Molly Cheesley’s Alicia Johns, left, Eden Barrie’s Mary-Lou Atkinson, Robyn Sinclair’s Darrell Rivers, Bethany Wooding’s Sally Hope and Rebecca Collingwood’s Gwendoline Lacey in Emma Rice Company’s Malory Towers. Picture: Steve Tanner
ENID Blyton’s Malory Towers, the original post-war “Girl Power” story, was staged for the first time in a co-production by Emma Rice’s Wise Children company and York Theatre Royal in 2019, playing York in all-too-short stay that September.
Roll forward to 2026, when Rice now trades as the Emma Rice Company, for the school half-term visit to Leeds Playhouse of her revival of her “happy Lord Of The Flies”, as she calls her adaptation of the “naughty, nostalgic and perfect for now Malory Towers”, now touring in tandem with London’s Alexandra Palace Theatre, Coventry’s Belgrade Theatre, Manchester HOME and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse. It is indeed perfect for half-term, judging by Thursday’s matinee, packed with children and their mums.
Writer-director Rice read Blyton stories, Famous Five and Secret Seven capers but not Malory Towers, in her contrasting, inner-city Nottingham comprehensive schooldays in the 1970s, but found herself drawn back to the Cornish cliff tops she knew so well in her groundbreaking Kneehigh theatre days.
This Cornwall is Blyton’s Cornwall of the Blighty 1950s: school days of midnight feasts, pillow fights and an outdoor swimming pool, when “lucky girls have the chance… to be returned back to the world sensible, sound and strong… women that the world can lean on”.
Stephanie Hockley’s Irene Dupont, at the piano, with violinist Emily Panes and Molly Cheesley’s Alicia Jones. Picture: Steve Tanner
To emphasise why the stories are “perfect for now” in their school report on growth and growing up, Rice opens with a modern-day school setting, with doors not only to the headmaster’s office, but also to that symbol of changed times, the welfare officer’s office, beneath those imposing towers.
The children are displaying the same characteristics as they will once they morph into their Malory Towers selves, transformed as if in a dream once Eden Barrie, gawky and gauche in a fairy outfit, has been walloped on the head with a copy of Malory Towers.
Later this will be mirrored by the Malory Towers pupils enacting a fairy world scene from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, again with the girls’ own tropes influencing the choice of roles.
An electric charge of excitement spreads through the audience for an Emma Rice show like no other, and as ever you are smiling, beaming, from the effervescent, jollier-than-hockey sticks start when Benny Goodman’s Sing Sing Sing sets the ball rolling for a series of delightful, dazzling songs, some originals by Ian Ross (music) and Rice (lyrics), others takes on Edith Piaf’s Mon Menage A Moi, Sammy Fain’s I Can Dream Can’t I? and Pat Ballard’s Mr Sandman.
Cut up: Rebecca Collingwood’s spiteful Gwendoline Lacey, craving a switch to a Swiss finishing school in Malory Towers. Picture: Steve Tanner
One by one, Rice lets the new Malory Towers intake introduce themselves as the “deliciously naughty”, corny joke-loving West Country second-year pupil Alicia Johns (Molly Cheesley) welcomes the girls and their suitcase onto the Paddington train bound for the Cornish coast.
We meet Barrie’s bag-of-nerves, constantly apologetic Scottish pupil Mary-Lou Atkinson; returnee Rebecca Collingwood’s even-beastlier-than-in-2019 Gwendoline Lacey; Bethany Wooding’s ever-so-proper, prim and pucker Sally Hope and Robyn Sinclair’s furnace-hot-tempered, fierce-hearted Darrell Rivers, this production’s stand-out.
LIPA-trained Stephanie Hockley’s French student Irene Dupont, so free of spirit and musical to the tips of her piano-playing fingers, has a lead singer’s sense of melody and is humorous too in her head-strong character’s exasperation. To her side is violinist Emily Panes, so key to the beautiful arrangements. Along for the ride too comes Zoe West’s horse-loving Wilhemina “Call me Bill” Robinson, whose late arrival adds an air of mystery.
All is orchestrated by director Rice at a cracking pace, her ingenuity, inventive flair and sense of mischief complemented by Lez Brotherston’s typically witty, playful set and costume designs. The beds are employed so imaginatively in Alistair David’s choreography, while Simon Baker’s sound and video design and Beth Carter and Stuart Mitchell’s dream sequence animation are filled with the visual and verbal humour synonymous with the snap, crackle and pop of Rice’s crisply delivered shows.
Zoe West’s Bill Robinson in Malory Towers. Picture: Steve Tanner
From the rail route graphics from London to Cornwall to the furiously fast stride pattern of Bill’s animated heroic horse; from a swimming pool scene with Busby Berkeley swimsuit panache and puppet divers to a “Cliffhanger” punchline to end the first act; from a chalkboard to the shadow-puppet figure of headmistress Miss Grayling (voiced by Dame Sheila Hancock, no less), Malory Towers keeps delighting and amusing with its imagery.
Amid Blyton’s high jinks, high drama and high spirits, the performances from Rice’s typically diverse cast are ripe with personality and individuality beneath the uniformity of the school dress code.
Rice adds her own touches to the script, be it a Jackson Pollock drip-painting reference or, more gravely, the damaging, life-altering effect of the war on a father, to the cost of his troubled daughter. Part Blyton, wholly Rice, this Malory Towers is fun, feminist, joyful, old-fashioned yet fresh, championing compassion, inclusivity and freedom of expression with flair, fire and faith in the transformative power of education and theatre alike.
Emma Rice Company in Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers, Leeds Playhouse, tonight, 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk.
Emma Rice
Q & A with Emma Rice, director of Malory Towers
What inspired you to adapt Malory Towers for the stage, Emma?
“These books make me joyfully tumble back through history. I tumble through memories of my own scary comprehensive, to stories of my Mum’s Dorset grammar school and then to my Gran, who was an untrained teacher in the war. All of these stories have one thing in common – growing up. And Malory Towers, in my opinion, is the best of all growing-up stories! Funny, sharply well observed and fantastically moreish, these books are a pure delight.
“However, beyond the adventures and cliff-top thrills, I wanted to capture that time, just after the Second World War. A time where people were bruised and damaged but resolute about creating a better future. A future without cruelty, violence and hatred.
“Within these deceptively simple books, all these themes are gently explored. The challenge that Enid Blyton sets for us in these gorgeous books, stands the test of time as she asks us to be ‘women that the world can lean on’. If you haven’t already gathered, I love them.”
You initially took Malory Towers on tour in 2019. How does it feel to be returning to the play and why did you decide to bring it back now?
“Oh, I am thrilled to be returning to Malory Towers! There is something exciting about a new class and a new term. We have done some fantastic new work on the design, so it will feel like a box fresh new uniform. Why now? I think we are all ready for some hope and some fun and this will feel like spring has finally come.
“In these difficult and uncertain political times, this is exactly what we all need. A good time underpinned by kind and inclusive values.”
Did it feel daunting to take on such a beloved piece of work?
“How could I be daunted by something I feel such an affinity to? I feel I know these girls and have relished bringing them to theatrical life. Girls are much the same now as they were in 1945. I don’t think being scared helps anybody do anything, so I try hard in my working life to work instinctively, respectfully and joyfully.”
How will you integrate sound and music into Malory Towers?
“This production has the most virtuosic score and soundtrack. My cast are all exceptional singers and the close harmony songs will knock your socks off! We have gorgeous tunes from the time, mixed with newly composed songs by Ian Ross, my long-term collaborator. The result is soaring, impressive and moving.
“All this as well as specially created animation and soundscape by Simon Baker and artist Beth Carter. I wanted this show to feel astonishing, just like young women are to me – and it really is!”
How do you balance putting your own stamp onto Blyton’s work? Is it tricky to deviate from the source material?
“I haven’t deviated too much from the books. The characters are all very true to Enid Blyton, as is the setting and message. Yes, I wove together the best bits from all the books and swapped the pantomime for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but this is absolutely the Malory Towers you all know and love.”
Is this show one for all the family to enjoy?
“Absolutely. This is a world that all the family can and should enjoy. The themes of friendship, compassion and hope resonate across gender, time, class and culture. It’s a cracking yarn, yes, but this deceptively simple subject matter really does give us all a chance to reflect. It allows us a moment to think about growing up, about war, empathy and about our own part in history.
“In a time when lots of us can feel hopeless and powerless (especially the young), this magic show gives us back a sense of community, agency and shared responsibility.”
What is the importance to you of creating new work outside London?
“For me, I have always made my best work out of London. There seems to be more time and space to focus and the work in turn becomes deeper and more rooted. Things can sometimes get lost in London but opening in Bath, our home venue, we can shine and shout as bright and as loud as we please. Like the wonderful girls at Malory Towers!”
Finally,why should theatre-goers see Malory Towers?
“Because it is pure entertainment and pure joy. It has everything; music, puppetry, film… and a cliff-top rescue! It really is for everybody and gives us all the lift we need in these dark times. Shake off the winter and dive into this cool and sparkling production.”
Bharti Patel’s Sanjana, landlady of The Albion in Our Public House. Picture: Pamela Raith
THE premiere of Our Public House, Barney Norris’s big-hearted story of community, connection and what might happen if everyone truly had their say, is running at Leeds Playhouse this week.
When an entire community spoils its ballot papers and refuses to vote, angry at being unheard but wanting to show those in power they will not to be taken for granted, a pub on the brink of closure becomes the only place left to talk in touring company Dash Art’s agitated agitprop drama.
As a storm rages outside, The Albion landlady Sanjana (Bharti Patel), a family in mourning, familiar regulars, unexpected guests and local Labour MP Mary (Gabriella Leon) are thrown together for a night of debate, confession and open-mic speeches.
In a town divided by politics, secrets spill. Songs rise. Jokes crackle. Ideals clash. People fall in love. People fall out. Something shifts.
Inspired by the real words of more than 600 people nationwide,Our Public House transforms the state of the nation into a play with original live music where “drama and voices like yours take centre stage”.
At every show, a local community ensemble will be part of the action onstage, performing alongside the cast and highlighting the issues they feel are most important locally. Hence no two performances will be the same on Dash Art’s tour that will take in Prescot, Coventry, Cornwall, Sheffield Playhouse (June 17 to 20) and London’s Marylebone Theatre
Lauren Moakes as released prisoner Jo in Our Public House. Picture: Pamela Raith
Told through spoken English, British Sign Language (BSL), Sign Supported English (SSE), creative captioning and with original live music, Our Public House considers what happens when your voices take centre stage and those with influence start to listen, as explored by Norris, who also wrote the book for Sting’s shipbuilding musical, The Last Ship.
Patel and Leon are joined in Josephine Burton’s cast of hearing and deaf actors by Kit Esuruoso, Chaya Gupta, Lauren Moakes and Fergus O’Donnell for a topical play created over three years of research and workshopping that integrates the words of people from across England – some of whom will appear on stage.
The Albion, such an evocative name for a divided state-of-the-nation play, is an emblematic setting, where landlady Sanjana is the fulcrum. “She is running a speechwriting club early doors in the pub, before punters come in for the open-mic night,” says Dash Art artistic director Josephine Burton. “She’s had enough of the people feeling that they’re not heard, so she’s teaching them how to write and deliver speeches.”
Dialogue is delivered alongside songs, composed by Jonathan Walton, with lyrics co-written by workshop participants from across the country. In addition, every night throughout the play’s run, the audience will hear two speeches written and delivered by local people.
“It will be a new ensemble every night. That’s amazing” says Josephine. “So, all the way down the line, the whole process is really dynamic, and it’s constantly changing and evolving.”
The politics and the pints come with a potent chaser of humour, served with meaty ideas too. “Dash Arts asks the big questions of our time and attempts to answer them over multi-year programmes of work, with artists, with academics, with participants, and with audiences,” says Josephine.
Chaya Gupta, left, Lauren Moakes, Kit Esuruoso, front, Fergus O’Donnell, Gabriella Leon and Bharti Patel in the Buller Buller Buller, Oy Oy Oy! scene in Our Public House. Picture: Pamela Raith
Post-Brexit, she detected a fracturing of British UK identity, stirring her interest in “who we are in England today. What does it mean to be English?”
Three years ago, that question prompted the beginning of a process wherein Dash Art became involved in a speech-writing project, fronted by academic Alan Finlayson, that aimed to help people make and deliver speeches on issues they cared about.
Or as Josephine puts it: “Things that they felt we could do today, that would make tomorrow better. And my instinct was, if we supported the project – went round the country, went into community centres, and deaf communities, and prisons, and schools, and worked with young activists in Sheffield, and in Coventry, and in Norwich, and in Cornwall, and in Prescot – we’d get a real picture of who we are as a country.”
Those early stages “coincided with the dying days of the last Conservative government”. “We were hearing people talk about cost of living, and mental-health crisis, and special-needs education, and social housing. I always knew we were gonna make a play of some sort. I just didn’t know what,” she says.
Inspiration struck when Josephine realised a local pub would best suit those conversations. It was at this point that she brought playwright Barney Norris on board – with source material aplenty to utilise.
“I read 125 speeches before my initial workshop, and it was up to 200 by the time I delivered the first draft – and it’s kept growing,” he says. “So it’s kind of been a continual live document. This is my fourth play set in a pub.
Fergus O’Donnell’s Scott: Pub regular standing for Reform in the local election in Our Public House. Behind the bar is Lauren Moakes’ Jo.Picture: Pamela Raith
“I love a pub play, because I think the complex dynamics of status, and home, and performance in those spaces, are wonderful metaphor territory – for society, and also the kind of toxicity and ‘exclusionary-ness’ of pubs to some people, and the concept of welcome, the concept of a place you’re allowed to go in and get a glass of water, and not spend any money. And all the best stories happen around the fires.”
The creative process with Dash Arts felt very natural for Barney. “It’s a really exciting collaborative culture clash,” he says. “We’ve sustained the social-realist context that’s the basis for the majority of my work, and then, from time to time, we’ve exploded it – with music, or the public getting up on stage and speaking. So the play feels like this interesting meeting place of styles and languages, in the same way that society, of course, is also a meeting place.”
A further influence was Shakespeare’s The Tempest. “Could the Albion be like Prospero’s island, and could our landlady be a version of Prospero, conjuring magic, bringing people into her world?” ponders Barney. “And we’re touring to Shakespeare North, which feels appropriate.”
Barney describes Our Public House as “a play that engages with big ‘P’ politics”. “That’s a real new frontier,” he says. “Obviously, all theatre is political, but I hadn’t done a play about a politician.”
Coincidentally, the playwright had decided to enter politics himself, standing for the Greens in his hometown of Salisbury in the 2024 General Election. “That was really fun – an opportunity to amplify the lessons and share them, because I never imagined a world in which I won the seat of Salisbury off the Tories,” he says.
“But what I could do was to try and learn lessons about that process and feed them into the wider discourse – and the play was so exciting in that context, a way to talk about all that.”
Chaya Gupta, centre, leading the singing in Our Public House with Bharti Patel, left, Fergus O’Donnell, Kit Esuruoso, Lauren Moakes, and Gabriella Leon. Picture: Pamela Raith
Given that political office might seem an unlikely career swerve for a playwright, Barney cheerfully admits that it was not particularly on his to-do list. “I did it partly because I’d been going along to the meetings of the local Green Party, and honestly, at that time, there were only two of us attending the meetings regularly who were still a working age.
“I’d only been in the area for a short time, so I wouldn’t normally have muscled in, but I thought, oh, go on. I’d love that. It was this amazing opportunity to tramp the streets and meet people. One of the secret privileges of it was that I revisited and reintegrated into the landscape of my youth, having not lived in Salisbury since I was 18. You come back, you’re walking down every street you’ve been drunk underage on in your life. It was great.”
More seriously, Barney was struck, both on the doorstep and on the hustings, by the way politicians “have to pretend to listen in order to get a vote, and they will sort of half-promise some stuff or whatever”.
“There’s an extraordinary fakeness around what they’re allowed to say,” he says. “For example, the Labour manifesto had just 85 words on their agricultural policy – and that was what the Labour candidate was allowed to say. He didn’t have any other insight, and couldn’t answer any specific question. That was really interesting: to see the limits of language, the straitjacket of what an individual politician is allowed by head office to say.”
As a writer, Barney relished the colour and flavour of the environment: the Reform candidate was openly an admirer of Putin, “which, in the city of Novichok, felt like a bold move,” he says.
Also standing for election was the king of the Druids, Arthur Pendragon. However, the most significant contribution to the play’s plot from Barney’s brief time in politics was the idea of a vote strike.
Gabriella Leon’s MP Mary holding centre stage in Our Public House. Picture: Pamela Raith
“On election night, you have to look at every single spoiled ballot, and collectively agree that they are spoiled, and that they shouldn’t be counted,” he says. “There were hundreds more than usual at the last election. Many of them were penises drawn on the ballot, which turned out to be a campaign organised by a local anarchist who worked in a bar.
“That felt arresting to me. I thought, well, there’s something in the water, isn’t there? The rage and rejection that people feel towards mainstream politics was there, in those endless daubings on the ballot paper.”
This is not, however, a symptom of disengagement, suggests Josephine. “People are incredibly inspirational. If you give them an opportunity to speak, everyone has ideas about what we could do that would make things better, but they don’t feel heard,” she says. “People feel politics is broken because the system does not enable change. It’s definitely not apathy.”
Key to the play’s vision is the central politician character, MP Mary, being deaf. “We spent time in the deaf community around the UK,” says Josephine. “It was so powerful to hear what they felt, and to be able to provide a platform for those feelings and thoughts to be expressed. It was important for us to bring a deaf actor into the room alongside a hearing cast.”
Actress Gabriella Leon “helped us and gave us permission to build a deaf character,” says Josephine. “That the politician in our play is deaf lends some irony to the fact that she is the first person to listen to the voices of the local community.”
The creation of Our Public House has been rich in its variety of lived experience. “The work that we’ve done in prisons has been unbelievable,” says Josephine, after company members visited HMP Styal, a women’s prison just outside Manchester.
The “community ensemble” supporting cast changes at every performance of Our Public House to represent differing voices from the public. Picture: Pamela Raith
“My heart went out for the women in the room, and they have inspired one of the characters in our play. These are people who are so silenced in society. It was very moving.”
For Harvey, creating the character of a putative Reform councillor was among his most invigorating challenges. “The arc of political zeitgeist across the period that we’ve been making the show has mirrored the journey we’ve been on with that,” he says.
It was essential to avoid approaching the character “from a place of demonisation and snobbery and dismissal,” he posits. “It’s such an incredibly prominent element of our contemporary politics. So I’ve really tried to articulate that empathetically from the inside out.
“My process of writing is very much to ‘be’ the characters, and I write out loud with my mouth, and then I write it down later. I just wander around the fields, talking to myself in their voice until they’re funny, you know?
“And so, to become that person – coming from the modern urban Left – that felt like a stimulating adventure. I hope what we’ve done is write a person of great dignity and integrity, with real concerns and problems – but who is coming up with, to my mind, the wrong solutions for them.”
Both Josephine and Barney emphasise that Our Public House should not feel like a lecture. “It’s just really, really funny,” she says “It’s a comedy. A really good night out.” Crucially, it is relatable too. “It’s a play about everywhere. Your place. Your local.”
Dash Art in Our Public House, Leeds Playhouse, tonight, 7.45pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm & 7.45pm. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk. Sheffield Playhouse, June 17 to 20; sheffieldtheatres.co.uk.
York linocut printmaker and wildlife artist Gerard Hobson with one of his 13 bird boxes for the Castle Howard Easter Family Trail. Picture: David Scott
FROM a bird box trail and Vanbrugh’s architecture at Castle Howard to Horrible Histories in concert and a very hungry caterpillar, Charles Hutchinson embraces Easter’s extra spring in the step.
Birdlife event of the week: Castle Howard Easter Family Trail, Castle Howard Gardens & Arboretum, near York, until April 19
CASTLE Howard has collaborated with York artist and printmaker Gerard Hobson on a new interactive Easter trail, comprising 13 handmade wooden bird boxes installed for a springtime adventure across Castle Howard Gardens and the Arboretum.
The boxes house Hobson’s linocuts of birds, including swallow, magpie, woodpecker and wren, as part of a story designed for children as they all prepare for spring. “Young explorers will discover interesting facts about our feathered friends and learn more about their homes along the way,” he says. Admission is included in Castle Howard and Arboretum day tickets at castlehoward.co.uk/castlehowardarboretumtrust.org.
James B Partridge: Teaching the world to sing Primary School Bangers at York Barbican. Picture: Rebecca Johnson
“School” concert of the week: James B Partridge, Primary School Bangers, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm
TEACHER James B Partridge brings his viral hit show Primary School Bangers to York for a night of massive singalongs, throwback mash-ups and tongue-in-cheek humour. What started in the classroom has become a nationwide phenomenon – from Glastonbury to sold-out theatres – as James leads audiences through the songs that defined school days.
“Whether you’re a teacher, a parent, or just someone who remembers every word to He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands, this one’s for you,” he says. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Architect Roz Barr: Curator and designer of Staging The Baroque: Vanbrugh At Castle Howard. Picture: Carole Poirot
Exhibition of the week: Staging The Baroque: Vanbrugh At Castle Howard, on show at Castle Howard, near York, until October 31
STAGING The Baroque: Vanbrugh At Castle Howard celebrates its creator, the architect and playwright Sir John Vanbrugh (1664-1726), on the 300th anniversary of his death.
Designed and curated by architect Roz Barr, the exhibition chronicles the story of the stately home’s creation, exploring Vanbrugh’s visionary use of scale, shadow and light and his creative relationship with the third Earl of Carlisle, as shown in letters by Vanbrugh on public display for the first time. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.
Chris Helme: Showcasing new album Forest For The Trees at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
Recommended but sold out already: Chris Helme, Forest For The Trees Album Launch, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, April 5 and 6, doors 7.30pm
YORK songwriter and former Seahorses frontman Chris Helme plays a brace of official album launch gigs for Forest For The Trees after a busy 2025 touring his World Of My Own album.
Helme returned to the studio to record stripped-back versions of raw, soulful and bruised songs from his 30-year back catalogue. Forest For The Trees is the first of an ongoing series of recordings, showcasing gently crafted versions of Love Me & Leave Me, Standing On Your Head and other Seahorses classics and more besides.
Harrie Hayes’s Queen Elizabeth I makes her point to Richard David-Caine’s William Shakespeare in Horrible Histories: The Concert, Live And Dead On Stage! Picture: Matt Crockett
“The ultimate first concert for children”: Horrible Histories: The Concert, Live And Dead On Stage!, York Barbican, April 6, 2.30pm and 6.30pm; April 7, 11am and 3pm
FOR the first time, favourite songs and actors from Horrible Histories’ CBBC TV series will be live – and dead! – on stage in York. When Queen Elizabeth I asks William Shakespeare to create the greatest show on earth, he runs into trouble with monstrous King Henry VIII and Queen Victoria.
Once Death appears, Boudica and Cleopatra want to take over! Can things turn any worse? Of course they can! Cue songs such as Stupid Deaths, Charles II, Dick Turpin and The Monarchs Song, performed to a band led by Horrible Histories’ song master, Richie Webb. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jason Fox: Helping you to reboot your thinking and challenge your limits at York Barbican
Advice of the week: Jason Fox: Embrace The Chaos, York Barbican, April 8, 7.30pm
SOME people are built to embrace the chaos. Adventurer, Royal Marine Commando and UK Special Forces soldier Jason Fox is one of them, having survived myriad hostile outposts as an elite operator, documentary maker and expedition leader.
In his new show, Foxy shares stories of his close brushes with enemy gunmen, terrorist bomb makers and cartel leaders, while revealing his strategies for surviving and thriving in environments as life-threatening as the Arctic Circle and Afghan Badlands. Using principles from his military operations, he will help you to reboot your thinking, challenge your limits, change your habits, transform and rebalance your life – and he will answer audience questions too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Clowning skills aplenty in Out Of The Box at Helmsley Arts Centre
Family show of the week: Darryl J Carrington in Out Of The Box, Helmsley Arts Centre, April 9, 2pm
DARRYL J Carrington transforms everyday objects into extraordinary adventures in Out Of The Box, where a toothbrush stars in a balancing act, a string sparks a heist and a tea party lands on someone’s head in an hour of joyful chaos, jaw-dropping skill and irresistible fun.
Carrington brings five-star Edinburgh Fringe reviews, the Brighton Fringe’s Best Family Show prize and more than 20 years of circus and clowning experience to his silent comedy’s blend of juggling, inventive physical theatre and audience interaction. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Professor Danny and lab assistant Crazy Kazy in Top Secret’s show The Magic Of Science, High Voltage
Fun experiments of the week: Top Secret in The Magic Of Science, High Voltage, Pocklington Arts Centre, April 9, 2pm
JOIN Top Secret as they go on a high-voltage adventure, The Magic Of Science, to ask the question “Is it magic…or is it science?” in a fast-moving, colourful, interactive show filled with mystery, suspense, experiments and loads of mess.
Danny Hunt and Stephanie Clarke take on the guise of Professor Danny and his lab assistant Crazy Kazy as they fuse the mystery of magic with wondrous and miraculous feats of science. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Abigail Bailey and the meal-seeking caterpillar in The Very Hungry Caterpillar, munching its way through York Theatre Royal. Picture: Pamela Raith
Children’s show of the week: ROYO presents The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show, York Theatre Royal, April 9 to 11; Thursday, 2pm and 4pm; Friday and Saturday, 11am and 2pm
CREATED by Jonathan Rockefeller, The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show features 75 lovable puppets in a faithful 50-minute adaptation of four stories by author/illustrator Eric Carle:Brown Bear, Brown Bear, 10 Little Rubber Ducks, The Very Busy Spider and the titular star of the show.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar has delighted generations of readers since its publication in 1969, selling more than 48 million copies worldwide. Telling those tales will be a cast of Abigail Bailey, Oliver Davis, Connor Keetley and Amber Wadey. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Tribute act at the double of the week: Nic Cage Against The Machine, The Crescent, York, April 10, 7.30pm
MOVE over Elvana, the covers- band conflation of Elvis and Nirvana. Here comes the even wilder Nic Cage Against The Machine, a tribute to Californian rock band Rage Against The Machine, fronted by an homage to Hollywood ‘s Nouveau Shamanic method actor supreme Nicolas Cage, with props. “Not sure what more you’re looking for here – if you’re not sold already I don’t know what to tell you,” says The Crescent website. Leeds fun punks Moose Knuckle support. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
York Stage cast members in Come From Away, making its York debut at the Grand Opera House. Picture: Matthew Kitchen
Musical of the week: York Stage in Come From Away, Grand Opera House, York, April 10 to 18, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; Saturday matinees 2.30pm; Sunday matinee, 4pm
NIK Briggs directs the York premiere of Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s Olivier and Tony Award-winning musical account of the real-life story of 7,000 air passengers being grounded in Canada in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, whereupon the small Newfoundland community of Gander invites these “come from aways” into their lives with open hearts.
Performed by a cast of 19, Come From Away is “more than just a musical,” says Briggs. “It’s a celebration of humanity, resilience and the power of community. Step into a world where kindness conquers all, brought to life with invigorating, electrifying music and stories that will make you laugh, cry, and believe in the goodness of people.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Brief Encounter actor Cyril Raymond and stage actress Janet Morrison, with Nicholas Crosse, the son he never met and was given up for adoption by Janet, a story told for the first time in Joanna Crosse’s documentary Briefest Encounters
Film event of the week: Brief Encounter, Briefest Encounters and Q&A, City Screen Picturehouse, York, April 10, 7pm
NEXT Friday’s screening of the 80th anniversary restoration of David Lean’s Brief Encounter (PG) will be followed by North Rigton-raised journalist, researcher and filmmaker Joanna Crosse’s new documentary, uncovering the untold love story behind the 1945 film, revealing the hidden past of her grandfather, actor Cyril Raymond, who played Laura’s cuckolded husband Fred.
In an uncanny twist of fate, Raymond had a ‘brief encounter’ with actress Janet Morrison during a transatlantic stage production in 1929 that resulted in a child being born out of wedlock. Cinema myth meets lived experience in Briefest Encounters as interviews, letters, Raymond’s rediscovered diaries and archive material show how interrupted love, inherited silence and duty shaped family lives for generations. Crosse and fellow Meaningful Films filmmaker Luke Taylor will take part in a Q&A afterwards. Box office: picturehouses.com.
In Focus: James Graham’s Punch, Leeds Playhouse, April 7 to 11
Jack James Ryan’s Jacob in Punch. Picture: Pamela Raith
OLIVIER Award-winning playwright James Graham’s Punch is a true story of hope, humanity and the possibility of change.
Based on Jacob Dunne book Right From Wrong, it tells Jacob’s story of being a Nottingham teenager from The Meadows estate who spent his Saturday nights seeking thrills with his friends.
One fateful weekend, an impulsive punch leads to fatal consequences. After serving prison time, Jacob finds himself lost and directionless. Searching for answers, Joan and David – the parents of his victim James Hodgkinson – ask to meet, sparking a profound transformation in Jacob’s life.
Jacob’s unflinching account of the power of forgiveness sparked courthouse discussion and parliamentary debate in the House of Commons on the topic of Restorative Justice at the time of Punch’s 2024 premiere at the Nottingham Playhouse. The play was even cited by a judge when sentencing a one-punch case.
Finty Williams, left, Matthew Flynn, Grace Hodgett Young, Elan Butler (hidden), Jack James Ryan and Laura Tebbutt in Punch. Picture: Pamela Raith
Nottingham playwright Graham is one of Great Britain’s most celebrated writers, winning multiple Olivier Awards, as well as receiving BAFTA, Emmy and Tony Award nominations. His political drama This House opened at Leeds Playhouse in 2018. Now he returns to the Leeds theatre from April 7 to 11 with the energetic, entertaining but heartbreaking Punch after runs in London and on Broadway last year.
To complement Graham’s play, a Talking Circle structure will sit front of house to provide a space for audiences to gather and reflect on the performance, while post-show discussions on related themes will be led by expert speakers.
Graham was awarded the Longford Trust’s Kevin Pakenham Award for Punch, joined on the honours’ board by David Shields, winner of the Best Performance in a Play prize at the 2024 UK Theatre Awards 2024 for his lead role in the premiere.
On tour, the role of Jacob will be played by Jack James Ryan (Sing Street, Lyric Hammersmith; Coronation Street, ITV), joined in Adam Penford’s cast by Elan Butler (The Chaos That Has Been and Will No Doubt Return, Southwark Playhouse and UK Tour; Masters Of The Air, Apple TV+) as Raf and Sam and Matthew Flynn (The Winter’s Tale, Royal Shakespeare Company; Say Nothing, Disney/FX) as David, the father of James Hodgkinson.
Finty Williams’s Joan and Matthew Flynn’s David, James’s parents in Punch. Picture: Pamela Raith
In the company too will be Olivier-nominated Grace Hodgett Young (Sunset Boulevard, Savoy Theatre/St James Theatre; Hadestown, Lyric Theatre) as Clare and Nicola; Laura Tebbutt (Mrs Doubtfire, Shaftesbury Theatre; School Of Rock, Gillian Lynne Theatre) as Jacob’s mum and Wendy and Finty Williams (The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, national tour; Run Away, Netflix) as James’s mother, Joan.
The original creative team returns, including production designer Anna Fleischle (Death Of A Salesman, Broadway; 2:22 A Ghost Story, Young Vic Theatre); lighting designer Robbie Butler (How To Win Against History, Bristol Old Vic; Death In Venice, Welsh National Opera); sound designer and composer Alexandra Faye Braithwaite (Work It Out, HOME; Lost And Found, Factory International) and movement director Leanne Pinder (The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Mountview; Disruption, The Park Theatre).
Punch is dedicated to the memory of James Hodgkinson and all victims of one punch. “James dedicated his life to the helping and healing,” says playwright James Graham in his programme note. “His 28 years were a testament to his outlook and his values – a volunteer, a mentor, a paramedic. He was loved by his family and friends, and he gave love in return.
“Theatre can and should be a restorative space of empathy, and increased understanding. We hope to honour and do justice to the man James was.”
Nottingham Playhouse, in association with KPPL Productions, Mark Gordon Pictures and Eilene Davidson Productions, presents Punch, Leeds Playhouse, April 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 1pm Thursday and 2pm Saturday matinees. Age guidance: 12 plus. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk.
Darren Walsh: Puns by the punnet load at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
A PLETHORA of puns, a dysfunctional American family musical, an alien invasion in film and theatre and a bakery burlesque night confirm variety is the spice of Charles Hutchinson’s arts life.
Comedy show like no other, bar pun: Darren Walsh: Do You Like Puns?, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm
WITNESS a pun Goliath in person when Darren Walsh brings his 8ft frame to York for his Do You Like Puns? show. Noted for his Jokes On The Street series on social media, he combines sound effects, videos, one-liners and improvised jokes spun off audience suggestions. “Book now, li is two short,” he says. Think about it. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Pianist David Hammond
Classical concert of the week: York Late Music: David Hammond, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, today, 1pm
PIANIST David Hammond’s recital celebrates Yorkshire and northern composers, brought together in an afternoon programme full of musical storytelling, ranging in mood and imagery from Patrick John Jones’s Eel and the world premiere of James Else’s Kitten’s Prelude, to butterflies, letters and birthday cards in works by Dawn Walters and Nicola LeFanu.
Two further world premieres, a new James Williamson piece, alongside Scarlatti’s Cat’s Fugue, echo the animal thread and electronic elements feature in Jake Adams’s Thirty In Eight, adding a contemporary edge to Hammond’s typically imaginative combination of local voices, strong themes and plenty of character. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.
Catrin Mai Edwards’ Martha, left, Estella Evans’ Mary Lennox and Dexter Pulling’s Colin in The Secret Garden The Musical at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Marc Brenner
Actor-musician show of the week: The Secret Garden The Musical, York Theatre Royal, until April 4
TONY Award-winning director John Doyle, artistic director of York Theatre Royal from 1993 to 1997, returns to pastures past in more ways than one to present his actor-musician staging of Lucy Simon and Marsha Norman’s Broadway musical account of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s story of love, loss, healing and hope, set on Yorkshire moorland in 1906.
Newly orphaned, Mary Lennox is sent to live with her widowed uncle at the secluded Misselthwaite Manor, a house in habited by memories and spirits from the past. On discovering her Aunt Lily’s neglected garden, she vows to breathe new life into its mysterious stasis as she learns the restorative magic of nature. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The BudapestCaféOrchestra: Fronted by Christian Garrick at Helmsley Arts Centre
Snappiest attire of the week: Christian Garrick & The Budapest Café Orchestra, Helmsley Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm
CHRISTIAN Garrick (violin, darbuka), Murray Grainger (accordion), Kelly Cantlon (double bass) and Adrian Zolotuhin (guitar, saz, balalaika, domra) team up in this refreshingly unconventional and snappily attired boutique orchestra. Playing gypsy and folk-flavoured music in a unique and surprising way, The Budapest Café Orchestra combine Balkan and Russian traditional music with artful distillations of Romantic masterworks and soaring Gaelic folk anthems.
Established by British composer Garrick in 2009, BCO have 16 albums to their name, marked by an “astonishing soundscape and aural alchemy” characteristic of larger ensembles, evoking Tzigane fiddle maestros, Budapest café life and gypsy campfires. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
This charming man: Nigel Havers is ready to talk at the Grand Opera House. Picture: Matt Crockett
Laughter, nostalgia and charm equals: Nigel Havers Talking B*ll*cks, Grand Opera House, York, March 23, 7.30pm
LET esteemed actor and self-deprecating raconteur Nigel Havers introduce his touring talk show. “Join me, a stage, and a lifetime of gloriously ridiculous stories to share with you. You’ll get the full Havers experience: charm, wit, and absolutely no running in slow motion.
“Of course, there’ll be behind-the-scenes gossip, tales of triumph (and disaster), moments of sheer madness, and a fair bit of talking b*ll*cks. And just when you think you’ve got me figured out, I might surprise you.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Off Pat: Nevin is ready to talk at The Crescent
Football chat of the week: Pat Nevin, Football And How To Survive It, The Crescent, York, March 24, 7.30pm kick-off, doors 7pm
PAT Nevin, the “Wee Man” on the pitch but never short of opinions off it, shares stories and insights from 40 years in football, turning out on the wing for Clyde, Chelsea, Everton, Tranmere Rovers, Kilmarnock and Motherwell in a professional career from 1981 to 2000.
Now a familiar voice on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Premier League coverage, Nevin has seen the game from all sides, from playing for Scotland under Sir Alex Ferguson to being chairman of the players’ union and even a spell as a club chief executive, with a sideline in DJing at club nights too. Expect stories of Kenny Dalglish, Ally McCoist and ex-Chelsea chairman Ken Bates, Morrissey, Saddam Hussein and John Peel too, in conversation with journalist Duncan Steer. Audience questions will be welcomed. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Dale Vaughan, left, Ryan Richardson, Monica Frost, Niamh Rose, Fergus Green and Matthew Warry, at the back, in rehearsal for Pick Me Up Theatre’s Next To Normal
American musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Next To Normal, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 25 to April 4, 7.30pm except March 29 and 30; 2.30pm matinees, March 28 and 29, April 4
ANDREW Isherwood directs York company Pick Me Up Theatre in Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt’s Tony Award-winning musical exploration of family and illness, loss and grief as a suburban American household copes with crisis and mental illness.
Dad is an architect; Mom rushes to pack lunches and pour cereal; their daughter and son are bright, wise-cracking teens but their lives are anything but normal, because Mom has been battling manic depression for 16 years.Next To Normal presents their story with love, sympathy and heart. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Mike Wozniak: Coming off The Bench to perform twice at the Grand Opera House, York
Sit-down stand-up of the week: Mike Wozniak: The Bench, Grand Opera House, York, March 25 and September 12, 7.30pm
THE Bench is the new stand-up tour show from Mike Wozniak, wherein in a story about a bench will be prominent. Previous experience of or strong opinions about benches are not required. Let Wozniak worry about that.
This Oxford-born comedian, writer, actor and former medical doctor portrays Brian in Channel 4 sitcom Man Down, is part of the team that makes Small Scenes for BBC Radio 4 and co-presents the Three Bean Salad podcast with Henry Paker and Benjamin Partridge. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Gorillaz: Bringing The Mountain to Leeds next Wednesday
Yorkshire gig of the week: Gorillaz, supported by Trueno, Leeds First Direct Bank Arena, March 25, 7.30pm; doors 6pm
DAMON Albarn and Jamie Hewlett’s BRIT and Grammy-winning British band showcase their chart-topping ninth studio album in Leeds after two warm-up shows at Bradford Live. Spanning 15 songs that embody the collaborative Gorillaz ethos, The Mountain creates a “playlist for a party on the border between this world and whatever happens next, exploring the journey of life and the thrill of existence”. Box office: gorillaz.com.
Bonnie Baddoo, Gareth Cassidy, Amy Dunn and Morgan Bailey in Imitating The Dog’s War Of The Worlds. Picture: Ed Waring
All’s Wells that ends in the worst nightmares of the week: Imitating The Dog in War Of The Worlds, Leeds Playhouse, March 25 to 28, 7.45pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
FOUR performers enter the stage and construct an epic road movie before your eyes in Imitating The Dog’s re-invention of H G Wells’s apocalyptic tale of alien invasion and the unfolding destruction of everything we hold dear as extraterrestrial life-forms land from the skies.
Using miniature environments, model worlds, camera tricks and projection, the ever-audacious Leeds company mixes the live and the recorded, the animate and the inanimate to ask “What would you do if order broke down? What would you do to survive? How far would you go to protect your own?” Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk
Vitamin String Quartet: Eroding boundaries between classical, dance, hip-hop and pop at Grand Opera House, York
Billie Eilish, Bridgerton & Beyond concert of the week: Vitamin String Quartet, Grand Opera House, York, March 27, 7.30pm
ERASING the boundaries between classical, dance, hip-hop and pop, Vitamin String Quartet perform renditions of everything from Billie Eilish to BTS, Taylor Swift to The Weeknd and Danny Elfman to Daft Punk. Formed in 1999, this Los Angeles group comprises Tom Lea, viola, Wynton Grant and Rachel Grace, violins, and Derek Stein, cello. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Freida Nipples: Baps & Buns burlesque on board a baguette at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
Cabaret of the week: Freida Nipples presents Baps & Buns Burlesque, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, March 27, 8pm, doors 7pm
YORK’S queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, swaps teas for tease as she turns the bakery cafe into a cabaret joint for a night of fun, frolics and freedom of expression in all shapes and sizes.
On the fabulously zesty menu will be Donna Divine, Ezme Pump, Callum Robshaw and Freida herself, hosted by Harvey Rose. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
“Inequality is widening, autocracy is rising and political parties are collapsing,” says political comic Nish Kumar. That’s why the time is right for his Angry Humour From A Really Nice Guy tour
POLITICAL comedian Nish Kumar will play the Grand Opera House, York, on September 23 on his Angry Humour From A Really Nice Guy tour.
Tickets go on general sale at 10am tomorrow (29/1/2026) at https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/nish-kumar-angry-humour-from-a-really-nice-guy/grand-opera-house-york/.
“The world is in chaos,” laments Kumar. “Inequality is widening, autocracy is rising and political parties are collapsing. In these divided times, what this country desperately needs is Angry Humour From a Really Nice Guy. (In many ways it’s actually the last thing this country needs, but it’s what it’s getting, so tough luck).”
Pod Save The UK podcast co-host, former host of axed BBC Two show The Mash Report and Late Night Mash, and one of Taskmaster’s greatest losers to boot, Wandsworth-born Kumar has entered his 40s (birthdate August 26 1985). His mind is breaking, his body is worse, “but audiences can still expect existential angst and political disquiet from comedy’s cheekiest boy”.
After blending his trademark high-energy with more personal reflections on mental health and modern life on his Nish, Don’t Kill My Vibe tour, now Kumar will “tackle big, uncomfortable questions in a bold, fast-paced and unflinchingly smart new show, delivered with fury, intelligence and warmth”.
Kumar says: “I looked out of the window and the world was ending. Stand-up comedy was the only thing that made sense to me – then it was co-opted by charlatans in service of autocrats. I’m going back on tour to try and reconnect with the thing I love more than anything else. I promise the show will be funnier than this.”
Kumar has appeared on such TV shows as Live At The Apollo, QI, Have I Got News For You, The John Bishop Show, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Russell Howard’s Stand-Up Central, Drunk History and Frankie Boyle’s New World Order.
Nish’s Your Power, Your Control tour show was released as a special on Sky Comedy in 2023 and he made a Netflix special as part of the Comedians Of The World series, as well as joining fellow comic Joel Dommett for Comedy Central’s 12-part travelogue Joel & Nish Vs The World and Josh Widdicombe in Sky Max’s Hold The Front Page. On the radio, he has hosted BBC Radio 4’s The News Quiz and BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Newsjack.
His 2026 tour will take in further Yorkshire gigs at Leeds Playhouse, October 3, Hull Truck Theatre, October 9, Octagon Centre, Sheffield, November 13, and Scarborough Spa Theatre, November 14. Box office: www.nishkumar.co.uk from tomorrow morning.
Steve Pratt on duty at the York Theatre Royal pantomime press night in December 2018. Picture: York Theatre Royal
THE funeral of York journalist, columnist and theatre, film and television critic and press officer Steve Pratt will be held tomorrow (28/1/2025) at York Crematorium, Bishopthorpe Road, York.
Steve, 77, of Monk Avenue, York, passed away at York Hospital on January 15.
Born Stephen William Pratt in Watford on April 22 1948 in Watford, he was educated at Garston Primary School and Bushey Grammar School, where he met Lesley when she was 16, Steve two years older.
The childhood sweethearts were married on June 24 1972 at Christ Church, Watford, by the same vicar that tied the knot for Lesley’s parents.
Steve went straight from A-level studies to taking out indentures at the Watford Post, where, as a junior, he was tasked with collecting death notices from undertakers.
He went on to work for the Herts Advertiser, Watford Observer, Northern Echo, in Darlington and Portsmouth News, before returning to the Northern Echo from 1999 to 2014, winning two Tom Corder awards for best arts writer.
“His passion for writing goes back to his early years and he used to cut up magazines and create his own version,” recalled Lesley, who “bounced up and down the country with Stephen before we finally landed in York, where we felt at home”.
“There were so many famous people he interviewed as he covered lots of press junkets for films and television.”
Steve Pratt in his treasured picture with film actress Angelina Jolie, from his journalism files at home, where box upon box of theatre programmes are in need of a new home, says widowLesley
Among those celluloid star interviewees were Tom Cruise, Arnold Scharzenegger, Leslie Nielsen, Leslie Phillips and Angelina Jolie. “He always went on about his photo with her,” recalled Lesley.
One knight of the realm eluded him, however. “Stephen was refused twice by Sir Alec Guinness for an interview, once in 1997 and again in 1999,” said Lesley. “I have the original handwritten cards Sir Alec sent him: very polite but a ‘No’ nevertheless.”
Nigel Burton, editor of York Press, who worked with Steve on The Northern Echo, said: “He was a superb features writer, someone who would always tackle any job – no matter how outlandish – with a smile and good humour.
“He was an internationally respected critic and his reviews were eagerly awaited by film distributors and theatres alike. Most of all, I will remember him as a much-missed colleague and a lovely human being.”
Peter Barron, former editor of The Northern Echo, said: “I was so sorry to hear of Steve’s passing. He was a gifted writer of a national standard and I always considered The Northern Echo to be very lucky to have him.
“He brought great quality to the paper, with a wry, humorous style and his passion for the arts always shone through. It is also telling that the arts community knew him and respected his opinion.
“A positive review from Steve Pratt in The Northern Echo really meant something, while a scathing review was to be feared. He was prolific, loved his craft, and the many awards he won were testament to his talent.”
Chris Lloyd, features editor at the Northern Echo, who was Steve’s manager for many years, said: “When I worked with Steve, he was so passionate and knowledgeable about all forms of visual entertainment, but especially about his great loves of television and theatre. He knew the stars, he interviewed them all, usually cheekily, and they remembered and respected him.
Steve Pratt in his Northern Echo days. Picture: Northern Echo
“He was, I think, a great ally of the region’s theatre community, forever supporting and promoting it, and I was in awe of the way he wrote so quickly, so cleanly, and always with a humorous glint in his words.”
Wise Eye Films/ITV Studios creative director and The Yorkshire Shepherdess producer Mark Robinson, who started his career at the Echo with Steve, said: “He was exceptionally kind to me when I moved over from the newsroom to the features desk in the late 1980s, and he became my boss.
“Steve was unbelievably patient and encouraging and gave me the space to grow as a journalist finding his own voice for the first time. It was impossible not to be inspired by his love and passion for TV and the arts in general – and he sent me on many glamorous jobs interviewing celebrities across the UK.
“His impact on my career was so significant that we remained friends long after I left the Echo and I enjoyed our get-togethers in York.”
Viv Hardwick, fellow former Echo television and entertainment editor, said: “Steve always seemed to know the best way of doing things work-wise. His awesome ability and in-depth entertainments knowledge made him one of the most memorable men in journalism.”
On leaving The Northern Echo in 2014, Steve switched to the other side of the Press desk as press officer at Leeds Playhouse and later York Theatre Royal.
Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster said: “The whole team here are incredibly saddened by the news of Steve’s death. His relationship with YTR goes back such a long time, both as a reviewer and staff member and then as a freelancer.
“His dedication and passion to unearthing the stories of this theatre and championing the arts in Yorkshire was truly outstanding. Press nights will not be the same without his sparkly shoes and fabulous sense of humour. We will miss him very much.”
Nun better: Steve Pratt in sisterhood habit on a press night for Sister Act
Chief executive officer Paul Crewes added: “Steve’s death is such a terrible loss to York’s theatre community and his YTR family are all devastated by this news. He was a much-loved friend and colleague and we will miss him.
“Steve was a first-class journalist and press officer who cared deeply about, and was very successful at, shining a light on the arts in York and beyond.”
Latterly, Steve took up the publicity officer’s post for York company NE Theatre York, whose chair and creative director, Steve Tearle, said: “Steve became involved with us over the past several years by supporting the publicity of our shows. He crafted and created press releases for the company perfectly, like only Steve could do.
“He was a wonderfully gifted, talented man, with time for everyone, and had such a fantastic personality. He was such an asset to the team and totally believed in what we stood for.
“I really valued Steve as a person and his passion for theatre. It’s with such a heavy heart I say this. We spoke last November at length about 2026 and as usual he was so excited to be supporting us. He will be sadly missed by the NE Theatre York team.”
From his days at Leeds Playhouse, Steve’s brighter-than-Hawaiian shirts became his trademark. “As a child he was dressed very soberly, but when he found his feet at Leeds, the flamboyant side came out, but he did need guidance, so I have to admit it was my fault,” said Lesley, recalling his collection of 30 such shirts. “Please feel free to come to the funeral in bright colours.”
One last memory from Lesley defined his role as a critic. “Getting Stephen to give you a verbal opinion was not easy,” she said. “He would always say ‘read the review’.” We did, line after line, time after time.
Copyright of The York Press and The Northern Echo
DONATIONS at tomorrow’s funeral can be made in aid of York Theatre Royal, where Steve’s contribution to theatre and arts journalism will be marked with a commemorative seat plaque and a bench in his honour on the terrace. A memorial celebration of Steve’s life will held at the theatre on a date yet to be announced.
Artist Donna Maria Taylor at work in her “bright and airy” Studio 1 at South Bank Studios, York. Picture: Paul Oscar Photography
SOUTH Bank Studios resident artist Donna Maria Taylor’s latest collection of paintings will be on display at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, from Thursday, when she will attend the 6pm to 9pm launch.
At the invitation of Bluebird artistic curator Jo Walton and bakery co-owner and poet Nicky Kippax, her This Rugged Earth exhibition will run for eight weeks until February 12 2026.
Inspired by the world around her and her travels both here in the United Kingdom and Europe, the majority of the new work nods to her love of rugged hillscapes and mountainous landscapes.
Donna exhibits regularly, this year taking part in York Open Studios, North Yorkshire Open Studios and the Saltaire and Staithes art festivals, as well as exhibiting in Skipton, Danby, Scarborough and Lincoln.
Her Bluebird Bakery exhibition, however, brings her work much closer to home. “Therefore I’m thrilled to have my paintings exhibited here,” she says.
Alongside her professional art practice, Donna is a fully qualified and experienced tutor, offering regular art workshops in York, as well as art retreats to Southern Morocco, Andalusia in Spain and Tuscany in Italy.
Next year, she will be opening her South Bank studio for the seventh consecutive year for York Open Studios (April 18/19 and 25/26 2026), and she will exhibit in the main gallery space of York Hospital, Wiggington Road, York, from September 2026 onwards.
The poster for Donna Maria Taylor’s launch of This Rugged Earth at Rise:@Bluebird Bakery
Here, Donna discusses This Rugged Earth, her highly productive 2025 and plans for next September’s York Hospital show with CharlesHutchPress.
Does the look of Rise/Bluebird Bakery influence your choice of artworks to be shown there?
“Only in terms of scaling up the size of some of my paintings to fill the space. Given that I’m used to painting large backdrops in the theatre though, going a little bigger is no real problem. It just means more paint and bigger brushes!
“I do think that the colour palette I’ve been using recently compliments Bluebird’s interiors, but I’m not someone who creates original artwork to match a room. My work is personal to me and hopefully forms a cohesive collection, no matter where it’s shown.”
What draws you to rugged hillscapes and mountainous landscapes?
“Something within me I guess – maybe it stems from walks I used to enjoy as a child in the Peak District…or family holidays in the Lake District and North Wales? I also spent three winter seasons working as a ski instructor in the Austrian Alps when I was younger, so maybe that’s it?
Loch Long, 2025, by Donna Maria Taylor
“I love the drama of rugged landscapes, the fresh air and the connection you have with nature. Although I don’t think I could live permanently in the countryside, I’ll often spend my spare time there – sketching, en-plein-air painting, walking or mountain biking with family and friends.”
Where have you travelled in Europe recently?
“I’ve been lucky enough to travel through quite a few places – Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria – mainly because I chose the ‘slow travel’ option to reach my art retreat destinations.
“I also came back from Italy via Slovenia this time: a place I’ve never visited before. The scenery there is stunning, although you do have to be aware of bears – not something we have to worry about when wandering around in this country…”
How do the opportunities to teach in Morocco, Andalusia and Tuscany come about? What do your sessions cover?
“They come via word of mouth and recommendations really. My first Moroccan holiday came about when I tripped and broke my foot whilst working on stage in the theatre back in 2018, meaning I couldn’t walk for several months.
Hole Of Horcum, 2025, by Donna Maria Taylor
“I had a lot of time on my hands and was stuck at home all day, so what was I to do? Make exciting plans for the future, of course!
“I’d already run a couple of art holidays in the UK, so going further afield and combining my love of art and travel felt like the perfect next step. By that point, I’d also had more than 20 years’ experience teaching adults, so I was used to working with a wide range of groups and abilities.
“Sketchbooks have always played an important role on the retreats because they allow you to get out and explore. When you’re somewhere new, that’s essential – so that you really get a sense of the place.
“The sketchbook becomes a sort of visual diary; a real record of your time spent there. Sketchbooks also make the retreats accessible to everyone, from complete beginners onwards.
“I encourage the use of a range of media in them, including watercolour, collage and acrylics. Of course, some people prefer to focus on more finished pieces, and that’s absolutely fine too. As an experienced educator you learn to adapt to each person’s needs.”
La Tania, 2025, by Donna Maria Taylor
What do your art classes and workshops cover?
“There’s a wide range of media and techniques: watercolours, inks, acrylic, print, collage, pastels and oils. I try to encourage learners to experiment, play with the mediums and really develop their own style, but observational drawing is also an important and fundamental part of it all too. It’s all about ‘learning to see’ and creating your own visual language.
“I think coming from a theatre background really has given me a multi-disciplinary approach to both my art and my teaching.”
How did your exhibitions in 2025 compare and contrast: Skipton, Danby, Scarborough, Lincoln, York Open Studios, North Yorkshire Open Studios (NYOS), Saltaire, Staithes and York Hospital (from November 2025 to February 2026)? It sounds like a very busy, very productive year.
“Yes, I perhaps packed a little too much into my calendar this year, but I do like to keep busy. The exhibitions organised through NYOS, York Hospital and the gallery were fantastic for getting my work out in front of new audiences, but festivals and events are quite different because you get to meet and engage with the people who want to talk to you about your work, so it becomes far more interactive and personal.
Les Chenus, 2025, by Donna Maria Taylor
“Also, you’re often working alongside other artists at events too, which I love. It’s harder work but very rewarding.”
Looking ahead, what will you exhibit in the York Hospital main gallery space from next September?
“New work that hopefully doesn’t exist yet! As an artist, I’m always striving to stretch myself and find new ways of expressing myself, so the answer to that really is ‘watch this space’…”
What is the function of art in a hospital?
“Having art in hospitals genuinely makes a difference to the lives of patients, visitors and staff alike. I know this from personal experience but also from the lovely messages people sometimes send me to tell me how much seeing my work has meant to them or made their day.”
Donna Maria Taylor: back story
ORIGINALLY from South Yorkshire, Donna completed Art Foundation course after A-levels, followed by degree in Multi-disciplinary Design.
Began career in Stoke-on-Trent as textile and ceramic tile/mural designer before gaining a distinction in her Postgraduate Diploma in Theatre Design.
Led to long and varied career in theatre design and production, allowing her to draw on wide range of creative skills. Worked in theatres across UK and abroad before moving to York in 2000 to take up post of full-time scenic artist at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds.
Continues to work regularly with Yorkshire theatres, including Leeds Playhouse and York Theatre Royal, where she served as prop maker and workshop facilitator for this summer’s community production, His Last Report.
Well known for creating large-scale animal puppets that first appeared in the York Minster Mystery Plays, From Darkness Into Light, in 2016.
Alongside her theatre work, Donna contributes to community art projects, including two pieces inspired by the work of artist John Piper, now on display at Southlands Methodist Church.
Based at Studio 1, South Bank Studios, Southlands Methodist Church, Bishopthorpe Road, York, where you can visit her by appointment (donnataylorart@icloud.com) .
In the grip of dementia:Reece Dinsdale’s Howard and Shobna Gulati’s Sue in Through It All Together. Picture: Charlie Swinbourne
THROUGH It All Together is the third play about Leeds United after Anders Lustgarten’s ubiquitous, damnable The Damned United and Anthony Clavane and Nick Stimson’s lesser-spotted Promised Land, A Northern Love Story, staged in a community production with Red Ladder at Leeds Carriageworks Theatre in Summer 2012.
“About Leeds United” tells only half the story. The Damned United, adapted from David Peace’s literary psycho-drama, was rather more about Brian Clough, the Richard III of Leeds managers, and his 44-day impact on Revie’s champions versus their corrosive, longer-rooted impact on “Old Big ‘ead”.
A Promised Land, adapted from Clavane’s non-fiction book, interwove the repeat pattern of the rise and fall of Leeds United and the industries of Leeds with the story of the city’s Jewish community, who provided the club’s most successful chairmen, Manny Cussins and Leslie Silver.
Now Leeds United is only half the story once more in Chris O’Connor’s Through It All Together, a title taken from the club anthem Marching On Together (originally entitled Leeds! Leeds! Leeds! as the B-side to the official 1972 FA Cup Final song, Top Ten hit Leeds United, as the Courtyard theatre audience would all know!).
Everal A Walsh’s Leeds United director, left, and Dean Smith’s director of football Victor Orta in Through It All Together. Picture: Charlie Swinbourne
Forever Leeds fan O’Connor – known as “Leeds” at his London school – “could write one strand in his sleep”, and so the Leeds United story, a love letter to sainted Argentine maverick Marcelo Bielsa and his 2020 Championship champions, is indeed penned with all the self-deprecating humour, in-jokes, reverence and irreverence of a battle-hardened yet defiantly optimistic Peacocks supporter.
The other strand, drawn from the impact of dementia on the grandmother who helped to raise him, again is written from the inside track. “One aspect we really wanted to get right was making sure the show is dementia friendly and accurate to what people go through,” he told Graham Smyth [the Yorkshire Evening Post’s Leeds United reporter since 2019] in his interview for the Playhouse premiere’s excellent programme.
Your reviewer writes with investment too: both as a long-suffering Leeds United addict since 1969 and having experienced his father’s seven-year decline with dementia – it is never a battle – that ended in relief and release in January 2016.
O’Connor said he could be “incredibly confident and happy” with the Leeds United angle. He has taken every care – like the remarkable staff at dementia care homes – to bring similar authenticity to the dementia thread, backed by the work of Playhouse theatre and dementia research consultant Dr Nicky Taylor and the Courtyard corridor exhibition that rewards early arrival for perusal.
The veneration of Marcelo Bielsa in Amanda Stoodley’s church set design for Through It All Together at Leeds Playhouse. Picture: Charlie Swinbourne
Director Gitika Buttoo says O’Connor’s play is “for the people of Leeds, showing how football ripples through all the corners of life…but that story, while rooted in Leeds, is universal”. She’s right. You could transplant the structure to any football club’s origin story, such is the ubiquity of a supporter’s jam-side-down relationship with fate, while dementia is becoming pervasive.
In this story, Reece Dinsdale’s life-long Leeds United fan Howard Wright is in the early throes of dementia, his life-changing diagnosis coinciding with director of football Victor Orta’s left-field pursuit and recruit of Marcelo Bielsa to end LUFC’s wilderness years amid the Championship tundra.
The volcanic Orta is represented physically by one of two Paul Madeleys in Buttoo’s cast, the multi-role-playing Dean Smith (regular “Championship will Championship” contributor to The Square Ball podcast, by the way).
He teams up with Everal A Walsh in three partnerships, representing the club management (Orta and a calmer presence alongside); the fans, a diehard Elland Road attendee and a disaffected deserter newly magnetised by Bielsa’s beautiful game; and the media, podcasting and match dissecting much in the healthily cynical/sceptical/supportive style of The Square Ball, quirky adverts et al.
So many ups and downs: The life and pub philosopher times of Leeds United fans, played by Everal A Walsh, left, and Dean Smith
Unlike the omnipresent Clough in The Damned United, Bielsa is not portrayed physically (save for a delightful fantasy sequence where he dances the Argentine Tango with Shobna Gulati’s Sue in Newell’s Old Boys kit in his 1970s’ defender days). Nor is he symbolised by Bielsa’s Bucket (on which he would surely perch if the club were ever to bestow him a statue).
Instead, as mystical as Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name turning up out of nowhere, and more in keeping with Irek “Tankpetrol” Jasutowicz’s Bielsa mural at Hyde Park Corner, St Marcelo appears in a stained glass window, beatific, aura aglow, high above his Peacock flock, within set designer Amanda Stoodley’s open-plan framework of a church. How fitting!
Church structure meets the kitchen-sink drama of the Wright household’s kitchen and sitting room, home to Dinsdale’s Howard and fellow Leeds devotee Sue (Gulati), joined regularly by daughter and putative chef Hazel (Natalie Davies).
They will, in the words of the club anthem, go through it all together, both Howard’s descent into dementia and Leeds United’s typically flattering-to-deceive yet, hardly a spoiler alert, ultimately sublime rise to the Premiership’s golden gates that coincided with Covid’s lockdowns.
Shall we dance? Dean Smith’s Marcelo Bielsa, in his Newell’s Old Boys playing days in Argentina, struts the Tango with Shoba Gulati’s Sue in a fantasy scene in Through It All Together. Picture: Charlie Swinbourne
Two forms of distancing then play out: the fans consigned to listening to Adam Pope on BBC Radio Leeds, and Howard’s losing his sentient powers to dementia’s corrosion and erosion.
O’Connor writes brilliantly and so movingly of this struggle: the “forgetfulness”, the sudden moments of lucid clarity (such as naming Don Revie’s champion team); Howard’s wish to not be a burden to his family by listing preparations to move to a care home while he still has the mental minerals to make that decision.
More and more sticker messages are placed around the house to help Howard navigate his way through each day’s routines; daughter Hazel starts to question whether the measures they take are worth it; Sue is consigned to hospital with Covid, at which point Dinsdale’s performance hits new heights.
All the while, Howard and Sue will sing Marching On Together as the couple’s love song, “We love you, Leeds! Leeds! Leeds!” replaced by “I love you Sue, Sue, Sue”.
We know how it ended for LUFC, with promotion, only to be followed inevitably by Leeds falling apart again (as Walsh’s fan laments to the biggest knowing laughs).
Making plans: Reece Dinsdale’s Howard in discussion with Natalie Davies’s Hazel in Through It All Together
We know how it will end for Howard, so we don’t need to see it. They will go through it all together, like Leeds United’s motto, side before self.
Dinsdale, a Playhouse luminary since 1990’s debut production of Wild Oats after the Quarry Hill relocation, is terrific in his King Lear for the football masses, all the more so for putting his Huddersfield Town allegiances to one side to embrace Leeds United.
The ever supportive Gulati, always a hit with Leeds audiences, the doughty Davies and the Smith-Walsh double act at the treble are tremendous too under Buttoo’s direction that makes the play work for fan and theatre lover alike.
You will laugh, you will cry, you will cheer and groan, you will sing the songs, just like at Elland Road; you will miss Marcelo and you will know someone like Howard. At some we shall all have to go through it together, as we have our ups and downs.
Chris O’Connor has told a story of the everyman (Howard) and the extraordinary (Bielsa) with dignity, distinction and devotion.
Through It All Together, Leeds Playhouse, at least until the world stops going round, or more precisely July 19. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk.
Olly Murs: Returning to familiar turf at York Racecourse’s first Summer Music Saturday meeting this afternoon
AS the outdoor concert season awakens, a festival goes to heaven and hell and a koala tries something new in Charles Hutchinson’s list for the upcoming week.
Back on track: Olly Murs, York Racecourse, Summer Music Saturday, today, first race at 1.55pm; last race, 5.25pm, followed by concert
ESSEX singer, songwriter, actor and television personality from Olly Murs completes his hat-trick of appearances at York Racecourse this weekend, having played the Knavesmire track in 2010 and 2017.
Performing after today’s race card, his set list will draw on his seven albums and 25 singles, including the number ones Please Don’t Let Me Go, Heart Skips A Beat, Dance With Me Tonight and Troublemaker. Race day tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk.
Marcelo Nisinman: Argentinean bandoneon player, performing Martin Palmeri’s Misatango at York Guildhall today
Reverence and rhythm of the week: Prima Choral Artists presents Scared Rhythms: From Chant To Tango, York Guildhall, The Courtyard, Coney Street, York, tonight, 7.30pm
ARGENTINEAN bandoneon maestro and composer Marcelo Nisinman performs Martin Palmeri’s Misatango as the finale to director Eve Lorian’s Sacred Rhythms – From Chant To Tango concert.
He joins the 60-strong Prima Choral Artists choir, pianist Greg Birch, Yorkshire mezzo-soprano soloist Lucy Jubb and the New World String Quintet for tonight’s journey through sacred and spiritual choral music. Box office: primachoral.com.
Justin Moorhouse: Giving two of the greatest performances of his life at Pocklington Arts Centre this weekend
Comedy gigs of the week: Justin Moorhouse, The Greatest Performance Of My Life, Pocklington Arts Centre, today, 3pm and 8pm
ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE comedian, radio presenter and actor Justin Moorhouse covers subjects ranging from pantomimes to dreams, how to behave in hospitals, small talk, realising his mum is a northern version of Columbo, and how being a smart-mouthed child saved him from a life of continually being beaten up. Funny, interesting, perhaps it will warm the soul too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Bluebird Bakery: Makers’ Summer Fair on Sunday in Acomb
Arts and crafts of the week: Makers’ Summer Fair, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, Sunday, 10am to 3pm; The Fox Summer Craft Market, The Fox Inn, Holgate Road, York, Sunday, 1pm to 5pm
ARTISAN baker and cafe Bluebird Bakery plays host to York artists and makers’ craft, jewellery, print, ceramic, plant, candle and woodwork stalls under one roof. Meanwhile, The Fox Inn holds its second annual Summer Craft Market, featuring live music, handmade gifts, craft stalls and street food vendors.
Swift service: Xenna pays homage to Taylor in Miss Americana at York Barbican
Tribute gig of the week: Miss Americana: The Eras Experience, A Tribute To Taylor Swift, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
STEP into Step into world ofTaylor Swift and her Eras experience in Xenna’s homage to the Pennsylvania pop sensation’s music, style and stage presence, from her country roots to such hits as Love Story, Blank Space and Shake It Off. Cue replica costume changes, storytelling and dancers too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Dawn Landes: Amplifying the voices of women who fought for equality at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Country gig of the week: Dawn Landes, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, July 2, 8pm
AMERICAN country roots singer-songwriter Dawn Landes showcases The Liberated Woman’s Songbook, her March 2024 album that re-imagines music from the women’s liberation movement.
Inspired by a 1971 songbook of the same name, Landes breathes new life into powerful songs spanning 1830 to 1970, amplifying the voices of women who fought for equality throughout history. Box office: seetickets.com/event/dawn-landes/rise-bluebird/.
James Sheldon’s Mr Darcy and Rosa Hesmondhalgh’s Lizzy Bennet in Pride And Prejudice at the SJT, Scarborough
Introducing America’s most performed living playwright to North Yorkshire: Pride And Prejudice, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, July 3 to 26, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
LOTTE Wakeham directs American writer Kate Hamill’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s story of love, misunderstandings and second chances, staged with music, dancing, humour aplenty and a cast led by Rosa Hesmondhalgh’s Lizzy Bennet (CORRECT) and James Sheldon’s Mr Darcy in a whirl of Regency parties and courtship as hearts race, tongues wag and passions swirl around the English countryside. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
The Koala Who Could: Up a tree at York Theatre Royal for three days next week. Picture: Pamela Raith
Children’s show of the week: The Koala Who Could, York Theatre Royal, July 3, 1.30pm; July 4, 10.30am and 4.30pm; July 5, 11am and 2pm
JOIN Kevin the koala, Kangaroo and Wombat as they learn that “life can be great when you try something new” in this adaptation of Rachel Bright and Jim Field’s picture book, directed by Emma Earle, with music and lyrics by Eamonn O’Dwyer.
Danny Hendrix (Wombat/Storyteller 1), Sarah Palmer (Cossowary/Storyteller 2) and Christopher Finn (Kevin/Storyteller 3) perform this empowering story of embracing change – whether we like it or not. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Richard Hawley: Playing Coles Corner with strings attached at Live At York Museum Gardens on July 5. Picture: Dean Chalkley
Open-air concerts of the week: Futuresounds presents Live At York Museum Gardens, Elbow, July 3; Nile Rodgers & CHIC, July4; Richard Hawley, July 5; gates open at 5pm
LEEDS promoters Futuresound Group’s second summer of outdoor concerts in York begins with Bury band Elbow’s sold-out show next Thursday, when Ripon singer-songwriter Billie Marten and Robin Hood’s Bay folk luminary Eliza Carthy & The Restitution support.
New York guitarist, songwriter and producer Nile Rodgers and CHIC revel in Good Times, Le Freak, Everybody Dance and I Want Your Love next Friday, supported by Maryland soul singer Jalen Ngonda. Sheffield guitarist and crooner Richard Hawley revisits his 1995 album Coles Corner with a string section on its 20th anniversary next Saturday, preceded by Leeds band English Teacher and Manchester-based American songwriter BC Camplight. Box office: seetickets.com.
Le Consort: French orchestral ensemble, making York debut with Vivaldi concert at National Centre for Early Music on July 6
Festival of the week: York Early Music Festival, Heaven & Hell, July 4 to 11
EIGHT days of classical music adds up to 19 concerts featuring international artists such as The Sixteen, The Tallis Scholars, Academy of Ancient Music, viol consort Fretwork & Helen Charlston and the York debut of Le Consort, performing Vivaldi’s Four Seasons “but not quite as you know it”.
Directed by Delma Tomlin, the festival weaves together three main strands: the 400th anniversary of Renaissance composer Orlando Gibbons, the Baroque music of Vivaldi and Bach and reflections on Man’s fall from grace, from Heaven to Hell. Full programme and tickets at ncem.co.uk/whats-on/yemf/. Box office: 01904 658338.
In Focus: Harry Baker, Wonderful 2.0, The Crescent, York, Sunday (29/6/2025)
Poet, mathematician and world slam champ Harry Baker
YOUNGEST ever World Poetry Slam champion Harry Baker’s two Wonderful 2.0 shows at The Crescent , York, tomorrow have sold out. Wonderful news for Harry; not so wonderful if you were yet to book for either bite of the poetic cherry, the 3.30pm all-ages matinee or 7pm evening event.
Enough negativity. Let this preview be suffused with positivity. “One thing that I know that I will always find amazing is what a thing it is to live a life,” posits Maths graduate Harry, who always looks for plus signs. “P.S. Let’s also do this loads before we die.” Good, because that means Baker will be back and next time you can be quicker off the mark.
Baker, the 34-year-old poet, mathematician, writer and comedy turn from Ealing, London, first spread his Wonderful wings from April to August 2024, visiting The Crescent on May 20 with poems about wellies, postcodes and his favourite German wheat beer Schöfferhofer on his sold-out 40-date itinerary.
At the time, the “Maths-loving, TED-talking, German-speaking, battle-rapping, happy-crying, self-bio-writing unashamed human” said: “After the mental health struggles I shared in my last show, this time around the plan was to have a fun time touring a fun show full of fun poems to celebrate coming out of the other side. But it hasn’t quite worked out like that.
“For the first time ever I have been to more funerals than weddings in the last year. I have hit the age where everyone around me is either having babies or talking about having babies or definitely not having babies, and found out first-hand how complicated and painful that can be. And yet I am more fascinated and amazed by the world around me than ever before.”
Harry added: “From the transformational power of documenting moments of everyday joy to the undeniable raw energy of performing a garage song about Greta Thunberg, I am learning more than ever that life can indeed be incredibly hard sometimes, but that doesn’t make it any less incredible.
“If anything, it is the darkness that helps us to appreciate the light, just as it is the puddles that help us to appreciate the wellies. And what could be more wonderful than sharing all of this with the glorious folk who come along after reading about it here.”
Now he returns with a new message to accompany his poems about “all the important stuff, like hope, dinosaurs and German falafel-spoons”. “May one thing match the gravity of all you’ve ever done. This wonderful reality: The best is yet to come,” Harry pronounces.
“More full of wonder than ever”, he will celebrate wellies and postcodes once more, funerals and fertility journeys too, in his trademark amalgam of the playful, the vulnerable and the hopeful.
How would he sum up Wonderful 2.0? “I like ‘Wonderfuller’. It doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, but I like the connotation,” he says.
“Wonderful 2.0 hopes to make you cry with laughter, laugh through tears, or, dream scenario: both. The show will contain old faves as well as brand new work, celebrating what a thing it is to live a life.”
“What I ended up doing was I started writing a poem a day for the first 100 days of my son’s life, though ‘poems’ would be a generous description of the first ones,” says Harry
For all his popularity on TikTok and Instagram, Baker’s favourite place to be is still on stage in front of an audience, sharing his words in person. “By its very nature, I don’t think it makes sense for poetry to go viral,” he says.
“It is all about taking the time out of your day-to-day to stop and pay attention to the world and the wonder it contains, which it feels like so many of us are too busy to be able to carve out time to do. And yet I think it is precisely this reason why people have been able to connect with my work so much.
“From the vulnerability of sharing my own personal struggles with trying to conceive a baby, to the power of making list of requests in advance of what I would like to happen when I die (an obnoxious amount of sunflowers and negronis all round, please), or even just a stupid (yet subversive?) poem about how great my knees are, there is a playfulness and poignancy that has changed the way others look at the world too.”
Harry continues: “I have been performing for 15 years now and last year’s tour was my favourite by far, because of the openness audiences were willing to bring and share in, so that we could all have a cry and a laugh and go away feeling slightly more connected to one another and the world, and I am so excited for a chance to do this all over again.”
Assessing where he fits in as a performer, Harry decides: “I think I fall somewhere in between a band (where you hope they will do your favourite songs) and a stand-up (where you expect new material!). So, as well as keeping in the classics, I have updated the show with new poems about everything that has happened in the meantime, including (finally and joyfully) having a baby.”
Wonderful 2.0 picks up where Wonderful left off, knowing his “whole life was about to change but not knowing how he would feel”. It turns out that becoming a father, and experiencing a deep love for his child, has heightened his connection with the world around him, rather than numbed it.
“What I ended up doing was I started writing a poem a day for the first 100 days of my son’s life, though ‘poems’ would be a generous description of the first ones!
“People say ‘it’s the best thing in the world’ or that ‘you’re going to lose everything you’ve enjoyed’, so I thought to be able to have all these snapshots in the poems means you can have days where you were in the moment, thinking how fragile and precious life is, but also have days where it doesn’t feel like that, especially in those early days, when if feels like ‘this is it, it will never change’.
“But having written these things, less than a year later, I look back and feel like ‘I think you’re being a bit dramatic’…but that’s fine because some of it felt amazing, sometimes it felt raw and spiky.
“Hopefully these poems will feel precious to me and my wife, and by sharing them, anyone who has recently has a baby will connect with them, or, like my parents, they can relate with them, and those who haven’t had a kid can connect with these basic emotions.”
Harry’s aim was to “capture the newness, the helplessness and the tenderness, not to create a parenting manual”. To detach from the practice of finding punchlines to jokes felt important in his writing. “I wanted to lean into the emotional side of it and that’s something that changes from day to day,” he says.
“This is the point in between where you can say ‘life can be difficult but also amazing, and if anything, one heightens the other’,” says Harry
Harry had written candidly about how long it took the couple to become pregnant. “To be so honest about that painful experience gave permission to connect with that, and now these new poems feel like an evolution,” he says.
“People have thanked me for ‘saying things they couldn’t’. I’ve been trying to open up in a way that is safe for me and safe for others, and having honed those skills, or muscles, I was ready to apply it to the new poems.
“It’s also trying to acknowledge that just because I have this child and this joyful outcome, it doesn’t negate the experience I’ve been through.”
The sequel to his Wonderful poetry collection will be published by Canongate next March. “This is the point in between where you can say ‘life can be difficult but also amazing, and if anything, one heightens the other’. If you can share the hard times with people, just as you share the joyous times, they’re more bearable for that.”
Poems have an intensity that suits the combative nature of slams. “When I started out, I was entering these poetry slams where you have to say everything in three minutes, win over the audience, be funny, get them on board, deliver a message, wrap it up and send it off into the sunset,” says Harry.
“That was such a good training ground because you have to convey things in such a short space of time. That’s why these Wonderful shows are such a joy to do, particularly when the poems can feel vulnerable and heartfelt, and it’s up to you where you take it next.”
Next year’s poetry collection, Tender, will reflect that. “Why ‘Tender’? I think it was that thing of wanting to lean into the feeling of vulnerability, but as well as the connotation of being tender where you feel bruised, there’s the ripeness and readiness too.”
Did you know?
HARRY Baker’s honest, heartfelt and hopeful poems have reached more than ten million people on TikTok and Instagram.
Raised in a Christian community, Baker is a regular contributor to BBC Radio 2’s Pause For Thought.
He tours the UK in comedy-rap-jazz duo Harry and Chris Baker, also appearing on The Russell Howard Hour.
Baker released his third poetry collection, Wonderful, in May 2024, featuring fan favourites Wellies, Sunflowers and Sticky Toffee Pudding. Published by Burning Eye, copies are available at gigs, all good bookshops and www.harrybaker.co.
REVIEW: Through It All Together, Leeds Playhouse, until July 19 *****
Reece Dinsdale’s Howard and Shobna Gulati’s Sue in Through It All Together. Picture: Charlie Swinbourne
THROUGH It All Together is the third play about Leeds United after Anders Lustgarten’s ubiquitous, damnable The Damned United and Anthony Clavane and Nick Stimson’s lesser-spotted Promised Land, A Northern Love Story, staged in a community production with Red Ladder at Leeds Carriageworks Theatre in Summer 2012.
“About Leeds United” tells only half the story. The Damned United, adapted from David Peace’s literary psycho-drama, was rather more about Brian Clough, the Richard III of Leeds managers, and his 44-day impact on Revie’s champions versus their corrosive, longer-rooted impact on “Old Big ‘ead”.
A Promised Land, adapted from Clavane’s non-fiction book, interwove the repeat pattern of the rise and fall of Leeds United and the industries of Leeds with the story of the city’s Jewish community, who provided the club’s most successful chairmen, Manny Cussins and Leslie Silver.
Now Leeds United is only half the story once more in Chris O’Connor’s Through It All Together, a title taken from the club anthem Marching On Together (originally entitled Leeds! Leeds! Leeds! as the B-side to the official 1972 FA Cup Final song, Top Ten hit Leeds United, as the Courtyard theatre audience would all know!).
Forever Leeds fan O’Connor – known as “Leeds” at his London school – “could write one strand in his sleep”, and so the Leeds United story, a love letter to sainted Argentine maverick Marcelo Bielsa and his 2020 Championship champions, is indeed penned with all the self-deprecating humour, in-jokes, reverence and irreverence of a battle-hardened yet defiantly optimistic Peacocks supporter.
The other strand, drawn from the impact of dementia on the grandmother who helped to raise him, again is written from the inside track. “One aspect we really wanted to get right was making sure the show is dementia friendly and accurate to what people go through,” he told Graham Smyth [the Yorkshire Evening Post’s Leeds United reporter since 2019] in his interview for the Playhouse premiere’s excellent programme.
Your reviewer writes with investment too: both as a long-suffering Leeds United addict since 1969 and having experienced his father’s seven-year decline with dementia – it is never a battle – that ended in relief and release in January 2016.
O’Connor said he could be “incredibly confident and happy” with the Leeds United angle. He has taken every care – like the remarkable staff at dementia care homes – to bring similar authenticity to the dementia thread, backed by the work of Playhouse theatre and dementia research consultant Dr Nicky Taylor and the Courtyard corridor exhibition that rewards early arrival for perusal.
Director Gitika Buttoo says O’Connor’s play is “for the people of Leeds, showing how football ripples through all the corners of life…but that story, while rooted in Leeds, is universal”. She’s right. You could transplant the structure to any football club’s origin story, such is the ubiquity of a supporter’s jam-side-down relationship with fate, while dementia is becoming pervasive.
In this story, Reece Dinsdale’s life-long Leeds United fan Howard Wright is in the early throes of dementia, his life-changing diagnosis coinciding with director of football Victor Orta’s left-field pursuit and recruit of Marcelo Bielsa to end LUFC’s wilderness years amid the Championship tundra.
The volcanic Orta is represented physically by one of two Paul Madeleys in Buttoo’s cast, the multi-role-playing Dean Smith (regular “Championship will Championship” contributor to The Square Ball podcast, by the way).
He teams up with Everal A Walsh in three partnerships, representing the club management (Orta and a calmer presence alongside); the fans, a diehard Elland Road attendee and a disaffected deserter newly magnetised by Bielsa’s beautiful game; and the media, podcasting and match dissecting much in the healthily cynical/sceptical/supportive style of The Square Ball, quirky adverts et al.
Unlike the omnipresent Clough in The Damned United, Bielsa is not portrayed physically (save for a delightful fantasy sequence where he dances the Argentine Tango with Shobna Gulati’s Sue in Newell’s Old Boys kit in his 1970s’ defender days). Nor is he symbolised by Bielsa’s Bucket (on which he would surely perch if the club were ever to bestow him a statue).
Instead, as mystical as Clint Eastwood’s Man With No Name turning up out of nowhere, and more in keeping with Irek “Tankpetrol” Jasutowicz’s Bielsa mural at Hyde Park Corner, St Marcelo appears in a stained glass window, beatific, aura aglow, high above his Peacock flock, within set designer Amanda Stoodley’s open-plan framework of a church. How fitting!
Church structure meets the kitchen-sink drama of the Wright household’s kitchen and sitting room, home to Dinsdale’s Howard and fellow Leeds devotee Sue (Gulati), joined regularly by daughter and putative chef Hazel (Natalie Davies).
They will, in the words of the club anthem, go through it all together, both Howard’s descent into dementia and Leeds United’s typically flattering-to-deceive yet, hardly a spoiler alert, ultimately sublime rise to the Premiership’s golden gates that coincided with Covid’s lockdowns.
Two forms of distancing then play out: the fans consigned to listening to Adam Pope on BBC Radio Leeds, and Howard’s losing his sentient powers to dementia’s corrosion and erosion.
O’Connor writes brilliantly and so movingly of this struggle: the “forgetfulness”, the sudden moments of lucid clarity (such as naming Don Revie’s champion team); Howard’s wish to not be a burden to his family by listing preparations to move to a care home while he still has the mental minerals to make that decision.
More and more sticker messages are placed around the house to help Howard navigate his way through each day’s routines; daughter Hazel starts to question whether the measures they take are worth it; Sue is consigned to hospital with Covid, at which point Dinsdale’s performance hits new heights.
All the while, he and Sue will sing Marching On Together as the couple’s love song, “We love you, Leeds, Leeds, Leeds” replaced by “I love you Sue, Sue, Sue”.
We know how it ended for LUFC, with promotion, only to be followed inevitably by Leeds falling apart again (as Walsh’s fan laments to the biggest knowing laughs).
We know how it will end for Howard, so we don’t need to see it. They will go through it all together, like Leeds United’s motto, side before self.
Dinsdale, a Playhouse luminary since 1990’s debut production of Wild Oats after the Quarry Hill relocation, is terrific in his King Lear for the football masses, all the more so for putting his Huddersfield Town allegiances to one side to embrace Leeds United.
The ever supportive Gulati, always a hit with Leeds audiences, the doughty Davies and the Smith-Walsh double act at the treble are tremendous too under Buttoo’s direction that makes the play work for fan and theatre lover alike.
You will laugh, you will cry, you will cheer and groan, you will sing the songs, just like at Elland Road; you will miss Marcelo and you will know someone like Howard. At some we shall all have to go through it together, as we have our ups and downs.
Chris O’Connor has told a story of the everyman (Howard) and the extraordinary (Bielsa) with dignity, distinction and devotion.
Through It All Together, Leeds Playhouse, at least until the world stops going round, or more precisely July 19. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.org.uk.
Pease in our time: John Pease tops bill at Patch’s new Funny Fridays comedy forum at the Bonding Warehouse
A NEW comedy night in a bygone location and Shakespeare on a council estate stand out in Charles Hutchinson’s picks for cultural exploration.
Laughter launch of the week: Funny Fridays, Patch, Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, May 9, doors 7pm for 7.30pm start
LIVE comedy returns to the Bonding Warehouse for the first time since the days of the late Mike Bennett presenting the likes of Lee Evans and Ross Noble under the Comedy Shack banner. Stand up for Funny Fridays, hosted by York humorist Katie Lingo (alias copywriter Katie Taylor-Thompson) with an introductory price of £6.50.
On her first bill will be Kenny Watt, Tuiya Tembo, BBC New Comedy Awards semi-finalist Matty Oxley, Saeth Wheeler and Edinburgh Fringe Gilded Balloon semi-finalist John Pease. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets.
Sean Heydon: Magical sleight of hand at the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club tonight
Magical comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club presents Sean Heydon, Big Lou, Oliver Bowler and MC Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm
LAUGH Out Loud headliner Sean Heydon has performed to A-list celebrities and blue-chip companies, as well as at comedy clubs, with his combination of madcap comedy, sleight-of-hand magic and illusions for more than 15 years.
Big Lou offers a modern twist on old-school joke telling in the Les Dawson style; comedian, actor and writer Oliver Bowler discusses life experiences on the mean streets of Bolton; regular host and promoter Damion Larkin keeps order. Box office: 01904 612940 or lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Anastacia: Playing York Barbican on her Not That Kind 25th anniversary tour
Anniversary tour of the week: Anastacia, Not That Kind Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.45pm
CHICAGO singer-songwriter Anastacia , 56, heads to York on her European tour marking the 25th anniversary of her debut album Not That Kind and its breakthrough hit I’m Outta Love.
Further singles Not That Kind, Paid My Dues, One Day In Your Life, Left Outside Alone and Sick And Tired charted too, as did 2001 album Freak Of Nature (reaching number four) and 2004’s chart-topping Anastacia, 2005’s Pieces Of A Dream, 2008’s Heavy Rotation, 2014’s Resurrection and 2015’s Ultimate Collection Her special guest will be Casey McQuillen. Box office: for returns only, yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Newton Faulkner: Unveiling new songs from his upcoming Octopus album at The Crescent, York
“No technological funny business” of the week: Newton Faulkner, Feels Like Home Tour 3, The Crescent, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
LET Reigate singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner describe his York gig: “Folks, I give you the Feels Like Home Tour 3. We’re talking no technological funny business in my set-up. I love switching my focus back to just playing and singing. I also cannot wait to introduce you properly to the new material and my new head.”
Often Faulkner has found himself in his home studio working solo, but not for this next record, nor for this tour. His new phase is full of collaboration, one where “seeing these songs come to life on stage is going to be nothing short of joyous” ahead of the September 19 release of Octopus. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape on his return to York Theatre Royal after 45 years. Picture: Gisele Schmidt
York theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, until May 17
OSCAR winner Gary Oldman returns to York Theatre Royal, where he made his professional debut in 1979, to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since 1989.
“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Tickets update: check availability of returns on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York musician Steve Cassidy: Once he worked with John Barry and producer Joe Meek, now he plays with his mates on regular nights at the JoRo
Return of the week: Steve Cassidy Band, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
YORK singer, songwriter, guitarist and former head teacher Steve Cassidy will be joined by special guests when he lines up as usual with John Lewis on lead guitar, Mick Hull on bass guitar, ukulele, guitar and vocals, Brian Thomson on percussion and George Hall on keyboards.
Expect rock and country songs, as well as instrumental pieces, selected especially for this evening. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Mark Holgate’s Oberon and Suzy Cooper’s Titania, centre, with Sam Roberts’s Demetrius, left, Amy Domeneghetti’s Helena, Will Parsons’ Lysander and Meg Olssen’s Hermia in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Reinvented play of the week: York Stage in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees
YORK pantomime golden gal Suzy Cooper turns Fairy Queen Titania opposite York-born Royal Shakespeare Company actor Mark Holgate’s Fairy King Oberon in Nik Briggs’s debut Shakespeare production for York Stage.
In his first co-production with the Cumberland Street theatre, Briggs relocates the Bard’s most-performed comedy from the court of Athens to Athens Court, a northern council estate, where magic is fuelled with mayhem and true love’s bumpy path is played out to a new score by musical director Stephen Hackshaw and Nineties and Noughties’ dancefloor fillers, sung by May Tether. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Katherine Toy in rehearsals for AKA Theatre’s The Flood, on tour in York, Hull and Leeds. Picture: Cian O’Riain
Premiere of the week: AKA Theatre Company in The Flood: A Musical, Friargate Theatre, York, May 9 and 10, 7.30pm; Godber Studio, Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, May 13, 7pm; Leeds Playhouse Burton Studio, May 14 and 15, 8pm
AKA Theatre Company’s premiere of Lucie Raine and Joe Revell’s musical The Flood blends live music and heartfelt storytelling based on true accounts of facing up to disaster in West Yorkshire in 2015.
“This is a story about what it means to come together when everything falls apart,” says writer-director Raine, who uses a cast of five actor-musicians. “It’s not just a play. It’s a tribute to resilience and creativity, inspired by Hebden Bridge and its people. It’s a celebration for all communities who have faced adversity and emerged stronger.” Box office: York, ticketsource.co.uk; Hull, hulltruck.co.uk; Leeds, leedsplayhouse.org.uk.
Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox: Putting the retro into today’s hits at York Barbican
Nostalgia for today: Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox: Magic & Moonlight Tour 2025, York Barbican, May 7, doors 7pm
AFTER chalking off their 1,000th show, retro collective Postmodern Jukebox are on the British leg of their Moonlight & Magic world tour. Enter a parallel universe where modern-day hits are reimagined in 1920s’ jazz, swing, doo-wop and Motown arrangements. Think The Great Gatsby meets Sinatra At The Sands meets Back To The Future. Dress vintage for the full effect. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
In Focus: York Late Music, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, Stuart O’Hara & Marianna Cortesi, today at 1pm; Trio Agile and Northern School of Contemporary Dance, today at 7.30pm
Stuart O’Hara & Marianna Cortesi
YORK Late Music plays host to two concerts today, the first featuring bass Stuart O’Hara and pianist Marianna Cortesi this afternoon as Sounds Lyrical presents settings of poets Hugh Bernays, John Gilham, Richard Kitchen and Alan Gillott by composers Thomas J Crawley, Robert Holden, Jenny Jackson, Katie Lang, Dawn Walters and James Else.
The concert comprises: Elizabeth Lutyens’ Refugee Blues (Auden); David Blake’s Morning Sea (CP Cavafy); Dawn Walters’ Pre-dawn (Richard Kitchen); Jenny Jackson’s Collecting Stones (Richard Kitchen); Robert Holden’s Flaneur (John Gilham) and Katie Laing’s Maker (Richard Kitchen).
Then come Thomas J Crawley’s Leather Heart (Hugh Bernays); James Else’s Retras IV (Alan Gillott); Tim Brooks’s Jeer (Lizzie Linklater); David Blake’s Voices (CP Cavafy) and Stephen Dodgson’s Various Australian Bush Ballads, 2nd Series. The programme also includes music by David Blake and Elizabeth Lutyens.
Northern School of Contemporary Dance dancer Antonio Bukhar Ssebuuma: Performing with Trio Agile tonight
TONIGHT’S concert marks a first collaboration between York Late Music and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Trio Agile and NSCD’s Freedom Dances programme.
Bringing together the freedoms of dance, music and rhythm, Trio Agile combine their experimental flair and improvisatory talent with four dancers from the Leeds school, Antonio Bukhar Ssebuuma, Darcy Bodle, Genevieve Wright and Maya Donne.
The 7.30pm performance blends a range of styles from across the globe in a shared expression of the power and joy of the arts, including new works from Indian composer and performer Supriya Nagarajan, Angela Elizabeth Slater, David Lancaster, Steve Crowther, David Power, Athena Corcoran-Tadd and James Else.
Curated by James Else in partnership with the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, the programme comprises: Susie Hodder-Williams & Chris Caldwell, Prelude; Angela Elizabeth Slater, Weaving Colours; Paul Honey, Une Valse Assez Triste; James Else, Freedom Dances and David Lancaster, The Compendium Of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.
Then follow Susie Hodder-Williams & Chris Caldwell, Pas de Deux; Tom Armstrong, Aunt Maria’s Dancing Master; Paul Honey, Pizzìca; Athena Corcoran-Tadd, To You; Supriya Nagarajan, Mohanam Raga; Steve Crowther, Once Upon A Time Harlequin Met His Columbine; David Power, Something In Our Skies; Susie Hodder-Williams & Chris Caldwell, Light Dances and Athena Corcoran-Tadd , Hope Is A Boat.
The musicians will be: Susie Hodder-Williams, flutes; Chris Caldwell, saxophone and bass clarinet; Richard Horne, vibraphone and percussion; Supriya Nagarajan, voice, and Paul Honey, piano.
Chris Caldwell, Susie Hodder-Williams and composer James Else will give a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm with a complimentary glass of wine or juice.
Tickets are on sale at latemusic.org or on the door.
In Focus: The Wedding Present return to Leeds University roots to play Stylus on May 9, 7.30pm
Returning home: Former Mathematics degree student David Gedge outside Leeds University Union, where he will lead The Wedding Present in a 40th anniversary performance at Stylus
DAVID Gedge returns to Leeds University with The Wedding Present, playing Stylus to mark 40 years since he formed the band in his days of studying Mathematics on the campus.
Billed as “Back To Where It All Began”, this Leeds University Union gig brought David back north from his Brighton home on April 14 to re-visit early landmarks in The Wedding Present story to promote both this anniversary celebration and York writer-director Matt Aston’s upcoming musical Reception, inspired by Gedge’s songs for The Wedding Present and Cinerama. More on that August 22 to September 6 show at The Warehouse, Slung Low’s theatre space in Holbeck, later.
The Stylus gig will be the first of two Yorkshire engagements for The Wedding Present in quick succession. On May 10, Gedge’s band will be hooking up with Peter Hook & The Light (Best of Joy Division & New Order) The Farm and Spear Of Destiny on the Interzone bill at Scarborough Spa.
“We did it in Newcastle last year too. It seems to be Peter Hook’s festival – Interzone is a Joy Division song, isn’t it,” says David. Doors open at 4pm with tickets available at seetickets.com and scarboroughspa.co.uk.
Charles HutchPressmet up with David on the day of the photo-shoot, over a light bite in the university student union refectory, the scene of many a gig down the years.
“If I’m honest with you, I studied Mathematics here because I found it quite easy,” he says. “I remember at school finding Maths lessons a doddle. I just clicked with it. My other A-levels were Biology and Physics, and I never knew how I would then use it, but being in a band band is what I’d always wanted to do, really from the age of five, where there are photographs of me playing the recorder, pretending to be in a band.
“From schooldays onwards, I was always in bands. The simple answer is I never decided to do it; it was just always going to be the case. I thought, ‘I’ll go to university, doing Maths will be dead easy and I’ll have a lot of time to do other things’.
“It turned out to be more difficult than I expected and a lot of work, so I kind of regretted doing it – but I got a 2.2, then started to do a MSc, but then the band took off.”
Rising from the ashes of The Lost Pandas, The Wedding Present “kind of existed from 1983-84 but with different line-ups”. The first single, Go Out And Get ‘Em, Boy!, emerged in May 1985 – hence this 40th anniversary gig – with vocalist and guitarist Gedge and bassist Keith Gregory by then being joined by fellow Leeds University alumni Peter Solowka (guitar) and Shaun Charman (drums).
“Actually our first gig was in Allerton Bywater, a mining village half an hour from here, at The Shires Club. The second, third and fourth were here, at the university. We’ve played the Refectory at least once, maybe twice; the Tartan Bar, the R H Evans Lounge and the Riley Smith Hall, as we were getting bigger.
“This will be the first time we’ve played Stylus. We haven’t played the university for years, as we usually play either the O2 Academy or, for a smaller gig, the Brudenell Social Club.”
David has never kept count of how many musicians have passed through the Wedding Present ranks in the past four decades. “I don’t know how you define it, because sometimes you need a stand-in and we’ve had musicians come in as extra players,” he says.
At Stylus, David will be fronting a line-up he had had in place for a couple of years: Vincenzo Lammi on drums; Paul Blackburn on bass and Rachael Wood on guitars (and vocals too). “Weirdly, like me, they’re all based in Brighton, though Vinny is from Sheffield, Paul, from Southport, and Rachael, from Derby, so we’re all northerners. Brighton’s a nice place to be, but it’s expensive.”
Playing in The Wedding Present after 40 years “feels the same”. “It hasn’t changed. The strange thing is, if it’s 40 years, you think of The Rolling Stones or Status Quo, but actually, no, it’s The Wedding Present now.
“Rock’n’roll was a youth culture, but those who who enjoy it now are our age and are still going to gigs, so the whole genre has grown.”
