Mary Ward (Augsberg portrait): Foundress of the Bar Convent
THE Trailblazers of the Bar Convent will be celebrated in a new audio trail that opens at the living heritage centre, in Blossom Street, York, on May 25 to mark half-term week.
Focusing on uncovering the amazing stories of key characters from the history of the oldest surviving convent in Great Britain, the exhibition trail spotlights:
* Mary Ward, who believed that girls deserved an equal education to boys;
* Mother Superior Ann Aspinal, who determined to build a secret chapel totally hidden from the outside world;
* Sister Gregory Kirkus, who set up the first ever museum at the convent;
* Plus many more incredible women who have lived there over the centuries, dedicating their lives to helping those in need, protecting the Catholic faith and supporting the Catholic community across the city.
Saint Margaret Clitherow
The foundress of the order – resident at the Bar Convent since 1686 – was a Yorkshire woman, Mary Ward, who has such international significance that her followers and supporters are building a case to have her officially recognised as a saint by the Catholic Church.
She believed that women were intellectually equal to men and deserved an education that reflected that equality. Providing a proper education for girls was central to her work, and she duly travelled widely across Europe, founding schools in ten European cities by 1628.
She noted in 1617 that “there is no such difference between men and women that women may not do great things – and I hope in God it will be seen that women in time to come will do much”.
In the mid-18th century, Mother Ann Aspinal wanted to construct a new convent chapel with an Italianate style dome but it was still illegal to build Catholic churches at that time. Rather than hiding the building project, she instead added a new suite of rooms to the front of the building, including a beautiful Georgian parlour, to disguise the real building project taking place at the back of the house: the secret chapel.
Sister Gregory Kirkus: Author of 20 books about the Bar Cinvent
Sister Gregory Kirkus wrote more than 20 books on the history of the convent and researched the lives of many of the sisters who have lived here. She established the inaugural museum at the Bar Convent and saved its historic books and documents. Thanks to her, so much of the building’s history is known.
The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre is open to the public and welcomes all faiths and none. The chapel is free to visit and a public mass is celebrated on Fridays at 12 noon. The relic of Saint Margaret Clitherow is housed there.
Using QR codes throughout the Trailblazers trail, visitors are invited to discover more about the trailblazing women of the Bar Convent story, whose bravery and determination made history locally, nationally and globally.
Entry to the convent is free. The trail is included in admission to the Bar Convent exhibition. Complete the trail to be in with a chance to win a £30 voucher for the café. Tickets: barconvent.co.uk.
Opening hours for the exhibition, chapel and Georgian parlour: 10am to 5pm; last entry 4pm. Café: Monday to Saturday, 8am to 3pm (hot food served until 2.30pm).
Sculptor Tony Cragg with his bronze work Outspan in the Great Hall at Castle Howard. Picture: Charlotte Graham
SCULPTURES and Tess in the country, free events at the double, nun fun on the run, courtroom tensions and a funny mummy send Charles Hutchinson out and about.
Sculptures of the week: Tony Cragg at Castle Howard, near Malton, until September 22
SCULPTOR Tony Cragg presents the first major exhibition by a leading contemporary artist in the house and grounds of Castle Howard. On show are new and recent sculptures, many being presented on British soil for the first time, including large-scale works in bronze, stainless steel, aluminium and fibreglass.
Inside the house are works in bronze and wood, glass sculptures and works on paper in the Great Hall, Garden Hall, High South, Octagon and Colonnade. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.
Let us pray: Landi Oshinowo’s Deloris Van Cartier, left, and Sue Cleaver’s Mother Superior in Sister Act, on tour at Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Sister Act, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinee, Saturday
SUE Cleaver takes holy orders in a break from Coronation Street to play the Mother Superior in Sister Act in her first stage role in three decades. Adding Alan Menken songs to the 1992 film’s storyline, the show testifies to the universal power of friendship, sisterhood and music in its humorous account of disco diva Deloris Van Cartier’s life taking a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder.
Placed in protective custody, in the disguise of a nun under the Mother Superior’s suspicious eye, Deloris (Landi Oshinowo) helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
One of Stephen G Bird’s artworks in his Helmsley Arts Centre exhibition
Exhibition of the week: Stephen G Bird, Helmsley Arts Centre, Helmsley, until June 28
NORTH Yorkshire artist Stephen G Bird works in a variety of painting and drawing media. His pictures begin with extensive observational drawing in urban and rural landscapes. Once back in his studio, he creates pictorial and allegorical narratives from memory and imagination. Themes include tales from myth and legend and the comedy and tragedy of the everyday. “Life is dark but also funny,” he says.
Lila Naruse’s Memory Tess in Ockham’s Razor’s circus theatre production of Tess at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Kie Cummings
“Bold new vision” of the week: Ockham’s Razor in Tess, York Theatre Royal, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm
CIRCUS theatre exponents Ockham’s Razor tackle a novel for the first time in a staging of Thomas Hardy’s Tess Of The D’Urbervilles that combines artistic directors Charlotte Mooney and Alex Harvey’s adaptation of the original text with the physical language of circus and dance.
Exploring questions of privilege, class, consent, agency, female desire and sisterhood, Tess utilises seven performers, including Harona Kamen’s Narrator Tess and Lila Naruse’s Memory Tess, to re-tell the Victorian story of power, loss and endurance through a feminist lens. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The Funny Mummy: One-woman comedy show about the bonkers world of parenting
Comedy gig of the week: The Funny Mummy, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
THE Funny Mummy, alias Alyssa Kyria, delivers a one-woman comedy show about “the bonkers world” of parenting. “From pregnancy to playdates, WhatsApp groups to school runs, if you’re a parent, and you need a laugh, then this show is for you,” she advocates.
Kyria, co-creator of Bring Your Own Baby Comedy, performs across the country and has appeared on the BBC, ITV and Sky. Her comedy, music videos and sketches have gone viral on Netmums and Facebook. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
The Twisty Turns: Country songs new and old at Milton Rooms, Malton
Free gig of the week: Lazy Sunday Sessions, The Twisty Turns and Joey Wing, Studio Bar, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 3pm to 5pm
The Milton Rooms’ new Lazy Sunday Sessions programme continues this weekend with a double bill headlined by Ryedale country band The Twisty Turns, who combine their own compositions, influenced by country, folk, country blues and bluegrass, with traditional country songs and rip-roaring fiddle tunes.
In the line-up are Benjamin Gallon, who provides acoustic guitar, vocals and “anteloping”; Jenny Trilsbach, on double bass, vocals and “foxiness”, and Jerry Bloom, on fiddle and “frogmanship”. Singer Joey Wing supports. Entry is free.
Butterwick Alpaca Retreat’s alpacas at the Love Local day at Nunnington Hall. Picture: National Trust
Free celebration of the week: Love Local, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm; last entry at 4.15pm
HELPING to raise awareness and “show off how brilliant Ryedale and the surrounding area is”, artists, craftspeople, businesses, charities, and community groups create this family event at the National Trust property.
Visitors can taste fresh Yorkshire produce, buy goods from Ryedale makers and crafters and enjoy free admission to the country house, gardens and the last day of the From The Earth exhibition by East Riding Artists’ group of painters, potters and creatives.
Taking the vote: The murder trial jurors in Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men at Grand Opera House, York
Jury service: Twelve Angry Men, Grand Opera House, York, May 13 to 18, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
IN its 70th anniversary touring production, Reginald Rose’s knife-edge courtroom thriller Twelve Angry Men resonates with today’s audiences with its intricately crafted study of human nature. Within the confines of the jury deliberating room, 12 men hold the fate of a young delinquent, accused of killing his father, in their hands.
What looks an open-and-shut case soon becomes a dilemma, wherein Rose examines the art of persuasion as the jurors are forced to examine their own self-image, personalities, experiences and prejudices. Tristan Gemmill, Michael Greco, Jason Merrells, Gray O’Brien and Gary Webster feature in Christopher Haydon’s cast. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Sculptor Tony Cragg with his bronze work Outspan in the Great Hall at Castle Howard. Picture: Charlotte Graham
FROM landscape sculptures to community cinema screenings, a circus company’s novel assignment to a soap star’s heavenly musical role, Charles Hutchinson’s week ahead is taking shape.
Exhibition of the week: Tony Cragg at Castle Howard, near York, until September 22
SCULPTOR Tony Cragg presents the first major exhibition by a leading contemporary artist in the house and grounds of Castle Howard. On show are new and recent sculptures, many being presented on British soil for the first time, including large-scale works in bronze, stainless steel, aluminium and fibreglass.
Inside the house are works in bronze and wood, glass sculptures and works on paper in the Great Hall, Garden Hall, High South, Octagon and Colonnade. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.
The Lapins: Celebrating travel, exploration and adventure in music at the Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York
World premieres of the week: York Late Music, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, Mike Sluman, oboe, and Jenny Martins, piano, Saturday (4/5/2024), 1pm; The Lapins, Saturday (4/5/2024), 7.30pm
MIKEY Sluman highlights the range of the oboe family – oboe, oboe d’amore, cor anglais and bass oboe – in his lunchtime programme of Lutoslawski, Talbot-Howard and Poulenc works and world premieres of Desmond Clarke’s Five Exploded Pastorals and Nick Williams’s A Hundred Miles Down The Road (Le Tombeau de Fred).
The Lapins examine ideas of space, place and time in an evening programme that extols the joys of travel, exploration and adventure through the music of Brian Eno, Stockhausen and Erik Satie, the world premiere of James Else’s A Tapestry In Glass and the first complete performance of Hayley Jenkins’s Gyps Fulvus. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
The poster for The Groves Community Cinema festival at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Film event of the week: The Groves Community Cinema, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 5 to May 11
THE third Groves Community Cinema film festival promises a wide variety of films, from cult classics and music to drama and animated fun. Supported by Make It York and City of York Council, the event opens with Sunday’s Arnie Schwarzenegger double bill of The Terminator at 6.30pm and T2 Judgement Day at 8.45pm.
Monday follows up Marcel The Shell With Shoes at 2.30pm with Justine Triet’s legal drama Anatomy Of A Fall at 6.30pm; Tuesday offers Ian McKellen’s Hamlet at 7.30pm; Wednesday, Yorkshire Film Archives’ Social Cinema, 6.30pm, and Friday, cult classical musical Hedwig And The Angry Inch, 8pm. To finish, next Saturday serves up the animated Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse at 2.30pm and Jonathan Demme’s concert documentary Talking Heads: Stop Making Sense at 7.30pm. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Steve Cassidy: Performing with his band and friends at the JoRo
Nostalgic gig of the week: Steve Cassidy Band & Friends, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday (5/5/2024), 7.30pm
VETERAN York frontman Steve Cassidy leads his band in an evening of rock, country and ballads, old and new, with songs from the 1960s to 21st century favourites in their playlist.
Cassidy, a three-time winner of New Faces, has recorded with celebrated York composer John Barry and performed in the United States and many European countries. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Let us pray: Landi Oshinowo’s Deloris Van Cartier and Sue Cleaver’s Mother Superior in Sister Act, on tour at Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Sister Act, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday
SUE Cleaver takes holy orders in a break from Coronation Street to play the Mother Superior in Sister Act in her first stage role in three decades. Adding Alan Menken songs to the 1992 film’s storyline, the show testifies to the universal power of friendship, sisterhood and music in its humorous account of disco diva Deloris Van Cartier’s life taking a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder.
Placed in protective custody, in the disguise of a nun under the Mother Superior’s suspicious eye, Deloris (Landi Oshinowo) helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Lila Naruse’s Memory Tess in Ockham’s Razor’s circus theatre production of Tess at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Kie Cummings
“Bold new vision” of the week: Ockham’s Razor in Tess, York Theatre Royal, May 8 to 11, 7.30pm
CIRCUS theatre exponents Ockham’s Razor tackle a novel for the first time in a staging of Thomas Hardy’s Tess Of The D’Urbervilles that combines artistic directors Charlotte Mooney and Alex Harvey’s adaptation of the original text with the physical language of circus and dance.
Exploring questions of privilege, class, consent, agency, female desire and sisterhood, Tess utilises seven performers, including Harona Kamen’s Narrator Tess and Lila Naruse’s Memory Tess, to re-tell the Victorian story of power, loss and endurance through a feminist lens. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Jah Wobble & The Invaders Of The Heart: Night of dub, funk and world music at Pocklington Arts Centre
Funkiest gig of the week: Jah Wobble & The Invaders Of The Heart, Pocklington Arts Centre, May 9, 8pm
SUPREME bassist Jah Wobble’s two-hour show takes in material from his work with John Lydon in Public Image Ltd and collaborations with Brian Eno, Bjork, Sinead O’Connor, U2’s The Edge, Can’s Holger Czukay, Ministry’s Chris Connelly and Killing Joke’s Geordie Walker.
Born John Wardle in 1958, he was renamed by Sex Pistol Sid Vicious, who struggled to pronounce his name correctly. Wobble combines dub, funk and world music, especially Africa and the Middle East, in his songwriting. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
“Charming nonsense”: Steven Lee’s There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly at the SJT, Scarborough
Half-term show announcement of the week: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, May 28, 2.30pm
FIRST written as a song in 1953, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly was a chart-topping hit for singer and actor Burl Ives before being adapted into a best-selling book by Pam Adams a few years later, one still found in schools, nurseries and homes across the world.
To mark the nursery rhyme’s 50th anniversary, children’s author Steven Lee has created a magical musical stage show for little ones to enjoy with their parents that combines the charming nonsense of the rhyme with his own “suitably silly twists”. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Friargate Creative Hub:New venture for York’s arts community
THE Friargate Creative Hub will be launched at 6pm this evening (2/5/2024) at Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York.
This new space for York’s creative community to connect, collaborate and create will be hosted by Riding Lights Theatre Company and fellow York theatre-makers Four Wheel Drive.
An initial two-week phase will run from May 4 to 18, when the hub will be open daily at Friargate Theatre as a free-to-access creative workspace, complemented by a programme of workshops and evening events, all tailored to emerging artists in York.
“The Creative Hub comes at a poignant time for our city, offering a much-needed space for emerging creatives to develop their craft and work,” says Four Wheel Drive’s Joly Black. “At this evening’s launch, we want your input, support and collaboration, creating spaces to develop and retain creative talent in York.”
The flexible workspace for creatives offers “space to focus on your script, find creative inspiration or get something up on its feet. All centred around collaboration.
“Enjoy the cafe space with creative break-out areas for free. Tea, coffee and snacks will be available to purchase if you’d like.” Opening hours will be Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm, and Sundays, 11am to 4pm.
Workshops run by professionals will have a Pay What You Feel charge; community workshop sessions will be held for free.
Creative Hub highlights in the fortnight ahead at Friargate Theatre include: Grab The Mic Night, Saturday, 6.30pm; Theatre: A Setting Up Surgery, May 8, 6pm; Stand-Up Comedy Beginners Workshop, May 12, 1pm, and Vocal Workshop, May 15, 6pm.
See the full programme and book tickets at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on?q=friargate%20theatre
Andrew Clay: Leaving Scarborough Museums and Galleries for Sea Life Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
ANDREW Clay, chief executive of Scarborough Museums and Galleries, is leaving to take up a new role.
He has been appointed as general manager of Sea Life Scarborough and will take up his new position at the North Bay attraction on Monday, April 29.
Scarborough Museums and Galleries (SMG) trustees will be seeking a new incumbent for the chief executive’s role in the coming months, but in the meantime the position will be fulfilled on an interim basis by Malton-based heritage professional Sarah Oswald.
Clay moved to Scarborough in 2007 to become director at the newly created Woodend Creative Industries Centre. In 2017 he also became chief executive of Scarborough Museums Trust, which ran Scarborough Art Gallery and the Rotunda Museum. In 2017, the trust and Woodend merged to become Scarborough Museums and Galleries.
“It has been a huge privilege to work at Woodend and latterly Scarborough Museums and Galleries,” he says. “I feel very honoured to have worked with such talented and capable people, who over years have supported my efforts to deliver an exciting cultural offer for the people of Scarborough and visitors to this amazing seaside town.
Sarah Oswald: Interim chief executive officer of Scarborough Museums and Galleries. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
“Soon I will be embarking on a new voyage of discovery, and I can’t wait to learn more about the extraordinary marine world in our oceans. I wish all at SMG the very best of luck for the future.”
Sarah Oswald provides coaching and consultancy services to the museums, heritage and cultural sector through her business, The Authentic Spark. Recently she has completed a 14-month part-time contract as Museum Development Officer for North Yorkshire as part of Museum Development Yorkshire.
Before establishing The Authentic Spark, Sarah was an owner and director of PLB, a leading Yorkshire-based heritage design consultancy.
She says: “After getting to know Scarborough Museums and Galleries through my role with Museum Development Yorkshire, it’s exciting for me to now be stepping in to work with the board and the team here at SMG. I’m looking forward to the opportunity and also wish Andrew well in his new role.”
Footsbarn Theatre’s Twelfth Night: First British performances in 15 years in world premiere at York International Shakespeare Festival
BUCKLE up for Austen’s sister act, Shakespeare’s battle of the sexes and Sheridan’s scandalous comedy of manners, plus music, art and poetry in the library, advises Charles Hutchinson.
Festival of the week: York International Shakespeare Festival, until April 28
SHAKESPEAREAN Identity is the theme of the sixth York International Shakespeare Festival, now an annual event, run by director Philip Parr. Sponsored by York St John University, it features moving shows, lectures by internationally recognised academics, exhibitions and workshops presented by Shakespeare enthusiasts from all over the world.
Among the highlights will be Footsbarn Theatre’s first British visit in 15 years with Twelfth Night, American actress Debra Ann Byrd’s powerhouse solo show Becoming Othello and York Explore’s exhibition of 300 years of representations of Othello. Tickets and full programme details are available at yorkshakes.co.uk/programme-2024.
Katherine Lea: Making her Hotbuckle Productions debut in Pride & Prejudice at Helmsley Arts Centre
Ryedale play of the week: Hotbuckle Productions in Pride & Prejudice, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm
IN artistic director Adrian Preater’s humorous, multi role-playing adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1813 novel, Hotbuckle Productions enter the world of the Bennets.
From headstrong Elizabeth to proud Mr Darcy, rich characterisations abound as five sisters deal with marriage, morality and misconceptions. “Hotbuckle up for the carriage ride of your life” with Joanna Purslow, Tomas Mason and company newcomer Katherine Lea. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Carl Hutchinson: Storytelling Geordie comic appearing at The Crescent, York
Comedy gig of the week: Carl Hutchinson: Today Years Old, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
YORK’s Burning Duck Comedy Club presents Geordie comic Carl Hutchinson in his third consecutive back-to-back tour show, Today Years Old. Expect a night of storytelling, rich in observation and physical comedy. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Fiddler in the woods: Alice Atang’s Fiddler, Perri Ann Barley’s Golde and Steve Tearle’s Tevye set the scene for NE Theatre York’s Fiddler On The Roof
Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Fiddler On The Roof, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 23 to 27, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
STEVE Tearle directs NE Theatre York in Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick and Joseph Stein’s musical, taking the role of Tevye, the humble village milkman, for the third time too in this 60th anniversary production.
When three of Tevye’s five daughters rebel against the traditions of arranged marriages by taking matters into their own hands, mayhem unfolds as he strives to maintain his Jewish religious and cultural creeds, against the backdrop of the Tsar’s pogrom edict to evict all Jews from his Russian village in 1905. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Lydea Perkins’ Lady Teazle and Joseph Marcell’s Sir Peter Teazle in Tilted Wig’s The School For Scandal, on tour at York Theatre Royal next week
Touring play of the week: Tilted Wig, Malvern Theatres and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, present The School For Scandal, York Theatre Royal, April 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 7.30pm Saturday matinees
JOSEPH Marcell, fondly remembered as Geoffrey the butler in the American comedy series Fresh Prince of Bel Air, stars in Seán Aydon’s new production of Richard B Sheridan’s comedy of manners The School For Scandal, where gossip never goes out of fashion.
Marcell plays Sir Peter Teazle, who believes his young wife is sleeping with someone else. Not true, but if her husband believes it, maybe she should give it a go. After all, if you are going to cause a scandal, you may as well enjoy it. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Florence Poskitt: Stepping into Kate’s shoes in York Shakespeare Project’s The Taming Of The Shrew
Seventies’ Shakespeare play of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Taming Of The Shrew, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday
IN a late change of cast, actor-musician Florence Poskitt, from the York musical comedy duo Fladam, is taking over the principal role of Kate in Maggie Smales’s production of Shakespeare’s controversial battle of the sexes, now set in 1970.
A psychedelic world is opening up, promising peace, love and equality, but Kate was born to be wild and wants a voice of her own. The times they are a’changin’ and the old order is dead…or is it? Let battle commence. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Barrie Rutter: Shaking up Shakespeare at Northern Broadsides and beyond
Breaking down the Bard barrier: Barrie Rutter: Shakespeare’s Royals, York Theatre Royal Studio, April 26, 7.45pm; Ripon Theatre Festival, Ripon Cathedral, July 4, 7.30pm
BARRIE Rutter, founder and former director of Northern Broadsides, celebrates the Bard’s kings and queens – their achievements, conquests and foibles – with tales, anecdotes and memories from a career of playing and directing Shakespeare’s Royals.
Told he could never play a king on account of his Yorkshire accent, Hull-born Rutter, now 77, created his own theatre company in 1992 in Halifax to use the northern voice for Shakespeare’s kings, queens and emperors, not only the usual drunken porters, jesters or fools. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Ripon, ripontheatrefestival.org.
Kai West’s poster for Bull’s Live At The Library day on May 19, based on the Cluedo board game design
Gig announcement of the week: Bull present Live At The Library, York Explore Library & Archive, Library Square, York, May 19, from 12 noon
YORK Explore and Please Please You team up with York band Bull for a day of music, art and poetry to celebrate Explore York’s tenth birthday and raise funds for York’s libraries. The climax will be a 6.30pm to 10pm gig by Bull, Marnie Glum, Rowan and performance poet Stu Freestone (tickets, tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives/1216274).
Free activities include open mic-style performances run by Bull frontman Tom Beer in the Marriott Room from midday, featuring Gabbie Lord, Maggie, Gilles, She Choir, Filipe, Old Time Rags, Eve Thomas & Co and more, plus art workshops for all ages hosted by Izzy Williamson (lino printing, 1pm) and Bull bassist and illustrator Kai West (T-shirt design and screen printing, 12 noon to 2pm) in the Garden Room, with donations welcome.
Katherine Lea: Making her Hotbuckle Productions debut in Pride & Prejudice
BUCKLE up for Austen’s sister act, Shakespeare’s battle of the sexes and Sheridan’s scandalous comedy of manners, plus music, art and poetry in the library, baroque and blues concerts and tragic opera, advises Charles Hutchinson.
Ryedale play of the week: Hotbuckle Productions in Pride & Prejudice, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
IN artistic director Adrian Preater’s humorous, multi role-playing adaptation of Jane Austen’s 1813 novel, Hotbuckle Productions enter the world of the Bennets.
From headstrong Elizabeth to proud Mr Darcy, rich characterisations abound as five sisters deal with marriage, morality and misconceptions. “Hotbuckle up for the carriage ride of your life” with Joanna Purslow, Tomas Mason and company newcomer Katherine Lea. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Patricia Qua: Ceramicist and graphic designer taking part in York Open Studios for the first time in Hempland Drive, York
Art around every corner: York Open Studios, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm
AS many as 156 artists and makers who live or work within a ten-mile radius of York will be welcoming visitors to 106 workspaces to show and sell their art, ranging from ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery and mixed media to painting, print, photography, sculpture, textiles, glass and wood. Among them will be 31 new participants. Full details and a map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk. Look out for booklets around the city too.
Keeping an eye on things: English Touring Opera in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut at York Theatre Royal
Opera of the week: English Touring Opera in Manon Lescaut, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm
ENGLISH Touring Opera returns to York in Jude Christian radical production of Giacomo Puccini’s heartbreaking Manon Lescaut, for which she brings incisive direction to her sharp, poetic new translation.
Puccini’s 1892 breakthrough hit presents a devastating depiction of a woman wrestling with her desire for love on her own terms and the rigid double standards imposed on her by society. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
London Obbligato Collective: Opening the York Baroque+ Day at the NCEM
Classical concert of the week: London Obbligato Collective, York Baroque+ Day, National Centre for Early Music, York Saturday, 12 noon
FORMED by Masumi Yamamoto, the new London Obbligato Collective focuses on “accompanied harpsichord sonatas”, where the harpsichord is given the solo role within the trio sonata texture, highlighting and enriching the colours and nuances of the instrument.
Next Saturday’s programme includes 18th century music by Felice Giardini, Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Lydea Perkins, as Lady Teazle, and Joseph Marcell, as Sir Peter Teazle, in Tilted Wig’s The School For Scandal. Picture: Anthony Robling
Touring play of the week: Tilted Wig, Malvern Theatres and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, present The School For Scandal, York Theatre Royal, April 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 7.30pm Saturday matinees
JOSEPH Marcell, fondly remembered as Geoffrey the butler in the American comedy series Fresh Prince of Bel Air, stars in Seán Aydon’s new production of Richard B Sheridan’s comedy of manners The School For Scandal, where gossip never goes out of fashion.
Marcell plays Sir Peter Teazle, who believes his young wife is sleeping with someone else. Not true, but she is starting to think that if her husband believes it, she should give it a go. After all, if you are going to cause a scandal, you may as well enjoy it. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Florence Poskitt: Stepping in to play Kate in York Shakespeare Project’s The Taming Of The Shrew
Seventies’ Shakespeare play of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Taming Of The Shrew, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday
IN a late change of cast, actor-musician Florence Poskitt, from the York musical comedy duo Fladam, is taking over the principal role of Kate in Maggie Smales’s production of Shakespeare’s controversial battle of the sexes, now set in 1970.
A psychedelic world is opening up, promising peace, love and equality, but Kate was born to be wild and wants a voice of her own. The times they are a’changin’ and the old order is dead…or is it? Let battle commence. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Redfish Blues Band: Returning to Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Redfish Blues Band, Ryedale Blues Club, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 25, 8pm
NOMINATED for Blues Band of the Year and Blues Album of the Year in the UK 2024 Blues Awards, Redfish Blues Band return to Malton with Christian Sharpe on vocals and guitar, Steve McGuckin on Hammond, Rod Mackay on bass and Steve Gibson on drums.
As witnessed on their Together Is Better album and Soho Rising (Girls, Girls, Girls) single, they play a delicious, bubbling gumbo of blues, soul, gospel and funk in live performances defined by energy and restraint. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Kai West’s poster for Bull’s Live At The Library day on May 19, based on the Cluedo board game design
Gig announcement of the week: Bull present Live At The Library, York Explore Library & Archive, Library Square, York, May 19, from 12 noon
YORK Explore and Please Please You team up with York band Bull for a day of music, art and poetry to celebrate Explore York’s tenth birthday and raise funds for York’s libraries. The climax will be a 6.30pm to 10pm gig by Bull, Marnie Glum, Rowan and performance poet Stu Freestone (tickets, tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives/1216274).
Free activities include open mic-style performances run by Bull frontman Tom Beer in the Marriott Room from midday, featuring Gabbie Lord, Maggie, Gilles, She Choir, Filipe, Old Time Rags, Eve Thomas & Co and more, plus art workshops for all ages hosted by Izzy Williamson (lino printing, 1pm) and Bull bassist and illustrator Kai West (T-shirt design and screen printing, 12 noon to 2pm) in the Garden Room, with donations welcome.
Impressionist oil painter Michael Hasan Reda: Making his York Open Studios debut in Prices Lane
ART from the city and out of this world, an orchestra of two, Canadian rock, Italian opera and a courtroom thriller have Charles Hutchinson reaching for the front door key.
Art event of the fortnight: York Open Studios, today and tomorrow; April 20 and 21, 10am to 5pm
AS many as 156 artists and makers who live or work within a ten-mile radius of York will be welcoming visitors to 106 workspaces to show and sell their art, ranging from ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery and mixed media to painting, print, photography, sculpture, textiles, glass and wood. Among them will be 31 new participants. Full details and a map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk. Look out for booklets around the city too.
East Riding Artists: Addressing climate change in From The Earth exhibition at Nunnington Hall
Ryedale exhibition of the week: From The Earth, East Riding Artists, at Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, until May 12, 10.30am to 5pm
THE climate crisis is high on the worldwide agenda; evidence of nature’s fragility can be found everywhere we turn, and few would question that our Earth is changing dramatically, in some cases irrevocably. Nature, however, is a force to be reckoned with, prompting 32 painters, potters and creatives from East Riding Artists to celebrate everything our natural world has to offer.
From the power of the North Sea and the beauty of Yorkshire’s countryside and coastline to the food we grow and the flowers we cultivate, From The Earth cherishes the best of our ever-changing world. Normal admission applies; National Trust members, free.
In Flight: Barenaked Ladies land at York Barbican on Sunday
Pinch me, look who’s coming to York: Barenaked Ladies, In Flight UK Tour 2024, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.50pm
IN the words of Barenaked Ladies drummer Tyler Stewart: “Our In Flight UK Tour 2024 will feature tasty new songs from the album and of course, a whole slew of BNL hits spanning 35 years. So come on Subjects! It’s time to ring in spring with your favourite Canadians, Barenaked Ladies. We look forward to seeing your happy faces.” Support acts will be Callum Beattie and Ferris & Sylvester.
Sold out already in the York Barbican week ahead are the Modfather Paul Weller’s return on Wednesday and arch comedian Tom Allen’s Completely gig on Thursday. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Blackheart Orchestra: Two musicians, Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington, play 13 instruments between them at Helmsley Arts Centre
Prog rock for the space age: The Blackheart Orchestra, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday (19/4/2024), doors, 7.30pm
CHRISSY Mostyn and Rick Pilkington’s two-piece “orchestra” play 13 instruments between them from their prog-rock space station on stage, from acoustic and electric guitars, bass and bowed guitar to piano, organ, vintage synthesisers, omnichord, melodica and electric percussion.
Drawing on influences as varied as Kate Bush, Portishead, Cocteau Twins, Steve Reich and Philip Glass, they combine folk and rock roots with electronica and classical music. Foxpalmer, alias London singer-songwriter Fern McNulty, supports, from 8pm. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Patrick Draper, Tony Jameson and Alfie Joey: Comedy at the treble on Friday at the Milton Rooms, Malton
Hilarity Bites Comedy Club: Alfie Joey, Patrick Draper and Tony Jameson, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm
ALFIE Joey is a polymath: artist, radio presenter, podcaster, comedian, communication coach, Ted X speaker, impressionist, interviewer, charity auctioneer, motivator, children’s author, master of ceremonies, pantomime player, sitcom actor, Britain’s Got Talent participant and illustrator for York writer Ian Donaghy’s book Never Stop Drawing.
Comedy will be his focus in Malton, where he will be joined by Patrick Draper, purveyor of deadpan jokes, visual gags and songs, and host Tony Jameson. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Keeping an eye on things: English Touring Opera in Manon Lescaut. Picture: Richard Hubert Smith
Opera of the week: English Touring Opera in Manon Lescaut, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm
ENGLISH Touring Opera returns to York in Jude Christian radical production of Giacomo Puccini’s heartbreaking Manon Lescaut, for which she brings incisive direction to her sharp, poetic new translation.
Puccini’s 1892 breakthrough hit presents a devastating depiction of a woman wrestling with her desire for love on her own terms and the rigid double standards imposed on her by society. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
London Obbligato Collective: Opening York Baroque+ Day at the NCEM
Classical concert of the week: London Obbligato Collective, York Baroque+ Day, April 20, 12 noon
FORMED by Masumi Yamamoto, the new London Obbligato Collective focuses on “accompanied harpsichord sonatas”, where the harpsichord is given the solo role within the trio sonata texture, highlighting and enriching the colours and nuances of the instrument.
Next Saturday’s programme includes 18th century music by Felice Giardini, Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Jury service: Christopher Haydon’s cast for Reginald Rose’s courtroom thriller Twelve Angry Men at the Grand Opera House, York
Show announcement of the week: Twelve Angry Men, Grand Opera House, York, May 13 to 18, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
CHRISTOPHER Haydon’s touring production of Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men for Bill Kenwright Ltd returns to York on the American courtroom thriller’s 70th anniversary tour, having last played the Grand Opera House in April 2015.
Tristan Gemmill, Michael Greco, Jason Merrells, Gray O’Brien and Gary Webster feature in the cast for this study of human nature and the art of persuasion set in the jury deliberating room, where 12 men hold the fate of a young delinquent, accused of killing his father, in their hands. What looks an open-and-shut case soon becomes a dilemma as the jurors are forced to examine their own self-image, personalities, experiences and prejudices. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Painter Michael Hasen Rada: One of 31 new participants in York Open Studios 2024
YORK Open Studios 2024 offers the chance to meet 156 York artists and makers at 106 locations over the next two weekends.
Studios and workspaces will be open from 10am to 5pm on April 13 and 14, then April 20 and 21, preceded by this Friday’s preview evening at some locations. (Head to yorkopenstudios.co.uk for full details.)
All the artists live or work within a ten-mile radius of the city, with one in five of them taking part for the first time in the 23rd year of this annual not-for-profit event alongside a multitude of regulars.
Artists will welcome visitors to their workspaces to show and sell their work, spanning ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture, textiles, wood and glass.
Some artists will share venues or exhibit their work in other spaces, displaying a selection of tools and materials or even demonstrating their skills to give a more ‘Open Studio’ experience.
Visitors can talk to artists about their processes, look around the places where they work and perhaps acquire a work. Venues range from small studios in artists’ homes to large commercial workshops and often offer access to places not usually open to the public.
Ahead of the two weekends, most of the artists exhibited a piece at the Hospitium, in York Museum Gardens, in a taster exhibition last Saturday and Sunday.
Artists were selected for York Open Studios by an independent panel that assessed applications based on images and artist statements. On the 2024 panel were Helmsley Arts Centre artistic director Natasha Jones, Leeds Fine Artists’ chair, Paul Hammond, and Rural Arts’ senior creative producer for visual arts, Julian Hartley.
To complement the selected artists, York Open Studios plays host to a showcase by students from York College and York St John University, many sharing their work with the public for the first time.
Among the new participants will be ceramist Patricia Qua, an Argentinian-born Korean artist who began her creative journey in New York before studying at the Royal College of Art in London.
Patricia, who has exhibited at the London Design Festival and Hepworth Wakefield Ceramics Fair, brings her background in print and graphics to her one-off porcelain or stoneware ceramics decorated with a love of vibrant colours.
New too will be urban oil painter Michael Hasan Reda, originally from Birmingham, who finds inspiration and joy in the natural and built environment. He has studied the techniques of the late-19th century Impressionists and Tonalists to create works with expressive brushstrokes and confident tone and colour.
Jeweller Hannah Weston has been stringing beads together since she was a child. Part bench trained, part self-taught, this former science teacher has turned her hobby into a full-time job after attending classes and moving to creating pieces in silver and gold to bring “a little joy into the everyday”.
Committee chair Christine Storrs says: “I know all the artists have been working incredibly hard to ensure they have the best of their collections available to see and buy, and the best way to showcase their skills to their visitors.
“It’s a sneak peek behind the scenes to marvel at their practices and expertise, as well as a chance to start your own collection. We are blessed with regular artists and new ones to bring the best of art to our weekends. Doing this in York? York is the best place to enjoy spring in the city with a good dose of art to warm the heart.”
For more information on all the artists and access to an interactive map of all the locations, visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk.Alternatively, a free printed directory is available from various tourist hubs, libraries, shops, galleries and artist locations throughout York and beyond.
“Plan your route to maximise the range of artists or organise your day interspersed with something entirely different,” advises Christine.
New artists for 2024
Patricia Qua
Kate Hutson, ceramics, Creative Studio York, Unit 14, Bull Commercial Centre, Stockton Lane, York.
Michael Hasan Reda: Impressionist oil painter of landscapes, cityscapes and gardens, making his York Open Studios debut at his studio in Prices Lane, York
ART out of this world, comedy in the news, a poetic war of words, an orchestra of two, a very colourful musical and a courtroom thriller have Charles Hutchinson reaching for the front door key.
Art event of the fortnight: York Open Studios, April 13 and 14, April 20 and 21, 10am to 5pm; preview, Friday, 6pm to 9pm
156 artists who live or work within a ten-mile radius of York will be welcoming visitors to 106 workspaces to show and sell their art, ranging from ceramics, collage, digital, illustration, jewellery and mixed media to painting, print, photography, sculpture, textiles, glass and wood. Among them will be 31 new participants. Full details and a map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk. Look out for booklets around the city too.
News alert: The Drop The Dead Donkey newsroom team reunites for Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin’s new play at Leeds Grand Theatre
Breaking News of the week: Drop The Dead Donkey: The Reawakening!, Leeds Grand Theatre, until April 13
THIRTY years since the launch of the trailblazing television series Drop The Dead Donkey, the Globelink News team is back, live on stage for the first time. Original cast members Stephen Tompkinson, Neil Pearson, Susannah Doyle, Robert Duncan, Ingrid Lacey, Jeff Rawle and Victoria Wicks reunite for a new, constantly updated script by sitcom writing duo Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin, under Lindsay Posner’s direction.
“It’s going to be hugely enjoyable to watch those seven funny, flawed characters from Globelink News being plunged into the cutthroat world of modern 24-hour news-gathering and trying to navigate their way through the daily chaos of social media, fake news and interim Prime Ministers,” say the writers. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Reuben Khan: Playing the lead role in York Stage’s Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Musical of the week: York Stage in Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Grand Opera House, York, April 12 to 20, 7.30pm except April 14, 15 and 19; 2.30pm, April 13 and 20; 4pm, April 14; 5pm and 8pm, April 19
BE ready to paint the city in every colour of the rainbow as Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical dazzles the Grand Opera House in York Stage’s vibrant production, directed by Nik Briggs, with musical direction by Adam Tomlinson and choreography by Lesley Hill.
Reuben Khan leads the cast as Joseph, joined by Hannah Shaw as the Narrator, Carly Morton as Pharaoh, Martin Rowley as Jacob, Finn East as Simeon, Matthew Clarke as Potiphar, among others. Tickets are selling fast at atgtickets.com/york.
Shareefa Energy!: Guest performance poet at Friday’s Say Owt Slam clash at The Crescent, York
Spoken word clash of the week: Say Owt Slam, featuring Shareefa Energy!, The Crescent, York, Friday, 7.45pm
SAY Owt, “York’s loveable gobby gang of performance poets”, take over The Crescent for a raucous, high-energy night of verse that combine a slam war of words with a guest performer. “In a slam, poets have three minutes to wow the audience,” says host Henry Raby. “It’s fast, frantic and fun: perfect for people who love poetry, and those who think they hate poetry too.”
Special guest Shareefa Energy! is a poet, writer, activist, educator, creative campaigner, workshop facilitator and arts and wellbeing practitioner of Indian and Muslim heritage from working-class Highfields in Leicester. Box office: thecrescentyork.com or on the door.
East Riding Artists: Exhibiting at Nunnington Hall in From The Earth’s celebration of the natural world
Ryedale exhibition of the week: From The Earth, East Riding Artists, at Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, until May 12, 10.30am to 5pm
THE climate crisis is high on the worldwide agenda; evidence of nature’s fragility can be found everywhere we turn, and few would question that our Earth is changing dramatically, in some cases irrevocably. Nature, however, is a force to be reckoned with, prompting 32 painters, potters and creatives from East Riding Artists to celebrate everything our natural world has to offer.
From the power of the North Sea and the beauty of Yorkshire’s countryside and coastline to the food we grow and the flowers we cultivate, From The Earth cherishes the best of our ever-changing world. Normal admission applies; National Trust members, free.
The Blackheart Orchestra’s Chrissy Mostyn and Rick Pilkington: Thirteen instruments divided between two musicians at Helmsley Arts Centre
Prog rock for the space age: The Blackheart Orchestra, Helmsley Arts Centre, April 19, doors, 7.30pm
CHRISSY Mostyn and Rick Pilkington’s two-piece “orchestra” play 13 instruments between them from their prog-rock space station on stage, from acoustic and electric guitars, bass and bowed guitar to piano, organ, vintage synthesisers, omnichord, melodica and electric percussion.
Drawing on influences as varied as Kate Bush, Portishead, Cocteau Twins, Steve Reich and Philip Glass, they combine folk and rock roots with electronica and classical music. Foxpalmer, alias London singer-songwriter Fern McNulty, supports, from 8pm. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Patrick Draper, Tony Jameson and Alfie Joey: April 19’s comedy line-up at the Milton Rooms, Malton
Hilarity Bites Comedy Club: Alfie Joey, Patrick Draper and Tony Jameson, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 19, 8pm
ALFIE Joey is a polymath: artist, radio presenter, podcaster, comedian, communication coach, Ted X speaker, impressionist, interviewer, charity auctioneer, motivator, children’s author, master of ceremonies, pantomime player, sitcom actor, Britain’s Got Talent participant and illustrator for York writer Ian Donaghy’s book Never Stop Drawing.
Comedy will be his focus in Malton, where he will be joined by Patrick Draper, purveyor of deadpan jokes, visual gags and songs, and host Tony Jameson. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Jury service: Christopher Haydon’s cast for the courtroom thriller Twelve Angry Men, on tour at Grand Opera House, York
Show announcement of the week: Twelve Angry Men, Grand Opera House, York, May 13 to 18, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
CHRISTOPHER Haydon’s touring production of Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men for Bill Kenwright Ltd returns to York on the American courtroom thriller’s 70th anniversary tour, having last played the Grand Opera House in April 2015.
Tristan Gemmill, Michael Greco, Jason Merrells, Gray O’Brien and Gary Webster feature in the cast for this study of human nature and the art of persuasion set in the jury deliberating room, where 12 men hold the fate of a young delinquent, accused of killing his father, in their hands. What looks an open-and-shut case soon becomes a dilemma as the jurors are forced to examine their own self-image, personalities, experiences and prejudices. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
