Category: Theatre

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REVIEW: Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, running all day and all of the night, but in reality only until Saturday *****

Danny Horn’s Ray Davies, left, Oliver Hoare’s Dave Davies, Zakarie Stokes’s Mick Avory and Harry Curley’s Pete Quaife in Sunny Afternoon. Picture: Manuel Harlan

IT may be dreich and dreary outside, but the weather forecast predicts a Sunny Afternoon all week at the Grand Opera House, York.

Welcome back the four-time Olivier Award-winning musical tale of the rise and fall-outs of Muswell Hill firebrands The Kinks, last sparking fireworks here in February 2017, and still as thrilling, visceral, anarchic, smart and smarting as it was when premiered in 2014 by Ray Davies (original story and songs, 29 of them, from the chief Kink’s katalogue) and Joe Penhall (book) before transferring to the West End.

Returning to the York theatre where Davies last played on May 3 2007, his story of sibling rivalry with younger brother “Rave Dave” (lead guitarist, fashion hound) is the fractious London forerunner to the Gallagher brothers’ Manchester ructions. Northern softies by comparison.

Clashing not only with each other but with authority and management too, The Kinks hold their place in pop history as the first British band to be banned from the United States. No wonder Penhall says “they were punk before punk”.

Sunny Afternoon is not a jukebox musical, more a raucously rude reawakening of Davies’s satirical commentaries on English customs, class wars, fashions and fashion, love and loss. The hits are delivered as much by fists – and a cymbal in the case of drummer Mick Avory (Zakarie Stokes) hospitalising Dave Davies (Oliver Hoare) with blows to the head in All Day And All Of The Night at a Cardiff gig – as they are by Ray’s golden pen.

Told with all the electric charge of Dave’s guitar riff for You Really Got Me, this turbulent tale is an eye opener for those familiar with the songs but not the blistered, bruising history from 1963 to 1967’s Waterloo Sunset and onwards to 1969’s American return, peppered with all its riotous controversies, physical and mental exhaustion and love’s headiness and headaches.

The Kinks’ Ray Davies standing in front of a billboard for Sunny Afternoon, on tour this week at the Grand Opera House, York

Equipped with Ray Davies’s inside track on all things Kinks, Penhall’s book is at once witty and scabrous, rebellious and moving (to the point of tears in Dress Circle, Row C, Seat 26), as he charts The Kinks’ rise from rowdy backing band to cavalier working-class lads caught in a maelstrom of mendacious, manipulative management deals and recording contracts, American red tape, band fall-outs and brotherly spats.

We learn, for example, of Ray’s childhood stutter that returns in moments of stress; his refusal to have his gap teeth fixed; his marriage to an expelled Bradford convent girl Rasa (Lisa Wright, as in 2017); his breakdown after the exploitative American tour; how he misses sister Rene, who died when dancing on the day she gave him his first guitar on his 13th birthday.

You will love how songs both feed off or into the storyline, whether in the moment when a homesick Ray (Danny Horn, himself of Muswell Hill stock) craves comforting words down the phone from Rasa, eliciting her rendition of I Go To Sleep (his devastating ballad resurrected by The Pretenders in 1980), or when his breakdown is encapsulated in Too Much On My Mind, made all the more impactful by segueing into Rasa’s frustrated response, Tired Of Waiting.

Likewise, a tired and emotional Dave’s rowdy rendition of I’m Not Like Everybody Else defines Hoare’s Molotov cocktail performance.

The blow-by-blow re-enactment of the creation of two Kinks landmarks book-ends the show, firstly the raucous 1964 number one You Really Got Me, giving equal credit to Dave and Ray for sticking  sharp objects into the speaker cone to make that wall-shuddering, ear-shattering guitar squall

Later, and climactically, amid so much turmoil, beauty beyond compare emerges piece by piece in Waterloo Sunset, a song famously denied top spot by The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love, but here making you wish you were Terry and Julie meeting at Waterloo station every Friday night.

Joe Penhall: “His bookfor Sunny Afternoon is at once witty and scabrous, rebellious and moving”

Elsewhere, framing 1966 chart topper Sunny Afternoon in the glow of England’s World Cup victory that July makes for a right old London knees-up, while the barbershop quintet reinvention of Days is breathtaking.

Reuniting with Hoare from Sunny Afternoon stints in London in 2015 and Chicago earlier this year, Horn’s Ray leads the show with fire and rage, mischievous wit but the burden of grief too, and their partnership is equally strong in song and sibling flare-ups.

Hoare spells trouble with a capital T as dangerous dandy Dave; Stokes’s volcanic drummer Avory erupts in a remarkable drum solo and Harry Curley’s reserved bassist Pete Quaife is eventually crushed under the weight of the Cain and Abel toxicity.

There is no room for Autumn Almanac, alas, but the likes of Stop Your Sobbing, This Is Where I Belong, The Moneygoround  and A Rock’n’Roll Fantasy take Sunny Afternoon beyond the Kinks klassics to the storyline’s benefit.

Miriam Buether’s set and costumes evoke the era in every detail; Adam Cooper’s choreography is almost combustible and Matt McKenzie’s sound design enhances the Kinks’ progression from incendiary, foundation-shaking early numbers to the broader canvas that followed.

Horn and Hoare never let up, their raw energy propelling director Edward Hall’s exhilarating slice of Sixties’ London life to new heights in its potent yet poetic portrait of sunny afternoons and dark days.

Sonia Friedman Productions and ATG Productions present Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm; tomorrow and Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york. Age guidance: 12 plus.

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A blizzard of joyful folly is heading for Grand Opera House as Slava’s SnowShow makes York debut. Cue bubbles, balloons and snow

Hold the front page: Slava’s SnowShow clowns reading all about it while having a cuppa on their promotional York day trip

SLAVA’S SnowShow will bring blizzard conditions to the Grand Opera House, leaving audiences knee deep in “snow” on next week’s first visit to York in its 31-year history of clowning joy.

Founded by Slava Polunin, this immersive, whimsical, multi-sensory show promises a “cavalcade of chaos and charm that invites you to leave the everyday behind and indulge in pure, tender delight as you enter a dream-like world that will both warm your heart and your funny bone , reminding you of the joy in being wonderfully silly”.

Slava’s company returned to British shores for the first time in seven years last winter for a West End Christmas run at the Harold Pinter Theatre and is now on an autumn tour that brought Slava’s son, Vanya, to York for a day’s promotional work and sightseeing in the week when SnowShow played the Manchester Opera House.

Dressed in clown’s costume and make-up for this interview, Vanya says: “It’s my first time in York and the show’s first time too. We’re very excited to be here, having seen photos of the old streets.”

Slava’s SnowShow clowns taking in the awe-inspiring Gothic edifice of York Minster on their sightseeing trip

Vanya has been on the move in this globe-travelling show since childhood. “I was born in Russia, In Leningrad (now St Petersburg), and I’ve stayed away from Russia for the longest time,” he says. “We left when I was seven, touring with the company, going on tour with Cirque de Soleil in the United States.

“We performed Slava’s SnowShow in the UK for the first time at the Hackney Empire in 1994 and were in the UK for nine years from 1996, when we played the Edinburgh Festival.”

The company did do tours to Russia. “When I saw St Petersburg again for the first time I’d forgotten how beautiful it was,” says Vanya.

He was delighted to be travelling from such a young age. “To avoid being called up for the army, you would have to leave at 16. We toured instead and my talents were much more usefully used making people smile than knowing how to hold a rifle,” he says.

Bubbling up: Slava’s SnowShow clowns in their joyous globe-travelling show

anya, now 39, is a key component in a show set within an absurd and surrealistic world of “fools on the loose”, a work of art wherein each scene paints a picture: an unlikely shark swimming in a misty sea; clowns and the audience tangled up in a gigantic spider’s web; heart-breaking goodbyes with a coat rack on a railway platform, and audience members being hypnotised by giant balloons.

“Everybody asks me what’s my favourite scene, and it’s the one that involves a clown in an overcoat with the coat rack on the platform. It’s a very touching scene that shows that clowning is not just about slapstick – and there’s only a little slapstick in our show because we’re not traditional clowns,” says Vanya.

“It’s hard to explain the show but it’s very simple! It’s the story of two characters and the journey they’re going on.  It can be confusing and absurd, and in the beginning everyone is a bit confused but then they get to know the characters and it becomes sentimental by the end, when big snow effects take over the whole theatre.”

The finale is an “out-of-this-world snowstorm”. “Snow is a big part of the show,” says Vanya. “It’s decorative as a prop but because of the theme of the show as well, in my culture, snow holds different meanings: it could be making snowballs, or being trapped in a snowstorm, when it can be isolating or make you feel lonely. So that’s how we use it in the show, in both a scary and joyful way.

Slava’s SnowShow founder Slava Polunin

“Everyone can interpret snow differently, in their own way because, like us, they will have their own connections with snow. We once brought our paper snow to Honolulu [in Hawaii], where they had never seen snow, but they still had snow on their Christmas cards!”

Now the specialist in the international language of snow, Slava Polunin, Vanya’s father, was born in a small town in central Russia, where he discovered the art of pantomime in high school. As he grew into adulthood in Leningrad, he developed an eccentric version of the form that he dubbed lovingly as “Expressive Idiotism”.

From 1979 onwards, Slava became a fixture on Russian stages and television, sharing his gifts and continuing to redefine the art of clowning, exploring its boundless possibilities with his poetic and poignant approach to comic performance.

This discovery reached its zenith with Slava’s SnowShow, a show full of innocence and beauty for all ages. “In a sense, I have been working on this show forever, collecting bit by bit until it became a whole, to express myself fully,” said Slava. “Many things in the show come from childhood memories, like the image of snow, for example, and many others are pure invention in a style of clowning that I had never seen before.”

Slava’s Snow Show clowns and their fish friend taking a breather in St Helen’s Square on their York journey of discovery

Since its debut, the work has travelled all over the world, notching more than 12,000 performances in more than 225 cities and 40 countries and receiving more than 20 international awards, including an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment and a Drama Desk Award.

“I started with a tiny role at the age of seven, and now, after my dad, who’s 75, I’m the most veteran of the performers – and he still performs sometimes,” says Vanya.

“The show doesn’t change that much dramatically down the years, because we don’t do things that are current, but do things that are eternal; it could be 100 years before now and it will hopefully still exist in 100 years. It has eternal emotions, friendship, love, fear and loss, so it doesn’t matter what year it is.

“These are the basics and that’s why it’s run so long. We try to connect with the inner child, so children love it, but adults love it too, and everyone leaves feeling like a kid, transforming into their playful self. Whenever things are bad, people turn to the arts for solace”

Slava’s SnowShow clowns clowning around on the Clifford’s Tower hillock

No two audiences are the same, says Vanya. “Everywhere we go, they are different, and not just from country to country, but city to city,” he explains. “In the first Act, we spend time looking for what rhythm of comedy they like. Is it slapstick or dramatic? What makes them laugh?

“For us, it’s really important to see how slow we can do the show as we are day-dreaming clowns, where we like to take it slowly without losing their attention! Clowning has evolved, and in the form that we’re doing it, it’s a new evolution.”

After big  balloons, bubbles and the spider’s web that is passed across the audience, Slava’s Snow Show climaxes with a paper snow blizzard. “We used to cut out the paper snowflakes with scissors, then with paper cutters, but now we order in our snow,” says Vanya. “It’s not a snow machine, but make-believe snow as you don’t get wet from paper!”

Slava’s SnowShow, Grand Opera House, York, November 19 to 23; 7.30pm, Wednesday to Saturday; 2.30pm, Thursday and Saturday; Sunday, 2pm and 6pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. Age guidance: Eight upwards.

Why the sad face? The frown meets the clown as CharlesHutchPress interviews Slava’s SnowShow’s Vanya Polunin at the Grand Opera House, York

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Dance show of the week: London City Ballet: Momentum, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm, Saturday, 2.30pm & 7.30pm

London City Ballet in the UK premiere of Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures At An Exhibition

LONDON City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, returns to York Theatre Royal with Momentum on Friday and Saturday.

This new repertoire showcases artists rarely seen in the UK and is in keeping with the company’s ethos of bringing to the stage rarely performed works.

George Balanchine’s early work Haieff Divertimento was thought to be lost for 40 years after its premiere and to this day had remained unseen outside the USA until this London City Ballet season.

Alexei Ratmansky, New York City Ballet’s artist-in-residence and a leading light on the global dance scene, delivers the UK premiere of his work Pictures At An Exhibition, performed to Modest Mussorgsky’s eponymous score, set against a backdrop depicting Wassily Kandinsky’s best-known masterpieces as the dancers bring the art to life.

Unseen in the UK since its 2009 premiere, Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum is a response to Franz Liszt’s piano score of the same name. Played live, Scarlett’s affecting ballet depicts the life cycle of a relationship, its blossoming and later fracturing love.

Emerging choreographer Florent Melac, premier danseur at the Paris Opera Ballet, has created a new work for the company in fluid musical style that combines inventive transitions with intimate partnering.

Returning to the London City Ballet company for 2025 are Alejandro Virelles, Joseph Taylor, Nicholas Vavrečka, Arthur Wille, Jimin Kim and Cira Robinson.

New dancers for the 2025 season include Samuele Barzaghi (formerly Paris Opera Ballet), Yuria Isaka (former soloist at Staataballett Berlin), Sahel Flora Pascual (formerly School of American Ballet, Ballet Austin), Constance Devernay-Laurence (former principal at Scottish Ballet/TV actress), Josue Gomez (formerly Birmingham Royal Ballet), Pilar Ortega (formerly Joffrey Ballet Studio Company, Indianapolis Ballet), Siméon Sorange-Félicité (formerly Conservatoire de Paris) and Lydia Rose Hough (formerly English National Ballet School).

Last year, on its return after three decades, the company was awarded Best Independent Company at the National Dance Awards, received a UK Theatre Awards nomination for Achievement in Dance and was nominated for Dance Europe’s Critics Choice for Best Company, New Name To Watch, Best Director and Best Revival for Kenneth MacMillan’s Ballade.

London City Ballet artistic director Christopher Marney

HERE artistic director Christopher Marney discusses London City Ballet’s origins, its triumphant return in 2024 and what to expect from its new programme.

LET’S start with the history bit. “London City Ballet was formerly the resident company of Sadler’s Wells,” says Christopher. “They grew a fond and loyal audience around the country by touring to venues in towns and cities where other dance companies dared not!

“Their reach was important because they engaged new audiences with excellent quality dance and built a foundation with a wide public.”

Returning after a 30-year hiatus, London City Ballet re-emerged into a radically altered dance scene. “I noticed that many of our wonderful venues around the UK were under-served by dance,” says Christopher. “Theatres had bustling programmes of plays and musicals but little on offer to dance audiences.”

The revitalised London City Ballet sought to address that scenario: “I was keen to help facilitate this by building the model of a ballet company that was tourable whilst still providing world-class talent and repertoire on stage,” says Christopher. 

London City Ballet had inspired his own career in dance, one that had taken in being principal dancer at Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures and director of the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company of Chicago and Central School of Ballet, London. “I would see them often as a child, so had always harboured the desire to rebuild the company and get it back on the road,” he says.

Despite this reverence for the original form, he sensed the need to reflect the world wherein we live now: “This time around, I wanted to make it adept for the times we are living in but still retaining the original ethos of bringing top-drawer choreographers’ work and international dancers to regional theatres,”  he says.

The experience of reviving London City Ballet in 2024 was highly meaningful, not only for Christopher but also for the dedicated audience of English ballet: “It was a heart-warming return and we felt so welcome by the audiences around the country,” he says.

“Some were formerly avid London City Ballet followers 30 years ago, remembering what the company stood for, and many were new audience members seeing us for the first time. We opened the performance with projected images telling the story of the company’s beginnings, which set the scene well, and this was always met with great audience response.”

London City Ballet in Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum

In all, the company toured to 17 venues across three different continents in 2024, including bring the Resurgence tour to York Theatre Royal on September 6 and 7 as part of Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes’s drive to bring more dance to York.

Opening with Kenneth MacMillan’s 1972 one-act ballet Ballade, unseen in Europe for more than 50 years, Resurgence also featured Ashley Page’s Larina Waltz on its 30th anniversary, the premiere of Arielle Smith’s Five Dances and Marney’s full company work Eve, premiered at Sadler’s Wells in 2022.

London City Ballet is committed to bringing dance to audiences far and wide, a subject of passion for Christopher. “I am committed to keeping the company active and introducing people to revivals of works they have not seen before,” he says.

“When we arrive in a theatre we try to provide engagement opportunities around the performance, which includes participatory workshops and opportunities for audiences to watch the dancers in their daily warm-up ballet class before the performance.”

As to what audiences should expect from the new Momentum programme, Christopher says: “A mix of classical based work with a new contemporary creation made specially for the company. We will bring a ballet by George Balanchine which has never been seen in the UK and is highly anticipated.

“It has something for all the family and is a perfect introduction to dance with bite-sized pieces that are relatable through the portrayal of the company’s wonderful dancers.” 

Christopher is particularly excited to see Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures At an Exhibition being brought to life in the UK for the first time as part of the mixed bill: “It is set against a backdrop of projected masterpieces by Kandinsky and the dancers onstage truly bring the art to life. It’s a spectacular work,” he says.

The company members remain of paramount importance to Christopher, who enthuses over the troupe of dancers he has assembled for this year’s tour: “Our performance is an opportunity to witness thrilling, talented dancers hailing from all over the globe, many who are new to the dance scene in the UK.

“From experienced principal dancers to emerging young UK talent, it’s a real showcase for their technical prowess and unique artistic qualities. It makes for an exciting mix.”

London City Ballet: Momentum, York Theatre Royal, November 14, 7.30pm, with post-show discussion; November 15, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age guidance: Five upwards.

London City Ballet in George Balanchine’s Haieff Divertimento, opening the Momentum programme

Christopher Marney: back story

FROM growing up watching London City Ballet in the early 1990s, the company was an early inspiration for his career as a choreographer, teacher and artistic director.

Formerly, as director of the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company Chicago and Central School of Ballet, London, he had the pleasure of programming tours internationally, curating and commissioning diverse programmes.

These have included the repertoire of such choreographers as George Balanchine, Kenneth MacMillan, Liam Scarlett, Frederick Ashton, Jasmin Vardimon, Matthew Bourne and Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.

As a dancer, Chris worked internationally for the Balletboyz, Gothenburg Ballet, Ballet Biarritz, Bern Ballet, Michael Clark Company and Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, where he danced many principal roles around the world.

The Critics Circle National Dance Awards nominated him for Outstanding Performance in Modern Dance two years running as well as including him in Dance Europe’s Outstanding Male Dancer 2013 list.

Chris retired from performing in 2017 with Ivan Putrov’s Men In Motion where he danced the Faun in Nijinsky’s L’Apres Midi d’un Faun.

As a choreographer, he has created works for Ballet Black, English National Ballet’s Emerging dancer, The Four Seasons for the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company, Nutcracker at the British Museum, Eve at Sadlers Wells and Lady Macbeth at the New National Theatre in Tokyo.

His London West End credits include choreography for McQueen The Play at the Theatre Royal Haymarket and Tell Me On A Sunday at the St James.

Named associate artist of the UK Foundation for Dance and holds a Masters degree in choreography, awarded by the University of Kent.

Remains committed to reviving less familiar but important works, shining a new light on those choreographies and providing access through extensive touring.

Re-formed London City Ballet in 2023 after 30-year hiatus, launching the first tour, Resurgence, in 2024.

London City Ballet on tour in Resurgence in 2024
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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 48, from Gazette & Herald

Danny Horn’s Ray Davies leading The Kinks in Sunny Afternoon, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Manuel Harlan

SUNNY Afternoon’s Kinks songs for dark nights, Dibley comedic delights and drag diva Velma Celli’s frock rock catch Charles Hutchinson’s eye.

Musical of the week: Sonia Freidman Productions and ATG Productions present Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees

RETURNING to York for the first time since February 2017, four-time Olivier Award winner Sunny Afternoon charts the raw energy, euphoric highs, troubling lows, mendacious mismanagement and brotherly spats of Muswell Hill firebrands The Kinks, equipped with an original story (and nearly 30 songs) by frontman Ray Davies.

The script is by Joe Penhall, who says: “As a band The Kinks were the perennial outsider – punk before punk.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Nicki Clay’s Reverend Geraldine Granger in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Paul Miles

Village drama of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in The Vicar Of Dibley, Theatre:41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

NICKI Clay is going doubly Dibley for MARMiTE Theatre in the new York company’s debut production of The Vicar Of Dibley, having played Geraldine Grainger for The Monday Players in Escrick in May.  

Martyn Hunter directs Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter’s cherry-picking of the best of Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer’s first two TV series, bringing together all the favourite eccentric residents of Dibley as the new vicar’s arrival shakes up the parish council of this sleepy English village. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Velma Celli: Rock Queen with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash. Picture: Sophie Eleanor Photography

Drag night of the week: Velma Celli: Rock Queen, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm

YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland withan “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band. 

The alter ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years, whether at Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse, her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, or in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens and Divalussion (with Christina Bianco). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Beth McCarthy: Heading back home to play Big Ian’s A Night To Remember charity concert. Picture: Duncan Lomax., Ravage Productions

Charity event of the week: Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

BIG Ian Donaghy hosts a “night of York helping York” featuring a 30-strong band led by George Hall  with a line-up of York party band HUGE, Jess Steel, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay, Graham Hodge, The Y Street Band, Simon Snaize, Annie-Rae Donaghy, fiddler Kieran O’Malley, Samantha Holden, Las Vegas Ken and musicians from York Music Forum, plus a guest choir. 

Proceeds from this three-hour fundraiser go to St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York, Accessible Arts & Media and York dementia projects. Tickets update: Balcony seats still available at yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Staff woes: William Ilkley, left, Levi Payne and Dylan Allcock in John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough

One helluva party of the week: John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 12 to 15, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

ON the glitziest East Yorkshire fundraising night of the year, everyone wants to be there. The Bentleys are parked, the jazz band has arrived, the magician will be magic, but behind the bow ties, fake tans and equally fake booming laughter lie jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs, as overdressed upstairs meets understaffed downstairs through a drunken gaze. 

The raffle is ridiculously competitive, the coffee, cold, the service, awful, the guest speaker, drunk, and the hard -pressed caterers just want to go home. Welcome to the Brechtian hotel hell of John Godber’s satirical, visceral comedy drama, as told by the exasperated hotel staff, recounting the night’s mishaps at breakneck speed in the manner of Godber’s fellow wearers of tuxedos, Bouncers. Box office:  01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Ensemble 360: Performing works by Shostakovich and Dvořák at Helmsley Arts Centre. Picture: Matthew Johnson and Music in the Round

Classical matinee concert of the week: Ensemble 360, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2.30pm

ENSEMBLE 360’s chamber musicians Benjamin Nabarro and Claudia Ajmone-Marsan, violins, Rachel Roberts, viola, Gemma Rosefield, cello, and Tim Horton, piano, perform the dramatic intensity and soaring lyricism of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 and the radiant warmth and Czech folk-inspired melodies of Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81, a piece cherished for its lush harmonies, spirited dances and seamless instrumental interplay. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Rock’n’roll show of the week: Two Pianos, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 7.30pm

IN the words of Jerry Lew Lewis, “Two Pianos are awesome rockers”. Tomorrow night, David Barton and Al Kilvo  bring their rock’n’roll piano show to Pocklington for a journey through the golden age of  Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee and, yes, the “The Killer” himself. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Lydia Hough and Joseph Taylor in London City Ballet’s Pictures At An Exhibition, on tour at York Theatre Royal

Dance show of the week: London City Ballet: Momentum, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm (with post-show discussion); Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

LONDON City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, returns to York Theatre Royal with Momentum, a new repertoire that showcases artists rarely seen in the UK. Haieff Divertimento, an early George Balanchine work, was thought to be lost for 40 years after its premiere and remained unseen outside the USA until now. Emerging choreographer Florent Melac, premier danseur at Paris Opera Ballet, combines inventive transitions with intimate partnering in his fluid new work.

Alexei Ratmansky, New York City Ballet’s artist in residence, presents Pictures At An Exhibition, performed to Modest Mussorgsky’s eponymous score, set against a backdrop depicting Wassily Kandinsky’s paintings. Unseen in the UK since its 2009 premiere, Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum is a response to Franz Liszt’s piano score, depicting the life cycle of a relationship, its blossoming and later fracturing love. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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REVIEW: MARMiTE Theatre in The Vicar Of Dibley, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight to Saturday ****

Always time for chocolate: Nicki Clay’s Geraldine Granger in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley. Picture: Paul Miles

MARMiTE Theatre’s entire run of The Vicar Of Dibley sold out before opening night. What an achievement for this new York company – and how enviously any number of village churches must look at the full congregation.

New company, yes, but one steeped in names familiar to followers of the York theatre scene, from director Martyn Hunter to Nicki Clay, a third generation York performer with more than 50 shows in 26 years to her name.

Here she is on doubly Dibley duty, having played the Reverend Geraldine Granger in May for the Monday Players in Escrick.

Joining her in Hunter’s company are Florence Poskitt, Neil Foster, Mike Hickman, Adam Sowter, Jeanette Hunter and Helen “Bells” Spencer, all regulars on York’s boards, and Glynn Mills, whose absence of a cast profile in the programme made him a man of mystery to your reviewer.

Who will fill that empty seat? Dibley Parish Council awaits the arrival of the new incumbent in The Vicar Of Dibley. Present are Mark Simmonds’s Owen Newitt, left, Neil Foster’s Hugo Horton, Glynn Mills’s David Horton, Mike Hickman’s Frank Pickle, Jeanette Hunter’s Letitia Cropley and Adam Sowter’s Jim Trott. Picture: Paul Miles

Research enquiries revealed he had been connected with theatre for 62 years, attending Central School of Speech & Drama, working in repertory theatre, the West End and on UK tours, and doing voiceovers and cabaret too. All that experience shows in a performance full of fire and ire, putdowns and intolerance as council chairman David Horton.

Rich Musk and Martyn Hunter’s set design accommodatesGeraldine’s cosy sitting room cum office with desk and typewriter alongside the tables and chairs of Dibley Parish Hall, permanently laid out for the next meeting.

Above is a screen, on which Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter’s cherry-picking of the best of Richard Curtis and Paul Carpenter’s first two television series opens with the familiar Dibley faces walking through the churchyard. Scene titles, Later, Later Still, Later That Evening, and such like, denote time of day and the change from one day to the next.

To either side of the screen on the mezzanine level is a neon-lit cross; on one occasion up there, Clay’s Geraldine tells one of her shaggy dog tales to Poskitt’s Alice Tinker, the ditzy church verger, but the lighting puts a distracting shadow slash across the vicar’s face from the barrier railing. Hopefully that can be eradicated.

In perfect harmony: Rachel Higgs, Helen “Bells” Spencer, Henrietta Linnemann and Cat Foster on choral duty in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley. Picture: Paul Miles

On more than one occasion, the York vocal harmony group The Hollywood Sisters (“Bells” Spencer, Cat Foster, Henrietta Linnemann and Rachel Higgs) transform themselves into The Holy Sisters to sing hymns in beatific Songs Of Praise manner. Wholly in harmony with the play’s multitude of formal meetings and informal chats, their inclusion is typical of Hunter’s good directorial judgements that see the sitcom flow of short scenes sustain momentum with a twinkle in the eye throughout.

The play opens with Mills’s grouchy parish council chairman David Horton hosting the meeting where the new vicar will make a first appearance. In attendance are his awfully nice son Hugo (Neil Foster); the stickler-for-accuracy minute-noting parish clerk Frank Pickle (Mike Hickman); knitting-on-her-knee Letitia Cropley (Jeanette Hunter) , creator of endless inedible cakes and sandwiches, and no-no-no-no-yes man Jim Trott (a gurning Adam Sowter, left arm in a sling, presumably not for extra comic effect?!).

Dashing in and out with bodily ablution problems that he loves to describe is blunt dairy farmer Owen Newitt (Mark Simmonds, York’s busiest actor of the moment as he follows his Macheath in York Opera’s The Beggar’s Opera with Dibley, only a month to go to Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes).

 Enter the new vicar, very definitely not a man as irascible chairman Horton expects, but Clay’s Geraldine Granger, drawing attention to her ample bust (matched by her even more ample supplies of chocolate). Whereupon Clay performs in the French style, mirroring the speech rhythms, facial expressions and mannerisms of Dawn’s sitcom vicar but with her own panache.

Nicki Clay’s Geraldine Granger looks on as Neil Foster’s Hugo Horton and Florence Poskitt’s Alice Tinker kiss at last in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley. Picture: Paul Miles

Clay’s Geraldine is a delight throughout, at once reverent yet irreverent, and her scenes with Poskitt’s ever-slow-off-the-mark, exasperating Alice are a particular joy.

Poskitt, a supremely expressive physical comedian, wins hearts too in her love-struck, tongue-tied bonding with Foster’s equally awkward, inhibited Hugo. Their kissing clench that stretches from Act One finale into Act Two opener is one of the comic highpoints, not least from the nimble-footed input of Clay’s Geraldine, breaking down the fourth wall to play to the audience in providing a running commentary on what’s going on.

Hickman’s Pickle, Jeanette Hunter’s Letitia, Sowter’s Trott and especially Simmonds’s brusque Owen all have their moments too in MARMiTE Theatre’s debut that you will surely love, not hate. Don’t swear if you are too late for a ticket; Hunter and co have plans to do further Dibley village capers.

MARMiTE Theatre in The Vicar Of Dibley, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 11 to 15, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. All profits will be donated to Comic Relief.

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Drag night of the week: Velma Celli: Rock Queen, York Theatre Royal, Nov 12, 7.30pm

Velma Celli: Rock Queen with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash make-up. Picture: Sophie Eleanor Photography

YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland with an “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band. 

The alter-ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone on the London stage in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years.

In York, Velma is to be spotted hosting Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse and her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, as well as on stage down the years at York Theatre Royal, the National Centre for Early Music and The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse.

Wider afield, Velma has starred in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens, Equinox, her David Bowie tribute Irreplaceable, Velma Celli Goes Gaga, Show Queen and Divalussion (with American actress, singer and impressionist Christina Bianco), performing in London, at the Edinburgh Fringe and with award-winning success in Australia. 

On Wednesday, Velma will be joined by musical director Scott Robinson on keyboards, Al Morrison on guitar, Olly Chilton on bass and Chris Sykes on drums.

Velma’s Act One set list will comprise Summer Of ’69; I Was Made For Loving You; Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me; It Must Have Been Love; Wicked Game; The Edge Of Glory; When Doves Cry; Bohemian Rhapsody and I Wanna Break Free/Under Pressure.

Act Two will open with a David Bowie medley, followed by Starman; Hey Jude; Ironic; Creep; Wonderwall; (Everything I Do) I Do It For You; If I Could Turn Back Time and The Best. Rock Queen will bid goodnight with the encore American double whammy of Livin’ On A Prayer and Sweet Child O’ Mine.

Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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REVIEW: Neon Crypt & The Deathly Dark Tours in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York ****

Michael Cornell’s Michael Nightly, playing Mayor Dick Nightly with deadly earnest intent, in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!

FIRST, the murky mystery history bit: between 1986 and 1993, a series of often violent hauntings rocked the East Riding village of Wetwang. The cases went cold and all the records were lost…until now!

This week, interconnected York companies Neon Crypt  (purveyors of macabre theatre) and The Deathly Dark Tours (ghost walk hosts) are going live with their investigations, boldly venturing where only their Wetwang Hauntings podcast series has ventured before.

Enter Dr Dorian Deathly (alias actor and voiceover artiste Jamie McKeller), not afraid to introduce himself as “York’s premier spookologist”, who will be simultaneously helped and hindered in his investigations by Deathly Dark Tours’ daft duo Dafydd and Dalton Deathly, the alter-egos of fellow Wetwang Hauntings podcast writers Jimmy Johnson (in bow tie and black nail polish) and Ben Rosenfield [built  like a Victorian bodybuilder, kitted out by Wednesday Addams) .

Tooled up for a poltergeist encounter: Jimmy Johnson’s Dafydd Deathly, left, Ben Rosenfield’s Dalton Deathly and Jamie McKeller’s Dr Dorian Deathly

On hand too will be Dede Deathly (Laura McKeller) in multiple guises for the re-telling of these reopened cases, along with the mysterious Mayor Dick Nightly (any echo of former Honorary Mayor of Wetwang Richard Whitely is entirely coincidental!).

Nightly (deep-voiced, deader-than-deadpan Michael Cornell) is now played by deadly earnest actor son Michael Nighly – twice Nightly, as it were – who ploughs his own furrow, resolute in purpose, stony of face, not always in tandem with storytellers Dafydd and Dalton, nor with Dorian as he strives to keep order.

The show is a work in progress, rehearsed in only five days, and it has an air of shambling, occasionally shambolic enthusiasm, deliberately so for the benefit of the midnight-dark humour,  but also unpredictably too.

Laura McKeller in one of her multiple roles in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!

Like when Johnson, ever dapper in his velvet suit,  has to exit stage left urgently to, how shall I put this, throw up, not as a Pavlovian reaction to the nefarious deeds, but as the culmination of feeling ill all day. Round of applause, please, for ploughing on.

Likewise, the “Booth” is kept busy with requests for sound effects or jolted into action to remedy a missed cue. This is all part of the madcap fun of the rollercoaster ride through three newly re-heated cold cases: first, the Grainger family in Cleaver Avenue, then the Wetwang Asylum with its multiple name changes.

And finally, a choice of four, decided by audience votes in the interval. Would it be The Playground, VHDeath, The Haunted Haddock or John Merrylegs? VHDeath on Thursday, a reward, surely for its punning title.

Ben Rosenfield’s Dalton Deathly interviewing Laura McKeller’s “Sh***y” Phyllis

Murky matters are played out on a stage set out as Dorian’s paranormal investigations HQ with a drawing board (to keep going back to), neon lit in red with the word Deathly, plus minimal stage furniture, such as chairs and a stool, and ample curtains. Above is a screen put to regular use for case titles, Nightly’s cassette tape recordings and VHF footage.

Cornell’s dourly Yorkshire Nightly – last seen in 1988 – has a habit of turning up like Banquo’s ghost, whether haunting the mezzanine level or standing  silently in the “Booth”, hovering ever closer over the perimeter of the audience seating or re-creating the Mayor’s ever more urgent interviews into the horrors that befell Wetwang.

The chaotically comedic style has echoes of physical theatre practitioners Le Navet Bete (whose version of Dracula: The Bloody Truth was staged by Neon Crypt earlier this year), and more darkly of The League Of Gentlemen too, in the Deathlies’ first full-length play. It carries the Neon Crypt and Deathly Dark tour house styles too, nimble on its feet, quick in reaction time, more often daft than scary – and not averse to spoofing Danny Robins’ Uncanny work.

Dr Dorian Deathly, eminent York spookologist, leading the paranormal investigations in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!

In Noises Off and The Play That Goes Wrong tradition, nothing will stop either Deathly team or Nightly from completing the grim task in hand. Jump scares? Yes. Horror? Hammy as Hammer, yes. Awful puns? Yes. Did you hear about the case of the ghostly bird? The poultrygeist . Boom boom. Thank you, Dorian, for that one.

What’s next for Dorian and co? More Wetwang Hauntings podcasts and plans for an expanded version of the live show. Oh, and Neon Crypt are contemplating a spooky take on the nightclub hell of John Godber’s Bouncers next May with a cast of McKeller times two, Cornell and fellow co-founder Laura Castle.  Not so much John Godber as John Ghostbuster, perhaps?!

Neon Crypt & The Deathly Dark Tours present The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 2.30pm and 7.30pm today (8/11/2025). Suitable for age 13 upwards. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when Dibley’s vicar is at your service. Here’s Hutch’s List No 48, from The York Press

Danny Horn’s Ray Davies leading The Kinks in Sunny Afternoon, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from next Tuesday. Picture: Manuel Harlan

SUNNY Afternoon’s Kinks songs for dark nights, Dibley comedic delights and drag diva Velma Celli’s frock rock catch Charles Hutchinson’s eye.

Musical of the week: Sonia Freidman Productions and ATG Productions present Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, November 11 to 15, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees

RETURNING to York for the first time since February 2017, four-time Olivier Award winner Sunny Afternoon charts the raw energy, euphoric highs, troubling lows, mendacious mismanagement and brotherly spats of Muswell Hill firebrands The Kinks, with an original story (and nearly 30 songs) by frontman Ray Davies.

The script is by Joe Penhall, who says: “As a band The Kinks were the perennial outsider – punk before punk.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

MarcoLooks: Exhibiting at Inspired – York Artists & Designer Makers Winter Fair at York Cemetery Chapel

Christmas presence of the week: Inspired – York Artists & Designer Makers Winter Fair, York Cemetery Chapel, Cemetery Road, York, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm

NINE York artists and designers will be selling their work for the Christmas season in the divine setting of York Cemetery Chapel. Among them will be collagraphy printmaker Sally Clarke, jewellery designer Jo Bagshaw, artist Adrienne French, printmaker Petra Bradley and illustrator MarcoLooks . Enjoy a winter walk in the beautiful grounds too. Free entry, free parking.  

Clive Marshall RIP: York Railway Institute Band and York Opera perform in his memory at The Citadel tonight

Marshalling forces: York Railway Institute Band and York Opera, Clive Marshall Memorial Concert, The Citadel, Gillygate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

YORK Railway Institute Band and York Opera members come together tonight for a charity musical tribute to much-loved colleague Clive Marshall (1936-2025). Expect soaring choruses, heartfelt arias and the very best of operatic overtures in tonight’s programme of popular classics, in aid of St Leonard’s Hospice, where Clive spent the final days of his life in March this year. 

He was chairman of the RI band, leading the trombone section for many years, and first performed for York Opera in 1968, going on to play multiple character roles and stage direct myriad productions too. Box office: https://tickets.yorkopera.co.uk/events/yorkopera/1793750 or on the door.

At your service, in the French style: Nicki Clay’s Reverend Geraldine Granger in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley

Village drama of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in The Vicar Of Dibley, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 11 to 15,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

NICKI Clay is going doubly Dibley for MARMiTE Theatre in the new York company’s debut production of The Vicar Of Dibley, having played Geraldine Granger for The Monday Players in Escrick in May.  

Martyn Hunter directs Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter’s cherry-picking of the best of Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer’s first two TV series, bringing together all the favourite eccentric residents of Dibley as the new vicar’s arrival shakes up the parish council of this sleepy English village. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Velma Celli: Rock Queen, with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash make-up, at York Theatre Royal

Drag night of the week: Velma Celli: Rock Queen, York Theatre Royal, November 12, 7.30pm

YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland with an “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band. 

The alter ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years, whether at Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse, her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, or in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens, Equinox, Velma Celli Goes Gaga, Show Queen and Divalussion (with Christina Bianco). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The poster for Toby Lee’s 2025 tour show, An Evening of Blues & Soul, at The Crescent

Blues gig of the week: Toby Lee & James Emmanuel plus Isabella Coulstock, An Evening of Blues & Soul, The Crescent, York, November 12, 7.30pm

BLUES prodigy Toby Lee’s musical journey started at only four years old when his grandmother bought him a yellow and green ukulele. This little instrument went everywhere with him, and he played it constantly, mainly tunes by Elvis and Buddy Holly. At eight, he received his first electric guitar for Christmas while staying at a Cornish. By chance, staying there too was Uriah Heep’s Mick Box, who duly gave him tips and picks. From that moment, Lee knew precisely what he wanted to do when he grew up.

Now 20, he has shared stages with Buddy Guy, Billy Gibbons, Peter Frampton, Slash, Lukas Nelson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and his hero, Joe Bonamassa, at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as touring as Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra’s special guest. On Tuesday, he is joined by James Emmanuel and Isabella Coulstock. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Beth McCarthy: Heading back home to York to play Big Ian’s A Night To Remember at York Barbican. Picture: Duncan Lomax, Ravage Productions

Charity event of the week: Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, York Barbican, November 12, 7.30pm

BIG Ian Donaghy hosts a “night of York helping York” featuring a 30-strong band led by George Hall  with a line-up of York party band HUGE, Jess Steel, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay, Graham Hodge, The Y Street Band, Simon Snaize, Annie-Rae Donaghy, fiddler Kieran O’Malley, Samantha Holden, Las Vegas Ken and musicians from York Music Forum, plus a guest choir. 

Proceeds from this three-hour fundraiser go to St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York, Accessible Arts & Media and York dementia projects. Tickets update: Balcony seats still available at yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Staff woes: William Ilkley, left, Levi Payne and Dylan Allcock in John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough

One helluva party of the week: John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 12 to 15, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

ON the glitziest East Yorkshire fundraising night of the year, everyone wants to be there. The Bentleys are parked, the jazz band has arrived, the magician will be magic, but behind the bow ties, fake tans and equally fake booming laughter lie jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs, as overdressed upstairs meets understaffed downstairs through a drunken gaze. 

The raffle is ridiculously competitive, the coffee, cold, the service, awful, the guest speaker, drunk, and the hard -pressed caterers just want to go home. Welcome to the Brechtian hotel hell of John Godber’s satirical, visceral comedy drama, as told by the exasperated hotel staff, recounting the night’s mishaps at breakneck speed in the manner of Godber’s fellow wearers of tuxedos, Bouncers. Box office:  01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Amit Mistry: Topping the Funny Fridays bill

Comedy gig of the week: Funny Fridays, Patch@Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, November 14, 7.30pm to 9.30pm

AMIT Mistry headlines next Friday’s bill, joined by Lulu Simons, Gareth Harrison, Liam Alexander and Dominique McMillan, hosted by promoter Kaie Lingo. Doors open at 7pm for a night of “back-to-basics comedy fun” and tickets cost £10 at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets-1802236280229?aff=oddtdtcreator.

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REVIEW: National Theatre in Dear England, Leeds Grand Theatre, until Saturday *****

David Sturzaker’s Gareth Southgate giving a team talk in James Graham’s Dear England. Picture: Mark Brenner

YOU know the score. England lost in two finals. Oh dear, England, again. But that isn’t the point. The point is the one that brought Gareth Southgate his knighthood. For services to rather more than kicking a ball. Services to redefining what it means to be English.

A definition that appears to be being mired again, not by Southgate’s Teutonic replacement, Thomas Tuchel, who makes a late appearance in James Graham’s defiantly uplifting play, but by the flag. That flag. The one that has David Sturzaker’s Gareth Southgate, with customary attention to tidiness, neatly folding out the St George’s red cross to ask his players what it symbolises. The flag that, rumour has it, is soon to be removed from the programme cover for the remainder of the tour’s run.

Amid the surge in divisive nationalism, how that scene’s significance has grown since Graham made it as much a centrepiece of his – and Southgate’s – discourse as the Dear England letter written to England fans in the barren, bereft days of Covid that prompted Graham’s state-of-the-nation drama.

Sir Gareth was at York Barbican the night before Dear England kicked off its Leeds run, administering his Lessons In Leadership – more motivational team talk than lecture, apparently – that he further substantiates in his new book, Dear England.  Calmer and karma in unison, putting the rainbow in the Wembley arch.

Your reviewer took his seat in the dug-out (Box C, Dress Circle) with a non-football fan – “Who’s Harry Kane?”, she enquired – but such is the spirit, the decency, the principles, the vision that turned out to be braver than Southgate’s risk-averse in-play tactics, that you end up cheering all over again.

You know the story, but not this story, not told this way, with Graham’s trademark humour, pathos, and cultural and political savviness that gives cameos not only to ex-England bosses Sam Allardyce (as brief as his reign), Graham Taylor, Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello, but also to the hapless Tory Prime Ministerial trio of May (no neck), Johnson (brassneck) and Truss (what the heck).

We learn of Gareth’s radical methods, applied in tandem with Australian team psychologist Pippa Grange (Samantha Womack, with ace Aussie accent to boot), England’s first Head of People and Team Development. The suits upstairs might have scratched their woollen heads, but Gareth was onto something.

Like how to deal with fear. FOMP. Fear of Missing Penalties. The brain has 15 per cent less clarity when we are fearful. So, take longer to prepare to take a penalty, like the Germans. Or how about sitting all together at meals rather than at club-divided tables, unlike in the Ferdinand and Gerrard days? Yes, that would help too.  

We learn of the character beyond and beneath the football sticker front, whether Oscar Gough’s noble steed Harry Kane (only too aware of the public mocking his voice); Liam Prince-Donnelly’s Dele Alli, burdened by a surname he wishes to jettison, the prankster smile gone by the time he is dropped; Ashley Byam’s ever-questioning Raheem Sterling; or Jayden Hanley’s Marcus Rashford, with his caring causes and pride in Manchester, his sorrow at his father’s absence too.

Then there’s Connor Hawker’s oh-so-South Yorkshire Harry Maguire, Jack Maddison’s mad-as-that-surname goalie, mad-as-a-penalty-box-of-frogs Jordan Pickford and Tom Lane’s erudite Eric Dier.

And then come those one, two, three missed penalties against Italy, Rashford, Jadon Sancho (Luke Azille) and Bukayo Saka (Jass Beki), the Arsenal boy wonder, in the UEFA Euro 2020 final.

Immediately followed by the antisocial-media racist abuse they received, one, two, three seconds afterwards, and on and on. And then Bukayo Saka’s eloquent response, expressing a message of love, a message I had never heard before, so thank you, Dear England, for making it resonate so powerfully in 2025.

James Graham has that balance of the serious and the humorous in buckets; you really shouldn’t take the game of football so seriously, but you should be serious about changing it for the better. Not so much the beautiful game as the bountiful.

For all its ills, you still want to love the game, as Gareth says in another of his team-talk takes on Shakespearean soliloquies. That’s the Henry V in him, but he’s the manager next door too, as expressed in Sturzaker’s admirable performance, especially when addressing the grey-shirted elephant in the room: Southgate’s grave semi-final penalty miss against Germany in 1996.

The best all-round performance award goes to utility player Ian Kirkby, equally humorously adroit as Eriksson, head honcho Greg Clarke, gainsaying Matt Le Tissier, new boss Tuchel and, above all, crisp-munching presenter Gary Lineker, cheeky one liners and all.

Rupert Goold’s direction flows rather more cohesively than any number of meat-and-potatoes England performances, while Es Devlin’s set, with its white centre circle, outer circle and circle above goes against the shape of football pitches, dressing rooms and theatre stages alike but brings a sense of togetherness, like a team huddle before kick-off  – and togetherness is Southgate’s key mantra.

You will love and despair anew at the old footage that plays out high above the upper circle, as we re-live those years of hurt and hope again.

One minor quibble, but only because we are in Leeds: local lad Kalvin Phillips, so instrumental to Euro 2020’s new England, is not among the myriad players. Alas, he knows only too well how missing out feels under Pep Guardiola’s cold shoulder at Manchester City.   

National Theatre in Dear England, Leeds Grand Theatre, tonight, kick-off 7.30pm; tomorrow, kick-off 2pm and 7.30pm. P.S. No excuses for not attending: Leeds United don’t play Nottingham Forest away until Sunday afternoon.  

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REVIEW: York Stage, The Great British Bake Off Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, baking until Saturday ****

Oops! Nik Briggs’s big Ben sees his Big Ben showstopper topple over in York Stage’s The Great British Bake Off Musical. All pictures: Charlie Kirkpatrick, Kirkpatrick Photography

NIK Briggs’s York premiere of Jake Brunger & Pippa Cleary’s musical spoof could not be better timed, opening the night after the final to series 16 of Channel 4’s The Great British Bake Off, most notable for the winner’s Showstopper being the largest cake in the show’s history.

It measured 1.2 metres in length, should you be wondering. Nothing is baked on quite that scale beneath York Stage’s tented stage decked in bunting and banter, but more than 50 models of cakes have been made in foam and Polystyrene for Technical Challenges and Showstoppers alike.

‘Bake Off’ is the first musical where the Showstopper meets the show-stopper, drawing the increasingly trim producer-director Briggs back to the boards for his first principal role since Shrek – his 2020 pantomime cow doesn’t count! – to sing two of the peachiest numbers, My Dad (with Eady Mensah’s Lily, his chaperoned daughter) and The Perfect Petit Fours (with Harriet Yorke’s outstanding Gemma).

Bake Off contestants for starters: Stu Hutchinson’s Russell, left, Harriet Yorke’s Gemma, Joanne Theaker’s Babs, Grant McIntyre’s Dezza, Alana Blacker’s Francesca, Nik Briggs’s Ben and Fredo’s Hassan

Briggs’s widowed Bristol police detective Ben – “the cooking copper” – and Yorke’s Blackpool carer Gemma are two of the eight contestants, each with a back story and motive for competing to be revealed in song, like cutting through a multi-layered cake.

Joanne Theaker’s Babs, thrice married and looking for a fourth, is a lemon-sharp East London school dinner lady prone to euphemisms and giving back as good as she gets from Chris Wilson’s droll, Knock Knock joke-telling Phil Hollinghurst (the Paul Hollywood caricature).

Grant McIntyre’s powerfully voiced Dezza is the forceful vegan hipster environmentalist with a No Butter policy; Alana Blacker’s Francesca is a thirtysomething primary-school teacher, from Bognor via Bologna, bringing her Nonna’s traditional Italian recipes with her.

Joanne Theaker’s Babs on top form in Babs’ Lament, a show-stopper of the musical kind in The Great British Bake Off Musical

In his musical theatre debut, York busker Fredo (Sudeep Pandey) is Syrian-born  Wembley teenager Hassan, with his lucky T-shirt and happy-go-lucky demeanour. In scene-stealing mode, York Stage regular Stu Hutchinson’s Russell is an aeronautical engineer, married to Mario, as camp as a tent and determined to apply science and spreadsheets to his experimental bakes.

Amy Barrett’s Izzy, the 21-year-old Cambridge student of Home Counties stock, is posh and pushy, taking the biscuit for being so ruthlessly determined to win, dreaming of books deals, TV series.

Introducing proceedings, teasing and goading as the heat rises, are Sam Roberts’s Jim and Mary Clare’s Kim (“Mel and Sue, who?”, they say), while Tracey Rae’s bespectacled grand dame Pam Lee fills the Prue Leith slot with polished glitter and nudge-nudge-wink-wink banter.

Having her cake and eating too much of it: Amy Barrett’s win-at-all-costs Izzy, front and centre, where else, in The Great British Bake Off Musical

Brunger and Cleary bring affection, rather more than tension, to the tent, sending up Hollywood’s motorbike riding, Leith’s myriad business deals and love of a tipple in a recipe, and the baking-hot baking conditions that always befall one episode per series.

All the while, the elimination fun and games must be played out, concertinaed largely into one song, Don’t Send Me Home, with ever reducing numbers and ever-changing harmony demands for the diminishing contestants.

Everyone has their solo moment to parade their singing chops, Theaker’s Babs excelling in the pathos of Babs’ Lament and Yorke’s Gemma rising to the occasion in Rise. Wilson’s Hollinghurst and Rae’s Dame Pam have a rather sweet moment in I’d Never Be Me Without You.

Harriet Yorke’s Gemma: Rising to the occasion in Rise

Bubbling away throughout – as the tables disappear one by one, cakes crumble and contestants tumble – is the growing bond of Briggs’s Ben and Yorke’s Gemma, both in slow recovery from loss, to provide the obligatory love interest of the piece. Eady Mensah’s Lily (in a role to be shared with Abigail Hodgson, Ella Laister and Megan Pickard ) is a delightful conduit between them.

In style, Bake Off echoes most closely the humour and musical diversity of Victoria Wood’s patter songs and Tim Firth & Gary Barlow’s Calendar Girls. The underscore music of the TV series filters cleverly through the songs, ranging from big bluesy ballads to Chicago and Cabaret pastiches.

Songs have a tendency to go on too long, to overegg the moment, to be layered on a bit too thick – you get the picture – but the humorous dialogue is well timed under Briggs’s joyous direction and Danielle Mullan Hill’s musical staging is whisked into pleasing shapes. Likewise, Stephen Hackshaw’s band is on egg-cracking good form throughout, revelling in Jessica Viner’s arrangements.

And then there were seven: York Stage’s Bake Off contestants in the firing line for elimination: Joanne Theaker’s Babs, far left, Fredo’s Hassan, Nik Briggs’s Ben, Stu Hutchinson’s Russell, Harriet Yorke’s Gemma, Amy Barrett’s Izzy and Alana Blacker’s Francesca

We know that Edinburgh-born medical student Jasmine Mitchell won the Bake Off glass cake stand on Tuesday, but who triumphs in York Stage’s Great British Bake Off? Not telling, except to say that you’re the winner if you buy a ticket. Hollyhurst/Hollywood handshakes all round for a recipe delivered so creamily.

Iced buns being handed out on the forecourt before the show was the icing on the cake.

York Stage in The Great British Bake Off Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm tonight and tomorrow; 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Well judged performances by Tracey Rea’s Pam Lee and Chris Wilson’s Phil Hollinghurst in The Great British Bake Off Musical

Introducing Fredo, playing Hassan in York Stage’s The Great British Bake Off Musical

YORK busker Fredo is making his first venture into musical theatre in York Stage’s The Great British Bake Off as Syrian-born Hassan, a 17-year-old student now living in Wembley, London.

Originally from Nepal, Fredo (real name Sudeep Pandey) came to York to study. He took up director-producer Nik Briggs’s invitation to step into the breach when the original actor, from elsewhere in Yorkshire, had to pull out on the first day or rehearsals.

“York Stage has always been committed to authentic casting, but within York’s acting community there are not a lot of Asian male actors,” says Nik. “I’d seen Fredo busking in York with his fantastic voice, so I looked up his details, contacted him and said ‘would you be interested in playing Hassan?’.

“He said ‘yeah’, and came down straightaway that night to start, with only five weeks of rehearsals to go. It’s his first time in a musical, his first time without his guitar on the street. He said, ‘five weeks ago, I didn’t even know what a musical was’!

Fredo: York busker making musical theatre debut in The Great British Bake Off Musical this week

“It’s been great to support him through his first stage show. He’s just so loveable. He has the biggest heart.”

 Fredo’s programme note states: “Fredo has built a reputation for his soulful vocals, intricate guitar work and dynamic live performances across Yorkshire’s vibrant music scene.

“Drawing inspiration from both Nepali roots and British contemporary sounds, his music blends cultures and genres with authenticity and heart.”

Catch Fredo busking, playing gigs or doing open-mic nights around York. When not performing, he continues to write, record and share his original music with audiences both locally and online.

Recipe for success: Brew & Brownie baker Mary Clare in rehearsal for her role as hostess Kim in York Stage’s Great British Bake Off Musical

Did you know?

JESSICA Viner and Stephen Hackshaw are sharing musical director duties for York Stage’s The Great British Bake Off Musical. “Jess has been with us for all the rehearsals and was set to be the MD for all the shows, but then she was offered the chance to do Singin’ In The Rain in China for three months – having just done the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang UK tour for a year,” says director Nik Briggs.

“Stephen was with us for the first week and will lead the band and conduct us through the shows, having worked with the band last week.”

Did you know too?

YORK Stage cast member Mary Clare (playing Bake Off hostess Kim) is a professional baker, baking for Brew & Brownie, in Museum Street, York. “It’s been hilarious in rehearsals, when there’s been lots of slow-motion ‘baking’ going on, and Mary will say, ‘oh, no, that’s not how you use that implement’, ‘oh, no, that’s not how you sieve’!” says director Nik Briggs. “She’s been our ad-hoc baking expert in the rehearsal room.”

Bake Off hosts Jim (Sam Roberts) and Kim (Mary Clare) mucking around in York Stage’s York premiere