Tag: Margaret Atwood

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 43, from Gazette & Herald

Teacher Miss Hedge (Katie Spencer) steps in between school bully Dean Paxton (Cain Branton), left, and dreamer Jamie New (Frankie Bounds) in York Stage’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

FROM a couple all at sea at the SJT to Yorktoberfest in a circus big top,  a piratical twist on The Comedy Of Errors to Bison Hip’s blues, Charles Hutchinson recommends ways to stay cheerful.

Bold and unapologetic musical of the week: York Stage in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday; 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

TOM MacRae and Dan Gillespie’s Sheffield musical plays the Grand Opera House for the first time in Nik Briggs’s production for York Stage that restores the grit to both complement and counter the glitz in the uplifting underdog story of Jamie New (Frankie Bounds), a 16-year-old schoolboy from a Steel City council estate with big dreams and the courage to stand out when it would be easier to stay quiet.

Equipped with the strength to face the world head on, Jamie fights prejudice, finds his voice and discovers the freedom of stepping into the spotlight on his own terms. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Over-reaching strategy: Phil Corbitt’s Colin puts yet another plan to Sarah Belcher’s exhausted Deborah in Alison Carr’s All At Sea

Premiere of the week: Stephen Joseph Theatre and Live Theatre, Newcastle, present All At Sea, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 31

MARIA Crocker directs Phil Corbitt and Sarah Belcher in All At Sea, Alison Carr’s new play inspired by the real-life escapades of John and Anne Darwin in the early 2000s.

Colin and Deborah are a couple with spiralling debt, a sky-high mortgage and seemingly nowhere to turn. Then Colin comes up with the idea of faking his own death in a canoeing accident in the North Sea for an insurance payout. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope comes face to face with Charlie Russell’s Odysseus in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Greek tragedy twist of the week: Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, Odyssey: Her Story, York Theatre Royal, until October 31

BOOKER Prize winner Margaret Atwood revisits Homer’s The Odyssey in an exuberantly irreverent and darkly humorous retelling where she gives voice to Odysseus’s silenced wife, Penelope – still awaiting his return 20 years after the Trojan War – and her chorus of maids in a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge that exposes the truth behind the myth. Creative director Juliet Forster’s cast is led by Happy Valley and Riot Women star Amelia Bullmore. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Ben Reeves-Rowley and Harry Summers in rehearsal for York Shakespeare Company’s piratical The Comedy Of Errors

Shakespeare shake-up of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

KATIE Leckey and Emily Carhart co-direct York Shakespeare Project in “ an exciting take on Shakespeare’s shortest and possibly funniest play”, giving a piratical, gender-swapping twist to The Comedy Of Errors in a convergence of the original text with slapstick, farce and physical comedy and a “celebration of relationships of many kinds, platonic, familial and romantic”.

“The morally questionable, yet still comedic, nature of many (if not all) of the characters put us in mind of some of our favourite piratical anti-heroes,” they say. “We felt like the framing device of piracy gave us the chance to include slapstick violence between ‘masters and servants’ in a way that wouldn’t seem too brutal or alien to a modern audience.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The poster for The Amy Winehouse Band’s Back To Black 20th Anniversary Tour

Going back to Back To Black: The Amy Winehouse Band, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm

AMY Winehouse’s original band, who played with her from the very start, are marking the 20th anniversary of her iconic second album, Back To Black, the one that brought her five awards at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Performing with Amy that evening, as these musicians had done since her earliest gigs in London pubs, was her band. 

Led by Amy’s long-time musical director and bass player, The Amy Winehouse Band features members who both toured and recorded with her throughout her career. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Hudson & Hudson: Combining the magical and the marital at Helmsley Arts Centre

Magic show of the week: Hudson & Hudson Magicians: Married At First Sleight, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

ORIGINALLY from Hull, husband-and-wife magicians Alan and Kat Hudson appeared separately on Britain’s Got Talent before eventually forming a double act. Ant & Dec had suggested they should work together while they were on the show, but they both said no at the time. Between them, they have appeared on Penn & Teller: Fool Us, ITV’s The Next Great Magician and in the West End production Wonderville.

Married At First Sleight mixes magic, mind-reading, comedy and audience participation with the realities of being married to the person with whom you also rehearse, tour and perform. Cue marital banter alongside the tricks. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

York drag diva Velma Celli leading the Yorktoberfest celebrations in the Big Top with The Bavarian Strollers at York Racecourse

Festival of the week: Jamboree Entertainment presents Yorktoberfest, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, Friday, 7pm to 1pm; Saturday, 1pm to 5pm & 7pm to 11pm

FOR the first time, James Cundall’s Jamboree Entertainment is staging Yorktoberfest, York’s traditional Bavarian beer festival, inside a Big Top, launched last weekend by aerial artist Zoe Kulyk twisting and tumbling from the rooftop. 

Look out on Friday and Saturday for outrageous York drag diva Velma Celli’s powerhouse singing and quick-fire critique of the costumes on display and oompah band The Bavarian Strollers’ traditional drinking songs and disco classics. The Bavarian Bar and the Dog Haus serve up drinks and German-inspired food. Tickets: www.ticketsource.co.uk/yorktoberfest and at the entrance, subject to availability.

Bison Hip: A dose of the Glasgow blues at Ryedale Blues Club

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Bison Hip, Milton Rooms, Malton, October 29, 8pm

BISON Hip were formed by long-time friends Paul Sloway, Malcolm Button, Steven Radziwonik, John Gilmour Smith and Graeme Carswell during a lockdown Zoom call in 2020. “Maybe it was the mid-life crisis at play,” says vocalist Sloway.

“We wanted to take our love of blues and rock and mix it up with our experiences of life. Between us, we’ve been through so many things in life, ups and downs, some successes and plenty of failures, we wanted all that in the music. We needed to wrap it up in the DNA of our hometown, Glasgow, and hopefully that’s what we’ve achieved.” Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 42, from The York Press

In the spotlight: Frankie Bounds’ Jamie New, front, in York Stage’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

FROM added grit in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie to a piratical twist on The Comedy Of Errors, Brandon Flowers in full bloom at York Barbican to drag diva Velma Celli rocking out, Charles Hutchinson spots pearls aplenty.

Bold and unapologetic musical of the week: York Stage in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Grand Opera House, York, until October 24; 7.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinees and 4pm Sunday

TOM MacRae and Dan Gillespie’s Sheffield musical plays the Grand Opera House for the first time in Nik Briggs’s production for York Stage that restores the grit to both complement and counter the glitz in the uplifting underdog story of Jamie New (Frankie Bounds), a 16-year-old schoolboy from a Steel City council estate with big dreams and the courage to stand out when it would be easier to stay quiet.

Equipped with the strength to face the world head on, Jamie fights prejudice, finds his voice and discovers the freedom of stepping into the spotlight on his own terms. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope comes face to face with Charlie Russell’s Odysseus in The Penelopiad. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Greek tragedy twist of the week: Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, Odyssey: Her Story, York Theatre Royal, until October 31

BOOKER Prize winner Margaret Atwood revisits Homer’s The Odyssey in an exuberantly irreverent and darkly humorous retelling where she gives voice to Odysseus’s silenced wife, Penelope – still awaiting his return 20 years after the Trojan War – and her chorus of maids in a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge that exposes the truth behind the myth. Creative director Juliet Forster’s cast is led by Happy Valley and Riot Women star Amelia Bullmore. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Kristin Hersh: Queen of the alternative scene

Recommended but sold out already: An Evening With Kristin Hersh, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight,7.30pm

OVER  three decades, Atlanta, Georgia singer, songwriter and guitarist  Kristin Hersh, 60, has been heralded queen of the alternative scene with Throwing Muses, 50Foot Wave and on her own, releasing her latest 12th solo album, Sugar On Blackstone, on Fire Records on September 18. Recorded at Stable Sound Studio in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, with Steve Rizzo, it features Rob Ahlers on drums and Pete Harvey on cello.

Since signing to Fire Records in 2018, the prolific Hersh has released tenth studio album Possible Dust Clouds, Throwing Muses’  Sun Racket in 2020, 50Foot Wave’s Black Pearl in 2022, her book Seeing Sideways in 2022 and self-produced 11th solo album, the cinematic road trip and personal vignettes of Clear Pond Road, in September 2023.

Velma Celli: Drag diva delights…including a tribute to Dolly Parton RIP

Drag delights of the week: The Velma Celli Show, with special guest Jessica Steel and guitarists Stuart Allan and Olly Chilton, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 6pm

YORK vocal drag act deluxe and international cabaret superstar Velma Cell moves to a new location for her camp, spectacular song and comedy home-city performances. “My last two shows at York Theatre Royal – Snow Queen and Rock Queen – had been among my favourites, so this one will be a mixture of Snow Queen and Rock Queen and musical theatre material,” says Velma’s creator, actor and West End star Ian Stroughair.

 “The first set will be musical theatre favourites, songs from my career in West End musicals – Cats, Fame, Chicago and Rent – and an homage to Judy Garland and Barbra Streisand. In the second set we’ll rock out with York. There’ll be songs by David Bowie, Freddie Mercury, Bryan Adams, Bonnie Tyler, Guns N’ Roses, Roxette, Alanis Morissette, Chris Isaak’s Wicked Game – and I’ll do a Dolly Parton section too. There has to be!” Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Imperial Classical Ballet in Swan Lake

Ballet of the week: Imperial Classical Ballet presents Swan Lake, York Barbican, October 19, 7.30pm

IMPERIAL Classical Ballet  performs Swan Lake, the powerful tale of Princess Odette, cursed to live as a swan by day and a woman by night. When Prince Siegfried discovers her under the moonlight, he vows to break the spell, yet the evil sorcerer Rothbart and his daughter Odile plot a deception that threatens them both.

From the haunting beauty of the lakeside scenes to the electrifying Black Swan pas de deux, Swan Lake is a visual delight, performed to Tchaikovsky’s soaring score, played live by an orchestra. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Brandon Flowers: In full bloom at York Barbican. Picture: Chris Phelps

Gig of the week: Brandon Flowers, York Barbican, October 21, 7.30pm

THE Killers’ frontman, Brandon Flowers, plays York Barbican as the only Yorkshire venue on his nine-date UK and Ireland tour, promoting Thrasher, his third solo album and first since 2015, which peaked at number three on release in August.

Fans can look forward to hearing songs from Thrasher, played live for the first time, alongside highlights from his British chart-topping solo albums, 2010’s Flamingo and 2015’s The Desired Effect, as well as beloved tracks from The Killers’ catalogue. No support. Ticket update: Sold out; for returns only, go to https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/brandon-flowers.

Pirate reboot ahoy: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors. Picture: John Stead

Shakespeare shake-up of the week: York Shakespeare Project in The Comedy Of Errors, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 21 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

KATIE Leckey and Emily Carhart co-direct York Shakespeare Project in “ an exciting take on Shakespeare’s shortest and possibly funniest play”, giving a piratical, gender-swapping twist to The Comedy Of Errors in a convergence of the original text with slapstick, farce and physical comedy and a “celebration of relationships of many kinds, platonic, familial and romantic”.

“The morally questionable, yet still comedic, nature of many (if not all) of the characters put us in mind of some of our favourite piratical anti-heroes,” they say. “We felt like the framing device of piracy gave us the chance to include slapstick violence between ‘masters and servants’ in a way that wouldn’t seem too brutal or alien to a modern audience.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The poster for the Amy Winehouse Band’s Back To Black 20th Anniversary Tour, visiting York Barbican

Going back to Back To Black: The Amy Winehouse Band, York Barbican, October 22, 7.30pm

AMY Winehouse’s original band, who played with her from the very start, are marking the 20th anniversary of her iconic second album, Back To Black, the one that brought her five awards at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Performing with Amy that evening, as these musicians had done since her earliest gigs in London pubs, was her band. 

Led by Amy’s long-time musical director and bass player, The Amy Winehouse Band features members who both toured and recorded with her throughout her career. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

A Fate Worse Than Death: Premiering at Everyman Harrogate on Thursday

In Focus: Film premiere of the week: A Fate Worse Than Death, Everyman Harrogate, Harrogate, October 22, 7.30pm

AFTER three years of production, Abraham Fieldsend will premiere his feature film A Fate Worse Than Death at Everyman Harrogate on Thursday.

Made in North and West Yorkshire for £12,000, this 70-minute psychological horror-drama was produced independently by Wayside Trinity, using primarily local cast, crew and locations.

Written by co-producers Zachary Fieldsend, Steve Jones-Robertson and Abraham Fieldsend, the story explores the effects of grief through a couple struggling to cope with the loss of their child. As the mother’s debilitating headaches intensify, they are forced to confront the possibility that the darkness consuming their home is more than grief alone.

A Fate Worse Than Death’s production team

“A bold title, a tragic story, a horrifying series of events, A Fate Worse Than Death promises to be a horror film of different forms, assaulting your comfort, scarring your emotions, and engaging your mind when the credits roll,” says Fieldsend. “Our first foray into the world of feature film-making will be sure to shock even the most hardened horror fans.”

The cast comprises Susan Fieldsend as Elizabeth; Lyndsey Craine, Doctor Kent; Jake Fireman, Group Therapy Speaker; Kay Gartland, Doctor Armstrong; Martin Turner, Keith; Evan “T-Rex” Singleton,  Paramedic 1; Zachary Fieldsend, Paramedic 2; Natalie Fieldsend, Pyschologists’ Receptionist (voice); Neil Fieldsend, Unnamed Doctor; Mike Blackburn, The Figure and Burn Victim, and Matthew Chan, James’s Work Colleague.

Thursday’s running order will be: 7:30pm, complimentary drink on arrival; 8pm, short introduction in Screen 2; 8:15pm, film screening; 9.3pm, screening ends, followed by drinks and a chance to mingle in the bar area.

For more details, go to: https://www.everymancinema.com/venues-list/x0x9k-everyman-harrogate/.

The poster for A Fate Worse Than Death

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REVIEW: Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, The Odyssey, Her Story, York Theatre Royal ***1/2

Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope, left, comes face to face with Charlie Russell’s returning Odysseus. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

THE Penelopiad is the heavyweight centrepiece of York Theatre Royal’s autumn programme, Wednesday’s press night being marked by the presence of Arts Council England luminaries.

Creative director Juliet Forster’s plans to mount Canadian novelist Margaret Atwood’s re-spinning of Homer’s yarn in 2020 were scuppered by Covid’s clenches. Roll on to 2026, when Forster’s all-female production finds its counter-Homer home at last with the self-explanatory full title of The Penelopiad, The Odyssey: Her Story in the city where Actors Of Dionysus and Wright & Grainger’s Greek tragedies have made their mark.

Not only is The Penelopiad “her story” but “their story” too. After The Handmaid’s Tale, Atwood delivers a multitude of Maids here, Penelope’s hand-picked slaves’ daughters: wronged, vengeful and constantly meddling in Penelope’s wishes to re-tell her tale, post-death, in the Underworld.

The glacial Penelope may want to miss out chunks, just like Christopher Nolan’s film made no mention of Odysseus’s philandering ways in his 20-year avoidance of coming home from the Trojan Wars, but the Maids have other ideas, and they will do anything to re-route The Penelopiad’s journey, from child puppetry to a rather short tap dance, girl group singing to acrobatic aerial skills, macho masks to more macho masks.

Pena Iiyambo’s Helen goes full Marilyn Monroe in The Seven Year Itch mode with the masked Maids in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad at York Theatre Royal. Picture:  Pamela Raith Photography

Riot Women actress Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope is still at the core, still an honourable figure of loyalty and  restraint, but the restless riot women of this piece, the Maids, keep breaking her poised rhythm, shattering her sang froid and melancholic air.

Nevertheless, especially in Bullmore’s honeyed tones and elegant white jumpsuit and coat, Penelope’s dry-witted putdowns are the embodiment of Atwood’s own irreverent humour, becoming a particular joy of her ice-queen performance. 

Her spat with Pena Iiyambo’s preening Helen, trollop of Troy, could launch a thousand quips, but one withering epithet suffices, although Iiyambo’s pulchritudinous Helen still has her Marilyn Monroe moment in screen goddess frills in the face of Penelope’s enmity.

Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope, surrounded by her Maids with their macho masks to portray aristo Suitors. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Atwood had been haunted by the fate of the Maids, under Odysseus’s orders, prompting the vengeance of The Penelopiad, where the horror counters the jesting humour that mocks Charlie Russell’s Odysseus for having short legs, much as Eric Morecambe would tease Ernie Wise.

Atwood’s Penelope comes across as “methinks she doth protest too much” with her First World problems, complaints of being busy without being so and eating only asphodel flowers in Hades, while using the Maids’ wiles to stave off the unwanted attentions of the Suitors, whereas the Maids are up against it, putting themselves at risk on her behalf.

They do, however, find common ground when working together to weave and unpick Penelope’s tapestry to ward off those pesky Suitors. Ropes emerge as the motif that weave their way through Forster’s production and Sara Perks’s design, whether in the tapestry, the aerial circus skills of assorted Maids, pulling Penelope’s bed upwards or downwards, becoming a hissing snake or, spoiler alert, a hangman’s mode of execution.

Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope, right, in discussion on her bed with her Maids. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Bullmore’s Penelope has a stillness and depth of character that contrasts with the Catherine Wheel fizz of the octet of multi-rolling Maids, especially when they play the leery, lecherous aristo Suitors, very much 2D stereotypes. Having women taking these roles is a further way of Atwood taking revenge on Homer’s misogyny, all the more forceful for the choreography of Frantic Assembly’s Michelle Edwards.

These graphic caricatures climax in the form of Russell’s Odysseus, mocked by Atwood not only for short legs, but in no longer being a mighty physical specimen, full stop, but a mendacious trickster with dubious moral values.

The Maids (Iiyambo, Russell, Nell Baker, Danielle Bird, Olivia Burton-Laws, Faye Campbell, Kat Johns-Burke and Syakira Moeladi) achieve both individuality and collective vigour the more they come to the fore, while Bird stands out as Eurycleia, the Odysseus loyalist who besmirches the Maids and cuts Penelope out of nursing her son Telemachus.

The Maids displaying rope and aerial skills in The Penelopiad. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

What are the plus points beyond Bullmore’s elegance with Atwood’s eloquence and the Maids’ zest? Perks’s design, described as chic by Bullmore in her interview, is startling, bright, white, modernist and minimalist, but timeless too, countered by Alexandra Stafford’s palette of colours in her lighting, most notably red to evoke the night of the Trojan Horse.

Edwards’s movement direction maximises the physicality of women playing men; Kate Marlais’s compositions, varying from rousing declamations to quieter underscoring and laments, are at their best when haunting.

The negatives? Whereas the humour in Bullmore’s Penelope is assured, polished and consistent in tone, elsewhere it is more erratic, uneven, sometimes pushing too hard. Given the harrowing denouement to come, it is a difficult balancing act for Forster to achieve, especially when comedy has a tendency to undermine tragedy and outrage, rape and execution. Ultimately, this account of The Penelopiad plays more to the head, the senses of sight and sound, than to the heart.

The Penelopiad, York Theatre Royal, unravelling the strands until October 31. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.  

Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope and Charlie Russell’s Odysseus in The Penelopiad. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 42, from Gazette & Herald

Weaving a different spin on The Odyssey: Amelia Bullmore’s Penelope in Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

FROM The Penelopiad’s feminist twist on The Odyssey to Miller’s Death Of A Salesman, the Brontë sisters’ other story to Jamie’s blossoming, Charles Hutchinson watches autumn find its fifth gear.

Greek tragedy twist of the week: Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, Odyssey: Her Story, York Theatre Royal, until October 31

BOOKER Prize winner Margaret Atwood revisits Homer’s The Odyssey in an exuberantly irreverent and darkly humorous retelling where she gives voice to Odysseus’s silenced wife, Penelope – still awaiting his return 20 years after the Trojan War – and her chorus of maids in a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge that exposes the truth behind the myth. Creative director Juliet Forster’s cast is led by Happy Valley and Riot Women star Amelia Bullmore. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jess Murray’s Emily, left, Lara Stafford’s Charlotte and Millie Rhodes’s Anne Brontë in York Settlement Community Players’ Underdog: The Other Other Brontë. Picture: John Saunders

York premiere of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Underdog: The Other Other Brontë, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

CHARLOTTE Brontë (played by Lara Stafford) has a confession about how one sister (Emily, Jess Murray) became an idol and the other became known as the third sister. You know the one. No, not that one. The other, other one: Anne (Millie Rhodes).

Claire Morley directs Settlement Players in Sarah Gordon’s irreverent retelling of the life and legend of the Brontë sisters as you have never seen the Yorkshire scribbling sisters before. Premiered at the National Theatre in 2024, this is not a story of well-behaved women but of the power of words, sisters and sisterhood, love and jealousy, support and competition. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The poster for Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds – Live! The Concert Experience! at York Barbican

Iconic score of the week: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War Of The Worlds – Live! The Concert Experience!, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm

FOR the first time, audiences can experience a concert rendition of Jeff Wayne’s score for The War Of The Worlds, presented by Kilimanjaro, who bring the double album to life with West End performers, live band, orchestra and animation.

“For this concert tour, I’ll be stepping back from the podium,” says Wayne. “But the production will showcase exceptional artists from the West End and other major performing mediums, supported by a band, orchestra, animation and other concert elements. It will stand as a true companion to my arena tours.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Andy Studdart, as Willie Loman, and Linda Tester, as The Woman, Willy’s mistress, in 1812 Theatre Company’s Death Of A Salesman. Picture: Joe Coughlan

Ryedale play of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Death Of A Salesman, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

DIRECTED by Julie Lomas,  Helmsley’s 1812 Theatre Company presents Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman, charting the last 24 hours of struggling salesman Willie Loman (played by Andy Studdart), who cannot understand how he failed to win success and happiness.

Through a series of tragic soul-searching revelations of the life he has lived with his wife, sons and business associates, we discover how his quest for the “American Dream” kept him blind to the people who truly loved him. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.  

Jonathan Agnew: Cricket chat in An Evening With Aggers at Kirk Theatre, Pickering, tomorrow

Not just cricket: Jonathan Agnew, An Evening With Aggers, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, tomorrow, 7.30pm

TEST Match Special broadcaster and former BBC cricket correspondent Jonathan Agnew presents an evening of candid insights and anecdotes packed with humour and cricketing gold, iconic archive clips and previously unseen footage. 

From covering the Olympic Games in Rio to commentating on the unforgettable Super Over finale of the 2019 Cricket World Cup, he reflects on the defining moments of his career and his days in the commentary box with Brian Johnston and Sir Geoffrey Boycott, with surprises aplenty too. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk

York Stage’s cast for Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, led by Frankie Bounds as Jamie New, the Sheffield schoolboy with dreams

Bold and unapologetic musical of the week: York Stage in Everybody’s Talking About Jamie, Grand Opera House, York, Friday to October 24; 7.30pm, Tuesday to Saturday, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinees and 4pm Sunday

TOM MacRae and Dan Gillespie’s Sheffield musical plays the Grand Opera House for the first time in Nik Briggs’s production for York Stage that restores the grit to both complement and counter the glitz in the uplifting underdog story of Jamie New (Frankie Bounds), a 16-year-old schoolboy from a Steel City council estate with big dreams and the courage to stand out when it would be easier to stay quiet.

Equipped with the love of his mum, the support of his friends and the strength to face the world head on, Jamie fights prejudice, finds his voice and discovers the freedom of stepping into the spotlight on his own terms. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Tom Stade: Dismantling rules and redefining them his way at York Barbican

Come and see for yourself why…Tom Stade Rules, YO1 Radio Live Lounge, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

CANADIAN free spirit Tom Stade takes aim at the absurdities of modern times with his incisive, gloriously unfiltered wit as he grapples with rebellion, responsibility and the tension between the old and the new. From unspoken social codes to cultural divisions, identity to marriage, Stade dismantles all the rules and redefines them his way. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Ben Bowman in Michael Starring Ben

Recommended but sold out already: Michael Starring Ben, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

TAKE a journey back in time to recall Michael Jackson’s music and magic in Michael Starring Ben, featuring “the UK’s ultimate Michael Jackson tribute star”, Ben Bowman.

Neither associated with nor endorsed by the Michael Jackson Estate, this tribute to the King of Pop features a live band, dazzling costumes and Jackson’s iconic dance routines in its showcase of Michael Jackson and The Jackson 5’s greatest hits.

Samuel Moore: Flamenco guitarist in concert at Milton Rooms, Malton

Flamenco guitarist of the week: Samuel Moore, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 7.30pm

MESMERISING West Yorkshire flamenco guitarist, tutor and author Samuel Moore transports you to the heart of Spain in Saturday’s concert. Winner of the Manhattan International Music Competition in 2023 and Vienna International Music Competition in 2025,  he has performed across the UK, Europe and North America, playing solo at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London.

Bringing to life the rich colours, rhythms, and sounds of Andalucía, his repertoire encompasses original compositions, traditional flamenco forms and masterworks by Ramón Montoya, Niño Ricardo and Sabicas. His 2019 debut album with classical guitarist Michael Christian Durrant, Guitar, The Heart Of Spain, was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London; his solo debut, Camino Flamenco, will be released on November 20. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Alex Voysey: Leading Faux Bonamassa blues concert at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

Blues gig of the week The Alex Voysey Blues Band presents Faux Bonamassa, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm

ALEX Voysey was nominated for Contemporary Blues Artist of the Year, Album of the Year and Emerging Artist of the Year in the 2025 UK Blues Federation Awards. Now his band re-imagines the musicianship of blues titan Joe Bonamassa, blending Bonamassa’s greatest songs of the past two decades with Voysey’s virtuosity, improvisation and contemporary blues mastery. Expect to hear Sloe Gin, The Ballad Of John Henry, Athens To Athens, Woke Up Dreaming, Dustbowl, A Conversation With Alice and Stop. Box office: kirktheatre.co.uk/events/alex-voysey.

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After Nolan’s The Odyssey, here comes the women’s side of the story in Atwood’s The Penelopiad at York Theatre Royal

Maids and masks: Faye Campbell, left, Nell Baker, Kat Johns-Burke, Pena Liyambo and Olivia Burton-Laws rehearsing for The Penelopiad. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

YORK Theatre Royal’s production of The Penelopiad, The Odyssey: Her Story opens on Saturday with a script by novella writer Margaret Atwood and an all-female production team led by creative director Juliet Forster.

In an exuberantly irreverent and darkly humorous feminist take on an age-old story by the Canadian author of The Handmaid’s Tale, Booker Prize winner Atwood gives voice to those left behind when the silenced Penelope’s husband, Odysseus, took 20 years to return home from the Trojan War. Wandering the underworld, perennial weaver Penelope spins a different kind of thread: her side of the story. Cue a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge, interwoven with songs, that exposes the truth behind the myth.

“Homer’s The Odyssey is a fantastic piece of storytelling but sadly there is very little in there about the women’s lives,” says Juliet. “What Margaret Atwood does so brilliantly with The Penelopiad is really upend that and give us the female perspective on a story that is so well known.

“In true Atwood style, she presents that story in a way that is both deeply arresting and witty. We go on a journey with her through to the bitter climax of the women’s story but it’s also done in such an engaging and enjoyable way.

Director Juliet Forster in rehearsal for The Penelopiad at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

“Audiences can expect a very physical and visual form of storytelling:  we’ll be drawing on everything from acrobatics and dance to aerial, masks and puppetry.”

Juliet first read Atwood’s novella shortly after its publication in October 2005. “I absolutely loved it,” she says. “I personally have a real interest in the Greek classics and whilst I knew a lot about The Iliad and The Odyssey and the history of the Trojan War, I found it genuinely so delightful and invigorating to read Atwood’s feminist take on the story.

“Quite some years later, in 2019, when myself and the Theatre Royal’s former chief executive [Tom Bird] were exploring potential options for our Summer 2020 programme, we looked at The Penelopiad script and once again I was drawn in by the vibrancy of Atwood’s writing. We were all set to stage it in 2020 when, of course, the pandemic hit and our plans were sadly cancelled.”

Cut to 2025 when the Theatre Royal was looking for the right production for the 2026 season: “I felt strongly that this would be a perfect opportunity to bring this project back to life,” says Juliet. “Ultimately the power of the female voice in Margaret Atwood’s version had always stuck with me and sadly in 2026, women in a time of war, violence against women, double standards and inequality are all the more relevant.

Amelia Bullmore rehearsing her role as Penelope. “I’m thrilled I’m going to be working at York Theatre Royal – such a beautiful theatre – on this fantastic play,” she says. “The Penelopiad manages to be funny, dark, moving and provocative by turns. And it’s Margaret Atwood, so the writing is uniquely brilliant. I think audiences will love how playful it is and how directly it connects with them.” Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

“We then also found out about the Christopher Nolan movie adaptation [of The Odyssey], which was set to hit the big screen, and it felt like an interesting time to stage a production which tells the women’s story from a completely fresh perspective.”

Explaining the casting process for the Theatre Royal show, Juliet says: “The play focuses on Penelope as she tells her version of the story and so casting that role was obviously really crucial. Alongside this, we have the story of the maids, who helped her deceive the suitors and who interject with their own version of events.

“The maids really act as a sort of old Greek chorus but in a way that feels fresh and modern. They take on all the other parts and have a significant role in the play so their casting was also equally important.”

She is thrilled to be working with Happy Valley, Scott & Bailey and Riot Women actor Amelia Bullmore in the role of Penelope. “I’d recently watched Riot Women – another fantastic feminist narrative – and Amelia’s performance in that is excellent,” says Juliet.

York Theatre Royal’s cast for The Penelopiad

“She is a very multi-faceted actor that can really immerse herself in a character and I thought she would be perfect for the role. Amelia is super sharp and funny, and her intelligence and dry sense of humour are so well-matched with Atwood’s style of writing.

“For me, what is so important about the character of Penelope is the very closed-off and hidden side to her nature, and I think Amelia has a real inscrutable quality to her performance which feels so right for this role.”

Once Amelia was cast, Juliet turned her attention to the maids. “It was important to me to have a real range of different women cast in these roles,” she says. “Often the maids are almost lumped together as one – in the original only one of them is named! – and the play really unpicks that narrative, so it was important to get that right in our casting.

“The cast we have are super talented: they are all so different and bring such a diverse range of strengths and individuality. What was the most important for me was to find actors who could bring a sense of humour and playfulness to these roles, which are also very physically demanding, with elements of dance, movement, aerial, singing and more.”

The Maids rehearsing a scene for York Theatre Royal’s production of The Penelopiad: Olivia Burton-Laws, left, Charlie Russell, Syakira Moeladi, Nell Baker, Faye Campbell, Pena Liyambo and Danielle Bird. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

Juliet hopes audiences will leave the Theatre Royal feeling they have experienced “a real visual feast”. “It’s going to be witty and funny, powerful and moving – and I think it will give them an insight to the story of The Odyssey from a completely different angle,” she says.

“But it also raises really pertinent questions not just about the past, but also the present. I personally think it’s a great complement to seeing Christopher Nolan’s movie and will give people the chance to dig more into that story and find out more about the characters of Penelope and her maids.

“I hope people will also come away thinking about the power of storytelling – how we balance competing versions of the same events and which narratives end up being the ones that are remembered.”

The Penelopiad, The odyssey: Her Story, York Theatre Royal, October 10 to 31, Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Olivia Burton-Laws, left, Kat Johns-Burke and Pena Liyambo in the rehearsal room for The Penelopiad. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

One more question for Juliet Forster

How did you prepare for directing The Penelopiad ahead of rehearsals starting?

LOTS of reading! Of course the original novella and The Odyssey but also I read awonderful book called Mythica by Emily Hauser. Emily is a renowned and published classicist who is doing some consultancy with us to help us look at what life for Bronze Age women would have been like, drawing from mythology, history and archaeology – which will be useful for the actors as we delve into their characters.

“Margaret Atwood adapted the script herself but had given me permission to add in some of the original text from the book. So I also spent some time working on fleshing that out and adding some more elements to the script.

“We have a fabulous all-female creative team on board and I really enjoyed meeting with them and shaping how the production is coming together.”

The poster for The Penelopiad, The Odyssey: Her Story, opening at York Theatre Royal tomorrow

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York Theatre Royal to co-produce Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman in first alliance with Glasgow Citizens Theatre in 2027

The poster image for York Theatre Royal’s co-production of Death Of A Salesman with Glasgow Citizens Theatre. Picture: FEAST

YORK Theatre Royal will present a major new revival of Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman as the centrepiece of the new season.

In a first for the St Leonard’s Place theatre, the production will be co-produced with Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre.

Directed by Citizens Theatre artistic director Dominic Hill, Death Of A Salesman will open at York Theatre Royal on March 2 2027, preceded by previews from February 24, and will run until March 27 before transferring to Glasgow from April 7 to May 1 2027.

Richard Grassie’s image for Emma Rice Company’s revival of Tristant & Yseult

Miller’s heartbreaking story of the pursuit of wealth and popularity remains devastatingly relevant today. After 34 years on the road, Willy Loman returns home exhausted, having sacrificed everything in pursuit of success and recognition. Yet the American Dream seems always just out of reach.

When his career falters and the debts mount, Willy is lost in memories of the past as his family tries desperately to reconcile the man they love with the tragic consequences of his delusions.

In another co-production, York Theatre Royal will continue its creative collaboration with the Emma Rice Company and Nottingham Playhouse in a revival of Kneehigh and Emma Rice’s Tristan & Yseult. Last seen on stage in 2017,the production will be staged at York Theatre Royal from April 6 to 17 as part of a nationwide UK tour.

The artwork for John Godber’s new play This Is The Life, touring York Theatre Royal next January

Paul Crewes, York Theatre Royal’s chief executive officer, says: “We’re very excited about this upcoming season. Most notably, in a first for us, we will be working with our friends at Citizens Theatre in Glasgow on Arthur Miller’s modern classic Death Of A Salesman, directed by the fabulous Dominic Hill. This is a wonderful collaboration with a great theatre.

“Spring 2027 will also see us co-producing again with the Emma Rice Company and Nottingham Playhouse on a revival of Tristan & Yseult. I have such fond memories of originally producing this show with Emma when we were both at Kneehigh alongside Mike Shepherd. I can’t wait for York audiences to have the chance to finally see this production that successfully toured the world for many years.”

Paul continues: “These productions join the line-up of our other produced work already on sale, including our revival of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad later this year with Amelia Bullmore as Penelope, our Youth Theatre production of Wendy And Peter Pan and the highlight of the festive season, our panto Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.

The Penelopiad: Directed by York Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster this autumn

“Our dance programme also continues to be one of the most exciting in the north of England, with the return of London City Ballet, the world premiere of the latest show from Carlos Acosta and the Acosta Danza Company and Ben Duke’s Lost Dog coming to York for the first time. I hope we have given audiences plenty to look forward to with a range of classics, new work and family favourites on our stage.”

Dominic Hill, artistic director of Citizens Theatre, says: “I am delighted to be directing a new production of this brilliant Arthur Miller play that is one of the most influential works of the 20th century.

Lost Dog’s Juliet & Romeo, playing York Theatre Royal on November 20 and 21. Picture: Paul Blakemore

“It could not be more timely in the age of Donald Trump’s politics of greed and toxic masculinity. But Death Of A Salesman is also an ordinary working man’s story, as a family tries to wrestle with living up to expectation and forging their own path. I can’t wait to see the reaction from audiences in York and Glasgow to this new production.”

Other highlights include the UK premiere of Acosta Danza’s Cuban Baroque, in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, running from October 1 to 3. The visiting programme also includes the UK premiere of London City Ballet: Firebird – A Mixed Bill ( co-produced by York Theatre Royal, London City Ballet and Opera De Vichy) on September 18 and 19.

In a new touring production starring Jane Asher and Samantha Womack from November 10 to 14, Daisy Goodwin’s By Royal Appointment tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II’s life behind-the-scenes. Lost Dog’s dance-theatre duet Juliet And Romeo flips the story of Romeo And Juliet on its head, blending dance, comedy and theatre on November 20 and 21.

The poster artwork for By Royal Appointment, booked into York Theatre Royal for November 10 to 14

York Theatre Royal will welcome back a variety of York and Yorkshire companies in the upcoming season in the Studio, including York Actors Collective in The Strongbox (October 28 to 31) and Story Craft Theatre’s festive production of The Enormous Christmas Pudding (December 16 to 24).  

Wakefield’s John Godber Company will return with John Godber’s new play,  This Is The Life, from January 27 to 30 in the Main House, where York Light Opera Company will perform the Dolly Parton musical, 9 To 5 – The Musical, from February 4 to 13.

For the full programme and tickets, go to: https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/. Box office: 01904 623568.

Acosta Danza in Carlos Acosta’s Cuban Baroque, part of the dance programme at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Johan Persson
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Full cast and creative team announced for The Penelopiad at York Theatre Royal

The cast for York Theatre Royals’ revival of The Penelopiad

AMID the summer buzz over Christopher Nolan’s film account of The Odyssey, the full cast and creative team is in place for York Theatre Royal’s autumn revival of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad.

Joining the already announced Amelia Bullmore in the leading role of Penelope will be Nell Baker (Laertes), Danielle Bird (Eurycleia), Olivia Burton-Laws (Naiad Mother), Theatre Royal pantomime alumna Faye Campbell (Melantho), Pena Iiyambo (Helen), Kat Johns-Burke (Antonius), Syakira  Moeladi (Telemachus) and Charlie Russell (Odysseus).

Directed by Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster, the production will open on October 14, with previews from October 10, and will run until October 31.

“Margaret Atwood is such a phenomenal writer – she’s clever, witty, subversive and her insights into human dynamics are acutely well observed,” says Juliet. “The Penelopiad is a funny, moving, fast-paced, visual feast, a classical tale told through a contemporary lens. The epic, heroic story of The Odyssey will never look the same again! I am thrilled we will be staging it here at York Theatre Royal, and I can’t wait to get started on the show.” 

The Penelopiad writer Margaret Atwood. Picture: Luis Mora, 2020

Adapted for the stage by Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood from her 2005 novella, The Penelopiad’s feminist retelling of The Odyssey reimagines Homer’s epic through the eyes of Penelope and her chorus of maids.  

Atwood, author of the modern feminist classic The Handmaid’s Tale, presents a powerful, irreverent and darkly humorous retelling that unpicks one of the oldest of myths.  Immortalised as the devoted and faithful wife to the glorious Odysseus, Penelope waits 20 years for her husband to return from the Trojan War, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again. Now it is time to hear the story of those left behind. 

Reimagining this ancient tale, Atwood gives voice to the silenced Penelope and her maids. Wandering the underworld, Penelope spins a different kind of thread: her side of the story – a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge. 

 Forster, director of such York Theatre Royal productions as Little Women and Around The World In 80 Days-ish!, will deliver an exuberant and witty retelling that questions the version of events we think we know and exposes the truth behind the myth.

Juliet Forster: Director of York Theatre Royal’s production of The Penelopiad

Juliet says: “It has been such a joy to meet so many brilliant women over the last couple of months, and what a phenomenally talented cast and creative team we have lined up for The Penelopiad. It is clear just how strongly this story resonates with people today, and I am looking forward to a rehearsal room buzzing with excitement and creativity. 

“Margaret Atwood’s powerful script is so rich with wit and humour as she unveils a new feminist perspective on the familiar Odyssey myth. The show is interwoven with songs and exuberant movement and we hope to offer audiences an entirely different way of understanding the story of Penelope and her maids – and most importantly a great night out.”   

Amelia Bullmore will return to the stage to star as Penelope, having last trod the boards in the 2018 revival of Annie Baker’s 2009 play Circle Mirror Transformation at HOME, Manchester.

Amelia says:“I’m thrilled I’m going to be working at York Theatre Royal – such a beautiful theatre – on this fantastic play. The Penelopiad manages to be funny, dark, moving and provocative by turns. And it’s Margaret Atwood, so the writing is uniquely brilliant. I think audiences will love how playful it is and how directly it connects with them.”

Amelia Bullmore: Cast as Penelope in The Penelopiad

Welcoming her to York, Juliet says: “It is wonderful to have Amelia on board to lead the cast for The Penelopiad. Penelope is such a fascinating and complex character in Margaret Atwood’s retelling and I know Amelia will do her justice! I can’t wait to work with her to bring this compelling story to the stage for York audiences.”

Joining Forster in the all-female creative team will be designer Sara Perks, lighting designer Alexandra Stafford, composer, musical director and sound designer Kate Marlais, movement director Michelle Edwards and casting director Ellie Collyer-Bristow.

To ensure as many people as possible can enjoy the show, the first preview on October 10 will be offered on a ‘Pay What You Choose’ basis, allowing audiences to pay as little or as much as they wish. 

The York Theatre Royal Choir will present special foyer performances for audiences on October 10 and press night, October 14, before the 7.30pm shows start.  

Tickets are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

York Theatre Royal’s poster for The Penelopiad. Concept: Émilie Chen. Photography: Camilla Greenwell

Did you know?


MARGARET Atwood’s The Penelopiad premiered at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, in July 2007 in a co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Canada’s National Arts Centre. York Theatre Royal’s production marks the first major UK revival since that original staging. 

Amelia Bullmore: back story

THEATRE credits include Circle Mirror Transformation (HOME Manchester); A Christmas Carol (Noël Coward Theatre); The Norman Conquests (The Old Vic and Circle in the Square Theatre, New York); The Crucible (Sheffield Crucible); Really Old, Like Forty Five (National Theatre); Road and The Queen And I (Leicester Haymarket, Royal Court Theatre and UK tour).

Also, The Thickness Of Skin (Royal Court Theatre); A View From The Bridge, Romeo And Juliet (Royal Exchange Theatre and UK Tour); All My Sons and How The Other Half Loves (Cheltenham Everyman); Be-Bop-A-Lula (Liverpool Playhouse and UK tour); The Red Balloon (Contact Theatre); The Threepenny Opera (Birmingham Rep);  Major Barbara and Sweet Bird Of Youth (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow);The Way Of The World (Wilton’s Musical Hall) and Ladies In The Lift (Red Stockings Theatre Company.)

Her television credits include Riot Women; The Buccaneers; Happy Valley; Gentleman Jack; Scott & Bailey (as series regular DCI Gill Murray and co-writer); Twenty Twelve; The Crown; Vienna Blood; I’m Alan Partridge; Jam; Big Train; State Of Play; Ashes To Ashes; The Jetty; Marble Hall Murders;The Larkins and Coronation Street (as series regular Steph Barnes).

Her films include Mrs Dalloway, Festival, The Truth, Endgame and What We Did On Our Holiday.

She is an acclaimed writer for TV, radio and stage. Her play Di And Viv And Rose premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London before transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End.

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York Theatre Royal to stage first major revival of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, The Odyssey: Her Story

York Theatre Royal’s poster to announce this autumn’s production of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad

YORK Theatre Royal will stage a major revival of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad, under the direction of creative director Juliet Forster this autumn.

Adapted from the Canadian novelist, essayist and poet’s 2005 novella of the same name, this exuberant feminist retelling of Homer’s The Odyssey gives voice to the silenced Penelope and her chorus of maids. 

Forster’s production will open on October 14, preceded by previews from October 10, and will run until October 24.

“Margaret Atwood is such a phenomenal writer – she’s clever, witty, subversive, and her insights into human dynamics are acutely well observed,” says Juliet. “The Penelopiad is a funny, moving, fast-paced visual feast, a classical tale told through a contemporary lens.

“The epic, heroic story of The Odyssey will never look the same again! I am thrilled we’ll be staging it here at York Theatre Royal, and I can’t wait to get started on the show.” 

The Penelopiad premiered at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in July 2007 in a co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Canada’s National Arts Centre. Now comes the first major UK revival since that production. 

York Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster

Atwood, author of the modern feminist classic The Handmaid’s Tale, revisits The Odyssey in a powerful, irreverent and darkly humorous retelling that unpicks one of the oldest of myths. 

Immortalised as the devoted and faithful wife to the glorious Odysseus, Penelope waits 20 years for her husband to return from the Trojan War, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again. Now it is time to hear the story of those left behind.  

Reimagining this ancient tale, The Penelopiad finds Penelope wandering the underworld, spinning a different kind of thread: her side of the story – a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge. 

Adapted for the stage by Booker Prize winner Atwood and interwoven with songs, York Theatre Royal’s production will be directed by Little Women and Around The World In 80 Days-ish! director Forster in an exuberant and witty retelling that questions the version of events we think we know and exposes the truth behind the myth.

Priority booking for YTR members is under way; general sales will open on February 28 at 1pm on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.  

Margaret Atwood: back story

HER work has been published in more than 45 countries. Her novels include The Handmaid’s Tale(recipient of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and subsequently adapted into the Emmy and Golden Globe-winning TV series); The Robber Bride; Alias Grace; The Blind Assassin (winner of the Booker prize); Cat’s Eye; The Edible Woman; Surfacing;Life Before Man; Bodily Harm; The Testaments (winner of the Booker prize) and The MaddAddam Trilogy.

Her poetry collections include Double Persephone, The Circle Game, Power Politics, Morning In The Burned House and The Door. Her essay collections include Negotiating With The Dead and Burning Questions. Her novella The Penelopiad was published in 2005 and adapted in 2007 for the stage, marking her first theatrical work. 

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York Theatre Royal postpones Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad until 2021

Balancing act: York Theatre Royal postpones The Penelopiad until 2021 but that enables “a little more dreamtime” for the creative team

YORK Theatre Royal’s summer production of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad has been postponed.

Originally in the 2020 diary for July 10 to 25, associate director Juliet Forster’s show will be staged in 2021 instead on dates yet to be confirmed. 

Uncertainty surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic is holding up pre-production work by Forster’s creative team.

Juliet Forster: York Theatre Royal associate director, directing The Penelopiad

Juliet says: “The joy of Atwood’s work is that it doesn’t date, so although we are disappointed that we have to postpone our production of The Penelopiad, I know it will be just as relevant and exciting to stage this wonderful play in 2021.  

“And on the upside, for the creative team involved, having a little more dreamtime on this story will only make the final staging of it all the more spectacular!”

Written by the Booker Prize-winning author of The Handmaid’s Tale and 2019’s The Testaments, The Penelopiad tells the story of Odysseus’ wife Penelope and the Trojan Wars from her point of view. 

Writer Margaret Atwood

Ticket holders will be contacted by the Theatre Royal box office in the coming weeks.

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