Going One Step Beyond: left to right, Liz Quinlan, Chris Meadley, Stuart Green, director Jon Mills, Jess Murray and Pamela Gourlay
THE Direct Approach is York Settlement Community Players’ scheme to support first-time or emerging directors, but in this case it is giving a boost to the writer too.
Jon Mills steps into the director’s chair after making his mark already as a filmmaker, script writer, theatrical prop and set designer and producer of promo videos for YSCP shows.
Likewise, fellow polymath Miles Salter adds play writing to his skills as a poet, songwriter, band frontman, journalist, podcaster and festival director.
One Step Beyond has its roots in Salter’s application for a York Theatre Royal commission for its Love Bites showcase of York creative talent when lockdown was lifted. His monologue, It Must Be Love, was rejected but central character Steve re-emerges in a 45-minute play – it just had to be 45 or 33 – that again takes its title from a Madness hit.
Steve (Stuart Green) goes nuts for the Nutty Boys, still the nuttiest sound around, collecting rarities obsessively, but this could be the vinyl countdown for his marriage to Kerry (Pamela Gourlay), who is doing her nut. Welcome to the house of no fun. The Madness and the maddening.
Married in 1999, the couple is in a rut of routine, now that the children have flown the nest. Steve does pretty much what he likes: she doesn’t like what he does. He feels the same, because each day she packs him off to work with the same sandwiches; every night, she lines up two crackers, little chunks of cheese and a dab of pickle for his final nibble before bed. Steve sees this metronomic behaviour as being controlling. Kerry carries on regardless.
Steve likes to go to record fairs and meet up at the pub with his steady Eddie of a friend, Boring Ryan (Chris Meadley), so named because he is, well, boring.
Taking his next step:One Step Beyondwriter Miles Salter
Except that maybe he isn’t because he is full of facts that he is wont to drop into the conversation in the quiet moments. Such as? Did you know that the elephant is the mammal that requires the least sleep? You’ll sleep better for knowing that one.
Salter’s play has a stock of such minutiae, coupled with an observant eye that he brings to his poetry too with a humorous flourish that had him worrying that maybe One Step Beyond is too much of a nod to John Godber’s combative northern plays and Nick Hornby’s culturally savvy southern books. Yes, he shares their ear for fractious dialogue and eye for telling detail, but Salter’s humour is his own.
Boring Ryan, for example, is a collector of trouser presses, forever advocating their value and recommending their purchase to all and sundry. Cue a Baggy Trousers gag that is beautifully timed.
Steve is essentially contented; Kerry, discontented, because he is contented. She is sharper of mind, unfulfilled, bored, and, truth be told, Steve would annoy any partner.
This can go only one way: off to the marriage guidance counsellor they trudge, Steve more reluctantly, but at least he turns up. Counsellor Marcia (Liz Quinlan) emerges as the one-woman Greek chorus of the piece, stepping out of scenes to break down the fourth wall in candid direct address. She’s a realist, but one drawn to the bright side of the road like Van Morrison.
Some of Salter’s best writing comes from this ostensibly dispassionate observer, whose role is to steer discussion, to keep order, to ensure equal say, but not to judge (but passes her thoughts on to the audience instead). He wrote the part initially for a Marcus, not a Marcia, but it wholly suits being played by Quinlan – a boon for smart casting by Mills.
Faced by such negativity, like batteries connected the wrong way, Marcia seeks to find a way for Steve and Kerry to re-energise the lost spark, only for them to explode. Comedy on a tightrope, always better that way, when something is at stake.
The poster artwork for York Settlement Community Players’ One Step Beyond
Time for a time out, a re-set. Kerry takes up pottery, the cue for a lovely, calming cameo in stripes, polka dots and headband by Jess Murray’s ceramics tutor Jen, “exuding warmth – like a Zen hot water bottle,” as Salter put it in his character profile. Steve, meanwhile, writes a poem: the cue for another dip into Madness.
Salter manages that trick of making the dislikeable and unreasonable – selfish nerd Steve, overbearing Kerry – very watchable in Green and Quinlan’s performances, and as can be the case with writers, there is something of him in each of the characters, even the Zen Jen.
Ultimately, the Marcia/Marcus and Zen Jen in him win out, encouraging us to do exactly what the title says: go that One Step Beyond, as he applies the writer’s principles of “Make’em laugh (plentifully); make’em cry (not so much here); make’em wait (for that closing pay-off line).
Mills’s direction is suitably playful, not least in his use of cartoon imagery on a screen that depicts a row of houses for domestic scenes and the football scores on rotation on the pub telly.
I could say it would be madness to miss One Step Beyond, but given that all three performances have sold out, let’s say you will be mad at yourself for not booking earlier if you have missed out on a ticket.
York Settlement Community Players present One Step Beyond, The Wolfe Room, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, tonight, 7.30pm, SOLD OUT.
The next Direct Approach plays will be in September at the Black Swan Inn. More details to follow.
The Wizard of York, Dan Wood, sets his spellbinding WizardFest in motion for three magical days. Picture: The Story Of You
NOT only a new festival of wizardry, but Charles Hutchinson has plenty more wizard ideas too for the Bank Holiday weekend and beyond the wand.
Enchanting festival of the week: WizardFest, waving a wand over York, today to Monday
ORGANISED by The Wizard of York, Dan Wood, York’s first ever festival of wizardry promises 25 activities, events, workshops and fantastical food and drink, featuring the city’s most magical businesses.
Highlights include Wizard Walk of York walks; a Brick Magic LEGO workshop; screenings of the first three Harry Potter films at City Screen Picturehouse; Professor Kettlestring’s Puzzling World needing help to defeat dark wizard Mortius Darktrix; The Cat Gallery’s Black Cat Trail and Make It York’s Owl Trail; Monday’s Magical Night Market at Shambles Market and a fancy dress parade between St Helen’s Square and York Minster at 3pm on Monday. Plan your magical itinerary and make bookings at wizardwalkofyork.com/wizardfest.
York Printmakers’ poster for the 2025 Festival of Print
“More than an exhibition” of the week: York Printmakers, Festival of Print, 22 High Petergate, York, until July 20, open every Friday and Saturday, 10am to 5pm, and Sundays, 10am to 4pm
YORK Printmakers celebrate creativity, craft and community in a curated exhibition of original prints, from linocut and etching to screenprint and collagraph, complemented by demonstrations, talks and workshops. Visitors can explore the stories and processes behind each piece and meet the makers behind the art.
“This year’s festival is more than an exhibition,” say the organisers. “It’s an invitation to discover, to ask questions and to support York artists keeping traditional and contemporary printmaking alive.” Entry is free.
Festival Of The Force: The Star Wars convention from another galaxy, here in York
Film convention of the week: Festival Of The Force, York Railway Institute, Queen Street, York, Sunday, 10am to 5pm
MAY the Force be with you for this Star Wars convention, Festival Of The Force, whose mission is to deliver an immersive experience in celebration of the Star Wars universe while building a strong sense of community among collectors, fans, and cosplayers of all ages. Look out for a galaxy of merchandise, celebrity appearances and fan-led events. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk/e/festival-of-the-force-tickets.
Wanted in York: Julian Clary swaps guns for puns and putdowns in A Fistful Of Claryon Sunday
Camp sight of the week: Julian Clary in A Fistful Of Clary, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
JULIAN Clary goes Western as he saddles up for entendres at the double, sure that the men in the audience won’t be able to keep their hands off his Rawhide.
The lucky few will play with him on stage in the Hang‘em Low saloon, but life in the Old West was tough. Not all of Julian’s wild bunch will be around to witness the final shoot-out when he gives himself selflessly at high noon to the last man standing. Tickets update for Clary’s pun fight: still available at atgtickets.com/york.
Sophie Ellis Bextor: Disco nights at York Barbican and York Racecourse
Dancefloor diva at the double: Sophie Ellis Bextor, York Barbican, May 26, Spring Bank Holiday Monday, 7.30pm; York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend 2025, July 25, after 8.23pm last race
“IT will be wonderful to bring the disco fun to everyone,” says Sophie Ellis Bextor, lockdown queen of the Kitchen Disco online sessions, as she heads to York twice. Buoyed by Murder On The Dancefloor’s appearance in the final scene of Emerald Fennell’s film Saltburn returning her 2001 smash to number two in the UK charts, she takes to the road with a career-spanning set also featuring Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love), Take Me Home (A Girl Like Me) and Freedom Of The Night.
The former lead singer of theaudience will be joined by special guest Natasha Bedingfield for the post-racing concert on Knavesmire in July. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk (last few tickets); yorkracecourse.co.uk.
Jon Mills’s cast for Miles Salter’s short play One Step Beyond, premiering at the Black Swan Inn next week
Premiere of the week: Yortk Settlement Community Players presents Miles Salter’s One Step Beyond, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, May 26 to 28, 7.30pm
STEVE and Kerry have been married a long time. Steve’s vinyl collection may tear them apart. Luckily they have a counsellor…and Steve’s friend Boring Ryan on hand to help them out. It must be love, love, love. Jon Mills directs Stuart Green, Pamela Gourlay, Liz Quinlan, Chris Meadley and Jess Murray in York writer Miles Salter’s short play for YSCP’s Direct Approach project. Tickets to enter this House of Fun: £5, pay on the door, cash or card.
Victoria Delaney, left, and Clare Halliday in rehearsal for York Actors Collective’s production of Tiger Country at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Hospital drama of the week: York Actors Collective in Tiger Country, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 27 to 31, 7.30pm, Tuesday to Friday; 2.30pm and 6pm, Saturday
NINA Raine’s doctors-and-nurses drama, last performed at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2014, is revived by Angie Millard’s company York Actors Collective.
This fast-paced play considers doctors’ dilemmas as a range of clinical and ethical issues come under the spotlight in a busy hospital. Professionalism and prejudice, turbulent staff romances, ambition and failure collide as Raine depicts an overburdened health service and the dedicated individuals that keep it going. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Nick Mohammed’s alter-ego, Mr Swallow, in Show Pony, cantering into the Grand Opera House next week and in the autumn. Picture: Matt Crockett
Comedy gig of the week: Nick Mohammed Is Mr Swallow in Show Pony, Grand Opera House, York, May 28 and October 23, 7.30pm
COMEDIAN, writer, Ted Lasso regular and Taskmaster loser Nick Mohammed transforms into his alter-ego, Mr Swallow in Show Pony, a new show that will “cover everything from not having his own sitcom to not having his own sitcom… and everything in between (critical race theory). As per – expect magic, music and a whole load of brand-new mistakes”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Sir Tim Rice: Mulling over a life in musicals at the Grand Opera House, York
Musical knight of the week: Sir Tim Rice, My Life In Musicals – I Know Him So Well, Grand Opera House, York, May 29,7.30pm
LYRICIST supreme Sir Tim Rice reflects on his illustrious career at the heart of musical theatre, sharing anecdotes behind the songs, both the hits and the misses, complemented by stories of his life and live performances by leading West End singers and musicians, led by musical director Duncan Waugh. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Something to be Smug about: Smug Roberts tops Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club bill today
A CHORUS of song, a clash of operas and an eye for comedy fill Charles Hutchinson’s in-box of entertainment for the week ahead.
Extremely rare chance to see Channel 4 legend: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club presents Smug Roberts, Russell Arathoon, Oliver Bowler and MC Tony Vino, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, doors 3.30pm for 4pm start
BACK in the day, today’s headline act, Manchester humorist and radio presenter Smug Roberts, released the novelty anthem Meat Pie, Sausage Roll (Come on England, Gi’s A Goal) as Grandad Roberts. Three years earlier, he was discovered by Caroline Aherne when playing his first gig. He has since starred in That Peter Kay Thing, Cold Feet, Phoenix Nights, 24 Hour Party People and Buried.
“Smug is one the great unsung heroes of stand-up comedy and one of comedy’s best-kept secrets,” says promoter Damion Larkin. “His act is a joy to behold. A true superstar, he’s arguably the only non-famous genius among his North West contemporaries, and he’s not very often around in town, so make sure you grab this chance to see him.” Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Opera International in Madama Butterfly, on tour from Ukraine at the Grand Opera House, York
Opera dilemma of the day: Either…Senbla presents Opera International’s tour of Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyivin Madama Butterfly, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm.
BACK by overwhelming public demand, Opera International director Ellen Kent directs Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, the heart-breaking story of the beautiful young Japanese girl who falls in love with an American naval lieutenant.
Expect international soloists, full chorus and orchestra and exquisite sets, including a spectacular Japanese garden and fabulous costume, not least antique wedding kimonos from Japan. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Capulets And The Montagues, playing York Theatre Royal tonight. Picture: Craig Fuller
Or…English Touring Opera in What Dreams May Come, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 2.30pm; The Capulets And The Montagues, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm
ENGLISH Touring Opera return to York Theatre Royal with a brace of Shakespeare-inspired new productions. Mixing puppetry with works by Purcell, Finzi, Amy Beach and Britten, performed by a chamber ensemble, What Dreams May Come draws on hundreds of years of music inspired by and adapted from Shakespeare’s plays and poetry to depict the joys and sorrows of a long life well lived.
The Capulets And The Montagues, Bellini’s gritty re-working of Romeo And Juliet, brings the warring families’ emotional and political struggle to life with devastating power. Soprano Jessica Cale sings the role of Giulietta opposite mezzo-soprano Samantha Price as Romeo. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Stamford Bridge Community Choir: Performing at York Community Choir Festival on March 5. Picture: Murray Swain
Festival of the week: York Community Choir Festival, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow until March 8, 7.30pm nightly, except 6pm tomorrow, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
A FESTIVAL that began in 2016 with only 11 choirs now comprises eight concerts showcasing up to five choirs per night. More than 1,250 singers, including school groups and choirs from Harrogate, Selby and Malton as well as York, will perform diverse music styles from pop to classical.
Among the choirs will be Stamford Bridge Community Choir, who will use Makaton signing in their March 5 performance. Full details of all the choirs and their programmes can be found at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/all-shows/york-community-choir-festival. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Visible Women company members Caroline Greenwood, left, Linda Fletcher, Helen Wilson and Marie Louise Feeley: Two evenings of monologues for York International Women’s Week
York International Women’s Week (March 3 to 9): Lyrics Of Life by Visible Women, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, March 4 and 5, 7.30pm to 9.15pm
VISIBLE Women, a group of “mature female performers” from York, present both well-known and lesser-known monologues over two evenings.
“We met last year in York Settlement Community Players’ production of Terence Rattigan’s Separate Tables, which had good parts for older women,” says York theatre group member Helen Wilson. “But as most playwrights are male, plays tend to be male dominated, so here we are doing our own thing!
“There are still not enough plays giving women of our age a platform. As Visible Women, we want to redress the balance. Let’s move this forward. Come along for an evening of entertainment for a good cause.”
Material by Alan Bennett, Joyce Grenfell and York playwright Sara Murphy, winner of the first Script Factor in York, will feature. Box office: email basicbafmaw@gmail.com or pay on the door. Proceeds from ticket sales (£7 each) will be donated to York Women’s Counselling (yorkwomenscounselling.org).
Rob Auton: One in the eye for comedy at The Crescent, York, on March 5
The eyes have it: Rob Auton: The Eyes Open And Shut Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club at The Crescent, York, March 5, 7.30pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, May 3, 7.30pm
“THE Eyes Open And Shut Show is a show about eyes when they are open and eyes when they are shut,” says surrealist York/Barmby Moor comedian, writer, artist, podcaster and actor Rob Auton. “With this show I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut…thinking about what makes me open my eyes and what makes me shut them.” Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley in Myra’s Story, a tragic tale of a middle-aged homeless alcoholic struggling to survive on the streets of Dublin, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
Charity support of the week: Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley in Myra’s Story, Grand Opera House, York, March 4, 7.30pm
DIRECT from the West End, Irish playwright Brian Foster’s four-time Edinburgh Fringe hit, Myra’s Story, tells the turbulent, tragic tale of a middle-aged homeless alcoholic struggling to survive on the streets of Dublin as she begs from passers-by on Ha’penny Bridge.
Performed by Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley, this show will benefit Restore, the York charity that provides accommodation and support to those who would otherwise be homeless. The charity will be on hand to collect donations. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Queenz: On song in Drag Me To The Disco at the Grand Opera House, York
Drag show of the week: Queenz, Drag Me To The Disco, Grand Opera House, York, March 5, 7.30pm
JOIN the gals for “an electrifying, live vocal, drag-stravaganza, where Dancing Queenz and Disco Dreams collide for the party of a lifetime”, created and produced by David Griego. Flying their rainbow-coloured flag high in the sky, Bella Du-Ball, Dior Montay, Candy Caned, Billie Eyelash and ZeZe Van Cartier serve up sass, singalongs and a message of love, equality and acceptance.
Craig Colley, alias Billie Eyelash, says: “Drag queens really do come in all shapes and sizes, but if you want to see some hilarious, stupidly talented, beautiful and of course humble ones, Queenz really is the show for you.” Age guidance: 14 plus. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Gorka Marquez and Karen Hauer: On Speakeasy terms at York Barbican
Dance spectacular of the week: Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez, Speakeasy, York Barbican, March 6, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing professionals Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez follow up Firedance with new show Speakeasy on their biggest tour so far. Expect exhilarating live music and breathtaking choreography as they unlock the door to an undercover world of elegance and iconic dance flavours.
From the clandestine New York Speakeasy to the sultry Havana dance floors and from the burlesque cabaret clubs of the mid-1900s to the glittering mirror balls of Studio 54, this “delicious dance experience” serves up Mamba, Salsa, Charleston, Foxtrot and Samba moves. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.Also taking to the Yorkshire dance floor at Hull City Hall, March 5; Sheffield City Hall, March 9, and Bradford St George’s Hall, March 15.
In Focus: York Late Music presents Trifarious: Roger Marsh At 75, today, 1pm; Elysian Singers, Arvo PärtAt 90, today, 7.30pm, both at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York
Trifarious: Marking Roger Marsh At 75 with this afternoon’s concert
YORK Late Music celebrates the music of Roger Marsh, a major contributor to the music and academic life during his time as Professor of Music at the University of York (1989 – 2019).
The programme includes works by Luciano Berio and Toru Takemitsu, who both have had a strong influence on his music, alongside pieces by two of his former students, Tom Armstrong and David Power.
Roger is coming over from France to hear this Roger Marsh At 75 concert.
Programme: Roger Marsh: Ferry Music; Tom Armstrong: The Chief Inspector Of Holes; David Power: Six De Chirico Miniatures – first performance; Toru Takemitsu: A Bird Came Down The Walk; Luciano Berio: Wasserklavier; Luciano Berio: Erdenklavier, and Roger Marsh: Easy Steps.
Here are Roger’s programme notes for the two works:
Ferry Music (1988) – for clarinet, piano and cello. This trio is composed around material originally invented for a music theatre piece Love On The Rocks – a piece concerning the mythical Charon, who poled the dead across the river into Hades.
The piece is in five short movements, and the ferry takes approximately eight minutes to complete the crossing. For today’s performance the cello part has been rewritten for viola by Tom Armstrong.
Easy Steps (1987) – for solo piano. The title Easy Steps may be misleading. For the performer there is nothing easy aboutthis piece, some passages requiring a level of virtuosity which the Associated Board mayfind difficult to quantify.
Rather the title has to do with the structure of the piece –alternating sections, horizontally then vertically conceived, increasing in complexity byeasy steps.
Elysian Singers: Celebrating Arvo Pärt At 90 tonight. Picture: Linda Dawson
Elysian Singers: Arvo Pärt At 90
AS the great Estonian composer Arvo Pärt turns 90 this year, the Elysian Singers celebrate his enormous contribution to choral music over the last half century. York Late Music includes two of his most substantial unaccompanied pieces, alongside works by Baltic and American composers who were influenced by him.
Programme: Arvo Pärt: Nunc Dimittis; Ola Gjeilo: Ubi Caritas; Eriks Esenvalds: The Heavens’ Flock; Morten Lauridsen: Madrigali; Eric Whitacre: When David Heard; David Lancaster: Of Trumpets And Angels – first performance, and Arvo Pärt: Seven Magnificat Antiphons
Here is David Lancaster’s programme note for Of Trumpets And Angels:
THIS new is a setting of John Donne’s Holy Sonnett XIII (What if this present were the world’s last night). This text contemplates the possibility of the current moment being the end of the world – something we may have all considered in recent days!
With this in mind, he focuses on the image of Christ crucified, questioning whether or not he should be afraid. He observes Christ’s tears and the blood from his wounds, wondering if such a compassionate figure could ever condemn him to damnation.
In the sestet, Donne seeks to atone for his earlier sins, in particular his love for ‘profane mistresses’, recognising the fallacy of making judgements based on outward appearance alone, and concluding that a beautiful appearance (like that of Christ) is indicative of a compassionate and merciful mindset.
Laura Fraser’s DI Bea Metcalf on the York waterfront in Channel 4’s crime drama Patience. Picture: Channel 4
FROM a neurodiverse TV crime drama to an Oscar winner’s stage return, Charles Hutchinson picks highlights of the year ahead.
Seeing York through a different lens: Patience, Channel 4 from January 8, 9pm
CHANNEL 4’s six-part police procedural drama Patience, set in York, opens with the two-part Paper Mountain Girl, on January 8 and 9, wherein autistic Police Records Office civilian worker Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) brings her unique investigative insight to helping DI Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser) and her team.
Written for Eagle Eye Drama by Matt Baker, from Pocklington, Patience is as much a celebration of neurodiversity as a crime puzzle-solver. “The centre of York itself is a little bit like a puzzle,” he says.
Lara McClure: Atmospheric storytelling at A Feast Of Fools II at the Black Swan Inn
Out with the old, in with the new: Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools II, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7pm to 10.30pm; doors, 6pm
YORK collective Navigators Art presents a last gasp of mischief in an alternative end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, packed with live folk music, spoken word and a nod to the pagan and the impish.
Dr Lara McClure sets the scene with atmospheric storytelling, joined by York musicians Oli Collier, singer, guitarist and rising star Henry Parker, York alt-folk legends White Sail and poet and experimental musician Thomas Pearson. Book tickets at bit.ly/nav-feast2.
Seeing eye to eye: Rob Auton in his new touring comedy vehicle The Eyes Open And Shut Show
The eyes have it: Rob Auton: The Eyes Open And Shut Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club at The Crescent, York, March 5, 7.30pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, May 3, 7.30pm
“THE Eyes Open And Shut Show is a show about eyes when they are open and eyes when they are shut,” says surrealist York/Barmby Moor comedian, writer, artist, podcaster and actor Rob Auton. “With this show I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut…thinking about what makes me open my eyes and what makes me shut them.”
On the back of last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe trial run, Auton goes on the road from January 27 to May 4 with his eyes very much open. Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
York-raised artist Harland Miller with his title work for the XXX exhibition at York Art Gallery. Picture: courtesy of White Cube (Ollie Hammick), 2019
No stopping him this time, please: Harland Miller: XXX, York Art Gallery, March 14 to August 31, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
AFTER the first Covid lockdown curtailed his York, So Good They Named It Once show only a month into its 2020 run, international artist and writer Harland Miller returns to the city where he was raised to present XXX, a new exhibition that showcases paintings and works on paper from his Letter Paintings series.
Stirred by his upbringing in 1970s’ Yorkshire and an itinerant lifestyle in New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Paris during the 1980s and 1990s, Miller creates colourful and graphically vernacular works that convey his love of popular language and attest to his enduring engagement with its narrative, aural and typographical possibilities.
Harland Miller, XXX, oil on canvas, 2019. Copyright: Harland Miller. Photo copyright: White Cube, Theo Christelis
Coinciding with the release of a book of the same title by Phaidon, XXX features several new Miller works, including one that celebrates his home city, in a hard-edged series that melds the sacred seamlessly with the everyday, drawing inspiration from medieval manuscripts, where monks often laboured to produce intricate illuminated letters to mark the beginning of chapters.
In these works, the Yorkshire Pop artist – who is represented by White Cube – uses bold colours and typefaces to accentuate the expressive versatility of monosyllabic words and acronyms such as ESP, IF and Star.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a Q&A with the artist plus community activities to “inspire, inform and involve all”. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk/tickets.
Gary Oldman in the dressing room when visiting York Theatre Royal last March to plan this spring’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape
Theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17
ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit, Oscar winner Gary Oldman returns to the Theatre Royal to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.
“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate: Teaming up as Titania and Oberon – and Hippolyta and Theseus too – in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Look who’s back too: Suzy Cooper in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11
GARY Oldman will not be the only former Berwick Kaler co-star returning to a York stage in 2025. Suzy Cooper, for more than 20 years the ditzy, posh-voiced, jolly super principal gal in the grand dame’s pantomimes, will lead Nik Briggs’s cast alongside York actor Mark Holgate as the quarrelling Queen and King of the Fairies, Titania and Oberon.
Briggs relocates his debut Shakespeare production from the court of Athens to Athens Court, a northern council estate, where magic is fuelled with mayhem and true love’s path still does not run smooth. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Beach hut five, Shed Seven: York band to make Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut in June
“Biggest ever headline show in their home county”: Shed Seven, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 14
IN the aftermath of their 30th anniversary celebrations and two number one albums in 2024, refulgent York band Shed Seven will focus on the great outdoors in the summer ahead, fulfilling a dream by making a long-overdue Scarborough OAT debut, when Jake Bugg and Cast will be their special guests. “It’s a stunning and historic venue…Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl!” enthuses lead singer Rick Witter.
The Sheds also return to Leeds Millennium Square on July 11, supported by Lightning Seeds and The Sherlocks. Box office: Scarborough, scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk or ticketmaster.co.uk; Leeds,gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.
Bridget Foreman: Co-writer of York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights’ community play His Last Report
Community play of the year: York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company in His Last Report, York Theatre Royal, July 22 to August 3
YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and York company Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch will co-direct a large-scale community project that focuses on pioneering York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree and his groundbreaking 1900s’ investigation into the harsh realities of poverty.
Told through the voices of York’s residents, both past and present, Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s play will ask “What is Seebohm’s real legacy as the Ministry begins to dismantle the very structures he championed?” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Lara McClure: Atmospheric storytelling at A Feast Of Fools II
YORK collective Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools II, a last gasp of mischief to mark the curtain closing on the festive holiday on January 5 at the Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York.
“Welcome to our second alternative end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, packed with live folk music, spoken word and a nod to the pagan and the impish,” says artist and co-founder Richard Kitchen.
Henry Parker: York singer and guitarist
“Flushed with Edinburgh Fringe success, Dr Lara McClure will set the scene with some atmospheric storytelling. We’re also delighted to welcome two acclaimed York musicians: Oli Collier, with a walk on the dark side, and singer, guitarist and rising star Henry Parker.”
On the 7pm to 10.30pm bill too will be York alt-folk legends White Sail, who return from last year’s event with new material, and doing likewise will be poet and experimental musician Thomas Pearson.
“Last year’s show sold out, so be sure to grab your tickets before they’re gone,” advises Richard. Booking in advance is recommended at bit.ly/nav-feast2. Doors open at 6.30pm.
Brigid Mae Power: “Beautiful vocals and ability to cast a spell”. Picture: Eva Carolan
BRIGID Mae Power had been through a difficult week. Alluding to trials on Twitter, she then had car problems on her way up from London. Flustered but here, and very welcome.
Power is a critically acclaimed Irish singer-songwriter who doesn’t really fit neatly into any conventional musical box. Most of her music could not be described as folk.
Her beautiful vocals and ability to cast a spell have drawn favourable comparisons with the likes of Van Morrison or Tim Buckley. While Power has none of Morrison’s poetry, Buckley’s jazz folk sulk mid-period is a better match. Both trade in heart music.
Power was performing solo. The (metaphorically) naked presentation underlined how spun throughout with her characteristic wordless ululations, Left open-ended and spun throughout with her characteristic wordless ululations, the tunes showed their simplicity and sameness too, as well as, by their absence, highlighting how clever her album productions are.
The first half was somewhat underwhelming. A new number, Ashling – a tribute to primary school teacher and traditional Irish musician Ashling Murphy, who was attacked and killed while jogging – lacked the expected emotional heft. Her piano proved a better servant than the guitar, leaving more space for her voice to roam.
Power grew up in an extended Irish family near Wembley, surrounded by music. Her aunt, her earliest musical inspiration, was three rows back, which led to a touching moment.
Playing to a packed folk club, Power wisely leaned more on the traditional elements of her repertoire. The (once rebellious) Down By The Glenside (covered by Mary O’Hara and others) was wonderful and our one chance to sing along. Her cover of May Morning Dew was also spot on (from her excellent covers EP from 2021).
Having recovered from the trip, and one too many chilli peanuts before the start, the second half was a big improvement. In good spirits, the song selection was stronger, showcasing her more melodic side in City Nights. Wedding Of A Friend’s tune belied the startling subject matter, as ever unresolved and left hanging in the air.
The 20-song set list touched on different corners of her back catalogue, but what would the new material sound like? Dream From The Deep Well is due for release in June. Power, however, has been living with the material for some time.
Counting Down (“a sappy one”, said its writer) was full of yearning for home, while Some Life You’ve Known rang true. It will be interesting to see what the songs sound like in sequence with their fur coats on (to quote Sandy Denny).
Power’s quiet power comes from her ability to cast wordless spells. Performed eyes closed, one foot swirling to the music, it looks like the tunes transport her. She doesn’t overuse this feature of her performance or over-sing. It is mood music of the best kind, but it does require you to be in the right, or wrong, frame of mind.
On balance, Power turned the concert around enough to pull us into her world.
