“I adore playing the loveable and slightly bonkers Fairy Bon Bon, so cannot wait to put on my wings once more,” says Grand Opera House-bound Dani Harmer
OUT with the old, in with the new, for the Grand Opera House pantomime in York, following the exit of Berwick Kaler and co after three years.
In come BAFTA award-winning Dani Harmer, Phil Reid, Leon Craig, Phil Atkinson and David Alock to star in Beauty And The Beast, UK Productions’ third panto at the Cumberland Street theatre, from December 7 to January 5. Further star-studded casting for Belle and the Beast will be announced shortly.
Best known for playing the title role in the CBBC series Tracey Beaker and its sequel Tracey Beaker Returns, from the age of 13, and later My Mum Tracey Beaker in 2021, Harmer will wave her wand as Fairy Bon Bon.
“I can’t think of a better place to be spending the Christmas period,” says Dani Harmer of her return to York
Bracknell-born Harmer, now 35, has appeared in numerous pantomimes and West End musical theatre shows, including playing the title role in York Barbican’s 2012 panto, Cinderella, when she had to miss two performances that clashed with her commitments competing in BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing that season.
In the “craziest fortnight of my life”, she had to combine rehearsing each morning at the Barbican and spending each afternoon and evening at the University of York, practising routines with partner Vincent Simone, first for the semi-final, then three for the final: a tango, jive and show dance (Bohemian Rhapsody). “It’s been the best thing I have ever done,” she said at the time.
Earlier that year at York Barbican too, she appeared as Dorothy in The Wizard Of Oz, returning there in March 2015 for two performances as Beauty in the Easter pantomime Beauty And The Beast. In between, she played not-so-innocent Janet in The Rocky Horror Show at Leeds Grand Theatre in June 2013
Dani Harmer in the role of Beauty in Beauty And The Beast at York Barbican in March 2015
Now she will star in Beauty And The Beast in York for a second time, switching from Beauty to Fairy Bon Bon. “I’m super excited to be back in my favourite panto of all time, Beauty And The Beast,” says Dani.
“For those that don’t know, I have always been completely obsessed with this story, so it is a real joy for me to be bringing it to life on stage. And I adore playing the loveable and slightly bonkers Fairy Bon Bon, so cannot wait to put on my wings once more.
“And even more exciting to be coming to the gorgeous city of York! I can’t think of a better place to be spending the Christmas period. So, bring on the Yorkshire puddings and I really hope you enjoy our magical beauty of a show.”
Phil Reid’s Louis la Plonk
Joining Dani will be award-winning comedian Phil Reid as Louis la Plonk and panto dame extraordinaire and musical theatre star Leon Craig as his larger-than-life mum, Polly la Plonk, after West End appearances in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Disney’s Aladdin.
Musical theatre star Phil Atkinson, from The Bodyguard, Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Little Shop Of Horrors, will play the dastardly Hugo Pompidou, with David Alcock, from The Mousetrap and the BBC’s SAS: Rogue Heroes, as his assistant in villainy, Clement.
Producers UK Productions will be “pulling out all of the stops to bring their award-winning version of this timeless tale to York”. Managing director and producer Martin Dodd says: “We are delighted to be returning to the beautiful Grand Opera House and even more so that we can bring one of our favourite productions for the Christmas season.
Phil Atkinson’s dastardly Hugo Pompidou
“The show is filled with comedy, show-stopping tunes, a cast of top musical performers, magic and an award-winning script by Jon Monie [prize winner for Best Script in the 2019 Great British Pantomime Awards]. It’s a fantastic show for young and old and one that is sure to make your Christmas complete.”
Grand Opera House theatre director Laura McMillan says: “This year our Christmas is set to be a cross between a hilarious pantomime and a spectacular West End musical, really something for everyone.
“The audience are in for a festive treat, with a show packed full of award-winning talent and stars from the West End. There’s no doubt Beauty And The Beast will be a huge hit with something for all the family.”
Expect “larger-than-life characters, an unmissable transformation moment, slide-splitting comedy and stunning sets and costumes”, promises the panto press release.
On duty: Georgia Lennon as Paula Pofriki and Luke Baker as Zack Mayo in An Officer And A Gentleman The Musical
YORKSHIREMAN Luke Baker, set to play the title role in An Officer And A Gentleman The Music in York next week, remembers early career advice from his father.
“Born in Leeds and brought up in Wakefield, when I was 15, I started doing shows at the Wakefield Theatre Royal summer school with director Louise Denison, who must be solely responsible for half of the West End now,” he recalls.
“I grew up playing rugby, at scrum half for Sandal, and played football and did gymnastics too. I used to go down to Thorne Park to play, and had played for various football clubs when I decided to start concentrating on acting.
“When I told my father, he said, ‘to be honest, you’ve got more chance of singing at Wembley than playing there’!”
Two years at Leeds College of Music – now Leeds Conservatoire – from 2005 to 2007 were followed by a BTech in musical theatre at ArtsEd, in London, graduating in 2100. “You can train anywhere and you will get similar training, and your ability will speak for itself, but it’s about the impact of the contacts you can make when training in London: the directors, casting directors, choreographers and agents.
“They would come and do Q&As with us, as well as work with us, and then the agents would come to the full-scale musicals that we’d do to end the year. The next day you’d be called to the head’s office and you’d be given a Post-it with the name of an agent on it.”
Luke met no fewer than ten agents. “You have to suss out if they want to work with you, if you want to work with them, and it then boils to if you think you can work with them,” he says.
He duly signed up with Belfield & Ward. “I’ve been with them ever since, so I made the right choice. People tend to change agents after five years, but I’m loyal – and maybe that’s a Yorkshire thing.”
Now 36, he is working with a fellow Yorkshireman for An Officer And A Gentleman: director Nikolai Foster, who grew up in North Yorkshire before training at the Drama Centre, London, and The Crucible, Sheffield.
Foster is artistic director of the Curve, Leicester, the producers of the February 23 to November 16 2024 tour of the musical adaptation of Taylor Hackford’s 1982 all-American film starring Richard Gere and Debra Winger.
“I’ve worked with Nikolai quite a few times,” says Luke. “I first came across him when I was graduating from ArtsEd, and he would have been among the directors who came to see one of our shows.
Off duty: Yorkshire actor Luke Baker
“I did the second UK tour with him of All The Fun Of The Fair, when we visited the Bradford Alhambra and Sheffield Lyceum, and last year I played Tony, Billy’s brother, for him in Billy Elliot in Leicester.
“It was always a dream to play that role. So many people had said to me, ‘you’ve got to play Tony, if you get the chance’ – but I was always doing something else when the role came up in the West End. It was a dream opportunity to do it with Nikolai at Leicester, one to tick off on the wish list.”
Foster has reassembled much of his Billy Elliot production team for An Officer And A Gentleman, including musical director Christopher Duffy and choreographer Joanna Goodwin (assistant director for Billy Elliot), so they were familiar with Luke’s pedigree too.
His audition process began in the customary modern fashion of submitting a tape. “I sang Bon Jovi’s Blaze Of Glory, my first song in the show, and then they call you for an in-person audition at Pineapple Dance Studios, where I did the songs and the scenes. One tape, one live audition, and I got the part,” he says.
“For some shows I’ve done ten rounds of auditions over three and a half months, and then you might not get it, but some things go like that. It’s all part of it.
“It’s different needs for different shows. Like I did ten rounds to play Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys, and by then everyone left could do the role, but that show is a product that has to be signed off by the American producers and everyone has to fit with everyone in the cast in a specific way.
“I think it suits me better to be creative in a role, either creating a new part or doing a part where I can do my character background work and think ‘what can I do with this role?’.”
That applies to his casting as fearless young officer candidate Zack Mayo opposite Georgia Lennon’s fiery-spirited Paula Pofriki in Douglas Day Stewart & Sharleen Cooper Cohen’s story of love, courage and redemption.
“I’ve been lucky to be able to be creative in the role, and Nikolai is the kind of director who wants it to be your version. It’s the same show as it was when first done six years ago, but it’s never final; it’s forever growing and changing, like using different choreography.”
What can next week’s York audiences expect, aside from George Dyer’s musical arrangements of Eighties’ pop bangers by Bon Jovi, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper and the film’s signature song, (Love Lift Us) Up Where We Belong. “Like the film, it’s a love story, but it’s darker than people remember. It’s not like Top Gun!” says Luke.
An Officer And A Gentleman The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, June 4 to 9, 8pm, Tuesday, 7.30pm, Wednesday to Saturday, 2.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york
Into the woods: George Stagnell as Dennis “Hank” Haydock in In The Footsteps of Hank Haydock, premiered at Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday
WARTIME memoirs and Catholic women trailblazers, open studios and open-air Status Quo lead off Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations.
Double bill of the week: Everwitch Theatre, Bomb Happy D-Day 80, In The Footsteps Of Hank Haydock (film premiere) and Sleep/Re-live/Wake/Repeat (theatre), Helmsley Arts Centre, June 1, 7.30pm
TO commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day, Bomb Happy playwright Helena Fox has created two poignant, lyrical new works telling the stories of two Yorkshire Normandy veterans from conversations and interviews she held with them in 2016.
Featuring York actor George Stagnell, the short film In the Footsteps of Hank Haydock: A Walk In The Park was shot on location in the Duncombe Park woodland with its lyrical account of Coldstream Guardsman Dennis “Hank” Haydock’s experiences in his own words. In Sleep/Re-Live/Wake/Repeat, playwright Helena Fox and vocalist Natasha Jones bring to life the first-hand experiences of D-Day veteran Ken “Smudger” Smith and the lifelong impact of PTSD and sleep trauma through spoken word and a cappella vocals. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Mary Ward (Augsberg portrait): Foundress of the Bar Convent, as featured in the Trailblazers audio trail
York exhibition of the week; Trailblazers of the Bar Convent, Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, Blossom Street, York, until September 30, 10am to 5pm; last entry 4pm
AS part of the citywide York Trailblazers sculpture trail, the Trailblazers of the Bar Convent audio trail uncovers tories behind key characters down the years at the oldest surviving Catholic convent in Great Britain.
Using QR codes, visitors will discover more about the trailblazing women whose bravery and determination made history locally, nationally and around the world. Among them are foundress Mary Ward, who believed that girls deserved an equal education to boys; Mother Superior Ann Aspinal, who determined to build a secret chapel totally hidden from the outside world, and Sister Gregory Kirkus, who set up the convent’s first ever museum. Tickets: barconvent.co.uk.
Kathyrn Williams & Withered Hand: Heading to Selby Town Hall tonight
Duo of the week: Kathryn Williams & Withered Hand, Selby Town Hall, tonight, 8pm
KATHRYN Williams is the Liverpool-born, Newcastle-based, Mercury Music Prize-nominated singer-songwriter with 16 albums to her name. Withered Hand is singer-songwriter Dan Willson (CORRECT), from the Scottish underground scene.
They first met in 2019 in an Edinburgh Book Festival spiegeltent, prompting Williams to tweet Willson: “What kind of songs would we write together and what would they sound like?” The results can be heard on the album Willson Williams, released on One Little Independent Records, and in concert in Selby. Box office: selbytownhall.co.uk.
The poster for the three-day Drawsome! 2024 festival in York
York festival of the week: Drawsome! 2024, Young Thugs Studio, May 31; The Crescent, June 1; Arts Barge, Foss Basin, York, June 2
DRAWSOME! combines exhibitions and workshops with live music each evening. Things Found and Made is exhibiting at The Golden Ball, Cromwell Road, from May 31 and Greek-Australian graphic novel artist Con Chrisoulis for one night only at Young Thugs Studio, Ovington Terrace, on May 31 from 7pm, when Ichigo Evil, Plantfood, Mickey Nomimono and Drooligan will be performing.
On June 1, Bonneville, Lou Terry, Captain Starlet and Leafcutter John play at The Crescent community venue, where workshops run from 1 to 4pm, featuring Bits and Bots Recycled Robot, with Tom Brader, and Creative Visible Mending, with Anna Pownall, complemented by Zine Stalls hosted by Things Found and Made, Adam Keay and Teresa Stenson.
On June 2, the Arts Barge presents Dana Gavanski, Kindelan, Moongate and We Are Hannah, after three 11am to 2pm workshops: Poem Fishing with Becca Drake and Jessie Summerhayes, Adana Letterpress and lino printing, and Screenprinting with Kai West.
Sarah Sharpe: Opening her studio at Viriditas Nook, Mill Beck House, 2 Pinewood, Norton, Malton, for North Yorkshire Open Studios
North Yorkshire Open Studios 2024, June 1 and 2, 8 and 9, 10am to 5pm
STRETCHING from the coast to the moors, dales and beyond, 169 artists and makers from North Yorkshire’s artistic community invite you to look inside their studios over the next two weekends.
The event is organised by the artist-run collective North Yorkshire Open Studios, which supports painters, sculptors, printmakers, jewellers, ceramicists and photographers. Taking part in the Malton area will be Angela Cole (Westow), Catriona Stewart (Norton), Sandra Oakins (Norton), Jo Naden (Scagglethorpe), Sarah Sharpe (Norton) and Jonathan Moss (Malton). For full details, go to: nyos.org.uk. A full brochure is available.
Status Quo: Francis Rossi, left, leads his legendary band at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Coastal gig of the week: Status Quo, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 2, gates 6pm
DENIM rock legends Status Quo open the 2024 season at Scarborough Open Air Theatre, where they played previously in 2013, 2014 and 2016. Led as ever by founder Francis Rossi, who turns 75 today, they must pick their set from 64 British hit singles, more than an any other band. The support act will be The Alarm. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com/statusquo.
Georgia Lennon as Paula Pokrifki and Luke Baker as Zack Mayo in An Officer And A Gentleman The Musical. Picture: Marc Brenner
Musical of the week: An Officer And A Gentleman The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, June 4 to 8, 8pm, Tuesday, 7.30pm, Wednesday to Saturday, plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
NORTH Yorkshireman Nikolai Foster directs Leeds-born actor Luke Baker as fearless young officer candidate Zack Mayor in the Curve, Leicester touring production of An Officer And A Gentleman.
Once an award-winning 1982 Taylor Hackford film, now Douglas Day Stewart’s story of love, courage and redemption comes re-booted with George Dyer’s musical theatre arrangements and orchestrations of pop bangers by Bon Jovi, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper, Blondie and the signature song (Love Lift Us) Up Where We Belong. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Graffiti Classics!: “Making classical music wickedly funny and fantastically exhilarating” at Milton Rooms, Malton
Breaking boundaries: Graffiti Classics!, Milton Rooms, Malton, June 14, 8pm
GRAFFITI Classics! is not only a classical concert but also a gypsy-folk romp, an opera, a stand-up comedy set and dance show rolled into one uplifting, virtuosic experience.
Bursting the “elitist boundaries of the traditional string quartet”, Graffiti Classics! embraces Beethoven to bluegrass, baroque to pop, Mozart to Elvis, Strauss to Saturday Night Fever, as 16 strings, eight dancing feet and four voices combine with one aim: “to make classical music wickedly funny and fantastically exhilarating for everyone, young and old”. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Jeanette Hunter’s Wicked Witch, right, in rehearsal for York Musical Theatre Company’s The Wizard Of Oz with Daan Janssen’s Lion, left, Rachel Higgs’s Scarecrow, Zander Fick’s Tin Man, Sadie Sorensen’s Dorothy and Toto puppeteer Adam Gill
FOOD for thought for the cultural week ahead, from the Yellow Brick Road to Heaven revisited, a foodie festival to Laurie Lee, seascapes to coastal Dexys, as Charles Hutchinson reports.
Musical of the week: York Musical Theatre Company in The Wizard Of Oz, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK stage stalwart Jeanette Hunter will play a villain for the first time next week, starring as the Wicked Witch in York Musical Theatre Company’s The Wizard Of Oz.
Following the Yellow Brick Road will be Sadie Sorensen’s Dorothy, Rachel Higgs’s Scarecrow, Zander Fick’s Tin Man and Daan Janssen’s Lion, while further principal roles will go to Liz Gardner as Glinda, Marlena Kellie as Auntie Em and Martin Hunter as the Wizard. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Velma Celli’s Show Queen: Celebrating the best of London’s West End and Broadway musical theatre hits at York Theatre Royal
Cabaret celebration of the week: Velma Celli’s Show Queen, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow (23/5/2024), 7.30pm
DRAG diva Velma Celli, the alter ego of York actor Ian Stroughair, goes back to Ian’s roots in Cats, Chicago, Fame and Rent for a new celebration of the best of London’s West End and Broadway musical theatre hits.
The show “takes us to every corner of the fabulous genre, from Kander & Ebb and Lloyd Webber to Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked and Schönberg’s Les Miserables and many more,” says Velma. “Like, more than Six!”. Special guests will be burlesque star Miss Betsy Rose and belting York singer Jessica Steel. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Ferguson: Liverpool soul singer’s last album and tour at 37
Soul gig of the week: Rebecca Ferguson, Heaven Part II Tour, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm
LIVERPOOL soul singer and The X Factor alumna Rebecca Ferguson is touring her fifth and final album, Heaven Part II, released last December 12 years to the day since her debut, Heaven.
Working with new contributors and original Heaven writers and producers, Ferguson sings of love, family, joy, liberation and her journey to happiness over the past seven years. She is, however, calling time on recording and touring to “find a way to have a relationship with music which is positive”. Friday’s support acts will be York country singer Twinnie and Eloise Viola. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Malton Spring Food Lovers Festival: Look out for the festival guide and map on site
Festival of the week: Malton Spring Food Lovers Festival, Saturday, from 9am; Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, from 10am
ON the streets of “Yorkshire’s Food Capital”, Malton Food Lovers Festival celebrates Yorkshire’s supreme produce and cooking over three days of 120 artisan stalls and street food vendors, talks, tastings, chef demonstrations, brass bands and buskers, festival bar, food shops, sculpture trail, entertainment, blacksmith workshops, vintage funfair and family fun with Be Amazing Arts’ Creativitent, Environmental Art’s Creative Chaos and Magical Quests North.
The live musicians will be: Saturday, Malton White Star Band, 11am to 1pm, The Rackateers, 1pm to 3pm, and Oz Ward, 6pm to 8pm; Sunday, White Star Training Band, 11.30am to 12.30pm, and The Rackateers, 1pm to 3pm, and Monday, The Acoustic Buddies, 11am to 12pm and 2pm to 3pm. Festival entry is free.
Kirkby Soul: Playing outdoors at Hemsley Walled Garden on Saturday
Fundraiser of the week: Kirkby Soul, Helmsley Walled Garden, Helmsley, Saturday, 7.30pm
RYEDALE eight-piece band Kirkby Soul present an evening of soul music in aid of Helmsley Arts Centre and Helmsley Walled Garden. Bring chairs, cushions, blankets, dancing shoes and picnics. A paying bar will be operation in the orchid house. Come prepared for the British weather! A marquee will be erected just in case. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Anton Lesser: Performing in Red Sky At Sunrise, Laurie Lee in Words and Music at Grand Opera House, York
Literary event of the week: Red Sky At Sunrise, Laurie Lee in Words and Music, Grand Opera House, York, May 26, 7.30pm
AUTHOR Laurie Lee’s extraordinary story is told in a captivating weave of music and his own words in Red Sky At Sunrise, performed by actors Anton Lesser and Charlie Hamblett, accompanied by David Le Page’s musical programme for Orchestra Of The Swan.
Together they celebrate Lee’s engaging humour, as well as portraying his darker side, in a performance that has startling resonance with modern events, tracing Lee’s path through Cider With Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment Of War as he ended up fighting with the International Brigades against General Franco’s forces in the Spanish Civil War. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Jo’s Place, seascape, by Carolyn Coles, from her Home Is Where The Heart Is exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Exhibition launch: Carolyn Coles, Home Is Where The Heart Is, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, May 30 to August 1
CREATING atmospheric, impressionistic and abstract seascapes, South Bank Studios artist Carolyn Coles paints mostly with acrylics on stretched canvasses, using an array of techniques and implements.
Known for evoking emotional responses, Carolyn reflects her love for the Yorkshire landscape, offering a direct response to the feelings and connections to places that feel like home. Everyone is welcome at the 6pm to 9pm launch on May 30, when Carolyn will be happy to answer questions.
Dirty Ruby: Ryedale Blues’ headliners at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues presents Dirty Ruby, Milton Rooms, Malton, May 30, 8pm
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE five-piece Dirty Ruby have drawn comparisons with Seventies’ bands Stone The Crows and Vinegar Joe in their energetic, sharp-edged blues rock, combining Hammond organ and bluesy guitar with soulful lead vocals. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Dexys: Showcasing The Feminine Divine at Scarborough Spa
Coastal trip of the week: Dexys, Scarborough Spa Grand Hall, May 30, doors 7pm
AFTER playing York for the first time in their 45-year career last September, Dexys return to North Yorkshire on the latest leg of The Feminine Divine Live!
Led as ever by Kevin Rowland, Dexys open with a theatrical presentation of last year’s album, The Feminine Divine, to be followed by a second soulful set of beloved hits, from Come On Eileen and Jackie Wilson Said to The Celtic Soul Brothers and Geno. Box office: 01723 376774 or scarboroughspa.co.uk.
In Focus: The 1879 FA Cup clash of Darwen FC and the Old Etonians in The Giant Killers at Milton Rooms, Malton
The tour poster for Long Lane Theatre Club’s The Giant Killers
MANCHESTER United meet “noisy neighbours” Manchester City in the 143rd FA Cup final on Saturday, coinciding with the tour launch of a fitting theatrical tribute to the competition’s early days.
Staged by Long Lane Theatre Club, The Giant Killers tells the story of how Darwen FC came to the public’s attention in 1870s’ Lancashire to proclaim Association Football as a people’s game and not only the preserve of the upper classes.
Good news for Malton, the story of Darwen’s FA Cup clashes with the toffs of the Old Etonians is booked to appear at the Milton Rooms on July 4 (now confirmed as the date for another battle, the 2024 General Election).
The Giant Killers recounts how a ragtag bunch of mill workers in Darwen took on the amateur gentlemen’s club of the Old Etonians in the FA Cup quarter-final in 1879. The Old Etonians were winning 5-1 but Darwen rallied to force a replay after a 5-5 draw.
One replay turned into three, with one abandoned through bad light. Forced to travel to London a very expensive three times and with team members losing a day’s work, Darwen eventually succumbed 6-2, but their story of working-class men inspiring a nation enabled the top hats in football crowds to turn into ‘’a sea of flat caps’’.
Kick-off – or kick-toff! – will be at 7.30pm for Andrew Pearson-Wright & Eve Pearson-Wright’s story of how Darwen FC rose up against prevailing social prejudice and the might of the Football Association to earn a place in history as the first real ‘‘giant killers’’ in English football. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Mikron Theatre cast members Eddie Ahrens, left, Mark Emmon, Georgina Liley and Lauren Robinson: Presenting an outdoor performance of Common Ground at Scarcoft Allotments, York, on Sunday afternoon. Picture: Robling Photography
FROM land access tales to the Yellow Brick Road, wonderful words about wellies to a journey through isolation, show song heights to a soulful heaven, Charles Hutchinson follows the path to cultural discovery.
Touring play of the week: Mikron Theatre in Common Ground, Scarcroft Allotments, Scarcroft Road, York, May 19, 2pm
ON tour on narrow boat and canal, van and land until October 18, Marsden company Mikron Theatre present Common Ground, writer and lyricist Poppy Hollman’s hike through the history of land access in England, where only eight per cent of land is designated “open country”.
Under the direction of Gitika Buttoo, actor-musicians Eddie Ahrens, Georgina Liley, Lauren Robinson and Mark Emmon tell the tale of the fictional Pendale and District Ramblers as they look forward to celebrating their 50th anniversary walk, but the path has been blocked by the landowner. How will they find their way through? No reserved seating or tickets required; a “pay what you feel” collection will be taken post-show.
Harry Baker: Wonderful words by the slam champ at The Crescent
Spoken word gig of the week: Say Owt presents Harry Baker: Wonderful, The Crescent, York, May 20, 7.30pm
WORLD Poetry Slam champion Harry Baker is a poet, mathematician, stand-up comic and writer who reflects on “important stuff”, whether hope, dinosaurs or German falafel spoons, as found in his new poetry collection, Wonderful, published by Burning Eye this month.
On his 30-date Wonderful tour, the “maths-loving, TED-talking, German-speaking, battle-rapping, happy-crying, self-bio-writing unashamed human” brings his signature playfulness and poignancy to new poems about wellies, postcodes, sunflowers, sticky toffee pudding and his favourite German wheat beer. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Jeanette Hunter: Heading to the dark side as the Wicked Witch in York Musical Theatre Company’s The Wizard Of Oz
Musical of the week: York Musical Theatre Company in The Wizard Of Oz, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, May 22 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK stage stalwart Jeanette Hunter will play a villain for the first time next week, starring as the Wicked Witch in York Musical Theatre Company’s The Wizard Of Oz.
Following the Yellow Brick Road will be Sadie Sorensen’s Dorothy, Rachel Higgs’s Scarecrow, Zander Fick’s Tin Man and Daan Janssen’s Lion, while further principal roles will go to Liz Gardner as Glinda, Marlena Kellie as Auntie Em and Martin Hunter as the Wizard. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Miranda Sykes: Songs of isolation, illness and recovery at Black Swan Folk Club
Folk gig of the week: Miranda Sykes, Out Of The Woods Tour, Black Swan Folk Club, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, May 23, 7.30pm
SHOW Of Hands and Daphne’s Flight member Miranda Sykes promotes her pandemic-scarred March album Out Of The Woods in her debut Black Swan solo gig, showcasing songs that chart her journey through isolation, illness and recovery with the aim of bringing comfort after such turbulent years.
“Life is many faceted; like most people I’ve had good times and hard times,” says the Lincolnshire-born singer, double bass player and guitarist. “I’ve taken some forks in the road I shouldn’t have done and I’ve had some knocks, but it’s all part of who I am now.” Box office: blackswanfolkclub.org.uk.
Velma Celli’s Show Queen: Celebrating the best of West End and Broadway musical theatre at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Sophie Eleanor
Cabaret celebration of the week: Velma Celli’s Show Queen, York Theatre Royal, May 23, 7.30pm
DRAG diva Velma Celli, the alter ego of York actor Ian Stroughair, goes back to Ian’s roots in Cats, Chicago, Fame and Rent for a new celebration of the best of London’s West End and Broadway musical theatre hits.
The show “takes us to every corner of the fabulous genre, from Kander & Ebb and Lloyd Webber to Stephen Schwartz’s Wicked and Schönberg’s Les Miserables and many more,” says Velma. “Like, more than Six!”. Special guests will be burlesque star Miss Betsy Rose and belting York singer Jessica Steel. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Ferguson: Final album and tour at 37
Soul gig of the week: Rebecca Ferguson, Heaven Part II Tour, York Barbican, May 24, 7.30pm
LIVERPOOL soul singer and The X Factor alumna Rebecca Ferguson is touring her fifth and final album, Heaven Part II, released last December 12 years to the day since her debut, Heaven.
Working with new contributors and original Heaven writers and producers, Ferguson sings of love, family, joy, liberation and her journey to happiness over the past seven years. She is, however, calling time on recording and touring to “find a way to have a relationship with music which is positive”. Friday’s support acts will be York country singer Twinnie and Eloise Viola. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Anton Lesser in Red Sky At Sunrise, Laurie Lee in Words and Music at Grand Opera House, York
Literary event of the week: Red Sky At Sunrise, Laurie Lee in Words and Music, Grand Opera House, York, May 26, 7.30pm
AUTHOR Laurie Lee’s extraordinary story is told in a captivating weave of music and his own words in Red Sky At Sunrise, performed by actors Anton Lesser and Charlie Hamblett, accompanied by David Le Page’s musical programme for Orchestra Of The Swan.
Together, they celebrate Lee’s engaging humour, as well as portraying his darker side, in a performance that has startling resonance with modern events, tracing Lee’s path through Cider With Rosie, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning and A Moment Of War as he ended up fighting with the International Brigades against General Franco’s forces in the Spanish Civil War. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Home Is Where The Heart Is, seascape, by Carolyn Coles, from her exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Exhibition launch: Carolyn Coles, Home Is Where The Heart Is, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, May 30 to August 1
CREATING atmospheric, impressionistic and abstract seascapes, South Bank Studios artist Carolyn Coles paints mostly with acrylics on stretched canvasses, using an array of techniques and implements.
Known for evoking emotional responses, Carolyn reflects her love for the Yorkshire landscape, offering a direct response to the feelings and connections to places that feel like home. Everyone is welcome at the 6pm to 9pm launch on May 30, when Carolyn will be happy to answer questions.
Spoiling for a fight: Tristan Gemmill’s Juror 3 has to be held back as Jason Merrells’s Juror 8, front left, probes. Picture: Jack Merriman
“UNBEARABLY hot!” was the verdict of one audience member, who bailed out of Monday’s press night at the interval. “Wedding ring and watch wouldn’t fit because of heat swelling fingers and wrist,” he reasoned.
Come Tuesday night, York’s heatwave had waved goodbye, but you could still feel the heat rising, temperature and tempers alike, on the Grand Opera House stage.
A storm is brewing both metaphorically and meteorologically in Reginald Rose’s “knife-edge thriller” on its return to the Grand Opera House for the first time since April 2015, in the finale to the 70th anniversary tour.
Mounted once more by Bill Kenwright Ltd and directed again by Christopher Haydon, with the same set design by Michael Pavelka, the latest production has the continuity and hallmark of quality of The Woman In Black under Robin Herford’s stewardship.
At the tiller since the 2013 premiere at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Haydon has assembled another supremely combative cast of 13, unlucky for none, whether fellow cast members or enthralled audience.
A train thunders by on the New York subway, a jolt to sharpen our senses for the war of words ahead before the sonorous voice of the unseen judge warns the jury, “one man is dead; the life of another is at stake”.
One by one, the 12 jurors file into the dingy jury deliberating room, opening the dusty windows to the street to counter the sweltering heat, a discomfort only heightened by the overhead fan failing to work.
Gray O’Brien’s Juror 10, left, and Michael Greco’s Juror 7 in discussion in Twelve Angry Men. Picture: Jack Merriman
To one side is an oft-visited rest room; to the other, an even more oft-visited water dispenser. Outside the locked door, a stone-faced guard (Jeffrey Harmer) is on duty.
Under the charge of the stoical foreman (Owen Oldroyd), the jurors must decide the fate of a young delinquent, a boy of 16 accused of stabbing his father to death.
It looks an open-and-shut case, as the preliminary guilty vote of 11 to one would indicate, but a unanimous verdict is required to condemn the boy to the mandatory death penalty.
Standing alone, unsure of guilt beyond reasonable doubt, is Jason Merrells’s Juror 8, an architect by profession who sets about building the case the defence lawyer never satisfactorily presented.
Admirably equitable and eloquent, Juror 8 is the calm amid the electric storm soon to crackle. The twelve angry men of the title turns out to be a misnomer: Merrells’s conciliatory juror never raises his voice or bursts the banks of frustration as those around him do in Rose’s claustrophobic study of human nature.
Haydon’s cast combines ensemble enterprise with individual expression, steered by Merrells’s assiduity, fair and quick of mind, always humanitarian, never righteous.
Mark Heenehan’s meticulously methodical broker, Juror 4 – watch how he washes his hands – comes slowly but authoritatively to the fore, by way of contrast with Tristan Gemmill’s vituperative, volcanic Juror 3 and Gray O’Brien’s boorish, bigoted Juror 10.
Christopher Haydon’s cast casting votes in Twelve Angry Men. Picture: Jack Merriman
Who will reach boiling point first as the art of persuasion locks horns with a surfeit of jackets-off testosterone? Not only a teenager’s guilt or innocence is under examination, so too are 12 men’s characters, their predilections and prejudices, hot-housed and released under pressure that builds like the beads of sweat to be wiped away with handkerchiefs.
Amid the tightening tensions and mid-20th century American angst, Haydon’s company also mines all the observational humour in Rose’s astute script, typified by the gum-chewing, hat-tilting swagger of Michael Greco’s time-watching marmalade salesman, Juror 7.
Ben Nealon, Gary Webster, Paul Beech, Paul Lavers and especially Kenneth Jay and Samarge Hamilton all do sterling jury service too, and one more character stands out: the revolving stage that keeps the jurors’ table moving.
You could even call it scene stealing, such is the sleight of hand that means you never see it in circular motion, but move it most certainly does, facilitating seeing faces to the maximum within the proscenium arch framework.
As the table turns, so the tables turn in the jury room’s votes in a psychological drama where Pavelka’s set so cleverly mirrors the story, played out to a choreographer’s sense of movement by Haydon.
Pavelka, Haydon and his cast are guilty of being criminally good. To miss Twelve Angry Men would be a crime to make your reviewer one angry man.
Twelve Angry Men, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Court in session: Twelve Angry Men cast members take a seat at the Guildhall, York, from left to right: Paul Beech, Ben Nealon, Gary Webster, Jason Merrells, Kenneth Jay, Owen Oldroyd, Tristan Gemmill, Samarge Hamilton, Paul Lavers and Gray O’Brien
Wannabe’s Posh, left, Ginger, Sporty, Baby and Scary
WANNABE – The Spice Girls Show will celebrate three decades of girl power at the Grand Opera House, York, on June 20.
The “world’s longest-running” Spice Girls tribute stage production pays homage to the best-selling girl group of all time in a nostalgic journey through the Spice World.
Since its debut in 2017, Wannaba’s tribute to Sporty, Scary, Ginger, Baby and Posh has hit the West End and toured Great Britain, Europe, Asia, and Australia, playing to 300,000 Spice Girls devotees.
Wannabe charts the English girl group’s meteoric rise, from their debut number one, Wannabe, in July 1996 to Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell and Victoria Beckham’s reunion at the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony.
Expect “meticulously crafted costumes representing pivotal moments in the Spice Girls’ career, unique vocal and musical arrangements exclusive to Wannabe, iconic dance routines and stunning visual flair”.
Tickets for June 20’s 7.30pm show are on sale at atgtickets.com/york.
Florally attired York Art Gallery senior curator Dr Beatrice Bertram stands by Claude Monet’s The Water-Lily Pond, on loan from the National Gallery. Picture: Charlotte Graham
NATURE in full bloom, hothoused Shakespeare, blossoming student creativity and teenage blues put the colour in Charles Hutchinson’s cheeks for warmer days ahead.
Exhibition of the summer: National Treasures: Monet In York: The Water-Lily Pond, York Art Gallery, in bloom until September 8
FRENCH Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s 1899 work, The Water-Lily Pond, forms the York centrepiece and trigger point for the National Gallery’s bicentenary celebrations in tandem with York Art Gallery.
On show are key loans from regional and national institutions alongside York Art Gallery collection works and a large-scale commission by contemporary artist Michaela Yearwood-Dan, Una Sinfonia. Monet’s canvas is explored in the context of 19th-century French open-air painting, pictures by his early mentors and the Japanese prints that transformed his practice and beloved gardens in Giverny. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk.
Stewart Dylan-Campbell’s Rob, left, and Aiden Kane’s Marc in Qweerdog Theatre’s Jump, playing Rise@Bluebird Bakery tomorrow
Relationship drama of the week: Qweerdog Theatre in Jump, at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, tomorrow (12/5/2024), 8.30pm; doors 7.30pm
DEVELOPED through Manchester company Qweerdog’s LGBTQ+ writing project, Nick Maynard’s dark comedy takes an unusual look at contemporary gay life, exploring the possibility of relationships and how they are not always the way we imagine.
Directed by West End director Scott Le Crass, Jump depicts the lives, love lives and past lives of two lost souls drawn to a canal one night. As the weary, embittered Rob (Stewart Dylan-Campbell) contemplates the lure of the water, a handsome young man, the “chopsy” Marc (Aiden Kane), engages him in conversation. So begins a strange and fractious relationship that might just prove beneficial to them both. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Paloma Faith: “Celebrating taking responsibility for your own happiness” at York Barbican tomorrow
Recommended but sold out already: Paloma Faith, York Barbican, tomorrow, 8pm; Katherine Priddy, The Crescent, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm
STOKE Newington soul tour de force Paloma Faith showcases her sixth studio album, February’s deeply personal The Glorification Of Sadness, her “celebration of finding your way back after leaving a long-term relationship, being empowered even in your failures and taking responsibility for your own happiness”.
Birmingham folk singer and guitarist Katherine Priddy will be promoting second album The Pendulum Swing, released on Cooking Vinyl in February. For the first time, her 14-date May tour finds her performing in a trio, joined by Harry Fausing Smith (strings) and support act George Boomsma (electric guitar).
Hollie McNish: Performing at the TakeOver festival at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Kat Gollock
Festival of the week: TakeOver – In The Limelight, York Theatre Royal, May 13 to 18
IN this annual collaboration between York Theatre Royal and York St John University, third-year drama students are put in charge of the theatre and programming its events for a week, with support and mentoring from professionals.
Among those events will be writer Hollie McNish, reading from her latest book, Lobster And Other Things I’m Learning To Love (Thursday, 7.30pm), dance troupe Verve: Triple Bill (next Saturday, 7.30pm) and multiple shows by York St John students. For the full programme, head to: yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/be-part-of-it/children-and-young-people/takeover/. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Gray O’Brien’s Juror 10, left, and Michael Greco’s Juror 7 in the 70th anniversary production of Twelve Angry Men. Picture: Jack Merriman
Jury service: Twelve Angry Men, Grand Opera House, York, May 13 to 18, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
IN its 70th anniversary touring production, Reginald Rose’s knife-edge courtroom thriller Twelve Angry Men resonates with today’s audiences with its intricately crafted study of human nature. Within the confines of the jury deliberating room, 12 men hold the fate of a young delinquent, accused of killing his father, in their hands.
What looks an open-and-shut case soon becomes a dilemma, wherein Rose examines the art of persuasion as the jurors are forced to examine their own self-image, personalities, experiences and prejudices. Tristan Gemmill, Michael Greco, Jason Merrells, Gray O’Brien and Gary Webster feature in Christopher Haydon’s cast. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Steven Arran: Directing Shakespeare’s Speakeasy’s debut play in a day in York at Theatre@41, Monkgate
York debut of the week: Shakespeare’s Speakeasy, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Thursday, 7.30pm
SHAKESPEARE’S Speakeasy is heading from Newcastle to York for the first time, making its Theatre@41 debut under the directorship of Steven Arran. “It’s Shakespeare, but it’s secret,” he says. “Can a group of strangers successfully stage a Shakespearean play in a day? Shakespeare’s Speakeasy is the place for you to find out.”
After learning lines over the past four weeks, the cast featuring the likes of Claire Morley, Esther Irving and Ian Giles meets for the first time on Thursday morning to rehearse an irreverent, entertaining take on one of Bill’s best-known plays, culminating in a public performance. Which one? “Like all good Speakeasys, that’s a secret,” says Arran. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Toby Lee: Blues prodigy heads to the Fulford Arms next Saturday
Blues gig of the week: Toby Lee, Fulford Arms, York, May 18, 7.30pm
BLUES rock prodigy Toby Lee, the 19-year-old Oxfordshire guitarist and singer, will be playing 100 showshome and abroad this year, 40 of them his own headline gigs, 60 as a special guest of boogie-woogie pianist Jools Holand and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.
The 2023 Young Blues Musician of the Year learned his trade playing Zack Mooneyham in the first West End production of School Of Rock and has since shared stages with his hero Joe Bonamassa, Buddy Guy, Peter Frampton and Slash. First up, Fulford Arms next Saturday, then come Jools engagements at York Barbican on December 1 and Leeds First Direct Arena on December 20. Box office: ticketweb.uk/event/toby-lee-the-fulford-arms-tickets/13366163.
Her name is Del Rio: And she lives for stand-up comedy as drag queen Bianca feels Dead Inside on York-bound world tour
Gig announcement of the week: Bianca Del Rio, Dead Inside, York Barbican, September 18
COMEDY drag queen and RuPaul’s Drag Race champion Bianca Del Rio heads to York on her 11-date stand-up tour. Up for irreverent discussion will be politics, pop culture, political correctness, current events, cancel culture and everyday life, as observed through the eyes of a “clown in the gown”, who will be “coming out of my crypt and hitting the road again to remind everyone that I’m still dead inside”. Tickets go on sale on Tuesday at 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Gray O’Brien’s Juror 10, left, and Michael Greco’s Juror 7 in the 70th anniversary production of Twelve Angry Men. Picture:Jack Merriman
REGINALD Rose’s claustrophobic study of human nature, Twelve Angry Men, began as a teleplay, then transferred to the stage and finally to the screen in Sidney Lumet’s black-and-white 1957 film.
Now, after a record-breaking West End season, Rose’s courtroom thriller is back in session, on tour in its 70th year, visiting the Grand Opera House, York, from May 13 to 18.
The setting is not the courtroom but the jury deliberating room, where 12 men hold the fate of a young delinquent, accused of killing his father, in their hands. What looks an open-and-shut case, with an initial 11 to 1 guilty vote, becomes a fractious dilemma, where the jurors must each examine their self-image, personality, experiences and prejudices as the art of persuasion plays out.
Michael Greco, best known for his role as Beppe di Marco in EastEnders from 1998 to 2002, plays Juror 7 in Rose’s tableau of mid-20th century American angst.
‘I’d watched the film years ago and I loved it,” he recalls. “When I got a call to be in the show, a lot of my friends said, ‘oh my god, this is one of my favourite films, can’t wait to come’.
“It’s an amazing piece of writing, something that is for all ages, really from youngsters to older people who’ve known the show and have loved the film for years. People just love a murder mystery, a courtroom drama, seeing how it unfolds.”
Who is Juror 7, Michael? “In layman’s terms, I would describe him as ‘absolutely gagging to get to this huge basketball game’. It’s in three hours’ time and he can’t wait to go. He’s thinking, ‘yes, yes, yes, I can get there’, but then there’s a spanner in the works. I feel for him,” says the Chelsea fan. “He’s a funny character, a vexed character too.”
“He’s a funny character, a vexed character too,” says Michael Greco of Juror 7, his role in Twelve Angry Men
Preparing for a role, he says: “I think, as an actor, I always do my due diligence about what I would say about the character in the text, and then, secondly, you have to learn the subtext.
“Because he’s just called Juror 7, I give him a name and ask, ‘is he married?’; ‘is he an alcoholic?’; ‘has he been to prison?’, otherwise there’s no substance to him. Especially as I have to bring something new to him after that.”
Reflecting on Twelve Angry Men’s abiding impact in its depiction of men locking horns, Michael says: “It definitely resonates with today’s society. You will recognise some of the characters and the way that people are in their thinking and the way they are in their personalities.
“There are certain scenes where prejudices come out – and that’s still the case today. Like when a racist guy has a rant, he’s brought down very quickly.”
Michael, 53, looks back to his own family’s experiences in the 1950s. “I’m from an Italian immigrant family, who moved to London from Naples in the late-Fifties. They came to England without money, they didn’t speak any English, but they were welcomed with open arms. Prejudices were not so open.”
Michael’s character in Twelve Angry Men does have prejudices. “I decided to go over the top with this character because he’s someone people can associate with. The director [Christopher Haydon] just loved the comedy I brought to it and didn’t cut it back a bit. He’s just let me go with it,” he says.
Michael Greco
“You have to go on this journey with him where you try to get the audience on his side because you can see his frustration, and then he reaches that point where his prejudices come out. But I can play that with openness because, wherever it comes from, this character is a good guy, but the situation brings out the worst in him.”
Putting human behaviour under the microscope, Michael says: “Every human being is the same in that we all get intrusive thoughts, where you think, ‘where did that come from?’, but you then dismiss them.
“But any psychiatrist would tell you it’s natural to have these thoughts coming into your head and to reject them…but some people do act on them.”
Michael rules out changing the configuration of Twelve Angry Men to six men and six women. “It’s very difficult to know what to say, but I don’t think it would work because of the testosterone and the physical reactions in the writing, and because women are not built in the same way psychologically and physically. It would be a completely different play if you did that.
“You can do things with Shakespeare’s plays, but when you write a play called Twelve Angry Men, the clue is in the title. The thing is, we get it in all forms of society, not just in politics, but in the bragging rights of football, for example. I despise the ‘tragedy chanting’. I can’t believe people can sink so low.”
Twelve Angry Men, Grand Opera House, York, May 13 to 18, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm, Wednesday and Saturday. Box office: atgtickets.com/york
Sculptor Tony Cragg with his bronze work Outspan in the Great Hall at Castle Howard. Picture: Charlotte Graham
SCULPTURES and Tess in the country, free events at the double, nun fun on the run, courtroom tensions and a funny mummy send Charles Hutchinson out and about.
Sculptures of the week: Tony Cragg at Castle Howard, near Malton, until September 22
SCULPTOR Tony Cragg presents the first major exhibition by a leading contemporary artist in the house and grounds of Castle Howard. On show are new and recent sculptures, many being presented on British soil for the first time, including large-scale works in bronze, stainless steel, aluminium and fibreglass.
Inside the house are works in bronze and wood, glass sculptures and works on paper in the Great Hall, Garden Hall, High South, Octagon and Colonnade. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.
Let us pray: Landi Oshinowo’s Deloris Van Cartier, left, and Sue Cleaver’s Mother Superior in Sister Act, on tour at Grand Opera House, York
Musical of the week: Sister Act, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinee, Saturday
SUE Cleaver takes holy orders in a break from Coronation Street to play the Mother Superior in Sister Act in her first stage role in three decades. Adding Alan Menken songs to the 1992 film’s storyline, the show testifies to the universal power of friendship, sisterhood and music in its humorous account of disco diva Deloris Van Cartier’s life taking a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder.
Placed in protective custody, in the disguise of a nun under the Mother Superior’s suspicious eye, Deloris (Landi Oshinowo) helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
One of Stephen G Bird’s artworks in his Helmsley Arts Centre exhibition
Exhibition of the week: Stephen G Bird, Helmsley Arts Centre, Helmsley, until June 28
NORTH Yorkshire artist Stephen G Bird works in a variety of painting and drawing media. His pictures begin with extensive observational drawing in urban and rural landscapes. Once back in his studio, he creates pictorial and allegorical narratives from memory and imagination. Themes include tales from myth and legend and the comedy and tragedy of the everyday. “Life is dark but also funny,” he says.
Lila Naruse’s Memory Tess in Ockham’s Razor’s circus theatre production of Tess at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Kie Cummings
“Bold new vision” of the week: Ockham’s Razor in Tess, York Theatre Royal, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm
CIRCUS theatre exponents Ockham’s Razor tackle a novel for the first time in a staging of Thomas Hardy’s Tess Of The D’Urbervilles that combines artistic directors Charlotte Mooney and Alex Harvey’s adaptation of the original text with the physical language of circus and dance.
Exploring questions of privilege, class, consent, agency, female desire and sisterhood, Tess utilises seven performers, including Harona Kamen’s Narrator Tess and Lila Naruse’s Memory Tess, to re-tell the Victorian story of power, loss and endurance through a feminist lens. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The Funny Mummy: One-woman comedy show about the bonkers world of parenting
Comedy gig of the week: The Funny Mummy, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
THE Funny Mummy, alias Alyssa Kyria, delivers a one-woman comedy show about “the bonkers world” of parenting. “From pregnancy to playdates, WhatsApp groups to school runs, if you’re a parent, and you need a laugh, then this show is for you,” she advocates.
Kyria, co-creator of Bring Your Own Baby Comedy, performs across the country and has appeared on the BBC, ITV and Sky. Her comedy, music videos and sketches have gone viral on Netmums and Facebook. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
The Twisty Turns: Country songs new and old at Milton Rooms, Malton
Free gig of the week: Lazy Sunday Sessions, The Twisty Turns and Joey Wing, Studio Bar, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 3pm to 5pm
The Milton Rooms’ new Lazy Sunday Sessions programme continues this weekend with a double bill headlined by Ryedale country band The Twisty Turns, who combine their own compositions, influenced by country, folk, country blues and bluegrass, with traditional country songs and rip-roaring fiddle tunes.
In the line-up are Benjamin Gallon, who provides acoustic guitar, vocals and “anteloping”; Jenny Trilsbach, on double bass, vocals and “foxiness”, and Jerry Bloom, on fiddle and “frogmanship”. Singer Joey Wing supports. Entry is free.
Butterwick Alpaca Retreat’s alpacas at the Love Local day at Nunnington Hall. Picture: National Trust
Free celebration of the week: Love Local, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm; last entry at 4.15pm
HELPING to raise awareness and “show off how brilliant Ryedale and the surrounding area is”, artists, craftspeople, businesses, charities, and community groups create this family event at the National Trust property.
Visitors can taste fresh Yorkshire produce, buy goods from Ryedale makers and crafters and enjoy free admission to the country house, gardens and the last day of the From The Earth exhibition by East Riding Artists’ group of painters, potters and creatives.
Taking the vote: The murder trial jurors in Reginald Rose’s Twelve Angry Men at Grand Opera House, York
Jury service: Twelve Angry Men, Grand Opera House, York, May 13 to 18, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
IN its 70th anniversary touring production, Reginald Rose’s knife-edge courtroom thriller Twelve Angry Men resonates with today’s audiences with its intricately crafted study of human nature. Within the confines of the jury deliberating room, 12 men hold the fate of a young delinquent, accused of killing his father, in their hands.
What looks an open-and-shut case soon becomes a dilemma, wherein Rose examines the art of persuasion as the jurors are forced to examine their own self-image, personalities, experiences and prejudices. Tristan Gemmill, Michael Greco, Jason Merrells, Gray O’Brien and Gary Webster feature in Christopher Haydon’s cast. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
