Tag: Milton Rooms Malton

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 8, from Gazette & Herald

Mark Simmons: Expertly crafted one-liners and off-the-cuff jinks with the audience at Pocklington Arts Centre

FISHING community memories, an abbey light installation and an exhibition addressing loneliness make for a diverse week ahead in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations. 

One-liners of the week: Mark Simmons, Jest To Impress, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm

CANTERBURY jester Mark Simmons won Dave’s Joke of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 with this gag: “I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship but I bottled it”. Now he follows up his 200-date Quip Off The Mark two-year UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand tour with Jest To Impress, a new show packed with one-liners, alongside his trademark off-the-cuff jokes based on random audience suggestions.

Simmons also hosts the Jokes With Mark Simmons podcast, where he invites fellow comics, such as Gary Delaney, Sarah Millican and Milton Jones, to discuss jokes that, for whatever reason, would not work. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The poster for What The Sea Saw’s fishing stories at Helmsley Arts Centre

Rehearsed reading of the week: 1812 Theatre Company presents What The Sea Saw, Helmsley Arts Centre, Jean Kershaw Auditorium, tonight and tomorrow, 7.30pm

SET in Scarborough’s Bottom End and capturing the verbatim first-hand testimonies of remaining members of the fishing families, Helena Fox’s new play recounts the tragic events of the 1954 Lifeboat Disaster through the eyes of witnesses, as well as capturing the lost cultures and working practices of the coastal community, including the role of women in skeining and baiting.

Directed by Heather Findlay, the fundraising event for Scarborough RNLI features Stamford Bridge’s Big Shanty Crew’s performance of Scarborough 54. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Imitating The Dog light up Selby Abbey for three days of Selby Light 2026

Installation of the week: Selby Light 2026, Selby Abbey, tomorrow to Saturday, 6pm to 9pm

SELBY Abbey will be the setting for Homeward, Leeds company Imitating The Dog’s large-scale installation celebrating our different stories and the unified feeling of finding home, framed by the question How Did You Get Here?

Inside, the installation continues as a walk-through experience, complemented by Jazmin Morris’s Through The Liquid Crystal Display, a series of visual code illustrations inspired by Selby Abbey. The trail then extends into the town centre with works by Selby College students. Admission is free.

The 20ft Squid Blues Band: Combining 1950s’ Chicago style with 1960s’ blues explosion at Milton Rooms, Malton

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents The 20ft Squid Blues Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm

THE 20ft Squid Blues Band, from Sheffield, play upbeat, fast, irreverent blues, combining elements of the 1950s’ Chicago style with the more wayward aspects of the 1960s’ blues explosion.

They mix self-penned songs with numbers made famous by Howling Wolf and Little Walter, while throwing in artists not so obviously from the blues tradition, such as Tom Waits and Prince. Expect eye-popping harmonica, thundering bass, intricate beats and choice guitar. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Nick Doody: Topping Hilarity Bites Comedy Club line-up at Milton Rooms, Malton

Comedy bill of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club, Nick Doody, Ed Purnell and Will Duggan, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm

IN the first Hilarity Bites bill of 2026, Nick Doody will be joined by Ed Purnell and Will Duggan. Doody first performed as a student in the 1990s when he supported Bill Hicks at Hicks’ request, since when he has performed all over the world and written for Joan Rivers, Lenny Henry, Dame Edna Everage and Mock The Week regulars aplenty.

In a clever spin, Purnell, Ecuador’s numero uno comedian, delivers his set in Spanish with a sprinkling of English, whereupon audiences realise they can understand him without speaking his mother tongue. Duggan is a quick and witty host. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Phoenix Dance: Presenting world premiere of Interplay at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Drew Forsyth

Dance show of the week: Phoenix Dance Theatre, Interplay, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2pm, 7.30pm

LEEDS company Phoenix Dance Theatre’s world premiere tour of Interplay opens at York Theatre Royal, featuring dynamic works by Travis Knight and James Pett (Small Talk), Ed Myhill (Why Are People Clapping?!) Yusha-Marie Sorzano & Phoenix artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis (Suite Release) and Willis’s Next Of Kin. 

Across duet and ensemble works, Interplay explores themes of duality and shared authorship, revealing how distinct artistic voices can intersect to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Each piece offers a unique perspective, united by a bold physicality and a deep curiosity about human relationships, rhythm and collective experience. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Holly Taymar: Performing the best of Eva Cassidy’s back catalogue at Milton Rooms, Malton

Tribute gig of the week: Holly Taymar Sings Eva Cassidy, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 8pm

YORK singer-songwriter Holly Taymar turns the spotlight on Eva Cassidy, one of the most beloved voices of the 20th century. Revelling in Cassidy’s blend of folk, jazz and blues, she performs renditions of Fields Of Gold, Songbird, Over The Rainbow and Autumn Leaves.

“My show show is not an impersonation,” says Taymar. “It’s a heartfelt homage to an artist who left a lasting impact on my development as an artist and on the world of music.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Loneliness Is Not A Dirty Word: Exhibition collaboration between Hannah Turlington and local and wider community at Helmsley Arts Centre

Exhibition launch of the week: Hannah Turlington, Loneliness Is Not A Dirty Word, Helmsley Arts Centre, March 3 to May 1

LONELINESS Is Not A Dirty Word is a collaboration between artist Hannah Turlington and the local and wider community, involving sessions where participants were invited to share their own experiences of loneliness by creating pieces of visual art in a variety of mediums.

The resulting exhibition aims to create space for the viewer to consider their own narratives of loneliness and reduce the stigma associated with being lonely.

Del Amitri’s Justin Currie, left, and Iain Harvie: Cherry-picking from four decades of songs at York Barbican in November

Gig announcement of the week: Del Amitri, Past To Present UK Tour 2026, November 16

GLASGOW band Del Amitri will open their 17-date Past To Present autumn tour at York Barbican, where core members Justin Currie and Iain Harvie will mark four decades of songs, stories and live shows. Ticket will go on general sale on Friday at 9.30am at www.gigsandtours.com, www.ticketmaster.co.uk and www.delamitri.info.

The career-spanning set list will chart their early breakthroughs, classic singles such as Nothing Ever Happens, Always The Last To Know and Roll To Me, fan favourites and recording renaissance after an 18-year hiatus with 2021’s Fatal Mistakes.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 7, from Gazette & Herald

Victoria Delaney in rehearsal for York Settlement Community Players’ Blue Remembered Hills. Picture: John Saunders

FROM Dennis Potter to Stephen Sondheim, showman  P.T. Barnum to a Phil Collins tribute, Charles Hutchinson is spoilt for cultural choice amid the incessant rainfall.

Play of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Blue Remembered Hills, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight to February 28, 7.45pm, except Sunday and Monday; February 21 and 28, 2pm matinees

FLEUR Hebditch, former Stephen Joseph Theatre dramaturg for a decade, makes her Settlement Players directorial debut with Dennis Potter’s stage adaptation of his 1979 BBC Play For Today drama.

Seven children are playing in the Forest of Dean countryside on a hot summer’s day in 1943. Each aged seven, they mimic and reflect the adult world at war around them. Their innocence is short lived, however, as reality hits. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Blue Remembered Hills director Fleur Hebditch

Spooky adventure of the week: Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in The Addams Family Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow  to Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee

YORK company Flying Ducks Youth Theatre undertake a whimsical, spooky musical adventure into the delightfully dark world of the hauntingly eccentric Addams Family on a night of unexpected revelations.

When Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normal” boy, chaos ensues. As the two families converge over dinner, secrets are revealed and the true meaning of family is put to the test. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Kathryn Williams: Opening Mystery Park Tour at Pocklington Arts Centre

Time’s shifting tides of the week: Kathryn Williams, Mystery Park Tour 2026, Pocklington Arts Centre, Friday, 8pm

KATHRYN Williams, the Liverpool-born, Newcastle-based folk singer-songwriter, novelist, podcaster, tutor and artist long celebrated for her quiet emotional depth and lyrical precision, promotes her 15th studio album, last September’s Mystery Park, with support and special guest guitarist Matt Deighton in tow.

Opening her 12-date tour in Pocklington, 2000 Mercury Music Prize nominee Williams marks 27 years of diverse, multi-faceted music projects with a reflective, textured work, made in the quiet margins of motherhood and memory, shaped by time’s shifting tides. “This is the most personal record I’ve made,” she says. “The artwork is my own painting, based on the willow pattern from my grandmother’s tea sets. Each part of it ties into the songs: a map of memories.” Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Megson’s Debs Hanna and Stu Hanna: Performing at Helmsley Arts Centre on Friday

Folk gig of the week: Megson, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

FOUR-TIME BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards nominees and double Spiral Earth Awards winners Megson combine heavenly vocals, lush harmonies and driving rhythmic guitars, topped off with northern humour. 

Hailing from Teesside and now based in Cambridgeshire, husband-and-wife folk roots duo Debs Hanna (vocals, whistle, piano accordion) and Stu Hanna (guitar, mandola, banjo) followed up 2023 studio album What Are We Trying To Say with Megson – Live In Teesside, recorded at Stockton-on-Tees Arc in 2025. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Ryedale film event of the week: Summit Stories, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm

THIS evening of adventure films to raise funds for the Scarborough & Ryedale branch of Mountain Rescue England & Wales features a variety of exciting off-piste adventures, such as ski mountaineering, mountain climbing and mountain biking.

Created by elite athletes from around the world, the Faction Collective’s 150 Hours From Home, Blair Aitken of British Backcountry’s 10 In A Weekend, Commencal’s Dolomites and Jessie Leong’s The Last Forgotten Art contain scenes to take the breath away. The mountain rescue team, by the way, supports adventurers when things go wrong and conducts  day-to-day searches and rescues off the beaten track. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Seriously Collins: Taking Phil Collins at Face Value in tribute to solo and Genesis years at Milton Rooms, Malton

Tribute gig of the week: Seriously Collins – A Tribute To Phil Collins & Genesis, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm

RETURNING by popular demand, Seriously Collins relive the hits of Phil Collins and Genesis, taking a musical journey through the songs that defined an era, echoing Collins’s soulful solo sound and re-creating the energy, intricacy and intensity of his more expansive original band. Expect “no gimmicks, just a genuine tribute to one of the greatest artists of our time”. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Lee Mead, centre, as showman P. T. Barnum, surrounded by actor musicians and circus acts in Barnum: The Circus Musical, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith

Touring musical of the week: Bill Kenwright Ltd in Barnum: The Circus Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

MUSICALS leading man Lee Mead plays the most challenging role of his career, stepping into P. T. Barnum’s shoes and on to the tightrope as the legendary circus showman, businessman and politician in Jonathan O’Boyle’s touring production of the Broadway musical.

Mead leads the cast of more than 20 actor-musicians (playing 150 instruments), acrobats and international circus acts as, hand in hand with wife Charity, Barnum finds his life and career twisting and turning the more he schemes and dreams his way to headier heights. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Maggie Smales’s Madame Armfeldt and Libby Greenhill’s Fredrika rehearsing for Wharfemede Productions’ A Little Night Music

Sondheim show of the week: Wharfemede Productions in A Little Night Music, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

SET in turn-of-the-century Sweden, A Little Night Music explores the tangled web of love, desire, and regret through Stephen Sondheim’s signature blend of sophistication, humour and hauntingly beautiful music, not least the timeless Send In The Clowns.

Directed by Helen “Bells” Spencer, Wharfemede Productions’ show combines the York company’s hallmark attention to emotional depth, musical high quality and character-driven ensemble storytelling. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Levellers: Revisiting Levelling The Land at York Barbican this autumn. Picture: Steve Gullick

Gig announcement of the week: Levellers, Levelling The Land 35th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, October  29

BRIGHTON folk-rockers Levellers have been among Britain’s most enduring and best-loved bands for nearly 40 years, their success built in part on the anthems that comprised their platinum-selling second album Levelling The Land, whose 35th anniversary falls on October 7.

To mark the occasion, Levellers will head out on a UK and European tour from October 16 to November 21, playing many songs from that album, alongside fan favourites from their extensive catalogue. Hotly tipped Essex punk duo The Meffs will support. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am from https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/levellers-2026/.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 6, from Gazette & Herald

Sally Ann Matthews in the role of supermarket boss Patricia in Here & Now, The Steps Musical, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Danny Kaan

MUSICALS aplenty and a posthumous debut exhibition for two York artists are among Charles Hutchinson’s choices for February fulfilment.

Comedy and Tragedy show of the week: Here & Now, The Steps Musical, Grand Opera House, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm; Wednesday & Saturday, 2.30pm; Sunday, 3pm

PRODUCED by Steps, ROYO and Pete Waterman, Here & Now weaves multiple dance-pop hits by the London group into Shaun Kitchener’s story of supermarket worker Caz and her fabulous friends dreaming of the perfect summer of love.

However, when Caz discovers her “happy ever after” is a lie, and the gang’s attempts at romance are a total tragedy, they wonder whether love will ever get a hold on their hearts? Or should they all just take a chance on a happy ending? Look out for Coronation Street star Sally Ann Matthews as supermarket boss Patricia. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Josh Woodgate’s Pilate in Inspired By Theatre’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter

Boundary-pushing theatre show of the week: Inspired By Theatre in Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK company Inspired By Theatre’s gritty, cinematic and unapologetically powerful staging of Jesus Christ Superstar presents director Dan Crawfurd-Porter’s radical new vision of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1971 musical.

On Gi Vasey’s shifting building-block set design, part temple, part battleground, the story unfolds through visceral movement, haunting imagery and a pulsating live score, capturing Jesus’s final days as loyalties fracture, followers demand revolution and rulers fear rebellion. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Annabel van Griethuysen’s Miss Hannigan in York Light Opera Company’s Annie. Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography

The sun’ll come out tomorrow: York Light Opera Company in Annie, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow until February 21, 7.30pm, except February 15 and 16; matinees on February 14, 15 and 21, 2.30pm; February 19, 2pm

MARTYN Knight directs York Light Opera Company  for the last time in the company’s first staging of Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan’s Annie in 25 years.

This heart-warming tale of hope, family and second chances, packed with such knockout songs as Tomorrow, Hard Knock Life and You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile, stars  Annabel van Griethuysen as Miss Hannigan, Neil Wood as Daddy Warbucks and  Hope Day and Harriet Wells, sharing the role of Annie. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies: Northern English folk at Helmsley Arts Centre

Folk gig of the week: Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

JEZ Lowe & The Bad Pennies have been playing their northern English and Celtic folk and acoustic songs and tunes for more than two decades around folk festivals, clubs and concert stages, while making a dozen albums.

Touring the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Holland and Belgium, as well as Great Britain and Ireland, singer, guitarist and composer Lowe performs with fiddle player, vocalist and Badapple Theatre writer-director Kate Bramley, Northumbrian small-pipes, accordion and whistle player Andy May and fretless bassist David De La Haye. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

The poster for Al Murray’s All You Need Is Guv tour show at York Barbican

Comedy shake-up of the week: Al Murray, All You Need Is Guv, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

HEY cool cats! Hot on the heels of last year’s Guv Island tour of these green and groovy isles, The Guvnor is back with a new stand-up show for 2026. There’s no denying the world’s a mess, daddio, but here comes a glimmer of hope as the globe’s favourite pub landlord returns with his common sense hot-takes for the masses, offering a much-needed truth tonic for these whacked out and troubled times. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Fladam Theatre duo Florence Poskitt and Adam Sowter in Astro-Norma And The Cosmic Piano at Helmsley Arts Centre

Children’s show of half-term week: Fladam Theatre in Astro-Norma And The Cosmic Piano, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2.30pm

FLADAM Theatre, the actor-musician York duo of Adam Sowter and Florence Poskitt, returns with an intergalactic musical adventure ideal for ages four to ten. Meet out-of-this-world pianist Norma, who dreams of going into space, like her heroes Mae Jemison and Neil Armstrong, but children can’t go into space, can they? Especially children with a very important piano recital coming up.

When a bizarre-looking contraption crash-lands in the garden, is it a bird? Or a plane? No and twice no, it’s a piano, but no ordinary piano. This is a cosmic piano! Maybe Norma’s dreams can come true in a 45-minute show packed with awesome aliens, rib-tickling robots, and interplanetary puns that will have children shooting for the stars. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Crime fiction author Elly Griffiths: Discussing new novel The Killing Time at Milton Rooms, Malton

Kemps Books’ literary event of the week: An Evening With Elly Griffiths, Milton Rooms, Malton, February 16, 7.30pm

ELLY Griffiths, award-winning crime fiction author of The Ruth Galloway Mysteries, The Brighton Mysteries and The Postscript Murders, discusses new novel The Killing Time and the inspirations behind her time-twisting mysteries, compelling characters and gripping storytelling. Expect lively conversation, fascinating insights and a book-signing finale. Tickets: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Jodie Comer’s lawyer Tessa in Prime Facie, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Rankin

Recommended but sold out already: Jodie Comer in Prima Facie, Grand Opera House, York, February 17 to 21, 7.30pm plus 3pm Thursday and Saturday matinees

JODIE Comer returns to her Olivier and Tony Award-winning role as lawyer Tessa in the “Something Has To Change” tour of Suzie Miller’s Prime Facie in her first appearance on a North Yorkshire stage since her professional debut in Scarborough as Ruby in the Stephen Joseph Theatre’s world premiere of Fiona Evans’s The Price Of Everything in April 2010.

Comer’s Tessa is a thoroughbred young barrister who loves to win, working her way up from working-class origins to be at the top of her game: prosecuting, cross examining and lighting up the shadows of doubt in any case. An unexpected event, however, forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge. Box office for returns only: atgtickets.com/york.

Craig David: PerformingTS5 DJ set at York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend in July

Gig announcement of the week: Craig David presents TS5, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Knavesmire, York, July 24

SOUTHAMPTON singer-songwriter and DJ Craig David will complete this summer’s music line-up at York Racecourse after earlier announcements of Becky Hill’s June 27 show and Tom Grennan’s July 25 concert.

David, 44, will present his TS5 DJ set on Music Showcase Friday’s double bill of racing and old-skool anthems, from R&B to Swing Beat, Garage to Bashment, plus current House hits, when he combines his singing and MC skills. Tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk; no booking fees; free parking on race day.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 5, from Gazette & Herald

Two into one won’t go: Lisa Faulkner’s Allie, left, and Kym Marsh’s Hedy in Single White Female. Picture: Chris Bishop

AN update of a Nineties’ psychological thriller and a panto dame’s transformation into a dog top Charles Hutchinson’s  cultural picks for early February and beyond.

World premiere tour of the week: Single White Female, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees today and Saturday

SCREEN actress, 2010 Celebrity MasterChef winner, TV presenter, chef and cookery book author Lisa Faulkner returns to the stage for the first time in 21 years in Rebecca Reid’s darkly humorous stage adaptation of psychological thriller Single White Female, now updated to the social-media age.

Faulkner’s recently divorced mum Allie is balancing being a single parent with the launch of her tech start-up. When she decides to advertise for a lodger to help make ends meet, Kym Marsh’s Hedy offers her a lifeline, but as their lives intertwine, boundaries blur and a seemingly perfect arrangement begins to unravel with chilling consequences. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Viking illumination: Colour & Light celebrates Eric Bloodaxe at York Castle Museum. Picture: David Harrison

Illumination launch of the week: Colour & Light, York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower, York, today to February 22, 6pm to 9pm

YORK BID is bringing Colour & Light back for 2026 on its biggest ever canvas. For the first time, two of York’s landmark buildings will be illuminated together when York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower become the combined canvas for a fully choreographed projection show, transforming the Eye of York.

Presented in partnership with York Museums Trust and English Heritage, the continuous, looped, ten-minute show will bring York’s historic characters to life in a family-friendly projection open to all for free; no ticket required.

Matt Tapp’s ‘Wild’ Bill Hickok and Helen Gallagher’s ‘Calamity’ Jane in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Calamity Jane

Musical of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Calamity Jane, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

HELEN Gallagher’s tough talkin’, gun-totin’ heroine ‘Calamity’ Jane and Matt Tapp’s former peace-officer ‘Wild’ Bill Hickok lead director Sophie Cooke’s cast for Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster’s musical Calamity James.

Deadwood’s citizens are content with their ways of life: supporting their fort of soldiers and socialising at the beloved Golden Garter saloon. However, when a new face blows in from the Windy City to create a stir, friendships will be formed, long-time loyalties tested and perhaps even secret love revealed. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Alexander Flanagan Wright in Wright & Grainger’s Helios at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Ancient & modern drama of the week: Wright & Grainger in Helios, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

EASINGWOLD theatre-makers Alexander Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger begin their new partnership with Theatre@41 by re-visiting Helios, wherein a lad lives half way up a historic hill, a teenager is on a road trip to the city in a stolen car and a boy is driving a chariot, pulling the sun across the sky.

In Wright’s story of the sun god’s son, Helios transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound around the winding roads of rural England and into the everyday living of a towering city. “It’s a story about life, the invisible monuments we build to it, and the little things that leave big marks,” he says. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Robin Simpson in rehearsal for Catherine Dyson’s The Last Picture, premiering at York Theatre Royal Studio

Solo show of the week: The Last Picture, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow to February 14, except February 8, 7.45pm, plus Wednesday and Saturday 2pm matinees

ROBIN Simpson follows up his sixth season as York Theatre Royal’s pantomime dame by playing a dog in York Theatre Royal, ETT and An Tobar and Mull Theatre’s premiere of Catherine Dyson’s The Last Picture, directed by John R Wilkinson.

Imagine yourself in a theatre in 2026. Now picture yourself as a Year 9 student on a school trip, and then as a citizen of Europe in 1939 as history takes its darkest turn. While you imagine, emotional support dog Sam (Simpson’s character) will be by your side in a play about empathy – its power and limits and what it asks of us – built around a story of our shared past, present and the choices we face today. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Simeon Walker: Inviting his audience to gather around the piano at Helmsley Arts Centre

Pianist of the week: Simeon Walker, An Evening Around The Piano, Helmlsey Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

LEEDS modern classical pianist and composer Simeon Walker performs in Great Britain and Europe, while notching 50 million streams across online platforms and having his music played on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM.

Walker, who has a keen interest in jazz, folk and ambient music too, has collaborated on interdisciplinary work with artist Mary Griffiths, Portuguese choreographer Sara Afonso, writer Emma White and filmmakers Will Killen and Ben Cohen, plus BBC Radio 4 and University of Leeds. His concerts span moments of quiet, gentle solitude to boisterous, flowing exuberance. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Julie Carter: Addressing themes of feminism, land rights, ageism and ableism, history and literature in The Dreamtime Fellrunner

Wellbeing on the run: Julie Carter, The Dreamtime Fellrunner, Milton Rooms, Malton, February 12, 7.30pm

IN her first theatre show, poetry and creative non-fiction author Julie Carter charts her running exploits on the Lakeland fells in this moving and humorous account of being an athlete with a physical disability in the form of a developmental disease of the spine.

Presenting fell running as a type of land art and spiritual practice, Carter emphasises body-mind-spirit-place connections while addressing themes of feminism, land rights, ageism and ableism, history and literature, in a 60-minute immersive performance supported by original music, topped off by second-half opportunities for discussion and reflections on wellbeing and the ways we inhabit our environments. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Mark Stafford: Solo performance at the double in The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde at Helmsley Arts Centre

Split personality of the month: Mark Stafford in The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Helmsley Arts Centre, February 21, 7.30pm

PUBLISHED in 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic mystery tale of the timeless conflict between good and evil is performed by Mark Stafford in his compelling and faithful adaptation.

In fog-bound Victorian London, respectable lawyer Gabriel Utterson is concerned by a strange clause in his friend Henry Jekyll’s will, whereupon he investigates the sinister Edward Hyde, Jekyll’s unlikely protégé. Convinced that Jekyll and Hyde’s relationship is founded on blackmail, Utterson finds the truth to be far worse than he could have ever imagined. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

The poster for Saturday’s EQUUS UK Film & Arts Fest’s day of equine films at Helmsley Arts Centre

In Focus: EQUUS UK Film & Arts Fest, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, Block 1, 12 noon to 2.16pm; Block 2, 3.30pm to 5.07pm; Block 3, 7pm to 9.45pm

HELMSLEY Arts Centre, in collaboration with Ryedale Bridleways Group, presents the first British screening of the EQUUS UK Film & Arts Festival this weekend. 

Founded in 2013 by Illinois equestrian Lisa Diersen, who has spent her life in the company of horses, EQUUS aims to show the world how horses can bring everyone together regardless of race, age, gender, abilities or disabilities. 

Saturday’s event comprises two afternoon blocks of short films, exhibitions from Ryedale artists and an evening showing of the 96-minute feature film Big Star, The Nick Skelton Story.

Showing from 12 noon will be Horse & Human Connection, featuring Wings Of Angels, Healing Horses In Mongolia, Heart Of Compton and My Life Between The Reins.

The Wild Horse Collection, from 3.30pm, presents American Mustang (music video), Wild Heart  Mustang Book Project, Wild Horse Refuge “Dahtetse”, A Mustang Story promo, Okanagan Wild, Hellbent, Evoke and Renegade.

The Big Star Collections opens at 7pm with Healing In The Open, followed by Inside The In Gate and Unstable. After a 15-minute interval, Big Star will close the event.

Tickets for single blocks or the whole day are available on 01439 771700 or at helmsleyarts.co.uk.

An equine photograph from Valerie Mather’s 2025 trip to the USA

AMONG the exhibitors at Saturday’s EQUUS UK Film & Arts Fest event will be Yorkshire lawyer-tuned- portrait, documentary and travel photographer Valerie Mather.

“After a successful career in law, I retired early to pursue a lifelong passion for photography,” she says. “I learned to ride (English style) as a child but was brought up watching Western movies on television and longed to see for myself the real cowboys and cowgirls of the American West.

“That dream came true in 2025 when I visited the United States and spent time at the McCullough Peaks wild horse area and the Shoshone National Forest ranchlands in Wyoming. “

Another of Valerie Mather’s McCullough Peaks photographs on show at Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday

Did you know?

RYEDALE Bridleways Group (RBG) covers the Ryedale district and North York Moors National Park. Activities include fundraising events, such as equestrian talks and films. RBG works with local authorities to seek to resolve issues on bridleways and Countryside Access Service Unsurfaced Unclassified Roads, as well as carrying out practical work such as bridleway clearances and  surveys.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 4, from Gazette & Herald

A scene from Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker In Havana, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Tristram Kenton

CUBAN dance luminary Carlos  Acosta’s Havana reinvention of The Nutcracker tops  Charles Hutchinson’s latest selection of cultural highlights.

Dance show of the week: Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker In Havana, Grand Opera House, York, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

CAST illness has put paid to tonight and tomorrow’s performances, but dance superstar Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker In Havana will still turn up the heat in his modern Cuban twist on the snow-dusted 1892 Russian festive ballet on Friday and Saturday. Built on Cuban composer Pepe Gavilondo’s arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s score, Acosta moves the celebration of joy, life, love and family to modern-day Havana.

More than 20 dancers from Acosta’s Cuban company Acosta Danza perform the familiar story of a young girl transported to a magic world, but one newly incorporating the culture, history and music of his home country. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Tim Delap’s John Middleton and Kara Tointon’s Constance Middleton in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s The Constant Wife. Picture: Mihaela Bodlovic; set and co-costume designer Anna Fleischle; co-costume designer Cat Fuller

Play of the week: Royal Shakespeare Company in The Constant Wife, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday , 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

SET in 1927, The Constant Wife finds Constance as a very unhappy woman. “Nonsense,” says her mother, who insists “she eats well, sleeps well, dresses well and she’s losing weight. No woman can be unhappy in those circumstances”. 

Played by Kara Tointon, she is the perfect wife and mother, but her husband is equally devoted to his mistress, who just happens to be her best friend. Tamara Harvey directs the new adaptation by Home, I’m Darling playwright and Rivals television series writer Laura Wade. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Mishmash’s Ruby’s Worry: Easing worries at NCEM, York

Family show of the week: Mishmash: Ruby’s Worry, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, Saturday, 11.30am and 2.30pm

RUBY had always been happy, perfectly happy, until one day she discovered a worry. The more she tries to rid herself of that worry, the more it grows and grows. Eventually she meets a boy who has a worry too. Together they discover that everyone has worries, and that if you talk about them, they never hang around for long! Mishmash’s Ruby’s Worry is told through live music, song, puppetry and physical theatre, taking the audience on a delightful musical adventure. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Talent showcase of the week: HAC Studio Bar Open Mic Jan 2026, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

THIS social evening in Helmsley Arts Centre’s Studio Bar offers the opportunity to hear Ryedale musicians and artists perform. The bar will be open serving beer from Helmsley Brewery and Brass Castle Brewery, an assortment of gins, wines from Helmsley Wines and more. There is no need to book to listen or participate, just turn up.

Mountaineer Simon Yates, of Touching The Void fame, has sold out his My Mountain Life talk on Friday at 7.30pm. Box office for returns only: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Femme Fatale Faerytales: Telling Mary, Mary’s contrary tale

A homecoming, a haunting, a holy rebellion: Femme Fatale Faerytales present Mary, Mary, Fossgate Social, Fossgate, York, February 1 and 2, 8pm (doors 7pm)

MARY, Mary quite contrary, wouldn’t you like to know how her garden grows? Step into the fairytale world of Femme Fatale Faerytales as Sasha Elizabeth Parker unveils a dark, lyrical, feminist re-telling of an age-old classic. Part confession, part ritual, part bedtime story for grown-ups, Mary, Mary invites you to meet the woman behind the nursery rhyme in all her wild, untamed, contrary glory.

In her York debut, expect enchanting storytelling, poetic prophecy and a subversive twist on the tales you thought you knew on two intimate, atmospheric nights in one of York’s cult favourite haunts. Box office: wegottickets.com.

Packing in the acts for PAC Comedy Club line-up at Pocklington Arts Centre

Comedy gig of the week: PAC Comedy Club, Pocklington Arts Centre, February 5, 8pm

RICH Wilson, winner of the New Zealand Comedy Festival Best International Act award, tops the PAC Comedy Club bill next Thursday. He has performed at all the major UK comedy clubs, as well in New York and Las Vegas and at the Perth Fringe, Melbourne International Festival and Edinburgh Fringe.

Supporting Wilson will be Jonny Awsum, who shot to fame on Britain’s Got Talent with his high-energy musical comedy, and Yorkshireman Pete Selwood, who specialises in observational material with killer punchlines, introduced by surrealist compere and BBC New Comedian of the Year regional finalist Elaine Robertson. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The Yorkshire Gypsy Swing Collective: In full swing at Milton Rooms, Malton

Jazz gig of the week: The Yorkshire Gypsy Swing Collective, Milton Rooms, Malton, February 7, doors, 7.30pm

THIS gypsy jazz supergroup with musicians from all around Yorkshire plays music inspired by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli of the Quintette du Hot Club de France. 

The collective of Lewis Kilvington and Martin Chung, guitars, James Munroe, double bass, Derek Magee, violin, and Christine Pickard, clarinet, remains true to Django and Stephane’s spirit while pushing the genre of gypsy jazz forward into a modern sphere. Expect fast licks, burning ballads and even some Latin-inspired pieces. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Liz Foster: Exhibiting at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, from February 12

Exhibition launch: Liz Foster, Deep Among The Grasses, Rise:@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, February 12 to April 10

YORK artist Liz Foster’s new series of abstract paintings, Deep Among The Grasses, invites you into rich, expansive imagined spaces where she explores memory, landscape and the childhood feeling of being immersed in wild places.

Full of colour, feeling and atmosphere, this body of work is being shown together for the first time. Everyone is welcome at the 6pm to 9pm preview on February 12 when Leeds-born painter, teacher and mentor Liz will be in attendance.

Super Furry Animals: Playing first shows in ten years in 2026, including Live At York Museum Gardens

Gig announcement of the week: Live At York Museum Gardens present Super Furry Animals, York Museum Gardens, July 11

FUTURESOUND completes the line-up for its third Live At York Museum Gardens season with Welsh art-rock icons Super Furry Animals, celebrating more than 30 years together with multicolour hits and off-piste deep cuts, lovingly handpicked from  nine albums.

Gruff Rhys, Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Dafydd Ieuan and Guto Pryce are returning to the concert platform in 2026 for the first time in ten years. Joining them in York will be a quartet of special guests, unconventional kindred spirit Baxter Dury, compatriot indie-pop septet Los Campesinos!, fast-rising Nottingham alt-country group Divorce and the Welsh Music Prize-nominated woozy, Sixties-inspired psychedelia Pys Melyn.

Futuresound Group project manager Rachel Hill says: “We’re thrilled to announce Super Furry Animals as the final headliner for our third Live at York Museum Gardens series. None of it would be possible without the collaboration, trust and support of the team at York Museums Trust and being able to put together such an incredible line up for the summer makes us excited for the future of our partnership.”

York exclusive postcode presale (YO1, YO10, YO19, YO23, YO24, YO26, YO30, YO31 and  YO32) go on sale at 10am today at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/super-furry-animals/york-museum-gardens/3567101?pre=postcode.

General sales open at 10am on Friday at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/super-furry-animals/york-museum-gardens/3567101.

Tickets are on sale already for Liverpool’s  Orchestra Manoeuvres In The Dark on July 9 and South Yorkshire ’s Self Esteem on July 10 at futuresoundgroup.com/york-museum-gardens-events.

The poster for Super Furry Animals’ concert in York Museum Gardens

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REVIEW: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre, Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, until January 24 ****

Harriet White’s Aladdin and Harry Summers’ Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime

ONCE upon a pantomime, the Malton show was synonymous with butcher Fred Bower as the juiciest of prime-cut dames, for 25 years, before passing away on New Year’s Eve in 2003.

Somehow, the market-town panto has escaped the diary of your reviewer since those Malton and Norton Operatic Society days.

Apologies for that aberration, one belatedly rectified by CharlesHutchPress’s acceptance of an invitation to attend Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime, as he settled into seat F15 amid the flurry of raffle ticket sales.

It was Wednesday night, the halfway point of the week-long run, and by now the show was into its groove, assured, polished, equally filled with pun and fun, led by the towering dame, Rory Queen, as much a Malton panto institution as butcher Fred before him.

That’s not his character name, by the way. No, this possessor of a regal nomenclature is vamping it up as Widow Twankey after “20 years of glitter, chaos and questionable costume changes…still getting the same thrill guiding and watching our younger members dazzle the audience (while I try desperately to remember my lines and locate my dignity),” as he writes in his programme note.

Happy to report that Queen has still not found Dignity on his pantoland satnav – hurling loo rolls at all and sundry – and long may that continue as he parades the kind of physical comedy once the province of Tommy Cooper.

Queen is on co-director duty too, working alongside regular director Mark Boler, stalwart musical director Chris Hocking and Ryedale’s celebrated choreographer and dance tutor, Ali Kirkham, as they steer a cast ranging in age from eight to 85.

Here is a pantomime where one and all have their moment in the spotlight, not least the Chorus, Junior Chorus, Senior Dancers (led by Sophie Kemp in her third year as dance captain) and Junior Dancers (divided into Diamonds and Emeralds, and no doubt shining equally, whichever is performing at each show).

Fresh from her outstanding choreography for Pick Me Up Theatre’s glorious Christmas show, Anything Goes, so full of fun and fizz at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, now Ali Kirkham makes every ensemble number dazzle in cahoots with Hocking, her musical director for many years, assisted by Michaela Kemp’s choreography for the juniors.

Everyone dances with such delight in the likes of Dancing In The Street, We Are Family, Celebration and the climactic Walking On Sunshine. You will lose count of the number of cartwheels whirled across a stage often filled with more than 20 well-drilled performers.

Hocking, in his trademark flat cap at the keys, is joined by drummer Clark Howard and bass player Christian Topman, two musicians often out of sight but outstanding in their playing on the York circuit. All are on top form here.

Queen’s Widow Twankey, as full of chest as jest, pulls the strings, always mischievous, often mutinous, and fruity too, as Tom Whalley’s script prompts the gentleman in the next seat to express his disapproval of “too much smut” as we chatted in the interval.

Certainly, no opportunity for seaside postcard sauce is overlooked, but room aplenty is found for putdowns of neighbouring Pickering, salty asides on the town sheriffs, the Fitzwilliam Estate, and their suddenly disbanded food markets, and a topical reference to The Traitors. Best of all is the Emperor (a meta-thespian Thomas Jennings in his 11th Malton panto) attributing his sudden poverty to his newly acquired ownership of Greenland. Trump that, Donald J.

Three Summers come along at once in Malton, courtesy of Harry’s Summers of discontent as evil sorcerer Abanazar, Mark turning the Genie of the Lamp into the Genie of the Camp and son Alexander ironically losing his head as the Panda (his headgear falls off) when also playing the Executioner.

In her ninth Malton panto, A-level student Harriet White steps up to principal boy for the first time as Aladdin, singing impressively, especially Diamonds Are Forever, while revealing comic timing too in a traditionally straight panto role before she leaves the company with plans to work in journalism. The fourth estate’s gain will surely be theatre’s loss.  

Among the young principals too are Isobel Davis in her first lead role at 15 as the headstrong Princess Jasmine; Amelia Little, 17, as a not-so-shy So-Shy ahead of playing Roxie Hart in Malton Sixth Form’s Chicago; trainee chef Tom Gleave as cheeky-chappy Wishee Washee and Annabelle Free as a gymnastic Spirit of the Ring.

Evie-Mae Dale, 17, and Jack Robinson, 16, are a riotous double-act as hapless, competitive coppers Sergeant Pong, keen to smell out every crime, and the unworldly PC World respectively.

Look out too for Malcolm Tonkiss’s cameo as Mangle Malcolm, as brief but as amusingly baffling as the Porter in Macbeth, and then add Shangri-La and Aladdin’s Cave set designer Sam Boler, scenic artist jo Claire, make-up artist Claire Smith, lighting designer Oliver Stables, sound engineer Alex Linney and the costume flamboyance of Molly Limpets Theatrical Emporium and Kirkham Henry to your rounds of applause.

Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 22 and 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 4, from Gazette & Herald

Kara Tointon as Constance in The Constant Wife, on tour at York Theatre Royal

LAURA Wade’s new adaptation of The Constant Wife for the RSC leads off Charles Hutchinson’s latest selection of cultural highlights.

Play of the week: Royal Shakespeare Company in The Constant Wife, York Theatre Royal, January 26 to 31, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees

SET in 1927, The Constant Wife finds Constance as a very unhappy woman. “Nonsense,” says her mother, who insists “she eats well, sleeps well, dresses well and she’s losing weight. No woman can be unhappy in those circumstances”. 

Played by Kara Tointon, she is the perfect wife and mother, but her husband is equally devoted to his mistress, who just happens to be her best friend. Tamara Harvey directs the new adaptation by Home, I’m Darling playwright and Rivals television series writer Laura Wade. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jeffrey Martin: Blend of folk, Americana and literary short stories at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York

Folk gig of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents present Jeffrey Martin and special guest Tenderness, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Saturday, 8.15pm (doors 7.30pm)

PORTLAND musician Jeffrey Martin’s narrative-driven songwriting  is a blend of folk, Americana and literary short stories with echoes of Raymond Carver. Before turning to music full time in 2016, he spent several years as a high-school English teacher, a profession he left to “chase his dreams at all cost.”

His lyrics are marked by his insight into the human condition, often focusing on the struggles and quiet dignity of people on the margins of society. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.

Emily Stubbs: Exhibiting ceramics at Pyramid Gallery, York, from Saturday

Exhibition launch of the week: Carolyn Coles, Emily Stubbs and Karen Fawcett, The Sky’s The Limit, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, Saturday until mid-March

SOUTH Bank Studios artist Carolyn Coles and PICA Studios ceramicist Emily Stubbs will be on hand from 11.30am to 2.30pm at Saturday’s opening of The Sky’s The Limit, their joint exhibition with wildlife sculptor Karen Fawcett.

Like Carolyn, Emily has been selected to take part in York Open Studios 2026 on April 18 & 19 and April 25 & 26. Look out too for work by Pyramid Gallery’s Jeweller of the Month, Kate Rhodes, from Hebden Bridge. Gallery opening hours are: 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday.

Snake Davis and Sumudu Jayatilaka: Performing together at Helmsley Arts Centre

Jools’ partners of the week: Snake & Sumudu, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST to the stars Snake Davis and singer-songwriter Sumudu Jayatilaka often meet up to perform with Jools Holland and His Rhythm & Blues Orchestra or to play together in arts centres.

Raised in Scunthorpe, now based in London, Sumudu has frequently toured as a backing vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and percussionist for Sir Van Morrison. At 15, she made her TV debut on BBCs Pebble Mill At One, performing her own composition, accompanied by Snake on sax and flute. Later they took part in a Royal Albert Hall concert with Burt Bacharach and Hal David.  At Helmsley, expect classic pop, original compositions and a touch of soul and jazz. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Shakin’ all over: Rebel Dean in Whole Lotta Shakin’, his tribute to Shakin’ Stevens at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre

Tribute show of the week: Whole Lotta Shakin’ – The Shakin’ Stevens Story, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

ENDORSED by members of Shakin’ Stevens own family, West End star Rebel Dean’s award-winning tribute to Great Britain’s biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s tell the story of the rockin’ Welsh boy and his rise to chart-topping superstardom.

Whole Lotta Shakin’ combines a live band with rare footage and images in a nostalgic night of Shaky hits, Green Door, Oh Julie, You Drive Me Crazy and This Ole House et al, complemented by Eddie Cochran, Chuck Berry, Ritchie Valens and Elvis Presley numbers that he covered. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Anna Hale: Killer punchlines, musical flair and spiky resilience at The Crescent, York

Comedy gig of the week: Anna Hale: Control Freak, The Crescent, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

ANNA Hale, comedian, singer-songwriter and unapologetic control freak, has written the jokes and the songs, planned the lighting cues and even sold the tickets for her gigs. When life spins out of control, can one perfectionist keep the show together, and, crucially, not let anyone else have a go? Find out when encountering the killer punchlines, musical flair and spiky resilience of the 2024 Musical Comedy Awards Audience Favourite winner’s debut tour show. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Mike Joyce: Tales from his drumming days for The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre

On the beat: Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm

DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.

To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Neil Sadler: Leading his blues band at Milton Rooms, Malton

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Neil Sadler Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 29, 8pm

NORTH Devon guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer Neil Sadler has worked with songwriters and composers Guy Fletcher and Doug Flett, Don Black, Leslie David Reed and Tony McCaulay and honied his  guitar style with blues and rock artists Larry Miller, Mike Farmer, Dennis Siggery and Malaya Blue, as well as running No Machine Studios for 30 years

Sadler has led his present line-up since early 2024 featuring drummer Ray Barwell and bass guitarist Kev Langman. In January 2025, his Past To Present album was nominated for UK Blues Federation awards for UK Blues Traditional Artist of the Year and UK Blues Album of the Year. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

The poster for Country Roads’ celebration of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell et al at York Barbican

Country celebration of the week: Country Roads, York Barbican, January 30, 7.30pm

COUNTRY Roads invites you to a celebration of country superstar royalty featuring such hits as 9 To 5, The Gambler, I Walk The Line, Ring Of Fire, King Of The Road, Crazy, Rhinestone Cowboy, Jolene, Dance The Night Away, Walkin’ After Midnight and many, many more as the stars of fellow tribute show Islands In The Stream return in this new production. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 3, from Gazette & Herald

York Printmakers: Tenth anniversary exhibition…with cake on Saturday

IN his third highlights package of the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out a riparian exhibition, a brace of pantos, murderous deeds in 1950s’ Italy and a transatlantic folk talent.

Exhibition of the week: York Printmakers, Rivers of York, City Screen Picturehouse, York, until February 7

CELEBRATING York Printmakers’ tenth anniversary, Rivers of York presents original hand-made prints inspired by the River Foss and River Ouse. Head to City Screen’s upstairs lounge today from 2pm and 4pm for Prints and Cake, a chance to share cake, find out more about the prints and meet the artists who created them.

On show are a variety of printmaking techniques, including etching, linocut, collagraph, monotype, screen print, solar plate, Japanese woodblock, lithography and stencilling, in works that explore the rivers’ place in the history, ecology and culture of York from Roman times to the present. 

Paula Cook’s villainous Queen Lucrecia and John Brooks’s scheming Chamberlain in Pickering Musical Society’s Snow White

Panto time: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, until January 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and scripted by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime blends familiar faces with new turns, led by Alice Rose as Snow White in her first appearance since Goldilocks in 2018.

Local legend Marcus Burnside plays Dame Dumpling alongside mischievous sidekick Jack Dobson as court jester Fritz, his first comedic role. Company regular Courtney Brown switches to comedy too as Helga; Paula Cook turns to the dark side in her villainous debut as Queen Lucrecia; Danielle Long is the heroic Prince Valentine, John Brooks, the scheming Chamberlain and Sue Smithson, Fairy Dewdrop. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

Jack Robinson’s PC World and Evie-Mae Dale’s Sergeant Pong in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime 

Panto time too: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; Sunday, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

The Steelers: Paying tribute to Steely Dan at Helmsley Arts Centre

Tribute show of the week: The Steelers, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday 7.30pm

THE Steelers, a nine-piece band of musicians drawn from around Great Britain, perform songs from iconic Steely Dan Steel albums Pretzel Logic, The Royal Scam, AJA and Goucho, crafted by Walter Becker and Donald Fagan since 1972. 

Once described as “the American Beatles”, Becker and Fagan’s songs are noted for their clever lyrics and sophisticated arrangements. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Bruce Herbelin-Earle as Dickie Greenleaf, left, and Ed McVey as Tom Ripley in The Talented Mr Ripley. Picture: Mark Senior

Game of lies of the week: The Talented Mr Ripley, Grand Opera House, York, January 19 to 24, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

BEFORE its West End run, The Talented Mr Ripley plays the Grand Opera House with a cast led by Ed McVey as Tom Ripley, Bruce Herbelin-Earle as Dickie Greenleaf and 2020 Strictly Come Dancing finalist Maisie Smith as Marge. Tom is a nobody, scraping by in New York, forging signatures, telling little white lies, until a chance encounter changes everything. When a wealthy stranger offers him an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy to bring home his wayward son, Dickie, Tom leaps at the opportunity. 

In the sun-drenched glamour of 1950s’ Italy, surrounded by shimmering waters and whispered secrets, Tom is seduced by Dickie’s freedom, wealth and effortless charm. Fascination turns to obsession in Patricia Highsmith’s story, whereupon an innocent chance turns into a chilling game of lies, identity theft and murder. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Elanor Moss: Songs of the nuances of life lived in relation to others at Pocklington Arts Centre

Folk gig of the month: Elanor Moss, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 29, 8pm

ELANOR Moss, an “emotionally transatlantic” talent with family roots in Lincolnshire and Baltimore, Maryland, draws on influence from homes familiar and felt in songs that turn over the nuances of life lived in relation to others, taking inspiration from the British and American folk canons alike.

In keeping with such heroes as Judee Sill, Joni Mitchell, Sibylle Baier and Vashti Bunyan, her subject is “always people in all their lovely flawed-ness”. Ned Swarbrick supports. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

John Doyle: Returning to York Theatre Royal to direct The Secret Garden The Musical this spring

Welcome back to nature: The Secret Garden The Musical, York Theatre Royal, March 17 to April 4

TONY Award-winning John Doyle, artistic director of York Theatre Royal from 1993 to 1997, returns to his old patch to stage his trademark actor-musician interpretation of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden in a new revival of the Broadway musical with a score by Lucy Simon and book and lyrics by Marsha Norman.

In 1906 North Yorkshire (North Riding, as was), newly orphaned Mary Lennox is sent to Misselthwaite Manor to live with her widowed uncle in a moorland house of memories and spirits. Determined to breathe new life into her aunt’s mysterious neglected garden, she makes new friends while learning of the power of connection and the restorative magic of nature.  Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Amber Davies in the poster for Legally Blonde The Musical, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, in April

Casting announced for: Made At Curve presenting Legally Blonde The Musical at Grand Opera House, York, April 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm

STRICTLY Come Dancing 2025 finalist Amber Davies will play Elle Woods in the 2026 tour of Legally Blonde The Musical, joined by York Theatre Royal pantomime villain Jocasta Almgill as Brooke Wyndham, fresh from playing wicked fairy Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty.

Davies had been set to appear as Hollywood hooker Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman The Musical at the Grand Opera House in February 2024, but Sydnie Hocknell understudied that week. Hannah Lowther, otherwise playing Margot, will step in for Davies at the April 23 matinee. North Yorkshireman  Nikolai Foster directs the uplifting, totally pink tale of Elle’s transformation from ‘It Girl’ fashionista to legal ace at Harvard Law School, all in the name of love. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 2, from Gazette & Herald

Lawyer Arthur Kipps (John Mackay) and The Actor (Daniel Burke) in The Woman In Black, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York, from January 13

IN his second guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.

Ghostly return of the week: The Woman In Black, Grand Opera House, York, January 13 to 17, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees

FIRST staged in 1987 in a pub setting by the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Stephen Mallatratt’s adaptation of Susan Hill’s ghost story The Woman In Black returns to the Grand Opera House two years to the month since its last visit.

Elderly lawyer Arthur Kipps (played by John Mackay) is obsessed with his belief that a curse has been cast over his family by the spectre of a “Woman in Black” for 50 years. Whereupon he engages a sceptical young actor (Daniel Burke’s The Actor) to help him tell his terrifying story and exorcise the fear that grips his soul, but the boundaries between fiction and reality begin to blur. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and John Brooks’s scheming Chamberlain in Pickering Musical Society’s Snow White at Kirk Theatre, Pickering. Picture: Robert David Photographer

First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and scripted by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime blends familiar faces with new turns, led by Alice Rose as Snow White in her first appearance since Goldilocks in 2018.

Local legend Marcus Burnside plays Dame Dumpling alongside mischievous sidekick Jack Dobson as court jester Fritz, his first comedic role. Company regular Courtney Brown switches to comedy too as Helga; Paula Cook turns to the dark side in her villainous debut as Queen Lucrecia; Danielle Long is the heroic Prince Valentine, John Brooks, the scheming Chamberlain and Sue Smithson, Fairy Dewdrop. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

Cellist Eloise Ramchamdani

Dementia Friendly Tea Concert of the week: Eloise Ramchandani and Robert Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, January 15, 2.30pm

ELOISE Ramchandani gives an all Saint-Saëns cello recital, accompanied by pianist Robert Gammon. The 45-minute programme includes the well-loved The Swan, lively Allegro Appassionato and beautiful Cello Concerto No. 1.

Ideal for those who may not feel comfortable at a formal classical concert, the relaxed recital will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved; no charge applies but donations are welcome.

Malton and Norton Theatre’s principal cast for Aladdin – The Pantomime: left to right, Amelia Little (So-Shy); Tom Gleave (Wishee Washee); Annabelle Free (Spirit of the Ring); Alexander Summers (Executioner); Isobel Davis (Princess Jasmine); Mark Summers (Genie of the Lamp); Harriet White (Aladdin); Harry Summers (Abanazar); Thomas Jennings (The Emperor); Evie-Mae Dale (Sergeant Pong); Malcolm Tonkiss (Mangle Malcolm) and Jack Robinson (PC World)

Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isobel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Death Of Gesualdo: The Gesualdo Six and Tableaux Vivants in tandem at NCEM, York

World premiere of the month: Death Of Gesualdo, The Gesualdo Six with Tableaux Vivants, National Centre for Early Music, York, January 18 and 19, 6.30pm

THE Gesualdo Six reunite with director Bill Barclay for this daring successor to international hit Secret Byrd. Featuring six singers, six actors and a puppet, Death Of Gesualdo creates living tableaux that illuminate the life and psyche of madrigalist Carlo Gesualdo, a tortured genius most famous for murdering his wife and her lover in an explosive fit of jealousy, but revered among composers for anticipating chromaticism by 200 years.

This is the boldest look yet at how the life and sometimes chilling music of this enigmatic prodigy must function together for the true Gesualdo to emerge from the shadows. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Grace Petrie: No time for panicking at The Crescent, York. Picture: Fraser West

Comedy-folk combination of the month: Little Wander and Say Owt present Grace Petrie, This Is No Time To Panic!, January 18, The Crescent, York, 7.30pm

DO you like protest songs? Neither does Grace Petrie – and she has been singing them for 15 “politically disastrous” years. No longer able to meet the desperate hopes of left-wing audiences, the “British folk scene’s funniest lesbian” reckons there is no better time for a feel-good show.

After making her stand-up debut in 2022 with Butch Ado About Nothing, she combines music and comedy for the first time in This Is No Time To Panic! “I know folk songs can’t save the world, and neither can stand-up, but both at the same time?” ponders Petrie. “Read it and weep, Putin!” Box office for returns only: thecrescentyork.com.  

York Residents’ Festival: Weekend of experiences, attractions and offers

Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1

ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.  

Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.

Self Esteem: Headlining Live At York Museum Gardens on July 10

Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10, 5pm

SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin  being booked for July 9.

Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond at the dawning of 2026’s arts & culture diary. Hutch’s List No. 1, from The York Press

Joshua Arnold and Therine: On the bill for A Feast Of Fools III at the Black Swan

N his first guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.

Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

Navigators Art’s poster for A Feast Of Fools

On the bill are Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony;  North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of British folk songs; Pefkin, whose ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine and Alice Rose’s Snow White in Pickering Musical Society’s pantomime Snow White

First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and writer by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes.

The show features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

Harry Summers in rehearsal for the role of Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime

Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

To her Eternal Shame: Sue Perkins announces return to the comedy circuit after more than a decade

Amusing musings of the month: The Eternal Shame Of Sue Perkins, Grand Opera House, York, January 18, 7.30pm

YOU may know her as Bake-Off Sue, Taskmaster Sue, Just A Minute Sue, or the Sue that gives you travel envy, but stand-up Sue is full of surprises. In this new show, Sue Perkins shares the unlikely happenings from a career in the spotlight.

What’s the fallout when your pituitary gland goes haywire on live TV? How do you convince the public you didn’t really fall on to that vacuum cleaner attachment? And when intimate photos are splashed all over the internet, how do you switch the shame to dignity and joy? Find out in Perkins’ first live show in more than a decade, wherein shedelivers a humorous treatise on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Deadpan Players’ poster for their Star Wars sci-fi and AI spoof at the JoRo

The spoof, the whole spoof and nothing but the spoof: Deadpan Players in Star Wars: May The Farce Be With You, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 23, 7.30pm, and January 24, 2pm and 7.30pm

IN a time of deep unrest, rebel forces are fighting for survival. Led by Garth Vader, the Empire has created a sinister network called The Dark Web, through which Vader could travel back in time to crush the rebellion. Plucky Princess Slaya has encrypted and uploaded the password, along with a desperate cry for help to cute droid R2Ai.

Can Fluke Skywalker decipher the message, find Only One Kenobi, enlist the help of rogue pilot Ham Solo and the legendary, if rather pungent, Gedi Master, the diminutive but powerful “Odour”, then rescue the Princess and save the Galaxy? Find out by attending this fundraising event, with all proceeds going to Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Candlelighters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Mike Joyce: Recollections of five years on the drummer’s stool with The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre

On the beat: Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm

DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.

To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

York Residents’ Festival 2026: Weekend of free attractions, experiences and offers

Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1

ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.  

Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.

Self Esteem: Headlining Futuresound’s July 10 bill at Live At York Museum Gardens

Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10,  5pm

SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin  being booked for July 9.

Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.