Tag: Maurice Crichton

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Roll up, roll up, here come York Mystery Plays on waggons on June 28 and July 5

York Mystery Plays: Reconnecting modern York with medieval drama

THE four-yearly staging of the York Mystery Plays on pageant waggons takes place at four locations across the city on Sunday and July 5 from 10.30am to 4.30pm.

Produced by York Festival Trust, the 2026 production once again will bring medieval drama into the streets and historic spaces of the city, reconnecting modern York with a cycle of plays first performed by its medieval guilds.

Free viewing can be enjoyed at the Minster Refectory Gardens, Deansgate, from 10.30am, King’s Square, from 11.10am, and St Sampson’s Square, from 11.50am. Ticketed seats are available for Dean’s Park from 12.30pm.

Each Sunday, ten core plays will be complemented by further extracts to tell the story from The War In Heaven to Doomsday. For full details, go to: yorkmysteryplays.co.uk.

Special midsummer performances of five of this summer’s plays will be presented in Sunset In The Shambles Market on June 30 and July 1, introduced by the York Waits musicians before Pageant Master Dr Alan Heaven guides the audience through each play, from the Creation sequence to the End of Days in the interactive show Doomsday. These shows begin at 7.45pm and end as the dusk is deepening before 10pm. For tickets, go to: ticketsource.com/york-festival-trust.

Alan brings considerable experience to his role. “I staged my first Mystery Plays in 1989 and my first in this [pageant waggon] festival in 2006 with the Potters’ Pageant,” he says.

“After that, I adapted all 48 into a two-hour production, then was asked by the Merchant Adventurers in 2010 to bring forth their play Doomsday. This summer will be the fifth time I’ve ‘ended the world’ for them, each time building the play afresh. It takes nine months to develop each one.” 

Alan’s vision as Pageant Master has been two-fold. “First, to help groups deliver exciting street theatre through the choice of plays and through having support materials available,” he says.

“Second, to lift the event, making it bigger and more inclusive; returning to the keyword ‘festival’ by extending the period of engagement from two days to two weeks and in some cases two months,  and by expanding the social media presence.

“In addition, there is a legacy programme of audio recordings and podcasts, plus much closer links with the York Mystery Plays Supporters’ Trust and their ongoing events. Overall I want to increase the range of opportunities for local people and visitors to engage with the plays.”

The cornerstone of presenting the York Mystery Plays in 2026 on the streets is the people, says Alan. “This is a massive community event, which exists because of the passion and commitment of the groups, directors, designers, musicians and the wonderful volunteers,” he reasons. “From the very start of the process nearly two years ago, I have been deeply touched by the warmth and support received for the new-look event.” 

Dr Alan Heaven: Pageant Master for 2026 York Mystery Plays

Explaining how this summer’s plays were chosen from the 48 that make up the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, Alan says: “The plays selected fall into three groups. First, the ones that are connected to specially designed waggons. These are The Creation – which has the fantastic pop-up Victorian-style waggon by the Guild of Building – and the Butchers’ iconic Crucifixion waggon.

“Second are the plays that are integral to the Christian story arc. These are the Fall of Adam and Eve, Resurrection and the end play, Doomsday, and the multi-faith spectacle of The Deluge.

“That makes six plays. Last time there were eight. The final group contains The Creation of Adam and Eve, The Journey to Calvary, The Shepherds, The Massacre of the Innocents and the remaining section of The Coronation of Mary, which makes 11 plays, all selected because of the opportunity for visual emphasis that they bring.”

Among the new participants will be Pip Cook, directing The Shepherds, Lions and Dragons Theatre Co, staging The Resurrection, and DSpace Ukrainian Theatre, founded in York by director and actress Dara Klymenko, who will perform The Massacre of the Innocents. 

Asked how he chose a theme for the sunset midweek performances, Alan says: “The only theme there need ever be is the York Mystery Plays. There’s also the practical reality of which groups are willing to do it.”

The Mystery Plays will be complemented by the York Mystery Plays Fringe. “Everything in the Fringe is a highlight,” says Alan. “Everyone connected has worked very hard and very creatively to enable more people to find their best way of connecting with the plays.

“Key events running now are The Deluge art exhibition of finalists from the national competition, curated by Megan kathryn Heywood, with many works for sale, at Bedern Hall, in Bartle Garth, St Andrewgate, until July 3, and Women of the Mystery Plays, an exhibition at the Bar Convent Living Heritage  Centre, highlighting the contributions of women past and present, curated by Diane Heaven. 

“The York Mystery Plays Sound and Memory exhibition, using images from the Mystery Plays archive, is on show at Holy Trinity, Micklegate, until August 29, curated by Molly Jervis, while the York Mystery Plays shop is running in High Petergate.”

Finally, Alan, why should someone see the Mystery Plays if they have never done so before? “You should attend because this is a world-famous celebration of local heritage in one of the world’s leading tourist destinations: the most beautiful city in England.

“It is unique and only appears every four years; its connections with the city give it roots and authenticity. It might be a medieval Christian story but it is played by and watched by people of all faiths and none.” 

The York Mystery Plays, streets of York, June 28 and July 5, 10.30am to 4.50pm; Sunset In The Shambles Market, June 30 and July 1, 7.45pm.  

The Plays on June 28 and July 5

The Fall of Adam and Eve: The Lords of Misrule’s play

The War In Heaven: Brought forth by Laura-Elizabeth Rice and HIDden Theatre with the cast of volunteers, all working with and on behalf of Gild of Freemen. To find out more about the play, the guild and the stagecraft, visit: https://www.yorkmysteryplays.co.uk/introducing-war-heaven/.

The Creation: Brought forth by York Guild of Building, directed by Janice Barnes-Newton.

The Fall of Adam and Eve: Brought forth by The Lords of Misrule for the Company of Merchant Taylors, directed by Thomasina Cass.

Noah and the Flood: Brought forth by St. Luke’s Church, directed by Mike Tyler and Lynn Comer.

Doomsday: Performed by Ravens Morris and Haigha

The Shepherds: Directed by Pip Cook with cast of Waifs and Strays for the Company of Cordwainers.

The Massacre of the Innocents: Brought forth by DSpace Ukrainian Theatre Company for the Guild of Scriveners.

The Crucifixion: Brought forth by York Settlement Community Players on behalf of the Company of Butchers, directed by Maurice Crichton.

The Journey to Calvary: Brought forth by York Mystery Plays Supporters’ Trust, directed by Paul Toy.

The Resurrection: The Quem Quaeritis: Brought forth by Lions & Dragons Theatre Co.

The Coronation of Mary: A fragment

Doomsday: Brought forth by Ravens Morris and Haigha for the Company of Merchant Adventurers, directed by Pageant Master Dr Alan Heaven. 

In focus: York Settlement Community Players in The Crucifixion, for the Company of Butchers, on return after 12 years

Thom Feeney in rehearsal for his role as Jesus of Nazareth with three of the Workmen in York Settlement Community Players’ play The Crucifixion. Picture: John Saunders

“YORK has the only cycle of Mystery Plays to make a separate episode of the stretching, nailing and raising of Jesus,” says Settlement director Maurice Crichton. “The four crucifiers are an all-banging, shouting and bantering gang of workmen. But you, the audience, hold the knowledge that this is no ordinary job. What impact will Jesus have?”

Settlement Players’ pageant waggon was designed and built by Tony Wright in 2006 to make sense of the physical action implied in the script. “Waggon master Richard Hampton has worked wonders to bring this now 20-year-old warhorse of a vehicle back into repair (based at Murton Park),” says Maurice, as Settlement Players return to the festival for the first time since 2014.

“The action of the play is a real physical challenge, requiring considerable nerve all round. None of the cast was familiar with the play or the waggon and only one has been part of this event before. I give my thanks to them for their courage and effort.”

York Settlement Community Players is one of the oldest amateur drama groups in the city. “The seed event for our group was an evening of Nativity Mystery Plays at The York Settlement in 1917,” says Maurice. “We’ve missed out on this event in 2018 and 2022, so we’re excited to be back.”

Looking ahead to Settlement Players’ upcoming activities, Maurice says: “In September, we’ll have our New Writing for New Directors initiative coming up at the Black Swan Inn, in Peasholme Green, and from October 13 to 17 we’ll be staging Underdog: The Other Other Brontë, by Sarah Gordon, starring Lara Stafford as Charlotte Bronte, at Theatre@41, Monkgate.

“Each month our improv group, Unsettled, meets at Southlands Methodist Church, Bishopthorpe Road, and we host a play-reading at the Royal Oak, Goodramgate. If interested, contact: yorksettlementcommunityplayers@gmail.com.”

Settlement Players’ cast for The Crucifixion: Workman 1, the Foreman, James Wood; Workman 2,  Andrew Wrenn; Workman 3, Liam Godfrey; Workman 4, Michael Maybridge; Jesus of Nazareth, Thom Feeney.

Cross to bear: Thom Feeney’s Jesus of Nazareth. Picture; John Saunders

York Mystery Plays 2026 Festival

Voices of the Plays: A Celebration of York Mystery Plays in Poetry and Prose. Merchant Taylors’ Hall, June 25, 6.30pm for 7pm start

WRITERS of all ages have responded to the themes, stories and characters of the York Mystery Plays, submitting nearly 50 original poems and prose pieces for inclusion in a new anthology. This event brings together those voices for an evening of readings, reflection and celebration in the Merchant Taylors’ Hall.

Young writers will open the evening, sharing their work with the audience after an optional pre-event performance workshop. Shortlisted adult writers will then present their selected pieces, showcasing a rich variety of responses to one of York’s most treasured cultural traditions.

The evening will celebrate the forthcoming publication of the anthology, featuring all shortlisted and winning entries, to be released later this summer. Whether you are a lover of literature, a supporter of the York Mystery Plays, or curious to hear new writing inspired by ancient stories, this promises to be an uplifting event.  Bookings: https://www.ticketsource.com/booking/select/gmxmmrejjann.

Paul Toy: Giving a talk on Music of The Mysteries on Friday

Expert Talks

JOIN leading historians, artists and practitioners as they explore the York Mystery Plays from new angles. These engaging talks offer insight, context and lively discussion. Delivered for York Festival Trust by Paul Toy, Dr Alan Heaven & Roger Lee and Maurice Crichton.

 Friday, June 26, 2.30pm, Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, Music of The Mysteries: How music has always been central to the plays, from original performance traditions to modern interpretation. Talk by Paul Toy, Pageant Master 2010, musician, dramatist and theatre director.

Monday, June 29, 2pm, Holy Trinity Micklegate, Bring the Plays to Life: How do you bring one of York’s oldest and most cherished traditions to life for a modern audience? Join Pageant Master 2026 Dr Alan Heaven and York Festival Trust chair and producer Roger Lee for an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at York Mystery Plays 2026.

Friday, July 3, 2pm, Holy Trinity Micklegate, Being Noah. Actor and director Maurice Crichton givers an illustrated talk on the Noah Plays and their presentation. Bookings: https://www.ticketsource.com/york-festival-trust.

Podcasts:  Voices of the York Mystery Plays, streaming online

LISTEN in as stories unfold beyond the stage. A series of podcasts brings together voices from the production, the city and beyond, offering reflection, insight and behind-the-scenes perspectives. You can listen online on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/2Aiin7sBQ6JPjErSoC9ezD and Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/yorkmysteryplays.

Audio Plays

EXPERIENCE the drama through sound alone. These specially created audio plays retell the plays in full, inviting you to engage your imagination wherever you are. York Festival Trust has begun the task of recording all 48 original plays over the next three years.  If you would like to take part, get in touch.  You can listen via Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/show/2Aiin7sBQ6JPjErSoC9ezD and Souncloud at https://soundcloud.com/yorkmysteryplays.

Film

UNIVERSITY of York students have created a short film responding to the Noah plays. Watch for our launch on YouTube and in person. Look out for the launch on YouTube.

Sound and Memory in the York Mystery Plays: Free archive exhibition, Holy Trinity Church, Micklegate, until August 29

USING archive materials from the National Centre for Early Music, curator Molly Jervis invites you to respond to an immersive exhibition exploring how sound and music evoke memory within the York Mystery Plays, past and present.  Come along to share your memories.  Holy Trinity is also  the starting point for the Original Stations Trail and only a short walk from the Women in the Mysteries exhibition at Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre.

Cathy Sara and Thomas Frere in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s Mistero Buffo at Friargate Theatre, York. Picture: John Shepherdson

Fringe play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in Mistero Buffo, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, June 27 and 28, July 1 to 4 at 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees on July 3 and 4

TWO wild strangers roll into York for the 2026 York Mystery Plays Fringe to tell tales destined to turn the city upside down. Combining ferocious wit and fearless physical storytelling, Paul Birch’s two-hander production for York’s Riding Lights Theatre Company tears into faith, power, profit and hypocrisy by turning ancient Bible stories into urgent, humorous modern theatre with a clear spiritual heart.

Written by Nobel prize-winning playwright Dario Fo, translated by Ed Emery and performed by Yorkshire actors Thomas Frere and Cathy Sara, this 1969 take on the Mystery Plays will appeal to Fringe theatregoers with a taste for sharp, subversive and unapologetic comedy with bite. A post-show discussion with the creative team will follow the July 2 performance. Box office: www.ridinglights.org.

Guided Walks of the Original Performance Locations, departing at 10am and 2pm on various dates

JOIN York historian David Farrar and York Guides for a 90-minute tour of York with fascinating stories and histories. See https://www.yorkmysteryplays.co.uk/tickets-merch/  for dates and to book.

The Watchers of York Sculpture Trail, June 29 to August 31

INSPIRED by an idea by York Festival Trust, Make It York has created this trail in collaboration with York Minster. Stone carvings have been silently watching over York Minster for centuries. These guardians are full of character, humour and mystery. Now, one of them is stepping off the stonework and making mischief across York.  This new city-wide sculpture trail launches alongside the York Mystery Plays. Don’t miss the Doomsday version in the Mystery Plays.

The Original Stations Trail, until July 7

STEP back into the medieval city and trace the route of the original pageant waggons. This trail reveals where the plays once unfolded, bringing history vividly into the streets of today. Created by David Farrar for York Festival Trust, this trail includes a souvenir map created by York artist Jo Rodwell. 

Dates and times: June 25, 7pm; June 26, 10.30am & 7pm; June 27, 10.30am; June 29, 10.30am; July 2, 10.30am & 7pm; July 3, 10.30am & 7pm; July 4, 10.30am; July  6, 10.30am, and July 7, 2pm. Bookings: https://www.ticketsource.com/york-festival-trust.

York artist Jo Rodwell: Designed souvenir map for the Original Stations Trail

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REVIEW: Black Treacle Theatre in Anne Boleyn, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, off with her head until Saturday ****

The plot thickens: Paul Osborne’s Thomas Cromwell, left, and Ian Giles’s Cardinal Wolsey in Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn

ANNE Boleyn (c.1501-1536) had an extra finger and one head too few after her execution by a French swordsman in the Tower of London.

One of these statements is fiction, the other is fact, but both persist down the years as how we know Anne best, such is the way myth and history overlap.

The sixth finger story was a 16th century fabrication spun by Roman Catholic polemicist Nicholas Sander in 1585 to suggest Anne was a witch in a smear campaign against her daughter, Queen Elizabeth I.

Yet acts of besmirching her as a whore were rife in Anne’s lifetime too, led by those at the very top, leading to her beheading, as Howard Brenton explores in his witty political drama.

Nick Patrick Jones’s Henry VIII in a tender moment with Lara Stafford’s Anne Boleyn. Picture: John Saunders

Premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2010, Anne Boleyn now breaks its York duck under the direction of Black Treacle Theatre founder Jim Paterson, whose experience of watching a friend in the Globe cast had left an indelible impression.

“This year marks 500 years since Henry’s courtship of Anne began in earnest – in 1526. So it felt like serendipity to stage this play, which makes us reconsider who Anne was, and what an important figure she is in our history,” says Paterson, explaining the timing of his production.

Here’s the history bit: Anne Boleyn was the second wife of King Henry VIII, whose desire to marry her forced the break from the Roman Catholic Church and the dawn of the English Reformation. She was well read, intelligent, queen for only 1,000 days – and by common agreement, the best of the six, so sassy and saucy, in the ultra-competitive Six The Musical.

Brenton puts her front and centre of his historical yet modern epic, both as a ghost in the court of James I and in charting her courtship with Henry VIII, presenting a more rounded and nuanced portrait of Anne as lover, heretic, revolutionary, queen, at once brilliant and bright but reckless too, hot-headed and then not-headed. Was she prey or predator? You decide, maybe for the first time

In need of a stiff drink: Cameron O’Byrne’s George Villiers and Katie Leckey’s James I. Picture: John Saunders

The play opens with Lara Stafford’s Anne Boleyn in monologue mode, as she enters the checkboard stage in her bloodstained execution dress, carrying a large embroidered bag. Brenton’s opening stage instruction reads “Aside. Working the audience”, immediately establishing that this play will be on her own terms, like a comedian’s opening gambit or a Fool’s mission statement in Shakespeare, as she teases the audience over the bag’s potential content.

“And why should I want you to love me?” she asks us. “Did anyone around me ever love me, but for the King?” And there’s the rub. Who was on her side? Brenton, as it turns out, Jesus, as she declares, and a curious James I (Katie Leckey), keen to use her information to aid his unconventional attempts to bring warring religious factions together decades later.

Anne pulls out the Bible, or more precisely William Tyndale’s banned version that would sew the seeds of her execution, with a flourish worthy of Tommy Cooper, but with a heavy heart, before making light of her execution when finally producing the severed head. “Funny, a head’s smaller than you think. Heavy little cabbage, that’s all.”

This sets Brenton’s tone, one where his comic irreverence rubs up against reverence, or more precisely the mirage of reverence in a world where Henry’s England waives the rules, where the intrigue and political machinations of Henry’s court undermine and belie the intersection of crown and church.

Anne Boleyn director Jim Paterson

Somehow, Stafford’s Anne must show her mettle to find her way through that ever-tightening thicket, and likewise Leckey’s James I, the Scottish king (here with a fellow Celtic/Northern Irish accent), must negate all the vipers’ poison when assuming the English throne.

In an outstanding return to a lead role, Stafford’s risk-taking Anne exudes intelligence, pluck, conviction, sometimes with humour, like when she mocks Ian Giles’s West Country Cardinal Wolsey for being woolly; sometimes with grave sadness, in the abject despair at failed pregnancies; or at the close, with sincerity, as she champions the power of love (uncannily just as Hercule Poirot does in the finale to Death On The Nile, on tour at the Grand Opera House this week).

Leckey, one of the volcanic forces of the 2020s’ York theatre scene with her Griffonage Theatre exploits, is tremendous here too. Surely James I should not be so much fun, but he is, whether flaunting his relationship with Cameron O’Byrne’s George Villiers, reaching for a glass, mocking the martinet dourness of Paul Stonehouse’s Robert Cecil or being as capricious as President Trump in making decisions.

Bible matters: Maurice Crichton’s William Tyndale in discussion with Lara Stafford’s Ann Boleyn. Picture: John Saunders

Stafford’s Anne aside, the women have to play second fiddle, treading on glass to survive in the court, whether Lady Rochford (Abi Baxter), Lady Celia (Isabel Azar) or next-in-Henry’s- roving- eye-line Lady Jane (Rebecca Jackson).

Heavyweights of the York stage assemble for the juiciest male roles. Nick Patrick Jones brings Shakespearean heft (rather than physical bulk) to Henry, already entitled and erratic, demanding and wilful, boastful of his writing powers, but still allowed shards of humour by Brenton (albeit at Henry’s expense) in this clash of the legal and the regal.

Paul Osborne’s Thomas Cromwell, statesman, lawyer and Henry’s chief minister, emerges as the villain of the piece, misogynistic, devious, manipulative, his language industrial, his actions self-serving behind the veneer of duty, with “something of the night about him”. Osborne makes for a complex character rather the two-dimensional baddie of pantomime.

Giles’s Catholic cardinal Thomas Wolsey is the stuffed shirt of Brenton’s piece, righteous, exasperated, as forlorn as Canute when standing against the winds of change.  

Drafting the Reformation Act: Paul Miles’s Sloop, left, Harry Summers’ Simpkin and Paul Osborne’s Thomas Cromwell. Picture: John Saunders

Never averse to scene-stealing impact, Maurice Crichton brings a twinkle and bravado to William Tyndale, writer of the outlawed Bible that would later form the basis of the King James version. His scenes with Stafford’s Anne are an especial joy.

Harry Summers’ Simpkin/Parrot, Paul Miles’s Sloop, Sally Mitcham’s  Dean Lancelot Andrewes and Martina Meyer’s John Reynolds further stir the murky waters, while Richard Hampton’s open-plan set and Julie Fisher and Costume Crew’s costumes evoke the Tudor and Stuart periods.

All in all, Howard Brenton’s Anne Boleyn is far funnier than living in those turbulent times must have been.

Anne Boleyn, Black Treacle Theatre, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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Sonnets in Bloom turn Holy Trinity Goodramgate churchyard into competitive garden fete with writer Natalie Roe and director Josie Connor at helm for YSP

Sonnets In Bloom script writer Natalie Roe, left, and director Josie Connor on a churchyard bench at Holly Trinity, Goodramgate, York, where the 50-minute performances will be staged

YORK Shakespeare Project’s summer celebration of Shakespeare’s sonnets returns to the churchyard of Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, York, from August 15 to August 23.

In the ninth iteration of these annual YSP shows, Sonnets In Bloom brings together the Bard, director Josie Connor, scenario scriptwriter Natalie Roe and a cast of 12 sonneteers.

“The last two shows have attracted record audiences so we’re delighted again to be offering a summer taste of Shakespeare that is both entertaining and accessible,” says producer Maurice Crichton.

The year’s show has been scripted by Natalie Roe in her first involvement with YSP’s Sonnets project. “Natalie has incorporated a record 13 sonnets into her script, including seven that have not featured in previous YSP productions,” says Maurice.

“Shakespeare wrote at least 154 sonnets. We have plenty more to go at but the new ones in this show mean we will have featured more than a third of the total across the nine sonnets productions we have so far put on.”

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

“The churchyard and Goodramgate were very inspiring,” says Natalie. “There are lots of little references that I’ve put in because, if you know a space well, why not?! So there are references to the trees and the shops and restaurants on the street.

“I’ve been inspired by the nature in Shakespeare’s sonnets. It was being outside in the gardens at Bar Convent for the Sonnets there that gave me the idea of using sonnets full of nature and growth.”

Natalie has a copy of Shakespeare’s Sonnets that she bought on a National Express coach trip to Anne Hathaway’s Cottage at Stratford-upon-Avon in her school days. “It’s full of stars and love hearts next to the parts that I particularly liked as a moody teenager,” she says.

“For Sonnets In Bloom, I went through it and picked ones that fitted with performing outdoor theatre in a beautiful churchyard setting in the summer, and that’s why we have the setting of a church flower show, which is ripe for having lots of comedic characters, and then thinking about which sonnet would suit them.” Step forward Reverend Planter, the grave digger and assorted members of the congregation.

“It’s lovely to be able to create characters around a concentrated theme and the concentrated emotions in the sonnets, where I enjoy the richness of the imagery and there’s a frequently a metaphor that is then beautifully elaborated on.

“When writing the monologue that leads into each sonnet, what I’m looking for is for the character to have a dilemma, and in some ways Shakespeare’s sonnets come with the dilemmas ready made.”

York Shakespeare Project’s poster for Sonnets In Bloom 2025

Josie Connor is directing YSP for the first time, having worked with Natalie previously when she directed her script, Leaves, for York Settlement Community Players’ pub theatre initiative, The Direct Approach, in 2023.

“When Nat contacted me about Sonnets In Bloom, there was no doubt in my mind about saying yes,” says Josie. “I had heard Nat speak about the Sonnets shows in previous conversations and why they’re such a hit each year, I was very excited to be asked to be a part of this collaborative project this year – and her script compliments the churchyard setting brilliantly.

“Working with Nat is always a pleasure. Her work has great realness with comedic timing, even in dramas, and I think we’re both fans of creative collaboration. Nat and I met on a film set in 2017, where I saw her understanding for production as a whole, so reconnecting again to collaborate creatively while I’m building as a director was a no-brainer.”

In turn, Natalie says: “I was already a friend of Josie when she directed Leaves for The Direct Approach. Scripts are sent in anonymously, and she picked mine before knowing it was by me, so the play found her.”

Now they are in tandem again, working on Sonnets In Bloom’s wide variety of colourful characters, who each find an opportunity to give voice to one of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

This year, the cast of 12 is mostly new to the Sonnet shows and younger too. “Only three performers have been involved previously, and with a new writer and a first-time Sonnets director, this production will take a fresh look at a trusted format,” says Maurice.

The cast in full comprises new sonneteers Harry Summers, James Tyler,Stuart Lindsay, Benjamin Rowley, Oliver Taylor, Tom Langley, Annie Dunbar, Lily Geering and Stuart Green, alongside returnees Grace Scott, Emilie Knight and Xandra Logan.

“When we were casting, we were looking out for the usual understanding of what they’re reading, energy and wanted to see not only what they could offer, but mainly see how and if each actor takes direction,” says Josie.

“That’s a very important part in the casting process; it reassures me that they will work well with any other actor, location and situation they’re put in.”

One last question for Josie: What can Shakespeare say in a sonnet that he cannot in a three-hour play?! “Let me call him and get back to you on that…do you think he’d be in the Yellow Pages?” she says.

York Shakespeare Project in Sonnets In Bloom, Holy Trinity churchyard, Goodramgate, York, August 15 to 23, 6pm and 7.30pm, plus 4.30pm, August 16 and 23. Box office: 01904 623568; yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/sonnets-in-bloom-2025/; in person from York Theatre Royal box office. Running time: 50 minutes.

Sonnets In Bloom 2025 cast members Emile Knight, left, Annie Dunbar, Oliver Taylor, Benjamin Rowley, Lily Geering, Harry Summers, James Tyler, Grace Scott, Tom Langley, Stuart Green, Stuart Lindsay and Xandra Logan at Holy Trinity churchyard. Picture: John Saunders

What’s coming up next for Josie Connor?

“I HAVE some exciting projects in the near future/next year, which will continue my directing path,” she says. “However, for now I’m keen to collaborate with more actors and try out new pieces!”

Copyright of The York Press

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Writer Natalie Roe and director Josie Connor team up for Sonnets In Bloom 2025 at Holy Trinity. Who’s new in the cast?

Sonnets In Bloom script writer Natalie Roe, left, and director Josie Connor in the Holy Trinity churchyard, in Goodramgate, York, where the York Shakespeare Project performance will take place

YORK Shakespeare Project’s summer celebration of Shakespeare’s sonnets returns to the churchyard of Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, York, from  August 15 to 23.

Sonnets In Bloom brings together the Bard, director Josie Connor, scriptwriter Natalie Roe and a cast of 12 sonneteers.

“The last two shows have attracted record audiences so we are delighted again to be offering a summer taste of Shakespeare that is both entertaining and accessible,” says producer Maurice Crichton.

“This year we return to Holy Trinity Goodramgate, where site co-ordinator Gemma Murray and her team of volunteers made us so welcome last year.”

The year’s show has been scripted by Natalie Roe in her first involvement with YSP’s Sonnets project. “Natalie has incorporated a record 13 sonnets into her script, including seven that have not featured in previous YSP productions,” says Maurice.

Harry Summers: One of nine new sonneteers taking part in Sonnets In Bloom 2025

“Shakespeare wrote at least 154 sonnets. We have plenty more to go at but the new ones in this show mean we will have featured more than a third of the total across the nine sonnets productions we have so far put on.”

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

Josie Connor is directing YSP for the first time, having worked with Natalie previously when she directed her script, Leaves, for York Settlement Community Players’ pub theatre initiative, The Direct Approach, in 2023.

As ever, Sonnets In Bloom features a wide variety of colourful characters, who each find an opportunity to give voice to one of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

“It’s a lovely experience,” says YSP chair Tony Froud. “You can sip your complimentary drink on a summer’s evening in a delightful setting. Very often, the characters slip into a sonnet and the audience hardly notice that the language has become Shakespearean. And you can look forward to the odd surprise or two.”

Sonnets In Bloom 2025 producer Maurice Crichton

This will be the ninth time that YSP has put on a show based on Shakespeare’s sonnets, having first staged Sonnet Walks in 2014 , when audiences divided into groups met colourful characters as they walked around the streets of York, in the run-up to Le Grand Depart of that summer’s Tour de France.

In 2020, in the depths of the pandemic, the format was adapted to become Sit-Down Sonnets, when guiding a socially distanced group around the streets was impracticable. Sit-down shows have prevailed ever since.

This year, the cast of 12 is mostly new to the Sonnet shows and younger too. “Only three performers have been involved previously, and with a new writer and a first-time Sonnets director, this production will take a fresh look at a trusted format,” says Maurice.

The cast in full is: Harry Summers*; James Tyler*; Stuart Lindsay*; Grace Scott; Benjamin Rowley*; Emilie Knight; Oliver Taylor*; Tom Langley*; Xandra Logan; Annie Dunbar*; Lily Geering* and Stuart Green*. (*New to the sonnets.)

York Shakespeare Project in Sonnets In Bloom, Holy Trinity churchyard, Goodramgate, York, August 15 to 23, 6pm and 7.30pm, plus 4.30pm, August 16 and 23. Box office: 01904 623568;  https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/sonnets-in-bloom-2025/; in person from York Theatre Royal box office. Price, including a drink: £10 or £5 for age 14 to 17. Running time: 50 minutes.

York Shakespeare Project’s poster for Sonnets In Bloom 2025

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REVIEW: York Theatre Royal & Riding Lights Theatre Company, His Last Report, at York Theatre Royal, until August 3 ***1/2

Billy Heathwood’s Riley, left, and Antony Jardine’s Seebohm Rowntree in His Last Report at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

YORK Theatre Royal’s latest summer community play is in keeping with the progressive tenet of York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree’s trio of reports from 1899, 1936 and 1951. Community pulling together in enlightening enterprises. Welfare for the common man. Live well, play well, work well. He would probably have made the tickets free, but that isn’t practical.

“Made with passion, joy and enthusiasm”, in collaboration with York Christian theatre company Riding Lights, His Last Report involves 250 volunteers, from 100-strong cast and 55-larynxed York Theatre Royal Choir and new choir recruits, to wardrobe, props, stage management, hair & make up, technical, marketing, front of house and photography.

“The past is back. And it’s got something to say,” reads the tagline. It turns out it has a lot to say, arguably too much, over its two-and-three-quarter-hour span that crams in everything from politics to chocolate recipe improvements; cow parlour udder-pulling  to aerial acrobatics; King Lear to Lloyd George and Winston Churchill; Caribbean chocolate trade slavery to the  idyll of New Earswick; moo jokes to a salty dig at Saltaire visionary Sir Titus Salt.

Under the direction of Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch, everything is thrown in, including the kitchen-sink style of British  theatre and films of the gritty, grainy late-Fifties and Sixties, with echoes of Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera too.

Amelia Donkor, one of two professional actors leading Juliet Forster and Paul Birch’s cast, in the role of Gulie Harlock in His Last Report. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s script has the restless, questing energy of York-born professional actor Antony Jardine’s Seebohm Rowntree, his name taken from his mother’s surname of Swedish-German origin, we learn in one of many facts dropped in with humorous relish.

We start at the end, Seebohm despondent post-reports, before heading back to 1890s’ York with personal secretary Gulie Harlock (Amelia Donkor), where his Quaker family’s cocoa works is booming, new Rowntree factory et al, under the noble guidance of father Joseph (Mark Payton, in a performance as bubbly as Aero, with a lightness of humour to match).

But something is not hitting the sweet spot for chemist, industrialist and philanthropist Seebohm. Blue-collar life is bitter, when it needs to be better for the factory workers, housed in the city’s back streets and snickelways. In tandem with Donkor’s perspicacious Gulie, he advocates better working and living conditions, improved wages and the provision of education for all and facilities to bolster both mental and physical health.

He never invented a chocolate bar called Nirvana, but his vision of a promised land of healthier, happier, wealthier workers that in turn benefits the productivity of businesses provides the seed bed for the welfare state, attracting the support of Churchill (Colin Beveridge) and Lloyd George (Andrew Wrenn).

Maurice Crichton’s Frank Benson, centre, in King Lear guise in His Last Report, with principals and ensemble looking on in His Last Report. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Welcome to New Earswick, the model of a village to house the workforce, with a school and a library. Welcome to Rowntree’s world of Yearsley Swimming Pool, the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, gymnastics, pageants and plays. All’s well but can it end well?  Ah, there’s the rub. Finance. All the good things cost money.

Jardine’s Seebohm is haunted by the spectral figure of an impoverished child, Riley (Edmund Djimramadji/Billy Heathwood) that only he can see, and all around him the figures don’t add up. The second half turns post-modern, with modern clothing interwoven with period couture, references to writers Misha and Bridget and an in-joke impersonation of the Theatre Royal’s costume department Scottish supremo Pauline.

Rather than ending well it ends Orwellian, Jardine’s despairing Seebohm observing the Britain of today, the Britain of cuts to the arts and libraries, swimming pool and factory closures, robots replacing workers, jargon replacing plain speaking, and being number 52 on  the waiting list when phoning the GP at 8am.

Maurice Crichton gives us his best King Lear in the guise of grandstanding actor Frank Benson railing against the way Shakespeare is taught at schools. You may find yourself thinking, “are we going too far off the beaten track here?”, but Crichton, not for the first time, makes every second in the spotlight count.

There is nevertheless a feeling that His Last Report is preaching to the converted, those of us who do go to the theatre, who know of its value beyond cost. Who needs to listen? Those who don’t go, those who slash and burn.

A modern-day board meeting full of blue sky/dark cloud thinking as His Last Report turns theatre of the absurd. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

You might wish the solution were as simple as waving a magic wand. Seebohm Rowntree tried to do more than that, but the truth is that in this rotten world, the good things increasingly cost too much, when even chocolate bars and tins are forever diminishing in size.

Forster and Birch’s cast and choir, as much as Duncan-Barry and Foreman, make an impassioned, worthy case for wishing that life could be as Seebohm envisaged. The theatrical scale is grand, the humour uneven, the ensemble spectacle impressive, orchestrated by David Gilbert’s movement direction. Edwin Gray’s compositions and sound design, in tandem with Madeleine Hudson’s vocal musical direction, are impactful throughout.

Returning after designing previous Theatre Royal community productions The Coppergate Woman and Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes, Sara Perks’s set design is five-star quality, whether evoking the Rowntree building, factory floor, boardroom, train carriage or cow parlour, complemented by Craig Kilmartin’s lighting and Hazel Fall’s delightful costumes.

One last thought, where is the Seebohm Rowntree of today?

York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company present His Last Report at York Theatre Royal until August 3, 7.30pm except Sundays and Mondays, plus 2pm matinees, July 26 and August 2 & 3. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Gymnastic skill: Christie Barnes’s Brynhild Benson in His Last Report. Picture: Natasha Sinton

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Chance to sign up for Paul Birch’s Funny Business scripted comedy workshop for Settlement Players on Sunday afternoon

Paul Birch: Leading scripted comedy workshop for York Settlement Community Players on Sunday

FRIARGATE Theatre artistic director, comedy writer and improv supremo Paul Birch is to hold a workshop for York Settlement Community Players on scripted comedy on Sunday (6/7/2025) at Room 1, Southlands Methodist Church, York.

“This Funny Business workshop is a great way to find your funny and explore ways in which to play comedic texts without worrying about getting laughs,” says Paul. “Using a range of scripts and some helpful games and exercises, this session will equip actors and directors to love, rather than fear, the comedic text.”

The charge for Sunday’s 2pm to 4.30pm session is £10 or “a bit more if you can manage it”. “Paul is doing the workshop at no charge to YSCP to help us out of our current financial difficulties because he is a thoroughly decent bloke,” says organiser Maurice Crichton.

To reserve your place (16 maximum), email Maurice at maurice.crichton@ntlworld.com.

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REVIEW: York Shakespeare Project, Summer Sonnets, Holy Trinity churchyard, Goodramgate, York, until Saturday ***

Effie Warboys’ Ann Walker, left, and Sally Mitcham’s Anne Lister in York Shakespeare Project’s Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders

YORK Shakespeare Project audiences are greeted by not one, but two testaments to the groundbreaking impact of Anne “Gentleman Jack” Lister at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate.

First, by the entrance, York Civic Trust’s rainbow plaque commemorates the Easter 1834 wedding sacraments of “Anne with an ‘E’ and Anne without”, Ann Walker, recorded as the first lesbian marriage in Great Britain. Another historic landmark in this most storied of cities.

Once inside, by the churchyard path, Anne Lister has temporarily taken on tansy beetle form in a metallic sculpture for the York Trailblazers trail of unsung heroes until September 30.

Theatre spat: Rival actresses Lily (Alexandra Logan), left, and Felicity (Grace Scott) in York Shakespeare Project’s Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders

In Jen Dring’s design, the beetle’s back is covered in the diary scribblings of Anne Lister: words that have helped to shape the opening to Josie Campbell’s script to accompany 12 of Shakespeare sonnets in this tenth anniversary YSP production.

YSP’s theatrical conceit is to offer an invitation to a secret wedding – spoiler alert, the nuptials of Anne Lister (Sally Mitcham) and Ann Walker (Effie Warboys) – toasted on arrival with a free celebratory drink.  

The audience is welcomed by the Reverend Goode, the “poptastic vicar and host” played by director Tony Froud, who promptly introduces himself as Ebenezer Goode in the first of a plethora of “couldn’t resist” pop culture references by Campbell. Status Quo, Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones all follow, Rev Goode at one point quoting the lyrics of You Can’t Always Get What You Want.

Cleaning up: Marie-Louise Feeley’s Doreen and Helen Wilson’s Maureen, the church-cleaning double act in York Shakespeare Project’s Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders

Attired in York Theatre Royal costumes, Mitcham and Warboys play out the Lister-Walker betrothal, each bursting into a sonnet in the manner of characters breaking into song in a musical when there is no other form of expression that will suffice in that moment.  

Mitcham’s assertive When I Have Seen By Time’s Fell Hand Defaced will be the first of four Shakespeare sonnets making their YSP debut in this summer’s set.

Warboys follows, one of six new sonneteers in Froud’s 2024 ranks, having made her mark in cheery fashion in YSP productions such as The Tempest. As she discovers in her opening conversation with Mitcham’s Miss Lister, the challenge for all is to acclimatise to performing outdoors, against the absorbant backdrop of the church walls, under the open sky.

Emily Hansen’s Lavinia, the unflappable costume designer, in York Shakespeare Project’s Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders

What’s more, the nearby restaurant kitchen fan is whirring loudly and the staff are busy with bustling crockery and food prep on the 6pm shift. Not the easiest of circumstances in which to perform, and Froud’s last words of advice before the first performance were of the need for volume.

In such a space, as soon as heads turn sideways, the loss in clarity can be considerable, but only through experience does a performer learn the skill of projection. Best advice here: follow the example of Maurice Crichton and Helen Wilson, old hands at this sonneteering malarkey.

No doubt, Froud will have given post-show notes to re-emphasise that volume speaks volumes. There is a case too for having the actors move closer to the seated audience, or indeed for the seating to be moved forward, and also to project straight on as much as possible in this declamatory framework.  

Maurice Crichton’s intemperate director, Callum, offering advice to Alexandra Logan’s wilful leading lady, Lily, in Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders

Crichton, in beret, cravat and exasperated Scottish accent, is playing Callum, “the far from calm director” of what turns out to be a rehearsal for an amateur company at Rev Goode’s church. And so, rather than a play within a play in keeping with Frayn’s Noises Off, Ayckbourn’s A Chorus Of Disapproval or Mischief’s The Play That Goes Wrong, instead we have sonnets within backstage shenanigans.

One by one, or two by two, we shall encounter staff, actresses and helping hands. Here come the church cleaners, debutant sonneteer Marie-Louise Feeley’s Doreen, an aspiring performer, and Wilson’s world-weary, seen-it-all-before Maureen, marigold gloves stuffed in her overalls. Her sonnet, Th’expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame, is one of the high points.

Two rival actresses, steady-away Felicity (Grace Scott) and flighty young leading lady Lily (Alexandra Logan) will spar amusingly, the latter’s nascent prima-donna tendencies in the role of Anne Lister’s earlier paramour Maria Belcombe, testing Crichton’s acerbic Callum to breaking point.

Liam Godfrey’s Graham, the tardy actor, in a tender moment with Grace Scott’s Felicity in Summer Sonnets. Halina Jarosewska’s Maggie, the indispensable stage manager, looks on. Picture: John Saunders

Liam Godfrey, another of the debutants, captures the diffidence of tardy actor Graham (playing Captain Sutherland, from Anne Lister’s story) as he makes his reacquaintance with Felicity, his partner in pantomime cow, as Campbell brings another artform into play.

Emily Hansen’s Lavinia, the unflappable costume designer, and Halina Jarosewska’s Maggie, the indispensable stage manager, pop up regularly, in that quietly essential way that such theatre stalwarts do. Hansen’s delivery of Being Your Slave, What Should I Do But Tend suits Maggie perfectly.

The finale brings everyone together, Lister, Walker, et al, led by Froud’s good shepherd Rev Goode in Let Me Not To The Marriage Of True Minds, rounding out Campbell’s amusing caricature of the theatre world, celebration of love and abiding joy in Shakespeare’s sonnets.

York Shakespeare Project, Summer Sonnets, Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York, until August 17, 6pm and 7.30pm nightly, plus 4.30pm on Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/summer-sonnets/. 

Tony Froud’s Reverend Goode, the “poptastic vicar and host”in Summer Sonnets, addressing the flock in the Holy Trinity churchyard. Picture: John Saunders

Coming next:

William Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 22 to 26, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AFTER “much deliberation, and too many wonderful people auditioning”, director Tempest Wisdom has picked York Shakespeare Project’s cast for The Two Gentlemen Of Verona.

In the company will be: Jodie Fletcher; Stuart Lindsay; Jamie Williams; Nick Patrick Jones; Thomas Jennings; Lily Geering; Anna Gallon; Liz Quinlan; Lara Stafford; Wilf Tomlinson; Effie Warboys; Mark Payton; Stuart Green; Jon Cook; Charlie Spencer; Pearl Mollison; Kay Maneerot; Celeste North Finocchi and Charlie Barras.

The first night, October 22, will be a preview performance (£10).  Tickets for the rest of the week cost £15. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

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No rehearsal, no director, no sight of the script in advance. Six actors, one per show, take on White Rabbit, Red Rabbit in York

Maurice Crichton: In the dark tonight, just as much as the audience for the hush-hush White Rabbit, Red Rabbit

AN actor’s nightmare will be an audience’s dream, promises producer Jim Paterson, when White Rabbit, Red Rabbit makes its York debut from tonight (7/11/2023) to Saturday at Theatre@41, Monkgate.

This groundbreaking play requires the actor to perform the script having never seen it before setting foot on stage.

Originally written in 2011 by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, who at the time was forbidden to leave his native Iran, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit is a play designed to travel the world in his place. Whereupon the audience will join each different performer on a journey into the unknown.

Soleimanpour’s 70-minuite play has been performed all over the world by actors such as John Hurt, Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, Martin Short, Sinead Cusack and Dominic West, all taking to the stage with no prior sighting of the script.

Now White Rabbit, Red Rabbit receives its York premiere at the hands of six actors, each performing the script for one performance only. “They will never have seen the script until I hand them an envelope to open as they enter the stage,” says Jim. “They are told almost nothing in preparation. There is no rehearsal or director.” 

Sanna Jeppsson: Saturday night performance

Given that the play relies on no-one knowing the plot, details cannot be shared in advance, and so audience and actor alike will be in the same position of not knowing what will happen, duly creating an “exciting and truly unpredictable show”.

“One of the best things about going to the theatre is that it’s a live experience where each performance is different and unpredictable,” says Jim. “Times that by 100 and you’ve got this play. Both the actor and the audience don’t know what’s going to happen from moment to moment, which I think will create a really exhilarating atmosphere.

“Each of our six actors is only performing the play once with no preparation – so each performance will be entirely unique for that audience. That’s why we’ve put on a ticket offer, so that you can come back to watch another actor perform it for half-price, and see what will be an entirely different take on the play.”

Jim adds: “A lot of us have had that dream where we’re suddenly in a theatre and are expected to go on stage in a play when we don’t know the lines or what we’re supposed to be doing. So, I’m massively grateful to these performers for agreeing to take the leap and make that scary dream a reality!”

First to step into the unknown tonight will be Maurice Crichton, stalwart of York Settlement Community Players and much else besides on the York theatre scene. “I think it’s going to be about the audience experiencing an actor being surprised by what they’re in, and – to an extent – vicariously experiencing those feelings themselves,” he says. “It excites me to see if I can relax enough to do the play justice!”

Alan Park: Friday man

Fresh from Settlement Players’ Government Inspector, Sonia Di Lorenzo will perform the Saturday matinee. “I’m looking forward to finding out what it’s about,” she says. “It sounds really intriguing from what I know of it – which is just the title! I’m excited to see how it unfolds and what it entails and where it’s all going to lead.”

Sanna Jeppsson will take on the Saturday night challenge. “It’s exciting and scary because I don’t know how I’m going to react in the moment: what my body’s going to feel like, what my pulse is going to be doing, what my breath is going to be doing – I just don’t know! But I’m very interested to find out,” she says.

Presented by York company Black Treacle Theatre, in association with Aurora Nova, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit will be performed by Maurice Crichton tonight; Lara Stafford tomorrow; Maggie Smales, Thursday; Theatgre@41 chair Alan Park, Friday; Sonia Di Lorenzo, Saturday matinee, and Sanna Jeppsson, Saturday night.

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 7 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. Tickets are £10 full price and any ticket buyers for one performance can see another one for £5 (plus booking fee).

Did you know?

BLACK Treacle Theatre produced Nick Payne’s Constellations in March 2022 and Gary Owen’s Iphigenia In Splott in March 2023, both at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York.

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York Shakespeare Project to perform Shakespeare’s Songs in buildings ancient and modern from September 22 to 24

Shakespeare’s Songs producer and composer Nick Jones with, front pew, Meg Ollerhead and Lowen Frampton, and, second pew, Emma Scott, left, and Tracey Rea. Picture: John Saunders

ST Mary Bishophill Junior, probably the oldest working church in York, will swap hymns for Shakespeare’s Songs on September 22 and 23.

Taking over the ancient building – dating in parts to before the Norman conquest – York Shakespeare Project (YSP) will perform acoustic songs and instrumental music written specially for productions of As You Like It (2008), Troilus And Cressida (2011), Twelfth Night (2014) and The Tempest (2022), complemented by new songs from The Winter’s Tale and Love’s Labours Lost.

St Mary’s churchwarden, Graeme Thomas, says: “We’re always delighted to welcome visitors to our historic church. We’ve had theatre here before, and it will be an atmospheric setting for Shakespeare’s Songs.”

The venerable church has a Roman arch and Anglo-Saxon stonework and would have been centuries old already in Shakespeare’s own time. In contrast, the music by Nick Jones, Fergus McGlynn and York International Shakespeare Festival director Philip Parr is more contemporary, with Jones’s cast singing and playing instruments from guitars, ukelele and mandolin to cello, oboe, recorders and cajon.

Among those performers will be Maurice Crichton, who played Sir William Maleverer in York Theatre Royal’s community play, Sovereign, and fisherman Hector in YSP’s Sonnets At The Bar this summer; Emma Scott, the lead actress from YSP’s Macbeth and Rape Of Lucrece, and musical theatre regular Tracey Rea. Cast members from YSP’s Twelfth Night and The Tempest will feature too, alongside familiar faces from York Mystery Plays productions.

Introducing his new compositions for the show, producer Nick Jones says: “From The Winter’s Tale we have two new settings of songs for Maurice Crichton’s Autolycus, the pedlar with a taste for cheating and petty theft, in which he sings about his roving life: When Daffodils Begin To Peer and Jog On.

“From Love’s Labours Lost, Emma Scott and Sally Maybridge will sing the final song, When Daisies Pied. The play ends with an anticipated marriage halted by a death. The suitors are told to wait a year and prove their seriousness. The year passes in the course of the song, as winter follows spring. I think it’s Shakespeare’s most lovely song.”

Nick, who has devised Shakespeare’s Songs, says: “The York Shakespeare Project was set up in 2001 with the aim of performing all the Bard’s plays in York and completed that initial mission last year with Philip Parr’s production of The Tempest that toured North Yorkshire before a final performance at York Theatre Royal.

Producer Nick Jones: At the helm of a light-hearted revue of Shakespeare’s Songs. Picture: John Saunders

“Original music by local composers has often been a highlight of YSP’s productions and we thought it deserved to be heard again, in a light-hearted revue.

“Staging a musical celebration of our 22-year history, we’re marking that achievement with Shakespeare’s Songs, revisiting the original music from several of those plays and introducing some new songs with a cast of YSP regulars. It should be fun – and we’re exploring a couple of new venues to us, separated by about 1,000 years of architectural history.”

After the St Mary’s performances (7.30pm, September 22; 3pm and 7.30pm, September 23), Shakespeare’s Songs will switch to the thoroughly modern Super Sustainable Centre, Derwenthorpe, Osbaldwick, on September 24 at 7.30pm.

YSP heads into the autumn on the back of Sonnets At The Bar taking over the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre’s secret garden from August 11 to 19. “We were blessed with dry weather and delighted with the response, drawing a record 600+ audience,” says chair Tony Froud.

The next production will be the first of YSP’s expanded mission to embrace works by Shakespeare’s contemporaries in the project’s second cycle, namely Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from October 17 to 21 at 7.30pm nightly plus a 2.30pm Saturday matinee.

Edward II is king at last. Determined to shower his loved ones with gifts, he summons his exiled lover, Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall. King, court and country are intoxicated by their passions, whereupon the Queen takes her own lover and the nation is torn apart in a merciless divorce.

Their child watches from the shadows, desperate to mend his broken family and nation, or bring them to heel, in Marlowe’s poetic play about power and love: who has it, who seeks it and who suffers for it.

Box office: Shakespeare’s Songs, yorkshakespeareproject.org/shakespeares-songs or, if available, on the door; Edward II, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Maurice Crichton in his role as fisherman Hector in York Shakespeare Project’s Sonnets At The Bar in the Bar Convent ‘s secret garden last month. Picture: John Saunders

Shakespeare’s Songs: the cast in full

Maurice Crichton, York stage regular, fresh from a summer playing Sir William Maleverer in York Theatre Royal’s Sovereign and Hector the fisherman in YSP’s Sonnets At The Bar.

Emma Scott, from YSP’s Macbeth and The Rape Of Lucrece.

Tracey Rea, musical theatre stalwart ( such as York Stage’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, April 2023).

Meg Ollerhead, from YSP’s The Tempest and York Mystery Plays.

Lowen Frampton, from York company Baron Productions and YSP’s The Tempest .

Michael Maybridge, from YSP’s The Tempest and York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust’s A Nativity For York and The Baptism Play from the Mysteries.

Sally Maybridge, from YSP’s The Tempest and York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust’s A Nativity For York and The Baptism Play from the Mysteries.

Tim Olive-Besly, from YSP’s The Tempest.

Nick Jones. “Apparently I’ve been in more YSP plays than anyone else, most recently The Tempest,” he says.

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REVIEW: York Shakespeare Project in Sonnets At The Bar, Bar Convent garden, Blossom Street, York, until Saturday ***

Helen Wilson’s Sister Augusta looks to the heavens…but the weather forecast is encouraging for the rest of the garden run at the Bar Convent. Picture: John Saunders

FIRST came the Sonnet Walks around York from 2014 to 2019; next, the alliterative Sit-down Sonnets at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, and now Sonnets At The Bar, in its third year in Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre’s “secret” garden.

Or not-so-secret, judging by the word-of-mouth popularity of York Shakespeare Project’s “entertaining and accessible” summer season of sonnets in the open air, delivered to the accompaniment of a complimentary drink in the admission price.

Each year’s splay of sonnets is supported by an overarching theme, devised this summer by Helen Wilson, who has been prompted by the Bar Convent’s convivial hospitality to conjure the merry-go-round whirl of a York hotel’s comings and goings, eccentric staff and guests on a mission in the rush of the summer wedding and tour traffic.

Judith Ireland’s receptionist Bronwyn and Harold Mozley’s Mr S, the hotel manager on a short fuse, in York Shakespeare Project’s Sonnets At The Bar. Picture: John Saunders

Judging by the character she plays – the hen-tending, egg-collecting Sister Augusta – she has been inspired too by the presence of the resident community of sisters at England’s oldest surviving Catholic convent.

The convent garden serves as the hotel garden, where York Shakespeare Project’s nine sonneteers make their entrances and exits and re-entries and re-exits too on the breakfast-is-served morning after the wedding the night before. The setting is modern-day, the language likewise until each sonneteer’s conversational thoughts elide into a Shakespearean sonnet and then back out again as each character reveals a secret.

First up is YSP veteran Frank Brogan’s deluded, ageing romantic rock god – long white hair, long dark coat, head band and gold chain – from the wedding party band, who is wondering what happened to the young sprat he failed to hook last night. His Flash Hunter struts and frets his five minutes upon the stage, gone in a flash, the failed hunter, returning later, still forlorn.

Nigel Evans’s Colin, the DJ with the platter patter, in Sonnets At The Bar. Picture: John Saunders

Your reviewer has been asked not to give too much away, as to what happens. Let’s focus on the coterie of characters instead. Judith Ireland takes willingly to a more comedic role than usual, Ireland turning Welsh to play the hotel’s psychic receptionist, Bronwyn Jones, with her vibes and talk of auras and energies.

Harold Mozley’s enervated hotel manager Mr S (for Scruton) is a no-nonsense sort, a stickler for timekeeping. We are told he “barks a lot”, but in this case his bite is even worse than his bite, especially if you happen to be tour guide Stevie Sykes from Betterway Travel, a dodgy East End firm run by Reggie and Ronnie. “Cut the bunny and hop it,” Mr S advises.

Director and YSP chair Tony Froud makes much of this slippery, often apologetic character, who turns the audience into his tour party.

Sarah Dixon’s wedding guest Susie (seated) in discussion with Diana Wyatt’s mother-of-the-bride Moira. Picture: John Saunders

We meet the agitated mother of the bride, Diana Wyatt’s mortified Moira; debutant sonneteer Sarah Dixon’s wedding guest Susie, as she encounters a former crush with hopes of re-kindling that flame, and the morning DJ with a cheesy lyric in every thought, Nigel Evans’s chirpy Colin.

Enter YSP producer Maurice Crichton’s “derelict” Scottish-born lobsterman Hector, in his eye patch and rather fetching fisherman’s gansey jumper, talking of coastal erosion at his adopted home of Skipsea. Aha, climate change comes to Sonnets At The Bar.

Hector has a lunch date, one to whom he will pick up a guitar to sing one of Crichton’s own compositions, a maritime ballad with a kiss at its heart and the chance for an audience singalong.

Not a patch on his subsequent performances: Maurice Crichton’s lobsterman Hector at the dress rehearsal. The eyewear would be added on the first night. Picture: John Saunders

Northern humour, pathos, morsels of gossip, a missing guest, assorted love stories and spilled beans are stirred into the hotel melting pot by Wilson and Froud as each vignette adds more spice. As for which sonnets feature, you will have to attend to find out.

Next up from York Shakespeare Project will be Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II, to be staged at Theatre@41, Monkgate, from October 17 to 21, as YSP spreads its wings beyond the Bard.

York Shakespeare Project presents Sonnets At The Bar in the Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre garden until August 19, 6pm and 7.30pm, plus a 4.30pm Saturday performance. Box office: yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/sonnets-at-the-bar-2023/ or 01904 623568.