Casting a shadow: James Willstrop’s bullying bruiser Bill Sikes in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate
THE myriad delights of Christmas entertainment shine through Charles Hutchinson’s tips to vacate the festive fireside.
Dickens at Christmas, but not A Christmas Carol: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 30. 7.30pm performances on December 21, 27, 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. No performances on December 23 to 26
HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.
Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature musical arrangements by John Biddle to to complement Dickens’s tale of Oliver Twist being brought up in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld in his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Harris Beattie andJonathan Hanks in Northern Ballet’s revival of A Christmas Carol at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Tristram Kenton
Christmas ballet of the week: Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2025
FIRST choreographed by Massimo Morricone and directed by Christopher Gable in 1992, Northern Ballet’s retired landmark production of A Christmas Carol is being revisited by director Federico Bonelli to the glee of longtime supporters and new audiences alike.
“Charles Dickens’s classic Victorian tale of redemption, with its message of human kindness and compassion, is something that resonates with us all, especially at this time of year,” says Bonelli. “Its iconic characters lend themselves so well to ballet”, complemented by Lez Brotherston’s colourful sets and costumes and Carl Davis’s festive score. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Holly Cassidy and Grace Hussey-Burd in a scene from Riding Lights Theatre Company’s winter show A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson
Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, today to Christmas Eve, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day
IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.
When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.
The poster for The Snowman screenings with live orchestra at York Barbican
Christmas film & music event of the week: The Snowman with Live Orchestra, York Barbican, Sunday, 1pm and 4pm
CARROT Productions presents two screenings of Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T Murakami’s animated 1982 film with the accompaniment of a live orchestra of professional musicians.
Raymond Briggs’s story of a young boy’s Christmas snowman magically coming to life for a journey to meet Santa Claus will be shown with The Snowman And The Snowdog at 1pm and The Bear, The Piano, The Dog And The Fiddle at 4pm. Each show includes a fun introduction to the orchestra and a visit from the Snowman himself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Shed Seven’s Paul Banks and Rick Witter: Performing as an acoustic duo at Huntington Working Men’s Club in the last gigs of their 30th anniversary celebrations this weekend. Picture: David Harrison
Recommended but sold out already: Shed Seven’s Rick Witter and Paul Banks, Huntington Working Men’s Club, York, tonight and Sunday, doors 7pm
AFTER two number one albums in a year, summer shows in York Museum Gardens and their biggest ever tour, Shed Seven end their 30th anniversary celebrations back home in York, where lead singer Rick Witter and guitarist Paul Banks play a weekend of acoustic sets in the intimate setting of a working men’s club.
“We’re finishing the year in the village where Rick and I first met back in 1984, and where all of this began,” says Banks. “What a journey we’ve been on.” Sheds’ bassist Tom Gladwin serves up a DJ set too. Box office for returns only: store.shedseven.com.
Nun better: Freida Nipples hosts her Baps & Buns burlesque Christmas cabaret at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Feast your eyes on: Freida Nipples’ Baps & Buns Burlesque Christmas Cabaret, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, tonight, 8pm; doors open at 7pm
YORK’S queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, presents drag, comedy and showgirls in her Baps & Buns Christmas Cabaret with festive good cheer after a joyous year of shows at Rise, Acomb’s answer to Paris’s Folies Bergère.
“Prepare yourself for an evening of debauchery and glamour in Acomb,” says Freida. “The big question is: are you ready for it?!” Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Central Methodist Church: Hosting City Screen Picturehouse’s pop-up Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, York
Pop-up film event of the festive season: City Screen Picturehouse presents Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, The Great Hall, Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York, until December 23
CITY Screen Picturehouse, York, has set up a pop-up screen at Central Methodist Church for the Christmas season. Dougal Wilson’s Paddington In Peru (PG) will be shown at 4pm on Sunday, followed by Jon Favreau’s Elf (PG) at 7pm and Monday screenings of Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and Frank Capra’s season-closing 1946 chestnut It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm. Box office: picturehouses.com/YorkXmas.
Ronan Keating: Playing at York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend next summer. Picture: Supplied by York Racecourse
Outdoor gig announcement of the week: Ronan Keating, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 26
IRISH singer, charity campaigner and breakfast show host Ronan Keating will perform after the Saturday race card as the first act to be confirmed for next summer’s Music Showcase Weekend on Knavesmire. A further act will be announced for the evening meeting on July 25.
Keating, 47, has three decades of hits to call on, from Boyzone boy band days to his solo career, from Love Me For A Reason and When You Say Nothing At All to Life Is A Rollercoaster and If Tomorrow Never Comes. Olly Murs is confirmed already for the new 2025 race day of June 28. For race day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk.
Helen Spencer’s Fagin in Pick Me Up Theatre’s production of Deborah McAndrew’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
THE myriad delights of Christmas entertainment shine through Charles Hutchinson’s tips to vacate the festive fireside.
Dickens at Christmas, but not A Christmas Carol: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 30. 7.30pm performances on December 18 to 21, 27, 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. No performances on December 23 to 26
HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.
Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature musical arrangements by John Biddle to to complement Dickens’s tale of Oliver Twist being brought up in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld in his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol: Festive favourite makes its return to Leeds Grand Theatre
Christmas ballet of the week: Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2025
FIRST choreographed by Massimo Morricone and directed by Christopher Gable in 1992, Northern Ballet’s retired landmark production of A Christmas Carol is being revisited by director Federico Bonelli to the glee of longtime supporters and new audiences alike.
“Charles Dickens’s classic Victorian tale of redemption, with its message of human kindness and compassion, is something that resonates with us all, especially at this time of year,” says Bonelli. “Its iconic characters lend themselves so well to ballet”, complemented by Lez Brotherston’s colourful sets and costumes and Carl Davis’s festive score. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
The poster for HAC Around The Tree, the last show of 2024 at Helmsley Arts Centre
Festive celebration of the week: HAC Around The Tree, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm
JOIN the Helmsley Arts Centre Singers, 1812 Theatre Company, 1812 Youth Theatre, Ryedale Writers and invited guests for an evening of theatre, music, poetry and prose around the Christmas tree. The bar will be serving mulled wine and mince pies to spark up the festive spirit in Helmsley Arts Centre’s last event of 2024. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Step Into Christmas: Festive hit after festive hit at York Barbican
Christmas songs galore: Step Into Christmas, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm
THIS feel-good Christmas show brings all the magic of the season to musical life with favourite festive songs, from All I Want For Christmas Is You, Last Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Stay Another Day and Let It Snow to White Christmas, Do They Know It’s Christmas, A Winter’s Tale and Merry Xmas Everybody. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Chapter House Choir: Choral music old and new in the Nave of York Minster
Carol concert of the week: Chapter House Choir, Carols By Candlelight, York Minster Nave, Friday, 7.30pm, doors 6.45pm
THE Chapter House Choir, directed by musical director Benjamin Morris, combine with the Chapter House Youth Choir, directed by Charlie Gower-Smith, for this ever-popular candle-lit concert, first performed in 1965 and now held in the Nave. In addition to traditional choral music old and new, festive music will be played by the chamber choir’s Handbell Ringers. For returned tickets only, check yorkminster.org/whats-on/event/carols-by-candlelight/or contact 01904 557256.
Gary Stewart: Presenting tributes to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Paul Simon’s Graceland at York Barbican
Tribute gig of the week: Gary Stewart presents Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and Paul Simon’s Graceland, York Barbican, Friday, 8pm
SCOTTISH-BORN Easingwold musician Gary Stewart presents Weetwood Mac and his Graceland band in a celebration of two career-defining works, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, from 1977, and Paul Simon’s Graceland, from 1986. “With combined sales of more than 50 million worldwide, both albums have stood the test of time and are cherished to this day,” says Stewart.
“Littered with gossip and controversy, Rumours and Graceland elevated their artists to new heights of popularity, inspiring the popular music canon for decades to come. This evening celebrates a time of artistic discovery and re-creates the excitement of the era, with these seminal albums lovingly interpreted by some of today’s finest touring musicians.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Mike Newall: Laidback storytelling at York Barbican
Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club Christmas Special, York Barbican, featuring Mike Newall, Friday, 8pm
MANCUNIAN Mike Newall, who appeared on Britain’s Got Talent, takes top billing on with his laidback storytelling, Swiss clock timing and tack-sharp turn of phrase. “He’s like your best, most humorous friend – only funnier,” says promoter and master of ceremonies Damion Larkin. Two support acts feature too. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk or yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Holly Cassidy with the puppet of Cracker in A Christmas Cracker at Friargate Theatre, York. Picture: Tom Jackson
Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, December 21 to 24, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day
IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.
When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.
The Snowman: Two screenings with a live orchestra at York Barbican
Christmas film event of the week: The Snowman with Live Orchestra, York Barbican, Sunday, 1pm and 4pm
CARROT Productions presents two screenings of Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T Murakami’s animated 1982 film with the accompaniment of a live orchestra of professional musicians.
Raymond Briggs’s story of a young boy’s Christmas snowman magically coming to life for a journey to meet Santa Claus will be shown with The Snowman And The Snowdog at 1pm and The Bear, The Piano, The Dog And The Fiddle at 4pm. Each show includes a fun introduction to the orchestra and a visit from the Snowman himself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
IN the tradition of Charles Dickens himself, solo storytelling performances of his festive fable A Christmas Carol abound on the Yorkshire winter calendar.
After York Gothic actor James Swanton’s annual return to York Medical Society and doyen of the one-man show Guy Masterson’s spellbinding account with music by Robb Williams at Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Bedfordshire actor Mat Jones visits Friargate Theatre for two nights.
Into the black-box theatre setting Jones places a black lectern and a single smidgeon of a candle, as stingy as miserly Scrooge would allow Bob Cratchit.
Heralded from the dark by a plaintive violin, Jones arrives on stage in white shirt, brocade waistcoat, flourishing bow tie, dark trousers and polished black leather shoes. He will not add a single prop, relying entirely on variety of voice and storytelling powers, complemented by occasional sound effects for a banging door, church bells and graveyard crows.
Five months of preparation have gone into this two-act presentation built around Dickens’s own original performance text condensing the ghost story into 90 minutes. Dickens gave 127 “lively and emotional” public readings of this work from 1853 to 1870, noted for his “altering of expression, accent and gesture to play the characters”.
Jones follows that template in his meticulous, measured, authentic account, as strong on movement as characterisation as he conducts the seamless flow between narrator and Scrooge’s troubled yet redemptive night of haunting encounters with Jacob Marley and the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come.
From the Fezziwigs to the Cratchits, he conjures the Victorian world, the grief-stricken Bob returning from his son Tiny Tim’s grave being a particularly affecting moment.
Humour plays its part too, both in description and mannerism, in a performance that testifies to the power of kindness as a heart is transformed from cold to warm and spirits bring out the best in the human spirit. God bless us, every one, that Dickens’s story comes alive anew, as resonant as ever, every Christmas.
Mat Jones: A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, tonight at 7.30pm.Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.
Jools Holland: Boogie woogie pianist returns to York Barbican tonight
SEAGULLS, a rabbit, a winter sprite and The Animals, plus another solo version of A Christmas Carol, are among the highlights of the festive week ahead, recommends Charles Hutchinson.
No year would be complete without…Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
BOOGIE woogie pianist supreme Jools Holland makes his obligatory winter outing to York in the company of his top-notch rhythm & blues players and vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka.
His special guests will be Soft Cell singer Marc Almond, who previously toured with Holland in 2018, and blues guitar prodigy Toby Lee, his guest on last year’s tour too. Holland will be performing songs from the former Squeeze keyboardist and television presenter’s long-running solo career. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Animals: 60 years of rhythm & blues celebrated at Selby Town Hall
60th anniversary concert of the week: The Animals & Friends, Selby Town Hall, tomorrow, 7.30pm
THIS year marks the 60th anniversary of Newcastle rhythm & blues icons The Animals’ self-titled debut album and their seminal crossover hit The House Of The Rising Sun. Still in the line-up is drummer, founding member and Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductee John Steel, who will be joined by Danny Handley on guitar and lead vocals, Milltown Brothers’ Barney Williams on keys and Norman Helm on bass.
The set list can draw on such favourites as We Gotta Get Out of This Place, Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, Baby Let Me Take You Home, Boom Boom, Around And Around and The Right Time. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.
Pocklington Arts Centre cast members Levi Payne, left, Caitlin Townend and Dylan Allcock in Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish
Ryedale Christmas play of the week: Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow to December 24
ELIZABETH Godber’s second Christmas show for Pocklington Arts Centre invites everyone aged three to 103 to join Jack Frost (Levi Payne) and his friends Oslo the Rabbit (Dylan Allcock) and Blue the Winter Sprite (Caitlin Townend) as they race across the world to make his one wish come true: to be home for Christmas. Could that home be in East Yorkshire?
Wrap up warm for a frosty adventure from the team who delivered The Elves And The Shoemaker: Save Christmas last winter, steered by director Jane Thornton. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Stephen Brailsford: Playing Captain Cliff in the CU Scarborough cast for Captain Cliff & The Seagull Squad at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
Coastal children’s play of the week: Captain Cliff & The Seagull Squad, The McCarthy, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, tomorrow to December 21
ON a busy day at Scarborough’s South Bay, judges from Britain’s Best Beach are soon to arrive, but after a big rush of tourists, the bins are overflowing with rubbish in a play for children aged up to six, written and directed by Rob Salmon for the SJT and CU (Coventry University), Scarborough.
Faced by litter everywhere and a pile of something sticky by the rock shop, who can save Scarborough? Step forward Captain Cliff and the Seagull Squad, but can they clear up all the mess in time as they seek to complete four missions, one for each season? Cue a rescue adventure full of songs, silliness and festive fun. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Ryedale School musicians: Performing at Kirk Theatre, Pickering, on Friday
School performance of the week: Ryedale School Music Concert, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7pm
THIS night of music performed by Ryedale School musicians features Ryedale Concert Band Shining Brass and Ryedale Stray Notes. Proceeds will go to Ryedale School Performing Arts and Rotary funds. Tickets are on sale on 01751 474833 or at kirktheatre.co.uk.
Mat Jones: Solo rendition of A Christmas Carol for two nights at Friargate Theatre, York. Picture: Vintage Verse
Solo show of the week: Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, York, Friday and Saturday, 7.30pm
RING in the Christmas season with Mat Jones’s spellbinding rendition of Charles Dickens’s Victorian festive classic, brought to life in vivid detail from Dickens’s original performance text as Scrooge encounters the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come en route to the redemption of London’s most miserable miser.
“A Christmas Carol is not just a story; it’s a celebration of the human spirit and the power of kindness,” says Jones. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.
Jo Walton setting up her exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York
Exhibition of the week: Jo Walton, Steel, Copper, Rust, Gold, Verdigris, Wax, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until January 23 2025
WHEN Rogues Atelier artist, interior designer, upholsterer and Bluebird Bakery curator of exhibitions Jo Walton asked poet Nicky Kippax to put words to images she had sent her, she responded with “The heft of a cliff and a gathering of sea fret”. Spot on, Nicky.
Into the eighth month of recovery from breaking her right leg, Jo is exhibiting predominantly large works that utilise steel, copper, rust, gold, verdigris and wax in the bakery, cafe and community centre, whose interior she designed in 2021.
Kate Rusby: Winter Light tour arrives at York Barbican on December 17
Christmas concert of the week: Kate Rusby, Winter Light Tour, York Barbican, December 17, 7pm
BARNSLEY folk songstress Kate Rusby draws on her seven Christmas albums – she released her latest, Light Years, in 2023 – for her annual celebration of South Yorkshire carols sung in pubs through the winter months.
Spreading Yuletide joy, Kate will be joined by her regular band, featuring her husband, producer, guitarist and banjo player Damien O’Kane, and the Brass Boys quintet. Look out for the fancy-dress finale. Tickets update: Closing in on a sell-out; hurry, hurry to yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Corrs: Heading to the Scarborough coast next summer
Gig announcement of the week: The Corrs and Natalie Imbruglia, TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 11 2025
THE Corrs, Irish sibling purveyors of sleek pop rock, lush harmonies and Celtic folk trimmings, will line up as ever with Andrea on lead vocals, piano and tin whistle, Sharon on violin, piano and vocals, Caroline, on drums, piano and vocals, and Jim on guitar, keyboards and vocals.
Former Neighbours soap actress, Torn hit-maker and The Masked Singer 2022 winner Natalie Imbruglia will support. The Corrs join Shed Seven, Gary Barlow, Basement Jaxx, Pendulum, Rag’n’Bone Man, Blossoms, Texas, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell and The Script among next summer’s Scarborough OAT headliners. Tickets go on general sale at 9am on Friday at ticketmaster.co.uk.
Ensemble Augelletti: BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Baroque Ensemble present their new Christmas programme, The Morning Star, at the NCEM on December 13at 7pm
CHRISTMAS festivities gather pace with a community pantomime, Early music festival, cabaret, Strictly dance king and a Muppet movie, as Charles Hutchinson reports.
Festival of the week: York Early Music Christmas Festival, National Centre for Early Music, Bedern Hall and Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall, University of York, until December 15
YORK Early Music Christmas Festival 2024 is under way, presenting 12 concerts and one (sold-out) choral workshop led by I Fagiolini founder Robert Hollingworth in a celebration of the winter season, its festivities, traditions, darkness and light, mulled wine and mince pies.
Concerts by Solomon’s Knot (Sunday), Stile Antico (December 12), Intesa (December 15) and Awake Arise (December 15) have sold out but tickets are available for Love And Melancholy with soprano Emilia Bertolini (today, 12 noon); Siglo de Oro (today, 6.30pm); Sean Shibe & Aidan O’Rourke (December 9, 7.30pm); Green Matthews (December 11, 7.30pm); Ensemble Augelletti (December 13, 7pm); Contre le Temps (December 14, 12noon) and Yorkshire Bach Choir (December 14, 7.30pm). Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Micklegate Singers: A White Christmas lunchtime concert for York Late Music at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York
Christmas concert of the week: York Late Music presents Micklegate Singers, A White Christmas, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, today, 1pm
MICKLEGATE Singers chart a journey from Joanna Marsh’s In Winter’s House through wintry landscapes to arrive at a Christmas prelude courtesy of Poulenc, Tallis, Vaughan Williams and more, including the world premiere of York composer James Else’s A Little Snow.
Among further works will be Holst’s Bring Us In Good Ale; Oliver Tarney’s The Waiting Sky and John Harle: Mrs Beeton’s Christmas Plum Pudding (Average Cost 3 Shillings And 6d). Box office: latemusic.org.
Rowntree Players’ principal panto players in Mother Goose, opening today at the JoRo
Let the egg puns get cracking: Rowntree Players in Mother Goose, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 10 to 13, 7.30pm; December 14, 2pm and 7.30pm
MEET Jack (Gemma McDonald), head of hens at Chucklepatch Farm, with its newest addition to the coop, Priscilla the goose (American Abbey Follansbee). Joined by mum Gertrude Gander (alias Mother Goose, Michael Cornell) and his sister Jill (Laura Castle), they head out on their panto adventure.
Desperate for showbiz, Gertrude gives up the Wolds for the bright lights of Doncaster. However, ever-nasty landlord Demon Darkheart (Jamie McKeller) and his assistant Bob (Laura McKeller) will stop at nothing to collect rent, but dishy farmer Kev, the King of Kale (Sarah Howlett) and Fairy Frittata (Holly Smith) will not let the dark side rule in a rollicking romp directed by co-writer Howard Ella. Tickets update: Down to last few tickets or limited availability for most performances on 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Velma Celli: Xmas Roast cabaret songs, comedy and festive fruitiness at Impossible York
Christmas cabaret of the week: Velma Celli’s Xmas Roast, Impossible York, St Helen’s Square, York, Sunday 6pm, doors 5pm
YORK’S international drag diva deluxe, Velma Celli, hosts a fabulous evening of music, comedy and festive frolics. “Come and have yourself a merry Christmas,” says Velma, the Best Cabaret at Perth Fringeworld 2024 award-winning alter ego of West End musical actor and Atlantis Gay Cruises headline act Ian Stroughair, who promises “cabaret meets a partaaaaaay”. Box office: ticketweb.uk/event/velmas-xmas-roast-impossible-york-tickets/13855143.
The Hollywood Sisters: Cat Foster, left, Rachel Higgs, Henrietta Linnemann and Helen “Bells” Spencer
Fundraising festive concert of the week: The Hollywood Sisters & Friends, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7pm
THE Hollywood Sisters, the York vocal harmony group with vintage Hollywood vibes, have added extra tickets after selling out Sunday’s show. Expect a cabaret evening of music, song and a sprinkle of festive cheer featuring the luscious close harmonies of Helen “Bells” Spencer, Cat Foster, Rachel Higgs and Henrietta Linnemann and guest appearances by The Rusty Pegs, Mark Lovell, Phoebe Breeze and Anthony Sargeant.
All profits will go to the fundraising campaign for a new sensory room for dementia patients at Foss Park Hospital, in Haxby Road, York. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Anton du Beke: Christmas song and dance with the Strictly Come Dancing judge and Friends at York Barbican
Dance show of the week: Anton du Beke in Christmas With Anton & Friends, York Barbican, December 10, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing judge and dashing dancer Anton Du Beke glides into York in his new festive tour show, joined as ever by elegant crooner Lance Ellington, a live band and a company of dancers for an evening of song and dance with added Christmas dazzle.
“I’ve always dreamed of doing a big Christmas show as it’s the best time of the year, so this is a real treat for me,” says the ballroom king. “It’s the show I’ve always wanted to do with some old faces and some new!” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jools Holland: Playing to a full house at York Barbican
No year would be complete without…Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra, York Barbican, December 11, 7.30pm
BOOGIE woogie pianist supreme Jools Holland makes his obligatory winter outing to York in the company of his top-notch rhythm & blues players and vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka.
His special guests will be Soft Cell singer Marc Almond, who previously toured with Holland in 2018, and blues guitar prodigy Toby Lee, his guest on last year’s tour too. Holland will be performing songs from the former Squeeze keyboardist and television presenter’s long-running solo career. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Marc Almond: Jools Holland’s special guest at York Barbican. Picture: Mike Owen
Christmas film double bill: Friargate Theatre, York, presents The Muppet Christmas Carol (U), today, 2.30pm, and Die Hard (15), today, 8pm
FRIARGATE Theatre serves up a double dose of holiday cheer and action-packed excitement, opening with Kermit, Miss Piggy and the Muppet gang being joined by Michael Caine’s Ebenezer Scrooge as they re-tell the Dickens tale with a whimsical and heart-warming twist.
Let’s leave the debate over whether John McTiernan’s Die Hard is or is not a Christmas film to another day. Instead, revel in Bruce Willis’s John McClane battling with terrorists in a high-rise building on Christmas Eve. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.
Christmas Cinema at St Saviourgate
Pop-up film event of the month: City Screen Picturehouse presents Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, The Great Hall, Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York, December 12 to 23
CITY Screen Picturehouse, York, is setting up a pop-up screen at Central Methodist Church for the Christmas season, kicking off on December 12 with The Muppet Christmas Carol (U) at 4pm and Bridget Jones’s Diary (15) at 7PM.
Next come Home Alone (PG) at 4pm and Love Actually (15) at 7pm on December 13; Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (PG) at 4pm and Elf (PG) at 7.20pm on December 14, then Ali Plumb’s Untitled Christmas Film Quiz Project at 5pm and The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG) at 8.30pm on December 15.
Paddington In Peru (PG) will be shown at 4pm on December 16; Die Hard (15) at 7pm that night; The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm on December 17; The Muppet Christmas Carol (U) at 4pm and Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone (PG) at 6.45pm on December 18, then Home Alone (PG) at 4pm and Wonka (PG) at 7pm on December 20.
Paddington In Peru (PG) returns at 4pm on December 22, followed by Elf (PG) at 7pm, before the season concludes with The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm on December 23. Box office: picturehouses.com/YorkXmas.
Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol for two nights at Friargate Theatre. Picture: Vintage Verse
Solo show of the week: Mat Jones in A Christmas Carol, Friargate Theatre, York, December 13 and 14, 7.30pm
RING in the Christmas season with Mat Jones’s spellbinding rendition of Charles Dickens’s Victorian festive classic, brought to life in vivid detail from Dickens’s original performance text as Scrooge encounters the Spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come en route to the redemption of London’s most miserable miser.
“A Christmas Carol is not just a story; it’s a celebration of the human spirit and the power of kindness,” says Jones. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk.
York artist Jo Walton setting up her exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Exhibition of the week: Jo Walton, Steel, Copper, Rust, Gold, Verdigris, Wax, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until January 23 2025
WHEN Rogues Atelier artist, interior designer, upholsterer and Bluebird Bakery curator of exhibitions Jo Walton asked poet Nicky Kippax to put words to images she had sent her, she responded with “The heft of a cliff and a gathering of sea fret”. Spot on, Nicky.
Into the eighth month of recovery from breaking her right leg, Jo is exhibiting predominantly large works that utilise steel, copper, rust, gold, verdigris and wax in the bakery, cafe and community centre, whose interior she designed in 2021.
Quinn Richards in Be Amazing Arts’ promenade production of A Christmas Carol in Malton
’TIS the season for pantomime, festive exhibitions, ghost stories, a snow bear and an elf as Charles Hutchinson welcomes winter.
Promenade festive experience of the week: Be Amazing Arts in A Christmas Carol, Malton’s streets and buildings, starting at Kemps Books, until December 23
MALTON theatre-makers Be Amazing Arts return for a fourth season of immersive A Christmas Carol performances “truly made for all the senses”, where Charles Dickens invites you to a reading of his latest work, transforming into Ebenezer Scrooge (Quinn Richards) for a promenade production, written by Roxanna Klimaszewska, with a cast featuring Katy Rattigan, Kirsty Woolf and David Lomond.
The ticket price includes a food platter from The Cook’s Place as revellers celebrate with the ghost of Christmas Present and a warm winter drink to toast to the goodwill of Christmas. Ticket advice: book promptly as past years’ shows sold out. Box office: tickettailor.com/events/beamazingarts/1275175.
Isobel Staton’s Mary in York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust’s A Nativity for York. Picture: John Saunders
Christmas message of hope of the week: York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust presents A Nativity for York, St James the Deacon Church Hall, Acomb, tomorrow and Friday, 7.30pm; St Oswald’s Church Hall, Fulford, Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
PAUL Toy’s community production recalls when the Mystery Plays were banned in the 17th century for being too Roman Catholic. Performers were forced to perform illegally in the houses of sympathisers, always looking out for establishment forces.
“Although A Nativity for York reflects the experience of those dedicated but frightened performers, the story itself mirrors the trouble many people are experiencing today: a homeless couple, seeking shelter, with their new-born child being forced to flee to another country, but there is news of great hope and joy,” says Toy. Box office: 0333 666 3366, ympst.co.uk/nativitytickets or on the door.
Wicked return: Paul Hawkyard takes to the dark side again as Abanazar in Aladdin at York Theatre Royal
Look who’s back: Aladdin, York Theatre Royal, until January 5 2025
PAUL Hawkyard’s villain returns to York after a winter away doing panto in Dubai to renew his Theatre Royal double act with Robin Simpson’s dame, playing bad-lad Abanazar to Simpson’s Dolly (not Widow Twankey, note) in the fifth collaboration between Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and Evolution Productions script writer Paul Hendy. Look out for CBeebies’ Evie Pickerill as the Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Dani Harmer’s Fairy Bon Bon in Beauty And The Beast at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Changing of the old guard to the new: Beauty And The Beast, Grand Opera House, York, Saturday to January 5 2025
EXIT the Dame Berwick Kaler, Martin Barrass, David Leonard, Suzy Cooper and AJ Powell era. Enter Tracy Beaker star Dani Harmer as Fairy Bon Bon; Jennifer Caldwell, from SIX The Musical, as Belle; Samuel Wyn-Morris, from Les Miserable, as The Prince; comedian Phil Reid as Louis La Plonk; dame Leon Craig, from Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, as his larger-than-life mum, Polly La Plonk; Phil Atkinson, from The Bodyguard, as dastardly Hugo Pompidou and David Alcock, from SAS Rogue Heroes, as Clement. George Ure directs 2019 Great British Pantomimes Award winner Jon Monie’s script. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The principal players in Rowntree Players’ pantomime Mother Goose at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Let the egg puns get cracking: Rowntree Players in Mother Goose, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 10 to 13, 7.30pm; December 14, 2pm and 7.30pm
MEET Jack (Gemma McDonald), head of hens at Chucklepatch Farm, with its newest addition to the coop, Priscilla the goose (Abbey Follansbee). Joined by mum Gertrude Gander (alias Mother Goose, Michael Cornell) and his sister Jill (Laura Castle), they head out on their panto adventure.
Frustrated with life on the farm and desperate for showbiz, Gertrude gives up the Wolds for the bright lights of Doncaster. However, ever-nasty landlord Demon Darkheart (Jamie McKeller, alias Dr Dorian Deathly from the Deathly Dark Tours ghost walk) and his assistant Bob (Laura McKeller) will stop at nothing to collect rent, but dishy farmer Kev, the King of Kale (Sarah Howlett) and Fairy Frittata (Holly Smith) will not let the dark side rule in a rollicking romp directed by co-writer Howard Ella. Tickets update: Down to last few tickets or limited availability for most performances on 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Tom Mordell’s Polaris the Snow Bear and Danny Mellor’s Sammy the Seal in Badapple Theatre Company’s Polaris The Snow Bear. Picture: Karl Andre
Children’s play of the week: Badapple Theatre Company in Polaris The Snow Bear, The Mount School, York, Saturday, 3pm and on tour in Yorkshire and beyond until January 5 2025
MEET Polaris, the travelling snow bear and star of Kate Bramley’s new family Christmas show for Green Hammerton’s Badapple Theatre Company. On his journey to find renowned naturalist Mr Hat-In-Burrow, many complicated and comedic adventures ensue as Polaris (Tom Mordell) tries to put everything right, saving the Polar world in time for Christmas with the help of reluctant sidekick Sammy the Seal (Danny Mellor). For Yorkshire dates and tickets, go to: badappletheatre.co.uk or 01423 331304.
Time to deliver: E(s)mereld(a) The Elf And Father Christmas at Milton Rooms, Malton
Festive family show of the week: Epic Adventure Parties present E(s)mereld(a) The Elf And Father Christmas, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 12 noon, 2pm and 3.30pm; Sunday, 10.30am, 12 noon, 2pm and 3.30pm
IN Malton company Epic Adventure Parties’ interactive show, E(s)mereld(a) The Elf And Father Christmas, the friendly Elf must sort out all the Christmas letters in time. She means well but alas she can become very muddled. Can your family help her?
Each show lasts around 20 minutes, to be followed by family visits to Father Christmas and a gift for every child. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/epicadventureparties.
Guy Masterson in his solo performance of A Christmas Carol, on tour at Kirk Theatre, Pickering
Solo ghost storyteller of the week: Guy Masterson in A Christmas Carol, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, December 11, 7.30pm
OLIVIER Award winner Guy Masterson, veteran of such solo works such as Under Milk Wood, Animal Farm and Shylock, presents his spellbinding take on Charles Dickens’s festive fable, adapted and directed by Nick Hennegan with original music by Robb Williams.
Noted for bringing multiple characters to life, Masterson conjures Scrooge, Marley, the Fezziwigs, the Cratchits, Tiny Tim et al in his dazzling, enchanting performance. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
Dickensian storyteller James Swanton, switching to the lecture hall at York Medical Society
AFTER another sell-out season in 2023, gothic York actor James Swanton is reviving his Dickensian Ghost Stories for Christmas at York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, from tonight to December 5.
Made up of James’s absorbing solo renditions of A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Haunted Man, they will play eight dates in York before transferring to London’s Charles Dickens Museum in the run-up to Christmas.
James is following up his October 24 to 30 run of Dickens’s The Signal-Man at York Medical Society – a partner event with the York Ghost Merchants – that sold out a month in advance. His other Dickensian theatre work prompted Simon Callow to describe Swanton’s West End play Sikes & Nancy as “fantastical, startling and enthralling” and fellow Dickens enthusiast Miriam Margolyes to call his performances at the Dickens Museum “extraordinary”, “superb” and “vivid”.
“I’ve had to skew my York shows early because of the exceptional demand down south,” says James. ‘Indeed, we’ve already sold out all 18 performances of A Christmas Carol in London!
‘But being a northerner, York is where I feel most at home – and there’s no better setting for Dickens than York Medical Society. We’ve moved to their largest space to accommodate more guests, but we’ve kept the vital period atmosphere. It’s a properly immersive experience: all gilt- framed portraits and heavy curtains and dim lighting.
‘I’ll be giving six performances of A Christmas Carol here in York. There’ll also be one showing apiece of The Chimes and The Haunted Man, its lesser-known but fascinating follow-ups, which have both sold out already.”
James is keen to emphasise the merits of all three stories. “Each of them brims with Dickens’s genius for the weird, which ranges from human eccentricities to full-blown phantoms. Dickens’s anger at social injustice also aligns sharply with our own – and in this age of rising austerity and fascism, we’re feeling the bite more than ever,” he says.
“Beyond anything, these stories are masterful exercises in theatrical storytelling, with a real sense of joy emerging from the Victorian gloom.”
Kit Harrington and James Swanton in Lot No. 249. Picture: Kieran McGuigan
Since last December’s run of Ghost Stories for Christmas, James has spent the year as various terrors on screen. “This time last year, I was terribly excited to be playing the Mummy in Lot No. 249, Mark Gatiss’s BBC Ghost Story for Christmas, in which I was unpardonably nasty to Kit Harington,” he recalls.
“I couldn’t have guessed I’d be filming as another BBC spook in January, when the wonderful Reece Shearsmith asked me to play the Curse of the Ninth Symphony in the last series of Inside No. 9.
Both programmes are available on BBC iPlayer, and James advises that they make for “perfect Gothic viewing in the run-up to Christmas: two very classic ghost stories”.
They have been far from James’s only sinister appearances in recent times, however. “Every few weeks in 2024, I seem to have loomed up as some new monstrous entity,” James notes. “I played a couple of occult apparitions, the Hermit and the Magician, in a pleasingly ludicrous film called Tarot.
“My late grandad, Professor Walter Swanton, was a magician as well as a Punch-and-Judy man, so I’m sure he’d have been amused to see me sawing people in half!
‘I’ve also fathered the Antichrist in two big horror prequels. I was the Jackal in The First Omen, bringing little Damien into the world, and then Satan himself in the Rosemary’s Baby prequel Apartment 7A. I was astonished to see myself next to Julia Garner on the poster for that one! Given I’ve played Lucifer in the York Mystery Plays, that felt like a full- circle moment.”
As usual, the York run of Ghost Stories for Christmas is selling quickly, so James has strategic advice for securing tickets. “The best availability comes at the start of the run in late-November,” he says. “You can still secure a place for A Christmas Carol then. With tickets being only £16 each, this could be the perfect way to kick off your festive celebrations.
“I greatly look forward to gathering people together for some heart- warming storytelling. And I promise I won’t dress up as Satan!”
“The emotional power of Dickens’s prose strikes differently with each return of Ghost Stories for Christmas,” says James Swanton. Picture: Jtu Photography
Here James Swanton discusses his latest York and London runs of Ghost Stories for Christmas, his work with Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith and his Hollywood roles with CharlesHutchPress.
What draws you back to Dickens’s Christmas ghost stories each year and does each year bring new revelations and nuances to you?
“These annual performances remind me why I persist with acting at all. It’s restorative (and very rare) to feel you’re using every bit of yourself as an actor: full application of body and voice andmind and heart, with all the attendant fatigue. When you tether that to stories that people insist on hearing to the end, little proves more rewarding.
“And yes, the emotional power of Dickens’s prose strikes differently with each return. I’ve tinkered with my version of A Christmas Carol to include an episode that some audience members have told me they’ve missed in previous years. There’s one sentence there that brings a lump to my throat.
What makes York Medical Society such a suitable setting? Describe the bigger performance space this time…
“It’s the lecture hall, in which I premiered Irving Undead (my one-man resurrection of Victorian thespian Henry Irving) back in 2019. What we lose of the wood- panelled room’s sequestered gloom, we gain in 19th-century opulence.
“The hall has a raised stage, a very responsive acoustic and appropriately theatrical curtains. There’s also a portrait of Henry Belcombe, a former York Medical Society president, who actually knew Charles Dickens. He’ll be interested in watching what’s going on, I’m sure.”
What will be the dates of your run at the Dickens Museum next month? Eighteen sell-outs already. You must be chuffed…
“Chuffed if not a little daunted! I’m there from December 10 to 23, in which time I’ll be giving 26 performances: a panto schedule! In total, I’m doing 40 live shows this Christmas season. Pray for me.
“What makes the enterprise sustainable at the Dickens Museum is the intimacy of the space – 30 people maximum – and the galvanising thrill of occupying a room in Dickens’s house. We share our back wall with Dickens’s front parlour. This makes me rather nervous of touching it mid-show.”
“In general, I think that ghosts serve as a form of collective wish fulfilment,” says James Swanton
The Signal-Man run sold out well in advance. How did it go? You are keen to do it again. When might you make that decision?
“I’ve got the York Ghost Merchants to thank for the sell-out, as they listed The Signal-Man (which I paired with The Trial For Murder) as a partner event for Ghost Week. Basking in their reflected light meant a shockingly high demand for tickets!
“In truth, I wasn’t expecting to enjoy performing those texts at all: they were hellish to memorise and maddeningly elusive in rehearsal; all variegated shades of grey rather than Dickens’s usual glorious Technicolor. But the paradox is that you agonise in private so you can fly in public. They turned out to be deeply stimulating narratives to relate and audiences were wonderfully attentive.
“I haven’t decided when to revive them, but I’m not restricted to one set time of year as I am with these Christmas ghost stories. This gives me greater flexibility, though they do suit the darker months…”
Do supernatural tales serve a broader purpose in understanding life?
“In general, I think that ghosts serve as a form of collective wish fulfilment: the idea that we can beat back death and go on persisting, in no matter how limited a form.
“Where Dickens’s Christmas ghost stories are concerned, spirits serve a more didactic purpose. They’re generally there to teach an important human lesson – and, in classic Victorian fashion, they do so by being completely bloody terrifying. Marley’s Ghost might be the purest such example.”
The devil’s work: James Swanton as Lucifer in The Mysteries After Dark in Shambles Market, York, in September 2018
You have played Lucifer in the York Mystery Plays in Shambles Market and now two Hollywood roles where you “father the Antichrist”. How do you sleep at night?!
“To misquote Shakespeare: ‘Hell is empty and all the devils are me’. I’ve never lost a wink of sleep over any of this stuff. Hard to feel threatened when you’re repeatedly the source of the threat!”
Where did you film your two Hollywood movies? Do you enjoy the film-making process? You must spend many hours in the make-up/wardrobe department!
“Despite being set in New York, Apartment 7A was shot entirely at London studios and locations, though I did have to lurch off to the Netherlands for a couple of make-up fittings.
“The First Omen was meanwhile shot in Rome – my hotel room was just a few streets from the Vatican! – but on that occasion, my make-up prep involved a 48-hour round-trip to Hollywood. It’s a realm quite as unreal as Billy Wilder and David Lynch warned us.
“I was there so fleetingly that I saw practically nothing: no HOLLYWOOD sign, no Grauman’s Chinese Theatre, no Universal Studios. Was I ever there at all? It was such an artificial dreamscape that I sometimes question it.
“Both were marathon make-up ordeals. It one day took them 12 hours to apply the full regalia for Apartment 7A, admittedly with a few pauses thrown in. On The First Omen, we averaged between seven and eight hours – about the time it takes to fly to Hollywood, now I think about it. My forty Dickens shows will be a breeze by comparison.”
James Swanton and Julia Garner in the poster for Apartment 7A. Picture: Paramount
When were The First Omen and Apartment 7A released? What did critics say of your performances?
“The First Omen showed in cinemas worldwide in April. It’s now up on Disney +. Apartment 7A came to Paramount Plus for Halloween. Being one small cog in a very big machine, I’m not sure that critics had much of anything to say about me. I don’t seek out their probabledisapproval!”
Inside No. 9 was very well received. How did your involvement – working with Reece Shearsmith – come about? Might there be opportunities for you to do so again or indeed with Mark Gatiss?
“I’d met Reece towards the end of 2023 when we both guested on a panel about the silent horror film Häxan at the Regent Street Cinema in London. Given his decades-long friendship with Mark, Reece had also been aware of my work on the BBC’s Lot No. 249.
“I first got wind of the Inside No. 9 job when I got a text message from Michael Patrick, an extraordinary actor – he’s just played Richard III at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast – was was also shadowing on that final series.
“Reece had mentioned that he wanted me to play the Curse of the Ninth Symphony – and, in one of those strange coincidences, Michael knew me from our university days! A few weeks later, I was billowing about a country house in Victorian dress and picking off my more illustrious co-stars. Business as usual.
“I’d love to work with both Mark and Reece again, either together or separately! We horror-obsessed northerners should stick together.
“Actually, I’ve done another panel with Reece since: a breakdown of our favourite vampire films for Hell Tor in Exeter, accompanied by horror expert Jonathan Rigby.”
James Swanton and Mark Gatiss in rehearsal together
Your late grandfather, Professor Walter Swanton, was a magician and a Punch-and-Judy man. Did you see him perform and did his performance style in any way rub off on you?
“It took me a long time to grasp it, but I almost certainly contracted the one-man show gene from him. One-man theatre is exactly what Punch and Judy is in miniature! He would carve and paint the heads of the puppets whilst my Grandma would make the costumes – another pleasing link, as she made me an awful lot of costumes as a child, generally to play some ghost or vampire.
“Grandad passed away in 2008, but I’ve been able to revisit his act via old family videos. This almost never happens in life, but he was actually better than I’d remembered: such a warm and expressive voice, with not a little of the jovial zaniness of his comedy hero Ken Dodd.”
How is your book on your horror acting heroes progressing?
“The bulk of the text is written! Thirteen highly involved chapters on thirteen different actors. I’m biding my time a bit with the publication, my thinking being that the more notoriety I build up in my own horror work, the easier it’ll be to shift copies. But it will see the light!”
Any news on what’s coming up for you in 2025?
“Absolutely none, I’m afraid. I keep putting it out into the universe that I’m desperate to play Richard III – and given my Yorkshire roots, and my very real spinal kyphosis [a spinal deformity that causes an excessive curvature of the upper spine, making the back appear more rounded or hunched] , and my wraparound spookiness, I’d hope it would only be a matter of time. And wouldn’t the Minster make a great location? Let me dream!”
James Swanton’s Ghost Stories for Christmas run from November 25 to December 5 at York Medical Society, Stonegate, York. A Christmas Carol will be performed on November 25, 26 and 27 and December 2, 3 and 4; The Chimes on November 28; The Haunted Man on December 5. All performances start at 7pm and last approximately one hour. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Taking the mic:Oddsocks’ Andy Barrow, Jack Herauville and Elli Mackenzie in R.O.G.E.R Radio Attempts Frankenstein. “Between us we play all the roles,” says Elli. “Part of the fun is the amount of the roles we split between us“
ODDSOCKS make a “happy and long-awaited return” to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, on October 20 with their new show, R.O.G.E.R Radio Attempts Frankenstein.
“We have played there many times in the past. Such a welcoming space,” says creative producer Elli Mackenzie
The Matlock company invites audience members to delve into the grim laboratory of Dr Frankenstein from the comfort of a theatre seat; to experience the creation of a monster from several human corpses; to gasp as the creature comes to life and to play the part of a humble local to save the village from the creature’s revenge.
Will Dr Frankenstein face his destiny? Will the monster eat your crisps? Will there be a dry seat in the house? Answers to all these questions and more besides will be revealed when R.O.G.E.R Radio attempts Frankenstein.
“We are very excited to be bringing this play to our audiences in York.” says Elli, one half of the husband-and-wife team that runs this family theatre company, whose open-air production of Julius Caesar played the 2024 Harrogate International Festival at RHS Garden Harlow Carr in July.
“We last appeared at the Rowntree Theatre in the small window of touring opportunity during Covid with A Christmas Carol and we are very excited to be returning. Our audiences know it’s worth the effort to come along: we make people laugh out loud and we ensure that you leave the theatre feeling happier than when you arrived.”
Noted for creating bold, challenging, innovative and interactive theatre from classic texts for a family audience of all ages, Oddsocks’ comedy adaptation of Frankenstein features artistic director Andy Barrow as one of the cheeky chappies of the R.O.G.E.R Radio cast.
Multi-role playing is an understatement as he takes on the parts of the Sea Captain, Frankenstein’s father, Henry Clerval and others, not least Frankenstein’s monster. “The joy of presenting the story as though we are performing a radio play is that we can play so many characters in quick succession by just a change of wig or hat,” says Andy, who has appeared in most of the Derbyshire company’s productions since its beginnings 35 years ago.
He is joined by Elli, who likewise plays many parts, including Elizabeth Frankenstein, First Mate Jenkins, numerous villagers and landladies. “My favourite role is First Mate Jenkins, mainly because of his expressive hat…you have to be there,” says Elli, cryptically.
Here, Oddsocks producer, script writer and actor Elli Mackenzie discusses R.O.G.E.R Radio Attempts Frankenstein with CharlesHutchPress.
What’s the back story of Oddsocks, Elli?
“Oddsocks is a family company and it’s our anniversary, 35 years. I can’t quite believe it, until I think back over all we’ve done together in those years and all the thousands of people we’ve met, worked with and entertained in that time.
“We are usually to be found performing our unique take on Shakespeare throughout each summer. Our last tour, which finished in August, was of Julius Caesar. It was a lot of fun, though it’s lovely to get out of the Roman armour and put the sword and shield down, don something sophisticated and play a ‘lovely lady of the heyday radio drama’ in this gentle and silly piece.”
What is the performance style of R.O.G.E.R Radio Attempts Frankenstein?
“It evokes the heyday of radio drama, circa 1950. Lots of sound effects made using ridiculous props on our ‘foley table’…
Foley table, Elli?
“Foley artists create the sound effects which are created live in the studio or added after in the edit, and they help to bring the drama to life for the listener; doors opening and closing, tea being poured, animal sounds, ambient noise of a babbling brook, running feet on gravel, that sort of thing.
“Our audience see how these sounds are made, which is fun, and there are lots of surprises, which I won’t spoil. A lot of cabbage and celery is used, however!”
Back to the performance style, Elli…
“We have a cast of three actors to play all the roles in the story of Frankenstein. We do it ‘script in hand’, just as a cast of actors would have done in the radio studios of the 1950s, and we all play lots of roles each.
“The premise is that we ‘go live’ with a ‘live radio audience’, who are encouraged to join in by shouting out lines at suitable moments to add to the drama. If we were to record it, which we might at one performance, the idea is that you could listen back, and it would make absolute sense without physically seeing the action.
“In our performance, the evening doesn’t go quite to plan. No spoilers here, but let’s just say, it’s not just the play which Oddsocks tackles. There is very funny, unplanned drama and mild peril, which you will have to come along to on the night to enjoy. “
Why present Frankenstein?
“Frankenstein is such a beautiful, engaging, action-packed story. It is poignant, as well as scary at times. We certainly don’t shy away from the questions raised about Frankenstein’s ambition, hubris and selfishness in creating his monster, and yet we have a lot of Oddsocks-style fun with the characters and audience interaction too.”
Why are we still so fascinated by Frankenstein?
“Monsters are still scary, and drama is part of our lives. We watch horror films from the comfort of our armchairs at home or go to the cinema to be thrilled by them. We love to be scared from a place of safety, I guess.”
When did you first read Frankenstein? What struck you at that time?
“I first actually read the book last year when I was due to adapt it. What struck me at the time was the sadness of the monster, his loneliness and isolation, and Frankenstein’s inability to take responsibility for his creation.”
What was your approach to adapting Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel for Oddsocks’ production?
“I was surprised by the story when I first read it. I guess, like a lot of people, I thought I knew the story because I had seen the famous film adaptations over the years, depicting grotesque and scary monsters.
“Like many, I fell in love with the actual story and its messages about taking responsibility for one’s own creation. For the life one brings into the world. (I am a mother, after all). I love the fact that the author was a young woman too.
“In the novel, a young, ambitious, self-centred student, Victor Frankenstein, discovers how to create life and promptly sets about doing it. However, his creation doesn’t turn out to look as he intended.
“Instead of stepping up, facing his fears and dealing with the situation, he shuns the being and tries to ignore it. Of course, he learns through terrible circumstances that he can’t escape his duty of care, and resolves, finally, to deal with the nightmare of his making.
“My ‘creation’ is a comedy interpretation of a classic 19th century novel in a spoof radio format, and even though I felt like I wanted to escape my duty of care after I’d written about ten drafts, we sat in the rehearsal room to read the rehearsal draft, and it came together hilariously.
“We introduced the creation to audiences in January and thankfully they laughed, joined in and were moved in equal measure.”
What makes Frankenstein ripe for a spoof reinterpretation?
“There are theatre productions which are ‘straight’ adaptations, which reinterpret the story in different ways but rarely by using comedy, so we thought…’Why not?’. It really works in the context of a spoof radio play too. Lots of sound effects made using ridiculous items, which actually work, and characterisations that look extreme but are so suitable for radio drama.
“Our interpretation is based on the original story and characters but goes in very funny directions and uses audience participation. There are moments which are straight from the novel and are very moving, but equally our aim is to entertain our audiences, who know that what we do is funny, touching, clever, slick and a good night out.”
What does comedy add to Frankenstein?
“We have spent the last 35 years adapting classic texts for a modern audience and with the focus on bringing out the comedy potential of piece through situation. Our audiences enjoy our interpretations, whether they have an in-depth understanding and knowledge of the original or otherwise.
“The ‘purists’ enjoy the wit and reverence with which we adapt the original, whilst those who are new to the story, whether it’s Hamlet, Treasure Island, Frankenstein or Pinocchio (we’ve adapted so many greats), get to know and love the story, laugh out loud, acknowledge the layers of meaning under the humour and glean the messages within the text .
“People often go away and read the original afterwards, then email us to say how they didn’t realise so much of what we did was from the original, word for word!”
What is the significance of Frankenstein being written by a woman and now being adapted by a woman?
“The significance for me is more that of us both being mothers. I think the responsibility one feels as a mother having given birth is something which links us more than our gender.
“I read the book as a mother with a commission to make audiences laugh and feel emotion; Mary Shelley wrote it as a mother in the 19th century, when audiences had different references and values, but we had both given life to sentient beings. There’s something primeval about the significance of that.”
In a nutshell, Elli, what should the York audience expect from R.O.G.E.R Radio Attempts Frankenstein?
“A great deal of laughing, action, mild peril and slick silliness.”
Oddsocks in R.O.G.E.R Radio Attempts Frankenstein, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 20, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501937 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Did you know?
ODDSOCKS moved into the 17th century, Grade II listed disused Lea Chapel, Upper Lea, near Matlock, Derbyshire, as the company’s rehearsal and performance space during the Covid lockdown. “It is opening to the public with our first performance of this tour. It’s so exciting,” says Elli. “We hope it will be followed up by lots of other companies using the space too.”
Did you know too?
R.O.G.E.R Radio Attempts Frankenstein premiered at Jersey Arts Centre in January 2024 and will be on tour from October 18 to November 2.
One final question for Elli:
What will Oddsocks be staging next and when?
“WE are back on tour next summer with our new adaptation of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and will be appearing at Harrogate International Festival in July and possibly other venues near to York from June.”
Quinn Richards, in top hat, and Jack Downey outside the former Green Man Inn in a scene from Be Amazing Arts’ A Christmas Carol in Malton Market Place
WHAT should lead off reasons to be cheerful for Malton’s inclusion in the Guardian’s guide to Twinkle Towns: Eight Great Places In The UK For A Festive Getaway but Charles Dickens’s 19th century connection with the North Yorkshire market town.
Dickens would visit his friend, lawyer Charles Smithson, whose Chancery Lane offices were the template for Ebenezer Scrooge’s counting room. He performed at Malton’s old theatre on his reading tours too, and Smithson’s widow received an 1844 signed copy of Dickens’s novel on Smithson’s untimely death at 39.
A plaque in Chancery Lane is all that remains of the now closed Scrooge and Marley Counting House/Dickens Museum, but characters based on Malton residents live on in assorted Dickens novels.
The Malton Dickensian Festival, Miriam Margolyes et al, celebrated Dickens’s books, and this winter Malton company Be Amazing Arts is mounting its third season of immersive promenade performances of A Christmas Carol, as highlighted in that Guardian feature on December 2 too.
Roxanna Klimaszewska, once of York company Six Lips Theatre, now creative director of Be Amazing Arts, has freshened up her adaptation, as she did last year, working in tandem with producer James Aconley once more.
Dropping into CharlesHutchPress’s email basket at 7.01am yesterday morning was a letter to “my dearest most valued reader” from the desk of Charles Dickens.
He wrote of his “great anticipation” of presenting a personal reading of his most recently published works: a felicitous visit that would serve as a festive event to “satisfy your hunger for a literary feast (or platter)”.
It would be his last reading of the season, he wrote, “as I endeavour to direct my attention to my next creation”. “Tonight, expect theatricals, as only an author who frequents the theatre as much as I do, can offer,” he promised.
The Cratchit family playing Christmas games at The Cook’s Place in Be Amazing Arts’ A Christmas Carol
And so a full house – as will be the case for the rest of the run – gathered at Kemps Books, arriving early to avoid Dickens’s threat that “latecomers will be treated with disdain and hostility”.
It should be recorded that the welcome, from bookshop to The Cook’s Place, could not have been more civil. There to meet the night’s promenaders was Quinn Richards, resuming his role as Charles Dickens, narrator and guide, striking up a conversation with Jack Downey’s ever-enthusiastic Charles Smithson.
Rather than the expected reading from Martin Chuzzlewit, Richards’ red-suited Dickens finds himself compelled to introduce the story, theme and characters of his new Christmas ghost story”. “Another ghost story?”, questioned Smithson.
Ah, but this one is A Christmas Carol, a story whose ghostly chill unfolds as if for the first time before our very eyes, countered by the reviving warmth of mulled wine (non-alcoholic, dear readers) part way through perambulations around the Market Place.
In the manner of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Richards will shape-shift between two distinct characters, but without reaching for the mind-altering medication, of course.
His Dickens is upright, loquacious, gregarious company, as he leads the way from shop to street to assorted empty premises. He even stops the two charity collectors (Beth Wright and Daisy Conlan) mid-sentence to re-write, improve, their words in an amusing interjection typical of Klimaszewska’s love of detail in the storytelling.
Later, Dickens will explain why he made the Ghost of Christmas Past a child (played by Team B’s blue-lit Ada Kirk last night in a role shared with Team A’s India Duffy).
Richards’ Scrooge is pinched of facial disposition, mannerism and vocal inflection, his demeanour stooped, his mien bleak midwinter bitter, sending away carol singers gathered outside Kemps.
Downey, meanwhile, is kept busy as Smithson; long-suffering but never-complaining office clerk Bob Cratchit; party host Fezziwig and the chain-clad spectre of former business Jacob Marley, dead these past seven years.
Roxanna Klimaszewska: Creative director of Be Amazing Arts
Marley is introduced in Klimaszewska’s adaptation as the face in the door knocker of what used to be the Green Man Inn. Once inside, the promenaders line the walls in the cold blue light as the chains rattle to herald the arrival of Downey’s Marley.
Children, selected from auditions but many associated already with Be Amazing Arts’ site-specific shows, accompany Marley’s words of foreboding with ghostly voices, then crawl across the floor on their knees in veils. Such haunting imagery will linger long in the memory.
Children are vital to this production, whether popping up in street cameos, serving drinks, or playing Cratchit’s children as the audience nibbles away at a platter of pies and cheese on a stick and sips a soupcon of soup at The Cook’s Place cookery school in Market Street.
Charlotte Wood, a familiar face from the York theatre circuit, makes her mark too, bursting into life in the welcome at Kemps, then delivering her stern Ghost of Christmas Present and feisty Mrs Cratchit.
From an empty shop to an opened upstairs window, Be Amazing Arts uses the street furniture of Malton to maximum impact, not least outside St Michael’s Church, where Tiny Tim and Scrooge’s gravestones of the imminent future are lit up: hazard warning lights, you could say.
All the while, the hooded, towering Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come hovers, disturbingly deathly and deadly silent, as the tick-tock of time signifies the rising urgency of Scrooge’s race against time to change from dark dyspepsia to enlightened benefactor by Christmas Day morning.
Klimaszewska rightly draws attention to Dickens’s symbolic children by the names of Ignorance and Want, resonating anew in our age of social ills, strikers’ dissent but shameful indifference from the suits, rising destitution and fathomless wealth, life-threatening health service waiting lists and cost-of-living despair.
The ending, as Dickens takes over once more from Scrooge at the Cratchits’ Christmas table, elicits a call for compassion and social responsibility: a sobering conclusion to a night of bracing, haunting, uplifting yet chilling theatre, at once moving and forever on the move, mince pie final boost et al.
Be Amazing Arts in A Christmas Carol, Malton Market Place, December 21 and 23, 7pm; December 24, 5pm; all sold out. Box office to check last-minute ticket availability: 01653 917271 or beamazingarts.co.uk.
Darkness before the light: The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come arrives at the door with a nocturnal mission to be completed
Cast list for the night attended by CharlesHutchPress
Quinn Richards: Charles Dickens/Ebenezer Scrooge
Jack Downey: Smithson/Bob Cratchit/Jacob Marley/Fezziwig
Charlotte Wood: Mrs Cratchit/Ghost of Christmas Present
Noah Ashton: Fred/Young Scrooge
Annie Dunbar: Belle
Jess Middlewood: Belle’s Sister/Clara (role shared with Kathryn Thompson)
Dom Walker, Gentleman 2/Pawn Broker/Peter Cratchit
Ada Kirk: Ghost of Christmas Past (role shared with India Duffy)
Edward: Husband/Suit 3
Daisy May Davies, Matilda Grimmond and Celia Brass are sharing performances as Fanny/Belle’s Child/Want; Reuben Baines and Stan Richardson as Young Cratchit/Boy/Beggar/Carol Singer; Teddy Alexander and Jeremy Walker, Tiny Tim, and Isla Norry and Angelica O’Dwyer, Belle’s Child/Ignorance.
Kirkgate at York Castle Museum: Reopening today for Victorian Christmas season. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross
YORK Castle Museum’s Victorian Kirkgate and Period Rooms reopen today with a fanfare to celebrate Christmas 2023.
The magical Yuletide experience promises activities for all ages, with “something to get everyone into the festive spirit”.
Wandering through the Victorian street of Kirkgate as Christmas arrives with a sprinkling of festive snow on the historic cobbles, visitors can enjoy the street’s charming period trimmings and peek at historical decorations and objects from the museum’s collection in the shopfronts.
On selected dates throughout the holiday season Chris Cade’s Ebenezer Scrooge will appear on Kirkgate. A family-friendly re-telling of Charles Dickens’s festive novel A Christmas Carol is included in the general admission ticket, while an after-hours Scrooge will return for adult-only evening performances at an additional cost.
Chris Cade’s Ebenezer Scrooge: Performing A Christmas Carol during York Castle Museum’s Victorian Christmas season. Picture: Charlotte Graham
Look out too for Cade in An Evening With Scrooge at The Hospitium, Museum Gardens, York, from 6pm to 9pm on December 21, when a finger buffet will be followed by his one-man performance of Dickens’s Christmas tale of redemption, generosity and warm-hearted joy at 7.30pm, concluding with mulled wine and mince pies. Box office: tickettailor.com/events/scroogeyorkvenues/1016640?.
A Victorian green-clad Father Christmas will be on Kirkgate welcoming visitors every weekend throughout December until Christmas. The Father Christmas of that time was known for bringing jollity, talking of food, feasting, games, dancing and songs. Visitors will be welcome to join in and to make their own Christmas card.
On Sundays, including Christmas Eve, the cobbles will ring to the sound of carol singers singing traditional songs to “bring smiles and warm hearts even on the coldest of days”.
As well as experiencing the Christmas cheer on Kirkgate, visitors can step back in time as they stroll through the Period Rooms, from a 17th century dining room to a Victorian worker’s cottage.
Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance, left, and Jane Bruce with their Museum Miceat York Castle Museum. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross
For younger children, Janet Bruce and Cassie Vallance’s Story Craft Theatre will bring cute Museum Mice to life with puppets, games and family fun, followed by a craft activity on several weekdays.
The 2023 festive season will continue into “Betwixtmas’” with events running between December 27 and January 6 2024, when performances will share New Year traditions and there will be the opportunity to make a New Year’s card ready to welcome in 2024.
This year’s Christmas offer is part of general admission to York Castle Museum, giving access to the museum, at the Eye of York, for 12 months.
Scrooge performances (A Christmas Carol): December 9, 10, 16, 17, 18 and 23, four shows throughout the day, included in general admission.
A Christmas Carol, adult-only evening shows:
December 19, additional cost.
Father Christmas in Victorian green outside York Castle Museum. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross
Green-clad Father Christmas: December 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 and 24, four times a day.
Story Craft Theatre’s Christmas tails from the Museum Mice and craft activities: December 11, 13 and 20, 11am and 1pm.
Carol singers: December 10, 17 and 24, several times throughout the day.
Betwixtmas activities: December 28, 30 and 31; January 2, 4 and 6, four times a day.
York Castle Museum will close early at 3 pm on Christmas Eve and will be closed on December 25 and 26 December and January 1 2024, reopening on January 2.
A festive scene in Kirkgate at York Castle Museum. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross
Why the north side of York Castle Museum was closed temporarily: the back story
YORK Museums Trust closed Kirkgate, the Period Rooms and Shaping the Body at York Castle Museum in September after RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) was found in parts of the roofing.
To meet government guidelines, specialist inspections had to be conducted. Now completed, they report the RAAC to be in good condition throughout the site and extra supports have been fitted to meet building regulations.
From today, only Shaping the Body will remain closed for the time being while further work is carried out.
The Prison Cells, the Sixties Gallery and the First World War Gallery were able to remain open.
