Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond when disproving ‘rotten state of modern Britain’. Hutch’s List No. 43, from The Press

The Maniac (Andrew Isherwood), left, peruses the Anarchist’s case file as Inspector Burton (Paul Osborne) interrupts him in Black Treacle Theatre’s Accidental Death Of An Anarchist . Picture: John Saunders

FROM ‘Rocky 2’ for Jason Donovan to a music-hall spin on Shakespeare’s ‘Two Gents’, Charles Hutchinson looks at a mighty crowded week ahead.

Last chance to see: Black Treacle Theatre in Accidental Of An Anarchist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

YORK company Black Treacle Theatre stage Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s uproarious 1970 Italian farce in a new adaptation by Tom Basden, creator of Plebs and Here We Go, who updates the setting to the rotten state of present-day Britain.

Shining a satirical light on bent coppers, politicians and everything in between under Jim Paterson’s direction, the riotous drama is set in a police station where a suspect has “accidentally”’ fallen to his death, but did he jump or was he pushed? As the police attempt to avoid yet another scandal, a mysterious imposter (Andrew Isherwood’s Maniac) is brought in for questioning. Cue cover-ups, corruption and (in)competence. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk

Dinosaur World Live: Invading York Theatre Royal on Monday and Tuesday

Children’s show of the week: Dinosaur World Live, York Theatre Royal, October 21, 4.30pm; October 22, 10.30am and 4.30pm

DARE to experience the dangers and delights of dinosaurs in this mind-expanding, “roarsome” interactive Jurassic adventure, winner of the 2024 Olivier Award for Best Family Show.

Grab your compass and join Dinosaur World’s intrepid explorer on a venture across uncharted territories to discover a pre-historic world of astonishing, life-like dinosaurs. Meet a host of impressive creatures, not least every child’s favourite flesh-eating giant, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. A post-show meet and greet offers brave explorers the chance to make a new dinosaur friend. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jason Donovan, centre, as Dr Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, back at its regular York haunt, the Grand Opera House, next week

Touring musical of the week: The Rocky Horror Show, Grand Opera House, York, October 21 to 26, Monday to Thursday, 8pm; Friday, Saturday, 5.30pm and 8.30pm

AUSRALIAN actor, pop singer and soap star Jason Donovan returns to the Grand Opera House in a musical theatre role for the first time since playing drag act Mitzi Del Bar in Prisclla, Queen Of The Desert in November 2015.

“Rocky is panto for adults,” says Jason, 56, who is reprising his role as sweet transvestite Dr Frank N Furter on tour, after 25 years, in Richard O’Brien’s cult send-up of horror and science-fiction B-movies as squeaky clean American college couple Brad and Janet end up in the mad, seductive scientist’s Transylvanian lair. Box office: atgtickets.york.com.

Tempest Wisdom: Directing York Shakespeare Project for the first time in The Two Gentlemen Of Verona

Play of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 22 to 26, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

‘TWO Gents’: possibly Shakespeare’s first play and definitely the only one with a part for a dog. But can the newly employed performers at Monkgate Music Hall pull off their production?

Under-rehearsed knife throwers, strongmen, musicians and comedians must pool their skills in Tempest Wisdom’s dazzling take on this rarely performed comedy, delivered by York Shakespeare Project. “Book now for the event of the 19th century!” says Tempest. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Steve Huison as his alter ego, working men’s club cabaret host Squinty McGinty, at The Crescent, York

Cabaret turn of the week, Steve Huison, Crescent Cabaret, The Crescent, York, October 23, doors, 6.30pm for 7.30pm start

AFTER exhibiting oil portraits of actors and musicians at Pyramid Gallery this summer, actor, artist and The Full Monty star Steve Huison presents The Crescent Cabaret in his guise as Squinty McGinty, “Agent to the Stars”, more usually to be found hosting Cabaret Saltaire.

Promoted in tandem with Pyramid Gallery owner and musician Terry Brett, who will make a stage appearance with Ukulele Sunshine Revival, this charity event will raise funds for Refugee Action York from meat raffle ticket sales at Huison’s affectionate, if outrageous, spoof of a typical northern working men’s club. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Company Wayne McGregor in Autobiography, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Andrej Uspenski

Dance show of the week: Company Wayne McGregor, Autobiography, V102 and V103, York Theatre Royal, October 25 and 26, 7.30pm

GENETIC code, AI and choreography merge in a Wayne McGregor work that reimagines and remakes itself anew for every performance. Layering choreographic imprints over personal memoir and in dialogue with a specially created algorithm that hijacks McGregor’s DNA data,Autobiography “upends the traditional nature of dance-making as artificial intelligence and instinct converge in creative authorship”.

Now, AISOMA, a new AI tool developed with Google Arts and Culture – “utilising machine-learning trained on hundreds of hours of McGregor’s choreographic archive – overwrites initial configurations to present fresh movement options to the performers, injecting unfamiliar and often startling content into the choreographic ecosystem”. “Life, writing itself anew,” explains McGregor. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Nadia Reid: Making her Band Room debut on the North York Moors

Moorland gig of the season: Nadia Reid, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, October 26, 7.30pm

THE Band Room promoter Nigel Burnham first tried to book New Zealand singer-songwriter sensation Nadia Reid on her first British tour in 2017. “Persistence has paid off,” he says, welcoming her to “the greatest small venue on Earth” as part of a series of intimate, magical solo shows.

Noted for her evocative lyrics and introspective, folk-infused soundscapes, Reid has been described as “an understated, wise guide through uncertain territory”, drawing comparison with Joni Mitchell, Laura Marling, Gillian Welch and Sandy Denny. Latest album Out of My Province took her to Matthew E White’s Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia, where producer Trey Pollard surrounded her songs in luminous washes of southern country soul. Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.

Elbow: First headliners confirmed for second season of Live At York Museum Gardens, staged by Futuresound Group next summer

Gig announcement of the week: Futuresound Group presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Elbow, July 3 2025

GUY Garvey’s Mercury Prize-winning Bury band Elbow are confirmed as the first headliner for Futuresound’s second Live At York Museum Gardens concert weekend, after the sold-out success of Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary shows and Jack Savoretti this summer.

Elbow will be supported by Ripon-born, London-based singer-songwriter Billie Marten and Robin Hood’s Bay folk luminary Eliza Carthy & The Restitution. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/elbow/york-museum-gardens/3195333.

Recommended but sold out: James Swanton presents The Signal-Man, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, October 24 to 30, 7pm

James Swanton: sell-out run of The Signal-Man at York Medical Society. Picture: Jtu Photography

“SOMETHING unprecedented has happened: we’ve sold out the entire run over a month in advance! A first in my experience,” says York gothic actor and storyteller James Swanton ahead of the home-city leg of his Halloween Dickens show, The Signal-Man, with The Trial For Murder “thrown in for fun”.

“The Signal-Man is one of the most powerful ghost stories of all time and certainly the most frightening ever written by Charles Dickens. It’s paired here with The Trial For Murder, in which Dickens treats the supernatural with just as much terrifying gravity.”

James adds: “We’re privileged to be a partner event with the York Ghost Merchants for their annual Ghost Week celebrations.”

What happens in The Signal-Man? “A red light. A black tunnel. A waving figure. A warning beyond understanding. And the fear that someone – that something – is drawing closer,” says the storyteller of Dickens’s darkest explorations of the spirit world.

Over the past year, James has played monsters in The First Omen (20th Century Studios) and Tarot(Sony), as well as the title roles in two BBC chillers: The Curse Of The Ninth in Inside No. 9 and Lot No. 249, Mark Gatiss’s annual ghost story, a performance that spurred the Telegraph reviewer to call James “the scariest man on TV this Christmas”.

His Dickens work includes sell-out seasons of the Christmas Books at the Charles Dickens Museum, London, and his one-man play Sikes & Nancy at the West End’s Trafalgar Studios.

Are you too late for tickets for The Signal-Man? Fear not, James will be returning to York Medical Society from November 25 to 28 and December 2 to 5 for his annual performances of Dickens’s Christmas ghost stories, A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Haunted Man, suitable for age eight upwards. Tickets for these 65-minute 7pm performances are on sale on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

One ghost story will be told each night: November 25 to 27 and December 2 to 4, A Christmas Carol; November 28, The Chimes; December 5, The Haunted Man.

In Focus: Black Sheep Theatre Productions presents Songs For A New World, National Centre for Early Music, York, Oct 24 to 26

Co-director and actor Mikhail Lim in one of myriad posters for Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ production of Songs For A New World


YORK company Black Sheep Theatre Productions completes its October double bill of Jason Robert Brown productions with his 1995 theatrical song cycle Songs For A New World.

Tony Award-winning composer Brown is best known for his musicals Parade, 13 and The Last Five Years, the 2001 two-hander staged by Matthew Peter Clare’s company in collaboration with Wharfemede Productions at the NCEM last week.

First produced Off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre in New York, Songs For A New World defies conventional musical theatre formats. As described by Brown and original director Daisy Prince, the show is “neither musical play nor revue” but exists as a “very theatrical song cycle.”

“While it lacks a linear plot, the production explores universal themes such as hope, faith, love, and loss through a powerful collection of emotionally charged songs,” says Matthew, the production’s co-director, musical director and producer.

Black Sheep Theatre’s re-imagined production speaks directly to the growing uncertainty and tension of today’s political and social climate. Co-director Mikhail Lim and the creative team have crafted a fresh and relevant interpretation, designed to “resonate with audiences navigating the complexities of modern life”.

Songs For A New World cast member Rachel Higgs

This version expands the original cast of four to feature eight performers from York and beyond, creating a rich and multifaceted rendition.

“We believe this show will be a breakthrough in York’s theatre scene, offering something fresh, exciting, and deeply engaging,” says Mikhail. “The music alone will make audiences want to listen on repeat, but the show also connects emotionally, tugging on heartstrings and encouraging a renewed contemplation of today’s world.

“We hope audiences leave the theatre not only moved by the performances but also reflecting on the deeper themes we explore.”

After staging William Finn and James Lapine’s Falsettos at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, now Black Sheep Theatre has worked meticulously on every aspect of Songs for A New World.

Ayana Beatrice Poblete and Reggie Challenger in Songs For A New World

“The team is confident that this production will be a definitive version of Brown’s iconic work, delivering a truly unforgettable experience to all who attend,” says Matthew.

Black Sheep Theatre Productions, Songs For A New World, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, October 24 to 26, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.

Creative team:
Co-director, musical director & producer: Matthew Peter Clare

Co-director: Mikhail Lim
Assistant director & choreographer: Freya McIntosh

Cast:
Ayana Beatrice Poblete; Katie Brier; Lauren Charlton-Mathews; Reggie Challenger; Rachel Higgs; Mikhail Lim; Adam Price and Natalie Walker.

Posted on

More Things To Do in York and beyond when seeking that lovely jubbly feeling. Hutch’s List No. 42, from The Press, York

Lethal tea maker: The Black Widow at York Dungeon

DEL Boy in a musical, a Dungeon murderess, a Greek teen tragedy and a top-Rankin Scottish detective are well worth investigating, advises Charles Hutchinson.   

New attraction of the week: The Black Widow, York Dungeon, Clifford Street, York, from today, from 10am

THIS Hallowe’en season’s new show at York Dungeon opens today. Be prepared to encounter the grim tale of Britain’s first female serial killer: Mary Ann Cotton.

A north easterner with a propensity for lacing tea with a drop of arsenic, the Black Widow was convicted of only one murder but is believed to have killed many others, including 11 of her 13 children, and three of her four husbands. Box office: thedungeons.com/york/tickets-passes/. Pre-booking is essential.

Jude Kelly: Striving for a gender-equal world in The WOW Show

The WOW factor: The WOW Show with Jude Kelly, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow, 7.30pm

WOMEN of the World founder, chief executive officer and theatre director Jude Kelly CBE was director of West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, from 1990 to 2002 and London’s Southbank Centre from 2006 to 2018 and set up the WOW Foundation charity in 2010 to achieve a gender-equal world.

In an evening of optimism, determination and laughter, she explores “our often exasperating and confusing journey towards gender equity, covering everything from money, sex, race, food, and ageing”. Expect personal anecdotes, guests and big ideas. “The message is: If you are a woman or you know a woman, please show up!” says Jude. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Sam Lupton: Playing Del Boy in Only Fools And Horses The Musical at the Grand Opera House, York

“Plonker” musical of the week: Only Fools And Horses The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, October 14 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

BASED on John Sullivan’s long-running BBC One series, his son Jim Sullivan and comedy treasure Paul Whitehouse’s West End hit, Only Fools And Horses The Musical, combines 20 songs with an ingenious script.

“Join us as we take a trip back in time to 1989, where it’s all kicking off in Peckham,” reads the 2024-25 tour invitation. “While the yuppie invasion of London is in full swing, love is in the air as Del Boy sets out on the rocky road to find his soul mate, Rodney and Cassandra prepare to say ‘I do’, and even Trigger is gearing up for a date (with a person!). Meanwhile, Boycie and Marlene give parenthood one final shot and Grandad takes stock of his life and decides the time has finally arrived to get his piles sorted.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Gray O’Brien in the role of Inspector John Rebus in Rebus: A Game Called Malice at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Nobby Clark

Thriller of the week: Rebus: A Game Called Malice, York Theatre Royal, October 15 to 19, 7.30pm; 2pm, Wednesday, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday

SCOTTISH crime writer Ian Rankin’s much-loved detective, John Rebus, takes to the stage in a new storyco-written with Simon Reade. Gray O’Brien, from Coronation Street, Casualty and Peak Practice, plays Rebus in a cast also featuring Abigail Thaw and Billy Hartman.

When a splendid Edinburgh mansion dinner party concludes with a murder mystery game, suddenly a murder needs to be solved. However, guests have secrets of their own. Among them is Inspector John Rebus, but is he Is playing an alternative game, one to which only he knows the rules? Rankin will attend the October 18 post-show discussion with the cast. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Chris Mooney and Helen Spencer: Playing lovers with opposite takes on their relationship in The Last Five Years at the NCEM, York. Picture: Simon Trow

Debut of the week: Wharfemede Productions & Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Last Five Years, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, October 17 to 19, 7.45pm

HELEN Spencer and Nick Sephton launch their new York company, Wharfemede Productions, in tandem with Black Sheep Theatre Productions, by staging The Last Five Years, Jason Robert Brown’s musical story of two New Yorkers, rising novelist Jamie Wellerstein and struggling actress Cathy Hiatt, who fall in and out of love over the course of five years.

Combining only two cast members, York Theatre scene luminaries Chris Mooney and Spencer, with a small band, expect an intimate and emotive evening of frank storytelling and gorgeous music. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/wharfemede-productions-ltd.

Alexander Flanagan-Wright in Helios, a modern take on an Ancient Greek myth, performed under the Great Hall dome at Castle Howard

Theatrical event of the week: Wright & Grainger in Helios, The Great Hall, Castle Howard, near York, October 17, 5pm and 7.30pm

A LAD lives halfway up an historic hill. A teenager is on a road trip to the city in a stolen car. A boy is driving a chariot, pulling the sun across the sky. In a play about the son of the god of the sun, Helios transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound round the winding roads of rural England and into the everyday living of a towering city.

“It’s a story about life, the invisible monuments we build to it, and the little things that leave big marks,” says writer-performer Alexander Flanagan-Wright, who presents his delicate tale with a tape-player beneath the Great Hall dome’s mural, painted by 18th century Venetian painter Antonio Pelligrini, whose depiction of the Fall of Phaeton was the thematic inspiration behind Helios. Box office: castlehoward.co.uk.

Squeeze: 50th anniversary celebrations at York Barbican

Recommended but sold out already: Squeeze, York Barbican, October 18, doors 7pm

DEPTFORD’S answer to The Beatles mark their 50th anniversary as Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook manage to Squeeze in hit after hit, like pulling musses from a shell. Don’t miss the support act, one Badly Drawn Boy.  

Strictly between us: Husband-and-wife dancers Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara look forward to A Night To Remember at York Barbican next June

Show announcement of the week: Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara: A Night To Remember, York Barbican, June 1 2025

STRICTLY Come Dancing favourites Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara – married since 2017 – will be touring next year with A Night To Remember, featuring an ensemble of “some of the UK’s very best dancers and singers”.

 Aljaž, partnering Tasha Ghouri in the 2024 series, and It takes Two presenter Janette will “perform stunning routines to an eclectic array of music”, spanning the Great American songbook through to modern-day classics, backed by their own big band, fronted by boogie- woogie star Tom Seal. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/aljaz-and-janette-a-night-to-remember.

In Focus: Black Treacle Theatre in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Oct 15 to 19

Superintendent Curry (Chris Pomfrett) and DI Daisy (Adam Sowter) are pushed to
the edge by The Maniac (Andrew Isherwood), when they are surprised in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. Picture: John Saunders

BENT police and politics come under fire in York company Black Treacle Theatre’s provocative production of Dario Fo’s uproarious farce Accidental Death Of An Anarchist next week.

In a new adaptation by Tom Basden, creator of Plebs and Here We Go, the setting is updated to the rotten state of present-day Britain.

The satirical play is set in a police station where a suspect has “accidentally” fallen to his death, but did he jump or was he pushed? As the police attempt to avoid yet another scandal, a mysterious imposter (the Maniac) is arrested and brought in for questioning.

Seizing the chance to put on a show, he leads the officers in an ever-more ridiculous reconstruction of their official account, exposing their cover-ups, corruption and (in)competence.

The original 1970 Italian farce by Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo and Franca Rame was based on the real-life case of an anarchist suspected of a bombing, who plunged to his death from a Milan police station in suspicious circumstances and was later exonerated. Now comes the British re-boot.

The Maniac (Andrew Isherwood) peruses the Anarchist’s case file as Inspector
Burton (Paul Osborne) interrupts him

Director Jim Paterson says: “I’m really excited to bring this new adaptation of one of my favourite plays to York. Dario Fo was a master of using comedy to talk about the social and political issues of the day – particularly state corruption and hypocrisy.

“What Tom Basden’s version does brilliantly is bring the plot bang up to date in both setting and references, taking in police scandals and political issues of recent years – as well as packing it full of hilariousjokes! It’s fast, furious and funny, and I can’t wait for opening night.”

Lead actor Andrew Isherwood says: “Playing the Maniac, I get the opportunity to play multiple roles, with a variety of voices, which is always fun for me as I really enjoy getting the chance to play around, have some fun and indulge a little bit, which I don’t normally get to express in the same show.

“I think audiences will get a real kick out of the bizarre nature of this show, with all its twists and turns and bitingly satirical elements woven in, all performed by a brilliantly talented cast!”

PC Joseph (Guy Wilson) attempts to keep a record of the increasingly complex story being spun in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. Picture: John Saunders

Black Treacle Theatre in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist,Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 15 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee.Box office:  https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. Running time: Two hours 15 minutes, including interval.  

In the cast will be: The Maniac – Andrew Isherwood; Inspector Burton – Paul Osborne; DI Daisy – Adam Sowter; PC Joseph – Guy Wilson; Superintendent – Chris Pomfrett; Fi Phelan/PC Jackson – Jess Murray.

Production team: Director, Jim Paterson; lighting designer, Adam Kirkwood; set designer, Richard Hampton; costume/props, Maggie Smales.

Did you know?

Black Treacle Theatre’s past productions were: Constellations (March 2022), Iphigenia In Splott (March 2023) and White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (November 2023), all at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.

Last Chance To See: Jack Ashton starring in Little Women at York Theatre Royal, today at 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Jack Ashton as Professor Bhaer in Little Women at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlotte Graham

STARRING in a much-loved television series can be a boon or a bother for an actor who becomes identified with a particular character. Directors may be reluctant to offer different sorts of role.

Happily, Jack Ashton, best known as the Reverend Tom Hereward in BBC One’s Sunday night staple Call The Midwife, has escaped being typecast. So much so that in York Theatre Royal’s production of Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age classic Little Women, he is playing not one but two very contrasting characters.

The link is that both are suitors of the titular Little Women – John Brooke and Professor Bhaer, the love interests for Meg and Jo March. Not that Jack downplays the problems of leaving Call The Midwife after five years as the vicar of Poplar in the series set in an East End Anglican convent in the late 1950s and 1960s.

“It was difficult, more difficult than I thought,” he admits. “It was hard for a few years for my agent to get me seen for something. If you’re known as a particular character, it can be hard to do something that’s opposite to that and challenge yourself, which is what you want to be as an actor.”

In the past Jack has said that Call The Midwife changed his life, a reference to becoming a father – of Wren, six, and Lark, two – through his relationship with co-star Helen George. “It was a lovely time in my life,” he says. So much so that the last time he acted in York, in Strangers On the Train at the Grand Opera House in March 2018, newly-born Wren came on tour with them.

Jack Ashton’s John Brooke and Ainy Medina’s Meg March in Little Women, adapted by Anne-Marie Casey, at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlotte Graham

Juliet Forster’s production of Little Women at York Theatre Royal, where he has performed since his early days as an actor, certainly offers the chance to do something different: two different characters in one show.

One of them, Professor Bhaer, requires a German accent, necessitating Jack to work with a voice coach.

He has not read Little Women, although he has seen Great Gerwig’s 2019 film version, and coincidentally has just finished working with Saoirse Ronan, who played burgeoning writer Jo March in the American movie.

While he has not worked previously with any of the Little Women cast members, he has done so with director Juliet Forster, York Theatre Royal’s creative director.

She directed him in productions that have punctuate his life, going from a young man fresh out of drama school in 2006 to present-day leading man, appearing in Twelfth Night and the Studio double bill of Escaping Alice and End Of Desire, as well as The Guinea Pig Club and The Homecoming under former artistic director Damain Cruden’s direction.

Jack Ashton rehearsing the role of Professor Bhaer in Little Women. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

York remains one of his favourite places. “It’s such a great city. I love coming back, it’s a no-brainer when that kind of offer, like Little Women, comes along,” says Jack.

“I have really good friends in York and I’ve befriended Rita and Paul, the original people on the digs list. I got so lucky because I stayed with them the first time and have continued to stay with them every time since.”

He is realistic about the pitfalls of being an actor. “Sometimes people think an actor’s life is quite glamorous. We just audition and audition, and sometimes people say ‘yes, we want you’. Most of the time they say, ‘no thank you very much’.”

He has several projects waiting to be seen, including Jonatan Etzler’s satirical comedy Bad Apples – the one with Saoirse Ronan – and a small role in Lockerbie, a Sky drama series about one man’s battle to learn the truth about the Pan Am Flight 103 bomb explosion over the Scottish town on December 21 1988. He continues to play Harry Chilcott in BBC Radio 4’s long-running series The Archers too.

Returning to the topic of Little Women, does he have any sisters? “Two older sisters,” he replies. “I can definitely relate to not being able to get a word in edgeways.”

Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

“We just audition and audition, and sometimes people say ‘yes, we want you’. Most of the time they say, ‘no thank you very much’,” says actor Jack Ashton

Posted on

Charles Hutchinson’s review of the year of culture & art in York & beyond in 2023

Sleuth and sidekick: Fergus Rattigan’s Matthew Shardlake, left, with Sam Thorpe-Spinks’s Jack Barak in Sovereign at King’s Manor. Picture: Charlotte Graham

Community show of the year: Sovereign, King’s Manor, York, July

YORK Theatre Royal’s best show of the year was not at the Theatre Royal, but across Exhibition Square in the courtard of King’s Manor, the setting for C J Sansom’s Tudor sleuth yarn, adapted typically adroitly by the golden pen of York playwright Mike Kenny.

Henry VIII was given the Yorkshire cold shoulder by a cast of 100 led by Fergus Rattigan and Sam Thorpe-Spinks, complemented by Madeleine Hudson’s choir.

Livy Potter in Iphigenia In Splott at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Solo performance of the year: Livy Potter in Black Treacle Theatre’s Iphigenia In Splott, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March

GREEK myth is smacked in the chops by modern reality in Gary Owen’s scabrous, “horribly relevant” one-woman drama Iphigenia In Splott, a stark, dark 75-minute play, played out on a single blue chair, with no props, under Jim Paterson’s direction.

Livy Potter kept meeting you in the eye, telling you the bruised, devastating tale of Cardiff wastrel Effie, and her downward spiral through a mess of drink, drugs and drama every night, with shards of jagged humour and shattering blows to the heart.

Crowded in: Comedian Rob Auton’s artwork for The Crowd Show

Comedy show of the year: Rob Auton in The Crowd Show, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24

COMEDIANS tend to play to a room full of strangers, hence the subject matter of Rob Auton’s The Crowd Show, with its discussions of crowds, people and connection.

Except that the crowd for this (London-based) York comedian, born in Barmby Moor and educated in Pocklington, was made up of friends, family, extended family, and loyal local enthusiasts. The home crowd, rather than the in-crowd, as it were. Auton revelled in a unique performing experience, even more surreal than usual.

Honourable mention: Stewart Lee, Basic Lee, York Theatre Royal, March 20. Serious yet seriously amusing dissection of the rotten state of the nation and comedy itself.

Christmas In Neverland at Castle Howard. Picture: Charlotte Graham

Exhibition of the year: Christmas In Neverland, Castle Howard, near York, running until January 7

IS it a Christmas event, an installation or an exhibition? All three, in that Charlotte Lloyd Webber Event Design makes an exhibit of the 300-year-old stately home at Castle Howard each winter.

This time, the theme is a Peter Pan-inspired festive experience, transforming rooms and corridors alike with floristry, installations, props, soundscapes, and projections, conjuring a Mermaid’s Lagoon, Captain Hook’s Cabin and the Jolly Roger with new innovations from Leeds company imitating the dog.

Honourable mention: Austrian artist Erwin Wurm’s absurdist sculptures in Trap Of The Truth, his first UK museum show, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, bringing a whimsical smile until April 28 2024.

Kevin Rowland leading Dexys through The Feminine Divine and old hits sublime at York Barbican

Favourite gigs of the year?

SPOILT for choice. At York Barbican: Suzanne Vega, vowing I Never Wear White in droll delight on February 22; James, bolstered by orchestra and gospel choir, hitting heavenly heights, April 28; Dexys’ two sets, one new and theatrical, the other laden with soul-powered hits, September 5; Lloyd Cole’s two sets, one ostensibly acoustic, the other electric, both eclectic, on October 22.

At The Crescent: The Go-Betweens’ Robert Forster, performing with his son; March 14; Lawrence, once of Felt and Denim, now channelling Mark E Smith and the Velvet Underground in Mozart Estate, October 7; The Howl And The Hum’s extraordinary, deeply emotional three-night farewell to the York band’s original line-up in December.

The long-dormant Pulp’s poster for their This Is What We Do For An Encore return to performing live

Outdoor experience of the year: Pulp, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, July 9

THE rain swept in on the Eighties’ electronic nostalgia of Being Boiled at the Human League’s Music Showcase Weekend at York Racecourse on July 28 too, but that was a mere watering can by comparison with the deluge that befell the Open Air Theatre half an hour before fellow Sheffield legends Pulp took to the Scarborough stage. “Has it been raining?”, teased Jarvis Cocker, but huddled beneath hastily purchased sheeting, the night was still plastic fantastic.  

Cherie Federico: At the helm of all things Aesthetica in York

Driving force of the year in York: Cherie Federico, Aesthetica

2023 marked the 20th anniversary of Aesthetica, the international art magazine set up in York by New Yorker and York St John University alumna Cherie Federico. The Aesthetica Art Prize was as innovative and stimulating as ever at York Art Gallery; the 13th Aesthetica Short Film Festival, spanning five days in November, was the biggest yet. On top of that came the Future Now Symposium in March and the launch of Reignite to bolster York’s focus on being a fulcrum for the arts, media arts and gaming industry innovations of the future.

A star performance: Andy Cryer in The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) at Stephen Jospeh Theatre, Scarborough. Picture: Patch Dolan

Best Shakespeare of the year: The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less), Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, April

THE SJT teamed up with Shakespeare North Playhouse, Nick Lane paired up with co-writer Elizabeth Godber, and Eighties’ pop guilty pleasures rubbed shoulders with Shakespeare’s rebooted comedy as Yorkshire clashed with Lancashire and everyone won. This Comedy Of Errors got everything right. Not more or less. Just right. Full stop. 

Nuno Queimado and Rumi Sutton in Gus Gowland’s Mayflies at York Theatre Royal

New musical of the year in York: Mayflies, York Theatre Royal, May

YORK Theatre Royal resident artist Gus Gowland deserved far bigger audiences for the premiere of the intriguing Mayflies, as confirmed by no fewer than nine nominations in the BroadwayWorldUK Awards.

O, the app-hazard nature of modern love under Covid’s black cloud, as two people meet up after two years of tentative communication online. In Tania Azevedo’s flexible casting, you could pick any configuration of Rumi Sutton, Nuno Queimado or Emma Thornett for the couple of your choice. Better still, you should have seen all three; the songs, the nuances, the humour, grew with familiarity.

Leigh Symonds’ engineer Winston and Naomi Petersen’s automaton house maid ED in Alan Ayckbourn’s Constant Companions. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Still delivering the goods in Yorkshire

ALAN Ayckbourn’s visions of AI in Constant Companions, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough; John Godber’s Northern Soul-powered Do I Love You?, on tour into 2024; Barnsley bard Ian McMillan’s Yorkshire take on The Barber Of Seville, St George’s Hall, Bradford; Robin Simpson’s dame in Jack And The Beanstalk, York Theatre Royal.

Copyright of The Press, York

Posted on

REVIEW: Black Treacle Theatre in York premiere of White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York ***

Lara Stafford: Dying a death on stage…or not in White Rabbit, Red Rabbit on Wednesday

NO director. No rehearsal. No advance sight of the script. Only a brief list of instructions sent to the actor in a pdf by the producer 48 hours before the performance. Novel indeed.

“An actor’s nightmare,” suggested Black Treacle Theatre producer Jim Paterson, “but an audience’s dream.”That said, Maurice Crichton, Lara Stafford, Maggie Smales, Alan Park and today’s two performers, Sonia Di Lorenzo (matinee) and Sanna Jeppsson (evening), were intrigued to take on the one-off challenge of a 70-minute script, each for one solo performance, passing on the baton without a word to the next in line.

CharlesHutchPress had been expecting to see Maggie Smales on Thursday, but when he chanced upon Lara Stafford in Micklegate on Wednesday, after his plans to attend the Aesthetica Short Film Festival launch or Teenage Fanclub at Leeds Brudenell Social Club came to nought, the reviewer resolved to review her that night instead.

Both were in the dark about what would unfold. White Rabbit, Red Rabbit was written in 2011 by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, when he was forbidden to leave his native Iran, but the play was designed to travel the world in his place; words without end.

Enter Lara, to be handed an envelope by Jim Paterson. Let the journey into the unknown begin, and quickly it emerges that this will not be a solo performance, but an immersive one with plenty of audience involvement.

Both on stage and off, in the case of your reviewer, who ticked the box for having a notebook to hand, at the writer’s request, to take notes…and subsequently send him an email as evidence of the night’s performance.

Without giving too much away, the tone of the piece turns from jocular to darker, bleaker, graver, a gradual switch handled well by Stafford, whose performance elides from playful to no messing about, this is serious.

More experimental performance art than play, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit does not call on Stafford to develop a role, a character, but to be a mistress of ceremonies, a malleable conduit through which the script will pass in a series of tests.

Not only her comic skills come into play, but her prowess at orchestrating an audience, as she would do in her physics teaching career too.

Above all, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit testifies to the power of the unexpected in theatre, when actor and audience are equally surprised and on edge, each reliant on the other for what will happen next.

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, Theatre@41, Monkgate, today at 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. Tickets are £10 full price and any ticket buyers for one performance can see another one for £5 (plus booking fee). Running time is approximately 70 minutes.

Posted on

No rehearsal, no director, no sight of the script in advance. Six actors, one per show, take on White Rabbit, Red Rabbit in York

Maurice Crichton: In the dark tonight, just as much as the audience for the hush-hush White Rabbit, Red Rabbit

AN actor’s nightmare will be an audience’s dream, promises producer Jim Paterson, when White Rabbit, Red Rabbit makes its York debut from tonight (7/11/2023) to Saturday at Theatre@41, Monkgate.

This groundbreaking play requires the actor to perform the script having never seen it before setting foot on stage.

Originally written in 2011 by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, who at the time was forbidden to leave his native Iran, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is a play designed to travel the world in his place. Whereupon the audience will join each different performer on a journey into the unknown.

Soleimanpour’s 70-minuite play has been performed all over the world by actors such as John Hurt, Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, Martin Short, Sinead Cusack and Dominic West, all taking to the stage with no prior sighting of the script.

Now White Rabbit, Red Rabbit receives its York premiere at the hands of six actors, each performing the script for one performance only. “They will never have seen the script until I hand them an envelope to open as they enter the stage,” says Jim. “They are told almost nothing in preparation. There is no rehearsal or director.” 

Sanna Jeppsson: Saturday night performance

Given that the play relies on no-one knowing the plot, details cannot be shared in advance, and so audience and actor alike will be in the same position of not knowing what will happen, duly creating an “exciting and truly unpredictable show”.

“One of the best things about going to the theatre is that it’s a live experience where each performance is different and unpredictable,” says Jim. “Times that by 100 and you’ve got this play. Both the actor and the audience don’t know what’s going to happen from moment to moment, which I think will create a really exhilarating atmosphere.

“Each of our six actors is only performing the play once with no preparation – so each performance will be entirely unique for that audience. That’s why we’ve put on a ticket offer, so that you can come back to watch another actor perform it for half-price, and see what will be an entirely different take on the play.”

Jim adds: “A lot of us have had that dream where we’re suddenly in a theatre and are expected to go on stage in a play when we don’t know the lines or what we’re supposed to be doing. So, I’m massively grateful to these performers for agreeing to take the leap and make that scary dream a reality!”

First to step into the unknown tonight will be Maurice Crichton, stalwart of York Settlement Community Players and much else besides on the York theatre scene. “I think it’s going to be about the audience experiencing an actor being surprised by what they’re in, and – to an extent – vicariously experiencing those feelings themselves,” he says. “It excites me to see if I can relax enough to do the play justice!”

Alan Park: Friday man

Fresh from Settlement Players’ Government Inspector, Sonia Di Lorenzo will perform the Saturday matinee. “I’m looking forward to finding out what it’s about,” she says. “It sounds really intriguing from what I know of it – which is just the title! I’m excited to see how it unfolds and what it entails and where it’s all going to lead.”

Sanna Jeppsson will take on the Saturday night challenge. “It’s exciting and scary because I don’t know how I’m going to react in the moment: what my body’s going to feel like, what my pulse is going to be doing, what my breath is going to be doing – I just don’t know! But I’m very interested to find out,” she says.

Presented by York company Black Treacle Theatre, in association with Aurora Nova, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit will be performed by Maurice Crichton tonight; Lara Stafford tomorrow; Maggie Smales, Thursday; Theatgre@41 chair Alan Park, Friday; Sonia Di Lorenzo, Saturday matinee, and Sanna Jeppsson, Saturday night.

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. Tickets are £10 full price and any ticket buyers for one performance can see another one for £5 (plus booking fee).

Did you know?

BLACK Treacle Theatre produced Nick Payne’s Constellations in March 2022 and Gary Owen’s Iphigenia In Splott in March 2023, both at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.

Posted on

REVIEW: Black Treacle Theatre in Iphigenia In Splott, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York ****

Livy Potter’s Effie in Iphigenia In Splott. Picture: John Saunders

GREEK myth is smacked in the chops by modern reality in Gary Owen’s scabrous, “horribly relevant” one-woman drama Iphigenia In Splott.

Should you be wondering, Splott is in Cardiff, its unusual name meaning ‘parcel of land’. In your reviewer’s university days studying EngLit there (1980 to 1983), it was the runt of that city’s litter. Today, on a Google search for Splott, you will find the question: “Is Splott rough?”.

Google answers: “As of 2023, the crime rate in Splott is 52 per cent higher than Wales and 50 per cent higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure”.

And they don’t come harder than Effie, whose life “spirals through a mess of drink, drugs and drama every night, and a hangover worse than death the next day, until one incident gives her the chance to be something more”.

Firebrand performance: Livy Potter’s Effie

Owen’s splenetic 75-minute monologue is performed by Livy Potter, actress, chair of York Settlement Community Players and University of York staff member. She is not from Cardiff but director Jim Paterson is, and she has been able to perfect that distinctive accent in rehearsal sessions, an accent that has none of the undulations of the Welsh valleys.

This is a stark, dark play, played out on a single blue chair, with no props and only a mesh of twisted metal and broken palettes as a backdrop. Drama cannot come more intimate or intense than a solo show, and Potter keeps meeting you in the eye, telling you her bruised, devastating tale with shards of jagged humour and shattering blows to the heart.

Think of Ibsen’s women; think of  Steven Berkoff’s dramas with their echoes of Greek tragedy; think of Christopher York’s play Build A Rocket.

Fantastic firebrand performance; superb, coruscating writing; excellent, raw direction. Visit Splott now.

Performances: Tonight (3/3/2023), 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm, 7.30pm. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Crash and burn: Effie’s journey through Cardiff at night
Posted on

Iphigenia In Splott hits the spot as Livy Potter plays a young woman spiralling into an abyss of drugs, drink and drama

“As soon as I read the play, I knew I had to accept the challenge,” says Livy Potter of playing Effie in Gary Owen’s Iphigenia In Splott

GREEK myth meets modern reality in Gary Owen’s “horribly relevant” one-woman drama Iphigenia In Splott at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from Wednesday to Saturday.

Under the direction of Jim Paterson, York company Black Treacle Theatre presents Livy Potter in a 75-minute monologue about Effie, whose life spirals through a mess of drink, drugs and drama every night, and a hangover worse than death the next day, until one incident gives her the chance to be something more.

Set in contemporary Cardiff, Owen’s play is rooted in the ancient tale of Iphigenia being sacrificed by her father to placate the gods. Effie, in turn, is the kind of woman to avoid eye contact with in the street when she is drunk at 11.30am in the morning.

“Iphigenia In Splott is a play about our country right now,” says director Jim Paterson

Named by the Guardian in its list of the 50 best plays of the 21st century, on account of being a “shattering modern classic that distils all our troubles”, Iphigenia In Splott is both a portrait of a woman whose life is turned upside down by the events of one night and a broader picture of the brutal impact of austerity on communities across Britain.

Director Paterson says “Iphigenia In Splott is a play about our country right now. It was originally written in 2015, but remains horribly relevant when we consider the state of our public services, the cost-of-living crisis and what this means for those already struggling to get by – who are too often forgotten or ignored by those in power.

“What makes it such a brilliantly rich play is the unforgettable character of Effie, and the poetry and lyricism in the language that Gary Owen has written for her. This gives it an emotional heft and weight that I think will be incredibly cathartic for an audience.”

Livy Potter and Jim Paterson in the rehearsal room

Livy Potter, the sole actor on stage throughout, says: “It’s such a privilege to be given the chance to play Effie. As soon as I read the play, I knew I had to accept the challenge; it’s poetic, emotional, witty and riveting.

“I can’t wait to share this story with York audiences. It’s been great to work with Jim again, having been directed by him in York Settlement Community Players’ production of Christopher Durang’s comedy  Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike last November. To be back performing at Theatre@41 is fantastic too.”

Paterson is joined in the production team by lighting designer Ivy Magee and set designer Richard Hampton with technical support from Sam Elmer.

Black Treacle Theatre in Iphigenia In Splott, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Wednesday to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

“I can’t wait to share this story with York audiences,” says Livy Potter
Posted on

REVIEW: Charles Hutchinson’s verdict on Constellations at SJT, Scarborough ****; The Last Five Years, Theatre@41, York ***

Infinite possibilities, finite world: Emilio Iannucci’s Roland and Carla Harrison-Hodge’s Marianne in Constellations at the SJT. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Nick Payne’s Constellations, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, written in the stars, until Saturday, 7.30pm nightly, 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com

White Rose Theatre in Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, in the tunnel of love until Saturday, 7.30pm nightly; 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

HERE is a brace of award-garlanded boy-meets-girl one-act two-handers, each playing with time and space with all the elan of Alan Ayckbourn’s playful works of this ilk.

First up, Constellations, University of York alumnus Nick Payne’s multiverse play already staged in York this year by Black Treacle Theatre’s Andrew Isherwood and Jess Murray at Theatre@41 in February.

Named as one of the 50 best plays of the 21st century by the London Evening Standard, now it is in the supple hands of Stephen Joseph Theatre artistic director Paul Robinson, whose cast features Emilio Iannucci, an actor whose thrilling combination of mental agility and physical alacrity has delighted York Theatre Royal and Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre audiences alike.

In Payne’s exploration of the myriad paths one love story can take from one meeting, Iannucci plays beekeeper Roland – with more than one sting in the tale – opposite Carla Harrison-Hodge’s scientist Marianne. “The action takes place (sort of) chronologically,” the programme forewarns. “A change of scene indicates a change of universe”.

“Emilio Iannucci and Carla Harrison-Hodge jump from universe to parallel universe with dazzling speed”. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

To avoid any consternation over Constellations, in a nutshell, each scene – the first meeting, the first date and – spoiler alert – the break-up – unfurls in several different ways, as Iannucci and Harrison-Hodge jump from universe to parallel universe with dazzling speed over 70 minutes in a world of What Ifs and endless possibilities, the next leap dependent on the decision each makes.

Comparisons have been made with the films Sliding Doors and Groundhog Day and, more pertinently, with York-born author Kate Atkinson’s novel Life After Life. Sliding Doors keeps offering two possibilities; Groundhog Day replays the same day over and over; Life After Life posits alternative possible lives for Ursula Todd after death after death.

Bolder still, yet shadowed by the finite nature of life, Constellations combines science and art, physics and chemistry, romance and alternative realities, in an otherwise simple love story.

All life is here within these Constellations: happiness and sadness; honey sweetness and ill health; devotion and cheating; certainty and uncertainty; tremors of the heart and traumas of the mind; the everyday and the extraordinary; decisions big and small; questions and more question; connection and disconnection. A day in the life and the life in a day. The roll of the dice; the truth and the lies.

On a breathtaking set by TK Hay of wooden blocks within a geometric carapace of one and a half miles of fibre-optic cable lighting, Iannucci and Harrison-Hodge talk and move equally nimbly, in response to Payne’s text, Robinson’s direction and Jennifer Kay’s movement direction alike. Sign language speaks volumes too.

Like the sky-at-night lighting’s evocation of drawing lines from star to star, the multifarious stories travel up and down lines of humour and heartbreak, light and darkness, exhilaration and loss, warmth and sudden chill, to the point where you care deeply about Roland and Marianne, whatever direction their paths take. What’s more, you ponder what alternative routes your own life could have followed.

As Robinson puts it, Constellations is “deeply human, deeply moving, genuinely tilting the world for you”. In his notes, he challenges anyone not to leave the theatre “just a bit more aware of what a fragile and remarkable thing life is”. Job done, Mr Robinson. Fragile, remarkable, and always better for a trip to the theatre to appreciate that.

Close together and drifting apart: Simon Radford’s Jamie and Claire Pulpher’s Cathy in a montage for The Last Five Years

YORK Stage director Nik Briggs has long wanted to bring Jason Robert Brown’s emotionally charged 2001 American musical The Last Five Years to York, but his ideal couplings to play Cathy and Jamie have never been in York at the same time.

The York premiere instead falls to White Rose Theatre, the city’s newest stage company, in a passion project for director Claire Pulpher and fellow actor Simon Radford, who both name it as their favourite musical.

Brown drew on the trials and tribulations of his own failed marriage to Theresa O’Neill. So much so that she sued him on the grounds of the musical’s story violating non-disparagement and non-disclosure agreements within their divorce decree by representing her relationship with Brown too closely.

For Brown, read successful young novelist Jamie Wellerstein, Random House’s rising poster boy. For, well, let’s not say O’Neill, but any struggling actress, read Cathy Hiatt, from Ohio.

Brown’s sung-through musical has the novel structure of Cathy telling her side of the story from the end of the relationship backwards, while, at the other end of the stage, Jamie does so from the start forwards, as he lands a publishing deal at 23.

The songs take the form of internal monologues, alongside the occasional phone call, usually delivered with the other partner having left the stage, save for a duet where they touch for the first time, exchange marriage vows and swap ends to continue on the same trajectory. There is to be no middle ground in this relationship, no alternative paths, unlike in Constellations.

Simon Radford and Claire Pulpher in rehearsal for The Last Five Years

The singing brings to mind the work of Stephen Sondheim, melody playing second fiddle to recitative, (the form of accompanied solo song that mirrors the rhythms and accents of spoken language), whether upbeat when courting or for broken-hearted ballads.

The accompaniment, however, under the musical direction of Jon Atkin, is often beautiful as he leads a six-piece band with the strings to the fore: Marcus Bousfield on violin and Rachel Brown and Lucy McLuckie on sublime cello. Paul McArthur on guitar and Christian Topman provide the electricity.

The balance in the relationship can be played in different ways, more often with Jamie trying everything to save the relationship, to stimulate Cathy, in a gentler interpretation of the role. In song, Radford’s Jamie is intense, hyper, rising to the point of anger and shouting, uncompromising, in your face, over-confident, deceitful too.

Pulpher’s Cathy tunes into a different wavelength, more controlled, one where she experiences flights of happiness, frustration rather than embitterment with failed auditions, but moments of humour too before loss of confidence, insularity and loneliness take over.

Done this way, where Jamie is the one who is unreasonable, you wonder whether these two would ever have lasted five years or whether they were polar opposites never meant to travel in the same direction.

Nevertheless, the structure is engaging; the songs draw you in; the simple set of two chairs and one table at each end is well chosen, complemented by the regular changes of attire that match the two stories in one’s progress.

After the last two years in Covid’s shadow, seeing a new company of established York talents take its first steps in The Last Five Years is another reason to celebrate Theatre@41’s upward curve under chair Alan Park.

Review by Charles Hutchinson

Award-winning TK Hay lights up the SJT with fibre-optic design ‘unlike anything ever seen in a theatre production before’

Only connect: Cast members Carla Harrison-Hodge and Emilio Iannucci on TK Hay’s ground-breaking set design for Constellations. All pictures: Tony Bartholomew

HOTSHOT young designer TK Hay has created a dazzling and innovative set design for the multiverse story world of Nick Payne’s Constellations at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre.

Crowned Best Designer in the Stage Debut Awards 2022, Hay has used over one-and-a-half miles of glowing fibre optic cable to create a web of light that  surrounds actors Carla Harrison-Hodge and Emilio Iannucci.

Payne’s play looks at the ‘What Ifs’ that arise from a single meeting, following the crazy paving of the couple’s path through a multitude of possibilities depending on the decisions they make.

Shining light: Designer TK Hay

Hay was inspired by two installation artists to create a set “that is believed to be unlike anything ever seen in a theatre production before”: Chiharu Shiota from Japan, who makes huge and intricate networks of thread and yarn, and Italian “artist of pure light” Carlo Bernardini, who uses fibre optics, prisms and sculptural elements to form laser-like geometric installations.

“What we wanted was a design that responded to the action of the play, so the direction from the start was very visually focused,” says Hay.

“I was thinking about the connection between the two protagonists and how across all these different realities they are somehow managing to connect with one another.

Illuminating: TK Hay’s fibre-optic design for the SJT’s production of Constellations

“I pitched to Paul Robinson, the director, that we took Shiota’s and Bernadini’s work and fused it together – I thought it would look incredible!”

Robinson says: “TK’s design is absolutely remarkable: we’re pushing at not just what this play can do, but also what theatre form can do with what he’s come up with.”

The set design has created its own challenges for SJT’s production manager Denzil Hebditch, and technical manager Tigger Johnson.

Denzil says: “Working with fibre optics in this way wasn’t something we had done before, and we were concerned that we would struggle to achieve TK’s vision, but the results have been pretty spectacular!”

A floor-level view of TK Hay’s design in the Round at the SJT
Posted on

Black Treacle Theatre to stage York premiere of Nick Payne’s relationship drama Constellations at Theatre@41

Shining a light on their relationship: Andrew Isherwood’s Roland and Jess Murray’s Marianne in Nick Payne’s Constellations

MULTIPLE universes fill the stage when Nick Payne’s hit play Constellations comes to Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from Thursday to Saturday.

York company Black Treacle Theatre’s cast of Andrew Isherwood and Jess Murray tell the story of Roland and Marianne’s relationship.

Each scene, such as the first meeting, the first date and breaking up, unfolds in several different ways, showing how nothing is necessarily ‘meant to be’, not least a crisis that could mean the end of their time together.

Jess Murray and Andrew Isherwood in rehearsals for Constellations

In the spirit of films such as Groundhog Day and Sliding Doors, Payne’s 70-minute play mixes comedy and pathos as it asks big questions about what our ‘other lives’ might look like, in a universe that may be ultimately random.

Named as one of the 50 best plays of the 21st century by the Evening Standard, Constellations was revived in the West End, London, last year to great acclaim.

Director Jim Paterson says: “Constellations tells a very simple story – classic boy-meets-girl in a lot of ways – but the way it’s written gives this a totally fresh spin. You really care about these characters and their relationship, from the warm and funny moments to the potential for heartbreak and loss.

Black Treacle Theatre’s poster for Constellations at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

“After the last two years, it feels very timely to stage this play, as many of us are grappling with questions about purpose and direction, and what other paths life might have taken, if not for the pandemic. Our time is finite and, as this play shows, there are so many possibilities open to us.”

Paterson is joined in the production team by designer Zoe Paterson and lighting designer Neil Millar.

Constellations runs at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from March 3 to 5, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Andrew Isherwood as Roland in Constellations