Category: Theatre

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond the panoply of pantomimes. Here’s Hutch’s festive List No. 52, from The York Press

Wanderful: Coronation Street star Lisa George’s Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Grand Opera House, York

CHRISTMAS music and pantomimes aplenty dominate Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for December fun-filled fulfilment. 

Having a ball: Cinderella, Grand Opera House, York, today until January 4 2026

LEEDS lad Bradley Judge’s Dandini joins the star-studded cast of Lisa George (Coronation Street) as Fairy Godmother, Tobias Turley (ITV’s Mamma Mia I Have A Dream) as Prince Charming and West End star Rachel Grundy (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legally Blonde) as Cinderella in UK Productions’ Cinderella, scripted by Jon Monie. 

Directed by Ellis Kerkhoven, West End drag stars Luke Attwood and Brandon Nicholson bring the mayhem in Ugly Sisters mode as Harmony and Melody Hard-Up, joined in the comedy corner by Jimmy Bryant’s Buttons. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Marian Consort: Performing with English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble at York Early Music Christmas Festival on December 8

Festival of the week: York Early Music Christmas Festival, mainly at National Centre for Early Music, York, until December 14

HIGHLIGHTS at this Yuletide feast of music spanning the centuries, complemented by contemporary tunes, include Yorkshire Bach Choir & Yorkshire Baroque Soloists performing Hayden’s The Creation tonight and The Chiaroscuro Quartet and Consone String Quartet uniting tomorrow for Mendelssohn’s Octet in E flat major Op 20.

The Marian Consort teams up with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble in Looking Bach To Palestrina on December 8 and Fieri Consort Singers and Camerata Øresund present Christmas Cantatas by Christopher Graupner and English Tavern Songs on December 12. Among further festival performers will be mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, Dowland’s Foundry, Apollo5, Lowe Ensemble, Irish folk singer Cara Dillon and Joglaresa. For the full programme and tickets, go to: ncem.co.uk. Box office: 01904 658338.

York Theatre Royal’s pantomime cast in rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty. Picture: SR Taylor Photography

No sleep till January 4: Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal

YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster directs returnee dame Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie, Jocasta Almgill’s Carabosse, Tommy Carmichael’s Jangles, CBeebies star Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam, Aoife Kenny’s Aurora and Harrogate actor Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia in Sleeping Beauty.

Written once more by Paul Hendy, the Theatre Royal’s festive extravaganza is co-produced with award-winning Evolution Productions, the same team behind All New Adventures Of Peter Pan, Jack And The Beanstalk and last winter’s Aladdin. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. 

Hannah King’s Peter Pan in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Rowntree Players’ festive visit to Neverland

Putting ‘Pan’ into pantomime: Rowntree Players in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2pm and 7.30pm

JOIN Wendy, John and Michael as they fly with Peter Pan to the fantastical world of Neverland in Howard Ella and Gemma McDonald’s pantomime for Rowntree Players. Cling on to your seats as Peter and the Lost Boys do battle with Jamie McKeller’s rather nasty Captain Hook and his even nastier bunch of pirates. Fear not as Nanny McFlea and her ever eager apprentice Barkly are on hand to assist in the most ridiculous of ways. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Bec Silk’s Robin Hood and writer Martin Vander Weyer’s Dame Daphne in 1812 Theatre Company’s pantomime Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure

Ryedale pantomime opening of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure, Helmsley Arts Centre, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Sunday, 2.30pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; December 14, 2.30pm

HELMSLEY Arts Centre artistic director Natasha Jones directs company-in-residence 1812 Theatre Company in this traditional panto with a Knock Knock Joke Contest, scripted by dame Martin Vander Weyer.

Robin Hood will be rescuing the lovely Maid Marian from the wicked Sheriff of Pickering, while Black Swan landlady Dame Daphne will lead the merriment and mayhem. Knock Knock! Who’s there? Daphne! Daphne who? Daph-nitely book early to avoid disappointment on 01439 771700 or at helmsleyarts.co.uk. 

Singer Dene Michael, dressed as a pineapple, in the finale to Kim Hopkins’s documentary film Still Pushing Pineapples, showing at City Screen Picturehouse on Sunday

Documentary film screening of the week; Still Pushing Pineapples (12A), City Screen Picturehouse, York, Sunday, 5pm

BLACK Lace’s Agadoo has been  voted the most infuriating  song of all time. What happens when you are forever associated with such a Marmite hit;  what comes after fleeting fame, and what does it mean to grow old still chasing a dream?

Perennial pineapple pusher and former Yorkshire band member Dene Michael is still singing the derided party anthem across fading clubland UK: a story now told in Selby-raised  filmmaker Kim Hopkins’s  humorous, moving, warts’n’all documentary, a pineapple slice of working-class social realism wrapped inside a road movie and abiding love story. Dene Michael, Hopkins and producer Margareta Szabo will hold a post-show Q&A. Box office: picturehouses.com/cinema/city-screen-picturehouse.

 A Nativity For York director Paul Toy

Nativity play of the week: York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust in A Nativity For York, All Saints Church, North Street, York, December 10, 7.30pm

USING medieval scripts from the York Cycle of Mystery Plays and music both medieval and folk in style, Paul Toy’s community cast tells a familiar story of a marvellous birth, threaded with humour, reverence and, sadly, hatred, where candlelight emphasises the constant struggle of the light  against the darkness.

The performance lasts one hour with no interval. Refreshments will be available. Box office: 033 666 3366, ympst.co.uk/york-nativity or on the door.

Christmas will be merry for Kate Rusby at York Barbican on December 11

Carol concert of the week: Kate Rusby, Christmas Is Merry, York Barbican, December 11, 7pm

BARNSLEY folk nightingale Kate Rusby plays her regular festive fixture at York Barbican, returning with her folk band and the Brass Boys for two sets of jolly carols from South Yorkshire’s pubs, Christmas chart chestnuts and original winter songs.

Christmas Is Merry marks her 20th anniversary of these winter warmers, drawing on her six Christmas studio albums: 2008’s Sweet Bells, 2011’s While Mortals Sleep, 2015’s The Frost Is All Over, 2017’s Angels And Men, 2019’s Holly Head and 2023’s Light Years. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Hyde Family Jam’s poster for their brace of Christmas jamborees at The Crescent, York on December 11 and 12

Christmas knees-up of the week: Hyde Family Jam, The Crescent, York, December 11, 7.30pm

FRIENDS! Come celebrate another Christmas with a right thorough knees-up at The Crescent with York buskers supreme Hyde Family Jam, a traditional-looking folk band that couldn’t be less traditional. They perform  the songs they love from any decade, any genre, in any way they fancy, played as fast and loud as possible. “We call it ‘folk gone wrong’,” they say. “Expect a few special festive bonuses too!” Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Recommended but sold out already: Hyde Family Jam’s December 12 gig and The Howl & The Hum’s traditional special Crescent Christmas gig, led as ever by Sam Griffiths after leaving York and Leeds for London.

Setting sail in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes: Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather, front centre) and her Angels, Sophie Curry, left, Chloe Branton and Sophie Kemp. Picture: Felix Wahlberg

Getting a kick out of you musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Anything Goes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, December 12 to 30

DITCH York’s December chills and climb aboard the S.S. American as it sets sail in Andrew Isherwood’s all-singing, all-dancing staging of Anything Goes!, Cole Porter’s swish musical, charting the madcap antics of a motley crew leaving New York for London on a Christmas-themed steamer.

Meet nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather) and lovelorn Wall Street broker Billy Crocker (Adam Price), who has stowed away on board in pursuit of his beloved Hope Harcourt (Claire Gordon-Brown). Alas, Hope is engaged to fellow passenger Sir Evelyn Oakleigh  (Neil Foster). Enter second-rate conman Moonface Martin (Fergus Powell) to join Reno in trying to help Billy win the love of his life. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Michael Ball’s poster for his Glow UK Tour 2026, taking in Yorkshire gigs at Bradford Live (September 2), Sheffield City Hall (September 5) and Hull Connexin Live (September 6), as well as York Barbican (September 12)

Concert announcement of the week: Michael Ball, Glow UK Tour, York Barbican, September 12 2026

MUSICAL star and radio and TV presenter Michael Ball will promote his 23rd solo album, Glow, on next year’s 25-date tour. “There’s probably only one thing I enjoy more than being in the studio – writing, producing and singing songs with people I love – and that’s taking it all out on the road and performing those songs as well as all the old favourites to the audiences I love,” he says. “It’s going to be an exciting year, and I can’t wait to see you all.’’ Box office: https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/michael-ball-2026/.

In Focus: The Christmas Collection at Pyramid Gallery, York, until January 12 2025

Bowl Of Apricots, acrylic painting, by Anita Klein

PYRAMID Gallery’s Christmas Collection, in Stonegate, York, features works by London artist and printmaker Anita Klein, York ceramicist Ben Arnup, Peak District sculptor Paul Smith, South Staffordshire mosaic artist Amanda Anderson and York floral artist Lesley Birch.

Exhibiting too will be Canadian-born painter, printmaker and cartographer Mychael Barratt, Oswestry ceramicist Jacqui Atkin and Perthshire oil painter artist and printmaker Ian MacIntyre, complemented by bird and fish blown glass by Bruce Parks, bronzes by David Meredith, Nerikromi vessels by York ceramist Patricia Qua and studio jewellery for the Christmas season by 50 British makers.

Curator Terry Brett, who has owned the gallery for 31 years, has invited Anita Klein to fill the walls with 15 linocut original prints, new aquatint etchings and two paintings.

Bee Eater, ceramic vase, by Jacqui Atkin

“The gallery has enjoyed a long, unbroken relationship with Anita as a supplier of her extensive catalogue of prints that form a diary of her family life,” he says.

“Over the 28 years in which she has shown more than 800 different pictures at Pyramid Gallery, we have watched her career progress to the point where Anita has become one of the most collectable printmakers in the UK. It seems very fitting that she is the main focus of the Christmas Collection.”

As well as showing new linocut prints, Anita is selling copies of her book Out Of The Ordinary – 40 Years Of Print Making, featuring illustrations of 550 of her best-loved prints, published by Eames Fine Art.

The Christmas Collection at Pyramid Gallery is open 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, Sundays, until January 12 2026. Closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Posted on

Grand Opera House to play host to Relaxed Performance of Cinderella on January 2

Welcome one, welcome all, you shall go to the ball at the Grand Opera House

AFTER the success of  last winter’s Relaxed Performance of Beauty And The Beast, the Grand Opera House has picked Friday, January 2 for Cinderella’s relaxed show in York.

The Relaxed Performance is a one-off show designed primarily for those who may find visiting a theatre daunting, especially those on the autistic spectrum, or who may make involuntary sounds, or anyone who would benefit from a more relaxed environment.

Young children can enjoy the opportunity to watch the pantomime in this environment, in particular if it is their first theatre experience.

During this performance, adjustments will be made, including lighting remaining at a low level in the auditorium, flashing and strobe lighting being removed, sound levels lowered and loud bangs removed.

The atmosphere in the auditorium will be relaxed and audience members can feel free to move around and make noise. In addition, symbol-friendly resources will include flashcards with symbols to help identify characters and objects found in the production and the visit to the theatre.

For tickets, go to: atgtickets.com/york.

Posted on

The clock is tick-tock-ticking for Rowntree Players’ adventures in Peter Pan panto land at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Jamie McKeller (Captain Hook), second from right, in rehearsal with Gemma McDonald (Barkly), Michael Cornell (Nanny McFlea) and musical director Sam Johnson for Rowntree Players’ The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan

ROWNTREE Players pantomime co-writer and director Howard Ella had always avoided Peter Pan…until now.

“I see it as a bit of a Cinderella, where the story is so familiar to everybody that it’s hard to tell that story, do it justice and make it a panto at the same time,” he reasons ahead of tomorrow’s opening performance at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.

“It’s taken me 16/17 years to find the courage. You can’t just do the book, but I want to be loyal to the[J.M. Barrie] text while making it into a panto, and I think we’ve nailed it.”

By “we” he is referring to co-writer and regular goofing loon Gemma McDonald, cast as eager apprentice Barkly this time. “I’ve had Gemma by my side again, working from a great traditional story with great characters that give you a good foundation to then work out how to bring together the traditional while being forward facing; how you then get that balance right.

“A story like Peter Pan adds another level to that challenge, but we have an exciting cast that meets that challenge with contemporary relevance amid the melee of pantomime traditions.”

Joining Gemma in the principal cast will be Hannah King’s Peter Pan, Sophie Bullivant’s Smee, Claire Horsley, returning from a long hiatus, as Gloria, Sara Howlett’s Tinkerbell, Eva Howe’s Wendy and Neon Crypt theatre company trio Laura Castle as Tiger Lily, Michael Cornell as Nanny McFlea and Jamie McKeller as Captain Hook.

“Hook is the perfect panto villain and to have someone who’s wanted to play that role forever…that’s when serendipity kicks in with Jamie.”

 McKeller is a familiar face on York’s haunted streets as ghost-walk host Dr Dorian Deathly, promoter of Deathly Dark Tours, but he has taken to the dark side in Rowntree Players pantomimes too, whether as an Ugly Sister or the Sheriff of Nottingham.

“One of the things I’m most proud of this year is that he’s a real bad guy,” says Jamie. “There’s usually redemption at the end for the villain, a great epiphany, but Hook doesn’t get one –and he shouldn’t. He just says from the get-go, quite unreasonably, that he will kill this child [Peter Pan].”

What’s more, his Hook will have the gravitas of a Shakespearean bad egg. “My first entrance is two pages of what Howard calls ‘elegant prose’,” he says.

Howard rejoins: “Pantos are frivolous and fun on the surface, but there’s no reason to not have a deeper story behind it to add depth. It would be very easy to tell a simple panto story around Peter Pan, where most of it could just be a tale with fairy dust, but then you have to insert a dame and a comic.

“We haven’t gone down that path: rather than Nana the dog, we have Nanny McFlea, with some dog-like tendencies in human form,  and Gemma as her comical son Barkly.”

Jamie’s Hook will be attired in de rigueur red coat, hat, scarf, stripey trousers, big boots, hook…and “flamboyant hair”. “He’s wholly evil, but with show-stopping numbers, such as Don’t Rain On My Parade, the Barbra Streisand song from Funny Girl, One Day More and the Survivor/I Will Survive mash-up from Glee.

“As soon as I was told it was Peter Pan this year and that Captain Hook would require some strong singing, I went off and did six months of singing lessons at York Singing Academy in Marygate.  

“I’ve always been able to maul my way through a song as the bad guy in a ‘speak-sing’ style but I’d never learned the mechanics of singing, though I knew how to manipulate my voice because of all the voiceover work I’ve done. Sam Johnson tells me I’ve done a good job!”

Howard concurs: “When you end up with the baddie singing as the campest character in the show, then that’s my idea of what a panto should be!”

He is enjoying Michael Cornell’s progression in the dame’s role too (as Nanny McFlea this year). “You grow into this role because no two dames are the same, and you have to own your dame,” he says. “By building relationships, like working around the consistency of Gemma’s character, it all gets layered over the years.”

Jamie, who performed alongside Michael in Neon Crypt and the Deathly Dark Tours’ paranormal investigations of The Wetwang Hauntings – Live in November, says of his panto co-star: “He’s just very fearless, bringing so much to the rehearsal room. He’s not long 30, and look at how still he was on stage in our Wetwang show, his tweedy suit and moustache barely moving.”

Defining why he loves pantomime in the 21st century, Howard says: “Pantomime remains something that is multi-generational. Bringing generations together in any activity is a challenge, but I’m all for multi-generational entertainment that is safe yet challenging at the same time and doesn’t just make you laugh but cry and think as well.

“It’s a unique form of entertainment with audiences that you don’t get with other forms of theatre. And I love the tradition of it all, which is important in the right place. It’s one of the things that drove me to do what I do now, and why wouldn’t you want to pass it on to the next generation? It’s a joyous privilege.”

On the subject of tradition, Howard adds: “You’re fitting pantomime into a world that’s changing all the time, but tradition doesn’t mean unchanging and old-fashioned, but comfortable and recognisable.

“I’m still fond of having a traditional principal boy [played by a female], but it doesn’t mean you can’t sprinkle new things into the pantomime mix. That’s the joy of writing it each year.”

Jamie enthuses: “From an acting/performing point of view, pantomime is so mischievous. I’m not very disciplined, and you know you can do things in panto, like knowing looks or catching each other’s eye on stage, and the audience knows that you’re doing that.

“I always say that doing panto is like a fever dream. I take the week off from everything else, just going around coffee shops.”

Audiences can’t wait. “We’ve had our third successive year of record ticket sales, which is even harder to achieve in this current climate, but we’ve had a strong team for a long time,” says a delighted Howard.

“We laugh a lot in rehearsals and that energy carries through to the performances when you have a bunch of people who love doing these shows.”

Rowntree Players in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Posted on

Christian Mortimer steps into Prince’s role in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal

Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

THE last addition to the principal players in York Theatre Royal’s pantomime Sleeping Beauty is Christian Mortimer, a North Yorkshire actor and singer with previous form in the annual co-production with Evolution Productions.

Replacing the now unavailable York-raised musical theatre actor Scott Goncalves at a month’s notice,  Harrogate-based  Christian, 29, is playing Prince Michael of Moravia.

“I had to miss my first day of rehearsals as I was flying back from Tampa, Florida, where I was performing in a celebration of Frankie Valli’s music,” he says. “I’ve seen all parts of the world in this show, and this gig in Florida came about because someone who’d seen the show then hired us for his yacht club party.

“We were out there for five days  that overlapped with the start of rehearsals here. The weather was very different, 27 degrees when I’d go on my morning run!”

Christian Mortimer, centre, enjoying a rehearsal for York Theatre Royal’s Sleeping Beauty with pantomime dame Robin Simpson, left, and Tommy Carmichael. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

“Bari-tenor” Christian’s Frankie Valli  travels and work as a lead vocalist for Celebrity Cruises have taken him to Japan, South East Asia, “lots of” America, the Mediterranean and the West coast of Africa. “We went quad-baking on the Namibian sand dunes and had the best time ever doing it,” he says.

Sleeping Beauty choreographer Hayley Del Harrison contacted Christian with a late call to to say, “we’re looking for a Prince”. “Hence I’m not in any of the posters,” he says. “I had to send off my show reel to Hayley and to casting, and they came back with an offer. I said ‘yes’, and it’s ideal as I’m in Yorkshire already.

“I was in the ensemble here four years ago for Cinderella, when I worked with Hayley. That was the show with Robin Simpson and Paul Hawkyard as the Ugly Sisters [Manky and Mardy] and [comedian and ventriloquist] Max Fulham as a wonderful Buttons.”

It was the second winter of Covid-19 restrictions, a challenging time for theatres and actors seeking to live up to the maxim of “the show must go on”, as Christian recalls. “I started in the ensemble, covering for the Prince [Benjamin Lafayette], who got Covid.

Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia in rehearsal with Aoife Kenny’s Princess Aurora for York Theatre Royal’s Sleeping Beauty. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

“In the lead-up to Christmas, I had one show as the Prince with Faye Campbell as Cinderella, who got Covid, then two with Lauren Richardson, who stepped up from the ensemble to play Cinderella, but then she got Covid too, so a  stand-in was brought in. But then I got Covid!

“I was off for a week’s isolation period and was in my bedroom, by myself, on Christmas Day. It was definitely interesting to have to play off so many different  people with differing ways of saying things, which keeps you in the moment. That was a good lesson to learn.”

Since then, Christian has been abroad at Christmas twice, performing with The Other Guys (the Frankie Valli tribute). Now, he is back on home turf in regal mode as Prince Michael of Moravia. “He’s more of a set-up guy, driving the narrative forward, though he has a few jokes and he’s in the slosh scene, so he’s definitely good fun,” he says.

“Often the Prince is seen as being a bit wet, singing a few love songs, but this show is really well written [by Evolution Productions director Paul Hendy] to make the Prince a bit more out there and stronger.

Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia singing a duet with Aoife Kenny’s Aurora in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

“He has a fun number near the start, called Introducing Me, when he and Princess Aurora are getting to know each other, and he also sings Die With A Smile, the Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars song,  and A Thousand Years, the Christina Perri song that we’ve changed to A Hundred Years to fit the story.”

Christian, who studied at Rossett High School, York College and ArtsEd, in London, and cut his acting teeth with York Light Youth, York Light Opera Company and Pick Me Up Theatre in York, will be spending Christmas in Harrogate. “I’m commuting from home every day, and my brother Jordan and Natalie have just had a baby girl, Mia, so we’ll be together on Christmas Day,” he says.

Looking ahead, “I’ll be moving south in February with my girlfriend, Lizzy Parker, who’s a fellow musical theatre performer. She was in Heathers: The Musical as Heather McNamara, the one who wears yellow, and then did Next To Normal in the West End at the Donmar Warehouse,” says Christian.

“We’re moving to Stevenage, where we both have connections, and we’re both in a position to buy, but have never lived together until now, so we’ll move in together and then find somewhere on the outskirts of London.”

York Theatre Royal and Evolution Productions present Sleeping Beauty until January 4 2026. Box office: 01904 623568 or yortktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Posted on

‘I love playing Fairy,’ says Lisa George on leaving Coronation Street after 13 years to return to theatre. Next wave of wand, Cinderella at Grand Opera House

Wanderful: Lisa George’s Fairy Godmother in UK Productions’ Cinderella at Grand Opera House, York

AFTER 13 years as “loud, gobby, feisty” Beth Sutherland in Coronation Street, Lisa George decided to leave soapland’s cobbles to tread the boards once more.

A decision she made in 2024, when her final episode aired last August, that now brings her to York to play Fairy Godmother at the Grand Opera House  in UK Productions’ Cinderella from December 6 to January 4 2026.

“The decision had been bubbling away because of my visual impairment,” says Lisa, who has the rare eye condition of NAION (non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy), one that causes sudden and painless vision loss in up to 11 per cent of people.

“I first lost vision in the bottom half of my right eye [when Lisa had been hit in the eye by a rope] and then had a second occurrence in 2022 [in her left eye] and was formally diagnosed in 2023 after a year of searching for what was wrong.”

As chance would have it, when she partnered with Tom Naylor in Dancing On Ice in 2020, it turned out he was the son of Gerard Taylor, an eye specialist she had consulted in 2017.

“I don’t think people realise I have this eye condition because I don’t make a song and dance about it,” says Lisa George

For Lisa, who also had been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2016, matters came to a head when she was watching a production of Romeo And Juliet at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester last year.

“In a black-out during the performance, I suddenly thought about not being able to see,” she recalls. “I’d earned my stripes, I’d worked on Coronation Street for 13 years, and I thought, ‘if I’m going to go blind, I need to do theatre again now. I don’t just want to be known for Beth [Sutherland] . I’m going to play other roles before anything might happen to stop me’.

“The condition is stable; I can see, but I was petrified I would never work in theatre again after I was diagnosed, but I was also aware that I’d be able to have people hold my hand, or show the way with torches. There’s far more help nowadays.”

Cinderella is her second pantomime since leaving Coronation Street. “I don’t think people realise I have this eye condition because I don’t make a song and dance about it – though my script is massive!” she says.

Working with director Ellis Kerkhoven and choreographer Xena Gusthart for the first time, Lisa is “absolutely delighted to be appearing as Fairy Godmother at the Grand Opera House”. “Panto is such a special time of year, and I can’t wait to see families and friends come together to share in the magic over the festive season,” she says.

Lisa George in the poster for her role as Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, when she was announced as the first signing for the Grand Opera House pantomime for 2025-2026

As ever with commercial panto, rehearsals crack on apace. “We had ‘blocked’ the whole of the show by day three, and we’d had costume fittings, dance rehearsals and vocal rehearsals on top of that,” says Lisa.

“The very first pantomime I did we had only a week’s rehearsals. That one was with Jimmy Cricket, Linda Nolan, a young Suranne Jones and Paul Crone, ‘the roving reporter’ from Granada TV.  That was at the Tameside Hippodrome [in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester], a  theatre that doesn’t exit anymore.  I was Dandini, the old-fashioned thigh-slapping Dandini in fishnet tights.

“We’re getting pushed out now, with the Prince Charming and Dandini roles going to men, on top of men already playing the dame. What’s left for the women?

“Dandini wasn’t my favourite role, to be fair. I have more fun as the fairy. I love playing Fairy, whether Petunia Pumpkin in Cinderella or Fairy Bowbells in Dick Whittington, both at the Oldham Coliseum, or Fairy Godmother last year at the Wyvern Theatre, in Swindon, or now Fairy Godmother in York, where it’s my first time working with UK Productions.”

“I’ve brought my steamer, my big straw, my Vitamin C tablets – and I’ll try to get plenty of sleep too,” says Lisa George of her routine for the pantomime season ahead

Producer Martin Dodd enthuses: “We are thrilled to welcome Lisa to the cast of Cinderella. She brings a huge amount of talent, warmth and star power to the stage, and we know that the audience will fall in love with her Fairy Godmother.”

Performing in pantomime, with the challenge of cold weather, loud audiences and multiple shows, is arguably theatre’s most demanding season, requiring care of body and voice. “It’s a tough call doing panto,” says Lisa. “I’ve got a nebuliser that someone told me to get last year, where you put on a mask to hydrate your throat.

“Then there’s a wide straw, a singing tube, that you blow bubbles with to help the voice. Opera singers use it. I learned about that last year as well, so I’ve brought my steamer, my straw, my Vitamin C tablets – and I’ll try to get plenty of sleep too.”

“Absolutely buzzing” about singing two key numbers in Cinderella, one in the transformation scene, the other in Act Two, Lisa is looking forward to her York debut. “Of all the tours I’ve done, I don’t think I’ve done York before,” she says. “It’s been brilliant; it’s a really lovely cast , everyone’s so talented. We’ve bonded already; everyone is just dead nice and supportive.”

UK Productions presents Cinderella, Grand Opera House, York, December 6 to January 4 2026. For tickets, go to atgtickets.com/york.

Actress Lisa George

Lisa George on her years of treading Coronation Street cobbles, 1997 to 2024

“I left in July 2024, and my last scene on screen was on August 24, after 13 years of playing [former model] Beth Sutherland, married to Kirk Sutherland [in 2015]. She was loud, she was gobby, she was feisty; a very proper lioness, protecting her son, loyal – and I think she was really funny too.

“She was a loudmouth, a hybrid of Ivy Tilsley and Janice Battersby, and I loved playing her. Those 13 years just flew by.

“I’d done Coronation Street before, playing three guest roles, and originally I was asked to do episodes as Beth. But then the producer asked me back for a trial six months, then for afull year that turned into three years, then another three years, and so on and son on! Because they didn’t have someone gobby in the factory anymore, that’s why they kept her.

“I first played a nurse in 1997 in a scene with Martin Platt, Gail’s husband. Then I was a family liaison officer for five episodes when Katy Harris, played by Lucy-Jo Hudson, killed her dad with a wrench.

“I filmed my part as a police officer when Ashley and Claire Peacock’s son was kidnapped, but those scenes were never shown after the disappearance of Madeleine McCann [in May 2007].”

Lisa George in her latest role as Fairy Godmother in UK Productions’ Cinderella at Grand Opera House, York, from December 6 to January 4 2026

Lisa George: back story

BORN on October 15 1970 in Grimsby.

Best known for playing factory worker and former model Beth Sutherland in Coronation Street from 2011 to 2024.

In 2020, Lisa skated her way to fifth place, partnering Tom Naylor, on Dancing On Ice; in 2022, she  appeared as Cabaret’s Sally Bowles in ITV’s All Star Musicals; in 2022 and 2023, she performed with fellow Corrie cast members on Britain Get Singing.

Lisa read theatre studies at Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, Cardiff, where she won singing scholarship for three years running.

Since graduating in 1995, her credits include UK tour of Prisoner Cell Block H – The Musical, touring with Lily Savage; Dusty Springfield tribute show I Only Want To Be With You; Cinderella, with Jimmy Cricket;  Daydream Believer, for M6 Theatre Company, and Life On Mars, at Riverside Studios, London.

Further shows were: The Queens Of Country, playing Tammy Wynette;  One For The Road, playing Pauline Cain for The Torch Theatre, and producing, directing and appearing in An Evening with Kander and Ebb. Also undertook six-month run in UK tour of musical comedy Girls Night in 2010.

In pantomime, Lisa has appeared as Fairy Bowbells in Dick Whittington (Oldham Coliseum), Petunia Pumpkin in Cinderella (Oldham Coliseum) and Dandini in Cinderella (Tameside Hippodrome).

Television roles include: Emmerdale; Casualty; Holby City; City Central; Cops; Roger Roger; My Summer With Des; Coronation Street (see above); Oliver’s Travels; Manhunt; Children’s Ward and Holding The Baby.

Commercials include: Ebay, Learn Direct, KFC, Claims Direct and White Lightening Cider. The “controversial singing KFC commercial” has become infamous for receiving the most ever complaints. Radio: The Handmaiden’s Tale, BBC Radio 4, and Pick Ups.

Lisa appeared alongside Michelle Collins in BAFTA-nominated television adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson’s The Illustrated Mum, playing the role of Miss Hill.

Lisa recorded backing vocals with The Stranglers on their 1998 album Coup de Grace (Eagle Records). From 2001, she toured with 13-piece soul band The Rumble Band for four years before jumping ship to join the mighty rocking big band orchestra, The Cat Pack, recording It Ain’t What You Do, an album of jazz, jump blues, rock’n’roll and swing classics and originals in 2006. Also performed with Sheffield jump jive band The Big Heat for two years.

After supporting Little Richard and Chuck Berry with The Cat Pack in 2005, Lisa was asked to record her solo album, The Devil Said Shake, for Raucous Records as Lisa George and The Pedalos.

Lisa appeared as a guest singer in Rave On, the Buddy Holly show;  travelled the country as support act to Peter Grant and toured as backing vocalist for Joe Longthorne on his 2007/2008  You And Me tour and 2009 40th Celebration Tour.

Did you know?

GRAND Opera House pantomime writer Jon Monie is a familiar face on Theatre Royal Bath stage, where he has appeared in the pantomime for more than 25 years. This winter, writer-performer Monie is playing Smee in UK Productions’ production of The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan, The Return Of Captain Hook from December 11 to January 11 2026.

Posted on

REVIEW: Sleeping Beauty, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until Dec 31 ****

Kiara Nicole Pillai’s Molly and Jacob Butler’s Dan, her best friend, in Nick Lane’s Sleeping Beauty at the SJT, Scarborough. All pictures: Tony Bartholomew

NO rest for the wicked Crepuscula in Sleeping Beauty, and no rest for Sleeping Beauty either, or Molly, as writer Nick Lane calls her in his radical reboot of Charles Perrault’s tale.

Molly, spoiler alert, will not sleep through much of Act Two,  in panto tradition, awaiting a Prince’s arrival to awake her from 100 years of deep slumber. The Prince, by the way, has been jettisoned too, replaced by best friend Dan.

Lane never goes down the obvious lane, nor indeed down familiar pantomime alleyways. He puts story first and foremost, appealing to children and the inner child in the adult alike, and rather than set-piece routines, he lets cast and audience have equal fun with how he can spin a familiar tale in new ways.

You Butter believe it: Annie Kirkman’s evil Crepuscula working in tandem with Oliver Mawdsley’s henchman Butter in Sleeping Beauty

What’s more, after 2024’s Aladdin didn’t match the peaks of Beauty And The Beast, Cinderella, Alice In Wonderland and A (Scarborough) Christmas Carol, Sleeping Beauty is Lane back at his best, pulling all the theatrical strings with his combination of thrills, spills and almost delirious silliness, topped off with big pop hits and a dance–off.

He happens to be directing the show for the first time too, no mean feat in the present circumstances when he is in the hop stage, awaiting his second hip operation as he heals from his first.

Sleeping Beauty moves between the modern world of Scarborough, or Scarborinia as Lane renames it  this year, the Dreamland of the slumbering Molly (Kiara Nicole Pillai) and the Fairy world of Perrault’s creation, occupied by Aurore, the queen (Pillai again), Clair du Lune (Amy Drake) and Crepuscula (the outstanding Annie Kirkman).

Sleeping Beauty writer-director Nick Lane in the Stephen Joseph Theatre rehearsal room

On the cusp of turning 12, Molly is Aurore’s daughter, born half fairy, half human, and so a “hairy”, as her dad is plain old human Dave (Jacob Butler). To protect her from Crepuscula’s clutches with her finger-pricking plan, she is living with Auntie Claire (Claire de Lune in human form) and Uncle Harry (Oliver Mawdsley, a tooth fairy obsessed with dental hygiene and an unfortunate track record for magic tricks going wrong).

Are you keeping up with all this minutiae? The great joy is that Lane allows it all to take shape, to work its spell, as a journey of discovery not only for Molly but for the audience tooe, everything seeping in as another pop banger bounces around the stage under Alex Weatherill’s musical direction and Dylan Townley’s composition and sound design skills.

Kirkman, wickedly good as the intemperate baddie Crepuscula, holds the aces in Act One, constantly entering Molly’s Dreamland where she keeps having the same alarming dream, the one with the Hippo-Faced Man (Mawdsley again).

Oliver Mawdsley’s Uncle Harry: Fearing another magic spell could be going wrong in Sleeping Beauty

Into this world too come the most unconventional henchmen you are likely to encounter this season: Sock and Butter, conjured from, yes, a sock and a pack of butter by Crepuscula into full-sized form that finds Kirkman’s Crepuscula wiping butter from Butter’s unwanted clench on to audience members’ knees with a gurning look of disapproval.

Molly must find her way out of Dreamland  before the 100 years are up, journeying in Act Two from Golden Miles’ happy place to the Weird Lands and finally, and most dangerously, the Nightmare Swamps.

Rather than slumbering through Act Two, like President Trump appearing to “fall asleep” at his December 2 cabinet meeting, Pillai’s Molly is centre stage and restless to leave her Dreamland, and Sleeping Beauty is so much better for awakening the world going on inside her head.

Drake’s five: Amy Drake in one of her quintet of roles in Sleeping Beauty, where she plays Auntie Claire/Clair de Lune, Amber, Fake Claire and Fluffy Robin

Lane’s cast is a delight, from Pillai’s gymnastic, livewire Molly and stern Aurore to Mawdsley’s disaster-prone Uncle Harry, Kirkman’s disdainful villain Crepuscula to Butler’s amusingly ordinary Dan and Dave and slippery Butter. Amy Drake, called on to play no fewer than five roles, is terrific throughout, full of contrasts, excellent comic timing and physical comedy too, especially as Fluffy Robin.

Audience participation is key too, divided into four to shout out separate instructions, where Lane’s new expression “Bumfroth” earns Hutchinson’s Word of the Year for 2025, a far more worthy winner than the Oxford University Press picking that “rage bait” variation on “click bait”.

Lane’s direction is fun, lively, playful, imaginative and full of momentum, matching his writing’s sense of wonder, as if entering the world of Edward Lear or Lewis Carroll.

Let’s dance:Amy Drake, left, Kiara Nicole Pillai, Jacob Butler, Annie Kirkman and Oliver Mawdsley strike a pose on Helen Coyston’s stars-and-stripes set in Nick Lane’s Sleeping Beauty

Stephanie Dattani’s choreography hits the spot too, while Helen Coyston’s set, with Molly’s bedroom on the gantry and an open-plan design on ground level for maximum movement, is complemented by costume designs suited to each of the differing worlds. Crepuscula could be out of Six The Musical; Butter and Sock, from Leigh Bowery.

Mark ‘Tigger’ Johnson’s lighting design is suitably magical, while Magritte would love the multitude of lampshades decorating the sky above.

You should not rest until you have secured a ticket for this Sleeping Beauty, and should you be wondering, Nick Lane’s world of fantastical theatre will return for Puss In Boots from December 5 to 31 next year. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Annie Kirkman’s villainous Crepuscula putting Fairyland queen Aurore on alert in Sleeping Beauty
Posted on

Concert announcement of the week: Michael Ball, Glow UK Tour, York Barbican, September 12 2026

Michael Ball’s poster for his Glow UK Tour 2026, when he will play Yorkshire shows at Bradford Live, Sheffield City Hall, Hull Connexin Live and York Barbican

MUSICAL star and radio and TV presenter Michael Ball will promote his 23rd solo album, Glow, on next year’s 25-date tour.

“There’s probably only one thing I enjoy more than being in the studio – writing, producing and singing songs with people I love – and that’s taking it all out on the road and performing those songs, as well as all the old favourites to the audiences I love,” he says.

“I hope you enjoy the new album, and I hope you come to see us on tour next year. It’s going to be an exciting year, and I can’t wait to see you all.’’ Tickets go on general sale on Friday at 9am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/michael-ball-2026/.

Featuring original material, Glow will be released “early next year” and will be available via the Michael Ball store at https://michaelball.tmstor.es/. Fans can pre-purchase the album now to gain exclusive tour access, starting today at 9am.

Ball will be on the road from August 26 to October 2 2026 on his Glow UK Tour, whose itinerary takes in  further Yorkshire concerts at Bradford Live on September 3, Sheffield City Hall, September 5, and Hull Connexin Live, September 6. Box office: livenation.co.uk; gigsandtours.com or michaelball.co.uk.

Michael Ball: back story

BORN in Bromsgrove on June 27 1962, Great Britain’s “leading musical theatre star” is a double Olivier Award-winning, Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum recording artist and radio and televison presenter.

For more than 40 year, he has starred in West End and Broadway musical theatre productions, winning critical acclaim, a devoted following and awards for his stage work and recording career.

His theatre credits include Edna Turnblad in Hairspray (ENO/Coliseum); Javert in Les Misérables – The Staged Concert (Gielgud Theatre & UK/Australia Arena Tour); Anatoly in Chess (ENO/Coliseum); Mack in Mack And Mabel (Chichester/UK Tour), and Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd and The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (West End), winning Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.

Further credits include Edna Turnblad in Hairspray (Original West End cast),  winning Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical; Kismet (English National Opera); Patience (New York City Opera); The Woman In White (West End/Broadway); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (West End); Passion, The Phantom Of The Opera, Aspects of Love (West End/Broadway), and creating the role of Marius in Les Misérables (Original West End cast).

TV credits include the Victoria Wood BBC TV film, That Day We Sang, opposite his Sweeney Todd co-star, Imelda Staunton.

He presents his own show on BBC Radio 2 on Sundays. On TV, he has hosted The Michael Ball Show on ITV1, his first TV travelogue, Wonderful Wales on Channel 5 and an Easter Sunday special for the BBC.

Tours UK regularly as a concert artist, selling millions of albums over the past 40 years, as well as performing in Australia, China, USA and Japan. In 2007, he made his BBC Proms debut in An Evening With Michael Ball at Royal Albert Hall, London, marking the first time a musical theatre star had been given a solo concert at the Proms.

Posted on

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 51, from Gazette & Herald

Deep in conversation: Snow goes underground in A Winter Wonderland at JORVIK Viking Centre

A SNOWY reboot, festive trail, treasured exhibition and pantomime launches spell out that winter staples aplenty are up and running, as Charles Hutchinson reports.  

Time travel of the week: A Winter Adventure at JORVIK Viking Centre, York, until February 22 2026

A WINTER Adventure brings a new wintery experience to the underground York visitor attraction, where the 10th century Vikings are preparing to celebrate Yule with natural decorations hung on their houses. For the first time, visitors can peer through Bright White’s time portal into the blacksmith’s house excavated on this site in the 1970s.

They will then board a time sleigh to travel back in time around the backstreets, transformed for winter by Wetherby set dressers EPH Creative, who have covered streets and houses in a thick blanket of snow, bathed in cold blue lighting. Pre-booking is essential for all visits to JORVIK at jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk.

Christmas at The Bar Convent in York. Illustration by Nick Ellwood

Activity trail of the week: Christmas At The Convent, The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, Blossom Street, York, until December 22, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, last admission 4pm

DECEMBER visitors to The Bar Convent can uncover fascinating festive traditions through the centuries in a family-friendly activity trail through the exhibition that combines the convent’s history with the Advent season.

Families can enjoy finding clues, making decorations, dressing up, discovering traditions from Christmas past and much more. Look out for the traditional crib scene in the chapel. Tickets: barconvent.co.uk.

Garlands galore at An Inspired Christmas at Treasurer’s House, York. Picture: National Trust, Anthony Chappel-Ross

Festive exhibition of the week: An Inspired Christmas at Fairfax House, York, until December 21, open Saturday to Wednesday, 11am to 4pm, last entry 3.30pm

TREASURER’S House has undergone a winter transformation, where stories of its past residents come to life through handcrafted decoration as rooms are re-imagined by the National Trust with festive flair, inspired by the 17th-century house’s rich history.

Each room is styled to reflect the personalities and tales of those who once called Treasurer’s House home, from last occupant Frank Green, the visionary industrialist who gifted the property to the National Trust, to the Young family, Jane Squire, Ann Eliza Morritt, Elizabeth Montague, Sarah Scott, John Goodricke and Royal visitor Queen Alexandra. No booking is required, with free entry for National Trust members and under-fives.

The Jeremiahs: Irish folk band play York for the first time on December 3. Picture: Tony Gavin

York debut craic of the week: The Jeremiahs, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 3, 7.30pm

IRISH band The Jeremiahs have travelled extensively, including playing 26 states in the USA, performing rousing new songs and tunes in the folk genre, peppered with picks from the trad folk catalogue. Lead vocalist and occasional whistle player Joe Gibney, from County Dublin, is joined by his fellow founder,  Dublin guitarist James Ryan, New York-born fiddler Matt Mancuso and County Clare flautist Conor Crimmins. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Malton White Star Band: Performing Brass and Voices At Christmas at Milton Rooms, Malton

Ryedale festive concert of the week: Brass and Voices At Christmas with Malton White Star Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 7pm

MALTON White Star Band and Community Training Band team up with singers from Norton Primary School for the 2025 edition of Brass and Voices at Christmas. Doors open at 6.30pm. Tickets are on sale at https://donate.givetap.co.uk/f/malton-white-star-band/christmas-concert-2025 or by ringing Dave Creigh on 07766 237947.

The one and only Jesca Hoop: Playing NCEM in York tomorrow

Singer-songwriter of the week: Brudenell Presents and Please Please You present Jesca Hoop, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 4, 7.30pm

DISCOVERED by Tom Waits, invited on tour by Peter Gabriel and encouraged to relocate to the UK by Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Jesca Hoop left California for Manchester to carve out a singular path across six albums of original material. Collaborations with producers John Parish (PJ Harvey), Blake Mills (Feist), and Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers) have only sharpened the intricacy of her craft. Box office: thecrescentyork.com/events/jesca-hoop-at-the-ncem-york/.

Ryedale Christmas children’s show of the week: Esmerelda The Elf And Father Christmas, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 12 noon, 2pm and 3.30pm; Sunday, 10.30am, 12 noon, 2pm and 3.30pm

WHO thought it was a good idea to put Elf friend Esmeralda in charge of Christmas sweeties? Can you help her to have everything ready in time? Will any goodies be left by the time Christmas Day arrives?

Each family has its own space to sit in at this interactive show and can visit Father Christmas individually at the end. All children will receive a gift. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Bec Silk’s Robin Hood and writer Martin Vander Weyer’s Dame Daphne in 1812 Theatre Company’s pantomime Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure

Ryedale pantomime opening of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Sunday, 2.30pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; December 14, 2.30pm

HELMSLEY Arts Centre artistic director Natasha Jones directs company-in-residence 1812 Theatre Company in this traditional panto with a Knock Knock Joke Contest, scripted by Martin Vander Weyer.

Robin Hood will be rescuing the lovely Maid Marian from the wicked Sheriff of Pickering, while Black Swan landlady Dame Daphne will lead the merriment and mayhem. Knock Knock! Who’s there? Daphne! Daphne who? Daph-nitely book early to avoid disappointment on 01439 771700 or at helmsleyarts.co.uk.  

Hannah King’s Peter Pan in Rowntree Players’ The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York

Putting ‘Pan’ into pantomime: Rowntree Players in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2pm and 7.30pm

JOIN Wendy, John and Michael as they fly with Peter Pan to the fantastical world of Neverland in Howard Ella and Gemma McDonald’s pantomime for Rowntree Players. Cling on to your seats as Peter and the Lost Boys do battle with Jamie McKeller’s rather nasty Captain Hook and his even nastier bunch of pirates. Fear not as Nanny McFlea and her ever eager apprentice Barkly are on hand to assist in the most ridiculous of ways. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Michael Ball: Glowing at York Barbican next September

Concert announcement of the week: Michael Ball, Glow UK Tour, York Barbican, September 12 2026

MUSICAL star and radio presenter Michael Ball will promote his 23rd solo album, Glow, on next year’s 25-date tour. “There’s probably only one thing I enjoy more than being in the studio – writing, producing and singing songs with people I love – and that’s taking it all out on the road and performing those songs as well as all the old favourites to the audiences I love,” he says.

“It’s going to be an exciting year, and I can’t wait to see you all.’’ Tickets go on sale on Friday at 9am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/michael-ball-2026/.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond as snow blanket covers JORVIK. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 51, from The York Press

The deep freeze: Snow goes underground in A Winter Wonderland at JORVIK Viking Centre

A FESTIVE trail, treasured exhibition and snow reboot, pantomime and A Christmas Carol spell out that winter staples aplenty are up and running, as Charles Hutchinson reports.  

Time travel of the week: A Winter Adventure at JORVIK Viking Centre, York, until February 22 2026

A WINTER Adventure brings a new wintery experience to the underground York visitor attraction, where the 10th century Vikings are preparing to celebrate Yule with natural decorations hung on their houses. For the first time, visitors can peer through Bright White’s time portal into the blacksmith’s house excavated on this site in the 1970s, seeing what it would have been like to live there.

They will then board a time sleigh to travel back in time around the backstreets, transformed for winter by Wetherby set dressers EPH Creative, who have covered streets and houses in a thick blanket of snow, bathed in cold blue lighting. Pre-booking is essential for all visits to JORVIK at jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk.

Christmas at The Bar Convent. Illustration by Nick Ellwood

Activity trail of the week: Christmas At The Convent, The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, Blossom Street, York, until December 22, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, last admission 4pm

DECEMBER visitors to The Bar Convent can uncover fascinating festive traditions through the centuries in a family-friendly activity trail through the exhibition that combines the convent’s history with the Advent season.

Families can enjoy finding clues, making decorations, dressing up, discovering traditions from Christmas past and much more. Look out for the traditional crib scene in the chapel. Tickets: barconvent.co.uk.

Garlands galore at An Inspired Christmas at Treasurer’s House, York. Picture: National Trust, Anthony Chappel-Ross

Festive exhibition of the week: An Inspired Christmas at Fairfax House, York, until December 21, open Saturday to Wednesday, 11am to 4pm, last entry 3.30pm

TREASURER’S House has undergone a winter transformation, where stories of its past residents come to life through handcrafted decoration as rooms are re-imagined by the National Trust with festive flair, inspired by the 17th-century house’s rich history.

Each room is styled to reflect the personalities and tales of those who once called Treasurer’s House home, from last occupant Frank Green, the visionary industrialist who gifted the property to the National Trust, to the Young family, Jane Squire, Ann Eliza Morritt, Elizabeth Montague, Sarah Scott, John Goodricke and Royal visitor Queen Alexandra, wife to King Edward VII. No booking is required, with free entry for National Trust members and under-fives.

Guy Masterson’s Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, on tour at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Festive ghostly return of the week: Guy Masterson in A Christmas Carol, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today, 2pm 7.30pm

HEADING back to Theatre@41 for the fourth time, Olivier Award winner Guy Masterson presents Charles Dickens’s Christmas fable anew, bringing multiple characters to vivid life as ever, from Scrooge and Marley to the Cratchits and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come. 

Be dazzled, be enchanted by a performance destined to linger long in the memory. “It’s guaranteed to get you into the Christmas Spirit – in many  more ways than one,” says Masters. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ellie Gowers: Songs exploring distance, longing and identity at Rise@Bluebird Bakery

Ecological songs of the week: Ellie Gowers, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Sunday, 8pm, doors 7.30pm

WARWICKSHIRE singer-songwriter – and Morris dancer to boot – Ellie Gowers blends contemporary acoustic sounds with the storytelling traditions of folk. Her 2022 debut album Dwelling By The Weir addressed ecological themes and her 2024 EP You The Passenger received airplay on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie’s BBC 6Music show.

Her influences range from Mipso to Jeff Buckley is songs that explore distance, longing and identity. An extended version of the EP arrives this autumn 2025. Easingwold singer-songwriter Gary Stewart supports. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

St Agnes Fountain: Promoting new Christmas album Flakes & Flurries at NCEM, York

Folk gig of the week: Black Swan Folk Club presents St Agnes Fountain, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 1, 7.30pm

AFFECTIONATELY known as “the Aggies”, Chris While, Julie Matthews and Chris Leslie bring their Christmas cheer to the NCEM, presenting carols with a curve. They celebrate 25 years together with material from new festive album Flakes & Flurries (Fat Cat Records), old Aggie classics and a doff of the fedora to founder member David Hughes, who died in 2021. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Name of the dame: Robin Simpson will be playing Nurse Nellie in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal

Pantomime opening of the week: Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal, December 2 to January 4 2026

THEATRE Royal creative director Juliet Forster directs returnee dame Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie, Jocasta Almgill’s Carabosse, Tommy Carmichael’s Jangles, CBeebies star Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam, Aoife Kenny’s Aurora and Harrogate actor Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael in Sleeping Beauty.

Written once more by Paul Hendy, the Theatre Royal’s festive extravaganza is co-produced with award-winning Evolution Productions, the same team behind All New Adventures Of Peter Pan, Jack And The Beanstalk and last winter’s Aladdin. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. 

Mark Thomas in Ed Edwards’s play Ordinary Decent Criminal at York Theatre Royal Studio. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Recommended but sold out already: Paines Plough presents Mark Thomas in Ordinary Decent Criminal, York Theatre Royal Studio, December 2 and 3, 7.30pm

MEET recovering addict Frankie, played by political comedian Mark Thomas in his second acting role for playwright Ed Edwards after England & Son in 2023. In Ordinary Decent Criminal’s tale of freedom, revolution and messy love, Frankie has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail for dealing drugs. 

On his arrival, none of his fellow convicts are what they seem, but with his typewriter, activist soul and sore lack of a right hook, he somehow finds his way into their troubled hearts, and they into his. In the most unexpected of places, Frankie discovers that the revolution is not dead, only sleeping. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The Jeremiahs: Irish folk band play York for the first time on December 3. Picture: Tony Gavin

York debut craic of the week: The Jeremiahs, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 3, 7.30pm

IRISH band The Jeremiahs have travelled extensively, including playing 26 states in the USA, performing rousing new songs and tunes in the folk genre, peppered with picks from the trad folk catalogue. Lead vocalist and occasional whistle player Joe Gibney, from County Dublin, is joined by his fellow founder,  Dublin guitarist James Ryan, New York-born fiddler Matt Mancuso and County Clare flautist Conor Crimmins. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

The one and only Jesca Hoop: Playing NCEM on December 4

Singer-songwriter of the week: Brudenell Presents and Please Please You present Jesca Hoop, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 4, 7.30pm

DISCOVERED by Tom Waits, invited on tour by Peter Gabriel and encouraged to relocate to the UK by Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Jesca Hoop left California for Manchester to carve out a singular path across six albums of original material. Collaborations with producers John Parish (PJ Harvey), Blake Mills (Feist), and Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers) have only sharpened the intricacy of her craft.

Now she has released Selective Memory, an unplugged reworking of 2017’s Memories Are Now, recorded live at home with bandmates Chloe Foy and Rachel Rimmer for Last Laugh Records. Box office: thecrescentyork.com/events/jesca-hoop-at-the-ncem-york/.

In Focus: York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust in A Nativity For York, on tour, November 29 to December 10

A Nativity For York director Paul Toy

YORK Mystery Plays Supporters Trust is touring A Nativity For York to Acomb, Fulford, Nether Poppleton and All Saints Church, North Street, bringing the Christmas story to York neighbourhoods from November 29 to December 10.

Directed by Paul Toy, this new and unique interpretation of the Nativity dramatises events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ from the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, presented by a community cast and production team with music in candlelight.

Using medieval scripts from the York Cycle of Mystery Plays and music both medieval and folk in style, A Nativity For York “tells a familiar story of a marvellous birth, threaded with humour, reverence and, sadly, hatred”.

The candlelight emphasises the constant struggle of the light against the darkness in Toy’s production, set in a time of threat when a homeless couple and their newborn baby are driven from home by oppressors.  

“My vision is that of an underground, secret activity; clandestine performances of a play promoting banned religious doctrine in a time of oppression,” he says. “It mirrors both history and our current world situation, but it’s also a time of great hope.”

The York Mystery Plays were written in medieval times: 48 plays, once performed in the streets by the city’s Guilds, telling the Biblical story from Creation to Judgement Day, including the life of Jesus Christ.  

York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust is a registered charity whose group of volunteers aims to keep the story of the York Mystery Plays alive at the forefront of York’s cultural heritage.

Performances will take place at St Hilda’s Church, Tang Hall Lane, York, on November 29 at 1pm and 4pm; St Mary Bishophill Junior, York, December 2 and 4, 7.30pm; St Mary’s Church, The Village, Haxby, December 6, 1pm and 4pm, and All Saints Church, North Street, York, December 10, 7.30pm

Tickets are on sale at https://ympst.co.uk/nativitytickets or on 0333 666 3366. The performance lasts 60 minutes with no interval. Festive refreshments will be available.

Posted on

REVIEW: Riding Lights Theatre Company in Christmas Inn Trouble, on tour, then Friargate Theatre, York, Dec 20 to 24 ****

Jared More and the more-and-more-roles-playing Katie Coen in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s alternative Nativity play, Christmas Inn Trouble. All pictures: Tom Jackson, Jackson Portraiture

CHRISTMAS Inn Trouble is Riding Lights’ second festive show since the York faith theatre practitioners’ 2024 re-launch and the first since artistic director Paul Birch and executive director Oliver Brown teamed up as co-chief executive officers.

As is customary, Riding Lights are heading off around the country, this time taking in Barrow-in-Furness, Mold, Bulwell, Lliswerry, Cheltenham, Chiswick, Hadleigh, Colchester, South Benfleet, St Albans and closer to home, Easingwold, before a five-day finale back home at their Friargate Theatre headquarters.

First up was a brace of performances at St Peter’s Church, Norton, playing to 600 children from Norton Community Primary School, perched two child per chair, in the afternoon before a public show at 5pm, when plenty of children were present again, introduced with delightedly expressive enthusiasm by Reverend Jenny Buckler, who moved to God’s Own Country from Somerset in 2021.

Last winter, Birch wrote A Christmas Cracker, his first play since taking the Riding Lights reins, rooted in the transformative power of storytelling, delivered with Birch’s trademark comedy plus puppetry aplenty.

Katie Coen’s shepherd in Christmas Inn Trouble

Description and detailed plot progression played a stronger hand than visual, magical wonder under Erin Burbridge’s direction. This time, Birch is in the director’s chair, at the helm for Rachell Price’s fast-moving, fun, physical, fizzing two-hander for all the family that is a definite upgrade on A Christmas Cracker in its comedic impact while being as strong as ever on delivering “a magical new twist on the Nativity that turns the traditional tale on its head”.

After soothing the white-noise technical gremlins that stopped the start in its tracks – handled  with admirable aplomb by cast members Katie Coen and University of York-educated Jared More – the hour-long show quickly finds its rhythm as bother aplenty afflicts The Bethlehem Inn and Spa.

The taps are leaking, the rats, squeaking, the rooms, fit to burst as the Bible story meets Fawlty Towers in the sparring of More’s hotel manager and the multi-role playing Coen’s dogsbody, doing all the graft. If she is more Polly than Sybil, More definitely has the flavour of Basil, from moustache, gait and height to oversized tie, temperament and oleaginous air.

His performance, however,  is not mere Fawlty pastiche. Instead, he makes his manager a befuddled, exasperated character of his own as he awaits the arrival of a special guest.

Over-stretched: Jared More’s manager tries to handle multiple phone calls when the inn is already fully booked for Christmas

Given the date, we know who that “guest” might turn out to be, even if the manager is none the wiser, as all the clues build up in Coen’s portfolio of characters, turning herself into a grouchy, rascally Roman guard, Joseph (good with a hammer and wood), Mary (only too happy to take over the cow shed), a shepherd and a “Professor”, Price’s variation on the (un)Wise Men.

All are played with comic zest, all the better for Coen’s interaction with More that clicks instantly. They make for a highly humorous double act, but More reveals another side when, spoiler alert, cradling the baby.

Writer Price is alive to the power of puppetry and pooping noises being guaranteed to bring the young house down, and how they laugh at a cheeky donkey popping out of the myriad cupboards doors to bite More on the backside or grab and eat his bookings diary. The more the donkey does so, the louder the laughs grow. Likewise, the squelching boots of Coen’s shepherd are irresistibly comical, the more she walks.  

Caitlin Mawhinney’s set is colourful and playful. The Spa sign is a loose-fitting add-on for a new facility, sure to fall off; the manager’s desk revolves around the stage at pace; the phone is sky blue, old-fashioned, but with a modern ring tone for the children to recognise. In the tradition of farce, two doors are in constant use; the cupboard ones even more so.

Riding Lights Theatre Company’s co-chief executive officers Oliver Brown and Paul Birch, director of Christmas Inn Trouble

“Our aim is to make theatre make a difference by creating unforgettable, entertaining theatre in response to current issues and the hopes and fears of the world we share,” says Brown. Christmas Inn Trouble does exactly that, not in a preachy, heavy-handed way, but with lightness and a sense of wonder at the abiding message of the magical Christmas story.

Mawhinney’s set and costume design are a joy, complementing the tone of Price’s storytelling with a palette of matching pleasures, while Patrick Burbridge’s songs are as much fun for the performers as they are for the audience.

Christmas Inn Trouble lives up to its vow to “bring you the Nativity like you’ve never seen it before!”, setting up families so joyfully for Christmas Day.

Riding Lights Theatre Company in Christmas Inn Trouble, The Galtres Centre, Easingwold, December 13,  2pm; Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, December 20, 1.30pm and 4pm, December 21 to 24, 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm. Box office: Easingwold, https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/booking/select/mbbjvlpojddg; York, 01904 655317 or ridinglights.org/christmasinntrouble.

Behind you: The scene-stealing donkey brings a smile to Katie Coen’s Professor, one of the (un)Wise Men by another name in Christmas Inn Trouble