TWO Big Egos In A Small Car podcast double act Chalmers & Hutch decide in Episode 48.
Plus what’s happening to Peter Jackson’s Beatles biopic Get Back? Festival overload: is it Glastonbury or Glastonborey?
Carole King’s Tapestry takes on Joni Mitchell’s Blue in a 50th anniversary tussle. The Magic Christian revisited, Ringo Starr et al. Hurry, hurry, to see Cecil Beaton’s gilded photographic days in Sheffield Millennium Gallery exhibition.
Moth of the day: Peppered Moth, Sarah Gillespie’s latest and largest mezzotint, 2ft by 3ft in size, completed in February and now being exhibiting for the first time at Castle Howard
MOTHS have a bad press and basically The Bible is to blame.
Or so says mezzotint artist and moth crusader Sarah Gillespie, whose remarkable exhibition can be discovered by day at Castle Howard, near York, until September 5.
“It’s just for some reason, we are so ignorant about moths,” says Sarah, speaking during her residency at the Head Gardener’s Cottage in the walled Rose Garden.
Part of the Lepidoptera group of insects, meaning “scaly winged”, moths are “deeply unloved”, “grossly misunderstood” and dismissed as “pests”, in favour of the more colourful, daylight-dwelling butterfly, and yet moths are more numerous and more varied, as the exhibition publicity asserts.
“Moths are much more interesting than butterflies. They really are. Butterflies are so boring by comparison. Did you know, there are more diurnal flying moth species in the UK than butterflies?” says Sarah.
Sarah Gillespie at work on the meticulous, methodical mezzotint print-making process
Er, no, but anyway, back to that bad press/fake news about The Bible’s disparaging words. Moths flutter through the pages of The Great Book on no fewer than ten occasions, but none has had such a detrimental impact on the moth’s reputation as the Gospel according to St Matthew, chapter 6, verse 19: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.”
“We associate moths with making holes in wool, but not one of the 2,500 species of larger moths does that. Moths don’t eat clothes. It’s only the larvae of one species of micro moth that does it. Some adult moths don’t even have mouth parts, and those that do tend to use them just for pollinating.”
The exhibition is the result of an ongoing project that, for the past two years, has seen Devon artist Sarah research, draw and engrave common English moths by way of highlighting their dramatic and devastating decline and celebrating their overwhelming importance.
Since 1914, it is believed that around 62 species of moths have become extinct in Britain alone. In the last 35 years, the overall number of moths here has fallen by around one third owing to habitat loss, intensive farming, commercial forestry and light pollution.
“If what I have been given [through making mezzotints of moths] is the ability to focus, to pay attention, and if there is even the remotest chance that in attending lies an antidote to our careless destruction, then that’s what I have to do – to focus,” says Sarah. “It’s not enough but it’s necessary.
White Ermine Moth, mezzotint, by Sarah Gillespie
“It’s just for some reason, we are so ignorant about moths. We think of them of them as nocturnal, as the butterflies of the night – the French call them ‘papillon de nuit’ – but many are diurnal.
“It doesn’t help that a lot of people were spooked by the moth in the poster for The Silence Of The Lambs [Jonathan Demme’s 1991 American psychological horror movie]. It’s called the Death’s-Head Hawkmoth because it has what looks like a skull on the back of its head.
“But, in fact, the Death’s Head Hawkmoth has nothing to do with death at all. It goes into beehives to eat honey and the bees happily let it in. It’s not parasitic; it doesn’t hurt the bees; it just takes their honey! The larvae eat potato crops.”
Apart from that, what did moths ever do for us, Sarah? “They’re pollinators. They’re re-cyclers. The reason their larvae eat your cashmere jumpers is to break down animal hair. They evolved to be part of that entropy. Otherwise, we would be drowning in animal hair,” she says.
“They’re a crucial part of the food chain too. Bats eat them on the wing, but we’re seeing a drop in bat numbers over farmland because farmers use pesticides to get rid of moths.”
The infamous poster for The Silence Of The Lambs with a Death’s-Head Hawkmoth covering Jodie Foster’s lips
Anything else? “The UK’s Blue Tit population needs 35 billion moth caterpillars a year to eat. They time the hatching of their chicks for when the caterpillars are around,” Sarah highlights.
“If you wonder why we no longer hear cuckoos like we used to…cuckoos had adapted to eat the hairy caterpillars of the Tiger Moth, but Tiger Moths are down in number by 83 per cent over the past 30 years because of pesticides.
“We tend to think of moths in their adult form but they’re in a cycle and because that’s entangled with other species, they’re the canary in the coal mine in this country, being so entangled with biodiversity and ecosystems.
“The RSPB brought out a report in May that said we are the worst country in the G7 at looking after at our biodiversity. We have only 50 per cent of diversity left. Moths are a huge part of that decay, being a vital part of the food chain and pollinators – and yet we’re afraid of them.
“It’s a depressing story, and no-one wants a depressing story right now, but we do just about have time to turn it around.”
Artist Sarah Gillespie with a moth trap. As if sitting for a portrait, moths may remain still when Sarah draws them
Hence Sarah’s work seeks to “draw attention to this catastrophic collapse while tenderly celebrating moths’ unseen nocturnal lives, exquisite diversity and the poetry of their common English names”.
The resulting Moth exhibition features all 22 of her mezzotints as well as a new work, her largest mezzotint to date. Measuring a monumental 2ft by 3ft, Peppered Moth marks a stark change to a process normally measured in inches and not feet.
Her use of mezzotint – a labour-intensive tonal engraving technique used widely between the 17th and early 19th century – is key in rendering the nocturnal quality of both the subject matter and the works themselves.
Only through repeated careful and gradual scraping and polishing of the copper mezzotint plate are these soft gradations of tone and rich and velvety blacks revealed. At times presenting themselves in all their astounding detail and at others disappearing altogether, Sarah’s moths hum quietly, a gentle reminder of what may disappear permanently.
“I originally trained in Paris in 16th and 17th century methods of oil painting, and right from the beginning of my art career, I’ve had an interest in old, or arcane, techniques,” she says.
Printing the mezzotint of a Garden Tiger Moth
“When I went to the Ruskin [School of Art] in Oxford, I preferred the print room to the art studio and that’s where I did my first mezzotints, but it’s a technique that’s not taught in art schools because it’s too slow – you have to rock the plate in 64 different directions! – and it takes too long for the way art is taught now.
“I always painted and drew as well, but the reason I chose mezzotints for the moths is that with mezzotints, the image is drawn out of the darkness. You scrape and burnish the copper plates to create the lights and half-lights, and that seemed to speak to me very well of moths, as we only half see them: they are half here, half not here.”
A further reason coloured her decision to favour mezzotints. “I’m more comfortable with form and pattern than I am with colour, and we think that moths see in the blue-green spectrum, so I went with the blue spectrum for the prints,” says Sarah.
“If you look at form and pattern, rather than colour, sometimes it has more emotional resonance in monochrome. It’s the same with the impact of black-and-white photographs.”
Such is the meticulous detail in Sarah’s mezzotint prints that it is easy to mistake them for photographs. Not so, there is a reason why a photograph is also known as a “snap”, whereas Sarah’s works of art take weeks, even months.
Sarah Gillespie’s sketch of a Poplar Hawk-moth
“At no point is it a photographic process; it’s a hand-drawn and hand-engraved process. Smaller mezzotints take two weeks to create; the 2ft by 3ft Peppered Moth took three months, just to make the plate,” she says. “Then you spend a week printing the plates.
“The conventional size is five inches by seven inches, and it’s not until now that I’ve done such a big one [Peppered Moth] because I had this idea that I didn’t want to spook people even more when they’re already spooked by moths!”
The creation of the Peppered Moth mezzotint is of particular relevance to Castle Howard, whose landscaped gardens provide the ideal location for its own large and varied moth population.
During the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century, the species experienced a rapid evolutionary mutation, causing it to turn black.
The Peppered Moth’s unusual colour change saw it darken in response to its habitat that became increasingly polluted and soot covered, allowing it to camouflage and escape predators.
Ye, mezzoting, by Sarah Gillespie
It was in industrial Yorkshire cities, close to Castle Howard, that this melatonic phenomenon was observed in 1848, a full ten years ahead of Charles Darwin’s theories on natural selection. “In Sheffield, for example, they were seen hanging out on birch trees, the moths now completely black,” says Sarah. “And they did that change so very quickly.”
Come the introduction of clean air laws in the 1960s, however, the previous speckled variety returned.
“Camouflage is massively important for moths; they’ve been in an evolutionary race with bats and likewise their caterpillars with plants,” says Sarah. “There are moths that look like bark, bird poo, lichen, leaves.
“They have several defences they use: camouflage and warning signs to scare off birds, such as flashing their colours as a second line of defence, or pretending to drop dead or even making noises to ward off bats.”
Finished in February, the Peppered Moth is now the focal point for the Moth exhibition, not only for its sheer size but to reflect the tenacity of these creatures and the geographical ties to Castle Howard behind this particular species’ fascinating evolutionary story.
“At no point is it a photographic process; it’s a hand-drawn and hand-engraved process,” says Sarah Gillespie
Why is Sarah drawn to moths like moths to a flame? “I started doing the mezzotints a few years ago when I was in one of those stages of being disillusioned with the art world as I was finding it narcissistic,” she says, starting out on an answer by a country route. “We are narcissistic as a species and the art world reflected that.
“Though I have many friends in the art world, I was ready for a change. Extinction Rebellion started, and while I wasn’t part of it, many friends were. I don’t like crowds; I like being in the country [she lives near Dartmouth], but I felt artists needed to respond to the biodiversity crisis.
“That’s why I decided to focus on a project rooted in biodiversity, and though this might sound wacky, the moths just offered themselves as a subject.”
How come? “I read Michael McCarthy’s book The Moth Snowstorm: Nature And Joy about the abundance of moths or, rather, lack of abundance, and it was a case of things eliding,” says Sarah, who was delighted that McCarthy subsequently came to Castle Howard on June 5 to give a talk.
“You don’t get as much to choose from as an artist as you might think, but sometimes a subject chooses you, and as soon as I started drawing moths, much more interesting things started happening for me.”
Common Quaker, mezzotint, by Sarah Gillespie
Such as? “My moth mezzotints are now in collections in America and they’ve been exhibited in Katharinaberg in 2019, Shanghai, and now Castle Howard. So, these invitations keep coming and doors keep opening; it does just feel a little like Alice In Wonderland. Coming up next is Hiroshima in the autumn.”
Will Sarah go to Japan? “No, the sky is for the moths and the birds. I don’t really like flying,” she says.
While living onsite as part of her month-long artist’s residency, Sarah has been awaking early to study Castle Howard’s moth population with a view to producing new works in response, including one created publicly during visiting hours.
Visitors have been able to watch her demonstrate the process that goes into making and printing her mezzotints. In addition, she has held a weekly online live streamed event wherein Sarah releases moths caught humanely overnight within Castle Howard’s grounds.
In her temporary workspace alongside the exhibition, Sarah has set up a printing press, courtesy of a York company. “Initially I borrowed a press from a friend, but it wasn’t suitable for mezzotints as you have to apply a lot of pressure,” she says.
“I decided to focus on a project rooted in biodiversity, and though this might sound wacky, the moths just offered themselves as a subject,” says Sarah. Picture: Kate Mount
“But once I put a request on Instagram, within 12 hours I’d received five suggestions, one advising I should contact Hawthorn Printmaker supplies in Murton. I rang at 9am and by 3pm they’d installed it – for free!”
She has loved her residency: “Nick and Vicki Howard have put me in a Vanbrugh-designed cottage in a walled garden, and I feel very lucky. They keep asking me if I’m comfortable and I just roar with laughter!” she says.
Sarah headed north with one other goal. “Castle Howard has sublime lime tree avenues and I hope to locate a Lime Hawk-moth, which is restricted to such trees,” she said on arrival. “Yorkshire is on the tip of their northernmost territories but I’m hopeful.”
Has she been successful? Maybe we shall learn the answer when Sarah returns to Castle Howard in August to appear on BBC1’s Countryfile.
Sarah Gillespie: Moth runs at Castle Howard until September 5. Entry to the exhibition is via the Stable Courtyard and is free of charge; a gardens ticket is not required.
Pale Emerald, mezzotint, by Sarah Gillespie
A REVISED second edition of Sarah’s book Moth is available to buy at £45 from Castle Howard’s gift shop and directly from Sarah’s website at sarahgillespie.co.uk/editions/moth/.
The new hardback features three additional moth prints and an introduction by author and naturalist Mark Cocker, alongside a specially gifted poem by Alice Oswald.
“Common” English Moth Names To Love
1. Dingy Footman
2. Chimney Sweeper
3. Coxcomb
4. Non-conformist [So non-comformist that it is now extinct, alas]
5. Small Fan-footed Wave
6. Pale Brindled Beauty
7. Smoky Wainscot
Setaceous Hebrew Character, mezzotint, by Sarah Gillespie . Note the bristly appearance
8. Double-Striped Pug
9. Feathered Gothic
10. Scalloped Oak
11. Setaceous Hebrew Character [‘Setaceous’ means bristly]
12. Garden Grass-veneer
P.S. Micro-moths tend not to have English names, graced only with their Latin name tags. “The English names for moths are our heritage, whereas a lot of the Latin ones are just random,” says Sarah.
In the name of love Moth Fact of the Day:
Moths make noises as a mating call and males can catch pheromones from females kilometres away.
Just One More Thing in defence of moths…
NOVAVAX, the United States-based pharmaceutical company, has used moth cells to create its Covid-19 vaccine.
One of Ian Cameron’s paintings, on show in his back garden in Green Lane, Acomb
ARTISTS are entering the last week of preparations for the 20th edition of York Open Studios.
After the Covid-enforced fallow year in 2020, the event will return for two weekends of welcoming visitors to 95 studios, workspaces and homes on July 10, 11, 17 and 18, preceded by a preview evening on July 9.
As many as 146 artists and makers will be showing and selling their work in this high-summer opportunity for art lovers and the curious to enjoy the fresh air, meet the artists and view and buy unique arts and crafts from York’s artisans.
Ceramicist Pietro Sanna, making his York Open Studios debut in Dale Street, York
2021’s York Open Studios will celebrate originality and diversity and will be Covid-compliant, with artists adhering to Government guidelines on social distancing, ventilation and sanitisers, keeping themselves and visitors safe throughout.
The York Open Studios organisers are thrilled with the selection of artists and makers spanning ceramics, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print-making , photography, sculpture, textiles and wood. Among them will be 43 new participants.
Committee member and featured ceramicist Beccy Ridsdel says: “After last year’s postponement, we think this year’s 20th show is one of the best. Our decision to move from April to July this year has given us the opportunity for the stricter Covid guidelines [before Step 3] to be relaxed and give the public more confidence when visiting artists’ studios.
“We think this year’s 20th show is one of the best,” says ceramicist and committee member Becky Ridsdel, who will welcome visitors to her South Cottages studio in Shipton Road, York
“Artists and makers bring a diverse range of skills to the weekends, producing bespoke ceramics, furniture, glass, jewellery, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, textiles, wood carving and multi-media.
“There’s something for everyone and every pocket. The artists also love to showcase their work within their surroundings and really value the interaction, whether you’re a buyer or a burgeoning artist. It’s a fabulous way too to enjoy York and view extraordinary work.”
Geometric pattern block lino-print postcards, by mixed-media artist Harriette Rymer, on show at 94, The Village, Haxby
The 95 locations will be highlighted on a map of York to help visitors navigate their way to as many studios, workshops and homes as they wish.
Visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk for more information and for a free York Open Studios map. Alternatively, the map can be picked up from Visit York, on Lendal, or in shops, restaurants and visitor attractions around the city.
For full information on the artists and their studios, examples of their work and opening hours, visit: yorkopenstudios.co.uk.
Rug weaver Jacqueline James with her loom at home in Rosslyn Street, Clifton
Shock of the new: Milton Jones looks startled at the prospect of replacing Ed Byrne at short notice for tonight’s comedy bill at York Theatre Royal
AWAY from all that football, Charles Hutchinson finds plenty of cause for cheer beyond chasing an inflated pig’s bladder, from a late-change comedy bill to Ayckbourn on film, York artists to a park bench premiere.
Late substitution of the week: Byrne out, Jones in, for Live At The Theatre Royal comedy night, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm
ED Byrne will not top the Live At The Theatre Royal comedy bill tonight after all. “We are sorry to announce that due to circumstances beyond our control, Ed is now unable to appear,” says the official statement.
The whimsical Irish comedian subsequently has tweeted his “You Need To Self-Isolate” notification, running until 23.59pm on July 7.
Well equipped to take over at short notice is the quip-witted pun-slinger Milton Jones, joining Rhys James, Maisie Adam and host Arthur Smith. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Naomi Petersen and Bill Champion in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Girl Next Door at the SJT and now on film too. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
“Film of the week”: Alan Ayckburn’s The Girl Next Door, from Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until Sunday
THE SJT’s film of Alan Ayckbourn’s latest premiere, The Girl Next Door, is available on the Scarborough theatre’s website, sjt.uk.com.
Directed by Ayckbourn, his 85th play can be seen on stage in The Round until Saturday and now in a filmed recording in front of a live audience until midnight on Sunday.
One day in 2020 lockdown, veteran actor Rob spots a stranger hanging out the washing in the adjoining garden, but his neighbours have not been around for months. Who is the mysterious girl next door? And why is she wearing 1940s’ clothing?
Ray of sunshine: Edwin Ray as Tick/Mitzi in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Darren Bell
Musical of the week ahead: Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Leeds Grand Theatre, July 6 to 10
PRISCILLA Queen Of The Desert returns to Leeds for seven socially distanced performances in a new production produced by Mark Goucher and, for the first time, Jason Donovan, star of the original West End show and two UK tours.
Loaded up with glorious costumes, fabulous feathers and dance-floor classics, three friends hop aboard a battered old bus bound for Alice Springs to put on the show of a lifetime.
Miles Western plays Bernadette, Nick Hayes, Adam/Felicia and Edwin Ray, Tick/Mitzi, in this heart-warming story of self-discovery, sassiness and acceptance. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or at leedsgrandtheatre.com.
Solo show: Polymath Phil Grainger puts his songwriting in the spotlight in his Clive concert in Stillington
Gig of the week outside York: Clive, alias Phil Grainger, At The Mill, Stillington, near York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
CLIVE is the solo music project of Easingwold singer, songwriter, musician, sound engineer, magician, actor, Gobbledigook Theatre director and event promoter Phil Grainger.
As the voice and the soul behind Orpheus, Eurydice and The Gods The Gods The Gods, Clive finds the globe-trotting Grainger back home, turning his hand to a song-writing project marked by soaring vocal and soulful musicianship. Expect a magical evening wending through new work and old classics in two sets, one acoustic, the other electric. Box office: tickettailor.com/events/atthemill/512182.
Emily Hansen’s Pilgrim 14 as Mary Magdalene in a rehearsal for A Resurrection For York at Dean’s Park. Picture: John Saunders
Open-air theatre event of the weekend: A Resurrection For York, Residents Garden, Minster Library, Dean’s Park, York, Saturday and Sunday, 11am, 2pm, 4pm
THE wagons are in place for A Resurrection For York, presented by York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust, York Festival Trust and York Minster.
Philip Parr, artistic director of Parrabbola, directs a community cast in an hour-long outdoor performance, scripted by Parr and 2018 York Mystery Plays director Tom Straszewski from the York Mystery Plays cycle of the crucifixion and the events that followed. Tickets are on sale at ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/york/residents-garden-deans-park/a-resurrection-for-york/.
Autonomous, by Sharon McDonagh, from the Momentum Summer Show at Blossom Street Gallery, York
Exhibition of the week and beyond: Momentum Summer Show, Westside Artists, Blossom Street Gallery, by Micklegate Bar, York, until September 26
YORK art group Westside Artists, a coterie of artists from the city’s Holgate and West areas, are exhibiting paintings, portraits, photomontage, photography, metalwork, textiles, ceramics and mixed-media art at Blossom Street Gallery.
Taking part are Adele Karmazyn; Carolyn Coles; Donna Maria Taylor; Ealish Wilson; Fran Brammer; Jane Dignum; Jill Tattersall; Kate Akrill and Lucy McElroy. So too are Lucie Wake; Marc Godfrey-Murphy; Mark Druery; Michelle Hughes; Rich Rhodes; Robin Grover-Jaques, Sharon McDonagh and Simon Palmour.
The Park Keeper director Matt Aston, left, actor Sean McKenzie and writer Mike Kenny at Rowntree Park, York. Picture: Northedge Photography
Theatre premiere of the week ahead: Park Bench Theatre in The Park Keeper, The Friends’ Garden, Rowntree Park, York, July 7 to 17 (except July 11)
AFTER last summer’s trilogy of solo shows, Matt Aston’s Park Bench Theatre return to Rowntree Park with Olivier Award-winning York writer Mike Kenny’s new monologue to mark the park’s centenary.
Performed by Sean McKenzie, The Park Keeper is set in York in the summer of 1945, when Rowntree Park’s first, and so far only, park keeper, ‘Parky’ Bell, is about to retire. That can mean only one thing, a speech, but what can he say? How can he close this chapter on his life? Will he be able to lock the gates to his kingdom one last time? Box office: 01904 623568, at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or via parkbenchtheatre.com.
Andy Fairweather Low: Booked into Pocklington Arts Centre for next February
Gig announcement of the week outside York: Andy Fairweather Low, Pocklington Arts Centre, February 11 2022
ANDY Fairweather Low, the veteran Welsh guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and producer, will return to Pocklington next February.
Founder and cornerstone of Sixties’ hitmakers Amen Corner and later part of Eric Clapton and Roger Waters’ bands, Cardiff-born Fairweather Low, 72, will perform with The Low Riders: drummer Paul Beavis, bassist Dave Bronze and saxophonist Nick Pentelow. Box office: pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Jane McDonald: Lighting up York Barbican in July 2022 rather than July 4 this summer
Rearranged gig announcement of the week in York: Jane McDonald, York Barbican, July 22 2022
WAKEFIELD cabaret singer and television personality Jane McDonald’s Let The Light In show is on the move to next summer.
For so long booked in as the chance to “Get The Lights Back On” at York Barbican on July 4, the Government’s postponement of “Freedom Day” from June 21 to July 19 at the earliest has enforced the date change for a show first booked in for 2020. Tickets remain valid; box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Next stop York Theatre Royal: The Showstoppers are on their way north for a night of improvised musical comedy mayhem
LOOKING to have a whale of a time? Here is Charles Hutchinson’s latest guide to what’s on and what’s coming up, featuring a snail, a whale, a hare, a York king and much more besides.
Anything Could Happen show of the week: The Showstoppers in Showstopper! The Improvised Musical, York Theatre Royal and livestream, June 30, 7.30pm
DIRECT from the West End, The Showstoppers’ Olivier Award-winning blend of comedy, musical theatre and spontaneity heads to York Theatre Royal for one night only.
A new musical comedy will be created from scratch as audience suggestions are transformed into an all-singing, all-dancing production packed with drama, dazzling dance routines and contagious melodies, everything being made up on the spot.
“Whether you fancy Hamiltonin a hospital or Sondheim in the Sahara, you suggest it and we’ll sing it,” say the Showstoppers, whose show will be livestreamed too, with more details in how to tune in at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/showstopper-the-improvised-musical-livestream.
Wood work: York actor Richard Kay and Hetty the hare in Badapple Theatre Company’s Tales From The Great Wood
Family show of the week: Badapple Theatre Company in Tales From The Great Wood, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 2, 7.30pm; July 3, 11am, 2.30pm and 7pm.
LISTEN! Can you hear the whispering in the trees? The wood is full of stories in Tales From The Wood, written and directed by Kate Bramley, artistic director of Green Hammerton company Badapple.
York actor Richard Kay, Danny Mellor and a host of puppets present an interactive storytelling eco-adventure for ages five to 95, set on a hot summer’s day, when, instead of resting, Hetty the hare is investigating because someone is missing.
As she unravels a tall tale that stretches across The Great Wood, Hetty realises how every creature, no matter how small, can have a huge part to play in the world of the forest. Box office: josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
On the snail trail: Tall Stories in The Snail And The Whale at York Theatre Royal
Children’s show of the week: Tall Stories in The Snail And The Whale, York Theatre Royal, July 2, 2.30pm and 4.30pm; July 3, 10.30am and 1.30pm
TALL Stories invite you to join an adventurous young girl and her seafaring father as they reimagine the story of a globe-trotting tiny snail, inspired by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s picture book.
In this heart-warming play full of music, storytelling and laughter, the sea snail hitches a lift on the tail of a grey-blue humpback whale to head off an amazing journey around the world, but when the whale becomes beached, how will the snail save him? Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Gary Stewart: Hosting his Folk Club night at the At The Mill outdoor theatre in Stillington
Folk event of the week ahead: Gary Stewart’s Folk Club, At The Mill, Stillington, near York, July 3, 7.30pm to 10pm
“IT will be a very special, one-off, folk club: part folk night, part headline gig, with an eclectic mix of acts and then me doing a set,” says Easingwold singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Gary Stewart.
Hosted by Gary, people in attendance will be given the chance to play and perform, whether music, stories, songs or poems. “If you want to share something, then bring your instrument and your voice and we’ll see you there!” says At The Mill’s Alexander Wright. For tickets, go to: atthemill.com.
Back in York at last: Richard III returns “home” in a National Portrait Gallery portrait loan to the Yorkshire Museum
Portrait of the summer: Richard III, Yorkshire Museum, York, July 9 to October 31.
HIS ex-car park bones may be stuck in Leicester Cathedral, but that right work of art, Richard III, is heading back to his favourite city, York, albeit in portrait form.
On loan from the National Portrait Gallery as part of its Coming Home project, the iconic 16th century painting by the mysterious Unknown Artist will be on show at the Yorkshire Museum alongside “one of the finest groups of objects associated with Richard III”, such as the magnificent Middleham Jewel, The Ryther Hoard and Stillingfleet Boar Badge.
“Coming home,” you say? Yes, the project lends portraits of iconic individuals to places across the UK with which they are most closely associated. York 1, Leicester 0.
Hope & Social distancing: Leeds band to play Covid-secure gig at The Crescent, York
Where there’s hope…and a NEW date: Hope & Social, The Crescent, York, October 12, 7.30pm. Moved from July 16
“WE wear blue jackets. Fingers crossed, we will die with our hearts out in bloom,” say Leeds band Hope & Social, purveyors of the 2014 Tour de France Grand Depart and Yorkshire Festival anthem The Big Wide.
Ah yes, but why do they wear those blue jackets? “Homburgs, in Leeds, were selling off goods, and they had a choice between Wombles outfits and these Butlins holiday camp-style outfits,” explains drummer Gary Stewart. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
The Courteeners: Playing a warm-up gig at the 8,000-capacity Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Warm-up gig of the summer: The Courteeners, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, September 8
THE Courteeners will loosen up for two-late summer shows with an exclusive warm-up on the East Coast, supported by Wirral wonders The Coral.
The Middleton band are to play Glasgow’s TRNSMT Festival on September 10 and Manchester’s Emirates Old Trafford cricket ground on September 25, a home-coming that sold out in 90 minutes.
Best known for Not Nineteen Forever, Are You In Love With A Notion, How Good It Was, The 17th and Hanging Off Your Cloud, The Courteeners released their seventh top ten album, More. Again. Forever, in January 2020. Tickets will go on sale tomorrow (25/6/2021) via scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
As you Lycett: More, more, more Yorkshire dates for Joe Lycett on his long, long, long 2022 tour. Picture: Matt Crockett
Comedy gig announcement of the week: Joe Lycett: More, More, More! How Do You Lycett? How Do You Lycett?, York Barbican, April 1 and 3 2022
FRESH from filming in York last Thursday for his Channel 4 consumer-campaign series Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, Birmingham comedian and presenter Lycett has announced a 60-date tour with a title riffing on a 1976 Andrea True Connection disco floor-filler.
In More, More, More!, Lycett will explore his love of art and passion for gardening, how he toys with companies on Instagram and the perils of online trolls.
As well as his York Barbican brace, among more, more, more dates in 2022 will be Hull Bonus Arena on April 2 and Leeds First Direct Arena on September 14. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk and joelycett.com.
Autonomous, mixed-media collage on box canvas, by Sharon McDonagh, long-listed for the 2021 Aesthetica Art Prize and now to be shown in the Momentum Summer Show at Blossom Street Gallery, York
YORK art group Westside Artists open their Momentum Summer Show at Blossom Street Gallery, by Micklegate Bar, York, on Friday (25/6/2021).
This coterie of artists from the Holgate and West area of York will be showing a varied range of disciplines, from painting and photomontage to textiles, ceramics and mixed-media art.
Among the participating artists, and a key organiser too, is Sharon McDonagh, from Holgate, who had her mixed-media work long-listed for this year’s Aesthetica Art Prize, whose accompanying exhibition is running at York Art Gallery. One of Sharon’s submitted pieces, Autonomous, is now featuring in the Momentum show.
Missy T, oil on canvas, by Lucie Wake
Joining her at Blossom Street Gallery are: Adele Karmazyn, digital photomontages; Carolyn Coles, seascapes; Donna Maria Taylor, mixed media; Ealish Wilson, textiles; Fran Brammer, textiles; Jane Dignum, prints; Jill Tattersall, mixed media; Kate Akrill, Skullduggery ceramics, and Lucy McElroy, portraits.
So too are: Lucie Wake, from Facet Painting, paintings and portraits; Marc Godfrey-Murphy, alias MarcoLooks, illustrations; Mark Druery, pen and watercolour sketches; Michelle Hughes, prints; Rich Rhodes, ceramics; Robin Grover-Jaques, painting and metalwork, and Simon Palmour, photographs.
The Momentum Summer Show will be gaining momentum until September 26. Gallery opening hours are: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 10am to 4pm; Covid-compliant measures are in place.
Untitled, ‘Dark and Light’ acrylic on canvas, by Robin Grover-Jacques
Blue Pool, by Markus Van Hauten, from the Earth Photo exhibition at Staindale in Dalby Forest
FORESTRY England will exhibit a selection of Earth Photo images in Dalby Forest, near Pickering, from June 28 to September 19.
The outdoor exhibition will display 24 of the final shortlisted entries in the beautiful forest setting of Staindale.
Earth Photo, an international competition and exhibition created by Forestry England and the Royal Geographical Society, in tandem with the Institute of British Geographers, showcases photographs and videos that document the natural world, both its beauty and ever-growing fragility.
The selection of images encompasses the Earth Photo categories: People, Place, Nature and Changing Forests. A Climate of Change, the competition’s newest category, marks the United Nations climate-change summit COP26, to be held in Glasgow in November.
Petra Young, Forestry England’s funding and development manager for the Yorkshire district, says: “We’re delighted to be once again one of three of the nation’s forests hosting the selected Earth Photo exhibition. This is a crucial year to shine a light on the natural world, our relationship with it and how we can better support it.
Coffee Or Tea Study, by Yi Sun Sun, from the Earth Photo outdoor exhibition in Dalby Forest
“COP26 will focus minds on the pressing issues that face our environment. The last year showed so many of us just how much we value and need nature to restore our wellbeing. Being able to see these Earth Photo images in the heart of Dalby Forest is a very special experience and we welcome everyone to visit safely and see them.”
This is the latest exhibition in Dalby Forest’s arts programme to showcase art that interprets the landscape, wildlife, heritage and people, created by Yorkshire, national and international artists.
The full Earth Photo exhibition will share the June 28 opening date at the Royal Geographical Society, Kensington Gore, South Kensington, London, for a run until the end of August before touring Forestry England forests at Moors Valley in Dorset and Grizedale in Cumbria.
Category winners and the overall winner will be announced on August 19 at an awards event at the Royal Geographical Society. More information on the Dalby Forest exhibition can found at: forestryengland.uk/forest-event/events-dalby-forest/earth-photo-exhibition-2021-dalby-forest.
Did you know?
FORESTRY England, England’s largest land manager, cares for the nation’s 1,500 woods and forests, drawing more than 230 million visits per year.
THE STORY BEHIND ROSIE HALLAM’S EARTH PHOTO EXHIBIT, A RIGHT TO AN EDUCATION…
Selamaw studying at home in Ethiopia, by Rosie Hallam
“EVERY child has the right to go to school,” says Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO. “It is the responsibility of all of us to make sure that happens.”
UNESCO contends that education is both a basic human right and a smart investment, being vital for development and helping to lay the foundations for social well-being, economic growth and security, gender equality and peace.
Education is the frontline of defence in tackling diseases such as Ebola, by teaching children about how they can protect themselves and their families.
Rosie’s photograph captures the story of 14-year-old Selamaw, the first person in her family to stay on at school past primary age. Her parents, Marco and Meselech, are subsistence farmers in a village near Aleta Chuko, Sidamo, Ethiopia.
They are part of a programme designed to help children from the poorest Ethiopian families remain in school while assisting the mothers to set up a business with a seed fund made up of a small donation and savings.
While Selamaw goes to school, her mother, Meselech, is learning literacy and numeracy skills and attending business classes. She hopes to set up a business selling crops and flour.
Through this programme, Meselech aims to earn enough money to keep Selamaw in school and to allow her other children to receive an education, eventually breaking their cycle of poverty.
Open welcome: Pocklington Arts Centre director Janet Farmer looks forward to reopening on July 20
POCKLINGTON Arts Centre will reopen to the public on July 20 and film screenings will re-start on July 23, 491 days since the last performance.
Director Janet Farmer and venue manager James Duffy have chosen this date to ensure the safety of customers and volunteers.
“Over the past few months, our main focus has been planning the safe reopening of the building, ensuring all staff are trained appropriately and making sure the venue has all its new systems, resources and processes in place and working well,” says Janet.
“We have sought feedback from staff, volunteers and customers and this will be vital to the success of this process. Our main aim is to ensure the visitor experience at Pocklington Arts Centre (PAC) is safe, secure and enjoyable.”
In late-March 2020, the East Yorkshire venue launched a crowdfunding page, raising more than £18,000 in under a month, followed by successful funding applications to the Smile Foundation’s I Am Fund and the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.
Spiers & Boden: October 20 booking at Pocklington Arts Centre
Janet says: “I would like to thank our customers, in addition to Pocklington Town Council, the Friends of PAC, the Smile Foundation, Arts Council England and the Music Venue Trust for their collective support over the past year.
“It has been a very difficult time for everyone, but their kind words, financial support and continued interest in all things PAC has meant a great deal and helped carry the venue through these extraordinary times.”
Staff have rescheduled forthcoming events for the autumn and winter, transferring more than 4,000 tickets and refunding customers for 20-plus cancelled events.
“Throughout the closure period, we have stated our determination to emerge from the situation more vibrant than ever and our autumn and winter programme is a testament to that,” says Janet.
“2021/22 will see a fantastic range of live events being staged here, alongside our trademark diverse mix of film screenings, live broadcasts, exhibitions, community events and private hires.”
Velma Celli: York’s queen of vocal drag will make Pocklington debut on December 3. Picture: Kirkpatrick Photography
In the diary are Grammy Award winner Loudon Wainwright III, September 24; Northumberland Theatre Company (NTC) in Oscar Wilde’s “trivial comedy for serious people”, The Importance Of Being Earnest, September 30; North Eastern gypsy folk-rockers Holy Moly & The Crackers, October 16; Oxford singer-songwriter Thea Gilmore, October 7, and Irish jazz/blues chanteuse Mary Coughlan, October 19.
Bellowhead alumni and BBC Radio Folk Award winners Spiers & Boden are booked in for October 20; Red Ladder Theatre Company, from Leeds, in Nana-Kofi Kufuor’s My Voice Was Heard But Was Ignored, for November 25; television and radio broadcaster and author Jeremy Vine, November 26; Welsh singer-songwriter Martyn Joseph, December 2, and York drag diva deluxe Velma Celli, December 3.
Confirmed for 2022 are An Evening With Julian Norton, from Channel 5’s The Yorkshire Vet, January 18; singer-songwriter Teddy Thompson, January 22;Welsh guitarist, songwriter, vocalist and former Amen Corner cornerstone Andy Fairweather Low, February 11, and Eighties’ pop singer and actress ToyahWillcox, March 3.
PAC’s two open-air acoustic concerts in Primrose Wood, Pocklington, with Martin Simpson and Katie Spencer on July 1 and The Dunwells and Rachel Croft on July 8 will go ahead despite the Government’s Step 4 roadmap delay, but now under social-distancing restrictions. Both 7pm shows have sold out.
Janet says: “We always knew this was a possibility when the shows were first planned and there’s sufficient space for people to enjoy the event safely, while experiencing the atmospheric setting of Primrose Wood.”
Martin Simpson: Headlining at a sold-out Primrose Woods on July 1
PAC increased its online artistic output during the pandemic, staging 18 events to more than 9,000 audience members.
In addition, a series of outdoor exhibitions has been held by PAC across the region. York artists Sue Clayton and Karen Winship have shown work at All Saints’ Church, Pocklington, and Sue will be following Karen into Hull Waterside and Marina. Those attending the York Vaccination Centre at Askham Bar can see her Down Syndrome portraits in the Tent of Hope.
“We felt it was vitally important to have continued customer engagement throughout the prolonged closure period and the public response to these events and exhibitions has been very positive,” says Janet.
“We’re also very much aware there’s no substitute to watching a live performance, in person, and sharing this experience with fellow audience members.
“Everyone at PAC is now counting down the days until the doors can reopen and we can welcome customers back. It’s been a very long interval and we can’t wait for the second half to begin.”
For full event listings and ticket details, go to: pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
York artist Karen Winship at the launch of her NHS Heroes exhibition at Hull Waterside and Marina
A fight for survival as sex, power, money and race collide on a hot night: Sophie Robinson as Julie in New Earth Theatre and Storyhouse’s Miss Julie at York Theatre Royal
FREEDOM Day is delayed but Boris Johnson has reached for the Latin dictionary again with his promise of “Terminus Est”. Meanwhile, back in the real world, life goes on in Charles Hutchinson’s socially distanced diary.
Play of the week ahead: Miss Julie, The Love Season at York Theatre Royal, June 22 to 26
ON the Chinese New Year in 1940s’ Hong Kong, the celebrations are in full swing when Julie, the daughter of the island’s British governor, crashes the servants’ party downstairs.
What starts as a game descends into a fight for survival as sex, power, money and race collide on a hot night in the Pearl River Delta in British-Hong Kong playwright Amy Ng’s adaptation of Strindberg’s psychological drama in New Earth Theatre and Storyhouse’s new touring production. Box office: 01904 623568 or atyorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Reopening today: Leeds Grand Theatre auditorium will be welcoming an audience for the first time in 15 months
Reopening of the day: Leeds Grand Theatre
WHEN Leeds Grand Theatre first opened its doors on Monday, November 18 1878, a playbill declared it would “Positively Open”. Now, after 15 months under wraps, it is “Positively Reopening” today (17/62021) for a socially distanced run of Northern Ballet’s Swan Lake until June 26.
In Northern Ballet‘s emotive retelling, Anthony’s life is haunted by guilt after the tragic loss of his brother. When he finds himself torn between two loves, he looks to the water for answers.
There he finds solace with the mysterious swan-like Odette as the story is beautifully reimagined by David Nixon, who will be leaving the Leeds company after 20 years as artistic director in December. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or at boxoffice@leedsheritagetheatres
Abba Mania: Saying thank you for the superSwedes’ music at York Racecourse on June 26
Staying on track: Sounds In The Grounds, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, June 25 to 27
JAMBOREE Entertainment presents three Covid safety-compliant Sounds In The Grounds concerts next weekend with socially distanced picnic patches at York Racecourse.
First up, next Friday, will be Beyond The Barricade, a musical theatre celebration starring former Les Miserables principals; followed by Abba Mania next Saturday and the country hits of A Country Night In Nashville next Sunday.
Opening each show will be York’s party, festival and wedding favourites, The New York Brass Band. Tickets are on sale at soundsinthegrounds.seetickets.com or at the gate for last-minute decision makers.
The poster for the return of the York River Art Market
Welcome back: York River Art Market, Dame Judi Dench Walk, York, from June 26
AFTER the pandemic ruled out all last year’s live events, York River Art Market returns to its riverside railing perch at Dame Judi Dench Walk, by Lendal Bridge, for ten shows this summer in the wake of the winter’s online #YRAMAtHome, organised by Charlotte Dawson.
Free to browse and for sale will be work by socially distanced, indie emerging and established artists on June 26, July 3, 24, 25 and 31 and August 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28, from 10.30am to 5.30pm, when YRAM will be raising funds for York Rescue Boat.
On show will be landscape and abstract paintings; ink drawings, cards and prints; jewellery and glass mosaics; woodwork and metalwork; textiles and clothing and artisan candles and beauty products.
Alexander Wright: Contemplating his debut solo performance of poems, stories and new writing on July 10. Picture: Megan Drury
He’s nervous, but why? Alexander Wright: Remarkable Acts Of Narcissism, Theatre At The Mill, Stillington, near York, July 10, 7.30pm
LET Alex tell the story: “In a potentially remarkable act of narcissism, I am doing a solo gig of my own work in a theatre I built (with Phil Grainger and dad Paul Wright) in my back garden.
“It’s the first time I have ever done a solo gig. I write lots of stuff, direct lots of stuff, tour Orpheus, Eurydice & The Gods to hundreds of places. But I’ve never really stood in front of people and performed my own stuff, on my own, for an extended period. So, now, I am…and I’m nervous about it.”
Expect beautiful stories, beautiful poems and a few beautiful special guests; tickets via atthemill.org.
Ringmaster and Dame Dolly Donut in TaleGate Theatre’s Goldilocks And The Three Bears at Pocklington Arts Centre
Summer “pantomime”? Yes, in TaleGate Theatre’s Goldlilocks And The Three Bears, Pocklington Arts Centre, August 12, 2.30pm
ALL the fun of live family theatre returns to Pocklington Arts Centre this summer with Doncaster company TaleGate Theatre’s big top pantomime extravaganza.
In Goldilocks And The Three Bears, pop songs, magic and puppets combine in a magical adventure where you are invited to help Goldilocks and her mum, Dame Dolly Donut, save their circus and rescue the three bears from the evil ringmaster. For tickets, go to: pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys: Headliners to be found at The Magpies Festival in Sutton-on-the-Forest in August
Festival alert: The Magpies Festival, Sutton Park, Sutton-on-the-Forest, near York, August 14, music on bar stage from 1.30pm; main stage, from 2.30pm
SAM Kelly & The Lost Boys will headline The Magpies Festival in the grounds of Sutton Park.
Confirmed for the folk-flavoured line-up too are: Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra; Blair Dunlop; fast-rising Katherine Priddy; The Magpies; York musician Dan Webster; East Yorkshire singer-songwriter Katie Spencer; the duo Roswell and The People Versus. Day tickets and camping tickets are available atthemagpiesfestival.co.uk/tickets.
A variation on Malvolio’s cross-gartered stocking theme: Yellow and black rugby socks for Luke Adamson’s version of Twelfth Night on the Selby RUFC pitch
Fun and games combined: JLA Productions in Twelfth Night, Selby Rugby Union Football Club, August 20, 7.30pm; August 21, 2.30pm, 7.30pm
“I’M just getting in touch to announce we’re doing some Shakespeare on a rugby pitch in Selby in August. Crazy? Perhaps. But it’s going to be fun!” promises Luke Adamson, Selby-born actor, London theatre boss and son of former England squad fly half Ray.
Adapted and directed by Adamson, a raucous, musical version of “Shakespeare’s funniest play”, Twelfth Night, will be staged with Adamson as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in a cast rich with Yorkshire acting talent.
Out go pantaloons and big fluffy collars, in come rugby socks, cricket jumpers and questionable facial hair. Box office: jlaproductions.co.uk.
