Category: Theatre

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More Things To Do in York and beyond the last-minute shopping rush. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 52, from The Press, York

Casting a shadow: James Willstrop’s bullying bruiser Bill Sikes in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate

THE myriad delights of Christmas entertainment shine through Charles Hutchinson’s tips to vacate the festive fireside.

Dickens at Christmas, but not A Christmas Carol: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 30. 7.30pm performances on December 21, 27, 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. No performances on December 23 to 26

HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.

Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature musical arrangements by John Biddle to to complement Dickens’s tale of Oliver Twist being brought up in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld in his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Harris Beattie and Jonathan Hanks in Northern Ballet’s revival of A Christmas Carol at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Christmas ballet of the week: Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2025

FIRST choreographed by Massimo Morricone and directed by Christopher Gable in 1992, Northern Ballet’s retired landmark production of A Christmas Carol is being revisited by director Federico Bonelli to the glee of longtime supporters and new audiences alike.

“Charles Dickens’s classic Victorian tale of redemption, with its message of human kindness and compassion, is something that resonates with us all, especially at this time of year,” says Bonelli. “Its iconic characters lend themselves so well to ballet”, complemented by Lez Brotherston’s colourful sets and costumes and Carl Davis’s festive score. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Holly Cassidy and Grace Hussey-Burd in a scene from Riding Lights Theatre Company’s winter show A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson

Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, today to Christmas Eve, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day

IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.

When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.

The poster for The Snowman screenings with live orchestra at York Barbican

Christmas film & music event of the week: The Snowman with Live Orchestra, York Barbican, Sunday, 1pm and 4pm

CARROT Productions presents two screenings of Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T Murakami’s animated 1982 film with the accompaniment of a live orchestra of professional musicians.

Raymond Briggs’s story of a young boy’s Christmas snowman magically coming to life for a journey to meet Santa Claus will be shown with The Snowman And The Snowdog at 1pm and The Bear, The Piano, The Dog And The Fiddle at 4pm. Each show includes a fun introduction to the orchestra and a visit from the Snowman himself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Shed Seven’s Paul Banks and Rick Witter: Performing as an acoustic duo at Huntington Working Men’s Club in the last gigs of their 30th anniversary celebrations this weekend. Picture: David Harrison

Recommended but sold out already: Shed Seven’s Rick Witter and Paul Banks, Huntington Working Men’s Club, York, tonight and Sunday, doors 7pm

AFTER two number one albums in a year, summer shows in York Museum Gardens and their biggest ever tour, Shed Seven end their 30th anniversary celebrations back home in York, where lead singer Rick Witter and guitarist Paul Banks play a weekend of acoustic sets in the intimate setting of a working men’s club.

“We’re finishing the year in the village where Rick and I first met back in 1984, and where all of this began,” says Banks. “What a journey we’ve been on.” Sheds’ bassist Tom Gladwin serves up a DJ set too. Box office for returns only: store.shedseven.com.

Nun better: Freida Nipples hosts her Baps & Buns burlesque Christmas cabaret at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb

Feast your eyes on: Freida Nipples’ Baps & Buns Burlesque Christmas Cabaret, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, tonight, 8pm; doors open at 7pm

YORK’S queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, presents drag, comedy and showgirls in her Baps & Buns Christmas Cabaret with festive good cheer after a joyous year of shows at Rise, Acomb’s answer to Paris’s Folies Bergère.

“Prepare yourself for an evening of debauchery and glamour in Acomb,” says Freida. “The big question is: are you ready for it?!” Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Central Methodist Church: Hosting City Screen Picturehouse’s pop-up Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, York

Pop-up film event of the festive season: City Screen Picturehouse presents Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, The Great Hall, Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York, until December 23

CITY Screen Picturehouse, York, has set up a pop-up screen at Central Methodist Church for the Christmas season. Dougal Wilson’s Paddington In Peru (PG) will be shown at 4pm on Sunday, followed by Jon Favreau’s Elf (PG) at 7pm and Monday screenings of Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and Frank Capra’s season-closing 1946 chestnut It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm. Box office: picturehouses.com/YorkXmas.

Ronan Keating: Playing at York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend next summer. Picture: Supplied by York Racecourse

Outdoor gig announcement of the week: Ronan Keating, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 26

IRISH singer, charity campaigner and breakfast show host Ronan Keating will perform after the Saturday race card as the first act to be confirmed for next summer’s Music Showcase Weekend on Knavesmire. A further act will be announced for the evening meeting on July 25.

Keating, 47, has three decades of hits to call on, from Boyzone boy band days to his solo career, from Love Me For A Reason and When You Say Nothing At All to Life Is A Rollercoaster and If Tomorrow Never Comes. Olly Murs is confirmed already for the new 2025 race day of June 28. For race day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk.

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George Ure is so happy to be directing panto in ‘favourite city’ of York as Beauty And The Beast plays Grand Opera House

George Ure: Director of Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York

GEORGE Ure has returned to a York rehearsal room for the first time since 2012 to direct the Grand Opera House pantomime Beauty And The Beast.

“I was last here to play Tom, one of the pilots in The Guinea Pig Club, the play by Susan Watkins, the wife of neurosurgeon Professor Sid Watkins, about the Second World War pilots who became the “guinea pig club” for pioneering plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe,” says the Scotsman, recalling artistic director Damian Cruden’s premiere at York Theatre Royal in October that year.

The Guinea Pig Club, by the way, was set up as an exclusive club for Battle of Britain pilots with extensive burns injuries who had been operated on by Sir Archibald. “We all stayed in touch with the Guinea Pig Club and got invited to their Christmas party,” recalls George.

“Fiona [Fiona Dolman, who played Sister O’Donnell] stayed the best of friends with one or two of the families.”

Born In Airdrie, 13 miles from Glasgow, George moved south in 2005 to study at Mountview [Academy of Theatre Arts].  “I’ve been based in London for nearly 20 years now, but York is my favourite place in the UK outside of Scotland, it really is,” he says of a city that has drawn him here for the joy of a “romantic weekend with my other half”.

“I love this city; it is a bit of me now, so when UK Productions asked me to do this pantomime, they didn’t have to ask me twice. I was contacted in the summertime by Anthony Williams, the executive pantomime director, who manages all 11 of their pantomimes. 

Phil Atkinson’s villainous Hugo Pompidou performing his mash-up of Work Of Art and Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

“We were reconnecting after not seeing each other for many years. He asked me what I was up to and I said I was looking for a show to direct. We discussed my ideas and I’ve been on the project since August.”

George brings directorial experience aplenty to staging Beauty And The Beast. “I’ve been working in drama schools for a long time: I’ve just finished a ten-year run at Urdang Academy, and I’m now working with one of my graduates, Hattie Dibb, who’s in the ensemble here after playing my leading lady in her leaving musical, Anne Pornick in Kipps.”

George has performed in panto on several occasions. “I played Peter Pan twice, once at Milton Keynes Theatre, then at New Wimbledon Theatre in 2015 [with Marcus Brigstocks as Captain Hook and Verne Troyer as Lofty the Pirate], and then I did Jack And The Beanstalk, back in Scotland at Perth Theatre, where I was Angus.” Angus, who is he? “Jack’s brother, the ‘dafty’. It was a brilliant show!”

George was raised on Scottish pantomimes. “I used to go to the King’s Theatre, Glasgow, where Gerard Kelly played the ‘Silly Billy’ role for 20 years. Stanley Baxter was a legend there too, and Elaine C Smith is still doing the show there after so many years [playing Mrs Smee in Peter Pan this winter],” he says.

“My aunt’s brother, Edward O’Toole, was the stage manager there for more than 20 years and he used to get us in to watch the preview, and my dad did a bit of shift work there at Christmas.”

George loves panto. “It’s such a cliché to say it’s a child’s first experience of theatre, but it’s true, and panto doesn’t have to be naff! I believe that if you can find the balance of humour and heart, it has the power to speak to everyone. At some point in the show it will touch everyone – and it has to have really good storytelling too.”

Directing a commercial pantomime is a flat-out experience, ‘hothousing’ a show in less than a fortnight. “I started on the Monday and ran the full show by Saturday morning; the next Monday was the tech day with a producer’s run, followed by notes, and then we flew over to the theatre to work towards opening on Saturday that week [December 7],” says George.

Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle and Samuel Wyn-Morris’s Beast in a pas de deux in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

“I’m a meticulous planner. Working in a drama school, you get used to tight schedules, so I had to plan ahead with a wish list for every department, and I’m happy to say that we were ahead of the game after the first week of rehearsals.”

George first met up with choreographer Alex Codd and musical director Arlene McNaught in September. “We talked through everyone’s music choices. I’m a collaborator; I don’t think there should be a dictator; I’m a team person as you can only succeed like that – though fundamentally I did have some strong feelings on what the music should be as I didn’t want it to be just chart hits.

“Beauty And The Beast is all about the plot, and the music should match that, and not just become an excuse to change lyrics of a pop hit to make it work.

“We’ve gone for pop music from many decades, from Carole King to Taylor Swift’s Shake It Off in a mash-up with Chappell Roan’s Hot To Go!; Lovin’ Spoonful’s Do You Believe In Magic for Fairy Bon Bon to Meat Loaf’s I’d Do Anything For Love (But I won’t Do That), plus songs from Wicked and  Les Miserables.

“We also have Work Of Art from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie mashed up with Rod Stewart’s Da Ya Think I’m Sexy? for the baddie, Phil Atkinson’s Hugo Pompidou, who’s really like an anti-baddie because he’s so funny.

“The music was really important to me because it has to serve the plot and you have to have the balance right, and thankfully the producers were very welcoming of all my nonsense!”

Beauty And The Beast runs at Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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Why you will be seeing CBeebies’ Evie Pickerill at the double this Christmas and not only in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal

Evie Pickerill’s Spirit of the Ring in York Theatre Royal’s Aladdin. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

CBBC host Evie Pickerill is not only dashing around in two roles in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal this festive season, she also is popping up in the CBeebies pantomime, Beauty And The Beast.

“I’m playing the Robin,” she says. Not the first role that springs to mind in that story. “She’s Belle’s best friend, who’s a bird, so I got to fly! I’ve never flown across a stage before, so I was quite nervous about it but I loved it – and the costume was incredible!  Now I’d love to do it again, maybe playing Tinkerbell.”

Evie headed up to Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre to record the televised pantomime before starting rehearsals for Aladdin. “We performed it live for two days at this huge, wonderful theatre. It’s been running in cinemas and you can see it on iPlayer in December as well as on CBeebies.”

The Theatre Royal rehearsals reunited Evie with choreographer Hayley Del Harrison, who had choreographed the CBeebies pantomime too. “She worked on my arm movements for the Robin, and it’s been lovely to work with her again in York, and with Juliet [director Juliet Forster] too, after she directed me in CBeebies’ Romeo And Juliet in 2021, when I played Juliet,” she says.

“Working for Evolution Productions at York Theatre Royal is big-boy panto; they’re the king of panto,” says Evie Pickerill

A principal presenter on the children’s television channel since 2018, she is the fourth CBeebies participant in the Theatre Royal and Evolution Productions co-production, following in the steps of Andy Day, Mandy Moate and James “Raven” McKenzie.

“That’s big shoes to fill,” she says. “Playing the Spirit of the Ring and the Genie of the Lamp is my first time on the York stage but I’ve been to York a handful of times and love it here.”

Her previous pantomimes were in her native Midlands. “I played Cinderella at The Grand, Wolverhampton, and Leicester de Montford Hall and Snow White at Wolverhampton, where everything was made locally for the show and we had an eight-piece orchestra and an ice rink with skating, though my Snow White escaped having to skate,” recalls Evie.

“To play the title role in my home town was a pinch-me moment. I’ve been watching shows there since I was young, so I’ve come full circle. I only wish my grandparents could have been there as they used to take me to shows, but my old teachers did come.”

Lift-off: Evie Pickerill’s Genie of the Lamp with the ensemble in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Aladdin has presented differences aplenty from her past shows, not least “the luxury” of much longer rehearsals. “After doing panto for Imagine at Leicester and in-house at Wolverhampton, working for Evolution at York Theatre Royal is big-boy panto; they’re the king of panto. We’ve done a lot of character work, which is different from the other pantos I’ve done,” says Evie.

“I’m playing a different kind of role too: with the Spirit of the Ring, there’s a bit comedy, a bit of silliness. It’s also been nice to have the ‘safety blanket’ of Juliet and Hayley being there, but everyone has been so inviting.

“Robin [dame Robin Simpson] is so funny and Paul [villain Paul Hawkyard] is a delight to work with. I do lots of scenes with him.”

Evie Pickerill’s Genie of the Lamp with Sario Solomon’s Aladdin in a scene from Aladdin. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

In addition to the CBeebies pantomime, Evie has filmed Dodge’s Christmas Wish at Thursford, the home of the Christmas Spectacular in Norfolk. “It’ll be on CBeebies and iPlayer,” says Evie. “I play myself in this one. The synopsis is that Dodge, the dog in the CBeebies’ house, would like to give Father Christmas a present because no-one ever does that.

“So, we head off to the North Pole, but I won’t reveal who’ll be playing Father Christmas as it’s so exciting!”

Settled into York for the festive season, Evie feels very much at home in pantomime. “I first went when I was seven or eight and straightaway I said to my parents, ‘that’s what I want to do’,” she says. “I left home at 18 to go to drama school in Liverpool, doing the acting course at LIPA, and I’ve never looked back.”

Aladdin runs at York Theatre Royal until January 5 2025. No performances on December 19, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Copyright of The Press, York

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond at the height of Christmas cheer. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 46, from Gazette & Herald

Helen Spencer’s Fagin in Pick Me Up Theatre’s production of Deborah McAndrew’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

THE myriad delights of Christmas entertainment shine through Charles Hutchinson’s tips to vacate the festive fireside.

Dickens at Christmas, but not A Christmas Carol: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 30. 7.30pm performances on December 18 to 21, 27, 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. No performances on December 23 to 26

HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.

Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature musical arrangements by John Biddle to to complement Dickens’s tale of Oliver Twist being brought up in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld in his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol: Festive favourite makes its return to Leeds Grand Theatre

Christmas ballet of the week: Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2025

FIRST choreographed by Massimo Morricone and directed by Christopher Gable in 1992, Northern Ballet’s retired landmark production of A Christmas Carol is being revisited by director Federico Bonelli to the glee of longtime supporters and new audiences alike.

“Charles Dickens’s classic Victorian tale of redemption, with its message of human kindness and compassion, is something that resonates with us all, especially at this time of year,” says Bonelli. “Its iconic characters lend themselves so well to ballet”, complemented by Lez Brotherston’s colourful sets and costumes and Carl Davis’s festive score. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

The poster for HAC Around The Tree, the last show of 2024 at Helmsley Arts Centre

Festive celebration of the week: HAC Around The Tree, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm

JOIN the Helmsley Arts Centre Singers, 1812 Theatre Company, 1812 Youth Theatre, Ryedale Writers and invited guests for an evening of theatre, music, poetry and prose around the Christmas tree. The bar will be serving mulled wine and mince pies to spark up the festive spirit in Helmsley Arts Centre’s last event of 2024. Box office:  01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Step Into Christmas: Festive hit after festive hit at York Barbican

Christmas songs galore: Step Into Christmas, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm

THIS feel-good Christmas show brings all the magic of the season to musical life with favourite festive songs, from All I Want For Christmas Is You, Last Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Stay Another Day and Let It Snow to White Christmas, Do They Know It’s Christmas, A Winter’s Tale and Merry Xmas Everybody. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Chapter House Choir: Choral music old and new in the Nave of York Minster

Carol concert of the week: Chapter House Choir, Carols By Candlelight, York Minster Nave, Friday, 7.30pm, doors 6.45pm

THE Chapter House Choir, directed by musical director Benjamin Morris, combine with the Chapter House Youth Choir, directed by Charlie Gower-Smith, for this ever-popular candle-lit concert, first performed in 1965 and now held in the Nave. In addition to traditional choral music old and new, festive music will be played by the chamber choir’s Handbell Ringers. For returned tickets only, check yorkminster.org/whats-on/event/carols-by-candlelight/or contact 01904 557256.

Gary Stewart: Presenting tributes to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Paul Simon’s Graceland at York Barbican

Tribute gig of the week: Gary Stewart presents Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Paul Simon’s Graceland, York Barbican, Friday, 8pm

SCOTTISH-BORN Easingwold musician Gary Stewart presents Weetwood Mac and his Graceland band in a celebration of two career-defining works, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, from 1977, and Paul Simon’s Graceland, from 1986. “With combined sales of more than 50 million worldwide, both albums have stood the test of time and are cherished to this day,” says Stewart.

“Littered with gossip and controversy, Rumours and Graceland elevated their artists to new heights of popularity, inspiring the popular music canon for decades to come. This evening celebrates a time of artistic discovery and re-creates the excitement of the era, with these seminal albums lovingly interpreted by some of today’s finest touring musicians.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Mike Newall: Laidback storytelling at York Barbican

Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club Christmas Special, York Barbican, featuring Mike Newall, Friday, 8pm

MANCUNIAN Mike Newall, who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, takes top billing on with his laidback storytelling, Swiss clock timing and tack-sharp turn of phrase. “He’s like your best, most humorous friend – only funnier,” says promoter and master of ceremonies Damion Larkin. Two support acts feature too. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk or yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Holly Cassidy with the puppet of Cracker in A Christmas Cracker at Friargate Theatre, York. Picture: Tom Jackson

Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, December 21 to 24, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day

IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.

When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.

The Snowman: Two screenings with a live orchestra at York Barbican

Christmas film event of the week: The Snowman with Live Orchestra, York Barbican, Sunday, 1pm and 4pm

CARROT Productions presents two screenings of Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T Murakami’s animated 1982 film with the accompaniment of a live orchestra of professional musicians.

Raymond Briggs’s story of a young boy’s Christmas snowman magically coming to life for a journey to meet Santa Claus will be shown with The Snowman And The Snowdog at 1pm and The Bear, The Piano, The Dog And The Fiddle at 4pm. Each show includes a fun introduction to the orchestra and a visit from the Snowman himself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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Helen Spencer takes on double challenge of playing gang boss Fagin and directing Oliver Twist for Pick Me Up Theatre

Helen Spencer’s Fagin in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

IN a new twist, the opening of Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, is being delayed by a day through cast illness.

All being well, the curtain will now rise on the York company’s winter production on Wednesday night.

At the show’s helm both on stage and off is Helen “Bells” Spencer, who is not only playing Fagin in Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, but also has taken over the director’s seat from producer and designer Robert Readman five weeks ago.

“Robert started rehearsals while I was still rehearsing Last Five Years [Black Sheep Theatre Productions and Wharfemede  Productions’ November musical at the NCEM], so I wasn’t available until that was over, and then, after a while, he asked me to step in, taking over his vision.

“I’ve worked with Robert a lot over the last couple of years, so I know how his mind works. When Pick Me Up had to pull the original dates for Young Frankenstein, I took over the reins with Andrew Isherwood to re-mount the production, but this is a slightly different situation from that one, as we’re still working to Robert’s ideas.

Playwright Deborah McAndrew

“We have a lot of mutual respect, so I can crack on, but it’s certainly a challenge that so many young people are in it. We have two ‘teams’: two Olivers, two Dodgers, two Roses, two Bets and ‘Children’s’ roles too; there are about 12 young people in all, ranging from eight to 17, so I’m working with a big age differences in the young cast.”

Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, McAndrew’s stage adaptation “on the surface looks like an easy show, but it’s definitely not,” says Helen. “It’s incredibly complex, and one of the things that makes it harder is that no-one knows the songs in the way they do with Oliver! – and there are no recordings, bar for one song.”

Devised at the Bolton Octagon and staged at Hull Truck Theatre in December 2018 as “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist!”, McAndrew’s adaptation is an ensemble piece. “There’s a Greek-style chorus commenting on what’s happening and actors taking on different roles, so it’s quite a different way of working to what most people are used to in musical theatre,” says Helen.

“It’s not like coming on, singing a solo and going off, so the logistics have been more complex, especially when you have no familiarity with the score. I feel like what we got was the script and the basic score and we’ve tried to create our version with the actors we have and the musicians we have.

“I’m really glad I haven’t seen it before as we just want to do a version that makes sense to us, with the core adult cast pulling together to create the ensemble, and some of the adversity we’ve experienced has worked to our advantage.”

Into the dark: James Willstrop’s Bill Sikes

Readman has designed the set with a bridge across the stage. “We’ve been lucky to get into the theatre early enough to work on the show with the set in place. It  will look fantastic, very atmospheric, and not what people might expect at all,” says Helen.

“The show will have Christmassy moments but it will have a darkness to it too to allow characters like James Willstrop’s Bill Sikes to be really horrible, which has been a real joy in rehearsals.

“When you think of actors like James, Jennie Wogan-Wells [who plays Nancy] and me, we’re very happy to do musical theatre, with James as the classic leading man, Jennie as the bright-eyed leading lady, and me doing comic parts, so I think people will be surprised to see us in these darker roles – though I used to do straight acting roles before musical theatre and I always enjoyed playing serious parts.”

Helen will play Fagin, who runs a band of pickpockets and thieves in London’s grimy Victorian underworld, where Oliver is the new recruit in his search for a home, family and love. “I suppose the most obvious thing to say is that I’m a female and the original was not,” she says.

“We had a discussion about whether I should play it as a woman, or a women playing a man, and we decided to lean into being a female taking on a male part, so all the references are still to ‘he’ and ‘him’. I’m playing him as an old man.

Tracey Rea’s Widow Corney and Nick Sephton’s Mr Bumble in a scene from Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist

“We decided to see how it would feel, and it does feel right. The way the script has been written, it is right to do it this way, rather than make it wholly appropriate to a woman. It’s so exciting to play a male character, which I would never do normally.

“To have the chance to do that, having a face-off and a bit of fisticuffs with Sikes, it’s so liberating, even though he’s an older, frailer man, because if you were an older woman you wouldn’t deliver it that way.”

Describing the music, Helen says: “What strikes me is that they’re not conventional songs; they are more conversational songs, no big numbers, but there are a couple of fun chorus bits. It’s very much about creating the atmosphere in the scenes, rather than through big numbers and big choreography.

“What we need is the actors’ expertise because the songs are difficult and the text is difficult, and that’s been a challenge for even our most experienced cast members, but everyone has risen to it.”

Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, December 18 to 30, 7.30pm, except December 23 to 26 and 29; Saturday and Sunday matinees, 2.30pm. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Who’s in Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast for Oliver Twist?

Frankie Whitford: Playing Oliver Twist in Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Oliver Twist – Frankie Whitford/Logan Willstrop; Fagin – Helen Spencer; Mr Bumble – Nick Sephton; Widow Corney – Tracey Rea; Mr Sowerberry and Mr Brownlow – Neil Foster; Mrs Sowerberry and Mrs Bedwin – Rhian Wells; Noah Claypole – Matthew Warry; Charlotte Sowerberry – Ruby Salter; Artful Dodger – Libby Greenhill/Reuben Baines; Nancy – Jennie Wogan-Wells; Bill Sikes – James Willstrop; Bet – Rosie Musk/Tempi Singhateh; Rose – Isla Whitford/Rosie Musk; Dr Grimwig – Rich Musk; Children – Lao Singhateh, Matilda Foster, Tempi Singhateh and Bea Wells.

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REVIEW: Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, York, tonight ***1/2

Storyteller Mat Jones. Picture: Vintage Verse

IN the tradition of Charles Dickens himself, solo storytelling performances of his festive fable A Christmas Carol abound on the Yorkshire winter calendar.

After York Gothic actor James Swanton’s annual return to York Medical Society and doyen of the one-man show Guy Masterson’s spellbinding account with music by Robb Williams at Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Bedfordshire actor Mat Jones visits Friargate Theatre for two nights.

Into the black-box theatre setting Jones places a black lectern and a single smidgeon of a candle, as stingy as miserly Scrooge would allow Bob Cratchit.

Heralded from the dark by a plaintive violin, Jones arrives on stage in white shirt, brocade waistcoat, flourishing bow tie, dark trousers and polished black leather shoes. He will not add a single prop, relying entirely on variety of voice and storytelling powers, complemented by occasional sound effects for a banging door, church bells and graveyard crows.

Five months of preparation have gone into this two-act presentation built around Dickens’s own original performance text condensing the ghost story into 90 minutes. Dickens gave 127 “lively and emotional” public readings of this work from 1853 to 1870, noted for his “altering of expression, accent and gesture to play the characters”.

Jones follows that template in his meticulous, measured, authentic account, as strong on movement as characterisation as he conducts the seamless flow between narrator and Scrooge’s troubled yet redemptive night of haunting encounters with Jacob Marley and the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come.

From the Fezziwigs to the Cratchits, he conjures the Victorian world, the grief-stricken Bob returning from his son Tiny Tim’s grave being a particularly affecting moment.

Humour plays its part too, both in description and mannerism, in a performance that testifies to the power of kindness as a heart is transformed from cold to warm and spirits bring out the best in the human spirit. God bless us, every one, that Dickens’s story comes alive anew, as resonant as ever, every Christmas.

Mat Jones: A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, tonight at 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.

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Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch serves up ‘alternative’ Nativity play A Christmas Cracker at Friargate Theatre

It’s a Cracker: Holly Cassidy with the puppet dog in A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson

WRITER and artistic director Paul Birch is staging his first play since taking the reins of Riding Lights Theatre Company at Friargate Theatre, York, in July.

On tour from November 25 to December 18, A Christmas Cracker will conclude its travels with a home run in York from December 21 to 24.

Introducing a magical show packed with comedy, puppetry and seasonal storytelling for all the family, Paul says: “Things are not going well for world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer. She’s lost. There is snow in her wellies and her wise and faithful dog, Cracker, has some strange ideas about Christmas.

“Caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on condition that Ebenezer warm up her Christmas with some of her seasonal stories. If they bring her enough glad tidings, there’s a hot supper on the cards. If not, they will be thrown back out into the storm.

“With Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart in need of a magnificent miracle and Deadly the dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable, will Ebenezer triumph? Despite turbulent turkeys and hysterical hay fights, she has a plan and some tremendous tales to turn things around.”

Full of Birch’s trademark humour, “it’s kind of an alternative, unusual way into the Nativity story,” he says. “I would say it’s like a cross between Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run in its tone, and hopefully it pulls off that Pixar trick, where the whole family can sit down and enjoy it together.

Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch, right, with executive director Oliver Brown outside Friargate Theatre

“It’s a play about communicating the importance of love, the importance of perseverance and the wonder and power of storytelling.

“So it’s a re-working of the Christmas story that also recognises that the act of storytelling itself has such a powerful effect on people. Part of the play shows how stories can be harmful too, where we have the ‘villains of the piece’  not actually being villains but playing out roles when they’ve been treated as villains, but then they discover that’s not the true story at all.”

Paul continues: “Stories are not just something we tell to each other but they also shape us. It’s about re-discovering the stories we tell and how we tell them to each other.

“It’s very difficult to live with the cynicism of our age. One of the things I think about the Creation story, whether you think the story is true or not, is that people can be transformed for the better and there is hope in that.

“Christian stories or stories of other faiths have hope embedded in them, and we have to come back to the hope that we can be better, we can make things better. What links His Last Report [next summer’s community play about the life and legacy of Seebohm Rowntree that Riding Lights will be doing with York Theatre Royal] and A Christmas Cracker is the common theme of the power of human beings to change things for the better.

“Maybe that is the case with all theatre: that thing of what happens as a result of that change into a new story. It’s not that stories simply go, ‘here is the message’, but that it is a point of connection between audience members and connection between theatre-makers and their audience.

Grace Hussey-Burd and Holly Cassidy in a scene in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s winter show A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson

“We’re trying to make sense of the world, not providing answers, but seeing new opportunities through new ideas.”

Paul points to the ever-changing shape of theatre being one of its prime strengths. “The difference between film or other recorded media and theatre is that they cannot be changed, but theatre can do that with each performance. It will change and shift, and not only the performers, but the audience too – and when theatre is good, it’s a dialogue between the two. That’s not to say it might not have clear provocations within it, but it always needs to be responsive.”

Paul first wrote A Christmas Cracker more than a decade ago. “I did re-write it for this production and even now I would re-work it again. We are always re-tuning. Watching with a young audience is always really interesting because they will tell you when it’s working and when it’s not.”

Paul’s hour-long play is directed by Erin Burbridge, retaining the Burbridge family involvement in Christian theatre company Riding Lights after the death of company founder Paul in May 2023. Her cast features Grace Hussey-Burd as Ebeneezer Sneezer and Holly Cassidy as Cracker and Mrs McGinty, with York actress Claire Morley on understudy duty.

Time to get cracking to secure tickets.

Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, December 21 to 24. Performances: 11am, 1.30pm and 6pm, December 21 to 23; 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm, December 24. Box office: 01904 655317or ridinglights.org/achristmascracker.

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More Things To Do in York & beyond as sprites & seagulls step into Christmas. Hutch’s List No. 51, from The Press, York

Pocklington Arts Centre cast members Levi Payne, left, Caitlin Townend and Dylan Allcock in Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish

CHRISTMAS shows dominate Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations but there is still room to fit in comedy and a homeward-bound singer-songwriter too.

East Riding Christmas play of the week: Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish, Pocklington Arts Centre, until December 24

ELIZABETH Godber’s second Christmas show for Pocklington Arts Centre invites everyone aged three to 103 to join Jack Frost (Levi Payne) and his friends Oslo the Rabbit (Dylan Allcock) and Blue the Winter Sprite (Caitlin Townend) as they race across the world to make his one wish come true: to be home for Christmas. Could that home be in East Yorkshire?

Wrap up warm for a frosty adventure from the team who delivered The Elves And The Shoemaker: Save Christmas last winter, steered by director Jane Thornton. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Saving Scarborough: Stephen Brailsford’s Captain Cliff in Captain Cliff & The Seagull Squad at the SJT. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Coastal children’s play of the week: Captain Cliff & The Seagull Squad, The McCarthy, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until December 21

ON a busy day at Scarborough’s South Bay, judges from Britain’s Best Beach are soon to arrive, but after a big rush of tourists, the bins are overflowing with rubbish in a play for children aged up to six, written and directed by Rob Salmon for the SJT and CU (Coventry University), Scarborough.

Faced by litter everywhere and a pile of something sticky by the rock shop, who can save Scarborough? Step forward Captain Cliff and the Seagull Squad, who must complete four missions, one for each season. Cue a rescue adventure full of songs, silliness and festive fun. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Mike Newall: Laidback storytelling at Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club

Comedy gigs of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club Christmas Specials, York Barbican, Michael Legge, tonight; Mike Newall, December 20, both 8pm

TONIGHT’S headliner, Michael Legge, combines improvised irreverence with spiky tongue-in-cheek antics. “This livewire performer has ‘funny’ popping out of him at every opportunity,” says promoter and master of ceremonies Damion Larkin.

Mancunian Mike Newall, who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, takes top billing on Friday with his laidback storytelling, Swiss clock timing and tack-sharp turn of phrase. “He’s like your best, most humorous friend – only funnier,” says Larkin. Both nights will feature two support acts too. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk or yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Ian Stroughair: Performing at York’s Annual Community Carol Concert

York’s Annual Community Carol Concert, York Barbican, Sunday 2pm

YORK RI Golden Rail Band, Knavesmire Primary School, Heworth Community Choir and Ian Stroughair, York’s West End showman behind drag diva Velma Celli, join forces for an afternoon of Christmas carols and songs.

Regular participant  Steve Cassidy will sing with the ensemble, while the community singing will be led by musical director Mike Pratt. Proceeds go to the Lord Mayor and Sheriff of York’s Christmas Cheer Fund and York Hospital Radio. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Snow queen of folk: Kate Rusby’s Winter Light tour arrives at York Barbican on December 17

Christmas folk concert of the week: Kate Rusby, Winter Light Tour, York Barbican, December 17, 7pm

BARNSLEY folk songstress Kate Rusby draws on her seven Christmas albums – she released her latest, Light Years, in 2023 – for her annual celebration of South Yorkshire carols sung in pubs through the winter months.

Spreading Yuletide joy, Kate will be joined by her regular band, featuring her husband, producer, guitarist and banjo player Damien O’Kane, bolstered by the Brass Boys quintet. Look out for the fancy-dress finale. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Sam Griffiths: Singer, songwriter and frontman of The Howl And The Hum. Picture: Stewart Baxter

Christmas double joy of the week: Please Please You & Brudenell Presents present The Howl & The Hum, The Crescent, York, full band band show, December 17, 7.30pm; solo show, December 18, 7pm

IN the wake of a sublime sold-out gig at Leeds Irish Centre on November 15 and the autumn release of second album Same Mistake Twice, York band The Howl & The Hum end the year with their now obligatory festive celebrations at The Crescent.

Frontman and songwriter Sam Griffiths will be joined by his full band – saxophonist and keyboard player Matthew Herd, drummer Dave Hamblett, guitarist Arun Thavasothy and bass player Naomi McLeod – on Tuesday night and will then play an intimate, stripped-back, seated solo show on Wednesday. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

The poster for Step Into Christmas at York Barbican

Christmas songs galore: Step Into Christmas, York Barbican, December 19, 7.30pm

THIS feel-good Christmas show brings all the magic of the season to musical life with favourite festive songs, from All I Want For Christmas Is You, Last Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Stay Another Day and Let it Snow to White Christmas, Do They Know It’s Christmas, A Winter’s Tale and Merry Xmas Everybody. 

Meanwhile, the Barbican’s 7.30pm screening of the Christmas rom-com The Holiday with a live orchestra on December 16 has sold out. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Homeward bound: Benjamin Francis Leftwich will make a sold-out return to York on December 19

Homecoming of the week: The Crescent & Brudenell presents Benjamin Francis Leftwich, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 19, 7.30pm

“I FEEL like there’s nowhere for me to hide on this record,” says York-born singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich of Some Things Break, his fifth album, released in February. “I’m proud of so much of my earlier work, but trying to replicate that now would feel very obsequious and fake. I’m proud of this – it’s from the heart.”

Now living in London, Leftwich heads back to his home city for a sold-out show in the quietude of St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate.  Nadia Kadek supports. Box office for returns only: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Chapter House Choir: Choral music old and new in Carols By Candlelight

Carol concert of the week: Chapter House Choir, Carols By Candlelight, York Minster Nave, December 20, 7.30pm, doors 6.45pm

THE Chapter House Choir, directed by musical director Benjamin Morris, combine with the Chapter House Youth Choir, directed by Charlie Gower-Smith, for this ever-popular candle-lit concert, first performed in 1965 and now held in the Nave. In addition to traditional choral music old and new, festive music will be played by the chamber choir’s Handbell Ringers. For returned tickets only, check yorkminster.org/whats-on/event/carols-by-candlelight/or contact 01904 557256.

Holly Cassidy with the puppet of Cracker in A Christmas Cracker at Friargate Theatre

Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, December 21 to 24, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day

IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.

When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights. 

The Corrs: Heading to the Scarborough coast next summer

Gig announcement of the week: The Corrs and Natalie Imbruglia, TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 11 2025

THE Corrs, Irish sibling purveyors of sleek pop rock, lush harmonies and Celtic folk trimmings, will line up as ever with Andrea on lead vocals, piano and  tin whistle, Sharon on violin, piano and vocals, Caroline, on drums, piano and vocals, and Jim on guitar, keyboards and vocals.

Former Neighbours soap actress, Torn hit-maker and The Masked Singer 2022 winner Natalie Imbruglia will support. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.

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REVIEW: Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 ***1/2

Magical performance: Dani Harmer’s Fairy Bon Bon in Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

SUDDENLY there are more similarities between the Grand Opera House and York Theatre Royal shows than at any time in more than three decades of reviewing York’s professional pantomimes. They even share their closing date.

Dowager dame Berwick Kaler is performing at neither theatre after hanging up his boots (except on The Archers!); both theatres have a sustained relationship with a commercial partner, Martin Dodd and UK Productions for a third year at the GOH, writer-producer Paul Hendy and Evolution Productions for a fifth season at the Theatre Royal.

Both writers, Jon Monie for Beauty And The Beast and Hendy for Aladdin, are Great British Pantomime Award winners. Both theatres have confirmed their return next year for the already announced Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.

In the frame: Phil Atkinson’s Hugo Pompidou giving it large in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Once upon a time, the Grand Opera House was considered to be the pantomime for younger audiences, the Theatre Royal playing to devotees of Dame Berwick’s unique panto brio and banter with David Leonard, Martin Barrass and Suzy Cooper. Now, both shows put children’s entertainment to the fore.

Just as Evolution heralded a new broom at the Theatre Royal in 2020-2021, now UK Productions are bringing a new face to the Grand Opera House show, or more to the point, new faces, faces with abundant West End and TV credits. They have bonded in the hothouse of less than a fortnight’s rehearsals with ebullient, ultra-efficient Scottish director George Ure in central York.

The result is a slick show full of rousing singing, highly proficient ensemble scenes, a relish for the power of storytelling and bags of comedy set-pieces. Watching the 10.30am Thursday matinee surrounded by primary schoolchildren found double entendres sailing over young heads like a Joe Root reverse ramp, but this is surely the sauciest mainstream pantomime York has ever seen.

Shall we dance? Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle and Samuel Wyn-Morris’s Beast in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Not a blue panto in the post-watershed Jim Davidson style, I stress, but certainly closer to the knuckle, tongue pushed further into cheeks than even Dame Berwick’s fruitier latter-day shows in his Theatre Royal pomp.  

The prime source of the sauce is Leon Craig, a towering presence of a highly experienced dame, all 6ft 7 of her Polly La Plonk in boots and high-rise wigs, who owns the York stage from the off, full of lip and lip gloss, camp cheek and dress dazzle.

Craig is a musical theatre specialist and his singing duly hits the heights here. Playing the Beast’s cook, his dame is both supportive and disruptive, as the role dictates, and his bond with the show’s clown, comedian Phil Reid as his son Louis La Plonk, sparks slapstick aplenty.

Clowning around: Phil Reid’s Louis La Plonk. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Reid, quick on his feet and in the head, works a treat with the children, all keen to be in his gang, not least the three picked out to join him stage for Choo Choo Wa, this show’s variation on the traditional song-sheet number that has everyone off their feet joining in.

The star on the show poster – as she is quick to remind us in her rap battle with Phil Atkinson’s villainous hunk Hugo Pompidou – is Tracy Beaker’s Dani Harmer, who previously appeared in Beauty And The Beast at York Barbican in 2015. She was Beauty in that Easter panto; now she is a no-nonsense Fairy Bon Bon, with a love-a-duck London accent and platform shoes, always game for a laugh, especially in that rap scrap.

Atkinson’s Hugo Pompidou, Craig’s match in double entendres, sends up his vainglorious villain with an ‘Allo ‘Allo! French accent and a keenness to show off his pecs at every opportunity.  

Ooh…you are Eiffel: The towering Leon Craig’s dame, Polly La Plonk. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Jennifer Caldwell first caught the eye at the Grand Opera House as Anne Boleyn, the peachiest role in Six The Musical. Her rather more conservative but equally resolute Belle is both a knock-out singer and thoroughly lovely foil to all the silliness around her, both in her scenes with her impoverished artist father Clement (David Alcock) and especially with Samuel Wyn-Morris’s stentorian-voiced Beast.  

Wyn-Morris gives the show’s five-star performance, his singing rich and thunderous, his characterisation full of depth not usually to be found in pantomime. His scenes with Caldwell’s Belle are worthy of a proper, grown-up, serious romantic drama.

Ure’s assured direction is complemented by Alex Codd’s choreography, with room aplenty for an ensemble of Villagers and children’s teams from Dance Expression School of Dance and Lisa Marie Performing Arts, who are sharing performances. Musical director Arlene McNaught leads her three-piece orchestra with snap and crackle in the pop tunes.

Beauty And The Beast director George Ure

This is a polished pantomime whose one failing is that it could be playing anywhere in the country. It does not have enough acknowledgement of York and Yorkshire, with only perfunctory mentions of Wetwang and Ripon and a dig at Leeds United’s FA Cup incompetence.

The best pantos dip into a city’s culture, but if that is a missed opportunity, the show does make the most of its Camembert setting, oozing  in cheesy gags, French references and unforgettable Tricolour pants for Atkinson’s pompous Pompidou.    

UK Productions present Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, until January 5 2025. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

David Alcock’s Clement and Jennifer Caldwell’s Belle in Beauty And The Beast. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
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What happens when Sleeping Beauty meets Beauty And The Beast? Badapple Theatre make a pantomime mash-up

Writer-director Richard Kay rehearsing Badapple Theatre Company’s Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

THREE actors, two pantomimes, one hour, what could possibly go wrong in Badapple Theatre Company’s panto mash-up Sleeping Beauty And The Beast?

The intrepid trio of Richard Galloway (in his third Badapple show), Pip Cook (in her second) and Livy Potter (in her Badapple debut) will “go where no pantomimers have ever gone before” in the Green Hammerton touring troupe’s madcap marriage of Sleeping Beauty and Beauty And The Beast by York writer, director and composer Richard Kay

From tomorrow’s first preview in Sutton upon Derwent Village Hall until closing night at St John’s Church, Sharow, on January 5 2025, audiences can join Fairy Naturel and friends as they try to thwart the evil potion plant-poisoning plans of the Wicked Witch of The West (of Yorkshire) and save Belle and Beauty from their storybook fates.

Expect classic pantomime japes, songs and costume changes galore as Badapple, in association with Rural Arts On Tour, undertake a joyous rollercoaster panto mash-up for all ages, all from the safety and comfort of a village hall, as Galloway plays the Wicked Witch and Cook and Potter the roles of Belle and Beauty plus multiple more roles each.

“The real world can be pretty scary at the moment, so this pantomime will provide some much-needed escapism on your doorstep,” says Richard. “Filled with the magic and glitz of a larger-scale panto packaged into your local hall, featuring multi-talented performers, cheaper ticket prices and less need to travel, you’ve got a festive theatre experience you can bring the whole family to without breaking the Christmas budget!”

Livy Potter: York actress making her Badapple debut in Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

This autumn, buoyed by Arts Council England funding, Badapple are already on tour with company founder and artistic director Kate Bramley’s new show Polaris The Snow Bear: “a classic Badapple family show with the usual comedy, puppets, songs, mayhem and a touch of snowy wonder  as Polaris and sidekick Sammy seek to save the Polar world – and Christmas itself”.

Now, after 26 years of performing original shows in the smallest and hardest-to-reach rural venues both regionally and nationwide, Sleeping Beauty & The Beast breaks new ground for Badapple. “This is the first Badapple show in which Kate has had pretty much no involvement,” says Richard. “That’s  quite some trust in me to have that honour, but it’s still very much true to the brand.

“The show came about in a slightly roundabout way. I’d performed in pantomime for many years, and in terms of writing, I’ve done a lot for York Maize and the York Castle Museum, and storytelling shows for Brimham Brocks too, walking around the rocks.

“The three-hander York Maize shows are very pantomimic in style, and I also did a show for York BID and Little Vikings, just before Covid, called The Hunt For The Magical Chocolatey Chips.”

At the same time, Richard has played his part in Badapple for ten years, co-directing and performing in a couple of shows and running the youth theatre, writing and directing Christmas shows for casts of up to 30.

Richard Galloway’s Wicked Witch of the West (Yorkshire) and Pip Cook’s Belle in rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

“So we had some ideas for doing Sleeping Beauty and Beauty And The Beast and Kate thought it would work well on tour. We were very lucky that Rural Arts [based in The Courthouse, Thirsk] contacted us at the start of the year to ask us to pitch to do their Christmas tour offering. They liked the idea of how these two stories go together so nicely,” he says.

“The brief was to write an hour-long panto with all the familiar elements and all the usual capers but with a cast of only three.

“So we’re doing a show with multi-roling, puppetry, pop songs and some original songs that I’ve written. We love the idea of blending two pantomimes, and because we’re an eco-conscious company, it’s also a pantomime with an eco-theme, where the Wicked Witch is destroying the planet with her potion boiling  but there is a prophesy that either Belle or Beauty will save the Earth, so the Wicked Witch wants to nobble both of them.”

What happened when he put the two stories together? “It’s been interesting to see where it went. Because Badapple tours to villages, I knew I wanted to set it in two neighbouring villages and then see how one could save the other,” says Richard.

“We’re also  delighted to have a set design by William Fricker, an old friend of mine that I’ve worked with before, who co-designed Hansel & Gretel at Shakespeare’s Globe and has created a wonderful proscenium arch set for us.”

Pip Cook: Following up the autumn tour of Badapple’s The Regalettes with Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

Fresh from making her Badapple debut in the autumn tour of Kate Bramley’s The Regalettes, Pip Cook is piling up the roles in Sleeping Beauty And The Beast. “I’m playing seven!” she says confidently. “Belle, the King, the Queen, Mother, Father, David Dimwit, David Attenborough.”

Later in this conversation in a break at Tuesday’s rehearsal in Hunsingore, it turns out she will be playing a Prince too. “Oh yes! I forgot about that one!”  she says.

“I play some of the characters at the same time: Mother and Father as puppets on each hand, and the King and Quen dashing on and off. It’s pretty manic.

“I absolutely love the Badapple style: I had loads of fun – and lots of moustaches – in The Regalettes, which was a typical Badapple show with a lot of heart and a message as well as comedy [in a play set in the 1930s in the fictional Yorkshire village of Bottledale, where a new movie premières at the tiny Regal cinema].”

Beauty is Livy Potter’s latest role as she settles into focusing on a freelance professional acting career, as well as writing and arts marketing, after working at York Theatre Royal and the University of York and being chair of the York Settlement Community Players.

Livy Potter’s Beauty, left, and Pip Cook’s Belle rehearsing a scene from Badapple Theatre Company’s Sleeping Beauty And The Beast

“I haven’t seen Badapple’s work in the past but I’m feeling very much part of the family now,” she says. “The friendliness and approachability have really struck me. Badapple are all about supporting local talent, which is really important to me,” says Livy, who also will be playing Fairy Naturel and Lord Hunk, who becomes the Beast.

“This show is something new in its style, and I’ve always wanted to do panto, so this is the perfect introduction for me – and the audience will definitely have a role to play, which will be fun.”

Like Pip and Livy in their matching blue and pink attire, Richard Galloway is dressed in character, in a skirt, in the rehearsal room for his principal role as the Wicked Witch. “I’ll also be playing the long-suffering French servant of Lord Hunk, and there’s a cuckoo puppet and a Prince in there for me too,” he says.

“This is my third Badapple show, after I did two last year, when I took over from Danny Mellor in Danny’s one-man show Yorkshire Kernel [a poignant war memorial comedy] and did the 25th anniversary tour of Kate’s play Eddie And The Gold Tops. Plenty of variety there!”

Badapple Theatre Company and Rural Arts On Tour present Sleeping Beauty And The Beast from December 17 to January 5 2025, preceded by previews at Sutton upon Derwent Village Hall tomorrow, 7pm, and Stillingfleet Village Institute, on Saturday, 6.30pm. For full tour and ticket details , head to ruralarts.org/whats-on/performances/ or email admin@ruralarts.org or phone  01845 526 536. Tickets for the previews and Green Hammerton Village Hall performance (January 2, 7pm) are on sale on 01423 331304 or at badappletheatre.co.uk.

Richard Galloway, right, in Badapple’s 25th anniversary tour of Kate Bramley’s Eddie And The Gold Tops, when he performed with Zach Atkinson and Emily Chattle. Picture: Karl Andre

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