OLIVIER Award winner Sally Cookson directs Bristol Old Vic’s production of Wonder Boy, Ross Willis’s exploration of the power of communication, on tour at York Theatre Royal from tonight to Saturday.
Playful humour, dazzling visuals and thrilling original music combine in this innovative show that uses live creative captioning on stage throughout as 12-year-old Sonny, who lives with a stammer, must find a way to be heard in a world where language is power, with the aid of his imaginary friend Captain Chatter.
When cast in a school production of Hamlet by the head teacher, Sonny discovers the real heroes are closer than he thinks.
Here Sally discusses the wonders of Wonder Boy.
How did your production of Wonder Boy come to fruition?
“I was invited to a new writing festival at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School pre-pandemic in which Ross Willis’s play was presented. It jumped out at me as a piece of unique writing, and I was attracted to the way Ross combined an absurd world with the very real. It made me laugh and cry.
“I contacted him and went to see his production of Wolfie at Theatre 503 [in Battersea, London], which I loved. Tom Morris [the then artistic director of Bristol Old Vic] agreed to programme Wonder Boy the following year at Bristol Old Vic but that got postponed because of Covid.
“Ross and I got to know each other during the pandemic via delightful phone calls where we’d just talk about anything and everything. Chatting with Ross is like being in one of his plays. Wonder Boy finally got performed in 2022, a couple of years later than intended, but by which time we’d had a chance to dream up ideas together about the show.
Hilson Agbangbe as Sonny in Bristol Old Vic’s Wonder Boy. Picture: Steve Tanner
In the play, Ross Willis writes movingly about the frustrations that can come with having a stammer. How did you bring that into the structure of the show?
“This is at the heart of the piece. Ross calls it the great inner operatic pain that comes not being able to be seen or express yourself. It was essential that we found a way of bringing all elements of the production together to illustrate and highlight Sonny’s plight.
“Music is especially important in helping with this and Benji Bower’s composition manages to get right inside the character’s head. But casting an actor who is able to portray the character’s trauma is key.
“Understanding what causes Sonny to behave in the way he does and identify every moment of his thought process is vital. Some of Sonny’s darkest moments happen when there is no text, so being able to identify how his pain manifests physically is important too.
“Ross has written it into the structure of the show, those big absurd moments when Shakespeare comes to life to torment Sonny or when vowels and letters attack him are all moments that tap into his inner operatic pain.”
How is creative captioning used in the show?
“The play is about what happens when a person communicates differently and the challenges they face when fluent speech is the expected societal norm. It felt entirely natural to include creative captions as part of the overall design of the show to tap into the major theme of communication.
“Creative captioning involves incorporating the entire text into the world of the play. We don’t just display the words on a small digital strip positioned either to the left or right of the stage; we ensure that all the words spoken are visually central to the piece.
Designed by Tom Newell, the creative captions provide another creative layer and are not only an access tool for deaf, deafened or hard of hearing people but an important part of the imaginative world created in the play.”
Hilson Agbangbe’s Sonny with his imaginary friend, Ciaran O’Breen’s Captain Chatter. Picture: Steve Tanner
Wonder Boy deals with mental health issues, such as suicide. Can theatre do that particularly well?
“My experience is that theatre is a wonderful place to interrogate the stuff that frightens us as humans. And to ask those questions safely in a rehearsal room, and to share that with an audience is what theatre does best.
“In Wonder Boy the protagonist Sonny experiences complicated feelings of guilt, shame, grief and anger as a result of his mother’s death by suicide. A lot of plays written for young people shy away from themes such as this, but Ross approaches the subject with honesty and integrity. He understands what young people endure and gives voice to their suffering in an imaginative way.
“Theatre is a space to gather together to explore human behaviour, and hopefully come away with a bit more understanding of why we do the things we do.”
Wonder Boy is a play for young people – and very “sweary” too. Discuss…
“Oh, we had so many discussions about the ‘sweariness’. It has taken us around and about and back to where we started, which is why we’ve changed very little of it. Ross is quite right – most young people swear a lot. It has become part of the way they communicate.
Some adults get quite upset about the amount of swearing in the show; no young people do. And the play really is for teenagers. Getting teenagers into the theatre is very difficult, and I think Ross has absolutely found a way of engaging them – by telling a beautiful and important story and using an extreme version of the language they identify with.
A scene from Bristol Old Vic’s touring production of Wonder Boy
This show illustrates the impact of art, and theatre in particular, on young people, especially those who experiencing difficulties. Are you passionate about this?
“Yes. That’s what helped me. I hated school. I was really miserable. And my mum sent me to the local youth theatre. That’s where my journey into the arts started. And it’s where I suddenly felt valued, and where I had a voice, so I feel very strongly about it.
And now more than ever – with a curriculum starved of the arts (hopefully this will soon change) – theatre is essential in engaging young people’s imaginations and allowing them space to dream and think big.”
What can theatre give to a young person who is struggling to be heard or to find a voice?
“So many things. It’s not just about encouraging young people to work in the arts. By joining a youth theatre, being part of an audience regularly, partaking in drama, it can make you feel more connected, less alone.
“It can inspire your imagination, make you think bigger, think differently; it can encourage empathy by helping you understand why other people behave like they do. It can tap into your own artistic talents, and help you find things out about yourself that you never knew you had. It can also just be a good laugh. The list is endless.”
Bristol Old Vic presents Wonder Boy, York Theatre Royal, tonight until Saturday; evenings, 7.30pm, tonight, tomorrow and Friday; matinees, 2pm, Wednesday, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 / yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Flashback
Nadia Clifford as Jane Eyre in the National Theatre’s Jane Eyre, directed by Sally Cookson
IN the 2017 Hutch Awards, Sally Cookson’s National Theatre staging of Jane Eyre, performed on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, won Stage Production of the Year in York made outside York.
“YOU will not see a better theatre show in York this year, and you won’t have seen a better theatre show in York since The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time”. So The York Press review stated in May that year.
How true that proved to be. Cookson’s devised production of vivid, vital imagination brought Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre back to Yorkshire with breathtaking results.
The Whitby Rebels cast on a boat trip in Scarborough’s South Bay: from left, Keith Bartlett, Duncan MacInnes, Jacky Naylor, Jacqueline King, Louise Mai Newberry and Kieran Foster. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
FROM a motley crew all at sea to Eighties’ pop and rock stars, a beehive buzz of a campaigning American teen to a boy with a stammer, Charles Hutchinson’s week promises both adventure and misadventure.
World premiere of the week: The Whitby Rebels, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until November 2, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
IN Whitby Harbour, in the summer of 1991, something extraordinary happened. A humble pleasure boat set sail for the Arctic crewed by misfits, pensioners and the vicar for Egton and Grosmont, North Yorkshire.
This motley crew was assembled by Captain Jack Lammiman to complete a daring mission: to erect a plaque honouring Whitby whaling Captain William Scoresby senior on a volcanic island hundreds of miles north of Iceland. Bea Roberts’s new play tells their true story, boat on stage et al. Box office: 01723 370541 or at sjt.uk.com.
Ayana Beatrice Poblete and Reggie Challenger in Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ Songs For A New World
Song cycle of the week: Black Sheep Theatre Productions presents: Songs For A New World, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
ON the heels of last week’s The Last Five Years, Black Sheep Theatre perform another Jason Robert Brown work, 1995’s Songs For A New World.
Defying conventional musical theatre formats, Brown and original director Daisy Prince say the non-linear show is “neither musical play nor revue”, but exists as a “very theatrical song cycle” that explores such universal themes as hope, faith, love and loss in its emotionally charged songs. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/blacksheeptheatreproductions/.
While & Matthews: Playing Hunmanby on closing night of 30th anniversary tour
Folk gig of the week: While & Matthews, Hunmanby Village Hall, near Filey, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE 30th anniversary tour of the longest-lasting female folk duo, singer-songwriters Chris While and Julie Matthews, concludes this weekend at Hunmanby Village Hall, where they sold out two years ago. Together they have played more than 2,500 gigs, appeared on 100 albums, written hundreds of original songs and reached millions of people around the world.
Chris (vocals, guitar, banjo, dulcimer and percussion) and Julie (vocals, piano, guitar, mandolin and bouzouki) released their 13th studio album, Days Like These, on Fat Cat Records last month. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.
Arthur Smith: Grumpy old man of comedy at Helmsley Arts Centre
Comedy turn of the week: An Audience With Arthur Smith, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm
COMPERE, playwright, panellist, performer and Edinburgh Fringe stalwart Arthur Smith worked previously as a road sweeper, dustman, market researcher and teacher. He even advertised chicken burgers in supermarkets dressed as a fox.
A career in stand-up comedy was the only one that could follow a build-up like that, he decided, since when he has appeared on quiz shows and Loose Ends, been a regular Grumpy Old Man and Countdown wordsmith and presented BBC Radio 4’s Excess Baggage and Radio 2’s The Smith Lectures. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Chrissie Hynde: Fronting The Pretenders at a sold-out York Barbican on Thursday
What an Eighties’ week at York Barbican: The Cult, Tuesday, sold out; Adam Ant, AntMusic 2024, Wednesday, limited ticket availability; The Pretenders, Thursday, sold out
THE Cult’s 8424: 40th Anniversary Tour brings Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy’s band to York with their pioneering fusion of post-punk, hard rock, and experimentalism. Pop icon Adam Ant performs his chart-topping hits and personal favourites in his AntMusic 2024 show on his return to the Barbican.
Chrissie Hynde leads The Pretenders in York, one of three additions to their extended 2024 tour, combining new tracks with classics such as Brass In Pocket and Back On The Chain Gang. Last year they released their 12th studio album, Relentless. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Katie Brice’s Tracy Turnblad and Neil Hurst’s Edna Turnblad in Hairspray The Musical, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Hairspray, Grand Opera House, York, October 28 to November 2, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
BASED on cult filmmaker John Waters’ 1988 American movie, Hairspray The Musical follows the progress of heroine Tracy Turnblad, with her big hair, big heart and big dreams to dance her way on to national television and into the heart of teen idol Link Larkin.
When Tracy (Katie Brice/Scarborough actress Alexandra Emerson-Kirby in her professional debut) becomes a local star, she uses her newfound fame to fight for liberation, tolerance, and interracial unity in Baltimore. Look out for Yorkshireman Neil Hurst as Tracy’s mum, Edna, and Strictly Come Dancing’s Joanne Clifton as villainous Velma Von Tussle. Box office: atgtickets.com/York.
Ciaran O’Breen as Captain Chatter and Hilson Agbangbe as Sonny in Wonder Boy, on tour at York Theatre Royal
Children’s story of the week: Wonder Boy, York Theatre Royal, October 29 to November 2; evenings, 7.30pm, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday; matinees, 2pm, Wednesday, Thursday; 2.30pm, next Saturday
OLIVIER Award winner Sally Cookson directs Bristol Old Vic’s touring production of Wonder Boy, Ross Willis’s exploration of the power of communication, told through the experiences of 12-year-old Sonny and his imaginary friend Captain Chatter.
Playful humour, dazzling visuals and thrilling original music combine in this innovative show that uses live creative captioning on stage throughout as Sonny, who lives with a stammer, must find a way to be heard in a world where language is power. When cast in a school production of Hamlet by the head teacher, he discovers the real heroes are closer than he thinks. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Victoria Delaney and Tony Froud in J M Barrie’s Mary Rose, next week’s production by York Actors Collective. Picture: Clive Millard
Theatre Royal debut of the week: York Actors Collective in Mary Rose, York Theatre Royal Studio, October 30 to November 2, 7.45pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and 2pm Saturday matinees
YORK Actors Collective make their York Theatre Royal debut with a revival of Peter Pan and Quality Street playwright J M Barrie’s Mary Rose, adapted and directed by Angie Millard.
“Barrie uses dimensions of time to great effect,” she says. “His treatment of love, loss and unwavering hope draws in an audience and gives it universality. I’ve adapted the script to appeal to modern thinking but his themes are intact. The strange and ghostly atmosphere fits beautifully into our autumn slot, which includes Halloween and is a time for considering other worldliness.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Katie Brice’s Tracy Turnblad and Neil Hurst’s Edna Turnblad in Hairspray The Musical, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, next week
YORKSHIREMAN Neil Hurst returns to York’s Grand Opera House all this week after his standout turn as big Dave in The Full Monty last October – and this time he has to wear a fat suit.
“I’m a big lad, but I’m not big enough for this role,” he says of the requirements to play agoraphobic laundry-business boss and mum Edna Turnblad in Hairspray The Musical, the part played by Divine in John Waters’ cult 1988 American film and later by John Travolta in the 2017 movie musical remake.
“I have to wear a fat suit as well as the false boobs to look the part. It’s all about finding the physicality of the character that’s important. But everything’s there on the page, to find the voice, the way she moves.”
More than 100 shows into the tour, Halifax-born Neil says: “My feet are killing me with the heels I have to wear. I’m learning a lot about what it’s like to be a woman, but I’m having a ball. It’s such a joy to play Edna.
“Every now and then I slip into panto dame mode, but I do try to play Edna as a mum and a wife, finding the real woman in her rather being a big northern lad in a dress.”
How is the tour progressing since opening in July, with around 270 shows still to go? “I started getting RSI [Repetitive Strain Injury] in my right elbow because of all that flapping of my wrists, but now I think my muscles have got used to it,” says Neil.
“Having said that, as I stood by the fridge the other day, my wife said, ‘Why are you standing like that?’. I was standing with a hand on a boob, like Edna does!”
Quick refresher course: Hairspray The Musical is the story of heroine Tracy Turnblad, with her big beehive hair, big heart and big dreams to dance her way on to national television and into the heart of teen idol Link Larkin, supported all the way by mum Edna but hindered by villainous Velma Von Tussle (Strictly Come dancing’s Joanne Clifton).
When Tracy (Katie Brice/Scarborough actress Alexandra Emerson-Kirby in her professional debut) becomes a local star, she uses her newfound fame to fight for liberation, tolerance, and interracial unity in Baltimore, but can she succeed?
“It’s a massively popular show,” says Neil. “I was a big fan of the original film in the Eighties, and then the musical and the later film too. At the core of it, it’s a really good story, and if you get the story right, you can’t go wrong. It’s got a good message, it’s politically apt, saying you should love people for who they are, not what they look like.
“Also, every few minutes, there’s a banging number, ending with You Can’t Stop The Beat. The music is great, the script is brilliant, and then we have Joanne Clifton, who’s wonderful as the baddie character, Velma Von Tussle.
“We get on like a house on fire. We love to do a jigsaw puzzle at every venue, and we’re like these two old fuddy-duddies with all the others being about 20 years old!”
Neil will be taking a winter break before resuming the tour until April, but not for a rest. Instead, this award-winning pantomime performer will be returning to Hull New Theatre for Goldilocks And The Three Bears.
“This time I’m playing Joey the Clown, who’s in love with Goldilocks. I’ve got to try to woo her affection by being the biggest and best act in the circus,” he says. “This will be my fifth Hull pantomime, I love doing the panto there, and this one is very different.
“We’re bringing Hairspray to Hull New Theatre in a few weeks’ time, in the middle of November, but annoyingly I start panto rehearsals the week after, when we’ll be in Bradford that week, so I’ll be be going over in the day to do rehearsals and performing Hairspray at night.”
Hairspray The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, October 28 to November 2, 7.30pm plus2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Did you know?
NORTHERN actor, presenter, writer, podcaster, husband and dad Neil Hurst began his career as a song-and-dance act, touring the country in comedy and variety shows and supporting comedy legends such as Bruce Forsyth, Bob Monkhouse, Jimmy Tarbuck, Ken Dodd and Cannon and Ball.
Neil Hurst’s television credits include two series in a recurring live improvisation role on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show on BBC One, working alongside McIntyre to set up his Unexpected Star of the Show.
Did you know too?
NEIL’S television credits include two series in a recurring live improvisation role on Michael McIntyre’s Big Show on BBC One, working alongside McIntyre to set up his Unexpected Star of the Show.
He hosted his own USA television pilot for Food Network, Hopping The Pond, wherein he travelled the United States, eating local dishes, drinking local brews and learning all about small-town America from the locals.
One more thing..
NEIL wrote the pantomime scripts for Beauty And The Beast at CAST Doncaster and Cinderella for Towngate Theatre, Basildon. In his writing partnership with actress Jodie Prenger, together they have scripted A Very Very Bad Cinderella, The Government Inspector and Cinderella, A Socially Distanced Ball for London theatres The Other Palace, MTFest UK and Turbine Theatre.
“You have to keep to the script but I can add my own flavour.,” says comedian Nathan Caton of playing the Narrator, his theatre debut in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show. Picture: David Freeman
WEST London comedian Nathan Caton is donning the trademark blue smoking jacket as the Narrator in the latest tour of Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show.
This week, you will find him quick on the quip and punchy with the putdown, and sassy and saucy too, at the Grand Opera House on his return to York in his new guise.
“I’ve been to York a fair few times,” says Nathan, who launched his comedy career at the age of 19 while studying architecture at Anglia Ruskin University . “Because I’m a stand-up comedian I play all over the UK, and I’ve played The Basement at City Screen and 1331 in York.”
Now, 20 years on from cutting his comedy teeth, he follows in the footsteps – and high heels – of Nicholas Parsons, Stephen Fry, Steve Punt, Dom July, Philip Franks, Joe McFadden, Alison Hammond and many more in playing the unflappable Narrator.
“No pressure!” he says of taking on such an iconic role. “It came about quite randomly. Out of the blue, I got an audition call from my agent, and I thought. ‘OK, I want to do some theatre work’.
“But until this summer, I wasn’t aware of what Rocky Horror was. I’d only heard the name. I did the audition, thinking ‘I’m probably not going to get it’; ‘I’ll probably never hear from you again’. But I got the call and the rest is history! I’ve been doing it since the middle of August.”
How did Nathan prepare for the role? “I watched the Rocky Horror Show Live [the 2015 40th anniversary recording from the Playhouse Theatre in London] on You Tube with Stephen Fry and Emma Bunton and two others as the Narrator [Editor’s note: Anthony Head, Adrian Edmondson and Mel Giedroyc also appear on the Narrator credit list].
“I thought, ‘OK, this is what I’m going to be doing? OK, what am I letting myself in for?’! My wife’s reaction was it would be fun to do. She knows me better than I know myself – and the woman is always right.”
Nathan fits the part and that jacket to a T. “The role works perfectly for me as a comedian with a stand-up background,” he says. “Audience shout-outs. That’s my bread and butter. Coming back at them if they say anything, and trust me, they do! The audience’s timing with their comments is formulaic, but it’s manna from heaven for me.”
Matching how a stand-up show can change and be refined as a tour progresses, Nathan says his role as Narrator has progressed since August. “It’s like riding a bike. The more you do it, the better you get. You get into the groove and you can make it your own,” he explains.
“I’ve been fortunate in that the producer has been great in letting me put my spin on it. Yes, you have to keep to the script but I can add my own flavour.” [Editor’s note: How right he is. Nathan’s tongue-in-cheek asides and close-to-the-knuckle political jests were one of the joys of Monday’s press night.]
His style? “Cheeky but charming – I hope that’s how it comes across,” he says. “You need to have a somewhat commanding voice too, leading the audience in the story so that they stay tuned into you.”
Nathan is working for the first time with Australian star Jason Donovan, who plays sweet transvestite transsexual scientist Dr Frank N Furter on the tour.
“The only time he was in my existence was watching him as a kid when he was in Neighbours,” he says. “He’s a lovely guy. Because I was new to the show, when I first came in, he said, ‘the audience is mad, but it’s so much fun’.
“I was very nervous at the start. I felt very much like a fish out of water, seeing the rest of the cast who are so talented. They sing and dance and act, and all I do is go on stage, chat for a while, the audience giggle, and then I go off!
“I felt like, ‘clearly I’m the least talented guy here’, but they have been so supportive.”
The latest Rocky Horror tour has dates until next summer but “I’ll have a bit of a break for a stand-up tour that I’ve been working on for next spring,” says Nathan, who will be on the solo road from May 1 to 24.
“It’s called My Big Fat Blasian Wedding – a combination of ‘Black’ and ‘Asian’ – and the show is basically me having a mental breakdown about how expensive my wedding was.”
Or, to quote Nathan’s tour publicity: “It’s official. Nathan’s married and off the market – sorry ladies… and gentlemen! What should’ve been the happiest time of his life turned out to be the most stressful and expensive time ever. The end result? Well, it was either therapy or turn it into comedy. Nathan chose the latter…”
In a nutshell, he puts it this way: “You know what they say: ‘Happy wife, happy life, just not a happy bank manager’!”
Nathan Caton appears as the Narrator in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show at Grand Opera House, York, tonight at 8pm, tomorrow and Saturday at 5.30pm and 8.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/York. Also playing Sheffield Lyceum Theatre, November 25 to 30. Box office: sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.
The nearest city to York that Nathan will be bringing his My Big Fat Blasian Wedding tour will be Newcastle [The Stand Comedy Club, May 9 2025].
Nathan Caton: the back story
Nathan Caton: Taking on Narrator’s role in Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show
BORN in Hammersmith, he grew up in Greenford, Ealing, West London. Active on comedy circuit since tender age of 19 – he is 39 now – having taken first steps while studying architecture at Angia Ruskin University.
He has since built his career on combining personal, confessional material with up-to-date social and political anecdotes, after playing Edinburgh Fringe, finishing as runner-up in Amused Moose Comedy Search and winning 2005 Chortle Student Comedian of the Year award within his first year.
Appeared on BBC’s Live At The Apollo, Mock The Week, Eurogedden and Russell Howard’s Good News and Comedy Central’s Live At The Comedy Store. Finalist on FHM’s Stand-Up-Hero (ITV 4) . Starred in his own BBC Radio 4 sitcom, Can’t Tell Nathan Caton Nothin’. Written for TV shows Rastamouse and Royal Television Society Award-nominated Jojo & Gran Gran.
Performed five Edinburgh Fringe solo shows. Toured to Dubai, New York, Mumbai and Montreal. Embarked on numerous UK tours. Last tour, Let’s Talk About Vex, was filmed for a comedy special. Next tour, My Big Fat Blasian Wedding, will be on the road from May 1 to 24 2025.
Now playing Narrator’s role on 2024-2025 tour of Richard O’Brien’s Rocky Horror Show in Bromley, High Wycombe, Fareham, Malvern, Bath, York, Glasgow, Cardiff, Woking, Blackpool and Sheffield. Box office: RockyHorror.co.uk.
The Maniac (Andrew Isherwood), left, peruses the Anarchist’s case file as Inspector Burton (Paul Osborne) interrupts him in Black Treacle Theatre’s Accidental Death Of An Anarchist . Picture: John Saunders
FROM ‘Rocky 2’ for Jason Donovan to a music-hall spin on Shakespeare’s ‘Two Gents’, Charles Hutchinson looks at a mighty crowded week ahead.
Last chance to see: Black Treacle Theatre in Accidental Of An Anarchist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
YORK company Black Treacle Theatre stage Dario Fo and Franca Rame’s uproarious 1970 Italian farce in a new adaptation by Tom Basden, creator of Plebs and Here We Go, who updates the setting to the rotten state of present-day Britain.
Shining a satirical light on bent coppers, politicians and everything in between under Jim Paterson’s direction, the riotous drama is set in a police station where a suspect has “accidentally”’ fallen to his death, but did he jump or was he pushed? As the police attempt to avoid yet another scandal, a mysterious imposter (Andrew Isherwood’s Maniac) is brought in for questioning. Cue cover-ups, corruption and (in)competence. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk
Dinosaur World Live: Invading York Theatre Royal on Monday and Tuesday
Children’s show of the week:Dinosaur World Live, York Theatre Royal, October 21, 4.30pm; October 22, 10.30am and 4.30pm
DARE to experience the dangers and delights of dinosaurs in this mind-expanding, “roarsome” interactive Jurassic adventure, winner of the 2024 Olivier Award for Best Family Show.
Grab your compass and join Dinosaur World’s intrepid explorer on a venture across uncharted territories to discover a pre-historic world of astonishing, life-like dinosaurs. Meet a host of impressive creatures, not least every child’s favourite flesh-eating giant, the Tyrannosaurus Rex. A post-show meet and greet offers brave explorers the chance to make a new dinosaur friend. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Jason Donovan, centre, as Dr Frank N Furter in The Rocky Horror Show, back at its regular York haunt, the Grand Opera House, next week
Touringmusical of the week: The Rocky Horror Show, Grand Opera House, York, October 21 to 26, Monday to Thursday, 8pm; Friday, Saturday, 5.30pm and 8.30pm
AUSRALIAN actor, pop singer and soap star Jason Donovan returns to the Grand Opera House in a musical theatre role for the first time since playing drag act Mitzi Del Bar in Prisclla, Queen Of The Desert in November 2015.
“Rocky is panto for adults,” says Jason, 56, who is reprising his role as sweet transvestite Dr Frank N Furter on tour, after 25 years, in Richard O’Brien’s cult send-up of horror and science-fiction B-movies as squeaky clean American college couple Brad and Janet end up in the mad, seductive scientist’s Transylvanian lair. Box office: atgtickets.york.com.
Tempest Wisdom: Directing York Shakespeare Project for the first time in The Two Gentlemen Of Verona
Play of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 22 to 26, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
‘TWO Gents’: possibly Shakespeare’s first play and definitely the only one with a part for a dog. But can the newly employed performers at Monkgate Music Hall pull off their production?
Under-rehearsed knife throwers, strongmen, musicians and comedians must pool their skills in Tempest Wisdom’s dazzling take on this rarely performed comedy, delivered by York Shakespeare Project. “Book now for the event of the 19th century!” says Tempest. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Steve Huison as his alter ego, working men’s club cabaret host Squinty McGinty, at The Crescent, York
Cabaret turn of the week, Steve Huison, Crescent Cabaret, The Crescent, York, October 23, doors, 6.30pm for 7.30pm start
AFTER exhibiting oil portraits of actors and musicians at Pyramid Gallery this summer, actor, artist and The Full Monty star Steve Huison presents The Crescent Cabaret in his guise as Squinty McGinty, “Agent to the Stars”, more usually to be found hosting Cabaret Saltaire.
Promoted in tandem with Pyramid Gallery owner and musician Terry Brett, who will make a stage appearance with Ukulele Sunshine Revival, this charity event will raise funds for Refugee Action York from meat raffle ticket sales at Huison’s affectionate, if outrageous, spoof of a typical northern working men’s club. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Company Wayne McGregor in Autobiography, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Andrej Uspenski
Dance show of the week: Company Wayne McGregor, Autobiography, V102 and V103, York Theatre Royal, October 25 and 26, 7.30pm
GENETIC code, AI and choreography merge in a Wayne McGregor work that reimagines and remakes itself anew for every performance. Layering choreographic imprints over personal memoir and in dialogue with a specially created algorithm that hijacks McGregor’s DNA data,Autobiography “upends the traditional nature of dance-making as artificial intelligence and instinct converge in creative authorship”.
Now, AISOMA, a new AI tool developed with Google Arts and Culture – “utilising machine-learning trained on hundreds of hours of McGregor’s choreographic archive – overwrites initial configurations to present fresh movement options to the performers, injecting unfamiliar and often startling content into the choreographic ecosystem”. “Life, writing itself anew,” explains McGregor. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Nadia Reid: Making her Band Room debut on the North York Moors
Moorland gig of the season: Nadia Reid, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, October 26, 7.30pm
THE Band Room promoter Nigel Burnham first tried to book New Zealand singer-songwriter sensation Nadia Reid on her first British tour in 2017. “Persistence has paid off,” he says, welcoming her to “the greatest small venue on Earth” as part of a series of intimate, magical solo shows.
Noted for her evocative lyrics and introspective, folk-infused soundscapes, Reid has been described as “an understated, wise guide through uncertain territory”, drawing comparison with Joni Mitchell, Laura Marling, Gillian Welch and Sandy Denny. Latest album Out of My Province took her to Matthew E White’s Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia, where producer Trey Pollard surrounded her songs in luminous washes of southern country soul. Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.
Elbow: First headliners confirmed for second season of Live At York Museum Gardens, staged by Futuresound Group next summer
Gig announcement of the week: Futuresound Group presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Elbow, July 3 2025
GUY Garvey’s Mercury Prize-winning Bury band Elbow are confirmed as the first headliner for Futuresound’s second Live At York Museum Gardens concert weekend, after the sold-out success of Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary shows and Jack Savoretti this summer.
Elbow will be supported by Ripon-born, London-based singer-songwriter Billie Marten and Robin Hood’s Bay folk luminary Eliza Carthy & The Restitution. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/elbow/york-museum-gardens/3195333.
Recommended but sold out: James Swanton presents The Signal-Man, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, October 24 to 30, 7pm
James Swanton: sell-out run of The Signal-Man at York Medical Society. Picture: Jtu Photography
“SOMETHING unprecedented has happened: we’ve sold out the entire run over a month in advance! A first in my experience,” says York gothic actor and storyteller James Swanton ahead of the home-city leg of his Halloween Dickens show, The Signal-Man, with The Trial For Murder “thrown in for fun”.
“The Signal-Manis one of the most powerful ghost stories of all time and certainly the most frightening ever written by Charles Dickens. It’s paired here with The Trial For Murder, in which Dickens treats the supernatural with just as much terrifying gravity.”
James adds: “We’re privileged to be a partner event with the York Ghost Merchants for their annual Ghost Week celebrations.”
What happens in The Signal-Man? “A red light. A black tunnel. A waving figure. A warning beyond understanding. And the fear that someone – that something – is drawing closer,” says the storyteller of Dickens’s darkest explorations of the spirit world.
Over the past year, James has played monsters in The First Omen (20th Century Studios) and Tarot(Sony), as well as the title roles in two BBC chillers: The Curse Of The Ninth in Inside No. 9 and Lot No. 249, Mark Gatiss’s annual ghost story, a performance that spurred the Telegraph reviewer to call James “the scariest man on TV this Christmas”.
His Dickens work includes sell-out seasons of the Christmas Books at the Charles Dickens Museum, London, and his one-man play Sikes & Nancy at the West End’s Trafalgar Studios.
Are you too late for tickets for The Signal-Man? Fear not, James will be returning to York Medical Society from November 25 to 28 and December 2 to 5 for his annual performances of Dickens’s Christmas ghost stories, A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Haunted Man, suitable for age eight upwards. Tickets for these 65-minute 7pm performances are on sale on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
One ghost story will be told each night: November 25 to 27 and December 2 to 4, A Christmas Carol; November 28, The Chimes; December 5, The Haunted Man.
In Focus: Black Sheep Theatre Productions presents Songs For A New World, National Centre for Early Music, York, Oct 24 to 26
Co-director and actor Mikhail Lim in one of myriad posters for Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ production of Songs For A New World
YORK company Black Sheep Theatre Productions completes its October double bill of Jason Robert Brown productions with his 1995 theatrical song cycle Songs For A New World.
Tony Award-winning composer Brown is best known for his musicals Parade, 13 and The Last Five Years, the 2001 two-hander staged by Matthew Peter Clare’s company in collaboration with Wharfemede Productions at the NCEM last week.
First produced Off-Broadway at the WPA Theatre in New York, Songs For A New World defies conventional musical theatre formats. As described by Brown and original director Daisy Prince, the show is “neither musical play nor revue” but exists as a “very theatrical song cycle.”
“While it lacks a linear plot, the production explores universal themes such as hope, faith, love, and loss through a powerful collection of emotionally charged songs,” says Matthew, the production’s co-director, musical director and producer.
Black Sheep Theatre’s re-imagined production speaks directly to the growing uncertainty and tension of today’s political and social climate. Co-director Mikhail Lim and the creative team have crafted a fresh and relevant interpretation, designed to “resonate with audiences navigating the complexities of modern life”.
Songs For A New World cast member Rachel Higgs
This version expands the original cast of four to feature eight performers from York and beyond, creating a rich and multifaceted rendition.
“We believe this show will be a breakthrough in York’s theatre scene, offering something fresh, exciting, and deeply engaging,” says Mikhail. “The music alone will make audiences want to listen on repeat, but the show also connects emotionally, tugging on heartstrings and encouraging a renewed contemplation of today’s world.
“We hope audiences leave the theatre not only moved by the performances but also reflecting on the deeper themes we explore.”
After staging William Finn and James Lapine’s Falsettos at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, now Black Sheep Theatre has worked meticulously on every aspect of Songs for A New World.
Ayana Beatrice Poblete and Reggie Challenger in Songs For A New World
“The team is confident that this production will be a definitive version of Brown’s iconic work, delivering a truly unforgettable experience to all who attend,” says Matthew.
Black Sheep Theatre Productions, Songs For A New World, National Centre for Early Music,St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, October 24 to 26, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.
Creative team: Co-director, musical director & producer: Matthew Peter Clare
Co-director: Mikhail Lim Assistant director & choreographer: Freya McIntosh
Cast: Ayana Beatrice Poblete; Katie Brier; Lauren Charlton-Mathews; Reggie Challenger; Rachel Higgs; Mikhail Lim; Adam Price and Natalie Walker.
“The Rocky Horror Show now plays to my strengths, less musical theatre, more edgy, a little bit rock’n’roll. More me really!” says Jason Donovan, pictured centre
JASON Donovan is returning to one of his most famous roles: Frank-N-Furter in Richard O’Brien’s anarchic musical, The Rocky Horror Show. Next stop, Grand Opera House, York, from October 21 to 26.
Why? “In a nutshell, I’m a fan,” says the Australian singer, actor and erstwhile soap star, now 56. “I love the show; I love the music; I love the character. I was touring my own show about five years ago and included Sweet Transvestite from Rocky as a key moment in my musical career. It went down a storm.”
When he read there would be a 50th anniversary production, he emailed producer Howard Panter, saying he would love to be involved. Cue Jason’s Frank-N-Furter, first back home in Australia, in Sydney and Melbourne, and now on a UK tour since mid-August.
Richard O’Brien’s cult musical tribute to horror and science fiction B-movies from the 1930s to the early 1960s tells the story of a newly engaged, clean-cut American college couple Brad and Janet. Caught in a storm, they end up at the gothic Transylvanian lair of mad transvestite scientist, Dr Frank-N-Furter, just in time for the unveiling of his new creation, Rocky, a Frankenstein-style monster complete with blond hair and a tan.
Since 1973, the show has played to 30 million people globally in 20 languages. Now, Jason returns to a role he first played more than 25 years ago. “To be honest, I can’t really remember much about 1998 but that’s another story,” he says. “I don’t feel uncomfortable, though, playing him at 56 – and, of course, I have personal reasons for being grateful to the show.”
“The character of Frank N Furter embraces both sides of me: a strength and a vulnerability, as well as danger and denial,” says Jason Donovan
The stage manager on that late-1990s’ touring production was a young woman called Angela Malloch. “I’d be backstage waiting to go on, and I’d get chatting to Ange, ” recalls Jason. Friendship turned into romance but the relationship hit the buffers.
Shortly afterwards, however, Angela found out she was pregnant. Ultimatum time. “If the relationship had any chance of working, she told me, and if I was going to have any involvement in the life of our child, I would have to give up the self-indulgent hedonistic lifestyle of the ’90s and take greater control of my life. And I did.”
The couple, who finally married in 2008, have three children: actress Jemma, 24; TV producer Zac, 23, and Molly, still at school, aged 13.
Jason, meanwhile, has gone from small-screen fame as Scott Robinson in the Australian soap Neighbours to chart-topping pop stardom and onwards to musical and theatre roles: Joseph and Pharaoh in Joseph And His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; eccentric inventor Caractacus Potts in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; two stints as drag artist Mitzi in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical; music mogul Sam Phillips in Million Dollar Quartet, the demon barber himself in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street and Lionel Logue in The King’s Speech.
Jason Donovan: Heading to York Barbican on his Doin’ Fine 25 tour in 2025. Picture: Eugene Hyland
Dr Frank-N-Furter, above all, occupies a special place in his heart. “One of the reasons I love Rocky is because it’s a short show.” Explain, Jason! “It says everything it needs to say and nothing more. There’s no unnecessary padding. It means nobody gets bored and you leave them wanting more.”
What about climbing into fishnet stockings and high heels seven times a week? “In many ways, very easy, I put on the costume and there’s Frank all over again,” he says. “I’m in touch with my feminine side but I come from a masculine sensibility. The character embraces both sides of me: a strength and a vulnerability, as well as danger and denial.
“Look, I come to the role as an actor. I always dreamed of fronting a rock band and this is about as close as I’ve got. When I put on those high heels, I become that rock’n’roll star. It makes me feel powerful, tall, in charge.
“And audiences love it. As I look out from the stage, I see a beautiful landscape of people wearing outrageous costumes. It’s not hard to see why: in many ways, Rocky is panto for adults. The costumes are just as much a part of the show as the characters and the music.”
Touring surely means wear and tear to his back? “I spend a lot more time in physio these days, something I’ve put in as an appendix in my contract! I’m in my mid-50s. I’m aware of having to look after myself,” he says.
Jason Donovan’s Mitzi Del Bra in his last appearance at the Grand Opera House in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical in November 2015
Does that require regular exercise? “Yes, but not obsessively so. Mental health and physical fitness go hand-in-hand for me. This life is a long journey, you hope. My dad gave me the tool of a good work ethic linked to physical activity,” he says.
“I don’t go to the gym: I’m not interested in lifting weights. But I swim. I ride my bike. I stretch. I steam. I do those things more or less on a daily basis. In fact, they’ve become a borderline addiction. And, of course, doing the show is a work-out in itself: I put a lot of energy into my performance.”
Jason says vocals were “never my strongest point back in the day”. “But since Joseph, I’ve worked really hard and through 30 years of strengthening my vocal cords – they’re a muscle like anything else – I’ve become a better singer. Rocky now plays to my strengths, less musical theatre, more edgy, a little bit rock’n’roll. More me really!”
What’s next for Jason post-Rocky? “I’ve got my Doin’ Fine 25 tour. That’s 35 concerts across the UK and Ireland,” he says. “It’s a greatest hits show, a celebration of 35 years of work.” York Barbican awaits next March.
The Rocky Horror Show, Grand Opera House, York, October 21 to 26, Monday to Thursday, 8pm; Friday and Saturday, 5.30pm and 8.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.york.com. Jason Donovan: Doin’ Fine 25, York Barbican, March 8 2025, 8pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk
DEL Boy in a musical, a Dungeon murderess, a Greek teen tragedy and gruesome Tower tales promise entertainment and enlightenment, advises Charles Hutchinson.
New attraction of the week: The Black Widow, York Dungeon, Clifford Street, York, daily from 10am
HERE comes this Hallowe’en season’s new show at York Dungeon. Be prepared to encounter the grim tale of Britain’s first female serial killer: Mary Ann Cotton.
A north easterner with a propensity for lacing tea with a drop of arsenic, the Black Widow was convicted of only one murder but is believed to have killed many others, including 11 of her 13 children, and three of her four husbands. Box office: thedungeons.com/york/tickets-passes/. Pre-booking is essential.
Sam Lupton’s Del Boy on a date with Georgina Hagen’s Raquel in Only Fools And Horses The Musical at the Grand Opera House, York
“Plonker” musical of the week: Only Fools And Horses The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees today and Saturday
BASED on John Sullivan’s long-running BBC One series, his son Jim Sullivan and comedy treasure Paul Whitehouse’s West End hit, Only Fools And Horses The Musical, combines 20 songs with an ingenious script.
“Join us as we take a trip back in time to 1989, where it’s all kicking off in Peckham,” reads the 2024-25 tour invitation. “While the yuppie invasion of London is in full swing, love is in the air as Del Boy sets out on the rocky road to find his soul mate, Rodney and Cassandra prepare to say ‘I do’, and even Trigger is gearing up for a date (with a person!).” Box office for the last few tickets: atgtickets.com/york.
Chris Mooney and Helen “Bells” Spencer in Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, the debut collaboration between Black Sheep Theatre Productions and Wharfemede Productions
Debut of the week: Wharfemede Productions & Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Last Five Years, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.45pm
HELEN Spencer and Nick Sephton launch their new York company, Wharfemede Productions, in tandem with Black Sheep Theatre Productions, by staging The Last Five Years, Jason Robert Brown’s emotive musical story of two New Yorkers, rising novelist Jamie Wellerstein and struggling actress Cathy Hiatt, who fall in and out of love over the course of five years.
Combining only two cast members, York theatre scene luminaries Chris Mooney and Spencer, with a seven-piece band, expect an intimate and emotive evening of frank storytelling and gorgeous music. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/wharfemede-productions-ltd.
Alexander Flanagan-Wright in Helios, his modern take on the Fall of Phaeton, performed under the Great Hall dome at Castle Howard
Theatrical event of the week: Wright & Grainger in Helios, The Great Hall, Castle Howard, near York, today, 5pm and 7.30pm
A LAD lives halfway up an historic hill. A teenager is on a road trip to the city in a stolen car. A boy is driving a chariot, pulling the sun across the sky. In a play about the son of the god of the sun, Helios transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound round the winding roads of rural England and into the everyday living of a towering city.
“It’s a story about life, the invisible monuments we build to it, and the little things that leave big marks,” says writer-performer Alexander Flanagan-Wright, who presents his delicate tale with a tape-player beneath the Great Hall dome’s mural, painted by 18th century Venetian painter Antonio Pelligrini, whose depiction of the Fall of Phaeton was the thematic inspiration behind Helios. Box office: castlehoward.co.uk.
Alison Weir: Gruesome tales of executions, beheadings and Royal intrigue from 900 years at the Tower Of London
Literary event of the week: Kemps Bookshop Presents Alison Weir – Ghosts & Gruesome Tales Of The Tower, Milton Rooms, Malton, tonight, 7.30pm
IF any place could lay claim to a host of tortured souls and ghosts, it would be the Tower of London. Historian Alison Weir regales her Malton audience with chilling ghostly tales of grim events, bloody deeds, intrigues and violent deaths the Tower has witnessed over 900 years and the ghosts that reputedly haunt it. After her talk, she will take questions and sign copies of her books. Box office: 01653 696240 themiltonrooms.com.
Mary Bourne, left, and Jessa Liversidge: Uplifting journey of song in Songbirds at Helmsley Arts Centre
Songbirds: A Celebration of Female Musical Icons, with Jessa Liversidge and Mary Bourne, Helmsley Arts Centre, October 25, 7.30pm
DEVISED and performed by vocalists Jessa Liversidge, from Easingwold, and Mary Bourne, from Kingston upon Thames, Songbirds is an uplifting journey of song, celebrating “some of the most iconic female singers and songwriters ever known”, from Carole King and Annie Lennox to Kate Bush and Adele. Special guests include HAC Singers and Easingwold Community Singers. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Nadia Reid: Making her Band Room debut on the North York Moors
Moorland gig of the season: Nadia Reid, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, October 26, 7.30pm
THE Band Room promoter Nigel Burnham first tried to book New Zealand singer-songwriter sensation Nadia Reid on her first British tour in 2017. “Persistence has paid off,” he says, welcoming her to “the greatest small venue on Earth” as part of a series of intimate, magical solo shows.
Noted for her evocative lyrics and introspective, folk-infused soundscapes, Reid has been described as “an understated, wise guide through uncertain territory”, drawing comparison with Joni Mitchell, Laura Marling, Gillian Welch and Sandy Denny. Latest album Out of My Province took her to Matthew E White’s Spacebomb Studios in Richmond, Virginia, where producer Trey Pollard surrounded her songs in luminous washes of southern country soul. Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.
Elbow: Headlining first day of second season of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts
Show announcement of the week: Futuresound Group presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Elbow, July 3 2025
GUY Garvey’s Mercury Prize-winning Bury band Elbow are confirmed as the first headliner for Futuresound’s second Live At York Museum Gardens concert weekend, after the sold-out success of Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary shows and Jack Savoretti this summer.
Elbow will be supported by Ripon-born, London-based singer-songwriter Billie Marten and Robin Hood’s Bay folk luminary Eliza Carthy & The Restitution. The York exclusive postcode presale (for YO1, YO24, YO30, YO31 and YO32) goes on sale today at 10am at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/elbow/york-museum-gardens/3195333?pre=postcode. General sales open at 10am on Friday at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/elbow/york-museum-gardens/3195333.
In Focus: Nunnington Hall Autumn Festival, October 19 and 20
Nunnington Hall: Autumn garden tours next weekend
VISITORS to the National Trust property of Nunnington Hall, near Helmsley, can enjoy the manor house being decorated for autumn next weekend.
The garden team will be running garden tours and apple-juicing demonstrations, and there will be an opportunity to do autumn-themed crafts.
Programming and partnerships officer Elena Leyshon says: “We’re delighted that our annual Autumn Festival will be returning to Nunnington Hall this year. Visitors can explore the hall decorated for autumn and join our garden team on orchard and wildlife tours, and live apple-juicing demonstrations.
“We’ll have a range of local makers and creators demonstrating and selling their work, from willow weaving to felting.
“There will also be some delicious autumnal treats in the tearoom to enjoy, so come along and enjoy a sweet treat in our tearoom and celebrate the best of the autumnal season with us.”
Robert Dutton and Andrew Moodie’s exhibition, A Yorkshire Year, continues at Nunnington Hall and will be be open to visitors over the festival weekend.
Nunnington Hall Autumn Festival, October 19 and 20, 10.30am to 5pm each day, with last entry at 4.15pm. Visiting stalls will be on site until 4pm. No booking is required. Normal property admission applies, with free admission for National Trust members and under fives.
Sam Lupton’s Del Boy and Tom Major’s Rodney on the Trotters’ market stall in Peckham in Only Fools And Horses The Musical. Picture: Johan Persson
IF you have acquired a ticket, you’re cushty. If not, ouch, bad luck, like a visit from the Driscolls, except you might be the one hitting yourself for missing out.
Only Fools And Horses The Musical’s first visit north to York after four years in the West End has all but sold out. Lovely jubbly news for the Grand Opera House at the start of a run of four musicals in four weeks: next up Jason Donovan in The Rocky Horror Show, followed by Hairspray and 101 Dalmatians, starring Hear’Say singer and Coronation Street soap star Kym March as Cruella De Vil.
North-South divide? What North-South divide, on the evidence of the York audience’s affection for the Trotters, from Peckham, south-east London. Or Britain’s best-loved TV comedy, as Only Fools And Horses is commonly known.
Based on John Sullivan’s long-running, oft-repeated BBC One series, this musical spin-off is co-written by John’s son Jim and comedy treasure Paul Whitehouse (who will play Grandad when the tour visits Leeds Grand Theatre from February 24 to March 1 and Sheffield City Hall and Memorial Hall from May 26 to 31 next year).
All your favourite characters, and I do mean all, from 64 episodes in 22 years will make an appearance, just like when Whitehouse appeared in An Evening With The Fast Show at the Grand Opera House in March, incidentally.
However, Only Fools And Horses The Musical is not merely a greatest hits nostalgia trip, even if such roles as Uncle Albert (uncredited) and the Scouser, Denzil (Bradley John), are reduced to butterfly-brief cameos over the two hours.
What’s the story? “Join Del Boy, Rodney, Grandad, Cassandra, Raquel, Boycie, Marlene, Trigger and more as we take a trip back in time to 1989, where it’s all kicking off in Peckham,” reads the tour publicity invitation (although the year mentioned on stage was 1988).
“While the yuppie invasion of London is in full swing, love is in the air as Del Boy sets out on the rocky road to find his soul mate, Rodney and Cassandra prepare to say ‘I do’, and even Trigger is gearing up for a date (with a person!).
“Meanwhile, Boycie and Marlene give parenthood one final shot and Grandad takes stock of his life and decides the time has finally arrived to get his piles sorted.”
It all flows with the greatest of ease on a tide of slick direction and knees-up-Mother-Brown choreography by Caroline Jay Ranger on Alice Power’s comfy, familiar set of pub and Trotter household, complemented by Leo Flint’s animations and video designs of the Nags Head frontage and Rodney and Cassandra’s honeymoon.
Liz Ascroft’s costume designs evoke all the stylings, from Del Boy’s love of yellow and red, braces and car coats, to smug Boycie’s snug camel coat.
What about the music in the musical? Imagine rockney duo Chas & Dave, Ian Dury, Madness and the cast of Oliver! hosting a party, with Rachel Murphy’s band in as-lively-as-New-Year’s Eve form.
John Sullivan’s Only Fools And Horses/Hooky Street theme tune makes more than one appearance; Chas & Dave contribute the typically chirpy pub singalong numbers That’s What I Like, Margate and This Time Next Year; Whitehouse and Jim Sullivan have penned Cockney tunes aplenty, sometimes together, sometimes on their own, but all working a treat, thanks in part to the singing being in character.
Whitehouse and Chas Hodges’s Where Have All Cockneys Gone? is particularly affecting, while Bill Withers’ Lovely Day is seen in a new light and Gloria Acquaah-Harrison’s Mrs Obooko brings such poignancy to Simply Red’s Holding Back The Years, it may well have you not holding back the tears.
Such pathos is as key to a sitcom as the lighter laughs, especially in the company of such fallible characters in this “feel-good family celebration of traditional working-class London life and the aspirations we all share”. Trying to make a living, in whatever way – and maybe that is where there is no North-South divide in Only Fools And Horses’ appeal.
Ranger’s cast capture their characters like tickling a fish: uncannily like the TV originals but not just doppelganger tribute acts. Sam Lupton’s wheeler-dealer Del Boy brings down the house, not least in his closing pratfall; Craig Berry’s Boycie has the laugh, the upwardly mobile manner, and Tom Major’s Rodney bonds delightfully with Nicola Munns’s Cassandra;
Lee VG’s Trigger, with the inevitable treasured broom and deadpan delivery, is a scene stealer; Georgina Hagen’s Raquel is all heart, while Philip Childs’s Grandad harks back to the old days, the good old days, just like this show in fact.
Only Fools And Horses The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, until October 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. Age guidance: Six upwards.
DEL Boy in a musical, a Dungeon murderess, a Greek teen tragedy and a top-Rankin Scottish detective are well worth investigating, advises Charles Hutchinson.
New attraction of the week: The Black Widow, York Dungeon, Clifford Street, York, from today, from 10am
THIS Hallowe’en season’s new show at York Dungeon opens today. Be prepared to encounter the grim tale of Britain’s first female serial killer: Mary Ann Cotton.
A north easterner with a propensity for lacing tea with a drop of arsenic, the Black Widow was convicted of only one murder but is believed to have killed many others, including 11 of her 13 children, and three of her four husbands. Box office: thedungeons.com/york/tickets-passes/. Pre-booking is essential.
Jude Kelly: Striving for a gender-equal world in The WOW Show
The WOW factor: The WOW Show with Jude Kelly, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow, 7.30pm
WOMEN of the World founder, chief executive officer and theatre director Jude Kelly CBE was director of West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, from 1990 to 2002 and London’s Southbank Centre from 2006 to 2018 and set up the WOW Foundation charity in 2010 to achieve a gender-equal world.
In an evening of optimism, determination and laughter, she explores “our often exasperating and confusing journey towards gender equity, covering everything from money, sex, race, food, and ageing”. Expect personal anecdotes, guests and big ideas. “The message is: If you are a woman or you know a woman, please show up!” says Jude. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Sam Lupton: Playing Del Boy in Only Fools And Horses The Musical at the Grand Opera House, York
“Plonker” musical of the week: Only Fools And Horses The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, October 14 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
BASED on John Sullivan’s long-running BBC One series, his son Jim Sullivan and comedy treasure Paul Whitehouse’s West End hit, Only Fools And Horses The Musical, combines 20 songs with an ingenious script.
“Join us as we take a trip back in time to 1989, where it’s all kicking off in Peckham,” reads the 2024-25 tour invitation. “While the yuppie invasion of London is in full swing, love is in the air as Del Boy sets out on the rocky road to find his soul mate, Rodney and Cassandra prepare to say ‘I do’, and even Trigger is gearing up for a date (with a person!). Meanwhile, Boycie and Marlene give parenthood one final shot and Grandad takes stock of his life and decides the time has finally arrived to get his piles sorted.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Gray O’Brien in the role of Inspector John Rebus in Rebus: A Game Called Malice at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Nobby Clark
Thriller of the week: Rebus: A Game Called Malice, York Theatre Royal, October 15 to 19, 7.30pm; 2pm, Wednesday, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday
SCOTTISH crime writer Ian Rankin’s much-loved detective, John Rebus, takes to the stage in a new storyco-written with Simon Reade. Gray O’Brien, from Coronation Street, Casualty and Peak Practice, plays Rebus in a cast also featuring Abigail Thaw and Billy Hartman.
When a splendid Edinburgh mansion dinner party concludes with a murder mystery game, suddenly a murder needs to be solved. However, guests have secrets of their own. Among them is Inspector John Rebus, but is he Is playing an alternative game, one to which only he knows the rules? Rankin will attend the October 18 post-show discussion with the cast. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Chris Mooney and Helen Spencer: Playing lovers with opposite takes on their relationship in The Last Five Years at the NCEM, York. Picture: Simon Trow
Debut of the week: Wharfemede Productions & Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Last Five Years, National Centre for Early Music, St Margaret’s Church, Walmgate, York, October 17 to 19, 7.45pm
HELEN Spencer and Nick Sephton launch their new York company, Wharfemede Productions, in tandem with Black Sheep Theatre Productions, by staging The Last Five Years, Jason Robert Brown’s musical story of two New Yorkers, rising novelist Jamie Wellerstein and struggling actress Cathy Hiatt, who fall in and out of love over the course of five years.
Combining only two cast members, York Theatre scene luminaries Chris Mooney and Spencer, with a small band, expect an intimate and emotive evening of frank storytelling and gorgeous music. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/wharfemede-productions-ltd.
Alexander Flanagan-Wright in Helios, a modern take on an Ancient Greek myth, performed under the Great Hall dome at Castle Howard
Theatrical event of the week: Wright & Grainger in Helios, The Great Hall, Castle Howard, near York, October 17, 5pm and 7.30pm
A LAD lives halfway up an historic hill. A teenager is on a road trip to the city in a stolen car. A boy is driving a chariot, pulling the sun across the sky. In a play about the son of the god of the sun, Helios transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound round the winding roads of rural England and into the everyday living of a towering city.
“It’s a story about life, the invisible monuments we build to it, and the little things that leave big marks,” says writer-performer Alexander Flanagan-Wright, who presents his delicate tale with a tape-player beneath the Great Hall dome’s mural, painted by 18th century Venetian painter Antonio Pelligrini, whose depiction of the Fall of Phaeton was the thematic inspiration behind Helios. Box office: castlehoward.co.uk.
Squeeze: 50th anniversary celebrations at York Barbican
Recommended but sold out already: Squeeze, York Barbican, October 18, doors 7pm
DEPTFORD’S answer to The Beatles mark their 50th anniversary as Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook manage to Squeeze in hit after hit, like pulling musses from a shell. Don’t miss the support act, one Badly Drawn Boy.
Strictly between us: Husband-and-wife dancers Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara look forward to A Night To Remember at York Barbican next June
Show announcement of the week: Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara: A Night To Remember, York Barbican, June 1 2025
STRICTLY Come Dancing favourites Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara – married since 2017 – will be touring next year with A Night To Remember, featuring an ensemble of “some of the UK’s very best dancers and singers”.
Aljaž, partnering Tasha Ghouri in the 2024 series, and It takes Two presenter Janette will “perform stunning routines to an eclectic array of music”, spanning the Great American songbook through to modern-day classics, backed by their own big band, fronted by boogie- woogie star Tom Seal. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/aljaz-and-janette-a-night-to-remember.
In Focus: Black Treacle Theatre in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Oct 15 to 19
Superintendent Curry (Chris Pomfrett) and DI Daisy (Adam Sowter) are pushed to the edge by The Maniac (Andrew Isherwood), when they are surprised in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. Picture: John Saunders
BENT police and politics come under fire in York company Black Treacle Theatre’s provocative production of Dario Fo’s uproarious farce Accidental Death Of An Anarchist next week.
In a new adaptation by Tom Basden, creator of Plebs and Here We Go, the setting is updated to the rotten state of present-day Britain.
The satirical play is set in a police station where a suspect has “accidentally” fallen to his death, but did he jump or was he pushed? As the police attempt to avoid yet another scandal, a mysterious imposter (the Maniac) is arrested and brought in for questioning.
Seizing the chance to put on a show, he leads the officers in an ever-more ridiculous reconstruction of their official account, exposing their cover-ups, corruption and (in)competence.
The original 1970 Italian farce by Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo and Franca Rame was based on the real-life case of an anarchist suspected of a bombing, who plunged to his death from a Milan police station in suspicious circumstances and was later exonerated. Now comes the British re-boot.
The Maniac (Andrew Isherwood) peruses the Anarchist’s case file as Inspector Burton (Paul Osborne) interrupts him
Director Jim Paterson says: “I’m really excited to bring this new adaptation of one of my favourite plays to York. Dario Fo was a master of using comedy to talk about the social and political issues of the day – particularly state corruption and hypocrisy.
“What Tom Basden’s version does brilliantly is bring the plot bang up to date in both setting and references, taking in police scandals and political issues of recent years – as well as packing it full of hilariousjokes! It’s fast, furious and funny, and I can’t wait for opening night.”
Lead actor Andrew Isherwood says: “Playing the Maniac, I get the opportunity to play multiple roles, with a variety of voices, which is always fun for me as I really enjoy getting the chance to play around, have some fun and indulge a little bit, which I don’t normally get to express in the same show.
“I think audiences will get a real kick out of the bizarre nature of this show, with all its twists and turns and bitingly satirical elements woven in, all performed by a brilliantly talented cast!”
PC Joseph (Guy Wilson) attempts to keep a record of the increasingly complex story being spun in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist. Picture: John Saunders
Black Treacle Theatre in Accidental Death Of An Anarchist,Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 15 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee.Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. Running time: Two hours 15 minutes, including interval.
In the cast will be: The Maniac – Andrew Isherwood; Inspector Burton – Paul Osborne; DI Daisy – Adam Sowter; PC Joseph – Guy Wilson; Superintendent – Chris Pomfrett; Fi Phelan/PC Jackson – Jess Murray.
Production team: Director, Jim Paterson; lighting designer, Adam Kirkwood; set designer, Richard Hampton; costume/props, Maggie Smales.
Did you know?
Black Treacle Theatre’s past productions were: Constellations (March 2022), Iphigenia In Splott (March 2023) and White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (November 2023), all at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.
Last Chance To See: Jack Ashton starring in Little Women at York Theatre Royal, today at 2.30pm and 7.30pm
Jack Ashton as Professor Bhaer in Little Women at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlotte Graham
STARRING in a much-loved television series can be a boon or a bother for an actor who becomes identified with a particular character. Directors may be reluctant to offer different sorts of role.
Happily, Jack Ashton, best known as the Reverend Tom Hereward in BBC One’s Sunday night staple Call The Midwife, has escaped being typecast. So much so that in York Theatre Royal’s production of Louisa May Alcott’s coming-of-age classic Little Women, he is playing not one but two very contrasting characters.
The link is that both are suitors of the titular Little Women – John Brooke and Professor Bhaer, the love interests for Meg and Jo March. Not that Jack downplays the problems of leaving Call The Midwife after five years as the vicar of Poplar in the series set in an East End Anglican convent in the late 1950s and 1960s.
“It was difficult, more difficult than I thought,” he admits. “It was hard for a few years for my agent to get me seen for something. If you’re known as a particular character, it can be hard to do something that’s opposite to that and challenge yourself, which is what you want to be as an actor.”
In the past Jack has said that Call The Midwife changed his life, a reference to becoming a father – of Wren, six, and Lark, two – through his relationship with co-star Helen George. “It was a lovely time in my life,” he says. So much so that the last time he acted in York, in Strangers On the Train at the Grand Opera House in March 2018, newly-born Wren came on tour with them.
Jack Ashton’s John Brooke and Ainy Medina’s Meg March in Little Women, adapted by Anne-Marie Casey, at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlotte Graham
Juliet Forster’s production of Little Women at York Theatre Royal, where he has performed since his early days as an actor, certainly offers the chance to do something different: two different characters in one show.
One of them, Professor Bhaer, requires a German accent, necessitating Jack to work with a voice coach.
He has not read Little Women, although he has seen Great Gerwig’s 2019 film version, and coincidentally has just finished working with Saoirse Ronan, who played burgeoning writer Jo March in the American movie.
While he has not worked previously with any of the Little Women cast members, he has done so with director Juliet Forster, York Theatre Royal’s creative director.
She directed him in productions that have punctuate his life, going from a young man fresh out of drama school in 2006 to present-day leading man, appearing in Twelfth Night and the Studio double bill of Escaping Alice and End Of Desire, as well as The Guinea Pig Club and The Homecoming under former artistic director Damain Cruden’s direction.
Jack Ashton rehearsing the role of Professor Bhaer in Little Women. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
York remains one of his favourite places. “It’s such a great city. I love coming back, it’s a no-brainer when that kind of offer, like Little Women, comes along,” says Jack.
“I have really good friends in York and I’ve befriended Rita and Paul, the original people on the digs list. I got so lucky because I stayed with them the first time and have continued to stay with them every time since.”
He is realistic about the pitfalls of being an actor. “Sometimes people think an actor’s life is quite glamorous. We just audition and audition, and sometimes people say ‘yes, we want you’. Most of the time they say, ‘no thank you very much’.”
He has several projects waiting to be seen, including Jonatan Etzler’s satirical comedy Bad Apples – the one with Saoirse Ronan – and a small role in Lockerbie, a Sky drama series about one man’s battle to learn the truth about the Pan Am Flight 103 bomb explosion over the Scottish town on December 21 1988. He continues to play Harry Chilcott in BBC Radio 4’s long-running series The Archers too.
Returning to the topic of Little Women, does he have any sisters? “Two older sisters,” he replies. “I can definitely relate to not being able to get a word in edgeways.”
Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
“We just audition and audition, and sometimes people say ‘yes, we want you’. Most of the time they say, ‘no thank you very much’,” says actor Jack Ashton
The tour poster for Only Fools And Horses The Musical
STICK a pony in your pocket! The Trotters are back, heading to York in Del Boy and Rodney’s yellow Reliant Regal Supervan III three-wheeler to perform Only Fools And Horses The Musical next week.
Running at the Grand Opera House from October 14 to 19, Jim Sullivan and comedy turn Paul Whitehouse’s hit show is on a 2024-2025 national tour after a record-breaking four-year sold-out run in London’s West End.
Based on John Sullivan’s BBC One comedy, this home-grown musical spectacular features cherished material and characters from the long-running series.
Sam Lupton: Playing Del Boy in Only Fools And Horses The Musical
Del Boy, Rodney, Grandad, Cassandra, Raquel, Boycie, Marlene, Trigger, Denzil and Mickey Pearce all feature in a musical with a score of 20 humorous songs and an “ingenious” script by John’s son, Jim Sullivan, and The Fast Show’s Paul Whitehouse
“Join us as we take a trip back in time, where it’s all kicking off in Peckham,” reads the tour publicity invitation. “While the yuppie invasion of London is in full swing, love is in the air as Del Boy sets out on the rocky road to find his soul mate, Rodney and Cassandra prepare to say ‘I do’, and even Trigger is gearing up for a date (with a person!).
“Meanwhile, Boycie and Marlene give parenthood one final shot and Grandad takes stock of his life and decides the time has finally arrived to get his piles sorted.”
Tom Major: Taking the role of Rodney in Only Fools And Horses The Musical
The show features musical contributions from rockney duo Chas & Dave, the beloved theme tune “as you have never heard it before”, and an array of new songs full of character and Cockney charm.
The touring cast includes Sam Lupton as Del Boy; Tom Major, Rodney, Philip Childs, Grandad; Georgina Hagen, Raquel; Nicola Munns, Marlene/Cassandra; Craig Berry, Boycie; Bradley John, Denzil; Lee Vg, Trigger; Peter Watts, Danny Driscoll/Mickey Pearce; Darryl Paul, Mike/Tony Driscoll; Richard J Hunt, dating agent, and Gloria Acquaah-Harrison, Mrs Obooko. Andrew Bryant is the resident director and dance captain.
Georgina Hagen: Cast as Raquel in Only Fools And Horses The Musical
“You’re guaranteed to have a right ol’ knees-up,” the tour blurb promises. “Only Fools And Horses The Musical is a feel-good family celebration of traditional working-class London life in 1989 and the aspirations we all share.
“So don’t delay, get on the blower, and get a ticket for a truly cushty night out. Only a 42 carat plonker would miss it!”
Only Fools And Horses The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, October 14 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. Age guidance: Six upwards.
Nicola Munns at the double: Playing both Marlene and Cassandra in Only Fools And Horses The Musical
