Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond when steam rises and a robot falls in love. Hutch’s List No. 36, from The Press, York

Playwright and director Alan Ayckbourn and actress Naomi Petersen in the rehearsal room for the Stephen Joseph Theatre premiere of Constant Companions. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

AYCKBOURN and android love, traction engines and farming photography, comic fantasy and anecdotal Love stories keep Charles Hutchinson busy as summer exits stage left.

Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s Constant Companions, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Thursday to October 7

IN Alan Ayckbourn’s 89th play, Lorraine is a fabulously successful lawyer of a certain age. Jan Sixty is the janitor of her building, an android of indeterminate age. In a not-too-distant future, where humans have turned to artificial friends for companionship without compromise, can Lorraine and Jan find true love?

“Reading so much about the inevitable arrival of AI into our society – some would say it’s already here! – I felt a cautious look forward might be in order,” says Alan. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

The skill of tractor pulling at the Yorkshire Traction Engine Rally at Scampston Hall. Picture: Outdoor Shows

Full steam ahead: Yorkshire Traction Engine Rally, Scampston Hall, Scampston, near Malton, today and tomorrow, 9am to 5pm

THE Yorkshire Traction Engine Rally, organised by Outdoor Shows, takes over Scampston Hall’s parkland this weekend. Among the steam fair attractions will be tractor pulling, steam engines, classic cars, vintage tractors, classic motorcycles, fairground organs, miniature steam engines, stationary engines and vintage commercials.

In the main arena, Flyin Ryan and his motorcycle stunt team deliver daredevil antics, comedy routines, fire stunts and arena entertainment, while the Scarborough Fair Collection stages two days of music and magic extravaganzas. Box office: scampston.co.uk or outdoorshows.co.uk.

The George Harrison Project: Here come the songs at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre tonight

Recalling the “quiet Beatle”: The George Harrison Project, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm

MARKING the Beatles legend’s 80th anniversary, this tribute show to George Harrison embraces his Fab Four, solo and Traveling Wilburys supergroup years.

Here come Here Comes The Sun, Something, Taxman, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, My Sweet Lord, All Things Must Pass, Got My Mind Set On You, Handle With Care, Give Me Love, What Is Life, If I Needed Someone, Cheer Down and many more. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

The 2023 poster for York Unleashed Comic-Con

Geek of the week: York Unleashed Comic-Con, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, tomorrow, 11am to 5pm

YORK actor David Bradley, from the Harry Potter films, Game Of Thrones and Doctor Who, leads the guest appearances at this weekend’s “geekiest, nerdiest” gathering. Lee Boardman, Clive Russell, Richard Gibson and Kit Hardman will be there too, along with comic creators and authors Sasha Ray Art, Carolyn Craggs, Lindsey Greyling, KS Marsden, Kelvin VA Allison Paolo Debernardi, Victoria Bates and Ben Sawyer.

Look out too for Geeky Attractions on three sites, including a Back To The Future time machine, a retro gaming area, Star Wars display, children’s activities, art area, stage talks, cosplay masquerade and geeky market selling merchandise and collectables. Tickets update: available on the door from 11am.

The artwork for Don Pears and Singphonia’s concert The Great American Songbook – From A To Z

Fundraiser of the week: Don Pears and Singphonia presents The Great American Songbook – From A To Z Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 4pm

DON Pears and Singphonia explore the vast scope of the Great American Songbook from the 1900s to the present, from Al Jolson to Beyoncé, covering spirituals and jazz through rock’n’roll and Rat Pack standards to modern hits, not forgetting musical theatre too.

Musical director Pears and his group of York singers perform solos, duets, and group numbers, taking in Irving Berlin, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley, John Denver and The Carpenters in a fundraiser for the JoRo. Box office: 01904 501395 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Don’t Stop Believin’ in Eighties’ hits galore at the Grand Opera House, York

Tribute show of the show: Don’t Stop Believin’, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

JUMP aboard the midnight train, heaven is a place on Earth called York, for this end-of-the-night anthems spectacular, a new feelgood tribute show that promises a crazy, crazy night of non-stop, singalong favourites.

Hits by Blondie, Bryan Adams, Cher, Rainbow, Bon Jovi, Kate Bush, Starship, Europe and Belinda Carlisle feature among the 30 songs in this high-energy theatre production with “a sizzling cast, fantastic costumes and amazing light show”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

In the name of Love: Comedian and TV panellist Judi has plenty to say at York Theatre Royal

Anecdotes of the week: The One Like Judi Love, York Theatre Royal,  Thursday, 8pm

EXPECT unrelenting, humorous anecdotes from “the one like Judi Love” on her first official talk tour, full of stories from the Hackney stand-up comedian and presenter’s life.

Regular Loose Women panellist Love, 43, has appeared on Taskmaster, The Jonathan Ross Show, The Graham Norton Show, 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown and the Royal Variety Performance too. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Alligator Gumbo: foot-stomping rhythms, tap-away tunes and raucous singalongs at Stillington Mill

Getting the swing of things: Alligator Gumbo, At The Mill, Stillington, near York, Friday, 7.30pm

SUMMER At The Mill welcomes Alligator Gumbo for a night of swing/jazz from the New Orleans heyday. In particular, the Leeds seven-piece focuses on the raw music of the roaring 1920s, largely improvised with melodies and solos happening simultaneously.

Performing extensively for more than ten years, Alligator Gumbo have played international jazz festivals and clubs throughout the country with their good-natured mix of foot-stomping rhythms, tap-away tunes and raucous singalongs. Bar At The Mill will be running from 6.30pm, alongside the wood-fired pizzas. Box office: tickettailor.com/events/atthemill/942447.

Ryan Gosling’s Ken and Margot Robbie’s Barbie in the summer’s biggest hit as Barbie heads outdoors into the Museum Gardens for a Movies In The Moonlight screening

Outdoor cinema: City Screen Picturehouse presents Movies In The Moonlight, Museum Gardens, York, Mamma Mia!, September 8,  7.30pm, and Barbie (12A), September 9, 7.30pm

PICTUREHOUSE Outdoor Cinema returns to the York Museum Gardens for open-air screenings of Phyllida Lloyd’s 2008 Abba hit-laden musical rom-com Mamma Mia! (PG) and this summer’s splash-of-pink box-office smash, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (12A). Free samples of Mochi Balls from ice cream makers Little Moons can be enjoyed on both nights.

Whether on a girls’ night out or a family & friends evening, audience members are encouraged to dress up – and sing along too on the Mamma Mia! Night. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.

The yearning and the yawning when showing sheep: One of Valerie Mather’s photographs from her Fields, Folds and Farming Life exhibition at Nunnington Hall, opening next Saturday. Picture: Valerie Mather

Exhibition launch of the week: Fields, Folds and Farming Life, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near York, September 9 to December 17; 10.30am to 5pm, last entry at 4.15pm, with reduced winter hours from November 24

FIELDS, Folds and Farming Life, an exhibition by Yorkshire documentary, travel and portrait photographer Valerie Mather, captures candid moments from a year in the lives of upland farmers in Bransdale, a valley and surrounding moorland in North Yorkshire.

The combination of Mather’s work and specially produced films and artwork reveals the hard work and determination of the farming community in navigating the ever-changing agricultural world to achieve a better farming future for people, the environment and wildlife. No booking is required; exhibition included in admission price at this National Trust property. More details at nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall.

Posted on

Cyclists needed to power Stephanie Hutchinson’s performance in climate crisis play at York Theatre Royal in September

Stephanie Hutchinson: Leeds actress will play Naomi in A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction at York Theatre Royal

CYCLISTS are needed to power radical new theatre show A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction at York Theatre Royal next month.

Miranda Rose Hall’s darkly humorous, life-affirming play uses energy generated by on-stage cyclists, who will ride specially adapted bicycles to power all the electricity required for lighting and sound.

Consequently, the Theatre Royal is seeking volunteers to saddle up to be part of this innovative production, co-produced with Headlong and the Barbican, London. Eight cyclists are needed for each 80-minute performance, outnumbering the solo performer by eight to one.

Anyone keen to be involved can find out more at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/pedalpower. The deadline for signing up is Monday, September 11.

Running in York from September 27 to 30, Miranda Rose Hall’s play heads out on a life-changing journey to confront the urgent ecological disaster unfolding around us. Part ritual, part battle cry, this “fiercely feminist off-grid” one-woman show offers a moving evaluation of what it means to be human in an era of man-made extinction.

Sharing learning from Europe and Katie Mitchell too, Headlong’s innovative touring model explores the idea of a play touring, but the people involved not doing so, in the first project of its kind in the UK.

The Barbican hosted the beginning of this journey and now each city on the tour will follow a blueprint for the show, brought to life by a different team of theatre makers at each venue as part of a ground-breaking international experiment in reimagining theatre in a climate crisis.

The York leg’s director, Mingyu Lin, resident artist at York Theatre Royal, says: “York is the final stop for this ground-breaking concept of sustainable touring and I’m so excited to be directing our own version of this ambitiously eco-conscious and witty show, which will be made (and powered!) by York talent.”

The role of Naomi will be played in York by Stephanie Hutchinson, from Leeds, who studied performing arts at Salford University. She previously appeared on the Theatre Royal stage in Green Hammerton company Badapple Theatre’s haunted dance hall comedy, Elephant Rock, in May 2022.

Her further theatre credits include Shake The City (Jermyn Street Theatre), Wind In The Willows Library Theatre, Manchester), Mugabeland (Come As You Arts North West) and The Haunted Man (Kindred Theatre) and she has had television roles in Emmerdale, Without Sin and Coronation Street too.

A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction, York Theatre Royal, September 27 to 30, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Haunted happenings: Stephanie Hutchinson in Badapple Theatre Company’s Elephant Rock at York Theatre Royal in May last year

In Focus: A Play For The Living In A Time of Extinction director Mingyu Lin

DIRECTOR Mingyu Lin could be excused for feeling a little lonely as she prepares to bring an innovative show to the stage of York Theatre Royal. She has moved from rehearsing a community company of 100 for Sovereign to A Play For The Living In A Time Of Extinction with a cast of only one.

While cast numbers may be small, the idea and thoughts behind the project are big, not least the idea of generating power for the production using bicycles on a zero-travel tour. Or as the pre-show publicity puts it: “a bold experiment in eco theatre-making” that sees the play tour across the country while the people and materials do not.

York is the final stop, where Theatre Royal resident artist Ming, a regular director of Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks, has been involved with the project from the start. She was working as a creative associate at Headlong when “the play passed my desk”, and she recalls that she and the rest of the team loved it.

A Zoom meeting was set up with the writer Miranda Rose Hall, who lives in America, and Katie Mitchell, director of a version of the play in Switzerland, to discuss how a play about sustainability could itself be sustainable. Pedal power, involving a team of cyclists generating electricity during the performance , was a big part of the answer.

“I’m passionate about touring theatre and Headlong tours outside London, so we knew we had to tour the play,” says Ming. “And if you have a play that looks at climate change, I’m against a play made in London going around the north telling us how to live our lives.

“What the tour does is use local talent and it doesn’t have all the things that are damaging where you spend lots of energy and resources when you move people from place to place, which you don’t actually need to do because where you’re moving to has got those things already.

“What’s been done is find a way to be both sustainable and tour. The concept of the play never changes but the talent working on it changes at each venue. Cyclists are recruited at each venue to power the show. The only thing that’s moved physically is the technology that transforms kinetic energy into electricity – and that all comes in one big box.”

When Headlong was planning the tour, Ming knew she was joining York Theatre Royal as a resident artist, so she snapped up the chance to direct the production. “I knew I really wanted the people of York to see it,” she says.

“I knew York would love it in a theatre that’s absolutely unique and gorgeous. The play and
the concept fits really well within the theatre and York itself is a cycling city.”

Ming needed to find an actor within commutable distance of York to play Naomi, the character in the one-woman play. That turned out to be Leeds-based Stephanie Hutchinson.

“With one-person shows it’s difficult to maintain the energy and the engagement. You are really banking on performance charisma. We had to look for a very strong performer and there are a lot of them in the area,” says Ming. “I hope that even if we don’t work with them now, we will work with them very shortly because those we saw were of a high calibre.”

Theatre was “always the dream” for Ming. “Growing up in Singapore, I was interested in stories and storytelling. I loved reading and in the world of literature everything is new writing,” she says. “I worked as a stage manager there during the holidays. When I started doing A-level drama, I realised theatre is a great way of telling stories.”

MIngyu LIn, front right, with fellow Sovereign directors Juliet Forster and John R Wilkinson, front left, writer Mike Kenny and central character Henry VIII at King’s Manor, York

She studied English Literature at the University of York, then trained as a director at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She now directs for stage and screen, as well as being a founder member of the BESEA (British East and Southeast Asian) advocacy group BEATS (Better Ethnic Access To Services).

Ming also is a [play] reader for Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre and the Brentwood Prize. “As a stage director, what I’m really passionate about is advocacy. I want to affect society change
with the work we do,” she says.

“I’m part of an advocacy group that campaigns for more South East Asian representation on stage, backstage, on screen and behind the camera. The genres I’m interested in
primarily are new writing and adaptation,” says Ming.

“One reason I was drawn to A Play For The Living was because it deals with an urgent issue,
something important, and features a wonderful way to get communities involved with the cycling. There’s also a volunteer choir involved.”

York Theatre Royal’s summertime large-scale production of Sovereign, staged outdoors at King’s Manor with a 100-strong community company led by two professional actors, was “great” for Ming because “I’m very, very, very up for working with the community. That’s very important. You can make change doing that,” she says.

Directing Sovereign – with co-directors Juliette Forster and John R Wilkinson – was definitely a challenge but, putting it in perspective, Ming refers to the scale of directing for television with a crew of 50 and cast of 20.

Not the most stressful artistically perhaps, but certainly in terms of the logistics and keeping on schedule. “There was a lot of joy in the uniqueness of a community production like Sovereign. It was a challenge because most of the performers had never been in that situation before,” she says.

“With rehearsals, they were learning new things and you were going on a journey with them, and that’s quite fun. There was a huge treasure trove of learning for me, especially working with Juliet [Forster, the Theatre Royal’s creative director], who has done so many large-scale community productions. That was really helpful, working with other directors.

“One thing I loved about coming here was that I knew there were other directors in the artistic planning team and you get to work together.”

She is now part of that community, as she and her husband, who comes from York, have
moved to the city.

Ming directing Hollyoaks coincided with the arrival of the first South East Asian family in a television soap: a continuing TV drama that reaches a younger audience than most theatre shows. “So you’re not preaching to the same audience as in the theatre. You’re widening your reach. The show also covers a lot of important storylines, which is what drew me to it,” she says.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond when everything stops for tea. Hutch’s List No. 35 for 2023, from The Press, York

Night glow: Yorkshire Balloon Fiesta to light up Castle Howard grounds

EVERYTHING is up in the air for Charles Hutchinson in his search for cultural entertainment and enlightenment as balloons take to the Yorkshire skies. Tea is on the menu too.

Festival of the week: Yorkshire Balloon Fiesta, Castle Howard, near York, today until Bank Holiday Monday

THE Yorkshire Balloon Fiesta has left the green expanse of York’s Knavesmire for the country air of Castle Howard, its new (stately) home. The family-friendly extended weekend features mass balloon launches, tethered balloons and night-glow displays that light up the evenings against the backdrop of Castle Howard’s grounds and architecture.

Look out for headline 9pm live sets from Sister Sledge tonight, Eurovision star Sam Ryder tomorrow and Joel Corry on Monday. For family entertainment, here come The Raver Tots Big Top each afternoon, Andy And The Odd Socks (tomorrow, 2.30pm); CBeebies’ Justin Fletcher (Monday, 1.30pm); Dick & Dom DJ Battle (Monday, 3pm) and street-dancers Diversity (Monday, 4.30pm).

Activities include a fun fair, TV character meet-and-greets and the world’s largest inflatable assault course, culminating in a spectacular finale on Monday evening. Box office: yorkshireballoonfiesta.co.uk.

Teddy at teatime: Joseph Rowntree Theatre fundraiser takes over a country garden tomorrow afternoon

Tea time part one: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Summer Garden Party, Trinity House, Stockton on the Forest, near York, tomorrow, 3pm

FIRST held in 2021, the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Summer Garden Party returns this weekend, taking over the private garden of Trinity House. A choice of teas with home-made plain or cheese scones will be on the menu, complemented by a raffle and cake stall. 

Special guests The Notebook, an acoustic duo, will be performing two sets spanning soul, ambient jazz and “live lounge-type” pop. Proceeds will go to the JoRo’s fundraising appeal. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Janet Bruce and Cassie Vallance of Story Craft Theatre: Summer fun in the Stillington Mill garden

Children’s activity of the week: Story Craft Theatre’s Summer Fun Garden Party, At The Mill, Stillington, near York, Monday, 10am to 12 noon

STORY Craft Theatre and At The Mill join forces on Bank Holiday Monday for a magical event celebrating the joys of being in the garden. 

Suitable for two to eight-year-olds, York duo Janet Bruce and Cassie Vallance’s morning party fun includes craft making, a scavenger hunt, a word search, lawn games and an enchanting interactive theatre show. Box office: athemill.org.

Sam Thorpe-Spinks’ Jack Barak, left, and Fergus Rattigan’s Matthew Shardlake in a legal pickle in Sovereign, York Theatre Royal’s community play at King’s Manor

Film screening of the week: Sovereign, York Theatre Royal, Wednesday, 7pm, and Thursday, 2pm and 7pm

CAMERAS recorded the July 23 evening performance of York Theatre Royal’s 2023 community play, York playwright Mike Kenny’s adaptation of C J Sansom’s Tudor-set political thriller, Sovereign, at King’s Manor, Exhibition Square. This film can be viewed at three free screenings in the Theatre Royal’s main house with a booking limit of four tickets per person.

In 1541, lawyer Matthew Shardlake (Fergus Rattigan) and his assistant Jack Barak (Sam Thorpe-Spinks) are sent to York to await the arrival of Henry VIII on his mission to sort out northern rebels. Cue intrigue, mystery, murder and North v South shenanigans. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Sleeper: Reviving Britpop hits at The Crescent on Wednesday

Britpop memories of the week: Sleeper, The Crescent, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

THE Crescent has teamed up with the National Lottery and Music Venue Trust for a United By Music summer show with Britpop legends Sleeper.

Louise Wener’s reawakened band are back on the road, where fellow founder members Jon Stewart (guitar) and Andy Maclure (drums) are joined by bassist Kieron Pepper, previously of The Prodigy, to reactivate Inbetweener, What Do I Do Now?, Sale Of The Century, Nice Guy Eddie, Statuesque et al. Honey Moon support. Tickets update: Sold out; for returns only, check the crescentyork.com.

The Rocket Man: Jimmy Love at the piano for his band’s tribute show to Sir Elton John

Tribute show of the week: The Rocket Man, A Tribute To Sir Elton John, Grand Opera House, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

MISSING Sir Elton after that Glastonbury finale? Step forward Jimmy Love and his band, ready to head down the Yellow Brick Road for two hours of Elton John hits, from Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting and Crocodile Rock to Philadelphia Freedom and I’m Still Standing, plus many, many more.

Love’s tribute show takes a journey through Elton’s life and career, the highs and the lows, with many a laugh too. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

How do you do: Millie Robins’ Sophie meets Benjamin Stone’sTiger in The Tiger Who Came To Tea, on tour at York Theatre Royal

Tea time part two: The Tiger Who Came To Tea, York Theatre Royal, September 1, 2pm and 4.30pm, and September 2, 11am, 2pm and 4.30pm

COMMEMORATING the centenary of author Judith Kerr’s birth, The Tiger Who Came To Tea is back on the road in a 55-minute musical production adapted and directed by David Wood.

This slice of teatime mayhem serves up singalong songs, oodles of magic and interactive fun suitable for children aged three upwards when the doorbell rings just as Sophie (Millie Robins) and her mum (Katie Tripp) sit down to tea. Who could it possibly be? Enter a big, furry, stripy, tea-guzzling Tiger (Benjamin Stone). Scott Penrose, former president of the Magic Circle, provides the magical illusion designs. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

York jewellery designer Mo Burrows: Demonstrating the Japanese technique of kumihimo braiding at Fangfest next weekend

Art event of the week: Fangfest, Fangfoss, near Pocklington, September 2 and 3, 10am to 4pm each day

NEXT weekend’s Fangfest, the Fangfoss Festival of Practical Arts, features 30 artists and craft makers demonstrating and exhibiting their work, from woodworking, rocking horse-making, felting and painting to wire sculpture, medieval tile techniques, jewellery and peg loom-weaving.  

A mixed-media pattern design workshop and drop-in craft activities, such as children’s card marking, pot-throwing on the wheel, pottery painting and a collaborative mixed-media mural, will be taking place too. A charity sunflower trail, classic car collection, pantomime-themed flower festival in St Martin’s Church, fairground rides, archery sessions and busking spots for ukuleles, a shanty crew, young celloists and a pop choir are further attractions. Entry is free.

Jo Whiley: Revelling in 1990s’ anthems at York Barbican next month

Nostalgia afoot: Jo Whiley’s 90s Anthems, York Barbican, September 9, 7.30pm

BBC Radio 2 presenter, DJ and producer Jo Whiley, the voice of a Brit generation, is heading for York after rummaging through her record bag to dig out the very best of 1990s’ anthems.

Whiley was on the cutting-edge, leading the charge as Britpop blew up, dance music exploded and indie went wild. Now comes the chance to re-live those magical memories on a dancefloor, from Oasis to Blur, The Chemical Brothers to The Prodigy. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Posted on

Theatre Royal adds extra show as The Tiger Who Came To Tea tour roars into York

The tiger who drank from the tea pot: Millie Robins’ Sophie and Katie Tripp’s Mummy observe the teatime manners of Benjamin Stone’s Tiger in The Tiger Who Came To Tea. All pictures: Robert Day

THE Tiger Who Came To Tea is tucking in at York Theatre Royal on September 1 and 2, with an extra show added to the second day to meet ticket demand.

Commemorating the centenary of the birth of author Judith Kerr, the Olivier Award-nominated stage show is on tour in a musical production adapted and directed by David Wood.

Hailed as Britain’s best-loved picture book, Kerr’s classic is entering its 55th year, having sold more than five million copies since its first publication in 1968 with its story of the doorbell ringing just as Sophie and her mum are sitting down to tea. Who could it possibly be? What they do not expect to see at the door is a big furry, stripy tiger. 

Wood’s 55-minute show premiered in 2008 and has since toured nationally and internationally, including Christmas seasons at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Arts Centre with sold-out dates in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and Bahrain.

Teatime essentials: Benjamin Stone’s Milkman delivers more than the milk in The Tiger Who Came To Tea

Bringing the tea-guzzling tiger to life on stage, this musical slice of teatime mayhem serves up singalong songs, oodles of magic and interactive fun suitable for children aged three upwards.

In the cast will be Millie Robinsas Sophie, Katie Tripp as Mummy and the multi role-playing Benjamin Stone as Daddy, Milkman, Postman and Tiger, with Jack Huckin and Tia Bunce on understudy duty.

Wood is joined in the production team by designer Susie Caulcutt, assistant director/choreographer Emma Clayton, music arranger and supervisor Peter Pontzen, lighting designer Tony Simpson and sound designers Shock Productions. Scott Penrose, former president of the Magic Circle, provides the magical illusion designs.

Nicoll Entertainment presents The Tiger Who Came To Tea at York Theatre Royal, September 1, 2pm and 4.30pm, and September 2, 11am, 2pm and the late addition at 4.30pm. Ticket remain on sale for all performances with the best availability for the last show. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Everything stops for tea as Millie Robins’ Sophie entertains Benjamin Stone’s Tiger in The Tiger Who Came To Tea, on tour at York Theatre Royal next week

              

Posted on

The House With Chicken Legs sprouts touring wings in Les Enfants Terribles’ show

The power of puppetry in Les Enfants Terribles’ play with music The House With Chicken Legs. Picture: Rah Petherbridge

IMAGINE a house with chicken legs. Such an image will come to stage life in Les Enfants Terribles’ account of Sophie Anderson’s novel at York Theatre Royal from September 6 to 9.

First staged at HOME Manchester in 2022, Oliver Lansley’s adaptation is on its premiere tour, visiting Leeds Playhouse too from September 13 to 16.

Directed by Lansley and James Seager, with music and sound design by Alexander Wolfe and songs co-written by Wolfe and Lansley, The House With Chicken Legs transports audiences to a world inspired by Baba Yaga with the aid of puppets, live music, masks and magic. 

The story follows Marinka, a young girl who dreams of a normal life, where she can stay somewhere long enough to make friends, but she must surmount one problem: her house has chicken legs and is liable to move without warning.

The house with chicken legs in The House With Chicken Legs. Picture: Rah Petherbridge

Such propensity to movement mirrors Les Enfants Terribles. “We kind of go all over the place,” says director Oliver. “I’m based in London, but this production originated in Manchester last year with HOME as our partners, playing only in Manchester. This tour will be the first time everyone can see it, as we move around the country, which is very exciting.

“We brought The Trench to the Theatre Royal [for the TakeOver Festival in June 2013] and we’re delighted to be coming back to York.”

Since the Manchester run, Lansley and Seager have “tweaked bits here and there, trimmed bits here and there, and some of the cast have changed”. “But we still have our original Marinka and Baba, Eve de Leon Allen and Lisa Howard,” says Oliver.

Howard will need no introduction to York or Leeds audiences, whether from Park Bench Theatre’s Every Time A Bell Rings in the Rowntree Park Friends’ Garden or her Spirit Of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol at Leeds Playhouse.

Les Enfants Terribles director Oliver Lansley. Picture: Michael Carlo

“The book was written as a young adult novel, but the play is suitable for children aged nine upwards,” says Oliver. “It was inspired by the tale of Baba Yaga, who, in an old legend, did have a house with chicken legs. Her job is to guide the souls of the dead into the afterlife, so Sophie’s book is one of those stories that’s magical and is written for young readers but deals with adult themes, but in a really magical way.

“Marinka is the granddaughter of Baba Yaga and is destined to be the next of the guardians of the gate, but like most teenagers [or 12-year-old in her case], she’s rebelling and trying to find her own way in the world in that space.”

Marinka, played by an adult in Les Enfants Terribles’ production, is dreaming of leading a normal life. “But she doesn’t really know what that is, and there’s that thing of her being a fish out of water, pretending to be a normal child, but not knowing what the rules are or how she should behave,” says Oliver.

“But then she discovers that there’s no such thing as normal and that everyone has their own complications.”

Eve de Leon Allen’s Marinka and Lisa Howard’s Baba, right, in Les Enfants Terribles’ The House With Chicken Legs. Picture: Rah Petherbridge

Among those complications addressed by Anderson’s story is the impact on young people of moving home. “There is this idea at play of having to move around constantly, particularly for young people, whether changing school, moving house, moving from town to town, when they want security,” says Oliver.

“That security comes from family, and that’s what ‘home’ is, rather than a physical place that you call home.”

Be assured, audiences will see a house move on stage…on chicken legs. “That’s the sort of thing we love to do,” says Oliver. “And yes, we’ve managed to make it fun, after we looked at different ways of doing it and finally settled on one, because it has to be really magical.

“We try to make all these things part of the show as seamlessly as possible, looking at the best way to tell a story with the tools available, such as our video designs by Nina Dunn, who did the Jaws show, The Shark Is Broken, in the West End.”

Music and masks in Les Enfants Terribles’ The House With Chicken Legs. Picture: AB Photography

Crucially too, The House With Chicken Legs “deftly navigates the complexities of loss from a whole new perspective”. “The story explores how we look at death differently in different cultures: in our culture we don’t talk about it much, but other cultures celebrate it, like the Day of the Dead in Mexico,” says Oliver.

“But young people have had to confront death over the past few years with Covid in a way that they’ve not had to before that. Death doesn’t have to be a scary thing, but we do give it that ominous status in our country by not talking about it.” 

Les Enfants Terribles in The House With Chicken Legs, York Theatre Royal, September 6 to 9, 7pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee; Leeds Playhouse, September 13 to 16, 7pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2pm Saturday matinees. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk

Copyright of The Press, York

Posted on

REVIEW: Esk Valley Theatre in Deals And Deceptions, Robinson Institute, Glaisdale; the plot thickens until August 26 ****

Clara Darcy’s Jen takes on a new life in the North York Moors in Mark Stratton’s thriller drama Deals And Deceptions. Picture:Tony Bartholomew

YORKSHIRE countryside shapes lives, from Wuthering Heights to All Creatures Great And Small, Francis Lee’s God’s Own Country to…Mark Stratton’s debut thriller drama for Esk Valley Theatre, his moorland home for nigh on 20 years.

“The presence of the North York Moors looms large in the play,” said EVT’s director in his CharlesHutchPress interview.

Londoners Danny and Jen Stevens (Dominic Rye, Clara Darcy) have had to hurry north to an isolated cottage, finding little more than an echo, a bare light bulb, one picture at a tilt on the wall…and a loose floorboard that opens a cupboard when walked on. That quirk will go on to play a significant role…

Leaving behind a flash lifestyle, they set up home with the impermanence of camping equipment: fold-out beds, a small table and misbehaving fold-up chairs. Needs must, but what was the reason for the midnight flit? Only Danny knows why.

In the presence of Darcy’s Jen, Rye’s Danny is reassuring, jack the lad, everything will be OK. Alone, he is as twitchy as a malfunctioning kettle (or that cupboard door), on the lookout, because everything could be KO, not OK.

The clue is in the title: deals and deceptions are afoot, dark deeds at work, dark forces at play. Not wishing to give everything away, let’s just say Danny’s deals may not be as clean as the Yorkshire air, and off back to London he heads to sort things out. Only a few days, he says, in his latest act of deception to Jen. Before leaving, he will buy her a little runaround car, but tell her to keep her encounters with the locals brief and to the minimum.

Yorkshire, however, has a way of introducing itself to these incomers as Stratton relishes the chance to play to a home crowd with sounds and happenings familiar to us. The alarming screams of screech owls; peacocks from the neighbouring country house tapping at the door; the snuffling and shuffling of a farmyard pig. Not so much ‘introducing’ as intruding, you might say, but each one loosens the  release valve for humour, after the initial shot of fear, as the truth is revealed.

Stratton’s cameo role, rooted in two decades of encounters with the Esk Valley farming community, is the very personification of Yorkshire introducing/intruding. Without invitation, his frank-speaking farmer, Wink – short for Winston – Towson, arrives at the door. His accent and phraseology are a mystery to Jen, but this gentle giant is a helpful sort.

In dodgy Danny’s absence, Jen makes a deal with God’s own country and begins a deception of her own by necessity, creating the new persona of a Yorkshire lass from Barnsley, as she Teaches Thissen T’Talk Tyke in a delightfully humorous transition to begin a journey of shell-shedding self-discovery.

This North-South divide is superbly delineated by the impressive Darcy throughout the resulting scenes. Jen grows to love the new life, bonding with gardener Jed Winter (part two for Rye), her blossoming summer of content as she takes up gardening. Rye is so convincing in this second role that at the end, as the cast took its bows, a whisper could be heard enquiring ‘where’s Jed?’!

Stratton combines licorice-dark humour with Yorkshire wit as dry as a moorland stone wall, and even knowing nods to Four Yorkshiremen stereotypes, while revealing a storytelling sleight of hand and a feel for suspense, twists and timing of arrivals to recall the manipulative noose-tightening of Patrick Hamilton’s Gaslighting and the intrigue of Peter James’s psycho-dramas.

The last “arrival” is The Woman, a suitably evasive name for Elizabeth Boag’s climactic cameo in Milk Tray advert black and an accent not from around here. A hit performance, in every way, just like Stratton’s debut play. Replete with deceptions, new beginnings, intrigue, murky mystery, the joy of gardening, farming folk and a love of Yorkshire, it is the real deal.

Esk Valley Theatre in Deals And Deceptions, Robinson Institute, Glaisdale, near Whitby, until August 26; Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm; 2.30pm matinees on August 22 and 24. Box office: 01947 897587 or eskvalleytheatre.co.uk, 10.30am to 1pm; 3.30pm to 7.15pm.

Posted on

Berwick and panto crew will be all at sea in Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse at Grand Opera House

Five mates on the River Ouse: Grand Opera House pantomime stars David Leonard, left, Martin Barrass, Suzy Cooper, dame Berwick Kaler and AJ Powell. All pictures: Charlie Kirkpatrick

EVEN after five decades of pantomayhem, York dowager dame Berwick Kaler is still setting himself new challenges at 76.

“I’ve never done a Robinson Crusoe pantomime, and now I’m discovering why!” jokes the writer and director of…Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse, his third pantomime for the Grand Opera House following his crosstown transfer after 41 years at York Theatre Royal.

Dame Berwick and his regular crew launched this winter’s sea-faring adventure at the Cumberland Street theatre at Wednesday’s press day, where perennial sidekick Martin Barrass, villainous David Leonard, golden principal gal Suzy Cooper and luvverly Brummie AJ Powell completed York pantoland’s infamous five once more.

Why tackle Robinson Crusoe now, Berwick? “I’m blaming Martin Dodd,” he says, attributing his 2023 choice of pantomime to the managing director of UK Productions, producers of the Grand Opera pantomime for a second year.

“Sometimes, when you think, ‘why’s he doing that?’, it turns out to be a brilliant show,” says Berwick Kaler as he prepares to turn Robinson Crusoe into a pantomime for the first time

“He caught me off-guard, which made me say ‘I’d like to do something a bit different this year’, and somehow that became Robinson Crusoe! But I’ve no regrets about taking it on. It’s a challenge, and fortunately I’m still up for it.”

Dig deeper and another reason emerges for Berwick’s panto pick. As with Dick Turpin, whose life ended in a flash white suit and a noose around his neck on the Tyburn gallows on April 7 1739, Robinson Crusoe has his York connections. Turpin and his horse Black Bess have twice stood and delivered in a Kaler pantomime, most recently in his Grand Opera House debut, Dick Turpin Rides Again, in 2021.

As for Robinson Crusoe, the lead character in Daniel Defoe’s 1719 tale of adventure and survival was born in York in 1632 to a middle-class upbringing. The son of a German immigrant, his surname Crusoe is an anglicised version of Kreutznaer, an amalgam of his parents’ surnames.

That much we know, but as for the rest of Crusoe’s York story, the cupboard is bare, says Berwick. “We only know that Robinson Crusoe was shipwrecked, not how his story began [in York] or how he got to the island,” he notes.

Who will panto villain David Leonard be playing in Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse? How the devil should he know!

Cue Kaler coming up with his nod to Johnny Depp’s swashbuckling Caribbean capers in his title, Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse, for the story of “the sailor from York who finds himself marooned on a desert island…but he’s not alone”.

Who will be these “Pirates of the River Ouse”? Wait and see, but just as Berwick’s 2011 Theatre Royal pantomime, The York Family Robinson, bore little relation to its 19th century source material, Swiss army chaplain Johann David Wyss’s The Swiss Family Robinson, so Berwick will find a framework for his partners in panto in a nautical setting.

For research, “I’ve re-read the story, and when I was going through some old VHS tapes I was throwing out, I found the old Peter O’Toole film, which I’ve now watched,” he says.

Have crew members David, Suzy, Martin and AJ ever read Defoe’s story? “No, but I remember the TV series,” says David. “No, but I remember the TV series,” says Martin, breaking into the theme tune. “And I know Crusoe set off from Hull [Martin’s home city].”

“We have an identity as ‘the crazy gang’,” says Suzy Cooper

“I’m the only one with a character name so far,” says AJ. “I’ll be playing Luvverly Jubberly, which I only found out from Berwick just before the press launch.” And no, he has never had Robinson Crusoe on his bookshelf.

You can imagine David Leonard’s villain in swaggering piratical garb in the Adam Ant meets Captain Hook style, but who might that character be? “I haven’t the faintest idea who the baddie is,” he admits, still in the dark about his latest venture to the dark side.

“I don’t yet know who I’ll be playing, but I don’t think I’m playing the fairy,” says Suzy, another member of the non-Robinson Crusoe reading club.

“What’s important, even more so now, is that we are family – performers and audience – and people want to celebrate that. We make those connections each year; they make them with us and with each other and that’s why Berwick’s pantomime works.”

“People will say to us, ‘we’ve booked for such and such a night’, and then they’ll say, ‘by the way, what’s the title?’,” says Martin Barrass

Berwick and co are enjoying the partnership with UK Productions. “They let us get on with it,” says Suzy. “They found that it worked last year [The Adventures Of Old Granny Goose) and they’re happy to let us do that again, saying that they’d never seen a pantomime like ours!

“They know that we have an identity as ‘the crazy gang’. What they get when they get us is they’re buying into the history of who we are and what kind of pantomime we do.”

Berwick chips in: “They’re not used to someone ad-libbing, even at rehearsals, but what I’m doing is always trying to find a better line.”

Suzy rejoins: “It must be a very tough job for whoever is on the book each performance, because the cue will come, but they really have to listen because the dialogue will change every day!”

AJ Powell: Definitely playing Luvverly Jubberly in Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse

The same applies for the signer doing the sign language, prompting Martin to recall: “When I was dressed as a seal one year, standing next to the signer, I remember saying, ‘oh, signed and sealed’!”

Also confirmed for the cast is the returning Jake Lindsay, along with Henry Rhodes, who once appeared as a bairn in a Kaler panto at the Theatre Royal and has been starring in the musical Newsies this year.

AJ Powell, by the way, has been filming for the latest series of Father Brown, “doing a bit of ballroom dancing,” as he puts it.

Come rehearsal time in November, Robinson Crusoe and those pirates will be heading for ship shape and York fashion. “Berwick hates the constraints of traditional pantomime and he’s in his element when he’s creating,” says Suzy.

Shipwrecked! Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse pantomime stars David Leonard, left, AJ Powell, Martin Barrass, Suzy Cooper and dame Berwick Kaler land on the Grand Opera House stage at Wednesday afternoon’s launch in York

“He does like to use these random titles,” says AJ, recalling 2016’s Dick Whittington And His Meerkat, for example.

“Sometimes, when you think, ‘why’s he doing that?’, it turns out to be a brilliant show,” says Berwick, as he adds Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse to that list. 

“We often find people don’t care what the show title is; they just want to come and see us as they always have,” says Martin.

“People will say to us, ‘we’ve booked for such and such a night’, and then they’ll say, ‘by the way, what’s the title?’.”

Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse will run at Grand Opera House, York, from December 9 to January 6 2023; tickets are on sale at atgtickets.com/York.

Launch date: Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse panto stars Martin Barrass, left, Berwick Kaler, Suzy Cooper, David Leonard and AJ Powell announce their return by the Grand Opera House stage door

Posted on

Dame Joan Collins goes Behind The Shoulder Pads in new book and autumn tour, heading to Grand Opera House, York

“Some stories, though, I have only ever shared with my friends…until now!” says Dame Joan Collins

TO coincide with the release of her memoir Behind The Shoulder Pads, Hollywood legend, author, producer, humanitarian and entrepreneur Dame Joan Collins will embark on a 12-date autumn tour with husband Percy Gibson by her side.

Returning to the Grand Opera House, York, where they presented Unscripted in February 2019, they will field audience questions and tell seldom-told tales and enchanting anecdotes on October 2, accompanied by rare footage from Dame Joan’s seven decades in showbusiness. 

“I’ve had many amazing adventures in my life. Some stories, though, I have only ever shared with my friends…until now!” says Dame Joan, introducing her 19th book, Behind The Shoulder Pads: Tales I Tell My Friends, published in hardback, e-book and audio by Seven Dials/Orion Publishing Co on September 28.

Dame Joan, who turned 90 on May 23, has “always believed one should retain some mystery in life and hide a knowing smile behind one’s shoulder pads”. In the book and on the tour, she will share her most memorable moments in and out of the limelight.

The book charts her journey from her early years as a young star in the golden era of Hollywood to stamping her stilettos in Dynasty; from the glittering heights of Saint Tropez to the busy Oscars season in Los Angeles over the years.

Joan writes movingly of her grief and adventures with her sister, the late author and actress Jackie, delving deeper into the ups and downs of love and relationships and her happiness with husband Percy.

Filled with a cast of household names, such as the late Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Princess of Wales, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine and Warren Beatty, Behind The Shoulder Pads promises to “delight and shock in equal measures”.

When a sore throat put paid to Dame Joan’s interview by voicemail with Charles Hutchinson, she very kindly answered questions by email instead.

When did you first wear shoulder pads, Dame Joan?

When Nolan Miller and I were collaborating in the early days of Dynasty we were looking at the couture shows from Paris because I said to him, ‘Alexis is a sophisticated global society lady, and she would be at the forefront of fashion’.

“In the Fifties we all wore shoulder pads. They made our hips look slimmer; our waists look trimmer; they were more flattering than an Italian waiter.”

When did you last wear shoulder pads?

“I still wear them. The structured look will never go out of fashion.”

Has York ever featured in your career or indeed in your life beyond the stage and screen?

“York is the seat of England, and I am a patriotic Englishwoman!”

What’s right with the British film industry?

“A lot. The talent is world class. You can see it in the number of awards we get every year.”

What’s wrong with the British film industry?

“What is wrong with the movie industry as a whole, whether in Britain or America. There is so much product that a lot of it is self-indulgent.”

The cover for Dame Joan Collins’s new memoir, published on September 28

What was the last film you saw and what was your verdict?

“Plane, starring Gerard Butler. Completely unbelievable and thoroughly enjoyable as a result.”

What did you learn about yourself in writing the memoir Behind The Shoulder Pads?

“Which opinions have changed over time, and which haven’t.”

Is glamour still what it used to be or has this age of social media gossip stripped away the air of mystery that once prevailed?

“I don’t know that glamour and social media gossip are necessarily interlaced. I think glamour still exists and social media doesn’t necessarily affect it, but if you’re talking about copycats on social media, there have always been ‘wannabees’ and pale imitations.”

What advice were you given that has stuck with you for life?

“Do it yourself because you’re the only one who will care about you.”

In turn, what advice would you give to a fledgling talent looking to fly high on stage and screen?

“Don’t bother unless you have the hide of a rhinoceros and willing to take rejection at every turn. And if you make it: live simply and stay humble.”

What would you still like to do that you have not done yet as an actress, author, producer, humanitarian and entrepreneur?

“When you put it that way, I guess not much! I like working, so I’ll continue!”

 Where are you most at home: on stage, in front of a camera or at home?

“I’m always at home in every place because I enjoy what I do.”

Please sum up yourself in six words…

“As I wrote in the prologue of my last book, My Unapologetic Diaries: ‘I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, an aunt and a loyal friend.”

What did you not talk about on your last York visit that you particularly want to discuss this time?

“What did you not ask me the last time in York that you particularly wanted to know about?”

Now that question and answer must wait until the next time, Dame Joan.

Dame Joan Collins, Behind The Shoulder Pads, Grand Opera House, York, October 2, 7.30pm, in the only Yorkshire show of the tour. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Posted on

REVIEW: York Shakespeare Project in Sonnets At The Bar, Bar Convent garden, Blossom Street, York, until Saturday ***

Helen Wilson’s Sister Augusta looks to the heavens…but the weather forecast is encouraging for the rest of the garden run at the Bar Convent. Picture: John Saunders

FIRST came the Sonnet Walks around York from 2014 to 2019; next, the alliterative Sit-down Sonnets at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, and now Sonnets At The Bar, in its third year in Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre’s “secret” garden.

Or not-so-secret, judging by the word-of-mouth popularity of York Shakespeare Project’s “entertaining and accessible” summer season of sonnets in the open air, delivered to the accompaniment of a complimentary drink in the admission price.

Each year’s splay of sonnets is supported by an overarching theme, devised this summer by Helen Wilson, who has been prompted by the Bar Convent’s convivial hospitality to conjure the merry-go-round whirl of a York hotel’s comings and goings, eccentric staff and guests on a mission in the rush of the summer wedding and tour traffic.

Judith Ireland’s receptionist Bronwyn and Harold Mozley’s Mr S, the hotel manager on a short fuse, in York Shakespeare Project’s Sonnets At The Bar. Picture: John Saunders

Judging by the character she plays – the hen-tending, egg-collecting Sister Augusta – she has been inspired too by the presence of the resident community of sisters at England’s oldest surviving Catholic convent.

The convent garden serves as the hotel garden, where York Shakespeare Project’s nine sonneteers make their entrances and exits and re-entries and re-exits too on the breakfast-is-served morning after the wedding the night before. The setting is modern-day, the language likewise until each sonneteer’s conversational thoughts elide into a Shakespearean sonnet and then back out again as each character reveals a secret.

First up is YSP veteran Frank Brogan’s deluded, ageing romantic rock god – long white hair, long dark coat, head band and gold chain – from the wedding party band, who is wondering what happened to the young sprat he failed to hook last night. His Flash Hunter struts and frets his five minutes upon the stage, gone in a flash, the failed hunter, returning later, still forlorn.

Nigel Evans’s Colin, the DJ with the platter patter, in Sonnets At The Bar. Picture: John Saunders

Your reviewer has been asked not to give too much away, as to what happens. Let’s focus on the coterie of characters instead. Judith Ireland takes willingly to a more comedic role than usual, Ireland turning Welsh to play the hotel’s psychic receptionist, Bronwyn Jones, with her vibes and talk of auras and energies.

Harold Mozley’s enervated hotel manager Mr S (for Scruton) is a no-nonsense sort, a stickler for timekeeping. We are told he “barks a lot”, but in this case his bite is even worse than his bite, especially if you happen to be tour guide Stevie Sykes from Betterway Travel, a dodgy East End firm run by Reggie and Ronnie. “Cut the bunny and hop it,” Mr S advises.

Director and YSP chair Tony Froud makes much of this slippery, often apologetic character, who turns the audience into his tour party.

Sarah Dixon’s wedding guest Susie (seated) in discussion with Diana Wyatt’s mother-of-the-bride Moira. Picture: John Saunders

We meet the agitated mother of the bride, Diana Wyatt’s mortified Moira; debutant sonneteer Sarah Dixon’s wedding guest Susie, as she encounters a former crush with hopes of re-kindling that flame, and the morning DJ with a cheesy lyric in every thought, Nigel Evans’s chirpy Colin.

Enter YSP producer Maurice Crichton’s “derelict” Scottish-born lobsterman Hector, in his eye patch and rather fetching fisherman’s gansey jumper, talking of coastal erosion at his adopted home of Skipsea. Aha, climate change comes to Sonnets At The Bar.

Hector has a lunch date, one to whom he will pick up a guitar to sing one of Crichton’s own compositions, a maritime ballad with a kiss at its heart and the chance for an audience singalong.

Not a patch on his subsequent performances: Maurice Crichton’s lobsterman Hector at the dress rehearsal. The eyewear would be added on the first night. Picture: John Saunders

Northern humour, pathos, morsels of gossip, a missing guest, assorted love stories and spilled beans are stirred into the hotel melting pot by Wilson and Froud as each vignette adds more spice. As for which sonnets feature, you will have to attend to find out.

Next up from York Shakespeare Project will be Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II, to be staged at Theatre@41, Monkgate, from October 17 to 21, as YSP spreads its wings beyond the Bard.

York Shakespeare Project presents Sonnets At The Bar in the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre garden until August 19, 6pm and 7.30pm, plus a 4.30pm Saturday performance. Box office: yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/sonnets-at-the-bar-2023/ or 01904 623568.