Tag: grand opera house york

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Daniel Burke on art of playing The Actor in The Woman In Black at Grand Opera House

Shadow play: Daniel Burke as The Actor in The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet

FIRST staged in a pub setting in 1987 by the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story The Woman In Black returns tonight to the Grand Opera House, York, two years to the month since its last visit.

Elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps (played by John Mackay) is obsessed with a curse he believes was cast over his family by the spectre of a “Woman in Black” 50 years ago. Whereupon he engages a sceptical young actor (Daniel Burke’s The Actor) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul, but as they delve into his past, the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur. 

“It will be my first time performing in York,” says Daniel. “Though I did come up here in 2019 to rehearse with Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre in a big tent in a shopping-centre car park [more precisely the specially constructed rehearsal village at the York Designer Outlet, where eight productions were knocked into shape].

“I went down to Blenheim Palace for the summer to play Paris in Romeo And Juliet and multi-rolled a few smaller roles in Richard III.”

Daniel Burke’s The Actor with John Mackay’s Arthur Kipps in The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet

Daniel first auditioned for The Woman In Black a couple of years ago. “It didn’t go my way but Robin [director Robin Herford] kept me in mind,” he says. “I’d first auditioned with a self-tape, but this time I auditioned in person with Robin last June, when I was doing a production of  The Girl On The Train (which came to Sheffield Lyceum Theatre and later Leeds Grand Theatre).

“The contract was rubber-stamped in mid-June, but I had to miss the first week of rehearsals when I was finishing the tour, so it was only three weeks for me, four for John, with the associate director [Antony Eden] filling in for me in the first week.

“He’s worked with Robin for many years and is as familiar with the play as Robin is – he’s played both parts and he’s directing a tour that’s happening in the USA this year.”

Three weeks may look a short lead-in to a two-hander, but Daniel says: “By the time we got to the end of my third week with John, we’d reached the point where we felt we really needed an audience.”

Director Robin Herford in rehearsal for The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet

The tour opened at the Storyhouse, in Chester, in late-September last year for an itinerary that resumed after a Christmas break at Darlington Hippodrome last week.

“I hadn’t ever seen the play, and John hadn’t either, so I think Robin was pleased to work with two actors who were completely fresh to it,” says Daniel. “He knows it so well from directing it and from playing both characters numerous times that he found it refreshing to have actors new to the story as we asked new questions that Robin wouldn’t have heard before.

“Our production has developed really well; John is a lovely man to work with and he’s a very funny man too. It’s such an intense piece, where it’s beneficial if you can find some light to bring into the room.

“We found our rhythm organically on tour, and that’s especially important to my character, as he’s trying to convince Kipps to go with his idea, but once it gets rolling, you can really go along for the ride.”

Fright night: The Actor (Daniel Burke) in The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet

Daniel has thrived on the experience of putting a production together with such an experienced director. “Robin was very open to our suggestions. He had his ideas of what direction he wanted to go, but then sometimes you could have an idea for a scene or you might ask about the logic of why a character was doing something, when every so often you would need clarification, and we would try new ideas, and if they worked, he would incorporate them.”

In creating his version of The Actor, “Robin led me down the line of him being quite a successful young actor, who had played the young romantic leads that were available to him,” says Daniel.

“Robin steered me to go that way, and that was my instinct as well because The Actor has a lot of positive energy, thinks on his feet and sees Arthur as someone he can help but also maybe as one of the trickiest characters he’s had to deal with, but he sees that as a challenge rather than as a problem.”

The Woman In Black is proving as enjoyable to perform as Daniel could have wished. “It’s a good challenge and it’s very enjoyable, and when it’s a two-hander you can’t pop to your dressing room for a breather, so the audience is really getting its money’s worth. I’ve done other rewarding roles, but this is the one where you’re involved all the time,” he says.

Daniel Burke (The Actor) in an enlightening moment in The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet

“There’s also a big old human element to it, as it’s a sad story, not only for Arthur but also for the ghost, the Woman in Black, Jennet Humfrye, and you hope that the audience will walk away afterwards feeling sympathetic for Jennet as well as for Arthur.

“There was this attitude towards women who were pregnant out of wedlock and found themselves abandoned by family, and on top of that losing a child, and then that spirals into madness. I think that makes  a ghost story better than if it’s just a horrible, evil spirit.

“It adds a layer of complexity to the story that become a lot more effective and satisfying, both for the audience and the actors playing it.”

PW Productions present The Woman In Black, Grand Opera House, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Daniel Burke

Daniel Burke: back story

DANIEL’S theatre credits include UK Tour of The Girl On The Train, Troilus And Cressida for
Royal Shakespeare Company, and Imperium Part I and Part II, for RSC and at Gielgud Theatre, West End, London.

Also appeared in Bang Bang at Exeter Northcutt Theatre and on UK tour; Romeo And Juliet and Richard III, for Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, Blenheim Palace; Hamlet, Richard II and Romeo And Juliet for Guildford Shakespeare Company; The Comedy Of Errors, at Mercury Theatre, Colchester; Love All, Jermyn Street Theatre; A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Great Gatsby, Storyhouse’s Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre; The Circle, Theatre Royal Bath and UK Tour.

Television credits include The Witcher for Netflix and Lord Of The Rings Rings Of Power for Amazon Prime.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 2, from Gazette & Herald

Lawyer Arthur Kipps (John Mackay) and The Actor (Daniel Burke) in The Woman In Black, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from January 13

IN his second guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.

Ghostly return of the week: The Woman In Black, Grand Opera House, York, January 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees

FIRST staged in 1987 in a pub setting by the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story The Woman In Black returns to the Grand Opera House two years to the month since its last visit.

Elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps (played by John Mackay) is obsessed with his belief that a curse has been cast over his family by the spectre of a “Woman in Black” for 50 years. Whereupon he engages a sceptical young actor (Daniel Burke’s The Actor) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul, but the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and John Brooks’s scheming Chamberlain in Pickering Musical Society’s Snow White at Kirk Theatre, Pickering. Picture: Robert David Photographer

First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and scripted by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime blends familiar faces with new turns, led by Alice Rose as Snow White in her first appearance since Goldilocks in 2018.

Local legend Marcus Burnside plays Dame Dumpling alongside mischievous sidekick Jack Dobson as court jester Fritz, his first comedic role. Company regular Courtney Brown switches to comedy too as Helga; Paula Cook turns to the dark side in her villainous debut as Queen Lucrecia; Danielle Long is the heroic Prince Valentine, John Brooks, the scheming Chamberlain and Sue Smithson, Fairy Dewdrop. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

Cellist Eloise Ramchamdani

Dementia Friendly Tea Concert of the week: Eloise Ramchandani and Robert Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, January 15, 2.30pm

ELOISE Ramchandani gives an all Saint-Saëns cello recital, accompanied by pianist Robert Gammon. The 45-minute programme includes the well-loved The Swan, lively Allegro Appassionato and beautiful Cello Concerto No. 1.

Ideal for those who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, the relaxed recital will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved; no charge applies but donations are welcome.

Malton and Norton Theatre’s principal cast for Aladdin – The Pantomime: left to right, Amelia Little (So-Shy); Tom Gleave (Wishee Washee); Annabelle Free (Spirit of the Ring); Alexander Summers (Executioner); Isobel Davis (Princess Jasmine); Mark Summers (Genie of the Lamp); Harriet White (Aladdin); Harry Summers (Abanazar); Thomas Jennings (The Emperor); Evie-Mae Dale (Sergeant Pong); Malcolm Tonkiss (Mangle Malcolm) and Jack Robinson (PC World)

Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isobel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Death Of Gesualdo: The Gesualdo Six and Tableaux Vivants in tandem at NCEM, York

World premiere of the month: Death Of Gesualdo, The Gesualdo Six with Tableaux Vivants, National Centre for Early Music, York, January 18 and 19, 6.30pm

THE Gesualdo Six reunite with director Bill Barclay for this daring successor to international hit Secret Byrd. Featuring six singers, six actors and a puppet, Death Of Gesualdo creates living tableaux that illuminate the life and psyche of madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo, a tortured genius most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in an explosive fit of jealousy, but revered among composers for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years.

This is the boldest look yet at how the life and sometimes chilling music of this enigmatic prodigy must function together for the true Gesualdo to emerge from the shadows. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Grace Petrie: No time for panicking at The Crescent, York. Picture: Fraser West

Comedy-folk combination of the month: Little Wander and Say Owt present Grace Petrie, This Is No Time To Panic!, January 18, The Crescent, York, 7.30pm

DO you like protest songs? Neither does Grace Petrie – and she has been singing them for 15 “politically disastrous” years. No longer able to meet the desperate hopes of left-wing audiences, the “British folk scene’s funniest lesbian” reckons there is no better time for a feel-good show.

After making her stand-up debut in 2022 with Butch Ado About Nothing, she combines music and comedy for the first time in This Is No Time To Panic! “I know folk songs can’t save the world, and neither can stand-up, but both at the same time?” ponders Petrie. “Read it and weep, Putin!” Box office for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.  

York Residents’ Festival: Weekend of experiences, attractions and offers

Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1

ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.  

Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.

Self Esteem: Headlining Live At York Museum Gardens on July 10

Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10, 5pm

SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin  being booked for July 9.

Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.

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Meet Robin Herford, director of The Woman In Black since SJT premiere in 1987, now bringing latest cast to Grand Opera House

Robin Herford directing rehearsals for the 2025-2026 tour of The Woman In Black. Picture: Mark Douet

ROBIN Herford commissioned and directed Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s novel The Woman In Black at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough in 1987.

First performed in the SJT bar over the Christmas season, it transferred to the London stage, where it ran for 33 years, including 13,000 performances at the Fortune Theatre, before closing in March 2023.

More than seven million people have seen Mallatratt’s play in the UK since the SJT premiere of its tale of elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps being convinced that a curse has been placed on his family by the spectre of the Woman in Black.

When Kipps hires an initially sceptical young actor to help him recount his story, as they delve into his past, the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur.

Now Herford is directing PW Productions’ 2025-2026 tour with a cast of John Mackay and Daniel Burke. Ahead of next week’s return to the Grand Opera House, York, he discusses The Woman In Black’s Scarborough premiere, longevity on the London stage, directorial challenges and ever-changing casts.

Did you anticipate The Woman In Black would have such a long life when it first opened at the SJT in 1987?

“No, absolutely not! When I commissioned my friend Stephen Mallatratt to adapt Susan Hill’s ghost story for the stage in the autumn of 1987, it was to run over Christmas for three and a half weeks in the bar of the Stephen Joseph Theatre, a space which doubled as an occasional studio theatre seating 70 people.

“We had a tiny budget, £1,000 for the set and costumes, enough money to pay for a maximum of four actors, and a very restricted acting area, so it had to be staged very ingeniously. Stephen’s brilliant solution – to turn it into a piece for only two speaking actors – actually meant we didn’t use up all of our allotted resources.

“By the end of the run, which went very well, we dared to wonder if it might warrant a London production.”

What happened next?

“We found a producer, Peter Wilson, who was willing to support us, and opened at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith in January 1989. Favourable reviews enabled us to move into the Strand, then the Playhouse, and finally the Fortune Theatre by June of that year, where we stayed for 33 years. Extraordinary.”

What changes, if any, have you made to the production over that time?

“In essence, the play has changed very little. Moving into larger theatres gave us greater scope for special effects, for example the addition of a hidden staircase at the back of the stage, but its basic simplicity has been preserved, because that is built into the concept of how the story is told.

“Two people alone in an empty theatre, and the whole auditorium is the set – not just what happens on the stage – a fact which really unsettles audiences, since it is no longer their ‘safe space’.

“I have tried to create a product which can expand or contract to fit whatever size of theatre we are playing. We use the magic of theatre, with such basic tools of light/darkness and sound/silence to build tension and atmosphere, and all the time, I have tried to ensure that the audience’s imagination continues to be the main driver to the action of the play. I show as little as possible and try to rely instead on the power of suggestion.”

John Mackay as Arthur Kipps, left, and Daniel Burke as The Actor in The Woman In Black

How does returning to a project differ from working on something new?

“Returning to a project may seem for a director to be a safe option, engendering a feeling of confidence and security, but for the new cast of actors, it is absolutely a new experience as they bring their own imaginations, intelligence and emotional responses into contact with the script, and this means a renewed, fresh show.

“Though the way the production works might remain largely unchanged, the characters created by the actors will be enormously diverse.”

How have you kept the theatre magic alive after so many years?

“Again, it’s the transfusion of new blood that a new cast brings to the play which keeps the magic alive. But also, it’s the freshness of response from new audiences, who are such a vital component in the theatre experience.

“To perform a story to a group of people at the same moment, who have come together on that day with a common purpose to hear that story, is really powerful and carries its own magic.”

How do you feel when you hear audience reactions to The Woman In Black?

“Audiences react to this play in a surprising variety of ways. As a rule, people don’t expect to be frightened in a theatre, but this play seems to buck this trend. Quite often, they will come expecting to be scared and react accordingly.

“Sometimes, they are not quite sure how they will respond and are surprised to hear themselves yelp involuntarily, often leading to laughter immediately afterwards. Sometimes, the play is received in silence, the audience reserving their appreciation until the curtain call, when at other times, a lot of humour is discovered in the early exchanges. There is no ‘right’ way to respond.

“This play particularly appeals to young people, and I take huge pleasure in seeing our next generation of theatregoers finding a show they can relate to and appreciating it to the full. Teachers find it a very fruitful piece to teach from, celebrating, as it does, the art of acting, as well as the simple joys of live theatre.”

Why do you think we as audience members enjoy being scared?

“I find this hard to answer, since I don’t particularly enjoy being scared as a member of an audience! I tend to switch off when presented with too much blood and gore, or by the wildly improbable.

“With this play, the story it relates is tragic and horrible, but it is also a very believable, human story, and we really care about all the people affected by its outcome. It’s a play about courage in the face of really challenging circumstances, demonstrated in contrasting ways.

The Woman In Black has starred such actors as Frank Finlay, Edward Petherbridge, Joseph Fiennes and Martin Freeman. Does each cast bring something fresh to the production?

“We’ve already talked about the immense contribution made by actors to the show. Those four actors, two hugely established, and two right at the start of their careers (it was Joseph Fiennes’ first professional job, whom I cast while he was still at drama school!) demonstrates the huge variety of actors who have stepped up and brought their own particular brand of magic to this show. I have indeed been blessed.”

The Woman In Black haunts Grand Opera House, York, from January 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond at the dawning of 2026’s arts & culture diary. Hutch’s List No. 1, from The York Press

Joshua Arnold and Therine: On the bill for A Feast Of Fools III at the Black Swan

N his first guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.

Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

On the bill are Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony;  North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of British folk songs; Pefkin, whose ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine and Alice Rose’s Snow White in Pickering Musical Society’s pantomime Snow White

First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and writer by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes.

The show features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

Harry Summers in rehearsal for the role of Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime

Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

To her Eternal Shame: Sue Perkins announces return to the comedy circuit after more than a decade

Amusing musings of the month: The Eternal Shame Of Sue Perkins, Grand Opera House, York, January 18, 7.30pm

YOU may know her as Bake-Off Sue, Taskmaster Sue, Just A Minute Sue, or the Sue that gives you travel envy, but stand-up Sue is full of surprises. In this new show, Sue Perkins shares the unlikely happenings from a career in the spotlight.

What’s the fallout when your pituitary gland goes haywire on live TV? How do you convince the public you didn’t really fall on to that vacuum cleaner attachment? And when intimate photos are splashed all over the internet, how do you switch the shame to dignity and joy? Find out in Perkins’ first live show in more than a decade, wherein shedelivers a humorous treatise on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Deadpan Players’ poster for their Star Wars sci-fi and AI spoof at the JoRo

The spoof, the whole spoof and nothing but the spoof: Deadpan Players in Star Wars: May The Farce Be With You, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 23, 7.30pm, and January 24, 2pm and 7.30pm

IN a time of deep unrest, rebel forces are fighting for survival. Led by Garth Vader, the Empire has created a sinister network called The Dark Web, through which Vader could travel back in time to crush the rebellion. Plucky Princess Slaya has encrypted and uploaded the password, along with a desperate cry for help to cute droid R2Ai.

Can Fluke Skywalker decipher the message, find Only One Kenobi, enlist the help of rogue pilot Ham Solo and the legendary, if rather pungent, Gedi Master, the diminutive but powerful “Odour”, then rescue the Princess and save the Galaxy? Find out by attending this fundraising event, with all proceeds going to Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Candlelighters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Mike Joyce: Recollections of five years on the drummer’s stool with The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre

On the beat: Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm

DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.

To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

York Residents’ Festival 2026: Weekend of free attractions, experiences and offers

Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1

ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.  

Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.

Self Esteem: Headlining Futuresound’s July 10 bill at Live At York Museum Gardens

Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10,  5pm

SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin  being booked for July 9.

Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 1, from Gazette & Herald

Ancient Hostility: Passionate political and personal song in harmony at The Black Swan Inn, York

IN his first guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar.

Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, January 4, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas is packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

On the bill will be: Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony, in the vein of The Young Tradition, plus fiddle and squeezebox, and North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of songs in the British folk canon on hurdy gurdy, harmonium and DIY instruments.

So too are Pefkin, whose slowly unfolding, ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, using processed violin/viola, electronics, voice and field recordings, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends, weaving sound-spells for the season’s final curtain. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

The Hammonds Band: A blast of brass at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Lorne Campbell

The Hammonds Band, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, January 11, 3pm

THE award-winning Hammonds Band returns to the SJT for an afternoon of the best of brass music. Founded by mill owner Sir Titus Salt in Saltaire as an amenity for the workers, the band later had a long association with Hammonds Sauce Works under the baton of the legendary Geoffrey Whitham. Now, under Morgan Griffiths’s direction, the band performs across the world. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine and Alice Rose’s Snow White in Pickering Musical Society’s panto Snow White

Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

INTEREST has been “extraordinary” for Pickering Musical Society’s January 2026 pantomime, directed for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold. More than 1,000 tickets have sold already; January 18’s 2.15pm performance has sold out and several others are close behind.

Written by Ron Hall, the show combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes and features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

York actor Harry Summers: Wintering in panto villainy as Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin

Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Sue Perkins: Reflecting on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding at the Grand Opera House, York

The Eternal Shame Of Sue Perkins, Grand Opera House, York, January 18, 7.30pm

YOU may know her as Bake-Off Sue, Taskmaster Sue, Just A Minute Sue, or the Sue that gives you travel envy, but stand-up Sue is full of surprises. In this new show, Sue Perkins shares the unlikely happenings from a career in the spotlight.

What’s the fallout when your pituitary gland goes haywire on live TV? How do you convince the public you didn’t really fall on to that vacuum cleaner attachment? And when intimate photos are splashed all over the internet, how do you switch the shame to dignity and joy? Find out in Perkins’ first live show in more than a decade, wherein she delivers a humorous treatise on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The poster for Deadpan Players’ Star Wars spoof at the JoRo, York

Deadpan Players in Star Wars: May The Farce Be With You, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 23, 7.30pm, and January 24, 2pm and 7.30pm

IN a time of deep unrest, rebel forces are fighting for survival. Led by Garth Vader, the Empire has created a sinister network called The Dark Web, through which Vader could travel back in time to crush the rebellion. Plucky Princess Slaya has encrypted and uploaded the password, along with a desperate cry for help to cute droid R2Ai.

Can Fluke Skywalker decipher the message, find Only One Kenobi, enlist the help of rogue pilot Ham Solo and the legendary, if rather pungent, Gedi Master, the diminutive but powerful “Odour”, then rescue the Princess and save the Galaxy? Find out by attending  this fundraising event, with all proceeds going to Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Candlelighters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Snake Davis and special guest Sumudu Jayatilaka: Performing together at Helmsley Arts Centre

Snake & Sumudu, Helmsley Arts Centre, January 24 2026, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST to the stars Snake Davis and singer-songwriter Sumudu Jayatilaka often meet up to perform with Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra or to play together in arts centres.

Raised in Scunthorpe, now based in London, Sumudu has frequently toured as a backing vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and percussionist for Sir Van Morrison. At 15, she made her TV debut on BBCs Pebble Mill At One, performing her own composition, accompanied by Snake on sax and flute. Later they took part in a Royal Albert Hall concert with Burt Bacharach and Hal David.  At Helmsley, expect classic pop, original compositions and a touch of soul and jazz. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Mike Joyce: Discussing his days on the beat with The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre

Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm

DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.

To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by the Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

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REVIEW: Paul Rhodes’s verdict on Robert Plant, Saving Grace, with Suzi Dian plus Burr Island, York Barbican, December 23

Robert Plant’s Saving Grace

AS PARTING lines go, Robert Plant’s sign-off goes straight to the top: “See you again. We’ll be everywhere, forever.”

Now 74, but as well preserved as ever, Plant seems to have been musically rejuvenated by his incredible Saving Grace band and intent of creating his own version of Bob Dylan’s Never Ending Tour.

In unshowy jeans and black T-shirt, he seemed totally immersed in the set, watching everything and everyone like some well-intentioned hawk.

It would be easy for a leonine rock star to bask in the adulation and recreate his former glories. Plant has never wanted to take that path. Despite being probably the biggest star to grace a York stage this year, he clearly wanted to cut the full-house adoration short to focus on the songs. 

“I love you Robert,” someone piped up towards the end, to be met with a good-natured “It’s far too late for that!”

Support act Burr Island were also good natured, their four-part harmonies impressing. Coming across like the better-off West Country cousins of Dexys Midnight Runners, the group are still in their thrall of their influences (Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby, Stills and Nash and Harvest Moon-era Neil Young) but have the talent – if not the rough edges – to reach their own audience.

Saving Grace’s set of what might loosely be called Americana comprised a mix of traditional tunes, West Coast classics, more contemporary covers, Plant originals and four Zeppelin numbers in acoustic form.

 Musically scintillating, Plant has assembled an absolutely cracking band. Happy to step aside, the spotlight was often somewhere other than him. This underlined with light what was blindingly obvious: this is a band performance, not a frontman and some hired guns.

Singing harmonies and co-lead was Suzi Dian, whose voice was totally simpatico with Plant’s but giving a depth and richness that recalled two of country music’s finest: Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris.

Dian sang lead on Orphan Girl, written by Gillian Welch but better known for Harris’s cover. Dian’s voice has some of the thin steel that characterises Harris’s voice, but has a richer palette to draw on. Plant and Dian rarely took their eye off the other while singing.

Each of the band had numerous standout moments, for example Barney Morse-Brown’s cello acted like the bass, but also created a wonderfully unexpected segment of the radical reworking of Neil Young’s For The Turnstiles.

Matt Worley on banjo and strings was a cut above and also took on a vocal on the traditional What Is The Soul Of A Man. On drums, Oli Jefferson never went anywhere near a four-on-the-floor beat as he wove a rich sound tapestry on his 1930s’ vintage kit.

This is Plant’s Black Country Grand Union Station (with Alison Krauss of course, Plant’s former singing partner). On this form, no other band could touch them, the dynamics, the imagination and the prowess on show (but never overplayed).

The music was full of twists and turns, often evoking a powerful Spanish, Middle Eastern sound. Plant exemplified this, using that big voice of his with the care of a maestro, often cruising with power in reserve.

It was a treat to hear Moby Grape’s West Coast gem It’s a Beautiful Day Today, which sounded fresh and full of promise (sadly no room in the set for Naked If I Want To, but I can dream).

Occasionally Plant let loose and showed us his Zepp chops, with the band seemingly pinching themselves. The Led Zeppelin covers (Ramble On, Four Sticks, Friends and The Rain Song) were tastefully done and arranged to fit into the style of the set, not stand out. Each was treated to a warm welcome and The Rain Song particularly glistened with mystery.

To be critical, a third of the songs were the same as his April 2022 performance at the Grand Opera House, York, and the encores added nothing new musically. The band appear to be playing a very similar set each night on this tour, so there is none of the jeopardy you might get seeing Dylan.

Instead, you get a supremely well-executed set of songs that seem to have been worked through down to the last intake of breath. The 95-minute set flew by: the rich cherry on a fine year for live music in York.

Review by Paul Rhodes

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More Things To Do in York and beyond as the festivities spread good cheer. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 55, from The York Press

Fergus Powell’s Moonface Martin, left, and Adam Price’s Billy Crocker in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Felix Wahlberg

SEEING out the old year, welcoming in the new, Charles Hutchinson refuses to advocate putting your feet up in the festive season.

All aboard for the last chances to see: Pick Me Up Theatre in Anything Goes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today to December 30

CLIMB aboard the S.S. American as it sets sail in Andrew Isherwood’s all-singing, all-dancing staging of Anything Goes, Cole Porter’s swish musical, charting the madcap antics of a motley crew leaving New York for London on a Christmas-themed steamer.

Meet nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather) and lovelorn Wall Street broker Billy Crocker (Adam Price), who has stowed away on board in pursuit of his beloved Hope Harcourt (Claire Gordon-Brown). Alas, Hope is engaged to fellow passenger Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Neil Foster). Enter second-rate conman Moonface Martin (Fergus Powell) to join Reno in trying to help Billy win the love of his life. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Frances Marshall of History Riot: Presenting Tales From The Trail at York Castle Museum

Family-friendly performances of the week: History Riot in Tales From The Trail, York Castle Museum, Eye of York, York, today (27/12/2025) to January 3, except January 1, between 10am to 5pm daily

HISTORY Riot return to York Castle Museum with Tales From The Trail, an array of family-friendly performances, with start times being advertised at the admissions desk each day. Join two madcap Victorian characters for an urgent shopping trip on the Victorian street of Kirkgate this festive season.

Cue mystery, silliness and stories of the variety of items that they pick up along the way. Entry is included in general admission at https://beta.yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk/york-castle-museum/admission-tickets.

The billboard poster for The Tubs & Bull’s co-headline show at The Crescent, York

Double bill of the week: The Tubs and Bull, The Crescent, York, tonight, 7.30pm

IN A Please Please You Seasonal Rock’n’Roll Party, The Tubs and Bull team up for a co-headline show, featuring Dan Lucas at the double, complemented by some friends DJing in the bar.

Cardiff indie rock band The Tubs comprises Lucas, Owen Williams, Max Warren and Taylor Stewart; York alt. rock band Bull features songwriting frontman Tom Beer, guitarist Lucas, drummer Tom Gabbatiss, bassist Kai West and keyboard player and vocalist Holly Beer. Box office: thecrescentyork.com/events/the-tubs-bull/.

Aoife Kenny’s Aurora and Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Still time for pantomime: Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal, until January 4

YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster directs returnee dame Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie, Jocasta Almgill’s Carabosse, Tommy Carmichael’s Jangles, CBeebies star Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam, Aoife Kenny’s Aurora and Harrogate actor Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia in Sleeping Beauty.

Written as ever by Paul Hendy, the Theatre Royal’s festive extravaganza is co-produced once more with award-winning Evolution Productions. Look out too for Kris Madden’s pyrotechnics: he indeed the fire starter, twisting, turning fire starter. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Turning ugly: Luke Attwood’s Melody Hard-Up and Brandon Nicholson’s Harmony Hard-Up in UK Productions’ Cinderella at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Still time for more pantomime: Cinderella, Grand Opera House, York, until January 4

CORONATION Street star Lisa George’s Fairy Godmother leads the Grand Opera House pantomime cast, joined by Tobias Turley (ITV’s Mamma Mia I Have A Dream) as Prince Charming and West End star Rachel Grundy (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legally Blonde) as Cinderella in UK Productions’ Cinderella, scripted by award-winning Jon Monie. 

Directed by Ellis Kerkhoven, West End drag stars Luke Attwood and Brandon Nicholson double down on the rather saucy mayhem in Ugly Sisters mode, joined in the capering comedy corner by Jimmy Bryant’s Buttons. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The creative team behind The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz at Castle Howard. Picture: Tom Arber

The Yellow Brick enters the home straight: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Castle Howard, near York, until January 4

CASTLE Howard is transformed for winter into an immersive Christmas experience, dressed in set pieces, decorations, floristry, projections, lighting and sound for The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz.

Created by CLW Event Design, headed up by Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie, the show-stopping Emerald City High Street in the Long Gallery is the highlight, with life-size fabricated shop fronts inspired by York’s Shambles, while the 28ft Christmas tree sparkles in the Great Hall. Leeds theatre company Imitating The Dog provides the spectacular projections and soundscapes. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.

Snow show in A Winter Adventure at JORVIK Viking Centre

Deep freeze: A Winter Adventure at JORVIK Viking Centre, York, until February 22 2026

A WINTER Adventure brings a new wintery experience to the underground York visitor attraction, where the 10th century Vikings are celebrating Yule with natural decorations hung on their houses. For the first time, visitors can peer through Bright White’s time portal into the blacksmith’s house excavated on this site in the 1970s, seeing what it would have been like to live there.

They will then board a time sleigh to travel back in time around the backstreets, transformed by Wetherby set dressers EPH Creative, who have covered streets and houses in a thick blanket of snow, bathed in cold blue lighting. Pre-booking is essential for all visits to JORVIK at jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk.

Fever presents: Candlelight: Best Of Bridgerton On Strings, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, January 3, 6.30pm; Candlelight: Tribute To Queen & More, 8.30pm

DEAREST  Reader, Lady Whistledown has given her verdict: the event of the season is here! Bathed in the soft glow of candlelight, favourite melodies from Shondaland’s Bridgerton series on Netflix are re-imagined by the New World String Quartet in a magical 60-minute performance of Candlelight: Best Of Bridgerton On Strings.

Later that same night, Candlelight presents the music of Queen and More in a live, hour-long multi-sensory musical experience featuring We Will Rock You, Somebody To Love, Radio Ga Ga, Killer Queen, We Are The Champions, Another One Bites the Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody and many more. Box office: support.feverup.com.

Ancient Hostility: Passionate political and personal song in harmony at Navigators Art’s A Feast Of Fools III

Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, January 4, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

On the bill will be: Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony;  North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of British folk songs;  Pefkin, whose ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

Pickering Musical Society’s principal panto players for Snow White at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

First panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and writer by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes.

The show features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 52, from Gazette & Herald

Wanderful: Lisa George’s Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Grand Opera House, York

CHRISTMAS music and pantomimes aplenty dominate Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for December fun-filled fulfilment. 

Having a ball: Cinderella, Grand Opera House, York, until January 4 2026

CORONATION Street star Lisa George’s Fairy Godmother leads the cast of Tobias Turley’s Prince Charming, Bradley Judge’s Dandini and West End actress Rachel Grundy’s Cinderella in UK Productions’ Cinderella, scripted by Jon Monie. 

Directed by Ellis Kerkhoven, West End drag stars Luke Attwood and Brandon Nicholson bring the mayhem in Ugly Sisters mode as Harmony and Melody Hard-Up, joined in the comedy corner by Jimmy Bryant’s Buttons. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Radiant: Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

No sleep till January 4: Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal

YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster directs returnee dame Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie, Jocasta Almgill’s Carabosse, Tommy Carmichael’s Jangles, CBeebies star Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam, Aoife Kenny’s Aurora and Harrogate actor Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia in Sleeping Beauty.

Written once more by Paul Hendy, the Theatre Royal’s festive extravaganza is co-produced with award-winning Evolution Productions, the same team behind All New Adventures Of Peter Pan, Jack And The Beanstalk and last winter’s Aladdin. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. 

Hooked: Jamie McKeller savours the role of Captain Hook in Rowntree Players’ The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan at the JoRo. Picture: Matt Hillier

Putting ‘Pan’ into pantomime: Rowntree Players in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Wednesday to Friday; Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm

HEAD to the fantastical world of Neverland in Howard Ella and Gemma McDonald’s pantomime for Rowntree Players. Cling on to your seats as Hannah King’s Peter Pan and the Lost Boys do battle with Jamie McKeller’s rather nasty Captain Hook and his even nastier bunch of pirates.

Fear not as Michael Cornell’s Nanny McFlea and McDonald’s ever-eager apprentice Barkly are on hand to assist in the most ridiculous of ways. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Paul Toy: Directing York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust in A Nativity For York

Nativity play of the week: York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust in A Nativity For York, All Saints Church, North Street, York, tonight, 7.30pm

USING medieval scripts from the York Cycle of Mystery Plays and music both medieval and folk in style, Paul Toy’s community cast tells a familiar story of a marvellous birth, threaded with humour, reverence and, sadly, hatred, where candlelight emphasises the constant struggle of the light  against the darkness.

The performance lasts one hour with no interval. Refreshments will be available. Box office: 033 666 3366, ympst.co.uk/york-nativity or on the door.

Kate Rusby: Winter wonderland of South Yorkshire folk carols at York Barbican

Alternative carol concert of the week: Kate Rusby, Christmas Is Merry, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7pm

BARNSLEY folk nightingale Kate Rusby plays her regular festive fixture at York Barbican, returning with her folk band and the Brass Boys for two sets of jolly carols from South Yorkshire’s pubs, Christmas chart chestnuts and original winter songs.

Christmas Is Merry marks her 20th anniversary of these winter warmers, drawing on her six studio Christmas albums: 2008’s Sweet Bells, 2011’s While Mortals Sleep, 2015’s The Frost Is All Over, 2017’s Angels And Men, 2019’s Holly Head and 2023’s Light Years. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Musical director Dylan Allcock in rehearsal with cast members Emilio Encinoso-Gil and Hannah Christina for Elizabeth Godber’s Jingle All The Way at Pocklington Arts Centre

Deer duo of the week: Jingle All The Way, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow to December 23; relaxed performance on December 14, 1.30pm

FROM the team behind The Elves And The Shoemaker Save Christmas and Jack Frost’s Christmas Wish comes Elizabeth Godber’s latest Christmas family adventure, co-directed by Jane Thornton with musical direction by Dylan Allcock.

Reindeer siblings Rex (Emilio Encinoso-Gil) and Rosie(Hannah Christina) are reluctant to start at a new school just before Christmas, especially when that school is the East Riding Reindeer Academy, home of supreme athletes. Although Rosie fits in quickly, Rex struggles to find where he belongs, but a school-wide competition might change all that. Santa has a position free on his sleigh squad; could this be Rex’s big chance? Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Setting sail in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes: Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather, second from left) and her Angels, Sophie Curry, left, Chloe Branton and Sophie Kemp. Picture: Felix Wahlberg

Getting a kick out of you musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Anything Goes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday to December 30

DITCH York’s December chills and climb aboard the S.S. American as it sets sail in Andrew Isherwood’s all-singing, all-dancing staging of Anything Goes!, Cole Porter’s swish musical, charting the madcap antics of a motley crew leaving New York for London on a Christmas-themed steamer.

Meet nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather) and lovelorn Wall Street broker Billy Crocker (Adam Price), who has stowed away on board in pursuit of his beloved Hope Harcourt (Claire Gordon-Brown). Alas, Hope is engaged to fellow passenger Sir Evelyn Oakleigh (Neil Foster). Enter second-rate conman Moonface Martin (Fergus Powell) to join Reno in trying to help Billy win the love of his life. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Swinton & District Excelsior Band: Festive cheer at Milton Rooms, Malton

Afternoon of festive music and joy: Swinton & District Excelsior Band’s Christmas Spectacular, Milton Rooms, Malton, December 14, 2pm

THIS musical matinee with the Swinton & District Excelsior Band features the senior band, training band and beginners’ group, who perform a joyful mix of carols and seasonal favourites with festive cheer for all the family. A raffle and retiring collection will boost band funds. Entry is free but donations are welcome at the close. To book, go to: ticketsource.co.uk/swinton-district-excelsior-band/t-nolgkxa.

Bill Scott & Friends: In concert at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

Yuletide Tales of the week: Bill Scott & Friends, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, December 17, 7.30pm

THIS Christmas celebration “in harmony with a difference” comes to Pickering for the first time as vocal quartet Bill Scott, Lesley Machen, Jan Burtenshaw & Tim Tubbs perform a seasonal programme of carols, songs, poems and readings in every mood, from sacred, secular and lyrical to comic, sad and joyous.

Whether moved by the solemn beauty of a traditional carol or lifted by a light-hearted poem, this Yuletide fusion of music and tales promises to be a magical gathering. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk/events/yuletide-tales/.

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Grand Opera House launches ticket sale for 2026 panto The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook

The Grand Opera House poster for 2026 pantomime The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook

THE Grand Opera House pantomime for next winter will be The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook, setting sail under UK Productions livery in York from December 5 2026 to January 3 2027.

Join Peter Pan, Hook, Smee, Tinker Bell, Emily Darling and Ethel the Mermaid on a new adventure full of audience interaction, flying effects, giggles galore and a snappy crocodile.

Life has been smooth sailing for Peter Pan since he defeated Captain Hook, or so he thought. Whispers are spreading that the notorious Hook survived those stormy seas and is out for revenge. Could it be true? Watch out…he might be right behind you in this action-packed adventure.

“Get ready for gravity-defying flying scenes, stunning choreography and mind- blowing special effects that will leave you gasping,” says the Grand Opera House show announcement. “Pirate sword fights, crocodile chases and jaw-dropping stunts bring Neverland to life like you’ve never seen before!

“Bursting with hilarious jokes, show-stopping songs and non-stop action, this is the pantomime event of the year – and you won’t want to miss it.”

Star casting will be announced, but for early birds who want the worm, tickets go on sale today for ATG+ card holders and general sale on Tuesday at agtickets.com/york. The early bird offer will run until February 1. 

THE Grand Opera House pantomime for next winter will be The Further Adventures Of Peter Pan: The Return Of Captain Hook, setting sail in York from December 5 2026 to January 3 2027.

Join Peter Pan, Hook, Smee, Tinker Bell, Emily Darling and Ethel the Mermaid on a new adventure full of audience interaction, flying effects, giggles galore and a snappy crocodile.

Life has been smooth sailing for Peter Pan since he defeated Captain Hook, or so he thought. Whispers are spreading that the notorious Hook survived those stormy seas and is out for revenge. Could it be true? Watch out…he might be right behind you in this action-packed adventure.

“Get ready for gravity-defying flying scenes, stunning choreography and mind- blowing special effects that will leave you gasping,” says the Grand Opera House show announcement. “Pirate sword fights, crocodile chases and jaw-dropping stunts bring Neverland to life like you’ve never seen before!

“Bursting with hilarious jokes, show-stopping songs and non-stop action, this is the pantomime event of the year – and you won’t want to miss it.”

Star casting will be announced but for early birds who want the worm, tickets go on sale today for ATG+ card holders and general sale on Tuesday at agtickets.com/york. The early bird offer will run until February 1. 

Musical actor Bradley Judge heads from Leeds to York to play Dandini in Cinderella

Bradley Judge

LEEDS lad Bradley Judge completes the Grand Opera House principal cast for Cinderella at the Grand Opera House, York, in the role of Dandini. 

Bradley has wowed audiences in the West End and on the regional circuit in Sister Act, Hairspray, Joseph And the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Grease and pantomimes such as Aladdin.

Bradley says: “I’m delighted to be appearing at the Grand Opera House over the festive period as Dandini in the fabulous Cinderella!  As a Yorkshire lad, performing so close to home gives me so much joy and pride. Let’s have a reet good Yorkshire Christmas!”

Judge is performing in Ellis Kerkhoven’s star-studded by Lisa George (Coronation Street) as Fairy Godmother, Tobias Turley (ITV’s Mamma Mia I Have A Dream) as Prince Charming, and West End actress Rachel Grundy (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legally Blonde and Starlight Express) as Cinderella.

Bringing the mayhem are West End drag duo Luke Attwood and Brandon Nicholson as naughty Ugly Sisters Harmony and Melody Hard-Up, joined in the comedy corner by Jimmy Bryant’s Buttons.

Cinderella runs until Sunday, January 4 2026. Box office: atgtickets.com/york. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Director Ellis Kerkhoven: back story

AWARD-WINNING theatre director, writer and lyricist. After graduating from Guildford School of Acting, he has built a vibrant career across traditional and immersive theatre, committed to developing his passion for collaborative, ensemble-based theatre making.

Credits include: co-stage director and creative direction for Opening Ceremony of Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo; associate director, resident director and performance-capture director for Disney – The Castle (Riyadh Season, Saudi Arabia); director & script adaptor of ETTIE award-winning and OFFIE-nominated new musical Stranger Sings! (Southwark Playhouse, The Vaults, London & UK Tour).

Pantomime direction & dramaturgy includes: Beauty And The Beast and Jack And The Beanstalk (co-director, Hereford Courtyard – Best Direction winner and Best Script nominations at British Panto Awards).

Collaborations with Singapore Repertory Theatre: Charlotte’s Web (Straits Times Award nomination for Best Play); Nursery Crimes and Playmakers.

For more than a decade, he has written and directed large-scale, original musicals for British Youth Music Theatre, nurturing the next generation of performers and creatives. Credits include: Nightshade, The Midnight Flower Press, ALICE In Wanderlust and Maelstrom – Legends Of The Underworld.

“I am delighted to be directing Cinderella this year here in York,” he says.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond the panoply of pantomimes. Here’s Hutch’s festive List No. 52, from The York Press

Wanderful: Coronation Street star Lisa George’s Fairy Godmother in Cinderella at the Grand Opera House, York

CHRISTMAS music and pantomimes aplenty dominate Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for December fun-filled fulfilment. 

Having a ball: Cinderella, Grand Opera House, York, today until January 4 2026

LEEDS lad Bradley Judge’s Dandini joins the star-studded cast of Lisa George (Coronation Street) as Fairy Godmother, Tobias Turley (ITV’s Mamma Mia I Have A Dream) as Prince Charming and West End star Rachel Grundy (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Legally Blonde) as Cinderella in UK Productions’ Cinderella, scripted by Jon Monie. 

Directed by Ellis Kerkhoven, West End drag stars Luke Attwood and Brandon Nicholson bring the mayhem in Ugly Sisters mode as Harmony and Melody Hard-Up, joined in the comedy corner by Jimmy Bryant’s Buttons. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Marian Consort: Performing with English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble at York Early Music Christmas Festival on December 8

Festival of the week: York Early Music Christmas Festival, mainly at National Centre for Early Music, York, until December 14

HIGHLIGHTS at this Yuletide feast of music spanning the centuries, complemented by contemporary tunes, include Yorkshire Bach Choir & Yorkshire Baroque Soloists performing Hayden’s The Creation tonight and The Chiaroscuro Quartet and Consone String Quartet uniting tomorrow for Mendelssohn’s Octet in E flat major Op 20.

The Marian Consort teams up with the English Cornett & Sackbut Ensemble in Looking Bach To Palestrina on December 8 and Fieri Consort Singers and Camerata Øresund present Christmas Cantatas by Christopher Graupner and English Tavern Songs on December 12. Among further festival performers will be mezzo-soprano Helen Charlston, Dowland’s Foundry, Apollo5, Lowe Ensemble, Irish folk singer Cara Dillon and Joglaresa. For the full programme and tickets, go to: ncem.co.uk. Box office: 01904 658338.

York Theatre Royal’s pantomime cast in rehearsal for Sleeping Beauty. Picture: SR Taylor Photography

No sleep till January 4: Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal

YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster directs returnee dame Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie, Jocasta Almgill’s Carabosse, Tommy Carmichael’s Jangles, CBeebies star Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam, Aoife Kenny’s Aurora and Harrogate actor Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael of Moravia in Sleeping Beauty.

Written once more by Paul Hendy, the Theatre Royal’s festive extravaganza is co-produced with award-winning Evolution Productions, the same team behind All New Adventures Of Peter Pan, Jack And The Beanstalk and last winter’s Aladdin. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. 

Hannah King’s Peter Pan in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Rowntree Players’ festive visit to Neverland

Putting ‘Pan’ into pantomime: Rowntree Players in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, today, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2pm and 7.30pm

JOIN Wendy, John and Michael as they fly with Peter Pan to the fantastical world of Neverland in Howard Ella and Gemma McDonald’s pantomime for Rowntree Players. Cling on to your seats as Peter and the Lost Boys do battle with Jamie McKeller’s rather nasty Captain Hook and his even nastier bunch of pirates. Fear not as Nanny McFlea and her ever eager apprentice Barkly are on hand to assist in the most ridiculous of ways. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Bec Silk’s Robin Hood and writer Martin Vander Weyer’s Dame Daphne in 1812 Theatre Company’s pantomime Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure

Ryedale pantomime opening of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure, Helmsley Arts Centre, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Sunday, 2.30pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; December 14, 2.30pm

HELMSLEY Arts Centre artistic director Natasha Jones directs company-in-residence 1812 Theatre Company in this traditional panto with a Knock Knock Joke Contest, scripted by dame Martin Vander Weyer.

Robin Hood will be rescuing the lovely Maid Marian from the wicked Sheriff of Pickering, while Black Swan landlady Dame Daphne will lead the merriment and mayhem. Knock Knock! Who’s there? Daphne! Daphne who? Daph-nitely book early to avoid disappointment on 01439 771700 or at helmsleyarts.co.uk. 

Singer Dene Michael, dressed as a pineapple, in the finale to Kim Hopkins’s documentary film Still Pushing Pineapples, showing at City Screen Picturehouse on Sunday

Documentary film screening of the week; Still Pushing Pineapples (12A), City Screen Picturehouse, York, Sunday, 5pm

BLACK Lace’s Agadoo has been  voted the most infuriating  song of all time. What happens when you are forever associated with such a Marmite hit;  what comes after fleeting fame, and what does it mean to grow old still chasing a dream?

Perennial pineapple pusher and former Yorkshire band member Dene Michael is still singing the derided party anthem across fading clubland UK: a story now told in Selby-raised  filmmaker Kim Hopkins’s  humorous, moving, warts’n’all documentary, a pineapple slice of working-class social realism wrapped inside a road movie and abiding love story. Dene Michael, Hopkins and producer Margareta Szabo will hold a post-show Q&A. Box office: picturehouses.com/cinema/city-screen-picturehouse.

 A Nativity For York director Paul Toy

Nativity play of the week: York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust in A Nativity For York, All Saints Church, North Street, York, December 10, 7.30pm

USING medieval scripts from the York Cycle of Mystery Plays and music both medieval and folk in style, Paul Toy’s community cast tells a familiar story of a marvellous birth, threaded with humour, reverence and, sadly, hatred, where candlelight emphasises the constant struggle of the light  against the darkness.

The performance lasts one hour with no interval. Refreshments will be available. Box office: 033 666 3366, ympst.co.uk/york-nativity or on the door.

Christmas will be merry for Kate Rusby at York Barbican on December 11

Carol concert of the week: Kate Rusby, Christmas Is Merry, York Barbican, December 11, 7pm

BARNSLEY folk nightingale Kate Rusby plays her regular festive fixture at York Barbican, returning with her folk band and the Brass Boys for two sets of jolly carols from South Yorkshire’s pubs, Christmas chart chestnuts and original winter songs.

Christmas Is Merry marks her 20th anniversary of these winter warmers, drawing on her six Christmas studio albums: 2008’s Sweet Bells, 2011’s While Mortals Sleep, 2015’s The Frost Is All Over, 2017’s Angels And Men, 2019’s Holly Head and 2023’s Light Years. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Hyde Family Jam’s poster for their brace of Christmas jamborees at The Crescent, York on December 11 and 12

Christmas knees-up of the week: Hyde Family Jam, The Crescent, York, December 11, 7.30pm

FRIENDS! Come celebrate another Christmas with a right thorough knees-up at The Crescent with York buskers supreme Hyde Family Jam, a traditional-looking folk band that couldn’t be less traditional. They perform  the songs they love from any decade, any genre, in any way they fancy, played as fast and loud as possible. “We call it ‘folk gone wrong’,” they say. “Expect a few special festive bonuses too!” Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Recommended but sold out already: Hyde Family Jam’s December 12 gig and The Howl & The Hum’s traditional special Crescent Christmas gig, led as ever by Sam Griffiths after leaving York and Leeds for London.

Setting sail in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Anything Goes: Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather, front centre) and her Angels, Sophie Curry, left, Chloe Branton and Sophie Kemp. Picture: Felix Wahlberg

Getting a kick out of you musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Anything Goes, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, December 12 to 30

DITCH York’s December chills and climb aboard the S.S. American as it sets sail in Andrew Isherwood’s all-singing, all-dancing staging of Anything Goes!, Cole Porter’s swish musical, charting the madcap antics of a motley crew leaving New York for London on a Christmas-themed steamer.

Meet nightclub singer/evangelist Reno Sweeney (Alexandra Mather) and lovelorn Wall Street broker Billy Crocker (Adam Price), who has stowed away on board in pursuit of his beloved Hope Harcourt (Claire Gordon-Brown). Alas, Hope is engaged to fellow passenger Sir Evelyn Oakleigh  (Neil Foster). Enter second-rate conman Moonface Martin (Fergus Powell) to join Reno in trying to help Billy win the love of his life. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Michael Ball’s poster for his Glow UK Tour 2026, taking in Yorkshire gigs at Bradford Live (September 2), Sheffield City Hall (September 5) and Hull Connexin Live (September 6), as well as York Barbican (September 12)

Concert announcement of the week: Michael Ball, Glow UK Tour, York Barbican, September 12 2026

MUSICAL star and radio and TV presenter Michael Ball will promote his 23rd solo album, Glow, on next year’s 25-date tour. “There’s probably only one thing I enjoy more than being in the studio – writing, producing and singing songs with people I love – and that’s taking it all out on the road and performing those songs as well as all the old favourites to the audiences I love,” he says. “It’s going to be an exciting year, and I can’t wait to see you all.’’ Box office: https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/michael-ball-2026/.

In Focus: The Christmas Collection at Pyramid Gallery, York, until January 12 2025

Bowl Of Apricots, acrylic painting, by Anita Klein

PYRAMID Gallery’s Christmas Collection, in Stonegate, York, features works by London artist and printmaker Anita Klein, York ceramicist Ben Arnup, Peak District sculptor Paul Smith, South Staffordshire mosaic artist Amanda Anderson and York floral artist Lesley Birch.

Exhibiting too will be Canadian-born painter, printmaker and cartographer Mychael Barratt, Oswestry ceramicist Jacqui Atkin and Perthshire oil painter artist and printmaker Ian MacIntyre, complemented by bird and fish blown glass by Bruce Parks, bronzes by David Meredith, Nerikromi vessels by York ceramist Patricia Qua and studio jewellery for the Christmas season by 50 British makers.

Curator Terry Brett, who has owned the gallery for 31 years, has invited Anita Klein to fill the walls with 15 linocut original prints, new aquatint etchings and two paintings.

Bee Eater, ceramic vase, by Jacqui Atkin

“The gallery has enjoyed a long, unbroken relationship with Anita as a supplier of her extensive catalogue of prints that form a diary of her family life,” he says.

“Over the 28 years in which she has shown more than 800 different pictures at Pyramid Gallery, we have watched her career progress to the point where Anita has become one of the most collectable printmakers in the UK. It seems very fitting that she is the main focus of the Christmas Collection.”

As well as showing new linocut prints, Anita is selling copies of her book Out Of The Ordinary – 40 Years Of Print Making, featuring illustrations of 550 of her best-loved prints, published by Eames Fine Art.

The Christmas Collection at Pyramid Gallery is open 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, 11am to 4pm, Sundays, until January 12 2026. Closed on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.