Holly head: Kate Rusby At Christmas at York Barbican. Picture: David Lindsay
KATE Rusby At Christmas, the Barnsley folk nightingale’s alternative carol concert season with her folk band and The Brass Boys, is in York Barbican’s 2022 diary for December 18.
As ever, Kate will be rounding off her year with a Christmas tour full of warmth, sparkle, South Yorkshire carols, festive winter songs and the now obligatory fancy-dress finale.
Kate’s Christmas concerts draw on the 200-year-old tradition of carols being sung on Sunday lunchtimes in the crowded pubs of South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire from late-November to New Year’s Day.
As a child, while her parents sang, Kate would sit in the corner, absorbing these songs as they were belted out, each one a variation on a familiar carol but frowned on by the church in Victorian times for being too happy.
Kate’s Christmas concerts are full of festive good cheer, humour and storytelling, each auditorium becoming the equivalent of her local pub or front room. Tickets are on sale at yorkbarbican.co.uk and ticketmaster.co.uk.
This week, Kate will be headlining the Saturday bill at Underneath The Stars, the folk, indie, Americana, ska, soul and world music festival she founded, at Cinderhill Farm, Cawthorne, near Barnsley.
Suzanne Vega: Sunday’s headline act at Underneath The Stars
The event runs from Friday to Sunday, featuring headliner Imelda May; This Is The Kit; Ripon singer-songwriter Billie Marten; Davina & The Vagabonds; Sam Kelly & The Lost Boys; The Trials Of Cato; N’famady Kouyaté and Stone Jets on the opening day.
Suzanne Vega: Sunday’s headline act at Underneath The Stars
Saturday’s acts will be Kate Rusby; The Big Moon; An Audience With Adrian Edmondson; Penguin Café; The Brighouse & Rastrick Band; The Haggis Horns; The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican; Will Varley; Kinnaris Quintet; Trousdale and Flatcap Carnival.
Sunday’s headline act, Suzanne Vega, will be preceded by An Audience With Jason Manford; The Young’uns; Lanterns On The Lake; Dustbowl Revival; Tankus The Henge; Hannah Williams & The Affirmations, Damien O’Kane & Ron Block; Intergalactic Brasstronauts; Azure Ryder and Iona Lane. For tickets, head to: underneaththestarsfest.co.uk/tickets/.
This year, 48-year-old Kate marked her 30th anniversary of performing concerts by releasing the album 30: Happy Returns in May on her own family-run Pure Records label.
It was in 1992 that she stood, “close to alimentary havoc”, at Holmfirth Festival clutching a red Guild guitar borrowed from family friend and playwright Willy Russell to play her first “proper gig” at 18.
Five minutes after she had finished that set and sworn “never again”, Alan Bearman booked her for Sidmouth Festival. Thank goodness for Alan!
She has since released 19 albums, netted a Mercury Music Prize nomination in 1999, received awards and two honorary doctorates and headlined at the Royal Albert Hall, Cambridge Folk Festival and internationally too.
Kate’s music has been used in Ricky Gervais’s Afterlife (series three, Netflix); Ruth Jones’s Stella (Sky 1); the 2002 film Heartlands, starring Michael Sheen (Miramax) and throughout series one and two of Jennifer Saunders’ Jam And Jerusalem (BBC).
Kate Rusby: 30th anniversary of first proper gig at Holmfirth
“Music has taken me all over the world in those 30 years, where I’ve met the most incredible musicians and singers,” says Kate. “30: Happy Returns is a culmination of those years, the music, the singers, the laughs, the songs, the memories.
“Here I am joined by some of my all-time musical heroes, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Richard Hawley, KT Tunstall, Darlingside, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Sarah Jarosz, Damien O’Kane, Sam Kelly, not to mention the amazing lads in my band.
“I am in awe of their talent and generosity in sharing it and can safely say there are so many ‘dream come true’ moments on this album. By my very nature I’ve never been ambitious, so I am astounded, taking this retrospective look over the years, and feel so blessed to sing with these incredible artists. I am one very happy, happy girl!!”
The 15 songs on 30: Happy Returns span the eight studio albums from Sleepless in 1999 to Philosophers, Poets & Kings in 2019, newly re-crafted by Kate and producer, band leader and husband Damien O’Kane in the aforementioned multitude of guest collaborations, led off by the South Yorkshire/South Africa union with Ladysmith Black Mambazo for We Will Sing.
Richard Hawley rehearsed No Names in the dark in a power cut; Darlingside turn Cruel into a call-and-response song with Kate; K T Tunstall and Kate bring a sisterly strut to Let Me Be.
The sun and the moon go for a coffee together in Kate and Damien’s Hunter Moon, then Beth Nielsen Chapman takes on Damien’s original vocal about embarking on life’s journey hand-in-hand with the right person in Walk The Road.
The CD edition offers a bonus track in Secret Keeper, the commission Kate recorded with the Royal Northern Sinfonia for the Great Exhibition of the North, held in Newcastle and Gateshead in Summer 2018.
Alexander Flanagan Wright, left, Phil Grainger and Megan Drury in The Gods The Gods The Gods at Stillington Mill for four nights. Picture: Tom Figgins
GODS on the Fringe, battling Romans, a riverside market, a Welsh icon and a thirsty Tiger are courting Charles Hutchinson’s attention on the art beat.
Theatre event of the week: Wright & Grainger in The Gods The Gods The Gods, Stilly Fringe, At The Mill, Stillington, near York, tonight, tomorrow, Wednesday and Thursday, 8.45pm
ALEXANDER Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger believe that three is indeed the magic number. Hence The Gods The Gods The Gods as a title for their third triad of myths, spoken word and music after Orpheus and Eurydice, and their first with a third participant, Australian actor, writer and dramaturg, Megan Drury.
Not everything is about threes, however. There will be four stories and 11 tracks in a show full of big beats, soaring melodies and heart-stopping words as Wright & Grainger head to the crossroads where mythology meets real life. Box office: atthemill.org.
Silversmith and jewellery designer Jen Ricketts: One of 42 artists and makers taking part in Ryedale Open Studios. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Art event of the week outside York: Ryedale Open Studios, today, tomorrow, July 30 and 31, 10am to 5pm
FOUNDED by Layla Khoo, Kirsty Kirk and Petra Young, the second Ryedale Open Studios gives visitors the chance to explore the district’s creative talents and skills, ranging from painting, printing, drawing and photography to ceramics, textiles, metalwork and willow weaving.
More than 40 artists are participating in an event organised by Vault Arts Centre. Head to ryedaleopenstudios.com, where a printable map and handbook can be downloaded.
Miles And The Chain Gang: Busy weekend ahead
Miles ahead: Miles And The Chain Gang, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm; Harrogate Blues Bar, Montpellier Parade, Harrogate, Sunday, 9pm
YORK poet, radio presenter, festival founder, singer and songwriter Miles Salter and his new line-up of The Chain Gang head to Helmsley and Harrogate this weekend.
Crawling from the swamps of North Yorkshire, with the bit between their teeth and the blues biting at their heels, The Chain Gang will be making their Helmsley debut. Taking their cues from Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Led Zeppelin and early 1980s’ new wave, Salter and co deliver a potent brew of their own tunes as well as classics by Johnny Cash, Joni Mitchell and more besides.
“There’s quite a crowd coming to Helmsley but some tickets are available, and you can book online at helmsleyartscentre.co.uk,” says Miles. “Both gigs will feature all the songs we have on YouTube: When It Comes To You, Drag Me To The Light, All Of Our Lives and latest single Love Is Blind, a song played more than 300 times on radio stations in the UK, Europe and USA.” For Harrogate details, head to: bluesbar.co.uk.
What did the Romans ever do for us? Time to find out at the first Malton Museum Roman Festival
Festival of the week: Malton Museum Roman Festival, Sunday, 11am to 3.30pm
MALTON Museum is hosting its inaugural Roman Festival this weekend at the Roman Fort on Orchard Fields.
Live action demonstrations will be staged in the arena by experimental archaeologists Equistry (Roman Cavalry) and re-enactment group Magister Militum will establish a Roman Legionary encampment and engage in battle sequences.
Children can join the Children’s Roman Army, paint shields, create mosaics, try wax tablet drawing and take part in archaeology activities. Tickets: maltonmuseum.co.uk.
Teatime mayhem amid much munching: The Tiger Who Came To Tea tucks in at the Grand Opera House, York
Children’s show of the week: The Tiger Who Came To Tea, Grand Opera House, York, Monday, 2pm; Tuesday and Wednesday, 11am, 2pm
WHAT happens when a Tiger knocks on the door at teatime? You better let Tiger in as the tea guzzler in Judith Kerry’s story returns to the road in this award-winning family show after a West End season.
Expect oodles of magic, singalong songs and clumsy chaos in a stage adaptation full of teatime mayhem and surprises, suitable for age three upwards. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Sexbomb alert: Sir Tom Jones soon to hit Scarborough
Knight’s night out of the week: Sir Tom Jones, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Tuesday, gates open at 6pm
PONTYPRIDD powerhouse Sir Tom Jones heads to the Yorkshire coast with another number one album in his pocket, Surrounded By Time, his 41st studio set, no less.
Maybe singles Talking Reality Television Blues, No Hole In My Head, One More Cup Of Coffee and Pop Star from that April 2021 album will feature in the 82-year-old Welshman’s set. The likes of Delilah, Green Green Grass Of Home, It’s Not Unusual, She’s A Lady, You’re My World, What’s New Pussycat?, Kiss and Sexbomb surely will. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Look sharp for a ticket: Joe Jackson welcomes sinners to his very rare York concert on Friday
Rearranged gig of the week: Joe Jackson, Sing, You Sinners! Tour, York Barbican, Friday, 8pm
FAMILIAR foe Covid-19 delayed only the second ever York concert of singer, songwriter and consummate arranger Joe Jackson’s 44-year career, put back from March 17 to July 29.
Better late than never, Jackson promises hits, songs not aired in years and new material, performed in the company of Graham Maby on bass, Teddy Kumpel on guitar and Doug Yowell on drums and electronics.
A mini-solo set is on the cards too in Jackson’s only Yorkshire gig of his European tour; his first York appearance since the Grand Opera House in June 2005. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
A montage of work by artists and makers taking part in this summer’s York River Art Market
York River Art Market, Dame Judi Dench Walk, by Lendal Bridge, River Ouse, York, July 30 and 31; August 6 and 7; August 13 and 14
YORK River Art Market returns for its seventh summer, this time spread over three full weekends. Drawing comparisons with the Left Bank in Paris, this open-air market is free of charge and provides the chance to browse and buy directly from artists showcasing their creative wares along the riverside railings.
Each market will showcase a different variety of 30 artists with the guarantee that no two markets are ever the same. Look out for paintings, prints, jewellery, textiles, glass work, ceramics, maybe even artisan shaving cream (one of last summer’s hit stalls).
The tour poster for Michael Palin’s new travel show, From North Korea Into Iraq, bound for the Grand Opera House, York
Show announcement of the week: Michael Palin, From North Korea Into Iraq, Grand Opera House, York, October 6
MONTY Python comedy legend and intrepid globetrotter Michael Palin will give a first-hand account of his extraordinary journeys through two countries on the dark side of history on his new solo tour this autumn.
Using photos and film, he will recall his challenging adventures in the tightly controlled time bomb of the People’s Republic of North Korea and the bruised land of Iraq, once the home of civilisation, torn apart over the past 30 years by brutal war and bloodshed.
Palin’s theatre tour will be preceded by his new Channel 5 series, Michael Palin: Into Iraq. York tickets: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Mouth-watering prospect: Holly Beasley-Garrigan in Opal Fruits on July 28
THE Great Yorkshire Fringe exited stage left from York in 2019 after five years, 1,200 shows, 9,000 performers and 110,000 visitors.
Frustrated by red tape, impresario Martin Witts pulled the plug on his fiesta of comedy, theatre, spoken word and children’s shows, since when the black hole in York’s summer entertainment calendar has never been filled.
In no way on the same scale, but occupying the same pre-Edinburgh Fringe slot, here comes the Stilly Fringe, out on the fringes of York at Stillington Mill, the home of the At The Mill arts hub, Saturday café and guest-chef supper club nights.
Running from tonight(July 22) until July 31, this is the latest enterprise from newly married Alexander Flanagan Wright, North Yorkshire writer, theatre-maker and visionary facilitator, and Megan Drury, Australian actor, writer and creative artist.
Selkie myth making: Hannah Davies and Jack Woods in The Ballad Of Blea Wyke on Saturday and Sunday night
“It’s come about because a bunch of our dear pals said, ‘can we come and do this?’, like most of the things we do here come about,” says Alex. “There seemed to be a critical mass to make us think these weekends would be a good way to test things out.
“We thought, ‘let’s do it in a communal and convivial way’ with that bond between audiences and performers giving it a different vibe, seeing new work with a chance to chat with the artists. We love doing that here.”
Presented in the mill gardens, either on the open-air stage on the repurposed tennis court or under the cover of the café-bar, the Summer At The Mill programme takes in theatre and spoken-word premieres, comedy, children’s shows, concerts, Gary Stewart’s folk club bills, even silent disco dance nights.
The Stilly Fringe largely mirrors that format but with the added intrigue of giving an early opportunity to see shows bound for the Scottish capital in August. “Six out of nine are going to Edinburgh,” says Alex. “The Lovely Boys, The Gods The Gods The Gods, Invisible Mending, Opal Fruits and Casey Jay Andrews’ double bill, The Wild Unfeeling World and A Place That Belongs To Monsters, are all heading there.”
The Lovely Boys: Opening Stilly Fringe tonight
First up, tonight at 7pm, will be Joe Kent-Walters and Mikey Bligh-Smith’s absurd clown bonanza, The Lovely Boys, followed by Harrison Casswell & Friends, an 8.45pm set of electric spoken word and live music fronted by the Doncaster poet and writer, who Alex first saw on a Say Owt bill in York.
Next will be Say Owt leading light, York poet, actor, playwright and spoken-word slam champion Hannah Davies’s The Ballad Of Blea Wyke, a lyrical re-telling of the selkie myth, set against the Yorkshire coast, complemented by original live music by Jack Woods, in work-in-progress performances at 7pm on Saturday and Sunday.
On both those nights at 8.45pm, and on July 27 and 28 too, Alex and fellow Easingwold School old boy Phil Grainger will give their first Stillington performances of The Gods The Gods The Gods, the third in their trilogy of spoken-word and live music shows rooted in ancient myths after Orpheus and Eurydice.
“We first did the show in Australia in early 2020 before the pandemic forced us home, and we’re going to do a big, loud, bopping version in the garden, different from the indoor production that had a pretty massive lighting set-up,” says Alex.
Three is a magic number: Alexander Flanagan Wright, left, Phil Grainger and Megan Drury in The Gods The Gods The Gods on July 23, 24, 27 and 28. Picture: Tom Figgins
“We’re having to look at how to play it within this landscape and within the Mill’s vibe, rather than trying to pretend we’re in a black-box theatre design. We’re just really excited to be telling these stories that we’ve been living with for three years.
“We’ve been doing loads of work with Megan as our dramaturg, and Phil and Tom (Figgins) have been re-working the music, re-writing some parts and writing plenty of new pieces.
“It feels like a two-year hiatus that has allowed us to think about these different story-telling modes to tell it with greater clarity.”
Why call this Wright & Grainger show The Gods The Gods The Gods, rather than plain old The Gods, Alex? “A lot of things come in threes and a lot of things in this show fall naturally into threes,” he reasons. “It’s one of those powerful numbers: a triad, with the three of us [Alex, Phil and Megan] telling the story.
Small acts of creativity: Yoshika Colwell combines metaphysics, music and verbatim material in Invisible Mendingon July 31
“There are in fact four stories, three of them everyday stories and one story of the Gods. Most of those stories are told in three parts, and we repeat things three times in parts – and it’s just a good title!
“It’s also the third in the series of storytelling pieces we’ve done, taking a big jump on from the first two with a lot bigger soundtrack of Phil’s songs and Tom’s music production and a more complex narrative that we’ve weaved into it.”
The Stilly Fringe also will present Opal Fruits, Holly Beasley-Garrigan’s solo show about class, nostalgia and five generations of women from a South London council estate, on July 28 at 7pm; Casey Jay Andrews’ The Wild Unfeeling World, a tender, furious and fragile re-imagining of Moby Dick, and A Place That Belongs To Monsters, a re-imagining of The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse, on July 29 at 7pm and 8.45pm respectively.
Lucy Bird, originally from Ampleforth, will head back north with her Birmingham company Paperback Theatre for an “utterly Brummie” re-telling of The Wind In The Willows on July 30 at 2.30pm and 7pm.
Yoshika Colwell will return to the Mill for the Stilly Fringe finale, Invisible Mending, her exploration of power in small acts of creativity through original music, metaphysics and verbatim material, presented in collaboration with Second Body’s Max Barton, on July 31 at 7pm.
Ryedale Open Studios founders and directors Kirsty Kirk, left, Layla Khoo and Petra Young. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
ARTISTS across Ryedale are preparing to open their studios to the public on Saturday and Sunday and the following weekend from 10am to 5pm each day.
In the wake of last summer’s first ever Ryedale Open Studios, the sequel will give visitors the chance to explore the variety of creative talents and skills in the district, ranging from painting, printing, drawing and photography to ceramics, textiles, metalwork and willow weaving.
More than 40 artists will be participating in an event organised by Vault Arts Centre, a Community Interest Company founded to develop arts activities and events in the Ryedale area, with financial support from Ryedale District Council.
Ceramicist Iona Stock. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Its founders and directors are Layla Khoo, Kirsty Kirk and Petra Young. Kirkbymoorside ceramicist Layla will be taking part in the open weekends; former South London primary school art teacher Kirsty co-founded and ran makers’ markets in East London and now runs a holiday cottage complex near Pickering; Petra is Forestry England’s funding and development manager.
She was instrumental in developing the arts strategy for Dalby Forest, near Pickering, in 2017 and has been working on establishing Dalby as a destination for high-quality arts activities ever since.
Phillip Spurr, director of place and resources for Ryedale District Council, says: “Arts and culture in Ryedale is key to our identity. It nourishes the roots of our communities and helps make the district what it is. I’d encourage residents and visitors alike to attend the Open Studios event to support our arts and culture industry.”
Silversmith and jewellery designer Jen Ricketts. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
To find out more about all 42 artists, head to ryedaleopenstudios.com, where a printable map and handbook can be downloaded.
Taking part will be: Aeva Denham, mixed media; Alex Jones, wildlife oil paintings; Alice O’Neill, papercut and collage; Amanda Pickles, mixed media; Angela Cole, basket designs in willow; Anna Matyus, printmaking; Caleb Matyus, decorative blacksmith works; Carol Messham, garden watercolours and polymer clay pictures, jewellery and mobiles.
Charlotte Elizabeth Lane, large-scale sky and ocean paintings; Charlotte Salt, ceramics and still-life drawings; Christine Hughes, textiles and home interiors; Colin Culley, paintings of natural world; Eleanor Walker, textiles and weaving; Environmental Art, blacksmith sculpture and abstract textiles; Evanna Denham, pencil pieces full of meaning.
Hannah Turlington, mixed media, printmaking and textiles; Harry Oyston, drawings; Heather Niven, painting and ceramic sculpture; Helen Milen, Studio Milena textiles; Iona Stock, functional and sculptural ceramics; Ione Harrison, watercolour and gouache paintings; Janet Poole, plein-air paintings in oil, watercolour and pastel.
Painter and printmaker Meg Ricketts. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Jayne Hutchinson Raine, drawings, paintings and linocuts; Jen Ricketts, silversmithing and jewellery; Jo Naden, sculptures of myth, legend and culture; Kitty Bellamy, oil paintings and charcoal drawings of animals and people; Layla Khoo, ceramics; Meg Ricketts, collagraph prints, dry-point etchings and lino prints; Millie McCallum, paintings, collages and linocuts; Pamela Thorby, ceramics informed by Ryedale’s beauty.
Patrick Smith, painting and printmaking; Pauline Brown, paintings and drawings of Farndale; Philip Barraclough, art pencil works and watercolours; Rachel Rimell, photography on themes of identity and transition; Robert Broughton, fine art photography inspired by natural world; Ros Walker, functional and sculptural ceramics, jewellery and mixed-media paintings.
Ruth Kneeshaw, needlefelt landscapes and animal sculptures; Sally Tozer, ceramic sculptures; Sarah Cawthray, ceramics celebrating individuality; Susan Walsh, eco-printed textiles and paper; Suzie Devey, printmaking and automata; Tessa Bunney, rural life photography.
Photographer Tessa Bunney
In addition, all but four of the 42 artists are represented by one or two of their pieces in an accompanying exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole until September 5. Only Charlotte Elizabeth Lane, Janet Poole, Jen Ricketts and Millie McCallum are absent.
“This is new for this year’s Open Studios and we’re very pleased to be able to show the fabulous talent of Ryedale in one place,” says Petra Young. “We hope this will bring more visitors to Ryedale Folk Museum, and at the same time we hope this will encourage museum visitors to explore Ryedale further through visits to artists’ homes.”
Admission to the exhibition is free; museum opening hours are 10am to 5pm, Saturday to Thursday; closed on Fridays.
MAKE It York is inviting visual artists, print makers and designers to create a bespoke bauble design to celebrate St Nicholas Fair’s 30th anniversary with a prize of £500 for the winning design.
A fixture on York’s streets over the Christmas festive season since 1992, the 2022 fair will feature a limited run of porcelain baubles for sale to celebrate this milestone.
Artists are asked to submit designs on the theme of A York Christmas, whether traditional, contemporary or a fresh interpretation.
Running for five weeks, the St Nicholas Fair Christmas market features 60 Alpine chalets lining the streets of Parliament Street and St Sampson’s Square, where businesses sell everything from handmade gifts to delicious treats.
Paperback Theatre’s Mole (Charis McRoberts), left, Toad (Nathan Blyth), Rat (Carys Jones) and Badger (Lucy Bird) in their 2022 tour of The Wind In The Willows
PAPERBACK Theatre’s debut national tour of their “utterly Brummie” The Wind In The Willows will conclude with two Theatre At The Mill performances on July 30 at Stillington, near York.
On the road since June 4, the Birmingham company’s charming outdoor production will be heading to North Yorkshire for its only northern shows, directed by company co-founder Lucy Bird on her return to her roots.
Adapted for the stage from Kenneth Grahame’s book by fellow co-founder George Attwell Gerhards, Toad’s tale played to sell-out audiences at Paperback’s own arts festival, Little But LIVE! 2021, and in the Assembly Festival Gardens at Coventry City of Culture 2021 with Attwell Gerhards playing the irrepressible Toad.
Now Nathan Blyth is pooping Toad’s car horn on the tour, alongside Lucy Bird’s Badger, Charis McRoberts’ Mole and Carys Jones’s Rat.
Introducing the play, Lucy says: “Mole has been stuck inside for far too long. Finally escaping their underground home, they team up with good friends Ratty, Badger and the loveably roguish Toad on an adventure to blow away the quarantine cobwebs.
“Mole and the gang must go head-to-head with a motor car, Her Majesty’s Constabulary and, the greatest challenge of all, a legion of Weasels, Ferrets and Stoats, who have taken up residence in Toad Hall. Can our plucky band of heroes save the day?”
Lucy Bird: Director and Badger
Here, Lucy answers CharlesHutchPress’s questions on Toad and co, the company name and why Paperback Theatre are coming to Stillington.
Why call the company Paperback Theatre, Lucy?
“As a company, we’re most interested in adaptations. Taking old stories and retelling them for a new age, re-examining them, or just bringing them back to life for modern audiences (as we do with The Wind In The Willows).
“The name Paperback relates to the idea of a well-worn paperback book that has been read again and again, with a bent spine and crinkled pages, because there’s something that keeps drawing us back to those stories.”
What drew you to staging The Wind In The Willows?
“Pre-pandemic, Paperback made more indoor shows for older audiences, but during the pandemic we pivoted to working outdoors, for Covid safety reasons, and even started producing our own outdoor festival, Little But LIVE!.
“We found that outdoor work attracted more family audiences, and when we came to programming our second version of the festival The Wind In the Willows was touted as the perfect show for an outdoor family festival.
“Moreover, we were interested in the parallels in the tale to hibernation/isolation and our national journey out of lockdown. That said, The Wind In The Willows has always been thrown around our artistic discussions; it’s a book I loved as a child.”
Paperback Theatre take to the great outdoors in their debut national tour
What are your first memories of the story?
“My parents only had a VHS player and no TV licence, and one of the only video sets we had was the stop-motion series from back in the ’80s. Me and my brother watched it on repeat and routinely staged our own productions of it with other children in the village.
“I’ve run with that memory a fair amount in our staging and tried to create a low-tech, playful production that children could go away and stage themselves if they wanted to. We have sock puppets for ferrets, coconuts for horses’ hooves and a great medley of kazoos to manage our sound effects.”
Outdoor story equals perfect show for performances in the great outdoors. Discuss…
“I think there’s a lot of truth to that; it makes locating the story easier. When we arrive at each venue on tour, we have to agree where the Wild Wood is, where Toad Hall is, or the Riverbank, so we know where to point when we refer to them.
“Normally there’s a copse of trees – or indeed quite often a manor house looming in the distance that we can locate – which brings an extra exciting energy to the show.
“The Wind In The Willows is also a story about exploration and connecting with your local habitats after a long time away from them, so if you’re telling it outside, it feels like a great way to get audiences to start that journey of reconnection themselves.
“That said, I love the challenge of telling an indoor story outside: the harder you and the audience have to work to commit to imagining that you are in the middle of a palace, or a church, when you are in the pelting rain or blistering sun, the more fun you can have, I think.”
Paperback Theatre co-founder George Attwell Gerhards, who adapted Kenneth Grahame’s book for the stage, is pictured playing Toad in the 2021 production
What is distinctive about George’s adaptation?
“What’s different about this production to others I’ve seen is, firstly, its pace. George has compressed this well-loved tale into just an hour and, as a result, it has a really fast-paced, fluid energy to it, which also informs the great comedy and slapstick that we’ve discovered in the show.
“What’s particularly impressive and interesting is how much of the script has come straight from the book – which I think is really engaging for older audience members who may have a feeling of nostalgia for the original text – and yet how fresh and engaging it is for younger audiences.”
How do you involve the audience in the show?
“It’s an interactive show in the sense that we’re constantly talking directly to the audience, or pretending that they’re different characters in the show, but in a gentle way; we never get anyone up on stage or make them act out.
“We invite audiences to join in on our discoveries, to clap and cheer when the characters win something, or to groan in sympathy when we’re a bit sad. But if they aren’t feeling it that day, we just carry on…though we’ve yet to experience that!”
Paperback Theatre use recycled materials and bits of rubbish – sock puppets et al – in their design and props for The Wind In The Willows
What is the message of The Wind In The Willows in 2022?
“There’s a message about valuing nature and the countryside. Mainly though, given the last few years, for us it’s about friendship and camaraderie in difficult times, about reconnecting with people you haven’t seen in a while and helping them through the fun times and the tough times.”
What does an “utterly Brummie” interpretation bring to the show?
“Accents, mainly! Our Rat and Toad are both from Birmingham originally so they play the characters with their home accents, and then we bring in a plethora of other ones to help distinguish our multi-rolling, also to reflect the diversity of a city like Birmingham.
“There are a few unique references to the city, like bits of dialect or items of costume that are specific to our local area (Rat has a Moseley Folk Festival T-shirt on).
“Also, because the show was originally made for urban audiences, we’re looking at what urban wildlife is like. Our costumes and set are constructed out of recycled materials or bits of rubbish that we think the animals could have found hanging around to build their homes.
“I guess that also feeds into a message in our production of ecology and preserving the environment.”
Bird transforms into Badger: Lucy at play in the natural world
You are playing Badger, but is Badger your favourite character? If not, who is?!!
“Ooo, tricky! I do love Badger and their fieriness! But I think I’m coming round most to Rat. Bit of a curveball but they seem like an animal who’s just trying to be kind and do the right thing, even though they sometimes get it wrong, and I can empathise with that.”
Finally, Lucy, how did the performances at At The Mill come about?
“I’m actually from North Yorkshire originally, just across the way from Stillington in Ampleforth. When we first started booking The Wind In The Willows on tour I was absolutely determined to book a show near to the home I grew up in.
“My journey into theatre very much started with going to see outdoor performances that were touring to the local area, and I was really keen to try and offer that to the children and families who are living there now.
“I’d heard of Stillington Mill through family friends who said they had seen a few things there that were great and they felt it was a fab new venue, so I dropped the organisers, Alex [Flanagan Wright] and Megan [Drury], a line and they booked us in.”
Theatre At The Mill’s Silly Fringe presents Paperback Theatre in The Wind In The Willows at Stillington Mill, Stillington, near York, on July 30, 2.30pm and 7pm. Box office: atthemill.org/summer-at-the-mill/
Paperback Theatre’s tour poster for The Wind In The Willows
Paperback Theatre’s back story
* Formed at University of Warwick by Lucy Bird and George Attwell Gerhards, on the cusp of graduation in 2016. Now based in Balsall Heath, Birmingham.
* Past work includes thought-provoking original plays We Need to Talk About Bobby (Off EastEnders) and Me And My Doll, plus innovative adaptations of classics.
* In 2020, in response to Covid-19, they set up open-air arts festival called Little But LIVE! in Moseley Park, Birmingham, to give performing platform to Midlands artists who had lost work and to bring community together in period of isolation. Event now produced annually, entering third year in 2022.
* Debut tour of The Wind In The Willows is taking in Birmingham, Northampton, Lichfield, Stafford and Suffolk before Stillington finale.
Did you know?
LUCY Bird hails from the prodigiously artistic Bird family from Ampleforth. Brother Henry is an actor and musician; brother Conrad fronts the Newcastle band Holy Moly & The Crackers.
Protean Quartet: First prize winners at York Early Music International Young Artists Competition
PROTEAN Quartet, from Germany, have won first prize at the 2022 York Early Music International Young Artists Competition.
“We are so proud to receive this wonderful prize which will widen the opportunity for us to share our music far and wide,” they said afterwards. “We were competing against some amazingly talented musicians and we are privileged to receive this great honour.”
They overcame fierce competition from six highly talented international ensembles in the biennial competition, organised by the National Centre for Early Music, York, in a day-long series of performances by the competitors on July 16.
Protean Quartet – Javier Aguilar, Edi Kotler, violins, Ricardo Gil, viola, and Clara Rada, cello – receive a professional recording contract from Linn Records, £1,000 cash prize and opportunities to work with BBC Radio 3 and the NCEM.
Under the title Tempus Omnia Vincit, they performed Josquin des Prez’s Mille Regretz and Franz Schubert’s String Quartet No. 13 in A minor (Rosamunde), Allegro ma non troppo and Andante.
After Inflammabile and Ensemble L’Aminta, both from Austria, and Fair Oriana, from Great Britain, had to withdraw due to unforeseen circumstances, the final featured Protean Quartet; ApotropaïK, from France; Ensemble Augelletti, from GB; Harmos Winds, from the Netherlands; Liturina, from GB; Palisander, from GB, and UnderStories, from Italy.
Triple success: ApotropaïK, from France, won the EEEmerging+ Prize, Friends of York Early Music Prize and Cambridge Music Prize
During the two days before the weekend competition, each ensemble presented an informal recital under the guidance of York Early Music Festival artistic advisors John Bryan and Steven Devine.
The aim of these recitals was to give finalists the opportunity to adapt to the performance space and become familiar with the York audience in advance of the competition.
Each group then gave their final recital to a distinguished judging panel at the NCEM, comprising: Edward Blakeman, from BBC Radio 3; Albert Edelman, president of Réseau Européen de Musique Ancienne, 2019-2022; Philip Hobbs, Linn Records producer and recording engineer; violinist Catherine Mackintosh and harpsichordist Professor Barbara Willi.
The 2022 competition was presented by John Bryan, Emeritus Professor of Music at the University of Huddersfield and a member of the Rose Consort of Viols.
At the end of the competition, judging panel chair Philip Hobbs said: “The last three years have been extraordinary and extremely challenging for all young musicians. The calibre of musicianship we have seen is a tribute to their tenacity and dedication. The standard we see keeps going up and up and I would like to applaud all those who have taken part in this incredible day.”
Story of success: UnderStories, from Italy, won the Most Promising Young Artist prize
NCEM director and festival administrative director Delma Tomlin said: “It was wonderful to see the return of the competition and share the joy of being together again.
“The performances from these seven ensembles were of the highest calibre – congratulations to all. I would like to thank them and extend special thanks to our panel of judges for their hard work and support and to John Bryan and Steven Devine for their expertise and invaluable help.”
The EEEmerging+ Prize, Friends of York Early Music Prize and Cambridge Music Prize were all scooped by ApotropaïK, who performed Bella Donna, music from the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries.
A cash prize of £1,000 for the Most Promising Young Artist – individual instrumentalist or ensemble specialising in baroque repertoire – was awarded to UnderStories, whose performance featured works by Benedetto Marcello, Antonio Caldara and Antonio Vivaldi.
The competition provided a spectacular finale to the ten-day festival in a return to a full-scale live event that connected friends old and new through concerts, recitals and workshops staged in historic venues around York.
Competition highlights and music from the winning recital will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show later this year.
Baritone Roderick Williams: 2022 Ryedale Festival artist in residence
THE 2022 Ryedale Festival is under way, embracing 300 performers in 52 concerts from this week to July 31.
Under Christopher Glynn’s artistic directorship, the festival will find a special place for Handel and Vaughan Williams’s music; six world premieres will be performed and the 50th anniversary of Swedish supergroup Abba will be celebrated.
A strong line-up of artists in residence will be in Ryedale for the festival. Baritone Roderick Williams will lead two of the four concerts marking the 150th anniversary of Ralph Vaughan Williams’s birth, accompanied by pianist Glynn and fellow artists in residence the Maxwell Quartet.
At their heart of the festival will be Mystical Songs on July 20, when Williams and the Maxwell Quartet end their residencies by joining Glynn at the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Pickering, for an hour-long 8pm programme that brings together two spiritual high points of early 20th century British music.
Edward Elgar’s mysterious and deeply personal Piano Quintet in A minor will be performed alongside Vaughan Williams’s visionary Five Mystical Songs, complemented by Roderick Williams’s new arrangements of Vaughan Williams’s folk-song settings of Captain Grant, She’s Like The Swallow, Proud Nancy, O Who Is That Raps At My Window? and Harry The Tailor.
Christopher Glynn: Ryedale Festival director, pianist and “matchmaker”
“I’ve wanted to bring both Roddy and the Maxwells to the festival for a long time, not for one concert but for residencies, and having got them both signed up, I thought it would be nice for them to do a collaboration,” says Christopher.
“Then I thought about what the music should be, and I was drawn to this amazing moment in Elgar’s career: his incredible late-chamber works, his Indian summer.
“To go with that, you have Vaughan Williams going into the British Library, burying himself in Elgar’s score and coming up with his Mystical Songs. Putting these spiritual high points together will be so uplifting.”
Christopher talks of the Maxwell Quartet’s “fresh” impact on Vaughan Williams’s works. “That’s great because the Maxwells have a special relationship with folk music that they’ve brought to arranging these folk pieces,” he says.
“We’ll have a couple of days together and it’ll be an interesting time because both Roddy and the Maxwells are wonderful storytellers.”
The Maxwell Quartet: Ryedale Festival artists in residence, teaming up with Roderick Williams for Mystical Songs
Welcoming this summer’s residencies, Christopher says: “They’re really important because they allow for the audiences to develop something deeper with the musicians, finding they have a connection with the artists that grows when they see them several times.
“It’ll be exciting to see what comes out of the partnership, and it’s all about creating things that are entirely unique: a one-off chance to hear these artists performing together. It’s a moment in time and no-one knows if the chemistry will work but…”
…This is where Glynn, the pianist as much as artistic director, comes into play as “the matchmaker” when he sees the potential for an affinity between musicians on the concert platform. Roll on July 20 to find out what fireworks flare up when the Maxwells meet Roddy!
In a further festival residency, the National Youth Choir will be performing a 1pm programme on the theme of the environment, the coast and the north-eastern fishing industry at the Church of St Martin-on-the-Hill, Scarborough, on July 22, taking in works by Vaughan Williams, Bob Chilcott’s Weather Report, the Yorkshire premiere of Errollyn Wallen’s 40-part When The Wet Wind Sings and the uplifting finale of Joanna and Alexander Forbes L’Estrange’s Green Love.
“This will be a completely contrasting residency with a very different energy, leading to the performance in Scarborough,” says Christopher. “We’re also setting the National Youth Chamber Choir up to perform with Philharmonia Baroque in a programme of Handel works at Hovingham Hall [July 25, 2pm], and it’ll be interesting to see if sparks fly there, especially because director Richard Egarr started his career in the National Youth Choir.”
Roberts Balanas: Premiering Abba medley on electric violin at Come And Sing Abba!
San Francisco period instrument orchestra Philharmonia Baroque (and their British director Egarr) will be making their Ryedale Festival debut. “This is the first time they’ve toured the UK and they’re a fantastic group,” says Christopher. “We managed to get some backing to bring them over after their management came over to scout out the festival – and they loved it!”
Members of the National Youth Orchestra also will join guest electric violinist Roberts Balanas and conductor/choral leader Ben Parry at the Milton Rooms, Malton, from 3pm to 5pm on July 23 for Come And Sing Abba!. You can take part too, rehearsing and then performing Abba’s greatest hits, featuring Balanas’s world premiere of his Abba medley.
Abba at Ryedale Festival, Christopher…how come? “I spotted there was a significant Abba anniversary this year, and though I was appointed to run a classical festival, the question is: what constitutes classical music,” he says.
“If music is 50 years old, is that not classical music?! We’ve come up with a concert that nods to Abba and classical music all in one.”
For full festival details, go to: ryedalefestival.com. Box office: 01751 475777; ryedalefestival.com; in person from Memorial Hall, Potter Hill, Pickering, second floor, Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, 9.30am to 2.30pm.
Mystical Songs will be among the concerts to be recorded for broadcast on RyeStream in collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Society.
NE Musicals York cast members climb aboard a City Sightseeing bus to publicise their upcoming production of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert
AS Madness and Sugababes canter up to York Racecourse, Charles Hutchinson picks his favourites from the upcoming entertainment runners and riders
Musical of the week: NE Musicals York in Priscilla Queen Of The Desert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 20 to 24, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees
CREATIVE director Steve Tearle’s cast of 30 features Finley Butler, Tom Henshaw and Tearle himself as three drag queens who take an epic journey from Sydney to Alice Springs across the Australian outback in their bus Priscilla.
“The journey is full of drama and dance routines but also so many laugh-out-loud moments,” says Tearle. “There’ll be costumes – 300 in total – that have never been seen before in York and the star of the show, the bus, will take your breath away.” Box office: 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
John Cale: Rearranging his gig date at York Barbican
Underground movement of the week: John Cale, York Barbican, from July 19 to October 24, 8pm
VELVET Underground icon John Cale, now 80, is moving his first British itinerary in a decade to the autumn. Tickets for Tuesday – the only Yorkshire gig of his seven-date tour – remain valid for the new date in October.
The Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer will be performing songs from a pioneering six-decade career that began in classical and avant-garde music before he formed The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York in 1965. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Bob Dylan’s poster for his Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour, visiting Hull Bonus Arena
Gig announcement of the week: Bob Dylan, Hull Bonus Arena, October 27
BOB Dylan will play Hull Bonus Arena as the only Yorkshire gig of his Rough And Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour 2021-2024 this autumn.
The Nobel Prize-winning American singer, songwriter and cultural icon last visited Britain in 2017 on his Never Ending Tour. This time the focus will be on his 39th studio album, June 2020’s chart-topping Rough And Rowdy Ways, his first set of original songs since 2012’s Tempest. Box office: hurry, hurry, to ticketmaster.co.uk.
Resting up: Tears For Fears’ Scarborough concert is cancelled due to Curt Smith’s rib injury
One on, one off, tonight: cheers for Richard Ashcroft, Sounds Of The City, Leeds Millennium Square; tears for Tears For Fears, Scarborough Open Air Theatre
IN the Leeds outdoors tonight, Richard Ashcroft, frontman of Wigan’s Nineties’ rock gods The Verve, performs songs from his chart-topping band days and solo career in the wake of re-recording his prime work for 2021’s Acoustic Hymns Vol 1. Gates open at 6pm; support slots go to DJ Wayne and Cast. Last few tickets: millsqleeds.com .
Shout, shout, let it all out, these are the things they could do without: Curt Smith’s rib injury has forced Tears For Fears to call off tonight’s gig in Scarborough.
Jane McDonald: Letting the light in at York Barbican
Yorkshire favourite of the week: Jane McDonald: Let The Light In, York Barbican, July 22, 7.30pm
WAKEFIELD singer and television star Jane McDonald plays her long-awaited Let The Light In Show in York, rearranged from the lockdown gloom of 2020.
The BAFTA award-winner, Cruising With presenter and Loose Women panellist will be joined by her band and backing singers for a night of cabaret song, laughter and fabulous dresses. Box office for last few tickets: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Madness this way lies: The Nutty Boys are returning to York Racecourse next Friday
On course for race days: York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Madness, July 22; Sugababes, July 23
CAMDEN’S Nutty Boys, Madness, return to the Knavesmire track next Friday, having first gone One Step Beyond there in July 2010. Once more Suggs and co will roll out such ska-flavoured music-hall hits as Our House, Baggy Trousers, House Of Fun, Wings Of A Dove, My Girl and Driving In My Car after the evening race card.
The re-formed original Sugababes line-up of Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy are next Saturday afternoon’s act. The London girl group last appeared in York as long ago as 2003 with a line-up of Buchanan, Buena and Heidi Range at the Barbican Centre, as was.
Here come Freak Like Me, Round Round, Hole In The Head, Push The Button, Walk This Way and About You Now et al. Tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk.
Low-key festival of the week: Crawfest, Partings Lane, Ebberston, YO13 9PA, off A170, July 22 and 23, noon to midnight
THE line-up is in place for Crawfest, the family-friendly music festival held on farmland near Pickering, in memory of Alan Crawford, a friend of the organisers, who lost his life to Covid in 2020.
Next Friday will be headlined by The House We Built (9.40pm), preceded by Edwina Hayes (2pm); Paint Me In Colour (3.20pm); Nalgo Bay (4.20pm); Sean Taylor (5.30pm); Breeze (6.50pm) and Friday Street (8.10pm).
Next Saturday’s bill toppers will be Big Me (9.40pm), preceded by Kelsey Bovey (12 noon); Bongoman & The Bongomaniacs (1pm); Danny MacMahon (2pm); Beetlebug (3.15pm); Rocketsmith (4.10pm); Nalgo Bay (5.30pm); Red Box (6.50pm) and The Feens (8.10pm). Box office: tickettailor.com/events/crawfest/641880.
Anne-Marie Piazza and Pete Ashmore in rehearsal for Brief Encounter at the SJT. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Romance of the summer: Emma Rice’s Brief Encounter, in The Round, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, July 22 to August 27
SJT artistic director Paul Robinson directs this new co-production of Emma Rice’s playful adaptation of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter, presented in tandem with Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, and Octagon Theatre, Bolton.
Rice turns Coward’s film inside out, adding joyous musical numbers and physical comedy while still maintaining the classic love story of the 1945 black-and-white original, where Laura and Alec are married – but not to each other – when a chance meeting at a railway station hurls them headlong into a whirlwind romance that threatens to blow their worlds apart. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Joe Spud (Matthew Hudson) , front, centre, seeks friends in David Walliams’ Billionaire Boy when he has too much of everything else. Picture: Mark Douet
MUSICALS, a children’s show, outdoor concerts, burlesque, baroque music and mystery bring contrasts aplenty to Charles Hutchinson’s diary.
Family show of the week: Birmingham Stage Company in David Walliams’ Billionaire Boy, Grand Opera House, York, July 14 to 17
JOE Spud is the richest boy in the country. At 12, he has his own sports car, two pet crocodiles and £100,000-a-week pocket money from his father Len’s radical loo roll fortune.
What Joe lacks, alas, after the family’s move to a palatial house is a friend, whereupon he decides to leave his posh school for a new start at the local comp. Things do not go as planned, however, leading to his young life becoming a rollercoaster as he tries to find what money cannot buy. Box office: 0844 871 7615 or atgtickets.com/York.
Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s night of heroes and villains at the JoRo
Musical stories of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company Does Heroes And Villains, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm
A HERO. A villain. A power struggle between good and bad. An epic Act 1 finale. Sound familiar? Tonight, director Ben Huntley and musical director Jess Douglas bring to life the story of every musical you have ever seen in an evening of musical theatre songs for plucky protagonists and dastardly villains from Wicked, Hamilton, Sweeney Todd, The Sound Of Music and many more.
Along the way, other key characters will help, or possibly hinder, these intrepid characters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Elbow: Heading for Scarborough tonight
East Coast outdoor gig of the week: Elbow, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, tonight, gates, 6pm
PLAYING together since sixth-form college days in Bury in 1990 and taking the name Elbow since 1997, Guy Garvey’s band arrive in Scarborough on the back of releasing their ninth studio album, Flying Dream 1.
Fresh from last month’s Platinum Party at the Palace rendition of One Day Like This outside Buckingham Palace, Elbow head outdoors once more this weekend to perform Lippy Kids, My Sad Captains, Magnificent, New York Morning et al – and hopefully early gem Station Approach. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Bryan Adams: Quick return to the Yorkshire open air on Sunday
West Yorkshire open-air gig of the week: Bryan Adams, Harewood House, near Leeds, Sunday, gates, 6pm
CANADIAN rocker Bryan Adams plays his second outdoor show of the Yorkshire summer this weekend, following his July 1 appearance at Scarborough Open Air Theatre.
Adams, 61, will be showcasing his 15th studio album, So Happy It Hurts, and once more he will do Run To You, Cuts Like A Knife, Summer Of ’69, (Everything I Do) I Do It For You et al for you too. Box office: aegpresents.co.uk.
Simon Rodda in Heady Conduct Theatre’s Tiresias
Storytelling show of the week: Heady Conduct Theatre in Tiresias, Theatre At The Mill, Stillington, near York, Sunday, 7.30pm
HEADY Conduct Theatre’s short tour of their storytelling show of rejuvenated Greek myths and legends concludes at Stillington Mill this weekend, a long way from Tiresias’s previous performances pre-pandemic in New Zealand.
Co-artistic director Simon Rodda plays blind prophet Tiresias, who is given the gift to predict the future by Zeus, in a theatre piece about the extraordinary ability of humans to face adversity, often with mischief, humour and rebellion.
Rachel Barnes accompanies Rodda with singing and a live score on guitar and cello. Box office: atthemill.org.
Mikhail Lim’s Seymour is torn between Lauren Sheriston’s Audrey, left, and Emily Ramsden’s Audrey II in York Stage’s Little Shop Of Horrors
Anniversary of the week:York Stage in Little Shop Of Horrors, York Theatre Royal, July 14 to 23
YORK Stage make their York Theatre Royal debut with Nik Briggs’s 40th anniversary production of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s Fifties’ B-movie musical spoof.
Is there a way out of Skid Row, the New York ghetto where life is full of broken American dreams and dead ends? When flower shop assistant Seymour (Mikhail Lim) discovers a mysterious new plant with killer potential, hope may be on the horizon. So too fame, fortune and even romance with kind, sweet, delicate Audrey (Lauren Sheriston), but bloodthirsty Audrey II (Emily Ramsden) has other ideas. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for An Evening Of Burlesque at York Barbican
Glitz with a twist: An Evening Of Burlesque, York Barbican, July 21, 7pm
BRITAIN’S longest-running Burlesque variety show is bigger than ever on its latest tour with its 21st century twist on an old-fashioned blend of stylish cabaret, comedy, music, circus and burlesque.
Expect glitz and glamour, fun and feathers, fan dancing and fabulous costumes, speciality artistes and cabaret turns, circus stars and comedians, World Guinness record holders and champagne showgirls. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
filoBarocco: Performing baroque music at Explore York libraries
Exploring music: Baroque Around The Books community tour of Explore York libraries, July 21 and 22. UPDATE: MINI-TOUR CANCELLED
MUSICAL group filoBarocco is undertaking a Baroque Around The Books mini-tour of three community libraries in a new National Centre for Early Music initiative with Explore York supported by Culture & Wellbeing York.
filoBarocco will be visiting Acomb Explore on July 21 at 11am, Tang Hall Explore, July 21, 3.30pm, and Clifton Explore, July 22, 11am. Tickets are free but must be pre-booked at eventbrite.com/cc/baroque-around-the-books-735039.
Lucy Worsley: Uncovering the mysteries behind Agatha Christie’s life
History meets mystery: An Evening With Lucy Worsley On Agatha Christie, York Theatre Royal, September 26, 7.30pm
THE Queen of History will investigate the Queen of Crime in an illustrated talk that delves into the life of such an elusive, enigmatic 20th century figure.
Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was just an ordinary housewife, a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure, when clearly she wasn’t? Agatha went surfing in Hawaii, loved fast cars and was intrigued by psychology, the new science that helped her through mental illness.
Sharing her research of the storyteller’s personal letters and papers, writer, broadcaster, speaker and Historic Royal Palaces chief curator Lucy Worsley will uncover the real, revolutionary, thoroughly modern Christie. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
