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More Things To Do in and around York when Wrong is the right choice. Magical List No.79, courtesy of The Press, York

Mind games: Beverley actor Rory Fairbairn as the Mind Mangler in Magic Goes Wrong, on tour at York Theatre Royal from Tuesday

MAGIC is on the cards in the week ahead, and you can’t wrong if you follow Charles Hutchinson’s tips for what else to do and see.

Mayhem in April: Mischief in Magic Goes Wrong, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Sunday, 7.30pm (except Sunday); 2pm, Thursday and Sunday, 2.30pm, Saturday

MASTERS of catastrophic comedy Mischief team up with deconstructionist American magicians Penn & Teller for Magic Goes Wrong, their most daring calamitous show yet.

When a hapless gang of magicians strive to stage an evening of grand illusion to raise cash for charity, magic turns to mayhem, accidents spiral out of control and so does their fundraising target. Penn & Teller will not be appearing on stage. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Kristin Hersh: Fronting her Electric Trio at The Crescent

Cult gig of the week: Kristin Hersh Electric Trio, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

BOSTON songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and author Kristin Hersh, leader of indie rock band Throwing Muses and noise rock power trio 50 Foot Wave, is on the road with her hard-hitting super-group.

Joining Hersh, 55, will be 50 Foot Wave drummer Rob Ahlers and Throwing Muses bassist Fred Abong, who opens the night playing solo, promoting his Yellow Throat album. Expect Throwing Muses’s 2020 album, Sun Racket, to feature alongside material spanning Hersh’s 30-year career. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Improvising a musical: Showstoppers Ruth Bratt, left, Lauren Shearing and Pippa Evans with Duncan Walsh Atkins, on keys, and Chris Ash on reeds. Picture: Alex Harvey-Brown

Anything could happen: Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm

OLIVIER Award winners Showstopper! return to York with…well, you decide! At each show, a new musical comedy is created from scratch as audience suggestions are transformed on the spot into an all-singing, all-dancing production.

From Hamilton in a hospital to Sondheim in the Sahara, you suggest it and The Showstoppers will sing it. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Blues power: Guitarist Joanne Shaw Taylor returns to York Barbican

Blues gig of the week: Joanne Shaw Taylor, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

WEST Midlands blues guitarist and singer-songwriter Joanne Shaw Taylor plays York as one of five British dates this month, performing songs from 2021’s The Blues Album.

That album showcased covers of 11 rare blues classics first recorded by Albert King, Peter Green, Little Richard, Magic Sam, Aretha Franklin and Little Milton. Expect selections from her albums Reckless Heart, Wild, The Dirty Truth, Almost Always Never, Diamonds In The Dirt and White Sugar too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Gabrielle Sargent: Soprano soloist for York Guildhall Orchestra’s St George’s Day concert

Celebration of the week: York Guildhall Orchestra’s St George’s Day Concert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

YORK Guildhall Orchestra make their JoRo debut under the baton of conductor Simon Wright, who turns the spotlight on English composers in an Anglophile programme of light music to mark St George’s Day.

“Come down for a springtime evening of joyful music and not a dragon in sight,” says Wright, who will be combining favourite pieces with lesser-known gems. Sullivan, Elgar and Handel feature; so do Strachy’s Party Mood (from Housewives’ Choice), Wood’s Barwick Green (The Archers) and Coates’s By The Sleepy Lagoon (Desert Island Discs). Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

One giant leap for Lee Harris’s Mr Toad during rehearsals for NE Musicals York’s York premiere of The Wind In The Willows The Musical

Family musical of the week: NE Musicals York in The Wind In The Willows The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 27 to May 1, 7.30pm; 2.30pm matinees, Saturday, Sunday

NE Musicals York transform the JoRo theatre into a riverbank and wildwood for director and designer Steve Tearle’s York premiere of Julian Fellowes’ stage adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s story with a score by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe.

Join Ratty (Finlay Butler), Mole (Jack Hambleton), Badger (Tom Henshaw) and the impulsive Mr Toad (Lee Harris), whose insatiable need for speed lands him in serious bother. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Horse Chestnut Leaves, a watercolour by Selby artist Lynda Heaton, from her Village Gallery exhibition in York

Exhibition launch of the week: Lynda Heaton, Expressions In Watercolour, Village Gallery, Colliergate, York, Tuesday to June 4

SINCE retiring, Selby artist Lynda Heaton has spent much of her time painting in her home studio. “I’m passionate about watercolour painting and love the way the colours mingle and move across the paper, sometimes giving surprising effects,” she says.

“My works come from my imagination or from memories of somewhere I’ve been and the mood of that place.” Other pieces are inspired by the natural world, the colours, textures and rhythms found in nature.

Diversity performing Connected in their April 4 performance at York Barbican. Picture: Sarah Hollis

Quick return of the week: Diversity: Connected, York Barbican, Wednesday, 7.45pm

HOT on the heels of their April 4 visit, London street dancers Diversity return to York Barbican due to public demand as part of their 79-show 2022 tour.

In a show created by choreographer Ashley Banjo, the 2009 Britain’s Got Talent winners will be building their routines around the internet, social media, the digital era and how it connects us all. Their Black Lives Matter-inspired dance, premiered on Britain’s Got Talent to a flood of complaints to Ofcom in September 2020, definitely features. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

This woman’s re-work: Sarah-Louise Young in An Evening Without Kate Bush at Theatre@41

An Evening Without Kate Bush but with Sarah-Louise Young, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York,  Thursday, 7.30pm

THE “chaotic cabaret cult”, An Evening Without Kate Bush”, finds Cabaret Whore, The Showstoppers, La Soiree performer Sarah-Louise Young teaming up theatre maker Russell Lucas to explore the music and mythology of one of the most influential voices in British music.

Kate’s not there, but you are, for a show that is as much about fandom as Bush’s songs and wider cultural impact. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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Lynda Heaton’s Expressions in Watercolour show brings nature to York’s Village Gallery

Horse Chestnut Leaves, watercolour, by Lynda Heaton

SELBY artist Lynda Heaton has painted for as long as she can remember, winning second prize in a national painting competition for schools at the age of ten.

Her latest works, Expressions In Watercolour, go on show at Village Gallery, Colliergate, York, from Tuesday (26/4/2022) to June 4.

After studying retail and exhibition display at Bradford Art College, Lynda put her British Design Society qualifications to practical use, doing exactly this in her working life, while continuing to study and practise art in many forms: printmaking, life drawing, painting and pottery.

Frosty Morning Walk, watercolour, by Lynda Heaton

Since retiring, Lynda has spent much of her time painting in her home studio. “I’m passionate about watercolour painting and love the way the colours mingle and move across the paper, sometimes giving surprising effects,” she says.

She also experiments with other water-based media to give different textures to her paintings.

Early Light Pocklington Canal, watercolour, by Lynda Heaton

“My works come from my imagination or from memories of somewhere I’ve been and the mood of that place,” says Lynda. “Other pieces are inspired by the natural world, the colours, textures and rhythms found in nature.

“After renovating a large pond, I’m now further inspired to paint the pond life, such as the beautiful dragonflies that visit and the plants that grow in and around the water.”

Village Gallery is normally open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.

Wild Garden, watercolour, by Lynda Heaton
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Don Lodge’s Impressions Of The Rally In York painting sale aids York City of Sanctuary’s support for Ukrainian refugees

Purchaser Paul Martin and Pyramid Gallery owner with Don Lodge’s fundraising painting Impressions Of The Rally In York

YORK resident Paul Martin has bought Don Lodge’s painting Impressions Of The Rally In York. All proceeds will go to York City of Sanctuary to support refugees arriving from Ukraine.

The £500 oil on canvas captures a scene from a Ukraine rally held in York in March. All key individuals in the painting have given their consent for their images to be used for publicity for this cause. More details on York City of Sanctuary can be found at york.cos.org.uk.

Mr Martin is pictured, left, with Pyramid Gallery owner Terry Brett surrounded by paintings from Danny Barbour’s Unearthed exhibition, on show at the Stonegate gallery until April 24.

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More Things To Do in and around York as chocolate spreads the love over Easter break. List No. 78, courtesy of The Press

WHAT’S in the chocolate box of Eastertide delights? Charles Hutchinson unwraps the goodies in store, from a sweet-flavoured festival to a musical premiere, a Led Zeppelin legend to two Big shows.

My cocoa shoe: Edible high heels at York Chocolate Festival

Festival of the week: York Chocolate Festival, oozing chocolate in Parliament Street, York, until Easter Monday, 10am to 5pm

RUN by York Food Festival and Make It York, York Chocolate Festival returns over the Easter weekend for the first time since 2019 in celebration of York’s heritage as the Chocolate City.

More than 40 stalls are complemented by workshops, demonstrations by chocolatiers, a chocolate sampling trail and chocolate pairing sessions with wine and whisky for adults. Look out for stands selling specialist origin chocolates, eggs, cakes, truffles, brownies, macarons, chocolate-flavoured drinks and liqueurs, even savoury outliers such as chilli jams, artisan pizzas and pies. Entry is free; some events are ticketed.

Robert Plant and Suzy Dian fronting Saving Grace, on tour at Grand Opera House, York

York gig of the week: Saving Grace with Robert Plant and Suzy Dian, supported by Scott Matthews, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7pm

SAVING Grace, the folk-blues co-operative led by Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, play York tonight, followed by a further Yorkshire gig at Halifax Victoria Theatre on April 26.

Singer and lyricist Plant, now 73, will be joined on the April and May tour by Suzi Dian (vocals), Oli Jefferson (percussion), Tony Kelsey (mandolin, baritone, acoustic guitar) and Matt Worley (banjo, acoustic, baritone guitars, cuatro). Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Celebrating the music of The Dubliners: Seven Drunken Nights rolled into one Sunday in York

Irish jig of the week: Seven Drunken Nights – The Story of The Dubliners, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

FROM their roots in O’Donoghue’s Pub in Dublin, Seven Drunken Nights raises a toast to the 50-year career of The Dubliners, telling the story of the Irish folk band that took the world by storm.

Irish musicians, singers and storytellers will evoke the atmosphere, theatre and cultural history of Ireland while invoking the spirit of Ronnie Drew, Luke Kelly, Barney McKenna, John Sheahan, Ciaran Bourke and Jim McCann on a tour that will take in 20 countries in 2022 and 2023. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Bonding together: The BBC Big Band perform the 007 hits, shaken and stirred, at York Theatre Royal

Bond and band in harmony: The BBC Big Band, The Music Of James Bond…and Beyond, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 7.30pm

THE BBC Big Band are joined by guest vocalists Emer McPartlamd and Iain Mackenzie for a celebratory concert inspired by the music of James Bond film franchise.

Theme songs by York composer John Barry feature prominently in a set list sure to include Diamonds Are Forever, Thunderball and Goldfinger, alongside Monty Norman’s James Bond theme.

Expect a selection of more contemporary songs from the 007 musical library too, performed in the BBC Big Band’s inimitable style. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

BIG news: CBeebies’ Justin Fletcher is heading for York Theatre Royal on the BIG Tour

Children’s show of the week: Justin Fletcher in Justin Live, The BIG Tour, York Theatre Royal, Thursday and Friday, 11am and 2.30pm

CBEEBIES superstar and children’s favourite Justin Fletcher presents an all-singing, all-dancing spectacular extravaganza on The BIG Tour.

Justin is a TV institution, piling up BAFTA award-winning appearances on Something Special, Justin’s House, Jollywobbles, Gigglebiz and Gigglequiz, as well as providing character voices for Tweenies, Boo, Toddworld and Shaun The Sheep, latterly voicing Shaun in the Aardman movie Farmageddon. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Normal service resumed: Grayson Perry presents his rearranged Harrogate performance of A Show For Normal People on Friday

Who-knows-what-to-expect arty gig of the week: Grayson Perry in A Show For Normal People, Harrogate Convention Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

IN his own words, despite being an award-winning artist, Bafta-winning TV presenter, Reith lecturer and best-selling author, Grayson Perry is a normal person – and just like other normal people, he is “marginally aware that we’re all going to die”.

Cue A Show For Normal People, Grayson’s enlightening, eye-watering evening where existentialism descends from worthiness to silliness. “You’ll leave safe and warm in the knowledge that nothing really matters anyway,” he promises.

At a show rearranged from last autumn, Grayson asks, and possibly answers, the big questions on a night “sure to distract you from the very meaninglessness of life in the way only a man in a dress can.” Box office: harrogateconventioncentre.co.uk.

York Stage Musicals’ poster for the York premiere of Calendar Girls The Musical

Musical of the week: York Stage Musicals in Calendar Girls, Grand Opera House, York, Friday to April 30

THE true story of the Calendar Girls from Rylstone Women’s Institute has been turned into a beautifully poignant musical by writer Tim Firth and composer Gary Barlow.

Join York Stage Musicals as they bring the show to York for the first time. “Be prepared to laugh and cry throughout a truly memorable evening filled with unforgettable songs that prove there is no such thing as an ordinary woman,” says producer Nik Briggs. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or at atgtickets.com/York.

The Chemical Brothers: Big beats and dance moves at Castle Howard this summer

Rave of the North Yorkshire summer: The Chemical Brothers at Castle Howard, near Malton, June 26

HEY boy, hey girl, electronic pioneers The Chemical Brothers will take to the grass at Castle Howard this summer.

Manchester big beat duo Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, both 51, will galvanize rave diggers in the North Yorkshire stately home’s grounds where gates will open at 5pm for the night ahead of Setting Sun, Block Rockin’ Beats, Hey Boy, Hey Girl, Let Forever Be, Galvanize, Go et al. Box office: castlehoward.co.uk.

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Director Janet Farmer leaves Pocklington Arts Centre after 25 years and 900 live shows at ‘the little place the big acts play’

Farewell: Departing director Janet Farmer in the Pocklington Arts Centre auditorium

DIRECTOR Janet Farmer hosts her leaving party at Pocklington Arts Centre tonight as she ends her 25-year association with the East Yorkshire venue.

Earlier this week, on Tuesday, she oversaw her last concert: a strikingly strong double bill of Devonian folk musician John Smith and Eastern Pennsylvanian husband-and-wife duo Native Harrow, who reviewer Paul Rhodes observed “would have been worthy headliners in their own right”.

Janet will retire in mid-April after 22 years in post, preceded by three years of fundraising to transform the market town’s former cinema into a theatre, concert venue, cinema and studio gallery. The recruitment process to appoint her successor is under way.

From a standing start in 2000, Janet has led Pocklington Arts Centre (PAC) into becoming a leading small-scale arts venue, recognised nationally as a beacon of good practice with a significant cultural reputation.

Janet has drawn more than £1million in public funding to support the venue’s presentation of 3,500 film screenings and staging of 900 live events, numerous festivals, from Pocktoberfest to the Platform Festival at the Old Station, plus hundreds of community events, workshops, exhibitions and private hires.

“When I started here, we borrowed an artists’ contact file; there were no agents online!” recalls Janet. “You had to buy a book with agents’ contact details and then contact them by fax.

“All the deals were down over the phone or by fax, whereas now it’s mostly by email, which can be seen as sad progress as you don’t always have that verbal contact any more.”

Over the past 22 years, Janet has programmed a diverse range of acts, naming her personal favourites as Joan Armatrading and Shed Seven, who both rehearsed at PAC for upcoming tours, Lesley Garrett, John Bishop, The Shires, Rhod Gilbert, Sarah Millican, Lucinda Williams, Baroness Shirley Williams, KT Tunstall, The Unthanks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, David Ford and Josh Ritter.

When informing PAC staff and volunteers of her decision in January, Janet said: “I am sure this will be said on many occasions over the next few months, but I want to thank all of the staff and volunteers for their tireless support, hard work, dedication and friendship. This has been vital to making PAC the success it is today.

“It has been an absolute pleasure and honour to lead PAC over two decades and it fills me with immense pride knowing what has been achieved during this time. I look forward to returning as a customer and perhaps a volunteer in years to come.”

Twenty-five years, Janet, can you believe it? “People keep saying they’re surprised, but, yes, it really has been that long. I did think I would finish in 2020, and but for the pandemic, I would have done, but I felt I had to see out the time when we were closed,” she says.

“A big part of that was to apply for the Government’s Culture Recovery Funding, and only one application was necessary, what with the support we received from East Riding of Yorkshire Council, and the furlough scheme, which meant we could continue to pay even part-time staff.”

Amid the ebb and flow of three pandemic lockdowns from March 2020, PAC continued to function by mounting 50-plus online events and workshops, staging a series of outdoor exhibitions by Sue Clayton and Karen Winship and launching Primrose Wood Acoustics concerts in June 2021 before reopening with two socially distanced performances by comedian Sarah Millican last July.

“We took Sue and Karen’s exhibitions into Askham Bar Vaccination Centre’s Tent of Hope in York and we took part in the online Your Place Comedy double bills, streamed from comedians’ living rooms and organised by Chris Jones of Selby Town Hall, with a host of independent Yorkshire venues involved,” says Janet.

“We did online shows with our beloved Lip Service too, and online has proved a really good way for people to discover acts like [York singer-songwriter] Rachel Croft and (Leeds band] The Dunwells, who were doing nightly streams at one point in lockdown.”

Janet wanted PAC to regain momentum before leaving this spring. “We’re doing all we can to make people feel safe as they return to coming here, such as having medical-grade air purifiers,” she says.

“I wanted us to get back into the swing of what we do, so we could show we could still do concerts, films, theatre, comedy and exhibitions well with good attendances again, and we have.”

She will continue to live in Pocklington while undertaking plenty of travel too. “This summer I can start the gap year I never had, going round the festivals, such as Cambridge Folk Festival; Kilkenny Arts Festival in August; Telluride Bluegrass Festival, in the Colorado mountains, where it’s a ski resort in the winter. Sitting in the mountains, watching a bluegrass festival, I’ll be in my element.”

Born and bred in York, trained in theatre, film and social sciences at York St John and later in theatre programming and policy through Leeds Playhouse, Janet first became the focal point of fundraising to establish Pocklington Arts Centre.

She then took on the role of running PAC once it opened. “I had to learn very quickly on the job, but I always had a handle on what people liked, like booking Johnny Vegas before he was well known,” recalls Janet.

“There were financial constraints, so I couldn’t be too adventurous at the start, and then there was always a bit of a problem of people not knowing where Pocklington was. But once we started getting bigger names, we could quote that to agents, and we became the little place that big acts wanted to play.”

That will be Janet’s legacy. “I’ve done my bit and it’s time to retire from here, though no doubt I’ll do some volunteering,” she says.

Janet Farmer: On stage at a Platform Festival, run by Pocklington Arts Centre at the Old Station, Pocklington

Janet Farmer’s Pocklington Arts Centre timeline

2000: First live event, French-Algerian guitarist Pierre Bensusan, February 2.

2000: First film, The Last September, directed by Deborah Warner, February 24.

2000: First outdoor festival, staged in April.

2001: First arts festival to be staged across the market town by PAC, continuing for four more years.

2001: James Duffy employed as box office assistant in October. Now general manager.

2002: Janet directs Fiddler On The Roof for Pocklington Dramatic Society.

2003: First film festival, including An Audience With Barry Norman.

2004: Second film festival, including Q&A with BAFTA chair Duncan Kenworthy and film journalist Quentin Falk.

2010: Forgotten Voices Community Choir launched.

2011: First full-colour A5 live events brochure launched.

2011: PAC cinema projection converted from 35mm to digital.

2011: PAC joins forces with Pocklington’s Roundtable to launch large-scale festival of beer and music

2016: Platform Festival of music and comedy launched.

2016: £600,000 refurbishment.

2018: Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation status awarded with annual funding.

2018: Sara Morton appointed as PAC’s first marketing and administrative officer.

2019: Dementia Choir launched.

2020: PAC closes under Covid pandemic restrictions in March.

2020/2021: PAC stages 50-plus online events and workshops during lockdown.

2021: PAC stages series of outdoor exhibitions by Sue Clayton and Karen Winship during lockdown.

2021: Primrose Wood Acoustics launched in June.

2021: PAC reopens in July with two socially distanced performances by comedian Sarah Millican after 17 months of closure.

2022: Director Janet Farmer to leave in April after 25 years’ involvement.

Pocklington Arts Centre’s statistics under Janet Farmer

£1 million raised in public funding for PAC.

3,500 film screenings programmed since 2000.

900 live events programmed.

100s of community events, workshops, exhibitions and private hires staged.

20-plus arts, music and film festivals mounted.

Joan Armatrading: Rehearsed at Pocklington Arts Centre in preparation for a national tour

Music acts brought to Pocklington by Janet Farmer since 2000:

Joan Armatrading; Richard Hawley; Lucinda Williams; Mary Chapin Carpenter; Rosanne Cash; The Unthanks; Edwyn Collins; The Staves; Josh Ritter; Hothouse Flowers; Kate Rusby; The Shires; Adam Cohen; Amy Macdonald; KT Tunstall; Lesley Garrett.

The Searchers; Barbara Dickson; Beth Orton; Eric Bibb; Nick Mulvey; Roger McGuinn; Elkie Brooks; Eddi Reader; The Magic Numbers; Gretchen Peters; Levellers; Ron Sexsmith; Ruby Turner; Kathryn Williams; Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain.

Echo & The Bunnymen; Fairport Convention; Teddy Thompson; Mary Coughlan; David Ford; Clare Teal; Ward Thomas; The Blockheads; Raul Malo; Lissie; Dr Feelgood; Newton Faulkner; Georgie Fame; Lau; Fishermen’s Friends; Seth Lakeman; Alvin Stardust.

Ralph McTell; Bellowhead; Benjamin Francis Leftwich; The Coal Porters; Martyn Joseph; Irish Mythen; Courtney Marie Andrews; The Manfreds; Otis Gibbs; London Community Gospel Choir; Hugh Cornwell; Thea Gilmore.

Shed Seven; Benjamin Francis Leftwich; Curtis Stigers; Graham Coxon; Greg Lake; Glenn Tilbrook; Badly Drawn Boy; Courtney Pine; Joe Brown; Grace Petrie; Martin Simpson; Marty Wilde; Vonda Shepherd; Martha Wainwright and The Young’Uns.

Regional music:

The Howl & The Hum; Beth McCarthy; Dan Webster; Gina Dootson; Boss Caine; Amy May Ellis; Joshua Bunell; Edwina Hayes; The Dunwells; Rachel Croft; Charlie Daykin; Katie Spencer; Jessica Simpson; Gary Stewart; Josh Savage; The Grand Old Uke Of York; Mambo Jambo; Miles Salter; Nick Hall.

Spoken word:

Kae Tempest; Simon Armitage; Bob Harris; Pam Ayres; John Cooper Clarke; Sandi Toksvig; Keith Floyd; Jay Rayner; Baroness Shirley Williams; Michael Portillo; John Hegley; Tony Benn; Simon Callow; Jeremy Vine.

Robert Powell; Michael Dobbs; Andrew Motion; Paddy Ashdown; Ian McMillan; Barry Norman; Chris Packham; Amanda Owen; Clive James; Matt Abbott; George Melly; John Sergeant; Martin Bell; Gyles Brandreth and Julian Norton.

Theatre:

Trestle Theatre; Opera North; Northern Broadsides; Red Ladder Theatre Company; Reduced Shakespeare Company; Idle Motion; Reform Theatre; Talegate Theatre; Magic Carpet Theatre; North Country Theatre; Hull Truck Theatre; BlackEyed Theatre; Lempen Puppet Theatre; MultiStory Theatre; NTC; Vamos Theatre; ShowStoppers! and Badapple Theatre Company.

Comedy:

John Bishop; Sarah Millican; Dylan Moran; Jenny Éclair; Al Murray; Ross Noble; Fascinating Aida; Andrew Maxwell; Chris Ramsey; Jason Manford; Omid Djalili; Sue Perkins; Rob Beckett; Lucy Beaumont; Jon Richardson; Stewart Lee; John Shuttleworth; Rhod Gilbert.

Arthur Smith; Luisa Omielan; Phill Jupitus; David Baddiel; Greg Davies; Paul Merton’s Impro Chums; Henning Wehn; Stephen K Amos; Patrick Monahan; Dave Gorman; Russell Kane; Jeremy Hardy; Mark Steel; Rich Hall; Gary Delaney and Barry Cryer.

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Putting art on the map: York Open Studios busier than ever but Staithes Festival stalls

Whimsical automata maker Philip Wilkinson: Making his York Open Studios debut at 241 Burton Stone Lane, York

THE sun is out for weekend two of the biggest ever York Open Studios but Staithes Festival of Arts and Heritage “can’t continue”.

Dormant in the Covid years of 2020 and 2021, now a shortage of locations and manpower has brought down the festival curtain, perhaps permanently, after the scrapping of the 2022 event in the North Yorkshire fishing village.

Blame the “staycation effect” that fills the cottages all year round, squeezing out artists, say the organisers of this volunteer-run event. “We feel that the model we based the SFAH on is no longer workable and that if the festival were to come back in any form it would need a radical re-think,” reads the official announcement. “We regret we must cancel SFAH 2022 and for the foreseeable future.”

Two Bigs Egos In A Small Car arts podcasters Graham Chalmers and Charles Hutchinson discuss the contrasting fortunes of these two long-running celebrations of northern art and crafts in Episode 85.

What else is bothering the chatty art duo? Under discussion are: Oscars 2022, the fallout; Sheffield Leadmill’s future; Michael Bay’s hyper-action movie Ambulance; writer Harry Sword versus Public Service Broadcasting; Magritte, the back story. Oh, and what is Clifford’s Tower?

To listen, go to: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187561/10398629

To discover who and where to check out at York Open Studios, from 10am to 5pm today and tomorrow, visit: www.yorkopenstudios.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond as the eyes have it in museum’s new Roman display. List No. 77, courtesy of The Press

The Roman bust, key handle, plumb bob and horse and rider from the Ryedale Hoard at the Yorkshire Museum, York

FROM Roman remnants to re-discovered early Pink Floyd gems, Charles Hutchinson reveals highlights of the week ahead.

Exhibition of the week: The Ryedale Hoard, Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York, open daily during half-term, then Tuesday to Saturday from April 25

THE Yorkshire Museum has re-opened with the new exhibition The Ryedale Hoard: A Roman Mystery. For the first time, visitors can see some of Yorkshire’s most significant Roman objects, while exploring an intriguing archaeological mystery: who buried them 1,800 years ago?

Discovered by metal detectorists, on permanent show are a rare bust, made to adorn the top of a sceptre and thought to show Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180. An intricate figurine of a horse and rider, probably made in Britain, represents the god Mars.

A horse-shaped handle for a key, for magical purposes, may have been deliberately broken before burial. A plumb bob, large and finely created, would have been a weight for establishing a “plumb” vertical line. To book tickets: yorkshiremuseum.org.

Living for today: Bite My Thumb Theatre Company in Rent The Musical at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

York musical of the week: Bite My Thumb Theatre Company in Rent The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Thursday to Saturday, 7.30pm

ARTISTIC director Neil Knipe directs Bite My Thumb in a spring tour of Jonathan Larson’s ground-breaking 1994 American musical about falling in love, finding your voice and living for today.

Set in the East Village of New York City, Rent follows a year in the life of a bohemian group of impoverished young artists, struggling to survive as they negotiate their dreams, loves and conflicts. Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

 Forever thinking up new rules for Crunchem Hall Primary School: Joshua Lewis’s headmistress Miss Trunchbull in Ryedale Youth Theatre’s Matilda Jr The Musical

Ryedale musical of the week: Ryedale Youth Theatre in Matilda Jr The Musical, Tuesday to Saturday, 7pm; 3pm matinees, Thursday, Friday, Saturday

BORN with astonishing wit, intelligence, a vivid imagination and special powers, school pupil Matilda rebels against the mean, monstrous, rule-ridden regime of headteacher Miss Trunchbull.

Scripted by Dennis Kelly with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin, Matilda Jr is packed with multiple featured roles. Given the profusion of young Ryedale talent, director Chloe Shipley has decided on double casting to give everyone who auditioned the opportunity to perform in the principal parts. Box office: yourboxoffice.co.uk.

BalletBoyz: Deluxe dance delight at Grand Opera House, York, on Monday

Dance return of the week: BalletBoyz Deluxe, Grand Opera House, York, Monday, 7.30pm

MICHAEL Nunn and William Trevitt’s BalletBoyz return to York with what began as the boisterous, bold company’s 20th anniversary show but is now running into a 23rd year.

Eight young dancers interweave in two mesmeric dances, fused with the BalletBoyz’ trademark witty use of film and behind-the-scenes content.

Deluxe features a commission from choreographer Xie Xin and composer Jiang Shaofeng, followed by a collaboration between Punchdrunk’s Maxine Doyle with jazz musician and composer Cassie Kinoshi, from SEED Ensemble. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Dance, dance, wherever they may be, they are the Lord Of The Dance dancers, arriving for a four-night run at York Barbican

Anniversary show of the week: Michael Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance, York Barbican, Monday to Thursday, 8pm

MICHAEL Flatley’s Lord Of The Dance show is “going to the next level” in 2022 for its 25th anniversary travels, wherein high-energy Irish dancing combines with original music, storytelling and sensuality.

Expect new staging, costumes and choreography plus cutting-edge technology, special effects and lighting, in a production featuring 40 young performers directed by Flatley, dancing to new compositions by Gerard Fahy as tradition meets the excitement of the innovative. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

News headliners: Harry Gration and Christine Talbot fronting A Grand Yorkshire Night Out at York Theatre Royal

Yorkshire event of the week: A Grand Yorkshire Night Out with Harry Gration & Christine Talbot, York Theatre Royal, Monday, 7.30pm

YORKSHIRE broadcasting legends Harry Gration and Christine Talbot, formerly of the BBC’s Look North and ITV’s rival Calendar respectively, join forces to host a journey down memory lane on a rare occasion these friends will have presented together.

The duo look back at memorable stories, plus a smattering of their crazier fundraising exploits, from tandem rides and a sofa push to Harry being tied to weather presenter Paul Hudson for days on end. 

Special guests will be production team members from the original All Creatures Great And Small series, Leeds band The Dunwells and Harry’s musical son, Harrison, singing songs from the shows. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Barry Humphries: Revealing The Man Behind The Mask in first performance for three years

Confessions of the week: Barry Humphries, The Man Behind The Mask, Grand Opera House, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

BARRY Humphries takes to the stage for the first time in three years on Wednesday to reveal The Man Behind The Mask, playing the Grand Opera House in the only Yorkshire show of his 2022 tour

The Australian actor, comedian, satirist, artist, author and national treasure, aged 88, conducts a revelatory trip through his colourful life and theatrical career in an intimate, confessional evening, seasoned with highly personal, sometimes startling and occasionally outrageous stories of Dame Edna Everage, Sir Les Patterson, four marriages et al. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.

Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets: Re-visiting Pink Floyd’s early days

Pink Floyd show of the week: Nick Mason’s Saucerful Of Secrets, York Barbican, August 16, 7.30pm

PINK Floyd drummer Nick Mason teams up with Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp, Guy Pratt, Lee Harris and Dom Beken for this re-arranged show with original tickets still valid.

The 2022 tour finds Mason and co further expanding their repertoire on a journey of Pink Floyd re-discovery, playing songs from their early catalogue up to the 1972 album Obscured By Clouds. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Oh, and another thing

THIS is the second weekend of York Open Studios, 10am to 5pm today and tomorrow. Go discover at yorkopenstudios.co.uk.

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Who are the 30 new artists and makers in York Open Studios 2022 as it opens this weekend? Meet the final six here…

Shirley Davis Dew: Paintings inspired by a love of Yorkshire, on show at Rocking House Studio, Main Street, Fangfoss

WELCOME to day two of York Open Studios 2022 on its opening weekend.

More than 150 artists and makers are showing and selling their work within their homes and workspaces, giving visitors an opportunity to view and buy “bespoke pieces to suit every budget”, from 10am to 5pm today and next weekend too. 

As ever, the range of artists’ work encompasses painting and print, illustration, drawing and mixed media, ceramics, glass and sculpture, jewellery, textiles, photography and installation art. Check out the artists’ directory listings at yorkopenstudios.co.uk to find out who is participating.

CharlesHutchPress is highlighting the 30 newcomers in a showcase all this week, in map order, concluding today with Lucinda Grange; Janine Lees; Emma Frost; Shirley Davis Dew; Laura Thompson and The Island.

Adventure photographer Lucinda Grange: Scales iconic structures and buildings to take her pictures. Picture: Tom Ackerman

Lucinda Grange, photography, The Black House, 14 Heslington Lane, York

ADVENTURE photographer Lucinda documents urban extremes; the spaces above and below the public footpaths in our cities. Her approach to photography utilises underground spaces as well as high points within a landscape.

Award-winning Lucinda, who splits her time between New York City, Zurich and North East England, has travelled the world, scaling some of the tallest and most iconic structures and buildings, such as the Great Pyramid, Firth of Forth Rail Bridge and the Chrysler Building.

“I use photography as a means of self-expression, to identify with the more obvious and hidden aspects of my character,” says Lucinda, who has exhibited at the Museum of London and the National Football Museum, Manchester.

Dancing With The Stars, by Lucinda Grange


“I believe that a person is defined by their actions and choices, and is therefore defined by the environments they choose to put themselves in. This explains why I record my own surroundings, photographing the people and places I choose to have around me.”

Lucinda records social documentary in an unusual manner, sometimes alienating herself to do so, resulting in angst and solipsism. Beauty, fragility and fear are all present and tangible within the work.

This approach to documentary photography utilises high points within the landscape, resulting in her images “challenging the viewer to reconsider the environment they find themselves in”.

Janine Lees, painting, Birch House, 130 Main Street, Fulford, York

TAKING inspiration from the natural world, Janine creates works that evoke feelings of warmth and affection by painting intimate animal portraits in a realistic and colourful style.

Having previously worked as a graphic designer, Janine is now a full-time professional artist working from her home studio., where she divides her time between pet portrait commissions and creating artwork for sale.

Janine’s artwork has been selected to represent various coloured pencil and art publications both online and in exhibitions such as the UK Coloured Pencil Society, The Artist magazine (UK) and Color Magazine (USA).

Emma Frost: Highlighting the beauty found in our everyday lives

Emma Frost, painting, North Studio, Arnup Studios, Panman Lane, Holtby, York 

LANDSCAPE artist Emma has a particular interest in man-made structures such as pylons, wind turbines and telegraph poles, set against dramatic skylines and beautiful surroundings. 

Growing up in rural Northamptonshire before moving to York via Leeds, Germany and Amsterdam, Emma enjoys painting scenes depicting both rural and urban life.

She typically depicts views from her day-to-day surroundings, including school runs, supermarket car parks and drive-thru takeaways. “Ensuring these scenes also include beautiful sunsets or large, expansive skies enables my work to highlight the beauty found in our everyday lives,” she says. 

Shirley Davis Dew: Artist, tutor and demonstrator

Shirley Davis Dew, paintings, Rocking House Studio, Main Street, Fangfoss, York

A PASSION to capture movement, light and her love of colour permeates Shirley’s vibrant paintings in watercolour or acrylics paintings, applied with brushes, knives and fingers.

You can watch her in action in demonstrations from 10.30am to 12.30pm and 2.30pm to 4pm each day of York Open Studios 2022.

During many years in business management, Shirley painted for pleasure. Her exhibitions led to her being asked to run classes and so began a 20-year second career as a tutor and demonstrator.

“A love of Yorkshire inspires my paintings of the big skies, woodlands, rolling hills and coast,” she says.

Laura Thompson: Transitioning into illustration

Laura Thompson, illustration, Rocking House Studio, Main Street, Fangfoss, York

LAURA’S website promotes her as both a freelance illustrator and textiles and surface pattern designer. “I’m transitioning into illustration, from a background in textiles and graphic design; experimenting with ways of working, subject matters and observational work to discover a style that feels natural,” she explains.

Her York Open Studios debut focuses on botanical, still life and landscape illustrations, created using watercolour, gouache and colour pencils. Motifs are often manipulated digitally into designs for greetings cards and repeat patterns for textiles giftware.

“The outdoor world provides a constant source of inspiration, and now, people, places and possessions are explored from a personal perspective to encapsulate the themes of memory and sense of self,” she says. “Ideas translate into uplifting or nostalgic imagery, aiming to bring a joyful aesthetic.”

The Island: Exhibiting photography of everyday life taken with disposable film cameras

The Island, photography, Beverley House, 17 Shipton Road, York

YORK charity The Island supports some of the most vulnerable and isolated young people in the city to realise their potential through positive mentoring relationships and activities.

Collaborating with York photographer Makiko since early summer 2021, The Island introduced photography activities to the children – who range in age from mid-primary ages to late-teens – by providing them with disposable film cameras to shoot their everyday life.

The Island’s main purpose is to try to improve the mental health of vulnerable children in the York community, who are facing challenges in the post- Brexit, Covid-19 world, by adding these simple activities to their on-going art sessions, backed by Art Council England funding.

Images from The Island’s photographic activities
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OPINION. Clifford’s Tower reopens today. What’s the past, present and future hold?

The new walkways at Clifford’s Tower. Picture: Christopher Ison for English Heritage

CLIFFORD’S Tower reopens today, re-roofed, its interior transformed, its story to be told anew by English Heritage after a £5 million conservation project that hopefully turns into conversation.

Regularly, the empty shell of the last remains of York Castle, had been voted York’s most disappointing tourist attraction, one that you came, you, saw, you concurred with everyone else after 15 minutes that you would not be going back.

Up against York Minster, the National Railway Museum, the Yorkshire Museum, York Castle Museum and York Art Gallery, let alone York Dungeon, York’s Chocolate Story and myriad ghost walks, Clifford’s Tower was “living with history”, to borrow the city’s former slogan, but not alive with history.

It amounted to 55 steps to what? Awkward, cramped walkways; awkward anti-Semitic associations with the darkest day in York’s past (the Jewish massacre and suicide of March 16 1190 on this site); the awkward misfire of hosting York’s Bonfire Night firework display, thankfully consigned to history.

Then awkward discussions about what to do with the tower, when initial redevelopment plans met with opprobrium, even derision, being deemed a commercially driven act of heresy, rather than heritage, as Councillor Johnny Hayes led the successful 2018 campaign against the English Heritage (and City of York Council approved) plans for a visitor centre on the mound, so out of keeping with LS Lowry’s famous painting.

Roll on to April 2 2022 and welcome to the new but old Clifford’s Tower, the 800-year-old landmark with its new roof deck to provide the best 360-degree views of York – better than York Minster because it takes in York Minster – and hidden rooms, newly revealed and refreshed for the first time since the tower was gutted by fire in 1684.

No visitor centre, no shop, no lift for the disabled, no palatial revamp, only history, unlocked secrets, aerial walkways, stopping points to catch breath when climbing the steps, that breathtaking panoramic rooftop view…oh, and a loo.

Clifford’s Tower, by L.S. Lowry, from the York Museums Trust collection at York Art Gallery

Not for public use, and no ordinary loo but the garderobe for Henry the Third (don’t say that with an Irish accent), a rather flash Royal flush from long before the likes of Thomas Crapper got to work on waterworks. All that is missing is the seat for this alternative throne, but the toiletries cupboard is still there.

What is this fascination with ablutions in York’s past? First the olfactory unpleasantries of the JORVIK Viking Centre, now Henry III’s state-of-the-(f)art lavatory, newly given the reverence of a cistern chapel. Read all about it, how radical it was, and the excitement may well be merited.

After Coun Hayes kicked up a stink, English Heritage went back to the drawing board, the focus solely on the tower itself, or “protecting Clifford’s Tower for future generations and inspiring more people to discover its histories,” as the charity’s chief executive, Kate Mavor, put it.

Jeremy Ashbee, head properties curator at English Heritage, calls Clifford’s Tower “one of England’s most important buildings”. “It is almost all that remains of York Castle, the centre of government for the north throughout the Middle Ages up to the 17th century – the place where the whole of the North of England was ruled from,” he says.

“We not only wanted to preserve this incredible building but also to do justice to its fascinating and multi-faceted history.”

The challenge has been to give Clifford’s Tower a future, one that truthfully can never match its past. What £5 million has done is to tell that past much better, in a city where history is often in the re-making.  

Clifford’s Tower is not alone in making the historic headlines at present in York, what with the investigations into whether any part of the ornate street light in Minster Gates can be salvaged after a delivery driver reversed into it on March 21, and the rejection of the second set of York Archaeological Trust, Rougier Street Developments and North Star plans for the Roman Quarter and its Eboracum visitor attraction.

The question now is will visitors make return visits to Clifford’s Tower in such a competitive tourist market? Only time will tell, but for definite, no parties or weddings will be held there. Theatre on the new first floor; concerts on the rooftop? Not ruled out, apparently.

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Who are the 30 new artists and makers in York Open Studios 2022 as it opens this weekend? Meet six more here…

“My faith is very important as a source of creative energy,” says York Open Studios 2022 debutant ceramicist Rukshana Afia

THE sun is out to greet York Open Studios on its opening weekend.

More than 150 artists and makers are showing and selling their work within their homes and workspaces, giving visitors an opportunity to view and buy “bespoke pieces to suit every budget”, from 10am to 5pm today, tomorrow and next weekend too. 

As ever, the range of artists’ work encompasses painting and print, illustration, drawing and mixed media, ceramics, glass and sculpture, jewellery, textiles, photography and installation art. Check out the artists’ directory listings at yorkopenstudios.co.uk to find out who is participating.

CharlesHutchPress is highlighting the 30 newcomers in a showcase all this week, in map order, continuing today with Philip Wilkinson; Rukshana Afia; Dylan Connor; Anna Pearson; Danladi Kole Bako and Izzy Williamson.

Automata maker Philip Wilkinson at work in his Quick Sticks Workshop

Philip Wilkinson, sculpture, 241 Burton Stone Lane, York

PHILIP has been a design-maker of bespoke works and hands-on museum exhibits for 25 years.

Employment stints at the legendary Eden Project, in Cornwall, and the magical Centre for Alternative Technology, at Machynlleth, Wales, stoked his interest in working with reclaimed materials.

Steamer, by Philip Wilkinson

In 2019, Philip built Quick Sticks Workshop, where he imparts “the joy of making stuff” through handmade automata, educational kits and practical sessions.

His works upcycle scrap into whimsical, hand-powered artworks with the common themes of humour, environment and engineering. “Each handcrafted model draws unique character from available materials,” says Philip, who also teaches design at a York school.

Rukshana Afia: Makes coiled ceramics in stoneware and white earthenware

Rukshana Afia, ceramics, 92 Dodsworth Avenue, York

RUKSHANA headlined her March 19 blog “Preparation verging on panic…”, but the day has arrived for York Open Studios debut.

She makes coiled ceramics in stoneware and white earthenware, the earthenware decorated using alkaline/Islamic glazes, sometimes liquid metals. Her felts are cut and re-pieced with surface embroidery.

Rukshana is Eurasian, born in London in 1953. “I’m a progressive Sunni Muslim by birth, upbringing and mature conviction,” she says. “My faith is very important as a source of creative energy as well as a historical treasure-house of artistic techniques, particularly in ceramics,” she says.

Dylan Connor: Attended workshops led by a body sculpture and movie special effects creator

Dylan Connor, sculpture, 114 East Parade, York

DYLAN’S’ work explores an “urban abstract and realism narrative of body anonymous and known body sculptures”, using organic material found in everyday environments present in today’s society. 

Dylan began studying art and sculpture while at school, graduating in contemporary design and craft from York St John University in 2018.

A sculpture by Dylan Connor, using organic material found in everyday environments

He then attended workshops led by a body sculpture and movie special effects creator and further extended his formal education to become a qualified teacher specialising in art and design.

He has spent time further developing his urban realism practice in his York workshop to reveal his latest collection.

Anna Pearson: Everyday objects and views as subjects

Anna Pearson, painting, 29 Woodside Avenue, York 

ANNA has produced a selection of different types of work, sometimes adding collage to them. She takes her inspiration from the Impressionists and Yorkshire’s own David Hockney.

“My preferred medium is acrylics, finding the best way to apply it can be with the fingers or anything else lying around my kitchen,” she says. “When sketching outdoors, I use pen and ink and have a whimsical attitude to straight lines – I like structures to have ‘character’!” 

Most of Anna’s work is in acrylics with everyday objects and views as subjects, often using sponges to apply the paint.

Danladi Kole Bako: Creator of Bankoleart

Danladi Kole Bako, mixed media, The Studio, 40 Hempland Drive, York

DANLADI is the Nigerian-born founder of Bankoleart, his art being essentially characterised by the use of talking drums for functional and aesthetic visual art expressions, creatively employing themes, designs and media to highlight socio-cultural issues.

Born in 1969 in Kaduna state, Nigeria, Danladi is a “self-thought” artist, painter and mixed-media artist. “My passion for contemporary visual arts was nurtured during my years in solitude, when I devoted myself to research and developing my unique ‘Bankoleart’ style,” he says.

His art form has flourished with increased experimentation at numerous artist-run spaces in Nigeria and his works are owned by private and corporate collectors worldwide.

Izzy Williamson: Expresses feelings of playfulness and wonder in her linocuts

Izzy Williamson, printmaking, Flat 1, 9 Sandringham Street, York

PRINTMAKER Izzy specialises in making original, limited-edition, intricate and figurative in style and deeply rooted in nature and stories from her childhood in Whitby.

“The narratives within my work observe feelings of playfulness and wonder, stemming from stories in folklore, dreams, myth and everyday joys,” she says.

Since graduating from Leeds College of Art in 2015, Izzy has produced designs for interiors, packaging and branding.

Izzy Williamson goes down to the sea, her linocuts being deeply rooted in nature and stories from her Whitby childhood

In focus tomorrow: Lucinda Grange, photography; Janine Lees, mixed media; Emma Frost, painting; Shirley Davis Dew, painting; Laura Thompson, illustration; The Island, photography.