Category: Theatre

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Ryedale Festival opens today for feast of classical, jazz, folk & literary performances

Yorkshire soprano Bibi Heal at Ryedale Festival location Castle Howard. She will perform Songs That Move on July 18 at Helmsley Arts Centre at 2pm and the National Centre for Early Music, York, at 5pm. Picture: Rob Cook

THE 44th Ryedale Festival begins today, inviting audiences to experience 58 performances in 33 spectacular locations across North Yorkshire until July 27. 

Castalian String Quartet and one of the festival’s 2025 artists in residence, violist Timothy Ridout, open the festival with a coffee concert this morning at 11am at St Mary’s Church, Lastingham, performing Mendelssohn’s  Quartet  No 5 in E-flat and Brahms’s String Quintet No. 2 in G.

Ryedale offers a diverse programme that extends beyond classical music to embrace jazz, folk, poetry and participatory events. These performances unfold against Yorkshire backdrops ranging from historic castles and abbeys to market towns and ancient churches. 

Castalian String Quartet: Opening the 2025 Ryedale Festival today at St Mary’s Church, Lastingham. Picture: Kirk Truman

This year’s festival welcomes a multitude internationally renowned musicians, among them Ridout’s fellow artists in residence, trailblazing saxophonist Jess Gillam, Grammy-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre and Royal Philharmonic Society Singer of the Year Claire Booth.

They are joined by two ensembles in residence, the Austrian string quartet Quatuor Mosaïques and vocal ensemble VOCES8. 

Look out for distinguished visiting artists such as pianists Sir Stephen Hough and Dame Imogen Cooper and organist Thomas Trotter, while the orchestral highlights will feature the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of Opera North, Arcangelo and the festival debut of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. 

Dame Imogen Cooper: Playing Beethoven at St Peter’s Church Norton, on July 26 at 8pm. Picture: Sussie Ahlburg

The festival champions new music too, topped by the Yorkshire premiere of Gavin Higgins’s major song cycle, Speak Of The North, exploring northern identity.

Co-commissioned with Britten Pears Arts, the work takes its cue from the music of Grieg and poems by Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë in a “sprawling journey through physical and imagined northern landscapes” that includes songs about the Peak District, Manchester as seen from above, Northumbrian folk heritage and coal mining landscapes – plus an argument between Hadrian’s Wall and the Sycamore Gap tree.

Fifty years after Arthur Bliss’s death, composer Philip Wilby has honoured Bliss’s original vision for his passionate post-war Viola Sonata, transforming it into an orchestrated concerto to be performed by Timothy Ridout with the Orchestra of Opera North, alongside Elgar’s Enigma Variations.

The festival also retrieves music that has slipped through history’s fingers, including a rare UK performance of Michael Tippett’s joyful and unjustly neglected chamber cantata Crown Of The Year, revived by an outstanding group of musicians and Tippett biographer Oliver Soden, alongside other works by Tippett that have not been performed for decades.

Soprano Claire Booth: Royal Philharmonic Society Singer of the Year and Ryedale Festival artist in residence, performing Speak Of The North with violinist Tamson Waley-Cohen and pianist Christopher Glynn tomorrow at All Saints Church, Hovingham, at 8pm, and Kafka Fragments with Waley-Cohen at Helmsley Arts Centre on July 13 at 9.30pm. Picture: Sven Armstein

Beyond classical offerings, the festival integrates jazz and folk, such as Ronnie Scott’s music director, reeds player Pete Long, vocalist Sara Oschlag and an all-star band saluting Duke Ellington and Barnsley folk singer Kate Rusby showcasing her new album, When They All Looked Up, with her Singy Songy Session Band.

Literary events include Dame Harriet Walter’s theatrical retelling of Pride And Prejudice, to mark the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, in a drawing-room setting, accompanied by violinist Madeleine Easton and pianist Melvyn Tan’s performance of Carl Davis’s score for the 1995 television adaptation.

In a new commission designed to reflect on the relationship between words and music, poet and playwright Caroline Bird reads poems she has chosen and written to accompany cellist Joely Koos and Ryedale Festival’s Waverley Young Artist, pianist Firoze Madon, at the Schumann’s Suggestion coffee concert on at the Wesley Centre, Malton, on July 24 at 11am.

Kate Rusby: Performing her new album, When They All Looked Up, at a sold-out Milton Rooms, Malton, on July 25 at 7pm. Picture: David Angel

The Ryedale Festival believes music is for everyone, offering Concerteenies events for families and children, and Bibi Heal’s Songs That Move for individuals with conditions such as Parkinson’s. Participatory events, such as workshops and Come and Sing sessions led by VOCES8 andEric Whitacre, actively invite public involvement in collective music-making. 

BBC Radio 3 will broadcast five concerts from the festival, including a recital by BBC New Generation Artists, featuring German pianist Julius Asal, American violinist Hana Chang, Estonian flautist Elizaveta Ivanova and Uruguayan-Spanish tenor Santiago Sanchez.

In parallel, the festival’sYoung Artist Platform, relaunched this year in association with the Waverley Fund, offers performance, mentoring and career-shaping opportunities for exceptionally talented performers at the beginning of their careers. This year’s Young Artists are guitarist Jack Hancher, pianist Firoze Madon recorder player Hassan Marzban, pianist Ethan Loch and the Fibonacci Quartet.

Dame Harriet Walter: Theatrical retelling of Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen biographer Gill Hornby, with pianist Melvyn Tan and violinist Madeleine Easton, at Wesley Centre, Malton, on July 20 at 7pm

The festival continues to demonstrate its commitment to reaching the widest possible audience. More than 2,000 heavily discounted tickets will be made available through the Ryedale Rush scheme, while anyone under the age of 25 can attend nearly all events for £5 or less.

The festival takes place in beautiful and historic Yorkshire locations, and among the new venues this year are Ripon Cathedral, Skipton Town Hall, Malton’s Wesley Centre and All Saints Church in Northallerton, complemented by a return to Selby Abbey and a Troubadour Trail by mandolinist Alon Sariel that brings music to tiny and remote country churches across the county.

Festival artistic director Christopher Glynn says: “Festivals matter. They connect communities, spark creativity, support local economies and enhance lives.

Alan Soriel: Leading Troubadour Trail to remote Ryedale churches. Picture: Suzette Vorster-Van Acker

“They bring great music and top international performers to beautiful and historic places. They keep faith with live music in an age of digital overload. And they offer a warm welcome and sense of community, showing that classical music isn’t just something to listen to, but something to be part of.

“And in a world where screens so often replace shared experiences, festivals remind us of something irreplaceable: live music. The energy, the spontaneity, the buzz of a live audience and musicians responding to each other in the moment – nothing else compares. Shaped by the players, the listeners and the space itself – a genuine, unrepeatable encounter of hearts and minds.”

“This summer we invite audiences to step into beautiful North Yorkshire locations and meet extraordinary performers not as distant figures on a stage, but as fellow humans sharing something vital.”

For the full festival programme and tickets, go to: www.ryedalefestival.com. 

Ryedale Festival artistic director and pianist Christopher Glynn

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Settlement Players to stage The Painting Has Gone and Chalkface in Direct Approach performances at Black Swan Inn

York Settlement Community Players’ cast members for Direct Approach performances of The Painting Has Gone and Chalkface

YORK Settlement Community Players has settled on the casts for the next Direct Approach performances at the Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, on August 31 to September 3.

Irem Saticioglu will direct Andrea Mitchell’s The Painting Has Gone, featuring Frank Brogan’s Steve, Catherine Parker Brown’s Lucy, Emily Hansen’s Sharon, Bryan Bounds’ Sky, Emma Scott’s Geri and Matt Goddard’s Museum Guide/multi-roles.

Lily Geering will be at the helm for P J Thornber’s Chalkface, to be perfoemed by Pamela Gourlay’s Anna, Nick Patrick Jones’s Grant, Em Sinclair’s Louise, Gregor Sweet’s Seb and Darren Barrott’s Mason.

York Settlement Community Players’ poster for The Painting Has Gone

Settlement Players’  Direct Approach project is a regular opportunity for aspiring directors to direct new plays by local writers, all performed by community actors in the relaxed environment of an upstairs room at the Black Swann Inn.

These 30 to 40-minute plays for between four and five actors are designed to equip new directors with the necessary skills to direct a successful production. Directors are supported throughout by the YSCP committee with planning and publicity and  are a paired with an experienced York director to act as a mentor.

York Settlement Community Players’ poster for Chalkface, part of the next Direct Approach double bill

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Meet Harvey Stevens, the new Jamie as Pick Me Up Theatre stages Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at JoRo Theatre

Harvey Stevens’s Jamie New, front left, with his fellow Year 11 pupils at Mayfield School in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Picture: Matthew Kitchen

EVERYBODY’S talking about the new Jamie New in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie in York.

From July 22 to 26, GCSE schoolboy Harvey Stevens will play the title role in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s production of Tom MacRae and Dan Gillespie Sells’s award-winning musical at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.

This joyous underdog story was last staged in York in its Teenage Version by York Stage in June 2023. “I was too young for that, which I was really gutted about,” says Harvey, 15, from Acomb.

He has loved the story of Jamie New ever since his first experience of the film. “My mum hadn’t heard of it, so she was mortified, not knowing what she’d taken me to, but I loved it!” he says.

“I’ve seen every tour, every cast, since then. My favourite Jamie was Layton Williams, who I went to see at Leeds Grand [Theatre], though I take a bit from every Jamie to be honest, like the riffs in their singing…”

“…But you have your own style, in your singing and in your dancing,” says Gemma McDonald, the Rowntree Players pantomime favourite, who will be playing Jamie’s world-weary, self-sacrificial, ever supportive mum, Margaret.

Harvey Stevens’s Jamie New with the high heels that will transform him from 6ft to 6ft 6ins in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Picture: Colin Wallwork

Premiered at the Sheffield Crucible Theatre in 2017, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is the unapologetic story of the boy who sometimes wants to be a girl, wear a dress to the school prom and be a drag queen. Jamie New, from a Sheffield council estate, but feeling out of place, is so restless at sweet 16 to be “something and someone fabulous”, standing out from the crowd of Year 11 pupils of Mayfield School.

You sense that Harvey has that drive too. He took his first dance steps at the age of three at the Yorkshire Rose Academy of Dance in York. “I then started studying ballet at Let’s Dance, picked up jazz, tap and contemporary there in Year 4, and then I went to Northern Ballet in Leeds for three years,” he says.

From there, he moved on to Elmhurst Ballet School in Birmingham, boarding there as he studied musical theatre, jazz and ballet dancing in Year 7 and 8, adding dancing in heels to his repertoire at SK Dance Fusion in York.

That will come in handy in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. “I’ll be 6ft 6 with my heels on as I’m 6ft,” says Harvey. “I’ll be looking over everyone on stage!

“I first wore heels on stage at the Move It dance convention in London in 2022.” As with all his dance moves, he took it in his stride. “For this role I’ve taken everything I’ve learnt from ballet and contemporary [dance], all the core techniques, taking the styles and joining them together.”

To be playing Jamie is “like a dream come true as it’s my first main role,” says Harvey. “I’ve always said I wanted to play him, and here I am. It’s such a good character to play and story to tell and I feel I can really relate to that age, and what he’s going through.”

“Playing Jamie is like a dream come true as it’s my first main role,” says Harvey Stevens. Picture: Jo Hird

Gemma, a former teacher, whose 15-year-old  son, Ethan, is in the cast too, says: “There’s all those similarities, all those experiences, of  what boys face. When I saw that Robert [director Robert Readman] was doing this show, I was thinking, I’m of an age where I can play this character, the mother, who’s got true Yorkshire grit to her.

“I love her songs, If I Met Myself Again and He’s My Boy, and all the words in those songs resonate with me. With having my son there as well, I know how he feels, having just done his Proms.

“I love how Margaret is so supportive of Jamie and never wants him to feel any of that negativity that he experiences from his dad. What she does is everything you would want to her to do as a mum in that situation.

“Any mum in the audience will sit there thinking, ‘I hope that’s how I am with my child’, even though Jamie’s mum does question it, worrying if he will be bullied.”

Jamie, like Billy Liar’s Billy Fisher and Kes’s Billy Casper, is a young Yorkshire dreamer, one who  must overcome prejudice, beat the bullies and “step out of the darkness into the spotlight”.  Harvey has experienced bullying. “It can be anything, online bullying, but I don’t care what they say online. That just gets a block from me,” he says.

From September, Harvey will study musical theatre at SLP College in Garforth, his next step after taking GCSEs in Maths, English, Art, History and Salon (hair-styling). First, however, everybody will be talking about his Jamie from July 22.

Pick Me Up Theatre in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Joseph Rowntree Theatre York, July 22 to 26, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

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What’s on? The Watsons at the double, that’s what, in York and Helmsley

A montage of Black Treacle Theatre cast members in Laura Wade’s The Watsons at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

TWO productions of The Watsons, Laura Wade’s take on unfinished Jane Austen business,  are opening on the same night in York and Helmsley tonight.

Jim Paterson directs Black Treacle Theatre’s production at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre; Pauline Noakes is at the helm for 1812 Theatre Company at Helmsley Arts Centre. 

What happens when the writer loses the plot? Find out as Emma Watson, 19 and new in town in the elegant world of early 19th-century England, is cut off by her rich aunt and dumped back in the family home, from where she must navigate society, marriage prospects and her future.

Emma and her sisters must marry, fast, but there is one hitch (not of the marital kind). Jane Austen did not finish this story. Who will write Emma’s happy ending now? Enter Laura Wade, who takes the incomplete novel to fashion a sparklingly witty play that looks under Austen’s bonnet to ask: what can characters do when their author abandons them?

As a recognisably Austen tale begins to unfold, something unexpected happens. Bridgerton meets Austentatious, Regency flair meets modern twists, and the plot goes ever more off-piste.

Florence Poskitt’s Margaret Watson, left, Jennifer Jones’s Elizabeth Watson and Livy Potter’s Emma Watson in the poster for York company Black Treacle Theatre’s The Watsons

Playful, clever, and full of surprises, The Watsons starts as a period drama and transforms into a bold reimagining that spins Regency charm into a dazzling modern theatrical experience, exploring storytelling, free will and who gets to write our endings.

Penned by Posh and Home I’m Darling writer Wade, the play was first produced at Chichester Festival Theatre. Now Black Treacle Theatre takes up the challenge, collaborating with the Joseph Rowntree Theatre in a fundraising production for the JoRo.

Director Jim Paterson says: “The Watsons is simply brilliant. My mind was fizzing from the moment I first read this funny, smart and dynamic play that offers us so much scope for creativity in staging it.

“Laura Wade is one of our best playwrights, and her adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel both fulfils and plays with expectations of what ‘a Jane Austen story’ is, and what she means to us all. With the brilliant cast and creative team bringing this to life, I can’t wait for us to share this with an audience this summer – and celebrate Jane’s 250th birthday.”

Appearing in Paterson’s cast will be: Livy Potter as Emma Watson; Jennifer Jones, Elizabeth Watson; Florence Poskitt, Margaret Watson; Matt Pattison, Robert Watson; Abi Baxter, Mrs Robert; Maggie Smales, Nanny; Victoria Delaney, Lady Osbourne; Cameron O’Byrne, Lord Osbourne; Effie Warboys, Miss Osbourne; Nick Patrick Jones, Tom Musgrave; Andy Roberts, Mr Howard; Sally Mitcham, Mrs Edwards; Paul Miles,  Captain Bertie, and Sanna Jeppsson, Laura.

Jeanette Hambidge’s Nanny, left, Becca Magson’s Emma Watson, Vicki Mason’s Margaret Watson, Linda Tester’s Servant and Oliver Clive’s Lord Osborne in 1812 Theatre Company’s The Watsons

MEANWHILE, how is the 1812 Theatre Company promoting the same play? Here’s how: “The Watsons are coming! Who, you may ask? The Watsons are a family created by Jane Austen in a story she never finished, possibly due to grief over the death of her beloved father.

“Whatever the reason, we have been unable to follow their unfolding lives, although several characters and their concerns bear close similarity to popular Austen figures, until now.

“Step forward Laura Wade, a playwright whose works have graced the stages of the National Theatre and the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough with the West End hit Home I’m Darling.

“Wade has taken the story of The Watsons, their affairs, values and outlooks, and continued their lives in an altogether unexpected and intriguing way. Gradually we come to realise that despite the outward differences of clothes and habits of the early 19th century, their interests are not too dissimilar to our own. Though perhaps ours are becoming stranger!

Vicki Mason’s Margaret Watson, left, and Jeanette Hambidge’s Nanny in 1812 Theatre Company’s The Watsons

“The result is a play inspired by Jane Austen’s work, in this, the 250th anniversary of her birth. Presented by the 1812 Theatre Company at Helmsley Arts Centre, giving Austen fans a chance to relish a new work and others to observe that her people are not just Georgian dresses and uniforms but have personalities, feelings and problems. The play wears its comedy lightly and is a lively piece, authentically using dance music that Jane herself copied out!”

Pauline Noakes’s cast comprises: Becca Magson as Emma Watson; Julia Bullock, Elizabeth Watson; Vicki Mason, Margaret Watson; Richard Noakes, Uncle Robert Watson, ; Julie Wilson, Aunt Robert Watson; Barry Whitaker, Mr Watson; Jeanette Hambidge, Nanny; Beaj Johnson, Tom Musgrave; Oliver Clive, Lord Osborne; Sue Smith, Lady Osborne; Rosie Hayman, Miss Osborne; Mike Martin, Mr Howard; Robert Perry, Charles Howard; Linda Tester, Servant; Heather Linley, Servant, and Graham Smith, Dancing Master.

The Watsons, Black Treacle Theatre, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 9 to 12, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee; 1812 Theatre Company, Helmsley Arts Centre, July 9 to 12, 7.30pm. Box office: York, 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk. 

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 30 from Gazette & Herald

Christopher Glynn: Directing the 2025 Ryedale Festival, opening on Friday

RYEDALE Festival heads July’s summer delights, taking in the shipping forecast too, in Charles Hutchinson’s leisure list.

Festival of the week; Ryedale Festival 2025, July 11 to 27

ARTISTIC director Christopher Glynn presents a multitude of festival delights, led off by this year’s artists in residence, saxophonist Jess Gillam, soprano Claire Booth and viola player Timothy Ridout, joined by Quatuor Mosaiques, VOCES8 and composer Eric Whitacre.

The festival also welcomes pianists Sir Stephen Hough and Dame Imogen Cooper and organist Thomas Trotter; Arcangelo in Selby; York countertenor Iestyn Davies; the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s festival debut; a revival of long-neglected Tippett works and a new Arthur Bliss orchestration. 

Jazz, folk and literature weave into the programme too: reeds player Pete Long and vocalist Sara Oschlag salute Duke Ellington; Barnsley’s Kate Rusby showcases her new album, When They All Looked Up, and Dame Harriet Walter channels Jane Austen’s wit in Pride And Prejudice. Full details and tickets at: ryedalefestival.com. Box office: 01751 475777.

The ELO Experience, led by Andy Louis, at the Grand Opera House, York, tonight

Tribute gig of the week: The ELO Experience, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm

THE ELO Experience have been bringing the music of Jeff Lynne and The Electric Orchestra to the stage since forming in Hull in 2006, performing 10538 Overture, Evil Woman, Living Thing, The Diary Of Horace Wimp, Don’t Bring Me Down, All Over The World, Mr Blue Sky et al.

Andy Louis fronts this tribute to  a songbook spanning more than 45 years, taking in such albums as A New World Record, Discovery and Out Of The Blue and  2016’s Alone In The Universe. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Coastal gigs of the week: TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Blossoms, tomorrow; Rag’n’Bone Man, Friday, and McFly, Saturday. Gates open at 6pm

CHART-TOPPING Stockport indie group Blossoms make their Scarborough OAT debut tomorrow, supported by Inhaler and Leeds band Apollo Junction, promoting their August 22 new album What In The World.

Rag’N’Bone Man, alias blues, soul and hip-hop singer Rory Graham, cherry-picks from his albums Human, Life By Misadventure and What Do You Believe In? on Friday, with support from Elles Bailey and Kerr Mercer. McFly’s Tom Fletcher, Danny Jones, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd head to the Yorkshire coast on Saturday when Twin Atlantic and Devon complete the bill. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Vicki Mason’s Margaret Watson, Beaj Johnson’s Tom Musgrave and Becca Magson’s Emma Watson in 1812 Theatre Company’s production of The Watsons

Play of the week times two: The Watsons, 1812 Theatre Company, Helmsley Arts Centre, today to Saturday, 7.30pm; The Watsons, Black Treacle Theatre, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

TWO productions of Laura Wade’s The Watsons open on the same night in Helmsley and York.  What happens when the writer loses the plot? Emma Watson is 19 and new in town. She has been cut off by her rich aunt and dumped back in the family home. Emma and her sisters must marry, fast.

One problem: Jane Austen did not finish this story. Who will write Emma’s happy ending now? Step forward Wade, who looks under Austen’s bonnet to ask: what can characters do when their author abandons them? Bridgerton meets Austentatious, Regency flair meets modern twists, as Pauline Noakes directs in Helmsley; Jim Paterson directs in York. Box office: Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk; York, 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Second Summer Of Love: Emmy Happisburgh’s coming-of-age and midlife- recovery tale at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

One for the ravers: Contentment Productions in Second Summer Of Love, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

ORIGINAL raver Louise wonders how she went from Ecstasy-taking idealist to respectable, disillusioned, suburban Surrey mum. Triggered  by her daughter’s anti-drugs homework and at peak mid-life crisis, Louise flashes back to the week’s emotional happenings and the early Nineties’ rave scene.

Writer-performer Emmy Happisburgh’s play addresses the universal themes of coming of age and fulfilling potential while offering a new perspective for conversations on recreational drug use, recovery from addiction and embracing mid-life. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

An old story told in a new way: Russell Lucas’s Titanic tale of Edward Dorking in Third Class at Theatre@41, Monkgate. Picture: Steve Ullathorne

Titanic struggle of the week: Russell Lucas in Third Class at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, July 12, 3pm

EDWARD Dorking was openly gay. On Wednesday, April 10 1912, he set sail for New York on a ticket bought for him by his mother in the hope his American family could put him “right”.

Writer-performer Russell Lucas’s Third Class charts Dorking’s journey from boarding the Titanic to swimming for 30 minutes towards an already full collapsible lifeboat,  and how, on arrival in New York, he toured the vaudeville circuit as an angry campaigner against the injustices of the shipping disaster. Using music, movement, projection and text, Lucas gives a “thrilling new perspective on what feels a familiar tale”, topped off with a Q&A. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Charlie Connelly: Rain later, talk now, as he celebrates the quirks and joys of the shipping forecast at the Milton Rooms, Malton

From Viking to South East Iceland: Charlie Connelly’s Attention All Shipping, Milton Rooms, Malton, July 16, 7.30pm

AS the shipping forecast embarks on its second century, author and broadcaster Charlie Connelly celebrates what he regards as the greatest invention of the modern age. How did a weather forecast for ships capture the hearts of a nation, from salty old sea dog to insomniac landlubber? How is it possible for “rain later” to be “good”? And where on earth is North Utsire?

Delving into the history of the forecast and the extraordinary people who made it, Connelly explains what those curious phrases really mean, assesses its cultural impact and shares rip-roaring adventures from his own extraordinary journey through the 31 sea areas. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Drummer Tom Townend: Bandleader for Tommy T’s Blue Note Dance Party at Pocklington Arts Centre

Jazz At PAC Presents: Tommy T’s Blue Note Dance Party, Pocklington Arts Centre, July 17, 8pm

HERE come the hippest tunes in a night of Blue Note Records’ coolest cuts: all killer, no filler, with grooves from Horace Silver, Cannonball Adderley, Art Blakey and more, brought to Pocklington by bandleader Tom Townsend, drums, Paul Baxter, double bass, Andrzej Baranek, piano, Tom Sharpe, trumpet, and Kyran Matthews, saxophone. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when it’s never too late for Early Music. Hutch’s List No. 30, from The York Press

Richard Hawley: Revisiting Coles Corner with strings attached at Live At York Museum Gardens today. Picture: Dean Chalkley

WHAT happens when York Museum Gardens turns into Coles Corner and the same play opens in two places at once? Find out in Charles Hutchinson’s leisure list.

Open-air concert of the week: Futuresound Group  presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Richard Hawley, today; gates open at 5pm

SHEFFIELD guitarist, songwriter and crooner Richard Hawley revisits his 1995 album Coles Corner with a string section on its 20th anniversary this evening, complemented by Hawley highlights from his 2001 to 2024 albums (9pm to 10.30pm).

He will be preceded by Mercury Prize-winning Leeds band English Teacher (7.45pm to 8.30pm); Manchester-based American songwriter BC Camplight, introducing his new album, A Sober Conversation (6.30pm to 7.15pm), and Scottish musician Hamish Hawk, whose latest album, A Firmer Hand, emerged last August (5.40pm to 6.10pm). Box office: seetickets.com.

The Tallis Scholars: Performing Glorious Creatures, directed by Peter Philips, at York Minster at 7.30pm tonight at York Early Music Festival. Picture: Hugo Glendinning

Festival of the week:  York Early Music Festival, Heaven & Hell, until July 11

EIGHT days of classical music are under way featuring international artists such as The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars, Academy of Ancient Music, Helen Charlston & Toby Carr and the York debut of Le Consort, performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons “but not quite as you know it” on Sunday.

Directed by Delma Tomlin, the festival weaves together three main strands: the 400th anniversary of Renaissance composer Orlando Gibbons, the Baroque music of Vivaldi and Bach and reflections on Man’s fall from grace, from Heaven to Hell. Full programme and tickets at ncem.co.uk/whats-on/yemf/. Box office: 01904 658338.

Bridget Christie: Late replacement for Maisie Adam at Futuresound Group’s inaugural York Comedy Festival. Picture: Natasha Pszenicki

Comedy event of the week: Futuresound Group presents Live At York Museum Gardens, York Comedy Festival, Sunday, 2.30pm to 7.30pm

HARROGATE comedian Maisie Adam will not be playing the inaugural York Comedy Festival this weekend after all. The reason: “Unforeseen circumstances”. Into her slot steps trailblazing Bridget Christie, Gloucester-born subversive stand-up, Taskmaster participant and writer and star of Channel 4 comedy-drama The Change.

The Sunday fun-day bill will be topped by Dara Ó Briain and Katherine Ryan. Angelos Epithemiou, Joel Dommett, Vittorio Angelone, Clinton Baptiste and Scott Bennett perform too, hosted by “the fabulous” Stephen Bailey. Tickets update: last few still available at york-comedy-festival.com.

Justin Panks: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse

The other comedy bill in York this weekend: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club presents Justin, Panks, Tony Vino, Liam Bolton and MC Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen, York, tonight, 8pm

COMEDIAN and podcaster Justin Panks tops tonight’s Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club with his skewed observational eye and ability to approach seemingly ordinary subjects from extraordinary angles in his raw, honest  tales of relationships, parenthood and life in general.  

Tony Vino bills himself as “the only half-Spanish, half-Scottish hybrid working comic in the world”; experimental Liam Bolton favours a bewildering, train-of-thought approach to unpredictable stand-up comedy; Damion Larkin hosts in improvisational style. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk or on the door.

The Script: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre this weekend

Coastal gig of the week: The Script and Tom Walker, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, today; gates open at 6pm

THE Script head to the Yorkshire coast this weekend as part of the Irish rock-pop act’s Satellites UK tour, completing their hat-trick of Scarborough Open Air Theatre visits after appearances in 2018 and 2022.  Special guest Tom Walker, the Scottish singer-songwriter, performs songs from 2019 chart topper What A Time To Be Alive and 2024’s I Am. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Dianne Buswell and Vito Coppola: Red Hot and Ready to dance at York Barbican

Dance show of the week: Burn The Floor presents Dianne & Vito, Red Hot & Ready!, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

STRICTLY Come Dancing’s stellar professional dancers, 2024 winner Dianne Buswell and 2024 runner-up Vito Coppola are Red Hot and Ready to perform a dance show with a difference, choreographed by BAFTA award winner Jason Gilkison. The dream team will be joined by a cast of multi-disciplined Burn The Floor dancers from around the world. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Florence Poskitt’s Margaret Watson, left, Jennifer Jones’s Elizabeth Watson and Livy Potter’s Emma Watson in Black Treacle Theatre’s The Watsons at the JoRo

Play of the week times two: The Watsons, Black Treacle Theatre, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 9 to 12, 7.30pm and .30pm Saturday matinee; The Watsons, 1812 Theatre Company, Helmsley Arts Centre, July 9 to 12, 7.30pm

TWO productions of Laura Wade’s The Watsons open on the same night in York and Helmsley.  What happens when the writer loses the plot? Emma Watson is 19 and new in town. She has been cut off by her rich aunt and dumped back in the family home. Emma and her sisters must marry, fast.

One problem: Jane Austen did not finish this story. Who will write Emma’s happy ending now? Step forward Wade, who takes her incomplete novel to fashion a sparklingly witty play that looks under Austen’s bonnet to ask: what can characters do when their author abandons them? Bridgerton meets Austentatious, Regency flair meets modern twists, as Jim Paterson directs in York; Pauline Noakes in Helmsley. Box office: York, 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk. 

York debut of the week: Kemah Bob in Miss Fortunate, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, July 9, 8pm

“LIFE is gunna life and brains are gunna brain,” says Kemah Bob as the American host of the Foc It Up Comedy Club and podcast brings their debut stand-up tour to York in a show directed by Desiree Burch and Sarah Chew.

Born in Houston, Texas, and now living in London, Bob has been seen on QI, Richard Osman’s House Of Games, Jonathan Ross’s Comedy Club, Don’t Hate The Playaz and Guessable and heard on the Off Menu podcast, The Guilty Feminist, James Acaster’s Perfect Sounds, Springleaf and Brett Goldstein’s Films To Be Buried With. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

An old story told in a new way: Russell Lucas’s Titanic tale of Edward Dorking in Third Class at Theatre@41, Monkgate. Picture: Steve Ullathorne

Titanic struggle of the week: Russell Lucas in Third Class at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, July 12, 3pm

EDWARD Dorking was openly gay. On Wednesday, April 10 1912, he set sail for New York on a ticket bought for him by his mother in the hope his American family could put him “right”.

Writer-performer Russell Lucas’s Third Class charts Dorking’s journey from boarding the Titanic to swimming for 30 minutes towards an already full collapsible lifeboat,  and how, on arrival in New York, he toured the vaudeville circuit as an angry campaigner against the injustices of the shipping disaster. Using music, movement, projection and text, Lucas gives a “thrilling new perspective on what feels a familiar tale”, topped off with a Q&A. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

In Focus: Contentment Productions in Second Summer Of Love, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, July 10, 7.30pm

Second Summer Of Love: Emmy Happisburgh’s coming-of-age and midlife-recovery tale at Theatre@41, Monkgate

ORIGINAL raver Louise wonders how she went from Ecstasy-taking idealist to respectable, disillusioned, suburban Surrey mum. Triggered  by her daughter’s anti-drugs homework and at peak mid-life crisis, Louise flashes back to the week’s emotional happenings and the early Nineties’ rave scene.

Writer-performer Emmy Happisburgh’s play addresses the universal themes of coming of age and fulfilling potential while offering a new perspective for conversations on recreational drug use, raising palms to the skies in fields, recovery from addiction and embracing mid-life.

Originally Second Summer Of Love was developed with producers Pants On Fire as a 15-minute and showcased by Emmy at the SHORTS Festival 2020.

“The play premiered as a one-woman performance at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe,” she says. “Then it was refreshed in 2023; some scenes were re-written, taking into consideration reviewers’ practical criticisms and audience responses.

“We enlisted two more actors and Scott Le Crass to direct and tested out this new version for Contentment Productions on a three-night run in Worthing and Guildford where it sold out.” 

In this 60-minute performance, Emmy’s Louise is joined by Molly, played by Emmy’s daughter, Rosa Strudwick, and Christopher Freestone’s Brian, prompted by Louise’s flashbacks,

“Now our cast of three is playing 15 dates this summer and autumn, from York to Penzance, to connect with our target audiences, build partnerships, give us feedback and raise awareness of of our play to help us develop and upscale it into a fully cast production for larger auditoriums.”

Memories around Sterns nightclub in Worthing – a venue that Carl Cox once called “100 per cent equivalent to the Hacienda in Manchester” – wove themselves into Emmy’s play. “Second Summer Of Love isn’t a ‘true story’ but it’s inspired by real-life events and real people from when I was luckily, and very accidentally, right in the middle of the rave zeitgeist,” she says.

“It’s not a tale I’ve seen authentically told in theatres; especially not by a mid-life woman. I’m grateful to bring the ‘one love’ message of the original rave movement to the stage. I’m excited to play several different characters, using the physical skills of Le Coq again and genuinely overjoyed to be in scenes opposite Rosa and Christopher.”

Director Scott Le Crass adds: “I’m excited to direct Second Summer Of Love as it’s a fresh voice. It’s a perspective which I’ve never seen on stage. Older female voices are something we need to champion more and in a way which is strong, dynamic and playful. This play embodies that.”

Happisburgh trained at the Poor School and Guildford School of Acting; Le Crass trained as an actor at Arts Ed and was a director on Birmingham Rep’s first Foundry Programme; Freestone trained with Actor in Session, and Strudwick was trained through the LAMDA examination syllabus by Happisburgh.

For tickets, go to: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

In Focus too: York Shakespeare Project’s auditions for The Spanish Tragedy

Paul Toy: Directing Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy for York Shakespeare Project

YORK Shakespeare Project welcomes back Paul Toy as its next director, at the helm of Thomas Kyd’s landmark play, The Spanish Tragedy, at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from October 22 to 25.

Paul’s relationship with YSP dates back to his 2003 production of The Taming Of The Shrew. The Spanish Tragedy will be his fourth YSP show but his first since Troilus And Cressida in 2011.

YSP chair Tony Froud says: “Paul emerged from a very strong field of applicants with an
exciting vision for this remarkable play. The Spanish Tragedy was the most popular play of the Elizabethan era, outselling Shakespeare.

“Kyd’s play set out the blueprint for a whole dramatic genre, Revenge Tragedy. Without it, there may have been no Hamlet, no The Duchess Of Malfi.

“It has a brilliant plot based on treachery, deceitand disguise and wonderful ingredients, including vengeance-seeking ghosts, madness, a play-within-a-play and a Machiavellian villain. Paul has great plans to bring to life the richly drawn characters with masks, music and dance.”

The Spanish Tragedy will be YSP’s second non-Shakespeare play in its 25-year mission to bring to the York stage all of Shakespeare’s plays and the best of his contemporaries, following Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II in October 2023.

YSP would be delighted to hear from anyone keen to join the cast. Auditions will be held on July 8 and 10 at 6.30pm, then July 12 at 2pm, all at Southlands Methodist Church, Bishopthorpe Road. Those interested are asked to email info@yorkshakespeareproject.org to book an audition slot and find out more.

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Chance to sign up for Paul Birch’s Funny Business scripted comedy workshop for Settlement Players on Sunday afternoon

Paul Birch: Leading scripted comedy workshop for York Settlement Community Players on Sunday

FRIARGATE Theatre artistic director, comedy writer and improv supremo Paul Birch is to hold a workshop for York Settlement Community Players on scripted comedy on Sunday (6/7/2025) at Room 1, Southlands Methodist Church, York.

“This Funny Business workshop is a great way to find your funny and explore ways in which to play comedic texts without worrying about getting laughs,” says Paul. “Using a range of scripts and some helpful games and exercises, this session will equip actors and directors to love, rather than fear, the comedic text.”

The charge for Sunday’s 2pm to 4.30pm session is £10 or “a bit more if you can manage it”. “Paul is doing the workshop at no charge to YSCP to help us out of our current financial difficulties because he is a thoroughly decent bloke,” says organiser Maurice Crichton.

To reserve your place (16 maximum), email Maurice at maurice.crichton@ntlworld.com.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York & beyond. Hutch’s List No. 28, from Gazette & Herald

Richard Hawley: Playing Coles Corner with strings attached at Futuresound Group’s Live At York Museum Gardens concert on Saturday. Picture: Dean Chalkley

AS the outdoor concert season awakens, a festival goes to heaven and hell and Jane Austen has unfinished business in Charles Hutchinson’s list for the upcoming week.

Open-air concerts of the week: Futuresound Group  presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Elbow, tomorrow; Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Friday; Richard Hawley, Saturday; gates open at 5pm

LEEDS promoters Futuresound Group’s second summer of outdoor concerts in York begins with Bury band Elbow’s sold-out show tomorrow, when Ripon singer-songwriter Billie Marten and Robin Hood’s Bay folk luminary Eliza Carthy & The Restitution support.

New York guitarist, songwriter and producer Nile Rodgers and CHIC revel in Good Times, Le Freak, Everybody Dance and I Want Your Love on Friday, supported by Maryland soul singer Jalen Ngonda and Durand Bernarr. Sheffield guitarist and crooner Richard Hawley revisits his 1995 album Coles Corner with a string section on its 20th anniversary on Saturday, preceded by Leeds band English Teacher and Manchester-based American songwriter BC Camplight, introducing his new album, A Sober Conversation. Box office: seetickets.com.

Bridget Christie: Late replacement for Maisie Adam at York Comedy Festival on Sunday. Picture: Natasha Pszenicki

Comedy bill of the week: Futuresound Group presents Live At York Museum Gardens, York Comedy Festival, Sunday, 2.30pm to 7.30pm

HARROGATE comedian Maisie Adam will not be playing the inaugural York Comedy Festival this weekend after all. The reason: “Unforeseen circumstances”. Into her slot steps trailblazing Bridget Christie, Gloucester-born subversive stand-up, Taskmaster participant and writer and star of Channel 4 comedy-drama The Change.

More than 90 per cent of tickets have sold for the Sunday fun-day bill topped by Dara Ó Briain and Katherine Ryan. Angelos Epithemiou, Joel Dommett, Vittorio Angelone, Clinton Baptiste and Scott Bennett feature too, hosted by “the fabulous” Stephen Bailey. Tickets are on sale at york-comedy-festival.com.

The Sixteen: Performing Angel Of Peace programme at York Minster on July 7 at York Early Music Festival

Festival of the week:  York Early Music Festival, Heaven & Hell, Friday to July 11

EIGHT days of classical music add up to 19 concerts featuring international artists such as The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars, Academy of Ancient Music, viol consort Fretwork & Helen Charlston and the York debut of Le Consort, performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons “but not quite as you know it”.

Directed by Delma Tomlin, the festival weaves together three main strands: the 400th anniversary of Renaissance composer Orlando Gibbons, the Baroque music of Vivaldi and Bach and reflections on Man’s fall from grace, from Heaven to Hell. Full programme and tickets at ncem.co.uk/whats-on/yemf/. Box office: 01904 658338.

Belle Voix Trio: Nostalgic night of Motown and Northern Soul at Kirk Theatre, Pickering, on Friday

Tribute show of the week: Belle Voix Trio, A Night Of Motown & Northern Soul, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm

BELLE Voix Trio bring 30 Motown and Northern Soul hits to the Pickering dancefloor, from Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) to Tainted Love, Ain’t No Mountain High Enough to The Night. Sandy Smith, Sophie Mairi and Briony Gunn’s singing credits include London’s West End, cruise liners and luxury hotels. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

The Script: Making third appearance at Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Saturday

Coastal gig of the week: The Script and Tom Walker, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Saturday; gates open at 6pm

THE Script head to the Yorkshire coast this weekend as part of the Irish rock-pop act’s Satellites UK tour, completing their hat-trick of Scarborough Open Air Theatre visits after appearances in 2018 and 2022.

Danny O’Donoghue (vocals), Glen Power (drums), Ben Sargeant (bass) and Ben Weaver (guitar) have six number one albums to their name. Special guest Tom Walker, the Scottish singer-songwriter, performs songs from 2019 chart topper What A Time To Be Alive and 2024’s I Am. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Dianne Buswell and Vito Coppola: Red Hot and Ready to dance at York Barbican with the Burn The Floor dancers

Dance show of the week: Burn The Floor presents Dianne & Vito, Red Hot & Ready!, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

STRICTLY Come Dancing’s stellar professional dancers, 2024 winner Dianne Buswell and 2024 runner-up Vito Coppola are Red Hot and Ready to perform a dance show with a difference, choreographed by BAFTA award winner Jason Gilkison.

The dream team will be joined by a cast of multi-disciplined Burn The Floor dancers from around the world. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Ione Harrison: Mounting Season Songs exhibition at Helmsley Arts Centre

Exhibition launch of the week: Ione Harrison, Season Songs, Helmsley Arts Centre, July 8 to September 5; private view, July 6, 2pm to 4pm

WELBURN landscape painter and watercolour workshop leader Ione Harrison’s Season Songs exhibition depicts the rhythm of the year in serene, dynamic and joyful paintings that explore seasonal changes in mood, colour and light in the natural world.

Ione, whose teaching career has taken her to France, the Middle East, Turkey and Nepal, creates vibrant, atmospheric paintings, working primarily in watercolour and ink.  She is influenced in particular by the heat-soaked colours of Asia and the Middle East.

Vicki Mason’s Margaret Watson, Beaj Johnson’s Tom Musgrave and Becca Magson’s Emma Watson in 1812 Theatre Company’s production of The Watsons

Play of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in The Watsons, Helmsley Arts Centre, July 9 to 12, 7.30pm

WHAT happens when the writer loses the plot? Emma Watson is 19 and new in town. She has been cut off by her rich aunt and dumped back in the family home. Emma and her sisters must marry, fast.

If not, they face poverty, spinsterhood, or worse: an eternity with their boorish brother and his awful wife. Luckily there are plenty of potential suitors, from flirtatious Tom Musgrave to castle-owning, awkward Lord Osborne.

One problem: Jane Austen did not finish the story. Who will write Emma’s happy ending now? Step forward Laura Wade, who takes her incomplete novel to fashion a sparklingly witty play that looks under the bonnet of Jane Austen to ask: what can characters do when their author abandons them? Pauline Noakes directs resident company 1812 Theatre Company’s production. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.  

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Panto funny lad Tommy Carmichael is back by popular demand to play Jangles in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal

Tommy Carmichael: “Audience favourite” will play Jangles in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal

YORKSHIREMAN Tommy Carmichael will head back to York Theatre Royal for this winter’s pantomime season, following up his 2024-25 comic role as Charlie in Aladdin by playing Jangles in Sleeping Beauty.

The “audience favourite” joins the already confirmed CBeebies star Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam and dame returnee Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie in creative director Juliet Forster’s cast.

“Tommy was such a hit with audiences last year in Aladdin and we are delighted to have him back with us for Sleeping Beauty,” she says.  “We have lots of fun and hilarity planned, so don’t miss your chance to see the show this winter.”  

Tommy Carmichael: From Charlie to Jangles at York Theatre Royal

Doncaster-born Carmichael’s theatre credits include Timternet in Big Strong Man (national tour); Silly Willy in Robin Hood and Buttons in Cinderella (both at The Maltings, Ely); Chief Weasel in The Wind In The Willows (national tour); Himself in Big Strong Man (CAST, Doncaster); Queen of Hearts in Alice In Wonderland (national tour) and Bagheera in The Jungle Book (national tour).  

Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal’s sixth pantomime collaboration with perennial award winners Evolution Productions, will be written once more by Evolution director Paul Hendy, who previously penned The Travelling Panto, Cinderella, All New Adventures Of Peter Pan, Jack And The Beanstalk and Aladdin.

Forster’s production will run from December 2 to January 4 2026. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Family tickets are available for all performances with savings of up to £64.50 on bookings of  four tickets.

Tommy Carmichael’s cheerful Charlie in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal

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Top Ten Reasons why Ripon Theatre Festival is well worth a visit this week

Illyria in Oliver Grey’s adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind In The Willows at Ripon Racecourse on July 5 at 5.30pm

RIPON Theatre Festival returns from July 1 to 6 with a line-up of shows, stories and community spirit that promises to light up the North Yorkshire city.

Drama, storytelling, puppetry, street theatre, circus and dance feature in more than 100 performances of 60 different events, backed by the festival’s first Arts Council funding, with a developing outreach programme too.

Festival director Katie Scott says: “Ripon Theatre Festival continues to grow, and we’re so excited to bring our biggest and boldest programme yet to the city. With the support of Arts Council funding, we can reach even more people and create a festival full of joy, creativity and unforgettable performances.

“Whether you’re a theatre enthusiast, a family looking for free entertainment, or someone who loves great stories, there’s something for everyone. We can’t wait to welcome audiences old and new to experience the magic of live theatre in Ripon.”

The best of British touring theatre 
Performances from top-quality touring companies, such as festival favourites Illyria bringing The Wind In The Willows to life in the leafy setting of Ripon Racecourse on July 5 at 5.30pm. 

Unforgettable outdoor theatre experiences 
From Breadcrumbs, Hansel & Gretel with a difference from Leeds company  Wrongsemble, on the Family Day on July 6 (10am to 4pm), to open-air Shakespeare in Three Inch Fools’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the Old Deanery gardens on July 6 at 7pm, Ripon becomes the stage for magical performances under the summer sky.

Buzzing city vibe 
Ripon will be alive with street performers from across the UK, pop-up stages and 25 local groups showcasing their talents. The festival creates a vibrant, welcoming atmosphere across the city, using the streets and historic buildings as a unique backdrop.

Opportunities to be involved 
From storytelling workshops and community art installations to the chance to try out Flamenco or join in circus skills, there are plenty of ways for all ages to participate.

Something for everyone 
From classic theatre and cutting-edge new writing to comedy, and family-friendly fun,  the packed programme is for all ages and tastes. 

World-class storytelling 
International storyteller-in-residence Peter Chand will bring tales of love, loss and separation inspired by his British Punjabi heritage to the atmospheric Leper Chapel, St Mary Magdalen’s, in Mangoes On The Beach, on July 2 at 3pm.

Free family entertainment 
Two days packed with free performances and activities make Ripon a destination for families looking for affordable fun. The Spa Gardens are turned into a Family Theatre zone for Festival Sunday with a rolling programme of theatre, puppetry, music, dance and walkabout acts.

City-wide offers for festival-goers 
Ripon’s independent businesses will be participating too. The city’s cafés, restaurants, and shops are joining the celebration with offers for ticket holders.

Bringing theatre to every corner 
The festival’s outreach programme ensures that care homes and community spaces are part of the action, spreading the joy of theatre across the city.

Spoilt for choice on opening night
The festival kicks off on Tuesday (1/7/2025) with two very different shows. Audiences can choose from stand-up with rising comedy favourite Larry Dean and Lou Conran in the Hilarity Bites Festival Special at Ripon Arts Hub at 8pm or visit Ripon Cathedral for the gripping one-man theatre of Murray Watts’s The Beloved Son at 7.30pm.

For tickets, the full programme and festival details, visit www.ripontheatrefestival.org

Look out for: Third Class: A Titanic Story, Ripon Arts Hub, July 2, 8pm

Russell Lucas in Third Class, his one-man show about Titanic survivor Edward Dorking. Picture: Steve Ullathorne

THIRD Class – A Titanic Story is the latest project by writer, director and performer Russell Lucas, who specialises in staging new works.

Past projects include creating his one-man show The Bobby Kennedy Experience and Sarah Louise Young’s hit cabaret An Evening Without Kate Bush.

Now he presents Third Class, a well-known story, but one with an unknown hero, Titanic survivor Edward Dorking: one of the estimated 172 of the roughly 709 passengers who travelled in Steerage on the stricken luxury liner lucky enough to emerge unscathed. To do so, he swam for 30 minutes towards an already full collapsible lifeboat.

“Edward was gay. Openly gay, and on Wednesday April 10th, 1912, he set sail on a ticket bought for him by his parents in the hope his American family could put him ‘right’,” says Russell.

Using music, projection and movement, interwoven with historical fact, Third Class charts Edward’s journey of survival and how, on arriving in New York, he toured the vaudeville circuit, re-creating the stories for a fact-hungry public.

“Edward Dorking was a poverty-stricken gay man, travelling to the US to be ‘fixed’, who became a vaudeville curiosity and an angry campaigner against the injustices of the shipping disaster,” says Russell, who promises a “thrilling new perspective on what feels a familiar tale”.

“Edward didn’t want fame; he wanted revenge. When everyone was talking about the deaths of millionaires and society figures, few were discussing the people who took the lion’s share of the losses that night: the third class. Edward was coming for the upper classes.”

Wednesday’s 70-minute performance will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Russell. Third  Class also plays Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, on July 12 at 3pm (box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk).

Further Ripon Theatre Festival theatre highlights

Louise Geller in Almost Austen at Ripon Arts Hub on July 5

ANDREW Harrison, stalwart of York’s Riding Lights Theatre Company, performs fellow Riding Lights luminary Murray Watts’s The Beloved Son at Ripon Cathedral on July 1 at 7.30pm.

Dutch Catholic priest and psychologist Henri Nouwen (1932-1996) abandoned academia for a new calling, caring for people with intellectual disabilities in a challenge to church and society. Hope and longing, family dynamics, sexual and emotional crisis and the profound insights of a spiritual writer inform Harrison’s solo performance, peppered with multiple characters played with dizzying speed.

LIZ Grand, who portrayed crime writer Agatha Christie at the 2023 Ripon Theatre Festival, returns with Mrs Churchill – My Life With Winston at Ripon Arts Hub on July 3 at 7.30pm.

Churchill once said: “My most brilliant achievement was my ability to be able to persuade my wife to marry me.” Here Grand offers a sensitive, informative portrayal of Clementine, Winston’s wife for 56 years.

IN Norwich Theatre and Albert Cabbage’s Edinburgh Fringe hit Spy Movie: The Play!, at Ripon Arts Hub on July 4 at 8pm, Agent Blonde has 24 hours to save the world. The only thing standing in her way are dastardly villains, an outrageous plot and a lack of funding.

When Hollywood rejects her script, a frustrated screenwriter invites you, an audience of producers, to a one-night-only presentation of The Greatest Spy Movie (n)Ever Made, in an homage to Bond films and Fringe theatre from the stars of The Play That Goes Wrong and Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

SINGER Louise Geller brings her delightful musical theatre show Almost Austen to Ripon Arts Hub on July 5 at 8pm with its 60-minute story of Catherine, a modern girl in love with Jane Austen’s world who cannot believe her luck when she meets her very own Mr Tilney.

Through passages from Northanger Abbey, songs from musicals and operatic classics, Geller relates Catherine’s romantic ups and downs as real life and fantasy collide in a meeting of Bridget Jones and Northanger Abbey.