Tag: Joseph Rowntree Theatre

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 47, from Gazette & Herald

Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire: Art, light and sound in harmony in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust

GARDEN art & light installations, wartime memories and Dracula and Cinderella retellings spark Charles Hutchinson’s interest.

Installation of the week: Echoes Of Yorkshire, York Museum Gardens, until Sunday, 6pm to 8.20pm

LET light, colour and music surround you at Luxmuralis’s light and sound installation as artist Peter Walker, composer David Harper and lighting designer Steve Rainsford bring the story alive of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens from 1,000 images. 

Immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing York Museum Trust’s age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Tickets: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.

David Barrott, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ production of Party Piece

Calamitous comedy misadventure of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AMERICAN director, writer, producer, historian and stuntman Martin T Brooks directs Settlement Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous 1992 comedy Party Piece.

Michael and Roma Smethurst are preparing meticulously for their fancy-dress housewarming party as Mrs Hinson, not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours, keeps a criticising eye on the attendees. Then disasters strike: an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door. Cue chaos. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Cassie Vallance, left, and Jane Bruce in Story Craft Theatre’s Bat, Cackle And Pop! at York Theatre Royal

Children’s Halloween show of the week: Story Craft Theatre in Bat, Cackle And Pop!, York Theatre Royal Studio, today until Friday, 10.30am and 1pm

WINIFRED the Witch thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday. Not so. There will be a big surprise party, but first, a special birthday cake must be made.

“We just need the last three rather spooky ingredients,” say York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance and Jane Bruce. “Our show is bubbling with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls – more silly than scary – and there’s plenty of opportunities to dabble in some spell making, as well as flying with luxury BAT Airways.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jimmy Regal & The Royals: Playing Ryedale Blues Club at Milton Rooms, Malton

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Jimmy Regal & The Royals, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm

JIMMY Regal & The Royals are a tough and howlin’ harmonica-led three piece from South London, brandishing a sound from Mississippi to New Orleans, Mali to Canvey Island. Signed to Lunaria Records, they are touring to promote latest album Well Boss, a live set recorded at the Temperance in Leamington Spa. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Stage Hammer: Revamping Bram Stoker’s Dracula

High stakes of the week: Stage Hammer in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow and Friday, 7.30pm; Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm

WOLVES howl in the forests of Transylvania. Waves crash violently against the cliffs below Whitby Abbey. The infection is spreading. Count Dracula (Stuart Sellens) walks among us. Yorkshire solicitor Jonathan Harker (Callum Mathers) travels to a castle in the Carpathian Mountains to finalise the sale of property for a reclusive nobleman.

When he seemingly vanishes, fiancée Mina (Jennifer Jones) and her closest friend Lucy (Kathryn Lay) fall into the grip of a sinister force. Their only hope for survival is the mysterious vampire slayer Professor Van Helsing (Christopher C Corbett) in East Yorkshire troupe Stage Hammer’s new account of Bram Stoker’s vampire story, adapted by Corbett and directed by Lydia Baldwin. Box office: York, 01904 658338 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; Pickering, 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk. 

Fizzy with the singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone: Theo Rae, Isla Lightfoot, Olivia Swales and Beau Lettin

Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday

LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of 40 young performers in  Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s musical, replete with the film songs You Give A Little Love,  My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand SlamandBugsy Malone.

In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Little Seeds Music: Refreshing the fairytale world in Cinderella Ice Cream Seller

Fairytale retelling of the week: Little Seeds Music in Cinderella Ice Cream Seller, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm

OVER the past four decades, Cinderella’s has become the kingdom’s most beloved ice cream company, with a parlour on every street corner, but how did this humble maker become a multimillionaire business woman with her own empire?

Prepare your dessert spoons for a tale of perseverance, princes, palace balls, glass slippers and, yes, ice cream in writer-composer David Gibb’s hour-long family musical, wherein loyal Cinderella’s employees Talvi and Caldwell share her rags-to-riches tale and confront their own desires, hopes and the magic that lies within each scoop. Suitable for age five upwards. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Bomb Happy: Film and live performance double bill for VE Day at Milton Rooms, Malton

Theatre memorial of the week: Everwitch Theatre in Bomb Happy VE Day double bill, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 3pm

PRESENTED in the lead-up to Remembrance Sunday, whose focus this year falls on 80th anniversary of VE Day, Bomb Happy has been created by writer-performer Helena Fox and actor-vocalist Natasha Jones, of Everwitch Theatre.

From D-Day to VE Day, this powerful one-hour double bill of live performance (30 minutes) and short film (30 minutes) brings to life the verbatim accounts of two working-class Yorkshire Normandy veterans, highlighting the lifelong impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep trauma, not only on war veterans but on their families too. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Chris Smither: Playing All Saints Church, Pocklington tonight

In Focus: Chris Smither, All Saints Church, Pocklington, tonight, 7.30pm

CHRIS Smither, truly an American original, returns to the UK to perform songs from his vast catalogue on his 2025 UK and Irish tour as he approaches his 81st birthday on November 11.

Honing his synthesis of folk and blues for more than 50 years, this profound songwriter and captivating performer, from Miamai, Florida, melds the styles of his two major influences, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt, into his own signature guitar sound.

His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and humanist philosophers. His songs have featured in films and TV shows and been covered by John Mayall, Emmylou Harris,  Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall, among others.

Smither continues to tour festivals, music clubs and concerts halls all over the world. Now he showcases his 20th studio album, 2024’s All About The Bones, produced by long-time friend and producer David Goodrich, which complements eight new compositions with Smither’s renditions of Eliza Gilkyson’s Calm Before The Storm and Tom Petty’s Time To Move On.

The recording sessions took place at Sonelab Studios in Easthampton, Massachusetts, where Smither was joined by Goodrich, Zak Trojano, BettySoo and Chris Cheek.

The New York Times said of All About The Bones: “With a weary, well-travelled voice and a serenely intricate finger-picking style, Mr Smither turns the blues into songs that accept hard-won lessons and try to make peace with fate.”

Singer-songwriter BettySoo is Smither’s guest on the tour. Tickets for tonight cost £21.50 at www.smither.com.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 46 of criminally good entertainment, from The York Press

Martha Tilston: Playing The Basement tonight at City Screen Picturehouse

CRIMINAL investigations and a brace of plays with murder at the core, Charles Hutchinson detects a theme to his latest recommendations.

Singer-songwriter of the week: Martha Tilston, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm

BORN in Bristol and now living in Cornwall, singer, songwriter and filmmaker Martha Tilston writes songs from the heart as a balm for the modern age.

Tilston, who has worked Zero 7, Damien Rice, Nick Harper, Kae Tempest and Aztec Camera’s Roddy Frame, combines raw vocals and sparkling melodies with thought-provoking lyrics and filmic movements, inviting her audience to “connect with longed-for parts of ourselves”. Box office: marthatilston.co.uk.

Jennifer Rees: Exploring stories of serial killers in forensic detail at the Grand Opera House, York

Criminal investigations of the week: Strange But True Crimes with Jennifer Rees, Grand Opera House, York, October 21, 7.30pm

FORMER forensics lecturer and Psychology Of Serial Killers presenter Jennifer Rees explores stories such as the serial killer who gained work in law enforcement while on the run – and ended up hunting himself.

Watch out too for the female, balloon-carrying killer clown, serial killers on game shows – how  their appearances led to their identification – and  many more stories. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Jason Durr’s Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, right, accosting the nervous burglar in Torben Betts’s comedy thriller Murder At Midnight. Picture: Pamela Raith

Deliciously twisted crime caper of the week: Original Theatre in Murder At Midnight, York Theatre Royal, October 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

ON New Year’s Eve, in a quiet corner of Kent, a killer is in the house in Torben Betts’s comedy thriller Murder At Midnight, part two of a crime trilogy for Original Theatre that began last year with Murder In The Dark, this time starring Jason Durr, Susie Blake, Max Howden and Katie McGlynn.

Meet Jonny ‘The Cyclops’, his glamorous wife, his trigger-happy sidekick, his mum – who sees things – and her very jittery carer, plus a vicar, apparently hiding something, and a nervous burglar dressed as a clown. Throw in a suitcase full of cash, a stash of deadly weapons and one infamous unsolved murder…what could possibly go wrong? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon: Showcasing new album Rainy Sunday Afternoon at York Barbican. Picture: Kevin Westerberg

Recommended but sold out already: The Divine Comedy, York Barbican, October 21, doors 7pm

IN the wake of composing all the original songs for the 2023 global blockbuster Wonka, North Irishman Neil Hannon has returned to his Divine Comedy guise for September 19’s Rainy Sunday Afternoon: album number 13 and his first studio set since 2019’s Office Politics.

Recorded at Abbey Road, London, the album was written, arranged and produced by Hannon, who covers his usual range of emotions: sad, funny, angry and everything in between. Hear Hannon songs new and old next Tuesday, when Studio Electrophonique will be the special guest. Box office, for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Katie Melia’s Show White in Steve Coates Music Productions’ Disenchanted, turning fairy tales on their head at the JoRo

Cheeky twist on fairy tales of the week: Steve Coates Music Productions in Disenchanted, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 22 to 25, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

KATIE Melia directs and leads the cast as Snow White in Steve Coates Music Productions’ production of  Disenchanted, the musical with the feminist twist that turns fairy tales upside down, from the Little Mermaid hitting the bottle to Belle ending up in a straitjacket for chatting with the cutlery.

Forget the damsels in distress, Snow White, Cinderella and their royal crew want to set the record straight. Equipped with sass, wit, and powerhouse vocals, these not-so-princessy princesses flip the script, spill the tea and reclaim their stories as they challenge outdated happily-ever-afters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Making an impression: Dead Ringers on 25th anniversary tour

Comedy nights of the week: Dead Ringers, October 22, 3pm and 7.30pm, and Nick Mohammed Is Mr Swallow: Show Pony, October 26, 8pm, both at Grand Opera, House, York  

TO mark its 25th anniversary, BBC Radio 4’s topical satire show Dead Ringers takes to the road with a full UK tour for the first time as long-standing cast members Jon Culshaw, Jan Ravens, Lewis MacLeod and Duncan Wisbey take a trip through classic sketches and unrivalled impressions, peppered with  topical humour.

Celebrity Traitors competitor, Taskmaster contestant and Ted Lasso actor Nick Mohammed returns to York as his alter-ego Mr Swallow. Expect magic, music and new mistakes. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Harry Summers, left, and Emma Scott in rehearsal for York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy. Picture: John Saunders

Revenge drama of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Spanish Tragedy, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 22 to 25, 7.30pm

PAUL Toy directs York Shakespeare Project for the fourth time – and the first since Troilus And Cressida in 2011– in “the most popular play of the Elizabethan era, outselling Shakespeare”: Thomas Kyd’s The Spanish Tragedy, the circa 1592 blueprint for the Revenge Tragedy genre.

No Kyd, maybe no Hamlet or The Duchess Of Malfi, as treachery, deceit and disguise are wrapped inside a torrid tale of vengeance-seeking ghosts, madness, a play-within-a-play and a Machiavellian villain, delivered by Toy with masks, music and dance. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. 

Alexandra Mather’s Polly Peachum in York Opera’s The Beggar’s Opera. Picture: John Saunders

Opera of the week: York Opera in The Beggar’s Opera, The Citadel, York City Church, Gillygate, York, October 23 to 25, 7.30pm

YORK Opera stage John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepusch’s 1728 satirical ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera in an immersive production under the musical direction of John Atkin and stage direction of Chris Charlton-Matthews, with choreography by Jane Woolgar.

Watch out! You may find yourself next to a cast member, whether Mark Simmonds’ Macheath, Adrian Cook’s Peachum, Anthony Gardner’s Lockit, Alexandra Mather’s Polly Peachum, Sophie Horrocks’ Lucy Lockit, Cathy Atkin’s Mrs Peachum, Ian Thomson-Smith’s Beggar or Jake Mansfield’s Player. Box office: tickets.yorkopera.co.uk/events/yorkopera/1793200.

Heidi Talbot: Introducing November 21 album Grace Untold at NCEM on October 23

Folk gig of the week: Heidi Talbot, Grace Untold UK Tour, National Centre for Early Music, York, October 23, 7.30pm

IRISH folk singer Heidi Talbot returns to the NCEM stage to preview her November 21 album Grace Untold, a collection of songs based around Irish goddesses and inspirational women.

This is an album rooted in personal experience and collective lore as Heidi pays tribute to female strength, focusing on legendary figures and the unsung heroines within her own family. Box office: 01904 658338 or necem.co.uk.

Riverdance: The New Generation performs the Irish dancers’ 30th anniversary show at York Barbican

Dance show of the week: Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, October 24 to 26, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees

VISITING 30 UK venues – one for each year of its history – from August to December 2025, the Irish dance extravaganza Riverdance rejuvenates the much-loved original show with new innovative choreography and costumes, plus state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics, in this 30th anniversary celebration.

For the first time, John McColgan directs “the New Generation” of Riverdance performers, none of them born when the show began. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 44, from Gazette & Herald

Griffonage Theatre: Theatre at the intersection of the madcap and the macabre

IRISH village tales, love’s vicissitudes, folk and ceilidh nights and ghost & goblin storytelling bring autumn cheer to Charles Hutchinson. 

Time to discover: Griffonage Theatre in FourTold, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK devotees of the madcap, the macabre and making the familiar strange and the strange familiar, Griffonage Theatre transport audiences to the quirky rural town of Baile Aighneas – The Town of Dispute – for FourTold, a quartet of comedies by early 20th century Irish playwright Lady Augusta Gregory, never presented together in the UK until now under Northern Irish director Katie Leckey.

Encounter the bustling market and all its gossip in Spreading The News; the restaurant where newspaper editors wine, dine and mix up their Coats; the post office, where the splendid Hyacinth Halvey has sent word he is coming to town, and the bus stop where strangers such as The Bogie Men can quickly become friends! Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Joe Layton and Hannah Sinclair Robinson in Frantic Assembly’s Lost Atoms at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Scott Graham

Relationship drama of the week: Frantic Assembly in Lost Atoms, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

FRANTIC Assembly follow up York Theatre Royal visits of Othello and Metamorphosis with their 30th anniversary production, a two-hander memory play by Anna Jordan, directed by physical theatre specialist Scott Graham.

Joe Layton and Hannah Sinclair Robinson play Robbie and Jess, whose chance meeting, disastrous dates and extraordinary transformative love is the stuff of fairy tales. Or is it? Lost Atoms is a wild ride through a life-changing relationship, or Robbie and Jess’s clashing recollections as they relive the beats of connection, the moments of loss, but  are their stories the same and can their memories be trusted? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie: Pure entertainment at York Barbican

Oh, lucky you gig of the week: Lightning Seeds, Tomorrow’s Here Today, 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, York Barbican, tomorrow, 8pm

NOW in his 36th year of leading Liverpool’s Lightning Seeds, Ian Broudie heads to York on his extended Tomorrow’s Here Today tour. Cue Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions et al. Casino support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jack Fry’s Quasimodo and Ayana Beatrice Poblete’s Esmerelda in Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ The Hunchback Of Notre Dame

Musical of the week: Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 10, 11 and 14 to 18, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

BLACK Sheep Theatre Productions bring a cast of five leads, seven ensemble actors and a 23-strong choir to the York company’s larger-than-life staging of Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz’s musical rooted in Disney’s 1996 musical film and Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel.

Combining powerful themes of love, acceptance and the nature of good and evil with a sweeping score, Matthew Peter Clare’s show will be “like nothing you’ve seen before”. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Alex Mitchell: Headlining the Funny Fridays comedy bill at Patch at Bonding Warehouse, York

Comedy gig of the week: Funny Fridays, Patch at Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, Friday,  7.30pm

BRITAIN’S Got Talent star Alex Mitchell headlines October’s Funny Fridays bill at Patch, hosted by promoter and comedy turn Katie Lingo. On the bill too will be Pheebs Stephenson, Jacob Kohn, Lorna Green and Jimmy Johnson.

 “As this year’s event falls on World Mental Health Day, we’re raising money for Samaritans with bucket collections, ticket proceeds and a raffle. I’m a volunteer at the York branch and see first-hand the incredible work they do.” Tickets: eventbrite.co.uk or on the door.

Suthering’s Julu Irvine and and Heg Brignall: Playing Helmsley Arts Centre

Folk gig of the week: Suthering, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

ADVOCATES for the LGBTQ+ community and for the rights of women and other marginalised people, Tavistock folk duo Suthering’s Julu Irvine and and Heg Brignall weave harmonies through their original songs, paired with gentle guitar and emotive piano arrangements.

Known for their chemistry, storytelling and humour on stage, they intertwine their messages about the state of our climate, social conscience, the importance of community and connecting with nature, while  championing female characters, creating new narratives for women and unearthing the female heroines of the folk tradition, as heard on their second album, 2024’s Leave A Light On. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Ceilidh of the week: Jackhare Ceilidh Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 7.30pm

RYEDALE Dog Rescue presents the Jackhare Ceilidh Band in an evening of traditional English dance music this weekend. Doors open at 7pm and the Studio Bar will be open. Tickets must be pre-booked by emailing fundraising@ryedaledogrescue.org.uk, phoning 01653 697548, texting 07843 971973 or messaging on the Ryedale Dog Rescue Facebook page.

Robin Simpson: Storyteller and York Theatre Royal pantomime dame

Spooky entertainment of the week: Robin Simpson’s Magic, Monsters And Mayhem!, Rise at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, October 12, doors 4pm

YORK Theatre Royal pantomime dame Robin Simpson – soon to give his Nurse Nellie in Sleeping Beauty this winter – celebrates witches, wizards, ghosts and goblins in his storytelling show.

“The audience is in charge in this interactive performance, ideal for fans of spooky stories and silly songs,” says Robin. “The show is perfect for Years 5 and upwards, but smaller siblings and their grown-ups are very welcome too.” Tickets: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Beverley Knight: Stories and songs at York Barbican. Picture: Lewis Shaw

Concert announcement of the week: Beverly Knight, Born To Perform, York Barbican, June 20 2026

QUEEN of British soul Beverley Knight will share stories from her life on stage, as well as performing her biggest hits, musical theatre favourites and cherished songs that have inspired her.

“I’m excited to get back on the road but with a different kind of show that folk are used to with me,” says Wolverhampton-born Beverley, 52. “Born To Perform is me taking you on a journey through my life on both music and theatre stages, using my memories and of course my songs. I’m stripping back my sound so the audience can lean in a little closer and really hear my soul.” Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/beverley-knight-2026.

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More Things To Do in York & beyond when the air turns blue and the skies glower. Hutch’s List No. 44, from The York Press

Roy Chubby Brown: No offence, but it’s simply comedy, reckons Britain’s stalwart potty-mouthed joker at York Barbican

FROM sacre bleu comedy to a French silent  film,  Graham Nash and Al Stewart  on vintage form to Grayson Perry on good and evil,  love’s vicissitudes to the Hunchback musical, October is brewing up a storm of culture, reports Charles Hutchinson. 

Blue humour of the week: Roy Chubby Brown, It’s Simply Comedy, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

GRANGETOWN gag veteran Roy Chubby Brown, now 80, forewarns: “Not meant to offend, it’s simply a comedy tour”. After more than 50 years of spicy one-liners and putdowns, he continues to tackle the subjects of sex, celebrities, politics and British culture with a high profanity count and contempt for political correctness. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Gemma Curry in Hoglets Theatre’s The Tale Of The Loneliest Whale at York Theatre Royal Studio

Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre in The Tale Of The Loneliest Whale, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 11am and 2pm

FRESH from an award-winning Edinburgh Fringe run, York company Hoglets Theatre invite primary-age children and families to an exciting adventure packed with beautiful handmade puppets, sea creatures, original songs and audience interaction aplenty.

Performed, crafted and directed by Gemma Curry, The Tale Of The Loneliest Whale celebrates friendship, difference and the beauty of being yourself in Andy Curry’s tale of Whale singing his heart out into the deep blue sea, but nobody singing back until…a mysterious voice echoes through the waves, whereupon Whale embarks on an unforgettable adventure. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Graham Nash: Sixty years of song at York Barbican. Picture: Ralf Louis

Vintage gigs of the week: Graham Nash, An Evening Of Songs And Stories, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm; Al Stewart, The Farewell Tour, York Barbican, October 7, 7.45pm

GRAHAM Nash, 83-year-old two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Grammy award winner, performs songs spanning his 60-year career fromThe Hollies to Crosby, Stills andNash, CSNY (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young) to his solo career, joined by Todd Caldwell (keyboards and vocals), Adam Minkoff(bass, drums, guitars and vocals) and Zach Djanikian (guitars, mandolin, drums and vocals). Long-time friend Peter Asher supports.

The poster for Al Stewart’s farewell tour, visiting York Barbican on Tuesday

Glasgow-born folk-rock singer-songwriter Al Stewart marks his 80th birthday (born 5/9/1945) with his UK farewell tour. After relocating to Chandler Arizona from Los Angeles, his home for the past 45 years, he is winding down his touring schedule with his long-running time band The Empty Pockets. Time for the last Year Of The Cat. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jonny Best: Leading Frame Ensemble’s improvised score for The Divine Voyager at the NCEM. Picture: Chris Payne

Film event of the week: Northern Silents presents The Divine Voyager with Frame Ensemble, National Centre for Early Music, York, Monday, 7.30pm

FRAME Ensemble’s spontaneous musicians Jonny Best (piano), Susannah Simmons (violin), Liz Hanks (cello) and Trevor Bartlett (percussion) accompany Julien Duvivier’s lushly photographed, beautifully poetic 1929 French silent film The Divine Voyage with an improvised live score.

In a tale of faith and hope, rapacious businessman Claude Ferjac sends his ship, La Cordillere, on a long trading journey, knowing it is likely to sink after poor repairs. An entire village of sailors, desperate to support their families, has no choice but to set sail. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

James Lee, left, Helen Clarke, front, Wilf Tomlinson, back, and Katie Leckey rehearsing for Griffonage Theatre’s FourTold. Picture: John Stead

Time to discover: Griffonage Theatre in FourTold, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 6 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK devotees of the madcap, the macabre and making the familiar strange and the strange familiar, Griffonage Theatre transport audiences to the quirky rural town of Baile Aighneas – The Town of Dispute – for FourTold, a quartet of comedies by early 20th century Irish playwright Lady Augusta Gregory, never presented together in the UK until now under Northern Irish director Katie Leckey.

Encounter the bustling market and all its gossip in Spreading The News; the restaurant where newspaper editors wine, dine and mix up their Coats; the post office, where the splendid Hyacinth Halvey has sent word he is coming to town, and the bus stop where strangers such as The Bogie Men can quickly become friends! Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Hannah Sinclair Robinson’s Jess and Joe Layton’s Robbie in Frantic Assembly’s Lost Atoms, on tour at York Theatre Royal next week. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Relationship drama of the week: Frantic Assembly in Lost Atoms, York Theatre Royal, October 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

FRANTIC Assembly follow up York Theatre Royal visits of Othello and Metamorphosis with their 30th anniversary production, a two-hander memory play by Anna Jordan, directed by physical theatre specialist Scott Graham.

Joe Layton and Hannah Sinclair Robinson play Robbie and Jess, whose chance meeting, disastrous dates and extraordinary transformative love is the stuff of fairy tales. Or is it? Lost Atoms is a wild ride through a life-changing relationship, or Robbie and Jess’s clashing recollections as they relive the beats of connection, the moments of loss, but  are their stories the same and can their memories be trusted? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Grayson Perry: “Finding out if you really are thoroughly good or maybe quite evil, but in a fun way” at the Grand Opera House

Question of the week: Grayson Perry: Are You Good?, Grand Opera House, October 7, 7.30pm

AFTER A Show For Normal People And A Show All About You, artist, iconoclast, television presenter and Knight Bachelor Grayson Perry asks Are You Good? A question that he thinks is “fundamental to our humanity”.

“In this show I will be helping you, the audience, find out if you really are thoroughly good or maybe quite evil, but in a fun way,” says Sir Grayson. “I always start out with the assumption that people are born good and then life happens. So, let’s pull back the curtain and see where your morals truly lie.” Add audience participation and silly songs, and expect to come out with core values completely in tatters. “Is it more important to be good or to be right? It’s time to update what is a virtue and what is a sin. No biggie.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Lightning Seeds’ Ian Broudie: Pure entertainment at York Barbican on Thursday

Oh, lucky you gig of the week: Lightning Seeds, Tomorrow’s Here Today, 35 Years Greatest Hits Tour, York Barbican, October 9, 8pm

NOW in his 36th year of leading Liverpool’s Lightning Seeds, Ian Broudie heads to York on his extended Tomorrow’s Here Today tour. Cue Pure, The Life Of Riley, Change, Lucky You, Sense, All I Want, Sugar Coated Iceberg, You Showed Me, Emily Smiles, Three Lions et al. Casino support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jack Fry’s Quasimodo and Ayana Beatrice Poblete at Black Sheep Theatre Productions’s Selby Abbey photoshoot for The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, opening next week at the JoRo

Musical of the week: Black Sheep Theatre Productions in The Hunchback Of Notre Dame, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 10, 11 and 14 to 18, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

BLACK Sheep Theatre Productions bring a cast of five leads, seven ensemble actors and a 23-strong choir to the York company’s larger-than-life staging of Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz’s musical rooted in Disney’s 1996 musical film and Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel.

Combining powerful themes of love, acceptance and the nature of good and evil with a sweeping score, Matthew Peter Clare’s show will be “like nothing you’ve seen before”. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 38, from Gazette & Herald

Willow artist Laura Ellen Bacon at her Whispers Of The Wilderness exhibition at Beningbrough Hall. Picture Anthony Chappel-Ross

WILLOW sculptures, a riotous Shakespeare comedy, outdoor cinema and a festival of practical arts are early September attractions for Charles Hutchinson. 

Exhibition opening of the week; Whispers Of The Wilderness, Exploring Wilderness Gardens, Beningbrough Hall, near York, until April 12 2026, Tuesday to Sunday, 11am to 4pm

WHISPERS Of The Wilderness brings together contemporary large-scale willow sculptures by Laura Ellen Bacon, historic pieces from across the National Trust collection to showcase Wilderness Gardens through time, and a new drawing studio designed by artist  Tanya Raabe-Webber.

Complemented by a new soundscape, audio chair, sketches of the developing sculptures and more, the exhibition is a sensory experience across the first-floor Reddihough Galleries and Great Hall. Its opening coincides with Beningbrough’s own Wilderness Garden being the next to be developed as part of Andy Sturgeon’s long-term garden vision, from autumn this year. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/beningbrough.  

The HandleBards’ poster for Much Ado About Nothing, tonight’s Shakespeare riotous comedy performance at Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York

Shakespeare performance of the week: The HandleBards in Much Ado About Nothing, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall Great Hall, York, tonight, 7pm

PEDEALLING from venue to venue with set, props and costumes on bikes, the HandleBards’ four-strong troupe of actors is spending the summer touring environmentally sustainable Shakespeare hither and thither in a bicycle-powered indoor production of Much Ado full of riotous energy and comedic chaos.

Soldiers return from the war to a household in Messina, kindling new love interests and re-kindling old rivalries as the parallel love stories of Beatrice, Benedick, Claudio and Hero become entangled with scheming, frivolity and melodrama. Box office for returns only: handlebards.com/show/much-ado-about-nothing-merchant-adventurers-hall.

Scarlett Johansson in Jurassic World Rebirth, Friday’s film at Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema in York Museum Gardens

Film event of the week: City Screen Picturehouse presents Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, York Museum Gardens, York, Jurassic World Rebirth (12A), Friday, 6.30pm; Stop Making Sense (PG), Saturday, 6.30pm; 10 Things I Hate About You (12A), Sunday, 6.30pm

SCARLETT Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali star in Gareth Edwards’ new Jurassic World chapter as an intrepid team races to secure DNA samples from the three most colossal creatures across land, sea and air.

Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense, capturing David Byrne’s Talking Heads in perpetual motion at Hollywood’s Panatges Theatre in December 1983, re-emerges in a 40th anniversary restoration of “the greatest concert film of all time”. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Allison Janney, Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger star in 10 Things I Hate About You, wherein Cameron falls for Bianca on the first day of school, but not only his uncool status stops him from asking her out. 

Blankets, cushions and small camping chairs are allowed at screenings that will begin at dusk or as soon as darkness descends. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.

Jason Manford is A Manford All Seasons at York Barbican, Scarborough Spa and Hull City Hall

Comedy gigs of the week; Jason Manford in A Manford All Seasons, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm and November 15, 7.30pm; Scarborough Spa Grand Hall, Saturday, 7.30pm; Hull City Hall, January 22 2026, 7.30pm

SALFORD comedian, writer, actor, singer and radio and television presenter is on tour in his new stand-up show. He cites Billy Connolly as the first comedian he saw aged nine and as his first inspiration and he cherishes such family friendly entertainers as Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Les Dawson. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Scarborough, scarboroughspa.co.uk; Hull, hulltheatres.co.uk.

Lino print art demonstration at Fangfest Festival of Practical Arts in Fangfoss

Silver anniversary of the week: Fangfest Festival of Practical Arts, Fangfoss, East Riding, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 4pm each day

FANGFOSS is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Fangfest with the All Things Silver flower festival; veteran cars; archery; the Stamford Bridge Heritage Society; music on the village green; children’s games; the Teddy Bear Trail and artists aplenty exhibiting and demonstrating their work. 

Opportunities will be provided to try out the potter’s wheel, spoon carving and chocolate making. Some drop-in activities are free; more intensive workshops require booking in advance. Look out too for the circus skills of children’s entertainer John Cossham, alias Professor Fiddlesticks, and the Pocklington and District Heritage Trust mobile museum. Admission is free.

York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir: Performing Sounding Brass and Voices concert with York RI Golden Railway Band at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York

Musical partnership of the week: Sounding Brass and Voices, York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Saturday,7.30pm

TWO well-loved York ensembles reunite for Sounding Brass and Voices to celebrate 100 years of music. York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band are performing a joint concert for the fourth time in a tender and thrilling pairing of brass and voices.

“From romantic film music to toe-tapping hits, there will be something for everyone,” says Golden Rail Band conductor Nick Eastwood. “And prepare yourselves for the finale, when the choir and the band will take the stage together for a couple of glorious and rousing numbers that will gladden your heart and send you home singing.” Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Gruff Rhys: Solo gig at The Crescent, York. Picture: Ryan Eddleston

York gig of the week: Gruff Rhys, The Crescent, York, September 10, 7.30pm

SUPER Furry Animals and Neon Neon musician Gruff Rhys plays The Crescent two days ahead of the release of his ninth solo album, Dim Probs, his fourth sung entirely in Welsh, marking his debut on Rock Action Records.

Over the years, Rhys has collaborated with Gorillaz, Africa Express, Mogwai, Sparklehorse, Danger Mouse, Sabrina Salerno and Imarhan and written two books, multiple cinema and video game soundtracks and an opera, created music for three stage shows and devised two feature documentaries. Box office for returns only: thecrescentyork.com/events/gruff-rhys.

Suede: Returning to York Barbican on 2026 Antidepressants tour. Picture: Dean Chalkley

Show announcement of the week: Suede, Antidepressants UK Tour 2026, York Barbican, February 7 2026

AFTER playing York Barbican for the first time in more than 25 years in March 2023, Suede will make a rather hastier return on their 17-date January and February tour. Brett Anderson’s London band will be promoting tenth studio album Antidepressants, out on September 5 on BMG.

“If [2022’s] Autofiction was our punk record, Antidepressants is our post-punk record,” says Anderson. “It’s about the tensions of modern life, the paranoia, the anxiety, the neurosis. We are all striving for connection in a disconnected world. This was the feel I wanted the songs to have. This is broken music for broken people.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/suede26.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond in a flurry of festivals and sonnet declarations. Hutch’s List No. 35, from The York Press

Sonnets in Bloom script writer Natalie Roe, left, and director Josie Connor on a churchyard bench at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, where York Shakespeare Project’s performances will be staged

SHAKESPEARE in poetic full bloom, arguably the best ever British farce and moorland classical music lead off Charles Hutchinson’s case for not going on holiday in August.

Poetic return of the week: York Shakespeare Project presents Sonnets In Bloom, Holy Trinity churchyard, Goodramgate, York, August 15 to 23, 6pm and 7.30pm, plus 4.30pm, August 16 and 23

REVEREND Planter is very excited that his church is hosting the regional leg of Summer in Bloom. You are warmly invited to enjoy a complimentary drink and to see the goings-on. Participants will be arriving with their prized entries, some more competitive than others, but where is the special guest? And who will win the People’s Vote?

Welcome back Sonnets In Bloom as YSP’s 50-minute summer show returns to Holy Trinity’s churchyard with a new director, Josie Connor, new scenario script writer, Natalie Roe, and nine new sonneteers among the dozen presenting a new collection of characters, each finding a way to share one of Shakespeare’s celebrated sonnets. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age recommendation: 14 plus.

Lucy Hook Designs’ poster for York River Art Market’s tenth anniversary

Art event of the month: York River Art Market, Dame Judi Dench Walk, by Lendal Bridge, York, today and tomorrow, August 16 and 17, 10am to 5.30pm

YORK River Art Market returns for its tenth anniversary season by the Ouse riverside railings, where 30 artists and designers will be setting up stalls each day.

Organised by York artist and tutor Charlotte Dawson, the market offers the chance to buy directly from the makers of ceramics, jewellery, paintings, prints, photographs, clothing, candles, soaps, cards and more besides. Admission is free.

Mad Alice: History talk and Georgian gin tasting at Impossible York at 4pm tomorrow

York festival of the week: York Georgian Festival 2025, until August 11

ORGANISED by York Mansion House, in tandem with York businesses, the York Georgian Festival is a whirl of  dashing dandy fashions, extravagant feasting and romantic country dancing in a celebration of a golden social scene hidden within the brickwork of York’s abundant 18th century architecture.

Among the highlights will be a Promenade through the city; Georgian ice-cream cooking demonstrations; Regency Rejigged dance performances; Georgian Execution Tour with Bloody Tours of York; Mad Alice and York Gin’s history talk and Georgian gin tasting at Impossible York bar; York Georgian Ball at Grand Assembly Rooms; Portraits in Jane Austen; A Byron Letter and A Georgian Kerfuffle at York Mansion House and An Intimate History: The Life and Loves of Anne Lister at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate. For the full programme and tickets, go to: mansionhouseyork.com/york-georgian-festival.

Seven Wonders: Paying tribute to Fleetwood Mac at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Tribute show of the week: Seven Wonders, The Spirit Of Fleetwood Mac, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm

SEVEN Wonders, a seven-piece, 100 per cent live band, cover all eras of Fleetwood Mac, from the Peter Green blues years, through Rumours, to Tango In The Night. Be prepared to dance the night away to Go Your Own Way, Don’t Stop, The Chain, Rhiannon, Dreams, Little Lies, Oh Well, Edge Of Seventeen and many more. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Alex Phelps, left, Christopher Godwin, Olivia Woolhouse, Valerie Antwi, Susan Twist, Charlie Ryan and Andy Cryer in rehearsal for Michael Frayn’s Noises Off at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Play of the week: Noises Off, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, today until September 6, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm  Saturday matinees

SJT artistic director Paul Robinson directs the first ever in-the-round production of Michael Frayn’s legendary 1982 farce with its play-within-a- play structure. “Good luck!” said the playwright on hearing the Scarborough theatre was taking on what has always been considered an impossible task. 

Noises Off follows the on and off-stage antics of a touring theatre company stumbling its way through the fictional farce Nothing On. Across three acts, Frayn charts the shambolic final rehearsals, a disastrous matinee, seen entirely from backstage and the brilliantly catastrophic final performance. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Jamie Walton: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival director and cellist. Picture: Matthew Johnson

Moorland festival of the week: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival, August 10 to 23

IN its 17th year, cellist Jamie Walton’s festival presents 14 concerts designed to mirror the 14-line structure of a sonnet, guiding audiences through a pagan year with its unfolding seasons, solstices and equinoxes. 

The four elements – Fire, Air, Water and Earth – will be explored through the lens of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets and staged in four historic moorland churches: St Hilda’s, Danby; St Hedda’s, Egton Bridge; St Michael’s, Coxwold, and St Mary’s, Lastingham. Ten concerts will be held in an acoustically treated venue in the grounds of Welburn Manor, near Kirkbymoorside. For the full programme, go to northyorkmoorsfestival.com. Box office: 07722 038990 or email bookings@northyorkmoorsfestival.com.

Mark Radcliffe and Arlo: Dog tales at The Crescent

Shaggy dog stories of the week: Mark Radcliffe (& Arlo): In Conversation, The Crescent, August 11, 7.30pm

MARK Radcliffe, radio broadcaster, musician and writer, is one half of BBC Radio 1′s semi-legendary Mark and Lard and one half of BBC 6Music’s Radcliffe & Maconie. Now he introduces his new double-act partner, his beloved pampered Cavapoo, Arlo, as featured in the book Et Tu, Cavapoo?, published by Corsair on August 14.

In March 2024, Radcliffe and Arlo set off from Cheshire in their VW Beetle convertible for a three-month sojourn in Rome. Join them in conversation for an account of their time amid the sights (and sniffs) of the Italian capital in a show for lovers of travel and history, food and drink, art and architecture, and those seeking an insight into the eccentricities of the canine mind. This event combines a book signing, an interview with a special guest host and a chance to put questions to Mark (and Arlo). Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Smashing Pumpkins: Heading to Scarborough on Aghori Tour

Coastal gig of the week: Smashing Pumpkins and White Lies, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 13, gates 6pm

AMERICAN alternative rockers The Smashing Pumpkins play Scarborough on their Aghori Tour. Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin’s multi-platinum-selling band will be supported on the Yorkshire coast by London post-punk revival band White Lies.

Since emerging from Chicago, Illinois, in 1988 with their iconoclastic sound, Smashing Pumpkins have sold more than 30 million albums. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.

Scarborough band Brightside: Making NCEM debut on August 14

From coast to York: Piano Goes Brightside, National Centre for Early Music, York, August 14, 7.30pm

SCARBOROUGH band Brightside are undergoing a name change to The Waisons but not before playing this Piano Goes Brightside gig in York. In the line-up are Josh Lappao, lead guitar and vocals, Vince Lappao, drums and keyboards,  Mason Marshall, guitar and vocals, and Olly Kershaw, bass guitar.

Formed to compete in a Battle of the Bands school competition, where they were placed runners-up, their two years of gigging has taken in school events, a Nativity entertainment, Christmas parties and a wedding. “We mostly do covers, but plan on making originals soon,” they say. As for the piano, progressive Scarborough pianist Jamie Kershaw will play 45 minutes of Schubert, Debussy, Ludovicio Einaudi, jazz and more. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No.34, from Gazette & Herald

Lucy Hook Designs’ poster for York River Art Market’s tenth anniversary

AUGUST’S arrival heralds the return of riverside art, Georgian festival frolics and moorland classical music in Charles Hutchinson’s guide to a cornucopia of culture.

Art event of the month: York River Art Market, Dame Judi Dench Walk, by Lendal Bridge, York, August 9 and 10, August 16 and 17, 10am to 5.30pm

YORK River Art Market returns for its tenth anniversary season by the Ouse riverside railings, where 30 artists and designers will be setting up stalls each day.

Organised by York artist and tutor Charlotte Dawson, the market offers the chance to buy directly from the makers of ceramics, jewellery, paintings, prints, photographs, clothing, candles, soaps, cards and more besides. Admission is free.

Scott Bennett: Presenting Blood Sugar Baby at Pocklington Arts Centre

Storyteller of the week: Scott Bennett, Blood Sugar Baby, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm

ONE family, one condition, one hell of a hairy baby: Scott Bennett, from The News Quiz and the Parenting Hell podcast, 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: Pocklington, 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Ryosuke Kiyasu: Drumming prowess on The Arts Barge

Beat that: No Instrument and Arts Barge present Ryosuke Kiyasu, The Arts Barge, Foss Basin Moorings, York, tonight, 7.30pm

PIONEERING snare-drum soloist Ryosuke Kiyasu has redefined percussion since 2003, releasing more than 200 albums, both solo and with his band, drawing 23 million views for his 2018 Berlin live set and featuring on BBC News.

He drums for noise-grind duo Sete Star Sept, the Kiyasu Orchestra and Keiji Haino’s Fushitsusha and co-founded Canada’s cult hardcore unit The Endless Blockade. Box office: artsbarge.com/events.

Iago Banet: Finger-style Spanish guitar playing at The Basement

Guitarist of the week: Iago Banet, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm

VIRTUOSO finger-style Spanish guitarist Iago Banet, who moved to London from Galicia in 2014, combines gypsy jazz, blues, country, Dixieland, swing, pop, folk and Americana in his acoustic repertoire, as heard on his third album, 2023’s Tres.

He has performed on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and Cerys Matthews’ The Blues Show on BBC Radio 2, appeared at Brecon Jazz, Hellys International Guitar Festival and Aberjazz and played with Josh Smith, Mark Flanagan, Jack Broadbent and Clive Carroll. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk.

Four actors, two plays, forty minutes each: 440 Theatre in Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Shaking up Shakespeare: 440 Theatre in Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

FOUR actors perform 40-minute versions of Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth, transforming the Scottish play  from tragedy into comedy in this raucous, breakneck double bill. “Experience the hilarity of not only one of the Bard’s best comedies but also a side-splitting (literally!) Macbeth,” say director Dom Gee-Burch and producer-composer Laura Sillett. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Terry Deary presents Revolting at York Mansion House tomorrow at 5.30pm at York Georgian Festival

York festival of the week: York Georgian Festival 2025, August 7 to 11

ORGANISED by York Mansion House, in tandem with York businesses, the York Georgian Festival will be a whirl of  dashing dandy fashions, extravagant feasting and romantic country dancing in a celebration of a golden social scene hidden within the brickwork of York’s abundant 18th century architecture.

Among the highlights will be Terry Deary Presents Revolting; the Life and Loves of Anne Lister; a Georgian dance lesson at the Guildhall; Men’s Hats; Mad Alice’s history talk and gin tasting; the York Georgian Ball; Sounds of Regency by Candlelight; The World of Georgian Fashion; Portraits in Jane Austen and a revival of York actor-playwright Joseph Peterson’s comic romp The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t. For the full programme and tickets, go to: mansionhouseyork.com/york-georgian-festival.

Alex Phelps, left, Christopher Godwin, Olivia Woolhouse, Valerie Antwi, Susan Twist, Charlie Ryan and Andy Cryer in rehearsal for Michael Frayn’s Noises Off at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Play of the week: Noises Off, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, August 9 to September 6, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm  Saturday matinees

SJT artistic director Paul Robinson directs the first ever in-the-round production of Michael Frayn’s legendary 1982 farce with its play-within-a- play structure. “Good luck!” said the playwright on hearing the Scarborough theatre was taking on what has always been considered an impossible task. 

Noises Off follows the on and off-stage antics of a touring theatre company stumbling its way through the fictional farce Nothing On. Across three acts, Frayn charts the shambolic final rehearsals, a disastrous matinee seen entirely from backstage and the brilliantly catastrophic final performance. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Jamie Walton: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival director and cellist. Picture: Matthew Johnson

Ryedale festival of the week: North York Moors Chamber Music Festival, August 10 to 23

IN its 17th year, cellist Jamie Walton’s festival presents 14 concerts designed to mirror the 14-line structure of a sonnet, guiding audiences through a pagan year with its unfolding seasons, solstices and equinoxes. 

The four elements – Fire, Air, Water and Earth – will be explored through the lens of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets and staged in four historic moorland churches: St Hilda’s, Danby; St Hedda’s, Egton Bridge; St Michael’s, Coxwold, and St Mary’s, Lastingham. Ten concerts will be held in an acoustically treated venue in the grounds of Welburn Manor, near Kirkbymoorside. For the full programme, go to northyorkmoorsfestival.com. Box office: 07722 038990 or email bookings@northyorkmoorsfestival.com.

The Smashing Pumpkins: Heading to Scarborough on Aghori Tour next Wednesday

Coastal gig of the week: Smashing Pumpkins and White Lies, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 13, gates 6pm

AMERICAN alternative rockers The Smashing Pumpkins play Scarborough on their Aghori Tour. Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin’s multi-platinum-selling band will be supported on the Yorkshire coast by London post-punk revival band White Lies.

Since emerging from Chicago, Illinois, in 1988 with their iconoclastic sound, Smashing Pumpkins have sold more than 30 million albums worldwide and collected two Grammy Awards, seven MTV VMAs and an American Music Award. Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.

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York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir reunites with York RI Golden Rail Band for Sounding Brass and Voices concert

York RI Golden Rail Band. Picture: Keith Meadley

TWO well-loved York ensembles will reunite for Sounding Brass and Voices at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, on September 6 to celebrate 100 years of music.

York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band will perform a joint concert for the fourth time in a pairing of brass and voices that is both tender and thrilling.

The first pairing in 2020 came three weeks before the first Covid-19 lockdown in the UK, followed by concerts in 2023 and 2024 to enthusiastic York audiences.

York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir – or “The Phil” as it is known affectionately – was founded in 1925 and is marking its centenary year with a season of high-profile concerts with partner choirs from Europe and closer to home, as well as with the Golden Rail Band.

From humble beginnings, The Phil has become one of the country’s best choirs, achieving television fame in the 1970s, performing internationally and still winning awards in 2025. The latest was won in April at the National Choir Day at Eskdale Festival of the Arts in Whitby.

Berenice Lewis, the choir’s musical director for 25 years, says: “It’s a tremendous privilege and pleasure to be collaborating again with the York RI Golden Rail Band, one of our region’s leading concert brass bands.

“Our two groups are exceptionally compatible, and we love working together – and it’s particularly special in this centenary year for the choir. We’re excited to share an evening of music in the gorgeous setting of the Joseph Rowntree Theatre. Don’t miss it!”

York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir: 100th anniversary

Golden Rail Band, based next to York Station, celebrated its own milestone last year, marking 40 years of music-making, although the band’s parentage stretches back to 1883.

For its ruby anniversary, the band recorded a special radio programme and performed concerts at the National Centre for Early Music, Selby Abbey and York Barbican.

This year will see the band making its television debut in November, details of which are being kept closely under wraps.

Band conductor Nick Eastwood said: “We’re thrilled to be performing with The Phil again, even more so as they celebrate their 100th anniversary. To mark such a huge occasion, we’ve taken the opportunity to reflect on 100 years within our brass band world, which offers a rich and inspiring musical heritage to draw on.

“From romantic film music to toe-tapping hits, there will be something for everyone. And prepare yourselves for the finale, when the choir and the band will take the stage together for a couple of glorious and rousing numbers that will gladden your heart and send you home singing.”

A fifth collaboration between the Golden Rail Band and The Phil will ensue at the York Barbican on September 21 when the band will be among the ‘Friends’ at the choir’s Music of The Phil and Friends concert. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail in Sounding Brass and Voices, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, September 6, 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/concert/sounding-brass-and-voices/2810.

York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir and York RI Golden Rail Band in concert together. Picture: Keith Meadley

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REVIEW: Pick Me Up Theatre in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday ****

Everybody’s talking about Harvey Stevens’ Jamie: the break-out star of Pick Me Up Theatre’s production

MADE in Sheffield and exported to the musical theatre world, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has its second York run this week after Nik Briggs’s Teen Edition for York Stage in June 2023.

Young actors are no less prominent in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s production, led by Harvey Stevens, even younger at 15 than Ryan Addyman  was when fronting Briggs’s cast of 13 to 19-year-olds at 17.

Harvey has been dancing since his first class at the Yorkshire Rose Academy of Dance aged three and will begin musical theatre studies at SLP College in Garforth in September. He is a stage natural, tall and lithe and mischievously energetic, here bringing his dream role of Jamie New to life with cheek and chutzpah.

There to watch him on the first night was his father, Antonie Williams-Browne, who had travelled up from Plymouth specially for the show. Twenty years ago, Antonie had shown off his own dance moves in Robert Readman’s UK amateur premiere of The Full Monty for Shipton Theatre Company at the JoRo, “lifting the first half to new heights” (York Press, July 27 2005) when playing the veteran, arthritic-limbed Horse.

Harvey Stevens’ Jamie New, front left, and his Mayfield School classmates in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Picture: Matthew Kitchen

Son Harvey is a colt by comparison, with room for expansion in both his vocal and acting range, but already he has a thrilling presence on stage: everybody will be talking about his Jamie this week.

Inspired by the Firecracker documentary Jamie: Drag Queen At 16, composer Dan Gillespie Sells (from Horsham pop practitioners The Feeling) and writer/lyricist Tom MacRae drew on an original idea by co-writer Jonathan Butterell for the 2017 Sheffield Crucible Theatre premiere of a show that completed a populist trilogy of Steel City comedy dramas.

First came the defiant spirit and sheer balls of The Full Monty; next, the classroom politics and fledgling frustrations of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, and lastly “Jamie”,  the unapologetic story of the boy who sometimes to be wants to be a girl, wear a dress to the school prom and be a drag queen.

Eight years on, “Jamie” still lives up to its billing as “the hit musical for today”, replete with bold humour, withering wit, northern nous and sassy social awareness, in a barometer of our changing times and attitudes towards gender, bigotry, bullying, homophobia, absentee fathers and the right to self-expression. Jamie’s reverence for RuPaul, whose Drag Race was not aired on BBC Three until 2019, affirms how  the show has kept  an eye on cultural shifts.

First we meet the Year 11 pupils of Mayfield School, a typical comprehensive classroom of 16-year-olds full of hopes and aspirations, but filtered through the realities of life in a northern town that makes them cynical and unruly too, typified by Stevens’ Jamie, draped languidly over his chair, bored and inattentive.

Zander Fick’s feisty drag queen Loco Chanelle in Everbody’s Talking About Jamie Picture: Matthew Kitchen

In the wake of Billy Liar’s Billy Fisher and Kes’s Billy Casper, here is another young, restless Yorkshire dreamer in need of escape from the grey grime of a Sheffield council estate in a classic teen rebel story.

A breaker of rules and hearts alike, this lippy kid in lip gloss oozes confidence on the surface, graceful in high heels, but Jamie is naive and vulnerable too, desperate to strut before he can walk, especially when his stay-away father (Andrew Isherwood) is so disapproving and teacher Miss Hedge (Alexandra Mather) is so narrow-minded.

Stevens’ Jamie will be the teen star of the show, but gold stars also go to Fergus Green’s loathsome, self-loathing bully, Dean Paxton, and Ruby Salter’s quietly self-assured doctor-in-waiting Pritti Pasha, Jamie’s best friend, whose rendition of It Means Beautiful lives up to its title.

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie is told from more than the teen perspective, giving it the grit of a kitchen-sink drama, where the adult viewpoint of father and teacher is compounded by Jamie’s world-weary, self-sacrificial, ever supportive mum Margaret (Rowntree Players’ pantomime clown Gemma McDonald revealing a deeper  side, her voice cracking under the emotion of singing her second heartfelt ballad, He’s My Boy.

Meet Sheffield drag queens Loco Chanelle, Tray Sophisticay, Laika Virgin and Sandra Bollock, alias Zander Fick, Andrew Isherwood, Mark Simmonds and Ryan Richardson, in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Make-up: Renee Delait. Hair: The Birdcage, Brighton. Picture: Matthew Kitchen

She forms a defiant double act with Lottie Farmer’s Ray, her blunt but sharp friend, who is always popping round with a market stall bargain, backed up by a choice putdown for authority.

Equally supportive too is dress-shop boss Hugo/veteran drag act Loco Chanelle (Zander Fick, continuing his year of outstanding performances), in tandem with the bantering drag-queen veterans Sandra Bollock (Ryan Richardson),  Tray Sophisticay (Andrew Isherwood at the double) ) and Laika Virgin (Mark Simmonds), Sheffield’s variation on The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert.

Posted high above the stage, musical director Adam Tomlinson and his band, trumpet, trombone, tenor sax et al, are in top form throughout, for big numbers and instrumental interludes alike, while Ilana Weets’s choreography hits the mark, from And You Don’t Even Know It opening to Out Of The Darkness (A Place Where We Belong) finale.

Readman wears his director and designer hats with elan,  aside from a misbehaving, overworked  central door* that opens to Margaret’s kitchen, Loco Chanel’s studio, school classroom and Dad’s house alike. His triumphant production epitomises this musical’s call to “celebrate being yourself and find a place where you belong”: the stage for Jamie New and Harvey Stevens alike.

Pick Me Up Theatre, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Gemma McDonald’s Margaret, left, Harvey Stevens’ Jamie New and Lottie Farmer’s Ray in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. Picture: Matthew Kitchen

* Footnote from director-designer Robert Readman:

“JUST a quick note to say the misbehaving centre door is now fixed! It was originally going to swing both ways but it just decided to come out…”

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More Things To Do in York and beyond as Rowntree report makes dramatic impact. Hutch’s List No. 32 from The York Press

Amelia Donkor and Antony Jardine: Playing Gulie Harlock and Seebohm Rowntree respectively alongside 100-strong community ensemble in His Last Report at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Millie Stephens

YORK Theatre Royal’s community play takes top billing in Charles Hutchinson’s selections for summer satisfaction.

Community play of the week: York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company present His Last Report, York Theatre Royal, today to August 3  

FOCUSING on pioneering York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree and his groundbreaking investigation into the harsh realities of poverty, Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s play will be told through the voices of York’s residents, past and present.

Seebohm’s findings illuminate the struggles of the working class, laying the foundation for the welfare state and sparking a movement that will redefine life as we know it. However, when fast forwarding to present-day York, what is Seebohm’s real legacy as the Ministry begins to dismantle the very structures he championed in His Last Report’s York story with a national impact? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Bean there, done that: “Appetite For Destruction” artist Lincoln Lightfoot takes his spay can to York’s iconic Bile Beans mural advert at VandalFest

Street art takeover of the summer: Vandals At Work present VandalFest, today, Sunday, then July 25 to 27, 11am to 6pm

VANDALS At Work reunite with youth homelessness charity Safe and Sound Homes (SASH) for VandalFest, the immersive street art takeover of a disused office block with a 2025 theme of the playful, cheeky, witty and mischievous.

Among more than 30 artists from the UK and beyond are Bristol graffiti pioneer Inkie, subversive stencilist Dotmasters, inflatable prankster Filthy Luker, master of optical illusions Chu, rooftop renegade Rowdy and York’s own Sharon McDonagh, Lincoln Lightfoot and Boxxhead. Entry is free, with a suggested £3 donation to SASH.

Craig David: In party mood at Scarborough Open Air Theatre today

Coastal gigs of the week: TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Craig David TS5 Show plus special guest Patrick Nazemi, today; Judas Priest, July 23. Gates open at 6pm

SOUTHAMPTON rhythm & blues musician Craig David parades his triple threat as singer, MC and DJ at his TS5 party night – patented at his Miami penthouse – on the East Coast this weekend. On the 25th anniversary of debut album Born To Do It, expect a set combining old skool anthems from R&B to Swing Beat, Garage to Bashment, while merging chart-topping House hits too.

Judas  Priest, formed in Birmingham in 1969, are still receiving a Grammy nomination in 2025 for Best Metal Performance, on top of being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, appointed by shock rocker Alice Cooper, in 2022. Their 19th studio album, Invincible Shield, was released in March 2024. Wednesday’s support act will be Phil Campbell & The B**stard Sons. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Heather Leech in Gleowit Productions’ King Harold’s Mother at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Historical solo show of the week: Gleowit Productions in King Harold’s Mother, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm

IN 1066, a mother loses four sons; three killed at the Battle of Hastings, one branded as a traitor. However, these are times of turmoil, where crowns on the head go with swords in the hand, and this mother has lost everything.

Two years later in Exeter, King Harold’s mother, Gytha Thorkelsdottir, makes her last stand against the might of the new king, William. She is forced to face the consequences of her own actions, to accept the overwhelming might of the Conqueror. Is nothing all she is left with? Is nothing better than this, asks Gleowit Productions in King Harold’s Mother, written and performed by Heather Leech. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Dame Harriet Walter: Pride And Prejudice celebration at Wesley Centre, Malton

Ryedale Festival theatre event of the week: Pride And Prejudice, Dame Harriet Walter, Melvyn Tan and Madeleine Easton, Wesley Centre, Malton, Sunday, 7pm

THIS theatrical retelling of Pride And Prejudice by novelist and Austen biographer Gill Hornby marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth. Star of stage and screen Dame Harriet Walter brings the romance of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr Darcy to life in an intimate drawing-room setting, in much the same way that Jane herself first read the story aloud to family and friends.

Carl David’s score for the 1995 BBC television adaptation will be performed by pianist Melvyn Tan and violinist Madeleine Easton. The festival runs until July 27; full details and tickets at ryedalefestival.com. Box office: 01751 475777.

The Wedding Present’s David Gedge, left, and Reception writer-director Matt Aston, pictured walking through Leeds, will be teaming up for a chat at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, on Sunday

Gig and chat show the week: An Evening of Conversation and Music with David Gedge from The Wedding Present, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, Sunday, 8pm, doors 7pm

DAVID Gedge, long-time leader of The Wedding Present, discusses his “semi-legendary” Leeds indie band’s 40-year-career and his life in the music industry, in conversation with Amanda Cook. York writer/director Matt Aston joins him too on the eve of rehearsals for Reception – The Wedding Present Musical, ahead of its premiere at Slung Low, The Warehouse, Holbeck, Leeds, from August 22 to September 6.  

Sunday’s event concludes with Gedge’s 20-minute acoustic set drawn from The Wedding Present’s cornucopia of arch, romantic yet perennially disappointed songs of love, life’s high hopes and woes, chance and no chance. Box office: eventbrite.com.

Listen to David Gedge discuss 40 years Of The Wedding Present, the Reception musical and his Rise@Bluebird Bakery show with Two Big Egos In A Small Car podcasters Charles Hutchinson and Graham Chalmers at:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1187561/episodes/17507606-episode-233-interview-special-with-david-gedge-from-the-wedding-present

Out with the old, in with New: Harvey Stevens’ Jamie, front left, with his Sheffield school classmates in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, July 22 to 26, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AT 16, Sheffield schoolboy Jamie New is terrified of  the future and has no interest in pursuing a traditional career. He wants to be a drag queen. He knows he can be a sensation. Supported by his loving mum and encouraged by friends, can Jamie overcome prejudice, beat the bullies and step out of the darkness, into the spotlight?

Written by Tom MacRae and The Feeling’s Dan Gillespie Sells, this joyous underdog story is staged by York company Pick Me Up Theatre with Harvey Stevens, 15, and Gemma McDonald leading the cast. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

The poster for Steve Steinman’s Love Hurts, Power Ballads & Anthems!, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York

Jukebox show of the week: Steve Steinman’s Love Hurts, Power Ballads & Anthems!, Grand Opera House, York, July 24, 7.30pm

FROM the producers of Anything For Love and Vampires Rock comes the latest Steve Steinman venture, this one built around power ballads and anthems performed by a powerhouse cast of singers and a seven-piece band.

Love Hurts embraces Fleetwood Mac, Heart, Whitesnake, Billy Idol, Aerosmith, Tina Turner, Cutting Crew, Foreigner, REO Speedwagon, Rainbow, Van Halen, Europe, Air Supply and more. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor: On course for Knavesmire

Dancefloor double bill of the week: Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Natasha Bedingfield, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 25.Gates, 4pm; first race, 5.30pm; last race, 8.23pm

AT the only evening meeting of the Knavesmire racing calendar, kitchen disco queen Sophie Ellis-Bextor and fellow Londoner Natasha Bedingfield each play a set after the seven-race sporting action.

Ellis-Bextor, 46, will draw on her five top ten albums and eight top ten singles, such as Murder On The Dancefloor and Take Me Home, from a pop career now stretching beyond 25 years. Bedingfield , 43, has the hits Unwritten, Single, These Words, I Wanna Have Your Babies and Soulmate to her name. For race-day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk. 

In Focus: The Floating Fringe, Arts Barge, York, July 24 to 26

The launch poster for The Floating Fringe

ALL aboard for The Floating Fringe, a celebration of grassroots, home-grown performances on the Arts Barge, moored at Foss Basin Moorings, off Tower Street, York.

This bold new arts festival is taking over the Selby Tony former cargo barge for three jam-packed days of comedy, theatre and family entertainment, offering a long-overdue space for the city’s vibrant and emerging Fringe scene.

“Led by a new generation of creatives, The Floating Fringe is here to shake things up,” says lead organiser Kai West, the York artist, printmaker and Bull band member. “It’s a spirited response to past commercial Fringe attempts that failed to take root, replacing polished formulas with passion, playfulness and local and up-and-coming talent.

“This is about more than just putting on a show.  It’s about building a community. With its intimate setting and grassroots ethos, The Floating Fringe aims to be the artistic home for Fringe arts, acts and audiences alike: a long-awaited space for expression where alternative, up-and-coming and independent voices can truly thrive.”

Kai continues: “York has always had the talent, the audiences and the appetite for Fringe. What it’s been missing is a space that actually belongs to the community. After seeing other commercial attempts come and go, we wanted to create something independent, accessible and genuinely rooted in York’s creative scene. The Arts Barge has always been about building something meaningful for York, by York. The Fringe is just another part of that.”

The Arts Barge itself is part of that story. A passion project years in the making, it was crowd-funded and community-built by the Arts Barge Project to bring an accessible floating arts space to York. Now fully operational and moored in the centre of the city, the barge is more than a venue. “It’s a symbol of what’s possible when local creatives are given the freedom to build something of their own,” says Kai.

From comedy to original theatre and family-friendly daytime shows, The Floating Fringe promises a weekend packed with performances, connection and grassroots energy. “Whether you’re a Fringe fanatic or just curious to see what York’s creative underground has to offer, everyone is welcome aboard,” says Kai.

Box office: https://wegottickets.com/thefloatingfringe/

The Floating Fringe programme

Theo Mason Wood

Thursday

5pm to 6pm, Robocop vs The Terminator vs Gabriel Featherstone. Three titans of entertainment face off in a bloody, mind-mangling, no-holds-barred battle to the death. 

6.30pm to 7.30pm, Richard Brown: Nauseatingly Woke Full-Grown Jellyfish. Underground Fringe favourite known for thoughtful, intelligent and dark alternative comedy.

8pm to 9pm, Seymour Mace Does Things With Stuff. “It’s better than watching people do things,” says Seymour. “It’s better than paying to watch people do things. I was doped up on watching other people do things. I forgot how to do things I’ve just remembered. Look what I done!”

9.30pm to 10.30pm, Theo Mason Wood: Legalise Kissing. York-raised Netflix writer and award-winning comedian delivers a punk-clown manifesto on love, identity and modern chaos in a genre-defying mix of stand-up, surreal storytelling and live techno anthems. “This is comedy like you’ve never seen before,” says Mason Wood.

Bobby Cockles

Friday

5pm to 6pm, Clown: Bobby Cockles Goes To Hell!  The Good Room presents a dark stand-up journey through the terrible adventure of a cursed Cockney clown. Being in love can be absolute hell!

6.30pm to 7.30pm, Eryn Tett Is Sponsored By The Global Megacorp Institute of Manchester, work in progress. Multi award-winner is developing her next show: an immersive comedy packed with her trademark offbeat (mostly “yo mama”) jokes, top-secret ceremonies and a non-stop handshake.

8pm to 9pm, York The Plank: A Bunch of Local Legends. Fast, furious and gloriously chaotic stand-up comedy showcase helmed by Chris Booker, comedian, aspiring sci-fi writer and charmingly under-qualified sea captain for the night.

9.30pm to 10.30pm, Thor Odin Stenhaug, One Night Stand Baby. A show about love, life (drawings) and being not only a son to your parents but more like a mutual friend.

Sir Dickie Benson

Saturday

2pm to 3pm, Moon Rabbit Theatre presents Shirley: A Ghost Story. Why do people write ghost stories? Is it to explain away the fear? To spread it? Or do they write to reveal the ghosts inside them?

3.30pm to 4.30pm, Caroline McEvoy: Train Man. Tale of sibling rivalry in post-Troubles Northern Ireland, told with gut-punch gags and emotional blows as McEvoy reckons with her lifelong battle with her younger brother, who loves trains and getting his way.

5pm to 6pm, Alfie Packham: My Apologies To The Chef.  Voilà! Alfie serves up new jokes in his fresh show about friends, family, loneliness, enemies – and  which of these he prefers. Bon appétit.

6.30pm to 7.30pm, Jain Edwards, She-Devil. Jain isn’t like other girls. She’s worse. But she’s finally ready to lean in (and receive a little forehead kiss from hubby). Expect silly, subversive comedy in a show about conspiracy theories, autism and men turning on you.

9.30pm to 10.30pm, Sir Dickie Benson Interacts With The Audience Whether They Like It Or Not. Encounter the last Hollywood hell-raiser; an octogenarian, thespian barbarian with a pint of vodka and a smouldering hash pipe whose capacity for drink is matched only by his boundless charm and mercurial temper.