Blackpool Tower Ballroom here they come: Chloe McDonald’s Nat, left, Martha Godber’s Sally and Emilio Encinoso-Gil’s Kyle keep the faith in John Godber’s hymn to Northern Soul, Do I Love You?
JOHN Godber has a new play on its way this autumn: Black Tie Ball, a tale of hotel upstairs and downstairs, bow ties and fake tans, jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs, told by staff at breakneck speed from arrival at seven to carriages at midnight. Harrogate Theatre, from September 10 to 13, and Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, from November 12 to 15, await.
There is a Godber house style, billed as his “signature visceral style”, one that applies as much to his hymn to Northern Soul, Do I Love You?, as it will to Black Tie Ball. Ever since Bouncers and Teechers, less has been more in Godber plays: compact casts, concise scenes, minimal props and space aplenty for combative or compatible movement.
No-nonsense Yorkshireman Godber has been writing plays since 1977, the year of punk at its scratchy apex, and likewise he tore up the rule book to write working-class dramas, economical but full of home truths, albeit with a nod to Bertolt Brecht in breaking down theatre’s fourth wall to favour direct address.
Do I Love You? is up there with his best works, visiting York Theatre Royal in the concluding week of its third tour since its 2023 debut, still with the same fresh-faced cast of Martha Godber, Chloe McDonald and Emilio Encinoso-Gil, who are in the groove not only of the sublime underground Sixties and Seventies music, but also of working together regularly, like the comic interplay of a well-oiled TV comedy series.
Frank exchange: Martha Godber’s Sally makes her point to Chloe McDonald’s Nat as Emilio Encinoso-Gil’s Kyle seeks to intervene in Do I Love You?
Godber is always at his best when his fractious comedies are fired by both love and anger, ideally backed by a pulsating soundtrack too. The love here is for Northern Soul from his own days of going to all-nighters and weekenders across the north, and he writes with passion, Record Collector levels of knowledge, not so much nostalgia, but more a lament for what we have lost.
Qualities of authenticity, truth, pride: all values he attributes to Northern Soul, music of pain and sorrow and ecstatic release; music of and for the working classes.
He places his drama in the hands of what he calls the lost generation, the twenty-something post-Covid generation stuck in the sludge of working at drive-through fried chicken counters.
Meet Martha Godber’s Sally, who looks after her ailing Irish-born grandma (played with a scarf, a fag and a hacking cough by McDonald), neglected by her drunkard mother. Meet Encinoso-Gil’s Kyle, her best mate, from Spanish stock, but the timing has never been right for it to be anything more than that. Meet McDonald’s Nat (or ‘Natalie’, she insists), their friend since schooldays, who has a crush on Kyle too and likes a spliff or two.
The anger lies in Godber surveying how little has changed between Britain in 1973 and 2023, the year in which the play is still set with Rishi Sunak as Prime Minister, “looking 11 years old” as he puts it.
Do I Love You? writer-director John Godber: Keeping the faith in Northern Soul when losing the faith in everything else
Godber writes of rising costs and prices, unemployment and small-town blues; of pubs closing, hospitality venues going; strikes on-going. Plus ca change.
He writes too of the everyday difficulties of young lives, as they fall out with each other, while facing mounting problems at home. What is left but to find a love, something to believe in, to keep the faith?
Godber interweaves the trio’s trials and tribulations with their initiation into Northern Soul, brilliantly described in Sally’s account of their first visit to a Cleethorpes all-nighter: £3 for eight hours. Soul devotees on the dancefloor, sliding, gliding, kicking, making her cry, although she doesn’t know why, but the way Godber writes, we do.
He takes us there with a sense of poetic wonder, just as he captures the tedium of taking fried chicken orders by reducing the experience to the fewest words possible for the maximum comical impact.
Emilio Encinoso-Gil’s Kyle tentatively shows off his dancefloor moves in Do I Love You?, to the scornful amusement of Chloe McDonald’s Nat and Martha Godber’s Sally
The songs can be played only in snippets that have to stop all too quickly, but Godber evokes Northern Soul by mentioning all the landmark songs and locations and by the power of his pen.
Best of all is the fulminating speech by Encinoso-Gil’s hunched-up Keith, a soul veteran with a criminal past and fingers in every pie, who is Do I Love You’s version of Lucky Eric in Bouncers, except that he squeezes all he has to say into one impassioned yet beautiful rant-cum-lament, whereas Eric has four bites at the sour cherry.
All three performances are terrific, Martha Godber especially so, and if no moment that follows Keith’s speech quite matches it, Do I Love You? packs an emotional punch, full of northern wit, grit and soul power hits.
John Godber Company in Do I Love You?, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm matinee tomorrow (12/6/2025) and 2.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Making her point: Martha Godber’s Sally, left, in a contretemps with Chloe McDonald’s Nat as Emilio Encinoso-Gil’s Kyle seeks to intervene in John Godber’s Do I Love You?
CELEBRATIONS of Northern Soul and British comedy greats are right up Charles Hutchinson’s street for the week ahead.
Weekender of the week: John Godber Company in Do I Love You?, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees; post-show discussion on June 13
THE John Godber Company is on its third tour of John Godber’s hymn to keeping the faith in Northern Soul, with the same cast of Martha Godber, Chloe McDonald and Emilio Encinoso-Gil.
Inspired by Godber’s devotion to Northern Soul, Do I Love You? follows three twentysomethings, slumped in the drudgery of drive-through counter jobs, who find excitement, purpose and their tribe as they head to weekenders all over, from Bridlington Spa to the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, Chesterfield to Stoke. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The fez, the spectacles and the bow tie: Damian Williams’s Tommy Cooper, Bob Golding’s Eric Morecambe and Simon Cartwright’s Bob Monkhouse in The Last Laugh, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
Comedy legends of the week: The Last Laugh, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees today, tomorrow and Saturday
WHO will have The Last Laugh at the Grand Opera House when British comedy triumvirate Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse reconvene in a dressing room in Paul Hendy’s play?
Find out in the Edinburgh Fringe, West End and New York hit’s first tour stop as Bob Golding, Damian Williams and Simon Cartwright take on the iconic roles in this new work by the Evolutions Productions director, who just happens to write York Theatre Royal’s pantomimes too. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
One of the Famous Faces on show in the Artistic Spectrum exhibition at Pocklington Arts Centre
Exhibition of the week: Artistic Spectrum: Famous Faces, Pocklington Arts Centre, on show until June 27
BOLD artworks feature in Famous Faces, a powerful, large-scale portrait project from Artistic Spectrum, co-created with more than 100 neuro-divergent and Special Educational Needs children and adults across East and South Yorkshire to challenge perceptions, champion inclusivity and put the power of representation into the hands of those too often left out of the frame.
Developed in group workshops over several weeks, participants created striking portraits of people who inspired them, from musicians and sports stars to activists and screen icons, using collage, found materials and personal objects to make works rich with texture, colour and personal meaning.
Comedian Scott Bennett and his daughter in the promotional picture for Blood Sugar Baby, on tour in York and Pocklington
Storyteller of the week: Scott Bennett, Blood Sugar Baby, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm; Pocklington Arts Centre, August 6, 8pm
ONE family, one condition, one hell of a hairy baby: Scott Bennett, from The News Quiz, relates how his daughter fell ill with a rare genetic condition, congenital hyperinsulinism (CHI).
Never heard of it? Neither have new parents Scott and Jemma as they fight to achieve the right diagnosis for their daughter and are plunged into months of bewildering treatment, sleepless nights, celebrity encounters and bizarre side effects, but a happy ending ensues. Box office: York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Shed Seven: Off to the Yorkshire coast on Saturday to play Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Coastal gigs of the week: The Corrs and Natalie Imbruglia, tonight; Gary Barlow and Beverley Knight, Friday; Shed Seven, Jake Bugg and Cast, Saturday, all at Scarborough Open Air Theatre; gates open at 6pm
THE 2025 season of Cuffe & Taylor concerts in the bracing sea air of Scarborough opens tonight with the Irish band The Corrs and Australian singer and Neighbours actress Natalie Imbruglia, followed by Take That and solo songwriter and The X Factor and Let It Shine judge Gary Barlow on his Songbook Tour 2025 on Friday, when Beverley Knight supports. Expect hits from both his band and Barlow back catalogues.
After two chart-topping 2024 albums in their 30th anniversary year, York band Shed Seven make their belated Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut on Saturday, supported by Jake Bugg and Cast. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Henry Blofeld: Wickets and wit in cricket chat at Helmsley Arts Centre
The sound of reporting on leather on willow: An Audience With Henry Blofeld, Sharing My Love Of Cricket, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm, rearranged from March 21
LEGENDARY BBC broadcaster and journalist, Henry Blofeld, former stalwart of the BBC’s Test Match Special commentary box, takes a journey through modern cricket, while looking back at the great games of yesteryear.
Blowers reflects on how cricket used to be and where it is headed: the theme of his September 2024 book Sharing My Love Of Cricket: Playing The Game And Spreading The Word, wherein he explores the big shifts, innovations and challenges facing the game. Box office: helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Saul Henry: On the Funny Fridays bill at Patch at the Bonding Warehouse, York
York comedy bill of the week: Funny Fridays at Patch, Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, Friday, 7.30pm
THE second Funny Fridays comedy night at Patch features Saul Henry, Gemma Day, Ethan Formstone, Lucy Buckley and headliner Jack Wilson, hosted by founder and comedian Katie Lingo.
Formstone’s profile reveals he is a bricklayer from York, who grew bored and now, “using his natural stage presence and wild imagination, lays surreal stories that will delight you and leave you slightly confused”. Tickets: eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets-1353208666549?aff=oddtdtcreator.
The poster for the SatchVai Band’s Surfing With The Hydra Tour, visiting York Barbican on Friday
Rock gig of the week: SatchVai Band, Surfing With The Hydra Tour 2025, York Barbican, Friday, doors 7pm
FOR the first time in nigh on 50 years of playing rock, guitarists and friends Joe Satriani and Steve Vai have united to tour as the SatchVai Band, opening their European travels in York before heading to London, Paris, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Istanbul and Athens.
Powerhouse drummer Kenny Aronoff, bassist Marco Mendoza and virtuoso guitarist Pete Thorn complete the stellar quintet. Box office: for returns only, yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Alex telling her story in EGO Arts’ You Know My Mum at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, on Friday
Cheeky comedy of life, loss and love for all the family:EGO Arts in You Know My Mum, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 7.30pm.
LEADING EGO Midlands Creative Academy’s disabled and neuro-divergent cast, Alex is a 25-year-old woman with Down’s syndrome struggling with the death of her mum. One day, she discovers Bluey, a baby Blue Tit, in her garden.
While Bluey learns about fried chicken factories and joins a boot camp for birds, Alex battles Harry Potter monsters and dreams about life after death. As her wild imagination comes to life, she learns that the love she thought she lost is all around her. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Angels Of The North: Headlining the main stage on Knavesmire at York Pride 2025
YORK Pride and celebrations of Northern Soul and British comedy greats are right up Charles Hutchinson’s street for the week ahead.
Festival of the week: York Pride, Parliament Street to Knavesmire, York, 12 noon to 6pm
NORTH Yorkshire’s largest LGBT+ celebration and York’s biggest free one-day festival, York Pride 2025, takes to the streets for its biggest, boldest and most fabulous event yet today, led off by the Pride Parade that will follow a new path through the streets from Parliament Street at midday.
On Knavesmire, the festival’s main stage will be headlined by Angels Of The North (6pm) and on the bill too will be Ryan Petitjean (1.10pm), tribute act Pet Shop Boys, Actually (1.35pm), Marcus Collins (2pm), Eva Iglesias (2.30pm), York drag superstar Janice D (3.35pm), La Voix (4pm), West End queen Kerry Ellis (5.15pm), The Cheeky Girls (5.35pm) and plenty more. Find the full line-up at yorkpride.org.uk/line-up.
Duncan Honeybourne: Performing the last concert of York Late Music’s 2024-2025 series this afternoon
Season’s finale: York Late Music presents Duncan Honeybourne, piano, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, today, 1pm
PIANIST Duncan Honeybourne performs new commissions commemorating the 100th anniversary of the death of the influential French composer Erik Satie, written especially for this afternoon’s programme by Philip Grange, Fred Viner, Sarah Dacey, Andrew Hugill, Steve Plews, Sarah Thomas, Simon Hopkins, Jenny Jackson and others, some of whom will be heard at Late Music for the first time.
Each composer has been asked to provide a new miniature piano solo influenced or inspired in some way by Satie and their works will be interspersed with a selection of Satie’s own pieces, such as Gnossiennes and Gympnopédies. Box office: latemusic.org/duncan-honeybourne-piano/ or on the door.
Film event of the week: John Barry From York With Love, Everyman York, York, today at 2.30pm and 4pm
JOHN Barry From York With Love, Sean Parkin’s unauthorised documentary of the early career of the York-born film composer, will have two private screenings at Everyman York this afternoon.
Private, yes, but tickets are available, although for copyright reasons, those tickets are for the after-viewing party at The Crescent community venue. The film viewing is free but there will be no entry without an after-show ticket. Doors open at Everyman at 2pm; the after-view party is at 3.45pm. All profits go to the Future Talent charity. A further screening follows at 4pm. Tickets: fienta.com.
Lady Nade: Paying tribute to Nina Simone at Helmsley Arts Centre
Celebration of a legacy: Lady Nade Sings Nina Simone, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm,
KNOWN for paying homage to those who have influenced her journey profoundly, Lady Nade holds Nina Simone in high regard for leaving behind a legacy of liberation, empowerment, passion and love through her extraordinary body of work.
As a black woman, Lady Nade acknowledges Simone’s trailblazing role in paving the way for artists of her generation. Her high-energy performance is a heartfelt dedication to recreating the transformative sound that blended popular tunes of the era into a distinctive fusion of jazz, blues, gospel, and folk music. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
The fez, the spectacles and the bow tie: Damian Williams’s Tommy Cooper, Bob Golding’s Eric Morecambe and Simon Cartwright’s Bob Monkhouse in The Last Laugh. Picture: Pamela Raith
Comedy legends of the week: The Last Laugh, Grand Opera House, York, June 10 to 14,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
WHO will have The Last Laugh at the Grand Opera House, York, when British comedy triumvirate Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Bob Monkhouse reconvene in a dressing room in Paul Hendy’s play?
Find out in the Edinburgh Fringe, West End and New York hit’s first tour stop as Bob Golding, Damian Williams and Simon Cartwright take on the iconic roles in this new work by the Evolutions Productions director, who just happens to write York Theatre Royal’s pantomimes too. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Keeping the faith in Northern Soul: Chloe McDonald, left, and Martha Godber in John Godber’s Do I Love You?, on the dancefloor at York Theatre Royalfrom June 10
Weekender of the week: John Godber Company in Do I Love You?, York Theatre Royal, June 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees; post-show discussion on June 13
THE John Godber Company is on its third tour of John Godber’s hymn to keeping the faith in Northern Soul, with the same cast of Martha Godber, Chloe McDonald and Emilio Encinoso-Gil.
Inspired by Godber’s devotion to Northern Soul, Do I Love You? follows three twentysomethings, slumped in the drudgery of drive-through counter jobs, who find excitement, purpose and their tribe as they head to weekenders all over, from Bridlington Spa to the Tower Ballroom, Chesterfield to Stoke. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Making a last stand: Pickering Musical Society bids farewell to musicals in Hello, Dolly!Picture: Robert David Photography
Goodbye to musicals: Pickering Musical Society in Hello, Dolly!, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, June 10 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
PICKERING Musical Society is preparing to raise the curtain on its final full-scale musical production, after more than a century, citing rising production costs and falling membership.
Set in the energetic bustle of 1890s’ New York, Jerry Herman’s Hello, Dolly! follows the irrepressible Dolly Gallagher Levi (society favourite Rachel Anderson) – a witty matchmaker, meddler and “arranger of things” – as she decides to find a match for herself. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk or in person from the box office on Tuesdays, 11am to 1pm.
Podcaster Blindboy Boatclub
Podcaster of the week: The Blindboy Podcast Live, York Barbican, June 10, 7.30pm
POLYMATH, author, screenwriter, songwriter, musician, producer and academic Blindboy Boatclub is on the biggest tour yet of his storytelling podcast, wherein he follows the Irish tradition of the Seanchaí, intertwining history, fiction, cultural critique and politics.
Drawing on his knowledge and chronic curiosity to democratise topics such as art, psychology, politics, science and music, Blindboy gives his insight into complex issues. Look out for a surprise special guest too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The invitation to Mark Hearld’s book signing on Thursday at Janette Ray Booksellers
Book signing of the week: Mark Hearld at Janette Ray Booksellers, 8, Bootham, York, June 12, from 4.30pm
YORK artist, ceramicist and York Open Studios stalwart Mark Heard will be signing copies of his book, Raucous Invention, The Joy Of Making, published in a beautiful new edition by Thames & Hudson. Mark will be on hand from 4.30pm to 7.30pm.
Released on June 5,the newly expanded edition of Hearld’s monograph bursts with more than 400 colour illustrations and fresh insights in a vivid journey into the heart of his creativity and love of the animal world.
Christopher Simon Sykes’s photograph of Mick Jagger in concert on the Rolling Stones’ Tour of the Americas in 1975, on show at Sledmere House from June 13
Exhibition launch of the week: On Tour With The Rolling Stones 1975, A 50th Anniversary Exhibition of Photographs by Christopher Simon Sykes, Sledmere House, Sledmere, near Driffield, June 13 to July 6, except Mondays and Tuesdays, 10am to 5pm
IN June 1975, Christopher Sykes, of Sledmere House, joined the Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas, known as T.O.T.A ’75: his first rock’n’roll itinerary as a snapper after specialising in photographing stately home interiors.
“You know going on tour is not like country life, Chrissie,” advised Mick Jagger on his first day of accompanying the Stones on their three-month tour of North America and Canada, playing 40 shows in 27 cities. The photos were used in a tour diary published the following year, and this exhibition showcases a selection of the best of the behind-the-scenes and stage pictures in the Courtyard Room. Tickets: sledmerehouse.com.
In Focus: Chalky The Yorkie at No 84 Sandwich Bar, Micklegate Arts Trail, York
Artist Chalky The Yorkie stands behind his Tiki bar at No 84 Sandwich Bar, created for the Micklegate Arts Trail
ROVING, rock’n’roll-loving York artist Chalky The Yorkie has always had a canny eye for spotting locations for his installation pieces.
Raise a glass to his latest artwork, the outdoor, Polynesian-style Tiki bar at No 84 Sandwich Bar, Julian Smith’s deli and cafe in Micklegate, created for the 2025 Micklegate Arts Trail but destined to remain in place after the festival ends on June 15.
“Last year Julian had a conversation with me about how it would be great to have a bar out here, at the back, which was full of bins at the time,” recalls Chalky. “So the bar was the first idea, but then, when we were thinking about the Arts Trail, two friends had suggested I should incorporate bikes, and another said it would be great to do something for the environment, repurposing things out of skips and the old bicycles.
Chalky The Yorkie’s Tiki bar installation poem on the plight of cyclists
“So what I’ve come up with is a bar built with scrap wood and salvaged wood after I was donated some leftovers by a builder to create the Re-Cycle Tiki Bar, to give something back to the planet. David Burton gave me one bike, along with one from his childhood and another was provided by Recycle York, in Walmgate.
“I thought I should create a memorial, taking the term ‘Re-cycle’ to highlight the plight of cyclists who lose their lives in accidents or come off their bikes and get injured in cycle lanes.”
Artist Chalky The Yorkie with No 84 owner Julian Smith at the Tiki bar
Originally Chalky considered designing a 1950s’ bar but then settled on a colourful Tiki bar. “The primary colours are there to match traffic lights, with red, amber, though it’s more yellow than amber, and green. I went for yellow, because it’s a more definitive colour,” he says. “The blues I use signify the pain of loss in a cycling accident.”
Incorporated in the installation too are Beaumont ceramics of exotic birds and figures, acquired from York Catering Supplies, in Walmgate, butterfly motifs, floral decorations and tinkling bells. “I like the Buddhist convention of chiming bells in remembrance of people as part of their memorial ceremonies,” says Chalky.
Welcoming Chalky’s installation, Julian says. “Chalky is part of the fixtures and fittings here. He even came around for our Christmas dinner!
It Can Happen To You – Take Care:Chalky The Yorkie’s Re-cycle memorial to cyclists
“We’re taking part in the Micklegate Arts Trail because it’s all about traders promoting local artists whose work they like, with Navigators Art giving us a platform to do that. Jasmine Foo has never exhibited before, and we picked her crochet work because my wife is a knitter. We’re delighted to be showing Sinead Corkery and Jude Redpath too – and Chalky’s cheeky Tiki bar is the icing on the cake.”
Inside the deli, look out too for Chalky’s day and night paintings of No 84, both featuring the family pet, Sid the dog, in the upstairs window.
Chalky The Yorkie’s painting of No 84 Sandwich Bar, Walmgate, York, at night
Penny for your thoughts: Jo Patmore’s prison troubadour offers to sing a song – for a price – to Emilio Encinoso-Gil’s highwayman John Swift as he awaits his hanging in John Godber’s The Highwayman
JOHN Godber is making history in more than one way in his new theatrical adventure. After more than 70 plays framed around modern culture and mores, he has gone back in time for his first historical romp.
Here is the background: “The year is 1769, when Yorkshire’s population has exploded, the races at York are packed, the new theatre in Hull thriving, and the spa towns full,” says writer-director Godber, now 68.
“Yorkshire was the place to be; a region drunk on making money, social climbing, gambling and gin, but with wealth in abundance, the temptation was great.”
Godber, who once lived in the East Riding village where Dick Turpin was arrested, evokes that era with references to Turpin, fellow highwayman John Levison, and Tate Wilkinson (who managed York Theatre Royal for 36 years and opened the Hull Old Theatre, mentioned above).
He also talks of the history of the assizes and public hangings on the Tyburn gallows in York, a spectator sport of its day that could draw crowds of 100,000 [like the old Wembley Stadium].
Caught in the footlights: Dylan Allcock, left, Jo Patmore, Emilio Encinoso-Gil and Matheea Ellerby in The Highwayman
The Highwayman of the title is, however, a fictitious 18th century character, one John Swift (Emilio Encinoso-Gil), whose opening words find him in the ultimate predicament. “I know what you’re thinking. Not a great start.” Here are the noose headlines: Swift is up to his neck in trouble, the hangman’s rope ready to deliver his exit stage left.
Freeze that moment, Godber keeping both you and Swift in suspense as the highwayman goes into flashback mode to tell you his back story, struggling to make ends meet with his forthright wife Molly May (Matthea Ellerby).
This may be a history play but Godber is drawing parallels with the privations of today, the disparity between the wealthy and those in need of a northern levelling up: the York race-goers and the pilfering pickpockets at work in the crowds.
Swift by name, he is swift of hand too, but while he believes he has luck on his side, his proverbial dropped sandwich would land jam side down. Even when he works at Tate Wilkinson’s theatre, he is peed on from the dress circle above, metaphorically as well as physically.
He is torn between doing the right thing, serving in the war against the French, tilling the land, taking that theatre job, but he cannot resist temptation. Just as Turpin was arrested for shooting the Green Dragon landlord’s cockerel, Swift is nabbed for stealing a duck.
John Godber: On the highway to Hull and back
In the play’s best scenes, Encinoso-Gil’s Swift and Ellerby’s Molly are often at loggerheads, exacerbated by time spent apart and their contrasting expectations. Swift would not call himself misogynistic, but his professed deep love does not extend to believing Molly should be working, especially now they have two children.
Her constant concern is to bring more money into the home, and unlike Swift, she does so by showing spunky entrepreneurial flair, first in selling pressed flowers, then in adding scent to candles: an invention greeted by Swift with derision to rival Peter Kay’s bewildered “Garlic bread”.
Godber has described The Highwayman as “very, very different from what I’ve done before”. Indeed it is, and not only on account of its period setting. Humour is in short supply in Act One, Godber in serious mode, even heavy-handed, the pace surely too slow for a highwayman romp despite the rambunctious friction of Swift and Molly.
You might be tempted to call it “ropey” at this stage, if you like a pun, but CharlesHutchPress prefers to share the undaunted positivity of Swift.
Give Godber enough rope and Act Two is anything but a downfall, by comparison. Instead it stands and delivers an upturn, aided by Dylan Allcock and Jo Patmore’s multiple role-playing, especially Patmore’s Irish pirate queen as Swift takes to the seas.
On his high horse: Emilio Encinoso-Gil’s highwayman, John Swift, makes a point in The Highwayman
Her lugubrious troubadour, offering to sing a song – for a fee – before Swift’s hanging adds to Godber hitting his comic stride too, while Allcock especially enjoys playing the grand thespian Tate Wilkinson back in his Theatre Royal home.
The dialogue, by the way, is modern, recalling Blackadder in giving it a more contemporary clout and political resonance. The staging is in economical Godber tradition: four regularly reassembled wooden boxes, a hangman’s noose and woodland screens behind.
In keeping with past Godber shows, snatches of pertinent pop songs set scenes, while the cast savours Allcock’s high-spirited folk songs, sung lustily in the manner of Brecht & Weil’s operas.
The Highwayman will not go down in history as one of Godber’s era-defining plays, more as a dandy, if acerbic dalliance, a Yorkshire past brought into the present, as ever with hope for a changed, better future.
John Godber Company presents The Highwayman, York Theatre Royal Studio, today at 2pm and 7.45pm, SOLD OUT. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Gerard Savva: Leading the York Stage cast as Bobby in Company at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
LOOK out for Godber at the double, Sondheim sophistication, a ground-breaking Black pioneer and Hull humour in the week ahead, recommends Charles Hutchinson.
Musical of the week: York Stage in Company, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
ON Bobby’s 35th birthday, his friends all have one question on their mind. Why is he not married? Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s bold, sophisticated and insightful revolutionary musical comedy follows Bobby as he navigates the world of dating and being the third wheel to all of his now happily (and unhappily) married friends, exploring the pros and cons of settling down and leaving his single life behind.
Nik Briggs directs a York Stage cast featuring Gerard Savva as Bobby, Florence Poskitt, Julia Anne Smith, Alexandra Mather, Joanne Theaker, Dan Crawfurd-Porter and Jack Hooper, among others. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The poster for Lightning Seeds’ show at Scarborough Spa Grand Hall tonight
Pure and simply joyful every time: Lightning Seeds, Tomorrow’s Here Today, 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, Scarborough Spa Grand Hall, tonight; The Welly, Hull, December 4; Leeds Beckett Students’ Union, December 6
TO mark their 35th anniversary, Liverpool singer, songwriter and producer Ian Broudie leads Lightning Seeds on their Tomorrow’s Here Today tour to accompany a new greatest hits album.
Here come Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions et al and many more. Tonight doors open at 7pm; Casino play at 8pm, Lightning Seeds at 9pm. Box office: Scarborough, scarboroughspa.co.uk; Hull, giveitsomewelly.com; Leeds, leedsbeckettsu.co.uk.
Tom Gallagher, Annie Kirkman and Laura Jennifer Banks in a scene from John Godber’s revival of Perfect Pitch
Touring play of the week: John Godber Company in Perfect Pitch, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
WHEN teacher Matt (Frazer Hammill) borrows his parents’ caravan for a week on the Yorkshire coast with partner Rose (Annie Kirkman), they are expecting four days of hill running and total de-stressing. However, with a Tribfest taking place nearby, Grant (Tom Gallagher) and Steph’s (Laura Jennifer Banks) pop-up tent is an unwelcome addition to their perfect pitch.
The class divide and loo cassettes become an issue as writer-director John Godber reignites his unsettling 1998 state-of-the-nation comedy, set on an eroding coastline, as Matt and Rose are inducted into the world of caravanning and karaoke. Box office: Scarborough, 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
The Highwayman cast of Dylan Allcock, left, Emilio Encinoso-Gil, Matheea Ellerby and Jo Patmore in John Godber’s new historical play. Picture: Ian Hodgson
New play of the week: John Godber Company in The Highwayman, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.45pm plus 2pm Friday and Saturday, sold out
AFTER more than 70 plays reflecting on modern life, John Godber goes back in history for the first time in The Highwayman. “It’s 1769 and Yorkshire’s population has exploded, the races at York are packed, the new theatre in Hull is thriving, and the Spa towns are full,” he says.
“Everyone is flocking north. Yorkshire is the place to be; a region drunk on making money, social climbing, gambling and gin, but with wealth in abundance, the temptation is great.” Enter the highwayman, John Swift and his partner, Molly May. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Paterson Joseph and Charles Ignatius Sancho: Storyteller and subject in Sancho & Me at York Theatre Royal
Story of the week: Paterson Joseph, Sancho & Me, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow, 7.30pm, with post-show discussion
CHARLES Ignatius Sancho, born on a slave ship on the Atlantic Ocean in 1729, became a writer, composer, shopkeeper and respected man of letters in 18th century London – the first man of African heritage to vote in Britain.
Actor, author and Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University Paterson Joseph tells his story, accompanied by co-creator and musical director Ben Park, built around his book The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho. Joseph explores ideas of belonging, language, education, slavery, commerce, violence, politics, music, love and where these themes intersect with his own story of growing up Black and British. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Irish band Adore: Headlining at The Crescent tomorrow. Picture: Fnatic
Indie gig of the week: Road Less Travelled presents Adore, Fuzz Lightyear and Tom Beer, The Crescent, York, tomorrow,7.30pm
RISING stars of the Irish music scene, Adore are a three-piece garage punk band from Galway, Donegal and Dublin, who refract surf, disco and pop through punk sensibilities, grounded in crunchy guitar, drum and bass.
Leeds four-piece Fuzz Lightyear, freshly signed to independent label Nice Swan Records, match the intensity of Idles and Gilla Band while applying wit and a lyrical openness to their songs. Bull frontman Tom Beer kicks off the triple bill with a solo set. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
New York Brass Band: Bringing New Orleans Mardi Gras jazz from old York to Milton Rooms, Malton
Jazz night of the week: Acorn Events presents New York Brass Band and The Ryedale Stray Notes, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 7pm
NEW York Brass Band, from York, perform with a seven or eight-piece line-up of sax, tuba, trumpets, trombones, guitar and sousaphone in the New Orleans Mardi Gras jazz band tradition. Formed by James Lancaster in 2010, they are inspired by Rebirth Brass Band, Soul Rebels, Hot 8, Youngblood and Brassroots.
They have played at Glastonbury for the past eight festivals and at celebrity parties and weddings for Danny Jones, of McFly, Ellie Goulding, comedian Alex Brooker, Liam Gallagher and Jamie Oliver. Support act The Ryedale Stray Notes feature 25 talented young musicians “ready to raise the roof”. Proceeds go to Acorn Community Care to support vulnerable adults with physical and learning disabilities. Tickets: acornevents.org.uk or phone Ali on 07891 3889085.
Paddy Young: Topping the Rye Humour bill at Helmsley Arts Centre. Picture: Lucas Smith
Variety night of the week: Rye Humour, Comedy vs Climate Change, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
RYE Humour’s variety bill of up-and-coming comics will be headlined by Chortle Best Newcomer winner Paddy Young, a stand-up with Scarborough roots. The 2023 BBC New Comedy Awards finalist and Edinburgh Comedy Awards Best Newcomer nominee has attracted 100 million views online for his sketches with Ed Night. His comedy special, filmed by American record label 800 Pound Gorilla Records, will be released shortly.
This gig has been developed in collaboration with the Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership scheme, as part of a project that uses humour to explore environmental issues based around North Yorkshire’s rivers. Any questions about the evening, or accessibility, will be answered at events@comedyvsclimatechange.org.uk. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Lucy Beaumont: Off-beat stories, unusual anecdotes and bizarre journeys through modern-day womanhood at Grand Opera House, York
Comedy gig of the week: Lucy Beaumont Live, Grand Opera House, York, Saturday, 8pm
HULL humorist, BAFTA nominee and Taskmaster star Lucy Beaumont is determined to let loose and let slip on her rollercoaster world with off-beat stories, unusual anecdotes and bizarre journeys through modern-day womanhood.
From the co-host of the chart-topping podcast Perfect Brains with Sam Campbell and creator of Meet The Richardsons comes a look at life through the Lucy lens. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Brushing up on her art: Lindsey Tyson, one of the Wednesday Four exhibiting at Pyramid Gallery, York
FROM the Wednesday Four to the sold-out Barbican four, a Sondheim musical to John Godber making history, Charles Hutchinson puts the ‘yes’ into November’s calendar.
Last chance to see: The Wednesday Four, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, today and Monday, 10am to 5pm
THE Wednesday Four, a group of four artist friends who gather in Scarborough each week – busy schedules permitting – are exhibiting together for the first time in York.
Shirley Vauvelle (ceramic sculpture and paintings), Gillian Martin (paintings and prints), Katie Braida (ceramics) and Lindsey Tyson (paintings) have been meeting for three years but have known each other much longer.
Tarot: Performing sketches in nighties in Shuffle at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: PBJ Management
Sketch show of the week: Tarot: Shuffle, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm
“THEY (our parents, partners, children) say ‘sketch is dead’, but if it’s dead then where’s all our money going?” ask Tarot, a sketch troupe featuring members of Gein’s Family Giftshop and Goose, Adam Drake, Ed Easton and Kath Hughes.
What lies in store in Shuffle? “Joyously silly and uproariously live and in-the-room, we would call it ‘improv’ but we’ve got some self-respect: this is sketch in nighties. Come watch a new tour of big, daft and, above all, live comedy being conjured up in front of your very eyes.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Rise Up To Empower Women: Fundraiser for York charity IDAS at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York
Fundraiser of the week: Rise Up To Empower Women, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
YORK and Leeds performers come together to “raise the roof to end gender-based violence”, sharing inspiring and moving stories of female survivors of abuse in a night of musical theatre organised by Hannah Winbolt-Lewis. Proceeds will go to IDAS, the Blossom Street, York-based domestic abuse and sexual violence support charity, and to aid the recovery of Leanne Lucas, a survivor of July’s Southport stabbings.
Performing arts student Daisy Winbolt-Robertson
Performing arts students Kate Lohan, Daisy Winbolt-Robertson, Sara Belal, Rose Scott, Chloe Amelie Lightfoot, Erin Childs, Annie Dunbar, Jasmine Lowe, Declan Childs and Oliver Lawery will sing songs from shows that depict survivors’ stories: Heathers, Spring Awakening, Waitress, The Color Purple, SIX The Musical and the newly premiered SuperYou. Donations can be made via idas.co.uk. Box office: O1904 501935, josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk or bit.ly/RiseUpToEmpowerWomen.
Simon Brodkin: Ripping into celebrity culture, social media, the police, Putin, Prince Andrew and God in Screwed Up
Comedy gig of the week: Simon Brodkin, Screwed Up, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 8pm
SIMON Brodkin, world-famous prankster, Lee Nelson creator and most-watched British stand-up comedian on TikTok, brings his outrageous stand-up show back to York.
In Screwed Up, Brodkin rips into celebrity culture, social media, the police, Putin, Prince Andrew and God. Nothing is off limits, from his own mental health and family to his five arrests and how he once found himself at an underground sex party. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Irish Christmas celebrations in song and dance in Fairytale Of New York
What? Christmas in old York already : Fairytale Of New York – The Ultimate Irish-Inspired Christmas Concert, Grand Opera House, York, November 11, 7.30pm
FROM the producers of Seven Drunken Nights – The Story Of The Dubliners comes a rich tapestry of Irish singers, musicians and dancers performing Driving Home For Christmas, Step Into Christmas, Oh Holy Night, Fairytale Of New York and Irish sing-along favourites The Galway Girl, The Irish Rover, Dirty Old Town and The Black Velvet Band. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Sarah Millican: “Lots of stuff about dinners and lady gardens” at York Barbican
Recommended but sold out alas: next week’s shows at York Barbican
BBC Gardeners’ World presenter Monty Don kicks off a particularly busy week at York Barbican when he shares his passion for gardens and the role they play in human inspiration and wellbeing on Monday night (7.30pm). Jazz pianist, songwriter and BBC Radio 2 presenter Jamie Cullum will be supported by Northampton pianist and singer Billy Lockett on Tuesday (doors 7pm).
On Thursday (8pm), in her Late Bloomer show, South Shields comedian Sarah Millican mulls over her transition from being quiet at school with not many friends and an inability to say boo to a goose to being loud with good friends and goose-booing outbursts aplenty, “plus lots of stuff about dinners and lady gardens,” she says. On Friday (doors 7pm), in her Rockin’ On show, queen of rock’n’roll Suzi Quatro rolls out Can The Can, Devil Gate Drive, Stumblin’ In, 48 Crash, The Wild One et al. “It’s my 60th year in the business and it still feels like I’ve just started,” she says.
The York Stage poster for their “new version” of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s American musical comedy Company
Musical of the week: York Stage in Company, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 13 to 16, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
ON Bobby’s 35th birthday, his friends all have one question on their mind. Why is he not married? Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s bold , sophisticated and insightful revolutionary musical comedy follows Bobby as he navigates the world of dating and being the third wheel to all of his now happily (and unhappily) married friends as he explores the pros and cons of settling down and leaving his single life behind.
Nik Briggs directs a York Stage cast featuring Gerard Savva as Bobby, Florence Poskitt, Julia Anne Smith, Alexandra Mather, Joanne Theaker, Dan Crawfurd-Porter and Jack Hooper, among others. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The Highwayman cast of Dylan Allcock, left, Emilio Encinoso-Gil, Matheea Ellerby and Jo Patmore in John Godber’s new historical play. Picture: Ian Hodgson
New play of the week: John Godber Company in The Highwayman, York Theatre Royal Studio, November 14 to 16, 7.45pm plus 2pm Friday and Saturday, sold out
AFTER more than 70 plays reflecting on modern life, John Godber goes back in history for the first time in The Highwayman. “It’s 1769 and Yorkshire’s population has exploded, the races at York are packed, the new theatre in Hull is thriving, and the Spa towns are full,” he says.
“Everyone is flocking north. Yorkshire is the place to be; a region drunk on making money, social climbing, gambling and gin, but with wealth in abundance, the temptation is great.” Enter the highwayman, John Swift and his partner, Molly May. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
In focus: Paterson Joseph, Sancho & Me, York Theatre Royal, November 14, 7.30pm, with post-show discussion
Paterson Joseph and Charles Ignatius Sancho: Storyteller and subject in Sancho & Me at York Theatre Royal
CHARLES Ignatius Sancho, born on a slave ship on the Atlantic Ocean in 1729, became a writer, composer, shopkeeper and respected man of letters in 18th century London – the first man of African heritage to vote in Britain.
Actor, author and Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University Paterson Joseph tells his story, accompanied by co-creator and musical director Ben Park, built around Joseph’s book The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho.
Joseph explores ideas of belonging, language, education, slavery, commerce, violence, politics, music, love and where these themes intersect with his own story of growing up Black and British
Joseph says: “Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780) had a most extraordinary life. Born of enslaved African parents, he rose to a position of great influence in British society. A polymath with a talent for music, his vote in 1774 and 1780 made him the first person of African descent to vote in a British Parliamentary election.
“I first came across Charles Ignatius Sancho in 1999. Born and raised in London, by my mid-thirties I had no idea there were thousands of Black Britons in the UK long before the famous ‘Windrush Generation’ who arrived in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s. I cannot overstate the powerful sense of belonging this knowledge brought me.
“My desire is to spread that sense of rootedness through spreading the word far and wide: Britain has always been a multi-ethnic country and Black people have been a major part of that story.”
The show incorporates Sancho’s compositions and original music by composer and musician Ben Park. In the words of Sancho: “Friendship is a plant of slow growth, and, like our English oak, spreads, is more majestically beautiful, and increases in shade, strength and riches, as it increases in years.”
Paterson Joseph: the back story
Born: Willesden, London on June 22 1964 to parents from St Lucia. Educated at Cardinal Hinsley RC High School. Worked briefly as catering assistant. Trained at Studio ’68 of Theatre Arts, London (South Kensington Library), from 1983 to 1985, later attending London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Theatre roles: Oswald in King Lear, Dumaine in Love’s Labours Lost and Marquis de Mota in The Last Days Of Don Juan, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1990. Title role in Othello, Royal Exchange, Manchester, 2002. Lead roles in The Royal Hunt Of The Sun and The Emperor Jones, Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, London, 2006. Brutus, in Royal Shakespeare Company’s Julius Caesar, set in Africa, 2012. Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Old Vic Theatre, London, 2019 into 2020.
Undertook documentary project My Shakespeare, filmed for Channel 4 in 2004, directing version of Romeo & Juliet that used 20 young non-actors from deprived Harlesden area of London.
On television: Mark Grace in Casualty (1997–1998); Alan Johnson in Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show (2003–2015); Lyndon Jones in Green Wing (2004–2006); Greg Preston in Survivors (2008–2010); DI Wes Layton in Law And Order: UK (2013–2014); “Holy Wayne” Gilchrest in The Leftovers (2014–2015); DCI Mark Maxwell in Safe House (2015–2017); Connor Mason in Timeless (2016–2018); Home Secretary, then Prime Minister Kamal Hadley in Noughts + Crosses (2020-2022); Commander Neil Newsome in Vigil (2021); Samuel Wells in Boat Story (2023).
Films include: Benbay in In The Name Of The Father (1993); Keaty in The Beach (2000); Greenfingers (2001), Giroux in Æon Flux (2005), The Other Man (2009) and Arthur Slugworth in Wonka (2023).
His debut play as a writer, Sancho: An Act Of Remembrance, was first co-produced and performed at Oxford Playhouse in 2015, then twice toured United States of America, including Kennedy Center in Washington and Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York. Performed by Joseph in London in 2018 at Wilton’s Music Hall; published by Bloomsbury.
Debut novel The Secret Diaries Of Charles Ignatius Sancho was published in 2022 by Dialogue Books in UK and Henry Holt in USA, charting Sancho’s life through fictionalised diary entries, letters and commentary. Nominated for six literary awards, winning Royal Society of Literature’s Christopher Bland Prize and Historical Writers Association Debut Novel Prize in 2023.
First book, Julius Caesar And Me: Exploring Shakespeare’s African Play, published by Bloomsbury.
Appointed Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University in 2022. Installed in May 2023.
Paterson Joseph, Me & Sancho, York Theatre Royal, November 14, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The Highwayman cast of Lancastrian actor-musician Dylan Allcock, left, Yorkshire actress Jo Patmore, Emilio Encinoso-Gil, last seen in the John Godber Company’s Do I Love You?, and Godber Theatre Foundation member Matheea Ellerby. Picture: Ian Hodgson
JOHN Godber has written more than 70 plays, invariably reflecting present-day concerns, woes and joys with humour as dry as a Yorkshire stone wall.
The Highwayman, riding into York Theatre Royal Studio from Thursday to Saturday next week, is different. “It’s the first time I’ve gone back into history,” says writer-director John, now 68, introducing his theatrical adventure where “history has never felt so modern.”
Before any nay’sayer points out he co-wrote Moby Dick with fellow Yorkshire playwright Nick Lane, that one does not count as it was an adaptation of Herman Melville’s 1851 novel.
This one is all John’s own work, albeit with the heavy hand of history leaning on him. “The year is 1769, when Yorkshire’s population had exploded, the races at York were packed, the new theatre in Hull thriving, and the spa towns full,” says John.
“Yorkshire was the place to be; a region drunk on making money, social climbing, gambling and gin, but with wealth in abundance, the temptation was great.”
Cue The Highwayman, “an exciting and exhilarating romp through history, where history has never felt so modern, theft never more attractive”. “I’m so excited to be bringing The Highwayman to the York Theatre Royal,” says John. “I cannot think of a better city to stage a show about highwaymen, this play coming from the region where Turpin was caught and Nevison made his great leap.”
Why head back into history now, John? “OK, two things. Many things actually. Dick Turpin was arrested in the village I used to live in, North Ferriby, [after shooting his landlord’s cockerel and threatening to kill the landlord, allegedly in the Green Dragon pub in Welton], so there is that story.
“I’d always been sure that Dick Turpin was a good subject for an East Yorkshire tour. Secondly, John Nevison was most likely to have been the man who rode from York to London on Black Bess, and Nevison was from Pontefract, just down the road from where I was born in Upton, and one of the main storing points for his booty was in Wentbridge, two miles from where I was born. The great leap he made to get away from the rozzers was across an estuary near Pontefract.”
John continues the background story. “That’s only part of the reason. The other was Tate Wilkinson [who managed York Theatre Royal for 36 years in the 18th century] . As an actor, he used to tour the northern circuit of Wakefield, Barnsley, Hull, York, Doncaster and Leeds, like my plays do now, and he opened the Hull Old Theatre in Hull, in Lowgate, too,” he says.
“I met up with Dr David Wilmore, the world expert on Frank Matcham’s theatres, who lives in North Yorkshire, to talk about the Assizes, how people went to watch the races at York and the hangings too, and in the late 1780s, you’re talking of 100,000 people watching the public hangings.
“This was the levelling up of a different era, so I then started looking at the £22 billion black hole today and thought, ‘if you had no money, what might you be led to do?’, and that’s when all these factors came into my thinking that I’d like to write a play about highwayman, though my character is an invention…”
…“There’s something else you need to know. You know my interest in Brecht and The Threepenny Opera…and The Beggar’s Opera. That was written by John Gay and produced by John Ridge, who had worked with Tate Wilkinson in the early part of his career.”
Put all this together and you have the model for Godber’s highwayman John Swift and his partner Molly May. “She’s referenced in Thin Lizzy’s hit Whiskey In The Jar, which happens to be a song about highwaymen!” says John.
Writer-director John Godber
The Highwayman was sparked by a request from East Riding Theatre in Beverley. “I was approached by ERT to write a play to mark the theatre’s tenth birthday, and I thought, ‘why not do something quite different and relevant to the district?’,” John says.
“We opened at the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond [North Yorkshire], where Tate Wilkinson played in the 1790s. That theatre was set up by Samuel Butler, who is buried in St Mary’s churchyard in Beverley.”
History is piling on history in John’s production. “The Woodland Scene, the oldest existing piece of stage scenery in the world, is in the Georgian Theatre’s museum, so I asked if we could replicate it in The Highwayman as we’re setting the play in Georgian times,” says John.
The resulting play has this period setting but with modern dialogue. “The ‘temptation’ in the play’s story leads the highywayman John Swift to come back from fighting the war in France thinking, ‘how am I going to make a living?’, particularly in the rural north,” says John. “So we’re looking at ‘what would you do if you had nothin’ – and with all the wealth around him, there was a lot of thieving to be done.”
What happens in The Highwayman, John? “The narrative starts with the highwayman’s hanging, which is ‘not a great start to a play’ he says, so he takes us back to when he is about to be hanged. Did you know, many of these hangings were unsuccessful and people sometimes survived? Our highwayman survives and because he does so, he changes his outlook to longer rob and work the land instead, and work for Tate Wilkinson too,” he says.
“But things don’t go to plan as his wife, Molly May, likes to spend, so he he goes up the coast on a ship and comes back with lots of goblets but still not enough to satisfy Molly.”
His story arc takes in pirates, the Royal Navy and highwayman John being sentenced to death again, waiting in Newgate Prison to be hanged for a second time. In the meantime, Molly May progresses from a cottage industry, pressing flowers, to inventing scented candles and becoming extremely wealthy from the perfume business at Floris. Whereas he keeps on running out of luck, Molly May takes advantage of opportunistic entrepreneurship.
“It’s been great fun to research the play, finding things I wasn’t aware of, like when you were about to be hanged, you could request a song, though you had to pay for it” says John.
The play may have an historical setting but “it’s a parable for today, close to an allegory. It’s been fascinating to do because it’s very, very different from what I’ve done before, but people come up to me and day, ‘mate, it’s happening now’.”
Reflecting on the early months of the new Labour Government, John says: “I have always voted Labour but I think this might be the last time. I believe we have lost touch with what people who have nothing are feeling. Also, university student fees going up: what’s that going to do?
“I’m not a Trump fan, but what we’re seeing [in America] is a failing of liberal education and a failure to understand what people on the ground are feeling.”
Looking ahead, John’s daughter, Elizabeth, has arranged a John Godber Company tour next year of his hit Northern Soul play Do I Love You?, booked into York Theatre Royal for June 10 to 14 on its 22-week itinerary. For tickets, go to: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
John Godber Company presents The Highwayman, York Theatre Royal Studio, November 14 to 16, 7.45pm plus 2pm Friday and Saturday matinees, SOLD OUT. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Driven by a vendetta: Guy Rhys’s Captain Ahab in Simple8’s Moby Dick. Picture: Manuel Harlan
MOBY Dick, Herman Melville’s leviathan tale of vengeful whaler versus great white whale, keeps returning to the Yorkshire stage.
Remember Slung Low’s The White Whale on water at Leeds Dock, the one with headphone sets for the audience, in September 2014?
Or John Godber and Nick Love’s version for the John Godber Company, the one with crates and bicycles, in the repurposed dock of Hull’s amphitheatre Stage@TheDock in June 2021?
Now, from Thursday to Saturday, York Theatre Royal plays host to Sebastian Armesto’s adaptation for Simple 8, the indoor one with sea shanties, planks of wood, tattered sheets and a battered assortment of musical instruments.
Why should you see this one? “It’s mercifully brief and means that if you haven’t read the novel you can watch our show and then pretend that you have,” says a droll Sebastian.
“Mercifully brief”? Two hours, including the interval, should you be wondering, as Royal & Derngate artistic director Jesse Jones’s ensemble cast of nine actor-musicians presents “a fun, fast and joyous production that transports you right to the heart of the hunt for the most famous whale on Earth”.
Mirroring whaling voyages, Jones’s ensemble must apply graft, not only conjuring ships, seas, storms and even whales from sparse means, but also playing and singing all the sea shanties live, in the Simple8 house style of “poor theatre” of multiple roles and minimal materials where “everyone does everything”.
Then add the task of taking the nautical indoors as Guy Rhys’s Captain Ahab and the Pequod crew seek vengeance on Moby Dick, the whale responsible for taking his leg.
Sea shanty singing in Simple8’s Moby Dick, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan
“Not only the setting is a challenge, but so is the size of the novel the play is adapted from, the ‘ginormity’ of the beast, the scale of the drama, the sky, the sea, and then there are the massive themes of the novel,” says Sebastian.
“In taking it indoors, there’s an element within it that suits the forced imaginative leap, where the suspension of disbelief inherent in theatre is directly within the fabric of the novel too.
“In the book, there are chapters and chapters about what a whale is – its bulk, its history – so it’s a novel that’s trying to devise meaning for everything. The whaling industry. Ahab’s character. Whale behaviour. The existential crisis.”
Sebastian continues: “The idea that you have to do it with nothing on stage sort of aligns with the novel’s struggle with itself. That’s my justification for not doing it in a dry dock, though I might enjoy that.
“I’ve seen a Norwegian production with puppets, a dance production, John Huston’s [1956] movie starring Gregory Peck and Orson Welles: whalers in pursuit of Moby Dick to their eventual demise, just as it will destroy you in pursuit of it. I’m sure it’s folly to try to adapt such books, but it’s also part of the pleasure.”
Sebastian reckons Melville’s novel is “one of those books that people would rather prefer they didn’t have to read, with its meandering passages”, but nevertheless he has a long association with Moby Dick.
“I adapted it a long time ago, previously completing an adaptation in 2010, but it wasn’t until 2013 that we first staged it, when I directed it,” he recalls.
“I was told that I did turn into Captain Ahab, obsessed with physical movement, to the detriment of everyone else, which doesn’t surprise me – and I apologise for that.”
Guy Rhys’s Captain Ahab, centre, leading his crew on the Pequod in Simple8’s Moby Dick. Picture: Manuel Harlan
Reviving his adaptation for Simple8’s tour, the script has changed, “as it inevitably will because it will never be complete,” he says. “Watching it fires me with more ideas and more things that I can do. This production and the text are evolving: the play is fluid, rather than solid.
“It’s been rewarding to go back to it. There are bits that I had forgotten, parts of the novel too, though in the end, there are things in the re-write that have not made it into the new version on stage for practical reasons.”
Significantly too, the existential fear and threat of the Covid 19 virus, its enforced lockdowns and resulting isolation, have given new resonance to the psychological and psychiatric impact of an unknown threat in Moby Dick.
“I come back to the initial discussion about putting Moby Dick on stage, being forced to imagine, when even the characters in the book don’t see Moby until the last 15 pages,” says Sebastian.
“Mime is very important to this production, particularly the idea that the actors are collectively committing to something that is completely imaginary, so there’s a lot of very intense physical storytelling, emphasising how they are grappling with something that they don’t fully understand.
“Post-pandemic, everyone has been grappling with something they couldn’t see, didn’t understand and were contained and confined by. That sense of being pursued by an unseen threat, endangering your survival, is really clear post-Moby Dick, with its imprint on other stories, from Joseph Conrad’s novels to Jaws.”
Simple8, in association with the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, present Moby Dick, York Theatre Royal, June 6 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Sebastian Armesto: the back story
Sebastian Armesto: Actor, writer and director
Born: June 3 1982. Son of historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto.
Education: Eton College.
Occupation: Film, television and theatre actor, writer and director.
Acted in high-profile theatre productions in Great Britain, including shows at National Theatre and Royal Court, London.
Writes and directs theatre with Simple 8 company.
Productions include directing and adapting Les Enfants du Paradis; co-writing and directing play based on William Hogarth’s The Four Stages Of Cruelty and new versions of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Moby Dick.
Influence on directing style: 1981 Ashes-winning cricket captain, psychotherapist and psychoanalyst Mike Brearley’s book The Art Of Captaincy: What Sport Teaches Us About Leadership.
The four doormen of the apocalypse: John Godber Company in Bouncers, on tour at York Theatre Royal
THE northern 1980s and Bath society in 1798, French park life and a canny tortoise stir Charles Hutchinson into heading out of the front door.
York play of the week: John Godber Company in Bouncers, York Theatre Royal, April 5, 7.30pm; April 6, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
MEET Lucky Eric, Judd, Les and Ralph, the original men in black, as they tell the torrid tale of one Eighties’ night in a Yorkshire disco in John Godber’s northern parody of Saturday Night Fever. All the gang are out on the town, the lads, the lasses, the cheesy DJ, the late-night kebab man, and the taxi home, under the watchful eyes of the Bouncers (Nick Figgis, George Reid, Frazer Hammill and newcomer Tom Whittaker).
“We’re delighted to be taking Bouncers back to the heyday of disco and the 1980s,” says Goober. “Looking back, there was so much wrong with the decade but also so much to celebrate; this new production dances a balance between what was great and what is cringe-worthy now!” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Banatvala, back, AK Golding, middle, and Sam Newton, front, in Northanger Abbey at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Pamela Raith
Play of the week outside York: Northanger Abbey, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until April 13
ZOE Cooper adapts Jane Austen’s coming-of-age satire of Gothic novels in a co-production by the SJT, Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Octagon Theatre, Bolton, and Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, starring Rebecca Banatvala (Cath), AK Golding (Iz) and Sam Newton (Hen) under Tessa Walker’s direction.
In a play fizzing with imagination, humour and love, Cath Morland knows little of the world, but who needs real-life experience when you have books to guide you? Cath seizes her chance to escape her claustrophobic family life and join the smart set in Bath. Between balls and parties, she meets worldly, sophisticated Iz, and so Cath’s very own adventure begins. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Yu Wakizuka’s Hare in Northern Ballet’s Tortoise & The Hare, racing around York Theatre Royal. Picture: Sophie Beth Jones
Children’s show of the week: Northern Ballet in Tortoise & The Hare, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday, 2pm, 4pm; Wednesday, 11am (Relaxed Performance), 2pm, 4pm
CHOREOGRAPHED by former Northern Ballet dancers Dreda Blow and Sebastian Loe, Tortoise & The Hare is an introduction to live ballet, theatre and music for “little ones”. When cheeky Hare can’t stop boasting about his speed, thoughtful Tortoise, so tired of being teased for his slowness, decides to challenge him in a race. No-one thinks Tortoise can win, but once Hare is distracted by games and treats, Tortoise might surprise everyone.
Leeds company Northern Ballet’s 40-minute adaptation of Aesop’s fable features an original score by Bruno Merz, set designs by Ali Allen and live music performed by Northern Ballet Sinfonia members. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Benjamin Francis Leftwich: Opening his spring tour at Leeds Brudenell Social Club
Gig of the week: Benjamin Francis Leftwich, Leeds Brudenell Social Club, Thursday, 7.30pm
YORK singer-songwriter Benjamin Francis Leftwich follows up Dirty Hit Records’ February 9 release of his fifth album, Some Things Break, with a nine-date spring tour that opens in Leeds.
He will perform alongside The 1975’s guitarist and keyboard player Jamie Squire on a tour managed by Bradley Blackwell, former bassist and keyboards player in The York band The Howl & The Hum.
Benjamin has released a 15-minute film of Some Things Break, directed by Harvey Pearson, that combines documentary footage of the recording process with interviews and four live videos of album tracks featuring Squire on keyboards and backing vocals. You can watch the film at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqAUE3jrp6w
Now based in Tottenham, London, Benjamin will be returning to York on July 18 to open the bill for Jack Savoretti’s open-air concert in York Museum Gardens on July 18. Box office: Leeds, brudenellsocialclub.seetickets.com; York, jacksavoretti.com/events.
Jessica Fostekew: On her mettle at Pocklington Arts Centre
Comedy gag of the week: Jessica Fostekew, Mettle, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 8pm
IN her new stand-up show of passion, pace and purpose, Jessica Fostekew’s son has joined a cult and her cat has learnt to talk. Nevertheless, she feels fine. In fact she is hurtling faster and hustling harder than ever for the things that she wants and needs.
Fostekew appeared in the sitcom Motherland and Sundance Festival Grand Jury prize-winning film Scrapper and is a regular co-host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, host and creator of her own podcast about eating, Hoovering, and the star and writer of BBC Radio 4’s Sturdy Girl Club. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Savva Zverev: Russian-born violinist, playing York Late Music concert on April 6. Picture: Mixei & TunaPutting themselves in the picture: Pick Me Up Theatre cast members James Willstrop (as Jules), left, Neil Foster (as Soldier), Natalie Walker (as Dot) amd Sanna Jeppsson (as Yvonne), front, set the scene for Sunday In The Park With George
York musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Sunday In The Park With George, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 5 to 13, 7.30pm except April 8; 2.30pm, April 6, 7 and 13
STEPHEN Sondheim and James Lapine’s musical follows painter Georges Seurat (played by Adam Price) in the months leading up to the completion of his most famous painting, A Sunday Afternoon On The Island Of La Grande Jatte.
Consumed by his need to “finish the hat”, Seurat alienates the French bourgeoisie, spurns his fellow artists and neglects his lover Dot (Natalie Walker), not realising that his actions will reverberate through the next 100 years. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Fairground Attraction: Mark Nevin, left, Roy Dodds, Eddi Reader and Simon Edwards reunite after 35 years for a York-bound tour and new album
Gig announcement of the week: Fairground Attraction, York Barbican, October 1
AFTER an absence of nigh on 35 years, all four original members of short-lived late-Eighties’ band Fairground Attraction are reuniting for a 14-date British tour and an as-yet-untitled new studio album, preceded by first single What’s Wrong With The World?, out now.
Best known for their chart-topping debut, Perfect, winner of the Best Single prize at the 1988 Brit Awards, Fairground Attraction return with their country-pop line-up of singer Eddi Reader, guitarist Mark Nevin, guitarrón bassist Simon Edwards and drummer Roy Dodds. Box office: axs.com/York.
In Focus: A triple bill of York Late Music concerts, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, April 5 and 6
Violinist Savva Zverev. Picture: York Late Music
THREE York Late Music concerts promise compositions by Bach, Bartok, Brahms, Bryars, Webern, Pärt, Farrenc and Debussy, new works and old works, York composers and even a York Suite, Richard Stoker’s Eboracum.
First up, on April 5 at 1pm, pianist David Hammond plays William Baines’s Pictures Of Light, Drift-light, Bursting Flames and Pool-lights, Steve Crowther’s Michael Dances, Ruth Karn’s The Loneliness Of Now and Gavin Bryars’ Ramble On Cortona.
Richard Stoker’s aforemtioned work A York Suite, Eboracum comprises Vale Of York, chorale prelude; Micklegate, interlude 1; Minster and the Five Sisters, lullaby; River Ouse, scherzo; Bootham Bar, interlude 2; Station and Railway Museum Castleand Clifford’s Tower, nocturne.
Hammond’s programme is completed by Matt Dibble’s Prelude in B minor, Hammond’s own work Variations On A Scottish Jig and William Baines’s Tides, The Lone Wreck and Goodnight To Flamboro’.
At 1pm on April 6, Amabile’s trio of Lesley Schatzberger, Nicola Tait Baxter and Paul Nicholson bring the distinctive blend of clarinet, cello and piano to life with a combination of trios by Brahms and performer, composer and equality campaigner Louise Farrenc, complemented by a new Steve Crowther work.
In the evening, at 7.30pm, Russian-born violinst Savva Zverev and pianist Sid Ramachander combine Bach’s Violin Concerto No 1 in G minor and Preludes by Debussy with works by Webern, Lutoslawski, Bartok, Pärt and Franz Waxmann. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
Table service: Sophie Bullivant, left Laura Castle and Abi Carter in Shakers
DEATHLY ghost tour host Jamie McKeller picked John Godber’s Teechers Leavers ’22 for his return to directing after 15 years last March.
Fresh from playing an Ugly Sister in panto, McKeller heads back to the Jo Ro with another rotten state-of the-nation Godber comedy, this one a husband-and-wife collaboration with Jane Thornton.
Two cast members from McKeller’s 2023 production return to the Rowntree Players ranks for Shakers, his pantomime co-stars Sophie Bullivant and Laura Castle now being joined by Abi Carter and Holly Smith.
McKeller has plumped for the 1987 version, not the 1994 musical with 50 per cent new material, nor the 2010 edition with a cast of five, nor the 2022 remix, Shakers: Under New Management!.
In the mix: Holly Smith, Sophie Bullivant, Abi Carter and Laura Castle making cocktails in a promotional shot for Rowntree Players’ Shakers
This is Shakers at its most raw, showing its dark Eighties’ roots like a bleach blonde hairdo, but resonating all the more in our age of zero hours contracts and #MeToo.
Like now, Thatcher’s Britain was an era of fears over losing your job and a them-and-us culture of division. Furthermore, some things never change, whether men treating women as meat or the boss demanding his cocktail waitresses show ever more leg.
In this unruly sister to Godber’s boisterous Bouncers, the multi-role-playing template turns the northern nightlife focus from the nightclub door staff to the cocktail bar shakers and stirrers: overworked, underpaid and prone to squabbling in a whirlwind of sticky floors and sticky situations.
Bullivant’s feminist Carol, Castle’s volatile Mel, Carter’s working mum Adele and company newcomer Smith’s brash Niki face the Saturday night shift from hell: seven hours beneath the neon lights, in shirts tied at the waist, black trousers and white pumps.
Laura Castle in a phone conversation in Rowntree Players’ Shakers
Fast, fizzing physical theatre, with minimal props and a minimalist set design of only four bar seats and four mini-bars on wheels in matching colours, is the performance style.
Another Godber trademark is omnipresent too: plenty of direct address to the audience, here concentrated in the stalls seats nearest the stage to lend McKeller’s production an intimate, studio atmosphere.
Mirroring Bouncers, the quartet plays myriad Shakers clientele: four lasses on a 21st birthday bender; leery lads on the pull; two bragging, misogynist TV producers; frantic kitchen staff; the jobsworth loo attendant.
Quick costume changes, jackets on, jackets off, sunglasses, handbags and a multitude of voices delineate characters that tend towards the caricature and the stereotype, especially in the yuppies and the luvvies.
Holly Smith and Sophie Bullivantin multi-role playing mode in Shakers
Like the waitresses’ shift, the workload and the pace is restless, exacerbated by McKeller’s decision to forego an interval, but there is stillness too in the monologues, one for each waitress, more serious in tone each time, culminating in a shuddering finale as downbeat as Teechers’ end-of-term despair.
Teamwork in movement and dialogue is impressively slick under McKeller’s direction, typified by that closing scene, while high energy bursts through individual performances, Castle the pick, as strong and supportive as that name would suggest.
The audience rarely laughs out loud en masse, which could be unnerving for the cast, but McKeller’s company resists trying to force the humour. Good decision.
Instead, Shakers’ poignancy and awkward, sobering truths hit home harder, shaking and stirring us all the more.
Rowntree Players in Shakers, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
