Paul Keating’s Hector MacQueen, left, Bob Barrett’s Monsieur Bouc and Michael Maloney’s Hercule Poirot in discussion in Lucy Bailey’s production of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express
FIERY Angel first brought a Lucy Bailey production of an Agatha Christie murder mystery to the Grand Opera House in November 2023.
And Then There Were None is now followed by Murder On The Orient Express, and then there will be three, at some point, when the already confirmed Death On The Nile goes on the road.
Production values are high once more, not least a cast of 15, complemented Mike Britton’s revolve set design, Oliver Fenwick’s light design (where dark is as important as light), Mic Pool’s ever-excellent sound design and in particular Ian William Galloway’s video design of train wheels in motion, plumes of steam, sparks on the tracks and a towering image of the gleaming, immaculate, noble Orient Express: the pedigree racehorse of engines.
Leah Hausman’s movement direction sets the tone. Bailey’s cast gathers, seen side on, at first moving in tandem like dancers, but then juddering and shuddering too, ill at ease, commotion in motion, rather than graceful.
Suddenly, a scream, whereupon they part like the Red Sea, and who should walk through but esteemed Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre actor Michael Maloney’s Hercule Poirot, face on, instantly establishing his separate path from the rest.
Interestingly, he appears to be the voice completing the scream, the first indication that this will be a more harrowing interpretation of Poirot, where he will raise his voice to anger and anguish in a manner not seen in the revered, unflustered performances of Poirot forebears such as Peter Ustinov and David Suchet.
The little grey cells seem more frazzled than usual, still troubled by his handling of his previous case in Syria, shown in flashback here, and by his sense of foreboding of what hell is soon to be unleashed on Europe (to which he makes reference at the denouement of this 1934 case).
Nevertheless, Maloney’s Poirot remains immaculate in couture, his moustache trim (rather than the absurdist facial topiary favoured by Kenneth Branagh’s cinematic reinvention), his accent distinctly Belgian, rather than French, his manner and method meticulous.
One by one, American playwright Ken Ludwig’s witty stage adaptation of Christie’s novel – premiered in New Jersey in 2017 and now touring the UK for the first time – introduces everyone on board, staff and passengers alike.
Poirot is the guest of his Belgian friend in Istanbul, train company director Monsieur Bouc (Bob Barrett, accent prone to meander back to Blighty from the European mainland), a jolly soul who will play Watson to his Sherlock as they journey to London.
A journey that will be halted by an avalanche that stops the Orient Express in its track. Cue a murder, exit Samuel Ratchett (later to be revealed as a murderous gangster, Cassetti). But whodunit? The killer must still be on board, and Poirot has a train load of suspects to work through. Some of the acting is a tad suspect too, it must be said, nothing criminal, but sometimes guilty of over-acting, although deliberately so in the case of Christine Kavanagh’s thoroughly thespian American actress Helen Hubbard.
Mila Carter, early in her professional career, impresses as Countess Elena; Debbie Chazen has fun as the waspish, grand Princess Dragmiroff; French actor Jean-Baptiste Fillon conducts himself well as French conductor Michel.
You will enjoy – almost as much as Monsieur Bouc does – the running joke of Poirot being assumed to be French by all and sundry, but maybe less so the more tortured interpretation of Poirot and the uneven performances around him, faced with the challenge of a tale of vengeance that swings from farcical comedy to “profound darkness”.
Bailey’s reading of Poirot explains Maloney’s potentially Marmite performance. “I don’t think you’re always meant to like him, at least not in the way Christie writes him,” she writes in her programme note. “There’s a sort of otherness to him in that he’s Belgian and very polite and very petite!
“He’s full of neuroses and is obsessed with order, cleanliness and personal presentation. He lives by all these rules but paradoxically he’s tremendously eccentric and bursting with energy, charm and enthusiasm.” Maloney ticks boxes aplenty, but less so the charm here.
The other central character is the train itself, the Orient Express, which gives a five-star performance in Mike Britton’s design, revolving to reveal both interior and exterior, corridors and compartments: the star turn in fact.
Fiery Angel presents Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, Grand Opera House, York, keeping on track until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The hen party heading for Menorca: Jo Patmore, left, Alyce Liburd, Annie Kirkman and Alice Imelda in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
A STAG do in Ibiza. A hen do in Menorca. What could go wrong?Everything…in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
The stags have made a solemn promise to each other: this is a boys’ weekend. Don’t talk to any girls, don’t even think about any girls, and most importantly, do not contact the hens.
The hens are ready for fun in the sun when the resort calls to say they’ve had to relocate them…to a hotel in Ibiza. Both groups of revellers are stuck on the same Mediterranean island. Cue shoddy disguises, mislaid love letters and theatrical chaos.
Repeating the Hutch Award-winning formula of 2023’s co-production of The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) with Precot’s Shakespeare North Playhouse, set in the heat of a 1980s’ clash of Yorkshire and Lancashire, Shakespeare’s riotous comedy is brought to life anew in the 1990s with belting musical numbers from the era of boy bands and Girl Power.
The same creative team reunites for Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less): co-writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber (daughter of playwright John Godber), director Paul Robinson and composer and sound designer Simon Slater. In the production team too are designer Jess Curtis, lighting designer Jane Lalljee, musical director Alex Weatherhill and choreographer Stephanie Dattani.
Co-writer Elizabeth Godber says: “I’m so excited to be back working with Nick, the SJT and Shakespeare North on another hilarious Shakespeare adaptation.
Unmasked: Alyce Liburd and Annie Kirkman in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
“Love’s Labour’s Lost is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, and to get the chance to play around with the language, develop the (already great) female characters, and add in plenty of 1990s’ pop classics, has been an absolute joy!
“I can’t wait for audiences to come and see the show. It’s funny, irreverent, and I’m sure Shakespeare would approve – he would have definitely been a Britpop fan!”
SJT artistic director Paul Robinson says: “We had the most enormous fun making The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) in the spring of 2023, and our audiences did too! We couldn’t resist following it up with another of the Bard’s early comedies, this time set a decade later in the midst of the party era that was the 1990s.
“We’ll again be including some great music from the period, and just wait until you see those 90s fashions again!”
Shakespeare North Playhouse creative director Laura Collier says: “After the success of our 2023 co-production – a show so entertaining that people kept coming back for more – we knew we had to join forces again.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with the Stephen Joseph Theatre again, alongside talented writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber. We all share a deep love for Shakespeare and his timeless tales, and a passion for exploring and presenting fresh, exciting perspectives and reworkings – a perfect foundation for an outrageously fun Love’s Labour’s Lost. We can’t wait to see what lies in store when we’re all transported back to the ’90s.”
Co-writer Elizabeth Godber: “I don’t think of it as a rewriting of Shakespeare; I think we’re twisting it, we’re putting a northern spin on it,” she says
Here co-writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber discuss everything (more or less) about Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less).
How were you first brought together for The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less)?
Nick: “I was asked by Paul [SJT artistic director Paul Robinson, the show’s commissioning director] if I’d be interested in teaming up with a writer to do a modern version of Shakespeare.
“He had this idea about making Shakespeare accessible, demystifying it, making it relevant and funny, and playing around with titles that people know but aren’t necessarily plays that people know.
“Independently of each other, we came up with Liz. I wanted to work with Liz because I’ve known her all her life, and I got my wish!”
Elizabeth: “I’d done some writing development work at Scarborough before, so Paul was aware of my work, so when they were looking for someone to team up with Nick, he called me.”
Co-writer Nick Lane: “If Shakespeare was writing now, he’d want to reflect the time and the politics,” he says. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Do you have any qualms about rewriting Shakespeare?
Nick: “For me, initially, yes, but knowing that Liz knows lots more than I do about Shakespeare, I did feel like I was in safe hands, and it was a good partnership – we share a similar sense of humour. But we were both making it up as we went along.”
Elizabeth: “Yes, I had reservations, of course – it’s a big thing to do! But at the same time we both had this thought in our heads that we wanted to do something different, that was accessible and fresh. I don’t think of it as a rewriting of Shakespeare; I think we’re twisting it, we’re putting a northern spin on it.”
What is your process for writing – together or separately?
Elizabeth: “This time, for Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less), it’s been much more together than on Comedy Of Errors – we’ve learned and grown from that. We write some things separately, and we send emails and share, and we’ve got about a thousand voice memos on WhatsApp. Then we meet up multiple times, and we’ll spend a day going through everything we’ve written, tweaking and changing each other’s stuff.
Nick: “And enjoying some very nice meals…
Elizabeth: “And eating lots of biscuits!”
Annie Kirkman and Jo Patmore in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
What different qualities do you both bring to the writing?
Nick: “The fun thing for me is – well, the read-through is a perfect example. I sat through the read-through and laughed heartily at all the stuff Liz put in, and sort of smiled at my own bits and thought, ‘yes, that kind of works’. But I think we both find each other’s stuff funny.”
Elizabeth: “I would say that Nick brings a font of knowledge of random facts! He can pinpoint something exactly: ‘In August 1989, people weren’t doing that’.”
Nick “I do have a silly memory for things, it’s true. And Liz is cracking on all things Shakespeare – and when you have a silent third partner, that’s really, really useful.”
Why have you set Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) in 1990s’ Ibiza?
Elizabeth: “We knew we wanted to do Love’s Labour’s Lost, and we also had this idea for a stag-and- hen thing, which, if anyone’s read the original, it does kind of fit: there’s this kind of boys versus girls thing. That, and the club scene, and the ’90s, just felt like a good fit for the story.”
David Kirkbride punching the air in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
Nick: “It helps that you’re in an era before mobile phones. It’s fascinating how quickly we’ve adopted these things – they’re so intrinsically linked with our everyday lives now, and only 25 years ago, they existed, of course, but they weren’t the all-encompassing tools that they are now.
“I guess if we’d set it a bit later, it would have been erroneous text messages instead of the misdirected letters, but there’s no romance in texts, is there?”
How difficult was it making the song choices? Any particular favourites?
Elizabeth: “I loved making the song choices! The ’90s are my childhood; it’s very, very nostalgic and takes me back to school discos and primary school and brings me great joy. My favourite is probably the Spice Girls.”
Nick: “The opening number is Girls & Boys by Blur. If the Spice Girls were the ’90s for Liz, then Blur was kind of my thing – I was in my 20s.”
Where were you in the 1990s?
Elizabeth: “I was in Hull – being born and growing up!”
Nick: “Predominantly Doncaster, but I toured a lot – with Hull Truck, for Liz’s dad [playwright John Godber]!”
Jo Patmore in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less)
Have you ever acted in Shakespeare?
Nick: “No, I never have. I’ve done verse – I was in Tony Harrison’s Passion and Doomsday, but never a Shakespeare.”
Elizabeth: “I was in a school production, a 20-minute version of Romeo and Juliet – and in that production, I met my now husband!”
Nick: “I can even quote you your one line in that. It was ‘No’.”
Elizabeth: “It was! I think I’m better on Shakespeare when I’m not acting in it.”
Will Shakespeare be spinning in his grave at the prospect of Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) or giving it a five-star review (more or less)?
Thomas Cotran in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
Nick: “I would hope that if he is spinning, it’s to a 120 bpm dance track. He was a modernist in his day; he was satirical; he referenced things that were very of the time, and I think if he was writing now, he’d want to reflect the time and the politics. I think he’d be all right with it.”
Elizabeth: “We want to make a show that people come to see and have a great time, and I think that Shakespeare wouldn’t be against that – I think that’s what he wanted to do, too.”
Which Shakespeare play would you like to rewrite (more or less) next?
Nick: “One for Liz. I don’t know enough of them!”
Elizabeth: “I think I’d quite like to do A Winter’s Tale, because I really like the Shakespeare plays that are a little less done, that people don’t know as much about. I think that’s interesting. Love’s Labour’s Lost is one that people don’t know as well, and you can bring it to more people – that’s exciting. But my favourite is As You Like It, so…”
Stephen Joseph Theatre and Shakespeare North Playhouse present Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until April 19, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm, plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
An ensemble scene from the Stephen Joseph Theatre and Shakespeare North Playhouse co-production of Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
Who’s in the cast for Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less)?
Thomas Cotran; Alice Imelda; Linford Johnson; David Kirkbride; Annie Kirkman; Alyce Liburd; Timothy Adam Lucas and Jo Patmore.
Four of the company have appeared at the SJT already: Linford Johnson was in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Girl Next Door in 2021, and Annie Kirkman appeared in 2023’s UK Theatre Award-winning Beauty And The Beast, returning in summer 2024 to play the title role in Dracula: The Bloody Truth. She also starred in John Godber’s Perfect Pitch, on tour.
David Kirkbride and Alyce Liburd were in the SJT’s first co-production with Shakespeare North Playhouse, the UK Theatre Award-nominated The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) in Spring 2023. Alice appeared in in Dracula: The Bloody Truth too.
Movin’ and groovin’ in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
What’s on the playlist in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less)
1. Blur: Girls & Boys
2. Britney Spears: …Baby One More Time
3. Shania Twain: Man! I Feel Like A Woman!
4. Meat Loaf: I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)
Mark Simmonds in rehearsal for his role as Prospero in Black Sheep Theatre’s production of The Tempest
YORK company Black Sheep Theatre are promising to bring magic, music and mayhem to The Tempest from tonight at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.
William Shakespeare’s timeless tale of power, love and redemption is directed by company founder and composer Matthew Peter Clare in an innovative adaptation that “blends traditional Shakespearean drama with a dynamic theatrical approach”. “The First Encounters production that the RSC brought to York Theatre Royal in February was for children; ours is definitely not!” he says.
Known for bold and impactful storytelling in their musical theatre shows, Black Sheep are applying an exciting new vision to Shakespeare’s melting pot of mistaken identity, magic, intrigue, murderous schemes, comedy and romance.
“The Tempest is famously Shakespeare’s last play, focusing on family and love, subjugation and bloody plots, reconciliation and forgiveness, euphoria and despair,” says Matthew.
“It’s a play that has been performed numerous times in as many ways. You can do anything with it, and we have! With Black Sheep’s version, we aim to marry a more Brechtian theatre style for some of our more absurd characters with a grounded, naturalistic approach for the more plot-driven characters.
Matthew continues: “It’s an incredibly musical play, so we’ve utilised my musical background, alongside the incredible talent of Gregory Harper, to create a musical score for a live eight-piece band, featuring two violins, viola, cello, contrabass, guitar, harp and percussion, that will accompany the show and highlight the characters and their choices throughout.
“This will perfectly complement the singing of the island spirits, as well as our featured leading singers, such as Gemma-Louise Keane as Ariel and Josh Woodgate as Caliban.”
Both are well-known figures in York’s theatre and music scene, with Gemma-Louise being the lead singer in fellow cast member Mickey Moran’s band KissKissKill and Josh regularly performing with Inspired By Theatre, starring in Green Day’s American Idiot last year and now rehearsing for Rent.
“Greg and I have created the score, working on it since December 26 and finishing it on Tuesday, for example deciding what parts of Ariel’s speeches we would turn into songs, such as Full Fathom Five, and what we needed to keep as speech, finding the happy medium for that and using underscore too,” says Matthew.
“We’re delighted to have Gemma, who used to do Shakespeare plays when she was younger and is now working with me for the first time.”
The band will be putting in a double shift, says Matthew, by not only supporting the actors with their playing but also “playing the character of the band”.
Look out too for the play within the play. “We always wanted to do that as a musical number,” says Matthew.
As for magic and mayhem, as embodied by the actions of Simmonds’s Prospero, “He’s really interesting among Shakespeare characters as the magic he uses is not intrinsically evil and there’s ultimately no cost to that magic, unlike in Macbeth, where Lady Macbeth goes mad and Macbeth dies,” says Matthew.
“But Prospero’s magic is cruel, how he treats Caliban and Ariel, his slaves. There is a lot of torture, with his power to control and subjugate them.”
Josh Woodgate reflects on his role as Caliban: “Prospero is forcing Caliban and Ariel to do his bidding through his magic. Caliban has no choice but to submit to his will because Prospero took over the island when Caliban believes it should be his. Prospero has power over everyone and everything.”
Expect a cracking pace. “We’re using a heavily abridged script that Peter Gould did for Get Thee To The Funnery in Craftsbury, Vermont, in 2010. It’s about half the length of the original, now just over two hours, and though it moves so briskly, you never feel you’re forgetting about any characters,” says Matthew.
“The strength of this production lies in the juxtaposition of absurd comedy and serious drama,” Matthew says of a play with three narrative strands running in parallel on one island.
“There’s a mixture of the comedy of Much Ado About Nothing or A Midsummer Night’s Dream; the love story of Romeo And Juliet and also the tragedy of death plots and the treatment of Caliban. The tempest itself is a tragedy.
“In our production, the comedic energy of Charlie Clarke as Trincula, Molly Whitehouse as Stephana, Dan Poppitt as Alonso and Rocks Smith as Francisca is sharply contrasted against the more sinister and thought-provoking portrayal of Mark Simmonds’s Prospero.
“We had several auditions for Prospero, and Mark really brought an energy to the dialogue that shone out above everyone else that felt like a deeper character; why Prospero is doing the things he’s doing.”
Matthew is joined in the production team by Mikhail Lim, as he was for Black Sheep’s production of Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For A New World at the National Centre for Early Music, York, last October.
“Our adaptation of The Tempest is set to be an unmissable experience, blending Shakespeare’s genius, innovative staging and an evocative live musical score to bring the story to life in a bold, fresh, and deeply engaging way,” concludes Matthew.
Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Tempest, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 26 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Who is in Black Sheep Theatre’s cast for The Tempest?
Mark Simmonds as Propsero; Freya McIntosh, Miranda; Gemma-Louise Keane, Ariel; Dan Poppitt, Alonso, Spirit; Megan Conway, Antonia; Chloe Pearson, Ferdinanda; Isaac McAndrews, Gonzalo; Rosie Stirling, Sebastian: Josh Woodgate, Caliban; Charlie Clarke, Trinculo; Molly Whitehouse, Stephana: Mickey Moran, Adrian, Spirit; Ellie Carrier, Francisco, Juno, Spirit; Rocks Smith, Boatswain, Ceres, Spirit, and Justine Hughes, Master of Ship, Iris and Spirit.
Punch Porteous writer Robert Powell and creative practitioner Ben Pugh
WRITER Robert Powell and creative practitioner Ben Pugh are reviving Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! at Friargate Theatre, York, from tomorrow to Saturday as part of York Literature Festival.
Originally commissioned by All Saints North Street for its October 2023 premiere with support from York Theatre Royal, Powell’s poetic multi-media experience depicts Punch Porteous, a mysterious and ordinary man with an extraordinary predicament, lost in time in York, where he is catapulted unpredictably into different eras from c.70 to c.2025 while the city shape-shifts around him.
“He keeps waking up at various points of the city’s past, dazed and confused, but also with a disturbing knowledge that he’s been there before,” says Canadian-born Robert.
Punch seems to remember Romans, Vikings, Saxons, seeing Henry VIII and meeting Dick Turpin. Now a prophecy says he is to appear at the site of an ancient Friary to find his lost wife Eve – and tell all in Powell and Pugh’s imaginative journey in words, music, film and sound featuring the recorded, “disembodied” voice of York poet Kitty Greenbrown, as well as Powell as Narrator, Nicholas Naidu as Alistair and Imogen Wood as Beatrice.
Nicholas Naidu, as Alistair, and Imogen Wood, as Beatrice, in Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! Picture: Ben Pugh
Inspired by the history of York, Robert first recounted a story of Punch in his poem Punch Porteous Goes To York Races, with further poetic stories in his 2023 commission for York Civic Trust, Time Town, Some Poems Of York.
“We’re totally delighted to be bringing Punch back,” says Robert. “I thought Punch had some more breath left in him after All Saints and we had the sense that there was more of an audience to see it.
“Friargate Theatre is an artistic asset to York with new management, and what better place could we find to stage it: a theatre space, rather than a church, though it was the church [All Saints North Street] that commissioned it, and the church provided a rich, deeply resonant space.
Kitty Greenbrown: Lending her voice to this week’s performances of Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!
“We’re also delighted to be taking part in York Literature Festival, which I was part of for a long time. We talked to Friargate Theatre first, absolutely the right place for it, and then approached the festival about featuring a piece based on poetry, and they responded very positively, especially when you consider they don’t usually have plays.”
Robert has re-written his drama to take in the history of the Friargate Theatre site as a friary. “We now have Punch ‘predicting’ that it was friarage from the tenth century up until Henry VIII’s boys tore it apart, leaving only the wall along the river. We will now be reopening the Friarage, with Punch determined to get there from Baile Hill.”
How will the audience experience differ from the All Saints premiere? “I think that being in a theatre space, rather than a church, the audience will need to use their imagination more, and we will need to work their imagination more to imagine the historic buildings of York, whereas previously we had the incredible prop of the church building,” says Robert.
Robert Powell in his role as Narrator for Punch Porteous – Lost In Time! Picture: Ben Pugh
“Now we have to use our ‘prop’ box to bring to life this semi-visible everyman who had bumped into some famous people but mainly lived among the ordinary people of York, creating that sense of Punch being grounded and having a working man’s sensibilities.”
Describing Punch’s character, Robert says: “He’s comic but serious; he gets drunk but is very philosophical. He’s seen a lot and suffered a lot, as the people of York have.
“With Dick Turpin, for example, what happens is that he becomes like a fairytale figure, but in Punch Porteous, Punch remembers attending Turpin’s public execution, seeing the horror of his feet turning in the air, so I’ve tried to bring the harsh reality to folk tales. Turpin’s death would have been horrendous.
“In Punch Porteous, I’m conveying the friction between the heritage myth and the darker reality that people have had to live with in York over the centuries.
The poster for Punch Porteous – Lost In Time at Friargate Theatre, York
“It’s a story told in a somewhat different way from the historical, heritage way that the story of the city is so often told. So, in a sense, without being too heavy about it, I wanted to disrupt that norm, to think about history from the ‘ordinary’ perspective that most of us experience it from.
“Writers can bring an understanding of history where I think there’s a role for the imagination that runs parallel with the facts. It’s not enough to have the testimonies and the photographs. You need your imagination to bear witness. Hilary Mantel thought a lot about this, about the role of fiction to engage with people, as opposed to documentary evidence. Where documentary leaves off, the imagination takes over, but rooted in experience.”
Robert loves the experience of walking through York, “passing through veils, where one minute you are in the 21st century, and then in the past”. “As a Canadian boy, from an early age, I had a hunger for what York offered,” he says. “Here I am, this little kid in Ottawa, digging in the fields next door, hoping to find Roman remains, so I had to come to York to do that. It’s been a very personal journey for me, and York gives you that in a very intense way.
“What is a Canadian doing fooling around with York’s precious history? To me, from that perspective, as a writer, it’s a heavenly place to be, and as a writer, I’m fascinated by time. Punch Porteous is a great opportunity to have someone who slips and slides through York and time, and so though I’m not originally from York, I hope it has resonance for true Yorkists.”
The cover to Robert Powell’s latest poetry collection, Time Town, Some Poems of York
Punch Porteous may have further life beyond this week’s performances. “I’ve had this niggling thought that might bring a further bit of spark to the exercise,” says Robert. “Was Punch Porteous a real person?
“Since my tales of Punch were inspired by a story told to me about an actual York man called Punch Porteous in the 1920s, who won a small fortune at York Races, it would be fun to ask The Press readers if they’ve ever heard of such a person. I would love to hear from you and I can be reached at https://www.rjpowell.org/.
“I would love Punch Porteous to become one of the urban myths of York and hopefully we are moving in that direction.”
York Literature Festival presents Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, tomorrow until Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.
Robert Powell: Writer, curator and cultural consultant with background in the arts, place-making, photography and journalism. Picture: Owen Powell
Robert Powell: the back story
WRITER, curator, and cultural consultant with more than 40 years’ experience in the arts, built environment, community engagement and media in England, Scotland and his native Canada.
Director of Stills Gallery of Photography in Edinburgh from 1986 to 1989. Worked for Canada Council for the Arts from 1989 to 1997.
Director of Beam, arts, architecture and education charity in Wakefield, from 1997 to 2015, working with many leading artists, architects, and urban designers.
Established Wakefield Lit Fest, festival of reading & writing, in 2012. Made Honorary Fellow of RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) in 2017.
Robert’s creative writing has been published widely in Canada and UK. Since 2007, produced five poetry collections, plus performances and film-poems inspired by buildings, rivers and other places.
In 2018, artist in residence with Kone Foundation at Saari, Finland. In 2019, undertook community-based artistic project on Irish border during Brexit negotiations.
In 2023-24, writer in residence with York Civic Trust. Wrote and performed in Punch Porteous – Lost In Time!, poetic drama inspired by history of York, at All Saints North Street.
Resident in York for ten years, based in South Bank. Latest publication, Time Town, Some Poems of York, features poetry about a Georgian museum and a man lost in time from his York Civic Trust residency.
The first knock-out Punch poem by Robert Powell: Punch Porteous Goes to York Races
ONE Saturday afternoon, in summer 1930, at York Races, Punch won a fortune, £17, tramped back into town, bought a tin hip bath and took it to the Red Lion, where Uncle John’s wife Rose was publican and the boatmen-gypsies supped; required of John to fill it full with drink, then helped him and two others lurch it, slopping on cobbles in the early evening light, to the tram stop, calling on all and sundry Come take wine with me! though in truth it was ale; and cupping its contents for free to drivers, passengers, passers-by; and the bath, once emptied, by a drunken Punch tossed into the Foss. Gaze down from the bridge, they say, in certain light, on certain days, in the shallows, in the depths, you can still see it, among the vagrant shopping carts, the swans.
Say Hello, wave goodbye: Pickering Musical Society’s poster for its final musical in June. Pantomimes and music from the shows productions will continue
PICKERING Musical Society will stage its final musical after 106 years in a spectacular farewell production of Hello, Dolly!, at the Kirk Theatre, Pickering, from June 10 to 14.
However, the society’s annual pantomime will continue to thrive, after a growth in popularity in recent years, and the October concert of music from the shows – a staple of the Ryedale theatre calendar – will move into the June slot from next year.
The society has made the difficult decision to terminate its musical productions in response to rising production costs and a decline in membership.
Theatre manager and director Luke Arnold says: “It is with a heavy heart that we’ve made this choice, but production costs have now exceeded those of the pantomime, despite only running for six performances compared to the panto’s 15.
“This, combined with a dwindling membership, has made it harder to cast these productions in recent years. However, we must look to the future. We have a fantastic venue in the Kirk Theatre, which is going from strength to strength, as we continue to introduce new genres of musical entertainment, as well as a full programme of speakers and a vibrant pantomime tradition that will continue to flourish.
“We have much to look forward to, and I’m particularly excited about the development and build phase of our Sylvia Allanson Studio project.”
Joined in the production team by musical director Clive Wass, Arnold is at the directorial helm for Jeremy Harman’s Broadway musical Hello, Dolly!, set in New York City at the turn of the 20th century, when irrepressible Dolly Gallagher Levi, widow, matchmaker and professional meddler, decides to find a match for herself.
Packed with charm, humour and show-stopping numbers such as Before The Parade Passes By, It Only Takes A Moment, Put On Your Sunday Clothes and Hello, Dolly!, Arnold’s production will feature Rachel Anderson as the charismatic Dolly Levi; Michael O’Brien as Horace Vandergelder; Pickering stage favourites Marcus Burnside and Stephen Temple as comedic duo Cornelius Hackl and Barnaby Tucker; Paula Cook as Irene Molloy; Danielle Long as Minnie Fay; Courtney Brown as Ermengarde and John Brooks as Rudolph Reisenweber.
June 10 to 14’s 7.30pm performances will be complemented by a 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Ticket demand is expected to be high for this grand and emotional send-off for Pickering Musical Society’s rich tradition of musical theatre. Box office: 01751 474833, at kirktheatre.co.uk or in person from the Kirk Theatre on Tuesdays from 11am to 1pm.
Pickering Musical Society: the back story
Courtney Brown in Pickering Musical Society’s production of Oklahoma!
PICKERING Musical Society can trace its origins back to the beginning of the First World War.
During the early Edwardian period, Pickering’s inaugural amateur musical groups were formed by like-minded individuals who fuelled their interest in music by meeting at each other’s homes and performing in drawing rooms.
In response to the outbreak of the Great War, groups and charities nationwide raised funds for the war effort at home and abroad. Many of the smaller groups in Pickering gathered together to put on larger “glee” performances in church halls.
In 1919, members of this larger group decided to create a musical society in the town for all ages that had an interest in music and performance.
Pickering Musical Society continued throughout the first half of the 20th century. By the early 1970s, the society had grown, prompting a need to seek a move from the War Memorial Hall to a permanent home.
In the late 1970s, the society purchased the old Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, on Hungate, and set about converting the derelict building into a fully operational theatre. By 1982, the conversion from chapel to theatre was complete and the inaugural performance was staged there that year.
Until now, the society has presented three productions each year: a pantomime in January, a musical in May and a Music From The Shows production in October.
Membership is drawn Whitby, Scarborough, Malton and beyond, as well as Pickering.
Printmaker Pamela Knight: Exhibiting at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb, York
SPRING has sprung, the cue for the arts world to have an extra spring in its step, much to Charles Hutchinson’s joy.
Exhibition of the week: Three Printmakers, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until May 7
YORK Printmakers members Pamela Knight, Vanessa Oo and Sandra Storey are taking part in the Three Printmakers: Energy, Atmosphere & Light exhibition. York artist and former theatre set and costume designer Knight specialises in collagraphy, enjoying the textures and effects she creates using this process, often enriched with monoprint and chine colle.
Oo, from York, is displaying monotypes for the first time. “My work is about capturing the magic of the moment; an unseen energy and rhythm,” she says. Harrogate artist Sandra Storey’s work evokes the “talisman-like quality” of plants, birds and natural objects found within the North York Moors landscape. Admission is free.
Lucy Bailey’s cast for the Fiery Angel production of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
Thriller of the week: Fiery Angel in Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
FIERY Angel follow up November 2023’s visit of And Then There Were None with another Agatha Christie murder mystery directed by Lucy Bailey, this time with Michael Maloney on board for a “deliciously thrilling ride” as Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.
In Winter 1934, an avalanche stops The Orient Express dead in its tracks. Cue a murder. A train full of suspects. An impossible case. Trapped in the snow with a killer still on-board, can the world’s most famous detective crack the case before the train reaches its final destination?
Meanwhile, Wise Children’s world premiere of Emma Rice’s theatrical take on Alfred Hitchcock’s North By North West continues at York Theatre Royal until April 5. Box office: GOH, atgtickets.com/york; YTR, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Mark Simmonds in rehearsal for his role as Prospero in Black Sheep Theatre’s The Tempest at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Shakespeare debut of the week: Black Sheep Theatre in The Tempest, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
AFTER making their mark with musical theatre productions, York company Black Sheep Productions branch out into Shakespeare territory under Matthew Peter Clare’s direction. “Prepare for The Tempest like you’ve never seen it before,” he says, promising magic, music and mayhem in a dark re-telling of the one with “a storm, a shipwreck and the torment of it all”, featuring Mark Simmonds as Prospero, Freya McIntosh as Miranda, Mikhail Lim as Gonzalo, Deathly Dark Tours guide and Kisskisskill singer Gemma-Louise Keane as Ariel, Meg Conway as Antonia and Josh Woodgate as Caliban.
“With a phenomenal cast and a live eight-piece band, our production re-imagines Shakespeare’s tale of power, revenge, and redemption in a truly immersive and unforgettable way.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Public Service Broadcasting: York Barbican debut tomorrow
Past meets future in the present: Public Service Broadcasting, York Barbican, tomorrow, doors 7pm
PUBLIC Service Broadcasting make their York Barbican debut with J. Willgoose, Esq on guitar, banjo, other stringed instruments, samples and electronic musical instruments; Wrigglesworth on drums, piano and electronic instruments; J F Abraham on flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums and vibraslap and Mr B on visuals and set design.
“Teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future” for more than a decade, the corduroy-wearing Londoners will select material from their five themed albums, 2013’s Inform – Educate – Entertain, 2015’s The Race For Space, 2017’s Every Valley, 2021’s Bright Magic and 2024’s The Last Flight. She Drew The Gun support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Laura Veirs: Art meets science via geology in her songs at The Crescent, York, tomorrow
Folk gig of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents present Laura Veirs, supported by Lucca Mae, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, doors 7pm
PORTLAND, Oregon, folk singer, songwriter, children’s author, artist, Midnight Lightning podcaster, Stanford University songwriting teacher and mother Laura Veirs draws on her 14 albums in her Crescent set. Growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she spent summers camping with her family, inspiring her songwriting as much as her fascination with the intersection of art and science from days of studying geology (and Mandarin Chinese) at Carleton College.
This year, polymath Veirs is working on new paintings, an instrumental guitar album and a book about creativity. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Kiki Dee & Carmelo Ruggeri: Playing together for 25 years, bound for All Saints Church, Pocklington, this weekend
Acoustic duo of the week: Kiki Dee & Carmelo Luggeri, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Saturday, 7.30pm
JOIN Bradford-born singer Kiki Dee and guitarist Carmelo Luggeri for an acoustic journey through their songs and stories, taking in songs from 2022 album The Long Ride Home, Kate Bush and Frank Sinatra covers and hits from Kiki’s 55 years and more in the music business, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, I Got The Music In Me, Loving & Free and Amoureuse. Box office: kikiandcarmelo.com.
Top brass: Brighouse & Rastrick Band at Pocklington Arts Centre on Sunday afternoon
Brass concert of the week: Brighouse & Rastrick Band, Pocklington Arts Centre, Sunday, 2pm
FOREVER associated with 1977 number two hit and “unofficial encore”The Floral Dance, West Yorkshire’s Brighouse & Rastrick Band presents a highly entertaining concert suitable for casual listener and connoisseur alike.
The majority of premier band championships have been held by ‘Briggus’, most recently becoming the 2022 British Open and Brass in Concert champions. ‘Briggus’ are noted too for collaborations outside the brass band tradition, from the late Terry Wogan to Kate Rusby, classical actor Simon Callow to The Unthanks at York Minster in 2012. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Lynne Hanson: “Hard-living brand of porch music” at Milton Rooms, Malton, on Sunday
Here comes Canada’s queen of Americana: Lynne Hanson, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 8pm
TOO tough for folk and too blues-influenced for country, Lynne Hanson’s hard-living brand of porch music with a little red dirt can turn from a sunshine, blue sky ballad to a thunderstorm of gritty Americana swamp from one song to the next.
Her deep, bluesy croon has drawn comparisons with Lucinda Williams and Gillian Welch, but the poetry of her lyrics sets her apart. In concert, she is noted for her high energy, roots guitar-driven performances, whether playing solo or with her band The Good Intentions. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Jennie Dale: CBeebies’ star in her York Theatre Royal pantomime role as Fairy Moonbeam in Sleeping Beauty
JENNIE Dale, star of CBeebies’ Swashbuckle, will play Fairy Moonbeam in York Theatre Royal’s pantomime, Sleeping Beauty, from December 2 to January 4 2025.
She follows in the CBeebies’ footsteps of Andy Day’s Dandini in 2021, Mandy Moate’s Tinkerbell in 2022, James “Raven” McKenzie’s villainous Luke Backinanger in 2023 and Evie Pickerill’s Spirit of the Ring and Genie of the Lamp in 2024 in appearing in the Theatre Royal co-production with award-winning pantomime producers Evolution Productions.
Jennie is best known for playing Captain Captain in the CBeebies television series Swashbuckle and for presenting Jennie’s Fitness In 5 for CBeebies and CBBC.
Her theatre credits include Elf(Dominion Theatre), The Pajama Game (Shaftesbury Theatre), Sister Act (London Palladium), The Lord Of The Rings (Theatre Royal Drury Lane) and Mary Poppins (Prince Edward Theatre).
Jennie has appeared in CBeebies’ pantomimes aplenty, playing Growl in Beauty And The Beast, Sheriff in Robin Hood, Mrs Fitzwarren in Dick Whittington And His Cat and Jiffy in Christmas In Storyland.
Jennie Dale: Presenter of CBeebies’ show Swashbuckle
Evolution writer and producer Paul Hendy and Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster, the team behind Cinderella, All New Adventures Of Peter Pan, Jack And The Beanstalk and last winter’s Aladdin, will reunite for Sleeping Beauty.
Juliet previously directed Jennie as the Nurse in CBeebies’ production of Romeo & Juliet. “Fairy Moonbeam is such a fun role and I can’t wait to welcome Jennie to York Theatre Royal’s stage this Christmas,” she says. “Jennie is fabulously talented and York audiences can expect a real treat with this year’s pantomime. Don’t miss it!”
Paul says: “We’re delighted Jennie Dale will be joining the cast of Sleeping Beauty as Fairy Moonbeam. She’s an absolutely fantastic West End performer and CBeebies’ star, who we know will amaze the pantomime audiences at York Theatre Royal. Sleeping Beauty is going to be a truly spectacular show. Book now!”
Jennie joins the already confirmed Robin Simpson, who will play the dame for a sixth successive Theatre Royal pantomime. Expect “stunning costumes, gorgeous sets, dazzling special effects and lots of hilarious jokes in a festive treat for the whole family”.
Early birds who book before the end of March can benefit from a price freeze on ticket prices, with options ranging from £15 to £43.50. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
And now there are two: Jennie Dale is the second cast member to be announced for York Theatre Royal and Evolution Productions’ co-production of Sleeping Beauty, joining regular dame Robin Simpson
Freya Horlsey: Among the 163 artists and makers taking part in York Open Studios
SPRING has sprung, the cue for the arts world to have an extra spring in its step, much to Charles Hutchinson’s joy.
Art event of the weekend: York Open Studios Taster Exhibition, The Hospitium, York Museum Gardens, today and tomorrow, 10am to 4pm
YORK Open Studios will showcase 163 artists and makers at 116 locations on April 5, 6, 12 and 13 in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. To whet the appetite, this weekend’s Taster Exhibition showcases works by participating artists to “help you choose which studios you would like to visit”. Full details of the April event can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk. Admission is free.
Stevie Hook: Spinning The Wheel Of Nouns
Queercabaret night of the week: York Literature Festival presents Stevie Hook in The Wheel Of Nouns, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
REJOICE…or beware! The Gender Fairy is loose and has found their way to York.What is gender anyway and why should you care? Discover why it may be easier than you think in Hook’s new cabaret comedy: an evening of spinning game show wheels, jokes, bribes, and voluntary audience participation.
Audience interaction and cabaret-style games create a light-hearted, accepting environment to explore key issues around queerness and gender identity in 70 minutes of thought-provoking, mischievous queer cabaret.
The Wheel Of Nouns is presented by York trans, non-binary, neurodivergent mythical creature, writer and cabaret artist Stevie Hook. They are an associate artist with Roots Theatre and uses the pronouns they/them and hehe/hym.
At the heart of everything they create is a passion for subverting expectations, using games and audience interaction mechanics to invite audiences into silly, unapologetically trans worlds. They believe empowering audiences to participate and play in these silly worlds with them can open doors for meaningful change. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Printmaker Pamela Knight: Exhibiting at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb
Exhibition of the week: Three Printmakers, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until May 7
YORK Printmakers members Pamela Knight, Vanessa Oo and Sandra Storey are taking part in the Three Printmakers: Energy, Atmosphere & Light exhibition. York artist and former theatre set and costume designer Knight specialises in collagraphy, enjoying the textures and effects she creates using this process, often enriched with monoprint and chine colle.
Oo, from York, is displaying monotypes for the first time. “My work is about capturing the magic of the moment; an unseen energy and rhythm,” she says. Harrogate artist Sandra Storey’s work evokes the “talisman-like quality” of plants, birds and natural objects found within the North York Moors landscape. Admission is free.
Close up for Kim Wilde: Songs from Close and Closer at York Barbican
Pop gig of the week: Kim Wilde: Closer Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.45pm
EIGHTIES’ pop star Kim Wilde performs songs from her sixth album, 1988’s Close, complemented by new numbers from Closer, her 15th studio set, released on January 25. Expect the familiar hits too: Kids In America, You Came, You Keep Me Hangin’ On, Never Trust A Stranger, Four Letter Word et al. Cutting Crew support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Fiery Angel head to the Grand Opera House from Tuesday with Lucy Bailey’s production of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express
Thriller of the week: Fiery Angel in Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, Grand Opera House, York, March 25 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
FIERY Angel follow up November 2023’s visit of And Then There Were None with another Agatha Christie murder mystery directed by Lucy Bailey, this time with Michael Maloney on board for a “deliciously thrilling ride” as Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.
In Winter 1934, an avalanche stops The Orient Express dead in its tracks. Cue a murder. A train full of suspects. An impossible case. Trapped in the snow with a killer still on-board, can the world’s most famous detective crack the case before the train reaches its final destination?
Meanwhile, Wise Children’s world premiere of Emma Rice’s theatrical take on Alfred Hitchcock’s North By North West continues at York Theatre Royal until April 5. Box office: GOH, atgtickets.com/york; YTR, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Mark Simmonds in rehearsal for his role as Prospero in Black Sheep Theatre’s The Tempest at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Shakespeare debut of the week: Black Sheep Theatre in The Tempest, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 26 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
AFTER making their mark with musical theatre productions, York company Black Sheep Productions branch out into Shakespeare territory under Matthew Peter Clare’s direction. “Prepare for The Tempest like you’ve never seen it before,” he says, promising magic, music and mayhem in a dark re-telling of the one with “a storm, a shipwreck and the torment of it all”, featuring Mark Simmonds as Prospero, Freya McIntosh as Miranda, Mikhail Lim as Gonzalo, Deathly Dark Tours guide, Kisskisskill singer Gemma-Louise Keane as Ariel, Meg Conway as Antonia and Josh Woodgate as Caliban.
“With a phenomenal cast, a live six-piece band, our production re-imagines Shakespeare’s tale of power, revenge, and redemption in a truly immersive and unforgettable way.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Public Service Broadcasting: York Barbican debut on March 27
Past meets future in the present: Public Service Broadcasting, York Barbican, March 27, doors 7pm
PUBLIC Service Broadcasting make their York Barbican debut with J. Willgoose, Esq on guitar, banjo, other stringed instruments, samples and electronic musical instruments; Wrigglesworth on drums, piano and electronic instruments; J F Abraham on flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums and vibraslap and Mr B on visuals and set design.
“Teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future” for more than a decade, the corduroy-wearing Londoners will select material from their five themed albums, 2013’s Inform – Educate – Entertain, 2015’s The Race For Space, 2017’s Every Valley, 2021’s Bright Magic and 2024’s The Last Flight. She Drew The Gun support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Laura Veirs: Art meets science via geology in her songs at The Crescent, York, on March 27
Folk gig of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents (CORRECT)present Laura Veirs, supported by Lucca Mae, The Crescent, York, March 27, doors 7pm
PORTLAND, Oregon, folk singer, songwriter, children’s author, artist, Midnight Lightning podcaster, Stanford University songwriting teacher and mother Laura Veirs draws on her 14 albums in her Crescent set. Growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she spent summers camping with her family, inspiring her songwriting as much as her fascination with the intersection of art and science from days of studying geology (and Mandarin Chinese) at Carleton College in rural Minnesota.
Her 25-year career has taken in collaborations with Neko Case and kd lang in case/lang/veirs, Sufjan Stevens, Jim James of My Morning Jacket and The Decemberists. Now she is working on new paintings, an instrumental guitar album and a book about creativity. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Freida Nipples: Baps & Buns is backat Bluebird Bakery
Burlesque show of the week: Freida Nipples presents Baps & Buns Burlesque, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, Bakery, March 28, doors 7pmfor 8pm start
YORK’S award-winning queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, returns to Rise with the first Baps & Buns cabaret bill of 2025. On the menu at York’s regular burlesque night in a bakery will be a collection of sensational cabaret artists, fronted by Freida, of course.
Further Baps & Buns will be on the Rise on May 30, June 27, September 19 and December 13. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk.
Will Smith: Off to the seaside to perform at Scarborough Open Air Theatre in August
Gig announcement of the week: Will Smith, Based On A True Story Tour, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 24
WILL Smith, the Grammy Award-winning American screen actor, entertainer and recording artist, will promote his first full-length album in 20 years, Based On A True Story, on his debut UK headline travels that will open on the Yorkshire coast.
Songs from his March 28 release will be complemented by such hits as Jiggy Wit It, Miami, and Summertime. “Yo UK, my first ever tour. You got to go get it. I’m on my way,” says Smith, 56. “That’s my airplane. Scarborough, Cardiff, Manchester, London, it’s going to be hot! I’m about to go to the airport. I’m leaving now!” Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Train of thought:Paul Keating’s Hector MacQueen, left, Bob Barrett’s Monsieur Bouc and Michael Maloney’s Hercule Poirot in discussion in Lucy Bailey’s production of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, next week
REMEMBER And Then There Were None playing the Grand Opera House in November 2023? And now there is another Agatha Christie thriller on track for the York theatre, again directed by Lucy Bailey for Fiery Angel.
It will be full steam ahead for Ken Ludwig’s adaptation of Murder On The Orient Express from next Tuesday, with Michael Maloney on board for a “deliciously thrilling ride” as Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.
In Winter 1934, an avalanche stops The Orient Express dead in its tracks. Cue a murder. A train full of suspects. An impossible case. Trapped in the snow with a killer still on-board, can the world’s most famous detective crack the case before the train reaches its final destination?
Bob Barrett takes the role of Poirot’s fellow Belgian and friend, Monsieur Bouc, director of La Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits, the Orient Express train company, in a tour well into its stride.
“We started rehearsals last August and our first performance was at The Lowry, in Salford, at the beginning of September, since when we’ve been touring with a very big set,” he says.
Bob Barrett, seated, right, in the Fiery Angel cast for Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None on his last visit to the Grand Opera House, York, in November 2023. Picture: Manuel Harlan
“We’ve gone from playing big theatres like The Mayflower in Southampton to the smallest so far, Richmond, with a capacity of 680, and there are parts of the set we can’t use in the smaller venues, but we have a revolve set design that can be used pretty much in its entirety everywhere, certainly in York, where it will be fantastic because it’s such a wide state – and that’s ideal because what you see is a train!”
Trucks were used in the rehearsal room to give a sense of the carriages. “Once we were off the book, we needed as much of the set as possible to work with, and the music too, which is a huge part of the show. I’ve never had that experience before where we had the music in the rehearsal room all the time, creating the energy and the humour in the production.”
Bob is enjoying bonhomie between Monsieur Bouc and Poirot in Bailey’s production. “They have a wonderful bond, and he is the yin to my yang,” he says. Monsieur Bouc is not the brightest, so it’s like Holmes & Watson or Morecambe and Wise, shall we say!
“Bouc has his back, and we see the plot unfold through Poirot’e eyes, with Bouc giving him his support – and advice, even though he’s invariably wrong!”
Bouc’s accent is most definitely Belgian, not French. “In some ways, it’s like the difference between the Canada and the United States. There’s a warmth to the accent and a slight humour too, with Belgians being jokes to the French.
Keeping track of events: Paul Keating’s Hector MacQueen), left, Bob Barrett’s Monsieur Bouc and Simon Cotton’s Samuel Ratchett in Murder On The Orient Express
“There’s a running joke throughout the play, where someone will say, ‘Is the Frenchman coming to see us?’, and I’ll have to say, ‘No, he’s Belgian’. But we have a Frenchman, Jean-Baptiste Fillon, playing the conductor, Michael, so he’s got a really good French accent!”
Joined in the touring production by his wife, Rebecca Charles, in the role of the “weepy and delicate” Greta Ohlsson, Swedish personal assistant to the Russian Princess Natalia Dragomiroff, Bob is returning to the Grand Opera House after appearing as Doctor Armstrong in Lucy Bailey’s account of And Then There Were None in November 2023.
“That was the first Agatha Christie production that Fiery Angel had done on such a big scale and it was a huge success,” he says. “They’ll be reuniting later this year for Death On The Nile with Lucy teaming up with same designer and production team too.
“Lucy has this wonderful imagination, she’s incredibly positive, and creates these unbelievable moments of energy in her directing, taking you on this rollercoaster, taking you to places that you wouldn’t expect to go to.
“She pushes you collectively, lifting the actors [metaphorically] above her shoulders and just running with it, so that you all feel part of the creative process, and that’s how she gets such energy into the performance.”
Director Lucy Bailey: “She has this wonderful imagination, she’s incredibly positive, and creates these unbelievable moments of energy in her directing,” says cast member Bob Barrett. Picture: Manuel Harlan
Assessing why Agatha Christie remains as popular as ever, whether on page, stage or screen, Bob posits: “Usually writers remain popular if what they’ve done has never been bettered.
“That’s why we go back to Shakespeare, Ibsen, Beckett, and Christie too. What they’ve done has been copied, but never bettered. In Christie’s case, how she creates suspense, intrigue and excitement. Dickens is the greatest English creator of characters but Agatha is not far behind. Poirot is such an iconic figure, even more so than Miss Marple.
“The other day, we found out that she’d written a version of Death On The Nile where she wrote out Poirot and had a vicar solving the crime, as she couldn’t face writing another Poirot story, but then changed her mind.”
Bob continues: “Agatha Christie wrote 75 books, Dickens 15, Jane Austen only six. So you have a lifetime of Christie reading ahead! I always say that she’s very accurate in what she writes, and if you’re that successful, you have to have an understanding of human nature, taking people out of their comfort zone and seeing what happens to them, thinking, ‘how would I behave in that situation?’.”
Fiery Angel presents Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, Grand Opera House, York, March 25 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york
Did you know?
BOB Barrett is best known for his BBC television role as Sacha Levy in Holby City since 2010, with further screen credits in EastEnders, The Bill, Shakespeare In Love, Wonderful You, Casualty and Father Brown.
THE world premiere of Emma Rice’s theatrical take on Alfred Hitchcock’s North By North West is up and running at York Theatre Royal with a full week of previews before next Wednesday’s press night: a lead-up more associated with West End premieres.
Such is the scale and anticipation that surrounds Frome company Wise Children’s co-production with the Theatre Royal, HOME Manchester and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse.
“The show’s ready for an audience,” said writer-director Emma last Friday morning, in a brief break from tech-week preparations for Tuesday’s first preview.
Five weeks of rehearsals at The Lucky Chance, Wise Children’s creative space in a converted Methodist church in Somerset, had preceded moving up to York on March 16.
“There’s a certain percentage of work you can’t do in the rehearsal room, especially when we have a very ambitious set with four revolving doors that are over four metres high and slide over the stage, and the cast has to learn how to move across the stage,” says Emma. “It’s quite mathematical as it’s such a mind-bending plot – and Maths is not my strong point!”
Quick refresher course: Hitchcock’s 1959 American spy thriller, the one starring Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint and James Mason from cinema’s Golden Age, finds hapless advertising man Roger Thornhill (now played by Ewan Wardrop) being mistaken for George Kaplan when a mistimed phone call to his mother lands him smack bang in the middle of a Cold War conspiracy. Now he is on the run across America, dodging foreign spies, airplanes and a femme fatale, Eve Kendall, who might not be all she seems.
Rice duly turns Hitchcock’s smart thriller on its head in her riotously humorous reworking, replete with six shape-shifting performers, a fabulous 1950s’ soundtrack and a heap of hats, clothes, suitcases and newspapers in a topsy-turvy drama full of glamour, glitz, romance, jeopardy and a liberal sprinkling of tender truths.
Where Rice’s vision of North By Northwest meets Hitchcock’s version is “sort of a surprising marriage, but I’ve loved it” she says of the creative process. “I love that it’s an impossible test. North By Northwest has a vast series of impossible problems to solve on stage, from Mount Rushmore to the plane, the crop duster, and you have to work your magic.
“We’ve come up with lots of fun ways to meet those challenges, those setpieces, while also matching Hitchcock’s vision, so it’s very stylish.”
Etta Murfitt’s contribution as movement director has been important. “It’s been fascinating because it’s an odyssey story and the thing you can’t do with the four-door set is travel much, so you have to find the energy to give that sense of travel,” says Emma.
Emma Rice at Wise Children’s creative space, The Lucky Chance, a converted Methodist church in Frome, Somerset
“We do that with fantastic choreography that, like Bob Fosse’s work, gives it humour as well as movement, and you think, ‘is it dance, is it theatre’? We have six actors who are incredibly virtuosic in their acting. Five of them have worked with me before, and the newcomer to the company is Simon Oskarsson, who’s Swedish but has been working in England for a long time.”
North By Northwest may be outwardly familiar, “but I would place a wager now that a lot people will have seen the film but if you ask them to tell the story they probably couldn’t,” says Emma. “I’ve taken months to complete all the beats of the story. I’ve not needed to have too many surprises but I’ve made it easier to understand.
“My experience of the film was that it was baffling, and we’ve been able to tell the story more clearly without losing the tension.”
To help her do so, she methodically made note cards of each plot point, placed on the floor to work through the machinations in her fourth conversion from screen to stage after The Red Shoes, A Matter Of Life And Death and Brief Encounter in her Kneehigh Theatre days.
“Nothing happens in Brief Encounter. Everything happens in North By North West, and it takes every iota of my theatre craft to present it. I have to be on the front of my toes. Like we now have over 70 suitcases in this show, each one with a different label and different things in it, after I swapped having lots of hats for more suitcases, though there are still many hats, but many more suitcases now!”
Emma has homed in on the 1950s’ post-war setting too, not least to bring more depth to Hitchcock’s characters. “I’ve always been really fascinated by the Fifties,” she says. “My parents were small children in the war; my grandparents fought in the war. My parents were my family’s first generation to go university.
“Every character in the film would have just come out of the war; everyone making the film would have experienced it, so it’s been interesting to add that depth to it.”
In particular, she focuses on building up the back story of Eve Kendall, the femme fatale who helps Thornhill to avoid detection after they meet on a train. “I think Hitchcock made a great job of Eve; she’s the heroine of the piece, putting herself on the line with her bravery and her moral judgement when facing the most jeopardy.”
Emma has given the narrator’s role to Katy Owen’s Professor. “I’ve used a lot of Hitchcock’s dialogue in the play, but the Professor’s narration is very much in my language though I’ve also used stage directions from Ernest Lehman’s film script, which was a masterpiece. They’re beautifully written; the language is virtuosic and humorous and elegant too.”
Wise Children in Alfred Hitchcock’s North By North West, York Theatre Royal, until April 5, 7.30pm plus2pm, March 26 and April 3; 2.30pm, March 29 and April 5Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Wise Children’s world premiere of Alfred Hitchcock’s North By Northwest, on stage at York Theatre Royal from this week
