Tim Lowe: York Chamber Music Festival founder, artistic director and cellist
SINCE its founding by cellist Tim Lowe in 2013, York Chamber Music Festival has gone from strength to strength.
This year the festival has invited six of the best string players in Europe – Charlotte Scott and Tim Crawford, violins, Simone van der Giessen and Lilli Maijala, violas, and Adrian Brendel and Lowe, cellos, to participate, along with regular festival artist Katya Apekisheva, the British-based Russian pianist.
This week’s event at the National Centre for Early Music (NCEM), Walmgate, Union Chapel, St Saviourgate, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, and St Olave’s Church, Marygate Lane, celebrates the brilliance of the chamber music repertoire, focused on the radiant, melody-rich string quintets of Mendelssohn and Brahms.
Pianist Katya Apekisheva
Across the weekend, festival-goers can experience music in all imaginable instrumental combinations, from the profound intimacy of Brendel’s solo cello recital featuring Bach’s Suite No. 2, to a dynamic duo performance by Lowe and Apekisheva and expansive works for quartet and quintet.
Headline highlights include Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio in D minor — hailed by Schumann as “the master trio of our age” — and Chopin’s lyrical Cello Sonata, his undisputed chamber masterpiece.
“We are also thrilled to present Beethoven’s rare and sublime C Major String Quintet, an 1801 gem that features a slow movement of breathtaking warmth and beauty that bridges his early classical style with the vast ‘inner world’ slow movements he became famous for later in life,” says artistic director Lowe.
Violinist Charlotte Scott
Violinist Tim Crawford. Picture: Andrej Grilc
After last year’s festival, Lowe was gratified to receive this message among the audience feedback: “What spontaneity, what passion, what delight in collective music-making, what beauty! They listen and respond to each other, play for, and to, and with their friends (as they so obviously are), sharing their pleasure with us – and we are privileged to overhear that love for and engagement with the music, true chamber-music playing.”
The full programme can be found at the festival website: https://www.ycmf.co.uk/2026-programme. Tickets are available from the NCEM box office, at St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York. Alternatively, book at ycmf.co.uk or phone 01904 658338 in office hours. A Festival Saver ticket offers extra value for those wanting to attend multiple concerts. Those aged 18 and under can enjoy free admission to all events.
Cellist Adrian Brendel. Picture: Peter Adamik
Festival programme in brief:
Today, 1pm to 2pm, Unitarian Chapel, cello recital, Tim Lowe and Katya Apekisheva play Mendelssohn’s Variations Concertantes, Chopin’s Cello Sonata and Martinů’s Rossini Variations.
Today, 7.30pm,NCEM, Charlotte Scott, Tim Crawford, Simone van der Giessen, Lilli Maijala, Tim Lowe and Adrian Brendel play Joseph Haydn’s String Quartet in D major, Op. 20, No. 4, Sergei Rachmaninoff’s ‘Romance’ from String Quartet No. 1 (Andante espressivo) and Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quintet No. 2 in B flat major, Op.87.
Nordic viola player Lilli Maijala
Tomorrow, 1pm to 2pm,Unitarian Chapel, cello recital, Adrian Brendel plays Imogen Holst’s The Fall Of The Leaf and J. S. Bach’s Cello Suite No 2 in D Minor.
Tomorrow, 7.30pm,Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, Charlotte Scott,Tim Crawford, Simone van der Giessen, Lilli Maijala, Tim Lowe, Adrian Brendel and Katya Apekisheva play Felix Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49, Gustav Mahler’s Piano Quartet (movement) in A minor – Nicht zu schnell (not too fast) and Johannes Brahms’s Piano Quartet in C minor Op 60.
Sunday, 3pm to 4.30pm, St Olave’s Church, Charlotte Scott,Tim Crawford, Simone van der Giessen, Lilli Maijala, Tim Lowe and Adrian Brendel play Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major Op. 29 and Johannes Brahms’s String Quintet in F major, Op. 88.
Georgina Fairbanks and Johnson Willis in Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Nick Haeffner
WILKO Johnson’s miraculous renaissance, Alan Ayckbourn’s first courtroom drama, Phil Wang’s wise moustache and The Dunwells’ indie-folk rock spark Charles Hutchinson’s attention in the week ahead.
Punk godfather of the week: Wilko:Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
WHEN Dr Feelgood co-founder and iconic guitarist Wilko Johnson faced a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2012, he was given only one year left to live. Declining medical intervention, Wilko chose to dedicate his remaining time to a meaningful farewell tour of the people and places that defined his life…only for an unexpected miracle to change the narrative entirely.
Jonathan Maitland’s Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll examines the life of this punk-movement godfather, tracing a career that spanned Dr Feelgood, the Solid Senders, Ian Dury and The Blockheads and a late-career turn to acting in Game Of Thrones. Integrating live music and storytelling with Wilko’s own words, this show serves as a practical masterclass in living life to the fullest. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Richard Stacey’s war hero RSDO 83 and York actress Frances Marshall’s defence counsel Allistra Clay in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 4
ALAN Ayckbourn’s 92nd play is his first courtroom drama, one set in the future, as he explores the question that artists have been asking for centuries: what makes us human?
In 2194, humanity is scattered around the solar system and day-to-day life on Earth looks very different. Preparations are underway for a landmark legal case. Romeo Oscar, a military issue android, is on trial for murder: the first non-human to be tried in a court of law. The evidence is polarising and selecting an impartial jury is proving a challenge. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Movies In The Moonlight at Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema’s season in York Museum Gardens
Cinema event of the week: Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, Movies In The Moonlight, York Museum Gardens, Friday to Sunday, 6.30pm
CITY Screen Picturehouse moves outdoors for three evenings of open-air screenings, comprising Grease (PG) on Friday, The Shining (15) and Evolution Of Horror podcast introduction on Saturday and Jurassic Park (12A) on Sunday. Screenings start at dusk or as soon as darkness falls.
Blankets, cushions and small picnic chairs are allowed. A limited number of deck chairs will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis; rain ponchos can be bought at the event, should the need arise. Guests are encouraged to take away waste for recycling where possible. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.
Uh Oh! Here comes Phil Wang and his moustache that will “bristle with wisdom” at York Barbican
New moustache of the week: Phil Wang: Uh Oh, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm
PHILIP Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi is a Malaysian-British stand-up comedian, comedy writer and member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, who co-created the BBC Radio 4 series Daphne Sounds Expensive.
Now comes his new stand-up show, Uh Oh. In the words of Phil, “he’s older than ever before. He’s got a moustache now. It bristles with wisdom. His eyes shine with good humour. His shoulders groan under the weight of being the only cool millennial left. Everyone’s an idiot but him. Nice is out. Right is in. The vibe shift is real. Old Wang’s riding it.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The boys Dunwell: Brothers Joseph and David, heading to Milton Rooms, Malton
Ryedale gig of the week: The Dunwells, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm
LEEDS indie-folk pop band The Dunwells have combined strong vocals, powerful melodies and heartfelt lyrics across four studio albums, a live album and a number of standout EPs and singles.
Prolific songwriting brothers Joseph and David Dunwell, along with friends Adam Taylor and Rob Clayton, have toured extensively in the USA, Europe and the UK, as well as undertaking support slots with Mumford & Sons, Elbow, Tom Jones, Scouting For Girls and Bryan Adams on British tours. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Sax to the max: Snake Davis heads to Helmsley on his Everlasting Love Tour
Saxophonist of the week: Snake Davis Band, Everlasting Love Tour, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
SAXOPHONIST Snake Davis is “so happy to be back at Helmsley Arts Centre yet again”, this time showcasing new tunes and a new album on the Everlasting Love Tour with his four-piece band featuring guitar, bass guitar and drums.
The set spans “floaty to danceable, soul & Northern Soul to pop, jazz to world”, embracing original material and classic sax pieces such as Baker Street and Night Train as Snake swaps performing arena and stadium gigs with stellar acts for playing intimate venues with his favourite musicians. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
James Felice & William Lawrence: Dreamy and quiet evening of Americana music and storytelling at Pocklington Arts Centre
Americana gig of the week: James Felice & William Lawrence, Pocklington Arts Centre, Saturday, 8pm
JAMES Felice and drummer William Lawrence, two members of New York State’s Felice Brothers, are taking to the road to perform songs from their respective solo works in a dreamy and quiet evening of Americana music and storytelling. James and William last appeared at Pocklington Arts Centre alongside Ian Felice and Jesske Hume in the Felice Brothers gig in June 2021. Box office: 01759 301547or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Alfie Moore: Offering the antidote to the breakdown of law and order, fake news and the price of baked beans in Acopalypse Now
Comedy gig of the week: Alfie Moore, Acopalypse Now, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Four Horsemen of Rising Crime, Global Warming, AI and Culture Wars are galloping towards us. Are we on the road to hell? Can we avoid the potholes? In this new tour show, ‘Fair Cop’ Alfie has the antidote to the breakdown of law and order, fake news and the price of baked beans.
Moore has encountered more than his fair share of egotistical dictators in his policing career and learnt when pragmatism, and more than a dash of humour, can defuse even the most menacing showdown. Join him as he saddles up to see off those bullies on their pesky ponies. Doomsday is no laughing matter, but this show will be. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Chance to perform of the week: HAC Studio Bar Open Mic – Under 18s, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2pm to 4pm
IN a special edition of Helmsley Arts Centre’s regular social event in the studio bar, young musicians and artists have the opportunity to perform. There is no need to book to take part or listen; just turn up. All under-18s must be accompanied by an adult.
Georgina Fairbanks and Johnson Willis in Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll. Picture: Nick Haeffner
JONATHAN Maitland’s biographical play with live music, Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll, celebrates the extraordinary life of Dr Feelgood co-founder and punk-movement godfather Wilko Johnson, on tour at York Theatre Royal from tomorrow to Saturday.
Iconic yet iconoclastic guitarist Wilko – born John Andrew Wilkinson on Canvey Island, Essex on July 12 1947 – faced a terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis in January 2013 with the expectation of only nine or ten months left to live.
Initially declining chemotherapy, Wilko chose to dedicate his remaining time to a meaningful farewell tour of the people and places that defined his life, only for an unexpected miracle to change the narrative entirely.
Here are the facts. In 2014, doctors decided the tumour was a less aggressive neuroendocrine type, whereupon Wilko underwent radical, life-saving surgery to remove a large tumour, together with his pancreas and spleen. Later he was declared cancer-free and went on to live until November 21 2022, dying at his home at Westcliff-on-Sea at the age of 75.
Playwright and former BBC journalist Jonathan Maitland already had written such plays as Dead Sheep (2015), An Audience With Jimmy Saville (2015), Deny, Deny, Deny (2016) and The Last Temptation Of Boris Johnson ( 2019) when John’s remarkable renaissance story inspired Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll.
“Wilko’s is one of the greatest rock‘n’roll stories ever told and his songs are some of the greatest rock‘n’roll ever recorded,” says Jonathan. “Even so, when I first read the play to him at his home in Southend five years ago, none of us could have imagined how much his story would go on to connect with audiences. My only regret is that he’s not around to see this tour happen but I know, for sure, that he would have been absolutely thrilled.”
Maitland’s play traces Wilko’s career as a guitarist with a trademark robotic, machine-gun playing style that spanned co-founding Dr Feelgood on Canvey Island in 1971, leaving the band in 1977, serving in Ian Dury and The Blockheads from 1980 to 1982, forming the Solid Senders with Blockheads’ bassist Norman Watt-Roy and recording Going Back Home with The Who lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, entering the charts at number three in March 2014.
All this was complemented by occasional acting gigs, most notably playing mute executioner Ser Ilyn Payne in four episodes of Game Of Thrones in 2011 and 2012.
Integrating live music and storytelling with Wilko’s own words, Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll’s “masterclass in living life to the fullest” was sent to Coventry to begin its 12-week tour on Monday. York Theatre Royal will be destination number two.
“The show is in its fourth iteration,” says Jonathan. “It broke box-office records at the Queen’s Theatre, Hornchurch, who wanted to put it on because it’s an Essex story about an Essex band; then the Southwark Playhouse in spring last year and a five-week West End run at Leicester Square Theatre – and now the tour.
The cast of Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll performing one of nine Dr Feelgood songs in Jonathan Maitland’s play, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Nick Haeffner
Jon House’s Lee Brilleaux, Dr Feelgood’s frontman, in Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll. Picture: Nick Haeffner
“Wilko’s story is just incredible because he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer when his music career had hit a low point. He was playing what he called ‘s**t holes’ and had told his band he was thinking of giving up. He’d appeared in Game Of Thrones by then so the New York Times wrote ‘Game Of Thrones actor has cancer’.”
Jonathan continues: “They say the best thing you can do in rock’n’roll is die, and his transformation [post-diagnosis] became a real-life A Christmas Carol story, but in rock’n’roll where Wilko became a nicer person, like Scrooge.
“How it turned out there’d been a mix-up in his diagnosis seems incredible to me, but that’s why it’s such an amazing story with amazing music, making it a play that could have written itself.”
Wilko was given a 15 per cent chance of survival when he went through his 11-hour operation at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge on April 30 2014. “His surgeon said to him, ‘we’re going to need a lunch break’!” says Jonathan.
“The doctor who saved his life is just fantastic. He’s called Charlie Chan, a cancer doctor who was a big fan of Wilko. He’d taken a photo of Wilko at his last ever Farewell Tour gig at Camden, and when he looked at the photo, he said, ‘for someone who’s supposed to be dying, you don’t look too bad’.”
As he will discuss in tomorrow’s post-show Q&A alongside Jonathan Maitland, Charlie’s subsequent second opinion on Wilko’s terminal diagnosis led to surgeon Emmanuel Huguet and his specialist medical team carrying out the operation.
“I’d been wanting to write a play about a guy in rock’n’roll who fakes his own death, and then Wilko did his own version of a ‘death’ story and so I thought I had to do a play about him,” says Jonathan. “When I asked him about it, he said, ‘it’s a play, plays tell stories, you can make it up. He changed only one thing , saying he was on speed, not coke!”
Jonathan recalls first hearing Wilko Johnson’s guitar on Dr Feelgood’s 1975 version of Leiber & Stoller’s Riot In Cell Block 9 off their Malpractice album. “I remember thinking, ‘oh my god, it’s very primal’. It felt like 10,000 volts going through you. What’s incredible is that 50 years later, I’m still listening to it,” he says.
“They changed the course of popular music. Their live album Stupidity going to number one making them the most popular band in Britain for about ten minutes in 1976. What gets you with Dr Feelgood was this incredible music but also this amazing double act of Lee Brilleaux as leader with Wilko as his accomplice, who would just gun you down with his guitar.
“It was like the Sex Pistols a year later, where it was exciting, intense but quite funny – it looked like Wilko was going to kill you – and it burnt through us all those years ago.”
Georgina Fairbanks and Johnson Willis in Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll. Picture: Nick Haeffner
Wilko Johnson was punk pioneer, poet, philosopher and astronomer rolled into one. “He was a man of letters and a poet who did English Literature at Newcastle University. He could recite reams of Milton’s Paradise Lost and could have been a professor of English – and he was a massive enthusiast of astrology,” says Jonathan.
“He was funny, but he could be difficult and he was depressive and depressing, so he was the perfect subject for a play.”
Wilko said “OK” to the idea of a play in 2021, during Covid. “Then I went to read the script to him, doing all the voices myself, including his, and he said, ‘so the man from Del Monte, he he says ‘yes’,” recalls Jonathan.
Wilko went on to record a message: “If I’m not there on the opening night, it’s probably because I’m ‘brown bread’ [Cockney slang for ‘dead’], so there’s not a lot I can do about it.”
“We played it on the first night [February 1 2024] and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house,” says Jonathan. “By the time it got to London, it just took off, selling out every night, with people like Paul Weller and Richard Curtis coming to see it, and people coming up afterwards, crying and saying how it reminded them of their own experiences.
“You don’t need to be a fan of Dr Feelgood or Wilko to see it because it’s a about a man facing death with all his foibles and faults. Green, from Scritti Politti, said afterwards that it reminded him of why he got into music in the first place because it’s just so joyful.”
Summing up Wilko’s character, Jonathan says: “He was appalling in some ways but wonderful in others. He had this self-knowledge about him. Whereas someone who’s highly irredeemable doesn’t acknowledge his own faults, Wilko did. There was nobody like him.”
Wilko will forever be associated with his machine-gun guitar antics and bulging eyes when wielding his black Fender Telecaster. “I made up its origin for the play as he couldn’t remember how is started. He just did it because he was quite theatrical. In the play, he has an argument with Lee and guns him down with his guitar. Lee says ‘why don’t you do that on stage?’.”
As the poster states, Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll is a “play with music”, not a jukebox musical, as Johnson Willis’s Wilko tells Lee Brilleaux in the play. “I can’t write a musical as I don’t understand the lexicon of people singing at each other,” says Jonathan.
Jetty Productions in association with Canvey Rock and Cahoots Theatre Company presentWilko: Love and Death and Rock ‘N’ Roll, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow, 7.30pm with post-show Q&A discussion with writer Jonathan Maitland and Charlie Chan, the doctor who saved Wilko’s life; Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm & 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age guidance: 11 plus.
The poster for Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll
Jonathan Maitland: back story
PLAYWRIGHT and former journalist, who worked for the BBC across Radio 4, BBC News and presenting and producing shows for BBC One.
Debut stage play Dead Sheep (2015), produced at Park Theatre, became the most successful production in the theatre’s history. This record was broken by his second play, also staged at Park Theatre, An Audience With Jimmy Saville (2015), which transferred to Edinburgh Fringe.
Further works at Park Theatre include Deny Deny Deny (2016) and the box office record- breaking The Last Temptation Of Boris Johnson (2019), which then completed an eight-week national tour in 2020.
Maitland presented the premiere of The Interview at Park Theatre and his BBC Radio 4 adaptation of Wasps In A Jam Jar in 2023.
Johnson Willis: back story
MUSICIAN and actor who has spent many years in the music industry playing and recording with bands. His credits include Return To The Forbidden Planet in 1999, the West End premiere of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (Gillian Lynne Theatre, 2022), Amelie The Musical (National Tour, The Other Palace and W.E Criterion), as well as productions with Theatre Clwyd Cymru, Royal Shakespeare Company, Newbury Watermill Theatre and New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich.
Johnson Willis: Playing Wilko Johnson in Wilko: Love and Death and Rock ‘N’ Roll
Wilko Johnson’s guitar technique
WILKO played with a high-energy, percussive style that created the illusion of a rhythm and lead guitar being played at the exact same time, producing his choppy, staccato sound by using his left hand to mute or dampen the strings immediately after striking them, lifting his fingers on and off the fretboard. He did not use a guitar plectrum, instead playing entirely fingerstyle with his bare fingers and thumb.
EX Corde Vocal Ensemble and lutenist and theorbo player Matthew Wadsworth join forces to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of John Dowland at the National Centre for Early Music, York, on September 18.
Dowland’s enduringly expressive lute songs – including Come Again, Sweet Love, Can She Excuse My Wrongs and Flow My Tears – are paired with a selection of his solo lute music in an evening of compelling vocal and instrumental English Renaissance music.
Alongside Dowland’s music, the 7.30m programme explores the work of his contemporary, William Byrd, with contrasting pieces including the penitential motet Ne Irascaris and the lighter, more intimate madrigal When I Was Otherwise.
Christopher Fox’s striking new work, Humble Verses, will be premiered. Setting words by Emilia Lanier – a remarkable female contemporary of Byrd and Dowland – Fox brings a distinctly modern perspective to the voices and ideas of Renaissance England.
Ex Corde Vocal Ensemble uses vocal music to create, collaborate and connect, bringing composers, performers and audiences closer together. Founded in 2020, the ensemble brings together singers from across the UK, many of them alumni of the University of York.
Lutenist Matthew Wadsworth
Its work has included collaborations with York Waits, the Rose Consort of Viols and composers Christopher Fox, David Lancaster and Ambrose Field, alongside appearances on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show and at the York Early Music Festival.
Matthew Wadsworth is one of Britain’s leading performers on lute and theorbo, enjoying an extensive international career as a soloist, chamber musician and continuo specialist.
Following his studies at the Royal Academy of Music, he established himself on the international early music scene, performing at major festivals and concert halls throughout Europe, North America and beyond.
His collaborations include performances with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Academy of Ancient Music, as well as regular appearances on radio and television. His recordings for labels including Channel Classics and Linn have received numerous accolades, such as Gramophone Editor’s Choice.
Tickets are on sale on 01904 658338, via email to [email protected] or at https://ncem.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173679361.
Towering performances: Matthew Rutherford’s giant, Smog, and Jared More’s giant, Miff, in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s The Selfish Giant
A GIANT in a garden, Wendy turning piratical in a re-imagined Peter Pan, Alan Ayckbourn’s 92nd play and Wilko Johnson’s miraculous renaissance spark Charles Hutchinson’s attention in the week ahead.
Inspirational tale of love and generosity of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in The Selfish Giant, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, today, 1.30pm and 4.30pm
STEP into the magical world of the Giant’s garden, a place full of music, beauty, bird song and stories in Jon Boustead’s stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant. The Giant, however, is cross when he returns to find children – children! – playing happily in his beautiful orchard, whereupon he erects a big wall to terminate the fun.
Once winter seizes the garden in its icy fingers, will summer ever return? Through storytelling, interactive games, live music and puppetry, York company Riding Lights presents a 50-minute play for family audiences. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk. Age recommendation: Three upwards.
Neverland revamped: York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre in Wendy & Peter Pan, York Theatre Royal, today, 2pm and 7pm
YORK Theatre Royal Youth Theatre returns to the Main House stage for the first time since 2019 for 46 performers, aged eight to 19, to present Ella Hickson’s feminist take on J M Barrie’s Peter Pan in Lydia Crosland and Sophie-Jade Howell’s large-scale production.
A quiet sadness permeates the Darling household, until the unexpected arrival of a mischievous young boy called Peter and a rather sassy fairy, Tink, whereupon Wendy leads the rebellious lost boys, takes on the terrifying Captain Hook, finds the key to her parents’ lost happiness and discovers the power of being brave and strong. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York actress Frances Marshall in rehearsal for Alan Ayckbourn’s first courtroom drama, The Trial Of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 4
ALAN Ayckbourn’s 92nd play is his first courtroom drama, one set in the future, as he explores the question that artists have been asking for centuries: what makes us human?
In 2194, humanity is scattered around the solar system and day-to-day life on Earth looks very different. Preparations are underway for a landmark legal case. Romeo Oscar, a military issue android, is on trial for murder: the first non-human to be tried in a court of law. The evidence is polarising and selecting an impartial jury is proving a challenge. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Silky: Hooking up at York Barbican tonight
Comedy bill of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, featuring Silky and Dave Johns, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm
SILKY, Liverpudlian-in-exile and international act, is joined by Dave Johns, North Eastern stand-up, scriptwriter and stage and screen actor, and Jimmy Shirley, whose material addresses growing up in Liverpool in the 1990s, the absurdity of being a Scouser in Greece and the everyday things that annoy him every day.
Completing the line-up will be Gary Jennison, a surrealist force of nature who brings unscripted, unbridled chaos to dance-offs, game shows and observations with a twist while inviting the audience to steer his performance with suggestions and participation. Box office: https://lolcomedyclubs.co.ukor on the door from 7.30pm subject to availability.
See the world more curiously in: Be Like Blippi, York Barbican, today, 1pm and 4pm
JOIN Blippi and Meekah for a one-of-a-kind interactive adventure that inspires children to move, play and explore like Blippi in a new show packed with high-energy music and surprises, featuring fan favourites The Excavator Song, Monster Truck, Dino Dance and Curious Like Me.
Equipped with Blippi’s signature mix of play, learning, and exploration, Be Like Blippi invites you to break out your orange Blippi glasses and ignite your spark of curiosity. Please note, Blippi and Meekah will be played by professional stage performers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Andrew O’Neill: Charting the history of punk through the comedy lens. Picture: Andrew O’Neill
When punk rock meets comedy: Andrew O’Neill, History Of Punk, Theatre@41, Monkgate, tonight, 8pm
FRESH from asking “How do we get out of this mess” in his Halfway To Edinburgh preview of his surreal, political show Escape at Theatre@41 on July 24, cult comedian Andrew O’Neill returns to York, switching from suggesting ways we can find our way out of disagreements to refracting punk rock through stand-up comedy.
In the wake of A History Of Heavy Metal, he delivers a full-volume love letter to punk, from The Stooges to Pussy Riot, Amebix to X-Ray Spex. “Punk’s not dead,” says O’Neill, who has appeared on Good Omens, Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Steve Coogan’s Saxondale. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The Illegal Eagles: Checking in at the Hotel California
Tribute gig of the week: The Illegal Eagles, Hotel California Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Illegal Eagles mark 30 years on the road in 2026 with their new Hotel California Tour. Renowned for their vocal and guitar prowess and ability to re-create the legendary sound of the Eagles, the tribute act’s milestone itinerary features a full performance of the iconic Hotel California album, featuring Life In The Fast Lane, New Kid in Town and the unforgettable title track. Expect all the timeless Eagles greatest hits too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jeanette Hunter’s Pearl, Jackie Cox’s Jan, Nicky Clay’s Shelley and Gemma McDonald’s Linda in MARMiTE Theatre’s Ladies Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
Racing romp of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in Ladies Day, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 8 to 12, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
LIFE is one long slog for four fish factory packers from Hull, Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda, but their fortunes could change when they head to Knavesmire on the day Royal Ascot came to York in 2005.
Factory hairnets make way for fascinators as the friends hit the racecourse for an unforgettable day out. Secrets are spilled, along with copious amounts of champagne, as friendships are tested to the limits in Martyn Hunter’s s production of Amanda Whittington’s comedy gem. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Georgina Fairbanks and Johnson Willis in Jonathan Maitland’s Wilko:Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll. Picture: Nick Haeffner
Punk godfather of the week: Wilko:Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll , York Theatre Royal, September 10 to 12, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
WHEN Dr Feelgood co-founder and iconic guitarist Wilko Johnson faced a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2012, he was given only one year left to live. Declining medical intervention, Wilko chose to dedicate his remaining time to a meaningful farewell tour of the people and places that defined his life…only for an unexpected miracle to change the narrative entirely.
Jonathan Maitland’s Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll examines the life of this punk-movement godfather, tracing a career that spanned Dr Feelgood, the Solid Senders, Ian Dury and The Blockheads and a late-career turn to acting in Game Of Thrones. Integrating live music and storytelling with Wilko’s own words, this show serves as a practical masterclass in living life to the fullest. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Movies In The Moonlight in Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema’s season at York Museum Gardens
Cinema event of the week: Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, Movies In The Moonlight, York Museum Gardens, September 11 to 13, 6.30pm
CITY Screen Picturehouse moves outdoors for three evenings of open-air screenings, comprising Grease (PG) on September 11, The Shining (15) and Evolution Of Horror podcast introduction on September 12 and Jurassic Park (12A) on September 13. Screenings start at dusk or as soon as darkness falls.
Blankets, cushions and small picnic chairs are allowed. A limited number of deck chairs will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis; rain ponchos can bought at the event, should the need arise Guests are encouraged to take away waste for recycling where possible. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.
Uh Oh, here comes Phil Wang’s moustache, “bristling with wisdom”at York Barbican
New moustache of the week: Phil Wang: Uh Oh, York Barbican, September 11, 7.30pm
PHILIP Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi is a Malaysian-British stand-up comedian, comedy writer and member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, who co-created the BBC Radio 4 series Daphne Sounds Expensive.
Now comes his new stand-up show, Uh Oh. In the words of Phil, “he’s older than ever before. He’s got a moustache now. It bristles with wisdom. His eyes shine with good humour. His shoulders groan under the weight of being the only cool millennial left. Everyone’s an idiot but him. Nice is out. Right is in. The vibe shift is real. Old Wang’s riding it.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Emeli Sandé: York date on Our Version Of Events tour
EMELI Sandé will play York Barbican on February 4 2027 on her 13-date date tour to mark the 15th anniversary of her landmark debut album Our Version Of Events.
Sunderland-born, Aberdeenshire-raised Sandé, 39, will perform her eight-time platinum album in full alongside her greatest hits. Tickets go sale on Friday, September 11 at 9am at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Our Version Of Events was the biggest-selling album in the UK of 2012 and 2013, achieving more than five million sales worldwide.
Featuring the singles Next To Me, Read All About It (Pt. III) and Clown and noted for its emotional depth, the album won British Album of the Year at the 2013 BRIT Awards, while Next To Me received two Ivor Novello Awards.
Emeli Sandé’s poster for next February’s tour
Our Version Of Events spent an extraordinary 66 consecutive weeks in the UK Official Albums Chart Top Ten, setting a record for the longest unbroken Top Ten run by a debut album, surpassing the 62-week stretch of The Beatles’ Please Please Me.
Sandé’s career has brought her four BRIT Awards while establishing her as a highly sought-after songwriter, having collaborated with Rihanna, Katy Perry and Alicia Keys. In 2018, she received an MBE for her services to music.
As well as playing headline tours and major festivals, she performed at both the opening and closing ceremonies of the London 2012 Olympic Games. On September 12, she will appear alongside Chaka Khan, Lulu, The Script, ABC, Jack Savoretti and Texas at BBC Radio 2 in the Park at City Park, Stirling, Scotland.
As part of National Album Day’s “Icons” theme, Sandé will release a special gold vinyl edition of Our Version Of Events on October 17, in celebration of its lasting cultural impact, available to pre-order at https://emelisande.tmstor.es/preview/login.
Jared More, left, and Matthew Rutherford in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s The Selfish Giant
A GIANT in a garden, Wendy turning piratical in a re-imagined Peter Pan, a slapstick take on The Three Musketeers and an enlightening Helmsley exhibition are among Charles Hutchinson’s highlights in the week ahead.
Inspirational tale of love and generosity of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in The Selfish Giant, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, until Saturday, 1.30pm and 4.30pm
STEP into the magical world of the Giant’s garden, a place full of music, beauty, bird song and stories in Jon Boustead’s stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant. The Giant, however, is cross when he returns to find children – children! – playing happily in his beautiful orchard, whereupon he erects a big wall to put a stop to all the fun.
Once winter seizes the garden in its icy fingers, will summer ever return? Through storytelling, interactive games, live music and puppetry, York company Riding Lights presents a 50-minute play for family audiences. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk. Age recommendation: Three upwards.
York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre’s cast in Wendy & Peter Pan. Picture: James Drury
Neverland revamped: York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre in Wendy & Peter Pan, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee
YORK Theatre Royal Youth Theatre returns to the Main House stage for the first time since 2019 for 46 performers, aged eight to 19, to present Ella Hickson’s feminist take on J M Barrie’s Peter Pan in Lydia Crosland and Sophie-Jade Howell’s large-scale production.
A quiet sadness permeates the Darling household, until the unexpected arrival of a mischievous young boy called Peter and a rather sassy fairy, Tink, whereupon Wendy leads the rebellious lost boys, takes on the terrifying Captain Hook, finds the key to her parents’ lost happiness and discovers the power of being brave and strong. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries
Spoken-word gig of the week: Say Owt presents Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries by Pete the Temp, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
POET, author and comic Pete the Temp’s Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries is a spoken-word show about rebellion, resistance and wild imagination. The 1800s’ Romantic movement began as a rebellion: against empire, industry and the mechanisation of the soul. Yorkshire became the epicentre of its rebellion.
Tomorrow’s storytelling stage show fuses scholarship with music, comedy and poetry in a spellbinding history of riot, repression and psychedelic experimentation. As we face this age of despair, find out what we can learn from past dreams of freedom and renewal. Bangladeshi-Geordie spoken-word poet and creative practitioner Tahmina Ali supports with her explorations of identity, belonging, motherhood, mental health and cultural inheritance, viewed through a distinctly northern lens. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Our Star Theatre Company: Whirlwind of confusion, mayhem and comical mishaps in The Three Musketeers
Slapstick silliness of the week: Our Star Theatre Company in The Three Musketeers, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Friday, 7.30pm
OUR Star Theatre Company’s re-telling of The Three Musketeers is packed with humour, audience participation and energetically silly turns as a small troupe of performers gears up for its debut performance of Alexandre Dumas’s story.
However, what starts as a simple theatrical endeavour soon unravels into a whirlwind of confusion, mayhem and comical mishaps. From forgotten lines to chaotic set changes, the actors become entangled in a series of blunders. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
York actress Frances Marshall in rehearsal for Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Friday to October 4
ALAN Ayckbourn’s 92nd play is his first courtroom drama, one set in the future, as he explores the question that artists have been asking for centuries: what makes us human?
In 2194, humanity is scattered around the solar system and day-to-day life on Earth looks very different. Preparations are underway for a landmark legal case. Romeo Oscar, a military issue android, is on trial for murder: the first non-human to be tried in a court of law. The evidence is polarising and selecting an impartial jury is proving a challenge. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
See the world more curiously in: Be Like Blippi, York Barbican, Saturday, 1pm and 4pm
JOIN Blippi and Meekah for a one-of-a-kind interactive adventure that inspires children to move, play and explore like Blippi in a new show packed with high-energy music and surprises, featuring fan favourites The Excavator Song, Monster Truck, Dino Dance and Curious Like Me.
Equipped with Blippi’s signature mix of play, learning, and exploration, Be Like Blippi invites you to break out your orange Blippi glasses and ignite your spark of curiosity. Please note, Blippi and Meekah will be played by professional stage performers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Illegal Eagles: Checking into the Hotel California at York Barbican
Tribute gig of the week: The Illegal Eagles, Hotel California Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Illegal Eagles mark 30 years on the road in 2026 with their new Hotel California Tour. Renowned for their vocal and guitar prowess and ability to re-create the legendary sound of the Eagles, the tribute act’s milestone itinerary features a full performance of the iconic Hotel California album, featuring Life In The Fast Lane, New Kid in Town and the unforgettable title track. Expect all the timeless Eagles greatest hits too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Robert Dutton & Andrew Moodie: Launching Into The Light exhibition at Helmsley Arts Centre
Exhibition of the week: Robert Dutton & Andrew Moodie, Into The Light, Helmsley Arts Centre, September 8 to 30
THIS exhibition presents landscapes that evoke a strong affinity for different reasons. Dramatic mountainous terrain, breathtaking moorland landscapes and coastal sea sand and communities all have their place.
“We hope that Into the Light may extend beyond the artwork to suggest a sense of optimism, moving from darkness to light, in a sometimes troubled world,” say artists Robert Dutton and Andrew Moodie. “The paintings are presented both to inspire you and also to bring you that same sense of awe and wonder with nature that we felt as we painted them, enjoying the unique quality of the light that led us to each location.”
Jeanette Hunter’s Pearl, left, Jackie Cox’s Jan, Nicki Clay’s Shelley and Gemma McDonald’s Linda in MARMiTE Theatre’s Ladies Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
Racing romp of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in Ladies Day, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 8 to 12, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
LIFE is one long slog for four fish factory packers from Hull, Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda, but their fortunes could change when they head to Knavesmire on the day Royal Ascot came to York in 2005.
Factory hairnets make way for fascinators as the friends hit the racecourse for an unforgettable day out. Secrets are spilled, along with copious amounts of champagne, as their friendships are tested to the limits in Martyn Hunter’s s production of Amanda Whittington’s comedy gem. Box office:https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk/
Louisa Ashdown in the rehearsal room for Hephaestus Theatre’s Richard iii Redux
Introducing: Hephaestus Theatre in Richard iii Redux, The Basement, City Screen Playhouse, York, September 10, 7.30pm
UNIVERSITY of York theatre graduates Eleanor Doig (producer) and Louisa Ashdown (director and performer) introduce new York company Hephaestus Theatre in Kaite O’Reilly and Phillip Zarrilli’s dark comedy Richard iii Redux.
The company’s mission is to tell disabled stories and put disabled and neuro-diverse actors on stage and behind the scenes, this time with Ashdown playing The Actor opposite Georgina Way’s Presenter (on film) in a journey to find who the real Richard iii was while exploring the challenges of being a disabled actor. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk.
ILKLEY jazz singer Beverley Beirne will play The Old Paint Shop cabaret season on her return to York Theatre Royal Studio on October 10.
“For this performance, I’ll be singing material from both my latest albums, some fantastic jazz standards from the Great American Songbook, jazz arrangements of other genres, original songs by Duncan Lamont and a preview of some of my compositions that I hope to record next year as part of my fourth studio album,” says Beverley, who first brought her trio to the Theatre Royal Studio in February 2025.
“Alongside me will be London jazz stars in their own right, John Crawford on keys and Andy Hamill on double bass, and Yorkshire drumming star Steve Hanley.”
Beverley, who released debut album Seasons Of Love in January 2012, has performed at leading clubs throughout the UK and Europe including Ronnie Scott’s, Pizza Express Jazz Club, 606 Club, The Stables (the late Cleo Laine’s Buckinghamshire venue), Gregory’s in Rome and Venice Jazz Club, as well as headlining Marsden Jazz Festival and Limerick Jazz Festival with her band of leading British musicians.
Her most recent album, July 2021’s Dream Dancer, was in the Grammy long-list for Best Jazz Vocal Album and featured Old Brasil, written by saxophone legend Duncan Lamont, originally as the theme to the 1970s’ children’s programme Mr Benn, which lodged at number two on the Roots Charts in the United States for several weeks.
Released on 33 Jazz Records, the album focuses on Beverley’s takes on songs of hope, passion, living life to the full, day dreaming, regret, love lost and love found and ultimately dancing through the game and rhythm of life.
Produced by Grammy-winning New York producer Jason Miles, who has worked with Luther Vandross, Miles Davis and Sting, Dream Dancer’s repertoire includes Irving Berlin’s little-known Reaching For The Moon and Bill Withers’ Grandma’s Hands, highlighting Beverley’s comparison to Anita O’Day and Cleo Lane.
Beverley also interprets two number one hits, David Bowie’s Let’s Dance The Clash’s Should I Stay Or Should I Go in a bluesy version, on that album.
Miles also produced Beverley’s previous album, 2018’s Jazz Just Wants To Have Fun, featuring her interpretations of Come On Feel The Noise (Slade’s Cum On Feel The Noize), Adam Ant’s Prince Charming, Bananarama’s Cruel Summer, The Specials’ Ghost Town, ABC’s When Smokey Sings, M’s Pop Muzik, Right Said Fred’s Deeply Dippy and more 1980s’ hits besides.
“Beverley has one of those voices that you can keep on listening to,” he says. “I just don’t hear many jazz singers today like her.”
In 2020, Beverley recorded The Ilkley Suite, a commission for Ilkley Jazz Festival composed by pianist Jamil Sherif, head of jazz at Leeds Conservatoire, who was joined by a trio of Leeds Conservatoire educators, bassist Gary Jackson, drummer Dave Walsh and saxophonist Nadim Teimoori.
Looking ahead, Beverley says: “The new album is coming along really well and I can’t tell you how much the process of writing a whole album of originals has taught me, not just about the music, but about myself too.
“There’ll be more about that at the gig, so come along! Be the first to hear my own tunes before we head into the studio to record them. I’m incredibly excited to share what I’ve been working on.”
Tickets for the Beverley Beirne Quartet’s 8pm concert on October 10 are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, from Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print at York Art Gallery, on loan from Maidstone Museum
FROM Making Waves’ finale to 50 years of Aardman, a comic convention to a slapstick Three Musketeers, Charles Hutchinson highlights a diverse week ahead.
Last chance to see: Making Waves: A Closing Celebration, York Art Gallery, Exhibition Square, York, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm
YORK Art Gallery marks the closing of the Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print with a two-day festival of music, workshops, creative activities and food and drink for all the family in the gallery and York Museum Gardens. Making Waves talks take place at 11am and 2pm each day; The Art of Kokedama in the Studio today has sold out but limited tickets are available for 11am tomorrow.
Highlights in the gardens include the Ippuku Tea Stand today, 10am to 5pm (free); Japanese Gardening Society today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm (free); face painting, today and tomorrow, 10am to 4.30pm; Paddle in the Surf: Mokuhanga printmkaing, today and tomorrow, 10.30am to 4.30pm; sun ring making, 10.30am to 4.30pm (free); Jiu Jitsu performance, today and tomorrow, 2pm (free); Taiko drumming performance, Sunday, 11am and 3pm, with interactive session at 1.30pm (all free), and Micklegate Choir performance of Sound Waves, tomorrow, 12 noon (free). Koto Japanese harp music performances will be at 10am, 11.20am, 12.40pm, 2pm and 3.15pm in the Foyer tomorrow (free). Exhibition admission tickets: yorkartgallery.co.uk.
York singer-songwriter Beth McCarthy: Opening August 29’s bill on The Grid Stage at Leeds Festival at Bramham Park. Picture: Leeds Festival
Festival of the week: Leeds Festival, Bramham Park, near Wetherby, continuing August 29 and 30
TODAY serves up York singer-songwriter Beth McCarthy (12.30pm to 1pm), James Marriott, Declan McKenna, Skepta, Charlie XCX and bill-topping Fontaines D.C. on The Grid. Catch Geese in The Gallery too. Sunday’s Grid finale features Absolutely, Slayyyter, Maisie Peters, Sombr, Raye and the festival-closing Dave. Box office for day tickets: leedsfestival.com/tickets.
Aardman In Concert: Celebrating 50 years of clay, comedy and creativity with a live orchestra at York Barbican
Film celebration of the week: Aardman In Concert, York Barbican, August 29, 1pm and 3.30pm
FIFTY years of Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Timmy Time, Morph and Creature Comforts are marked in a heart-warming big-screen celebration, clay, comedy and creativity.
Presented in partnership with Aardman, Carrot Productions’ new show takes a joyful journey through five decades of stop-motion clay animation from the Bristol studio with its blend of treasured characters, oh-so British humour and music, climaxing with a screening of Wrong Trousers accompanied by a live orchestra. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
York Unleashed Comic-Con: Comics galore on the Knavesmire
Convention of the week: York Unleashed Comic-Con, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, August 30, 10am to 4pm
YORK Unleashed Comic-Con promises a cosplay-friendly atmosphere, Yorkshire artists and comic creators, traders, collectables and geeky merchandise, gaming and interactive zones, a comic book chill-out zone, family-friendly activities and accessible, inclusive spaces. Media guests include Alex Jordan, Harry McEntire, Alan Fletcher, Richard Price and Jamie Kenna. Tickets: unleashedtickets.co.uk.
The Rocket Man: Playing Elton John’s greatest hits on his Yellow Brick Road Tour at Grand Opera House, York
Tribute gig of the week: The Rocket Man – A Tribute to Sir Elton John, Yellow Brick Road Tour, Grand Opera House, York, August 30, 7.30pm
THE Rocket Man and his band travel down the Yellow Brick Road to perform two hours of Elton John hits, from Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting), Crocodile Rock, Daniel and Your Song to Philadelphia Freedom, I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues and I’m Still Standing. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The Dead South: Progressive bluegrass and alternative Americana at York Barbican
Recommended but sold out already: The Dead South, Europe 2026 The Return, York Barbican, August 31, doors 7pm
WHATEVER you call The Dead South’s music – progressive bluegrass, alternative Americana, country, folk or Western – people from different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, languages and ages love it, clubbing together as the cosplaying “Good Company” at gigs.
Formed in 2012 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, the line-up comprises Nate Hilts, Scott Pringle, Danny Kenyon and Colton Crawford, always attired in bolo ties and custom brims. Carter Family meets Addams Family in songs that address themes of murder, disloyalty and ghosts while going from weepy to weird, wistful to wicked. Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra support. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Snake Davis: Celebrating the art of the sax solo at Pocklington Arts Centre
Saxophonist of the week: Snake Davis Band, Classic Sax Solos, Pocklington Arts Centre, September 3, 8pm
AN instrumental solo can break hearts, lift spirits, even change lives. Saxophone is the favourite instrument of many folk, and for good reason; so emotional, so passionate; it sings, screams, whispers. Step forward saxophonist to the stars Snake Davis, leading his five-piece band through more than 20 classics, from Baker Street, Careless Whisper, Respect and Yakety Yak to his own solos from Take That’s Million Love Songs, M People’s Moving On Up and Lisa Stansfield’s Change.
Davis reveals their background and history as well as playing them in context. What is their individual magic ingredient; what makes these solos classic? How did they emerge; how did the players produce that magic? Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
The poster for Pete the Temp’s Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries
Spoken-word gig of the week: Say Owt presents Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries by Pete the Temp, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
POET, author and comic Pete the Temp’s Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries is a spoken-word show about rebellion, resistance and wild imagination. The 1800s’ Romantic movement began as a rebellion: against empire, industry and the mechanisation of the soul. Yorkshire became the epicentre of its rebellion.
Tomorrow’s storytelling stage show fuses scholarship with music, comedy and poetry in a spellbinding history of riot, repression and psychedelic experimentation. As we face this age of despair, find out what we can learn from past dreams of freedom and renewal. Bangladeshi-Geordie spoken-word poet and creative practitioner Tahmina Ali supports with her explorations of identity, belonging, motherhood, mental health and cultural inheritance, viewed through a distinctly northern lens. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Our Star Theatre Company: Turning up the slapstick quotient in The Three Musketeers
Slapstick silliness of the week: Our Star Theatre Company in The Three Musketeers, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, September 4, 7.30pm
OUR Star Theatre Company’s re-telling of The Three Musketeers is packed with humour, audience participation and energetically silly performances as a small troupe of performers gears up for its debut performance of Alexandre Dumas’s story.
However, what starts as a simple theatrical endeavour soon unravels into a whirlwind of confusion, mayhem and comical mishaps. From forgotten lines to chaotic set changes, the actors become entangled in a series of blunders. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Louisa Ashdown in rehearsal for her role as The Actor in Hephaestus Theatre’s Richard iii Redux
Introducing: Hephaestus Theatre in Richard iii Redux, The Basement, City Screen Playhouse, York, September 10, 7.30pm
UNIVERSITY of York theatre graduates Eleanor Doig (producer) and Louisa Ashdown (director and performer) introduce new York company Hephaestus Theatre in Kaite O’Reilly and Phillip Zarrilli’s dark comedy Richard iii Redux.
The company’s mission is to tell disabled stories and put disabled and neurodiverse actors on stage and behind the scenes, this time with Ashdown playing The Actor opposite Georgina Way’s Presenter (on film) in a journey to find who the real Richard iii was while exploring the challenges of being a disabled actor. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk.
Fresh from releasing their lunar live album, Sparks’ Russell and Ron Mael land in York for their first concert in the city in 52 years, as captured on their Facebook site at 16.38pm. Picture: https://www.facebook.com/sparksofficial)
“YORK! See you tonight at York Barbican!,” posted Ron and Russell Mael at 16.38pm on Sparks’ Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/sparksofficial), accompanying a snap of the Californian brothers with York Minster looming in the background ahead of their August 25 gig.
The American tourist-style photo had been photobombed: clearly this photo opportunity wasn’t big enough for only the both of them.
In one of two late additions to their 2026 summer tour, Sparks made their return to York on Tuesday for the first time since their University of York Central Hall appearance on November 2 1974 on their Propaganda tour.
“We’re told we played York in the Dark Ages, but our brain cells are too fried to remember it,” Russell, now 77, informed the sold-out York Barbican audience. “But we thank you for your reception.”
That reception was one of delight, gratitude, joy, enchantment, in response to a band that is still squeezing out new Sparks after 54 years.
Outsiders and convention may have expected a greatest hits set on the heritage tour circuit, played to a seated audience. Instead, Russell and “my big brother” Ron, 81, constantly reinvent their wheel, defying age with whimsical imagination and smart, emotionally detached humour.
The majority of the crowd was only too happy to be gathered in the standing area, with a more sedate experience available on the balcony for the likes of your reviewer.
After a jaunty, jocund half-hour of banjo, badinage and rhythmic, witty wordplay from Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer, a jolly pucker chap in a linen suit and tie, promoting his B-Curious album, the mood was set, as perky as a macchiato, for Sparks to fly.
Three musicians – bass, guitar and drums – bounded on stage, much younger than the Mael brothers, who nevertheless appeared ageless on entry. First Ron, still pencil slim with the trademark moustache to match, hair still slicked back, his suit now baggy and free flowing, oversized like Talking Heads’ David Byrne in Stop Making Sense, as he took up his seat behind his “big synthesiser” on the front line.
Enter Russell in black-and-white polka-dotted suit, hair jet black and curly as ever, his style dandy, his body still bendy. From 8.30pm to 10.15pm, he never stopped moving, parading energy and jumps to rival the latterday Mick Jagger.
“So may we start?”, he asked, as the cue to kick-start the 19-song set with the song of such a perfect title for the opener. As bubbly as Aero, as urgent as a plea, as insistent as a repeated knock on the door, sung with heightened drama, it lay the template for an high-energy, often theatrical Maelstrom of a performance, with Ron’s keyboards ever to the fore, supported by the ballast of a flexible rock structure underneath.
Like synth duo Pet Shop Boys, Sparks stay unmistakeably Sparks but move with the times too, reflecting on the changing world with wit and style. Rather than the big hits – they played only four of their ten UK Top 40 entries – they favoured an ever-changing roster of big hitters, this time with Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab, Music That You Can Dance To, When Do I Get To Sing “My Way” and Devotion, the ballad from 2025’s Mad! album, being among the most impactful.
Not one of Beat The Clock, Number One Song In Heaven or This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us was held back for the encores; indeed ‘This Town’ – number two in 1972 – popped up without ceremony as the 14th song out of 16 before the break, as if it were nothing special. Truth is, it still sparkled above all else, on a night when the lighting was consistently spectacular too.
Further highlights? Ron stepping out from behind the keys to sing Let’s Get Funky, later topped by his brief burst of staccato dancing, followed by fanning his face with his fingers, as if in mock exhaustion.
Humour permeated not only Ron Mael’s lyrics, full of irony, satire and scepticism, but also Russell’s engagement with the audience, asking if we were known as Yorkers, Yorkians or Yorksters, before finally deciphering “Yorkies” from the responses. Better still, he misheard Fat Rascals as “Pretzels” when enquiring what Bettys’ speciality is.
Come the encores, they wholly justified that status, from the maniacal political clout of (Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country, through the gorgeous The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, to the closing 2020 single All That: Sparks in rare sombre mood as Ron reflects tenderly and warmly on ageing and enduring partnerships: like the one with their ever-loyal audience.
After 28 albums, another is under way already. “See you next year,” said Russell, promising fresh Sparks will ignite anew.
Set list: Sparks, York Barbican, 25/8/2026
So May We Start; Do Things My Own Way; Reinforcements; Sherlock Holmes; Beat The Clock; Mickey Mouse; Running Up A Tab At The Hotel For The Fab; Let’s Get Funky (Ron Mael, lead vocals); A Walk Down Memory Lane; JanSport Backpack; Music That You Can Dance To; When Do I Get To Sing “My Way”; The Number One Song In Heaven; This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us; Whippings And Apologies; My Devotion. Encores: (Baby, Baby) Can I Invade Your Country; The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte; All That.
