Mary Anning Rocks at the Yorkshire Museum, York. Picture: Antony Chappel Ross
DINOSAUR museum adventures and the CBeebies house party, CHIC’s good times on the coast and Sparks’ York return after 52 years offer contrasts aplenty in Charles Hutchinson’s choices for the days ahead.
Last-chance holiday activities: Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York, open Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am to 5pm
AS the school summer holidays enter their final fortnight, the Yorkshire Museum invites visitors to “make the most of the interactive activities, craft sessions and amazing exhibits before term starts again”.
Grab a dinosaur backpack to explore the Mary Anning and Jurassic galleries in dino-themed entertainment for younger ones, while spotting fossils and dino bones on their adventures on August 21, 24 or 28. The final Melsonby Hoard treasure trove crafting session will be held on August 26, although Viking beaded jewellery and bug brooch making are available every day through the summer break. Pay once to receive all these free activities and unlimited return visits for a year. Tickets: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.
No common ground: Pandora Clifford’s Mags and Liz Garland’s Liz in Handbagged at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Political drama of the week: Handbagged, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until August 29
MOIRA Buffini’s 2013 Olivier Award-winning play imagines what happened behind closed palace doors when two of the 20th century’s most powerful women, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, locked handbags. Meeting once a week for 11 years, one believed there was no such thing as society; the other committed her life to serving it.
Spanning 1979 to 1990, Handbagged asks if The Queen and the Iron Lady ever found common ground or did their stiff upper lips reign supreme? Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder directs the SJT cast of Pandora Clifford, Liz Garland, Alexandra Mathie, Deven Modha, Simon Darwen and Meriel Scholfield. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Nile Rodgers: Performing with CHIC at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Coastal gig of the week: Nile Rodgers & CHIC, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Saturday, gates open at 6pm
IN the final Scarborough Open Air Theatre concert of the summer, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Grammy Lifetime Achievement winner and composer, producer, arranger and guitarist Nile Rodgers returns to the Yorkshire coast for the third time with CHIC, the New York City R&B and soul band he co-founded with Bernard Edwards.
Expect such disco dancefloor fillers as Le Freak, Good Times, We Are Family and I’m Coming Out. Acid jazz combo Brand New Heavies support. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Sparks’ Ron and Russell Mael: Playing York after 52-year hiatus on August 25. Picture: Munachi Osegbu
York gig of the week: Sparks, York Barbican, August 25, doors open at 7pm
CULT Californian pop-rock pioneers Sparks play York for the first time since 1974 on their 2025-2026 world tour, coinciding with this month’s release of latest album Live On The Moon.
The Mael brothers, Ron (keyboards), 81, and Russell (vocals), 77, are lining up a euphoric, career-spanning set, picking from such hits as This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us, Amateur Hour, Something For The Girl With Everything, Looks, Looks, Looks, The Number One Song In Heaven and Beat The Clock. Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The poster for CBeebies House Party Live! at York Barbican
Children’s show of the week: CBeebies House Party Live!, York Barbican, August 26, 11am and 2pm
DIRECTED by CBeebies superstar Justin Fletcher, CBeebies House Party Live! is a fun-packed family stage show full of sensational songs, stupendous surprises and mega moments.
Throwing an epic party just for you will be special guest Mr Tumble, Mister Maker, York Theatre Royal pantomime alumni Andy Day and Evie Pickerill, Duggee, Nigel Clarke and George Webster, who promise dancing, singing, streamers, giant jellies, bubbles galore and a CBeebies bedtime story. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Lee Gemmell’s Egyptology student Edward Bellingham in Baron Productions’ The Mummy Lot No. 249
Thriller of the month: Baron Productions presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Mummy Lot No. 249, St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, August 28 & 29, 7.30pm
FOUNDED by Daniel Wilmot in 2015, York company Baron Productions presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1892 one-act play The Mummy Lot No. 249 as its 2026 summer show, in which Oxford student Abercrombie Smith discovers his neighbour, Egyptology student Edward Bellingham, has used ancient magic to reanimate a malevolent mummy to terrorise and attack his rivals.
Wilmot’s cast features Jack McAdam as Smith, Lee Gemmell as Bellingham, M. Alder as Peterson, Lauren Hegarty as Hastie and Ellie Guffick as Monkhouse Lee. Box office: https://www.ticketsource.com/baron-productions.
The artwork for the interactive Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote at Milton Rooms, Malton
Crime detection games ahead: Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote, Milton Rooms, Malton, September 2, 7.30pm
HOSTED by super-fan, playwright and PopHorror co-producer Tim Benzie, cult event Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote comes to Malton with an interactive screening of NBC Universal Television’s classic Murder, She Wrote episode A Fashionable Way To Die, wherein Jessica Fletcher visits Paris to support her friend’s fashion show, but soon a murder takes place that only she (or you) can solve.
Combining games, prizes and audience participation, Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote features a race to solve the crime, via the Fameometer and the Suspiciometer; a Cabot Cove quiz; a singalong to the theme tune with new lyrics, plus clips and biographies of the campy guest stars. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
The Snake Davis Band: Heading back to Helmsley Arts Centre
Return upcoming: The Snake Davis Band, Everlasting Love Tour, Helmsley Arts Centre, September 12, 7.30pm
SAXOPHONIST Snake Davis is “so happy to be back at Helmsley Arts Centre yet again”, this time showcasing new tunes and his new album on the Everlasting Love Tour with his four-piece band featuring guitar, bass guitar and drums.
The set will span “floaty to danceable, soul and Northern Soul to pop, jazz to world”, embracing original material and classic sax pieces such as Baker Street and Night Train, as Snake swaps performing arena and stadium gigs with stellar acts for playing intimate venues with his own music choices and favourite musicians. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Tour show announcement of the week: Red Dragonfly Productions & Grist To The Mill Productions present The Ballad Of Mulan, York Theatre Royal Studio, September 12, 7.45pm; September 12, 2pm & 7.45pm
COMMISSIONED and performed by West Yorkshire-born British-Chinese actress Michelle Yim, The Ballad Of Mulantells the story of the real woman behind the legendary Chinese female warrior who disguised as a man to join the Empire’s army – and inspired Disney’s animation and live-feature Mulan.
Woman, warrior, legend, for ten years Mulan has fought for the Chinese Empire. Now, after one last battle, she will be going home, but can she return to her old life, becoming a woman again? Yim’s hour-long The Ballad Of Mulan presents a search for identity in a violent world. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.