Category: Theatre

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REVIEW: The York Mystery Plays 2026, June 28, rolling out again on July 5

Wren Crawford’s Jesus in The Company of Merchant Adventurers’ Doomsday, staged with Ravens Morris & Haigha and the Northern Militia. Picture: John Saunders

YORK is the city that knows its waggon wheels from its Wagon Wheels, for so many years sent spinning towards theatregoers by pantomime dame Berwick Kaler.

Once every four summers, the York Festival Trust, the city Guilds and assorted theatre companies and community groups take to the city streets to revive the medieval texts of the York Mystery Plays, mingling with the Sunday shoppers and the aromas emerging from cafes, restaurants, stalls  and storied chocolate store over two weekends.

Ten of the 48 plays – the most complete set in the world – and a further extract are being staged at four stations, the wagons kept on the move from mid-morning at the Minster Refectory Gardens to King’s Square, St Sampson’s Square and the one seated, ticketed location, Dean’s Park, in the shadow of York Minster.

Being the city of festivals and home to the Jorvik Viking Centre, let alone stag and hen parties, York and dressing up go hand and hand, never more so than for the York Mystery Plays, where the sight of Angel 1 and 2 walking through Goodramgate, wings at full span, faces shielded by veils, separated from their fellow Doomsday performers, looked perfectly normal for a York Sunday rather than an act of divine intervention.  

It is easy to take such occurrences for granted in York, but it is all part of living with history and history being alive in a city whose present and future continues to be shaped by its past.

The Mystery Plays are steeped in tradition: plays being “brought forth” on waggons – always with  a double ‘GG’ – pulled by human toil rather than horses, led by drums and banners and the dignitaries of assorted guilds in full regalia.

Each set must fit on the waggon, calling for inventive, compact design, easy to assemble and take down. Some are humorous, such as Pip Cook and the Guild of Cordwainers’ The Shepherds, with its multitude of sheep; none is more impactful than the cross rising to the sky, bearing the pierced frame of Thom Feeney’s Jesus of Nazareth, pulled and pushed into position by the four jesting Workmen of York Settlement Community Players, performing a Pageant Waggon play for the first time in 12 years for the York Butchers’ Gild.

Faces familiar from the York theatre scene or from past productions share the spotlight with performers new to the declamatory demands of street theatre in a production that always reflects the changing community of York.

Bodhan Pitel’s Herod in DSpace Ukrainian Theatre and the Guild of Scriveners’ The Massacre Of The Innocents. Picture: John Saunders

Step forward DSpace Ukrainian Theatre, the company set up in York by artistic director and actress Daryna Klymenko, presenting The Massacre Of The Innocents, a title that could not have more resonance.

Writing in the York Mystery Plays Festival 2026 programme, Klymenko says: “Working on the tragic story of the Massacre of the Innocents, we could not ignore the parallels with the modern world – with the way dictatorship , violence and an unhealthy hunger for power and wealth become irreversibly destructive.

“Through this performance, we aim not only to tell a tragic story, but also to ask the question: why do similar tragedies continue to happen? And what has the power to resist them?”

DSpace specialise in physical expression, body language and hidden parallels, and their performance, led by Bodhan Pitel’s violent, gaudy Herod, is the essence of why these Plays continue to chime with the times.

Through the day’s perambulations, we encounter all manner of angels (Guiding/Herald/Fallen/Death/Hey-Hey Angel et al); seven iterations of God (including Daniel Wilmot’s Deus for the Guild of Building’s The Creation) and Jesus times three (the stripped Oscar Langford and Thom Feeney and a white-robed/Elvis-in-Vegas Wren Crawford).

Then add Adam & Eve, Satan, Satanas and Devils, Noah and Mrs Mrs Noah, a Forsaken Soul, shepherds, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Naughty Child 1 and 2, Saved Souls and Damned Souls, messengers, councillors and all manner of animals. All life – and one central death– is here and here to stay, you sense.

Pageant Master Dr Alan Heaven has overseen a festival with two Sunday performances, midweek Sunset plays in Shambles Market, walks and talks, pop-up shop and exhibitions, pipers’ performances and a Festival Fringe: a proper festival that celebrates York, street plays and the alliterative Yorkshire dialect, all while embracing history and Mystery with gusto.

The York Mystery Plays 2026, next performance, July 5. More details at yorkmysteryplays.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 27, from Gazette & Herald

Christina Meehan, left, Karen Holmes and Pippa Duffy in rehearsal for Calendar Girls The Musical at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

THE York Mystery Plays on waggon wheels, Calendar Girls in the round, early music beyond borders and Jim Hacker’s lust hurrah promise high summer times for Charles Hutchinson.

Make a date with: Calendar Girls The Musical, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until July 25

AS director Paul Robinson reveals: “Our new in-the-round staging of Tim Firth and Gary Barlow’s Calendar Girls brings the audience into the heart of the Rylstone Women’s Institute, making this true story of friendship and determination feel more personal and immediate.

“This intimate production will create a unique, shared experience, reminiscent of gathering around a community hall or a close friend’s living room, allowing for a deeper connection to the characters and creating a collective, communal atmosphere that fully immerses everyone in the moving story of these ‘ordinary women’ doing something quite extraordinary.” Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Cathy Sara’s Villeyn and Thomas Frere’s Jongleur in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s Mistero Buffo at Friargate Theatre, York. Picture: John Shepherdson

2026 York Mystery Plays Fringe play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in Mistero Buffo, Friargate Theatre, York, today to Saturday, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm matinees on Friday and  Saturday

TWO wild strangers roll into York for the 2026 York Mystery Plays Fringe to tell tales destined to turn the city upside down. Combining ferocious wit and fearless physical storytelling, Paul Birch’s two-hander production for York’s Riding Lights Theatre Company tears into faith, power, profit and hypocrisy by turning ancient Bible stories into urgent, humorous modern theatre with a clear spiritual heart.

Written by Nobel prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo, translated by Ed Emery and performed by Yorkshire actors Thomas Frere and Cathy Sara, this 1969 take on the Mystery Plays will appeal to Fringe theatregoers with a taste for subversive and unapologetic comedy with bite. Box office: www.ridinglights.org.

Kirkgate in floral splendour for summer at York Castle Museum. Picture: Gareth Buddo

Flower power of the week: Summer at York Castle Museum, in bloom until September 6, open Mondays, 11am to 5pm; Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am to 5pm

YORK Castle Museum is capturing the essence of ‘grand days out’ and celebrating iconic summers across two contrasting centuries this summer season.  Drawing on the breadth of the museum’s social history collection, Victorian York Galas and the Swinging ’60s are the programme’s key focus with games, crafts and seasonal decorations providing nostalgia and summer fun for visitors.

Further highlights include Last Stop Before Kirkgate, Novo Theatre’s immersive experience replicating a 19th century coaching inn and arrival into York, and Yorkshire artist Pippa Dyrlaga’s paper-cut hot air balloons, telling the story of balloon rides during the galas. Tickets: yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk.  

The Choir Of Man: “The best trip to your local you’ll ever have”…at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: The Other Richard

Foot-stomping musical celebration of the week: The Choir Of Man, Grand Opera House, York, today and tomorrow, 7.30pm; Friday, 4pm and 8pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

SET in the The Jungle pub on stage, The Choir Of Man is billed as “the best trip to your local you’ll ever have” as a cast of nine (extra)ordinary guys combine beautiful harmonies and foot-stomping singalongs with tap dance and soulful storytelling in an uplifting celebration of community and friendship.

The debut UK & Ireland tour cast features Gustav Melbardis as Maestro; Oluwalonimi (Nimi) Owoyemi as Poet; Levi Tyrell Johnson as Hard Man; Ben Mabberley as Joker; Rob Godfrey as Beast; Jack Skelton as Handyman; Joshua Lloyd as Barman; Sam Walter as Romantic and Aaron Pottenger as Bore performing Queen, Luther Vandross, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns N’ Roses, Avicii and Katy Perry hits. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston: Presenting A Gentle Air with tenor Paul Agnew and lutenist Sergio Bucheli on July 9 at 2026 York Early Music Festival

50th anniversary event of the summer: 2026 York Early Music Festival, Beyond Borders, Friday to July 11

THE premier British early music festival marks its 50th anniversary with a celebration of “just how far early music has travelled – beyond the borders of the myriad historic venues of our city to a worldwide audience,” says director Delma Tomlin.

Opening with Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers, presented by I Fagiolini, and closing with Solomon’s Knot’s rendition of Bruhns’s St Mark Passion, the festival welcomes The Sixteen, B’Rock Orchestra & Vocal Consort, Imago Mundi, mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston and NCEM Platform Artists Anacronia and Contre le temps, among others. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk/yemf.

Tribute show of the week: The Rat Pack, Las Vegas Live!, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm

DIRECT from London’s Leicester Square Theatre, The 02 and a Royal Command Performance, David Alacey stars as Frank Sinatra alongside West End favourite Tim Harwood as Dean Martin and former Coronation Street and Hollyoaks star Ashley Campbell as Sammy Davis Jr in the original Rat Pack tribute show, now celebrating its 25th record-breaking year of re-creating their Las Vegas heyday at The Sands. BBC musical director Mac Shone will be at the piano alongside the Buddy Greco All-Stars. Box office:  01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk. 

Bodhan Pitel’s Herod in DSpace Ukrainian Theatre and the Guild of Scriveners’ The Massacre of The Innocents in the 2026 York Mystery Plays. Picture: John Saunders

Theatrical event of the week: 2026 York Mystery Plays, streets of York, Sunday, 10.30am to 4.50pm; Sunset in the Shambles Market, tonight, 7.45pm  

THE four-yearly staging on the York Mystery Plays on pageant waggons takes place at four locations across the city: free viewing at the Minster Refectory Gardens, Deansgate, (from 10.30am) King’s Square (from 11.10am), St Sampson’s Square (from 11.50am) and ticketed seats at Dean’s Park (from 12.30pm). Ten core plays will be complemented by further extracts to tell the story from The War In Heaven to Doomsday. For full details, go to: yorkmysteryplays.co.uk.

A special midsummer performances of five plays will be held in Shambles Market tonight, introduced by the York Waits musicians before Pageant Master Dr Alan Heaven guides the audience through each play, from the Creation sequence to the interactive show Doomsday. Tickets: ticketsource.com/york-festival-trust.

Clive Francis and Simon Rouse in I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Michael Wharley

Political drama of the week: I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, Grand Opera House, York, July 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

JIM Hacker is back, older, but perhaps not wiser, and still utterly baffled by the real world. Hoping for a quiet retirement from government as the master of Hacker College, Oxford, Jim (Simon Rouse) instead finds himself facing the ultimate modern crisis: cancelled by the college committee. Enter Sir Humphrey Appleby (Clive Francis), who has lost none of his love for bureaucracy, Latin phrases and well-timed obstruction.

Can Humphrey and Jim outmanoeuvre the hostile students, the Fellows and reality itself? Or is it finally time to say “I’m Sorry, Prime Minister”? Brimming with wit, nostalgia and more double-speak than a press briefing, the final chapter in the evergreen comedy series is written and directed by Jonathan Lynn,co-directed by Michael Gyngell and presented by The Barn Theatre, Cirencester. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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Wharfemede Productions to stage The Addams Family Musical in Halloween week at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Helen “Bells” Spencer: Director of Wharfemede Productions’ The Addams Family Musical

REHEARSALS are well under way for North Yorkshire company Wharfemede Productions’ staging of The Addams Family Musical for Halloween week in York.

“Following our critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning productions of Little Women and A Little Night Music, we are delighted to be bringing this hilariously spooky musical comedy to Theatre@41, Monkgate,” says director Helen “Bells” Spencer. “We look forward to seeing you at Halloween – if you dare – and until then, we wish you just the right amount of darkness!”

The Addams Family, a devilishly funny musical comedy with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, will bring everyone’s favourite kooky family to the stage in spectacular fashion from October 27 to 31.

When Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normal” young man and invites his respectable parents to dinner, chaos, secrets and macabre mayhem unfold in true Addams style.

“Packed with sharp comedy, dazzling dance numbers and a brilliantly witty score, this spooky celebration of family, love and embracing the wonderfully weird promises an unforgettable night at the theatre,” says Bells.

“We are thrilled to return with a show full of heart, humour and Halloween spirit, performed during Halloween week itself, when audiences can expect the perfect seasonal treat packed with gothic glamour, mischievous fun and spectacular entertainment.

“The Addams Family is darkly delightful, gloriously gothic and wickedly entertaining. Whether you’re a life-long fan of the Addams clan or discovering them for the first time, this is one family reunion you won’t want to miss!”

In the cast will be: Zander Fick as Gomez Addams; Henrietta Linnemann, Morticia Addams; Abbie Law, Wednesday Addams; Matthew Warry, Pugsley Addams; Nick Sephton, Fester Addams; Rosy Rowley, Grandma; Chris Gibson, Lurch; Steven Jobson, Mal Beineke; Connie Howcroft, Alice Beineke, and Dan Crawfurd-Porter, Lucas Beineke.

In the ghostly Ancestors ensemble will be: The Ancestors: Adela Barrett, Benedict Merry, Catherine Foster, David Copley-Martin, Freya McIntosh, Madeleine Jones, Rachel Merry and Rianna Louise.

“At its heart, this is a brilliantly funny show, packed with wit, warmth and wonderfully eccentric characters, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be working with such an exceptionally talented cast,” says Bells, who is joined in the production team by
musical director James Robert Ball, choreographer Connie Howcroft, wardrobe mistress Suzanne Perkins, light and sound designer Will Nicholson and production manager Nick Sephton.

“From our first read-through, the room has been filled with laughter, creativity and a real sense of ensemble. I cannot wait for audiences to meet this company and experience the energy, humour and heart they are bringing to the production.”

One reason why Wharfemede Productions picked The Addams Family for its autumn show was that, beneath its gothic exterior, the story celebrated difference and the importance of family and community.

“The Addams family may be unconventional, but they love fiercely, support one another and find strength in their uniqueness,” says Bells. “These are values that resonate strongly with us at Wharfemede.

“We believe that our differences should be celebrated, that everyone deserves equality and respect, and that we achieve our best work when we support and learn from one another. This production is, in many ways, a celebration of those ideals.”

Bells is particularly excited to be bringing elements of commedia dell’arte into Wharfemede’s interpretation of the show. “Having had the privilege of working with commedia companies in Italy, I have long admired the genre’s physical storytelling, heightened characters and joyful theatricality,” she reasons.

“Those influences feel perfectly suited to the world of The Addams Family, and I look forward to blending them with the musical’s unique humour to create something that is both fresh and deeply entertaining.”

Wharfemede Productions presents The Addams Family Musical, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 27 to 31, 7:30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: www.tickets.41monkgate.co.uk

Who are Wharfemede Productions?

CO-FOUNDED by Dr Helen “Bells Spencer, chief artistic director, and Nick Sephton, chief operating officer, who share a passion for bringing high-quality musical theatre and events to Yorkshire.

Since its formation just three years ago, the company has staged such shows as Little Women and A Little Night Music.

At the heart of Wharfemede is a commitment to artistic excellence, alongside a belief that theatre should be a place to learn, grow and have fun. The company prides itself on creating a supportive and inclusive environment where everyone feels welcomed, valued and encouraged to develop their skills. Respect, openness and community are central to everything the company does.

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Jenny Gayner and Dean Whatton join York Theatre Royal pantomime cast for Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs

Jenny Gayner in the guise of the Wicked Queen

YORK Theatre Royal has signed up two new pantomime recruits for Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs’ run from December 4 to January 3 2027.

West End star Jenny Gayner will take to the dark side as the Wicked Queen while Dean Whatton, from Game Of Thrones, will lead the ‘Seven’ in the role of Sarge.  

Jenny and Dean join Richard David-Caine (Horrible Histories, Swashbuckle, Horrible Science) and Theatre Royal panto favourites Robin Simpson and Tommy Carmichael, who return after delighting audiences in last winter’s Sleeping Beauty.  

Jenny Gaynor

Jenny has starred in a wide range of musicals, playing Baroness Bomburst in the UK tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Lina Lamont in Singin’ In The Rain (Sadler’s Wells Theatre and UK/international tour) and as Mum in Gangsta Granny (West End/UK tour).  

Jenny’s credits also include Annie (UK tour); The Girls (West End – Original London cast); Chicago (West End/UK tour); A Chorus Line (Lowry Theatre) and Monty Python’s Spamalot! (West End). Television credits include The Power (Amazon Prime), The Trial (Channel 5), Elysse – Entanglement (Amazon Prime) and Material Girl (BBC). 

After starting in the entertainment business while still at school, Dean will be appearing in his 18th pantomime this winter. His credits include See How They Run (UK tour), Love’s Labour’s Lost and Richard III (Northern Broadsides/UK tour) and Macbeth (Derby Shakespeare Company).  

Dean Whatton’s Sarge

Dean’s film and television credits take in Game Of Thrones (HBO), Call The Midwife (BBC), Life’s Too Short (BBC), Star Wars Episode VII The Last Jedi and Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part II. 

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs is written by regular writer Paul Hendy, directed by Juliet Forster and co-produced with Hendy’s award-winning Evolution Productions, the team behind such Theatre Royal pantomimes as Jack And The Beanstalk, Aladdin and 2025’s Sleeping Beauty. 

Juliet Forster, creative director at York Theatre Royal, says: “Panto season is fast approaching and our cast for this year is shaping up to be truly amazing! Jenny and Dean are both super-talented and are fantastic additions to the show. Tickets are selling fast, with some performances already selling out, so make sure you book your seats early to catch the show.”  

Family tickets are available for all performances with savings of up to £61 on bookings with four tickets. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

 Dean Whatton

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Nick Jr’s Holly Atterton is Go! Go! Go! for Tinker Bell role in piratical Grand Opera House panto The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook

Holly Atterton’s Tinker Bell in the poster for The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook

NICK Jr’s Holly Atterton will bring an extra burst of fairy dust to UK Productions’ 2026 pantomime at the Grand Opera House, York, where she will play Tinker Bell in The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook, from December 5 to January 3 2027.

Holly has built her career on music, energy and feel-good family entertainment. Best known for her work with pop group Go!Go!Go!, as seen on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr channel, she has lit up screens, stages and young imaginations across the country.

Holly has achieved a Top 75 album with Radio Go!Go!Go!, enjoyed two West End runs and toured the UK, crowning that success with a sell-out concert at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

All those credits add up to the ideal foundation for her Tinker Bell to deliver festive magic to Neverland. “This season will be my tenth year with UK Productions, and I can’t think of a better place to celebrate my ‘panto-versary’,” says Holly.

“York is a beautiful city that fully embraces everything about the festive season, so I can’t wait to experience the brilliant York audiences and bring some sass and sparkle to the Grand Opera House this Christmas.”

Theatre director Allie Long is delighted to welcome Holly to York. “We’re thrilled to have Holly join the cast of this year’s musical pantomime. We can’t wait to see her skate around the Grand Opera House stage, adding to what will undoubtedly be an unforgettable pantomime season filled with laughter, glee and musical magic.”  

UK Productions producer Martin Dodd says: “We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Holly Atterton. She has the sparkle, charm and cheeky spirit to make a truly magical Tinker Bell. With a wave of fairy dust, she’ll have audiences flying high from the very first scene!

We’ve assembled a fantastic cast that’s sure to be shipshape, and this promises to be one of our biggest and most spectacular pantomimes yet. Second star to the right…and straight to the box office!”

Holly joins a blockbuster Grand Opera House line-up led by Emmerdale star and 42nd Street, Calamity Jane and Legally Blonde musical theatre performer Tom Lister as dastardly Captain Hook. Audience favourite Jimmy Bryant returns as Smee after delighting Grand Opera House audiences as Buttons in last year’s Cinderella.

Tickets are on sale at atgtickets.com/york. 

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Corrie star Mollie Gallagher to make stage debut as Clarice Starling in The Silence Of The Lambs. Grand Opera House awaits

Oliver Farnworth, left, Mollie Gallagher, John Partridge and Sam Jackson in the poster for the world stage premiere of The Silence Of The Lambs

CORONATION Street star Mollie Gallagher will make her professional theatrical debut as Clarice Starling in the world stage premiere of The Silence Of The Lambs, touring the Grand Opera House, York, from March 15 to 20 2027.

Mollie is departing the ITV soap after almost seven years in the role of Nina Lucas, long-lost niece of Roy Cropper, to tread the boards.

She joined Coronation Street straight out of drama school and has since been central to some of Corrie’s biggest storylines, including the Nina & Seb hate crime storyline, based on the attack of Sophie Lanacaster.

She won the Serial Drama Performance prize in the National Theatre Awards and took part in ITV’s Dancing On Ice in 2023, reaching the semi-finals.

Mollie will join the already confirmed John Partridge’s Dr Hannibal Lecter, Emmerdale soap star Oliver Farnworth’s Jack Crawford and Skins actor Sam Jackson’s Buffalo Bill (a.k.a Jame Gumb) in the spine-tingling psychological thriller.

Adapted for the stage by two-time Pulitzer finalist and Tony-nominated playwright Gina Gionfriddo from Thomas Harris’s classic novel, the touring production is directed by North Yorkshireman Nikolia Foster, artistic director of Curve, Leicester.

Produced by Curve in tandem with  Indigo Productions and Crossroads Live, the UK and Ireland tour of The Silence Of The Lambs will open at Curve on August 1 2026, featuring an ensemble of Minal Patel as Frederick Chilton; Jo Mousley as Senator Ruth Martin; Lottie Amor as Catherine Martin; Mark Peachey as Pilcher; Andrew Joshi as Peterson and Jonny Magnanti as Wertimer, with Mary Timbrell Hill completing the completing the company, all taking on a variety of roles.

Lancashire actor, singer, presenter, writer and director John Partridge is best known for his long-running role as Christian Clarke in BBC 1’s EastEnders and extensive range of West End credits, from Cats to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie.

Now he will don the iconic mask as the refined and sadistic Dr Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist and infamous murderer who FBI trainee Clarice Starling is sent to interview in the hope that his brilliant mind will help to catch Buffalo Bill, a sadistic serial killer still at large.

Another girl is missing, time is running out, but Dr Lecter has questions of his own, and now Clarice must decide: should she keep a safe distance or let Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ into her head?

Gionfriddo’s theatrical adaptation delves into the psychological tension of Harris’s novel, drawing the audience deep into Clarice and Lecter’s intelligent, intricate and bone-chilling game of cat-and-mouse as the FBI scramble to catch Buffalo Bill.

The tour’s award-winning creative team includes theatre designer Michael Taylor, whose credits include his Olivier Award-nominated design for The Ladykillers and Billy Elliot at Curve; sound designer Carolyn Downing, Olivier Award winner for  Chimerica and Tony Award winner for Life Of Pi, and projection designer George Reeve, 2025 Tony Award recipient for Best Scenic Design of a Musical for Maybe Happy Ending, with further credits for Disney’s Hercules and Oliver! (West End and Chichester Festival Theatre).

In the team too are Tony-nominated and Drama Desk Award-winning composer Grant Olding, who has collaborated regularly with Nicholas Hytner at both The Bridge and National Theatre, including One Man, Two Guvnors, and Tony and Olivier-nominated lighting designer Howard Hudson (Starlight Express, Troubadour Theatre; & Juliet, Broadway, West End, international and UK tours). 

Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, director Nikolai Foster grew up in North Yorkshire and trained at Drama Centre London and at the Crucible, Sheffield, going on to create work for many of the UK’s major producing theatres, touring houses and international venues.

He has been director on attachment at the Crucible, the Royal Court Theatre, London, and National Theatre Studio, London, and served as an associate director at Leeds Playhouse. In 2024, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of the Arts by Leicester’s De Montfort University for his contribution to theatre in Leicester.

At Curve, Nikolai has worked on numerous musical revivals, new plays and musicals and championed emerging artists. Many of the Made at Curve productions Nikolai has directed have transferred to London, toured the UK and internationally.

Tickets for The Silence Of The Lambs’ York run are on sale at atgtickets.com/york.

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Greg Doran returns to York after 26 years to stage Venus And Adonis at Theatre Royal

Greg Doran: Venus And Adonis director Greg Doran

GREG Doran, former Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director, York Millennium Mystery Plays director and renowned Shakespearean, brings his revival of Shakespeare’s narrative poem Venus And Adonis to York Theatre Royal tomorrow and Wednesday.

Narrated live by esteemed actor Simon Russell Beale and animated by world-class puppeteers Bartolomeo Bartolini, Edie Edmundson, Rachel Leonard, Lee Maeda and Sarah Wright with live musical accompaniment, this unique production blends comedy, tragedy and Shakespeare’s poetry to bring the story of Venus and her obsession with the handsome Adonis to life in a rich, captivating 60-minute theatrical experience.

Drawing inspiration from the bewitching artistry of Japanese Bunraku puppets and the Jacobean Court Masque, this spellbinding production tells the story using marionettes, rod, shadow and table-top puppets, designed and created by Lyndie Wright. 

Produced originally by the Royal Shakespeare Company and Little Angel Theatre, Doran’s staging of this powerful erotically-charged story of unrequited love marks his return to York 26 years since his 2000 production of the Mystery Plays in the Minster.

“I can recall being able to remember every member of the cast’s name because they had become so memorable to me, after pretty much everyone who auditioned got a part, especially the men, who are always in short supply,” he recalls.

“I remember being inspired by the Minster itself, like when Rob Jones, the designer, and I were trying to work out how to do The Flood [for Noah’s Ark] and we settled on two huge pieces of blue material filling the Nave.

“Then we thought, how do we do the rainbow – and I realised there were seven arches in the Quire, which Michael Gunning, the lighting designer, lit to create this wonderful Gothic rainbow.”

Venus And Adonis narrator Simon Russell Beale

Greg reflects: “The Mystery Plays remains not only a highlight of my career but my life too. I used to come to York every Corpus Christi day, from the Jesuit College in Preston, and it was a great occasion in 2000 to celebrate York’s two great cultural beacons: the Minster and the Mystery Plays.

“Brought up as a Catholic, I’m loathe to say I’m a lapsed Catholic, but I jumped away because of its position on homosexuality, but there’s something life enhancing and moving about these extraordinary Mystery Plays.”

Attention turns to Venus And Adonis, a production first staged when the Prince of Wales [now King Charles III], president of the RSC, invited the company to Highgrove House for a development event.

“Adrian Noble [RSC artistic director at the time] said to me, it won’t need to be very long, it won’t have many actors, and I thought, ‘rather than doing familiar scenes, why not do Venus And Adonis?’, which rather shamefully I’d never read. When I did, I just found it hysterically funny, and then it turns into a tragedy, and in that moment, I thought it would be great to do it.”

Toby Stephens’s Adonis and Alexandra Gilbreath’s Venus were complemented by Antony Sher’s Narrator.  “It went extraordinarily well,” Greg recalls.  “The next outing came at a villa garden in Florence where I invited Judi Dench, who is known for her love of Florence, to play Venus.”

Greg recalls Adrian Noble’s enthusiasm for Venus And Adonis. “He came up on stage at Highgrove to make his speech, then ripped up his notes, and said, ‘what this poem does is explain why Shakespeare is so great, with extraordinary characterisation, the most beautiful poetry and, with it’s wonderful fusing of comedy and tragedy, it’s Shakespeare in miniature’.”

Greg Doran’s 2017 production of Venus And Adonis. Picture: Lucy Barriball

After seeing the Bunraku Puppets, Greg was struck by the possibility of integrating puppetry into Venus And Adonis. “I just thought, this is a great opportunity to see if they could be involved after seeing these exquisite puppets manipulated by these master puppeteers, where the puppetry was of such a high quality,” says Greg.

“It became a company favourite and I put it down as one my favourite shows I did at the RSC because of the level of craftsmanship. I loved working with those puppeteers.”

This year’s revival was sparked by a call to Greg. “The RSC got in touch with me one day to say, ‘look, there’s still this great box of puppets…what would you like to do with it?’. I knew that meant, ‘can you clear it out, please, because we need the space’ and they’ve since taken puppetry to another level,” he says.

“What was lovely was that a whole series of people came out of the woodwork and said ‘we’d like to help you’, including the Backstage Trust providing seed funding and Mark Pigott coming on board as executive producer.”

Oxford Playhouse, Cambridge Arts Theatre, Europe’s biggest Shakespeare festival, in Craiova, Romania, and The Pit at the Barbican (London) were all confirmed for performances, along with York Theatre Royal. “Knowing that York has a proven interest in history and Shakespeare, it seemed a good place to bring it,” says Greg.

Better still will be the presence of Russell Beale, last in York for An Evening with Simon Russell Beale at the Theatre Royal in September 2024: “I was delighted when Greg asked me to join him in his production,” says the narrator. “I saw it just over 20 years ago and remember it vividly as a delicate and witty interpretation of this sexy, sad and funny poem.”

Venus And Adonis, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow, 7.30pm; Wednesday, 2pm (with post-show discussion with Greg Doran) and 7.30pm. Age guidance: 14 plus. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Greg Doran: back story

JOINED Royal Shakespeare Company as an actor in 1987; ,became its artistic director in 2012, stepping down a decade later. Directed every play in the First Folio. Notable productions include Antony & Cleopatra with Harriet Walter and Patrick Stewart; Hamlet and Richard II with David Tennant; All’s Well That Ends Well with Dame Judi Dench and a digitally pioneering production of The Tempest with Simon Russell Beale.

His production of Julius Caesar with an all-Black British cast was described by the Guardian theatre critic Michael Billington as one the ten best productions in the 60-year history of the RSC.

Greg’s long relationship with his late husband, Sir Antony Sher, produced many acclaimed productions, including Titus Andronicus, Macbeth, The Winter’s Tale, Othello, Henry IV (Parts 1&2) and King Lear.

He initiated the RSC’s Live From Stratford-upon-Avon programme, broadcasting to cinemas around the world and streaming into UK schools for free.

Honorary senior research fellow of the Shakespeare Institute; trustee of Shakespeare Birthplace Trust; honorary associate of British Shakespeare Association. Awarded Pragnell Shakespeare Prize in 2023; became president of Stratford Shakespeare Club on its 200th anniversary.

Knighted for his services to theatre in 2024.

Recent work includes Richard III, with Arthur Hughes, the first disabled actor to play the role for RSC; Cymbeline, marking 50th production for Royal Shakespeare Company; The Two Gentlemen Of Verona as Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor at Oxford University; Gogol’s The Government Inspector at Chichester.

Greg’s book, My Shakespeare : A Director’s Journey Through The First Folio, published by Bloomsbury is now out in paperback. His quest to see as many extant copies of the First Folio across the globe (2023/4) is the subject of his latest book, Walking Shadow: Love Loss And Shakespeare, published by Bloomsbury in April 2026.

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The Choir Of Man cast to perform stomping excerpts on Parliament Street on Wednesday to showcase York run

The Choir Of Man cast: Swapping The Jungle pub for Parliament Street on Wednesday

THE cast of The Choir Of Man will head to Parliament Street, York, at 1.30pm on Wednesday to give a one-off taster of live excerpts from this week’s production, running at the Grand Opera House until Saturday.

 Set in the on-stage pub The Jungle, The Choir Of Man is billed as “the best trip to your local you’ll ever have” as a cast of nine (extra)ordinary guys combine beautiful harmonies and foot-stomping singalongs with tap dance and soulful storytelling in an uplifting celebration of community and friendship.

The debut UK & Ireland tour cast features Gustav Melbardisas Maestro; Oluwalonimi (Nimi) Owoyemi as Poet; Levi Tyrell Johnson as Hard Man; Ben Mabberley as Joker; Rob Godfrey as Beast; Jack Skelton as Handyman; Joshua Lloyd as Barman; Sam Walter as Romantic and Aaron Pottenger as Bore performing Queen, Luther Vandross, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns N’ Roses, Avicii and Katy Perry hits.

The Choir Of Man, Grand Opera House, York, June 30 to July 2, 7.30pm; July 3, 4pm and 8pm; July 4, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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REVIEW: Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile The Musical, York Theatre Royal, today and tomorrow ****

Jordan Eskeisa, Marienella Phillips, Chelsea Da Silva (The Enormous Crocodile), Precious Abimbola and Ciara Hudson in a scene from The Enormous Crocodile. Picture: Danny Kaan

TWO days gone, only two to go, so let’s make this review snappy.

He’s green, he’s greedy, he’s grumptious. Now he’s been transformed into a “crocmobile”, steered by Chelsea Da Silva through the heat and sounds of the Theatre Royal Jungle.

The Enormous Crocodile is a horrid, hungry yet still lovable anti-hero as Roald Dahl’s 12-page picture book is stretched into a 55-minute mischievous musical for age three upwards.

Cue bouncy music by composer Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab; humorous book and lyrics by Suhayla El-Bushra; luscious jungle greenery and fabulous costumes, bird plumage and scout camouflage by Fly Davis.

All topped off by Toby Olié’s puppetry, inventive, playful and never hiding the cast who are working them (Precious Abimbola, Jordan Eskeisa, Ciara Hudson and Marienella Phillips). The Jungle Juniors scout puppets are a particular delight, vaudeville in style, performed by actors on their knees.

The Croc of the title takes several forms: body parts in the swamp; a head, body and tail carried above the actors’ heads; the ‘crocmobile’ swaggering around the jungle. Then come assorted disguises as Croc brags about his “secret plans and (not-so) clever tricks”, only for his boastful buffoonery to be outwitted by fellow jungle creatures (exotic bird, nut-throwing monkey, very windy hippo and Trunky the elephant).

Director Emily Lim describes the show as “an explosion of radical joy”; Olié’s three words are “bombastic”, “gregarious” and “emotional”. Your reviewer most enjoyed the puppetry, especially the Egyptain Plover birds, picking at the Croc’s like dentists.

Plus points too: the new touring cast’s camaraderie; the audience participation and the Sizzle Like A Sausage finale as, spoiler alert, Da Silva’s defeated Croc returns, reduced to a green sausage and angel wings.

A sizzling sausage for such sizzling weather, how apt.

Roald Dahl Story Company, Leeds Playhouse and Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre present Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile, York Theatre Royal, today and tomorrow, 10.30am and 1.30pm. Age guidance: Three plus. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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Riding Lights revive Dario Fo’s riotous twist on Mystery Plays in subversive comedy Mistero Buffo at Friargate Theatre

Cathy Sara’s Villeyn and Thomas Frere’s Jongleur in Riding Lights’ Mistero Buffo at Friargate Theatre. Picture: John Shepherdson

TWO wild strangers will roll into York today for the 2026 York Mystery Plays Fringe, tasked with telling tales destined to turn the city upside down.

Combining ferocious wit and fearless physical storytelling, artistic director Paul Birch’s production of Mistero Buffo for York’s Christian theatre company, Riding Lights, will tear into faith, power, profit and hypocrisy by turning ancient Bible stories into urgent, humorous modern theatre with a clear spiritual heart.

Translated by Ed Emery from Nobel prize-winning Italian playwright Dario Fo’s 1969 Communist take on the Mystery Plays, this subversive and unapologetically seditious comedy will be performed by Yorkshire actors Thomas Frere and Cathy Sara.

Premiered by Fo as a solo piece, Mistero Buffo was last performed by Riding Lights with a cast of four in July 2003 under the direction of late founder and artistic director Paul Burbridge, who had once performed the play in solo mode himself. 

Now it will be staged as a two-hander. “We’ve taken it that the Jongleur and Villeyn are the two central characters, building our show around that relationship, with the Jongleur – a character who came from commedia dell’arte – being the person who’s empowered to speak out,” says director Paul Birch.

“We’re staging Mistero Buffo 100 years since Dario Fo’s birth, using  Emery’s translation but they’ve let us introduce some more topical satire,” says director Paul Birch. “So we’ve gone from Italian car factories to AI and zero hours contracts. The Jongleur character is speaking truth to power now, rather than to the 1960s. It will be very obvious that’s it’s here and now, in this space, though we’re not doing it in the Yorkshire dialect.”

Paul was drawn to Mistero Buffo by Riding Lights’ long association with the York Mystery Plays and dramas where religion overlaps with politics. “For me personally, because it uses Biblical storytelling, and as a company we’re seeing how religion gets into bed with politics, and we’re faced with seeing that in America now, I see it as a distortion of faith. That’s what’s happening with faith and politics now.”

Thomas Frere says: “When you start to read the script, there are phrases that jump out at you, where you think, ‘it could have been written now with its stories of bosses trying to take advantage of people, though it was written in the 1960s’.”

Cathy Sara says: “People are people, and to me it’s the people who are victims when power is applied; how hopeless they feel, though there is always hope – but who’s going to speak up for you and who’s going to speak out?”

Mistero Buffo designer Ollie Brown, left, and director Paul Birch

Thomas rejoins: “It will be interesting to see how these stories go down because we don’t really know  at this stage. I honestly don’t know how the audience will react.”

Paul says: “The audience for our touring shows is very different from an audience at Friargate Theatre in our home city. With this show, they may come as beloved Mystery Plays followers, who might be shocked by something in Fo’s play, which shifts how you react. One moment you will laugh; the next moment you may feel differently.”

Cathy rejoins: “That’s what’s unsettling about this play, where you now question what’s true, what’s the truth.”

Paul suggests: “The imagined in Mistero Buffo can be truthful, so it’s slippery, but I hope people find the play empowering and feel inspired to make provocative work that criticises as well as celebrates. I think it’s really exciting for Riding Lights to be part of doing that. It certainly floats my political boat!”

Cathy asserts: “Theatre has the chance to ask questions, but where we don’t have to give all the answers. I think theatre is more honest than that, rougher than that.”

Paul  adds: “There’s a lot of direct address in Mistero Buffo, and plenty of audience involvement in the storytelling, so the audiences will become complicit in it and aren’t just witnesses. That’s why this production has a very different feel from when it was last done here – and Ollie Brown’s in-the-round setting will definitely have an impact on that.”

Riding Lights are delighted and excited to be participating in the 2026 York Mystery Plays Fringe. “It’s all part of York being the city of festivals, which has always been a good tourist ploy,” says Thomas. “When they come to the city, there’s always something for them to do – and theatre companies should always reach out to them, as well as playing to local people.”

Paul says: “I feel that ‘festival’ and ‘festivities’ are good words to describe this play, where people can come to the theatre and  see this kind of punky play in a city where things can grow in back alleys.

“With this Fringe production, we really want to see if there’s a way for us to make interesting and provocative work like this that’s not reliant on us touring it.” Watch this space.

Riding Lights Theatre Company in Mistero Buffo, Friargate Theatre, York, today, tomorrow, then July 1 to 4, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm matinees on July 3 and 4. Box office: www.ridinglights.org.