Gary Oldman in rehearsal for Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape, now in its preview week at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Gisele Schmidt
GARY Oldman’s return to York Theatre Royal tops the bill of Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations and chocolate is in the air too.
York theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, until May 17
ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit in York, 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 1987.
“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’.” Tickets update: New availability of returns and additional seats on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Laura Soper’s Noi with the beached Storm Whale in The Storm Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio. Narrator Charlotte Benedict looks on. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick,. Kirkpatrick Photography
Children’s show of the week: The Storm Whale, York Theatre Royal Studio, until Saturday, 10.30am and 1.30pm
YORK writer and director Matt Aston revives his 2019 stage adaptation of Benji Davies’s tales of loneliness, love and courage, The Storm Whale, in a show built on puppetry, original songs and dialogue.
Noi lives with his dad and six cats by the sea. One summer, while dad was busy at work, Noi rescued a little whale, washed up on the beach. A friendship began that changed their lives forever. The following winter, his dad takes one last trip in his fishing boat. Alone once more, Noi longs to see his friend again. Will it take another storm to bring them back together? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York Chocolate Festival: City centre will be chock-a-block with chocs and eggs for Easter
Festival of the week: York Chocolate Festival 2025, today to Saturday, 10am to 5pm
YORK Chocolate Festival showcases everything sweet and chocolate from independent businesses in Parliament Street and around the city.
Highlights include the York Chocolate Festival Market; Chocolate Taste Trail; Ashley McCarthy’s Chocolate Sculpture and Family Easter Egg Hunt. Entry to the festival and market is free; some activities and events require tickets. Full programme at: yorkfoodfestival.com/programme.
Showaddywaddy: Rock’n’roll revivalists standing under the moon of love at The Grand Opera House, York
Rock’n’roll nostalgia of the week: Showaddywaddy, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
SHOWADDYWADDY make the bold claim to be “the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world”, living up to that title for the past five decades, they say.
Formed in 1973 in Leicester, they have sold more than 20 million records. Here come Hey Rock And Roll, Under The Moon Of Love, Three Steps To Heaven, When, Blue Moon, Pretty Little Angel Eyes et al. Box office: atgtickjets.com/york.
Mark Radcliffe and David Boardman: Two voices, two guitars, original songs and carefully chosen covers at Pocklington Arts Centre
Duo of the week: Mark Radcliffe and David Boardman, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 8pm
MARK Radcliffe and David Boardman are singing, songwriting, strumming and swigging buddies from Knutsford in the Badlands of the Cheshire Plain. BBC radio presenter and author Radcliffe was a member of folk-rock bands The Family Mahone and Galleon Blast and is now one half of electronic duo UNE and drummer and lyricist for Americana band Fine Lines.
Guitarist, guitar teacher and visual artist Boardman cut his teeth on the rock circuit with Darktown Jubilee. On board with Radcliffe, they deliver two voices, two guitars, original songs, carefully chosen covers and the occasional rambling anecdote. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Patrick Monahan: The Talkinator fights back against AI at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Comedy gig of the week: Patrick Monahan: The Talkinator, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 8pm
IN 2024, amid much talk of about AI taking over humans, only one man can out-talk the chat-bots and robots. Step forward Irish-Iranian comedian Patrick Monahan for one hour of stand-up comedy written by a human, performed by a human. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Alfie Richards’ Mr Tumnus in The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
Touring show of the week: The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, Grand Opera House, York, April 22 to 26, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
STEP through the wardrobe into the kingdom of Narnia for the most mystical of adventures in a faraway land. Join Lucy, Edmund, Susan and Peter as they wave goodbye to wartime Britain and say hello to Mr Tumnus, the talking Faun (Alfie Richards), Aslan, the Lion (Stanton Wright), and the coldest, cruellest White Witch (Katy Stephens).
Directed by Michael Fentiman, this breathtaking stage adaptation brings magical storytelling, bewitching stagecraft and stellar puppets to CS Lewis’s allegorical novel. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The poster for 1812 Theatre Company’s production of Miss Marple in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d
Mystery of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d, Helmsley Arts Centre, April 23 to 26, 7.30pm
HELMSLEY Arts Centre’s resident troupe, the 1812 Theatre Company, present Rachel Wagstaff’s stage adaptation of Miss Marple in Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d, a story of revenge and dark secrets set in 1960s’ England, when the wind of change blowing through the land reaches sleepy St Mary Mead.
A new housing estate is making villagers fearful and a glamorous American film star has bought the Manor House, throwing the village into a frenzy. Cue a vicious murder, whereupon Miss Marple must unravel a web of lies, tragedy and danger. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Alex Hamilton: Playing the blues with his trio at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Alex Hamilton Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 24, 8pm
ALEX Hamilton (formerly Lewis Hamilton) has been part of the British blues rock scene for more than ten years, touring Great Britain and Europe. First making his mark as a young guitarist with skills beyond his age, he has matured and developed a technique redolent of Robben Ford and Matt Scofield.
Hamilton’s debut album aged 18 won the Scottish New Music Award in 2011 and his subsequent albums have been nominated for the British Blues Awards. He tours in a trio with his father Nick on bass and Ian Beestin on drums. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Gary Oldman in rehearsal for Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape. Picture: Gisele Schmidt
GARY Oldman’s return to the York Theatre Royal stage after 45 years in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape from today had sold out, but a combination of returns and additional seats are newly available. Hurry, hurry.
Once the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit in York, Oscar winner Oldman now directs himself – and provides the set design too – in Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd in his first stage appearance since 1987.
“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says Oldman.“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’.”
What happens over the course of 50 minutes in Krapp’s Last Tape? Each year, on his birthday, Krapp records a new tape reflecting on the year gone by. On his 69th birthday, Krapp, now a lonely man, is ready with a bottle of wine, a banana and his tape recorder. Listening back to a recording he made as a young man, Krapp must face the hopes of his past self.
Oldman, who turned 67 on March 21, now takes on a role premiered by Patrick Magee in 1958 and since played by the likes of Albert Finney, Harold Pinter, John Hurt, Stephen Rea and Kenneth Allan Taylor, the long-running Nottingham Playhouse pantomime dame, writer and director, in the play’s last performance at York Theatre Royal in 2009.
Gary Oldman with York Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes surveying the main house auditorium
Oldman has been considering going back to the stage for a long time. “I have never been far from the theatre and, in fact, have been discussing plays and my return to the theatre for nearly 30 years,” he posted on Instagram.
The April 14 to May 17 production of Beckett’s one-act monodrama was set in motion in March 2024, when Slow Horses star Oldman paid a visit to the St Leonard’s Place theatre , where he met chief executive Paul Crewes.
“When Gary visited us, it was fascinating hearing him recount stories of his time as a young man, in his first professional role on the York Theatre Royal stage,” says Crewes. “In that context when we started to explore ideas, we realised Krapp’s Last Tape was the perfect project.”
The youngest of three children in a working-class London family, Oldman left school at 16 and began acting in productions with Greenwich and Lewisham Young People’s Theatre.
He applied for RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art) but his rejection came with the advice to do something else for a living. Advice that he ignored, instead winning a scholarship to Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, from where he graduated with a BA in acting in 1979.
Pantomime puss: Gary Oldman’s Cat, with Berwick Kaler’s dame, centre, in Dick Whittington at York Theatre Royal in 1979-80
Whereupon he headed north to start out in the repertory ranks at York Theatre Royal in 1979 in a repertory season of She Stoops To Conquer, Thark, Privates On Parade and Romeo And Juliet, topped off by playing the Cat in Berwick Kaler’s third York pantomime, Dick Whittington, that Christmas.
Dame Berwick later told the Guardian in an interview in 2018: “Gary has gone on to become one of our greatest screen actors but I’m afraid he was a bit of a lightweight when it came to pantomime.
“He kept fainting inside the costume. On at least three occasions I had to turn to the audience and say, ‘Oh dear, boys and girls, I think the poor pussy cat has gone to sleep’!”
Another actor in the rep company, Michael Simkins, has recalled the “bruising schedule of 50 performances in seven weeks, not to mention the drunken and relentless partying in various digs and rented bed-sits after curtain down”.
Oldman moved on to the Colchester rep and Glasgow Citizens Theatre, where he performed with Rupert Everett. He has called his time there “a coming of age – the work was joyful, bold and exhilarating. In the years that followed no other theatre experience could match it,” he said.
While appearing in Edward Bond’s controversial play Saved at the Palace Theatre, in Westcliff, he was “spotted” by Royal Court Theatre director Max Stafford-Clark. Or, rather, he had Oldman drawn to his attention – by Oldman himself.
Gary Oldman in the York Theatre Royal dressing rooms. Picture: Gisele Schmidt
Like many young actors, he had written to the director setting out why he wanted to work at the cutting-edge London theatre. Stafford-Clark recalls that “it was a particularly well-argued letter”, so he went to see Saved.
Many of the audience – only about 30-strong – walked out but the director duly cast him in Bond’s The Pope’s Wedding, at the Royal Court. Saved, meanwhile, won him the British Theatre Association Drama Magazine award for 1985 and the Time Out Fringe award as best actor.
Roles ensued with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Royal Court in new works by Bond and Caryl Churchill. Harold Pinter was lined up to direct him in his play The Caretaker in the West End.
Oldman’s last stage performance was in 1987 in Churchill’s satirical play Serious Money at the Royal Court. By then, he had appeared in his break-out screen role as damaged punk Sid Vicious in Sid And Nancy, his 1986 alarm call to herald a career in films that have grossed 11 billion dollars. “I never thought I’d get into films in a thousand years,” he once said.
Today, he opens in a theatre show for the first time in 38 years, back in York for his “completion of a cycle”, banana in hand in Krapp’s Last Tape.
Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Gary Oldman’s return to York Theatre Royal after 45 years in Krapp’s Last Tape, performed, directed and designed by the erstwhile pantomime puss
Gary Oldman in rehearsal for Krapp’s Last Tape, opening at York Theatre Royal on April 14. Picture: Gisele Schmidt
GARY Oldman’s return to York Theatre Royal tops the bill of Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations. Chocolate is in the air too.
York 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 in York, 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’.” Tickets update: New availability of returns and additional seats on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Margaret Beech: Making “paper magic” for York Open Studios in Oaken Grove, Haxby, York
Art event of the week: York Open Studios, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm
YORK Open Studios showcases 163 artists and makers at 116 locations in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. Artists and makers, including 38 new participants, span ceramics, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood, Full details and an interactive map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk; brochures in shops, galleries, cafes and tourist hubs. Admission is free.
Wrongsemble: Performing Three Little Vikings, a tale of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard, at Helmsley Arts Centre
Ryedale children’s show of the week: Wrongsemble in Three Little Vikings, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm
LEEDS company Wrongsemble present a bold and funny adventure story for little rebels by Bethan Woollvin, creator of Little Red and I Can Catch A Monster.
Once upon a time in a Viking village, everything seems to be going wrong. Chickens are disappearing, trees are falling down. When the silly Chieftain won’t listen, can the three littlest Vikings figure out how to save the day in a 50-minute tale of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Mark Stratford in Macready! Dickens Theatrical Friend, on tour at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Dickens of a good show of the week: Mark Stratford in Macready! Dickens’ Theatrical Friend, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
WRITER-PERFORMER Mark Stratford’s solo play tells the story of Macready, the Victorian actor-manager to whom Charles Dickens dedicated his novel Nicholas Nickleby. Capturing the joy, graft and tribulations of a life lived in theatre with passion, humour, emotion and multiple characters, Stratford journeys through the fascinating world of Victorian theatre and the extraordinary, conflicted life of Macready, from his first tentative steps on stage in a tatty country theatre to his final Drury Lane performance. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Daniele Coombe, left, Rebecca Wheatley, Maureen Nolan and Carli Norris in Menopause The Musical 2 – Cruising Through The Menopause at the Grand Opera House
Musical of the week: Menopause The Musical 2 – Cruising Through The Menopause!, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 6pm
CARLI Norris, from Doctors, Hollyoaks and EastEnders, Maureen Nolan, of The Nolans, Rebecca Wheatley, from Casualty, and West End actress Daniele Coombe star in the final UK tour of this menopausal sequel.
Fast forward five years as the same characters set off on the high seas in this heartfelt, reassuring look at the “joys” of the menopause. Cue hot flushes, mood swings, memory lapses and weight gain on a bumpy trip of self-discovery, love and friendship, backed by a soundtrack of parodied hits. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The Storm Whale: Returning to York Theatre Royal next week after its first plunge in 2019. Picture: Northedge Photography
Revival of the week: The Storm Whale, York Theatre Royal Studio, April 15 to 19, 10.30am and 1.30pm
YORK writer and director Matt Aston revives his 2019 stage adaptation of Benji Davies’s tales of loneliness, love and courage, The Storm Whale, in a show built on puppetry, original songs and dialogue.
Noi lives with his dad and six cats by the sea. One summer, while dad was busy at work, Noi rescued a little whale, washed up on the beach. A friendship began that changed their lives forever. The following winter, his dad takes one last trip in his fishing boat. Alone once more, Noi longs to see his friend again. Will it take another storm to bring them back together? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York Chocolate Festival: City centre will be chock-a-block with chocs’n’eggs for Easter
Festival of the week: York Chocolate Festival 2025, April 16 to 20, 10am to 5pm
YORK Chocolate Festival showcases everything sweet and chocolate from independent businesses in Parliament Street and around the city.
Highlights include the York Chocolate Festival Market; Chocolate Taste Trail; Ashley McCarthy’s Chocolate Sculpture and Family Easter Egg Hunt. Entry to the festival and market is free; some activities and events require tickets. Full programme at: yorkfoodfestival.com/programme.
Showaddywaddy: Rock’n’roll revivalists standing under the moon of love at the Grand Opera House
Rock’n’roll nostalgia of the week: Showaddywaddy, Grand Opera House, York, April 17, 7.30pm
SHOWADDYWADDY make the bold claim to be “the greatest rock’n’roll band in the world”, living up to that title for the past five decades, they say.
Formed in 1973 in Leicester, they have sold more than 20 million records. Here come Hey Rock And Roll, Under The Moon Of Love, Three Steps To Heaven, When, Blue Moon, Pretty Little Angel Eyes et al. Box office: atgtickjets.com/york.
The Talkinator: Written by a human, performed by a human, Patrick Monahan
Comedy gig of the week: Patrick Monahan: The Talkinator, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 18, 8pm
IN 2024, amid much talk of about AI taking over humans, only one man can out-talk the chat-bots and robots. Step forward Irish-Iranian comedian Patrick Monahan for one hour of stand-up comedy written by a human, performed by a human. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The Divine Comedy: New album and York Barbican tour date. Picture: Kevin Westerberg
Gig announcement of the week: The Divine Comedy, York Barbican, October 21
NEIL Hannon will promote The Divine Comedy’s 13th studio album, September 19’s Rainy Sunday Afternoon, on a 16-date autumn tour. Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, April 17 at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/the-divine-comedy-2025/.
Written, arranged and produced by Hannon and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, the album spans his usual range of emotions – sad, funny, angry and everything in between – as he “works through some stuff”: mortality, memories, relationships and political and social upheaval.
Mr Willy Wonka, played by Jonathan, in Ryedale Youth Theatre’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Milton Rooms, Malton
MISSING out on Gary Oldman’s sold-out Krapp’s Last Tape on his York Theatre Royal return? Charles Hutchinson digs up plenty of consolation prizes.
Ryedale musical of the week: Ryedale Youth Theatre in Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Milton Rooms, Malton, tonight to Saturday, 7.15pm plus 2pm Thursday and Saturday matinees
RYEDALE Youth Theatre brings Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory to the Malton stage in a magical adventure that journeys into Willy Wonka’s fantastical world.
Expect stunning performances and enchanting music in a family-friendly production perfect for all ages. Only 100 tickets are still available after sales of 1,200. Box office: yourboxoffice.co.uk/ryedale-youth-theatre.
Inspired By Theatre’s principal cast members in Rent, playing the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, from tomorrow
York musical of the week: Inspired By Theatre in Rent, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Inspired By Theatre follow up Green Day’s American Idiot with another groundbreaking rock musical, Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award-winning story of love, resilience and artistic defiance.
Set in New York City’s East Village at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Rent follows a group of young artists struggling to survive, create and hold on to hope in the face of uncertainty. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Welcome back: Gary Oldman in the York Theatre Royal dressing rooms
York 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’.” Tickets update: New availability of returns and additional seats on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Abigoliah Schamaun: In pursuit of the “Holy Visa” in Legally Cheeky, on tour at Pocklington Arts Centre
Comedy gig of the week: Abigoliah Schamaun, Legally Cheeky, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 8pm
ABIGOLIAH Schamaun thought she had it all; the flat, the career, the life partner. This US transplant was living the American Dream…in London. Then one day, the Wicked Witch of Westminster, told Abigoliah to click her sparkly heels and go “home”. In that moment, everything changed. To lose would mean losing everything.
Abigoliah’s quest for the Holy Visa began, and the fight was very much on. Legally Cheeky charts her journey in a heart-warming tale of highs, lows, twists and turns as she recounts the year that shook her and partner Tom to the core. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Snake Davis, right, will be teaming up with Stu Collingworth at Helmsley Arts Centre on Fridaynight
Jazz gig of the week: Snake Davis with Stu Collingworth, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
SAXOPHONIST to the stars Snake Davis will be joined by Hammond organist, composer and vocalist Stu Collingwood for an evening of soul pop and jazz. Davis performs regularly with famous artists at huge venues but is “far happier being himself at Helmsley Arts Centre”.
Collingworth has toured with Tony Christie, Alan Barnes and Elaine Delmar and has a residency at Charts in Newcastle. He and Davis have enjoyed a creative partnership for a decade, fired by a love of melody and groove. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Aleysha Jade in Curious Investigators at Pocklington Arts Centre on Saturday. Picture: Grant Archer
Family show of the week: One Tenth Human in Curious Investigators, Pocklington Arts Centre, Saturday, 1.30pm
SCRIBBLE and Clipboard have a job to do, sorting out the recycling, but Scribble keeps finding new things to investigate. When she discovers a mysterious egg hidden in the rubbish, the pair needs the audience’s help to rescue an unborn chick. Can you save a mysterious egg from a smashing and what will you discover along the way?
Curious Investigators is a cracking adventure, created in collaboration with engineering experts from Lancaster University, in a delightfully surprising, highly visual show for three to seven-year-olds and their grown-ups, hatched by One Tenth Human. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Wrongsemble in Three Little Vikings, a story of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard at Helmsley Arts Centre
Children’s show of the week: Wrongsemble in Three Little Vikings, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm
A TRIO of brave little Viking girls saves the day in Leeds company Wrongsemble’s bold and funny adventure story for little rebels by Bethan Woollvin, creator of Little Red and I Can Catch A Monster.
Once upon a time in a Viking village, everything seems to be going wrong. Chickens are disappearing, trees are falling down. When the silly Chieftain will not listen to the three littlest Vikings, can they work together to figure out how to save the day in a 50-minute tale of cooperation, bravery and making your voice heard. Suitable for age three upwards. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Mark Druery: Taking part in York Open Studios this weekend
Art event of the month: York Open Studios, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm
YORK Open Studios showcases 160 artists and makers at 117 locations in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. Artists and makers, including 38 new participants, span ceramics, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood, Full details and an interactive map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk; brochures in shops, galleries, cafes and tourist hubs. Admission is free.
The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon: New album and York Barbican autumn date. Picture: Kevin Westenberg
Gig announcement of the week: The Divine Comedy, York Barbican, October 21
NEIL Hannon will promote The Divine Comedy’s 13th studio album, September 19’s Rainy Sunday Afternoon, on a 16-date autumn tour. Tickets will go on sale on Thursday, April 17 at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/the-divine-comedy-2025/.
Written, arranged and produced by Hannon and recorded at Abbey Road Studios, the album spans his usual range of emotions – sad, funny, angry and everything in between – as he “works through some stuff”: mortality, memories, relationships and political and social upheaval.
Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson: Writers of The Psychic, premiering at York Theatre Royal in 2026
YORK Theatre Royal will stage the world premiere of Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s twisted thriller The Psychic at York Theatre Royal next year. Tickets go on general sale from 1pm on January 15.
In the wake of the success of Ghost Stories, which spooked the Grand Opera House, York, in March 2020, Dyson and Nyman are to reunite for this electrifying new production. Show dates will be April 29 to May 23 2026, with the first week being previews.
Leeds-born Dyson and Nyman say: “We are so thrilled to have the world premiere of our new play at York Theatre Royal and to be part of their exciting next chapter. We cannot wait to unleash The Psychic at this remarkable venue.”
Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “We are very proud to be producing the world premiere of The Psychic here at York Theatre Royal. Andy and Jeremy have created this wonderful edge-of-your-seat script that we can’t wait to bring to life on our stage in 2026.”
The poster for The Psychic at York Theatre Royal
In The Psychic, popular TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case that brands her a charlatan. It costs her not only her reputation, but also a fortune in legal fees.
When wealthy parents ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, Sheila senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed, leading her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Cue thrills, shocks…and laughs.
The Psychic adds to York Theatre Royal’s bill of produced and co-produced work in 2025 and 2026. In the diary for this year are the co-production of North By Northwest with Emma Rice’s Wise Children, HOME Manchester and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse from March 18 to April 5 and erstwhile pantomime cat Gary Oldman’s return to the Theatre Royal in Samuel Beckett’s Krapp’s Last Tape from April 14 to May 17.
To book tickets, ring 01904 623568 or head to yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The night-watchman on his guard in Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s Ghost Stories (pictured in the 2019 London production)
Jeremy Dyson: the back story
Award-winning Leeds-born writer and director.
Writing credits for theatre include Ghost Stories (Lyric Hammersmith, nominated for Olivier Award for Best Entertainment); The League Of Gentlemen Are Behind You (UK tour); The League Of Gentlemen: A Local Show For Local People (UK tour, Theatre Royal Drury Lane – nominated for Olivier Award for Best Entertainment) and The League Of Gentlemen.
Co-writing credits for television include Psychobitches (winner of Rose d’Or for Best TV Comedy and nominated for two British Comedy Awards); The Armstrong & Miller Show (winner of BAFTA Award for Best Comedy); Billy Goat; Funland (nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Drama Serial) and The League Of Gentlemen (winner of BAFTA Award for Best Comedy, Golden Rose of Montreux and RTS Award for Best Entertainment).
Co-writing credits for film include Ghost Stories and The League Of Gentlemen’s Apocalypse.
Andy Nyman: the back story
Award-winning actor, director and writer.
As an actor, his theatre work includes The Producers; Assassins (Menier Chocolate Factory); Fiddler On The Roof (Menier Chocolate Factory and Playhouse Theatre – Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical); Abigail’s Party (Menier Chocolate Factory and Wyndham’s Theatre); Hello, Dolly! (London Palladium); Martin McDonagh’s Hangmen (Wyndham’s Theatre/Broadway), and the original production of Ghost Stories (Duke of York’s Theatre/Arts Theatre), which he starred in, co-wrote and co-directed with Jeremy Dyson. Later adapted into a film, in which he also starred.
Television credits include Lockerbie; Wanderlust; The Eichmann Show; Campus and Dead Set, as well as playing Winston Churchill in Peaky Blinders.
Film credits include Jungle Cruise; Judy; The Commuter; Death At A Funeral; Kick-Ass2; Black Death; The Brother’s Bloom; Severance and Shut Up & Shoot Me, for which he won Best Actor award at Cherbourg Film Festival in 2006.
Collaborated with Derren Brown for almost 20 years, co-writing and co-creating much of Brown’s early TV work. Co-written and directed Brown’s stage shows, winning Olivier Award for Best Entertainment for Derren Brown – Something Wicked This Way Comes and New York Drama Desk Award for Best Unique Theatrical Event 2017 for Derren Brown – Secret.
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.
Skylights: York band headline York Barbican for the first time tonight
FROM Skylights to Ghosts After Dark, a fiesta of film to a musical dog show, Charles Hutchinson spots plenty to light up these November nights.
York gig of the week: Skylights, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm
ANTHEMIC York indie band Skylights play their biggest home-city gig to date this weekend with support from Serotones and Pennine Suite.
Guitarist Turnbull Smith says: ‘We’re absolutely over the moon to be headlining the Barbican. It’s always been a dream of ours to play here. So to headline will be the perfect way to finish a great year. Thanks to everyone for the support. It means the world and we’ll see you all there.” Box office update: Standing tickets still available at ticketmaster.co.uk.
Rob Rouse: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, tonight
Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, Rob Rouse, Peter Brush, Faizan Shan and Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm
PEAK District comedian, television regular, Upstart Crow actor and self-help podcaster Rob Rouse, who trained as a geography teacher at the University of Sheffield, makes a rare York appearance with his hyperactive, loveable brand of comedy.
Harrogate Comedian of the Year 2012 Peter Brush combines a slight, bespectacled frame and scruffy hair with quirky one-liners and original material, delivered in an amusingly awkward fashion. Manchester comic Faizan Shah’s material makes light of growing up in an immigrant household with the mental health challenges it brings. Organiser Damion Larkin hosts as ever. Box office: 01904 612940 or lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Artist CJP with his work The Majestic Oak at Art Of Protest Gallery, York
Exhibition of the week: From Little Acorns Grow Mighty Hopes: An Exhibition of Hand-drawn Natural Wonders, Art of Protest Gallery, Walmgate, York, until November 16
ART Of Protest is the first gallery to show CJP’s work The Majestic Oak in an exhibition of original and rare limited-edition artwork. Look out for the Art Of Protest York Special Edition, only available to be ordered until November 16, featuring the River Ouse-dwelling Tansy Beetle, an elusive insect featured on a resplendent mural near York railway station.
“This is an amazing opportunity to own a truly unique celebration of British fauna with a very special York twist,” says gallery owner Craig Humble. “CJP will add a Tansy Beetle to each piece, along with the gold leafing of the branches.”
Pride And Prejudice * (*Sort Of): Making merry mayhem with Jane Austen’s novel at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Mihaela Bodlovic
Theatrical high spirits of the week: Pride And Prejudice* (*Sort Of), York Theatre Royal, November 4 to 9, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
MEN, money and microphones will be fought over in Pride And Prejudice* (*Sort Of), the audacious retelling of a certain Jane Austen novel, where the stakes couldn’t be higher when it comes to romance but it’s party time, so expect the all-female cast to deliver such emotionally turbulent pop gems as Young Hearts Run Free, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and You’re So Vain.
Writer Isobel McArthur directs this new production of her West End hit, Olivier Award winner for best comedy and Emerging Talent Award winner in the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, now featuring University of York alumna Georgia Firth in the cast. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
On the spot: 101 Dalmatians The Musical takes up canine residence at the Grand Opera House from Tuesday. Picture: Johan Persson
Dog show of the week: 101 Dalmatians The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, November 5 to 9, 7pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
KYM Marsh’s Cruella De Vil leads the cast for this musical tour of Dodie Smith’s canine caper 101 Dalmatians. Written by Douglas Hodge (music and lyrics) and Johnny McKnight (book), from a stage adaptation by Zinnie Harris, the show is re-imagined from the 2022 production at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre, London.
When fashionista Cruella De Vil plots to swipe all the Dalmatian puppies in town to create her fabulous new fur coat, trouble lies ahead for Pongo and Perdi and their litter of tail-wagging young pups in a story brought to stage life with puppetry, choreography, humorous songs and, yes, puppies. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
3 Missing 10 Hours, directed by Fanni Fazakas, showing in the Animation programme at Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2024
York festival of the week: Aesthetica Short Film Festival, York city centre, November 6 to 10, and UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO, Guildhall, York, November 7 to 9
THE BAFTA-Qualifying Aesthetica Short Film Festival returns for its 14th year under the direction of Cherie Federico, this time integrating the tenth anniversary of York’s designation as Great Britain’s only UNESCO City of Media Arts. Fifteen venues will play host to 300 film screenings in 12 genres, Virtual Realty and Gaming labs, plus 60 panels, workshops and discussions. For the full programme and tickets, head to asff.co.uk.
The UNESCO EXPO will showcase the region’s creative sector, working in film production, games development, VFX (visual effects), publishing and design, with the chance to try out new projects and speak to creatives. Entry to the Guildhall is free.
Ghosts After Dark: New nocturnal complement to the Ghosts In The Gardens installation in York Museum Gardens
Nocturnal event of the week: Ghosts After Dark, York Museums Gardens, November 7 to 10, 6.30pm to 9.30pm; last entry, 8.30pm
YORK Museums Trust and the York BID present the inaugural Ghosts After Dark, showcasing York’s rich tapestry of historical figures with light, sound and storytellers for four nights only.
Ticketholders will have the exclusive chance to experience York Museum Gardens like never before, by choosing their own path to explore 46 ghostly sculptures, hidden around the gardens and lit dynamically against an atmospheric background of smoke and sound. Box office: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk/ghosts-after-dark/.
Rag’n’Bone Man: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer
Gig announcements of the week: TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, July 6, and Rag’n’Bone Man, July 11 2025
“I THINK I’ve got the best reggae band in the world,” says UB40 legend Ali Campbell, who last played Scarborough OAT in 2021. “They are all seasoned musicians, who have spent all their lives in professional bands, and I feel so confident with them.” Support acts will be Bitty McLean and Pato Banton.
Triple BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award winner Rag’n’Bone Man, alias Rory Graham, will follow up his 2023 Scarborough OAT show with a return next summer in the wake of his third album, What Do You Believe In? entering the charts at number three last Friday. His special guest will be Elles Bailey. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.
Show announcement of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17 2025
Gary Oldman reflecting on his first steps in professional theatre in the York Theatre Royal dressing rooms on his March visit
OSCAR winner Gary Oldman will return to York Theatre Royal, where he began his career as a pantomime cat, to direct himself in Krapp’s Last Tape next spring: his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.
The April 14 to May 17 2025 production of Samuel Beckett’s one-act monodrama was set in motion when Slow Horses star Oldman paid a visit to the St Leonard’s Place theatre in March, when he met chief executive Paul Crewes.
“When Gary visited us at the beginning of the year, it was fascinating hearing him recount stories of his time as a young man, in his first professional role on the York Theatre Royal stage.,” says Paul.
“In that context when we started to explore ideas, we realised Krapp’s Last Tape was the perfect project. I am very happy that audiences will have this unique opportunity to see Gary Oldman return to our stage in this brand new production.”
Making plans: Actor and director Gary Oldman in discussion with York Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes in the York Theatre Royal main house auditorium
Ticket prices start at £25, with priority booking for the York Theatre Royal Director’s Circle opening on November 6, YTR Members’ priority booking from November 11 and public booking on November 16, all from 1pm. To become a member and access priority booking, head to: https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/support-us/.
After graduating from Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, Londoner Oldman started out in the repertory ranks at York Theatre Royal in 1979 in such plays as Privates On Parade and She Stoops To Conquer and playing the Cat in Berwick Kaler’s third York pantomime, Dick Whittington, that Christmas.
Dame Berwick later told the Guardian in an interview in 2018: “Gary has gone on to become one of our greatest screen actors but I’m afraid he was a bit of a lightweight when it came to pantomime.
“He kept fainting inside the costume. On at least three occasions I had to turn to the audience and say, ‘Oh dear, boys and girls, I think the poor pussy cat has gone to sleep’!”
Gary Oldman as the Cat with dame Berwick Kaler, centre, in the 1979-1980 York Theatre Royal pantomime Dick Whittington. Picture: York Theatre Royal
Oldman, now 66, posted on Instagram: “My professional public acting debut was on stage at the York Theatre Royal. York, for me, is the completion of a cycle. 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’.”
After cutting his teeth in York, New Cross-born Oldman went on to act at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, the Royal Court, London, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. He then swapped theatre for film with break-our roles as Sid Vicious in Sid And Nancy (1986), Lee Harvey Oswald in JFK (1992) and Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992).
He later played Sirius Black in the Harry Potter film franchise and Commissioner Jim Gordon in Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, won the 2018 Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe awards for Best Actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and is now starring as obnoxious MI5 boss Jackson Lamb in the latest Apple+ series of British spy thriller Slow Horses.
Gary Oldman (third from the left in hat and glasses) in Privates On Parade at York Theatre Royal in 1979: one of his first professional performances after graduating from Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, in Sidcup, Kent, with a BA in Acting. Picture: York Theatre Royal
Oldman has been considering going back to the stage for a long time. “I have never been far from the theatre and, in fact, have been discussing plays and my return to the theatre for nearly 30 years,” he posted.
What happens in Krapp’s Last Tape, Samuel Beckett at his most theatre of the absurd? Each year, on his birthday, Krapp records a new tape reflecting on the year gone by.
On his 69th birthday, Krapp, now a lonely man, is ready with a bottle of wine, a banana and his tape recorder. Listening back to a recording he made as a young man, Krapp must face the hopes of his past self.
The melancholic, tragicomic role was premiered in 1958 by Patrick Magee and has been played by the likes of Albert Finney, Harold Pinter, John Hurt, Stephen Rea and Kenneth Allan Taylor, the long-running Nottingham Playhouse pantomime dame, writer and director, at York Theatre Royal in 2009.
Gary Oldman’s Cat in the 1979-1980 York Theatre Royal pantomime Dick Whittington. Picture: York Theatre Royal
Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989): the back story
IRISH writer, dramatist and poet, specialising in theatre of the absurd. Wrote in English and French. Principal works for the stage included Endgame, Krapp’s Last Tape and Waiting For Godot. Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.
Gary Oldman: Further screen appearances
TINKER, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (Academy Award and BAFTA nominations); Mank (Academy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations); Oppenheimer; The Book Of Eli; Meantime; The Firm; Prick Up Your Ears; Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead; State Of Grace; Romeo Is Bleeding; True Romance; Leon/The Professional; The Fifth Element; Immortal Beloved and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, among many others.
Worked with directors Stephen Frears, Oliver Stone, Frances Ford Coppola, Luc Besson, Alfonso Curon, Chris Nolan, Tony Scott, Ridley Scott, Steven Soderbergh, David Fincher and Paulo Sorrentino.
Did you know?
IN 1995 Gary Oldman and producing partner Douglas Urbanski founded a production company, producing Oldman’s screenwriting and directorial debut, Nil By Mouth, winner of nine majot awards from 17 nominations.
Selected to open the main competition for the 1997 50th Anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, where Kathy Burke won Best Actress. The same year, Oldman won Channel Four Director’s Prize at Edinburgh International Film Festival, British Academy Award (shared with Douglas Urbanski) for Best Film and BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay.
In Focus:Other Lives Productions in How To Be Brave, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7.30pm, and on tour
Livy Potter as Katy, left, and Alice Rose Palmer as mum Natalie in Louise Beech’s How To Be Brave
ON March 19 1943, just after midnight, Merchant Seaman Colin Armitage’s cargo ship, the Lulworth Hill, was torpedoed by an Italian Navy submarine in the South Atlantic. He scrambled aboard a life raft. Fifty days later HMS Rapid rescued him.
Colin was the grandfather of How To Be Brave playwright Louise Beech. Sixty-four years after his ordeal, Louise’s daughter, Katy, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. In order to distract her during insulin injections Louise began to tell the story of Colin’s bravery and determination to survive.
The story inspiring ten-year-old Katy to be brave in the face of her diabetes is a true one. She has said that Grandad Colin’s experience made her determined to carry on when she wanted to give up and die: “If Grandad Colin can survive an ordeal like that, I can do anything. I can do these injections,” she said. And she has never faltered.
Director Kate Veysey with Rose’s seagull Gilbert
“We hope that by presenting this story we can inspired audiences in the East Riding and beyond,” says director Kate Veysey, a familiar name from both York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre and Next Door But One productions.
Scenes alternate between the life raft and Katy’s house in Hull as York actors Jacob Ward and Livy Potter take the roles of Colin Armitage and Rose (Katy, given a pseudonym), joined by Lex Stephenson as carpenter Ken Cooke, on the raft, Alice Rose Palmer as Natalie (alias mum Louise) and Alison Shaw as nurse Shelley. Age guidance: ten upwards (the show contains moderate bad language). Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Lex Stephenson, as Ken Cooke, left, and Jacob Ward, as Colin Armitage, in Other Lives Productions’ How To Be Brave
Best Actress Oscar winner Frances McDormand in Best Picture winner Nomadland. Picture: Searchlight Pictures/20th Century Studios
THE cinema at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre reopens next month with a fortnight of Oscar-nominated films.
Films will be screened in the McCarthy auditorium from Tuesday, May 25, starting with Stanley Kramer’s comedy classic It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, nominated for six Oscars in 1963, followed by 2021 nominees Mank, Nomadland, Wolfwalkers and The Trial Of The Chicago 7.
SJT film programmer Steve Carley says of the first film choice: “When it was re-issued in the 1970s, the publicity said, ‘If ever this mad, mad, mad, mad world needed It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, it’s now!’.
“That seemed particularly appropriate at the moment. I’m hoping this joyous comedy will be the perfect ‘welcome-back’ film.”
“The perfect ‘welcome-back’ film”: It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
In Kramer’s film, an unconnected group of motorists stops to help a driver after a crash, only to discover he is a recently released convict who knows the whereabouts of a stolen $350,000, sparking a madcap car chase to recover the cash.
The all-star cast includes Spencer Tracy, Milton Berle, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Phil Silvers, Terry-Thomas and…Buster Keaton. From half a dozen Oscar nominations, the only win, alas, was for Best Sound Editing. What a mad, mad world indeed, as you can re-discover on May 25 at 2pm and 7pm.
David Fincher’s Mank, the most nominated film at this year’s Academy Awards, will be shown on May 26 at 7pm; May 27 at 2pm and 7pm and May 28 at 2pm.
Best Actor nominee Gary Oldman plays the title role in this black-and-white biopic about screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz and the development of his most famous script, Citizen Kane.
Best Actor Oscar nominee Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz and James McShane as Shelly Metcalf in Mank
From ten nominations, not least for Best Picture and Best Director, Mank won two Oscars: Erik Messerschmidt for Best Cinematography and Donald Graham Burt for Best Production Design.
Nomadland, the big prize winner as Best Picture at the 93rd Academy Awards last Sunday at Union Station, Los Angeles, is booked in for May 28 at 7pm, May 29 at 2pm and 7pm and June 1 and 2 at 7pm.
Chinese-born director Chloe Zhao won the Best Director gong, also being nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Film Editing.
Third-time Best Actress winner Frances McDormand plays Fern, who embarks on a new life as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad after losing both her job and her husband.
Wolfwalkers: Tomm Moore’s final film in his Irish folklore trilogy
Best Animated Feature Film nominee Wolfwalkers has screenings on June 1 and 2 at 2pm and June 3 at 2pm and 7pm.
The third and final film in director Tomm Moore’s fantasy-adventure Irish folklore trilogy, after The Secret Of Kells and Song Of The Sea, it features the voices of Honor Kneafsey, Sean Bean, Simon McBurney, Maria Doyle Kennedy and Tommy Tiernan.
Nominated without ultimate success for five Oscars, topped off by Best Picture, Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial Of The Chicago 7, will be shown on June 4 and 5 at 2pm and 7pm.
Best Supporting Actor Oscar nominee Sacha Baron Cohen, front right, as Abbey Hoffman in The Trial Of The Chicago 7
Eddie Redmayne and Best Supporting Actor nominee Sacha Baron Cohen play political activists Tom Hayden and Abbie Hoffman in Sorkin’s dramatization of the real-life 1968 trial of a group of anti-Vietnam War protestors.
Where possible, the SJT is recommending customers should book online at sjt.uk.com. The box-office phone line is open Mondays to Saturdays, 12 noon to 2pm on 01723 370541.
The box office will re-open for in-person bookings from Monday, May 17; noon to 5pm on non-show days; noon to 7.30pm on days with an evening show; 11am to 7.30pm on matinee days.
