Dominic heads back North for New Adventures in his York Theatre Royal debut in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell

Dominic North in New Adventures’ 2025 production of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Johan Persson

NEW Adventures return to York Theatre Royal from Wednesday to Saturday with Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell.

Last staged in York in October 2021, this award-winning work is on a 17-week tour from May 15, also visiting the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, from September 30 to October 4.

Inspired by the novels of Patrick Hamilton, such as Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky and Hangover Square, The Midnight Bell is set in 1930s’ London, where ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions, hopes and dreams in the pubs and fog-bound streets of Soho and Fitzrovia.

Step inside The Midnight Bell, a tavern where one particular lonely-hearts club gather to play out their lovelorn affairs of the heart in bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption. 

Bourne says of his 14-strong cast: “This is, without doubt, the finest company of quintessential New Adventures actor/dancers ever assembled for a single production. Together they represent nearly 30 years of critically acclaimed performances and created roles in my work.

“In fact, it would be hard to imagine a cast more perfectly suited to the challenging world of Patrick Hamilton and his exploration of the darker reaches of the human heart.”

“I’ve been lucky with injuries and not really looking my age,” says New Adventures dancer Dominic North, aged 42

Reece Causton, Glenn Graham, Daisy May Kemp, Andy Monaghan, Liam Mower, Bryony  Pennington and National Dance Awards Outstanding Female Modern Performance winner Michela Meazza return from the original cast. 

Making their Midnight Bell debuts alongside them are “some of New Adventures’ most beloved stars of the last 25 years”, Cordelia Braithwaite, Dominic North, Edwin Ray, Danny Reubens, Ashley Shaw and Alan Vincent, joined by rising star Hannah Kremer, last seen as Juliet in Romeo And Juliet.

Guiseley-born Dominic North, a stalwart member of Bourne’s company for 22 years, is undertaking his first new New Adventures role in “ten years, maybe eight, definitely a while”, playing Bob, the bartender.

“I took it for granted that knowing shows I could count the music, but I’d only seen The Midnight Bell a couple of times, and it was nice to have that adrenaline feeling, thinking ‘what is this?’? It was like being new again with loads of old friends around me.”

The Midnight Bell finds 42-year-old Dominic performing in a New Adventures tour of mid-scale theatres for the first time in 13 years, after taking on such parts as Edward in Edward Scissorhands on and off over a decade.

In the spotlight: Dominic North in The Midnight Bell. Picture: Johan Persson

“I think it’s the multiple lead stories, not just one story, that make The Midnight Bell such a hit with audiences. Everyone in the ensemble has their story to show what they can do, and that makes it exciting and dramatic,” he says, as he looks forward to his debut York Theatre Royal appearance in a career that has taken him to Japan at least seven times, Korea, five, Australia and the United States too.

“It’s such a cool show with so much intricateness and cleverness, and I’m just glad I’ve got to do it. In particular I love the lip-synching to the amazing songs, which gives the show comic relief.”

He has special memories of his lead role in Edward Scissorhands. “I first did it at the age of 24 at the Sydney Opera House. I’d probably be nervous to first do it now, but back then you’re young and naive, going to Japan for four months and Korea for a month, whereas now I’d be petrified!”

Working with Bourne for more than two decades has stretched him “massively”. “I think when I started I was very much a dancer-dancer; I didn’t see myself as an actor, but when I understudied The Prince in Swan Lake at 22 , I had to learn on the job very quickly,” says Dominic, who took his first steps at NYDZA dance classes at Bingley railway station four days week until the age of 18 before attending the Central School of Speech and Drama.

“You realise it’s not just about dance, but helping the audience to understand what they’re seeing through the storytelling in the dancing.”

Dominic is based in London with his young family – he has two daughters – but still has a flat in Guiseley and family in Menston and Horsforth too. He is in fine fettle at 42. “I’ve been lucky with injuries and not really looking my age and still being able to play diverse roles on stage,” he says.

Dominic North, centre, in New Adventures’ production of Matthew Bourne’s Edward Scissorhands. Picture: Johan Persson

“It helps that this company is good at seeking to sustain careers, and that’s a shift in the dance world from ten years ago. There are dancers in this cast who are in their 50s, and when I did Edward Scissorhands, we had dancers in their 40s and 50s too.

“It’s nice to reflect the different ages, rather than putting 20-year-olds in wigs and facial hair, as we’ve realised that experience is key to our performances and doing our job.”

He loves performing in Bourne’s works for New Adventures. “It’s so rewarding,” says Dominic. “We’re lucky that we’re so loved; everywhere we sell out. We’re so fortunate that we can tour around the globe, because there’s no language barrier with dance, but we never take our following for granted.

“Working with Matthew is a dream, getting to work with him closely on creating new roles. He gets things out of you that would never imagine to be possible, and he does it in a very modest way. He couldn’t be further from how directors are depicted in films.”

New Adventures in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal, June 4, 7.30pm; June 5, 2pm, 7.30pm; June 6, 6pm and 7.30pm; June 7, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Age guidance: 14 plus. Content warning: Scenes of a sexual nature, including sexual violence and mental distress, smoking on stage (e-cigarettes), haze and flickering lights (not strobe). 

Here Sir Matthew Bourne discusses The Midnight Bell, novelist Patrick Hamilton, working with composer Terry Davies and the universal truths of loneliness

Choreographer and director Sir Matthew Bourne. Picture: Hugo Glendinning

When did you become aware of the work of Patrick Hamilton?

“His most famous works, and the ones that kept him financially secure throughout his life, were actually two very successful plays, Rope (1929) and Gaslight (1938), and it was through the film versions of these plays that I first became aware of Hamilton as a writer.

“In fact I toyed with the idea of staging Rope as a play some years ago, having seen the famous Hitchcock movie. The novels came later for me and they represent a very different world to the plays.

“I think Hamilton was consciously trying to write something with popular appeal for his theatre work and he succeeded in creating two of the most commercially successful melodramas of their day.

“However, the novels tell a different story, born out of mostly bitter personal experience and failed relationships. Painfully honest, but also beautifully observed and even finding humour in these mesmerising tales of lonely lives looking for love.”

What aspects of his novels appealed to you as a storyteller?

“I think initially I just fell in love with these characters and the truthful way that Hamilton gets to the heart of them. Hamilton’s world could be seen as the flip-side of his close contemporary, Noel Coward, whose witty and glamorous world of cocktails and high society was the epitome 1930s’ fashion and imagery.

“Hamilton, on the other hand, wrote about the working man (and woman), born out of years of observation and social interaction at his favourite location – the rather unglamorous London pub. The characters are therefore very relatable and their ‘voices’ ring true.

“For many years, I have held the belief that dance can tackle, in depth, unconventional and complex relationships, rather than the standard boy/girl romances that dance often favours, and these characters and stories require us to ‘dig deep’ and find a non-verbal language to do them justice.

“You can learn so much about 1930s’ attitudes to sex and relationships through Hamilton’s novels and I must admit that much of it was revelatory and unexpected.

“Hamilton has been called ‘a connoisseur of alcoholic behaviour’ and this aspect appeals greatly to me as a non-verbal storyteller as it suggests ‘altered states’ and even ‘gin-soaked’ fantasies that are particularly useful when exploring the inner life of a character.

The poster artwork for the New Adventures tour of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell

“The Midnight Bell is the name of one of Hamilton’s early novels that went to make up the trilogy entitled Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky. However, rather than a straightforward adaptation, this is a devised piece inspired by the world in which Hamilton’s various novels take place.”

How did you go about this creative process?

“I made a devised piece in 2001 called Play Without Words, which looked at various British movie classics of the 1960s, such as The Servant and Look Back In Anger amongst many others. From this I created a kind of ‘mash-up’ of stories and characters from different movies that dealt with changing attitudes to class and culture of that time.

“I think that I was looking for another fascinating era to apply this very free approach to when I hit on the idea of exploring the very particular world of Patrick Hamilton in the 1930s.

“The main novels that we have explored in the piece are Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky (1929-1934), Hangover Square (1941), The Slaves Of Solitude (1947) and the Gorse Trilogy (1952-1955), taking characters and situations from all the novels and sometimes even suggesting relationships with characters from different novels!

“So, as you will see, we weave six interconnecting stories or relationships throughout the piece, without telling the full story of each novel, but rather creating a kind of ‘essence’ of Hamilton’s world. The only thing that they all do have in common is that they are all regulars or employees of The Midnight Bell pub that gives our show its title.

“As I said earlier, much of Hamilton’s work was deeply personal and became the source from which he created his finest and most individual work, so it was with some trepidation that I have taken the liberty to include a touching gay story amongst our Soho tales.

“The homosexual ‘underworld’ was not as hidden as you might expect at this time, despite regular police raids of known gay haunts. There is much evidence that gay pick-ups and cruising, through a complex series of coded signs and signals, would be a regular occurrence at the very pubs that Hamilton regularly frequented in Fitzrovia.

“Indeed, I also unearthed some research in letters that Hamilton wrote in later life that suggested a very liberal and, for the time, uncharacteristically open attitude towards homosexuality.”

How did you collaborate with Terry Davies on the original musical score for The Midnight Bell?

“It’s always exciting to be able to commission a score from Terry,  who has written such varied scores for New Adventures in the past such as Lord Of The Flies, Dorian Gray and his memorable jazz-inspired score for Play Without Words.

A scene from the 2021 tour of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell that visited York Theatre Royal. Picture: Johan Persson

“Finding a musical language for a new work is always challenging to begin with and the relationship with a composer is so important as you need to share as much of your vision for the piece as possible, so that the musical world can properly come from the chosen source material.

“However, the first thing that I said to Terry was that I didn’t want a 1930s’ ‘pastiche’ score. I wanted a contemporary score that reflected the emotion and inner life of the characters, the themes of loneliness, furtive relationships, erotic obsession, drunken oblivion and bittersweet longing.

“Terry also loved the Hamilton books and our work together has been driven by a desire to be true to the atmosphere of the novels and characters.  We have, though, added the odd period ‘surprise’ in our score that reflects the words and music that our characters may have been listening to at that time.”

Alongside Terry Davies, you have also gathered many of your creative team and even some of the original dancers from Play Without Words, your last fully devised piece from 20 years ago. How come?

“New Adventures is a family that sticks together. As a team, we love creating together and The Midnight Bell is set in a period that we have not worked on before. It’s also a very unglamorous, nicotine-stained, fog-bound, slightly seedy world that we are delving into and that is inspiring us all too…

“…Sometimes it’s finding the beauty in a battered old armchair or the golden fractured light coming through the stained glass of a tavern window that creates a memorable image. It’s certainly a gift for Lez Brotherston (set and costumes) and Paule Constable (lighting design) to be able to revel in such a richly atmospheric world that swiftly changes location and mood whilst keeping six different scenarios going!

“This is certainly a totally collaborative project and I was thrilled to have such an incredibly generous and talented cast to create with, including some dancers who have been with me for over 20 years, along with some of our brightest young talent.

“This is a piece where they need all their skills as non-verbal storytellers and where the acting is as important as their formidable movement skills.”

Hamilton’s novels were written primarily in the first half of the last century and you have set your piece in the early 1930s. What does The Midnight Bell have to say to the audiences of today?

“One of the reasons that many New Adventures productions can be revived again and again is that they deal in universal and timeless truths. Of course, there is a place for work that directly addresses very contemporary concerns and issues but this work does inevitably date much more quickly.

“I prefer to make work that finds its relevance through the making of the piece and the people who make it; work that can resonate in a different way many years after its premiere. It’s why our Swan Lake is always relevant with its story of a young man looking for love; that story never dates. It’s why our Romeo And Juliet will always be relatable to an audience who remember what it was like to fall in love for the first time.

“I originally created this piece as we were slowly emerging from the pandemic, which saw many of us isolated from loved ones and missing that social contact that we so thrive on. Four years on, we continue to deal with some of those universal truths of loneliness and the need to connect … it seems like a trip to the Midnight Bell could be the perfect way to spend an evening?”

More Things To Do in York and beyond as ideas burst out of festival to make waves. Hutch’s List No. 24 from The Press, York

York Festival of Ideas: More than 200 events

FESTIVALS full of ideas and comedy lead off Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations for cultural sustenance and enlightening entertainment.

Festival of the week: York Festival of Ideas, today to June 13

YORK Festival of Ideas 2025 explores the theme of Making Waves in more than 200 mostly free in-person and online events designed to educate, entertain and inspire. 

Led by the University of York, the festival features world-class speakers, performances, exhibitions, tours, family-friendly activities and much more. Topics range from archaeology to art, history to health and politics to psychology. Browse the programme at yorkfestivalofideas.com.

Pocklington Comedy Festival: The headline show will be hosted by Kiri Pritchard-McLean, centre, tonight

Comedy event of the week:  Pocklington Comedy Festival, Pocklington Arts Centre, today, from 12 noon

KIRI Pritchard-McLean hosts tonight’s 8pm bill of Chris Cantrill, Joe Kent-Walters as alter ego Frankie Monroe, eccentric owner of The Misty Moon working men’s club in Rotherham, Seeta Wrightson, from Bradford,  and Lee Kyle.

Earlier today, in the studio, look out for work-in-progress Edinburgh Fringe previews of Seeta Wrightson’s It’ll Be Allrightson On The Night (12 noon); Chris Cantrill’s On Your Marks (1.30pm); Frankie Monroe’s Dead Good (3pm) and Newcastle’s Louise Young (4.30pm).

This afternoon’s Family Comedy Show, introduced by Lee Kyle, features the comically chaotic antics of York magician Just Josh (aka Josh Benson) and mischievous Hull duo Jeddy Bear & Gary. Box office: pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Kaiser Chiefs: Chief attraction at Temple Newsam, Leeds, today. Picture: Cal McIntyre

Yorkshire gig of the week: Kaiser Chiefs, Temple Newsam, Leeds, today, gates open at 1pm

LEEDS indie rock titans Kaiser Chiefs mark the 20th anniversary of March 2005 debut album Employment with a homecoming celebration. Employed on the bill too are: Ellur, 1.50pm; Hotwax, 2.45pm; We Are Scientists, 3.40pm; The Coral, 4.50pm; The Cribs, 6.05pm, and Razorlight, 7.20pm.

Kaiser Chiefs will be on stage from 8.50pm to 10.30pm with a special guest appearance by the Championship trophy won by Leeds United on May 4. Tickets update: still available at gigandtours.com; ticketmaster.co.uk or livenation.co.uk.

Rachel Croft: Heading back to York to play The Crescent. Picture: Michelle Fredericks

Welcome back: Rachel Croft, The Crescent, York, tonight, doors 7.30pm

AFTER re-locating from York to London, singer-songwriter Rachel Croft returns north to promote her vinyl EP A Mind Made Of Sky as part of a summer series of tempestuous shows across the UK. Expect drama, energy and thunderous alt-rock songs from Rachel “as you’ve never seen her before”. Stereo Cupid and Flat Number Two support. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Strictly between us: Dance couple Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara promise A Night To Remember at York Barbican

Strictly show of the week: Aljaž And Janette: A Night To Remember, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm  

STRICTLY Come Dancing husband-and-wife duo Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara team up in their new show with their live big band, fronted by boogie-woogie maestro Tom Seals and an ensemble cast of dancers and singers.

Strictly regular Aljaž and It Takes Two and Morning Live host Janette take to the York Barbican dancefloor to perform routines to music from the Great American songbook to modern-day classics. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Stephen Smith in One Man Poe. Picture: Cat Humphries

Edinburgh Fringe 2024 Best Horror Solo Show winner: One Man Poe, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 6pm

USING Edgar Allan Poe’s original text from the 1840s, actor-director Stephen Smith brings to life the most terrifying examples of the gothic genre from the pioneering Godfather of Gothic Horror.

In Act One, The Tell-Tale Heart, a madman strives to convince you of his sanity, while explaining the meticulous details of a murder he committed. Then, in The Pit And The Pendulum, a prisoner seeks to escape the various torture devices of the Spanish Inquisition.

In Act Two, arguably Poe’s darkest tale and definitely not one for the faint hearted, The Black Cat, documents an alcoholic’s last confession on the eve of his death. Last comes the poem that made Poe famous: The Raven. In the midnight hour, as an elderly man laments the loss of his love, an ominous visitor is heard tapping on his chamber door. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

New Adventures in the 2025 tour of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, on tour at York Theatre Royal next week. Picture: Johan Persson

Dance return of the week: New Adventures in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal, June 4 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

IN 1930s’ London, ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions, hopes and dreams in the pubs and fog-bound streets of Soho and Fitzrovia. Step inside The Midnight Bell, a tavern where one particular lonely-hearts club gather to play out their lovelorn affairs of the heart; bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption. 

Inspired by the work of English novelist Patrick Hamilton, Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell returns to York Theatre Royal, where it first played in October 2021, with a 14-strong cast of New Adventures’ actor-dancers, music by Terry Davies and set and costume design by Lez Brotherston. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Steve Tearle: Directing NE Theatre York in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel

Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Carousel, Tempest Anderson Hall, Museum Gardens, York, June 5 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

STEVE Tearle directs NE Theatre York in fully staged concert performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel with an 18-piece orchestra conducted by Joe Allen. The cast for this tale of hope, redemption and the power of love will be led by Kit Stroud as Billy Bigelow; Rebecca Jackson as Julie Jordan; Maia Beatrice as Carrie Pepperidge; Finlay Butler as Mr Snow and Perri Ann Barley as Aunt Netty. 

Cue such R&H classics as June Is Burstin’ Out All Over, If I Loved You, When I Marry Mister Snow, Blow High, Blow Low and the iconic Liverpool and Celtic terrace anthem You’ll Never Walk Alone. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/netheatre-york.

King Creosote’s Kenny Anderson: Serving up a Storm In A Teacup at The Crescent, York

Scottish visitor of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents host King Creosote, The Crescent, York, June 5, 7.30pm

KING Creosote follows up 2024’s springtime tour Any Port In A Storm with his Any Storm In A Teacup travels from April to June this year, again with a mix of modular synths, his back catalogue from 50 studio albums and his November 2023 album I Des, the first King Creosote recording in seven years.

As ever, Scotsman Kenny Anderson’s performance will be marked by his singular voice, allied to roguish, roving, ever-evolving, gorgeous songs in the key of Fife. Box office, for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.

In Focus: International collaboration of the week: Say Owt presents chamæleon,  So Many Ways To Move, Fulford Arms, Fulford Road, York, Sunday, 5.30pm

chamæleon: Collaboration of Palestinian poet Farah Chamma and Brazilian electronic musician Liev at the Fulford Arms on Sunday

SAY Owt, York’s champions of raucous performance poetry and sizzling spoken word, play host for the first time to an Arabic artist and South American musician, Palestinian poet  Farah Chamma and Brazilian electronic soundscape producer Liev, on Sunday.

In their poetic and political collaboration as chamæleon, Chamma and Liev explore the intersection between spoken word and musical texture, diving into the unknown to search for belonging and identity in So Many Wayes To Move.

Since 2014, Say Owt has hosted poets from Sweden, Nigeria, the United States and Canada, now adding Brazil and Palestine to that list. chamæleon have performed in Portugal, Holland, Spain and the United Arab Emirates and this weekend they make their York debut in their only performance in the UK outside London on their 2025 travels.

So Many Ways To Move encapsulates their belief in the power of art not only to reflect the times but also to move with them. “We see art as a force of transformation, a channel for resistance and renewal,” say chamaeleon. “By weaving together sound, text and imagery, we illuminate our shared experiences and struggles.”

Farah Chamma: “Speaking truth to power from festivals to demonstrations”

Farah Chamma’s performances are described as “vital and urgent, speaking truth to power from festivals to demonstrations”. “If ever words could tear down the gates of power, it would be those spoken by Farah. Besides her native Arabic, she also writes and performs in English and French and speaks German, Spanish and Portuguese,” Say Owt states

Chamma holds a master’s degree in Performance and Culture from Goldsmiths, University of London and a BA in Philosophy and Sociology from the Sorbonne in Paris.

Based in Brazil, multi-instrumentalist and electro-organic music producer Liev uses his research to “dive into the intersectionality between machine and human-made sounds”.

Within his body of work, everyday noises and the human voice – mostly in spoken word pieces – are the raw material that ends up mixed with more complex machine and AI-generated sounds, birthing soundscapes and music that delves into the contemporary human experience.

Sunday’s support acts will be Nadira Alom and electro riot grrl act Doberwoman. Box office: https://www.fatsoma.com/e/5b1ew8fs/la/jt04.

What’s on in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 21, from Gazette & Herald

Simon Withyman’s photograph of an urban fox from the British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition at Nunnington Hall. Picture copyright: British Wildlife Photography Awards/Simon Withyman

GO wild in the country, have  fun at the fete or make a date with dramatic dancing, recommends Charles Hutchinson.  

Exhibition of the week: British Wildlife Photography Awards, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, on show until July 13

THE British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition celebrates the diversity of British wildlife and wild spaces through a collection of inspirational photographs and films, while raising awareness of British biodiversity, species and habitats. Normal admission prices apply, with free entry to National Trust members and under fives. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall.

Mick Liversidge, left, and Chris Pomfrett in a scene from York Actors Collective’s York premiere of Tiger Country

Hospital drama of the week: York Actors Collective in Tiger Country, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm, tonight to Friday; 2.30pm and 6pm, Saturday

NINA Raine’s doctors-and-nurses drama, last performed at Hampstead Theatre, London, in 2014, is revived by Angie Millard’s company York Actors Collective.

This fast-paced play considers doctors’ dilemmas as a range of clinical and ethical issues come under the spotlight in a busy hospital. Professionalism and prejudice, turbulent staff romances, ambition and failure collide as Raine depicts an overburdened health service and the dedicated individuals that keep it going. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

May half-term event of the week: Fun At The Fete, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, until Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm daily; last admission 4pm

BE transported to the fun of a village fete with themed games throughout the gardens. Families can compete against each other in hoopla, tin can alley, stilt walking and more besides.

For children who prefer a more relaxed day out, a creative hub is set up in the cutting garden for drawing and painting, while inside the house they can  create their own mini-maypole wand to take home. Normal admission applies, with free entry for National Trust members and under fives. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/yorkshire/nunnington-hall.

Nick Mohammed’s alter-ego, Mr Swallow, in Show Pony, cantering into the Grand Opera House next week and in the autumn. Picture: Matt Crockett

Comedy gig of the week: Nick Mohammed Is Mr Swallow in Show Pony, Grand Opera House, York, tonight and October 23, 7.30pm

COMEDIAN, writer, Ted Lasso regular and Taskmaster loser Nick Mohammed transforms into his alter-ego, Mr Swallow, in Show Pony, a new show that will “cover everything from not having his own sitcom to not having his own sitcom… and everything in between (critical race theory). As per – expect magic, music and a whole load of brand-new mistakes”.  Box office:  atgtickets.com/york.

Jenny Don’t And The Spurs: Country meets garage at Pocklington Arts Centre. Picture: Chris Hogge

Country cowpunk gig of the week: Jenny Don’t And The Spurs, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 8pm

AFTER playing Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, the Portland, Oregon garage, country, honky-tonk and rock’n’roll band Jenny Don’t And The Spurs bring their European tour to Pocklington for one of only four English shows, kitted out as ever with rhinestones on their custom outfits, handcrafted by Jenny herself.

As heard on June 2024 album Broken Hearted Blue, her songwriting is influenced by the contrasting landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and Southwestern desert, with her band of drummer Buddy Weeks bass player Kelly Halliburton and lead guitarist Christopher March merging their garage-rock origins with country driving tempos, gritty fuzz tones and outlaw attitude. London-based Californian country singer Savannah Gardner supports. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Sir Tim Rice: Mulling over a life in musicals at the Grand Opera House, York

Musical knight of the week: Sir Tim Rice, My Life In Musicals – I Know Him So Well, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

LYRICIST supreme Sir Tim Rice reflects on his illustrious career at the heart of musical theatre, sharing anecdotes behind the songs, both the hits and the misses, complemented by stories of his life and live performances by leading West End singers and musicians, led by musical director Duncan Waugh. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Freida Nipples: Baps And Buns Burlesque at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb

Cabaret night of the week: Freida Nipples presents Baps And Buns Burlesque, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, Friday, 7pm to 11pm

YORK’S queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, returns to Rise with her latest selection of sensational cabaret artists, from drag queens to acrobats. Prompt booking is advised as her Baps And Burlesque shows have a habit of selling out, in keeping with her burlesque nights at York Theatre Royal Studio, The Basement at City Screen and Impossible York.

“Prepare yourselves for an evening of debauchery and glamour in Acomb,” says Freida. “The big question is: are you ready for it?!” Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

New Adventures in the 2021 production of Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, returning to York Theatre Royal next week. Picture: Johan Persson

Dance return of the week: New Adventures in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal, June 4 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

IN 1930s’ London, ordinary people emerge from cheap boarding houses nightly to pour out their passions, hopes and dreams in the pubs and fog-bound streets of Soho and Fitzrovia. Step inside The Midnight Bell, a tavern where one particular lonely-hearts club gather to play out their lovelorn affairs of the heart; bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption. 

Inspired by the work of English novelist Patrick Hamilton, Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell returns to York Theatre Royal, where it first played in October 2021, with a 14-strong cast of New Adventures’ actor-dancers, alongside the Olivier and Tony award-winning team of Terry Davies (music), Lez Brotherston (set and costume design), Paule Constable (lighting design) and Paul Groothuis (sound design). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Strictly between us: Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara look forward to A Night To Remember at York Barbican

Strictly show of the week: Aljaž And Janette: A Night To Remember, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm  

STRICTLY Come Dancing husband-and-wife duo Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara team up in their new show with their live big band, fronted by boogie-woogie maestro Tom Seals and an ensemble cast of dancers and singers.

Strictly regular Aljaž and It Takes Two and Morning Live host Janette take to the York Barbican dancefloor to perform routines to music from the Great American songbook right up to modern-day classics. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

REVIEW: Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal, until tomorrow *****

Last chance saloon for the lovelorn in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell. Pictures: Johan Persson

New Adventures in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell, York Theatre Royal’s Haunted Season, tonight at 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

THE last and only time the now knighted doyen of dandy dance Matthew Bourne was at York Theatre Royal, he vowed in a post-show Q&A that he would return, when possible, with another mid-scale touring show.

York had to wait 30 years for that first visit by the Londoner in March 2017, but this week his company is back, and so is Bourne, who agreed at short notice last night to do another question-and-answer session after tonight’s show. Do stay, o’ lucky ticket holder, because his words are as engrossing as his storytelling dance theatre shows.

After all, not a word is said in the world premiere of The Midnight Bell, but there is evocative 1930s’ music aplenty – dancers miming in character to the oh-so English Al Bowlly at the triple, Elisabeth Welch and Leslie A. “Hutch” Hutchinson’s male interpretation of George and Ira Gershwin’s The Man I Love – to complement Terry Davies’s nightlife score and Paul Groothuis’s superb sound design, ear-piercing tinnitus screeching, rain dancing on the roof, et al.

What’s more, inspired by the novels of Gaslight playwright Patrick Hamilton, Bourne’s storytelling through dance is so expressive that he creates a narrative language in visual form, where you find yourself drawn to each character’s path as seamlessly as that story moves from beautifully framed scene to beautifully framed scene on yet another wondrous set design by CharlesHutchPress’s favourite designer, Lez Brotherston, down to the ever-changing skyline that matches the mood of the scene.

Paris Fitzpatrick as Bob and Bryony Wood as Jenny Maple in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell

Even the Magritte-style multitude of suspended window frames, the ever-populated bed and the pub bar move with the graceful swish of choreography, and there is wit too: a red telephone box is represented by only the Telephone neon sign and the top of the box; the phone itself is pulled discreetly from the jacket of waiter Bob (Paris Fitzpatrick).

As for Brotherston’s costume designs, there would surely be no Wintour of discontent from Dame Anna. Lines, contours, hats, correspondent brogues, here is such elegance to meet Bourne’s eloquence in sensuous movement.

Bizarrely, a notice by the box office carrying myriad warnings of what lay in store included the sight of underwear, to go with the tinnitus sound, flashing lights, haze, cigarettes (of the non-nicotine variety) and more besides involving strangulation. Bourne could be spotted removing it at the interval, unhappy with the wording.

Well, it made a change from all those Covid notices and “feel free to wear masks” requests that pretty much everybody seems to be feeling free to ignore in theatres.

As for being alarmed by exposure to “underwear”, where would that leave designers for dance companies galore, let alone pop ingenue videos?

Anyway, your reviewer digresses, dear reader. The Midnight Bell, set in the pub of that name, the surrounding bedsitland, rooms to rent, gated park, members-only club and cinema seats of London, is billed as a “dance exploration of intoxicated tales from darkest Soho, delving into the underbelly of early 1930s’ London life”.

Forbidden love: Liam Mower’s Albert and Andrew Monaghan’s Frank in Matthew Bourne’s The Midnight Bell

Devised and directed by Bourne, he peoples the tavern with a lonely hearts’ club of drinkers and staff; troubled souls more at the unhappy hour, rather than happy hour, stage of intoxication.

All have a drink in one hand, slammed down on tables at the outset. All are looking for a refill as much of the heart as the glass, or at least some form of connection, but will they be sated or are they destined for the loneliness of the lovelorn?

What couplings will end up in that bed in cleverly overlapping storylines involving a young prostitute, Jenny (Bryony Wood), the waiter, the barmaid Ella (Bryony Harrison) and the oddball regular Mr Eccles (Reece Causton)?

Then there’s the bespectacled lonely spinster Miss Roach (Michela Meazza); the pickpocket cad Ernest Ralph Gorse (Glenn Graham); the out-of-work actress Netta Longdon (Daisy May Kemp), and the schizophrenic, tinnitus-troubled George Harvey Bone (thickly bearded, heavy-suited Richard Winsor).

The forbidden The Man I Love storyline entwines West End chorus boy Albert (Liam Mower) with new customer Frank (Andrew Monaghan), taking risks in that repressed era, captured in the Bourne’s best, serpentine choreography of another extraordinary show.

He calls these stories of requited and more often unrequited love in restlessly on-edge London “bitter comedies of longing, frustration, betrayal and redemption”. “Bitter comedies” is spot on, the humour being as dark as porter in this neon-lit world, but all life is here, sad, bad, mad, yet hopefully happy hereafter too, stamped with the exhilarating Bourne identity, panache and punch exercised in equal measure.

“Intoxicated tales from darkest Soho, delving into the underbelly of early 1930s’ London life”, as explored by Matthew Bourne