Edward Leigh’s Gunther in Friends! The Musical Parody, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, next week. Picture: Pamela Raith
FRIENDS! The Musical Parody is the one with new songs and iconic moments – pivot points – from 236 television episodes squeezed into two hours on stage.
After New York and Las Vegas hit runs for satirical duo Bob and Tobly McSmith’s show, now the Hairspray musical producers and The Full Monty stage director are taking the escapades of “the world’s most famous group of twenty-somethings” on the UK road. Next coffee stop, Grand Opera House, York, from September 30 to October 4.
Join not only Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe as they navigate love, friendship and life’s ups and downs in 1990s’ New York City, but also such supporting staples as Central Perk coffee shop worker Gunther, played by Knaresborough actor Edward Leigh, in this nostalgic musical comedy replete with an original musical score and favourite lines aplenty.
“Everyone seems to know Friends but didn’t know there was a musical – and not did I,” admits Edward, as he settles into a multi-role-playing role that calls on him to be the warm-up master of ceremonies for the show-opening re-creation of the live taping of a Friends TV episode and to launch Act Two with a Friends quiz.
“We started rehearsals in London, then did a six-week run at the Barn Theatre in Cirencester over the summer, before coming back for a couple of weeks’ rehearsals for the tour. We opened at Nottingham Theatre Royal last Wednesday and got a very strong response. Really lovely. The cast got a little teary!”
What does putting Friends on stage bring to stories of a love triangle, trying to make it as an actor or never quite quitting the day job? “Because it’s live, it’s on stage and it’s theatrical, it’s heightened, though the TV show has many moments above reality,” says Edward.
Edward Leigh’s Gunther craves to “Part Of Their Gang” in his song in Friends! The Musical Parody. Picture: Pamela Raith
“But because our show is a parody and we’re playing in a live setting, it allows us to be as big in our performances as we want to be.
“Part of the challenge is taking iconic moments from the ten TV seasons and then converting them into a coherent two-hour musical, with some of those moments being turned into original songs, such as for Ross’s ‘pivot’ and Gunther’s aria of unrequited love for Rachel.”
Before landing the role of Gunther, Edward had “watched Friends but never avidly”. “Then I did watch it for professional reasons and I found I knew a lot more of it than I realised,” he says.
Friends! The Musical Parodyis set in Joey’s apartment, Monica’s apartment and Central Perk. “We also have the opening credits on a sofa by the fountain,” says Edward.”We’re cramming in as much as we can on stage in a musical.
“The songs are all original with a slight homage to the Friends theme tune too, so the core of the show is the songs that we learnt from day one in the rehearsal room.”
The inclusion of ‘Parody’ in the show title is significant. “It’s a fair assumption that it’s a comedy show! But that’s not the whole show,” says Edward. “There are definitely satirical songs but genuinely heartfelt moments too, but we do lean into the parody element, particularly for my song Part Of Their Gang, lamenting how Gunther is never part of the group.
Alicia Belgarde (Monica), left, Daniel Parkinson (Chandler), Enzo Benvenuti (Ross), Eva Hope (Rachel), Amelia Atherton (Phoebe) and Ronnie Burden (Joey) in Friends! The Musical Parody, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith
“Maybe other than in the first episode, it was a running gag that Gunther was pretty much in every episode, becoming a fan favourite and consistently part of the show. In our show, I play Gunther and a variety of iconic characters, with Gunther always being on the periphery, but still very much in love with Rachel. For that song there’ll be familiar faces that appear without being expected.”
Why is Friends is still so popular 31 years since its first American broadcast? “I can make an informed guess, but if I knew the answer, I would make my own TV series!” says Edward. “But it offers comfort: you watch it with friends, just as you first did at seven o’clock each episode.
“We’ve noticed the love of fans of the TV show, who bring their family, maybe those who discovered Friends through streaming, and they love how our show has a warmth, a silly warmth, to it. It’s fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously and nor do we. That’s what people are enjoying about it.”
The central focus may be on Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey and Phoebe, but the likes of Gunther have a chance to shine too. “That’s part of why Friends is such a brilliant TV series. Everyone has a moment in our show to show good they are, so it’s an ensemble piece despite the titular leads.”
Friends! The Musical Parody, Grand Opera House, York, September 30 to October 4, Tuesday to Thursday, 7.30pm; Friday, 5.30pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. Warning: May cause spontaneous PIVOT-ing!
Knaresborough actor Edward Leigh, who has appeared previously at the Grand Opera House in A Boiling Frog, Shrek The Musical and We Will Rock You
Edward Leigh: the back story
EDWARD’S family moved to Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, when he was three. After attending King James’s School, when he performed at the Frazer Theatre, he moved away to study theatre at Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts from 2011 to 2014.
On graduating, he worked abroad for two years, performing on cruise ships and appearing in an Italian tour of The Blues Bothers that took in Sicily and Sardinia. “Unbeknown to me, The Blues Brothers is really big in Italy!” he says.
Having re-settled in Knaresborough, he married in 2019. “We met at school. It’s a real Knaresborough love story,” he says.
He has appeared in such shows as A Boiling Frog, at the Grand Opera House, York, in his “am-dram” days; Shrek The Musical with Mark Goucher Productions, playing Papa Bear and Shrek cover. “It was a fun role with a lot of prosthetics,” he recalls. “It would take an hour to put them on and 45 minutes to take them off after each show.”
He toured in We Will Rock You on either side of the Covid lockdowns, first as Ensemble and cover Brit, then Ensemble and Brit, playing the Grand Opera House in February 2022.
“It’ll be like coming home to appear there in Friends!,” he says. “I’m really looking forward to it.”
He will be on tour in Friends! The Musical Parody until May 2 2026.
Joanne Shaw Taylor: Promoting new album Black & Gold at York Barbican
FROM blues guitar to saxophone solos, culinary festivities to Friends on song, Charles Hutchinson finds the ones to entertain you.
Blues guitarist of the week: Joanne Shaw Taylor, York Barbican, Thursday, 7.30pm
DISCOVERED by Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart at 16, and now 39, West Midlands blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter Joanne Shaw Taylor showcases her tenth studio album, Black & Gold, on her return to York Barbican.
Known for her blazing guitar work and soulful voice, Shaw Taylor fuses blues, rock, soul and pop into her live set of new songs such as Hell Of A Good Time, fan favourites from past albums and nods to blues greats. Support comes from Ferris & Sylvester. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Skosh chef-proprietor Neil Bentinck: Cookery demonstration at St Crux Hall on September 27 at 1pm at York Food & Drink Festival
Festival of the week: York Food & Drink Festival, cooking until September 28
HIGHLIGHTS of this autumn’s York Food & Drink Festival include 70 street food and produce stands in Parliament Street; the Entertainment Marquee on Parliament Street, serving a bill of Live for St Leonard’s Hospice music acts; more live music in St Sampson’s Square, and demonstrations, events, tastings, and sampling at St Crux Hall.
Further events will be two taste trails; Bedern Hall Pork Pie Competition; the Food Factory in St Crux Hall and Museum Gardens; Chocolate Bar Challenge; Jorvik Viking Centre’s activities with an historic twist and the Meet The Makers drinks fair. For the full festival programme, head to: yorkfoodfestival.com.
Katie Spencer: Introducing new album What Love Is at Kirk Theatre, Pickering. Picture: Tom Arran
Folk gig of the week: Friday Folk Night presents Katie Spencer, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, September 26, 7.30pm
RAISED in the East Yorkshire flatlands on the fringes of Hull, Katie Spencer’s music is influenced by the landscapes that shaped her. Her songwriting and guitar playing reflect a sense of space and movement, drawing inspiration from Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Michael Chapman.
New album What Love Is will be released on October 3. Produced by Matt Ingram, known for his work with Laura Marling, its ten compositions explore themes of love, introspection and personal growth. Her live performances are peppered with humour and storytelling. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
Tom Little: Headlining Hilarity Bites Comedy Club bill at Milton Rooms, Malton. Picture: Alexis Dubus
Comedy gig of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club presents Tom Little, Seeta Wrightson and Kieran Lawless, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm
TOM Little, 2015 Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year winner and BBC Radio New Comedy Award finalist, plays the well-read fool, taking on diverse facts but refusing to deal with them conventionally.
Bradford-born Seeta Wrightson, 2025 Female Pilot Club winner, spins engaging stories with wit, drawing on her dual Asian and British heritage. From humble beginnings, she has wandered through life wondering exactly where she fits, having adventures aplenty figuring it out. Nothin’ Butt Funny Comedy award winner Kieran Lawless is an Irish comedian based in Manchester. Doors and bar open at 7pm.Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Snake Davis: Sax to the max at Helmsley Arts Centre
Saxophonist of the week: Snake Davis Band, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
STILL highly in demand as a session player, cheering up records by Olly Murs and Shania Twain lately, and playing to crowds of up to 70,000 with Japanese rock god Eikichi Yazawa, saxophonist Snake Davis gains most joy from performing warm, friendly venues such as Helmsley Arts Centre.
Leading his four-piece band, featuring guitar, bass guitar and drums, Davis plays “the floaty to the danceable”, from soul to jazz, Northern Soul to pop and world, original material to classic sax pieces such as Baker Street and Night Train. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Sir Alan Ayckbourn. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Actors, Audiences And Ayckbourn, It’s All Relative, The McCarthy, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Friday, 7pm
AN evening of Sir Alan Ayckbourn in two halves opens with Ayckbourn archivist Simon Murgatroyd exploring the creation of Relatively Speaking on its 60th anniversary. The second half is a chance to hear stories from a group of actors with years of experience of working with the former SJT artistic director and prolific playwright. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Dame Imogen Cooper: Piano concert at Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday. Picture: Sussie Ahlburg
Classical concert of the week: Dame Imogen Cooper, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
AFTER playing St Peter’s Church, Norton, at July’s Ryedale Festival, pianist Dame Imogen Cooper returns to Ryedale this weekend to play Bach’s Nun Freut Euch, Lieben Christen G’mein, arranged by Kempff; Bach’s chorale-prelude Nun Komm’ der Heiden Heiland, arranged by Busoni and Schubert’s Four Impromptus, D. 899 (Op. 90). Post-interval, her programme continues with Beethoven’s Seven Bagatelles (OP. 33) and Schubert’s Four Impromptus, D. 935 (Op. posth. 142). Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Apollo Theatre Company’s merry crew in Round The Horne
Nostalgia of the week: Apollo Theatre Company inRound The Horne, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, September 29, 7.45pm; September 30, 1.30pm and 7.45pm
FROM 1965 to 1968, no show on British radio was bigger than the ground-breaking Round The Horne. Classic comedy fans will be in their element as Apollo Theatre Company transports the audience back to the anarchic, boisterous atmosphere of the BBC’s Paris Theatre during the recordings, complete with a live band and sound effects.
Combining infamous movie spoofs with regular characters such as Julian & Sandy, Rambling Syd Rumpo and J. Peasemold Gruntfuttock, Round The Horne’s merry crew drew up to 15 million listeners per week and made stars of Kenneth Horne, Kenneth Williams, Hugh Paddick and Betty Marsden. Now take a step back in time to experience this vintage comedy live. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Alicia Belgarde (Monica), left, Daniel Parkinson (Chandler), Enzo Benvenuti (Ross), Eva Hope (Rachel), Amelia Atherton (Phoebe) and Ronnie Burden (Joey) in Friends! The Musical Parody, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith
The one where they sing: Friends! The Musical Parody, Grand Opera House, York, September 30 to October 4, Tuesday to Thursday, 7.30pm; Friday, 5.30pm and 8.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
NEW York and Las Vegas hit Friends The Musical Parody is a musical comedy packed with iconic moments from all ten seasons of the beloved television series, complemented by an original musical score. Join Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe, the world’s most famous group of twenty-somethings, as they navigate love, friendship and life’s ups and downs in 1990s’ New York City.
“Whether you’re in a love triangle, trying to make it as an actor, or just can’t quit your day job, you’ll be laughing, crying, and quoting your favourite lines all night long,” the show promises. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Sue Ryding, left, recalling her 40-year comedy partnership with the late Maggie Fox (inset) in LipService in Funny Stuff at Pocklington Arts Centre
Reflections on grief: LipService in Funny Stuff, Pocklington Arts Centre, October 2, 7.30pm
SUE Ryding is one half of legendary satirical duo LipService. In March 2022, her comedy partner, York actress and writer Maggie Fox, died and Sue was left with a shipping container full of 40 years of stage props, costumes, wigs, hats, shoes, sheep, you name it.
This show looks at all the “stuff” we accumulate, hoard and hate to let go in her humorous and creative response to grief, wherein Sue struggles to part with a life-sized stuffed sheep, a badger onesie, some ruby slippers, a sinking bog, Charlotte Bronte’s knickers and a host of soft toys. Touring anecdotes are combined with archive footage from LipService shows. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Tom Chambers: Putting the morose into Chief Inspector Morse in Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts. Picture:
THIS is Re-Morse, a new staging of Alma Cullen’s Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts, the first Morse stage play.
Taken on a small tour in 2010 and broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in a 90-minute version in March 2017, it returns for a nationwide tour on a grander scale, mounted by Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep, with a cast led by 2008 Strictly champ Tom Chambers as Morse and Tachia Newall – Macbeth in Amy Leach’s Macbeth at Leeds Playhouse in 2022 – as Lewis in the detective double act.
Cullen wrote more than a handful of episodes for the television series that ran from 1987 to 2000, based on Colin Dexter’s books. House Of Ghosts is an original story, set as ever in Oxford, in 1987, although Colin Richmond’s functional set design does not evoke the city of dreaming spires, typified by the Crown pub being represented by two men – Morse and Lewis – leaning on a bar in Alas Smith And Jones mode.
Cullen’s play mirrors both the two-hour span of each TV episode and the familiar structure of short scenes, while adding a theatrical element by rooting the play in a production of Hamlet. Or, rather, two productions, one warming up for a London run at the Oxford Playhouse in 1987; the other, a student production in 1962 with the same director in his gilded youth and Morse forever in the background in a bit-part.
Detective double act: Tachia Newall’s Lewis, left, and Tom Chambers’ Morse in Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts. Picture: Johan Persson
This is the House Of Ghosts, a reference both to figures re-emerging from Morse’s academic past and to the significance of ghosts [Hamlet’s father] in Shakespeare’s tragedy.
Cullen’s play opens with Spin Glancy’s Justin, already highly strung and later prone to putting powders up his nose, putting too much ham into a Hamlet monologue. Enter young actress of her generation Rebecca Downey’s Ophelia (Eliza Teale), who suddenly drops dead, blood spewing from her mouth. This is not Ophelia’s usual death by drowning, but death for real, alas poor Rebecca.
Chambers’ Morse, taking on the John Thaw mantle in the year Thaw first played him, happens to be in the audience, bringing the performance and production run to a halt, much to the ire of Lawrence Baxter (Robert Mountford), the vainglorious, uncompromising director in desperate need of a hit.
Into the web of intrigue Cullen spins not only the reckless, crushing Lawrence from Morse’s student past, but also the now dipso actress Verity (Charlotte Randle) and university historian Ellen (Teresa Banham), one of Morse’s unrequited loves from his salad days.
Re-appearing too is Paul Kincaid (Mountford, part two), once the doyen of Oxford student actors and Baxter’s rival in bed-post conquests, but now answering God’s calling as a Monsignor (who takes Rebecca’s funeral at the outset of the superior Act Two).
Stoking up old history: University historian Ellen (Teresa Banham) and Inspector Morse (Tom Chambers) in Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts. Picture: Johan Persson
Glancy’s Justin and James Gladdon’s “piece of north eastern rough”, Freddy, the uppity Laertes to his flaky Hamlet, are at odds with each other both on and off stage. Enter the fray Lawrence’s wife Harriet (Olivia Onyehara, from the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s The 39 Steps and Pilot Theatre/Northern Stage’s A Song For Ella Grey), pre-occupied with IVF treatment in London.
The plot thickens, revelations pile up, not least of Baxter’s practice of bedding his leading lady pre-show to bring out the best performance, but House Of Ghosts does not hold a candle to the TV series, and some of the acting under the normally reliable Anthony Banks’s direction is surprisingly histrionic. The sozzled meltdown of Randle’s Verity at the Crown, however, is a comic gem.
Act Two is much more sure-footed, not least in the partnership of Chambers, bringing the morose to loner Morse with a frown worthy of Thaw, and Newall’s matter-of-fact, diligent Sergeant Lewis, craving a night in alone with his wife.
Revisiting an old favourite is not always a good idea, and in truth Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts induced a feeling or remorse in your reviewer.
Melting Pot and Birmingham Rep present Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york
Tom Chambers’ Detective Chief Inspector Morse in Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts. Credit: Johan Persson
TOM Chambers returns to the York stage on Tuesday for the first time since appearing in Torben Betts’s ghost story chiller-cum-psychological thriller Murder In The Dark at the Theatre Royal.
In that September 2023 premiere tour he waded through the quagmire of playing washed-up pop star Danny Sierra, a deeply unlovable, self-pitying alcoholic.
Now he plays another chap who likes a drink, the “high-functioning alcoholic” Detective Chief Inspector Morse, an altogether more popular fellow – “the nation’s favourite detective”, as co-producer Simon Friend calls the erudite opera, crossword and real ale enthusiast from Colin Dexter’s novels and 13-year television series, developed by Anthony Minghella and Kenny McBain in 1987, starring John Thaw.
Chambers is appearing in Simon Friend Entertainment and Birmingham Repertory Theatre’s new touring co-production of the first stage play in the Morse franchise, written by Alma Cullen in 2010 after penning episodes as The Secret Of Bay 5B (1989), The Infernal Serpent (1990), Fat Chance (1991) and The Death of The Self (1992) for the ITV series.
Tom Chambers’ washed-up pop star Danny Sierra in Torben Betts’s psychological thriller Murder In The Dark, on tour at York Theatre Royal in September 2023. Picture: Pamela Raith
“I am absolutely thrilled to be bringing to the stage the nationally loved character of Inspector Morse,” says Tom. “Played by John Thaw in the TV series, it is an iconic role which audiences clearly loved alongside the Morse murder mysteries.
“This brand-new production is a tantalising tale, rich in story and character and even unpicks some of Morse’s closely guarded personal life. It’s going to be a fabulous evening of entertainment.”
In Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts, a chilling mystery unfolds when a young actress dies suddenly on stage mid-performance. Morse embarks on a gripping investigation, one that begins as a suspicious death inquiry but takes a darker turn when the legendary inspector, in tandem with Detective Sergeant Lewis, uncovers a connection to sinister events in his own past, 25 years earlier.
“We’re at Richmond Theatre this week after opening Birmingham three weeks ago,” says 2008 Strictly Come Dancing winner Tom, who is reuniting with director Anthony Banks after collaborating on the 2020/2021 tour of Dial M For Murder.
Tom Chambers’ Detective Chief Inspector Morse with Teresa Banham’s Ellen in Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts. Picture: Johan Persson
“It’s a brilliant piece of writing by Alma Cullen, who wrote for the TV series: beautifully written – very slick, very smooth – so it’s like watching Morse on TV with lots of short scenes, but now like Tetris on stage, where we’ve worked on the stage movement like in a ballet.
“The show has been working really well. I’m just amazed how much the audiences love Morse, and the relationship between Morse and Lewis [played by Waterloo Road alumnus Tachia Newall] is so well expressed too.”
Audiences have warmed to Tom’s portrayal of Morse. “Being the youngest of five, I’m a natural pleaser,” he says. “But I definitely feel that it’s also about what John Thaw brought to the role. Somebody pointed out I’m playing Morse at exactly the same John Thaw started playing him. [It turns out this is not correct, Chambers is 48, Thaw was 44]. John stayed looking that way for decades!
“John brought his natural brilliance to it, and I feel it’s written in a way that you can imagine his Morse saying it, so you don’t want to swim against the tide. It feels nourishing, comforting, like soul food, where you know Morse and what it will be like and it feels a pleasure to be there. It’s like a two-way relationship [with the audience]. We give a sense of John Thaw without being a copy.”
Partners in tackling crime: Tom Chambers’s Detective Chief Inspector Morse, right, with Tachia Newall’s Detective Sergeant Lewis in Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts. Credit: Johan Persson
House Of Ghosts has the structure of a story within a story, where Morse is transported back to 25 years earlier, surrounded by actors from a production of Hamlet in university days. “It’s satisfyingly intricate,” says Tom. “One of the delights is that information unravels in such a clever way that audiences feel complete when it’s finished, and the music fits in beautifully too.
“It’s one of the favourite pieces that I’ve done because I’ve really enjoyed trying to be the opposite of performing. Watching John Thaw, who was so ‘unpolicemanlike’, it’s made me realise that the craft of acting is to be as relaxed as possible but with intention – you can still feel your heart beat, and your jugular on your neck, especially on first nights. I just love the dialogue too, and Morse’s attitude; how he’s analogue, not digital. Just charming.”
Tom, by the way, has many fond memories of York. “My aunty, Shirley O’Brien, is from York. We’d always end up in the Minster,” he says.
Simon Friend Entertainment and Birmingham Repertory Theatre present Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts, Grand Opera House, York, September 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The poster for Anthony Banks’s touring production of Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts, playing Grand Opera House, York, from tomorrow
York oboe player Desmond Clarke: Performing on Navigators Art’s YO Underground #5 bill at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse
FOOD for thought for heading out and about as York Food & Drink Festival opens and Inspector Morse is on the case in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations.
Navigators Art presents YO Underground #5, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm
YORK arts collective Navigators Art’s regular fulcrum of left-field new music, words and performance returns this weekend with a focus on ethnic instruments, acoustic-electronic improvisation, words and guitar-based fusion, plus passionate new songwriting.
Expect bold, beautiful and adventurous sounds from flautist Carmen Troncoso, York oboe player Desmond Clarke and Osc~, No Spinoza and a new York ‘supergroup’, the NSC Sound Union, combining members of Soma Crew and Namke Communications. Admission is £6 at www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance) or £10 on the door.
Sam Blythe: Taking on a multitude of roles in George Orwell’s Animal Farm at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Solo show of the week: Sam Blythe in Animal Farm, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
CELEBRATING 70 years of its publication on August 17 1945 and 30 since the first performance of Guy Masterson’s solo adaptation of George’s Orwell’s satirical allegorical dystopian novella, Sam Blythe takes up Masterson’s mantle on stage.
Bringing all of Orwell’s multiple characters to vivid life, Blythe transforms into Snowball, Napoleon, Squealer, Boxer, Clover, Mollie, Benjamin, Muriel, the Sheep, Dogs, Cows, Hens and the Cat in a performance designed to shock, enchant, bewitch and bewilder, ringing out Orwell’s prescient warning that politicians through the ages, and of all creeds and colours, will often let power corrupt them. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Rebecca Vaughan’s Lady Susan in Dyad Productions’ Austen’s Women: Lady Susan. Picture: Seamus Flanagan
Magnificently crafted tale of manipulation and manners of the week:Dyad Productions in Austen’s Women: Lady Susan, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 2pm; Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm
DYAD Productions return with a new solo comedy show, Jane Austen’s 1794 tale of manipulation and manners. Directed by Andrew Margerison, company regular Rebecca Vaughan plays devil-may-care widow Lady Susan, oppressed, rebellious daughter Frederica, long-suffering sister-in-law Catherine, family matriarch Mrs De Courcy and insouciant best friend Alicia.
At the vanguard of Vaughan’s wickedly humorous adaptation is the charming, scheming and witty Lady Susan, taking on society and making it her own, but has this coquette met her match? Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Skosh chef-proprietor Neil Bentinck: Cookery demonstration at St Crux Hall on September 27 at 1pm at York Food & Drink Festival
Festival of the week: York Food & Drink Festival, cooking until September 28
HIGHLIGHTS of this autumn’s York Food & Drink Festival include 70 street food and produce stands in Parliament Street; the Entertainment Marquee on Parliament Street, serving a bill of Live for St Leonard’s Hospice music acts; more live music in St Sampson’s Square, and demonstrations, events, tastings, and sampling at St Crux Hall.
Further events will be two taste trails; the Food Factory in St Crux Hall and Museum Gardens; the Pork Pie competition in Bedern Hall; Curry & Comedy at the NCEM; Yahala Mataam’s refugee pop-up restaurant night and cookery school; Tang’s festival debut; Jorvik Viking Centre’s activities with an historic twist and the Meet The Makers drinks fair. For the full festival programme, head to: yorkfoodfestival.com.
One of Simon Baxter’s photographs from All The Wood’s A Stage, his joint exhibition with Joe Cornish at Nunnington Hall. Picture: Simon Baxter
Ryedale exhibition launch of the week: All The Wood’s A Stage, Nunnington Hall, near York, from today to March 29 2026
ALL The Wood’s A Stage will continue the 2022 showcase Woodland Sanctuary, exhibited originally at the Moors Centre in Danby. This latest chapter features predominantly new photographs that celebrate the beauty and vital significance of trees, woodlands and forests across the UK.
Photographers Joe Cornish and Simon Baxter depict trees as silent performers on nature’s stage, encouraging us to observe, listen and reflect. Trees provide joy, peace and inspiration, being lungs of the Earth, guardians of biodiversity and a crucial part of our mental and physical well-being. Through changing seasons, they symbolise life, death and renewal. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall.
The poster for The Return Of The Legends, featuring Strictly Come Dancing alumni Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite, at York Barbican
Dance show of the week: The Return Of The Legends, starring Brendan, James, Pasha, Vincent and Ian, York Barbican, today, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing alumni Brendan Cole, James Jordan, Pasha Kovalev, Vincent Simone and Ian Waite follow up 2024’s Legends Of The Dancefloor with new Latin, tango, rumba and ballroom routines and more Strictly stories in The Return Of The Legends. Joined by a supporting cast, they deliver a night of dancing, camaraderie, music and laughter. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Robert Took, Georgina Liley, Catherine Warnock and James McLean in Mikron Theatre’s Hush Hush!, on tour at Clements Hall, York
Touring play of the week: Mikron Theatre in Hush Hush!, Clements Hall, York, Sunday, 4pm
IN a daring theatrical mission, Marsden’s Mikron Theatre Company infiltrates the clandestine world of wartime code-breaking in Lucie Raine’s Hush Hush!, exposing the vital contributions of the unsung heroes of Bletchley Park’s Hut 3, whose ingenuity and unwavering resolve helped secure victory.
Peggy Valentine arrives at Bletchley in 1940, 18 years old, headstrong and gifted. Finding herself in a world of boffins, soldiers and debutantes, Peggy must shoulder the burden of high-pressure war work while navigating a new world of feuds, friendships and growing up in a frame of absolute secrecy. Mikron’s crack team of actor-musicians, Georgina Liley, Robert Took, Catherine Warnock and familiar face James McLean, blends original songs, live music and compelling storytelling. Box office for returns only: 01484843701 or email admin@mikron.org.uk.
Tom Chambers as Detective Chief Inspector Morse in the first Inspector Morse original stage play, House Of Ghosts, at Grand Opera House, York
Murder mystery of the week: Inspector Morse: House Of Ghosts, Grand Opera House, York, September 23 to 27, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
BIRMINGHAM Repertory Theatre and Simon Friend Entertainment are touring the Inspector Morse franchise’s debut original stage play, House Of Ghosts, penned by Alma Cullen, directed by Anthony Banks and starring Tom Chambers.
A chilling mystery unfolds when a young actress dies suddenly on stage during a performance, prompting Detective Chief Inspector Morse to embark on a gripping investigation. What begins as a suspicious death inquiry takes a darker turn when the legendary inspector, in tandem with Detective Sergeant Lewis, uncovers a connection to sinister events in his own past, 25 years earlier. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Kieran Hodgson: Voicing his thoughts on the USA
Comedy gig of the week: Kieran Hodgson: Voice Of America, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 26, 8pm
AMERICA. What happened, man? Ever since he was a little loser kid in a little loser country (yes, England), Holmfirth-born Kieran Hodgson has been putting on an American accent and dreaming a big American dream.
Nowadays, however, it’s not so simple. Didn’t America go completely bananas? Didn’t he get too old for dreaming? And when Hollywood comes calling, does Kieran actually sound American after all? Here he assesses how a scared world feels about the USA and impersonates a bunch of old prospectors and former Presidents. Box office for returns only: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The horror, the horror: Dead Northern returns to City Screen Picturehouse
Film event of the week: Dead Northern presents The Festival of Horror, City Screen Picturehouse, York, September 26 to 28
IN “the world’s most haunted city”, Dead Northern hosts three days of film and live events, taking in music, social activities, food, drink and merchandise. Friday Frights opens with a 10.30am showcase of student short films and videos, followed by UK premiere of Sun at noon with a Q&A.
The 2pm short film showcase focuses on Teeth, Claws, Tentacles and Clowns. At 4pm the Dead Talks talk reveals Dracula’s mysterious connection to York under the splendid title of Who Are You Calling A Count?! A mystery Dracula classic film re-surfaces at 5pm and the UK premiere of Hellhouse LLC: Lineage is booked in for 7.30pm. The night concludes with the Welcome Social & Quiz with the Independent Horror Society.
Saturday Screams kicks off with the Flesh & Bone short film showcase at 10.30am, followed by the world premiere of A Mother’s Recall at noon and the Twisted Tales short film showcase at 1.45pm.
The 3.30pm UK film premiere will be Home Education, concluding with a Q&A, and the 5.30pm classic feature will be the 40th anniversary release of A Nightmare On Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge.
7.30pm’s Signature Live Event will be Spirits By Spirits; the 8.45pm feature film will be The Beast Of Riverside Hollow, with a Q&A, and the night ends with the VIP Awards Party at 11pm.
Day three, Sunday Shock The 28th, launches with the 10.30am classic feature, 1981’s Evil Dead, followed by the UK premiere of Nightfall – A Paranormal Investigation at noon and the Spectres & Shadows short film showcase at 1.30pm.
The UK premiere of Tabula Rasa will be shown at 2.45pm; the 4.15pm screening of He Kills At Night will include a Q&A, and Inside The Mind will be the theme of the 6pm short film showcase. In Dead Talks Part II at 7.30pm, the Independent Horror Society welcomes special guests for When Horror Struck Again, a discussion on underrated sequels.
The festival concludes with a classic feature, 1987’s Evil Dead II. For more details on Dead Northern Part VI 2025 Horror Film Festival, visit deadnorthern.co.uk/dead-northern-2025-horror-film-festival.
In Focus: York Printmakers’ 10th Anniversary Handmade Print Fair, York Cemetery, today and tomorrow
Russell Hughes discussing monoprinting. Picture: Chris Kendall Photography
THIS weekend York Printmakers celebrates a decade of creativity, collaboration and craftsmanship with its 10th Annual Print Fair, designed for lovers of original art and handmade processes.
This year’s fair reflects the group’s continuing mission: to keep traditional printmaking alive, accessible and valued.
Over the past decade, York Printmakers has grown into a vibrant collective of more than 40 artists, all committed to the authenticity of printmaking. The fair showcases a wide range of techniques — from linocut to collagraph, screen print to woodcut — all created by hand.
“People are often surprised to learn the difference between a reproduction and a handmade print,” says founding member Sally Clarke. “At our fair, you get to see the blocks, the plates, the tools — and meet the people who made them.
“In a world where everything is easily copied, our fair champions the original: prints made by hand, with care and intention.”
Bridget Hunt describing how to make a collograph plate. Picture: Chris Kendall Photography
This year’s milestone event reflects on ten years of artistic evolution, celebrating the unique voices of long-standing members while championing the newer members to the collective: artists whose fresh perspectives and experimental approaches are helping to shape the future of the craft.
“It’s always a pleasure to welcome new members, especially those just discovering printmaking or beginning their creative journey,” says long-standing member Russell Hughes. “They bring energy and new ideas that inspire even the most experienced among us. And in return, we’re able to share knowledge and techniques that have stood the test of time. That exchange is what keeps the group dynamic and evolving.”
Visitors can explore a rich variety of work, meet the makers and buy original prints directly from the artists.
York Printmakers’ 10th Anniversary Handmade Print Fair, Chapel and Harriet Room, York Cemetery, Cemetery Road, York, September 20 and 21, 10am to 5pm. Free entry.
York Printmakers’ poster for this weekend’s print fair at York Cemetery
In Focus too: Pete McKee, Viva La Nan!, RedHouse Gallery, Harrogate, and McKee Gallery, Sheffield
Pete McKee’s poster for September 27’s Viva La Nan! launch at RedHouse Gallery, Harrogate
PETE McKee’s double exhibition celebrating the beloved nans of his childhood will open across two Yorkshire galleries this autumn.
Viva La Nan! will go on view at RedHouse Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, from September 27 to October 4 and the McKee Gallery, Leah’s Yard, Cambridge Street, Sheffield, for two days only, October 11 and 12, presenting more than 120 drawings on paper created “in tribute to Nans, Grandmothers, Grandmas,Grannies, Grans, Nanas”.
Each gallery will be home to a completely different exhibition with “fans of art and fans of Nans” invited to enjoy both shows. The heart-warming collection includes original drawings on paper, showcasing the development of McKee’s process from sketchbook to final painting, and the exhibition offers a rare opportunity to own a unique McKee artwork, with prices ranging from just £75 to £2,450.
A Lovely Cup O’ Tea, by Pete McKee
“I wanted to create an exhibition celebrating the power of Nans and the love we have for them,” says Pete, who grew up on a Sheffield housing estate. “It shows the beauty and dignity of women who have lived through hardship and pain; women who have worked and toiled and managed to raise us on next to nothing. I consider my nans as iconic figures to be put on a pedestal and worshipped for the mighty women that they are”
The double exhibition coincides with McKee’s first major museum show, The Boy Name With A Leg Named Brian, on show until November 2 at Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, where it has drawn 80,000 viewers already.
McKee’s work captures life’s simple pleasures with an innocence often lost in today’s fragmented and high-octane society. His images make you stop and think, laugh out loud or break your heart.
Viva La Nan! artworks by Pete McKee
To celebrate the Harrogate opening, Pete will launch the show in person on September 27 at 10am, when the first 50 visitors will receive a signed limited edition copy of the exhibition exclusive Daily Nan newspaper.
On October 12, the curious and adventurous are invited to join Pete and RedHouse on an unforgettable “Yorkshire road trip” with McKee Travel: the Harrogate to Sheffield Bus Tour to see both Sheffield shows on one day.
“We’ll be making a grand day of it,” says RedHouse Gallery’s David McTague. “Not only will you see the second phase of the exhibition at the McKee Gallery, but we’ll also provide onboard entertainment and stop for a spot of afternoon tea. Before heading home, we’ll also drop by the Weston Park Museum and meet the artist at his concurrent show, The Boy With The Leg Named Brian.”
McKee Travel’s Yorkshire road trip from Harrogate to Sheffield on October 12
Here is the itinerary: 9.10am, coach departs Harrogate from RedHouse Gallery; 11am, arrive in Sheffield and visit Viva La Nan! at Leah’s Yard; 12.30pm, afternoon tea at the Chocolate Bar; 2pm, visit to McKee’s exhibition at Weston Park Museum; 4pm, coach to depart from Sheffield and arrive in Harrogate circa 5.40pm.
Ticket includes seat reservation on McKee Travel coach; on-board entertainment, including bingo; exclusive exhibition paraphernalia; priority entry to Viva La Nan! at Leah’s Yard; reservation at Chocolate Afternoon Tea Experience; entry to Pete McKee: The Boy With The Leg Named Brian; Meet & Greet with the artist at Weston Park Museum. For tickets, go to https://www.redhouseoriginals.com/shop/artwork/gift-voucher/mckee-travel-hgate-bus-ticket.
At RedHouse, in addition to Viva La Nan!, a selection of original archive paintings by Pete McKee will be on view in the first floor gallery rooms. Highlights include Room 414, McKee’s homage to legendary guitarist Robert Johnson: The King Of Delta Blues, and Music For Pleasure, an artwork created for Rhoda Dakar’s album Version Girl. On show too will be Gone To The Dogs, an exceptionally rare “early years” painting from 2003.
Acid House, from the Viva La Nan! series, by Pete McKee
In a further celebration of the Harrogate opening of Viva La Nan!, a selection of original McKee drawings will be available at exclusive Collector Prices, starting at £195, with all artworks signed by McKee and sold framed to the artist’s specifications, with selected works presented in vintage frames.
“I wanted to make my artwork accessible,” says Pete. “I want people to be able to have that pleasure of owning a piece of original artwork and looking at it every day, knowing that you own a bit of the artist’s soul.”
Pete McKee, Viva La Nan!, RedHouse Gallery, Cheltenham Mount, Harrogate, September 27 to October 4, open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm; The McKee Gallery, Cambridge Street, Leah’s Yard, Sheffield, October 11. 10am to 5.30pm, and October 12, 11am to 4pm.
Sheffield artist Pete McKee
Pete McKee: back story
BORN in Sheffield in 1967, Pete McKee creates iconic and enduring images that reflect his experiences of growing up on a council estate, surrounded by working-class culture and humour.
This down-to-earth and nostalgic thread runs through all of his work and has gained him a worldwide following.
Comics were a large part of Pete’s childhood and he would read “any that he could get his hands on”, when Whizzer and Chips, The Dandy, The Beano and Hergé’s beloved Tintin were particular favourites.
Pete McKee at work on Viva La Nan!
Pete has collaborated with Noel Gallagher, Liam Gallagher, Oasis, Sir Paul Smith, Arctic Monkeys, Richard Hawley, Disney, Warp Films, Clarks Shoes, The Human League, Rega and BBC 6 Music. Noel Gallagher once phoned him to say that McKee’s painting of a child practising guitar on a bed summed up his youth. McKee fans include actress Maxine Peake and filmmaker Ken Loach.
Longstanding supporter of Teenage Cancer Trust Charity, designing concert posters for charity’s Royal Albert Hall shows.
Opened McKee Gallery in Sheffield in 2010, putting on first major exhibition in 2013, The Joy Of Sheff, and since then showcasing numerous shows such as Six Weeks To Eternity, 2016, This Class Works, 2018, and Frank and Joy: A Love Story, 2023.
Pete McKee in his studio
Now holding his longest-running exhibition yet, A Boy With A Leg Named Brian, at Weston Park Museum in Sheffield, from November 29 2024 until November 2 2025.
Patron of Sheffield Children’s Hospital Charity, Art+; one of his most notable annual projects being the charity’s Christmas card design.
Received honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 2018, when presented as a Doctor of Arts at that year’s graduation.
A work in progress for the Viva La Nan! series
In 2024, after more than a decade at Sharrow Vale Road, the McKee Gallery relocated to Leah’s Yard, Cambridge Street, in Sheffield city centre.
Pete’s modus operandi: “I’ve got my own path to plough and I do that regardless of what fashions are, or what the art world deems to be appropriate. I’ve got my own niche. It’s my world and I have people that follow me, like my work, and understand it. I just want people to enjoy what they see.”
Over the rainbow: Erin Childs’ Dorothy Gale performing the opening number in York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz
APOLOGIES for taking so long to be off to see the Wizard – Prague holiday prevailed – but there is still time to follow the Yellow Brick Road to the Grand Opera House.
That road starts outside the auditorium, a lovely welcoming touch by York Stage, whose abundantly colourful production is directed and produced by Nik Briggs, with fabulous ensemble choreography by Damien Poole and thrilling, resourceful musical direction by Jessica Viner, whose birthday happened to fall on the performance attended by your reviewer.
Such is the attention to detail that the Tannoy interval music includes Carry On Wayward Son by…Kansas, and it is to Kansas that we must head for L Frank Baum’s one heck of a weird story, so memorably converted from his 1900 novel to a film wonderland for Judy Garland as over-the-rainbow farm girl Dorothy Gale in 1939.
Vintage performance: Stu Hutchinson’s Tin Man
A-level student Erin Childs takes that iconic ruby slipper-clicking role in York Stage’s show, in tow with Toto, played by Briggs’s dog Freddie, leaving his mark on the production in more way than one with an urgent deposit, and, once on that yellow brick road by Elanor Kitchen’s puppet, handled so dextrously by puppeteer Sarah Jackson. No such mishap for the puppet.
Childs’ Dorothy hits the heights from the off with her rendition of Over The Rainbow, familiar yet with a finale that brings more resonance to the words. Kansas accent spot on, fringe flopping over her eyes, she leads Briggs’s high-spectacle staging of John Kane’s Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation with appropriate pluck and persistence, although her speaking voice tends towards being high pitched at times.
After the spectacular tornado de force of the storm scene, propelled by Adam Moore’s magical evocation of a twister that tosses Dorothy’s bed hither and thither, she is joined on the journey to Emerald City by Florence Poskitt’s Scarecrow, Stu Hutchinson’s Tin Man and Finn East’s Lion (having played the Guard in Pick Me Up Theatre’s 2018 production).
Magical: Carly Morton’s Glinda
Poskitt, one half of musical duo Fladam, is a supremely expressive physical comedic talent, perfectly suited to the wobbly legged, woolly thinking Scarecrow, but every so often her lines were wont to lose clarity as sentences lengthened. Nevertheless, her performance is a work of clowning joy.
Hutchinson’s Tin Man conducts himself like a matinee idol from a Hollywood cigarette card series with just the right air of camp. Even better is Finn East’s Lion, his natural stage warmth, playfulness and show-stealing presence on full throttle. If I Were King Of The Forest had always been one of the lesser tunes in Harold Arlen and EY Harburg’s score…until now, when East parades his full vocal range like a latterday Meat Loaf.
Carly Morton’s Aunt Em/Glinda spars splendidly with Emily Alderson’s curmudgeonly Miss Glutch and green-with-envy Wicked Witch of the West, while Ian Giles picks up where he left off in reprising his Pick Me Up dual roles as Professor Marvel and the Wizard Of Oz with avuncular aplomb, aided by a giant screen representation of the Wizard’s face with Giles’s distinctively thick head of hair.
The green party: a stylish ensemble scene in York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz
Ensemble supporting roles for Munchkins, Winkies and more besides are played with abundant energy by adults and juniors alike, at their best in Munchkinland and especially The Jitterbug.
Briggs calls on the costume wizardry of Charades and Sheffield Theatres, as well as York Stage resources, while Shone Productions’ set is top notch too. The poppy field dance is a particular delight.
Viner works her musicians to full capacity, taking on such familiar songs with relish as York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz feels very much at home at the Grand Opera House.
York Stage in The Wizard Of Oz, Grand Opera House, York, tonight at 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Flo Poskitt’s Scarecrow, left, Stu Hutchinson’s Tin Man, Erin Childs’ Dorothy Gale and Finn East’s Lion in York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz
Cinderella cast members Luke Attwood, Brandon Nicholson, Lisa George, Tobias Turley, Rachel Grundy and Jimmy Bryant
THE Grand Opera House pantomime cast has assembled for the first time in York to give a flavour of what lies in store in Cinderella this winter.
In attendance for the UK Productions press day were Rachel Grundy (Cinderella); Tobias Turley (Prince Charming); Lisa George (Fairy Godmother); Jimmy Bryant (Buttons); Yorkshireman Bradley Judge (Dandini), and Ugly Sisters double act Luke Attwood (Harmony Hard-Up) and Brandon Nicholson (Melody Hard-Up).
“I was here at the Grand Opera House in The Rocky Horror Show, though I’ve never been in York at Christmas, which I’m looking forward to,” says West End musical actress Rachel Grundy, who has appeared in such shows as Legally Blonde and Starlight Express.
“The first time I worked with UK Productions was the Legally Blonde UK tour. I’ve done pantomimes at Bath Theatre Royal, Blackpool Grand Theatre, New Brighton, Bournemouth and Basingstoke, where I did Cinderella.”
Tobias Turley, who came to fame on ITV’s Mamma Mia! I Have A Dream, has appeared on the York stage previously in the Strictly Come Dancing Tour. “My first job out of drama school [at Doreen Bird College] was in Sleeping Beauty at Mansfield, but I haven’t come back to pantomime since then until now. That was four years ago,” he says.
“I’ve been very lucky working in theatre since being on telly, playing one of the Jets, Diesel, in West Side Story, appearing in Heathers and Mamma Mia! The Musical, then White Rose at the Marylebone Theatre and Hot Mess in the Pleasance Courtyard at the Edinburgh Fringe, which will be going in to the Southwark Playhouse Elephant for three weeks.”
Traditionally, Cinderella and Prince Charming are this pantomime’s straight roles. “You need that to keep the story flowing, with the story arc being continued throughout,” says Rachel. “You need those strong pillars.”
New addition:Leeds lad Bradley Judge, confirmed for Dandini role in Cinderella
Tobias adds; “The first time I did panto, I was thinking ‘I’m not getting laughs’, but you need both types in panto. They’re the fluff and we’re the plot – and what wonderful fluff they are!”
Neither Rachel or Toby will be heading home for Christmas Day. “My brother lives near Huddersfield,” she says. “I’ll be staying with a good friend of mine,” he says.
Coronation Street star Lisa George, whose sister lives in a village on the outskirts of York, is no stranger to pantomime, especially Cinderella. “This will be my fourth Cinderella,” she says. “I played Dandini with Jimmy Cricket, Suranne Jones and Linda Nolan at Tameside Hippodrome in 1997; Petunia Pumpkin [the Fairy Godmother role] at Oldham Coliseum in 2013; Fairy Godmother in Swindon, at the Wyvern Theatre, last Christmas, and now York.
“I’ve played Fairy Bowbells in Dick Whittington too. I love playing fairy! She’s just a lovely character and she’s ageless – though one day I’d love to see her in a pinny and rubber gloves!”
Actor and comedy performer Jimmy Bryant will be working in York for the first time. “Buttons is especially there for the children, as he’s the closest to them in his character,” he says. “Part of his role is to be their voice on stage; he does the most direct speaking to the audience. He’ll be their best friend.”
Buttons will be a contrasting role to his pantomime appearance last winter. “I usually play the funny chap who’s there to have loads of laughs and bring the audience with me, but last year I was the villain – a very stupid villain – at the Cheltenham Everyman, where I was Herr Kutte, a German villain, which was really fun to do as they wanted someone who wasn’t too scary.”
Bradley Judge, from Leeds, has appeared previously in pantoland in Aladdin in New Brighton and Jack And The Beanstalk in Mansfield and has done musicals aplenty since studying musical theatre at Guildford School of Acting. “The last big show I was in was Sister Act, which came to the Leeds Grand,” he says.
Lisa George: Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother
“For playing Dandini, I’ve not got the whole script yet, but from what I’ve seen he’s got a little comedy in his role, with a bit of a cheeky wit about him.”
West End drag double act and real-life partners Luke Attwood and Brandon Nicholson will bring Harmony and Melody to Cinderella in their York debut. “This is our seventh year together in pantomime,” says Luke. “I used to be a dancer in pantomime for many years. One year I auditioned for Ugly Sister at Wimborne, on my own to be paired with someone else, and then Brandon auditioned to be Dandini…
…”I didn’t want to wear women’s clothing!” interjects Brandon. “Then the director, Lee Redwood, said Brandon had auditioned for Dandini, and he suggested we should work together as Ugly Sisters,” says Luke.
“Since then we’ve built up a full set of costumes, stored in Brandon’s old bedroom at his mum and dad’s house.”
After playing such Strictly Come Dancing–rooted double acts as Tess and Claudia and Shirley and Darcey, Luke and Brandon will be adding Harmony and Melody Hard-Up to their repertoire. “It’s our first time with UK Productions,” says Brandon. “We saw their Cinderella in Blackpool and thought, ‘we want to be in that’!
“Anthony Williams [UK Productions’ executive pantomime director] came to see us in pantomime in Blackpool, and now we’re doing Cinderella in York. It’s the number one-selling pantomime, so it’s great to be in it this winter.”
UK Productions presents Cinderella at Grand Opera House, York, from December 6 to January 4 2026. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Erin Childs’ Dorothy looking out of the farm window
ERIN Childs is feeling at home in the lead role of Dorothy as York Stage skip down the Yellow Brick Road in The Wizard Of Oz at the Grand Opera House, York.
“It’s so iconic,” says the 17-year-old A-level student from Dunnington, sitting in the Cumberland Street theatre’s foyer bar before performing songs from the show at a Networking and Meet The Team evening last Wednesday.
“I’m quite young to be playing Dorothy as it’s a very big role. I’m so grateful for the opportunity with a company that has such professional standards.”
Erin, who is studying Musical Theatre among four A-levels from this term, will take to the stage from Friday buoyed by achieving her LAMDA Grade 8 Award. “I got a distinction!” she says excitedly.
For the past seven years, she has trained under The Wizard Of Oz director Nik Briggs at York Stage School, making her mark in a series of York Stage shows.
“My first was The Sound Of Music, when I played Brigitta von Trapp, and I’ve also done Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, playing Pritti Pasha at the Grand Opera House, and in May I was in A Midsummer Night’s Dream [set on a modern-day northern council state],” says Erin. “I was a chav fairy, Peaseblossom, and it was a very fun show to do.”
Erin Childs’ Dorothy with Toto (Freddie) in a field at York Maze
How is her American accent coming along for farm girl Dorothy? “I would say we’re doing it more generalised American than Kansas, just to save on confusion, because Kansas is a midwestern American accent, which might be confusing, and we have to make it as accessible as possible,” says Erin.
She is looking forward to “bringing my own twist” to Dorothy in what she describes as “a kind of modernised” take on The Sound Of Music’s heartwarming tale of friendship, courage and the belief that there’s no place like home.
Erin’s Dorothy, her dog Toto and her friends, the Scarecrow (Flo Poskitt), Tin Man (Stu Hutchinson) and Cowardly Lion (Finn East), must journey to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard (Ian Giles).
In navigating the enchanting landscape of Oz, Dorothy will be watched closely by Glinda, the Good Witch (Carly Morton) as the Wicked Witch of the West (Emily Alderson) plots to thwart Dorothy’s quest and reclaim the magical ruby slippers.
“She’s going on this emotional journey, a journey of self-discovery, that everyone goes on with her, as she really embodies that we’re all searching for the same things – especially love – as we all have the same emotions,” says Erin. “She also finds love in herself, accepting who she is.”
She is thrilled by the prospect of singing Over The Rainbow. “It’s so special; a once-in-a-lifetime chance. Everyone knows the song, and the fact that I have this opportunity is incredible,” she says. “The Jitterbug is brilliant to do too because of the fantastic choreography that goes with it.”
Erin Childs’ Dorothy walking through the maze at York Maze in her ruby slippers
Erin will perform with not one but two Totos. “We have a puppet Toto, commissioned from Elanor Kitchen, and ‘real’ Toto, our director Nik’s dog, Freddie,” she says. “Nepotism at its finest,” Nik jokes.
“I’ve worked with Freddie at nearly every rehearsal to get that bond with him. He’s very unpredictable but his cuteness will override everything.”
If Freddie is a new acquaintance, Erin has worked with all her fellow principal cast members previously. “They’re phenomenal. What they bring to life in their characters is just amazing,” she says.
Erin has had a busy summer, combining The Wizard Of Oz rehearsals with working in the entertainments team at York Maze under York actor, entertainer and magician Josh Benson. “It’s involved lots of hosting and dancing,” she says. “Hopefully I’ll be doing the Halloween show there this year too.”
York Maze, by the way, has played its part in York Stage’s publicity campaign for The Wizard Of Oz. Photographs of Erin’s Dorothy, amid the sweetcorn sheaths, in ruby slippers and with Freddie in Toto mode, were taken there, along with the filming of the show’s promotional video, featuring Erin in costume singing Over The Rainbow.
The Yellow Brick Road awaits.
York Stage in The Wizard Of Oz, Grand Opera House, York, September 12 to 20. Performances: 7.30pm, September 12, 13, 19 and 20; 7pm, September 16, 17 and 18; 4pm, September 14; 2.30pm, September 13 and 20. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Over the rainbow: Erin Childs’ Dorothy following a path through the maze at York Maze
Willow artist Laura Ellen Bacon in the saloon at her Whispers Of The Wilderness exhibition at Beningbrough Hall. Picture: Anthony Chappel-Ross
WILLOW sculptures, outdoor cinema, musical premieres and the Yellow Brick Road are beckoning Charles Hutchinson.
Exhibition opening of the week: Laura Ellen Bacon, Whispers Of The Wilderness, Exploring Wilderness Gardens, Beningbrough Hall, near York, until April 12 2026, Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm
WHISPERS Of The Wilderness brings together contemporary large-scale willow sculptures by Laura Ellen Bacon, historic pieces from across the National Trust collection to showcase Wilderness Gardens through time and a new drawing studio designed by artist Tanya Raabe-Webber.
Complemented by a new soundscape, audio chair, sketches of the developing sculptures and more, the exhibition is a sensory experience across the first-floor Reddihough Galleries and Great Hall. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/beningbrough.
Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles in 10 Things I Hate About You, Sunday’s screening at Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema at York Museum Gardens
Film event of the week: City Screen Picturehouse presents Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, York Museum Gardens, York, Stop Making Sense (PG), tonight, 6.30pm; 10 Things I Hate About You (12A), Sunday, 6.30pm
JONATHAN Demme’s Stop Making Sense, capturing David Byrne’s Talking Heads in perpetual motion at Hollywood’s Panatges Theatre in December 1983, re-emerges in a 40th anniversary restoration of “the greatest concert film of all time”.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Allison Janney, Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger star in 10 Things I Hate About You, wherein Cameron falls for Bianca on the first day of school, but not only his uncool status stops him from asking her out. Blankets, cushions and small camping chairs are allowed. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.
Hal Cruttenden: Reflecting on the insanity of modern politics at Burning Duck Comedy Club. Picture: Matt Crockett
“Take no prisoners” gig of the week: Hal Cruttenden Can Dish It Out But Can’t Take It, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm
HAL Cruttenden promises to stick it to ‘The Man’, as long as ‘The Man’ does not stick it back to him. Expect hard-hitting pontificating on middle-aged dating, social media, the insanity of modern politics and his daughters loving him but not respecting him. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Artist Kerry Ann Moffat with her oil painting Sunlight Catching Wooden Sculpture at the Created In York pop-up gallery in High Petergate, York
Pop-up art space of the week: Created In York, hosted by Blank Canvas by Skippko charity, 22 High Petergate, York, 10.30am to 5pm, Thursdays to Saturdays; 11am to 4pm, Sundays
CHAMPIONING change through creativity, York art charity Skippko’s rolling programme of three-week Created In York shows is running in High Petergate until December 2025 in tandem with York Conservation Trust. On show until September 14 are oil paintings by Kerry Ann Moffat and linocuts and woodblock prints by Rachel Holborow.
York RI Golden Rail Band:Performing Sounding Brass and Voices with York RI Golden Railway Band. Picture: Keith Meadley
Musical partnership of the week: Sounding Brass and Voices, York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm
YORK Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band reunite for a fourth joint concert in a tender and thrilling pairing of brass and voices, celebrating 100 years of music.
“From romantic film music to toe-tapping hits, there will be something for everyone,” says Golden Rail Band conductor Nick Eastwood. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Musicals Across The Multiverse choreographer Connie Howcroft, right, working on moves with Zander Fick, Ben Holeyman, Abbie Law and Lauren Charlton-Matthews
Interdimensional journey of the week: Wharfemede Productions in Musicals Across The Multiverse, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 10 to 13, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
DIRECTOR Helen “Bells” Spencer and musical director Matthew Clare follow up 2023’s Musicals In The Multiverse 2023 with another blend of iconic musical theatre hits reconfigured with surprising twists.
“Think unexpected style swaps, minor to major key switches, gender reversals, era-bending reinterpretations, genre mash-ups and more,” says Bells.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Debbie Isitt’s cast in rehearsal for the world premiere of Military Wives – The Musical at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Danny With A Camera
World premiere of the week: Military Wives – The Musical, York Theatre Royal, September 10 to 27, times vary
YORK Theatre Royal stages the world premiere of writer-director Debbie Isitt’s musical based on the 2019 film, rooted in Gareth Malone’s The Choir: Military Wives project.
Faced with husbands and partners being away at war, the women are isolated, bored and desperate to take their minds off feelings of impending doom. Enter Olive to help them form a choir. Cue a joyous celebration of female empowerment and friendship, courage and ‘unsung’ heroes. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Libby Greenhill’s Medium Alison, left, Hattie Wells’s Young Alison and Claire Morley’s Alison in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Fun Home
York premiere of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Fun Home, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, September 10 to 19, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees
ROBERT Readman directs the York premiere of Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Krow’s five-time Tony Award winner, based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel.
When her volatile father dies unexpectedly, Alison (Claire Morley) recalls how his temperament and secrets defined her family and her life. Moving between past and present, she relives her unique childhood at the family’s Bechdel Funeral Home, her growing understanding of her sexuality and the looming, unanswerable questions of her father’s hidden desires. Box office: ticketsourse.co.uk/pickmeuptheatrecom.
Rob Newman: Wondering where we are going in Where The Wild Things Were at The Crescent
The future, now: Burning Duck Comedy Club presents Rob Newman, Where The Wild Things Were, The Crescent, York, September 11, 7.30pm
ROB Newman wants to discuss where we are and where we are going, from future cities and philistine film directors to Dorothy Parker’s Multiverse Diaries. Throw in Pythagorean gangsters, intellectual bingo callers and a crazy character called Arlo for a comedic “tour-de-force utterly unlike anything else you will ever see anywhere else”. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Mick Tickner: Headlining the Funny Fridays bill at Patch
Comedy gathering of the week: Funny Fridays, at Patch, Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, September 12, 7.30pm
AFTER May and June sell-outs and a summer break, Funny Fridays returns for a third night of stand-up hosted by promoter and comedian Katie Lingo. On the £10 bill are 2023 Hull Comedian of the Year Hannah Margaret, Jamie Clinton, Kerris Gibson, James Earl Marsters and headliner Mick Tickner. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets-1473792325519?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Erin Childs’ Dorothy with Toto (Freddie) in York Stage’s The Wizard Of Oz
Ruby slippers of the week: York Stage in The Wizard Of Oz, Grand Opera House, York, September 12 to 20, times vary
UNDER Nik Briggs’s direction, York Stage skips down the Yellow Brick Road as Erin Childs’ Dorothy, Toto and her friends, the Scarecrow (Flo Poskitt), Tin Man (Stu Hutchinson), and Cowardly Lion (Finn East), journey to the Emerald City to meet the Wizard (Ian Giles).
In navigating the enchanting landscape of Oz, Dorothy is watched closely by Glinda, the Good Witch (Carly Morton) as the Wicked Witch of the West (Emily Alderson) plots to thwart Dorothy’s quest and reclaim the magical ruby slippers. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Oh No! Have we missed Harland Miller’s XXX exhibition of Letter Paintings at York Art Gallery? No, this weekend is the last chance
HARLAND Miller’s XXX finale and Fangfest’s 25th anniversary, a comic convention and a cosmic piano are among Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations as August makes way for September.
Do not miss: Harland Miller, XXX, York Art Gallery, ends on Sunday, open daily 10am to 5pm
THIS weekend is the last chance to see York-raised Pop artist and writer Harland Miller’s return to York Art Gallery with XXX, showcasing paintings and works on paper from his Letter Paintings series, including several new paintings, not least ‘York’, a floral nod to Yorkshire’s white rose and York’s daffodils.
Inspired by his upbringing in 1970s’ Yorkshire and an itinerant lifestyle in New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Paris during the 1980s and 1990s, Miller creates colourful and graphically vernacular works that convey his love of popular language and attest to his enduring engagement with its narrative, aural and typographical possibilities. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk.
Fladam’s Flo Poskitt and Adam Sowter: Premiering their shiny new musical comedy, Astro-Norma!, at York Explore today
Intergalactic musical family adventure of the week: Fladam Theatre in Astro-Norma And The Cosmic Piano, York Explore Library and Archive, Library Square, York, today, 11am and 2pm
FROM the creators of Green Fingers and the spooky HallowBean comes Astro-Norma And The Cosmic Piano, wherein Norma dreams of going into space, like her heroes Mae Jemison and Neil Armstrong, although children can’t go into space, can they? Especially children with a very important piano recital coming up.
But what bizarre-looking contraption has just crash-landed in the garden? Is it a bird? Or a plane? No… it’s a piano?! No ordinary piano. This is a cosmic piano! Maybe Norma’s dreams can come true? Join Fladam duo Flo Poskitt and Adam Sowter for a 45-minute show full of awesome aliens, rib-tickling robots and interplanetary puns. Box office: tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives.
You, Me And Who We’ll Be: Josie Brookes and Tom Madge’s exhibition at Nunnington Hall
Children’s exhibition of the week: Josie Brookes and Tom Madge, You, Me And Who We’ll Be, Nunnington Hall, near York, until September 7
ENTER the colourful worlds of children’s illustrators Josie Brookes and Tom Madge. Through bold, eye-catching artwork, the Newcastle-upon-Tyne duo creates stories that explore the many ways we can help and understand each other, make friends and build relationships.
Discover your own helpful superpower in the Big Small Nature Club or join best friends Nader and Solomiya on a journey to find home. A dress-up station lets you share in the adventures of Molly the Flower. Before you go, help the story grow by adding your own artwork to the interactive gallery. Tickets: Normal admission charges at nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall/exhibitions.
York Unleashed Comic-Con: Special guests, stage talks, cosplay masquerade, attractions and merchandise market at York Racecourse
Convention of the week: York Unleashed Comic-Con, York Racecourse, Knavesmire, York, Sunday, 11am to 5pm
UNLEASHED Events welcomes Tom Rosenthal, Tim Blaney, Peter Davison, Phil Fletcher and special guest Atticus Finch Wobbly Cat to a comic convention featuring stage talks, cosplay masquerade and plenty more.
Comic artists and authors Jim Alexander, Elinor Taylor, Blake Books, Jessica Meats, Paolo Debernardi and Ben Sawyer are appearing too. Attractions include Doctor Bell, Bumblebee Camaro, Johnny 5, Milestone 3D, Imagination Gaming, Battle Ready Academy, Mos Eisley Misfits, Tom Daws Dimple Magician, Rexys Reviews and Iconic Movie Scenes, plus a market selling merchandise and collectables from favourite franchises. Tickets: unleashedtickets.co.uk.
SmART art: One of 100 artworks for sale at the pop-up SmART Gallery at York Racecourse
Art event of the week: SmART Gallery, Racecourse Road, York, YO23 1EU, Sunday, 11am to 2.30pm
SUNDAY’S outdoor, inclusive community art gallery, SmART Gallery, will raise money for the Christmas appeal run by Crisis, the homeless charity, and voluntary work in Sierra Leone next Easter.
The event features more than 100 pieces of art work produced by the York community. Blank canvases are sold for £10, then returned once the art work has been created in any medium. Browsers can submit a secret bid on the day for anything they would like to buy. Any unsold artwork will remain on the fence opposite York Racecourse’s main entrance for five months for all to enjoy.
Austentatious: Improvising new Jane Austen novel from audience suggestions at Grand Opera House, York
Improv show of the week: Show And Tell present Austentatious: An Improvised Jane Austen Novel, Grand Opera House, York, September 5 and 6, 7.30pm
AS seen every week in the West End since 2022 and in York in a sold-out show in January, the all-star Austentatious cast will improvise a new Jane Austen novel, inspired entirely by a title from the audience. Performed in period costume with live musical accompaniment, this riotous, quick-moving comedy comes with guaranteed swooning.
The revolving Austentatious cast includes numerous award-winning television and radio performers, such as Cariad Lloyd (QI, Inside No.9, Griefcast, The Witchfinder),Joseph Morpurgo (Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee), Rachel Parris (The Mash Report), Graham Dickson (After Life, The Witchfinder) and more. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Pottery workshop at 25th anniversary Fangest Festival of Practical Arts in Fangfoss
Silver anniversary of the week: Fangfest Festival of Practical Arts, Fangfoss, East Riding, September 6 and 7, 10am to 4pm each day
FANGFOSS is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Fangfest with the All Things Silver flower festival; veteran cars; archery; the Stamford Bridge Heritage Society; music on the village green; children’s games; the Teddy Bear Trail and artists aplenty exhibiting and demonstrating their work.
Opportunities will be provided to try out the potter’s wheel, spoon carving and chocolate making. Some drop-in activities are free; more intensive workshops require booking in advance. Look out too for the circus skills of children’s entertainer John Cossham, alias Professor Fiddlesticks, and the Pocklington and District Heritage Trust mobile museum. Admission is free.
Suede: Returning to York Barbican next February on Antidepressants tour. Picture: Dean Chalkley
Show announcement of the week: Suede, Antidepressants UK Tour 2026, York Barbican, February 7 2026
AFTER playing York Barbican for the first time in more than 25 years in March 2023, Suede will make a rather hastier return on their 17-date January and February tour. Brett Anderson’s London band will be promoting tenth studio album Antidepressants, out on September 5 on BMG.
“If [2022’s] Autofiction was our punk record, Antidepressants is our post-punk record,” says Anderson. “It’s about the tensions of modern life, the paranoia, the anxiety, the neurosis. We are all striving for connection in a disconnected world. This was the feel I wanted the songs to have. This is broken music for broken people.” Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/suede26.
REVIEW: National Theatre in War Horse, Leeds Grand Theatre, until Sept 6 *****
Tom Sturgess (Albert Narracott), left, with Diany Samba-Bandza, Jordan Paris and Eloise Beaumont-Wood (Baby Joey) in War Horse, on tour at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Brinkhoff-Moegenburg
ELEVEN years since first encountering the National Theatre’s remarkable War Horse at the Alhambra, Bradford, a return visit brought out all the awe, wonderment and anger anew at Leeds Grand Theatre amid the turbulence of 21st century conflicts, conflagrations and ever more warmongering.
Michael Morpurgo’s source novel was ostensibly a tale for children, as was Michelle Magorian’s Second World War story Goodnight Mister Tom, but Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris’s theatrical tour de force is a show for everyone.
The most successful play in the history of the National Theatre, collecting more than 25 awards and playing to 8.3 million people worldwide, War Horse is a complete piece of theatre, replete with technical aplomb, extraordinary puppetry, grand design and foundation-shaking sound to complement Nick Stafford’s beautiful, powerful storytelling.
For all those theatrical tools, the story is king, told with imagination and wonder beyond even the cinematic scope of Steven Spielberg’s 2011 film version.
More remarkable still, Morpurgo’s central character is a horse, whose journey is charted from Devon farm to the fields of the Somme, in the service of first the British and then the Germans in the First World War.
Directors Elliott and Morris and designer Rae Smith had the original vision, put into flesh by South Africa’s Handspring Puppet Company’s Adrian Kohler. Not so much flesh as leather tack and a wooden see-through framework that exposed the three puppeteers, gloved and dressed to add to the sense of equine power in life-sized Joey, whose transformation from colt to magnificent beast is a coup de theatre that takes the breath away.
From the highly physical ensemble acting of revival director Katie Henry’s cast to the deafening sounds of war (by sound designer Christopher Shutt) and the omnipresent animation and projection designs of Nicol Scott and Ben Pearcy that depict war so devastatingly, every last detail counts. Anne Marie Piazza’s singing of John Tams’s affecting folk songs is even more haunting for its female interpretation.
At the core is the bond of a boy and his horse, Tom Sturgess’s stoical farm boy Albert Narracott and noble Joey, as boy becomes man all too young in the most brutal passage of rights in the trenches. War divides but it also unites, bringing out the best and worst on all sides (as Morpurgo’s equal focus on the Germans emphasises).
Co-produced with Michael Harrison, Fiery Angel and Playing Field, this “all-new tour” for 2024-2025 is a triumph once more. The National Theatre and British theatre at their best.
National Theatre in War Horse, Leeds Grand Theatre, until September 6, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
