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What’s in store at UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO as York makes an exhibition of itself with games, film, VFX and design

UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO: A showcase for York’s creative industries

THE inaugural UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO – the first such exhibition in Great Britain – will celebrate the tenth anniversary of York’s global designation in the Guildhall from Thursday to Saturday.

Taking place within this week’s Aesthetica Short Film Festival, the EXPO is a “dynamic marketplace for innovation and cutting-edge ideas, showcasing the region’s thriving and growing creative sector by exhibiting the local organisations who are making a national and international impact.”

York is the only British UNESCO City of Media Arts, providing a global stage for film production, games development, VFX (visual effects), publishing and design.

The city’s creative industries are a major contributor to the local economy, driving job creation, tourism and investment, as will be highlighted in the EXPO, where entry is free to try out new projects, speak to creatives and see how York is to generating future opportunities in retail, hospitality, transport and services. 

Cherie Federico, director of Aesthetica Short Film Festival, says: “The UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO is one of the most exciting and enriching experiences to celebrate the UK’s creative industries.

“In our region, we are working on a global stage and the EXPO celebrates ten years of designation while also looking forward to how York can position itself as a national and international leader in the sector, creating jobs, driving inward investment and developing clear educational pathways.” 

Sarah Loftus, managing director of collaboration partner Make It York, says: “The creative arts and culture sectors, along with ten years of UNESCO designation, are some of the many reasons that make York such a wonderful place to both live and visit. To be able to showcase this with the EXPO, in the centre of the city, is very exciting.”

Consider the facts: the creative industries contribute £109 billion pounds to the UK economy annually and employ 2.3 million people. York is a leader in that economy,  as emphasised by its status as one of only 26 cities worldwide to be selected by UNESCO as a City of Media Arts, on a par with such influential locations as Austin, Texas, Sapporo, Japan, and Toronto, Canada.

Among York and North Yorkshire’s creative forces attending the EXPO will be Aesthetica; Art of Protest Gallery; Art Is My Career; Ay-Pe; Bright White; factual TV production company Button Down Productions; Creative Business Skills Academy; Last Maps Illustrations; film content production company Orillo Productions, Peel X; Pollen Studios; Pilot Theatre; Revolution Software; The Distance; visual effects specialist Viridian FX and  XR Stories.

In addition to connecting filmmakers, developers and screen executives attending this week’s film festival with businesses that deliver the services they need, the EXPO will support the next generation of talent by showcasing educational pathways and career progressions.  

Look out for the premiere of  the latest commissioned work by Middleton-in-Teesdale environmental artist Steve Messam in the Guildhall courtyard. Known for his large-scale temporary installations that merge architecture and the natural environment – such as his permanent installation in Wonderlab: The Bramall Gallery at the National Railway Museum and the Aesthetica Art Prize-nominated Portico on the front of York Art Gallery in 2022 – he has designed Lantern I as an exploration of space and interaction.   

Through its intricate play with light, the new work featuring 180 metres of festoon lights will transform the historic Guildhall setting into an immersive and ethereal environment.

The BBC will be filming Messam at the EXPO, in a focus on heritage and contemporary art, ahead of his joint exhibition in China with sculptor Sir Tony Cragg.

Cherie Federico has been the driving force behind the Reignite series of events in York focused on nurturing the future of the city’s creative industries. The sixth edition, Reignite VI: Culture Makes Places, will take place during the festival and EXPO, when York will be full of local, national and international attendees. 

Representatives from three UNESCO Cities of Media Arts – Braga (Portugal), Linz (Austria) and Oulu (Finland) – will share how they leverage culture to drive transformative change in their cities.

This forum will be a chance to discover how culture enhances economic development, creates jobs and offers skills and opportunities for young people, “fostering growth and innovation across the urban ecosystem”. 

The event will be opened by David Skaith, Mayor of the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority, and addressed by Cherie. Presentations from each city will explore their unique approaches, followed by a panel discussion.  

“I’ve been looking to raise the profile of the creative industries through the series of Reignite events, bringing all the different sectors together,” says Cherie. “We should use this UNESCO designation to elevate all of us, and with this year being the tenth anniversary of that designation we needed to celebrate that landmark and highlight the businesses of the future in York.

“That’s the purpose of the EXPO, where all are welcome to attend for free. To me, we should be focusing not on what there isn’t but what there is in York, and this is an opportunity for creative industries to make transformative changes.”

Cherie brings the positivity of New York – her home before settling in York 20 years ago – to her artistic pursuits. “If you beat yourself down, you’re going to be down. If you approach things with that mentality, you’re stuck in the past, but you have to give the creative industries the chance to rise because that attitude becomes infectious.

“People want things to change. This is a city that had nine million visitors in 2023; a city with history but modern culture too. We need to be living in a city that celebrates not just that cultural impact but the economic impact too because it boosts all sectors.”

Why will admission to the EXPO be free? “We want everyone in the city and beyond to be able to understand what it means to be a UNESCO City of Media Arts,” reasons Cherie. “This is the perfect time to highlight it, during an international film festival, when so many people will be coming to York already.”

For more details of the EXPO, head to: https://mediacityexpo.com/.

Aesthetica director Cherie Federico: Why UNESCO City of Media Arts status “positions York at the forefront of global creative discussions”

Cherie Federico

“YORK’S designation as a UNESCO City of Media Arts has profoundly impacted the city’s cultural and economic landscape, fostering a dynamic ecosystem where creativity, technology and education intersect.

“As an emerging sector, media arts is gaining momentum, creating pathways for future careers and educational opportunities. This designation not only attracts investment and talent but also positions York as a hub for digital innovation and creative industries, which benefits tourism, hospitality, retail and other sectors across the economy.

“Celebrating the tenth anniversary of York’s UNESCO designation marks a significant milestone, symbolising a decade of transformation driven by the media arts. Over these ten years, the designation has strengthened York’s global reputation, supporting local economic growth by driving job creation and developing crucial skills for the creative industries.

“The status encourages collaboration between cultural organisations, educational institutions and businesses, creating an environment where new ideas and projects can thrive. This collaborative culture is vital for retaining graduates and attracting skilled workers, making the city increasingly appealing to young talent and creatives from around the world.

“Additionally, the focus on media arts extends beyond economic impact, enhancing social cohesion and community involvement through cultural programming. Events, festivals and exhibitions celebrate new talent while promoting international collaboration, thus enriching York’s artistic landscape.

“The upcoming UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO, part of Reignite VI: Culture Makes Places, exemplifies this commitment to cultural exchange. Held at the Guildhall, the EXPO will showcase cutting-edge exhibits from the creative industries, which celebrates the sector’s potential by exploring how media arts contributes to sustainable urban transformation.

“As the event coincides with the BAFTA-Qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival, it positions York at the forefront of global creative discussions, drawing attention to the city’s evolving cultural scene.

“As a regional city, York recognises the need to operate on a national and international level to maximise the benefits of its UNESCO status. With over eight million visitors annually, the city is well positioned to reach beyond its borders, leveraging its unique offer — a blend of historic charm and modern creativity.”

Underscoring this ambition, Cherie says: “The economic potential of the creative sector on our city is phenomenal, and everyone benefits.

“The tenth anniversary celebrations, including Reignite VI and the UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO, are pivotal in showcasing how cultural programming can propel York’s ambitions forward, driving growth and innovation while fostering a sense of shared purpose and a forward-thinking city.

“By investing in media arts and embracing its UNESCO designation, York aims not only to maintain its status as a leading cultural destination but also to expand its influence globally, ensuring a prosperous and inclusive future for the city.

“These efforts will help York aspire to more than just a visitor destination, transforming it into a thriving centre for creativity, education and economic development that stands out on the world stage.”

Did you know?

IN 2023, the Aesthetica Short Film Festival welcomed more than 26,000 visitors, bringing a £2 million economic boost to York.

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Director Cherie Federico champions York as UNESCO City of Media Arts at the heart of 2024 Aesthetica Short Film Festival

Cherie Federico: Director of Aesthetica Short Film Festival

THE 2024 Aesthetica Short Film Festival takes over 15 venues in York from November 6 to 10, incorporating the UK’s first-ever UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO.

The festival brings together filmmakers, industry leaders and audiences from around the world for screenings and events as York is transformed into a global stage for screen culture, attracting thousands of attendees and participants from more than 60 countries.

“I’m incredibly excited to open the 14th edition of the BAFTA-Qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival in York, a city rich in history and culture,” says director Cherie Federico. “The festival supports York’s designation as a UNESCO City of Media Arts. It’s a celebration of film, new technologies, art and creativity, operating on both national and international levels. 

“We’re screening an expansive programme of 300 films across 12 genres from 60 countries and opening a Games Lab, VR Lab, countless panels and masterclasses, with some of the world’s leading talent arriving in York for the week. Aesthetica is an inclusive experience that invites everyone to participate, reinforcing York’s standing as a global hub for culture and media arts.”

In addition to the diverse film offerings, this year’s programme will showcase cutting-edge technologies with Virtual Reality (VR) and Gaming Labs, providing immersive experiences for both the curious and the tech-savvy. 

“The VR and Gaming Labs are joined up in a new technology hub at the Hospitium, a new venue for this year’s festival in York Museum Gardens,” says New Yorker Cherie, who has lived in York for 20 years.

“Only in York would you put the cutting edge of new technology in a 14th century building, such as a game from Aardman about Wallace and Gromit trying to go on holiday. We’ll also have a VR and gaming Happy Hour in Thor’s Tipi in the gardens.”

The poster for the 2024 Aesthetica Short Film Festival

Throughout the festival, audiences will have the opportunity to learn from top professionals in the film, television and digital media industries. “Guests from renowned organisations such as the New York Times, Tribeca Film Festival, Aardman, BBC Film, Ridley Scott Associates, and Framestore will share their expertise through 60 panels, workshops, and discussions,” says Cherie.

“We’re delighted that the New York Times is coming this year to check out what we’re doing as a festival and that Tribeca Film Festival will be here because they’ve heard that Aesthetica is the festival for finding new British talent.”

In addition, aspiring filmmakers and creatives can engage in practical workshops, including sessions on stop-motion animation, filmmaking, coding and games development for children.”

Sessions are designed to offer insights into the industry’s inner workings, with contributions from prestigious creatives shaping the future of screen culture.

Among those hosting masterclasses will be Julian Foddy, from Industrial Light & Magic, who will highlight how the studio behind Star Wars has crafted iconic cinematic worlds; Nowhere Boy and Back To Black screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh, discussing his approach to storytelling and the art of screenwriting, and Ubisoft, creators of Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR, exploring the challenges of adapting storytelling for virtual reality platforms.

Abubakar Salim, actor and voice talent from Raised by Wolves and Assassin’s Creed: Origins, will take a deep dive into character development and voice acting and representatives from Ridley Scott Associates, founded by the legendary director of Blade Runner and Alien, will lead a session on documentary filmmaking and practical tips for film development.

A further festival highlight will be Aestheticax Audible’sThe Listening Pitch, a “cinematic exploration of the unheard” that funds documentaries that reveal how listening helps us to understand new points of view. 

UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO: Part of the 2024 Aesthetica Short Film Festival

On November 9, at City Screen Picturehouse, the festival will premiere 2024’s winning films, Liberty Smith’s Greensound and Ornella Mutoni’s The Things We Don’t Say, complemented by Old Lesbians and Speed Of Sound, winners from previous years. 

This year marks the tenth anniversary of York’s designation as a UNESCO City of Media Arts, a milestone that the film festival will mark with a series of events that highlight the city’s dynamic role in the global creative industries.

The UNESCO EXPO will bring together leading media arts cities from across Europe, including Braga (Portugal), Linz (Austria), and Oulu (Finland), who will showcase how their designation as UNESCO Cities of Media Arts has driven cultural investment and spurred creative opportunities.

“The EXPO promises to be an invaluable platform for cross-cultural exchange, collaboration and innovation in the media arts space,” says Cherie.

“I’ve been looking to raise the profile of the creative industries through a series of Reignite events in York, bringing all the different sectors together. We should use this UNESCO designation to elevate all of us, and with this year being the tenth anniversary of that designation we needed to celebrate that landmark and highlight the businesses of the future in York.

“The question is, how do we establish a thriving creative industry with an educational pathway, and how do we make this a city for a cutting-edge media arts industry? That’s why we’re putting on the EXPO, an exhibition with free entry to highlight York businesses that are operating on a national and international level, to make people aware of the film, visual effects, gaming, VR and experiential design work already going on in the city.

“York’s UNESCO City of Media Arts designation has solidified the city’s position as a national and international leader in the creative industries. Over the past decade, York has become a vibrant hub for digital and media innovation, attracting significant investments and fostering a thriving creative community.”

For the full 2024 festival programme and to book tickets, head to: asff.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York & beyond when ghosts light up gardens & dogs can be spotted. Hutch’s List No. 46, from The Press

Skylights: York band headline York Barbican for the first time tonight

FROM  Skylights to Ghosts After Dark, a fiesta of film to a musical dog show, Charles Hutchinson spots plenty to light up these November nights.

York gig of the week: Skylights, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm

ANTHEMIC York indie band Skylights play their biggest home-city gig to date this weekend with support from Serotones and Pennine Suite.

Guitarist Turnbull Smith says: ‘We’re absolutely over the moon to be headlining the Barbican. It’s always been a dream of ours to play here. So to headline will be the perfect way to finish a great year. Thanks to everyone for the support. It means the world and we’ll see you all there.” Box office update: Standing tickets still available at ticketmaster.co.uk.

Rob Rouse: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, tonight

Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, Rob Rouse, Peter Brush, Faizan Shan and Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm

PEAK District comedian, television regular, Upstart Crow actor and self-help podcaster Rob Rouse, who trained as a geography teacher at the University of Sheffield, makes a rare York appearance with his hyperactive, loveable brand  of comedy.

Harrogate Comedian of the Year 2012 Peter Brush combines a slight, bespectacled frame and scruffy hair with quirky one-liners and original material, delivered in an amusingly awkward fashion. Manchester comic Faizan Shah’s material makes light of growing up in an immigrant household with the mental health challenges it brings. Organiser Damion Larkin hosts as ever. Box office: 01904 612940 or lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

Artist CJP with his work The Majestic Oak at Art Of Protest Gallery, York

Exhibition of the week: From Little Acorns Grow Mighty Hopes: An Exhibition of Hand-drawn Natural Wonders, Art of Protest Gallery, Walmgate, York, until November 16

ART Of Protest is the first gallery to show CJP’s work The Majestic Oak in an exhibition of original and rare limited-edition artwork. Look out for the Art Of Protest York Special Edition, only available to be ordered until November 16, featuring the River Ouse-dwelling Tansy Beetle, an elusive insect featured on a resplendent mural near York railway station.

“This is an amazing opportunity to own a truly unique celebration of British fauna with a very special York twist,” says gallery owner Craig Humble. “CJP will add a Tansy Beetle to each piece, along with the gold leafing of the branches.”

Pride And Prejudice * (*Sort Of): Making merry mayhem with Jane Austen’s novel at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Mihaela Bodlovic

Theatrical high spirits of the week: Pride And Prejudice* (*Sort Of), York Theatre Royal, November 4 to 9, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

MEN, money and microphones will be fought over in Pride And Prejudice* (*Sort Of), the audacious retelling of a certain Jane Austen novel, where the stakes couldn’t be higher when it comes to romance but it’s party time, so expect the all-female cast to deliver such emotionally turbulent pop gems as Young Hearts Run Free, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and You’re So Vain.

Writer Isobel McArthur directs this new production of her West End hit, Olivier Award winner for best comedy and Emerging Talent Award winner in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, now featuring University of York alumna Georgia Firth in the cast. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

On the spot: 101 Dalmatians The Musical takes up canine residence at the Grand Opera House from Tuesday. Picture: Johan Persson

Dog show of the week: 101 Dalmatians The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, November 5 to 9, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

KYM Marsh’s Cruella De Vil leads the cast for this musical tour of Dodie Smith’s canine caper 101 Dalmatians. Written by Douglas Hodge (music and lyrics) and Johnny McKnight (book), from a stage adaptation by Zinnie Harris, the show is re-imagined from the 2022 production at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London. 

When fashionista Cruella De Vil plots to swipe all the Dalmatian puppies in town to create her fabulous new fur coat, trouble lies ahead for Pongo and Perdi and their litter of tail-wagging young pups in a story brought to stage life with puppetry, choreography, humorous songs and, yes, puppies. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. 

3 Missing 10 Hours, directed by Fanni Fazakas, showing in the Animation programme at Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2024

York festival of the week: Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York city centre, November 6 to 10, and UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO, Guildhall, York, November 7 to 9

THE BAFTA-Qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival returns for its 14th year under the direction of Cherie Federico, this time integrating the tenth anniversary of York’s designation as Great Britain’s only UNESCO City of Media Arts. Fifteen venues will play host to 300 film screenings in 12 genres, Virtual Realty and Gaming labs, plus 60 panels, workshops and discussions. For the full programme and tickets, head to asff.co.uk.

The UNESCO EXPO will showcase the region’s creative sector, working in film production, games development, VFX (visual effects), publishing and design, with the chance to try out new projects and speak to creatives. Entry to the Guildhall is free.

Ghosts After Dark: New nocturnal complement to the Ghosts In The Gardens installation in York Museum Gardens

Nocturnal event of the week: Ghosts After Dark, York Museums Gardens, November 7 to 10, 6.30pm to 9.30pm; last entry, 8.30pm

YORK Museums Trust and the York BID present the inaugural Ghosts After Dark, showcasing York’s rich tapestry of historical figures with light, sound and storytellers for four nights only.

Ticketholders will have the  exclusive chance to experience York Museum Gardens like never before, by choosing their own path to explore 46 ghostly sculptures, hidden around the gardens and lit dynamically against an atmospheric background of smoke and sound. Box office: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/ghosts-after-dark/.

Rag’n’Bone Man: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer

Gig announcements of the week: TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, July 6, and Rag’n’Bone Man, July 11 2025

“I THINK I’ve got the best reggae band in the world,” says UB40 legend Ali Campbell, who last played Scarborough OAT in 2021. “They are all seasoned musicians, who have spent all their lives in professional bands, and I feel so confident with them.” Support acts will be Bitty McLean and Pato Banton.

Triple BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award winner Rag’n’Bone Man, alias Rory Graham,  will follow up his 2023 Scarborough OAT show with a return next summer in the wake of his third album, What Do You Believe In? entering the charts at number three last Friday. His special guest will be Elles Bailey. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.

Show announcement of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17 2025

Gary Oldman reflecting on his first steps in professional theatre in the York Theatre Royal dressing rooms on his March visit

OSCAR winner Gary Oldman will return to York Theatre Royal, where he began his career as a pantomime cat, to direct himself in Krapp’s Last Tape next spring: his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.

The April 14 to May 17 2025 production of Samuel Beckett’s one-act monodrama was set in motion when Slow Horses star Oldman paid a visit to the St Leonard’s Palace theatre in March, when he met chief executive Paul Crewes.

“When Gary visited us at the beginning of the year, it was fascinating hearing him recount stories of his time as a young man, in his first professional role on the York Theatre Royal stage.,” says Paul.

“In that context when we started to explore ideas, we realised Krapp’s Last Tape was the perfect project. I am very happy that audiences will have this unique opportunity to see Gary Oldman return to our stage in this brand new production.”

Making plans: Actor and director Gary Oldman in discussion with York Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes in the York Theatre Royal main house auditorium

Ticket prices start at £25, with priority booking for the York Theatre Royal Director’s Circle opening on November 6, YTR Members’ priority booking from November 11 and public booking on November 16, all from 1pm. To become a member and access priority booking, head to: https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/support-us/.

After graduating from Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, Londoner Oldman started out in the repertory ranks at York Theatre Royal in 1979 in such plays as Privates On Parade and She Stoops To Conquer and playing the Cat in Berwick Kaler’s third York pantomime, Dick Whittington, that Christmas.

Dame Berwick later told the Guardian in an interview in 2018: “Gary has gone on to become one of our greatest screen actors but I’m afraid he was a bit of a lightweight when it came to pantomime.

“He kept fainting inside the costume. On at least three occasions I had to turn to the audience and say, ‘Oh dear, boys and girls, I think the poor pussy cat has gone to sleep’!”

Gary Oldman as the Cat with dame Berwick Kaler, centre, in the 1979-1980 York Theatre Royal pantomime Dick Whittington. Picture: York Theatre Royal

Oldman, now 66, posted on Instagram: “My professional public acting debut was on stage at the York Theatre Royal. York, for me, is the completion of a cycle. It is the ‘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’.”

After cutting his teeth in York, New Cross-born Oldman went on to act at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, the Royal Court, London, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He then swapped theatre for film with break-our roles as Sid Vicious in Sid And Nancy (1986), Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1992) and Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).

He later played Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film franchise and Commissioner Jim Gordon in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, won the 2018 Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and is now starring as obnoxious MI5 boss Jackson Lamb in the latest Apple+ series of British spy thriller Slow Horses.

Gary Oldman (third from the left in hat and glasses) in Privates On Parade at York Theatre Royal in 1979: one of his first professional performances after graduating from Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, in Sidcup, Kent, with a BA in Acting. Picture: York Theatre Royal

Oldman has been considering going back to the stage for a long time. “I have never been far from the theatre and, in fact, have been discussing plays and my return to the theatre for nearly 30 years,” he posted.

What happens in Krapp’s Last Tape, Samuel Beckett at his most theatre of the absurd? Each year, on his birthday, Krapp records a new tape reflecting on the year gone by.

On his 69th birthday, Krapp, now a lonely man, is ready with a bottle of wine, a banana and his tape recorder. Listening back to a recording he made as a young man, Krapp must face the hopes of his past self. 

The melancholic, tragicomic role was premiered in 1958 by Patrick Magee and has been played by the likes of Albert Finney, Harold Pinter, John Hurt, Stephen Rea and Kenneth Allan Taylor, the long-running Nottingham Playhouse pantomime dame, writer and director, at York Theatre Royal in 2009.

Gary Oldman’s Cat in the 1979-1980 York Theatre Royal pantomime Dick Whittington. Picture: York Theatre Royal

Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989): the back story

IRISH writer, dramatist and poet, specialising in theatre of the absurd. Wrote in English and French. Principal works for the stage included Endgame, Krapp’s Last Tape and Waiting For Godot. Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

Gary Oldman: Further screen appearances

TINKER, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Academy Award and BAFTA nominations); Mank (Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations); Oppenheimer; The Book Of Eli; Meantime; The Firm;  Prick Up Your Ears; Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead; State Of Grace;  Romeo Is Bleeding; True Romance; Leon/The Professional; The Fifth Element; Immortal Beloved and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, among many others.

Worked with directors Stephen Frears, Oliver Stone, Frances Ford Coppola, Luc Besson, Alfonso Curon, Chris Nolan, Tony Scott, Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh, David Fincher and Paulo Sorrentino.

Did you know?

IN 1995 Gary Oldman and producing partner Douglas Urbanski founded a production company, producing Oldman’s screenwriting and directorial debut, Nil By Mouth, winner of nine majot awards from 17 nominations.

Selected to open the main competition for the 1997 50th Anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, where Kathy Burke won Best Actress. The same year, Oldman won Channel Four Director’s Prize at Edinburgh International Film Festival, British Academy Award (shared with Douglas Urbanski) for Best Film and BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.

In Focus: Other Lives Productions in How To Be Brave, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7.30pm, and on tour

Livy Potter as Katy, left, and Alice Rose Palmer as mum Natalie in Louise Beech’s How To Be Brave

ON March 19 1943, just after midnight, Merchant Seaman Colin Armitage’s cargo ship, the Lulworth Hill,  was torpedoed by an Italian Navy submarine in the South Atlantic. He scrambled aboard a life raft. Fifty days later HMS Rapid rescued him.

Colin was the grandfather of How To Be Brave playwright Louise Beech. Sixty-four years after his ordeal, Louise’s daughter, Katy, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. In order to distract her during insulin injections Louise began to tell the story of Colin’s bravery and determination to survive. 

The story inspiring ten-year-old Katy to be brave in the face of her diabetes is a true one. She has said that Grandad Colin’s experience made her determined to carry on when she wanted to give up and die: “If Grandad Colin can survive an ordeal like that, I can do anything. I can do these injections,” she said. And she has never faltered.

Director Kate Veysey with Rose’s seagull Gilbert

“We hope that by presenting this story we can inspired audiences in the East Riding and beyond,” says director Kate Veysey, a familiar name from both York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre and Next Door But One productions.

Scenes alternate between the life raft and Katy’s house in Hull as York actors Jacob Ward and Livy Potter take the roles of Colin Armitage and Rose (Katy, given a pseudonym), joined by Lex Stephenson as carpenter Ken Cooke, on the raft, Alice Rose Palmer as Natalie (alias mum Louise) and Alison Shaw as nurse Shelley. Age guidance: ten upwards (the show contains moderate bad language). Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Lex Stephenson, as Ken Cooke, left, and Jacob Ward, as Colin Armitage, in Other Lives Productions’ How To Be Brave
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Illustrator Ric Liptrot to launch York Past & Present calendar trip down memory lane

Illustrator Ric Liptrot sketching in the York plein air

YORK artist Ric Liptrot is launching his 2025 calendar, York Past And Present, at the end of October,

Based at PICA Studios, in Grape Lane, York, freelance illustrator Ric is “obsessed with York’s architecture” and is in high demand for projects relating to buildings, shop fronts and grounds in the city.

Next year’s calendar is a “gift of nostalgia”, exploring forgotten shops such as Fossgate Books and Ken Spelman’s Booksellers, Dave Dee’s Banana Warehouse and Bootham Crescent, the former home of York City FC, as well as present-day places, from The Cat’s Whiskers café to the York Nut Centre in Market Street.

Ric has produced work for Bettys Tearoom, St Michael le Belfrey and The Pig & Pastry café, creating drawings, prints and collages for his clients, who include the Guardian and The Big Issue.

Last year’s calendar, his own venture, was a celebration of York’s buildings and was so popular that he decided to launch a 2025 follow-up, but this time focusing more on the hidden past of York’s popular shops.

“I miss Fossgate Books, with its window packed full of books, and Ken Spelman’s treasure trove of old wooden panels housing all sorts of historic secrets,” says Ric.

Here Ric Liptrot discusses York past and present with CharlesHutchPress

The Banana Warehouse, illustration, by Ric Liptrot. Once home to FT Burley’s wholesale fruit merchants, then to “Dave Dee Shifts Things'” Aladdin’s Cave of second-hand goods, now only the 1925 facade will remain as the 168-bedroom Banana Warehouse Hotel rises in its stead

How would you describe your artistic style, Ric?

“My artistic style is representational, using drawings made from studying buildings in York. I like to create textures using collage and stencils, which I produce using paint rollers. I also use pen and ink for detail. 

“I use these techniques to bring out the characterful elements of shop windows, for example, signage and tiles.

“When I decide to create an image, I draw outside and study the windows and the building. Passers-by take an interest and I love to talk about what I’m doing.”

What makes York such a hot spot for artists to represent in paint/street art/whatever?

“I think it’s a mixture of characterful buildings with their wonky rooftops and intricate brickwork, as well as the history. The city is packed full of historic importance and stories. This helps artists to give more life to the artwork.”

In turn, what makes York so ideal to be represented in a calendar?

“We are lucky in York to have so many inspiring scenes to paint and draw. As well as fantastic independent businesses that I believe are very important to the local community and economy. There are not many places like York left in the UK. Cities are changing, York is one of few which still attracts a large number of visitors.” 

The cover artwork for Ric Liptrot’s 2025 calendar, York Past & Present

You describe yourself as “obsessed with York’s architecture”. In a city that hosts such events as York Residents Festival and York Unlocked, is one of the joys behind that obsession finding new architectural gems to depict?

“Absolutely! I’m still finding parts of York I’ve never noticed before. I find myself looking up at buildings and noticing the intricate detail, something I encourage others to do. It makes you really appreciate the city.”

Has any other city struck you in the same way?

“I love cities, maybe it’s because I grew up near Liverpool and Manchester. Edinburgh stands out as one of my favourites. It is such a beautiful city with its castle high up on the rock and the grand Georgian buildings of the New Town.”

York is ripe for nostalgia, both ancient and more recent. Discuss…

“There’s a huge amount of history in York, which attracts a lot of tourists year on year. When speaking to people, I hear so many stories of their fond memories of shops and places that no longer exist. The Banana Warehouse, for example, that armoured figure standing outside the door.

“A life-long York City FC fan got in touch with me to ask if I could draw Bootham Crescent before the club moved to their new stadium outside of York city centre [York Community Stadium, Monks Cross, Huntington]. It’s been such a popular illustration of mine as it evokes so many memories for fans. I love hearing their stories and seeing how much it means to them.”

The Perky Peacock cafe, at Barker Tower, North Street, York: Ric Liptrot’s illustration for September in his 2025 calendar

 Where were you born? Did it have an impact on your artistic work?

“I was born in Chester and grew up in Runcorn. During my foundation year on the outskirts of Liverpool, we would go and sit outside around the city. It’s where it all began for me, quietly sitting and taking in the cityscape. When I sit and draw outside, I lose myself in the drawing. I find it very calming, unless someone is watching me.” 

Why did you move to York?

“I moved to York two years after finishing my illustration degree at UCLAN [University of Central Lancashire] in Preston. My circumstances at the time brought me to the city but I’ve now lived here for 15 years.

“York was the perfect place for me to develop my drawing. I began by drawing a lot of the traditional pubs in York, which developed into drawing the independent shops and cafés too.” 

York artist Ric Liptrot with his plywood panels depicting central York, commissioned by York Conservation Trust for the entrance hall to its new offices at De Grey House, York

You are serving as York Conservation Trust’s artist in residence this year.  When does the work go on show?

“I was commissioned at the start of 2024. They wanted some artwork to be displayed in the entrance hall of their new offices at De Grey House. 

“We met a few times and developed an idea of painting on to five large plywood panels. Each panel depicts a quarter of central York – North, East, South and West – with a fifth concentrating on the central/cultural quarter, Exhibition Square and Museum Gardens.

“Each panel is a montage of the Trust’s buildings alongside other significant and iconic buildings and elements in those areas. I tried to used colour and texture to help represent the different periods of architecture in the city.

“I’ve been working on this exciting piece for six months, totally inspired by the history and stories of York. I’ve noticed so much more detail in the city stone, walls and windows. The King’s Manor has the smallest window in York and that image has entered into this commission.

“The final boards will be hung at the beginning of November 2024 and will be available for the public to see. We’ll be releasing limited-edition prints very soon.”

The Central York North panel from Ric Liptrot’s commission for York Conservation Trust, whose chief executive, Guy Bowyer, says: “We are delighted with the artwork Ric has produced for us. His five panels are an expressive, playful and an accurate take on the colours and textures of York’s historic streetscapes.
We are very much looking forward to installing them at De Grey House and will be very
pleased to welcome anyone that would like to see them in person” 

You have taken part in York Open Studios in the past. Will you be doing so in 2025?

“Unfortunately I haven’t been selected for 2025. However, I will be taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios on June 7, 8, 14 and 15 2025. We’ll be holding our annual festive open studio at PICA Studios [7 Grape Lane, York, YO1 7HU] on November 30 and December 1.”

How did you decide on the triptych of shields, cats and Bars for this year’s Last Drop Inn commission? 

“I had never painted such a large mural before, but the landlord was keen for me to give it a go. The brief was to create a blend of York’s iconic buildings.

Ric Liptrot with his central York panels for York Conservation Trust

“The idea came from a map, using the city ‘Bars’ at Bootham, Micklegate and Monk Bar. I then filled in the areas with other buildings and landmarks, including Clifford’s Tower, York Minster and Fairfax House. I wanted to add other elements, such as the crossed keys badge and cat figure, as those on important parts of the city and add character and intrigue. The design was inspired by an illustration of London by Edward Bawden.” 

Any more commissions coming up?

“Yes, I have a number of commissions lined up, including Silvarious, a jeweller on Petergate, and Heppni Bakeri on Swinegate.”

 Do you have a “day job” too?

“I work part-time on an organic vegetable farm in Strensall, Goodness Growing. I help to plant, weed and hoe the land, as well as harvest vegetables for packing into bags, which are delivered around York.”

Ric Liptrot’s York Past & Present 2025 calendar will be available from www.ricliptrot.bigcartel.com. Pre-order now, to be delivered/ready to collect by mid-end October 2024. “Yorkies can either collect from central York or I can deliver for free,” advises Ric. “Beyond York is £3 p&p.”

King’s Manor, Ric Liptrot’s October illustration for his 2025 calendar
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More Things To Do in York and beyond when seeking that lovely jubbly feeling. Hutch’s List No. 42, from The Press, York

Lethal tea maker: The Black Widow at York Dungeon

DEL Boy in a musical, a Dungeon murderess, a Greek teen tragedy and a top-Rankin Scottish detective are well worth investigating, advises Charles Hutchinson.   

New attraction of the week: The Black Widow, York Dungeon, Clifford Street, York, from today, from 10am

THIS Hallowe’en season’s new show at York Dungeon opens today. Be prepared to encounter the grim tale of Britain’s first female serial killer: Mary Ann Cotton.

A north easterner with a propensity for lacing tea with a drop of arsenic, the Black Widow was convicted of only one murder but is believed to have killed many others, including 11 of her 13 children, and three of her four husbands. Box office: thedungeons.com/york/tickets-passes/. Pre-booking is essential.

Jude Kelly: Striving for a gender-equal world in The WOW Show

The WOW factor: The WOW Show with Jude Kelly, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow, 7.30pm

WOMEN of the World founder, chief executive officer and theatre director Jude Kelly CBE was director of West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, from 1990 to 2002 and London’s Southbank Centre from 2006 to 2018 and set up the WOW Foundation charity in 2010 to achieve a gender-equal world.

In an evening of optimism, determination and laughter, she explores “our often exasperating and confusing journey towards gender equity, covering everything from money, sex, race, food, and ageing”. Expect personal anecdotes, guests and big ideas. “The message is: If you are a woman or you know a woman, please show up!” says Jude. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Sam Lupton: Playing Del Boy in Only Fools And Horses The Musical at the Grand Opera House, York

“Plonker” musical of the week: Only Fools And Horses The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, October 14 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

BASED on John Sullivan’s long-running BBC One series, his son Jim Sullivan and comedy treasure Paul Whitehouse’s West End hit, Only Fools And Horses The Musical, combines 20 songs with an ingenious script.

“Join us as we take a trip back in time to 1989, where it’s all kicking off in Peckham,” reads the 2024-25 tour invitation. “While the yuppie invasion of London is in full swing, love is in the air as Del Boy sets out on the rocky road to find his soul mate, Rodney and Cassandra prepare to say ‘I do’, and even Trigger is gearing up for a date (with a person!). Meanwhile, Boycie and Marlene give parenthood one final shot and Grandad takes stock of his life and decides the time has finally arrived to get his piles sorted.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Gray O’Brien in the role of Inspector John Rebus in Rebus: A Game Called Malice at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Nobby Clark

Thriller of the week: Rebus: A Game Called Malice, York Theatre Royal, October 15 to 19, 7.30pm; 2pm, Wednesday, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday

SCOTTISH crime writer Ian Rankin’s much-loved detective, John Rebus, takes to the stage in a new storyco-written with Simon Reade. Gray O’Brien, from Coronation Street, Casualty and Peak Practice, plays Rebus in a cast also featuring Abigail Thaw and Billy Hartman.

When a splendid Edinburgh mansion dinner party concludes with a murder mystery game, suddenly a murder needs to be solved. However, guests have secrets of their own. Among them is Inspector John Rebus, but is he Is playing an alternative game, one to which only he knows the rules? Rankin will attend the October 18 post-show discussion with the cast. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Chris Mooney and Helen Spencer: Playing lovers with opposite takes on their relationship in The Last Five Years at the NCEM, York. Picture: Simon Trow

Debut of the week: Wharfemede Productions & Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Last Five Years, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, October 17 to 19, 7.45pm

HELEN Spencer and Nick Sephton launch their new York company, Wharfemede Productions, in tandem with Black Sheep Theatre Productions, by staging The Last Five Years, Jason Robert Brown’s musical story of two New Yorkers, rising novelist Jamie Wellerstein and struggling actress Cathy Hiatt, who fall in and out of love over the course of five years.

Combining only two cast members, York Theatre scene luminaries Chris Mooney and Spencer, with a small band, expect an intimate and emotive evening of frank storytelling and gorgeous music. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/wharfemede-productions-ltd.

Alexander Flanagan-Wright in Helios, a modern take on an Ancient Greek myth, performed under the Great Hall dome at Castle Howard

Theatrical event of the week: Wright & Grainger in Helios, The Great Hall, Castle Howard, near York, October 17, 5pm and 7.30pm

A LAD lives halfway up an historic hill. A teenager is on a road trip to the city in a stolen car. A boy is driving a chariot, pulling the sun across the sky. In a play about the son of the god of the sun, Helios transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound round the winding roads of rural England and into the everyday living of a towering city.

“It’s a story about life, the invisible monuments we build to it, and the little things that leave big marks,” says writer-performer Alexander Flanagan-Wright, who presents his delicate tale with a tape-player beneath the Great Hall dome’s mural, painted by 18th century Venetian painter Antonio Pelligrini, whose depiction of the Fall of Phaeton was the thematic inspiration behind Helios. Box office: castlehoward.co.uk.

Squeeze: 50th anniversary celebrations at York Barbican

Recommended but sold out already: Squeeze, York Barbican, October 18, doors 7pm

DEPTFORD’S answer to The Beatles mark their 50th anniversary as Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook manage to Squeeze in hit after hit, like pulling musses from a shell. Don’t miss the support act, one Badly Drawn Boy.  

Strictly between us: Husband-and-wife dancers Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara look forward to A Night To Remember at York Barbican next June

Show announcement of the week: Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara: A Night To Remember, York Barbican, June 1 2025

STRICTLY Come Dancing favourites Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara – married since 2017 – will be touring next year with A Night To Remember, featuring an ensemble of “some of the UK’s very best dancers and singers”.

 Aljaž, partnering Tasha Ghouri in the 2024 series, and It takes Two presenter Janette will “perform stunning routines to an eclectic array of music”, spanning the Great American songbook through to modern-day classics, backed by their own big band, fronted by boogie- woogie star Tom Seal. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/aljaz-and-janette-a-night-to-remember.

In Focus: Black Treacle Theatre in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Oct 15 to 19

Superintendent Curry (Chris Pomfrett) and DI Daisy (Adam Sowter) are pushed to
the edge by The Maniac (Andrew Isherwood), when they are surprised in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. Picture: John Saunders

BENT police and politics come under fire in York company Black Treacle Theatre’s provocative production of Dario Fo’s uproarious farce Accidental Death Of An Anarchist next week.

In a new adaptation by Tom Basden, creator of Plebs and Here We Go, the setting is updated to the rotten state of present-day Britain.

The satirical play is set in a police station where a suspect has “accidentally” fallen to his death, but did he jump or was he pushed? As the police attempt to avoid yet another scandal, a mysterious imposter (the Maniac) is arrested and brought in for questioning.

Seizing the chance to put on a show, he leads the officers in an ever-more ridiculous reconstruction of their official account, exposing their cover-ups, corruption and (in)competence.

The original 1970 Italian farce by Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo and Franca Rame was based on the real-life case of an anarchist suspected of a bombing, who plunged to his death from a Milan police station in suspicious circumstances and was later exonerated. Now comes the British re-boot.

The Maniac (Andrew Isherwood) peruses the Anarchist’s case file as Inspector
Burton (Paul Osborne) interrupts him

Director Jim Paterson says: “I’m really excited to bring this new adaptation of one of my favourite plays to York. Dario Fo was a master of using comedy to talk about the social and political issues of the day – particularly state corruption and hypocrisy.

“What Tom Basden’s version does brilliantly is bring the plot bang up to date in both setting and references, taking in police scandals and political issues of recent years – as well as packing it full of hilariousjokes! It’s fast, furious and funny, and I can’t wait for opening night.”

Lead actor Andrew Isherwood says: “Playing the Maniac, I get the opportunity to play multiple roles, with a variety of voices, which is always fun for me as I really enjoy getting the chance to play around, have some fun and indulge a little bit, which I don’t normally get to express in the same show.

“I think audiences will get a real kick out of the bizarre nature of this show, with all its twists and turns and bitingly satirical elements woven in, all performed by a brilliantly talented cast!”

PC Joseph (Guy Wilson) attempts to keep a record of the increasingly complex story being spun in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. Picture: John Saunders

Black Treacle Theatre in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist,Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 15 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee.Box office:  https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. Running time: Two hours 15 minutes, including interval.  

In the cast will be: The Maniac – Andrew Isherwood; Inspector Burton – Paul Osborne; DI Daisy – Adam Sowter; PC Joseph – Guy Wilson; Superintendent – Chris Pomfrett; Fi Phelan/PC Jackson – Jess Murray.

Production team: Director, Jim Paterson; lighting designer, Adam Kirkwood; set designer, Richard Hampton; costume/props, Maggie Smales.

Did you know?

Black Treacle Theatre’s past productions were: Constellations (March 2022), Iphigenia In Splott (March 2023) and White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (November 2023), all at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.

Last Chance To See: Jack Ashton starring in Little Women at York Theatre Royal, today at 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Jack Ashton as Professor Bhaer in Little Women at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlotte Graham

STARRING in a much-loved television series can be a boon or a bother for an actor who becomes identified with a particular character. Directors may be reluctant to offer different sorts of role.

Happily, Jack Ashton, best known as the Reverend Tom Hereward in BBC One’s Sunday night staple Call The Midwife, has escaped being typecast. So much so that in York Theatre Royal’s production of Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age classic Little Women, he is playing not one but two very contrasting characters.

The link is that both are suitors of the titular Little Women – John Brooke and Professor Bhaer, the love interests for Meg and Jo March. Not that Jack downplays the problems of leaving Call The Midwife after five years as the vicar of Poplar in the series set in an East End Anglican convent in the late 1950s and 1960s.

“It was difficult, more difficult than I thought,” he admits. “It was hard for a few years for my agent to get me seen for something. If you’re known as a particular character, it can be hard to do something that’s opposite to that and challenge yourself, which is what you want to be as an actor.”

In the past Jack has said that Call The Midwife changed his life, a reference to becoming a father – of Wren, six, and Lark, two – through his relationship with co-star Helen George. “It was a lovely time in my life,” he says. So much so that the last time he acted in York, in Strangers On the Train at the Grand Opera House in March 2018, newly-born Wren came on tour with them.

Jack Ashton’s John Brooke and Ainy Medina’s Meg March in Little Women, adapted by Anne-Marie Casey, at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlotte Graham

Juliet Forster’s production of Little Women at York Theatre Royal, where he has performed since his early days as an actor, certainly offers the chance to do something different: two different characters in one show.

One of them, Professor Bhaer, requires a German accent, necessitating Jack to work with a voice coach.

He has not read Little Women, although he has seen Great Gerwig’s 2019 film version, and coincidentally has just finished working with Saoirse Ronan, who played burgeoning writer Jo March in the American movie.

While he has not worked previously with any of the Little Women cast members, he has done so with director Juliet Forster, York Theatre Royal’s creative director.

She directed him in productions that have punctuate his life, going from a young man fresh out of drama school in 2006 to present-day leading man, appearing in Twelfth Night and the Studio double bill of Escaping Alice and End Of Desire, as well as The Guinea Pig Club and The Homecoming under former artistic director Damain Cruden’s direction.

Jack Ashton rehearsing the role of Professor Bhaer in Little Women. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

York remains one of his favourite places. “It’s such a great city. I love coming back, it’s a no-brainer when that kind of offer, like Little Women, comes along,” says Jack.

“I have really good friends in York and I’ve befriended Rita and Paul, the original people on the digs list. I got so lucky because I stayed with them the first time and have continued to stay with them every time since.”

He is realistic about the pitfalls of being an actor. “Sometimes people think an actor’s life is quite glamorous. We just audition and audition, and sometimes people say ‘yes, we want you’. Most of the time they say, ‘no thank you very much’.”

He has several projects waiting to be seen, including Jonatan Etzler’s satirical comedy Bad Apples – the one with Saoirse Ronan – and a small role in Lockerbie, a Sky drama series about one man’s battle to learn the truth about the Pan Am Flight 103 bomb explosion over the Scottish town on December 21 1988. He continues to play Harry Chilcott in BBC Radio 4’s long-running series The Archers too.

Returning to the topic of Little Women, does he have any sisters? “Two older sisters,” he replies. “I can definitely relate to not being able to get a word in edgeways.”

Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

“We just audition and audition, and sometimes people say ‘yes, we want you’. Most of the time they say, ‘no thank you very much’,” says actor Jack Ashton

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York BID, York Cares & council Eco Team’s Big Community Challenge with York College students boosts gardens with murals

A job well done: the new murals in North Street Gardens, York

THE transformative mural project in North Street Gardens, York, is complete.

In a collaboration between York BID (Business Improvement District), York Cares and City of York Council’s Eco Team, the project has seen the installation of vibrant murals designed and painted by BA Graphic and Communication Design students from York College & University Centre.

Part of the 16th annual York Cares Big Community Challenge that ran from September 16 to today, the murals aim to breathe new life into the flood defence barriers, which had become heavily graffitied. 

Funded by the Nature Hubs Fund, the murals celebrate the history and evolution of North Street Gardens, while reflecting the values of the Big Community Challenge.

Before…

The murals feature bold, graphic designs, drawing inspiration from the plant life in the gardens and the shapes and patterns found in the nearby architecture.

The gardens, originally gifted to the city by Rowntree’s, have long served as a place of connection between nature and the community. It is now hoped the murals will bring this history to life by focusing on themes of environmental preservation and community spirit.

The York Cares Big Community Challenge is dedicated to changing landscapes through social and environmental initiatives. This year’s challenge saw more than 450 volunteers dedicating 1,362 hours of their time to improving green spaces.

The murals are a testament to this year’s focus on connecting people with nature, increasing biodiversity and fostering a sense of community. The murals also contribute to the growing York Mural Trail, an initiative by York BID to enhance the visitor experience by making the city’s public spaces more attractive and engaging.

After….One of the completed murals at North Street Gardens

Enthusing over the project, Rachel Bean, York BID’s project manager, said: “We are thrilled to collaborate with York Cares, the City of York Council’s Eco Team and York College and University Centre on this meaningful project.

“We want to say a big thank-you to the students for their beautiful murals, that not only elevate the space but also create a lasting cultural asset for the city, connecting people with nature and their community.”

 Holly Hennell, manager at York Cares, said:“The students’ designs have perfectly captured the environmental focus of the Big Community Challenge, incorporating themes of biodiversity, nature and community connection. The murals add colour and life to the gardens, and we hope will encourage more people to enjoy this tranquil green space in the centre of York.”

Monica Gabb, course leader at York College and University Centre, said: “We have relished this opportunity for the students to bring their digital designs to life in a new scale and medium. Working directly with a live client from start to finish builds so many skills and relationships for our students.

Another completed mural at North Street Gardens

“What a fantastic portfolio piece for them. Thank you so much to York BID, York Cares and the Eco Team for their continued support and opportunity for our Level 5 students.”

Did you know?

NORTH Street Gardens, York, is undergoing a broader £6,000 rejuvenation to improve the space for public use and biodiversity.

Did you know too?

THIS year is the 16th York Cares Big Community Challenge. Over the past month, more than 450 volunteers from 16 employers and both universities [University of York and York St John University] have volunteered for 1,362 hours to change landscapes, connecting communities in the north, south, east and west of York through nature.

York Cares has hosted 48 volunteering sessions across 33 sites working with 28 partners. During the month, volunteers have weeded, dug, raked, scythed, built a pond dipping platform and boardwalk, picked litter, sown 6kg of wildflower seeds and planted 17,800 plants and bulbs to improve the sites.

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Navigators Art to celebrate W H Auden in Co-Audenation night of spoken word, live music & performance art at The Basement

Navigators Art & Performance’s poster for Co-Audenation. W H Auden picture: George Cserna, 1956

YORK collective Navigators Art & Performance presents Co-Audenation: A Creative Exploration of W. H. Auden, a night of spoken word, live music and performance art, at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, on October 19.

“This is a revised and expanded version of our sold-out summer show for the York Festival of Ideas and York Civic Trust’s York Trailblazers sculpture trail project, for whom we researched and constructed one of the sculptures commemorating York’s unsung heroes,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen. “Our W. H. Auden tansy beetle sculpture can be seen outside City of York Council’s West Offices in Station Rise.”

All works in October 19’s 7pm to 10pm show are written or inspired and influenced by W. H. Auden, the “Picasso of modern poetry” born in Bootham, York, on February 21 1907.

Navigators Art & Performance’s tansy beetle sculpture of W. H. Auden for York Trailblazers at West Offices, Station Rise, York

“A leader of the British avant-garde at a time of cultural upheaval in Europe, Auden experimented ceaselessly with poetic form and subject matter,” says Richard. “Openly gay and defiantly anti-establishment, he was controversial and influential in his views on politics, morals, love, and religion.  His poem Funeral Blues was popularly featured in the film Four Weddings And A Funeral.”

Navigators Art’s inspiring line-up features award-winning and published Yorkshire writers and performers in a mixed-media event replete with songs and physical theatre, as well as poetry.

“Expect the unexpected!” says Richard. “An informal discussion will precede the main event from 6pm. All ticket holders are welcome to attend. The performance will begin at 7pm after a short break.”

Carrieanne Vivianette: Leeds performance artist

Taking part will be:

Anthony Vahni Capildeo: poet, professor and writer in residence at the University of York.

Antony Dunn: poet, dramatist and screenwriter.

Carrieanne Vivianette: performance artist and experimentalist from the creative hotlands of Leeds.

Elizabeth Chadwick Pywell: York poet, English/Drama tutor and co-host of Rise Up! at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb.

Ian Parks: Award-winning and widely published poet and translator; editor of Versions Of The North: Contemporary Yorkshire Poetry

Anthony Vahni Capildeo: poet, professor and writer in residence at the University of York

Jane Stockdale: Singer and multi-instrumentalist from beloved York alt. folk legends White Sail.

Janet Dean: Poet and novelist exploring contemporary themes through the prism of history.

JT Welsch: Exploratory musician and poet; lecturer in English and Creative Industries at University of York.

Richard Kitchen: Visual artist, poet and Navigators co-founder.

Plus contributions from York luminaries Alan Gillott, Hugh Bernays and others.

For full details and tickets, go to: https://bit.ly/nav-auden. “Advance booking is advised,” says Richard.

Antony Dunn: poet, dramatist and screenwriter
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More Things To Do in York & beyond when doors open and cabaret nights launch. Hutch’s List No. 41, from The Press, York

YORK unlocks for the weekend. Charles Hutchinson unlocks the door to multiple other delights too.

Festival of the week: York Unlocked 2024, today and tomorrow from 10am

IN its third year, York Unlocked welcomes residents and visitors to experience York’s architecture and open spaces with the chance to discover, explore and enjoy around 50 sites.

This year’s new addition is a children’s trail book; families can pick up a free copy from York Explore Library, All Saints’ Church, North Street, or The Guildhall. Full details of the participating locations, from Spark: York to City Screen Picturehouse, Terry’s Factory Clock Tower to Bishopthorpe Palace, Holgate Windmill to York Railway Station, can be found at york-unlocked.org.uk. Entry is free, including those requiring booking.

Rachel Croft: Heading back to York to play The Crescent

Return of the week: Black Deer Live in association with TalentBanq presents Rachel Croft Live, supported by Tom Sheldon Trio, The Crescent, York, tonight, doors 7.30pm

AFTER relocating to London almost three years ago, thunderous alt-rock singer-songwriter Rachel Croft returns to York for an explosive hometown show, backed by a full band.

Caffe Nero Artist of the Month in February 2024, she has performed at The O2 Arena Blue Room, Bush Hall and Camden Assembly in London, the Bitter End in New York and Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and such festivals as Cambridge Folk Festival, Secret Garden Party and Black Deer. Her cinematic songs have featured on Netflix, the BBC and in rotation in Tesco, Waterstones and Centre Parcs stores. Box office: thecrescentyork.com. 

Much more than stripping assets: York’s queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, hosts The Exhibionists in The Old Paint Shop

Cabaret night of the week: Freida Nipples presents…The Exhibitionists, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight, 8pm; Halloween Edition, October 26, 6pm and 9pm

YORK’S award-winning burlesque artiste Freida Nipples launches the Theatre Royal’s new Old Paint Shop cabaret season with some of her favourite fabulous performance artists from across Great Britain.

“From burlesque to drag and beyond, be sure to expect the unexpected,” she says. “Get ready to be dazzled, shocked and in awe. Only a few things are guaranteed: glamour, gags and giggles.” Tickets update: all three shows have sold out. For returns only, call 01904 623568.

Frankenstein (On A Budget): One man, one monster, one glorious dream at Friargate Theatre, York

“Comedy musical Hammer Horror homage you didn’t know you needed”: Frankenstein (On a Budget), Friargate Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm

ONE man, one monster, one glorious dream to singlehandedly tell the most famous cult horror story of all time on absolutely no budget whatsoever. What could possibly go wrong?  Inspired by Mary Shelley and Boris Karloff, Frankenstein (On a Budget) features one actor, some decidedly dodgy backdrops, new music, weather-based based puns, cardboard props, gore and flashing lights. 

Can the ill-fated doctor build his monstrous creation, play 25 characters, sing songs aplenty, attempt accents from across the world, perform a dance routine, and ultimately save the day in only 60 minutes? Find out tonight. Age guidance: 14 upwards. Box office: ridinglights.org/friargatetheatre.

The Shires: Playing York on intimate acoustic tour

Country gig of the week: The Shires: The Two Of Us Tour, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

GREAT Britain’s biggest country music export, The Shires, return to York on their intimate acoustic tour, where Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes play songs from 2015 debut, 2016’s My Universe, 2018’s Accidentally On Purpose, 2020’s Good Years and 2022’s 10 Year Plan.

The Shires have achieved three consecutive UK Top Three albums, four UK Country album chart toppers, more than 100 million streams, two gold-certified records and two CMA Awards, headlining the Royal Albert Hall too. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Aein Nasseri (Alland) and the CAPA College Chorus (Vox) in Red Ladder Theatre Company’s Sanctuary. Picture: Robling Photography

Play of the week: Red Ladder Theatre Company in Sanctuary, Selby Abbey, October 7, 7.30pm; Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, October 8, 7.30pm; Wesley Centre, Harrogate, October 12, 7.30pm

DIRECTED by new Red Ladder artistic director Cheryl Martin, this timely premiere by Sarah Woods and musician Boff Whalley tells the vital story of Alland, a young Iranian man who begs to be given sanctuary at St Mary’s Church in a northern town, sparking a community to react in all the ways each member believes to be right.

Featuring a chorus of Wakefield’s CAPA College students, Sanctuary mixes hard-hitting ideas with melodic tunes and harmonies, asking the question: do we want safety and freedom for only ourselves, or for us all? Box office: Selby, 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk; Hull, 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk; Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk.

Carrie Hope Fletcher: Love Letters in song form at York Barbican

Musical theatre revue of the week: Carrie Hope Fletcher, Love Letters, York Barbican, October 8, doors 7pm

WEST End musical theatre actress, author and vlogger Carrie Hope Fletcher explores all forms of love, from romantic to maternal, unrequited to obsessive, all told through a concert of musical theatre favourites, accompanied by specially written letters about each song by Carrie.

She is best known for playing Éponine and Fantine in Les Misérables, Veronica in Heathers, Wednesday in The Addams Family, Cinderella in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella on the London stage. Her special guest will be Bradley Jaden, her West End co-star in Les Miserables. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Ed Gamble: Not discussing hot dogs in Hot Diggity Dog at the Grand Opera House. Picture: Matt Crockett

Comedy gig of the week: Ed Gamble, Hot Diggity Dog, Grand Opera House, York, October 9, 7.30pm

ED Gamble is promising “all your classicGamble ranting, raving and spluttering, but he’s doing fine mentally. Promise”. After all, he co-hosts the award-winning podcast Off Menuwith James Acaster, is a judge on Great British Menu and Taskmaster champion, hosts Taskmaster The Podcast and The Traitors: Uncloaked and has his own special, Blood Sugar, available on Amazon Prime. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Not Gonna Lie: Fool(ish) Improv use audience true stories to improvise “unbelievable comedy”

Improv gig of the week: Fool(ish) Improv present Not Gonna Lie, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, October 10, 8pm

PAUL Birch and co will take the truth to task by using real stories from the audience to improvise “unbelievable comedy”. Not so much Who’s Line Is It Anyway but more Who’s Lie Is It Anyway, Fool(ish) welcome you to a playful night of joy, nonsense and completely making things up.

“Come confess and unburden yourselves of some silly secrets, tales of the office and childhood memories and we will shape them into surreal sketches and sensational scenes,” say the Yorkshire improvisers trained by the best in Chicago Long-Form improv. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Sharleen Spiteri: Leading Texas at Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer

Gig announcement of the week: Texas, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 26 2025

SCOTTISH band Texas, fronted as ever by Sharleen Spiteri, will return to Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the first time since July 2018 to showcase five decades of songs, from I Don’t Want A Lover, Say What You Want and Summer Son to Inner Smile, Mr Haze and Keep On Talking next summer. Irish rock band The Script are confirmed already for July 5. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk and ticketmaster.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York & beyond when going there and back for entertainment. Hutch’s List No. 36, from Gazette & Herald

The cover artwork for Michael Palin’s new book, in focus at the Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow

FROM a talkative traveller to a Californian Kate Bush tribute act, York’s weekend of open doors to a best-of-British musical revue, Charles Hutchinson seeks diverse cultural opportunities.

Globe-trotter of the week: Michael Palin, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

IN the words of Monty Python alumnus, actor, presenter and Yorkshireman Michael Palin: “In There And Back – The Diary Tour 2024, I’ll bring to life the fourth collection of my diaries and the first to be released for ten years.

“Lots of fun as I go through the Noughties, and some dark times too. I constantly surprise myself with the sheer amount I took on.” Tickets update: still available at atgtickets.com/york.

Baby Bushka: Delighting in the theatricality of Kate Bush’s songs at Pocklington Arts Centre

Tribute show of the week: Baby Bushka, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 8pm

THE music and magic of Kate Bush has reached across the seas and skies to San Diego, California, where the eight women of the bewitching Baby Bushka have honed their wide-eyed, other-worldly versions of Kate’s baroque, ethereal pop.

Performed in jump-suits by Natasha Kozaily, Lexi Pulido, Nancy Ross, Leah Bowden, Batya Mac Adam-Somerm, Marie Haddad, Heather Nation and Melanie Medina, their kooky rock show is filled with four-part harmonies, avant-garde choreographed dancing, theatrical props, costumes and glitter masks. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The Korgis: This is the time for everybody to learn about their favourite songs at Selby Town Hall

Sing something synth-full: The Korgis Time Machine, Selby Town Hall, tomorrow, 7.30pm

WHIRL back in time with The Korgis as they undertake a musical and audio/visual journey though the songs and bands that influenced them. Best known for their 1980 hit Everybody’s Got To Learn Sometime, the Bristol synth-pop band will put their spin on songs by The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Simon & Garfunkel, 10cc, The Buggles, Peter Gabriel and their own songs of peace and hope with The Korgis and, earlier, with Stackridge.

If I Had You, Bringing Back The Spirit Of Love, If It’s Alright With You Baby and Something About The Beatles will feature, along with new compositions from this year’s two-album set, UN – United Nations. Questions will be taken too. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.

Lucy Porter: No regrets about her regrets at Selby Town Hall

Comedy gig of the week: Lucy Porter, No Regrets!, Selby Town Hall, Friday, 8pm

REGRETS? Frank Sinatra had too few to mention, but Lucy Porter has hundreds, and she is raring to go into graphic detail about all of them. From disastrous dates and professional calamities to ruined friendships and parenting failures, she charts all the mistakes she has made, works out why they happened, and ponders how her life would have turned out if she had acted differently.

Porter posits that if you regret something, you can use it to change your ways. “See the thing you regret as your rock bottom, and let it spur you on to become a better person,” says Porter, who names guilt as  one of her top five hobbies as a middle-aged, middle-class, left-leaning ex-Catholic. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.

Barbara Dickson: Reflecting on her career in music and musical theatre at All Saints Church, Pocklington, and Leeds City Varieties

Folk gigs of the week: Hurricane Promotions present Barbara Dickson & Nick Holland, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Friday (sold out) and October 16, 7.30pm. Also Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, October 20, 7.30pm

SCOTTISH folk singer Barbara Dickson and her pianist Nick Holland explore her catalogue of songs in these acoustic concerts in intimate settings, where the pair will let the words and melodies take centre stage as they draw on Dickson’s folk roots, contemporary greats and her classic hits, from Another Suitcase In Another Hall to I Know Him So Well. Box office: barbaradickson.net; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Festival of the week: York Unlocked 2024, Saturday and Sunday

IN its third year, York Unlocked welcomes residents and visitors to experience York’s architecture and open spaces with the chance to discover, explore and enjoy around 50 sites.

This year’s new addition is a children’s trail book; families can pick up a free copy from York Explore Library, All Saints’ Church, North Street, or The Guildhall. Full details of the participating locations, from Spark: York to City Screen Picturehouse, Terry’s Factory Clock Tower to Bishopthorpe Palace, Holgate Windmill to York Railway Station,  can be found at york-unlocked.org.uk. Entry is free, including for those requiring booking.

Stevie Williams & The Most Wanted Band: Heading to Helmsley

“Wild journey” of the week: Stevie Williams & The Most Wanted Band, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

LED by powerhouse vocalist Stevie Williams, The Most Wanted Band take their audiences on a wild musical journey with tight grooves, searing guitar solos and a rhythm section that hits with precision in an accomplished, high-energy, explosive show.  Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Courtney Brown: From playing Ado Annie in Oklahoma! to assistant-directing Pickering Musical Society’s Wonders Of The West End

Ryedale musical show of the week: Pickering Musical Society, Wonders Of The West End, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, October 10 to 13, 7.30pm

PICKERING Musical Society performs the best of British musicals, from the early 20th century to current hits next week, when the full company will be joined once again by Sarah Louise Ashworth School of Dance students. Lesser-known gems will complement show-stopping favourites.

Regular performer Courtney Brown, seen latterly as the Princess in Aladdin and Ado Annie in Oklahoma!, steps up to the role of assistant director alongside regular director Luke Arnold after expressing an interest in directing. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Sharleen Spiteri: Fronting Texas at Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer

Gig announcement of the week: Texas, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 26 2025

SCOTTISH band Texas, fronted as ever by Sharleen Spiteri, will return to Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the first time since July 2018 to showcase five decades of songs, from I Don’t Want A Lover, Say What You Want and Summer Son to Inner Smile, Mr Haze and Keep On Talking next summer. Tickets will go on sale at 9am on Friday at scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk and ticketmaster.co.uk. Irish rock band The Script are confirmed already for July 5.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond the endless rain when films turn Dead Northern. Hutch’s List No. 40, from The Press, York

Rievaulx Abbey, mixed media, by Robert Dutton, on show in A Yorkshire Year at Nunnington Hall

YORKSHIRE landscapes, campsite class division, horror movies to the max and a talkative traveller herald the arrival of the arts autumn for Charles Hutchinson.

Exhibition of the week: A Yorkshire Year, Nunnington Hall, near Helmsley, until December 5

THE changing landscape of the Yorkshire countryside and coastline is captured by Yorkshire artists Robert Dutton, from Nunnington, and Andrew Moodie, from Harrogate, in seasonal images.

Dutton presents a dramatic interpretation of the untamed expanses of Yorkshire, from meandering freshwater rivers and hidden woodlands to the stark beauty of the moors. Moodie directs his attention to the undulating valleys of the Yorkshire Dales, as well as coastal villages. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm, last entry at 4.15pm. Normal admission prices apply at nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.

The artwork for the Dead Northern 2024 Horror Film Festival at City Screen Picturehouse, York

Film event of the week: Dead Northern 2024 Horror Film Festival, City Screen, Picturehouse, York, today and tomorrow

IN “the world’s most haunted city”, Dead Northern presents a festival of movies, music and social gatherings. Today opens with Demonic Shorts at 11am, followed by the regional premiere of Scopophobia, 12.30pm; Slasher, Thriller and Creature Shorts, 2.30pm; UK premiere of The Healing, 4.30pm; Dead Talk film-making panel, 7.30pm; regional premiere of Kill Your Lover, 9pm, and VIP Awards Party at Revolution, York,11pm.

Tomorrow features the Mad Props documentary, 11am; mini-feature Strike,12.45pm; feature film The Monster Beneath Us, 1.15pm; music mini-feature The Black Quarry, 3.45pm; Music Videos, 4.30pm; UK premiere of Kill Victoria, 6.30pm, and world premiere of Lake Jesup, 8.30pm. Guests must be aged over 18 to access screenings and live events. Box office: deadnorthern.co.uk/dead-northern-2024-film-festival.

Tom Gallagher, Annie Kirkman and Laura Jennifer Banks in a scene from John Godber’s revival of Perfect Pitch

Touring play of the week: John Godber Company in Perfect Pitch, Harrogate Theatre, today, 2pm and 7.30pm; Pocklington Arts Centre, October 9 and 10, 7.30pm; Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 13 to 16, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

WHEN teacher Matt (Frazer Hammill) borrows his parents’ caravan for a week on the Yorkshire coast with partner Rose (Annie Kirkman), they are expecting four days of hill running and total de-stressing. However, with a Tribfest taking place nearby, Grant (Tom Gallagher) and Steph’s (Laura Jennifer Banks) pop-up tent is an unwelcome addition to their perfect pitch.

The class divide and loo cassettes become an issue as writer-director John Godber reignites his unsettling1998 state-of-the-nation comedy, set on an eroding coastline, as Matt and Rose are inducted into the world of caravanning and karaoke. Box office: Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk; Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; Scarborough, 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

The bird man of RedHouse Originals Gallery: artist Jim Moir at his Birdland exhibition in Harrogate

Last chance to see: Jim Moir, Birdland, RedHouse Originals Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, today, 10am, 10am to 5pm

“PEOPLE think that I am a comedian, but art comes first,” says Jim Moir, aka Vic Reeves, as he mounts his second RedHouse show. “This one is Birdland because of my love of birds. I spend most of my days bird watching and painting,” he says.

On show – and for sale – is an exclusive collection of 50 new paintings celebrating his favourite subject ahead of the October 24 release of his second bird book, More Birds, Paintings Of British Birds, published by Unbound. Free entry.

Clare Ferguson-Walker and Robin Ince: Plenty to discuss at Pocklington Arts Centre

Double act of the week: Clare Ferguson-Walker & Robin Ince, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm

TAKE a tour around two marvellous minds via the vehicles of poetry, storytelling, jokes, and general silliness when Clare Ferguson-Walker and Robin Ince link up in Pock. Poet, comedienne, sculptor and singer Clare’s explosive second collection, Chrysalis, lays bare the poet’s soul on a journey laced with humour and humane observation.

Humorist, presenter, poet and author Ince co-hosts the BBC Radio 4 series The Infinite Monkey Cage with Professor Brian Cox. His books include Bibliomaniac, The Importance Of Being Interested, I’m A Joke And So Are You and his next work, Normally Weird And Weirdly Normal: My Adventures In Neurodiversity, will be published next May. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The cover design for Michael Palin’s new diary collection

Globe-trotter of the week: Michael Palin, Grand Opera House, York, October 3, 7.30pm

IN the words of Monty Python alumnus, actor, presenter and Yorkshireman Michael Palin: “In There And Back – The Diary Tour 2024, I’ll bring to life the fourth collection of my diaries and the first to be released for ten years.

“Lots of fun as I go through the Noughties, and some dark times too. I constantly surprise myself with the sheer amount I took on.” Tickets update: still available at atgtickets.com/york.

Barbara Dickson: Acoustic October concerts in Pocklington and Leeds

Folk gigs of the week: Hurricane Promotions present Barbara Dickson & Nick Holland, All Saints Church, Pocklington, October 4 (sold out) and October 16, 7.30pm. Also Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, October 20, 7.30pm

SCOTTISH folk singer Barbara Dickson and her pianist Nick Holland explore her catalogue of songs in these acoustic concerts in intimate settings, where the pair will let the words and melodies take centre stage as they draw on Dickson’s folk roots, contemporary greats and her classic hits, from Another Suitcase In Another Hall to I Know Him So Well. Box office: barbaradickson.net; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Mundane matters: Josh Widdicombe mulls over really niche observations about silly little things in 2025 and 2026

Gig announcement of the week: Josh Widdicombe, Not My Cup Of Tea Tour, Hull City Hall, October 2 2025, and York Barbican, February 28 2026

PARENTING Hell podcaster and comedian Josh Widdicombe, droll observer of the absurd side of the mundane, will take stock of the little things that niggle him, from motorway hotels to children’s parties, and explain why he has finally decided to embrace middle age, hot drinks and doing the school run in his 58-date tour show, Not My Cup Of Tea.

“That’s my favourite type of stand-up: really niche observations about silly little things that you wouldn’t think about. I’ve got no interest in the big topics.” Box office: joshwiddicombe.com; yorkbarbican.co.uk; hulltheatres.co.uk.

In Focus: Mark Thomas: Gaffa Tapes…Old Title, New Show, The Crescent, York, tomorrow. More Yorkshire shows to follow

This is the modern world: Mark Thomas returns to stand-up venting at The Crescent, York. Picture: Tony Pletts

LAST appearing in York in Ed Edwards’s one-man play England & Son in the Theatre Royal Studio last September, South London’s grouchy “godfather of political comedy”, Mark Thomas, returns to polemical stand-up in Gaffa Tapes…Old Title, New Show at The Crescent tomorrow night.

One of the longest-surviving alternative comics after close to 40 years of stand-up, theatre, journalism, human rights campaigning and the odd bout of performance art, his latest tour’s fusillade of jokes, rants, politics, play and the occasional sing-song adds up to “generally mucking about trying to have fun and upset (shall we say) the right people”.

Gaffa Tapes…Old Title, New Show? Explain the extended tag, Mark. “What happened is I liked the idea of ‘Gaffa Tapes’ as a title and had it last year for my Edinburgh Fringe show, but halfway through the Fringe run I got Covid and had to stop.

“Last year I toured England & Son, written by Ed Edwards, which I was really pleased with. It picked up more awards than I’d ever done before – six awards – and one of them was to perform the play in Australia, taking it out to Adelaide for five weeks – and we might be going to New York …

“But we made no money out of it. I thought, ‘right, how do we make some money?’, so it’s great to be getting back to stand-up. What I love about stand-up is… and this is simple…if you stop doing it, they say you’ll feel rusty, so if you have a hiatus, what you have to learn to do is put your hand on the neck of the beast.

“I thought, ‘I’m going to do all the clubs at the bottom of the eco-system, doing ten minutes here, ten minutes there, doing shows in different places, and the thing about it is, I died on my arse a couple of times, which feels horrible each and every time…

“But if you take a break, you need to get your muscle memory back working again. That’s why I loved doing Edinburgh this summer. I did 26 gigs. It’s just bang, bang, bang, every night. You can muck around, try things out.

Mark Thomas in England & Son, toured to York Theatre Royal Studio in 2023. Picture: Alex Brenner

“The riots were happening around that time, so I wrote about them – and it’s important to be able to talk about that. It’s a living, breathing affecting thing. I love being a warrior in the culture wars, and it’s good to be back on the battlefield.”

The tectonic plates of the political landscape keep shifting: fresh meat to a polemicist comedian’s grist. “Things are always changing,” says Mark. “What I love is that when I started work on the show, there was loads going on, because the Tories were no longer in power, and it’s good to be able to react to that and to suggest what should be happening.

“I was at the Diggers Festival, celebrating Gerrard Winstanley [English Protestant religious reformer, political philosopher, activist and leader and co-founder of the ‘True Levellers’ or ‘Diggers’], doing a talk in a church, where someone said, ‘if you get rid of the oath to the King, that would be the most radical thing you could do’.

“I said, ‘well, actually, I don’ think it is. If you want democracy to work, you should have voting at 16, proportional representation, and you need to abolish the House of Lords’…whereas they’re just tidying up what [Tony] Blair started all those years ago. The most radical thing would be to ban donations to political parties. Make it state-funded, giving money to run parties and campaigns, making it a level playing field.

“Do you know who is the only other country in Europe to have a ‘first past the post’ electoral system? Belarus. So if anyone is out of step, it’s us. I think eventually PR [proportional representation] will come in; it’s just a question of what form it takes.”

How does the change of ruling party in Westminster from the Conservatives to Labour after 14 years have an impact on Thomas’s venting? “It changes the goalposts because it’s a new set of people to attack for a new set of reasons,” says Mark. “It’s the new austerity that they’re proposing that’s not great.

“The fact is that Starmer got some of the things right over the riots. I find it fascinating that there is this a disconnect; the idea that everyone who rioted was a racist, but not everyone was, because riots have a movement of their own, but certainly the organisers were far right.

“I didn’t vote Labour. I’m a Socilaist, why on Earth would I vote Labour?” says Mark Thomas. Picture: Art by Tracey Moberly

“You can be a Zen Buddhist but if you set fire to an asylum seekers’ hotel, then you’re a racist.”

Long associated with spouting anti-Tory sentiment aplenty, Thomas will hold the incoming Labour Party to account too. “I think it’s healthier that way in politics. The honeymoon period is over already,” he says.

“I didn’t vote Labour. I’m a Socialist, why on Earth would I vote Labour? There shouldn’t be a honeymoon period anyway,  but I expect the right-wing press to go at Labour with gusto because they want to shape not only this government, but the next Tory one too.”

Any suggestions for policy change, Mark? “Local government can run the bus companies, but it’s really important that it’s not about making the maximum profit. That’s what used to happen until Thatcher changed it,” he says.

“I’m lucky now – because I’m 61, I get the 60+ London Oyster card for £20 [administration fee] that allows me to travel everywhere in London for free and I use buses a lot. That’s one of the great things about London: wherever you are, there will be a night bus coming along in a moment.”

He is looking forward eagerly to tomorrow’s return to The Crescent. “I love The Crescent,” he enthuses. “What they may lack in technical facilities, it’s a proper community venue. I always say, when talking about what community venues could be, take a look at this place.”

Mark Thomas: Gaffa Tapes, Burning Duck Comedy, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm; Marsdsen Mechanics, November 8, 8pm; Social, Hull, November 16, 8pm; Sheffield Memorial Hall November 10, 8pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, February 5 2025; Wakefield Theatre Royal, February 6 2025, 7.30pm.

Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Marsden, 01484 844587 or marsdenmechanics.co.uk; Sheffield, sheffieldcityhall.co.uk; Hull, socialhumberstreet.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Wakefield Theatre Royal, 01924 211311 or theatreroyalwakefield.co.uk (on sale soon) Age guidance: 16 plus.

Mark Thomas: the back story

The next step for Mark Thomas: Touring Gaffa Tapes

“IF you don’t know what Mark does, ask your parents. In his time, he has won eight awards for performing, three for human rights work… and one he invented for himself. He has made six series of the Mark Thomas Comedy Product and three Dispatches for Channel 4, made five series of The Manifesto for BBC Radio 4, written five books and four play scripts, curated and authored two art exhibitions with artist Tracey Moberly and was commissioned to write a show for the Royal Opera House.

“He has forced a politician to resign, changed laws on tax and protest, become the Guinness Book of Records world-record holder for the number of protests in 24 hours, taken the police to court three times and won (the fourth is in the pipeline), walked the length of the Israeli Wall in the West Bank (that’s 724km), and generally mucked about trying to have fun and upset (shall we say) the right people.”