Re-Lording Richard 3.0 writer-performer Philipp Sommer
YORK’S own King Richard III looks back at his history with Alexa at his side – a modern voice in 1485 – in Philipp Sommer’s Re-Lording Richard 3.0 at York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium on April 24 at 7.30pm.
The Berlin writer-performer is bringing his reimagining of Richard’s origin story to York as part of the 2025 York International Shakespeare Festival.
Re-Lording Richard 3.0 brings Richard III to the stage so that he may share his fears, his doubts, his joy and loyalty in this 50-minute retort to Shakespeare’s hatchet job, performed in English.
“Shakespeare’s play underpins his person as the embodiment of evil, but is that all he was?” asks Sommer. “Then, it was theatre; now, it’s social media that provides a platform for propaganda.”
The poster for Philipp Sommer’s Re-Lording Richard 3.0, playing York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium on April 24
Sommer describes his play as a “drama-dy”, combining drama and comedy. “‘Everyone has seen Richard III by Shakespeare, but have you seen Shakespeare by Richard III? This is the story from Richard’s point of view.”
Richard settles his accounts with Shakespeare, as Richard and Alexa ask the question: “Has the world really changed?”
Re-Lording Richard 3.0 supports the festival’s mission of bringing international voices to York to celebrate and elaborate upon Shakespeare’s work.
Founded in 2015, the festival is marking its tenth anniversary with this season’s April 22 to May 4 programme. For full details and tickets, go to yorkshakes.co.uk.
Produced by the community arts charity Parrabbola, the festival is now an annual event, returning to live performance in 2023 after a Covid-enforced break, with support from York St John University.
Sinead Corkery: Making her York Open Studios debut in Monkton Road, York
PERFECT weather greets the opening of studio doors as artists parade their skills while politics comes under the spotlight in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations.
Art event of the month: York Open Studios, today and tomorrow; also April 12 and 13, 10am to 5pm
YORK Open Studios showcases 160 artists and makers at 117 locations in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. Artists and makers, including 38 new participants, span ceramics, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood, Full details and an interactive map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk; brochures in shops, galleries, cafes and tourist hubs. Admission is free.
Rob Rouse: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club’s bill at The Basement tonight
Comedy bill of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, Rob Rouse, David Eagle, Ben Silver and Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm
ROB Rouse, from The Friday Night Project, Spoons, BBC3’s Comedy Shuffle, Mad Mad World, Upstart Crow and Rob And Helen’s Date Night self-help podcast, headlines tonight’s bill, hosted by Laugh Out Loud promoter Damion Larkin.
Support act David Eagle, a member of north eastern folk band The Young’uns, mines comedy from exploring how his blindness turns the most ordinary, commonplace events into surreal, convoluted dramas. Box office: 01904 612940 or lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Ged Graham: Leading the Seven Drunken Nights celebration of The Dubliners, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Prestige Productions
Irish craic of the week: Seven Drunken Nights: The Story of the Dubliners, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
SEVEN Drunken Nights takes a trip down memory lane in celebration of The Dubliners’ 50-year performing career on a 2025 global tour of 300 shows across 42 weeks. The Irish Rover, The Town I Love So Well and Dirty Old Town will be joined by new additions Paddy On The Railway and The Lark In The Morning in a new production for this year’s travels.
The show’s 2017 founder, frontman and narrator, Dublin-born writer and director Ged Graham, says: “The connection we’ve built with the audience over the years is incredible; they know we’re keeping the iconic music of The Dubliners alive with the same passion that they have for it.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Telling the whole story: Writer-performer Andrew Margerison in Dyad Productions’ That Knave, Raleigh
Historical play of the week: Dyad Productions in That Knave, Raleigh, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm; Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 9, 7.30pm
DYAD Productions follow up I, Elizabeth with a return to the Elizabethan era in That Knave, Raleigh, writer-performer Andrew Margerison’s story of Elizabethan explorer, sailor, dandy and warrior Sir Walter Raleigh, Elizabeth I’s favourite and James I’s knave.
The Huguenots, America, the Armada and execution: is that the whole story? “There is so much you don’t know,” says Margerison of Raleigh, father, husband, writer, poet, adventurer, philosopher, soldier, tyrant, egotist, lover, traitor, alchemist, visionary and victim.
“The final chapter of Raleigh’s life is perhaps the most daring, strange and utterly heart-breaking. See the fall from grace taken directly from historical record; marvel at the magnetism of a man who seized every opportunity.”Box office: Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk; York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The Manfreds: Playing Joseph Rowntree Theatre for the first time this weekend
Sixties’ nostalgia of the week: The Manfreds, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
TICKETS are down to the last few for the chance to see The Manfreds in their Joseph Rowntree Theatre debut, featuring original Manfred Mann members Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness, both 83.
The set list takes in such Sixties R&B hits as 5-4-3-2-1, Pretty Flamingo, The Mighty Quinn and Do Wah Diddy Diddy, intermixed with jazz and blues covers from their solo albums. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Al Murray: Rolling out his barrel of laughs at York Barbican as the Guvnor puts you right on Sunday night
Political insights of the week: Al Murray, Guv Island, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE people have spoken. The Pub Landlord is back for another round of Guv Island with “New Extra Brew Material”in 2025, having pulled pints and punters at the Grand Opera House in March 2024.
Standing up so you don’t have to take it lying it down anymore, the Guvnor will “make sense of the questions you probably already had the answers to”. “Country, the UK, lost its way, seeks life partner/mentor/inspiration. Good sense of humour essential. No timewasters, tedious show-offs or offend-o-trons need apply. HR free zone,” says Murray. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Inspired By Theatre’s principal cast for Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter
Musical of the week: Inspired By Theatre in Rent, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 10 to 12, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Inspired By Theatre – the new name for Bright Light Musical Productions – follow up Green Day’s American Idiot with another groundbreaking rock musical, Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award-winning story of love, resilience and artistic defiance.
Set in New York City’s East Village at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Rent follows a group of young artists struggling to survive, create and hold on to hope in the face of uncertainty. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Jan Noble in his verse drama Body 115. Picture: jannoble.co.uk/body115
Odyssey of the week: Jan Noble in Body 115, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 11, 7.30pm
EVER wished you were somewhere else? Ever wished you were someone else? Escaping the rain, a journey on the London Underground becomes a descent into the underworld in Body 115, 2023 winner of the London Pub Theatre Award for Best Innovative Play.
Written and performed by Jan Noble, directed by Justin Butcher, this tale of broken hearts, old flames and open roads follows Noble’s down-and-out poet-hero through the sewers and tubes of King’s Cross Station to the heart of Italy. Part invocation, part rain dance, this poetic odyssey is delivered with a contemporary kick. From the terraces at Millwall to fashionable Milan, expect shadowy encounters, dodgy connections and chance meetings with a host of poet ghosts.
“Body 115 is an epic poem, a tale of inner and outer journeys in explicit homage to Dante’s Divine Comedy,” says Noble. “From the rain-washed, subterranean underworld of King’s Cross, ‘Body 115’ – the long-unidentified victim of the 1987 fire – becomes Virgil to my Dante in a rhapsodic paean to the trammelling ecstasy of loss: a trans-European odyssey turned safari of the soul.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Dianne Buswell & Vito Coppola: Strictly Come Dancing professionals team up for Red Hot And Ready
Show announcement of the week: Burn The Floor presents Dianne Buswell & Vito Coppola in Red Hot And Ready, York Barbican, July 6, 7.30pm; Leeds Grand Theatre, July 18, 7.30pm, and July 19, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing’s stellar professional dancers, 2024 winner Dianne Buswell and 2023 victor Vito Coppola, will star in the new show from the Burn The Floor stable, created by Strictly creative director Jason Gilkison.
Billed as “a dynamic new dance show with a difference”, Red Hot And Ready brings together Buswell, Coppola and a cast of multi-disciplined Burn The Floor dancers from around the world, accompanied by vocalists and a band. Expect “jaw-dropping choreography, heart-pounding music and breathtaking moves, from seriously sexy to irresistibly charming”. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
John Simpson: BBC News world affairs editor puts leaders and lunatics in the dock at the Grand Opera House, York, on Monday
In Focus: More political insights of the week: John Simpson: The Leaders & Lunatics Tour, Grand Opera House, York, April 7, 7.30pm
IN his bold, unflinching look at leadership, veteran BBC journalist and broadcaster John Simpson CBE ponders why some inspire while others descend into tyranny. “And…are all tyrants ‘lunatics’,” he asks.
After six decades of unparalleled access to world leaders – and lunatics – Simpson explores the personalities that have shaped history. From notorious figures such as Assad, Saddam, Mugabe and Gaddafi to admired leaders Gorbachev, Mandela, Havel and Zelensky, he reveals their common threads, unique quirks and lasting impact.
Drawing on his first-hand encounters and personal dealings, Simpson will unravel the enigmatic personas of Putin, Xi Jinping, bin-Laden and Thatcher, while pondering what links Mandela and Princess Diana or Zelensky and Mugabe.
In an increasingly volatile world, BBC News world affairs editor Simpson will navigate the intricate web of international relations, delving into the complexities of the most pressing global challenges of our time – conflicts, war, famine, economic crises and climate change – to reveal how the actions and decisions of leaders, from despots to visionaries, have shaped these crises and continue to influence our world today.
Simpson, now 80, has spent all his working life with the BBC, reporting from more than 120 countries, including 30 war zones, and interviewing myriad world leaders on his foreign correspondent beat.
As a household name who has covered almost every major event in the world from the 1960s to present day in his fearless journalism, he will turn from interviewer to interviewee to take questions from the audience in the second-half Q&A.
What on earth is going on, John? Hear his answers at this talk “truly for our troubled times”, when Simpson promises to entertain, enlighten, and inspire as he provides “insights into past and present events, with no doubt some focus on Trump and the shifting global order”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
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world affairs editor of BBC News. He has spent all his working life with the BBC, and has reported from more than 120 countries, including thirty war zones, and interviewed many world leaders.
In an increasingly volatile world, John will also examine the most pressing challenges of our time – war, famine, economic crises, and climate change – to reveal how the actions and decisions of leaders, from despots to visionaries, have shaped these crises and continue to influence our world today.
In the second half, the floor is yours. Ask your questions as John offers sharp insights into past and present events, with no doubt some focus on Trump and the shifting global order.
John Simpson: Leaders and Lunatics Tour
After a sell-out tour in 2024, legendary journalist and broadcaster John Simpson CBE is returning to the stage for an exclusive evening packed with unparalleled insights from one of the most distinguished foreign correspondents of our time.
With decades of first-hand encounters and personal dealings, John will explore the enigmatic personas of global figures such as Putin, Xi Jinping, bin-Laden and Thatcher.
John will navigate the intricate web of international relations, delving into the complexities of our global issues – from conflicts, war and famines, to world economies and climate change.
What links Mandela and Princess Diana? Or Zelenskiy and Mugabe? John will reveal the common threads linking these figures, and offer a unique perspective on the impact they’ve had on world affairs.
As a household name who has covered almost every major event in the world from the 1960’s to present day, you will have an opportunity to ask John your questions – what were these leaders and lunatics really like, and what on earth is going on? Don’t miss John for an evening that promises to entertain, enlighten, and inspire with his fearless journalism and captivating storytelling.
What on earth is going on? An event truly for our troubled times – don’t miss this enlightening and compelling evening.
Cellist and York Chamber Music Festival artistic director Tim Lowe
CELLO sonatas by Beethoven and Rachmaninov sandwiched three miniatures by Bloch in this tasty National Centre for Early Music preview of the York Chamber Music Festival, which will takes place from September 19 to 21.
Tim Lowe and his cello are front and centre of the festival, quite rightly since he is its artistic director. John Lenehan is a superb pianist in his own right and proved an excellent partner here.
The last of Beethoven’s five cello sonatas is his most expansive while also melodically amongst the most varied in his chamber music. Its grand gestures owe something to Beethoven’s desire to get back on good terms with its dedicatee, Countess Erdödy, with whom he had fallen out through his own fault. He also wrote it with one of her lodgers in mind, the brilliant Silesian cellist Joseph Linke.
Lowe and Lenehan showed instant rapport here. The second-beat accents and leaping intervals of the opening were neatly balanced by the much more lyrical second theme. The lovely piano chorale in the slow movement benefited from the cello’s elegiac commentary; it hovered teasingly before the headlong attack into the finale, where the fugal textures built relentlessly towards the climax.
Bloch’s three pieces entitled From Jewish Life, written in 1924, had a plaintive tone, notably in the cello’s upper register in the opening ‘Jewish Song’ and in the querulous ending to the supplicant’s humility in No. 2. There was a contrasting angst in the final ‘Prayer’ before it ended on a positive note.
After his only cello sonata dating from 1901, Rachmaninov wrote no further chamber music. Perhaps he found it too constraining. He had recently completed his Second Piano Concerto and there is a similar expansiveness in the sonata’s piano role.
Lenehan met all its challenges admirably, but was unable to subdue his touch quite enough in the finale, where the texture boils into concerto proportions. Balance was inevitably uneven here.
Elsewhere, however, the interplay was finely judged. After marvellous acceleration into the opening theme, there was a Brief Encounter moment for the nostalgic second theme. Lowe’s cello was puckish in the scherzo but contrastingly lush in the trio. His ripe tone made for a glorious slow movement, and even with its shortcomings the finale was never less than exciting. Roll on the festival proper.
Review by Martin Dreyer
TIM Lowe will be joined at the September festival by pianist Katya Apekisheva and violinist Charlotte Scott among others; www.ycmf.co.uk
Kiki Dee & Carmelo Ruggeri: Heading to All Saints Church, Pocklington on The Long Ride Home tour
FOUR nights of Greg Davies and tenth visit of Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers are the headline acts in Charles Hutchinson’s bill for cultural satisfaction.
Acoustic duo of the week: Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri, All Saints Church, Pocklington, tonight, 7.30pm
JOIN Bradford-born singer Kiki Dee and guitarist Carmelo Luggeri for an acoustic journey through their songs and stories, taking in songs from 2022 album The Long Ride Home, Kate Bush and Frank Sinatra covers and hits from Kiki’s 55 years and more in the music business, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, Star, I Got The Music In Me, Loving & Free and Amoureuse. Box office: kikiandcarmelo.com.
Brighouse & Rastrick Band: A blast of brass on Sunday afternoon at Pocklington Arts Centre
Brass concert of the week: Brighouse & Rastrick Band, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 2pm
FOREVER associated with 1977 number two hit and “unofficial encore” The Floral Dance, West Yorkshire’s Brighouse & Rastrick Band presents a concert suitable for casual listener and connoisseur alike.
The majority of premier band championships have been held by ‘Briggus’, most recently becoming the 2022 British Open and Brass in Concert champions. ‘Briggus’ are noted too for collaborations outside the brass band tradition, from the late Terry Wogan to Kate Rusby, classical actor Simon Callow to The Unthanks at York Minster in 2012. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Tom Holland: Hailing Caesars at Grand Opera House, York
History lesson of the week: Tom Holland, The Lives Of The Caesars, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Rest Is History podcaster and storyteller Tom Holland journeys back to the Roman empire to “get up close and personal” with Caesar, Augustus, Caligula and Nero as he spotlights the lives of the first 12 Roman emperors in conversation with Martha Kearney.
In this supreme arena, emperors had no choice but to fight, to thrill, to dazzle, as highlighted in Holland’s new Penguin Classics translation of Suetonius’s Lives Of The Twelve Caesars. Expect revelations of the emperors’ shortfalls, sex scandals, tastes, foibles and eccentricities. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Vivienne Carlyle’s Mrs Johnstone and Sean Jones’s Mickey in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Jack Merriman
Musical of the week: Blood Brothers, Grand Opera House, York, April 1 to 5, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
WILLY Russell’s Liverpool musical makes its tenth visit to the Grand Opera House, and despite Sean Jones’s appearance in the 2022 tour being billed as his “last ever” after 23 years on and off as Mrs Johnstone’s son Mickey, here he is once more, still “running around as a seven-year-old in a baggy green jumper and short trousers” at 54.
Scottish actress Vivienne Carlyle, who played Mrs Lyons on her previous Blood Brothers visit to York, takes the role of Mrs J in Russell’s moving tale of twins separated at birth, who grow up on the opposite sides of the tracks, only to meet again with tragic consequences. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Curiouser and curiouser: Pick Me Up Theatre in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Play of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 1 to 5,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday
ANDREW Isherwood directs York company Pick Me Up Theatre in Simon Stephens’s stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s story of Christopher Boone (Jonathan Wells), a 15-year-old boy with an extraordinary brain Exceptionally gifted at Maths, he finds everyday life and interaction with other people very confusing.
Christopher has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, hates being touched and deeply distrusts strangers, but everything changes when he falls under suspicion for killing his neighbour’s dog, propelling him on a journey of self-discovery that upturns his world. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Greg Davies: Milking it in his Full Fat Legend stand-up show
Comedy gigs of the week: Greg Davies: Full Fat Legend, York Barbican, April 2 to 5,
TOWERING comedian Greg Davies plays York Barbican for a full-fat four nights on his Full Fat Legend Tour, his first on British soil for seven years.
The 6ft 8 inch star of Taskmaster, The Inbetweeners, The Cleaner, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Man Down and Cuckoo is undertaking his biggest stand-up tour to date. He last played York Barbican on November 1 and 2 2017 on his You Magnificent Beast tour, his first travels for four years. Tickets update: Sold out; for returns only, go to yorkbarbican.co.uk. Davies’s Hull Connexin Live shows on June 3 and 4 and at Leeds First Direct Arena on June 20 are sold out too.
Daniel Wilmot’s Count Dracula in Baron Productions’ Dracula at St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York
High stakes of the week: Baron Productions in Dracula, St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, April 3 to 5, 7.30pm
FOUNDER and director Daniel Wilmot makes it Count when starring as the mysterious Dracula in York company Baron Productions’ account of Bram Stoker’s Gothic masterpiece in one of York’s most atmospheric churches.
When Jonathan Harker (Jack McAdam) embarks on a business trip to Count Dracula’s Transylvanian castle, little does he know the terror that awaits him. Guided by the wise Professor Van Helsing (Lee Gemmell), a courageous group must gamble their lives, even their very souls, to stop Dracula’s evil plans to enslave the world. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/baron-productions.
Pianist Ian Pace
Classical concert of the week: York Late Music presents The Beethoven Project: Ian Pace, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, April 5, 7.30pm
IN the second of The Beethoven Project concerts for York Late Music, pianist Ian Pace continues his exploration of Beethoven’s nine symphonies (transcribed by Franz Liszt) with his iconic Pastoral Symphony No. 6.
The programme also includes Michael Finnissy’s English Country Tunes (1-3), Beethoven’s Six Goethe-Lieder (transcribed by Liszt) and a new work of three musical tributes by Steve Crowther, Rock With Stock, A Study In Glass and Louis’ Angry Blues. Box office: latemusic.org/product/ian-pace-concert-tickets/ or on the door.
The poster for the new additions to Lightning Seeds’ Tomorrow’s Here Today 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour
Gig announcement of the week: Lightning Seeds, Tomorrow’s Here Today 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, York Barbican, October 9, doors 7pm
LIVERPOOL singer, songwriter and producer Ian Broudie is extending Lightning Seeds’ 35th anniversary tour with 11 more dates this autumn. Here come Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions and many more from his 20-track Tomorrow’s Here Today: 35 Years Of Lightning Seeds compilation album. This summer, Lightning Seeds will support York band Shed Seven at Millennium Square, Leeds, on July 11. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Our Star Theatre Company’s tour poster for Hannay Stands Fast
In Focus: Our Star Theatre Company in Hannay Stands Fast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York
OUR Star Theatre Company cut a dash at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, on Thursday and Friday in Hannay Stands Fast, the sequel to The 39 Steps.
Adapted by David Edgar from John Buchan’s novel, this rip-roaring comedy finds dashing hero Richard Hannay back in the fray on a mission to thwart a new and deadly threat to his beloved England.
Engaged on this top-secret case by MI5, Hannay makes his way down to Cornwall to infiltrate a secretive organisation and learn their dastardly plans. Can he save the day to keep the nation safe for another day? Cue derring-do, utter chaos and laughs aplenty in a show replete with a train, motorbike, ambulance, car, police vehicle, even a horse.
“Like for our production of The 39 Steps, Hannay Stands Fast is taken on by four actors playing dozens of characters – 53 to be precise! – set in various locations created through quick and innovative uses of trunks, crates, suitcases, ladders, you name it!” says director Ben Mowbray, who founded the Ledbury, Herefordshire company in 2016.
Our Star Theatre Company are visiting York on the debut UK tour of the British professional premiere of Hannay Stands Fast with a cast of George Cooper as Hannay and Angharad Mortimer in her company debut as Mary Lambington (and others), joined by the multi-role-playing Daniel Davies and Mowbray as First and Second Clown.
Our Star Theatre Company in Hannay Stands Fast, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 3 and 4, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Punch Porteous writer Robert Powell and creative practitioner Ben Pugh
WRITER Robert Powell and creative practitioner Ben Pugh are reviving Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! at Friargate Theatre, York, from tomorrow to Saturday as part of York Literature Festival.
Originally commissioned by All Saints North Street for its October 2023 premiere with support from York Theatre Royal, Powell’s poetic multi-media experience depicts Punch Porteous, a mysterious and ordinary man with an extraordinary predicament, lost in time in York, where he is catapulted unpredictably into different eras from c.70 to c.2025 while the city shape-shifts around him.
“He keeps waking up at various points of the city’s past, dazed and confused, but also with a disturbing knowledge that he’s been there before,” says Canadian-born Robert.
Punch seems to remember Romans, Vikings, Saxons, seeing Henry VIII and meeting Dick Turpin. Now a prophecy says he is to appear at the site of an ancient Friary to find his lost wife Eve – and tell all in Powell and Pugh’s imaginative journey in words, music, film and sound featuring the recorded, “disembodied” voice of York poet Kitty Greenbrown, as well as Powell as Narrator, Nicholas Naidu as Alistair and Imogen Wood as Beatrice.
Nicholas Naidu, as Alistair, and Imogen Wood, as Beatrice, in Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! Picture: Ben Pugh
Inspired by the history of York, Robert first recounted a story of Punch in his poem Punch Porteous Goes To York Races, with further poetic stories in his 2023 commission for York Civic Trust, Time Town, Some Poems Of York.
“We’re totally delighted to be bringing Punch back,” says Robert. “I thought Punch had some more breath left in him after All Saints and we had the sense that there was more of an audience to see it.
“Friargate Theatre is an artistic asset to York with new management, and what better place could we find to stage it: a theatre space, rather than a church, though it was the church [All Saints North Street] that commissioned it, and the church provided a rich, deeply resonant space.
Kitty Greenbrown: Lending her voice to this week’s performances of Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!
“We’re also delighted to be taking part in York Literature Festival, which I was part of for a long time. We talked to Friargate Theatre first, absolutely the right place for it, and then approached the festival about featuring a piece based on poetry, and they responded very positively, especially when you consider they don’t usually have plays.”
Robert has re-written his drama to take in the history of the Friargate Theatre site as a friary. “We now have Punch ‘predicting’ that it was friarage from the tenth century up until Henry VIII’s boys tore it apart, leaving only the wall along the river. We will now be reopening the Friarage, with Punch determined to get there from Baile Hill.”
How will the audience experience differ from the All Saints premiere? “I think that being in a theatre space, rather than a church, the audience will need to use their imagination more, and we will need to work their imagination more to imagine the historic buildings of York, whereas previously we had the incredible prop of the church building,” says Robert.
Robert Powell in his role as Narrator for Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! Picture: Ben Pugh
“Now we have to use our ‘prop’ box to bring to life this semi-visible everyman who had bumped into some famous people but mainly lived among the ordinary people of York, creating that sense of Punch being grounded and having a working man’s sensibilities.”
Describing Punch’s character, Robert says: “He’s comic but serious; he gets drunk but is very philosophical. He’s seen a lot and suffered a lot, as the people of York have.
“With Dick Turpin, for example, what happens is that he becomes like a fairytale figure, but in Punch Porteous, Punch remembers attending Turpin’s public execution, seeing the horror of his feet turning in the air, so I’ve tried to bring the harsh reality to folk tales. Turpin’s death would have been horrendous.
“In Punch Porteous, I’m conveying the friction between the heritage myth and the darker reality that people have had to live with in York over the centuries.
The poster for Punch Porteous – Lost In Time at Friargate Theatre, York
“It’s a story told in a somewhat different way from the historical, heritage way that the story of the city is so often told. So, in a sense, without being too heavy about it, I wanted to disrupt that norm, to think about history from the ‘ordinary’ perspective that most of us experience it from.
“Writers can bring an understanding of history where I think there’s a role for the imagination that runs parallel with the facts. It’s not enough to have the testimonies and the photographs. You need your imagination to bear witness. Hilary Mantel thought a lot about this, about the role of fiction to engage with people, as opposed to documentary evidence. Where documentary leaves off, the imagination takes over, but rooted in experience.”
Robert loves the experience of walking through York, “passing through veils, where one minute you are in the 21st century, and then in the past”. “As a Canadian boy, from an early age, I had a hunger for what York offered,” he says. “Here I am, this little kid in Ottawa, digging in the fields next door, hoping to find Roman remains, so I had to come to York to do that. It’s been a very personal journey for me, and York gives you that in a very intense way.
“What is a Canadian doing fooling around with York’s precious history? To me, from that perspective, as a writer, it’s a heavenly place to be, and as a writer, I’m fascinated by time. Punch Porteous is a great opportunity to have someone who slips and slides through York and time, and so though I’m not originally from York, I hope it has resonance for true Yorkists.”
The cover to Robert Powell’s latest poetry collection, Time Town, Some Poems of York
Punch Porteous may have further life beyond this week’s performances. “I’ve had this niggling thought that might bring a further bit of spark to the exercise,” says Robert. “Was Punch Porteous a real person?
“Since my tales of Punch were inspired by a story told to me about an actual York man called Punch Porteous in the 1920s, who won a small fortune at York Races, it would be fun to ask The Press readers if they’ve ever heard of such a person. I would love to hear from you and I can be reached at https://www.rjpowell.org/.
“I would love Punch Porteous to become one of the urban myths of York and hopefully we are moving in that direction.”
York Literature Festival presents Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, tomorrow until Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.
Robert Powell: Writer, curator and cultural consultant with background in the arts, place-making, photography and journalism. Picture: Owen Powell
Robert Powell: the back story
WRITER, curator, and cultural consultant with more than 40 years’ experience in the arts, built environment, community engagement and media in England, Scotland and his native Canada.
Director of Stills Gallery of Photography in Edinburgh from 1986 to 1989. Worked for Canada Council for the Arts from 1989 to 1997.
Director of Beam, arts, architecture and education charity in Wakefield, from 1997 to 2015, working with many leading artists, architects, and urban designers.
Established Wakefield Lit Fest, festival of reading & writing, in 2012. Made Honorary Fellow of RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) in 2017.
Robert’s creative writing has been published widely in Canada and UK. Since 2007, produced five poetry collections, plus performances and film-poems inspired by buildings, rivers and other places.
In 2018, artist in residence with Kone Foundation at Saari, Finland. In 2019, undertook community-based artistic project on Irish border during Brexit negotiations.
In 2023-24, writer in residence with York Civic Trust. Wrote and performed in Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!, poetic drama inspired by history of York, at All Saints North Street.
Resident in York for ten years, based in South Bank. Latest publication, Time Town, Some Poems of York, features poetry about a Georgian museum and a man lost in time from his York Civic Trust residency.
The first knock-out Punch poem by Robert Powell: Punch Porteous Goes to York Races
ONE Saturday afternoon, in summer 1930, at York Races, Punch won a fortune, £17, tramped back into town, bought a tin hip bath and took it to the Red Lion, where Uncle John’s wife Rose was publican and the boatmen-gypsies supped; required of John to fill it full with drink, then helped him and two others lurch it, slopping on cobbles in the early evening light, to the tram stop, calling on all and sundry Come take wine with me! though in truth it was ale; and cupping its contents for free to drivers, passengers, passers-by; and the bath, once emptied, by a drunken Punch tossed into the Foss. Gaze down from the bridge, they say, in certain light, on certain days, in the shallows, in the depths, you can still see it, among the vagrant shopping carts, the swans.
The Wizard of York, Dan Wood: Founder, host and programmer of York’s inaugural WizardFest. Picture: The Story Of You
YORK’S first festival of wizardry, WizardFest, will fizz with fun from May 24 to 26.
The magical new festival is the spellbinding idea of Phoenix the Red, the award-winning host of the Wizard Walk of York, who will co-host the city-wide event with Little Vikings, the guide to York for families.
“Although it isn’t until May half-term, I’m promoting it now, so that families visiting York can plan their magical trip in advance!” reasons the Wizard of York, alias Dan Wood, fresh from winning Experience of the Year 2025 at the Visit York Awards.
A magical myriad of attractions, both paid and free, will be on offer with the promise of “more magical fun than you can shake a wand at”.
“Since announcing WizardFest, I’ve had lots of exciting companies come forward for an event that will appeal to wizard fans of all ages,” says Dan. “We’re flying the flag for all things magical in this enchanting city, and of course we’ll be running plenty of extra Wizard Walks to meet demand.”
York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance, left, and Janet Bruce: Hosting A Kind Of Magic sessions
Working closely with independent businesses, the festival is supported by Visit York and sponsored by Loopy Scoops Ice-Cream Parlour, Totally Awesome Toys, The Cat Gallery and The Society of Alchemists.
Little Vikings will help to promote the attractions on offer. ““This magical event is the perfect opportunity for families to explore the enchanting experiences York has to offer,” says Little Vikings’ Polly Bennett. “We’re thrilled to be supporting it.”
Some events are yet to be confirmed, but confirmed so far are extra Wizard Walks; Harry Potter films at City Screen Picturehouse; Lego workshops with The Brick Box; A Kind Of Magic sessions with Story Craft Theatre’s Janet Bruce and Cassie Vallance; Witch and Wizard crafts with Avocado Events; bird of prey experiences, dragon meet-and-greets and more.
A purr-fect partnership with The Cat Gallery, in Low Petergate, will see families searching for cats around shop windows and spelling a magic word to receive their own mini magical cat. A permanent Wizard of York cat will be added to their regular Cat Trail, complemented by a competition to name the magical moggy.
From Visit York and Make it York, visitors can peruse a Magical Night Market in Shambles Market on the Monday evening, with interested traders invited to email York-markets@makeityork.com to book a stall.
Wizard Of York ice creams at Loopy Scoops
The free Owl Trail will return to Shambles Market and a Wizard Activity Area will appear on Parliament Street. Expect majestic birds of prey to meet, face painting, wizard props and more.
Hungry witches and wizards are in for a treat too at themed specials across the city. Wizard Afternoon Teas will be available at Plush Café, in Stonegate, and monstrously good Beastly Burgers from Baby Boys Burgers at Spark:York. Wanderers can be all ‘fired up’ about Phoenix cocktails and mocktails at Ate O’ Clock, in High Ousegate, too.
Wizards with a sweet tooth can enjoy a chocolate Magic Minster or Mystic Macaron from Florian Poirot, in Shambles, chocolate shots at Monk Bar Chocolatiers or the Wizard of York ice-creams at Loopy Scoops. New to this Church Street ice-cream parlour will be the Wizard’s Butter Brew Soda Float, an ice-cream twist on a drink that wizard fans go Potty for.
Elsewhere, many shops will offer discounts to visitors dressed as wizards and The Puzzling World of Professor Kettlestring, in Merchantgate, will have a new quest to lift the curse of dark wizard Mortius Darktrix. York surrealist artist and illustrator Lincoln Lightfoot will create an exclusive Wizard of York print.
Bird of Prey experiences with York Bird Of Prey Centre, being held in Parliament Street
The festival will culminate in a fancy-dress parade on May 26 at 3pm from St Helen’s Square, with a contest for Best Dressed Witch or Wizard. Prizes include a Phoenix Lego set and family Wizard Walk tickets, dragon hatchlings from The Society of Alchemists and magical goody bags from The Shop That Must Not Be Named.
A dedicated web page is being made for the wizardwalkofyork.com site. Wizard fans are advised to check in closer to the event, as the festival programme is subject to change. In the meantime, you can follow facebook.com/wizardwalkofyork for WizardFest updates and booking links.
“Many activities are already bookable, so locals are advised tobook early as tickets are expected to vanish…as if by magic,” advises Dan.
2024 was a busy year for The Wizard Walk, winning Best Tour of York for the third time alongside myriad further accolades. At the Visit York Awards, the team won both Best of York and New Tourism Business Award, followed by winning gold at the VisitEngland Awards in Liverpool.
Lego workshops with The Brick Box at York Medical Society
The Wizard Walk also scooped TripAdvisor’s Best of the Best for the second year running as one of only a handful of UK attractions making the cut.
Dan says: “It’s been absolutely spellbinding to win so many awards, and we’re thrilled to have so much support locally too. We love working with business who are doing great things in the city, and we’ve already waved a wand over some magical partnerships, with many more to come.”
In response to tours continuing to sell out, Dan cast a duplication spell last May to conjure up a second guide, Viridian the Green, and he is now looking for a third.
“We have big plans for 2025 and beyond, and WizardFest is an event that I aim to build on year after year,” says Dan. “If you’re interested in being involved, you can send an owl of enquiry to info@wizardwalkofyork.com or contact us via www.wizardwalkofyork.com.”
The logo for WizardFest
Summary of events at Wizard Fest, May 24 to 26
The Wizard Walk of York. Booking at www.wizardwalkofyork.com.
Brick Magic Lego workshops with The Brick Box – York Medical Society. Booking at brickboxyorkshire.com/brick-magic-york.
Harry Potter film screenings – City Screen Picturehouse. Booking at www.picturehouses.com/cinema/city-screen-picturehouse.
Ravers: Part of the National Theatre Connections programme at York Theatre Royal Studio
THE National Theatre Connections programme in the York Theatre Royal Studio welcomes Westborough High School this evening at 6.15pm to present Jane Bodie’s The Company Of Trees.
Playwright, screenwriter and teacher Bodie’s drama about bullying, bravery, the power of nature, finding friendship, loneliness and Hanoi the giant tortoise follows new girl Willow as she moves into town but is not welcomed by the popular gang. Meanwhile, when a spectacular gymnastic accident leaves Taylor bed-bound, her once loyal gang begin to drop away.
Enter Willow, to share Taylor’s solitude, teach her about trees and poems that don’t rhyme, whereupon Taylor begins to heal.
Suitable for age 14 upwards, The Company Of Trees features strong language, themes of bullying, references to physical injury and the loss of a parent.
Vickie Donoghue’s Fresh Air will be staged by South Hunsley School tonight at 7.45pm and John Smeaton Academy on Thursday at 7.15pm.
Fresh Air: Featuring in the National Theatre Connections season at York Theatre Royal Studio
In this Essex stage, screen and radio writer’s play, students from a pupil referral group are made to go orienteering in what they discover is England’s most haunted woods. Stalked by eerie ghost children determined to keep them there forever, they must learn to confront the here and now to unlock the key to their futures.
Suitable for age 14 upwards, Fresh Air features moderate language, mild gore, mild dread, ghosts and supernatural elements throughout, references to mental health and one instance of a character being choked.
Writer, director, composer, choreographer, designer, producer and film, theatre, TV and radio performer Rikki Beadle-Blair’s Ravers will be performed by Wyke Sixth Form College tomorrow at 6.15pm and York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre (York St John University group) on Saturday at 12 noon and 7pm.
A rag-tag group of self-described “neeks” (nerds and geeks) gathers at midnight in a local park to hold a “‘dry rave” (No intoxicants). Will the group succeed in redefining “cool” or will the powers-that-be succeed in shutting down the neek revolution?
Again suitable for age 14 upwards, Ravers has depictions of underage drinking, moderate language, themes of anxiety and references to the loss of a parent.
Brain Play: One of the plays to be performed at York Theatre Royal Studio this week
Oxfordshire playwright Chloë Lawrence-Taylor and Olivier-nominated playwright, dramaturg and musician Paul Sirett’s Brain Play will be presented by Joseph Rowntree School on Thursday and 1812 Youth Theatre on Friday, both at 5.30pm.
When Mia’s dad suffers a traumatic brain injury and struggles to leave the house, she makes it her mission to find the cure for his symptoms. Delving deeper and deeper into the world of neuroscience, Mia is desperate to make him better, but first she must contend with her own brain.
Suitable for age 13 upwards, Brain Play contains strong language, discussion of brain injury and its associated effects, plus hearing loss, anxiety, PTSD, obsessive compulsive disorder and mental health, references to blood and agoraphobia, and, at one point a character says “take him out and shoot him” in jest.
Abbey Grange Academy takes to the Studio stage on Friday at 7.15pm to perform Mia And The Fish, Southall writer Satinder Chohan’s modern retelling of the ancient Indian myth Manu And The Fish.
Mia is a young refugee girl who, along with her sister, is washed up onto the British shores. Against the backdrop of a freak winter heatwave, as the climate emergency becomes critical, one day Mia happens upon a talking fish that she nurtures and names Samaki.
Mia And The Fish: Performance at 7.15pm on Friday
As well as becoming Mia’s friend and confidante, Samaki grows quickly into a giant fish, larger than any marine animal the world has ever known, and becomes the key to her and her friends’ survival in the face of the imminent extinction of humanity.
Suitable for age 13 upwards, Mia And The Fish contains discussions of the climate emergency, references to displacement and the refugee crisis and mild language.
National Theatre Connections’ week of York Theatre Royal Studio performances concludes with three weekend performances of Gary McNair’s No Regrets and Stage@Leeds Young Company’s Sunday performance of Alys Metcalf’s YOU 2.0.
York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre will be in action at 4.15pm and 5.30pm on Saturday, followed by Cockburn John Charles Academy on Sunday at 5pm, presenting No Regrets.
The Company Of Trees: Jane Bodie’s play for National Theatre Connections
Over the course of five years, Glasgow writer-performer McNair, three-time winner of the coveted Scotsman Fringe First Award, spoke to people at all stages and in all walks of life on the subject of regret.
This play marks the results of those conversations, presented in a collection of scenes, from the silly to the profound, that charts our relationship with the things we should have done but never did and the things we should not have done but did.
Suitable for age 14 upwards, No Regrets features strong language, descriptions of violence, mentions of alcohol and addiction, one scene of a mugging and stabbing and references to death.
In Sunday’s 12.30pm performance of YOU 2.0, strangers Martha and Isaac find themselves forced into playing YOU 2.0, a new therapy video game designed to help players access their better selves. As they tackle the levels in two-player mode, the pair form an unlikely friendship behind the anonymity of their gaming avatars, but their impact on each other’s lives goes much deeper than the game.
Tickets are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Brain Play, to be staged by 1812 Youth Theatre as part of National Theatre Connections at Helmsley Arts Centre and York Theatre Royal
LIKE Tom Stade’s comedy show, tipping winners is a Risky Business, but Charles Hutchinson is confident his recommendations will be triumphant.
Ryedale play of the week: 1812 Youth Theatre & National Theatre Connections, Brain Play, Helmsley Arts Centre, today to Friday, 7.30pm
UNDER the National Theatre Connections banner, Helmsley company 1812 Youth Theatre presents Chloe Lawrence-Taylor and Paul Sirett’s Brain Play, first in Helmsley and later at York Theatre Royal on March 21 at 7.30pm.
When Mia’s dad suffers a traumatic brain injury and struggles to leave the house, she makes it her mission to find the cure for his symptoms. Delving deeper and deeper into the world of neuroscience, Mia is desperate to make him better, but first she must contend with her own brain. Box office: Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk; York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
John Shuttleworth: 40 years of bonhomie, bon mots and persistently, perkily mundane yet profound songs at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall and Hull Truck Theatre. Picture: Tony Briggs
Comedy positivity of the week: John Shuttleworth, Raise The Oof, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, tonight and tomorrow, 7.30pm; Hull Truck Theatre, April 2,7.30pm
JOHN Shuttleworth, the good-natured Sheffield sage and perky Yamaha organ purveyor of charmingly mundane songs fashioned by actor Graham Fellows, celebrates his 40th anniversary on his Raise The Oof tour, full of nostalgia and new stories.
Here come tales of his early days with neighbour Ken Worthington, the humorous realities of married life with miserable wife Mary, and John’s hopes for a late-career breakthrough. Box office: Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com; Hull, 01482 323638 or hulltruck.co.uk.
Becca Drake: Guest poet at York Literature Festival’s Howl Owt night at The Blue Boar
York Literature Festival gig of the week: Howl Owt, The Blue Boar, Castlegate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
JOIN Chloe Hanks and Stephanie Roberts from Howlers Open Mic and Henry Raby from Say Owt for an evening of performances by York poets and writers, bolstered by a special guest.
This time, their roles will be reversed with the Say Owt crew taking over the open mic and the Howlers welcoming the guest, Becca Drake, York poet, Little Hirundine printmaker and researcher. Performers can sign up for three-minute open-mic spots on arrival. Admission is free.
Neil Foster’s Cosme McMoon, left, Jackie Cox’s Florence Foster Jenkins and Mike Hickman’s St Clair in Rowntree Players’ Glorious!
York play of the week: Rowntree Players in Glorious!, The True Story Of Florence Foster Jenkins, The Worst Singer In The World, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
COVER your ears! Here comes Glorious! The True Story Of Florence Foster Jenkins, The Worst Singer In The World, as told by Peter Quilter in his joyous and heart-warming comedy with music, based on the life of an eccentric 1940s’ New York socialite with a passion for singing but a voice for disaster.
Enthusiastic but tonally erratic soprano Florence (played by Jackie Cox) gave private recitals, sang at extravagant balls, made bizarre recordings and revelled in a triumphant sold-out final performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall at 76. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Mike + The Mechanics: Mike Rutherford, centre, re-living 40 years at York Barbicanwith Andrew Roachford, left, and Tim Howar
40th anniversary celebration of the week: Mike + The Mechanics, Looking Back – The Living Years, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm
AFTER opening their Refueled! tour at York Barbican in April 2023, Mike + The Mechanics return next Friday on their Looking Back – Living The Years 40th anniversary travels. Expect the set list to combine Over My Shoulder, The Living Years and All I Need Is A Miracle with selections from their nine albums and a “drift into some of Genesis’s much loved classic tracks”. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
David John Pike: Baritone soloist for York Musical Society’s concert at York Minster
Classical concert of the week: York Musical Society, Bach Mass in B minor, York Minster, Saturday, 7.30pm
DAVID Pipe conducts York Musical Society’s singers and orchestra in Bach’s epic choral work, replete with magnificent choruses, resplendent fugues, moving arias and soloists Zoe Brookshaw and Philippa Boyle (both soprano), Tom Lilburn (countertenor), Nicholas Watts (tenor) and Canadian/British/Luxembourger David John Pike (baritone), who returned to music after initially training and working as a chartered accountant. Tickets: available from York Minster or on the door.
Tom Stade: Risk-taking comedy at Helmsley Arts Centre
Comedy minefield of the week: Tom Stade: Risky Business, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 8pm
TOM Stade’s sense of ‘funny’ and today’s ‘funny’ do not always see eye to eye, bur that’s cool; it’s not his way to follow the herd, he says. The Vancouver-born, Scottish-based humorist much prefers to take the path less travelled, a path that brings this independent spirit and irrepressible force of nature to Helmsley to airdrop his unflinching comedy into an ever-changing minefield. Navigating the tightrope of today’s divisive times may be a risky business but Stade reasons that without risk there can be no reward. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Nicola Mills: Songs and stories at Milton Rooms, Malton
Taking the “posh” out of opera: Nicola Mills, Opera For The People, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 7.30pm
VICTORIA Woods meets Pavarotti in Nicola Mills’s funny and inspiring show, wherein she combines her down-to- earth Northern roots with operatic singing and telling tales of working-class life, from performing in some of Europe’s finest opera houses to taking opera to the streets.
Expect not only opera on a night when the audience will choose songs from Mills’s Song Menu, spanning Mozart to musicals to Elvis Presley. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Tayla Kenyon in her solo play Fluff at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York on Sunday. Picture: Patrick Murray
Fringe play of the week: Teepee Productions and Joe Brown present Fluff, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
NOW is the time for Fluff to do the ultimate puzzle: her life. Fluff hates puzzles, however, especially word searches. She can never find the words, nor understand why there is a half-eaten birthday cake and a woman who keeps visiting her room. As she navigates her way through her most treasured and darkest memories, Fluff desperately needs to piece together her life, story by story, person by person.
Tayla Kenyon performs solo in her darkly comedic 75-minutre play, co written with James Piercy, as she explores memories and the choices we make, using a non-linear plot line to enable the audience to feel, first hand, the devastating effects of dementia. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Jason Donovan: Doin’ fine in 2025 at York Barbican
PAY attention to Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations and, like Jason Donovan, you will be doin’ fine.
Good Neighbour of the week: Jason Donovan: Doin’ Fine 25, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
LAST seen in York in fishnets and face paint as Dr Frank N Further in The Rocky Horror Show at the Grand Opera House last October, Australian singer and actor Jason Donovan now takes an “incredible ride” through 35 years in music, theatre, film and television.
His long-awaited sequel to Doin’ Fine 90 features Donovan’s most beloved songs from his stage shows, Joseph, Priscilla, Rocky Horror and Grease, alongside nods to his TV times in Neighbours and Strictly Come Dancing and his biggest pop hits, Especially For You, Too Many Broken Hearts, Any Dream Will Do and Sealed With A Kiss. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Gary Stewart: Rise and shine at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb
Singer-songwriter gig of the week: Gary Stewart, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, tonight, doors, 7.30pm for 8pm start
PERTHSHIRE-BORN singer-songwriter Gary Stewart, now living in Easingwold after 15 years on the Leeds music scene, writes songs in the folk/pop vein, influenced by the Sixties and Seventies’ songbooks of Paul Simon, James Taylor, The Eagles, Joni Mitchell and Carole King.
The left-handed multi-instrumentalist has released four albums, the latest being June 2021’s self-recorded Lost, Now Found, penned in lockdown. Stewart also plays drums for Leeds band Hope & Social, bass for Fleetwood Mac tribute band Weetwood Mac and fronts his seven-piece re-working Paul Simon’s 1986 album Graceland. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Levellers: Performing in Collective acoustic mode at York Barbican
Acoustic re-boot of the week: Levellers Collective, York Barbican, tomorrow, doors, 6.30pm
LEVELLERS firstdecided to “do something a bit different with their extensive back catalogue” in 2018, teaming up with fellow Brighton group The Moulettes to record two albums that radically reworked their folk rock and anarcho-punk songs, first with producer John Leckie on We The Collective, then with Sean Lakeman on 2023’s Together All The Way.
Now, their 17-date 2025 spring tour coincides with this week’s release of their Levellers Collective/Live CD and DVD, recorded in 2023 at London’s Hackney Empire. Tomorrow’s support act at Levellers’ only Yorkshire date will be Amelia Coburn. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jon Culshaw: Out to impress at Grand Opera House
Making a good impression: Jon Culshaw: Imposter Syndrome, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
AFTER more than 30 years on the circuit, impressionist Jon Culshaw, the chameleon voice of BBC Radio 4’s Dead Ringers, BBC One’s The Impressions Show and Channel 4’s Partygate, debuted his one-man show, Imposter Syndrome, at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, (when he also appeared as Hughie Green in Lena, the year after his solo performance in Les Dawson: Flying High).
Now Culshaw is on a 28-date tour, combining comedy and music as he conjures an array of personalities from the worlds of entertainment, politics and beyond, from Liam Gallagher to a gangster-rapping Gordon Brown. Meanwhile, Candace Bushnell’s True Tales Of Sex, Success And Sex In The City tour date in York on March 11 has been cancelled. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
John Shuttleworth: 40 years of bonhomie, bon mots and persistently, perkily mundane yet quirkily profound songs at Leeds City Varieties Music Hall. Picture: Tony Briggs
Comedy positivity of the week: John Shuttleworth, Raise The Oof, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, March 12 and 13, 7.30pm
JOHN Shuttleworth, the good-natured Sheffield sage and perky Yamaha organ purveyor of charmingly mundane songs fashioned by actor Graham Fellows, celebrates his 40th anniversary on his Raise The Oof tour, full of nostalgia and new stories.
Here come tales of his early days with neighbour and clarinettist Ken Worthington, the humorous realities of married life with miserable wife Mary, and John’s relentless determination to mail off his cassette demos to today’s cutting-edge acts – Chris Rea and the Lighthouse Family, he says – hoping for a late-career breakthrough. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Becca Drake: Guest poet at York Literature Festival’s Howl Owt night at The Blue Boar
York Literature Festival gig of the week: Howl Owt, The Blue Boar, Castlegate, York, March 13, 7.30pm
FOR the second year running, two forces of the York poetry scene team up for the ultimate spoken-word showcase. Join Chloe Hanks and Stephanie Roberts from Howlers Open Mic and Henry Raby from Say Owt for an evening of performances by York poets and writers, bolstered by a special guest.
This time, their roles will be reversed with the Say Owt crew taking over the open mic and the Howlers welcoming the guest, Becca Drake, York poet, Little Hirundine printmaker and researcher with a PhD in late-medieval English. Performers can sign up for three-minute open-mic spots on arrival. Admission is free.
Neil Foster’s Cosme McMoon, left, Jackie Cox’s Florence Foster Jenkins and Mike Hickman’s St Clair in Rowntree Players’ Glorious!
Play of the week: Rowntree Players in Glorious!, The True Story Of Florence Foster Jenkins, The Worst Singer In The World, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, March 13 to 15, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
COVER your ears! Here comes Glorious! The True Story Of Florence Foster Jenkins, The Worst Singer In The World, as told by Peter Quilter in his joyous and heart-warming comedy with music, based on the life of an eccentric 1940s’ New York socialite with a passion for singing but a voice for disaster.
Enthusiastic but tonally erratic soprano Florence (played by Jackie Cox) gave private recitals for charity, sang at extravagant balls, made bizarre recordings and revelled in a triumphant sold-out final performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall at 76. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Mike + The Mechanics: Re-living 40 years at York Barbican on March 14
40th anniversary celebration of the week: Mike + The Mechanics, Looking Back – The Living Years, York Barbican, March 14, 7.30pm
AFTER opening their Refueled! tour at York Barbican in April 2023, Mike + The Mechanics return next Friday on their Looking Back – Living The Years 40th anniversary travels. Expect the set list to combine Over My Shoulder, The Living Years and All I Need Is A Miracle with selections from their nine albums and a“drift into some of Genesis’s much loved classic tracks”.
Guitarist and founder Mike Rutherford will be joined in the band line-up by lead vocalist Andrew Roachford and Canadian-born vocalist Tim Howar. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
In Focus: Navigators Art, YO Underground, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, March 15, 7.30pm
Performance artist Carrieanne Vivianette
YORK arts collective Navigators Art hosts a “slightly different forthcoming event”, YO Underground, in The Basement next weekend.
The first in a new series of performance showcases will present Say Owt Slam winner Cooper Robson, performance artist and writer Carrieanne Vivianette, inspiring young poet Oliver Lewis, champion beatboxer Cast, genre-crossing musical duo Gorgo and internationally renowned singer Loré Lixenberg.
Say Owt Slam winner Cooper Robson
“The YO Underground title is apt, not only because our venue is The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen. “The format will be familiar from the group’s popular Basement Sessions but will feature original music, spoken word and comedy with a more experimental edge than usual.
“It will be a platform for local and regional performers whose work may wander off the beaten track but definitely deserves an audience. New and emerging artists will have equal billing with more established names.”
Advance tickets cost £8. For full details and booking, visit TicketSource via https://bit.ly/nav-events.
Mezzo-soprano and physical theatre, comedy and free improv performer Loré Lixenberg
The second in the series is planned for Sunday, April 27 and will showcase Wire Worms, the Leeds Doom Folk five-piece, whose folk-rooted but boundary-stretching debut album, The First To Come In, explores weird, supernatural and experimental notions, inspired by the traditions of Mumming and Guising found throughout the British Isles.
“Navigators Art encourages innovation, improvisation and collaboration, as well as excellence, and would like to hear from performers in any medium who might suit future events,” says Richard. Email navigatorsart@gmail.com or follow @navigatorsart on Facebook and Instagram.
Navigators Art’s poster for the inaugural YO Underground event at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse
A dancer at full stretch in the Everyday Dance Festival. Picture: Bec Hudson Smith
EVERYBODY Dance Festival 2025 will take over the Main House stage at York Theatre Royal for two days from tomorrow.
Run by York Dance Space, the event will feature 26 schools in 75-minute performances split between 7pm tomorrow and on Saturday.
Showcasing and celebrating dance in schools and community settings across Yorkshire, the festival is a chance for young performers to shine and share their creativity with a live audience and immerse themselves in all things dance.
Let’s dance at the Everybody Dance Festival at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Bec Hudson Smith
This week’s event brings together Dance Space Projects, Children’s and Young People’s Dance Network North, York Dance Space, Yorkshire Dance and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
Taking part tomorrow will be: Skipton Girls High School; Park Grove Primary Academy; Tang Hall Primary School; All Saints RC School; St Wilfred’s RC Primary School; Horizon Community College; York High School; Phoenix Youth Academy; Richmond School; Scarcroft Primary School; St Aelred’s RC Primary School and St Paul’s C of E Primary School.
Throwing shapes in the Everybody Dance Festival. Picture: Bec Hudson Smith
Saturday’s bill presents: Tang Hall Smart; Dance United Yorkshire; Hempland Primary Academy; York Youth Dance; St Oswald’s Primary School; Knavesmire Primary School; CHARGE Boys; CHARGE Dance; North Tyneside Youth Dance; Reflections; Activate York Dance Space; Tadcaster Youth Dance; Sherburn C of E Primary Academy and Luttons Community Primary Academy, from West Lutton, Malton.
For tickets, ring 01904 623568 or book online at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/everybody-dance-festival-2025/.
Balletic grace in the Everybody Dance Festival. Picture: Bec Hudson Smith
