanny and The Battersea Poltergeist ghost storyteller Danny Robins’s West End smash 2:22 A Ghost Story falls into the welcoming hands of York spook specialists Neon Crypt, who will stage the modern-day horror show in traverse – with seating to either side of the stage – for the first time. “The audience are a part of the story. There is nowhere to escape,” forewarns director Jamie McKeller.

Jenny (Laura McKeller) believes her new home is haunted, but husband Sam (Jamie McKeller) is having none of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren (Laura Castle) and new partner Ben (Michael Cornell). Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and ever closer, so they vow to stay up until 2:22am…and only then will they know. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk/.

Chris Ramsey: Here, Man, in York on November 12 with the last few tickets still available

Comedy gig of the week: Chris Ramsey, Here, Man!, York Barbican, November 12, 7.30pm

IN response to overwhelming demand (mainly from wife Rosie who is desperate to get him out of the house), South Shields comedian and podcaster Chris Ramsey is on the road this month after selling out his March travels.  

You may have seen him on TV on The Chris & Rosie Ramsey Show, Strictly Come Dancing and Taskmaster or presenting Children In Need or heard him co-hosting his weekly marital podcast, Shagged. Married. Annoyed, with the long-suffering Rosie. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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York author Tom Wilson tells story of alcoholic recovery in intrepid debut book

York author Tom Wilson holding a copy of his first book, The Intrepid Odyssey Of A Salford Alcoholic

YORK playwright, poet, TV scriptwriter, musician, artist, outreach worker and teacher Tom Wilson has written his first book, The Intrepid Odyssey Of A Salford Alcoholic, part one of his How To Relapse And Die double bill.

Let Tom introduce himself, “I’m a recovering alcoholic in the 12-step fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. I’ve been sober now coming up to 38 years.

“I’ve lived here in York for just over 20 years now and I’m so glad I came here. It’s a wonderful place for artists such as myself to garner inspiration and to find opportunities to express themselves.

“My biography covers a lot of my Salford childhood and the more recent years covering the first 25 years of my recovery in the rooms of AA.”

One of 11 children, from whom only nine survived the poverty cull, in his early school days Tom was bullied relentlessly until he went to secondary school, where he became a notorious and disruptive “pain in the a**e” for teachers.

“I was constantly fighting, swearing, smoking and causing trouble most of the time while involved in truancy, vandalism and petty crime,” he says. “Early futile jobs led to extreme frustration and increasing dependence on drink and drugs and further forays into serious criminal behaviour.”

The back and front cover artwork for Tom Wilson’s The Intrepid Odyssey Of A Salford Alcoholic

Tom’s drinking, self-destructive attitude and immature belligerence raised his marriage to the ground and his now added drug indulgences soon took him into jail.

“Then a road accident left me with a serious disability after being run over on Christmas Day! I then formed a band, The Parody, which absconded to London when Manchester was an apathetic ghost town,” he says.

“London eventually provided me with a harrowing rock bottom after the demise of the band in 1985. I was at the ‘jumping off place’.”

Roll forward to late-2005, when Tom moved to York. “I began to think more and more about getting out of London but I really didn’t want to go back to Salford as it had become incredibly feral with the drug wars and even more deadly with the burgeoning gun culture,” he says.

“I think I managed to get out of London just in time, looking back. York opened up a lot of new vistas and challenges for me. I’ve done another four plays, two of which I wrote. I‘ve had three successful art exhibitions, all for good charitable causes, I must stress – people from the Ukraine living in York; Medical Aid For Palestinians; MIND and the Haiti earthquake foundation.”

Tom Wilson at the launch of his exhibition at St Bede’s Pastoral Centre with York Central MP Rachael Maskell in September 2022

Tom continues: “I’ve made around half a dozen short films and I’ve written a feature film about my sister Christine. I’ve done a little teaching since settling in York and I’ve worked at the council as a drug and alcohol strategy advisory role.

“I’ve retired from full-time work and decided to take Mark Herbert (This is England and  Adolescence) at his word and write a book just to send a copy to ‘him’ in particular. The original title originated from a kind of comedy sketch I’d been working on a few years earlier called (very tongue in cheek) ‘How To Relapse And Die’.”

Tom used this as the starting point for the book’s title when contacting a publisher, i2i Publishing, in Manchester. “They were recommended to me by two dear friends,  both great writers: Alan Franks, formerly of The Times and Simon Van Booy, who I knew from Dartington College of Arts,” he says.

“They liked the concept of me telling my true life story but also with an emphasis on my drinking and debauchery but also on my cataclysmic fall from grace and subsequent recovery and resurrection, for want of a better word.

“As I’d never written a book before, only standard plays on A4 paper, I started to write like fury once I’d started and then when I got to something like page 480, I submitted it to the publishers, only to be told it was far too long. After long discussions with the powers that be, we decided to split the manuscript in half, thus producing not one but two books!”

In 1991, Tom had a poem published called The Intrepid Sylph. “I’ve always liked the word ‘intrepid’, especially when it’s attributed to an alcoholic’s journey. So I thought also of various word searches that would dredge up good traffic. Then I came up with The Intrepid Odyssey Of A Salford Alcoholic,” he says.

Tom Wilson with his artworks at his City Screen Picturehouse exhibition

“I thought it had a certain ring and a cachet to it. So under the banner of ‘How to relapse and die’, part one, The Intrepid Odyssey Of A Salford Alcoholic. Part two will be called ‘The Gift Of Desperation’, which is the term we use in the fellowship to describe every alcoholic’s moment of heartfelt surrender and it invokes a kind of a spiritual awakening.

“The first book deals with my making it to my first ever A.A. meeting and the second picks up from the previous 38 years of sobriety and recovery.”

Tom wrote his story with “a lot of humour and a kind of flippant attitude”. “But, believe me, there’s a strong serious undercurrent and a powerful message for the souls that are still suffering who may not know there’s a way up and out of this maelstrom,” he says.

“There are a lot of light-hearted japes and some intriguing and zany memoirs but it also carries a vitally important message for those who may need hope and some guidance; it’s all in there.

“I’m hoping that the books serves to entertain and enthral the non-addict and the non-alcoholic but should anyone with those insidious tendencies read it, they may find something in the book more valuable than just entertainment and an old ‘sot’s’ nostalgic romp.”

The Intrepid Odyssey Of A Salford Alcoholic, by Tom Wilson, published by https://i2ipublishing.co.uk/, is on sale on Amazon and at waterstones.com and foyles.co.uk.

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Ghosts After Dark takes over York Museum Gardens for five nights of spectral sculptures, storytellers and pop-up stalls

Norman Carpenter Up Ladder, one of 70 wire-mesh ghost sculptures featured in Ghosts After Dark in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

YORK’s ghosts are gathering in York Museum Gardens this week for five nights of captivating storytelling and after-dark adventure, orchestrated by York BID and York Museums Trust.

Running from last night to Sunday, Ghosts After Dark sees all 70 wire-mesh sculptures from York BID’s city-wide 2026 Ghosts In The Gardens trail being assembled in one setting, giving visitors the chance to see the ghosts and the gardens in a “completely different light”.

Ghosts After Dark first came to York Museum Gardens in 2024, bringing together 46 sculptures. Two years on, the event has expanded beyond the main Museum Gardens into historic spaces, not only King’s Manor courtyard and Library Lawn, but also taking in the Anglian Tower, Edible Wood, Artists’ Garden, St Olave’s Churchyard and the area beside York Art Gallery.

Lit atmospherically among the trees, ruins and hidden corners of the gardens, more ghost sculptures than ever are being joined by as many as eight live storytellers, telling stories every 15 minutes to the accompaniment of sound and smoke.

Victorian Penny Farthing Rider in Ghosts After Dark. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

Among them are Mad Alice, from the Bloody Tour of York, with her stories of the Executioner, Judge, Tudor Lady and Saxon Monk at the Abbot’s House, King’s Manor, and Dr Dorian and Davina Deathly, from Deathly Dark Tours, uncovering the haunted history behind the Stone Mason, Saxon Monk, Nun and Butcher in front of St Mary’s Abbey ruins.

Meet Guy Fawkes, from York Dungeon, on his trailer at The Plot; the Doomsayer, from York Dungeon too, with her tales of the plague-infested streets of 1551 York, in the Undercroft, and the Wild Man of The Woods, exploring the lore of the Fox, Falcon, Cat and Bear in Beast’s Corner.

Step into Viking York for Norse storytellers from Jorvik Viking Centre to share sagas of fearless warriors, mighty gods and epic voyages in the Gloomy Woods setting.

In addition to 24 ghost sculptures new to Ghosts After Dark (including ten new to this year’s Ghosts In The Gardens) and two gardens new to the event, an immersive Witch Encounter has been introduced too that “may include jump scares”.

Bear in the wood at Ghosts After Dark. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

In The Cell, you will find the restless Isabella Billington, York’s most infamous Witch, from York Dungeon, on her last night before her execution for murder. Official records state that she and her husband crucified her mother in Pocklington, duly offering a calf and cockerel as a burnt sacrifice.

The event brochure forewarns: “Please be aware: all the stories you will hear tonight are based on real history. Some may be exaggerated, embellished, or quite gruesome. Not all talks are suitable for young children – if in doubt, please ask the storyteller.”

Look out too for the event’s first night market, featuring suitably themed pop-up stalls around the gardens and outside  the Yorkshire Museum, including Isla Coole‘s Horrifically Good Books (newly opened in Goodramgate) and, more tenuously, Socktopus’s sock store (which seemed to be stretching things a tad)!

The Potions Cauldron, Villains Rum, Poetry Pharmacy and Braithwaite Gallery are taking part too, along with Ye Olde York Dungeon Spook Shop at The Cell, Mad Alice’s Curiosity Shop at King’s Manor and the Jorvik stall at Midgard. Oh, and what’s that queue at the Observatory? Ah, yes, the ever-busy York Ghost Merchants are selling exclusive ghosts anew.

Edwardian Builder With Lunch at Ghosts After Dark. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

York BID’s operations manager, Carl Alsop, says:“There’s something really special about experiencing York Museum Gardens after dark and this year, visitors will have more to discover than ever.

“We’ve taken everything people loved about the first Ghosts After Dark and made it bigger. All 70 ghosts will be gathered together across an expanded route, with atmospheric lighting, fog, live storytelling, interactive artwork and plenty of surprises hiding in the darkness.

“The event brings this year’s free Ghosts In The Gardens trail to a brilliant crescendo, giving people the chance to see the sculptures all together in some of York’s most historic spaces. We want people to make an evening of it: explore the ghosts, visit the night market and enjoy the city’s shops, restaurants, cafés and bars while they’re here.”

Jocelyn Palmer, senior events manager at York Museums Trust, says: “We are delighted to be working with York BID to bring back Ghosts After Dark to York Museums Gardens. The ghosts are a well-loved part of the city’s autumnal calendar, and we’re delighted to be hosting them all together again for this series of evening events.

“It is wonderful to have a rich seasonal programme across York, and particularly in the Museum Gardens, to bring a little light, and perhaps some spooky sights, to the autumn evenings.” 

Elizabethan School Boy With Catapult at Ghosts After Dark. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

Ghosts After Dark runs from 5.30pm to 9.30pm each evening, with timed entry slots available for every 20 minutes until last admission at 8pm. Visitors should allow approximately 90 minutes to uncover the full experience.

Tickets are on sale £10 for adults and £2 for children at www.theyorkbid.com/ghosts-after-dark/. Timed admission must be booked in advance.

AMONG the 70 sculptures are: Edwardian Rail Signaller; Norman Carpenter Up Ladder; Victorian Lamplighter; Bear; Long Duck; Musician With Fiddle; Victorian Newsboy With Newspaper; Stuart Nurse With Syringe; Mouse; Cat Sleeping; Bat Sleeping; Victorian Beekeeper;  Tudor Executioner; Victorian Penny Farthing Rider; Edwardian Builder With Lunch; Georgian Butcher Emptying Slop Bucket; Fox; Squirrel and Saxon Monk Praying.

Did you know?

THE translucent, narrow-gauge wire-mesh ghost sculptures for Ghosts In The Gardens and Ghosts After Dark are crafted by York creative agency Unconventional Design.

St Mary’s Abbey ruins bathed in light for Ghosts After Dark. In the foreground is one of the robin bird boxes on show in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 45, from Gazette & Herald

Isabel Azar’s Clare in rehearsal for Black Treacle Theatre’s Poor Clare at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Jim Paterson

FROM the 16th Aesthetica Film Festival to a nocturnal ghost sculpture trail, Strictly stars after hours in Vegas to punk poet Dr John Cooper Clarke, Charles Hutchinson says yes to November events.

Life-changing story of the week: Black Treacle Theatre in Poor Clare, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

THE lives of the young St Clare and St Francis of Assisi are the subject of American playwright Chiara Atik’s comedy Poor Clare, presented in York for the first time by Black Treacle Theatre, directed by Jim Paterson.

Noblewoman Clare (Isabel Azar) is set for marriage to a rich aristocrat and a life of wealth and privilege in 13th century Assisi, but then she meets Francis (PJ Gregan), whose strong faith and commitment to rejecting the established order and serving the poor makes her look at her life in a new way. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ghosts After Dark: Taking over York Museum Gardens for five nights from November 4

Sculpture trail of the week: York BID and York Museums Trust present Ghosts After Dark, York Museum Gardens, today to Sunday, 5.30pm to 9.30pm; timed entry slots until 8pm

AFTER the Ghosts In The Gardens free public art trail of 70 wire-mesh sculptures – including ten new ones – across 32 city-centre locations concluded last Sunday, Ghosts After Dark takes over for five atmospheric nights of nights of live storytelling, light, smoke and sound next week in the Museum Gardens, plus King’s Manor courtyard and Library Lawn, the Anglian Tower, Edible Wood, Artists’ Garden, St Olave’s churchyard and the area beside York Art Gallery.

Representing a fascinating person, creature or story connected to York’s history, each sculpture was made by York creative agency Unconventional Design. A new interactive experience and the inaugural night market will be further highlights of the 90-minute trail. Bookings: www.theyorkbid.com/ghosts-after-dark/.

Heading for the Aesthetica Film Festival in York

Festival of the week: Aesthetica Film Festival, York, today to Sunday

IN its 16th year under the artistic directorship of Cherie Federico, Aesthetica Film Festival welcomes filmmakers, games developers and virtual reality experts from around the world. The five-day programme comprises  screenings, VR & games labs, a podcasting lounge, industry masterclasses and workshops, networking sessions, live performances, pitching opportunities, the New Music Stage and much more. For the full programme and tickets, go to asff.co.uk.

Strictly Come Dancing stars Pasha Kovalev, Brendan Cole, Vincent Simone, Ian Waite and James Jordan head to York Barbican in Legends in Vegas: After Hours. Picture: Ryan Howard

From Strictly to Sin City dance show of the week: The Legends in Vegas: After Hours, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

THE Legends, alias Strictly alumnae Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite, reunite for a third tour, Vegas: After Hours, where the dance floor never sleeps as they bring the spirit of Sin City to life through breathtaking routines and nonstop entertainment, set to a soundtrack inspired by the greatest Las Vegas performers of all time. 

Think neon lights and electric nights, roulette tables spinning, glamorous showgirls, dazzling casinos, desert sunsets, lavish pool parties, whirlwind weddings, iconic hotels and world-class entertainment, captured in dance. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Julie Russell Wilson’s Miss Marple, centre, leading the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company cast in Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced

Murder mystery of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

WHEN a mysterious announcement appears in the local newspaper, stating the date and time a murder will take place in a quiet village home, curiosity and disbelief turn quickly to alarm: it is chillingly clear that the threat is all too real. 

What follows is a classic Agatha Christie puzzle of mixed motives, concealed identities and long-held secrets for the sharp-witted Miss Marple (Julie Russell Wilson) to unravel in Alex Schofield’s fundraising production in aid of the JoRo.

“Christie was a master of surprise who understood that audiences love being challenged,” says Schofield. “Then there’s the incredible premise. Someone reveals that a murder is going to take place, but not who the victim will be. From that moment on, anyone could be the victim and anyone could be the killer.

“There’s also something wonderful about hearing a collective gasp from the audience when their expectations have been turned upside down.”Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

An artwork from Kate Brown’s Among exhibition at Helmsley Arts Centre

Exhibition of the week: Kate Brown, Among, Helmsley Arts Centre, until February 26 2027

NORTH Yorkshire artist Kate Brown gathers new and existing works on paper that reflect on her engagement with place through lived experience, observation and making, “inviting a slower way of looking, encouraging reflection on our place within the environments we inhabit and the relationships that shape them”.

Using ink, pigment, copper leaf and natural materials, she creates layered compositions that evolve through an intuitive process of accumulation, erasure and response. Rather than depicting specific landscapes, the works emerge from direct encounters with the natural world and from the ongoing use of mind maps and rhizomatic diagrams as tools for thinking, connecting and understanding. Organic forms, shifting marks and delicate surfaces suggest patterns of growth, movement and relationship, alluding to seasonal change and the transient nature of experience.

Special guest Heather Findlay performing with the John Hackett Band

Ryedale gig of the week: John Hackett Band with special guest Heather Findlay, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

YORK singer-songwriter Heather Findlay will be the special guest of John Hackett Band, the prog-rock band led by Steve Hackett’s brother, whose second album, Red Institution, was released last year.

From Hackett’s pastoral flute textures, through the funky interplay between drummer Duncan Parsons and bassist Jeremy Richardson, to the intricacies of Nick Fletcher’s lead guitar, the group embraces pop, rock, jazz, classical, funk and all stops in-between, from tender ballads to hair-raising instrumental workouts. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Dr John Cooper Clarke: Showcasing new poetry collection Have It at the Grand Opera House, York

Punk poet of the week: Dr John Cooper Clarke, Grand Opera House, York, Friday, doors 7pm

SALFORD sage Dr John Cooper Clarke’s anarchic punk poetry and no-nonsense approach to his work has led to a career spanning cultures, art forms and continents, drawing audiences from clubs to arenas. On his 20-date tour, Cooper Clarke, 77, promotes his new collection, Have It, the follow-up to 2024’s What, as well as performing fan favourites with his trademark machine-gun delivery. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Shires’ Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes: Playing songs from Bonfire the night after Bonfire Night at York Barbican

Country gig of the week: The Shires, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

BRITISH country duo The Shires – Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes – promote their sixth studio album, July 3’s Bonfire, on their 12-date UK tour, their first with a full band in four years. Expect new songs celebrating togetherness, escapism and positivity, complemented by fan favourites. Kaylee Bell supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Seann Walsh: Find out why “This Is Torture” at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Jiksaw

York comedy gig of the week: Seann Walsh, This Is Torture, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 8pm

I’M A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! 2022 series survivor Seann Walsh has decided to name his latest stand-up tour show after the phrase he says the most: “This Is Torture”.  The dishevelled Camden comedian brings his signature blend of chaos and charm to York to put himself through an anxiety filled-hour. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Karl Bushby: The Man Who Walked The World

In Focus: Norwell Lapley Productions present Karl Busby: The Man Who Walked The World, York Theatre Royal, November 22, 6.30pm

KARL Bushby, the Yorkshireman who walked the world, will set out to York Theatre Royal from his Hull home on November 22 to tell his extraordinary story.

Adventurer Karl, now 57, set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, in 1998 with the almost unimaginable ambition of walking all the way home to East Yorkshire.

He made himself two promises:  he would use no transport to advance his journey and he would not return home until he had completed the entire expedition on foot. After 28 years, he was welcomed home to Hull on November 2.

Along the way, Karl has crossed some of the world’s most hostile landscapes, faced life-threatening dangers and endured immense physical and psychological challenges, pushing himself to limits few could comprehend.

From navigating the perilous Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia, to tackling the frozen expanse of the Bering Strait, between Russian and Alaska, his journey is a remarkable testament to courage, resilience and the indomitable human spirit.

Now, York audiences are invited to step inside an adventure spanning continents, cultures and generations. Through first-hand storytelling, Karl will reveal the experiences behind the headlines:  the moments when survival hung in the balance, the obstacles that threatened to derail his mission, the sacrifices demanded by a life on the move and the extraordinary determination that kept him heading towards home. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Remember, remember to visit The Gunpowder Plot: York’s Untold Story at Bar Convent as Bonfire Night crackles anew

Bar Convent special collections manager Dr Hannah Thomas with the ‘Middleton Vestment’ at the centre of new Gunpowder Plot research. Alongside is York artist Sarah Hall Baqai’s sculpture A Man For All Treasons. Picture: Simon Dew

NEW research into the Gunpowder Plot has uncovered previously unexplored motives behind the involvement of Guy Fawkes and his fellow York conspirators. Find out more at The Gunpowder Plot: York’s Untold Story exhibition at the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre in York.

The infamous failed plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605 sparked the Bonfire Night tradition that lights up skies across Great Britain on November 5 each year.

On show until December 5, the exhibition at the Bar Convent, in Blossom Street, is  an exploration of the context, conspiracy and consequences surrounding that fateful day.

Gunpowder Plotters Guy Fawkes, Christopher and John Wright and Thomas Percy were all either from York or connected to the city. What was happening in York at that time? What led this group of young men to plan such an extreme act to overthrow King James I? What connects these men?

Research into the ‘Middleton Vestment’, a priest’s vestment donated to the convent by the Middleton family of Ilkley, has confirmed that it once belonged to the family of Margaret Clitherow, whose maiden name was Middleton.

Historians have theorised that Guy Fawkes and Christopher and John Wright may have witnessed, or certainly been aware of, Margaret Clitherow’s execution in York in 1586.

Accused of harbouring Catholic priests, but refusing to plead guilty to the charges, she was pressed to death at the Toolbooth on Ouse Bridge on March 25. Stripped to a linen shift, she was laid out with a sharp stone under her back, whereupon her own front door was placed over her and loaded with up to eight  hundredweight of stones. The Bar Convent houses a sacred relic of her hand.

Further research has uncovered that the connection between Margaret Clitherow’s family and the Gunpowder Plotters was likely to be far closer than anyone realised.

Bar Convent special collections manager and research fellow Dr Hannah Thomas says: “Guy Fawkes, John and Christopher Wright were pupils at St Peter’s School in York. At the time of Margaret Clitherow’s death, Fawkes and Christopher Wright were 16, while John Wright was 18.

“Margaret Clitherow was accused of sheltering Catholic priests and was executed by pressing, which was exceptionally brutal, even by Elizabethan standards, and shocked the entire Catholic community.

“This alone would have had a profound effect on the plotters, but now imagine if they personally knew Margaret Clitherow. We believe this could very well be the case.”

“The ‘Middleton Vestment’ is likely to have belonged to Robert Middleton, and we now think it is quite likely that he was in fact Margaret Clitherow’s nephew. He was the same age as Guy Fawkes and living in York at the time. Additionally, both her stepson and son were close in age to Fawkes and the Wright brothers.”

Hannah continues: “Robert Middleton, along with Henry and William Clitherow, Margaret’s son and stepson, all joined the priesthood, and the details of their entrance records reveal that all three had received a high level of education as boys.

Special collections manager Dr Hannah Thomas Hannah Thomas holding the 15th century vestment that once belonged to a schoolfellow of the Gunpowder Plotters. In the foreground in the hidden chapel at Bar Convent is Sarah Hall Baqai’s sculpture A Man For All Seasons. Picture: Simon Dew

“At the time, the only place in York to receive an education of this standard was St Peter’s, a known Anglican School. Given that the school was small, with large numbers of children in mixed-age classrooms, these boys from local underground Catholic families would almost certainly have known each other and likely been friends due to the tight knit community their families were part of.

“Guy Fawkes’s contemporary, Robert Middleton, was executed for being a priest in 1601, just four years prior to the Gunpowder Plot, probably reinforcing Guy’s strong feelings against state-sanctioned persecution of Catholics, and perhaps encouraging him to start thinking about retaliation.

“Although very few official records survive from this period, through our extensive Catholic archives and knowledge of York Catholic networks through the post-reformation period, we have been able to fill these historical gaps.”

Dr Thomas has unfolded further fascinating connections and narratives too. On his journey to London from Edinburgh to claim the throne in 1603, King James I travelled through Yorkshire and even stayed with prominent Catholics, such as Sir William Ingleby at Ripley Castle, who was knighted in thanks for his hospitality.

Francis Ingleby, Sir William Ingleby’s uncle, was, in fact, the priest that Margaret Clitherow was hiding and he was executed following the raid on her house. Only months later, despite promises of religious tolerance, King James brought in new and even stricter laws against Catholics.

Interestingly, Sir William Ingleby is also the first cousin of plotters Robert and Thomas Winter, and, additionally, is a second cousin of Thomas Gascoigne, who lent the money to Sr Frances Bedingfield to purchase the house that became the Bar Convent. Conclusion: all these stories are connected in an intricate web.

The Gunpowder Plot: York’s Untold Story, Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, York, until December 5, open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm; last admission to exhibition at 4pm. Bookings: barconvent.co.uk.

Special events at Bar Convent

The Gunpowder Plot: After Hours, November 3, 6pm, presented in partnership with York Dungeon

THIS is an evening to remember, remember as you uncover the real history behind Bonfire Night. Experience the Bar Convent after-hours, where you will gather by candlelight in the hidden chapel and come face-to-face with York’s most infamous son. Discover the man behind the barrels as Guy Fawkes awaits his fate in the final hour before his execution.

The evening continues in the exhibition with a retelling of one of the most dramatic events in British history. Set against the turbulent backdrop of post-Reformation York, explore the context, conspiracy and consequences of the event surrounding November 5 1605.

Through rare objects, new interpretation and storytelling, the exhibition reveals how the plot echoed across the country, left its mark on York, and shaped the lives of the courageous women who founded this house in its wake.
To book, go to barconvent.co.uk;alcoholic or soft drink included.

Lunchtime talk: The Gunpowder Crucifix, November 5, 1pm

DELVE deeper into the story behind Edward Oldcorne’s crucifix, the only surviving sacred object of the raids on Catholic properties after The Gunpowder Plot. Discover how and why its owner was hanged, drawn and quartered despite his innocence, how it came to be in the convent’s collections and more. Included in admission to the exhibition (barconvent.co.uk); allow 20 to 30 minutes.

The Gunpowder Plot Walking Trail

WALK in the footsteps of the Gunpowder Plotters on this fascinating self-guided trail through the historic streets of York. Visit key locations and iconic landmarks that give context to one of the most dramatic events in British history. Self-guided, free; more information at barconvent.co.uk.

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Levellers mark 35th anniversary of groundbreaking Levelling The Land album at sold-out York Barbican on Thursday

Levellers: Returning to York Barbican on Thursday. Picture: Steve Gullick

BRIGHTON folk-rockers Levellers are celebrating the 35th anniversary of landmark second album Levelling The Land with an 11-date autumn tour that visits the sold-out York Barbican on Thursday (29/10/2026).

Playing songs from the platinum seller, alongside further fan-favourites from their extensive catalogue, Levellers opened their travels in Köln, Germany, on October 16, coinciding with the original release date of 16/10/1991.

On the road until November 21, Levellers will be sure to perform the hit singles One Way, Fifteen Years and Far From Home, plus the incendiary Battle Of The Beanfield.

In fact, the set list for Holmfirth Picturedrome on October 21 featured all 11 Levelling The Land songs in track order, taking in The Game, Liberty Song, Riverflow, The Boatman, Sell Out, Another Man’s Cause and The Road, complemented by Hope St., a cover of The Devil Went Down To Georgia and Beautiful Day.

“We’re playing the album from start to finish, then coming back after a break to play some greatest hits,” says bass player Jeremy Cunningham. “That’s what people are expecting. I just think it’s the best way: give people what they want. It’s not rocket science! Come and see us again next year and it’ll be a different set.

“Usually we’re used to building things up, slowing things down, with peaks and troughs in a live show, but when you’re playing the whole album you can’t do smoke and mirrors because the audience know what’s coming next and they’re excited by that.

“On some of these shows, we’re also going to have a string section playing with us to beef up the really big tunes.” It is not known whether York Barbican will be one of those nights.

“I didn’t realise Levelling The Land would go on to have such significance as our most recognisable album,” says Levellers bassist Jeremy Cunningham (third from left). Picture: Steve Gullick

Looking back to the gestation of Levelling The Land, Jeremy says: “It was quite easy to make. We started writing it almost immediately after the first album [A Weapon Called The Word]. We wrote the first song, Liberty Song, then Alan [original bassist and mandolin player Alan Miles] left and Simon Friend joined, bringing some songs with him, like Battle Of The Beanfield, which was a particularly important to us.

“The album came quite quickly to us, which was remarkable since we were touring so much. In a couple of years’ time, in our 40th anniversary year, we’ll be doing 40 shows, but back in the day we were doing 100 shows a year.”

Jeremy recalls riding down to the sea front, listening to Levelling The Land as he cycled. “I thought , ‘wow, we’ve made a better album than the first one’, but I didn’t realise it would go on to have such significance as our most recognisable album,” he says.

During that summer of 1991, Levelling The Land redefined the UK’s musical landscape by providing the counter-cultural soundtrack for a society fed up with Thatcherite politics and the post-1980s, pre-grunge music scene. 

“I think it was a certain time and a certain place. It captured the zeitgeist of that time and place very well,” says Jeremy. “That’s why it did well, but now it sustains because it’s full of banging tunes  and the lyrics unfortunately still resonate as much as they did back then. If you write great tunes, they will last forever.”

Levellers took their name from a radical political movement in the English Civil War. “Back in Thatcher’s Britain, they were political times when you could still get a political song to number one,” says Jeremy. “People weren’t afraid to wear their heart on their sleeves and to declare their beliefs, whereas now they’re more timid.”

Levellers’ legacy runs deep, whether in contemporary folk music, grassroots political movements or the evolution of British festival culture, encapsulated in their Beautiful Days Festival, whose 23rd instalment in Escot Park, Devon featured Madness, Super Furry Animals and Levellers in August.

Two thirds of the band still live in Brighton, including Jeremy. “It’s hard to leave,” he says. “I moved here at 19 to go to art college and I never left.

Jeremy Cunningham’s artwork for Levellers’ frontman Mark Chadwick’s 2026 solo album Ouse Dragon

“I do all the band’s artwork; since the start I’ve done all the record covers and T-shirts – I’m doing some T-shirts for the tour. I’ve also done the cover for Mark’s solo album [Mark Chadwick’s Ouse Dragon, released on August 21]. The River Ouse runs through Lewes, where Mark lives, so it’s an album about his adopted home.”

This year too, Jeremy held an exhibition in Lewes, at the Star Brewery Gallery, where he showcased a year’s collection of artworks in Edge Of No Control, reflecting a journey back to health after a mental breakdown in September 2025, moving away from his gig posters and album sleeves for Levellers.

Now his focus is on the Levelling The Land tour, where Battle Of The Beanfield will ring out loudest once more. “That song tells of a piece of underground British history, which we told six years after it happened and were amazed that no-one had written about it in those six years, especially some of the underground punk and political groups that hadn’t touched it,” says Jeremy.

“But we did write it and got to commemorate the event as part of the underground folk history, and now it’s above ground as one of the big events of 1985.”  

Levellers, Levelling The Land 35th Anniversary Tour, at York Barbican, October 29, supported by Essex punk duo The Meffs; doors 7pm. SOLD OUT.

Did you know?

LEVELLERS last played York Barbican on March 9 2025 as the only Yorkshire date of their 17-date Levellers Collective acoustic tour with a ten-piece line-up.

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UFOs invade York Racecourse as Lincoln Lightfoot brightens Knavesmire pub beer garden with surrealist equine mural

York artist Lincoln Lightfoot stands by his racehorse alien abduction mural in the Knavesmire pub beer garden

THE racehorses have left the Knavesmire turf after the final meeting of the 2026 season, but now they are vanishing from Earth too in Lincoln Lightfoot’s new mural for The Knavesmire pub in Albemarle Road, South Bank, York.

 Lincoln has applied the protective coating to complete the large mural in the beer garden of a pub under new management, where Lincoln now has a studio above the pub.

“They’re hoping to draw in more people and hold more events, and I’m delighted to be playing my part, with hopefully everything I’ve got in storage going on show in the pub too,” says Lincoln, whose surrealist retro art depicts scenes reminiscent of 1950s and 1960s’ B-movie poster art in familiar northern locations, often in York.

“The new mural depicts several bewildered racehorses being abducted from the racecourse! I particularly like the first three horses, but I like each one for different reasons, catching their muscles against the rays of light thrown over the horses by the UFOs. I was trying to make them look like George Stubbs’s Whistlejacket, the painting that was once on show at York Art Gallery – though maybe one eye is still too big on one of them!

A close-up of the teeth in Lincoln Lightfoot’s equine mural at the Knavesmire pub

“I got a bit carried away with the teeth for the last two horses, spending quite a lot of time on them where they even became quite ‘cartoony’! I was thinking of Francis Bacon’s paintings, but obviously not as disturbing, but those teeth do add humour.”

Lincoln loves the scale of the mural, a work so large that to capture it all in a photograph he had to use a drone. “It definitely brightens the place, and there’s something about producing a large piece of work in such a short period of time that’s exciting for me. There’s skill in working to create a piece of that size when you first have to pen it out and block it,” he says.

“I used a mix of spray paint and masonry paint, mixing set colours and then sealing it with a graffiti-proof varnish, which will make it really shine in the sun.”   

Pub managers Tom Stubbs and Ollie Capaldi gave Lincoln free rein on the mural project. “They just wanted something to brighten up the beer garden, and I wanted to make something as colourful as possible for them, but I also thought I should do something  to fit the location, near the racecourse.

Wall eye: A racehorse caught in an alien spacecraft’s ray of light on the Knavesmire track in Lincoln Lightfoot’s mural

“My thinking is I want to people take photos of the mural to put on social media and then make people want to go racing because of the imagery. I like how murals make art accessible, bringing it to the people.”

Lincoln, by the way, has attended race days on Knavedsmire. “I used to go quite often, but weirdly, given it’s so convenient now I live so nearby. I haven’t gone as often,” he says.

He looks forward to using his pub studio. “I’m excited as I do want to work towards a new exhibition, creating plenty of new works, rather than a trickle, as I do feel people have seen a lot of my current work now,” says Lincoln.

“My plan with the drone is to use it to paint with the Doodle Grid method, using it to make photos for a new body of work of giant paintings of creatures in York. Hopefully, there’ll be many reasons I can use a drone for my art.”

Those new works will not however be featuring in the 2027 York Open Studios. Despite being a regular participant in recent years, Lincoln has not been selected for next April’s two weekends. Yes, you read that first here. A decision as bizarre as one of his paintings.

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No Spinoza and Nick Walters to exhibit The Wisdom Of The Desert at Red Tower in Navigators Art show on November 7 & 8

A poster for No Spinoza and Nick Walters’ exhibition The Wisdom Of The Desert

YORK arts collective Navigators Art will bring together two multi-media artists for The Wisdom Of The Desert, an exhibition of film, sound and sculpture in the historic Red Tower, Foss Islands Road, York, on November 7 and 8.

No Spinoza (Thomas Pearson) and Nick Walters share an interest in the symbolism of found materials and the mystical traditions of the wilderness. Assembling a range of new work, they will create an immersive, provocative, multi-sensory experience.

Honey has long been revered by ancient desert cultures as a life-giving substance, associated with ideas of rebirth and immortality. Famously, Saint John the Baptist is said to have survived alone on a diet of wild honey and locusts.

Nick Walters’ Honey Dipper: Passing electrical current through honey to create mysterious and ever-changing textures of sound

Walters’ Honey Dipper (2026) passes electrical current through the material to create mysterious and ever-changing textures of sound. Ex-voto (2026), a series of small sculptures set in niches in the tower walls, alludes to beeswax votive statues placed in shrines as a gesture of gratitude and devotion.

No Spinoza presents Jupiter’s Great Hurricane (2026), a cycle of experimental music and film that broadly explores themes of temptation, progress and inheritance. Various references are made to desert spirituality, including the words of Saint Anthony the Great, the father of Christian monasticism.

The work broadens out to consider blood, stars, sub-atomic particles and the geopolitical importance of oil. The videos accompany an album of music and a book of essays that will be available to buy at the exhibition.

Thomas Pearson aka No Spinoza

The work of north eastern artist Thomas Pearson (No Spinoza) spans music, poetry and film, linked by themes including folklore, industrial heritage and postmodernism in art and architecture. He exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, in 2018 and the National Poetry Library, Southbank Centre, London, in 2023 and created a large-scale solo poetry/sculpture installation in the marshland of RSPB Saltholme, Middlesbrough, in 2019.  (2019).

He is a widely published writer and was long-listed for the 2025 National Poetry Competition. His music has been featured on BBC Radio 6 Music and live in session on BBC Radio York.

York mixed-media artist Nick Walters combines recycled materials and found objects with technology to create interactive and immersive projects, installations and sculptures.

Nick Walters’ Ex-voto: Small sculptures set in niches in the tower walls, alluding to beeswax votive statues placed in shrines as a gesture of gratitude and devotion

His past exhibitions include HOPE: Shadow and Light (2023) in the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre chapel in York, in partnership with York arts charity New Visuality,  and Soundscaping (2026) at the National Centre for Early Music in York and at Greenbelt Festival.

Sited on York’s medieval City Walls to the east of the city centre, the Red Tower dates originally from 1490, although the present building was restored heavily in the Victorian period. Built as a watchtower, when the area to the north was a flooded lake known as the King’s Fishpool, today the tower is a charity-run community hub.

No Spinoza (Thomas Pearson) and Nick Walters present The Wisdom Of The Desert, The Red Tower, Foss Islands Road, York, November 7, 6pm to 9pm, and November 8, 1pm to 4pm.

Another poster for No Spinoza and Nick Walters’ exhibition at the Red Tower

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The Gunpowder Plot: York’s Untold Story goes beyond Guy Fawkes legend to explore post-Reformation life for English Catholics

The Gunpowder Plot plotters. Courtesy of National Portrait Gallery

THE Bar Convent Heritage Centre is retelling one of the most dramatic events in British history in The Gunpowder Plot: York’s Untold Story.

In the first exploration of its kind, in the city that many of the plot protagonists called home, the exhibition takes visitors beyond the legend of Guy Fawkes to discover the context of post-Reformation life for English Catholics, explore new narratives, see rare artefacts linked to the plot,all in the convent that was secretly established in the aftermath of the plot.

Through rare objects, new interpretation and story-telling, discover how the Gunpowder Plot echoed across the country, left its mark on York and shaped the lives of the courageous women who founded the Bar Convent in its wake in Blossom Street, York.

Dr Hannah Thomas, special collections manager at the Bar Convent, says: “Everyone has heard of Bonfire Night and Guy Fawkes and most will be familiar with the plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament on November 5 1605, but here at the Bar Convent we have curated a Gunpowder Plot experience unlike any other.

16th century engraving of Saint Margaret Clitherow’s death. Courtesy of Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, York

“Guy Fawkes, Christopher and John Wright and Thomas Percy: of the eight plotters, these four men were from York or were connected to the city. What was happening in York at that time and what were the links between these men?

“This is the first exhibition of the Gunpowder Plot to explore the wider context of Catholic life in York and the underground networks at the time. It is truly fascinating to discover connections between Margaret Clitherow and King James I and between Margaret Clitherow and Guy Fawkes; these stories have never been fully examined before.”

Hannah continues: “Through our fascinating collections, we are able to tell the story through rare original objects connected to local people, and to present this in the unique surroundings of a Catholic convent secretly established under new laws passed in reaction to the plot’s discovery.   

“To enhance the exhibition, we have also designed a new self-led walking trail across the city to key locations and iconic landmarks that give context to the plot and we will be hosting some special events for those looking to delve deeper.”

Special collections manager Dr Hannah Thomas holding Father Edward Oldcorne’s Crucifix. Picture: Frank Dwyer, courtesy of Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, York

Exhibition highlights

ENTIRE two-floor Bar Convent exhibition space transformed to tell York’s story of the Gunpowder Plot.

New re-display of Father Edward Oldcorne’s Gunpowder Crucifix, the only surviving object from the raids on all known Catholic houses following the plot. York born Edward Oldcorne was in school with the plotters Guy Fawkes, Christopher Wright and John Wright. Despite his innocence, he was hanged, drawn and quartered for being a priest.

Items linked to Margaret Clitherow on display, including a 16th century commemorative etching of Margaret Clitherow’s death; a 1650s handwritten biography; the Middleton Vestment that belonged to her relative, Father Robert Middleton, who was martyred in York in 1601, plus her sacred relic in the chapel.

Collection of post-Reformation objects used during secret Catholic Masses, including two altars, one disguised as a bed head and the other as a mantelpiece ornament; a priest’s vestment, designed to look like ribbons, and a chalice originally made in three separate pieces to be hidden easily in the event of a raid.

New research, including the discovery of connections between Margaret Clitherow and Guy Fawkes and between Margaret Clitherow and James I.

The chance to discover how the convent itself was designed strategically to hide its true purpose; from its position just outside York’s walls to a hidden chapel, an original priest’s hiding hole and nuns disguised as widows.

The Gunpowder Plot: York’s Untold Story, Context, Conspiracy, Consequence, on display at Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, York, until December 5. General admission applies, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm (last admission 4pm). Bookings: barconvent.co.uk.

Father Edward Oldcorne’s Crucifix at Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross, courtesy of Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, York

Further events

Museum Lates, Tuesday, November 3, from 6pm

After-hours access to The Gunpowder Plot: York’s Untold Story. Ticketed event, alcoholic or soft drink included. Tickets are on sale at barconvent.co.uk.

Lunchtime talk: The Gunpowder Crucifix, November 5, 1pm

Delve deeper into the story behind Edward Olcorne’s crucifix, the only survivor of the raids on Catholic properties after the Gunpowder Plot. Discover how and why its owner was hanged, drawn and quartered despite his innocence, how it came to be in the convent’s collections and more. Included in admission to the exhibition; allow 20 to 30 minutes.

Gunpowder Plot Walking Trail

Walk in the footsteps of the Gunpowder Plotters on this free self-guided trail through the historic streets of York. Visit key locations and iconic landmarks that give context to one of the most dramatic events in British history. More information at barconvent.co.uk. 

17th century handwritten biography of Saint Margaret Clitherow. Courtesy of Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, York

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 41, from Gazette & Herald

Tracy-Ann Oberman’s Geri Essendine and Seb Carrington’s David Stillington in Present Laughter. Picture: Simon Annand

FROM classic Coward in Present Laughter to Frayn’s funniest farce, Noises Off, Alan Carr’s work in progress to Joe Jackson’s hope and fury, Charles Hutchinson piles up the good stuff for the week ahead.

Coward classic of the week: Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Augusta Productions present Present Laughter, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

TRACY-ANN Oberman stars as hugely successful actress Geri Essendine – who has been 39 for the best part of a decade – in Lindsay Posner’s new touring production of Noel Coward’s celebrated portrayal of the temptations and pitfalls of theatrical celebrity. 

On the cusp of departing for a tour of Africa, Geri finds herself besieged by a bevy of would-be lovers, her long-suffering secretary, estranged husband and an obsessed young playwright. Will she ever disentangle herself from their tightening clutches and incessant demands? Then again, deep down, does she really want to? Box office: atgtickets.com/york. 

Pick Me Up Theatre cast members Pearl Mollison, left, Craig Kirby, Alexandra Mather, Andrew Isherwood, Helen Spencer, Adrian Cook and Mark Simmonds, under the withering eye of Rory Mulvihill, right, director of the play-within-the-play in Michael Frayn’s Noises Off

Slamming doors, falling trousers and flying sardines of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Noises Off, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

MICHAEL Frayn’s backstage farce Noises Off takes a wicked look at the follies of theatre folk, whose susceptibility to out-of-control egos, memory loss and passionate affairs turns every performance into a high-risk adventure.

This play-within-a-play captures a touring theatre troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. Robert Readman directs a stellar York cast of Helen Spencer, Andrew Isherwood, Alexandra Mather, Rory Mulvihill, Pearl Mollison, Mark Simmonds, Craig Kirby, Jessica Hardcastle and Adrian Cook. Box office:  01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Joe Jackson: Returning to York Barbican tonight

York gig of the week: Joe Jackson + Band, Hope And Fury Tour 2026, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm

JOE Jackson played York for only the second time at York Barbican on July 29 2022 as part of his Sing, You Sinners! Tour, having first shared a bill with Todd Rundgren and improvisational string quartet Ethel at the Grand Opera House in June 2005.

Now, the Portsmouth-raised singer, musician, songwriter, bandleader, producer, author and campaigner, 72, returns with his regular band to perform work from throughout his career and to showcase his 23rd studio album Hope And Fury, released in April. Conner Youngblood supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Avatar: The Last Airbender: Screening accompanied by live orchestra

Visual journey of the week: Avatar: The Last Airbender In Concert, 20th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm

The 20th Anniversary Tour of Avatar: The Last Airbender In Concert combines a live orchestral performance with a two-hour visual journey through fan-favourite moments from the animated series, shown on a full-size cinema screen. 

This special edition features new surprises, inviting fans to experience the story in a new light. Original dialogue and sound effects remain intact, while Emmy Award-winning composer Jeremy Zuckerman’s score is performed live, synchronised with the visuals. From taiko and erhu to strings and clarinets, the orchestra brings every moment to life, immersing you in the elemental world of Aang, Katara, Toph, Zuko and the rest of Team Avatar. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

An artwork by Angela Hall from the York Created exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, York

York exhibition of the week: York Created: Paint-Clay-Print-Collage From The Heart Of The City, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until November 14

YORK Created: Paint-Clay-Print-Collage From The Heart Of The City features a “collection of talented artists from across our fair city”. “Some have exhibited with us before, others are new to us,” says Pyramid Gallery manager Fiona Macfarlane. “All the works are for sale.”

Taking part are potters Danny Aitkin, Chiu-i Wu, Loretta Braganza, Ben Arnup, Emily Stubbs, Jessica Jenyns and Ruth King, painters Rory Barke, Carolyn Coles, Jill Tattersall, Ric Liptrot, Lesley Birch, Mick Leach, Lesley Shaw and Angela Hall and stained glass artist Helen Bower. Opening hours are 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday.

Tom Carradine & Lili Redman: Wartime music, merriment and memories at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

Festival of the week: Pickering 1940s Weekend, V For Victory, Johnny Victory, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm; Tom Carradine’s Wartime Songbook , Sunday, 7.30pm

JOHNNY Victory opens the Pickering 1940s weekend on Friday by heading back to the good old days to guide singalongs of vintage songs that helped to keep wartime morale high and brought us together. Johnny combines songs from music hall days, 1920s, 1930s and 1940s’ wartime hits and show tunes with a warm, cheeky humour.

On Sunday, moustachioed maestro Tom Carradine leads a joyous, toe-tapping celebration of the songs that kept Great Britain smiling through two World Wars in a nostalgic show packed with rousing classics, history, humour and stories behind the songs, such as the tragic tale of the Powell brothers who wrote Pack Up Your Troubles. Joining Tom will be cabaret songbird Lili Redman, his podcast co-host of The A To Z Of Wartime Song, to perform Gracie Fields, Vera Lynn and deliciously cheeky numbers. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Victoria Firth in Batty!: Exploration of “the wildness – as opposed to madness – of women” at Helmsley Arts Centre

Alternative coming-of-age story of the week: Victoria Firth in Batty!, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

WRITTEN and performed by Victoria Firth and directed by Natasha Holmes, Batty! is the story of a woman who fears she might be a witch: an ordinary woman stuck with an extraordinary shape-shifting companion, a wild thing. This curious twosome shares a disintegrating cottage in a forest on the cusp of another world that lies beyond responsibilities and social norms and where myths and magic are real. 

Featuring an original soundscape and live song, Batty! combines “the intimacy of private conversations, raucous stories, snorting humour, gay abandon and exquisite tenderness” in its exploration of “the wildness – as opposed to madness – of women and how our feral side can reconnect us to ourselves and our environment”. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Celya AB: Saturday Night Live UK writer on stage at Theatre@41

How to break free from shame, as advised by: Celya AB, We Must Stop Meeting Like This, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 8pm

HAVE you ever forensically over-thought your life choices? Are they all somehow connected to a passing comment your Spanish teacher made when you were 15? Has it made an impact on everything from your love life to your career? Stand-up comedian and Saturday Night Live UK writer Celya AB’s new show focuses on breaking free from shame and what ensues when you do. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk/.

The Paul Simon Songbook, performed by Alastair James and his seven-piece band at Helmsley Arts Centre

Tribute gig of the week: The Paul Simon Songbook, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

ALASTAIR James and his seven-piece band highlight the carefully crafted arrangements inspired by Paul Simon’s most iconic live and studio performances, featuring renditions of Mrs Robinson, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Scarborough Fair, Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover, Still Crazy After All These Years, Late In The Evening, You Can Call Me Al and Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Brodsky Quartet: Playing chamber concert at Helmsley Arts Centre on Sunday

Classical concert of the week: Brodsky Quartet, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2.30pm

SINCE forming in 1972 as the Cleveland Quartet in Middlesbrough, the Brodsky Quartet has performed more than 3,000 chamber music concerts on the major stages of the world and released 70-plus recordings.

The quartet’s name is taken from the Russian violinist Adolf Brodsky, himself a passionate chamber musician, and the 2026 line-up comprises Krysia Osostowicz and Ian Belton, violins, Paul Cassidy, viola, and Jacqueline Thomas, cello. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Alan Carr: Testing out new material in two gigs in one day at Pocklington Arts Centre

Comedy gigs of the week: Alan Carr, Work In Progress, Pocklington Arts Centre, Sunday, 3pm and 7.30pm

THE Celebrity Traitors 2026 winner, comedian, television presenter and quiz host Alan Carr is heading to Pocklington Arts Centre for a brace of “very special work-in-progress shows” ahead of his Have I Said Too Much? tour, when  he will play York Barbican on March 13 2027. Box office: Pocklington, pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; York, yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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