Ghosts After Dark Archives - charleshutchpress

November 7, 2026November 11, 2026

More Things To Do in York and beyond when honey infuses artworks. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 45, from The York Press

Nick Walters’ Honey Dipper, on show in The Wisdom Of The Desert at the Red Tower, York

FROM Jane Asher as The Queen to honey artworks at the Red Tower, the Aesthetica Film Festival to Neon Crypt’s ghost story, Charles Hutchinson highlights more November gems.

Pop-up art show of the week: Navigators Art presents No Spinoza & Nick Walters, The Wisdom Of The Desert, The Red Tower, Foss Islands Road, York, today, 6pm to 9pm; tomorrow, 1pm to 4pm

GROUNDBREAKING multi-media York artists No Spinoza (Thomas Pearson) and Nick Walters share an interest in the immersive, provocative, multi-sensory experience of film, sound and sculpture, as represented in their joint show in York’s historic Red Tower.

No Spinoza presents Jupiter’s Great Hurricane (2026), a cycle of experimental music and film that broadly explores themes of temptation, progress and inheritance with references to desert spirituality. Walters’ Honey Dipper (2026) passes electrical current through honey to create mysterious and ever-changing textures of sound, while Ex-voto (2026) is a series of small sculptures set in niches in the tower walls that alludes to beeswax votive statues placed in shrines as a gesture of gratitude and devotion.

Victorian Penny Farthing Rider lit up at Ghosts After Dark at York Museum Gardens. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

Sculpture trail of the week: York BID and York Museums Trust present Ghosts After Dark, York Museum Gardens, today and tomorrow, 5.30pm to 9.30pm; timed entry slots until 8pm

IN the wake of Ghosts In The Gardens’ free public art trail of 70 wire-mesh sculptures across 32 city-centre locations, Ghosts After Dark brings storytelling, light, smoke and sound to York Museum Gardens, plus King’s Manor courtyard and Library Lawn, the Anglian Tower, Edible Wood, Artists’ Garden, St Olave’s churchyard and the area beside York Art Gallery.

Representing a fascinating person, creature or story connected to York’s history, each sculpture was made by York creative agency Unconventional Design. A new immersive experience (the Witch Encounter) and the inaugural night market are further highlights of the 90-minute trail. Bookings: www.theyorkbid.com/ghosts-after-dark/.

The VR Lab at the National Centre for Early Music, in Walmgate, at the Aesthetica Film Festival

Festival of the week: Aesthetica Film Festival, York, until tomorrow

IN its 16th year under the artistic directorship of Cherie Federico, Aesthetica Film Festival welcomes filmmakers, games developers and virtual reality experts from around the world. The five-day programme comprises screenings, VR & games labs, a podcasting lounge, industry masterclasses and workshops, networking sessions, live performances, pitching opportunities, the New Music Stage and much more. For the full programme and tickets, go to asff.co.uk.

Gareth Malone: Inviting you to Sing-A-Long-A-Gareth’s afternoon of movie songs

Instant choir of the week: Sing-A-Long-A-Gareth At The Movies, Grand Opera House, York, today, 4pm

LIGHTS, camera, sing! Choirmaster supreme Gareth Malone returns with a new tour show in an immersive celebration of the greatest songs from the movies and the joy of singing together. Please note, there is a maximum of ten tickets per household and seats in higher levels or with restricted views may not have full visibility of the on-stage screen. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Gipsy Kings by Andre Reyes: Championing flamenco music at the Grand Opera House, York

Flamenco gig of the week: The Gipsy Kings by Andre Reyes present Viva El Arie, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

THE Gipsy Kings by André Reyes transcend musical borders with their flamenco music and rumba. Led by Gipsy Kings co-founder Andre Reyes, the family project combines the band’s original essence with a renewed energy.

Together with his son and nephews, Reyes still conquers the world’s most prestigious stages after three decades. His dedication celebrates the rich cultural heritage of the gypsy community while ensuring this music continues to resonate with new generations. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Ellie Mackenzie in a montage for Oddsocks Productions’ Motherhood

Maternal matters of the week: Oddsocks Productions in Motherhood, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

REGULAR visitors to the JoRo, Matlock company Oddsocks Productions present an amusing and moving look at the bizarre and downright unbelievable aspects of raising children while running a family business in Motherhood. Actress and writer Elli Mackenzie explores the highs and lows, the frustrations and joys of being a working parent alongside her husband Andy, an orangutan and a giant woodlouse. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Laura Main as The Dresser and Jane Asher as The Queen in Daisy Goodwin’s play By Royal Appointment, on tour at York Theatre Royal

Regal drama of the week: By Royal Appointment, York Theatre Royal, November 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2pm Wednesday & Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

THE late Queen Elizabeth II had one way of expressing what she really thought –through her wardrobe. Daisy Goodwin’s funny, poignant and celebratory By Royal Appointment takes a behind-the-scenes peek into the world of our most popular monarch and the image she presented to the world.

Here, The Queen (played by Jane Asher) is uninterested in fashion. Instead, her look is managed by her Designer (David Robb), her Milliner (Matthew Cottle) and most powerful of all, her Dresser (Laura Main), a working-class girl who goes from advising Her Majesty on the colour of her lipsticks to the real power behind the throne. Like all royal favourites, however, the Dresser is living on borrowed time. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Author Miles Salter holding a copy of his new book, A Dangerous Band: The Pretenders 1978-83

Book launch of the week: Miles Salter, A Dangerous Band: The Pretenders 1978-83, Topping & Company bookshop, Museum Street, York, November 10, 7pm (doors 6.30pm)

YORK author, journalist, songwriter, band leader, podcaster, storyteller, festival organiser and poet Miles Salter launches A Dangerous Band: The Pretenders 1978-83 in conversation with poet and author John Goodby at Topping & Co.

“Their remarkable, strange, dark, sad tale was a gift to a writer,” says Salter. “Every time I thought ‘this can’t get any stranger’, something else came up. The more I talked to people, the stranger it became, the darker and darker it became. A story of totally living that rock’n’roll life but to the detriment of band members James Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon as it cost them their lives.” Tickets cost £17.95, including hardback book or £5 “if you just want to come and listen”. To book, go to: https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/york/miles-salter-the-pretenders/

Michael Cornell, left, Laura Castle, Laura McKeller and Jamie McKeller in Neon Crypt’s production of 2:22 A Ghost Story at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Supernatural thriller of the week: Neon Crypt in 2:22 A Ghost Story, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AFTER two visits to the Grand Opera House, Uncanny and The Battersea Poltergeist ghost storyteller Danny Robins’s West End smash 2:22 A Ghost Story falls into the welcoming hands of York spook specialists Neon Crypt, who will stage the modern-day horror show in traverse – with seating to either side of the stage – for the first time. “The audience are a part of the story. There is nowhere to escape,” forewarns director Jamie McKeller.

Jenny (Laura McKeller) believes her new home is haunted, but husband Sam (Jamie McKeller) is having none of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren (Laura Castle) and new partner Ben (Michael Cornell). Can the dead really walk again? Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and ever closer, so they vow to stay up until 2:22am…and only then will they know. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk/.

The poster for David Ford’s Songbook gig at The Dolphin in Robin Hood’s Bay

If you go to one coastal gig next week, make it: Higgledy Gigs presents David Ford, Songbook, The Dolphin, King Street, Robin Hood’s Bay, near Whitby, November 11, 8pm

EASTBOURNE, singer, songwriter, sage and scribe David Ford’s Songbook tour combines highlights and stories from 25 years of songwriting in a a stripped-back, intimate evening. Part live set, part storytelling, he revisits the songs that have shaped his career, sharing the moments and influences behind them along the way as he moves between raw, powerful performances and quieter, more reflective moments with warmth and humour throughout.

The tour accompanies the release of a special career-spanning retrospective double album on vinyl, bringing together standout songs from his catalogue. Comprising updated recordings and re-mastered originals, Ford’s selection of his most important work is compiled in one place for the first time. Tonight’s show offers the chance to hear those songs as they were meant to be experienced, up close and in the moment. Tickets: trybooking.com/uk/event/110427 or at the bar.

Chris Ramsey: Here, Man, in York on November 12 with the last few tickets still available

Comedy gig of the week: Chris Ramsey, Here, Man!, York Barbican, November 12, 7.30pm

IN response to overwhelming demand (mainly from wife Rosie who is desperate to get him out of the house), South Shields comedian and podcaster Chris Ramsey is on the road this month after selling out his March travels.

You may have seen him on TV on The Chris & Rosie Ramsey Show, Strictly Come Dancing and Taskmaster or presenting Children In Need or heard him co-hosting his weekly marital podcast, Shagged. Married. Annoyed, with the long-suffering Rosie. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

In Focus: Teenage Fanclub, Project House, Leeds, November 9, 7pm. Raymond McGinley in discussion with CharlesHutchPress

Teenage Fanclub on the remote Scottish island of Great Bernera when recording Do Not Dare To Dream. Picture Donald Milne

TEENAGE Fanclub head to Project House, Leeds, on Monday (9/11/2026) on their 15-date November tour to promote Do Not Dare To Dream.

“Last time in Leeds we played the Brudenell Social Club, and it’s good when you’ve been doing it for so long, and you’re going a back to cities you’ve been before, to play somewhere new there,” says co-founder and lead guitarist Raymond McGinlay.

Released on October 9 on Merge Records as the follow-up to 2023’s Nothing Lasts Forever, their 13^th studio album was recorded at Black Bay Studio on the remote Scottish island of Great Bernera, the Glasgow band’s most remote recording location since their formation in 1989.

This setting helped the five-piece to focus on the work, while putting them in a place of awe, surrounded by the sound of crashing waves and the haunting presence of ancient ruins.

“It was a new studio to us,” says Raymond, who is still at the heart of Teenage Fanclub’s signature blend of melodic guitars, warm harmonies, and reflective songwriting, along with fellow songwriter Norman Blake, after 37 years. “We’re always on the lookout, when we’re making a new record, to find a new place that we’ve never been to before.

“We usually start with fragments of songs, allowing things to happen in the moment, reacting to the surroundings, and when we were looking for a studio, there was this one on an island off the far end of the Isle of Lewis. We looked at pictures and it looked interesting.

“It worked out for us, doing the album in late January and early February, when we thought it would be bleak, but actually it was really beautiful: lovely to walk around, with not many people there and the main inhabitants being sheep. Not many hours of daylight, but at least there was light in the studio.”

Production duties were shared between band members, the band’s studio engineer and the studio owner. “There was no producer as such; it was a collective endeavour,” says Raymond, who “feels lucky that you find people that you connect with”.

Teenage Fanclub in Black Bay Studio when recording 13th studio album Do Not Dare To Dream. Picture: Donald Milne

“From that point of view, experience tells you to let things happen without having too much ego or someone trying to impose an idea. We’re pretty good at working together, with me and Norman presenting ideas, and then it’s all quite instinctive with the band.”

McGinlay and Blake are “the ones sitting up at night, maybe three in the morning, trying to figure out lyrics”. Alongside them for the recording sessions are long-time members Euros Childs (keyboards), David McGowan (bass) and Francis Macdonald (drums).

“Euros starts contributing or David does what he feels like doing, Francis joins in on drums, and it just kind of evolves into songs,” says Raymond. “The input of everyone is important.” So, on this occasion, were synthesisers and a Domus church organ found by the band at Black Bay, the organ now heard prominently on many songs, most notably on Over And Over.

“We approach everything kind of the same way each time we make a record,” says Raymond. “Whether you intend things to be different, you just have to be conscious of trusting your instincts in doing our thing. We are the people we are now that we were then, but the subtlety of things changes year to year All you can do is offer something that comes from within yourself.”

Raymond continues: “Sometimes, if you’re going to show something of yourself, you show vulnerability, which exists in everyday life, and I find it’s best to reveal something of yourself, rather than constructing a persona.”

How was the album title chosen? “It’s difficult when it comes to…coming up with a name for an album,” says co-founder Norman. “Especially after you’ve made 12 of them.” In the end, his song I Do Not Dare To Dream was adapted to represent the overriding theme of pushing back on hollow optimism while still embracing a quietly hopeful outlook. “Those ‘dare to dream’ sentiments are kind of ridiculous,” reckons Norman. “I don’t think the world works that way.”

Raymond adds: “Norman came up with the title as a riposte to that soundbite optimism, those completely meaningless expressions.” Instead Teenage Fanclub advocate resilience when facing an increasingly uncertain world, where the need is to find clarity and comfort in the everyday, rather than giving in to despair.

“Now it’s the unknowingness of it that makes it more scary,” he says. “We’re no different to anyone else in presenting introspective reflections on creativity.

“In the place where we made the record, people would have been singing thousands of years ago,” says Teenage Fanclub’s Raymond McGinlay. Picture: Donald Milne

“We’re not that different to people before technology, people dealing with difficult circumstances, though most of us had been far less pessimistic before.” That said, Raymond declares: “We can still be cheerful and optimistic in the face of things not being great”.

Picking a favourite from Do Not Dare To Dream, Raymond says: “I really like Norman’s song Somewhere To Land, the last one of his we recorded, where he added mellotron when we got back to Glasgow.”

Reflecting on Teenage Fanclub’s longevity, Raymond says: “Yeah, it’s been a while since we started doing this thing we do, but to us it feels like no time at all. In the place [Great Bernera] where we made the record, people would have been singing thousands of years ago. Life is short, but music is eternal.

“What you do with your life, doing this mad thing for 37 years, it‘s a privilege, because most people who want to do this, be in a band, make records, play concerts, most people don’t manage to do that. I don’t think we’re better than others, but somehow we connect with our audience and that has allowed us to continue.

“We started the band in 1989, going into the studio wanting to make a record in our little bubble. Me and Norman had played in the band The Boy Hairdressers, which then fizzled out and we thought, let’s do something, as opposed to just talking about it. Let’s make an album and ask if others are interested in these songs, going from just doing something for yourself, to then having an audience. That’s something you can’t take for granted.”

Four decades have taught McGinlay and Blake that “when you make a record you never presume anyone will be interested”, but that interest has sustained. For proof, Do Not Dare To Dream has just been placed at number 48 in Uncut magazine’s Top 80 albums of 2026.

Futuresound presents Teenage Fanclub at Project House, Armley Road, Leeds, on November 9, doors 7pm. Box office: https://www.seetickets.com/event/teenage-fanclub/project-house/3481726.

Track listing for Do Not Dare To Dream:

There Was You; Tomorrow People; Over And Over; Be With You Tonight; The Same Air; I Do Not Dare To Dream; Take Time; Day In The Sun; Somewhere To Land and Young And Wise.

The cover artwork for Teenage Fanclub’s Do Not Dare To Dream, released on Merge Records last month

November 5, 2026November 5, 2026

Ghosts After Dark takes over York Museum Gardens for five nights of spectral sculptures, storytellers and pop-up stalls

Norman Carpenter Up Ladder, one of 70 wire-mesh ghost sculptures featured in Ghosts After Dark in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

YORK’s ghosts are gathering in York Museum Gardens this week for five nights of captivating storytelling and after-dark adventure, orchestrated by York BID and York Museums Trust.

Running from last night to Sunday, Ghosts After Dark sees all 70 wire-mesh sculptures from York BID’s city-wide 2026 Ghosts In The Gardens trail being assembled in one setting, giving visitors the chance to see the ghosts and the gardens in a “completely different light”.

Ghosts After Dark first came to York Museum Gardens in 2024, bringing together 46 sculptures. Two years on, the event has expanded beyond the main Museum Gardens into historic spaces, not only King’s Manor courtyard and Library Lawn, but also taking in the Anglian Tower, Edible Wood, Artists’ Garden, St Olave’s Churchyard and the area beside York Art Gallery.

Lit atmospherically among the trees, ruins and hidden corners of the gardens, more ghost sculptures than ever are being joined by as many as eight live storytellers, telling stories every 15 minutes to the accompaniment of sound and smoke.

Victorian Penny Farthing Rider in Ghosts After Dark. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

Among them are Mad Alice, from the Bloody Tour of York, with her stories of the Executioner, Judge, Tudor Lady and Saxon Monk at the Abbot’s House, King’s Manor, and Dr Dorian and Davina Deathly, from Deathly Dark Tours, uncovering the haunted history behind the Stone Mason, Saxon Monk, Nun and Butcher in front of St Mary’s Abbey ruins.

Meet Guy Fawkes, from York Dungeon, on his trailer at The Plot; the Doomsayer, from York Dungeon too, with her tales of the plague-infested streets of 1551 York, in the Undercroft, and the Wild Man of The Woods, exploring the lore of the Fox, Falcon, Cat and Bear in Beast’s Corner.

Step into Viking York for Norse storytellers from Jorvik Viking Centre to share sagas of fearless warriors, mighty gods and epic voyages in the Gloomy Woods setting.

In addition to 24 ghost sculptures new to Ghosts After Dark (including ten new to this year’s Ghosts In The Gardens) and two gardens new to the event, an immersive Witch Encounter has been introduced too that “may include jump scares”.

Bear in the wood at Ghosts After Dark. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

In The Cell, you will find the restless Isabella Billington, York’s most infamous Witch, from York Dungeon, on her last night before her execution for murder. Official records state that she and her husband crucified her mother in Pocklington, duly offering a calf and cockerel as a burnt sacrifice.

The event brochure forewarns: “Please be aware: all the stories you will hear tonight are based on real history. Some may be exaggerated, embellished, or quite gruesome. Not all talks are suitable for young children – if in doubt, please ask the storyteller.”

Look out too for the event’s first night market, featuring suitably themed pop-up stalls around the gardens and outside the Yorkshire Museum, including Isla Coole‘s Horrifically Good Books (newly opened in Goodramgate) and, more tenuously, Socktopus’s sock store (which seemed to be stretching things a tad)!

The Potions Cauldron, Villains Rum, Poetry Pharmacy and Braithwaite Gallery are taking part too, along with Ye Olde York Dungeon Spook Shop at The Cell, Mad Alice’s Curiosity Shop at King’s Manor and the Jorvik stall at Midgard. Oh, and what’s that queue at the Observatory? Ah, yes, the ever-busy York Ghost Merchants are selling exclusive ghosts anew.

Edwardian Builder With Lunch at Ghosts After Dark. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

York BID’s operations manager, Carl Alsop, says:“There’s something really special about experiencing York Museum Gardens after dark and this year, visitors will have more to discover than ever.

“We’ve taken everything people loved about the first Ghosts After Dark and made it bigger. All 70 ghosts will be gathered together across an expanded route, with atmospheric lighting, fog, live storytelling, interactive artwork and plenty of surprises hiding in the darkness.

“The event brings this year’s free Ghosts In The Gardens trail to a brilliant crescendo, giving people the chance to see the sculptures all together in some of York’s most historic spaces. We want people to make an evening of it: explore the ghosts, visit the night market and enjoy the city’s shops, restaurants, cafés and bars while they’re here.”

Jocelyn Palmer, senior events manager at York Museums Trust, says: “We are delighted to be working with York BID to bring back Ghosts After Dark to York Museums Gardens. The ghosts are a well-loved part of the city’s autumnal calendar, and we’re delighted to be hosting them all together again for this series of evening events.

“It is wonderful to have a rich seasonal programme across York, and particularly in the Museum Gardens, to bring a little light, and perhaps some spooky sights, to the autumn evenings.”

Elizabethan School Boy With Catapult at Ghosts After Dark. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

Ghosts After Dark runs from 5.30pm to 9.30pm each evening, with timed entry slots available for every 20 minutes until last admission at 8pm. Visitors should allow approximately 90 minutes to uncover the full experience.

Tickets are on sale £10 for adults and £2 for children at www.theyorkbid.com/ghosts-after-dark/. Timed admission must be booked in advance.

AMONG the 70 sculptures are: Edwardian Rail Signaller; Norman Carpenter Up Ladder; Victorian Lamplighter; Bear; Long Duck; Musician With Fiddle; Victorian Newsboy With Newspaper; Stuart Nurse With Syringe; Mouse; Cat Sleeping; Bat Sleeping; Victorian Beekeeper; Tudor Executioner; Victorian Penny Farthing Rider; Edwardian Builder With Lunch; Georgian Butcher Emptying Slop Bucket; Fox; Squirrel and Saxon Monk Praying.

Did you know?

THE translucent, narrow-gauge wire-mesh ghost sculptures for Ghosts In The Gardens and Ghosts After Dark are crafted by York creative agency Unconventional Design.

St Mary’s Abbey ruins bathed in light for Ghosts After Dark. In the foreground is one of the robin bird boxes on show in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Celestine Dubruel

November 4, 2026November 6, 2026

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 45, from Gazette & Herald

Isabel Azar’s Clare in rehearsal for Black Treacle Theatre’s Poor Clare at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Jim Paterson

FROM the 16th Aesthetica Film Festival to a nocturnal ghost sculpture trail, Strictly stars after hours in Vegas to punk poet Dr John Cooper Clarke, Charles Hutchinson says yes to November events.

Life-changing story of the week: Black Treacle Theatre in Poor Clare, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

THE lives of the young St Clare and St Francis of Assisi are the subject of American playwright Chiara Atik’s comedy Poor Clare, presented in York for the first time by Black Treacle Theatre, directed by Jim Paterson.

Noblewoman Clare (Isabel Azar) is set for marriage to a rich aristocrat and a life of wealth and privilege in 13th century Assisi, but then she meets Francis (PJ Gregan), whose strong faith and commitment to rejecting the established order and serving the poor makes her look at her life in a new way. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ghosts After Dark: Taking over York Museum Gardens for five nights from November 4

Sculpture trail of the week: York BID and York Museums Trust present Ghosts After Dark, York Museum Gardens, today to Sunday, 5.30pm to 9.30pm; timed entry slots until 8pm

AFTER the Ghosts In The Gardens free public art trail of 70 wire-mesh sculptures – including ten new ones – across 32 city-centre locations concluded last Sunday, Ghosts After Dark takes over for five atmospheric nights of nights of live storytelling, light, smoke and sound next week in the Museum Gardens, plus King’s Manor courtyard and Library Lawn, the Anglian Tower, Edible Wood, Artists’ Garden, St Olave’s churchyard and the area beside York Art Gallery.

Representing a fascinating person, creature or story connected to York’s history, each sculpture was made by York creative agency Unconventional Design. A new interactive experience and the inaugural night market will be further highlights of the 90-minute trail. Bookings: www.theyorkbid.com/ghosts-after-dark/.

Heading for the Aesthetica Film Festival in York

Festival of the week: Aesthetica Film Festival, York, today to Sunday

Strictly Come Dancing stars Pasha Kovalev, Brendan Cole, Vincent Simone, Ian Waite and James Jordan head to York Barbican in Legends in Vegas: After Hours. Picture: Ryan Howard

From Strictly to Sin City dance show of the week: The Legends in Vegas: After Hours, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

THE Legends, alias Strictly alumnae Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite, reunite for a third tour, Vegas: After Hours, where the dance floor never sleeps as they bring the spirit of Sin City to life through breathtaking routines and nonstop entertainment, set to a soundtrack inspired by the greatest Las Vegas performers of all time.

Think neon lights and electric nights, roulette tables spinning, glamorous showgirls, dazzling casinos, desert sunsets, lavish pool parties, whirlwind weddings, iconic hotels and world-class entertainment, captured in dance. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Julie Russell Wilson’s Miss Marple, centre, leading the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company cast in Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced

Murder mystery of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

WHEN a mysterious announcement appears in the local newspaper, stating the date and time a murder will take place in a quiet village home, curiosity and disbelief turn quickly to alarm: it is chillingly clear that the threat is all too real.

What follows is a classic Agatha Christie puzzle of mixed motives, concealed identities and long-held secrets for the sharp-witted Miss Marple (Julie Russell Wilson) to unravel in Alex Schofield’s fundraising production in aid of the JoRo.

“Christie was a master of surprise who understood that audiences love being challenged,” says Schofield. “Then there’s the incredible premise. Someone reveals that a murder is going to take place, but not who the victim will be. From that moment on, anyone could be the victim and anyone could be the killer.

“There’s also something wonderful about hearing a collective gasp from the audience when their expectations have been turned upside down.”Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

An artwork from Kate Brown’s Among exhibition at Helmsley Arts Centre

Exhibition of the week: Kate Brown, Among, Helmsley Arts Centre, until February 26 2027

NORTH Yorkshire artist Kate Brown gathers new and existing works on paper that reflect on her engagement with place through lived experience, observation and making, “inviting a slower way of looking, encouraging reflection on our place within the environments we inhabit and the relationships that shape them”.

Using ink, pigment, copper leaf and natural materials, she creates layered compositions that evolve through an intuitive process of accumulation, erasure and response. Rather than depicting specific landscapes, the works emerge from direct encounters with the natural world and from the ongoing use of mind maps and rhizomatic diagrams as tools for thinking, connecting and understanding. Organic forms, shifting marks and delicate surfaces suggest patterns of growth, movement and relationship, alluding to seasonal change and the transient nature of experience.

Special guest Heather Findlay performing with the John Hackett Band

Ryedale gig of the week: John Hackett Band with special guest Heather Findlay, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

YORK singer-songwriter Heather Findlay will be the special guest of John Hackett Band, the prog-rock band led by Steve Hackett’s brother, whose second album, Red Institution, was released last year.

From Hackett’s pastoral flute textures, through the funky interplay between drummer Duncan Parsons and bassist Jeremy Richardson, to the intricacies of Nick Fletcher’s lead guitar, the group embraces pop, rock, jazz, classical, funk and all stops in-between, from tender ballads to hair-raising instrumental workouts. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Dr John Cooper Clarke: Showcasing new poetry collection Have It at the Grand Opera House, York

Punk poet of the week: Dr John Cooper Clarke, Grand Opera House, York, Friday, doors 7pm

SALFORD sage Dr John Cooper Clarke’s anarchic punk poetry and no-nonsense approach to his work has led to a career spanning cultures, art forms and continents, drawing audiences from clubs to arenas. On his 20-date tour, Cooper Clarke, 77, promotes his new collection, Have It, the follow-up to 2024’s What, as well as performing fan favourites with his trademark machine-gun delivery. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Shires’ Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes: Playing songs from Bonfire the night after Bonfire Night at York Barbican

Country gig of the week: The Shires, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

BRITISH country duo The Shires – Ben Earle and Crissie Rhodes – promote their sixth studio album, July 3’s Bonfire, on their 12-date UK tour, their first with a full band in four years. Expect new songs celebrating togetherness, escapism and positivity, complemented by fan favourites. Kaylee Bell supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Seann Walsh: Find out why “This Is Torture” at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Jiksaw

York comedy gig of the week: Seann Walsh, This Is Torture, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 8pm

I’M A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! 2022 series survivor Seann Walsh has decided to name his latest stand-up tour show after the phrase he says the most: “This Is Torture”. The dishevelled Camden comedian brings his signature blend of chaos and charm to York to put himself through an anxiety filled-hour. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Karl Bushby: The Man Who Walked The World

In Focus: Norwell Lapley Productions present Karl Busby: The Man Who Walked The World, York Theatre Royal, November 22, 6.30pm

KARL Bushby, the Yorkshireman who walked the world, will set out to York Theatre Royal from his Hull home on November 22 to tell his extraordinary story.

Adventurer Karl, now 57, set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, in 1998 with the almost unimaginable ambition of walking all the way home to East Yorkshire.

He made himself two promises: he would use no transport to advance his journey and he would not return home until he had completed the entire expedition on foot. After 28 years, he was welcomed home to Hull on November 2.

Along the way, Karl has crossed some of the world’s most hostile landscapes, faced life-threatening dangers and endured immense physical and psychological challenges, pushing himself to limits few could comprehend.

From navigating the perilous Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia, to tackling the frozen expanse of the Bering Strait, between Russian and Alaska, his journey is a remarkable testament to courage, resilience and the indomitable human spirit.

Now, York audiences are invited to step inside an adventure spanning continents, cultures and generations. Through first-hand storytelling, Karl will reveal the experiences behind the headlines: the moments when survival hung in the balance, the obstacles that threatened to derail his mission, the sacrifices demanded by a life on the move and the extraordinary determination that kept him heading towards home. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

October 31, 2026November 6, 2026

More Things To Do in York and beyond as Aesthetica Film Festival expands again. Hutch’s List No. 44, from The York Press

Fladam Theatre’s Florence Poskitt and Adam Sowter cooking up the York musical comedy duo’s Halloween show in Hallowbean

FROM the 16th Aesthetica Film Festival to a nocturnal ghost sculpture trail, Strictly stars after hours in Vegas to punk poet Dr John Cooper Clarke, Charles Hutchinson says yes to November events.

Children’s Halloween show of the week: Fladam Theatre in Hallowbean, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm

FLADAM Theatre, the madcap York musical comedy duo of Florence Poskitt and Adam Sowter, head to Helmsley this afternoon with their spooktastic musical comedy Hallowbean. In the town of Ghooul, Dr Frankenheinz is rustling up his Hallowbean for the annual Halloween cooking competition, hoping his tomatoey terror will dazzle Scary Berry, the most frightful food critic of them all.

Rather than scary, however, Hallowbean is downright lovable. Problem! “Will Halloween have to be cancelled? Or can the Hallowbean find her scare in time?” ask Fladam. Find out in this hour-long, pun and puppet-packed Halloween treat for three to ten years olds. Box office: Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Seann Walsh: Putting himself through an anxiety filled-hour at York Theatre Royal on November 6

Comedy gigs of the week: Russell Howard, Don’t Tell The Algorithm, York Barbican, today, 3.30pm & 7.30pm, and Sunday, 7.30pm; Seann Walsh, This Is Torture, York Theatre Royal, November 6, 8pm

POLITICAL comedian and Five Brilliant Things podcaster Russell Howard returns with a new stand-up show for 2026, where he invites you back into the room: no phones, no distractions, only humans and jokes, but don’t tell the algorithm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk; best availability on Sunday night.

I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! 2022 series survivor Seann Walsh has decided to name his latest stand-up tour show after the phrase he says the most: “This Is Torture”. The dishevelled Camden comedian brings his signature blend of chaos and charm to York to put himself through an anxiety filled-hour. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

James Swanton: Back on track with The Signal-Man’s return to York Medical Society

Recommended but sold out already: James Swanton presents The Signal-Man, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, November 2 to 8, 7pm, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday; 5.30pm & 7.30pm, Saturday

A RED light. A black tunnel. A waving figure. A warning beyond understanding. And the fear that someone – that something – is drawing closer in The Signal-Man, Charles Dickens’s most frightening ghost story, here paired with the supernatural terrors of The Trial For Murder in York storyteller and actor James Swanton’s delightfully macabre double bill. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Isabel Azar’s Clare in rehearsal for Black Treacle Theatre’s Poor Clare at Theatre@41, Monkgate

Life-changing story of the week: Black Treacle Theatre in Poor Clare, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 3 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

Ghosts After Dark: Taking over York Museum Gardens for five nights from November 4

Sculpture trail of the week: York BID and York Museums Trust present Ghosts After Dark, York Museum Gardens, November 4 to 8, 5.30pm to 9.30pm; timed entry slots until 8pm

AFTER the Ghosts In The Gardens free public art trail of 70 wire-mesh sculptures – including ten new ones – across 32 city-centre locations concludes on Sunday, Ghosts After Dark takes over for five atmospheric nights of nights of live storytelling, light, smoke and sound next week in the Museum Gardens, plus King’s Manor courtyard and Library Lawn, the Anglian Tower, Edible Wood, Artists’ Garden, St Olave’s churchyard and the area beside York Art Gallery.

All heading to the Aesthetica Film Festival 2026 as York awaits five days of film and much more

Festival of the week: Aesthetica Film Festival 2026, York, November 4 to 8

Strictly Come Dancing stars Pasha Kovalev, Brendan Cole, Vincent Simone, Ian Waite and James Jordan head to York Barbican in Legends in Vegas: After Hours. Picture: Ryan Howard

From Strictly to Sin City dance show of the week: The Legends in Vegas: After Hours, York Barbican, November 4, 7.30pm

Julie Russell Wilson’s Miss Marple, front, leading the Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company cast in Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced

Murder mystery of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Agatha Christie’s A Murder Is Announced, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, November 4 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

“From that moment on, anyone could be the victim and anyone could be the killer. There’s also something wonderful about hearing a collective gasp from the audience when their expectations have been turned upside down.”Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Dr John Cooper Clarke: Showcasing new poetry collection Have It at the Grand Opera House, York

Punk poet of the week: Dr John Cooper Clarke, Grand Opera House, York, November 6, doors 7pm

The Shires: Lighting up Bonfire at York Barbican the day after Bonfire Night

Country gig of the week: The Shires, York Barbican, November 6, 7.30pm

Karl Bushby: The Man Who Walked The World

In Focus: Norwell Lapley Productions present Karl Busby: The Man Who Walked The World, York Theatre Royal, November 22, 6.30pm

KARL Bushby, the Yorkshireman who walked the world, will set out to York Theatre Royal from his Hull home on November 22 to tell his extraordinary story.

Adventurer Karl, now 57, set off from Punta Arenas, Chile, in 1998 with the almost unimaginable ambition of walking all the way home to East Yorkshire.

He made himself two promises: he would use no transport to advance his journey and he would not return home until he had completed the entire expedition on foot. After 28 years, he will be welcomed home to Hull on November 2.

November 7, 2024May 22, 2025

Ghosts After Dark bring supernatural glow to York Museum Gardens for four nights

*Ghosts After Dark: Lighting up York Museum Gardens for four nights*

EXPERIENCE Ghosts in the Garden like never before! So reads the York BID and York Museums Trust invitation to the first ever Ghosts After Dark at York Museum Gardens,

Showcasing York’s rich tapestry of historical figures with light, sound and storytellers for four nights only, this exclusive event runs from today (7/11/2024) to Sunday from 6.30pm to 9.30pm nightly with last entry at 8.30pm.

Tickets are selling out fast, so prompt booking is advised. Once booked, ticket holders will receive an information pack with a map to help them to plan their night.

Ghost garden visitors can choose their own path to explore the ghostly sculptures, hidden around the gardens, each lit dynamically against an atmospheric background of smoke and sound.

Ghosts After Dark will feature an exclusive new ghost sculpture, a medieval pig, “celebrating the city’s history that can still be felt today”. The sculpture is an homage to Finkle Street, once known colloquially as Mucky Pig Lane, on account of being used as a through passage to move pigs to the Thursday Market, held in St Sampson’s Square, and the Swinegate Markets.

*Mad Alice: Telling gruesome tales by the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in York Museum Gardens*

York storytellers and ghost walkers will share a mix of much-loved classics and previously unheard stories every 15 minutes. For lovers of all things gruesome, Mad Alice, of the Bloody Tour of York, will share the grisly truth about the Archbishop, Executioner, Bear and Stone Mason at the Ruins.

Lady Brigante, of the Polite Tourist, will uncover the criminal past of the hidden stories of the Victorian Lady and Gentleman, Artist and Merchant at the Hideaway. The Wild Man of the Woods will explore the lore around the Cat, Fox, Pig and Falcon in the Woodland Clearing.

The York Dungeon’s Dick Turpin will recount how he met his infamous end at Palmer’s Corner while the Dungeon’s Guy Fawkes will share his ill-fated past at the Plot.

For those brave enough, Dr Dorian Deathly, of the Deathly Dark Tours, will lead visitors on a lantern-lit tour of St Olave’s Church, sharing a story made exclusively for Ghosts After Dark. “You will have to wear Bluetooth headphones for this one, with atmospheric music as he walks you through the churchyard with his spooky stories of monks and nuns,” says Carl.

Ghosts After Dark is the new companion piece to Ghosts In The Garden, which began four years ago with ten ghosts installations in York Museum Gardens. “It started as a spooky offering for Halloween but we quickly decided it wasn’t really about that,” says York BID operations manager Carl Alsop. “Year two and three we spread our wings and now it gets more exciting and challenging each year, with 45 sculptures this year.

“Like acknowledging Yorkshire’s oldest working observatory being in the Museum Gardens. We thought, ’let’s put a Georgian astrologer in there’. Or the Bear, because there was a menagerie here in the late 1800s that used to escape and chase the gardener around. Or the Mill, which now stands outside the Castle Museum, that used to be a working mill on the Moors.

*Dr Dorian Deathly: Leading visitors on a lantern-lit tour of St Olave’s Church*

“There’s a ‘long duck’ too because we do have ducks in the Museum Gardens but people can interpret it as attribute to a certain Long Boi at the University of York.”

The wire mesh sculptures are created by York company Unconventional Designs. “We have used them since the start,” says Carl. “We give them a character and an idea about the character and they come back with the design.

“The low aperture wire mesh is the gift that keeps on giving after I had this crazy idea! People might say why would you use chicken wire but the way you look at each sculpture changes depending on the time of day. Some of them appear, some of them disappear, in the changing light, because of the way they are set up!”

The York Bid and York Museums Trust has been keen to “keep growing this event, not just increasing the number of sculptures and locations, from the rail signaller at the railway station to a female stonemason at Holy Trinity Church, a taylor at Merchant Taylors Hall to a beekeeper in St Olave’s Grove,” says Carl.

“Now we’ve added this ticketed event, Ghosts After Dark, for the first time as we want to bring business into the city in what can be a quieter time of the year, coming to the city not only for the ghost sculptures but also to enjoy York’s evening economy. The ghosts will be lit up with different colours after we did a dress rehearsal to trial colours with fog and background music.”

Ghosts After Dark, York Museum Gardens, Museum Street, York, tonight to Sunday. Box office: yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk. Tickets cost £7.50 for adults and just £1 for under-16s.

November 6, 2024May 22, 2025

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond in the season of ghosts in gardens. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 41, from Gazette & Herald

*Livy Potter as Katy, left, and Alice Rose Palmer, as mum Natalie, in Louise Beech’s How To Be Brave at Gilling East Village Hall and Helmsley Arts Centre*

FROM a devilish yet dotty canine musical to comedians having their moment, a film festival to glowing ghosts, Charles Hutchinson spots plenty to light up dark days ahead.

Touring play of the week: Other Lives Productions in How To Be Brave, Gilling East Village Hall, tomorrow, 7.30pm, and Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

IN 1943, Merchant Seaman Colin Armitage’s cargo ship 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.

Scenes in this resulting play alternate between the life raft and a house in Hull as York actors Jacob Ward and Livy Potter take the lead roles in Kate Veysey’s production. Box office: Gilling East, [email protected]; Helmsley, 01439 771700.

*Man of The Moment: Ali Woods, playing York Barbican on his debut stand-up tour*

Comedy men of The Moment: Mo Gilligan, In The Moment, York Barbican, tomorrow,8pm; Ali Woods, At The Moment, York Barbican, Friday, 8pm

THE moment has arrived for two comedy tour dates with similar show titles, first up the host of Channel 4’s The Lateish Show With Mo Gilligan, Londoner Mo Gilligan, on his In The Moment World Tour 2024.

The following night, half-English, half-Scottish comedian, podcaster and content creator Ali Woods plays York on his debut stand-up tour. At 30, this viral online sketch sensation has finally fallen in love with an amazing lady. “Come on an embarrassing and cathartic journey of teenage angst, relationship fails and learning how to live in the moment,” he says. Tickets update: available for both shows, whereas An Audience With Monty Don (November 11), Jamie Cullum (November 12), Sarah Millican: Late Bloomer (November 14) and Suzi Quatro ( November 15) have sold out already. Box office: yortkbarbican.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 Majesty 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.”

*Very definitely Pride Of Prejudice * (*Sort Of), sending up Jane Austen affectionately in Isobel McArthur’s play at York Theatre Royal*

Theatrical flourish of the week: Pride And Prejudice* (*Sort Of), York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 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 You’re So Vain and Young Hearts Run Free.

Writer Isobel McArthur directs this new production of her West End hit, Olivier Award winner for best comedy. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

*In the driving seat: Kym Marsh’s Cruella De Vil in 101 Dalmatians The Musical. Picture: Johan Persson*

Dog show of the week: 101 Dalmatians The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm today, 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, today to Sunday, and UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO, Guildhall, York, Thursday to Saturday

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, tomorrow to Sunday, 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/.

*Fishermen’s Friends: Playing York Barbican this week, then returning next October*

Gig announcements of the week: Fisherman’s Friends, York Barbican, October 3 2025

IN celebration of performing sea shanties for more than 30 years across the world, Fisherman’s Friends will head out from the Cornish fishing village of Port Isaac to play a British tour split between 2025 and 2026.

York will come early, booked for night number two next October on a 32-date itinerary announced even before they have played their sold-out Barbican gig on Friday this week on their Rock The Boat tour, promoting fifth album All Aboard. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

November 2, 2024May 22, 2025

More Things To Do in York & beyond when ghosts light up gardens & dogs can be spotted. Hutch’s List No. 46, from The Press

*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.

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.

*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

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

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

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.

*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.

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.