Tag: Military wives

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York Theatre Royal nominated for first time for Theatre of the Year in The Stage Awards

Actor-director Gary Oldman and York Theatre Royal chief executive officer Paul Crewes in the auditorium when first planning Krapp’s Last Tape. Picture: Gisele Schmidt

YORK Theatre Royal has been shortlisted for Theatre of the Year in The Stage Awards 2026.

Award winners will be crowned at the Royal Opera House, London, on January 12 2026, when the Theatre Royal will be competing against fellow nominees Almeida Theatre, London, Nottingham Playhouse, Royal Court Theatre, London, Soho Theatre, London, and Watermill Theatre, Newbury.

Chief executive officer Paul Crewes says: “2025 has been such an incredible year for York Theatre Royal and we are so proud to be shortlisted for The Stage’s Theatre of the Year.

“It is the first time for us, and this recognition is a real testament to the remarkable work from the whole York Theatre Royal (YTR) staff team, as well as the talented creative, production and technical teams, performers, stage managers, practitioners, producers, collaborators, partners, funders and volunteers who have worked with us and supported us this year.”

Gary Oldman on stage at York Theatre Royal in Samuel Beckett’s monodrama Krapp’s Last Tape. Picture: Gisele Schmidt

Over the past 18 months, the YTR’s increasing focus has been on building up an ambitious programme of produced work, a strategy spearheaded by Crewes since taking up his CEO role in October 2023.

This year, award-winning actor Gary Oldman worked with York Theatre Royal on Krapp’s Last Tape, directing himself and designing the set for Samuel Beckett’s  melancholic monodrama from April 14 to May 17. He would end the year with a knighthood for outstanding services to drama; producers York Theatre Royal with the award nomination.

They will be in tandem again for Krapp’s Last Tape’s transfer to the Royal Court Theatre, London, from May 8 to 30 2026 as part of the Chelsea theatre’s 70th anniversary celebrations.

Sir Gary started his professional career at York Theatre Royal in 1979-1980 and talked of completing the cycle when he made his return 45 years later. “This was an amazing opportunity for audiences, and York Theatre Royal ensured ticket prices remained accessible,” says Crewes,

Debbie Isitt’s Military Wives – The Musical: Premiered at York Theatre Royal in September. Picture: Danny With A Camera

York Theatre Royal’s revival of The Railway Children with Keighley & Worth Valley Railway for Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture at Oxenhope Station

“The show was a huge success, attracted international press and welcomed people from across the world – 48 per cent of audiences surveyed were coming to the theatre for the first time and every performance sold out. ”

The world premiere of Military Wives – The Musical, written and directed by BAFTA-award winning Debbie Isitt, was another landmark production from September 10 to 27. Isitt’s  musical drama told the story of the first Military Wives choir and the YTR worked closely with choirs across the country to tell their stories through marketing. Feedback found that 93 per cent of those surveyed gave the show five stars. 

Crewes’s ambitious plans to expand the YTR programme of produced work will continue with upcoming spring season productions of a revival of The Secret Garden – The Musical, directed by Tony award winner and former YTR artistic director John Doyle and the world premiere of The Psychic from Andy Nyman and Jeremy Dyson, the writers of Ghost Stories.  

More widely, the YTR aims to take its work across the UK and the globe, best exemplified by collaborating with Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture to bring director Damien Cruden and York writer Mike Kenny’s Olivier Award-winning stage adaptation of E Nesbit’s The Railway Children  back to the tracks at Oxenhope Station on the Keighley & Worth Valley Railway from July 15 to September 7.

Billy Heathwood, left, and Anthony Jardine (as Seebohm Rowntree) in this summer’s community production, His Last Report. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Community is at the heart of the YTR too, built around a proactive creative engagement programme that  reaches people from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages, from youth theatre for age five upwards through to adult acting and participation programmes.

At the epicentre this summer was the community co-production of Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s His Last Report, a premiere staged with York company Riding Lights from July 19 to August 3 that highlighted the life and work of York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree.

This local story with national impact brought together 300 volunteers on and off stage, including  a cast of more than 100. To ensure cost was not a barrier, YTR implemented a pay-what-you-can pricing strategy for opening night that resulted in a sold-out performance.  

In 2025, York Theatre Royal secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and Garfield Weston Foundation to expand community outreach activities to reach more people through the Sweet Legacies project, putting on fun, free and inclusive activities connected to the Rowntree family and legacy across the city.  

Enjoying the Sweet Legacies project at York Theatre Royal. Picture: James Drury

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Lives of military wives left behind are nothing to sing about in Kevin Dyer’s play

The poster artwork for Farnham Maltings’ tour of Kevin Dyer’s The Man Who Left Is Not The Man Who Came Home

HELMSLEY Arts Centre will be the only Yorkshire stop for Kevin Dyer’s new play on the lives of military wives, The Man Who Left Is Not The Man Who Came Home.

“Britain has armed forces in many countries. Their partners are waiting at home for them to come back,” says writer-director Dyer, ahead of the March 14 performance by the Farnham Maltings company. “Some listen to the news, some don’t. Some have affairs, some don’t. Some sing in choirs and put on a brave face, some don’t. All of them find a way to get on with it.”

Dyer began his research by chatting to women who had been married to men who had gone to war. “Most of us with partners say goodbye to them when they go to work, but we know that they’re going to come back. Not so, if you’re a ‘military wife’,” he says.

“It soon became clear in my conversations that the pressures on the pair of them – the wife and her man – were immense, extraordinary and not at all like civvy street.”

Dyer knew quickly that he had no wish to write about the experience of being “over there”. “There are lots of documentaries and pieces of semi-fiction that have covered that,” he reasons. “But the stories of the women who watched their man go, spent time thinking, wondering, hoping, coping whilst he was away, then experienced him coming back home, were vivid, inspiring, and largely untold.”

He had a few “basic questions” for the women whose men went to war. “What was it like before he went? What was it like saying goodbye? What was it like once he’d gone? What was it like the moment he came back? What was it like after the first buzz of his return had passed?” he asked.

“I heard stories of love, hate, betrayal, uselessness, kids, mates, denial, madness,” says Dyer. “The stories are varied and never simple.”

The Man Who Left Is Not the Man Who Came Home is the product of more than 100 one-to-one interviews with soldiers and their wives, where secrets, regrets and experiences have been shared for the first time.

The resulting play tells the story of Ashley, a young British soldier, and his wife Chloe just before, during and after he is posted to serve in Afghanistan.

“Chloé’s future hopes come with imminent challenges,” says Dyer. “Being married to the military means facing deployment. Behind closed doors, there is tenderness and humour too, but as the day of Ashley’s departure comes ever closer, anxiety and confrontations multiply.

Dyer’s story of resilience, hope and change – and knowing that the man you love, who is going to war, might not come back ­– will be performed by Stephanie Greer and Sam C Wilson with military wife Sam Trussler. An open conversation on the themes of the play and the country we live in will follow the 7.30pm performance.

Dyer’s play, both innovative and emotional, carries this warning: “Though we hope that the experience of the play will be moving, relatable or cathartic, and there’s no intention to shock, there’s a chance that, for some audience members, it could incite emotions and memories that are upsetting or strong feelings about war.”

Tickets are on sale on 01439 771700 or at helmsleyartscentre.co.uk. Age guidance: 14+ only.