On terror alert to the max: James Bye’s James and Hannah Sinclair Robinson’s Lou in Paranormal Activity. Picture: Johan Persson
WHEN Paranormal Activity premiered at Leeds Playhouse in August 2024, the Playhouse website stated: “American couple James and Lou move to London to escape their past…we can’t say anything else.”
Obviously, a review has to say rather more than that, but the Playhouse poster’s instruction of “Shhh! No spoilers” remains pertinent two years later, even if Punchdrunk theatre director Felix Barrett’s immersive account of American playwright Levi Holloway’s self-contained offshoot from the movie franchise has since enjoyed a hit West End run at the Ambassadors Theatre.
Now the Melting Pot, Simon Friend and Hanna Osnolska touring production is in its early weeks, visiting York, the city that trades as the most haunted in Europe.
“Good horror is personal,” reads the headline in blood-red capitals to introduce writer Holloway’s programme note. “Good horror doesn’t rob you of your sleep, it rules it,” he writes. When the house lights go out, there are people waiting for you in the dark, he declares. “Later, when you try to bed down, when you close your eyes and the dark comes again, you know who to blame.”
Rest far from assured, when your reviewer wended his way to bedfordshire, the landing light remained on all night and no internal doors were closed.
The senses had been scrambled and fried by encountering Paranormal Activity, whose late opening – delayed by 15 minutes on opening night – only heightened the tension. Once Nirvana’s Lithium kicked in at deafening decibels, there would be no escape from sound designer Gareth Fry’s aural assaults, Barrett’s directorial sleights of hand, Anna Watson’s restless lighting and the tricks of the eye of Chris Fisher’s illusion designs that not even the interval could assuage.
The audience is cast into deepest darkness before that Lithium cacophony, an instantly unsettling feeling, whereupon we are invited to take in the full scope of Fly Davis’s two-storey house design: downstairs, an open-plan kitchen-cum-sitting room and dining area; upstairs, the main bedroom, a bathroom, and in between another bedroom, bare now, but potentially a child’s room, should newly-weds James (James Bye) and Lou (Hannah Sinclair Robinson), newly arrived in London from Chicago, make plans.
The stairway will be in constant use in horror movie tradition, and the profusion of doors may be more befitting of a farce, but Paranormal Activity is no laughing matter, albeit it that it starts that way with James (or Jimmy as everyone calls him) and Lou in playful mood, captured in the freedom of movement given to the actors by the director deliberately not “blocking” the opening scenes in rehearsal.
However, we know that the couple have left the USA to “escape their past”, and already the pipes are making funny noises, the lights and the television are playing up, and soon we learn that Lou is on medication for depression. The laughter starts to look nervously over its shoulder.
Each scene ends with being plunged into darkness, the black-out accompanied by the screech or hiss of distorted industrial sound, as deliberately disorientating as interrogation techniques, before the next scene opens with a heightened sense of blind terror,
Bye is appearing in his second psychological thriller of the year at the Grand Opera House after playing opinionated scientist Sam in Danny Robins’s 2:22 A Ghost Story in April. If that play was as much a commentary on the changing culture of living in modern-day London as a ghost story, booted with telegraphed jump scares, Paranormal Activity is not as socially savvy or quick-witted, but it lays its traps with greater subtlety, cranking up the nerve-shredding with delicious timing while consistently adding new layers of mystery, then shredding them before the devastating final revelations.
Jo Castleton’s spiritualist, Etheline Cotgrave, and Caroline Faber’s Carolanne, James’s hyper-religious mother, add to the intrigue, and as the surprises and the scares mount up, Bye and Sinclair Robinson (last seen in York in Frantic Assembly’s Lost Atoms last October) fray at the edges as the couple disintegrates. The truth will out, the theatrical magic will ramp up, and you won’t experience a louder play in York this year.
One word of warning: it has come to your reviewer’s attention that according to one colleague “visibility was heavily restricted from further back in the Grand Circle, where the overhang from the ceilings on the set meant that you couldn’t see the actors’ faces unless they were in the front half of the set”. Bear that in mind when booking.
Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, no sleep until Saturday; performances at 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Bread & Circuses, by Sarah Hall Baqai, from her exhibition at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York
FROM the terrors of Paranormal Activity to circus art, York’s four-day jazz festival to Brian Bilston’s egg-laying poetry, Charles Hutchinson looks ahead to October cultural opportunities.
Exhibition opening of the week: Sarah Hall Baqai, Bread & Circuses, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until November 19
YORK artist Sarah Hall Baqai’s new collection of artworks has the theme of Bread & Circuses, a phrase taken from Roman poet Juvenal’s work Satire X, written in 100AD. In a nutshell, “give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt”, on account of being distracted.
Distraction does not come brighter and more entertaining visually than Sarah’s paintings inspired by life behind the scenes at the circus (from her work with Gifford’s Circus and Fools Delight Circus at Ham Court, Bampton), complemented by lettering and graphic work celebrating York Minster and willow lanterns in the shape of jugglers’ sticks.
James Bye’s James arms himself with a baseball bat in Paranormal Activity. Picture: Credit: Johan Persson
Psychological thriller of the week: Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
IN a new story inspired by the worldwide horror phenomenon, Paranormal Activity is directed by immersive theatre pioneer and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, the playwright behind Broadway hit Grey House.
When James (James Bye) and Lou (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) move from Chicago to London to escape their past, soon they discover that places are not haunted, but people are. Can you hold your nerve in the face of this chilling production on its first British and Irish tour? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Roham Bayat’s poster for the inaugural YorkJazzFest
Festival of the week: YorkJazzFest, tomorrow to Sunday
BEPPE Lombardo, soprano saxophone player in his Italian teenage days and supremo of Trinicria Sicilian Ristorante in Bishopthorpe Road for 15 years, is running the inaugural YorkJazzFest with funding from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayor David Skaith.
Angel On The Green, York Arts Barge, Young Thugs Studio, the Phoenix Inn and The Winning Post play host to concerts on the first three days, culminating in the Bishopthorpe Road Car Park Finale on Sunday, topped off by sets by Dennis Rollins’ Funky-Funk and Ian Chalk. For full listings and tickets, go to: yorkjazzfestival.com.
Ben Portsmouth: Performing Presley’s pearls with his Taking Care Of Elvis Band at York Barbican
King of The King tribute shows: Ben Portsmouth: This Is Elvis, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm
REGARDED as the “closest living performer to the legendary Elvis Presley”, Ben Portsmouth has enjoyed success in more than 20 countries and became the first European to be crowned by Elvis Presley Enterprises as the Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist in Memphis in 2012.
This Is Elvis takes an immersive journey through Presley’s greatest hits from his rockabilly roots to the dazzling Las Vegas years in the company of Portsmouth and the Taking Care Of Elvis Band. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican: Satirical comedy lyrics on folk instruments from Barnsley
“Sexy knitwear” gig of the week: The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 7.30pm
FOUNDED in Barnsley Rock City in 2006 by their outspoken and energetic ringleader Scott Doonican, The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican are on a mission.
Anything but a typical folk ensemble, this collective of like-minded knitwear enthusiasts – Scott, Mo-Jo Doonican, Dave Doonican and the Reight Reverend Jeremiah Rickenbacker III – are determined to follow in their spiritual father’s immortal footsteps, keeping his legacy alive while Bar-Stewardising other famous people’s songs with satirical comedy lyrics on folk instruments, from Jump Ararnd to Goat Yoga. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Mark Harrison Band: Songs and stories at Helmsley Arts Centre
Where folk meets the blues: Mark Harrison Band, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
MARK Harrison writes original songs for today in the spirit of the great troubadours, coupled with stories to make you smile, move and think in a world where blues, roots and folk collide.
Finger-picking and slide guitarist Harrison is joined by Charles Benfield on double bass and Ben Welburn on drums and percussion to create a rhythm section that defies convention, as heard on eight albums to date. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Alchemy Live: Performing the songs of Dire Straits at Kirk Theatre, Pickering
In Dire Straits: Alchemy Live, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm
ALCHEMY Live were formed in 2020 by life-long Mark Knopfler fans and full-time musicians Martin Ledger and Neil Scott, who used the Covid pandemic and resultant lockdowns to put their Dire Straits tribute project in motion. Rehearsals started in 2021 after the worst of the pandemic was over, their first show being scheduled in York for Friday the 13th of May 2022 (what could possibly go wrong)?
They have never looked back, progressing to playing theatres since 2023. “It’s always been our ethos to concentrate on getting the music and sound right, rather than just putting on headbands and shiny jackets,” says frontman Ledger. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
Brian Bilston: Showcasing his latest poetry collection at Milton Rooms, Malton
Poet of the week: Brian Bilston, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 7.30pm
BRIAN Bilston, a poet with more than 500,000 followers on social media, returns to the stage this autumn with his latest book, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, as he takes a journey through the hows, whys and whats of reading, writing and enjoying poetry every day.
Bilston has published such collections as You Took The Last Bus Home, Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love? and Days Like These, along with debut novel Diary Of A Somebody, poetry for younger readers and his 2025 album of poetry set to music, Sounds Made By Humans, recorded in collaboration with The Catenary Wires. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Olly Murs: Enjoying a Knees Up at Live At York Museum Gardens next July
Gig announcement of the week: Futuresound presents Olly Murs, Live At York Museum Gardens, July 9 2027
ESSEX singer-songwriter and The Voice UK coach Olly Murs is the first headline act to be confirmed for next summer’s Live At York Museum Gardens 2027 season, when the event will be expanded to two weekends for the first time. Special guests for that day’s bill are still to be announced.
Murs, 42, returns to the York outdoors after his hat trick of appearances at York Racecourse in 2010, 2017 and 2024. He rose to fame on The X Factor in 2009, since when he has released eight studio albums of pop, indie, ska and disco, the latest being last November’s Knees Up. Box office: York postcode pre-sale from today at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/olly-murs/york-museum-gardens/3730256?pre=postcode; general sale from Friday, 10am, at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/olly-murs/york-museum-gardens/3730256.
Gripping scene: James Bye’s James and Hannah Sinclair Robinson’s Lou in Paranormal Activity. Picture: Johan Persson
JAMES Bye is making a habit of spooking theatre audiences in York, the city that trades as “the most haunted in Europe”.
In April he played self-righteous, hyper-opinionated, sceptical but irritatingly always-right scientist Sam in Danny Robins’s smart, modern-day London supernatural thriller 2:22 A Ghost Story.
From tonight (29/9/2026) to Saturday, he returns to the Grand Opera House to play James in Paranormal Activity, the first British and Irish tour of a new story inspired by the horror film phenomenon, scripted by Levi Holloway, the Chicago writer, director, actor and teacher behind Broadway hit Grey House, and directed by immersive theatre pioneer and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett.
When American couple James (Bye) and Lou (Hannah Sinclair Robinson, last seen in York as Jess in Frantic Assembly’s Lost Atoms at the Theatre Royal) move from Chicago to London to escape their past, soon they discover that rather than places being haunted, people are.
“York is a fantastic city to host this show,” says James. “We’ll fit right in here! I think a theatre [building] definitely brings another dynamic to a performance, and we’re fortunate to be visiting some of the older theatres in the country on this tour. York [the Grand Opera House] is one of the oldest, and everyone will lean into that.”
Who…or what’s there? James Bye’s James in the doorway in Paranormal Activity. Picture: Johan Persson
As he prepares to return to York, how would James compare Paranormal Activity with 2:22 A Ghost Story? “For people who have not seen either or have seen 2:22 and are thinking about coming to Paranormal Activity, I would say 2:22 leans more towards being a thriller with jump scares, whereas with Paranormal Activity what we’re trying to achieve is straight-out old-school horror, where we want the audience to be on the edge of their seats,” says James.
“Not that we don’t want them to enjoy it but we really want to scare them, but it’s done in a more subtle way than in 2:22. This play has a very naturalistic style that is more like television, where the audience feel like they’re in the room with us.”
James continues: “The set design by Fly Davis in incredible: it’s an actual two-storey house, like a doll’s house, with a bedroom, empty bedroom and bathroom upstairs, stairs, and an open-plan kitchen and living area downstairs. We use the whole house, which is lit throughout, which really helps to bring the audience into the ‘room’.
“The audience will see the set before they see any actors and they all just love it! Their breath is taken away before we do anything.”
James joined the tour cast on the back of Paranormal Activity’s hit West End run at the Ambassadors Theatre. “I was asked if I wanted to see it, but I very deliberately said ‘No’ as I didn’t want to copy something subconsciously when it’s such a rich piece in its own right and it becomes very much my own creation,” he says.
James Bye’s Sam takes a vote on a point of debate with Shvorne Marks’s Jenny, Natalie Casey’s Lauren and Grant Kilburn’s Ben in 2:22 A Ghost Story, on tour at Grand Opera House, York, in April 2026
“It’s one of those shows that’s right up the audience’s street. It’s in the horror genre, but very funny too, keeping them entertained with comedy but then flipping it on its head, so the scares are for real.
“This is the challenge: doing something scary on stage while keeping the audience with you. which the director [Felix Barrett] has done brilliantly, blurring the line between 2D and theatre.
“The show absolutely has a cinematic element to it, and that’s very deliberate. We definitely want the audience to lean into that.”
Describing his American character in Paranormal Activity, James says: “He’s like a Labrador: high energy, always fun, trying to make his wife laugh all the time. They’re newly married, they’ve just moved to the UK and they’re super-happy together. He needs her so much and leans on her so much too.
“Then there’s another character, Jimmy’s mum, who’s still in America, so they have moments where they Zoom-call. He’s just a fun-loving guy, but as it progresses, you learn more about him and Lou, and maybe they’re not as much in love as we first thought. Maybe they’re not squeaky clean; maybe they’re living a lie with each other.”
The poster for the 2026 tour of Paranormal Activity
Praising Levi Holloway’s script, James says: “It’s so well crafted: the way the audience laugh genuinely at the start, but then there’s a pitch change, where it becomes nervous laughter. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a show where the audience has been so vocal.
“It’s lovely to get that response from the audience, and I would ask anyone who’s thinking of coming to the show to feel they can vocalise their response , as we’re going on a journey together. You can really embrace being in a room together where it feels like more of an experience.
“Levi brings this super-naturalistic style to the play, where I couldn’t put the script down when I read it. It’s like a work of art how he takes you through the story, one minute making you laugh, the next, sob. I don’t have to force anything. I just have to trust it.”
James is working with Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett for the first time. “It’s very naturalistic style, where a lot of time was spent on thinking about how does fear go through me, how does it affect me, and then the complete opposite: joy. How does joy affect me? It’s very freeing to be able to work like that.
“A lot of time was spent on thinking about how does fear go through me, how does it affect me, and then the complete opposite: joy. How does joy affect me? It’s very freeing to be able to work like that, working on getting into an emotional state, where it’s all about being in the moment.”
What awaits James Bye’s James on the other side of the door? Find out at the Grand Opera House from tonight until Saturday. Picture: Johan Persson
James continues: “The first scene between Jimmy and Lou, which takes up the majority of Act One, is not blocked, so every night has been different. Sometimes Hannah and I just so playful because they’re such a super-fun couple. When we started, that could be quite scary, but we always trusted each other.
“Then there are parts of the play where it’s very specific that things have to happen at a certain time.”
Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, tonight (29/9/2026) to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Did you know?
JAMES Bye played market trader Martin Fowler in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders from December 5 2014 to February 20 2025. The long-running character was killed off in a special live episode for the show’s 40th anniversary, dying of a cardiac arrest after a steel beam crushed him during an explosion at the Queen Victoria pub.
He competed in series 20 of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing in 2022, reaching Week 6, Halloween Week, when he and professional partner Amy Dowden were the fifth couple to be eliminated, beaten in the October 30 dance-off by Fleur East and Vito Coppola.
“Maybe they’re not as much in love as we first thought,” says James Bye. “Maybe they’re not squeaky clean; maybe they’re living a lie with each other.” Picture: Johan Persson
Bread & Circuses, by Sarah Hall Baqai, from her exhibition at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
FROM the terrors of Paranormal Activity to circus art and entertainment, Tony Blackburn’s Sixties’ celebration to the debut York Jazz Fest, Charles Hutchinson heads into a fruitful autumn.
Exhibition opening of the week: Sarah Hall Baqai, Bread & Circuses, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until November 19
YORK artist Sarah Hall Baqai’s new collection of artworks has the theme of Bread & Circuses, a phrase taken from Roman poet Juvenal’s work Satire X, written in 100AD. In a nutshell, “give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt”, on account of being distracted.
Distraction does not come brighter and more entertaining visually than Sarah’s paintings inspired by life behind the scenes at the circus (from her work with Gifford’s Circus and Fools Delight Circus at Ham Court, Bampton), complemented by lettering and graphic work celebrating York Minster and willow lanterns in the shape of jugglers’ sticks.
Russells International Circus: Intent on delivering in-tent entertainment on Knavesmire this weekend
While on the subject of circuses: Russells International Circus, Knavesmire, York, today, 3pm and 6pm, and tomorrow, 12 noon
ROLL up, roll up, as Russells International Circus, voted Britain’s best circus six years running, brings its new show for 2026 to York. Each two-hour performance is jam-packed with mesmerising aerial displays, jaw-dropping stunts, comedy and more besides. Box office: russellscircus.co.uk.
The Jake Leg Jug Band: Songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption at Kirk Theatre, Pickering
Ragtime gig of the week: The Jake Leg Jug Band, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, tonight, 7.30pm
THE Jake Leg Jug Band delivers the authentic sounds of 1920s and 1930s’ America – jazz, blues, ragtime and gospel – in songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption.
Since self-releasing debut album Cotton Mouth, Duncan Wilcox, vocals and double bass, and Warren James, vocals, guitar and banjo, have released a further eight albums in 12 years, among them Next Stop!, Everythin’s Jake, Break A Leg, Fifth Avenue, Goodbye Booze, Hello Central and 2024’s spirituals collection Some Glad Morning. Box office: kirktheatre.co.uk.
Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey: Heading to York Barbican tonight
Eighties’ double bill of the week: Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey and Blancmange, York Barbican, tonight, doors 6.30pm
REMEMBER the Thompson Twins, makers of such 1980s’ hits as Hold Me Now, Doctor Doctor, In the Name Of Love, Love On Your Side, If You Were Here, Lies, Lay Your Hands On Me and King For A Day? Tom Bailey, the Sheffield-founded group’s lead vocalist and instrumentalist, now performs under the name Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, revisiting his past and showcasing debut solo album Science Fiction.
Tonight he closes his autumn tour at York Barbican, the only Yorkshire location on his 14-date itinerary, when fellow 1980s’ chart act Blancmange support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Hannah Sinclair Robinson’s Lou and James Bye’s James on terror alert on the stairs in Paranormal Activity, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Johan Persson Credit: Johan Persson
Psychological thriller of the week: Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, September 29 to October 3, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
IN a new story inspired by the worldwide horror phenomenon, Paranormal Activity is directed by immersive theatre pioneer and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, the playwright behind Broadway hit Grey House.
When James (James Bye) and Lou (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) move from Chicago to London to escape their past, soon they discover that places are not haunted, but people are. Can you hold your nerve in the face of this chilling production on its first British and Irish tour? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Sounds Of The 60’s Live: Sensational Sixties show at York Barbican
Sixties’ celebration of the week: Sounds Of The 60’s Live, hosted by Tony Blackburn, York Barbican, September 29, 7.30pm
BBC Radio 2 presenter Tony Blackburn hosts an evening of stories and songs from “perhaps the most iconic ten years in music, fashion and popular culture” on the Sounds Of The 60’s tour, 62 years since his first broadcast on pirate radio station Radio Caroline South in 1964.
The Sounds Of The 60’s All Star Band and Singers perform hits by The Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, The Drifters, Marvin Gaye, a Rolling Stones medley, The Walker Brothers, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder and more besides. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Roham Bayat’s poster design for the four-day York Jazz Fest
Festival of the week: York Jazz Fest, October 1 to 4
BEPPE Lombardo, soprano saxophone player in his Italian teenage days and supremo of Trinicria Sicilian Ristorante in Bishopthorpe Road for 15 years, is running the inaugural York Jazz Fest with funding from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayor David Skaith.
Angel On The Green, York Arts Barge, Young Thugs Studio, the Phoenix Inn and The Winning Post play host to concerts on the first three days, culminating in the Bishopthorpe Road Car Park Finale next Sunday, topped off by sets by Dennis Rollins’ Funky-Funk and Ian Chalk. For full listings and tickets, go to: yorkjazzfestival.com.
Katy Cawkwell in the poster for Lilith at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
“Shocking, seductive and entertaining” show of the week: Katy Cawkwell in Lilith, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, October 1, 8.30pm
BEFORE Eve, there was Lilith, as revealed in Katy Cawkwell’s uplifting one-woman storytelling showin an exploration and celebration of female power through the mythological figure of Adam’s first wife.
Lilith was not prepared to lie down and accept what was given to her. Thrown out of Eden, she slithered back in to take her revenge and wake up Eve to what her body could do.
“Viewed as a demon, worshipped as a goddess, adored as the Queen of Sheba, Lilith slips out of the Bible, reclaims the narrative and is dancing with us still, forever free,” says Cawkwell, who mixes myth from Arabia, Ethiopia, Mesopotamia and Jewish tradition with a dash of feminist flavouring and a large dollop of her own wild dreaming. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Ben Portsmouth: Presenting This Is Elvis with the Taking Care Of Elvis Band at York Barbican
Tribute gig of the week: Ben Portsmouth: This Is Elvis, York Barbican, October 2, 7.30pm
REGARDED as the “closest living performer to the legendary Elvis Presley”, Ben Portsmouth has enjoyed success in more than 20 countries and became the first European to be crowned by Elvis Presley Enterprises as the Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist in Memphis in 2012.
This Is Elvis takes an immersive journey through Presley’s greatest hits from his rockabilly roots to the dazzling Las Vegas years in the company of Portsmouth and the Taking Care Of Elvis Band. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
In Focus: Say Owt Slam, featuring Kirsty Taylor and KG, The Crescent, York, tonight, 7.30pm to 10pm
Bradford writer and educator Kirsty Taylor. Picture: Carolyn Mendelsohn
SAY Owt, York’s loveable gang of loveable gang of performance poets, brings the best working-class poets and rappers from Bradford tonight to complement the Say Owt Slam clash of the verbals.
“Since 2014, we’ve hosted high-energy nights of words and verse, bringing together poets, musicians, spoken-word artists, rappers and anyone with a story to tell,” says artistic director Henry Raby.
“We’re always proud of our line-ups, but this could be our most exciting parade of poets yet. It wouldn’t be possible without buzzy audiences showing up and being loud and demanding more and more shows! And it wouldn’t be a Say Owt season without a poetry slam!”
Henry continues: “Say Owt Slam is an energetic battle of words where judges in the audience score the poets and the top-scoring poet is crowned Say Owt Slam champion at the end of the night. Tonight, as well as a top crop of York poets, we have slammers from Glasgow, Manchester and Halifax hoping to win the competition.”
Kemmi Gill: Rapper, poet and youth worker
Tonight’s bill also features two guests from guests from Bradford, Kirsty Taylor and KG (Kemmi Gill). “Kirsty is a writer and educator inspired by her beloved home city of Bradford,” says Henry. “She is passionate about storytelling through poetry and has performed all over the country telling tales about people, class and the realities of Broken Britain.”
Taylor was a BBC Verb New Voice in 2017 and was awarded the Apples and Snakes & Jerwood Arts Poetry in Performance award in 2020. She is the creator of Front Room Poetry, which takes nanna-style living rooms and world-class poets to unusual settings such as car parks and housing estates.
Kirsty opened Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture 2025 in January last year when she performed her words to 20,000 people over the first weekend.
KG (Kemmi Gill) is a Bradford-born rapper, poet and youth worker, hailed by Wordplay Magazine as “one of the sharpest lyricists” in the UK rap scene. “Kemmi combines lyrical storytelling and wordplay to explore themes of struggle and hope and has contributed writing and performance work to major civic projects, such as the open-air spectacular Rise and Common/Wealth’s sell-out show Public Interest,” says Henry.
Portuguese jazz singer Raquel Alvaro: Performing with The Jazzville Quinteton October 24
YORK Theatre Royal Studio will be transformed into The Old Paint Shop cabaret club once more for an autumn season of 13 shows spanning spoken word to vibraphone, burlesque to anarchic bingo from October 7 to 24.
As ever, seating will be cabaret club style and unreserved, offering a unique theatrical experience where you can “grab a drink at the bar, sit back, relax and enjoy the show in York’s most exciting nightspot”.
Here are the acts in store:
October 7, Vibe-ology
LED by John Settle’s vibraphone, underpinned by blazing Hammond Organ, soulful drums and Al Morrison’s guitar, York quartet Vibe-ology play jazz, blues, funk and Latin.
Collectively, band members have worked Corinne Bailey, Rae, the New Mastersounds, Haggis Horns, Martina Topley-Bird, New York Brass Band, Larry Carlton, Alan Barnes, Dennis Rollins and countless others. Expect an eclectic programme from four of the north’s busiest players.
October 8, Evolution Of Fishermen
BROUGHT together by a mutual love of storytelling, harmony and original folk songs in 2021, contemporary folk band Evolution Of have played venues such as Green Note, O2 Academy Islington, Old Blue Last in London and The Crescent in York. They have appeared at festivals such as Wilderness, Deer Shed, Gate To Southwell, LOOP Fest and Sam Lee’s The NEST stage at Medicine Festival too.
October 9, Boogaloo Stu presents Big Squiffy Bingo
BOOGALO Stu is “altogether completely ridiculous, simply fabulous and utterly idiotic” as he hosts a night of gloriously playful and anarchic bingo where utter filth, joyous fun and flashmob dances collide.
“You’ll get non-stop nonsense, outrageous antics, buttock-clenching workouts, hilarious prizes and some very ballsy bingo to boot,” promises Stu, whose gift hamper will be stuffed to the brim with all manner of exotic prizes. “So come on down and win it big!”
October 10, Beverley Beirne Quartet
JAZZ singer Beverley Beirne has performed at leading clubs throughout the UK and Europe. For this performance, she brings with her two highly regarded jazz musicians from the London scene, pianist John Crawford and double bassist Andy Hamill, along with northern drummer Steve Hanley.
October 14, Henry Raby, Hope and Anger
YORK punk poet and Say Owt supremo Henry Raby wrestles through the twin emotions of hope and anger with a spoken-word cocktail of poetry and comedy as he seeks to understand the righteous and the rotten. “Come and share in fist-clenched frustration and celebrate examples of the world, and the heartfelt people in it, at their shiniest and brightest,” says Henry.
October 15, Hannah Rowe
NORTHERN silky vocalist Hannah Rowe will be backed by her ten-piece band at The Old Paint Shop on the first stop of her autumn tour. Described as Yorkshire’s answer to Raye and Olivia Dean, she is a standout in the independent music scene, gracing stages at Tramlines, Truck, Y Not and Victorious Festival with her jazz-infused soulful sound and timeless writing.
October 16, Freida Nipples presents…The Exhibitionists
JOIN York’s own internationally award-winning burlesque artist Freida Nipples as she welcomes some of her favourite and most fabulous performance artists from across the UK and further afield to The Old Paint Shop.
“From burlesque to drag and beyond, be sure to expect the unexpected,” says Freida. “Only a few things are guaranteed: glamour, gags and giggles. Get ready to explore the world of The Exhibitionists.”
October 17, Alligator Gumbo
THE seven-piece Alligator Gumbo 7-piece play jazz from the heyday of the New Orleans swing/jazz era, in particular the “Roaring Twenties”, when music was raw and largely improvised with melodies and solos happening simultaneously.
Performing extensively for more than ten years, Alligator Gumbo have made numerous appearances at international jazz festivals and clubs throughout the country, establishing themselves as favourites on the British jazz scene.
October 20, Coming Out Scratch Night
THIS sparkling one-off night of new LGBTQ+ performances by actors, poets and writers features eight stories in various styles, each exploring the highs (and occasional lows) of coming out.
The show is produced by Yorkshire queer touring theatre company Roots, winners of an Edinburgh Fringe First award for Happy Meal, with all proceeds going towards their support of new local artists.
October 21, Pen and Stu – Folk!
MODERN folk duo Pen and Stu play original contemporary folk with BIG whistles, tenor guitars and an assortment of other instruments. Their songs, written by Pen and arranged by Stu, tell stories of famous characters from history and folklore, heroes, villains and pirate queens.
Their Folk! show comprises plenty of wonderful traditional and original tunes and songs, including unreleased tracks and favourite folk covers.
October 22, (Fool)ish Improv: About Time
YORKSHIRE improvisers Fool(ish), return to The Old Paint Shop to deliver their usual comedic chaos inspired by you, the audience. “Together, we will rewrite the history of York by travelling through time, ignoring the experts and rediscovering what really makes York tick,” they say.
“Unvictorious Vikings, Random Romans, Wandering Wizards and brand-new ghost stories (that you wish had stayed buried) all combine in this unlikely history instantly improvised in the present moment. About Time is the time-travelling improv comedy show powered by laughter and inviting you to play with our past.”
October 23, Say Owt Showcase
THE Say Owt Showcase evening of poetry, music and comedy veers from the righteous to the raucous to the heartfelt and back again, brought to you by the same gobby gang that have been proudly packing out The Crescent for years.
Veterans of the Edinburgh Fringe and highly commended in the York Culture Awards, let Hannah Davies, Stu Freestone, Jarmouse and Henry Raby entertain you.
October 24, The Jazzville Quintet with Raquel Alvaro and Alec Robinson
AFTER two sold-out shows at The Old Paint Shop, The Jazzville Quintet return for a joyful celebration of Latin, swing and haunting jazz ballads, led by the fabulous Portuguese jazz songbird, Raquel Alvaro.
A graduate of Leeds Conservatoire, Raquel is adept at many styles of singing, embracing classical, Fado and all styles of jazz. Joining Raquel is piano maestro, arranger and composer, Alec Robinson, her fellow Leeds Conservatoire graduate, alongside saxophone star, Alex Fisher, Chris Sykes on drums and Tim Murgatroyd on double bass.
All shows start at 8pm apart from Coming Out Scratch Night at 7pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
David Essex: Playing York Barbican and Hull Connexin Live this week
FROM David Essex’s night of memories to the terrors of Paranormal Activity, Tony Blackburn’s Sixties’ celebration to Dirt Road Band’s blues, Charles Hutchinson heads into a fruitful autumn.
Still rocking on: David Essex, Thanks For The Memories, York Barbican, tomorrow, doors 7pm; Hull Connexin Live, Friday, doors 6.30pm
SINGER, composer and actor David Essex, now 79, is into the last week of his 21-date Thanks For The Memories tour, celebrating his 55-year career that began with playing Jesus in the London premiere of Godspell in 1971.
Essex has notched 19 Top 40 hits in the UK alone, such as the Grammy-nominated Rock On, Lamplight, Gonna Make You A Star, Stardust, Hold Me Close, Oh What A Circus, Silver Dream Machine, A Winter’s Tale and Tahiti. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Hull, connexinlivehull.com.
Dirt Road Band: “Punchy blues rock music to make your heart beat faster”
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Dirt Road Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm
THE Dirt Road Band’s line-up of Steve Walwyn, guitar and vocals, Horace Panter, bass, and Ted Duggan, drums, play hard, punchy blues rock music to make your heart beat faster.
Walwyn spent 32 years in Dr Feelgood; Panter was a founding member of The Specials and Duggan has played with Banco de Gaia and Badfinger. They began Dirt Road Band as a side project five years ago, since when it has moved centre stage with the album release of Righteous in 2024. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Peter Brush: Quirky one-liners and original routines at Hilarity Bites Comedy Club
Ryedale comedy gig of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm
FRIDAY’S bill comprises Peter Brush, Pete Selwood and Al Stevenson. Brush, a deft writer of finely crafted jokes, takes to the stage unassumingly with his slight, bespectacled frame and scruffy hair to deliver quirky one-liners and original routines in an amusingly awkward fashion.
Yorkshireman Selwood focuses on tales of northern life, while being born with only one hand gives him a unique experience of the world around him, as he pokes fun at having a disability in modern Britain. Stevenson is a quick-witted Newcastle cheeky charmer who has hosted The Stand Comedy Club in his home city. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Mayhem, madness and muppetry of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company presents Right Here Right Now!, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
YORK company Riding Lights goes on the road to Helmsley with its improvised show Right Here Right Now!, promising “no script, no clue, all chaos”. You bring the ideas for the merry band of improvisers to turn them into high-speed comedy, using witty games and gags to bring side-splitting stories to life. Cue joy-filled nonsense and feel-good fun for the family. Who wins the comedy crown? You decide! Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Infectious pop punk covers of the week: Captain Clap & The Burning Sensations, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 7.30pm
SOME years ago three men, all old enough to know better, decided the time was right to play pop punk, only missing the genre’s peak by a couple of decades. Since then, they have been bringing covers, bad jokes and loud, lively nights to pubs and clubs around Yorkshire, playing festivals and organising fundraisers too. “Expect pop punk classics, scene anthems and inappropriate song choices,” they say. Mooch support. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
The Jake Leg Jug Band: Songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption at Kirk Theatre, Pickering
Ragtime gig of the week: The Jake Leg Jug Band, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm
THE Jake Leg Jug Band delivers the authentic sounds of 1920s and 1930s’ America – jazz, blues, ragtime and gospel – in songs of murder, betrayal, gambling, liquor and redemption.
Since self-releasing debut album Cotton Mouth, Duncan Wilcox, vocals and double bass, and Warren James, vocals, guitar and banjo, have released a further eight albums in 12 years, among them Next Stop!, Everythin’s Jake, Break A Leg, Fifth Avenue, Goodbye Booze, Hello Central and 2024’s spirituals collection Some Glad Morning. Box office: kirktheatre.co.uk.
Eighties’ double bill of the week: Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey and Blancmange, York Barbican, Saturday, doors 6.30pm
REMEMBER the Thompson Twins, makers of such 1980s’ hits as Hold Me Now, Doctor Doctor, In the Name Of Love, Love On Your Side, If You Were Here, Lies, Lay Your Hands On Me and King For A Day. Tom Bailey, the Sheffield-founded group’s lead vocalist and instrumentalist, now performs under the name Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, revisiting his past and showcasing debut solo album Science Fiction.
On Saturday, he closes his autumn tour at York Barbican, the only Yorkshire location on his 14-date itinerary, when fellow 1980s’ chart act Blancmange support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Psychological thriller of the week: Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, September 29 to October 3, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
IN a new story inspired by the worldwide horror phenomenon, Paranormal Activity is directed by immersive theatre pioneer and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, the playwright behind Broadway hit Grey House.
When James and Lou move from Chicago to London to escape their past, soon they discover that places are not haunted, but people are. Can you hold your nerve in the face of this chilling production on its first British and Irish tour? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The poster for Sounds Of The 60’s Live at York Barbican
Sixties’ celebration of the week: Sounds Of The 60’s Live, hosted by Tony Blackburn, York Barbican, September 29, 7.30pm
BBC Radio 2 presenter Tony Blackburn hosts an evening of stories and songs from “perhaps the most iconic ten years in music, fashion and popular culture” on the Sounds Of The 60’s tour, 62 years since his first broadcast on pirate radio station Radio Caroline South in 1964.
The Sounds Of The 60’s All Star Band and Singers perform hits by The Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, The Drifters, Marvin Gaye, a Rolling Stones medley, The Walker Brothers, Diana Ross & The Supremes, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Stevie Wonder and more besides. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus – Homer’s Odyssey, by J.M.W. Turner, 1829, on loan from National Gallery, London, for Turner, Wedgwood & Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman at York Art Gallery. Copyright: National Gallery, London
GHOSTLY sculptures in gardens, the best in class in brass bands, Mikron Theatre’s mobile library tribute and 60 years of Gilbert O’Sullivan are among Charles Hutchinson’s cultural highlights.
Exhibition opening of the week: Turner, Wedgwood & Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman, York Art Gallery, on show until running until January 17 2027
J.M.W. Turner’s masterpiece Ulysses deriding Polyphemus – Homer’s Odyssey, generously lent by the National Gallery, is making an epic journey north to go on display at York Art Gallery in the wake of the Odyssey’s comeback into popular culture in Christopher Nolan’s film.
Turner, Wedgwood Beyond: Inspired by Flaxman features an ‘Odyssey wall’ in an exhibition that reflects on the life and legacy of York-born sculptor, illustrator and designer John Flaxman (1755 –1826). Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk.
One of 70 ghosts in the Ghosts In The Gardens trail through York this autumn. Picture: Amy D’Agorne
Trail of the week: Ghosts In The Gardens, York, September 19 to November 1
GHOSTS In The Gardens is back for its sixth haunting season and this time the ghosts are bringing even more friends as 70 ghostly sculptures appear in gardens, on balconies, along the city walls and in unexpected corners of York city centre.
Ten new ghosts join familiar faces from York’s past, each sculpture offering a snapshot of history, bringing fascinating York people, creatures or stories back to life. Some ghosts will return to old haunts, others will be found somewhere new. Admission is free.
John Bramwell: Heading for Selby Town Hall
Humble agenda of the week: John Bramwell, Selby Town Hall, September 19, 7.30pm
AS the singer in I Am Kloot from 1999 to 2014, John Bramwell achieved a Mercury Prize nomination for 2010’s The Sky At Night, a top ten chart position for 2013’s Let It All In, numerous UK and European tours and a triumphant orchestral farewell at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Now, as a solo artist, Bramwell travels a very different path, a path that criss-crosses the length and breadth of the UK with a humble agenda of taking his heartwarming songs to the stage for his devoted fans. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.
York Railway Institute Band: Taking part in National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain at York Barbican. Picture: Keith Meadley Photography
Brass clashes of the week:National Brass Band Championships of Great Britain 2026, York Barbican, September 19 and 20 from 9am and 3pm each day
THE National Brass Band Championships bring more than 70 of the country’s finest brass bands to York for the Sections 1 to 4 national finals. Among the Yorkshire bands competing will be York Railway Institute Band, Wetherby Silver Band and Swinton & District Excelsior Band, all having qualified to compete for National honours. Tickets: Only available to buy in-person on the day. No advance tickets.
Piff the Magic Dragon and Penn Jillette inPiff & Pop’s Magic Shoppe at Grand Opera House, York
Magical show of the week: Piff & Pop’s Magic Shoppe, Grand Opera House, York, September 19, 7.30pm
LEGENDARY magician Penn Jillette, of Penn & Teller fame, is touring the UK for the first time without his 50-year companion Teller, teaming up instead with London-born, Las Vegas-based comedy-magician phenomenon Piff the Magic Dragon (alias John van der Put), from America’s Got Talent.
Act One feature a solo act from both Pop (Penn) and Piff along with Mr Piffles, the world’s only magic-performing Chihuahua.. In Act Two, they blend into a one-of-a-kind double act. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Georgina Liley, left, Robert Took, Catherine Warnock and James McLean in Mikron Theatre’s Top Of The World, on tour at Clements Hall, York. Picture: Robling Photography
Touring theatre show of the week: Mikron Theatre in Top Of The World, Clements Hall, York, September 20, 2pm
MARSDEN’S travelling troupe Mikron Theatre makes its second visit of 2026 to York, this time with Maeve Larkin’s celebration of the importance of mobile libraries as sanctuaries, beacons of hope, public services that connect people and communities in a digital age where human connection is more important than ever.
Top Of The Wold invites audiences to hop aboard the charmingly quirky mobile library for a heart-warming journey via Bempton, Bridlington, Hornsea and Howden in an exploration of a region barely noticed by the nation it feeds, celebrating the forgotten, the resilient and the wonderfully eccentric. Tickets: available from Pextons, Bishopthorpe Road, York; Clements Hall, 01904 466086; by email to [email protected] or 07974 867301.
Tim Key: Serving up Loganberry comical whimsy at York Theatre Royal
Unpredictable comedy gig of the week: Tim Key, Loganberry, York Theatre Royal, September 20, 8pm
TIM Key, from The Ballad Of Wallis Island and Tim Key’s Late Night Poetry Programme, pops his suit on again to plod about in new show Loganberry. In Key’s own words, “Bit gutted he’s old. Guzzling continental lager. Magnetic LOL. Decent reviews for previous shows. Played a pigeon in Bong Joon Ho’s latest movie. Been on Richard Herring’s podcast. Book out: “L.A. Baby!”. Met Steffi Graf in 1998/9. This show has poems in, and he’ll stamp and howl.” Who knows what else may lie in wait on Sunday! Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Mark Thomas: “Taster menu of government and personal mayhem, jokes, rants and a state of the nation broadcast”
Comedy landmark of the week: Mark Thomas, 40 In Stand-Up Years, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, September 20, 8pm
WHAT?! Mark Thomas has been “standing up” for 40 years? Impossible! But how old does that make you…? Alas it is true: one of our oldest-surviving alternative comics celebrates 40 years at the mic as he takes his new show on the road this autumn.
Expect a taster menu of government and personal mayhem, jokes, rants and a state of the nation broadcast as Thomas tries to turn ‘what the **** is going on?’ into a cogent night of stand-up.Box office: leedsheritagetheatres.com/whats-on/mark-thomas-2026/.
Gilbert O’Sullivan: Songs old and new at the Grand Opera House, York
Seventies’ chart topper of the week: Gilbert O’Sullivan, Celebrating 60 Years Of Music, Grand Opera House, York, September 22, 7.30pm
GILBERT O’Sullivan will celebrate 60 years of making music, revisiting his UK chart toppers, 1972’s Clair and 1973’s Get Down, as well as such O’Sullivan favourites as No Matter How I Try, We Will, Matrimony, Ooh-Wakka-Doo-Wakka-Day, Why, Oh Why, Oh Why and What’s In A Kiss?, his last of 16 Top 40 entries from August 1980. Then add further selections from his 21 studio albums, the latest, On The Record, being previewed ahead of its November 6 release. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Nish Kumar’s tour poster for Angry Humour From A Really Nice Guy
Political disquiet of the week: Nish Kumar, Angry Humour From A Really Nice Guy, Grand Opera House, York, September 23, Leeds Playhouse, October 3, Hull Truck Theatre, October 9 and Scarborough Spa Theatre, November 14
“THE world is in chaos,” laments political comedian Nish Kumar. “Inequality is widening, autocracy is rising and political parties are collapsing. In these divided times, what this country desperately needs is Angry Humour From a Really Nice Guy. (In many ways it’s actually the last thing this country needs, but it’s what it’s getting, so tough luck).”
Pod Save The UK podcast co-host and former host of axed BBC Two show The Mash Report and Late Night Mash, Kumar has entered his 40s. His mind is breaking, his body is worse, “but audiences can still expect existential angst and political disquiet from comedy’s cheekiest boy”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Ceramics by Emily Stubbs and paintings by Di Gomery at Tinker Gallery
Last chance to view: Di Gomery & Emily Stubbs, Fracture and Flow: Conversations in Paint and Clay, Tinker Gallery, Church Street, Ilkley, until September 26
THIS exhibition by York artists Di Gomery (paintings) and Emily Stubbs (ceramics) is into its final week. Gallery owner and artist Joanne Tinker has refreshed the show since much of the work sold. Opening hours: Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm; other times by appointment.
The poster for the Pigeon Paint Off at City Screen Picturehouse, York, On Saturday
A COMPETIVE Pigeon Paint Off, the biggest of book fairs, top-drawer chamber music and Wright&Grainger’s new material are among Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for a particularly intriguing week ahead.
Bird show of the week: Dead Toe Society presents Pigeon Paint Off, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Saturday, 12 noon to 5.30pm
THE inaugural Pigeon Paint Off creative fundraising event in support of Columba Sanctuary and Advocacy for Pigeons features a live art competition with 11 artists and resulting picture auction, complemented by a Pigeon Social and Pigeon-themed Pub Quiz from 6pm, with the quiz starting at 7pm. Look out too for bird-themed arts and crafts on sale and a raffle with “some snazzy prizes”.
“Watch talented artists bring original works to life, each one inspired by our feathered friends, in two rounds of one-hour paint-offs with audience votes deciding the champion,” says organiser Sam Crick. “You’ll also be able to learn more about why pigeons are suffering, the issues they are facing, why they need our support and how you can help advocate for their wellbeing.” Tickets:https://www.tickettailor.com/events/deadtoesociety/2373410.
Book event of the week: York National Book Fair, Knavesmire Suite, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, Saturday, 10am to 5pm
AT Britain’s largest antiquarian book fair, 186 ‘bookshops’ are set up under one roof with prices ranging from only a few pounds to tens of thousands for more than 100,000 books. All subjects, all dates, from medieval to ultra-modern, are on sale, along with ephemera, manuscripts, prints, photographs and posters, while trade stands are selling marbled papers and binding materials.
York Racecourse offers unlimited free parking and a free shuttle bus is running from the Memorial Gardens on Railway Street to Knavesmire every 30 minutes. Tickets on the door cost £2. Alternatively, head to https://yorkbookfair.com/one-day-complimentary-ticket-2/ to book a complimentary ticket. Children aged under 16 are admitted for free
Classical festival of the week: York Chamber Music Festival, Saturday and Sunday
THIS year’s 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 festival artistic director Tim Lowe, cellos, to participate, along with regular festival artist Katya Apekisheva, the British-based Russian pianist.
On Saturdayy, at 1pm, at St Saviourgate Unitarian Chapel, Brendel plays Imogen Holst’s The Fall Of The Leaf and J. S. Bach’s Cello Suite No 2 in D Minor; at 7.30pm, at the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, all seven perform Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor Op 49, Mahler’s Piano Quartet (movement) in A minor – Nicht zu schnell and Brahms’s Piano Quartet in C minor Op 60. All but Apekisheva return for Beethoven’s String Quintet in C Major Op. 29 and Brahms’s String Quintet in F major, Op. 88, on Sunday at 3pm at St Olave’s Church, Marygate. Box office: ycmf.co.uk or 01904 658338.
Artist trail of the week: Staithes Festival of Arts and Heritage, Staithes, near Whitby, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm
DISCOVER 113 artists exhibiting across 67 venues through Staithes. Explore galleries, cottages, studios and hidden spaces transformed into exhibition venues across the fishing village. Find out who is taking part at https://www.staithesfestival.com/festival/artists.php.
Enjoy live music, buskers, creative workshops, demonstrations, outdoor cinema, family activities and festival extras too. For the full event programme, go to: https://www.staithesfestival.com/festival/events.php.
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 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Songs old and new of the week: Michael Ball, Glow UK Tour, York Barbican, Saturday, doors 7pm
MUSICAL star and radio and TV presenter Michael Ball promotes his 23rd solo album, Glow, on his 25-date tour.
“There’s probably only one thing I enjoy more than being in the studio – writing, producing and singing songs with people I love – and that’s taking it all out on the road and performing those songs, as well as all the old favourites to the audiences I love,” he says. Liss Jones supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Comedy gig of the week: Urzila Carlson, Fatty On A Yacht, York Barbican, Sunday, 8pm
SOUTH African-New Zealander Urzila Carlson returns to the UK with her understated punchlines and signature deadpan delivery in Fatty On A Yacht. Ever felt like you don’t belong? Like everyone else got the memo – and you turned up in the wrong outfit, on the wrong day, on the wrong yacht? Carlson’s new show is for anyone who has ever tried to squeeze into a space, physical or social, and thought “This can’t be right”. “It’s about not fitting in, standing out and laughing about it anyway,” she says. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Country gig of the week: Ward Thomas, Celebrating 10 Years Of Cartwheels Tour, York Barbican, September 14, 7.30pm
HAMPSHIRE twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas perform their second album in its entirety, revisiting the record – written at home and in Nashville – that made history as the first by a British country act to top the UK Albums Chart in 2016.
“We had to plan a celebration for its ten-year anniversary,” says Lizzy. “We’ll be bringing our full band, doing a type of show we haven’t done in a long time.” The Wandering Hearts support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
New music, words and stories of the week: Wright& Grainger, Scratch An Itch, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 18, 7.30pm
IN a rare little moment of public-facing recklessness, Easingwold duo Wright&Grainger have some brand new stuff they wish try out in front of, and with, some other people. “It’ll defo involve a piano,” say Alex and Phil. “It’ll defo have music and words and story.
“There’s some tasty clues to follow, some sweet ideas to develop, some scary instincts to trust. And now there’s this big and warm open invite to you, to come join. So please do. We’d love that. Fingers crossed it’ll be good.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Nicki Clay’s Shelley, left, and Gemma McDonald’s Linda in MARMiTE Theatre’s Ladies Day
AMANDA Whittington’s frisky-as-a-colt northern comedy-drama is on to a winner once more, this time trained by Martyn Hunter in the colours of MARMiTE Theatre.
Premiered by Hull Truck Theatre in 2005 to take advantage of Royal Ascot’s migration north to York Racecourse that summer, Ladies’ Day was last saddled up at Theatre@41, Monkgate, by Robert Readman’s Pick Me Up Theatre in 2019 with a cast led by the formidable female frontline of Rosy Rowley, Florence Poskett, Bromwyn Jennison and May Tether.
Lucy Beaumont, later to flourish as a none-more-Hull comedian, had made her professional debut as shy Linda in the Hull Truck show by the way.
Jeanette Hunter’s Pearl, left, Nicki Clay’s Shelley and Jackie Cox’s sozzled Jan in MARMiTE Theatre’s Ladies Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
Martyn Hunter had no hesitation in picking his principal quartet without auditions for MARMiTE Theatre’s second production, following up last autumn’s sold-out debut account of The Vicar Of Dibley.
Jeanette Hunter’s Pearl is on the cusp of leaving the Hessle fish-filleting factory where she works with food-obsessed Jan (Jackie Cox), diffident Tony Christie fan Linda (Rowntree Players pantomime goofball Gemma McDonald) and brassy, brittle wannabe celebrity Shelley (Nicki Clay, so splendid as vicar Geraldine in The Vicar Of Dibley).
Readman had favoured two burgeoning talents in Poskitt and the now professional Tether, alongside Rowley and Jemmison, whereas Hunter banks on years and years of experience in his quartet, as Pearl heads off with the girls to Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot on the Knavesmire track for her “non-retirement” party.
Jeanette Hunter’s Pearl, left, Nicki Clay’s Shelley, Jackie Cox’s Jan and Gemma McDonald’s Linda hoping for victory for Broken Dream in the sixth race in Ladies’ Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
Matched by Hunter’s design switching from white tiles and work surfaces to the pageantry of the racecourse, depicted in scenery artist Lucy Baines’s Knavesmire mural, they transform from peaked caps and white wellies to their Ascot glad rags and fascinators. Like Cinderella, all they need now is a ticket to have a ball, whereupon Linda chances across a mislaid handbag with four tickets inside.
“It’s stealing,” she says. “It’s fate,” says last-chance saloon dreamer Shelley, and in they go, placing a jackpot accumulator across the race card with each selection picked for its Tony Christie connection.
What ensues is a comedy whose breeding bears hallmarks of both Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady and John Godber’s stable of fast and furious, physical, happy-sad plays, where characters look to improve their circumstances as the ordinary briefly encounters the extraordinary.
Trevor Britain’s world-weary Irish jockey Patrick and Gemma McDonald’s Linda, Tony Christie’s number one fan, in Ladies’ Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
At work, the girls gossip, tease, spark and spar to counter the monotony, singing Tony Christie’s (Is This The Way To) Amarillo and Michael Jackson’s Ben, and dreaming beyond the Hessle hustle and bustle. On the course, they still gossip, tease, spark and spar, but Whittington’s broad, brash comedy is underscored by darkness, in part influenced by the prodigious intake of alcohol by all but Linda.
Each makes a startling revelation as the day at the races progresses and the accumulator wins pile up towards the climactic sixth race. If Broken Dream wins, they will take home £500,000. If not, their dreams are broken.
In Hull, York pantomime regular Martin Barrass had brought chameleon character acting skills and comic craft to playing all of Whittington’s roster of men, who each crave an injection of happiness in their daily routines.
Jackie Cox’s Jan listens to Jeanette Hunter’s Pearl as she reveals her secret in Ladies’ Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
Hunter makes the decision to spread the roles, being rewarded by colourful turns by Chris Gibson’s Joe, the Australia-bound factory foreman; Robbie Howe’s leery, jaundiced TV racing pundit Jim McCormack; Stuart Rae’s cynical ticket tout Fred and drunken betting addict Kevin and Trevor Britain’s exotically coiffured Tony Christie and wistful veteran Irish jockey Patrick.
Martyn Hunter makes a late cameo appearance as bookie Barry in the play’s most heart-rending scene with wife Jeanette’s Pearl, to the accompaniment of Westverse’s cover of Unchained Melody. Pearl, who has hidden a secret for seven years, brings out the full range of Jeanette’s acting, adding grit to the familiar sparkle.
Cox handles the tricky challenge of Jan’s drunk-as-a-skunk behaviour with aplomb; McDonald’s Linda, the quiet one with the troublesome mother, suddenly blossoms with new radiance; Clay’s Shelley is the tour-de-force standout, even more vulnerable than the rest behind the boldest of fronts.
Robbie Howe’s TV racing pundit Jim spins his yarn to Nicki Clay’s Shelley in Ladies’ Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
Hunter’s design uses York Races and Royal Ascot insignia, a railing and foliage to set the scene, while a television screen announces each scene change and the betting odds for each race. Look out for the MARMiTE name on the fish factory sign.
There is so much to love about MARMiTE Theatre’s version of a play long established as worthy of the winner’s enclosure. Should you see it? You bet!
MARMiTE Theatre presents Ladies’ Day, Theatre@41, Monkgate, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Frances Marshall’s Allistra Clay, left, Elizabeth Boag’s Devaney Dyer, Leigh Symonds’s Octavius and Richard Stacey’s RSDO 83 in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
YOU might think it would be impossible for Alan Ayckbourn still to come up with a first in his seventh decade as a playwright.
Wrong! You should know better! Play number 92 is his inaugural courtroom drama, but one set in a dystopian future in a first of its own: the first murder trial of a non-human in the year 2194, with the undercurrent of a detective story bubbling away too.
In a riff on the infamous promotional tagline for Ridley Scott’s 1979 science-fiction horror movie Alien, Ayckbourn pronounces that “in space no-one can hear you dream”: the first indication of the play’s lament for the decreasing role of the arts, whether theatre or music, whether Shakespeare or Tchaikovsky, on the educational curriculum now, let alone 168 years henceforward.
Latterly, Ayckbourn has switched between writing about the past and the future, but all the while commenting on the present that constantly disappoints, even disturbs, him.
Richard Stacey’s RSDO 83 and Olivia Woolhouse’s Hermione Quinque re-enacting the the tomb scene from Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet in the courtroom in The Trial Of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Rather than the grouchiness of ornery old age, his writing remains vibrant, innovative, full of wit and wisdom, surprise and mischief, more sage than rage in delivery at 87.
You will hear his recorded voice too in his original soundscape for The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, whether pronouncing the request for mobile phones to be switched to mute or announcing the journey from the surface to Defence Suite 19 of the Subterranean Hub 19, 27 levels down in the Citrus Legal Complex, and later, for Act II, some days later, to Courtroom 3 on Level 3 of Kevin Jenkins’ futuristic set design.
The Citrus Corporation runs everything, both the lay of the parched land and the law of the land, now that central government has been replaced by big corporations. It is uncomfortably close to today’s march of AI, the rise of the tech brothers and Elon Musk brandishing his Doge chainsaw at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
On Earth, or Terra as it is now called, trees and house plants are confined to museums, music has been replaced by bleeps and beats (isn’t that happening already?!) and Shakespeare is no longer taught to the likes of Elizabeth Boag’s Devaney Dyer, the Firebrand Corporation’s Yorkshire-blunt chief engineer, whose skills are in her hands.
Alan Ayckbourn: First courtroom drama in his 92nd play. Picture: Tony Bartholomew, 2020
She is repairing Richard Stacey’s RSDO 83, a war hero from recent days, to prepare this battered military-issue android to face trial for killing a 13-year-old girl who had been in his care since her parents took their own lives.
RSDO 83’s reconstruction is being overseen by Leigh Symonds’s Assistant Arbiter Octavius, a sanguine humanoid court official, who learns new words, aphorisms and phrases each day in a running joke by Ayckbourn that delights in the vagaries of the English language.
This is typical of the slower-than-usual release of accumulative humour in Ayckbourn’s script, where so much exposition is necessary to set up the milieu: a world outwardly unfamiliar and yet redolent of the woes and wars of today.
Once the characters and their characterisation, their tropes and mannersisms, become familiar, their interaction leads to drama that is both gravely serious and yet waspish in its wit underneath the troubled surface.
Leigh Symonds’s Assistant Arbiter Octavius, left, keeps his head down as Russell Richardson’s judge, Arbiter Jefferies, makes his point. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
RSDO 83 may be the accused in the legal landmark case, but humanity is on trial as Ayckbourn asks the question: What makes us human? Art, music, literature, as much as science, is the answer of a playwright who has long been fascinated by science fiction.
Allistra Clay (York actress Frances Marshall) is appointed RSDO 83’s defence counsel on the grounds that she will know nothing about the case, as she is from Titan. Titan, however, is milk and honey by comparison with the Earth. Not caught up in the war, it still values music and literature, and so she can call on her knowledge of Romeo And Juliet for this new tale of Romeo Oscar and a girl called Juliet that will mirror the tragic path of Shakespeare’s play.
The case for the defence will be laid out with the aid of Olivia Woolhouse’s Hermione Quinque, a waitress picked from multiple theatre trainees to play Juliet. This is the cue for Ayckbourn’s in-jokes about there being nothing new in most actors being unemployed or forming a company called Spare Parts.
Later, he will top those quips with Hermione saying she could do her part in the trial again as she had been better in rehearsal. You can sense Ayckbourn’s years of experience in the rehearsal room pouring out into this biting dialogue.
Hayden Wood’s prosecutor, Ronal Lime-Tyler, grills the defendant, Richard Stacey’s RSDO 83. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Yet he is wearing the equivalent of a judge’s black cap in passing sentence on mankind’s failings in Act Two, where Russell Richardson’s jaunty judge, Arbiter Jefferies, and Hayden Wood’s smarmy, smug prosecutor, Ronal Lime-Tyler, come to the fore, pitched against Marshall’s eloquent, meticulous Clay.
Stacey’s RSDO 83 and Woolhouse’s Hermione play out Romeo And Juliet’s fatal tomb scene: a play within a play that adds to the devastating impact of both. When Symonds’s Octavius borrows the closing couplet from Shakespeare’s tragedy, ”For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo”, its sentiment applies as much to Ayckbourn’s characters.
The poster, with its image of an android warrior holding the hand of young girl looking out over a desert, makes no mention of writer-director Alan Ayckbourn, but his name runs through every scene like a seaside stick of rock. Once more, his writing will be music to your ears.
The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 3. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
ON the subject of names: here are the latest additions to Alan Ayckbourn’s notebook of nomenclatures across 92 plays: Octavius, Allistra, Ronal, Devaney, Romeo and Hermione are used for the first time in The Trial Of Romeo Oscar.
The poster for Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar
