The Coal Porters at All Saints Church, Pocklington. Picture: Paul Rhodes
THE evening after the night before, plus a bad head cold. On the face of it, the signs weren’t encouraging for The Coal Porters’ Pocklington show, (hardly) fresh from Sid Griffin’s 70th birthday concert bash at The Water Rats, in King’s Cross, London – a show Griffin himself put in his top three.
We need not have worried, thanks to the power of bluegrass and Griffin’s ‘the-show-must- go-on’ attitude. A double whisky whisked in and down at the interval certainly helped as well.
Griffin assembled The Coal Porters, billed as alt. bluegrass, primarily to entertain. There is something life affirming about the way banjo and fiddle sound together, with double bass and mandolin floating over the top on a round of harmonies.
Griffin is a musician and writer, one of the founding fathers of today’s alt. country genre with The Long Ryders. Like his hero Gene Clark (who featured later in Looking For Lewis And Clark), he is critically acclaimed but has never troubled the hit parade despite lifting roofs off venues all over.
Alongside him were three extroverts, Kerenza Peacock on exuberant fiddle and vocals, Andrew Stafford on bass and Neil Robert Herd on guitar and vocals, going strong after two decades. In the more reflective camp, but out front anyway, was Paul Fitzgerald on banjo and vocals.
The band’s red jackets and black over-long trousers gave them the appearance of trad bluegrass, but the set list blew such notions away. Griffin’s jacket would end up hung over the church pulpit.
Across 23 songs and some 100 minutes the band threw themselves into a wide range of music. From the traditional bluegrass of Bill Monroe to ‘Porterised’ punk and rock songs reborn as country.
Heroes, by David Bowie, too ubiquitous, can rarely have sounded better, while Another Girl, Another Planet, by The Only Ones, confirmed that the best tunes can work in any genre if handled with care and again topped the original.
Griffin’s own songs could also make the journey back to punk rock. The Day The Last Ramone Died worked best (although Pocklington scored low for Ramones T-shirts in the audience).
The Coal Porters’ sincerely sung love of the material was clear, and also for one another. With their leader ailing and singing with teacup in hand (would one more song of souls in restless agony see him off?), the others took a number of turns. Peacock received the biggest hand for her instrumental Chopping The Garlic while Fitzgerald showed us his love of Chuck Berry.
Talking to charleshutchpress.co.uk earlier in the week, Griffin, a man who knows a thing or two about a good line, memorably said: “It’s what I do, it’s what we do, as Robbie Robertson said of The Band. Good times, bad times, I make music. I don’t have riches or fame. I’m just happy.”
All Saints Church is a venue that brings the best out of performers, with clear sightlines and lovely sound. It inspired Griffin to set aside his solo album in favour of a rousing version of I Am A Pilgrim (a stand-out single from The Byrds’ Sweetheart Of The Rodeo).
Played for the love of the music and despite illness, Griffin and his friends gave us a wonderful night of feelgood music.
Review by Paul Rhodes
Coming up at All Saints Church, Pocklington are Chris Smither on October 29, 7.30pm, and The Unthanks At 20 – already sold out – on November 22, 7.30pm. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/pocklington/all-saints-church/chris-smither/e-moryao.
York oboe player Desmond Clarke: Performing on Navigators Art’s YO Underground #5 bill at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse
FOOD for thought for heading out and about as York Food & Drink Festival opens and Inspector Morse is on the case in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations.
Navigators Art presents YO Underground #5, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm
YORK arts collective Navigators Art’s regular fulcrum of left-field new music, words and performance returns this weekend with a focus on ethnic instruments, acoustic-electronic improvisation, words and guitar-based fusion, plus passionate new songwriting.
Expect bold, beautiful and adventurous sounds from flautist Carmen Troncoso, York oboe player Desmond Clarke and Osc~, No Spinoza and a new York ‘supergroup’, the NSC Sound Union, combining members of Soma Crew and Namke Communications. Admission is £6 at www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance) or £10 on the door.
Sam Blythe: Taking on a multitude of roles in George Orwell’s Animal Farm at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Solo show of the week: Sam Blythe in Animal Farm, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
CELEBRATING 70 years of its publication on August 17 1945 and 30 since the first performance of Guy Masterson’s solo adaptation of George’s Orwell’s satirical allegorical dystopian novella, Sam Blythe takes up Masterson’s mantle on stage.
Bringing all of Orwell’s multiple characters to vivid life, Blythe transforms into Snowball, Napoleon, Squealer, Boxer, Clover, Mollie, Benjamin, Muriel, the Sheep, Dogs, Cows, Hens and the Cat in a performance designed to shock, enchant, bewitch and bewilder, ringing out Orwell’s prescient warning that politicians through the ages, and of all creeds and colours, will often let power corrupt them. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Rebecca Vaughan’s Lady Susan in Dyad Productions’ Austen’s Women: Lady Susan. Picture: Seamus Flanagan
Magnificently crafted tale of manipulation and manners of the week:Dyad Productions in Austen’s Women: Lady Susan, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 2pm; Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm
DYAD Productions return with a new solo comedy show, Jane Austen’s 1794 tale of manipulation and manners. Directed by Andrew Margerison, company regular Rebecca Vaughan plays devil-may-care widow Lady Susan, oppressed, rebellious daughter Frederica, long-suffering sister-in-law Catherine, family matriarch Mrs De Courcy and insouciant best friend Alicia.
At the vanguard of Vaughan’s wickedly humorous adaptation is the charming, scheming and witty Lady Susan, taking on society and making it her own, but has this coquette met her match? Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Skosh chef-proprietor Neil Bentinck: Cookery demonstration at St Crux Hall on September 27 at 1pm at York Food & Drink Festival
Festival of the week: York Food & Drink Festival, cooking until September 28
HIGHLIGHTS of this autumn’s York Food & Drink Festival include 70 street food and produce stands in Parliament Street; the Entertainment Marquee on Parliament Street, serving a bill of Live for St Leonard’s Hospice music acts; more live music in St Sampson’s Square, and demonstrations, events, tastings, and sampling at St Crux Hall.
Further events will be two taste trails; the Food Factory in St Crux Hall and Museum Gardens; the Pork Pie competition in Bedern Hall; Curry & Comedy at the NCEM; Yahala Mataam’s refugee pop-up restaurant night and cookery school; Tang’s festival debut; Jorvik Viking Centre’s activities with an historic twist and the Meet The Makers drinks fair. For the full festival programme, head to: yorkfoodfestival.com.
One of Simon Baxter’s photographs from All The Wood’s A Stage, his joint exhibition with Joe Cornish at Nunnington Hall. Picture: Simon Baxter
Ryedale exhibition launch of the week: All The Wood’s A Stage, Nunnington Hall, near York, from today to March 29 2026
ALL The Wood’s A Stage will continue the 2022 showcase Woodland Sanctuary, exhibited originally at the Moors Centre in Danby. This latest chapter features predominantly new photographs that celebrate the beauty and vital significance of trees, woodlands and forests across the UK.
Photographers Joe Cornish and Simon Baxter depict trees as silent performers on nature’s stage, encouraging us to observe, listen and reflect. Trees provide joy, peace and inspiration, being lungs of the Earth, guardians of biodiversity and a crucial part of our mental and physical well-being. Through changing seasons, they symbolise life, death and renewal. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall.
The poster for The Return Of The Legends, featuring Strictly Come Dancing alumni Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite, at York Barbican
Dance show of the week: The Return Of The Legends, starring Brendan, James, Pasha, Vincent and Ian, York Barbican, today, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing alumni Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite follow up 2024’s Legends Of The Dancefloor with new Latin, tango, rumba and ballroom routines and more Strictly stories in The Return Of The Legends. Joined by a supporting cast, they deliver a night of dancing, camaraderie, music and laughter. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Robert Took, Georgina Liley, Catherine Warnock and James McLean in Mikron Theatre’s Hush Hush!, on tour at Clements Hall, York
Touring play of the week: Mikron Theatre in Hush Hush!, Clements Hall, York, Sunday, 4pm
IN a daring theatrical mission, Marsden’s Mikron Theatre Company infiltrates the clandestine world of wartime code-breaking in Lucie Raine’s Hush Hush!, exposing the vital contributions of the unsung heroes of Bletchley Park’s Hut 3, whose ingenuity and unwavering resolve helped secure victory.
Peggy Valentine arrives at Bletchley in 1940, 18 years old, headstrong and gifted. Finding herself in a world of boffins, soldiers and debutantes, Peggy must shoulder the burden of high-pressure war work while navigating a new world of feuds, friendships and growing up in a frame of absolute secrecy. Mikron’s crack team of actor-musicians, Georgina Liley, Robert Took, Catherine Warnock and familiar face James McLean, blends original songs, live music and compelling storytelling. Box office for returns only: 01484843701 or email admin@mikron.org.uk.
Tom Chambers as Detective Chief Inspector Morse in the first Inspector Morse original stage play, House Of Ghosts, at Grand Opera House, York
Murder mystery of the week: Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts, Grand Opera House, York, September 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
BIRMINGHAM Repertory Theatre and Simon Friend Entertainment are touring the Inspector Morse franchise’s debut original stage play, House Of Ghosts, penned by Alma Cullen, directed by Anthony Banks and starring Tom Chambers.
A chilling mystery unfolds when a young actress dies suddenly on stage during a performance, prompting Detective Chief Inspector Morse to embark on a gripping investigation. What begins as a suspicious death inquiry takes a darker turn when the legendary inspector, in tandem with Detective Sergeant Lewis, uncovers a connection to sinister events in his own past, 25 years earlier. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Kieran Hodgson: Voicing his thoughts on the USA
Comedy gig of the week: Kieran Hodgson: Voice Of America, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 26, 8pm
AMERICA. What happened, man? Ever since he was a little loser kid in a little loser country (yes, England), Holmfirth-born Kieran Hodgson has been putting on an American accent and dreaming a big American dream.
Nowadays, however, it’s not so simple. Didn’t America go completely bananas? Didn’t he get too old for dreaming? And when Hollywood comes calling, does Kieran actually sound American after all? Here he assesses how a scared world feels about the USA and impersonates a bunch of old prospectors and former Presidents. Box office for returns only: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The horror, the horror: Dead Northern returns to City Screen Picturehouse
Film event of the week: Dead Northern presents The Festival of Horror, City Screen Picturehouse, York, September 26 to 28
IN “the world’s most haunted city”, Dead Northern hosts three days of film and live events, taking in music, social activities, food, drink and merchandise. Friday Frights opens with a 10.30am showcase of student short films and videos, followed by UK premiere of Sun at noon with a Q&A.
The 2pm short film showcase focuses on Teeth, Claws, Tentacles and Clowns. At 4pm the Dead Talks talk reveals Dracula’s mysterious connection to York under the splendid title of Who Are You Calling A Count?! A mystery Dracula classic film re-surfaces at 5pm and the UK premiere of Hellhouse LLC: Lineage is booked in for 7.30pm. The night concludes with the Welcome Social & Quiz with the Independent Horror Society.
Saturday Screams kicks off with the Flesh & Bone short film showcase at 10.30am, followed by the world premiere of A Mother’s Recall at noon and the Twisted Tales short film showcase at 1.45pm.
The 3.30pm UK film premiere will be Home Education, concluding with a Q&A, and the 5.30pm classic feature will be the 40th anniversary release of A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.
7.30pm’s Signature Live Event will be Spirits By Spirits; the 8.45pm feature film will be The Beast Of Riverside Hollow, with a Q&A, and the night ends with the VIP Awards Party at 11pm.
Day three, Sunday Shock The 28th, launches with the 10.30am classic feature, 1981’s Evil Dead, followed by the UK premiere of Nightfall – A Paranormal Investigation at noon and the Spectres & Shadows short film showcase at 1.30pm.
The UK premiere of Tabula Rasa will be shown at 2.45pm; the 4.15pm screening of He Kills At Night will include a Q&A, and Inside The Mind will be the theme of the 6pm short film showcase. In Dead Talks Part II at 7.30pm, the Independent Horror Society welcomes special guests for When Horror Struck Again, a discussion on underrated sequels.
The festival concludes with a classic feature, 1987’s Evil Dead II. For more details on Dead Northern Part VI 2025 Horror Film Festival, visit deadnorthern.co.uk/dead-northern-2025-horror-film-festival.
In Focus: York Printmakers’ 10th Anniversary Handmade Print Fair, York Cemetery, today and tomorrow
Russell Hughes discussing monoprinting. Picture: Chris Kendall Photography
THIS weekend York Printmakers celebrates a decade of creativity, collaboration and craftsmanship with its 10th Annual Print Fair, designed for lovers of original art and handmade processes.
This year’s fair reflects the group’s continuing mission: to keep traditional printmaking alive, accessible and valued.
Over the past decade, York Printmakers has grown into a vibrant collective of more than 40 artists, all committed to the authenticity of printmaking. The fair showcases a wide range of techniques — from linocut to collagraph, screen print to woodcut — all created by hand.
“People are often surprised to learn the difference between a reproduction and a handmade print,” says founding member Sally Clarke. “At our fair, you get to see the blocks, the plates, the tools — and meet the people who made them.
“In a world where everything is easily copied, our fair champions the original: prints made by hand, with care and intention.”
Bridget Hunt describing how to make a collograph plate. Picture: Chris Kendall Photography
This year’s milestone event reflects on ten years of artistic evolution, celebrating the unique voices of long-standing members while championing the newer members to the collective: artists whose fresh perspectives and experimental approaches are helping to shape the future of the craft.
“It’s always a pleasure to welcome new members, especially those just discovering printmaking or beginning their creative journey,” says long-standing member Russell Hughes. “They bring energy and new ideas that inspire even the most experienced among us. And in return, we’re able to share knowledge and techniques that have stood the test of time. That exchange is what keeps the group dynamic and evolving.”
Visitors can explore a rich variety of work, meet the makers and buy original prints directly from the artists.
York Printmakers’ 10th Anniversary Handmade Print Fair, Chapel and Harriet Room, York Cemetery, Cemetery Road, York, September 20 and 21, 10am to 5pm. Free entry.
York Printmakers’ poster for this weekend’s print fair at York Cemetery
In Focus too: Pete McKee, Viva La Nan!, RedHouse Gallery, Harrogate, and McKee Gallery, Sheffield
Pete McKee’s poster for September 27’s Viva La Nan! launch at RedHouse Gallery, Harrogate
PETE McKee’s double exhibition celebrating the beloved nans of his childhood will open across two Yorkshire galleries this autumn.
Viva La Nan! will go on view at RedHouse Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, from September 27 to October 4 and the McKee Gallery, Leah’s Yard, Cambridge Street, Sheffield, for two days only, October 11 and 12, presenting more than 120 drawings on paper created “in tribute to Nans, Grandmothers, Grandmas,Grannies, Grans, Nanas”.
Each gallery will be home to a completely different exhibition with “fans of art and fans of Nans” invited to enjoy both shows. The heart-warming collection includes original drawings on paper, showcasing the development of McKee’s process from sketchbook to final painting, and the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to own a unique McKee artwork, with prices ranging from just £75 to £2,450.
A Lovely Cup O’ Tea, by Pete McKee
“I wanted to create an exhibition celebrating the power of Nans and the love we have for them,” says Pete, who grew up on a Sheffield housing estate. “It shows the beauty and dignity of women who have lived through hardship and pain; women who have worked and toiled and managed to raise us on next to nothing. I consider my nans as iconic figures to be put on a pedestal and worshipped for the mighty women that they are”
The double exhibition coincides with McKee’s first major museum show, The Boy Name With A Leg Named Brian, on show until November 2 at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, where it has drawn 80,000 viewers already.
McKee’s work captures life’s simple pleasures with an innocence often lost in today’s fragmented and high-octane society. His images make you stop and think, laugh out loud or break your heart.
Viva La Nan! artworks by Pete McKee
To celebrate the Harrogate opening, Pete will launch the show in person on September 27 at 10am, when the first 50 visitors will receive a signed limited edition copy of the exhibition exclusive Daily Nan newspaper.
On October 12, the curious and adventurous are invited to join Pete and RedHouse on an unforgettable “Yorkshire road trip” with McKee Travel: the Harrogate to Sheffield Bus Tour to see both Sheffield shows on one day.
“We’ll be making a grand day of it,” says RedHouse Gallery’s David McTague. “Not only will you see the second phase of the exhibition at the McKee Gallery, but we’ll also provide onboard entertainment and stop for a spot of afternoon tea. Before heading home, we’ll also drop by the Weston Park Museum and meet the artist at his concurrent show, The Boy With The Leg Named Brian.”
McKee Travel’s Yorkshire road trip from Harrogate to Sheffield on October 12
Here is the itinerary: 9.10am, coach departs Harrogate from RedHouse Gallery; 11am, arrive in Sheffield and visit Viva La Nan! at Leah’s Yard; 12.30pm, afternoon tea at the Chocolate Bar; 2pm, visit to McKee’s exhibition at Weston Park Museum; 4pm, coach to depart from Sheffield and arrive in Harrogate circa 5.40pm.
Ticket includes seat reservation on McKee Travel coach; on-board entertainment, including bingo; exclusive exhibition paraphernalia; priority entry to Viva La Nan! at Leah’s Yard; reservation at Chocolate Afternoon Tea Experience; entry to Pete McKee: The Boy With The Leg Named Brian; Meet & Greet with the artist at Weston Park Museum. For tickets, go to https://www.redhouseoriginals.com/shop/artwork/gift-voucher/mckee-travel-hgate-bus-ticket.
At RedHouse, in addition to Viva La Nan!, a selection of original archive paintings by Pete McKee will be on view in the first floor gallery rooms. Highlights include Room 414, McKee’s homage to legendary guitarist Robert Johnson: The King Of Delta Blues, and Music For Pleasure, an artwork created for Rhoda Dakar’s album Version Girl. On show too will be Gone To The Dogs, an exceptionally rare “early years” painting from 2003.
Acid House, from the Viva La Nan! series, by Pete McKee
In a further celebration of the Harrogate opening of Viva La Nan!, a selection of original McKee drawings will be available at exclusive Collector Prices, starting at £195, with all artworks signed by McKee and sold framed to the artist’s specifications, with selected works presented in vintage frames.
“I wanted to make my artwork accessible,” says Pete. “I want people to be able to have that pleasure of owning a piece of original artwork and looking at it every day, knowing that you own a bit of the artist’s soul.”
Pete McKee, Viva La Nan!, RedHouse Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, September 27 to October 4, open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm; The McKee Gallery, Cambridge Street, Leah’s Yard, Sheffield, October 11. 10am to 5.30pm, and October 12, 11am to 4pm.
Sheffield artist Pete McKee
Pete McKee: back story
BORN in Sheffield in 1967, Pete McKee creates iconic and enduring images that reflect his experiences of growing up on a council estate, surrounded by working-class culture and humour.
This down-to-earth and nostalgic thread runs through all of his work and has gained him a worldwide following.
Comics were a large part of Pete’s childhood and he would read “any that he could get his hands on”, when Whizzer and Chips, The Dandy, The Beano and Hergé’s beloved Tintin were particular favourites.
Pete McKee at work on Viva La Nan!
Pete has collaborated with Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Oasis, Sir Paul Smith, Arctic Monkeys, Richard Hawley, Disney, Warp Films, Clarks Shoes, The Human League, Rega and BBC 6 Music. Noel Gallagher once phoned him to say that McKee’s painting of a child practising guitar on a bed summed up his youth. McKee fans include actress Maxine Peake and filmmaker Ken Loach.
Longstanding supporter of Teenage Cancer Trust Charity, designing concert posters for charity’s Royal Albert Hall shows.
Opened McKee Gallery in Sheffield in 2010, putting on first major exhibition in 2013, The Joy Of Sheff, and since then showcasing numerous shows such as Six Weeks To Eternity, 2016, This Class Works, 2018, and Frank and Joy: A Love Story, 2023.
Pete McKee in his studio
Now holding his longest-running exhibition yet, A Boy With A Leg Named Brian, at Weston Park Museum in Sheffield, from November 29 2024 until November 2 2025.
Patron of Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity, Art+; one of his most notable annual projects being the charity’s Christmas card design.
Received honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 2018, when presented as a Doctor of Arts at that year’s graduation.
A work in progress for the Viva La Nan! series
In 2024, after more than a decade at Sharrow Vale Road, the McKee Gallery relocated to Leah’s Yard, Cambridge Street, in Sheffield city centre.
Pete’s modus operandi: “I’ve got my own path to plough and I do that regardless of what fashions are, or what the art world deems to be appropriate. I’ve got my own niche. It’s my world and I have people that follow me, like my work, and understand it. I just want people to enjoy what they see.”
Over the rainbow: Erin Childs’ Dorothy Gale performing the opening number in York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz
APOLOGIES for taking so long to be off to see the Wizard – Prague holiday prevailed – but there is still time to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Grand Opera House.
That road starts outside the auditorium, a lovely welcoming touch by York Stage, whose abundantly colourful production is directed and produced by Nik Briggs, with fabulous ensemble choreography by Damien Poole and thrilling, resourceful musical direction by Jessica Viner, whose birthday happened to fall on the performance attended by your reviewer.
Such is the attention to detail that the Tannoy interval music includes Carry On Wayward Son by…Kansas, and it is to Kansas that we must head for L Frank Baum’s one heck of a weird story, so memorably converted from his 1900 novel to a film wonderland for Judy Garland as over-the-rainbow farm girl Dorothy Gale in 1939.
Vintage performance: Stu Hutchinson’s Tin Man
A-level student Erin Childs takes that iconic ruby slipper-clicking role in York Stage’s show, in tow with Toto, played by Briggs’s dog Freddie, leaving his mark on the production in more way than one with an urgent deposit, and, once on that yellow brick road by Elanor Kitchen’s puppet, handled so dextrously by puppeteer Sarah Jackson. No such mishap for the puppet.
Childs’ Dorothy hits the heights from the off with her rendition of Over The Rainbow, familiar yet with a finale that brings more resonance to the words. Kansas accent spot on, fringe flopping over her eyes, she leads Briggs’s high-spectacle staging of John Kane’s Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation with appropriate pluck and persistence, although her speaking voice tends towards being high pitched at times.
After the spectacular tornado de force of the storm scene, propelled by Adam Moore’s magical evocation of a twister that tosses Dorothy’s bed hither and thither, she is joined on the journey to Emerald City by Florence Poskitt’s Scarecrow, Stu Hutchinson’s Tin Man and Finn East’s Lion (having played the Guard in Pick Me Up Theatre’s 2018 production).
Magical: Carly Morton’s Glinda
Poskitt, one half of musical duo Fladam, is a supremely expressive physical comedic talent, perfectly suited to the wobbly legged, woolly thinking Scarecrow, but every so often her lines were wont to lose clarity as sentences lengthened. Nevertheless, her performance is a work of clowning joy.
Hutchinson’s Tin Man conducts himself like a matinee idol from a Hollywood cigarette card series with just the right air of camp. Even better is Finn East’s Lion, his natural stage warmth, playfulness and show-stealing presence on full throttle. If I Were King Of The Forest had always been one of the lesser tunes in Harold Arlen and EY Harburg’s score…until now, when East parades his full vocal range like a latterday Meat Loaf.
Carly Morton’s Aunt Em/Glinda spars splendidly with Emily Alderson’s curmudgeonly Miss Glutch and green-with-envy Wicked Witch of the West, while Ian Giles picks up where he left off in reprising his Pick Me Up dual roles as Professor Marvel and the Wizard Of Oz with avuncular aplomb, aided by a giant screen representation of the Wizard’s face with Giles’s distinctively thick head of hair.
The green party: a stylish ensemble scene in York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz
Ensemble supporting roles for Munchkins, Winkies and more besides are played with abundant energy by adults and juniors alike, at their best in Munchkinland and especially The Jitterbug.
Briggs calls on the costume wizardry of Charades and Sheffield Theatres, as well as York Stage resources, while Shone Productions’ set is top notch too. The poppy field dance is a particular delight.
Viner works her musicians to full capacity, taking on such familiar songs with relish as York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz feels very much at home at the Grand Opera House.
York Stage in The Wizard Of Oz, Grand Opera House, York, tonight at 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Flo Poskitt’s Scarecrow, left, Stu Hutchinson’s Tin Man, Erin Childs’ Dorothy Gale and Finn East’s Lion in York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz
The Coal Porters: Led by Sid Griffin at All Saints Church, Pocklington, on September 19
THE Coal Porters, the world’s first “alt-bluegrass” act, play All Saints Church, Pocklington, tonight as one of “two (count ’em) encounters with church-based entertainment venues” on their nine-date tour.
Prominent figures in the UK Americana and bluegrass scene for 17 years, Sid Griffin’s band are back in the saddle throughout this month, performing one Yorkshire concert already at Filey Americana Festival at Filey Evron Centre on September 7.
In a further highlight, eighth-generation Kentuckian Griffin marked his 70th birthday with a special gig at the Water Rats, London, last night.
2025 has been quite a year for Long Ryders and Coal Porters frontman Griffin, both on the road and in the recording studio. “The Long Ryders have made a record and now The Coal Porters are firing up again for this tour,” he says.
Tonight AMA Award winner Griffin leads The Coal Porters at All Saints Church on vocals, mandolin, harmonica and autoharp, accompanied by Grammy winner and Adele string section leader Kerenza Peacock on fiddle and vocals; Paul Fitzgerald on banjo and vocals; Andrew Stafford on bass and Neil Robert Herd on guitar and vocals.
“We’ve played St Mary’s Creative Space, an absolutely beautiful church in Chester, and a deconsecrated church in Glasgow, so we love playing civic buildings of interest in any form or shape, which are worth their weight in plutonium,” says Sid. “If they can’t hear a choir singing the praises of the Lord, they can hear us.”
How does Sid know which of his songs will suit the his long-running American alternative country band The Long Ryders or the fiddle, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar and doghouse bass, four-part harmonies and melodies of The Coal Porters’ alt. bluegrass?
“Some of the acoustic songs are really written in the singer-songwriter/troubadour tradition, and are not right for the scale of The Long Ryders, and likewise some songs need those drums and bass,” he says. “I can tell upon writing a song where it should go – and the audiences hardly ever disagree!
The tour poster for The Coal Porters’ September travels
“There’s a danger that you start writing songs that you know the band can play, and that’s a mistake as you have to challenge them to get out of their comfort zone. You really have to watch that. It’s one of the pitfalls.
“You have to extend yourself, but not too far, you have to be different, but not too far, which seems contradictory. The Ramones and Credence Clearwater Revival managed to do that, but it’s usually the point at which bands split.
“The Temptations changed, ZZ Top changed, but sometimes you can’t do that – and that’s the thing. I’ve always tried to traverse, with The Long Ryders experimenting and The Coal Porters being entertaining – and being told we’re too entertaining for hillbilly!”
Sid takes his point further. “We’ll take songs by Bob Dylan or David Bowie and we’ll ‘Porterise’ them, knowing we’re playing a Dylan/Bowie song but in a bluegrass form, being true to the idiom.
“The bluegrass police don’t like it. It’s like The Stanley Brothers again. People always want it to be better but different, and it’s pretty impossible to square the circle,” he says. “Traditionalists don’t like it but Coal Porters fans love us to death, so the question is, how do you make things better than yesterday?”
Should he shed the optimism in The Coal Porters’ performances, ponders Sid. “That would be a mistake when you have to entertain but also give the audience a mirror of what’s going, but are we giving them respite, an escape, from what’s going on?” he says.
“I take performances at least as seriously as recording. They’re staring at you; you have their complete, undivided attention. They’ve paid their money, they’re facing you, whereas at home they’re not paying as much attention to a screen.
“Live gigs are now so important because no-one’s making money out of albums. Merch stands are important too. People come up to ask me questions when it’s their moment to have that conversation with someone that has influence and they really want to give me their opinion.”
Singer, songwriter, band leader, musicologist, broadcaster and author Sid Griffin has lived in London for 33 years, where music will continue to frame his life. “It’s what I do, it’s what we do, as Robbie Robertson said of The Band. Good times, bad times, I make music. I don’t have riches or fame. I’m just happy,” he says, as he turns 70.
“It’s what I’ve been doing for a long time and I’ll keep doing it. I’m very pleased anyone wants to hear what I have to say. It’s very touching that these middle-aged guys, usually in their Clash and Ramones T-shirts, come with their wives and their kids and say what our music has done for them.”
Coming up next will be The Long Ryders’ sixth studio album, the follow-up to 2023’s September November. “It’ll be out in March/April. No title yet,” says Sid. “We recorded in a little town in the desert with producer Ed Stasium [who has worked with the Ramones, Talking Heads, Motörhead and the Smithereens, among others].
“It was a really great experience to get together with the guys again. It’ll possibly be our last one but it was a lot of fun to do. Now we’ve got to be mix it for release in the spring.”
Hurricane Promotions present The Coal Porters, All Saints Church, Pocklington, tonight, 7.30pm. Box office: sidgriffin.com/tour; Pocklington, ticketsource.co.uk/hurricane-promotions/the-coal-porters/2025-09-19/19:30/t-eaoqmak.
Alison times three in Fun Home: Libby Greenhill as ‘medium’ Alison, Claire Morley as Alison and Hattie Wells as ‘small’ Alison. Picture: Mike Darley
APOLOGIES for the tardiness of this review, delayed by five days of binging on Prague culture. Nevertheless, it is not too late to see Pick Me Up Theatre’s York premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron’s award-garlanded musical Fun Home.
Well, hopefully not too late to acquire a ticket for tonight or tomorrow. York Medical Society’s Theatre Room is one of York’s more compact performance spaces (capacity 60, for lectures; 45, for cabaret; 24, for board meetings). And now 40 for Fun Home.
Director-designer Robert Readman gives the portrait-bedecked room more of a drawing-room entertainment vibe, or maybe a parlour. Make that a funeral parlour, as a funeral home – or ‘Fun Home’ as the Beckdel family call their unconventional Pennsylvanian abode – is where ‘small’ Alison and brothers Christian (Oliver Smith) and John (Teddy Alexander) play and make up songs amid the coffins.
Young Alison (Hattie Wells) is one of three Alisons in Fun Home, whose story is drawn from cartoonist Alison Beckdel’s graphic memoir Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic. Omnipresent is adult Alison (Claire Morley), at the age of the 43 – the same age that her father, suicidal spoiler alert, stood in front of a truck – looking back on her childhood and her coming out at 19 at university in New York (‘medium’ Alison, played by 16-year-old Libby Greenhill).
“It’s such a moving and unusual story and I love the score and the book,” says Readman, who rates five-time Tony winner Fun Home among his very best productions.
He is not wrong. Hattie Wells reveals a precocious talent, so confident on stage already, singing brightly and delivering a spot-on American accent, as her Alison shows a preference for jeans over dresses and a love of drawing. Her solo rendition of Ring Of Keys, is a high-point of a musical that eschews an interval to achieve maximum impact.
Likewise Libby Greenhill shows maturity beyond her years in her account of ‘medium’ Alison, with her love of literature and first love for fellow student Joan (Britney Brett), expressed so humorously and passionately in the song I’m Changing My Major To Joan. She is particularly impressive in the scenes where she craves her parents’ response to telling them by letter that she is a lesbian.
Alison’s mother, Helen (Catherine Foster, in fine singing voice), is a professional actress, but the focus is on her home life, where husband Bruce (Dale Vaughan) is a towering mass of complexities, contradictions, gaslighting control and linear, intolerant thinking, yet with a teacher’s love of literature, a reckless streak and an expressive sideline in house restorations.
Doors to the Theatre Room are kept open for the corridor sounds of Bruce kicking out in anger, shouting in foul-mouthed froth at his wife and introducing ‘small’ Alison to her first dead body, adding to their shock value.
Bruce is homosexual, and not a closet one, openly hitting on students (played by Cain Branton) without regard for his wife’s feelings. Vaughan’s frank, fearless, frightening performance is one of the best on the York stage this year.
Everything is observed by Morley’s Alison, drawing and writing captions for her memoir, trying to make sense of it all, not least her father’s suicide, and she does so with a mixture of humour and tragedy in Morley’s first musical since her All Saints schooldays. And she really can sing! Who knew!
Oh, and if you miss tonight or tomorrow’s shows, you could always head to Manchester for the Royal Exchange production from July 3 to August 1 next summer.
Pick Me Up Theatre in Fun Home, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, tonight and tomorrow, 7.30pm Content guidance: Themes of LGBTQ+, suicide and strong language. Parental guidance: 12 plus. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/pickmeuptheatre.com.
The poster for Navigators Art’s YO Underground #5 bill at The Basement on Saturday
YORK arts collective Navigators Art will hold a Folk & Word Open Mic upstairs at The Artful Dodger, Micklegate, tonight and subsequently on the third Thursday of each month.
Poets and singers can sign up from 7pm for the 7.30pm start. “We welcome writers and ‘wordful’ acoustic musicians who’d like to share their work,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen. “Bring a poem, a guitar, a voice. All are welcome. We have a safe, friendly ethos. Access is by stairs only, sorry.” Entry is free with a purchase from the bar.
Navigators Art’s regular fulcrum of bold, left-field new music, words and performance will return to The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, for YO Underground #5 on Saturday at 7.30pm.
York flute and recorder player Carmen Tronsoco
“This edition features ethnic instruments, acoustic-electronic improvisation, words and guitar-based fusion, plus passionate new songwriting,” says Richard. “Expect bold, beautiful and adventurous sounds.”
On the bill will be Carmen Troncoso’s ethnic woody wind-blown instruments; York oboe musician Desmond Clarke & Osc~, featuring Barrington Brook, Iris Casling, Nika Ticciati and Gaia Blandina; No Spinoza’s words and guitar-based fusions, and a new York ‘supergroup’, the NSC Sound Union, combining members of Soma Crew, Namke Communications, Simon Micklethwaite and two others.
Carmen Tronsoco is a flautist, recorder player and creative researcher. “In my artistic projects, I explore imaginative ways of engaging with my instruments, viewing them not as mere tools but as autonomous entities — or even creatures — capable of unfolding and revealing their own character,” she says.
York oboe player Desmond Clarke
“My practice aims to express the evolving, dynamic relationship between human and non-human agents.”
Desmond Clarke’s performances explore the boundaries and overlaps between acoustic instruments and their electronically inflected mirror images. Osc~ is a loose collective of musicians, based in the north, interested in long-form improvised musical performances. Previous performances have included four, seven, eight and 24-hour-long improvised megastructures.
No Spinoza is Thomas Pearson, a musician, poet and artist from the north east whose music – electronic folk with an art-rock edge – has received airplay on BBC 6 Music, BBC Radio York and on radio and playlists worldwide. His fourth album will be released later this year.
No Spinoza’s Thomas Pearson
As Thomas Pearson, his writing has been published in various books and magazines, from Litmus to the Architects’ Journal. His artwork has been exhibited at the National Poetry Library, the Royal Academy of Arts and as a large-scale landscape installation at RSPB Saltholme, near Middlesbrough.
NSC Sound Union, formed by members of long-standing York bands Neuschlaufen and Soma Crew, meets the two bands half way: the improvisation from Neuschlaufen versus the discipline of Soma Crew. “Find out at each show which one comes out on top,” says Richard. “It’s never the same show twice.”
Raising their voices: Rachael Wooding, left, Jessica Daley, Emma Crossley, Bobbie Little, Syndey Isitt-Ager, Kayla Carter, Ashleigh Gray and Caroline Sheen in York Theatre Royal’s world premiere of Military Wives The Musical. Picture: Danny With A Camera
AFTER Sir Gary Oldman’s spring return to York Theatre Royal after 35 years in the banana-munching, tape-spooling Krapp’s Last Tape, here comes the second Theatre Royal coup of 2025.
Again opening with a week of previews before press night, Debbie Isitt’s Military Wives The Musical is receiving its world premiere.
This has HIT written all over it. Isitt is the BAFTA-winning writer-director behind the Nativity! film and stage show franchise and the Stock Aitken Waterman musical I Should Be So Lucky. Likewise, Military Wives is a highly successful brand already, with a Gareth Malone TV series, a Christmas number one single and the 2019 film.
Military Wives writer-director Debbie Isitt in the rehearsal room. Picture: Danny With A Camera
Now Isitt’s musical brings together the best Isitt ingredients – comedy, high emotion, colourful, populist characters – fused with the pop appeal of chart hits and power ballads, and the Military Wives true story already familiar to many.
York is an apt location for this world premiere, given the long history of Strensall and Imphal Barracks and the proximity of Catterick Garrison up the A1. Last night’s press night was preceded by a special pre-show foyer performance by the Military WAGS Choir from Catterick Garrison, and the presence of military wives in the audience had a palpable impact on the response throughout.
All this will be music to Debbie Isitt’s ears. She had maximised the authenticity of her storyline by her detailed research, meeting wives from barracks and Military Wives choir members.
In the line of fire in Afghanistan: Billy Roberts, left, Joe Kelly and Adrian Hansel’s soldiers in Military Wives The Musical. Picture: Danny With A Camera
What results is a nascent musical that already feels complete, that ticks every box, that is much more than a mere jukebox musical, that has broad appeal, all-important momentum, comedy and tragedy in tandem.
The show carries the content warning of “including depictions of war and violence in a military conflict and themes of bereavement”. Plus haze/theatrical smoke. Tick. Pyrotechnics and loud noises/explosion effects. Tick. Strong language. Tick. Prop firearms. Tick. You have been warned. Tick.
Military Wives is billed as a “funny, feel-good story of female empowerment and the perfect harmony of laughter, emotion and fun in a joyous celebration of female friendship, courage and ‘unsung’ heroes”. That might suggest the target audience is female, but to a man, every man around your reviewer was drawn to its winning formula too.
Across the divide: Caroline Sheen, left, Ashleigh Gray, Syndey Isitt-Ager, Emma Crossley, Jessica Daley, Rachael Wooding, Billy Roberts, Joe Kelly and Adrian Hanselin a scene from Military Wives The Musical. Picture: Danny With A Camera
The words “joy” and “feel-good” jump out, but what makes Military Wives more than that is that it never hides away from the reality of war: the fear of death, of no return, of PTSD, of loss of faith, of the loneliness of absence, of the importance of letters in the dearth of physical contact.
All life (and death) is here on Katie Lias’s set of boxes, barbed wire and poppies as Isitt introduces us to the wives and their soldier husbands as the men head out to Afghanistan. Bex (Emma Crossley) and soldier partner Paula (Bobbie Little), struggling with IVF; Faith (Kayla Carter) and Luke (Adrian Hansel), questioning his faith (but not Faith); potty-mouthed, chain-smoking Krissy (Rachel Wooding), at loggerheads with Dale (Billy Roberts); posh, wasp-tongued Susannah (Caroline Sheen), “Snuffle Bottom” to husband Simon (Roberts), the colonel.
Jessica Daley’s ever-harassed Jenny and Stewart Wright’s ever-chirpy Dave the Welfare Officer in Military Wives The Musical. Picture: Danny With A Camera
We also meet newly-weds Sarah (Sydney Isitt-Ager) and Adam (Joe Kelly), yet to go on honeymoon; pregnant Terri (Ashleigh Gray); mother-of-five shopkeeper Jenny (Jessica Daley), the can of Pringles of the barracks (“have one and she can’t stop”).
On hand at all times is Dave, the welfare officer, (Stewart Wright), always perky, always coming up with a new idea, always available to help, and throughout he is Isitt’s primary source of humour (along with the putdowns of Wooding’s Krissy).
Into this world, where the women have been living separate lives behind closed doors, comes choir leader Olive (Bobbie Little) to bring them together through song. Isitt in turn brings together all social classes and the frictions that go with that, leading to a superlative Spice Girls gag.
Ann Summers’ night for the Military Wives: Emma Crossley, left, Rachael Wooding, Ashleigh Gray, Kayla Carter, Jessica Daley, Syndey Isitt-Ager and Caroline Sheen. Picture: Danny With A Camera
All the while, on the choir’s journey from Bicester show to the Royal Albert Hall, songs are suddenly interjected with gunfire and explosions in Afghanistan, climaxing in the Act One cliffhanger with parallel dramas of childbirth on a hilltop and a medical emergency on the warfront. The shadow of death is never far away, but so too are revelations of past loss, infidelity, dementia and fatherhood.
George Dyer, arranger, orchestrator, musical supervisor and musical director, is on superb form at the piano, for Adele, Coldplay and Pink hits alike, matched by the moving, amusing performances of Isitt’s West End cast –and that is surely where Military Wives will be heading.
Maybe a tour first, given that this world premiere was made in association the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham, and Buxton Opera House. Just as Seven Brides For Seven Brides and The Railway Children made their way from York Theatre Royal origins to London, so will Military Wives.
Debbie Isitt’s Military Wives The Musical, York Theatre Royal, until September 27, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Vaughan’s Lady Susan in Dyad Productions’ Austen’s Women: Lady Susan. Picture: Ben Guest
JANE Austen’s Lady Susan, supreme chamber musicians, nature photography and Inspector Morse’s stage debut keep September busy for Charles Hutchinson.
Magnificently crafted tale of manipulation and manners of the week:Dyad Productions in Austen’s Women: Lady Susan, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow and Friday, 7.45pm, Saturday, 2pm; Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm
DYAD Productions return with a new solo comedy show, Jane Austen’s 1794 tale of manipulation and manners. Directed by Andrew Margerison, company regular Rebecca Vaughan plays devil-may-care widow Lady Susan, oppressed, rebellious daughter Frederica, long-suffering sister-in-law Catherine, family matriarch Mrs De Courcy and insouciant best friend Alicia.
At the vanguard of Vaughan’s wickedly humorous adaptation is the charming, scheming and witty Lady Susan, taking on society and making it her own, but has she met her match? Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Classical festival of the week: York Chamber Music Festival 2025, Friday to Sunday
YORK Chamber Music Festival artistic director Tim Lowe brings the cream of European string playing to York for three days. Taking part in five concerts at the National Centre for Early Music, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, and St Olave’s Church will be Charlotte Scott and Jonathan Stone, violins; Helene Clement and Gary Pomeroy, violas; Lowe and Jonathan Aasgaard, cello, and Katya Apekisheva, piano. For the full festival programme and tickets, go to: ycmf.co.uk.
Comedy gig of the week: Russell Kane, Hyperactive, York Barbican, Friday, 8pm
WHIRLWIND physical comedian, presenter, actor and author Russell Kane is out on the road again with his latest tour carrying a safety warning: “Wear strong underwear. Pants will be spoiled”. This show will be high-energy, high-octane and hyper-active. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Film event of the week: Mother Vera with Q&A, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Friday, 6pm
IN a hidden Orthodox monastery in Belarus, Mother Vera weaves the inner world of an unorthodox young nun with the community that saved her life. After 20 years as a monastic, Vera faces deep inner conflict. Now, she must confront her past and trust her instincts to find the liberation she desires.
Friday’s screening of Cécile Embleton and Alys Tomlinson’s winner of Best Documentary at the 2024 BFI London Film Festival – shot in black and white – will be accompanied by a question-and-answer session with Tomlinson, conducted by Aesthetica writer and curator Rachel Pronger. Box office: picturehouses.com/cinema/city-screen-picturehouse.
Americana gig of the week: The Coal Porters, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Friday, 7.30pm
THE Coal Porters, who claim to be the world’s first “alt-bluegrass” act, will be led as ever by Sid Griffin in Pocklington, a day after celebrating his 70th birthday.
Prominent figures in the UK Americana and bluegrass scene for 17 years, Griffin’s band are back in the saddle this autumn for eight dates. Their songs showcase the power of fiddle, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar and doghouse bass, all harmonised with four-part vocals and melodies. Box office: sidgriffin.com/tour; ticketsource.co.uk.
Ryedale exhibition launch of the week: All The Wood’s A Stage, Nunnington Hall, near York, from Saturday to March 29 2026
ALL The Wood’s A Stage will continue the 2022 showcase Woodland Sanctuary, exhibited originally at the Moors Centre in Danby. This latest chapter features predominantly new photographs that celebrate the beauty and vital significance of trees, woodlands and forests across the UK.
Photographers Joe Cornish and Simon Baxter depict trees as silent performers on nature’s stage, encouraging us to observe, listen and reflect. Trees provide joy, peace and inspiration, being lungs of the Earth, guardians of biodiversity and a crucial part of our mental and physical well-being. Through changing seasons, they symbolise life, death and renewal. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall.
Dance show of the week: The Return Of The Legends, starring Brendan, James, Pasha, Vincent and Ian, York Barbican, Saturday, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing alumni Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite follow up 2024’s Legends Of The Dancefloor with new Latin, tango, rumba and ballroom routines and more Strictly stories in The Return Of The Legends. Joined by a supporting cast, they deliver a night of dancing, camaraderie, music and laughter. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Murder mystery of the week: Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts, Grand Opera House, York, September 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
BIRMINGHAM Repertory Theatre and Simon Friend Entertainment are touring the Inspector Morse franchise’s debut original stage play, House Of Ghosts, penned by Alma Cullen, directed by Anthony Banks and starring Tom Chambers.
A chilling mystery unfolds when a young actress dies suddenly on stage during a performance, prompting Detective Chief Inspector Morse to embark on a gripping investigation. What begins as a suspicious death inquiry takes a darker turn when the legendary inspector, in tandem with Detective Sergeant Lewis, uncovers a connection to sinister events in his own past, 25 years earlier. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club, The Della Grants, Milton Rooms, Malton, September 25, 8pm
LEICESTER band The Della Grants’ songs seamlessly bridge the gaps between blues, rock and Americana. Since their inception in 2014, they have made a name for themselves among industry professionals and fellow musicians for their song-writing ability and performances. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Grainne O’Hare: Discussing her debut novel, Thirst Trap, a study of friendship in Belfast, with York theatre-maker and university tutor Bridget Foreman at Helmsley Literature Festival
HELMSLEY’s book festival, musical premieres, Ayckbourn’s 91st comedy and the Yellow Brick Road are beckoning Charles Hutchinson.
Festival of the week: Helmsley Literature Festival, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday to Sunday.
HELMSLEY Literature Festival presents an entertaining weekend of writers, theatre and music, opening with Joanne Harris & The Storytime Band’s musical storytelling show on Friday at 7.30pm and concluding with the Studio Bar literary quiz on Sunday at 8.30pm.
Saturday presents retired clinical oncologist Grahame Howard at 2pm; Belfast-born debutant novelist Grainne O’Hare (Thirst Trap), 4.30pm; Debbie Cannon’s play The Remarkable Deliverances Of Alice Thornton, 7pm, and Poets’ Corner, hosted by Steve Harvey in the Studio Bar, 8.30pm. Sunday features Cliff Hague’s Cup Finals: Football Stories Of Great Games, Heroes And Villains, 2pm; northern authors Jenn Ashworth (The Parallel Path: Love, Grit And Walking The North) and Wendy Pratt (The Ghost Lake), and Saltburn bookshop owner and The Hometown Bookshop novelist Jenna Warren, 7pm. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Musical world premiere of the week: Military Wives – The Musical, York Theatre Royal, today to September 27, times vary
YORK Theatre Royal stages the world premiere of writer-director Debbie Isitt’s musical based on the 2019 film, rooted in Gareth Malone’s The Choir: Military Wives project.
Faced with husbands and partners being away at war, the women are isolated, bored and desperate to take their minds off feelings of impending doom. Enter Olive to help them form a choir. Cue a joyous celebration of female empowerment and friendship, courage and ‘unsung’ heroes. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Interdimensional journey of the week:Wharfemede Productions in Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
DIRECTOR Helen “Bells” Spencer and musical director Matthew Clare follow up 2023’s Musicals In The Multiverse 2023 with another blend of iconic musical theatre hits reconfigured with surprising twists.
“Think unexpected style swaps, minor to major key switches, gender reversals, era-bending reinterpretations, genre mash-ups and more,” says Bells. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
York premiere of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Fun Home, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, today to September 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees
ROBERT Readman directs the York premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Krow’s five-time Tony Award winner, based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel.
When her volatile father dies unexpectedly, Alison (Claire Morley) recalls how his temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, she relives her unique childhood at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her sexuality and the looming, unanswerable questions of her father’s hidden desires. Box office: ticketsourse.co.uk/pickmeuptheatrecom.
Exhibition of the week: Paint & Print, Beryl Braddock, Judith Ellis & Pauline Brown, Helmsley Arts Centre, until October 31
SINCE gaining a Fine Art degree at Leeds and Goldsmiths as a mature student, Beryl Braddock has enjoyed more than 40 years of drawing and painting, using watercolours, crayon, inks, charcoal and oils in still life, landscape and life drawing works, often in portraits of family and friends.
Judith Ellis’s paintings and prints utilise the process of mark making – colour, shape, form and texture – developed with elements of order and chance. Her work evolves with or without a pre-conceived idea; sometimes fragments of diaries are used to develop texture and form or a poem might provoke a colour. Artist, art therapist and theatre designer Pauline Brown paints and draws mostly outdoors in nature, following the changing seasons, using layers of colour and texture to capture the landscape’s moods and atmosphere.
Brass band gig of the week: Stape Silver Band, Brass Across The World, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm
STAPE Silver Band takes a musical journey around the world in the company of Pickering Musical Society members, performing works associated with myriad genres of brass band music. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk/events/stape-silver-band/.
Tribute show of the week: Abba Sensation, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm
KIRK Theatre “simply had to have them back” after Abba Sensation’s sold-out last visit. Combining costume changes, lighting effects and a faithful account of the Abba sound, the band welcomes audience participation, whether singing, clapping or dancing. Anyone “too posh” to join in can rattle jewellery instead. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk/events/stape-silver-band/.
Ruby slippers of the week: York Stage in The Wizard Of Oz, Grand Opera House, York, Friday to September 20
UNDER Nik Briggs’s direction, York Stage skips down the Yellow Brick Road as Erin Childs’ Dorothy, Toto and her friends, the Scarecrow (Flo Poskitt), Tin Man (Stu Hutchinson), and Cowardly Lion (Finn East), journey to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard (Ian Giles).
In navigating the enchanting landscape of Oz, Dorothy is watched closely by Glinda, the Good Witch (Carly Morton) as the Wicked Witch of the West (Emily Alderson) plots to thwart Dorothy’s quest and reclaim the magical ruby slippers. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Theatre event of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s 91st premiere, Earth Angel, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Saturday to October 11, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm, Wednesday and Thursday, and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
GERALD has lost his wife of many years. Amy was the light of his life, almost heaven-sent. Trying his best to put a brave face on things, he accepts help from fussy neighbours. Then a mysterious stranger turns up at Amy’s wake, washing the dishes and offering to do a shop for Gerald, but is he all that he appears?
Alan Ayckbourn’s 91st play digs deep into one of life’s greatest mysteries: what makes someone a good person – and in this day and age, can you ever be sure? Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Emma Burke’s wartime nurse performing Anthem, from Chess
“THE show’s concept is playful, radical too, and has the potential to be rolled out again,” predicted your reviewer, when encountering June 2023’s “out of this world” Musicals In The Multiverse.
Sure enough, here comes the bigger, bolder sequel, still with a “big cast, bags of energy and enthusiasm, and a fun idea for a show”, still with Helen “Bells” Spencer as director and Matthew Clare in charge of the remarkable musical arrangements as songs are freed from the chains of their usual presentation.
The company and venue has changed, from the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company and art deco Joseph Rowntree Theatre to Spencer and Nick Sephton’s Wetherby-based Wharfemede Productions and black-box Theatre@41, Monkgate.
The show title has replaced ‘In’ with the broader-sounding ‘Across’ to reflect an even more expansive multiverse: alternative worlds where musical favourites and newer works are turned on their head, taking on a new life with a change of gender, era, key or musical style, as musical director James Ball and his band, out of view behind curtains but worthy of a standing ovation in their own right, deliver Matthew Clare’s diverse, dazzling arrangements with such brio.
Nick Sephton and Helen “Bells” Spencer’s tender rendition of I Don’t Need A Roof
Attending Monday night’s dress rehearsal, the technical rough edges with the projection would be ironed out by tonight’s opening show, and likewise Bells Spencer was keeping herself busy in taking notes, and even adjusting actors’ stage positions mid-number to achieve the right balance. Choreographer Connie Howcroft, when not performing, kept an eye on the big numbers too.
Musicals Across The Universe sits inside an end-on set design, usually bare to enable use of the full stage, even the stairway, with the occasional addition of chairs too, while projections, whether of a blur of Fake News or images of wartime Poland, accompany assorted numbers. Costume changes are frequent, sometimes amusing, often witty, always striking.
Act One opens with the full company finding its voice in Facade, a number from Jekyll And Hyde that is the essence of putting on a front, but with the truth still bursting through. As Long As He Needs Me, Nancy’s troublesome song from Oliver!, becomes more mournful, less desperate, in Jai Rowley’s interpretation.
The Place Where The Lost Things Go, from Mary Poppins Returns, is transformed into a children’s song, all the more moving in Matthew Warry’s performance, supported by Laertes Singhateh and Emelia Charlton-Matthews.
Lauren Charlton-Matthews: Outstanding rendition of Dear Bill from Operation Mincemeat. Picture: Simon Trow
Anthem, from Chess, takes on a Jazz Age air in Emma Burke’s rendition; Lauren Charlton-Matthews chose Dear Bill, from the Grand Opera House-bound Operation Mincement for her solo number, duly delivering the show’s best storytelling singing.
Go The Distance/Defying Gravity, from Hercules/Wicked, vie for centre stage in a mash-up for David Copley-Martin, Emily Hardy, Naomi Mothersille and Zander Fick; partners Spencer and Sephton bring tender romance to Big Fish’s I Don’t Need A Roof and Tess Ellis revels in the stark solo spotlight in Miss Saigon’s Why God? Why?
Two Act One favourites follow in quick succession, first Rosy Rowley’s lonesome Mr Cellophane, from Chicago, her face marked by a painted tear, accompanied by the Dance Core in white masks with crimson lips and matching dark tears.
Listen, from Dreamgirls, branches out from dialogue to Jai Rowley expressing himself in British Sign Language, learned expressly for this performance, to be interpreted in song by James Ball as Matthew Warry takes over on piano.
Exchanging sign language: James Ball, left, and Jai Rowley in Listen
After the men-in-black smooth chops of When She Loved Me, from Toy Story, you will go potty for Connie Howcroft’s polka-dotty reinvention of Friend Like Me from Aladdin, with her Dance Core in tow.
Mickey Moran, outstanding in the 2023 show, comes to the fore in Act Two’s opening Queen Medley from We Will Rock You, both on lead vocals as bravura as Freddie Mercury and on guitar too. The show must go on, and indeed does with Naomi Mothersille leading Make Them Hear You from Ragtime.
Richard Bayton and James Ball address songs to each other as gay lovers on the path to separation, first in Bayton’s confessional Just Not Now, from I Love You Because, then Ball, wrought with tragedian drama in Abba’s The Winner Takes It All, from Mamma Mia!, the show’s outstanding solo turn.
It’s Never That Easy/I’ve Been Here Before, from Closer Than Ever, find Spencer, Howcroft, Emily Hardy and Naomi Mothersille in harmony; Tess Ellis, in cream, stands out from the crowd in the heartfelt Someone Like You, from Jekyll & Hyde, and Ben Holeyman does likewise in Gypsy’s Don’t Rain On My Parade. Take note of Kirsty Barnes, notebook in hand, in Santa Fe, from Newsies.
Life is a Cabaret for Zander Fick, surrounded by the Dance Core in Musicals Across The Multiverse. Picture: Simon Trow
Zander Fick, fresh from playing drag star Loco Chanel in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, dons fishnets, shiny red Latex top and matching high heels and lipstick, to darken Sally Bowles’s Cabaret, from Cabaret, into being more in keeping with the Emcee.
Bayton and Ellis, Holeyman and Barnes play two couples in declamatory tandem in the mash-up of Million Dreams and How Far I’ll Go from The Greatest Showman and Moana, and mother and child partnerships, Spencer and Singtaheh, Rowley times two and Charlton-Matthews a deux, express the bond movingly in Mamma Mia’s Slipping Through My Fingers. Abbie Law savours the last solo showcase in Shouldn’t I Be Less In Love With You, from I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change.
The full company assembles for Blame It On The Boogie, from MJ The Musical, a celebratory finale led flamboyantly by Rosy Rowley and Mickey Moran that has everyone dancing to the Multiverse max.
Wharfemede Productions present Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 10 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Rosy Rowley. front, left, and Mickey Moran, front, right, lead the outbreak of dancing in Blame It On The Boogie, the finale to Musicals Across The Multiverse
