Learning the meaning of “Only connect” in E M Forster’s novel Howards End: Jamie McKeller’s Frank tutoring Florence Poskitt’s Rita in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita. Picture: John Saunders
BLACK Treacle Theatre founder and director Jim Paterson has brought together two of York’s finest comedy actors for the first time for Willy Russell’s classic two-hander Educating Rita.
Call it chemistry, call it alchemy, it is inspired casting as Jamie McKeller and Florence Poskitt unite as whisky-soured university lecturer Frank and working-class Liverpool hairdresser Rita White, who wants to do more than change her name from Susan in signing up for an Open University literature course.
Frank, whose poetic flame has burned out, is only taking on Open University classes as a means to funding his chronic need to drink. Behind all too many books in his shabby office are hidden bottles, bringing a regular clink to his day as he numbs his senses at his failure to sustain his early promise as a poet.
Keen to learn, keen to change, keen to challenge: Florence Poskitt’s Literature student, Rita White, looking sceptical in Educating Rita. Picture: John Saunders
McKeller’s Frank is one of those drinkers who remains lucid in thought and expression, bleary eyed yet still articulate, waspish, piercingly perceptive, frustrated and frustrating. He talks of tragedy in Shakespeare being different from what we might call “a tragedy” in everyday life, yet Frank’s inability to change his path, his ways, his boozing, while knowing his destination, is closer to the former than the latter.
Poskitt’s Liverpool lip Rita is the one keen to change, to learn, to reach a state of knowledge and understanding, talking ten to the dozen, smoking feverishly, opinionated, frank, humorous.
She wants to lift Frank out of his doldrums too, but he is more concerned about how her initial individuality, her different way of thinking, is changed essay by essay, session by session, to meet the conventional understanding of critical thinking. You sense that this is Russell’s own despair with the education system, its requirements for common grounding, when Literature studies should lead to original thought.
He thinks, he drinks: Jamie McKeller’s Frank in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita. Picture: John Saunders
In his educating of Rita, Frank makes her more conventional in the world of gown, not town, where her husband Denny objects to her studies, wanting her to focus on starting a family instead.
In turn, Rita learns that no world is perfect, that a quest for knowledge, an insatiable curiosity, may not provide the answers she wants, but she is still better for now having the knowledge to help her move forwards.
There is light, especially in the combustible humour of Frank and Rita’s clashes of cultural thinking in their tutorials, but there is darkness too, whether in Frank’s embittered demeanour and eloquently arrowed self-loathing or the revelation of the troubles of Rita’s flatmate, Trish.
Educating Rita director Jim Paterson
McKeller, whose theatre work has taken in everything from John Godber’s Bouncers to Shakespeare and Rowntree Players pantomime villains and ugly sisters, gives a masterclass in understated performance: every line and movement weighted with significance, never overplayed in Frank’s reliance on drink to medicate his “absolute disaster” of a stagnating life.
He is superb too at working in tandem with Poskitt’s flighty, effervescent yet increasingly deeper-thinking Rita, a bright spark whose honesty matches the ever-frank Frank as her confidence blossoms in her discovery of art, culture, theatre, herself.
Yet change is as much of a mental minefield as no change. Frank won’t change, Rita will, but in considering “who they are and who they want to be”, choice may still be influenced by class, by circumstance, by whether you are a man or a woman.
So much to learn from each other: Jamie McKeller’s tutor Frank and Florence Poskitt’s student Rita in Educating Rita. Picture: John Saunders
Paterson may set Black Treacle’s production in a hybrid of the 1980s and 1990s, but the themes are as resonant as ever, especially at a time when the price of education – the burden of debt it now brings and the difficulty in finding a job afterwards – is challenging our perception of its purpose.
In the educating of Rita, Willy Russell’s universal play is still championing the possibilities and power of knowledge to change, to broaden horizons, to bring greater freedom of choice, against the tide of the frustratingly linear world of academia .
Black Treacle Theatre presents Educating Rita, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm nightly until Saturday. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Holly Taymar: Playing City of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend
A FEAST of folk music and Shed Seven’s anniversary celebration, a le Carré thriller and a Willy Russell classic send Charles Hutchinson out and about.
Festival of the week: City of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend 2026, Black Swan Folk Club, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green York, today and tomorrow
CITY of York Roland Walls Folk Weekend’s three-day programme of 50 acts continues today and tomorrow with bands, soloists and sessions throughout the pub and in the car park from 1pm each day after last night’s Irish-themed bill in the club room.
Among the performers will be King Courgette, in the return of the original line-up, Leather’O, White Sail, Janglebuddies, Graham Hodge, Monkey’s Fist, Chechelele, Caramba, Holly Taymar, Duncan McFarlane Band, Mary Molloy, Susie Coyle, Soundsphere and Jon Palmer Band. Admission is free, with collections for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
Stuart O’Hara: York Late Music concert this afternoon
Lunchtime concert of the week: York Late Music, Stuart O’Hara (bass) and Rob Hao piano), Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, today, 1pm
MARRYING words and music, bass Stuart O’Hara and pianist Rob Hao’s performance is based around new settings of Yorkshire poets by local composers: James Else &Alan Gillott, Retratos (world premiere, complete song cycle); Tim Brooks & Lizzi Linklater, New Student In The University Cafe (world premiere); Jenny Jackson & Richard Kitchen, Vessels (world premiere) and Nick Carter & Hugh Bernays: The Water Will Not Remember from Requiem for the Arctic (world premiere)
This afternoon’s recital also includes David Power’s Six Songs, based on the poetry of E.H. Visiak, and two new settings by York St John University student composers Robyn Hughes-Maclean and Matthew Jarvis. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
The Elysian Singers: Musical settings of poetry at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York. Picture: Linda Dawson
Poetry and music in motion: The Elysian Singers, York Late Music, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
DIRECTED by Sam Laughton, The Elysian Singers’ insightful programme celebrates the musical settings of the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins. Benjamin Britten’s A.M.D.G. will be complemented by works by Samuel Barber (Heaven-Haven), Alan Bullard (The Windhover and Spring Morning), Bob Chilcott (The Bethlehem Star) and Ian Stephens (Pied Beauty).
The première of David Lancaster’s new work, Henry Purcell, featuring Hopkins’ tribute to his own favourite composer, provides an opportunity to revisit Purcell’s Remember Not, Lord, Our Offences and O Lord God Of Hosts. David Power’s quirky and imaginative settings of four E.H. Visiak poems completes the line-up, preceded by Lancaster and Power’s 6.45pm pre-concert talk. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
Shed Seven: Marking 30th anniversary of A Maximum High with one-off concert at The Piece Hall, Halifax, tonight
Recommended but sold out already: Shed Seven, A Maximum High 30th Anniversary Show, The Piece Hall, Halifax, today, 6.30pm
YORK band Shed Seven are marking the 30th anniversary of their hit-laden second album, April 1996’s A Maximum High, with a one-off concert at The Piece Hall, featuring the magnum opus in full plus further Sheds’ hits and fan favourites. Expect a few surprises too. The Guest List (6.30pm) and Seb Lowe (7.20pm) support.
Utter Madness: The Nutty Boys stride out at Scarborough Open Air Theatre for the fourth time tonight
Seaside trip of the week: Madness, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, tonight, doors 6pm
IN their 50th year since forming in Camden, Nutty Boys Madness make their fourth appearance at Scarborough Open Air Theatre after previous seaside visits in 2017, 2019 and 2024.
Drawing on 31 Top 40 hits and 11 Top Ten albums, their timeless blend of ska, pop, punk and music hall will be on show as ever in Our House, It Must be Love, Baggy Trousers, House Of Fun et al. The Beat featuring Ranking Jnr and reggae vocalist Hollie Cook support. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Ralf Little’s disillusioned British intelligence officer Alec Leamas in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Johan Persson
Thriller of the week: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Grand Opera House, York, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
FOR the first time, a John le Carré novel is being brought to life on stage by Chichester Festival Theatre in David Eldridge’s adaptation of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, a tale that journeys through the fog-shrouded terrain of Cold War espionage, deception and moral compromise.
Death In Paradise star Ralf Little’s disillusioned British intelligence officer, Alec Leamas, is ready to come in from the cold, until veteran agent George Smiley persuades him to take one final mission against the East German Secret Service. Deep undercover, Leamas finds his convictions tested and his defences breached by Liz Gold, a quietly defiant librarian, whose compassion threatens to thaw his frostbitten heart. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
An open book or something more complex than that?Florence Poskitt’s Rita and Jamie McKeller’s Frank in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita
Literature lessons of the week: Black Treacle Theatre in Educating Rita, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm
YORK actors Florence Poskitt and Jamie McKeller team up for the first time under Jim Paterson’s direction in Willy Russell’s warm, witty and moving double-hander about the power of education to change lives. When Rita, a working-class hairdresser hungry for something more, signs up for an Open University literature course, she meets disillusioned academic Frank, whose passion for teaching has long faded.
Their weekly tutorials become a battle of ideas, humour and honesty as Rita’s confidence blossoms and Frank reckons with his own choices and the possibility of a second chance. Change comes with difficult choices for both student and tutor, who must reconsider who they are and who they want to be. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Director Courtney Brown in Pickering Musical Society’s Let’s Do It!, The Cole Porter Songbook
Musical kicks of the week: Pickering Musical Society in Let’s Do It!r, The Cole Porter Songbook, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
IN a sparkling showcase of wit, romance, sophisticated melodies and clever lyrics, Pickering Musical Society celebrates the joyous Cole Porter Songbook, performing beloved songs from Anything Goes, Kiss Me, Kate and High Society and such hits as You’re The Top and I Get A Kick Out Of You under the direction of Courtney Brown.
The Sarah Louise Ashworth School of Dance’s vibrant tap, jazz and contemporary routines combine stylish choreography, glamorous costumes and a tribute to the Great American Songbook. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
The Bluffs: Short-form improv games infused with storytelling flair at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
Unscripted silliness of the week: Unwritten: The Literary Improv Show, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, June 11, 8.30pm, doors 7.30pm
YORK troupe The Bluffs take classic short-form improv games and infuse them with storytelling flair in an evening of laughter, silliness and plot twists. Each fast-paced show is shaped by audience suggestions and spontaneous creativity. Expect scenes inspired by classic literature, unexpected character mash-ups and even a fanfiction-inspired musical number.
The Bluffs are drawn from a melange of theatrical, comedy and musical backgrounds, from festival stages to pantomime and competitive Theatresports. Box office: eventbrite.com/e/unwritten-the-literary-improv-show-tickets-1984763723726.
Wright & Grainger: Say It & Play: “Gorgeous weave of our home-grown stuff” at The Old Paint Shop on Thursday. Picture: Afternoon Film
The Old Paint Shop presents: Wright & Grainger Say It & Play it, York Theatre Royal Studio, June 11, 8pm
FRIENDS and working partners since Easingwold schooldays, Wright & Grainger serve a carefully curated evening of stories, poems, songs and gentle chaos. Known for their internationally acclaimed adaptations of Ancient Greek myths, sometimes they do something a tad different.
Say It & Play It will be a set full of Alexander Flanagan Wright & Phil Grainger’s shorter collaborative works, the poems that stand on their own, the beautiful tracks they have been writing. “It’s a gorgeous weave of our home-grown stuff, grown and told on home turf,” they say. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Lincoln Lightfoot: Participating in North Yorkshire Open Studios
In Focus: North Yorkshire Open Studios, Summer edition, June 6 & 7 and June 13 & 14, 10am to 5pm
MORE than 200 artists and makers are taking part in the summer edition of North Yorkshire Open Studios 2026.
Covering three areas of God’s Own Country, from the remote Upper Dales to the Central locations of Harrogate and York and the Moors & Coast, this annual event enables creative talents to open their studios to promote and sell their work directly to the public.
Taking part in and around York will be jewellery designer Helen Drye (Fountains Close, Riccall); oil painter Pennie Lordan (Moor Lane, Copmanthorpe); artist Emma James (Copmanthorpe Lane, Bishopthorpe); oil painter Lucie Wake (Slingsby Grove); abstract seascape painter Alex Ash (Heslington Lane, Fulford); B-movie poster art pastiche surrealist Lincoln Lighfoot (Brunswick Street) and northern landscape linocut printmaker Jon Haste (South Bank Social Club, Ovington Terrace).
So too are eco jewellery designer Rebecca Mihill (Nunthorpe Grove); mixed-media artist Ali Hunter (Alma Terrace); environment and plant-inspired printmaker Rachel Jones (Richardson Street); stained glass artist, ceramicist and printmaker Veronica Ongaro (Richardson Street); oil painter Di Gomery (Southlands Methodist Church, Bishopthorpe Road) and experimental artist Jill Tattersall (Mount Parade).
Further York artists will be geometric jewellery designer Evie Leach (PICA Studios, Unit 4, Enterprise Complex, Walmgate); animal artist Katrina Mansfield (PICA Studios); figurative artist Lesley Shaw (PICA Studios); Irish landscape artist Lisa Power (PICA Studios); rag rug maker Lu Mason (PICA Studios) and cityscape and architecture artist Ric Liptrot (PICA Studios).
In the line-up too will be abstract rust and gold metal-leaf artist Jo Walton (Rogues Atelier, Franklin’s Yard, Fossgate); illustrator and screen-print gig poster artist Kai West (Rogues Atelier); mixed-media figurative artist Mo Nisbet (Acomb Road); nature and animal acrylic artist Nicola Glover (Beech Grove); stoneware potter Hannah Arnup (Arnup Studios, Panman Lane, Holtby); natural world artist Kate Pettitt (Arnup Studios); fine art photographer Lesley Peatfield and enigmatic, ethereal artist Michelle Galloway (Arnup Studios).
Look out too for pattern-led tropical botanical artist Emily Littler (Sugar Hill Farm Stockton Lane); stone and wood sculptor Janie Stevens (Greenthwaite, Chantry Green, Upper Poppleton); Japanese-inspired British plant, flower and animal artist Toby Staunton (The Cottage, Main Street, Shipton by Benuingbrough); landscape artist Gonzalo Blanco (Rose Dene, Moor Lane, Strensall) and multi-media figurative and abstract artist Andrew Bloodworth (Stonelands Close, Sheriff Hutton).
The names keep coming: mixed-media landscape artist Justine Warner (Laburnum Cottage, West End, Sheriff Hutton); “happy accidents” land, sky and water artist Graham Jones (Harland House, Main Street, Huby); nature artist Nora Gaston (Moat House, Boroughbridge Road, Green Hammerton); experimental landscape artist Freya Horsley (Corner Cottage, The Green, Tollerton) and Bee-spoke Quilts’ hand-made quilt, jackets and waistcoats (Apple Croft, Gale Road, Alne),
Completing the list for York & beyond will be milliner Jane de Carteret’s woodland-type creatures (Apple Croft, Alne); Gina Bean’s semi-abstract North Yorkshire landscapes (The Bentleys, Lower Dunsforth); beach, dale and vale artist Richard Gray (Burnside, Spring Street, Easingwold); landscape artist Jeff Parker (Roedeer House, Raskelf Road, Raskelf) and Anya Manfield’s abstract textile wall hangings, mixed media artworks and layered collage pieces (Amber Cottage, Kilburn).
The full list of artists and makers can be found at nyos.org.uk. The Winter North Yorkshire Open Studios 2026, featuring the same names, is in the diary for November 7 and 8, 11am to 4pm.
Florence Poskitt’s Rita and Jamie McKeller’s Frank in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita
WILLY Russell’s Educating Rita returns to the York stage in Black Treacle Theatre’s production at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from June 9 to 13.
Premiered in 1980 and updated in 2003, the Liverpool playwright’s two-hander tells the story of Rita, a working-class hairdresser hungry for something more, who signs up for an Open University literature course.
There she meets Frank, a disillusioned academic whose passion for teaching has long faded. Their weekly tutorials become a battle of ideas, humour and honesty as Rita’s confidence blossoms and Frank reckons with his own choices and the possibility of a second chance.
“Frank is so wonderfully brilliant and articulate, but also an absolute disaster,” says Jamie McKeller
As Rita discovers the worlds of art, culture and self-expression, she begins to question the life others expect her to live. Change, however, comes with difficult choices, and both teacher and student must reconsider who they are and who they want to be.
Transformed into a film by Lewis Gilbert in 1983, starring Julie Walters, reprising her stage role as Rita opposite Michael Caine, Educating Rita will be performed in York by Florence Poskitt as Rita and Jamie McKeller as Frank.
Director Jim Paterson says: “Even though Educating Rita was written in 1980, it’s not a period piece in the slightest. The play’s themes of the value and purpose of education, how women’s emancipation is still not universal, and how the choices we have depend so much on our class and background, all still have a lot of relevance today and it felt like a good time to revive it.
Jim Paterson: Director of Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita
“Plus it has two brilliantly written characters in Rita and Frank. You worry when staging a well-known play whether you can meet people’s expectations, but I’ve been blown away by how Flo and Jamie have brought a host of different ideas and interpretations to their performances, which I can’t wait for an audience to see.”
Florence says “Educating Rita is such a brilliant, timeless play, and I cannot thank Jim enough for the opportunity to play Rita. Working alongside Jamie is a joy, and not only are we collaborating well as a team, it feels like were creating something really special.”
Reflecting on playing lecturer Frank, Jamie says: “Frank is genuinely a dream for an actor. He’s so wonderfully brilliant and articulate, but also an absolute disaster. A huge challenge to take on, but to face it with Flo and Jim is nothing but a pleasure. It’s possibly one of the saddest, funniest and most heartfelt scripts I have ever read and I feel very lucky to be a part of this production.”
Up to her eyes in books: Florence Poskitt’s Liverpool hairdresser, Rita, in Black Treacle Theatre’s Educating Rita
Jim had just finished directing Black Treacle in Laura Wade’s The Watsons when Florence pitched the idea of staging Educating Rita. “I didn’t say he had to cast me,” she points out.
Last staged in York in September 2021 in Max Roberts’s touring production starring Jessica Johnson and Stephen Tompkinson at the Theatre Royal, Educating Rita became Jim’s choice for Summer 2026 as soon as he read Russell’s script. “The characters grabbed me; the dialogue crackles – and I said to Flo, ‘OK, what are you doing next June?’.
“Then, when I was speaking to Jamie about something else, I happened to mention Educating Rita, and he said it was a play he’d always been keen to look at. I put Flo and Jamie together and – brilliant! – you could see the chemistry between them straightaway.”
Florence Poskitt and Adam Sowter, her partner in York musical comedy and children’s theatre duo Fladam
To Flo’s surprise, “Somehow we’ve never performed together before, which feels a bit bonkers because we’re so similar in that we both do lots of comedy,” she says.
“It’s been really nice coming together from comedy backgrounds, doing fun stuff, and because we both run our own theatre companies [Flo’s Fladam, with partner Adam Sowter, and Jamie’s Neon Crypt], flying by the seat of our pants, we know about being in the moment and having each other’s back, which is a good feeling in rehearsals.”
Working with Florence for the fourth time and Jamie for the first, Jim notes: “They’re both very empathetic performers and one of the things you notice is how they dive into their roles, where you’ll think about putting yourself in their situation, and in Frank and Rita’s situation, thinking ‘what might come from this?’. From the director’s point of view, it’s fascinating thinking, ‘what will you guys do here.”
Jamie McKeller in his guise as Dr Dorian Deathly, ghost walk host of Deathly Dark Tours
Florence says: “It’s just so exciting to have the challenge of doing a two-hander, lots of lines to learn, and the Liverpool accent for Rita too, and we’ve loved the experience. One of the things that’s been useful is that Vic [stage technician Victoria Ryan] is from Liverpool; she’s given me some amazing pointers.
“Vic says everything is ‘lazy’ in the Scouse accent, under-pronouncing words and dropping ‘Gs’ from the end of [‘ing’] words and ‘Hs’. I’ve decided to refer to it as ‘theatrical Scouse’ the way I’m speaking it on stage.”
In the educating of Rita in Educating Rita, she changes, but what about the heavy-drinking Frank? “We’ve discussed this a lot,” says Jamie, who will employ a weariness of voice in his performance. “You would hope that Frank has a transformation too, but he doesn’t really change in that there’s only false hope; he talks about tragedy instead.
“Somehow we’ve never performed together before, which feels a bit bonkers because we’re so similar in that we both do lots of comedy,” says Florence Poskitt of appearing on stage with Jamie McKeller for the first time
“In encountering Rita, it doesn’t do anything to redeem or save him. He has a certain lightness in her presence, but then, in her prolonged absence, he is quick to return to the bass line [in his behaviour].”
Jim adds: “Frank’s tragedy is he has the chance to change but he doesn’t like himself enough to make that change permanent.”
Jamie rejoins: “I’m definitely a lighter shade of Frank, but I could see how this situation could happen, but the difference between me and Frank is that I would not allow it to happen to me. Where he is comfortable in these circumstances and is unwilling to make changes, when it comes to ambition, we’re poles apart.”
Florence Poskitt in rehearsal for Educating Rita
Jim is giving Educating Rita an unspecified setting that evokes both the 19080s and 1990s. “It can’t be set in 2026, given how things have changed in education,” he says.
“But the only thing that really dates it is Frank’s drunken rant,” suggests Jamie, “To be that dismissive of that behaviour dates it to earlier times.”
Black Treacle Theatre in Educating Rita,Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 9 to 13, 7.30pm. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Black Treacle Theatre: back story
FOUNDED by Jim Paterson, York company Black Treacle Theatre has produced Nick Payne’s Constellations (March 2022); Gary Owen’s Iphigenia in Splott (March 2023), Nassim Soleimanpour’s White Rabbit Red Rabbit (November 2023); Dario Fo’s Accidental Death Of An Anarchist (October 2024); Laura Wade’s The Watsons (July 2025, co-production with Joseph Rowntree Theatre), and Howard Brenton’s Anne Boleyn (March 2026).
JIM Paterson is joined in the Educating Rita production team by set and prop designer Richard Hampton, lighting designer Sage Dunn-Krahn and stage technician Victoria Ryan.
Moustaches en masse: Laura McKeller, left, Michael Cornell and Laura Castle in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles
AFTER Dracula: The Bloody Truth and The Wetwang Hauntings in 2025, mischief-making York company Neon Crypt put the gothic humour into horror once more for a fright in every comic bite in John Nicholson’s particularly silly take on The Hound Of The Baskervilles.
In the spirit of Patrick Barlow’s The 39 Steps, the late Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding’s Lip Service and indeed Nicholson’s work with Peepolykus and Le Navet Bete, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “consulting detective” Sherlock Holmes is stretched to caricature, if still recognisable in deer stalker and pipe, but now taking on multiple disguises, from hirsute hermit to a hot dog costume. No violin, no recreational narcotics, but plenty of schtick, Sherlock.
What’s more, under Jamie McKeller’s direction, Neon Crypt’s Holmes is played by a woman, Laura McKeller, in ponytails, waistcoat and waxed moustache, but with no change of gender in the aloof brain-box characterisation.
Quick on the draw: Laura Castle’s pistol-packing Dr Watson in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles
Likewise, Laura Castle follows up her Dracula with Dr John Watson, wearing the same Victorian two-piece that Elexi Walker’s penny farthing-cycling Watson sported in Damian Cruden’s ‘Baskerville’ production at York Theatre Royal in 2016.
Like the other Laura, Castle’s Watson is moustachioed, again with no change of pronouns. The voice is West Riding, the manner no-nonsense amid all the comic nonsense, conducting investigations with earnest rigour, yet all the more humorous for that. Her Watson is quick on the draw too, whether reaching for sketch pad or pistol.
Aside from a West Country rustic, Laura C will put all her eggs in the sterling Watson basket. By comparison, Laura M must navigate more costume changes than Cher in concert, not only Sherlock’s multiple disguises on the moor, but also whizzing between Mr and Mrs Barrymore; the train guard; Cecile Stapleton; Jack Stapleton and Slasher Seldon, “the Notting Hill murderer”.
Laura McKeller’s Sherlock Holmes in hot dog disguise in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles as Laura Castle’s Dr Watson looks on, strangely reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin in City Lights!
Michael Cornell, now a cross-dressing fixture as the dame in the Rowntree Players pantomime, is almost as busy as Laura M on the multi-rolling front, switching with alacrity and elasticity from Sir Henry Baskerville to Sir Charles Baskerville, Dr Mortimer to a cabbie, one meat-wielding Yokel to another (in denial of being the same character, distinguished only by the cut of meat in the bag).
All the while, York author and poet Rebecca Payne is lurking in the Theatre@41 shadows for the third time as Neon Crypt’s stage manager, except that this time she steps out of those shadows to appear on stage frequently, silent, but over-worked, handling all the scenery changes and prop exchanges, when not overseeing quick-fire costume changes from the wings.
In a running joke – and she really is on the move all the time – Rebecca accumulates a tidy sum in tips for each prop or scene change, albeit handed over increasingly begrudgingly by Cornell in particular.
Crucial too is the work of sound tech Jess Whitehead, who is called on to engineer all manner of noises, sometimes frightening, more often funny, in the tradition of Foley artists on 1950s’ radio. Listen out for the sax solo from Gerry Rafferty’s hit at every mention of Baker Street, accompanied hastily by Cornell on a blow-up pink saxophone.
Michael Cornwell multi-rolling in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles
Jamie McKeller conducts the still familiar Conan Doyle thriller with brisk purpose, physical flair and set-piece swagger, giving free rein to his cast to express ridiculous characterisation, comedic camaraderie and comic timing, with room for ad-libbing and smashing down theatre’s fourth wall to revert to being Laura C, Laura M and Michael.
Neon Crypt stay true to the verbal and visual ingenuity of Nicholson and Steven Canny’s script and stage instructions, first staged by Peepolykus at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds in 2007, while applying their own free-spirited comedic style, daft yet deft.
You would be howling mad to miss this Hound Of The Baskervilles.
Neon Crypt Productions in The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm tonight and tomorrow; 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Stage manager Rebecca Payne, right, joining in the Sherlock shenanigans at the finale to The Hound Of The Baskervilles
Kristian Barley’s Adam, left, Steve Tearle’s Bernadette and Matthew Clarke’s Tick in NE Theatre York’s Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert
FROM Priscilla in the outback to dark thriller The Psychic, the Romanian Richard III to Neon Crypt’s Holmes and Watson, Charles Hutchinson picks the week ahead’s best shows and gigs.
Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
STEVE Tearle, creative director of NE Theatre York, plays Bernadette, joined by Matthew Clarke as Tick and Kristian Barley as Adam, in the adventure of two drag artists and a trans woman embarking on a life‑changing road trip across the Aussie outback in their battered tour bus, discovering the power of love, identity, acceptance and true friendship.
“As they head west through the Australian desert to chase a dream aboard their lavender bus, our three terrific travellers come to the forefront of a comedy of errors,” says Tearle, whose high-energy production also features Helen Greenley as Shirley, Ben Rich as Jimmy, Steve Perry as Bob, the mechanic, Ali Butler-Hind as his wife Cynthia, plus disco divas Perri Ann Barley, Melissa Boyd and Aileen Hall. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Andy Nyman, left, and Jeremy Dyson in rehearsal for their world premiere of The Psychic at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan
World premiere of the week: The Psychic, York Theatre Royal, today to May 23
“IS any of it real,” ask Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman in The Psychic, the latest spook-fest from the writer-director duo behind Ghost Stories. In their twisted new thriller, popular TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case that brands her a charlatan, costing her not only her reputation but also a fortune in legal fees.
When a wealthy couple ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, she senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed and leads her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Gemma Curry in Hoglets Theatre’s Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre
Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre presents Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre, York International Shakespeare Festival, York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium, today, 6.30pm
HAGS, hauntings, hobgoblins and more emerge from the spooky suitcase owned by Lady Macbeth (Dotty to her friends). These spectres from performances past must retell their stories before they can find peace in the literary afterlife, but are they friends or will we need to be vanquished back into the supernatural suitcase?
Written, crafted and performed by Hoglets Theatre founder, director, writer and performer Gemma Sharp, this funny, energetic children’s theatre experience presents a world of hand-made puppets, music and storytelling, all performed from a single suitcase. “No prior knowledge of Shakespeare is required,” she says. Box office: https://yorkshakes.co.uk/programme-2026/spooky-shakespeare-suitcase-theatre/.
Dirty Ruby: Playing the blues at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Dirty Ruby, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm
SPECIALISING in sharp-edged blues rock, East Midlands five-piece Dirty Ruby have drawn comparison with 1970s’ acts Stone The Crows and Vinegar Joe with their energetic combination of Hammond organ, beautiful bluesy guitar, tight rhythm section and soulful lead vocals. After a five-track EP and debut single, they are working on completing their debut album. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Paulus The Cabaret Geek in the Victoria Wood tribute Looking For Me Friends
Tribute of the week: Looking For Me Friend: The Music Of Victoria Wood, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 7.30pm
PAULUS The Cabaret Geek and pianist Michael Roulston marks the tenth anniversary of Victoria Wood’s death in Looking For Me Friend. Directed by Sarah-Louise Young (from An Evening Without Kate Bush), the show is filled with Wood’s best-loved songs, such as Ballad of Barry & Freda’ (Let’s Do It) and It Would Never Have Worked. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Sarah McQuaid: Playing Helmsley Arts Centre on Friday
Folk gig of the week: Sarah McQuaid, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
SINGER and songwriter Sarah McQuaid draws on her seven albums of velvet-voiced folk songs, performed with wit and warmth in concert on acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and occasionally drums.
Born in Spain, raised in Chicago, holding dual Irish and American citizenship and now settled in rural England, she brings the eclecticism of her background to her contemplative ballads, playful blues and atmospheric instrumentals, her music inviting reflection, connection and a deep appreciation of the quiet power of a well-crafted song. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Eduardo Martín & Ahmed Dickinson Cárdena
Guitar concert of the week: Eduardo Martín & Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, Friday, 7.30pm
GRAMMY nominee composer Eduardo Martín and virtuoso classical guitarist Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas combine in an intergenerational duo that celebrates the depth and diversity of Cuban guitar music, weaving together classical, Afro-Cuban, jazz, rock and cinematic influences into a vibrant and emotionally rich dialogue.
Together, Martín and Dickinson Cárdenas embody a powerful artistic synergy. More than a concert, their collaboration is a sonic journey where generations meet, traditions evolve and Cuban identity resonates on a global stage. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Liviu Cheloiu in Richard III – The Man at York International Shakespeare Festival. Picture: Teatrul Tony Bulandra
Discontented son of York of the week: Tony Bulandra Theatre in Richard III – The Man, York International Shakespeare Festival, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 7.30pm
SHAKESPEARE’S “most captivating character” returns to York in Targoviste company Tony Bulandra Theatre’s Richard III – The Man, performed in Romanian with English surtitles by versatile actor and festival director Liviu Cheloiu, celebrated in the Eastern European country for his film roles and theatre work.
Exploring themes of power and its corrupting allure, the nature of evil, the manipulation of language and the thin lines between reality and fiction, the show delves into Richard III’s psyche while attempting to relate the Bard’s description – or character assassination? – with the historical truth about the Yorkist Plantagenet king in a series of scenes inspired by the Bard’s plays, showcasing Richard’s chameleon-like personality to reveal how he utilises those around him to achieve his goals. Box office: yorkshakes.co.uk or tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Laura Castle’s Dr Watson, left, and Laura McKeller’s Sherlock Holmes in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles
Mystery thriller of the week: Neon Crypt in The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 5 to 9, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
JOIN York company Neon Crypt for side-splitting stupidity, hot dog disguises and absolute terror in Jamie McKeller’s staging of Peepolykus co-artistic director John Nicholson’s incredibly high-brow adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s mystery The Hound Of The Baskervilles.
Sherlock Holmes (Laura McKeller) and Dr Watson(Laura Castle) are summoned to investigate the ancient curse of the Hound of the Baskervilles and unravel the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, found dead on his estate with a look of terror still etched on his face and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body. Look out for Michael Cornell popping up as Sir Henry Baskerville and Yokel 2. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Deathly Dark Tours tour guide in chief Dr Dorian Deathly
FRIDAY the 13th. Could there be a more perfect date for York’s Deathly Dark Tours to open their doors?
After five years of meeting guests on Grape Lane, Dr Dorian and Dede Deathly – Jamie and Laura McKeller – are overjoyed to have acquired a good old bricks-and- mortar property that will serve as new ticket office and space for spooky, tour-themed retail.
“To celebrate the opening, we are offering an opportunity for people to pop down to explore the shop and also to join a free tour on Friday 13th February,” says Dr Dorian.
“Due to the January weather carrying on stubbornly into February, the tours will be just half the usual length of the public tours at a snappy 45 minutes. Our guide will take guests on a whistle-stop tour of some of York’s most spooky spots, parting ways on Shambles, which is perfect for a post-tour tipple.”
The doors to the shop, at 4 Grape Lane, will open at 5pm and all are welcome to attend. “We will be running a free tour at 6pm and again at 7pm, starting from the shop, with 30 spaces available on each one,” says Dede Deathly (Laura).
“If you would like to grab some tickets for either of the tours, please send an email with the name of the lead guest, which time slot you would like and how many tickets you need to DORIAN@DEATHLYDARKTOURS.COM. The tickets will then be sent over to you.”
Don’t rain on his parade: Jamie McKeller’s Captain Hook lays down his terms and conditions in Rowntree Players’ The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan. Picture: Matt Hillier
DIRECTOR Howard Ella had resisted staging Peter Pan for more than 15 years. So much story to cram in, so familiar, and how do you stay true to J M Barrie while putting the Pan into pantomime and vice versa, he pondered.
Thankfully, always saying never to Neverland has turned into, well, you should never say never, as he teams up for a second time with Rowntree Players’ regular goofing panto loon Gemma McDonald to construct a script that retains all but the Darling parents among the regulation principals (until a late sub-plot).
Meanwhile, Nana the dog is turned into Nanny McFlee, Michael Cornell’s affable role in his third year on cheeky dame duty, forging a double act with sidekick McDonald, in trademark ginger bubble perm, rouge cheeks and riotously colourful clothing as Nanny’s dogged apprentice cum putative entrepreneur Barkly.
McDonald’s panto character never knowingly rejects the opportunity for a burst of bottom burps, but here takes raspberry blowing to new levels by bottling Barkly’s noxious wind for its powers of toxic termination of any opponent.
McFlee bite: Michael Cornell’s Nanny McFlee on dame duty. Picture: Matt Hillier
Effective, apparently, against all but those who suffer from anosmia: the medical term for the complete loss or lack of the sense of smell that five per cent of us experience and winner of the Unexpected Word of the Day in a York pantomime award.
Such a detail marks out the welcome unpredictability of a Rowntree Players panto, one of the assets of Ella and McDonald’s script that keeps the storytelling to the fore while promoting spectacle and slapstick too.
Jamie McKeller, spookologist Dr Dorian Deathly of Deathy Dark Tours by night when not treading the boards, has long craved the chance to play Captain Hook, a “real bad guy”, as he calls him. McKeller has beefed up his singing chops too with six months of lessons to add further impact to his latest character from the dark side, most notably in Don’t Rain On My Parade.
Irascible, arch, obsessive in his wish to put kill Peter Pan, his Hook is the master of the putdown, the waspish quip, yet fearful of the croc and the clock, here hounding him with electronic messages that Doom Is Imminent: a running gag that nods to modern technology.
She’s back! Hurrah! Claire Horsley’s Gloria on glorious piratical form performing in Pink Parade Club. Picture: Matt Hillier
Tradition plays its part in Rowntree pantomimes, and so Hannah King is a conventional, thigh-slapping, resolute principal boy as Peter Pan, working in tandem with Sara Howlett’s tinkering Tinkerbell.
Laura Castle knocks out a belting Holding Out For A Hero as the “never mess with a Yorkshire lass” Tigerlily; Sophie Bullivant’s Cornish clot of a Smee is amusingly disruptive before bringing the house down with Sit Down You’re Rocking The Boat.
Claire Horsley returns to the Rowntree ranks after a long hiatus to remind us of her vocal prowess as Gloria in the triumphant Pink Parade Club, while Tom Bettany’s John, Fergus Green’s Michael and especially Eva Howe’s storytelling Wendy have their moments as the Darling children.
Among the Lost Boys – ties tied around their heads as if band members of AC/DC – are company veterans Geoff Walker as Curly and Barry Johnson as Slightly, complemented by senior chorus, principal dancers and two junior teams (Blue at Sunday’s matinee) when Ami Carter’s choreography skilfully turns solo numbers and duets into full-scale ensemble routines.
The calm before the panto storm for Rowntree Players’ comical double act, Gemma McDonald’s Barkly and Michael Cornell’s Nanny McFlee. Picture: Matt Hillier
Rather than flying to Neverland, the Darlings are transported on their bed, lifted into the night sky with Pan and Tinkerbell to either side in set designer and scenic artist Anna Jones’s most striking scene. The show even makes fun of the budget limitations of trying to conjure an underwater scene…without water (save for water pistols).
Musical director Sam Johnson regularly lifts his band to the heights in the big numbers, especially in the Will Survive/Survivor mash-up and One Day More.
Rowntree Players’ Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan are fun, funny, fast-moving, full of silliness, but magical storytelling and colourful characterisation too. Tickets are selling fast and rightly so for this ever-rollicking community show
Rowntree Players in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Jamie McKeller (Captain Hook), second from right, in rehearsal with Gemma McDonald (Barkly), Michael Cornell (Nanny McFlea) and musical director Sam Johnson for Rowntree Players’ The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan
ROWNTREE Players pantomime co-writer and director Howard Ella had always avoided Peter Pan…until now.
“I see it as a bit of a Cinderella, where the story is so familiar to everybody that it’s hard to tell that story, do it justice and make it a panto at the same time,” he reasons ahead of tomorrow’s opening performance at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.
“It’s taken me 16/17 years to find the courage. You can’t just do the book, but I want to be loyal to the[J.M. Barrie] text while making it into a panto, and I think we’ve nailed it.”
By “we” he is referring to co-writer and regular goofing loon Gemma McDonald, cast as eager apprentice Barkly this time. “I’ve had Gemma by my side again, working from a great traditional story with great characters that give you a good foundation to then work out how to bring together the traditional while being forward facing; how you then get that balance right.
“A story like Peter Pan adds another level to that challenge, but we have an exciting cast that meets that challenge with contemporary relevance amid the melee of pantomime traditions.”
Joining Gemma in the principal cast will be Hannah King’s Peter Pan, Sophie Bullivant’s Smee, Claire Horsley, returning from a long hiatus, as Gloria, Sara Howlett’s Tinkerbell, Eva Howe’s Wendy and Neon Crypt theatre company trio Laura Castle as Tiger Lily, Michael Cornell as Nanny McFlea and Jamie McKeller as Captain Hook.
“Hook is the perfect panto villain and to have someone who’s wanted to play that role forever…that’s when serendipity kicks in with Jamie.”
McKeller is a familiar face on York’s haunted streets as ghost-walk host Dr Dorian Deathly, promoter of Deathly Dark Tours, but he has taken to the dark side in Rowntree Players pantomimes too, whether as an Ugly Sister or the Sheriff of Nottingham.
“One of the things I’m most proud of this year is that he’s a real bad guy,” says Jamie. “There’s usually redemption at the end for the villain, a great epiphany, but Hook doesn’t get one –and he shouldn’t. He just says from the get-go, quite unreasonably, that he will kill this child [Peter Pan].”
What’s more, his Hook will have the gravitas of a Shakespearean bad egg. “My first entrance is two pages of what Howard calls ‘elegant prose’,” he says.
Howard rejoins: “Pantos are frivolous and fun on the surface, but there’s no reason to not have a deeper story behind it to add depth. It would be very easy to tell a simple panto story around Peter Pan, where most of it could just be a tale with fairy dust, but then you have to insert a dame and a comic.
“We haven’t gone down that path: rather than Nana the dog, we have Nanny McFlea, with some dog-like tendencies in human form, and Gemma as her comical son Barkly.”
Jamie’s Hook will be attired in de rigueur red coat, hat, scarf, stripey trousers, big boots, hook…and “flamboyant hair”. “He’s wholly evil, but with show-stopping numbers, such as Don’t Rain On My Parade, the Barbra Streisand song from Funny Girl, One Day More and the Survivor/I Will Survive mash-up from Glee.
“As soon as I was told it was Peter Pan this year and that Captain Hook would require some strong singing, I went off and did six months of singing lessons at York Singing Academy in Marygate.
“I’ve always been able to maul my way through a song as the bad guy in a ‘speak-sing’ style but I’d never learned the mechanics of singing, though I knew how to manipulate my voice because of all the voiceover work I’ve done. Sam Johnson tells me I’ve done a good job!”
Howard concurs: “When you end up with the baddie singing as the campest character in the show, then that’s my idea of what a panto should be!”
He is enjoying Michael Cornell’s progression in the dame’s role too (as Nanny McFlea this year). “You grow into this role because no two dames are the same, and you have to own your dame,” he says. “By building relationships, like working around the consistency of Gemma’s character, it all gets layered over the years.”
Jamie, who performed alongside Michael in Neon Crypt and the Deathly Dark Tours’ paranormal investigations of The Wetwang Hauntings – Live in November, says of his panto co-star: “He’s just very fearless, bringing so much to the rehearsal room. He’s not long 30, and look at how still he was on stage in our Wetwang show, his tweedy suit and moustache barely moving.”
Defining why he loves pantomime in the 21st century, Howard says: “Pantomime remains something that is multi-generational. Bringing generations together in any activity is a challenge, but I’m all for multi-generational entertainment that is safe yet challenging at the same time and doesn’t just make you laugh but cry and think as well.
“It’s a unique form of entertainment with audiences that you don’t get with other forms of theatre. And I love the tradition of it all, which is important in the right place. It’s one of the things that drove me to do what I do now, and why wouldn’t you want to pass it on to the next generation? It’s a joyous privilege.”
On the subject of tradition, Howard adds: “You’re fitting pantomime into a world that’s changing all the time, but tradition doesn’t mean unchanging and old-fashioned, but comfortable and recognisable.
“I’m still fond of having a traditional principal boy [played by a female], but it doesn’t mean you can’t sprinkle new things into the pantomime mix. That’s the joy of writing it each year.”
Jamie enthuses: “From an acting/performing point of view, pantomime is so mischievous. I’m not very disciplined, and you know you can do things in panto, like knowing looks or catching each other’s eye on stage, and the audience knows that you’re doing that.
“I always say that doing panto is like a fever dream. I take the week off from everything else, just going around coffee shops.”
Audiences can’t wait. “We’ve had our third successive year of record ticket sales, which is even harder to achieve in this current climate, but we’ve had a strong team for a long time,” says a delighted Howard.
“We laugh a lot in rehearsals and that energy carries through to the performances when you have a bunch of people who love doing these shows.”
Rowntree Players in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Michael Cornell’s Michael Nightly, playing Mayor Dick Nightly with deadly earnest intent, in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!
FIRST, the murky mystery history bit: between 1986 and 1993, a series of often violent hauntings rocked the East Riding village of Wetwang. The cases went cold and all the records were lost…until now!
This week, interconnected York companies Neon Crypt (purveyors of macabre theatre) and The Deathly Dark Tours (ghost walk hosts) are going live with their investigations, boldly venturing where only their Wetwang Hauntings podcast series has ventured before.
Enter Dr Dorian Deathly (alias actor and voiceover artiste Jamie McKeller), not afraid to introduce himself as “York’s premier spookologist”, who will be simultaneously helped and hindered in his investigations by Deathly Dark Tours’ daft duo Dafydd and Dalton Deathly, the alter-egos of fellow Wetwang Hauntings podcast writers Jimmy Johnson (in bow tie and black nail polish) and Ben Rosenfield [built like a Victorian bodybuilder, kitted out by Wednesday Addams) .
Tooled up for a poltergeist encounter: Jimmy Johnson’s Dafydd Deathly, left, Ben Rosenfield’s Dalton Deathly and Jamie McKeller’s Dr Dorian Deathly
On hand too will be Dede Deathly (Laura McKeller) in multiple guises for the re-telling of these reopened cases, along with the mysterious Mayor Dick Nightly (any echo of former Honorary Mayor of Wetwang Richard Whitely is entirely coincidental!).
Nightly (deep-voiced, deader-than-deadpan Michael Cornell) is now played by deadly earnest actor son Michael Nighly – twice Nightly, as it were – who ploughs his own furrow, resolute in purpose, stony of face, not always in tandem with storytellers Dafydd and Dalton, nor with Dorian as he strives to keep order.
The show is a work in progress, rehearsed in only five days, and it has an air of shambling, occasionally shambolic enthusiasm, deliberately so for the benefit of the midnight-dark humour, but also unpredictably too.
Laura McKeller in one of her multiple roles in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!
Like when Johnson, ever dapper in his velvet suit, has to exit stage left urgently to, how shall I put this, throw up, not as a Pavlovian reaction to the nefarious deeds, but as the culmination of feeling ill all day. Round of applause, please, for ploughing on.
Likewise, the “Booth” is kept busy with requests for sound effects or jolted into action to remedy a missed cue. This is all part of the madcap fun of the rollercoaster ride through three newly re-heated cold cases: first, the Grainger family in Cleaver Avenue, then the Wetwang Asylum with its multiple name changes.
And finally, a choice of four, decided by audience votes in the interval. Would it be The Playground, VHDeath, The Haunted Haddock or John Merrylegs? VHDeath on Thursday, a reward, surely for its punning title.
Ben Rosenfield’s Dalton Deathly interviewing Laura McKeller’s “Sh***y” Phyllis
Murky matters are played out on a stage set out as Dorian’s paranormal investigations HQ with a drawing board (to keep going back to), neon lit in red with the word Deathly, plus minimal stage furniture, such as chairs and a stool, and ample curtains. Above is a screen put to regular use for case titles, Nightly’s cassette tape recordings and VHF footage.
Cornell’s dourly Yorkshire Nightly – last seen in 1988 – has a habit of turning up like Banquo’s ghost, whether haunting the mezzanine level or standing silently in the “Booth”, hovering ever closer over the perimeter of the audience seating or re-creating the Mayor’s ever more urgent interviews into the horrors that befell Wetwang.
The chaotically comedic style has echoes of physical theatre practitioners Le Navet Bete (whose version of Dracula: The Bloody Truth was staged by Neon Crypt earlier this year), and more darkly of The League Of Gentlemen too, in the Deathlies’ first full-length play. It carries the Neon Crypt and Deathly Dark tour house styles too, nimble on its feet, quick in reaction time, more often daft than scary – and not averse to spoofing Danny Robins’ Uncanny work.
Dr Dorian Deathly, eminent York spookologist, leading the paranormal investigations in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!
In Noises Off and The Play That Goes Wrong tradition, nothing will stop either Deathly team or Nightly from completing the grim task in hand. Jump scares? Yes. Horror? Hammy as Hammer, yes. Awful puns? Yes. Did you hear about the case of the ghostly bird? The poultrygeist . Boom boom. Thank you, Dorian, for that one.
What’s next for Dorian and co? More Wetwang Hauntings podcasts and plans for an expanded version of the live show. Oh, and Neon Crypt are contemplating a spooky take on the nightclub hell of John Godber’s Bouncers next May with a cast of McKeller times two, Cornell and fellow co-founder Laura Castle. Not so much John Godber as John Ghostbuster, perhaps?!
Neon Crypt & The Deathly Dark Tours present The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 2.30pm and 7.30pm today (8/11/2025). Suitable for age 13 upwards.Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Jimmy Johnson, left, and Dr Dorian Deathly (Jamie McKeller) in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Pictures: Emma Warley/Emma &Rich
BETWEEN 1986 and 1993, a series of often violent hauntings rocked the East Riding village of Wetwang. The cases went cold and all the records were lost…until now!
Join York ghost walk guide Dr Dorian Deathly as the Neon Crypt and the Deathly Dark Tours team digs into the history and horrors of these reawaken cases at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from tonight to Saturday in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live. “This show is not for the faint of heart,” he forewarns.
Here Dorian (alias York actor Jamie McKeller) discusses the Wetwang hauntings, the podcast and live show, Neon Crypt, Deathly Dark ghost walks and future plans with CharlesHutchPress.
How did you learn of the Wetwang Hauntings?
“There are two answers to this. The first is the one that’s in the podcast and live show, that we were brought an old shoebox filled with tapes by a man who only wants to be known as Mr Whispers.
“Dorian listened to the tapes, hours and hours of paranormal investigations carried out by the long-since-vanished Mayor Dick Nightly. We didn’t know what to do with the tapes at first, and then we realised that we are men in our 30s and 40s with microphones and access to fast internet. Making a podcast was the only logical choice; turning it into a staged show was the second.
“The second answer is that Jamie (the other guy) was having afternoon tea with a friend in Wetwang, and he got chatting to someone in the tea room about my time spent telling ghost stories on the streets of York.
“They told me that all the staff felt that the tea room was haunted and that was that. My brain got excited and before long I was pitching the show to my co-writers on the project, Ben Rosenfield and Jimmy Johnson.”
Laura McKeller (Dede Deathly) and Michael Cornell (Michael Nightly/Mayor Nick Nightly) in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live
Who or what is Neon Crypt?
“Neon Crypt are at the core a group of four actors and writers. Myself, my wife Laura McKeller, [York Mix presenter] Laura Castle and Michael Cornell. Laura Castle can’t be with us for this one; she’s very in demand but is very much missed and will be back for the next one!
“This is our third show. A Night Of Face Melting Horror was the first, then earlier this year we performed Le Navet Bete’s Dracula: The Bloody Truth. The Wetwang Hauntings is our first full-length, original play and we have two more planned for next year. In the future we’re looking to start touring one of these shows.”
Here is what AI says of the Wetwang Hauntings: “The ‘Wetwang Hauntings’ refers to a series of violent and unsettling paranormal events that reportedly took place in the Yorkshire village of Wetwang between 1986 and 1993.
“These events are the subject of a modern horror-themed podcast and live show that investigates the history and folklore surrounding the cases. While the historical ‘hauntings’ are steeped in local legend, the area is also famous for a significant archaeological find of an Iron Age chariot burial from around the 3rd or 4th century BC.“
What would you like to add to that summary?
“I’m not sure I should argue or disagree with AI; it’s a terrifying thing. Our thoughts on it are presented in the show this week.”
Do you have any theories on why the cases went cold? How come all the records were lost? Deliberately?
“As far as we can tell, something terrible happened to Mayor Nightly. We know that he was last seen in 1998, so we don’t know why the tapes have only surfaced now and we have no idea where they were kept. It’s all very strange, but I’m sure that it will all be fine. I think.”
Jimmy Johnson, left, Ben Rosenfield and Dr Dorian Deathly in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live
What has been the reaction to your podcasts?
“Just wonderful. We’ve had comparisons to The League Of Gentlemen, early Doctor Who, Uncanny and more, which is great as all of those things were heavy inspiration for us.”
More specifically, what has been Wetwang’s response? Has anyone from Wetwang or indeed the afterlife been in touch?
“One Wetwang resident has reached out to us and mostly said ‘yes, this all makes sense’. I’m not sure what that means, but she seems to be enjoying the show.”
How will The Wetwang Hauntings – Live! take the story further than the podcasts?
“The live show goes a little further into the tapes than where we are in the podcast. We’re looking at three hauntings chosen by the cast, with a fourth one to be chosen on the night by the audience.”
What will happen in the live show? Who will take part?
“The show features three out of four of the Neon Crypt gang, plus we’ve drafted in a couple of the Deathly Dark Tours gang, Dafydd and Dalton, who are the alter egos of Jimmy [Johnson] and Ben [Rosenfield].
Laura McKeller’s Dede Deathly in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live
“Laura McKeller is playing Dede Deathly, who is in turn playing the roles of several characters featured in the retelling of the hauntings. Michael Cornell is playing actor Michael Nightly, who is in turn playing his father Mayor Dick Nightly. Layers on layers! Over the course of the night we will be exploring the events that occurred in Wetwang in the 1990s.”
How will you use the theatre space as opposed to York’s streets to set the atmosphere?
“It will be warmer, which is always nice. We have tech that isn’t usually available to us, even having the ability to play sound and music, to isolate certain areas of the space.
“Over the years, we have become very, very good at scaring people on the sometimes mean streets of York with nothing more than what nature provides, so you can only imagine how much terror we will be conjuring in the theatre.”
What’s next for the Deathly Dark Tours as the dark nights lengthen and the chills set in?
“I’m stepping back from the tours for a little while to focus on Neon Crypt. The ghost walk is in very good hands, and I have other ambitions I need to focus on for a while. I’ll be back now and again, but Dorian will be mostly behind the scenes of it all for a little while.
“We had an intense Halloween with almost 5,000 people joining the tour, of which we ran more than 120 in 30 days. Things do ease off a little over winter, but it’s still steady. Then it will be February half-term and full steam ahead again in no time!”
Dr Dorian Deathly on stage at Theatre@41, Monkgate
On a different note: will Jamie be in the Rowntree Players panto again this winter? If so, which role?
“I certainly am. It’s Peter Pan this year, and I’ll be ticking off a big thing on my bucket list by playing the role of Captain Hook. He’s a proper big baddie this year. No eggs, no roads, he just wants to kill Peter Pan and he isn’t shy about it.
“Howard Ella and Gemma McDonald have written a fantastic script, and I have some absolutely preposterous songs this year. I’m straight back into rehearsal for it the day after The Wetwang Hauntings closes its first run!”
Neon Crypt & The Deathly Dark Tours present The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 4 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Suitable for age 13 upwards.Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Jamie McKeller will play Captain Hook in Rowntree Players’ The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, December 6, 2pm and 7.30pm, December 7, 2pm and 6pm; December 9 to 13, 7.30pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Wetwang in a nutshell
EAST Riding of Yorkshire village, in the Yorkshire Wolds, six miles west of Driffield. Known for Iron Age chariot burial site and black swans. Television presenter and Countdown host Richard Whiteley served as honorary mayor from 1998 to 2005. Richard Whiteley, Dick Nightly…you can see where The Wetwang Hauntings is heading!
Michael Cornell bathed in red light in The Wetwang Hauntings –Live
