Category: Theatre

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 46 of criminally good entertainment, from The York Press

Martha Tilston: Playing The Basement tonight at City Screen Picturehouse

CRIMINAL investigations and a brace of plays with murder at the core, Charles Hutchinson detects a theme to his latest recommendations.

Singer-songwriter of the week: Martha Tilston, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm

BORN in Bristol and now living in Cornwall, singer, songwriter and filmmaker Martha Tilston writes songs from the heart as a balm for the modern age.

Tilston, who has worked Zero 7, Damien Rice, Nick Harper, Kae Tempest and Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame, combines raw vocals and sparkling melodies with thought-provoking lyrics and filmic movements, inviting her audience to “connect with longed-for parts of ourselves”. Box office: marthatilston.co.uk.

Jennifer Rees: Exploring stories of serial killers in forensic detail at the Grand Opera House, York

Criminal investigations of the week: Strange But True Crimes with Jennifer Rees, Grand Opera House, York, October 21, 7.30pm

FORMER forensics lecturer and Psychology Of Serial Killers presenter Jennifer Rees explores stories such as the serial killer who gained work in law enforcement while on the run – and ended up hunting himself.

Watch out too for the female, balloon-carrying killer clown, serial killers on game shows – how  their appearances led to their identification – and  many more stories. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Jason Durr’s Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, right, accosting the nervous burglar in Torben Betts’s comedy thriller Murder At Midnight. Picture: Pamela Raith

Deliciously twisted crime caper of the week: Original Theatre in Murder At Midnight, York Theatre Royal, October 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

ON New Year’s Eve, in a quiet corner of Kent, a killer is in the house in Torben Betts’s comedy thriller Murder At Midnight, part two of a crime trilogy for Original Theatre that began last year with Murder In The Dark, this time starring Jason Durr, Susie Blake, Max Howden and Katie McGlynn.

Meet Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, his glamorous wife, his trigger-happy sidekick, his mum – who sees things – and her very jittery carer, plus a vicar, apparently hiding something, and a nervous burglar dressed as a clown. Throw in a suitcase full of cash, a stash of deadly weapons and one infamous unsolved murder…what could possibly go wrong? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon: Showcasing new album Rainy Sunday Afternoon at York Barbican. Picture: Kevin Westerberg

Recommended but sold out already: The Divine Comedy, York Barbican, October 21, doors 7pm

IN the wake of composing all the original songs for the 2023 global blockbuster Wonka, North Irishman Neil Hannon has returned to his Divine Comedy guise for September 19’s Rainy Sunday Afternoon: album number 13 and his first studio set since 2019’s Office Politics.

Recorded at Abbey Road, London, the album was written, arranged and produced by Hannon, who covers his usual range of emotions: sad, funny, angry and everything in between. Hear Hannon songs new and old next Tuesday, when Studio Electrophonique will be the special guest. Box office, for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Katie Melia’s Show White in Steve Coates Music Productions’ Disenchanted, turning fairy tales on their head at the JoRo

Cheeky twist on fairy tales of the week: Steve Coates Music Productions in Disenchanted, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 22 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

KATIE Melia directs and leads the cast as Snow White in Steve Coates Music Productions’ production of  Disenchanted, the musical with the feminist twist that turns fairy tales upside down, from the Little Mermaid hitting the bottle to Belle ending up in a straitjacket for chatting with the cutlery.

Forget the damsels in distress, Snow White, Cinderella and their royal crew want to set the record straight. Equipped with sass, wit, and powerhouse vocals, these not-so-princessy princesses flip the script, spill the tea and reclaim their stories as they challenge outdated happily-ever-afters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Making an impression: Dead Ringers on 25th anniversary tour

Comedy nights of the week: Dead Ringers, October 22, 3pm and 7.30pm, and Nick Mohammed Is Mr Swallow: Show Pony, October 26, 8pm, both at Grand Opera, House, York  

TO mark its 25th anniversary, BBC Radio 4’s topical satire show Dead Ringers takes to the road with a full UK tour for the first time as long-standing cast members Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod and Duncan Wisbey take a trip through classic sketches and unrivalled impressions, peppered with  topical humour.

Celebrity Traitors competitor, Taskmaster contestant and Ted Lasso actor Nick Mohammed returns to York as his alter-ego Mr Swallow. Expect magic, music and new mistakes. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Harry Summers, left, and Emma Scott in rehearsal for York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy. Picture: John Saunders

Revenge drama of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Spanish Tragedy, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 22 to 25, 7.30pm

PAUL Toy directs York Shakespeare Project for the fourth time – and the first since Troilus And Cressida in 2011– in “the most popular play of the Elizabethan era, outselling Shakespeare”: Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, the circa 1592 blueprint for the Revenge Tragedy genre.

No Kyd, maybe no Hamlet or The Duchess Of Malfi, as treachery, deceit and disguise are wrapped inside a torrid tale of vengeance-seeking ghosts, madness, a play-within-a-play and a Machiavellian villain, delivered by Toy with masks, music and dance. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. 

Alexandra Mather’s Polly Peachum in York Opera’s The Beggar’s Opera. Picture: John Saunders

Opera of the week: York Opera in The Beggar’s Opera, The Citadel, York City Church, Gillygate, York, October 23 to 25, 7.30pm

YORK Opera stage John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepusch’s 1728 satirical ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera in an immersive production under the musical direction of John Atkin and stage direction of Chris Charlton-Matthews, with choreography by Jane Woolgar.

Watch out! You may find yourself next to a cast member, whether Mark Simmonds’ Macheath, Adrian Cook’s Peachum, Anthony Gardner’s Lockit, Alexandra Mather’s Polly Peachum, Sophie Horrocks’ Lucy Lockit, Cathy Atkin’s Mrs Peachum, Ian Thomson-Smith’s Beggar or Jake Mansfield’s Player. Box office: tickets.yorkopera.co.uk/events/yorkopera/1793200.

Riverdance: The New Generation performs the Irish dancers’ 30th anniversary show at York Barbican

Dance show of the week: Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, October 24 to 26, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees

VISITING 30 UK venues – one for each year of its history – from August to December 2025, the Irish dance extravaganza Riverdance rejuvenates the much-loved original show with new innovative choreography and costumes, plus state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics, in this 30th anniversary celebration.

For the first time, John McColgan directs “the New Generation” of Riverdance performers, none of them born when the show began. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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York Opera to stage John Gay’s satire The Beggar’s Opera at The Citadel next week

Cathy Atkin’s Mrs Peachum, left, Alexandra Mather’s Polly Peachum and Adrian Cook’s Peachum in York Opera’s The Beggar’s Opera. All pictures: John Saunders

YORK Opera will stage John Gay’s 18th-century satirical ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera at The Citadel, York City Church, Gillygate, York, from October 23 to 25.

After June’s successful staging of Offenbach’s The Tales Of Hoffmann at York Theatre Royal, the autumn production of librettist and lyricist Gay and composer Johann Christoph Pepusch’s three-act 1728 opera is presented under the musical direction of John Atkin and stage direction of Chris Charlton-Matthews, with choreography by Jane Woolgar.

The Beggar has written an opera!  Well, not exactly “written”. He has borrowed all the tunes from folk ditties or well-known melodies – and his plot is not exactly the usual operatic fare – although he says he has followed all the conventions: a hero, a doomed love affair, prisoners in chains. 

However, the hero is a highwayman and completely faithless to his many wives, while every lady’s virtue is for sale and marriage is the way to become a rich widow. All the characters are villains, from gang leader Peachum, who sells his own gang members to be hanged in order to claim the reward, to crooked gaoler Lockit, who runs a line in comfortable manacles, and the utterly psychotic Matt o’the Mint, murderer and arsonist. Could the Beggar be sending up the politicians of his day – but surely they are not crooks, are they?

Cathy Atkin’s Mrs Peachum and Adrian Cook’s Peachum

York Opera will stage an immersive production of this classic satire, where you may find yourself seated next to a cast member, so be careful where you sit!  That demure lady to your side might just be a pickpocket after your snuffbox!

To be fully in the mood, join Polly and her evil father Mr Peachum at his speakeasy for a gin tasting sponsored by York Gin before each show. Please note that entry to this tasting does not include entry to the show and vice versa. Here is the link: https://tickets.yorkopera.co.uk/events/yorkopera/1819083.

Principal roles will be taken by a combination of established and new soloists: Mark Simmonds as Macheath, Adrian Cook as Peachum, Anthony Gardner as Lockit, Alexandra Mather as Polly Peachum, Sophie Horrocks as Lucy Lockit, Cathy Atkin as Mrs Peachum, Ian Thomson-Smith as The Beggar and Jake Mansfield as The Player.

Alexandra Mather’s Polly Peachum

After The Beggar’s Opera, the company will continue rehearsals for November 8’s concert in conjunction with the York R.I. Brass Band to celebrate the life and musical talents of Clive Marshall, a leading member of both organisations, who died on March 11.

Featuring principals, players and chorus, Opera Meets Brass: A Musical Tribute to Clive Marshall will be held at The Citadel to raise funds for St Leonard’s Hospice in its 40th anniversary year. Tickets (£15, students and under 16s £10) are available at https://tickets.yorkopera.co.uk/events/yorkopera.

Then it will be full steam ahead to Christmas for York Opera’s Carols At Christmas concerts at Acomb on December 11, 7.30pm, Haxby, December 12, 7.30pm, and York, December 13, 4.30pm.

York Opera in The Beggar’s Opera, The Citadel, Gillygate, York, October 23 to 25, 7.30pm. Box office: https://tickets.yorkopera.co.uk/events/yorkopera/1793200.

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Susie Blake jumps at chance to play ‘very different’ role of drug baron’s mother in Murder At Midnight. ‘How delicious!’

Susie Blake’s Shirley in Torben Betts’s comedy thriller Murder At Midnight: “She has a carer, because she has dementia – or has she? Is she, in fact, just having a lovely time?”. Picture: Pamela Raith

ORIGINAL Theatre follow up the 2023-24 tour of Murder In The Dark with another new Torben Betts comedy thriller, Murder At Midnight.

In the cast once more, on her return to York Theatre Royal from October 21 to 25, will be Susie Blake, as Shirley, joined in Philip Franks’ cast of TV familiar names by Jason Durr’s Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, Max Bowden’s Paul and Katie McGlynn’s Lisa – and a character intriguingly called Trainwreck.

On New Year’s Eve, in a quiet corner of Kent, a killer is in the house. Keep an eye on notorious gangster Jonny ‘The Cyclops’; his glamorous wife; his trigger-happy sidekick; his mum, who sees things; her very jittery carer, plus a vicar who is hiding something, and a nervous burglar dressed as a clown.

Throw in a suitcase full of cash, a stash of deadly weapons, one infamous unsolved murder, and what could possibly go wrong in Betts’s “dark-humoured murder mystery with a difference, adding up to one house, seven suspects and a murder at midnight? 

“Again it’s nuts!” says Susie. “It’s brand spanking new, not a direct sequel. A comedy-thriller, a really black comedy, and funnily gruesome. It all takes place in a modern, swish house in Kent, the sort of place that might be called ‘nouveau riche’ when I was a child. It’s owned by a drugs baron called Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, who’s surrounded by lots of different and eccentric characters, including mine. There are surprises galore.”

“I love York, so I’m glad to be back,” says Susie Blake. “There are three places I particularly  love coming back to on tour: Cheltenham, Norwich and York. They’re all very theatrical”. Picture: Michael Wharley

Not least Susie’s new character, Shirley. “She’s very different from Murder In The Dark [when Susie was cast as farmer’s wife/religious zealot Mrs Bateman]. I’m playing the drug baron’s mother in this one. I can’t think of anything more different. How delicious!” she says. “It’s like being back at drama school, when you’re able to do all sorts of different roles.

“Shirley has come from extremely humble beginnings, and now her son is supporting her, so she has everything she wants. She has a carer, because she has dementia – or has she? Is she, in fact, just having a lovely time? She’s certainly forgetful, but then so am I, and I’m not demented!”

Shirley is “a lot of fun to play”. “She’s created a monster, her son. She hates all his girlfriends; she has this fixation on him; she’s possessive and yet not affectionate. She’s never touchy-feely,” says Susie. “Her son says she never hugs anyone – maybe because she had a troubled past.”

Susie is enjoying teaming up with Philip Franks and Original Theatre again. “I love working with Pip [Philip] and it’s wonderful that Original Theatre loves to promote Torben’s plays,” she says.

“So it was an easy decision to come back for the next one. Working with Original Theatre feels a bit like rep in the old days, there’s an immediate feeling of trust. They really look after you.

“I’m playing the drug baron’s mother in this one. I can’t think of anything more different,” says Susie Blake. Picture: Pamela Raith

“That’s what’s so nice in the rehearsal room, where I’m never anxious and Philip’s notes are so beautifully clear – but you ignore his notes at your peril!”

Susie’s character has the full name of Shirley Winifred Beryl Drinkwater. “Torben is very good at names, and sometimes, if he’s asked to re-write something, he’s had to change the name, because they’re very important to him,” she says. “Maybe he gets that from Alan [Sir Alan Ayckbourn], when he started out doing plays at the Stephen Joseph Theatre.”

In rehearsal, Philip has encouraged tragedy to be cheek by jowl with comedy in the cast’s performances. “You also have that in Shakespeare and in panto, for goodness sake! In Shirley’s case, there is this madness where she sees the devil and also sees the devil in her son.”

Susie, 75, has collaborated with such comedic talents as Victoria Wood, Russ Abbott and Lee Mack in her long-running career. “I wish I could call them collaborators!” she says. “The thing about great comedians is that they’re often very clever and academically brilliant, whereas I consider myself a more old-fashioned jobbing actor.

“But acting teaches you to be a good listener, so I’ve always been a good foil. Every great comedian needs a reliable straight man. When I first worked with Philip Franks, it was on a production of Kafka’s Dick by Alan Bennett. I remember telling him that I wasn’t very educated, and he said, ‘well you bring the talent and I’ll bring the education’. I loved that.”

Susie Blake, Jason Durr and Max Bowden in the tour poster for Torben Betts’s Murder At Midnight, booked into York Theatre Royal from October 21 to 25

Suzie is happy to back on the road again, suitcase in hand. “The joy of it is that I love exploring different parts of the country armed with my National Trust card and Art Pass. I’ll be carefully planning my itinerary around every venue,” she says.

“I’m 75 now, so in a sense it’s getting physically harder, and my patience is always tested by the railways. When I was younger that was never an issue. But fortunately I’m a Buddhist, which helps me stay calm.

“I love York, so I’m glad to be back. There are three places I particularly  love coming back to on tour: Cheltenham, Norwich and York. They’re all very theatrical.”

There could a further return to York in the pipeline. “It’s going to be a ‘Murder’ trilogy by Torben, so there’s another one to come – and of course I’m on board for all three!” says Susie.

Original Theatre in Murder At Midnight, “keeping you guessing until midnight” at York Theatre Royal, October 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Accessible Arts & Media to launch open-mic event Laugh, Lyrics & You! at Gateway Centre on Oct 26. How do you take part ?

YORK charity Accessible Arts and Media are launching an inclusive open-mic event, Laugh, Lyrics & You!, at Gateway Centre, Front Street, Acomb, York, on October 26 from 2.30pm to 5pm.

“The idea is to have an open-mic type event in a relaxed and friendly environment that’s accessible and fun,” says chief executive officer Chris Farrell. “Our projects, IMPs, Movers and Shakers and Hands and Voices, will start the event off and then it’s over to whoever would like to perform.

“Any talent is welcome: a duet, a solo instrument, a poetry reading, a recording of some original music, jokes…whatever you can think of will be great!” 

How do you book for Laugh, Lyrics & You? “Whether you’d like to perform, or sit and enjoy the show, you can:

Chris joined Accessible Arts & Media as chief exec in April after inspirational co-founder and charity leader Rose Ken stepped down after more than 30 years.

Her last act was to oversee the organisation’s re-location to a purpose-built space at Clifton Explore, Rawcliffe Drive, York.

At the time of her exit stage left, Rose said: “Little did I know when I founded the Accessible Arts arm of the charity back in 1992 that I’d still be here 32 years later.

Rose Kent, left, launching Accessible Arts & Media in 1992

“It’s been a real privilege to run an organisation that’s all about supporting people to find their voice and play an active role in their local community. It’s been AAM-azing!”

A cornerstone of York’s inclusive creative community for four decades, Accessible Arts & Media offers life-changing opportunities through arts, performance and wellbeing activities.

The new location and CEO finds the charity ready to enter its next period of growth and innovation. Following an extensive search, the organisation selected Chris Farrell for the CEO’s post. He joined the organisation from Age UK York and has enjoyed a career in senior roles at charities that provide vital support to people across the country – and he has made his mark as a musician too.

“I first shared a stage with Accessible Arts & Media almost a decade ago, so I’ve known for many years the difference the organisation makes for participants and for the wider community,” says Chris.

“It’s a pretty big task to try and fill Rose’s boots, but I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to steer the charity into its next chapter and, with your support, I know we can do some pretty amazing things.”

Last year, Accessible Arts & Media delivered 614 creative learning and wellbeing sessions across the city. They support almost 500 people a year, and are well known for their gigs and busking, where audience participation is highly encouraged.

Chris now leads the organisation through the ever-evolving charity landscape, building on the organisation’s strong networks within York’s learning disability, culture and wellbeing sectors.

“It’s certainly been an interesting six months so far,” he says. “But having first recorded at the Old Dairy in the late 1990s, it feels a full circle coming back into this role.”

Lucy Galliard, chair of trustees, said: “We’re thrilled that Chris has joined us. From a strong field of candidates, Chris stood out as a top-quality candidate with the perfect balance of strategic and leadership skills, and a true understanding of what we do and why it’s needed.”

Chris Farrell: Took over as chief executive officer of Accessible Arts & Media in April

Lucy paid homage to Rose for her longstanding service and huge contribution to the city’s cultural life. “Rose has been the powerhouse behind AAM for over three decades. Her achievements are huge, as has been the effort, attention – and most importantly – love that she has put into the organisation.

“Whilst we’re of course sad to see her leave, everyone at AAM is excited for Rose to be able to redirect that passion and love into herself, her dogs and her garden gnome collection!”

Accessible Arts & Media: back story

INCLUSIVE arts and media charity, based at Clifton Explore, York. Delivering arts and media learning and wellbeing programmes in and around York since 1982.

Mission statement: “We believe that everyone can learn, everyone can be creative and everyone can play a part in their local community. They just need the right support, and that’s where we come in.”

AAM support almost 500 people each year, including disabled adults and young people, older people living with dementia and people with severe, enduring mental ill-health.

AAM projects support their wellbeing by helping them develop the skills and confidence to have more of a say in the things that matter to them, and feel happy, connected and valued. “Now, more than ever, our projects provide a vital social lifeline for people who are all too often isolated and forgotten.”  

  For more information on Accessible Arts & Media, visit www.aamedia.org.uk.

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From Strictly to Sin City, ‘the Rat Pack of dance’ return to York Barbican in Vegas: After Hours on November 4 2026

The tour poster for The Legends’ 2026 travels in Vegas: After Hours

STRICTLY Come Dancing legends Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite will return to York Barbican on November 4 2026 on their Vegas: After Hours tour.

Less than a month ago, the Strictly alumni played the Paragon Street venue on their The Return Of The Legends tour on September 20, having earlier toured their Legends of The Dance Floor show in 2024.

Tickets go on general sale at 10am tomorrow (17/10/2025), available at yorkbarbican.co.uk, Ticketmaster and legendsofthedancefloor.com.

The terpsichorean quintet promises a “breathtaking brand new show that captures all the glitz, glamour and excitement of Las Vegas, where the dance floor never sleeps”.

Vegas: After Hours dancers Brendan Cole, left, James Jordan, Ian Waite, Pasha Kovalev and Vincent Simone

Joined by female dance partners, Cole, Jordan, Kovalev, Simone and Waite will “bring the spirit of Sin City to life through stunning routines and nonstop entertainment, all set to a soundtrack inspired by the greatest Las Vegas performers of all time”.

From neon lights and electric nights, spinning roulette tables, glamorous showgirl and dazzling casinos to desert sunsets, lavish pool parties, whirlwind weddings, iconic hotels and world-class entertainment, Vegas: After Hours captures it all.

The 30-date tour will run from October 3 to November 10 2026, taking in further Yorkshire shows at Sheffield City Hall on October 22 and St George’s Hall, Bradford, on November 5.

Brendan Cole enthuses: “Anyone who saw our last two shows will tell you that a Vegas-themed show is the perfect next step for us. We are the Rat Pack of dance, and we’re going to have a Vegas-style party. It’s going to be a riot.” 

The poster for The Return Of The Legends, the 2025 tour that visited York Barbican on September 20

Vincent Simone teases: “As if I haven’t got myself into enough trouble every single night of our last two tours together, our brand new show is inspired by Sin City. What could possibly go wrong? I can’t wait for everybody to find out!” 

James Jordan chips in: “We spent the last two years proving to everyone that we’ve still got it, so as long as my body holds up, I look forward to bringing our most dazzling dance spectacular yet, with my brothers in dance, to audiences across the UK.”

Pasha Kovalev exclaims: “Vegas, baby! Can’t wait for this tour! The Legends shows have been such a blast, but I’ve got a feeling Vegas: After Hours is going to top them all!”

Ian Waite sums up: “After having an absolute blast on tour with the guys, it’s now all about Vegas: After Hours for 2026. Maximum glitz, maximum glamour. I’m already there.”

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No.45, from Gazette & Herald

Courtney Brown: Directing Pickering Musical Society for the first time in My Favourite Things – The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein. Picture: Robert David Photography

FROM Rodgers & Hammerstein favourites to Caliban’s dancing revenge, Francis Rossi’s songs and stories to German beer festivities, Charles Hutchinson delights in October’s diversity.

Musical revue of the week: Pickering Musical Society presents My Favourite Things – The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, tonight  to Sunday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

LONG-TIME member Courtney Brown directs Pickering Musical Society for the first time in My Favourite Things – The Music of Rodgers & Hammerstein, a showcase of the very best of Broadway’s most iconic songwriting partnership.

As well as the cheeky charm of Honey Bun, the playful fun of The Lonely Goatherd and the rousing barn-dance energy of The Farmer And The Cowman, the show feature songs from The Sound Of Music, Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific and The King And I. Dancers from the Sarah Louise Ashworth School of Dance take part too. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Eddi Reader: Playing York for the first time in seven years at The Citadel

Seven-year itch of the week: Hurricane Promotions presents Eddi Reader, The Citadel, York City Church, Gillygate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

EDDI Reader, the Glasgow-born singer who fronted Fairground Attraction, topping the charts with Perfect, also has ten solo albums, three BRIT awards and an MBE for Outstanding Contributions to the Arts to her name.

Straddling differing musical styles and making them her own, from the traditional to the contemporary, and interpreting the songs of Robert Burns to boot, she brings romanticism to her joyful performances, this time with her full band in her first show in York for seven years. Eilidh Patterson supports. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.

Banjo at the double: Damien O’Kane and Ron Block team up at the NCEM, York

Banjo at the double: Damien O’Kane and Ron Block Band, The Banjovial Tour, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, 7.30pm

GROUNDBREAKING  banjo players Damien O’Kane and Ron Block follow up their Banjophony and Banjophonics albums with this month’s Banjovial and an accompanying tour.

O’Kane, renowned for his work with Barnsley songstress Kate Rusby, is a maestro of Irish traditional music, here expressed on his Irish tenor banjo; Block, a key component of Alison Krauss & Union Station, infuses his signature five-string bluegrass banjo with soulful depth and rhythmic innovation. Together, their styles intertwine in an exhilarating dance of technical mastery. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Francis Rossi: Shaking up the Status Quo with songs and stories at York Barbican. Picture: Jodiphotography

Hits and titbits aplenty: An Evening of Francis Rossi’s Songs from the Status Quo Songbook and More, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm

IN his one-man show, Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi performs signature Quo hits, plus personal favourites and deeper cuts, while telling first-hand backstage tales of appearing more than 100 times on Top Of The Pops, why Quo went on first at Live Aid, life with Rick Parfitt, notching 57 hits, fellow stars and misadventures across the world. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Natnael Dawit in Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s We Caliban at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Foteini Christofilopoulou

Dance show of the week: Shobana Jeyasingh Dance in We Caliban, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm (with post-show discussion) and Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm

SHOBANA Jeyasingh turns her sharp creative eye to Shakespeare’s final play The Tempest in a new co-production with Sadler’s Wells. A tale of power lost and regained, the play is the starting point for Jeyasingh’s dramatic and contemporary reckoning, We Caliban.

Written as Europe was taking its first step towards colonialism, The Tempest is Prospero’s story. We Caliban is Caliban’s untold story that started and continued long after Prospero’s brief stay. Performed by eight dancers, complemented by Will Duke’s projections and Thierry Pécou’s music, this impressionistic work draws on present-day parallels and the international and intercultural discourse around colonialism, as well as Jeyasingh’s personal experiences. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. 

John Bramwell: Playing solo in Pocklington

As recommended by Cate Blanchett: John Bramwell, Pocklington Arts Centre, Friday, 8pm

HYDE singer, song-spinner and sage John Bramwell, leading light of Mercury Prize nominees I Am Kloot from 1999 to 2014 and screen goddess Cate Blachett’s “favourite songwriter of all time”, has been on a never-ending rolling adventure since his workings away from his cherished Mancunian band.

His sophomore solo album, February 2024’s The Light Fantastic, will be at the heart of his Pocklington one-man show. “After both my mum and dad died, I started writing these songs to cheer myself up,” Bramwell admits with trademark candour. “The themes are taken from my dreams at the time. Wake up and take whatever impression I had from what I could remember of my dream and write that.” He promises new material and Kloot songs too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Sam Moss: Heading out on to the moors at The Band Room. Picture: Jake Xerxes Fussell

Moorland gig of the week: Sam Moss, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, Saturday, 7.30pm

FINGERPICKING folk virtuoso guitarist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Sam Moss heads to the North York Moors this weekend from Staunton, Virginia, USA, to showcase his February 2025 album Swimming, championed by the scribes of Uncut, No Depression and Paste and Los Angeles online magazine Aquarium Drunkward, no less. “For the record, he is a renowned woodworker too, particularly celebrated for his incredible spoons,” says Band Room promoter Nigel Burnham. Sofa Sofa support (as sofas always do!). Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.

Drag diva Velma Celli lights up Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse. Picture: Sophie Eleanor

Festival of the week: Yorktoberfest, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, Saturday, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm; October 24, 7pm to 11pm; October 25, 1pm to 5pm and 7pm to 11pm

MAKING its debut in 2021, Yorktoberfest returns for its fifth anniversary with beer, bratwurst and all things Bavarian. Step inside the giant marquee, fill your stein at the Bavarian bar with beer from Brew York and grab a bite from the German-inspired Dog Haus food stall.

The Bavarian Strollers oompah band will perform thigh-slapping music and drinking songs; York drag diva Velma Celli will add to the party atmosphere with powerhouse songs and saucy patter. Doors open at 6.30pm and 12.30pm. Tickets: ticketsource.co.uk/yorktoberfest.

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REVIEW: Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York *** 1/2

Ayana Beatrice Poblete’s Esmerelda in Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ The Hunchback Of Notre Dame. All pictures: Ryan Healey

THIS is Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ biggest show – by far.  Company founder and director Matthew Peter Clare has assembled five leads, an ensemble of seven and a choir of 23; numbers to match the grandeur of Notre Dame cathedral.

Alas ticket booking has not been of a matching scale: last Thursday’s first night and Sunday’s two shows were pulled, and maybe Black Sheep are unfortunate to be playing against the irresistible tidal wave of SIX The Musical’s sold-out return to the Grand Opera House this week.

Or, sometimes, who knows why, a show just does not light a flame at the box office, but in the case of ‘Hunchback’, that is baffling. Both Victor Hugo’s 1831 source novel and Disney’s animated 1996 film are ever popular, and the stage show is all the better for adding more Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz songs and for being closer in tone to the book.

Imagine a show more aligned to the dramatic heft and impassioned song of another French tale, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Les Miserables, et voila, ‘Hunchback’.

The people of Paris taunting Jack James Fry’s Quasimodo in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame

“Our mission has been art with a point,” says Clare, who relocated Black Sheep to York in 2022 from Lancashire beginnings. “Art that matters and art that connects with the human experience, in its glories or its pain.”

In those words in his programme note, you can hear his zeal for making theatre that “speaks to the heart of everyone watching” and see why he wanted to present ‘Hunchback’ as his next big challenge, one that could not be more topically timed in light of the rising intolerance of immigrants and “otherness”.

Clare’s resulting choral production is not only his largest but his most ambitious too, hence the big cast that must be accommodated on the JoRo stage, making their entry, heads covered, in cloaks, mysterious and full of foreboding.

Like a church building, he has kept much of the stage bare, save for scaffolding that provides a mezzanine level for the cathedral bell tower and a row of church pews to either side below.

Robbie Wallwork’s Captain Phoebus in an ensemble number in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame

The choir either stands behind them or beneath the scaffolding, in view but always rather distant, to the extent that it is not always clear who is singing when it is a solo voice.

Furthermore, on press night, that individual singing could not always be heard, although one should make allowance for technical tweaks to remedy what is a difficult sound balance with so many players on the fringes of the stage.

I stress, however, that there was no deficiency in commitment, and the presence of a choir adds a new element to Black Sheep. Hopefully, their impact can be at full throttle for the rest of the run in Ollie Nash’s sound design.

Clare is an audaciously talented musical director, and here he leads his 13-strong band through the intricacies of Menken’s score with elan. Every gorgeous note, every soaring climax, breathes with passion and the highly technical playing is beautifully balanced, heart-felt, dynamic, moving.     

At the double: Jack James Fry as Quasimodo and Dan Poppitt as the Voice of Quasimodo, a five-star partnership at the heart of Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ show

The big talking point, the big selling point too, is the role of Quasimodo, here impeded more by loss of hearing from all that bell ringing than his bodily disfigurement that does not rob him of his extraordinary physical strength. He is isolated by his powers to communicate being so denuded.

Quasimodo is played by two actors; one, the deaf Jack James Fry, being his physical embodiment, utilising British Sign Language that has sound and fury, but huge human heart too, signifying everything as Quasimodo craves understanding and acceptance.  He can sure swing a bell rope too.

The other, Dan Poppitt, is Quasimodo’s voice, interpreting the sign language in speech and song by Fry’s side. Poppitt has been a rising light on the York stage as Tunny in Green Day’s American Idiot, Alonso in The Tempest and Roger in Rent. Now he rises higher still, whether mirroring Fry’s movements or in the show’s most powerful, dramatic singing.  What a magnetic, heartbreaking partnership he and Fry make.

Quasimodo’s fellow “outsider”, the gypsy dancer Esmerelda, is played with fearless fervour by Filipino-born Ayana Beatrice Poblete, while Emily Pratt’s Florika has the show’s outstanding female voice, classically pure in tone.

Jack James Fry’s Quasimodo and Emily Pratt’s Florika

Robbie Wallwork’s Captain Phoebus, caught between the romantic heroic figure of the Disney film and the flash vainglorious womaniser of Hugo’s novel, favours the former but his performance could be more assertive.

James Robert Ball, ever nimble, quick, light as a Malteser, recalls his Puck in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in May, taking the narrator’s role as Clopin Trouillefou, jester, Romani leader and Festival of Fools master of ceremonies, but this time beneath the mischief-making front lies a darker soul, saddened by experience, closer to Cabaret’s Emcee.

Clare plays the joker in casting Jack Hooper as the turbulent Judge Claude Frollo, the embittered Minister of Justice and guardian of Quasimodo.

From such roles as bubbly Mr Poppy in Nativity and the profusely sweaty cop Eddie Souther in Sister Act, we know of his comic prowess, but now he switches to the dark side in a transition to rival Alan Carr’s treachery in Celebrity Traitors. Hell fire, villainy suits him in his buttoned-up, suppressive air, the balloon popper of the piece, topped off by his raging version of Hellfire.

Darkness descends: Jack Hooper’s volte face into villainy as Judge Claude Frollo

In a further directorial decision that pays off, the full “carcase” of the stage is left exposed, and so we can see the flymen, Jon Drewry and Georgia Legg, in action on the ropes, pulling both a stained glass window and three bells of Notre Dame into view, matching Quasimodo’s own rope work.

Adam Kirkwood’s lighting design works best in scenes of close-up focus but less so for the choir, lost in the shadows. Charlie Clarke’s choreography, however  draws the production forward to fill the stage with life in big numbers, as if in defiance of Frollo.

Take a hunch by ignoring the disappointing box office so far and booking to see the Hunchback, especially for Fry & Poppitt.

Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, 7.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501395 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

James Robert Ball’s Clopin Trouillefou and Ayana Beatrice Poblete’s Esmerelda at the Court of Miracles in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame

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Badapple Theatre Company’s study of celebrity comes with live baking in Crumbs

Ellen Carnazza’s Petronella Parfait mid-sprinkle in Badapple Theatre Company’s new baking comedy Crumbs

THE long-awaited sequel to Badapple Theatre Company’s groundbreaking “live baking” hit comedy is on tour until October 26 and heading to York Theatre Royal next May.

Crumbs, a one-woman show starring Harrogate actress Ellen Carnazza from the pen of Green Hammerton writer-director Kate Bramley, features baking on stage for the audience to taste, as the story of former TV baking show host Petronella Parfait unfolds.

After being “let go” from a high-profile TV show under dubious circumstances, Petronella is trying to re-style herself within the fast-paced and cut-throat world of influencers and social-media millionaires.

“It’s always fun to create a villain as a lead character,” says Kate. “Especially one who then bakes bread live on stage. We’re very lucky to have the brilliant talent of Ellen in the starring role, and she has proven to be an audience favourite already.”

Follow Petronella Parfait’s slips and trips as she tries to keep the lights – as well as the oven – on in the face of almost certain doom.

Combining comedy, song, original music and bread, Crumbs is touring Yorkshire, Northumberland, the South-West and the Midlands in Badapple’s 27th year of delivering original works “on your doorstep”, placing theatre at the heart of rural community life.

Badapple Theatre Company artistic director and writer Kate Bramley

Here Kate picks up the Crumbs story in discussion with CharlesHutchPress.

What gave you the idea for this show, Kate? The popularity of TV baking/cookery shows? Controversies surrounding presenters? The bread-like rise of influencers?

“So it’s a companion play to Daily Bread that I wrote ten years ago about the financial crash. And yes, the recent controversy about TV hosts and the power of influencers has fed into the story of this character.

“But one of the inspiration points was the court case where four female BBC presenters (Martine Croxall, Annita McVeigh, Karin Giannone and Kasia Madera) claimed they were discriminated against, based on sex and age, when they lost their senior roles at the BBC in 2023 as part of a channel re-launch. 

“This play isn’t about that event, but it did get me thinking about having a female heroine character, who ironically turns out to be a villain in this piece!” 

How would you sum up Crumbs?

 “It’s a study of celebrity, especially those like our heroine who have a flexible relationship with the truth…and how food – and the stories we tell while making it – have a universal language, just like laughter, that brings everyone together.”

Ellen Carnazza? With that surname, she should be an Italian bread! Why did you pick her for the role of Petronella Parfait?

“Ellen is a legend. She’s from Leeds originally, now in Harrogate, who first came to us for The Frozen Roman about four years ago and she’s so talented.

“Her skill with accents, her physicality, clowning techniques and all-round sunny personality have all come into play.

“And thankfully when I told her she had to make bread as well as everything else she wasn’t too scared!”

Ellen Carnazza’s Petronella Parfait kneading the dough in Crumbs

What are the challenges of a solo show, as opposed to your productions with bigger casts? 

“It’s a real challenge for Ellen, no doubt. So what we’ve done to support her is make sure she gets all the tech and tricks, and a beautiful Badapple full set – from AJ Lowe – that our audience have come to expect.

“I really have pushed the boundaries of what one performer can physically achieve as a storyteller…but our audiences have responded amazingly, so I guess we are doing something right!”

Do you bake bread yourself?

“I do. In fact during Covid I bought flour by the sack and kept making it with my son.”

Is there a crumb of comfort to be drawn from Crumbs?!

“I hope so. As you know, we are all about spreading joy to our audiences, and this is one of our most joyous pieces to date. As a contrast to the times we are living in I guess.

“And you get to have a laugh and get free bread, baked by Ellen during the show, so what’s not to like about that?” 

Crumbs plays Green Hammerton Village Hall, near York, on October 14, 7.30pm, sold out ; box office for returns only, 01423 331304.

Further Yorkshire shows will be at Kilham Village Hall, near Bridlington, October 25, 7pm (tickets, 07354 301119) and The Old Girls’ School Community Centre, Sherburn in Elmet, October 26 (tickets, 01977 685178). The show dates for next May at York Theatre Royal are yet to be announced.

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REVIEW: Anna Soden: It Comes Out Your Bum, The Old Paint Shop, York Theatre Royal Studio, October 11

Anna Soden: No bum notes to her songs or scatalogical subject matter

I HAVE in my hand a piece of paper. Or, more precisely, a piece of loo roll, handed out by our jocund hostess for It Comes Out Your Bum, comedian and actress Anna Soden, last seen on the York stage as a talking, trumpet-tooting pantomime cow In Jack And The Beanstalk.

On the sheet, she had written “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” Not as momentous as Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s Peace In Our Time document, waved at Heston Aerodrome on September 30 1938: a bum deal when it turned out we were rather more than “halfway there” to the Second World War.

Anna, in party dress and party mood, swished among the tables at York Theatre Royal Studio , re-booted in Old Paint Shop livery for October’s cabaret season of comedy, burlesque and live music. She had penned a loo-roll bon-mot for each of us, a strip of positivity to be shared.

Now based in Brighton, but still bearing her York roots in her frank comedic manner, she had planned a grand entry, but in the absence of a stage curtain, there could be no element of surprise, no hiding place for the pair of buttocks, designed by York puppeteer and fellow comedian Freddie “Does Puppets” Hayes, through which Anna would announce her arrival.

What a bummer? No, she played on the absurdity of it all, having already broken down theatre’s fourth wall by explaining what should have been the ideal opening, establishing her facility for putting the cheeky into the butt cheek.

Poking her trumpet through the backside, she would soon emerge on the front side for an hour of “talking out of my ass”.  And yes, Anna, not to put too fine a word on it, did talk s**t, whether bodily functions of celebrities; stools colour; being caught short (like Paula Ratcliffe, when winning the 2005 London Marathon, she recalled).

She even imagined if we were to excrete flowers instead. Would that be poo-pourri, your reviewer ponders.

On a roll : Anna Soden’s bon-mot handed out to CharlesHutchPress

Not that Anna poo-pooed other subjects. Far from it. She turned herself into a string of sausages for five increasingly surreal minutes; she issued a tongue-deep-in-cheek apology to Andrew Lloyd Webber for dissing his musicals in her comedy videos that went viral on TikTok and YouTube.

Earlier she had made rather shorter shrift of putting down Boris Johnson with a pictorial one-liner and delivered a longer tongue-lashing to the propensity for actors from posh schools to do best, at the expense of state-school talents such as herself.

Albeit with a self-deprecating wink, she bragged of her prowess at slam poetry, duly delivering a fusillade of stream-of-conscious wham-bam-slam raps from audience suggestions. “Planes,” said  one. Planes promptly soared and crashed. Next? “Ships,” chipped in another. “No,” said Anna, sensing one mode of transport was enough. That ship had sailed.

She used the audience regularly, whether asking communal questions for hands-in-the-air answers or inviting individuals to read from her “script” for a “serious” play she was writing. Here is when the show went off-script, impromptu, unpredictable, Anna at her freest to respond how she saw fit. Using the audience, yes, but never going quite as far as abusing the assembled bums on seats.

The pace was snappy, the tone was chatty, the humour batty, peppered with bursts of satirical songs, each preceded by an exhortation for the tech desk to “Hit it”.

And hit the mark, she did. On a night of the scatological, Anna scattered logical thoughts from her playful “brain-bum” about the “been-there-done-that” universality of her subject matter; so much so, she should give herself a PooHD for her “toilet humour”. And there wasn’t a party pooper in the house.

Review by Charles Hutchinson

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Dance show of the week: Shobana Jeyasingh Dance in We Caliban, York Theatre Royal, October 17, 7.30pm; October 18, 2pm & 7.30pm

Natnael Dawit in Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s We Caliban. Picture: Foteini Christofilopoulou

SHOBANA Jeyasingh, one of the most dynamic and distinctive forces in UK dance, turns her sharp creative eye to Shakespeare’s final play, The Tempest, in a new co-production with Sadler’s Wells.

The Bard’s tale of power lost and regained is the starting point for Jeyasingh’s dramatic and contemporary reckoning, We Caliban.  

Written as Europe was taking its first step towards colonialism, The Tempest is Prospero’s story, wherein Caliban, the island’s original native inhabitant, is the enslaved, deformed “son” of the witch Sycorax.

We Caliban is Caliban’s untold story that started and continued long after Prospero’s brief stay, presented by Jeyasingh as “an abstracted and impressionistic take that draws on present-day parallels and the international and intercultural discourse around colonialism, as well as the personal experiences of Jeyasingh and her co-dramaturg Uzma Hameed”. 

Performed by eight dancers, Jeyasingh’s bold and imaginative 80-minute new work is partnered by projections by Will Duke and music by Thierry Pécou. Lighting design is by Floriaan Ganzevoort; set and costume design by Mayou Trikerioti. 

The production is supported by Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s touring engagement project, Window Into The Tempest. The company is partnering with venues, higher education institutions and dance organisations to deliver tailored participation opportunities for students, early career artists, intergenerational groups and communities to connect with and to gain insight into the creation of We Caliban. 

The York programme, Tempest Rising, is a four-day co-creation project with York St John University students, resulting in a seven-minute curtain-raiser performance before next Saturday’s 7.30pm show, featuring an original score by We Caliban composer Thierry Pécou. 

Next Friday’s performance will conclude with a post-show discussion. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age guidance: 12 plus.