Isango Ensemble: May tour to York Theatre Royal cancelled; may tour next year instead,
ISANGO Ensemble’s
three-week season at York Theatre Royal in May – the “highlight of their year” –
has been cancelled in light of the Coronavirus pandemic.
The South
African company, whose performers are drawn mainly from the Cape Town
townships, was programmed to perform three shows from its repertoire, The
Mysteries, The Magic Flute and SS Mendi: Dancing the Death Drill, from May 5 to
23 in Isango’s first visit to York in their two-decade span. Now they hope to
visit Yorkshire next year instead.
Isango Ensemble in SS Mend; Dancing The Death Drill. Picture: The Other Richard
Theatre
Royal executive director Tom Bird says: “We are devastated that our friends
Isango Ensemble are unable to make the trip to the UK. They have been in
rehearsal for a specially curated season of work that was sure to delight and
inspire our audiences with their joyous productions. We hope there will be
another opportunity for us to welcome the company to York in the future.”
Director
Mark Dornford-May, the Yorkshireman who co-founded Isango 20 years ago, says:
“The whole ensemble were so excited to be visiting York for the first time in
our 20-year history. It really was the highlight of the year. To have been
rehearsing the shows and then not be able to play them in that beautiful
theatre is a deeply felt blow.
Isango Ensemble in The Mysteries: Noluthando Boqwana as Lucifer, left, with Devils
“Tom and
all his colleagues have been so supportive throughout the last few difficult
days and together we hope to create a plan to get to play in Yorkshire next
year.”
Ticket
holders will be contacted by the Theatre Royal box office in the coming
weeks.
Did you know?
ISANGO Ensemble is a Cape Town theatre company led by director and co-founder Mark Dornford-May and music directors Pauline Malefane and Mandisi Dyantyis.
THE York Theatre Royal building is closed to the public until further notice.
This morning’s full statement reads: “Following the latest Government advice about Coronavirus, the York Theatre Royal building is now closed to the public until further notice. You can still contact our box office by phone on 01904 623568.
“All Youth Theatre, LAMDA, Crafty Tales and Adult Theatre Workshop sessions will stop running for the time being. Costume hire is also closed until further notice.”
The statement continues: “It’s with enormous sadness that we temporarily close our doors, but the safety of our audiences, staff and community is of utmost importance. We apologise for the disruption and thank you for your support during this period of great uncertainty.
“We are making contact with ticket holders for the cancelled performances. If the closure period is extended, we will be in touch with bookers for future performances in good time, and we’ll also post updates to our website and social media channels. See you soon.”
Nothing happening full stop. Now, with time on your frequently washed hands, home is where the art is and plenty else besides
Exit 10 Things To See Next Week in York and beyond for the unforeseeable future. Enter home entertainment, wherever you may be, whether still together or in isolation, in the shadow of the Coronavirus pandemic. From behind his closed door, CHARLES HUTCHINSON makes these suggestions.
Compiling your Desert Island Discs
CREATE your own Desert Island Discs and accompanying reasons, should you ever be called to answer Lauren Laverne’s questions on the BBC Radio 4 Sunday morning staple. Cue Eric Coates’s opening theme, By The Sleepy Lagoon, then your eight music choices, one book choice, one luxury.
Then play your list, but cutting it down to eight will be much harder than you first expect.
Make a cut-out of Lauren Laverne and do your own edition of Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs, suggestion number two
AND while you are about it, also take every opportunity to raid the Beeb’s Desert Island Discs back catalogue at BBC Sounds. Recommendations? Ian Wright, former footballer, turned broadcaster; Dr John Cooper Clarke, sage Salford stick insect and man of multitudinous words; Kathy Burke, Camden Town actress, comedian, writer, producer and director.
Make a timetable for the day
LIKE you would at work…though this timetable may not be possible, if indeed you are working from home.
Nevertheless, should the time need passing, allow, say, an hour for each activity, be it writing; reading; playing board games at the stipulated distances apart or card games, which can be done on your own, such as Patience; watching a movie, maybe a long-neglected DVD rescued from a dusty shelf; or whatever else is on your list.
“Puzzles are wonderfully relaxing yet keep the brain very active ,” says jigsaw enthusiast and York actor Ian Giles
Re-discover a childhood joy
PLUCKING one out of the air, how about jigsaw puzzles, a favourite of Mother Hutch and Granny Pyman before her.
“They are wonderfully relaxing yet keep the brain very active and there’s a feeling of creative satisfaction on completion,” recommends York actor Ian Giles, a devotee of such puzzle solving.
Singing
YORK singer Jessa Liversidge runs the Singing For All choir, as heard savouring I’d Like To Teach The World To Sing at Big Ian’s A Night To Remember at a packed York Barbican (remember those days?) on Leap Year Saturday.
Now, abiding by the Government’s Avoid Unnecessary Social Contact advice, to keep people singing, she is planning a range of online singing opportunities to suit not only her Singing For All and Easingwold Community Singers folks, but “any frustrated singers”. “Get in touch to find out how to join,” says Jessa, whose Twitter account is @jessaliversidge. She posts regularly.
Still on song: York singer Jessa Liversidge would like to reach the world to sing online
Lighting a candle
THE Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend Dr John Sentamu, is asking us all to place a lighted candle in our window at 7pm this coming Sunday “as a sign of solidarity and hope in the light of Christ that can never be extinguished”.
Baking
ALL those cookbooks that you bought for the nice pictures, but have never opened since, are bursting with opportunities to try out a new dish…if the supermarket shelves have not been emptied by 10 o’clock in the morning.
Why not raid the store cupboard too, check the dates (and the dried dates from last Christmas) and see if anything may come in handy. The likelihood is more and more hours will have to be spent at home; this is a chance to stretch your culinary skills.
Candlelight: The Archbishop of York, the Most Reverend Dr John Sentamu’s Sunday request
Gardening
HOPEFULLY, going for walks, maintaining a safe, previously anti-social distance, will still be a possibility, as advocated by Prime Minister Johnson, until otherwise stated.
If not, or if isolation is your way ahead, spring is in the air, gardens are turning green, the grass is growing. Gardening will surely be one of the unbroken joys of the ever-so-uncertain path that lies ahead.
Should you not have a garden, windowsills are havens for green-fingered pursuits: the seeds of much content.
And what about…
Podcasts. Books. More podcasts. More books. Box sets (yawn). Discovering a new band online, or maybe an old one you had long neglected. Writing a 10 Things like this one. Reading Bard of Barnsley Ian McMillan’s morning Tweets, or any time of day, in fact. Reading York musician and motivational speaker Big Ian Donaghy’s perennially positive thoughts for the day @trainingcarers, BIGIAN #DEMENTIAisAteamGAME. Watch Channel 4 News, especially Jon Snow, one bright-tied 72 year old who should defy the imminent Government “curfew” on the over-70s. (UPDATE: 19/3/2020. Or maybe not. Tonight he broadcast from his central London home.)
Poetry in motion: Ian McMillan’s joyous Tweets from his early-morning walks
And finally…
PLEASE stop flicking through social media at every turn…except for displays of the ever-so-British black humour in response to the new C-word.
Any suggestions for further editions of 10 Things To Do At Home And Beyond are most welcome. Please send to charles.hutchinson104@gmail.com
“Critical situation”: Dark nights, dark days too, at York Theatre Royal until further notice
CLOSED. Closed. Closed. Closed. Closed. York’s theatres have shut down en masse in response to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Monday briefing on Black Monday to avoid unnecessary social contact at pubs, clubs and theatres.
One by one came the measured official statements in response to the rising Coronavirus pandemic, announced with regret, sadness and heavy hearts.
By way of contrast, a tide of anger rose ever higher on social media from the entertainment industry, feeling shafted by the PM not legislating closure, merely advising it.
In doing so, he placed the decision in the (no doubt frequently washed) hands of theatre managements, boards and trusts, whose sense of moral responsibility left no option but to announce closure until further notice as a precaution amid the Coronavirus crisis. When insurance effectively amounts to no insurance, hell by hand cart is the only journey in town.
Lights out: Ellen Kent Company’s La Boheme, at the Grand Opera House tomorrow is snuffed out by the Prime Minister’s Coronavirus dictum
The Grand National, the first post-Brexit Eurovision, the Chelsea Flower Show, Glastonbury Festival, the Euro 2020 football championships, are all scrapped for 2020. A tsunami of further announcements will follow, not least from theatre companies cancelling or postponing tours.
Keep Calm and Carry On may be the mantra, but the fear is that Keep Calm and Carry On may well turn to carrion on account of, well, the accounts.
York Theatre Royal, in St Leonard’s Place, Theatre @41 Monkgate, the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, in Haxby Road, and Riding Lights Theatre Company’s Friargate Theatre, in Lower Friargate, have individual boards and managements addressing urgent, previously unimaginable requirements and strictures.
Likewise, the Ambassadors Theatre Group, owners of the Grand Opera House, is co-ordinating the Coronavirus-impacted strategy throughout ATG, making statements for the Cumberland Street theatre, whose staff are now working remotely from home.
Clock stopped: PIck Me Up Theatre’s Tom’s Midnight Garden was curtailed after Monday’s performance at Theatre @ 41 Monkgate, York
These are unprecedented circumstances. Circumstances not even seen in wartime when theatres – some, not all – across the land stayed open through 1939 to 1945.
Circumstances where the new C-word has led to theatre after theatre – together with cinemas, music clubs, museums, galleries, visitor attractions, SparkYork, et al – to issue variations on: “It is with enormous sadness that we take these measures, but the safety of our audiences, staff and community is of utmost importance.”
So, where does each of these York theatres stand now, in a city where, like the rest, the theatre focus is turning to those of the medical variety? The best advice is to visit the theatre websites for information on the present closures, ticket refunds, and, in light of the harsh financial reality, Donate Today requests. “Your support is vital to our survival,” pleads York Theatre Royal bluntly.
A spokesman for the Theatre Royal – take it as read that it was executive director Tom Bird – said: “The closure of theatres in the UK puts York Theatre Royal, along with hundreds of other theatres, into a critical situation.”
Road closed: Riding Lights Theatre Company have had give up The Narrow Road tour for Lent
Does that make it theatre’s version of the intensive care unit? Time will tell, but the arts have a way of defying the last rites, always have, always will, keeping the fat lady singer waiting, the final curtain up in the flies. What they will make of Richmond Rishi’s £330 billion loan scheme is another discussion point for the in-tray, however.
In a nutshell, York Theatre Royal’s shows and public events initially are cancelled until April 11, but there surely will be no miraculous resurrection on Easter Sunday. The York Theatre Royal building, box office and café remained open initially, but the building closed to the public today (March 19). The box office is still taking phone calls on 01904 623568; ticket refunds are underway.
Shows at the Grand Opera House, in common with all Ambassadors Theatre Group theatres, are “temporarily suspended with immediate effect”, with a policy of postponement and future re-arranged dates to be confirmed, rather than cancellations, at this stage.
“We are following government guidance which is currently ambiguous,” say ATG. “It is unclear how long theatres are to remain closed. We will reopen them once the government and medical authorities confirm that there is no risk to our audiences, performers and staff.
The Missing Peace: one of the now missing pieces at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, but with plans for re-arranged dates later
“We are working hard with our producers and performers to understand how this will play out, so we can’t confirm that at this time. We will try, wherever possible, to re-programme shows that have been suspended.”
The Joseph Rowntree Theatre will remain closed “until we receive further instruction that it is safe to reopen”. “We will be issuing further advice in the coming days on how we are going to manage ticket refunds and exchanges,” says trust chairman Dan Shrimpton. “We would ask that you please bear with us and wait for us to contact you.”
The Theatre @41 Monkgate website is yet to be updated following Monday’s Coronavirus ultimatum – the About Us section has Covid-19 Guidance from before – but Pick Me Up Theatre artistic director Robert Readman announced performances would cease after Tom’s Midnight Garden that evening.
He also cancelled Pick Me Up’s Sondheim 90 birthday concert this Sunday and the April 17 to 25 run of The Pirates Of Penzance. Be assured that Coronavirus has been the death of York Shakespeare Project’s Macbeth from March 31 to April 4 too.
Riding Lights, York’s Christian theatre company based at Friargate Theatre, have cancelled their March 16 to April 11 tour of The Narrow Road. “We are very sorry not to be performing this Lent but wish you a happy and safe Easter,” their website says.
Meanwhile, prayers and thoughts go to all those working in the theatres at York Hospital and elsewhere, preparing for whatever is to come.
Atalanta Forever…but not now for 2020 after Mikron Theatre Company called off the tour of Amanda Whittington’s new play
MIKRON Theatre Company 2020’s tour of Amanda Whittington’s new women’s
football play, Atalanta Forever, is off. The referee showing the red card is,
inevitably, Coronavirus Pandemic.
The tour would have opened at the National Football Museum, Manchester,
on April 18, and waiting in the wings was a June 2 visit to the Marsden
travelling players’ regular York idyll of the Scarcroft Allotments, kick-off at
6pm.
Also falling foul of COVID-19’s Governmental advice to avoid unnecessary
social contact is Mikron’s second show of the summer, Poppy Hollman’s new play A
Dog’s Tale, a celebration of canines past and present that explores the
enduring love between people and their dogs.
This exploration of “the extraordinary world of heroic hounds,
pampered pedigrees and naughty nobblers through the halls and history of Crufts”
was bound for Clements Hall, York, in the autumn, with a cast of Mikron stalwart
James McLean, company newcomer Thomas Cotran and Rachel Benson and
Elizabeth Robin from last year’s brace of shows, All Hands On Deck and Redcoats.
In a statement from artistic director Marianne McNamara, producer
Pete Toon, general manager Rachel Root, production manager Jo English and the board
of trustees, Mikron say: “It is with an extremely heavy hearts that we have to
tell you that we are cancelling our 2020 tour.
“We have worked on every possible scenario and this
is the only way that we will survive into our 50th year of touring in 2021.
“Our board has a duty of care for our team, venues
and Mikron supporters. We want you all to know that we are thinking of you, and
indeed everyone who is part of the Mikron family, in these very difficult
times.”
Mikron Theatre Company’s summer mode of transport: Tyseley, a vintage narrowboat. Picture: Jon Gascoyne
The statement continues: “If you’ve already booked
tickets for our 2020 season – thank you! – we will honour any ticket refunds:
just call or email if you would like us to action this.
“Like many theatre lovers across the world, if you
feel that you wish to donate your ticket price to help us come back better than
ever in 2021, we’d be so very grateful.
“If you haven’t booked, but you were planning on
seeing us in 2020, you can support Mikron now in the following ways:
Mikron praise Arts Council England for being “amazing”
“They are doing everything they can to assist the arts, museums and libraries.
We genuinely would not be here without them today,” they say.
“We have been able to cushion the financial blow
for our creative team as much as possible, and we’re planning for next year in
the hope that what we collectively do in the coming months gets us there.
Coronavirus-cancelled canine comedy capers: MIkron Theatre Company’s poster for A Dog’s Tale
“If there is anything else we can do for you,
please do keep in touch. We may not be out on the road and waterways this year
but we’re still very much here for you on email, and at the end of the phone.”
From the writer of Ladies Day, Ladies Day Down Under and Mighty Atoms
for Hull Truck Theatre and Bollywood Jane for the West Yorkshire Playhouse,
Atalanta Forever tells the story of pioneering women footballers in 1920.
In post-war Britain, women’s football is big news. Across the country,
all-girl teams are pulling huge crowds in fund-raising games for wounded
soldiers.
Huddersfield amateurs Ethel and Annie take a shot at the big time.
Teammates at Atalanta AFC, they are soon tackling new football skills,
mastering the offside rule and kicking back at the doubters.
This summer’s audiences would have been invited to “come and cheer for
Atalanta as our plucky underdogs learn how to play the game, take on the
legendary teams of the era and find the toughest opponent of all is the
Football Association”.
Whittington’s play is based on the true story of one of three women’s
football teams in Huddersfield in post-war Britain. As told through the lives
of two young women, Atalanta Ladies Football Club was formed in 1920 to
“provide games for the women of Huddersfield, to foster a sporting spirit, and
a love of honour among its members”.
During the Great War, several women’s football teams had sprung up
around the country, usually based in factories or munitions works, and proved a
great success in raising money for hospitals, war widows and so on.
Atalanta Forever playwright Amanda Whittington
The popularity of the women’s game may be measured by the estimated
25,000 crowd that packed Hillsborough, Sheffield, for the Huddersfield
team’s next game with the Dick, Kerr Ladies FC of Preston on May
4, when they lost 4-0 to their much more experienced opponents.
In the wider football world, the growing popularity of women’s football
was now causing concern. The FA even saw it as taking support away from the
men’s game and on December 5, 1921, they banned women’s teams from using FA
affiliated grounds.
Before folding in 1924, the pioneering Huddersfield Atalanta
Ladies FC had raised more than £2,000 for various charities.
Writer and co-lyricist Whittington says of her new play: “I
was an 11-year-old footballer in the 1980s, the only girl who played in the
boys’ village tournament, and I vividly remember being ‘advised’ to stop
because it wasn’t appropriate.
“I still
feel the injustice and the sense of shame for wanting to do something I wasn’t
meant to.
“It brings
joy to my heart to see football’s now the biggest team sport for girls in
Britain. I wanted to write about the battle the women’s game has fought
to survive and prosper – and perhaps to tell the 11-year-old me she was
right?”
A newly prescient poster for Mikron Theatre Company’s 2018 tour of Get Well Soon. How we need all those heroes in our NHS in the months ahead, God bless you all
Atalanta
Forever was being directed by Mikron artistic director Marianne McNamara, joined
in the production team by composer and co-lyricist Kieran Buckeridge, musical
director Rebekah Hughes and designer Celia Perkins.
Explaining why Mikron chose to tackle the subject of the fight
for women’s football, McNamara says: “Women’s football is making a comeback and
not before time. We are thrilled to pay homage to the trailblazing Huddersfield
women that paved the way against all odds.
“Just like
the great game itself, this will be an action-packed play of two halves, full
of live music, fun and laughter with no plans for extra time!”
Mikron’s 49th year of touring would have run from April 18 to October,
with the West Yorkshire company travelling hither and thither by road in the
spring and autumn, and by river and canal on the vintage narrowboat Tyseley, until October 24.
Let us look
forward to whenever Mikron will be putting on their shows once more in “places
that other theatre companies wouldn’t dream of”, whether a play about
growing-your-own veg, presented in allotments; one about bees performed
next to hives; another about chips in a fish and chips restaurant, as well as
plays about hostelling in YHA youth hostels and
the RNLI at several lifeboat stations around the UK.
In the meantime, in the spirit of Mikron’s 2018 show by York
writer Ged Cooper, please world, Get Well Soon.
THE Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, has shut down with immediate effect in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
In a statement released today, joint chief executive Caroline Routh said: “Further to current government advice, which stipulates that people should avoid public buildings including theatres to help slow the spread of Coronavirus, our extended management group, including our trustees, has agreed that we will suspend all activities up to and including Sunday (March 22).”
The SJT box office remains open to manage cancellations and will be in touch with customers with bookings that are affected.
“This is a fast-developing situation, and we will be making further announcements over the next few days as things become clearer,” the SJT statement said. “Please take care of yourself and all those around you.”
The Leeds Grand Theatre auditorium. Picture: Simon Hulme
LEEDS Grand Theatre, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall and Hyde Park Picture House are closing from today “to help slow the spread of Coronavirus”.
The decision was taken with regret following official government advice
issued on Monday, stipulating that people should avoid public buildings,
including theatres.
The three venues under the Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House Ltd umbrella will “remain closed until further notice and will re-open as soon as possible – following government recommendations”.
Leeds City Varieties Music Hall
Chief executive Chris Blythe said: “We are extremely grateful to all of
our audiences who have continued to support us for as long as they can, and to
our staff who have worked tirelessly in recent weeks to ensure the safety and
enjoyment of audiences.
“These are unprecedented times – combined we have been open for over 400
years – and closing our venues is not a decision that has been taken lightly.
In truth, this will have a severe impact on the future of Leeds Grand Theatre
& Opera House Ltd. Our future is now uncertain, but the safety of our
visitors and staff has always been our priority.”
Hyde Park Picture House, Brudenell Road, Leeds
Mr Blythe went on: “We will continue to follow advice from the Government and work closely with the touring companies and artists that are due to visit our venues over the coming months and hope that we will be able to open our doors again very soon. We thank everyone for their continued support and loyalty.”
Audience members for a performance/screening that has been cancelled
will be contacted in due course by staff. “All customers are entitled to a
refund, but as Leeds Grand Theatre and Opera House Ltd is a charitable
enterprise, those who can afford to are encouraged to donate the cost of their
ticket to show support for the future of our venues,” today’s statement said.
“Over the coming weeks, we will continue to provide regular updates. Ticket holders are asked to bear in mind that our customer service teams are extremely busy, and we would appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding at this time.”
SELBY
Town Hall is cancelling all public ticketed events from today initially until
the end of April.
The
decision has been taken “in light of the Prime Minister’s announcement
yesterday and the UK government’s instructions regarding social distancing”.
A
statement from Selby Town Council arts officer Chris Jones said: “This is a
fast-changing situation, and we will be monitoring advice from the Government
and Public Health England on a day-by-day basis to inform our course of action
from May onwards.
“Rest assured that the health of our customers, performers,
volunteers and staff is our highest priority.”
The Selby Town Hall auditorium
Selby Town Hall will be contacting all ticket holders “as soon as
we can”. “It may be possible to rearrange some performances either for later in
the year or early 2021, while others will sadly be cancelled altogether,” said
Chris.
“To all our customers, you are fantastic. We are incredibly grateful for the support you have given, and continue to give, to the venue. We ask for your patience while our small team deal with what is an unprecedented situation.
“It will take us a few days to establish new dates for shows or confirm full cancellations. The most important message for the moment is not to travel to shows here in the near future, to stay safe, and to look after one another. We will be in touch with you all individually in due course.”
YORK Theatre Royal is cancelling all
public performances and events until April 11 after Prime Minister Boris
Johnson’s Coronavirus briefing on avoiding unnecessary social contact.
Ticket holders are being asked to consider donating the price of their tickets to the theatre, Britain’s oldest playhouse outside London.
Shows at theatres nationwide have been cancelled in response to yesterday’s Government advice on the Coronavirus pandemic, asking the public not to go to theatres, pubs and clubs.
The Theatre Royal box office will be in touch with ticket holders for the next four weeks of performances, covering March 17 to April 11, and they are being requested not to contact the box office directly but wait to be called.
Executive director Tom Bird said: “The closure of theatres in the UK puts York Theatre Royal, along with hundreds of other theatres, into a critical situation. We are asking that people consider donating their ticket purchase to the theatre at this time. As a charity, their support is crucial to our survival.
“If they cannot do this, we’d ask that
they consider a credit to their account. If none of this is satisfactory, they
can choose a refund.”
York Theatre Royal further advises: “If
the closure period is extended, we will be in touch with bookers for future
performances in good time, and we’ll also post updates to our website and
social media channels.
“It’s with enormous sadness that we
take these measures, but the safety of our audiences, staff and community is of
utmost importance.
“We are looking at ways we can be of
use to the wider York community during this time. More details regarding these
plans will follow.”
The theatre building, in St Leonard’s
Place, is remaining open at present, including the café and box office.
HAS there ever been a more cynical, anti-arts, pro-insurance industry posh pals statement from Prime Minister Johnson than yesterday’s first Coronavirus daily briefing?
For one so notoriously careless with words, despite his love of a luxuriant lexicon, his careful avoidance of enforcing a shutdown of pubs, clubs, theatres etc, in favour of merely recommending “avoiding unnecessary social” interaction, effectively amounts to washing his and his Government’s hands of the future of one of the power houses of British life: the entertainment industry.
No formal closures means no chance of insurance pay-outs. In an already increasingly intolerant, Right-veering Britain, with its Brexit V-sign to Europe, could it be this is another way to try to suffocate and stifle our potent, provocative, influential, politically challenging, counter-thinking, all-embracing, anti-divisive, collective-spirited, often radical, always relevant, life-enriching, rather than rich-enriching, font of free expression, protest and empowerment?
Was this the day the music died?
History shows that the arts, the pubs, the theatres, the counter-culture, has always found a way to bite back, to fight back, often at times of greatest repression and depression. No Margaret Thatcher, no Specials’ Ghost Town.
We and our very necessary social interactions shall be back, hopefully after only a short break. Meanwhile, we are all in the hands of science, that equally progressive bedfellow to the arts.
