Tag: Milton Rooms Malton

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More Things To Do in York and beyond unlocked secret spaces & hidden places. Hutch’s List No. 40, from The York Press

Angela Hall’s artwork from York Created at Pyramid Gallery

FROM classic Coward in Present Laughter to Frayn’s finest farce, Noises Off, York’s unlocked buildings to Joe Jackson’s hope and fury, Charles Hutchinson piles up the good stuff for the week ahead.

Exhibition opening of the week: York Created: Paint-Clay-Print-Collage From The Heart Of The City, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until November 14

YORK Created: Paint-Clay-Print-Collage From The Heart Of The City features a “collection of talented artists from across our fair city”. “Some have exhibited with us before, others are new to us,” says Pyramid Gallery manager Fiona Macfarlane. “All the works are for sale.”

Taking part are potters Danny Aitkin, Chiu-i Wu, Loretta Braganza, Ben Arnup, Emily Stubbs, Jessica Jenyns  and Ruth King, painters Rory Barke, Carolyn Coles, Jill Tattersall, Ric Liptrot, Lesley Birch, Mick Leach, Lesley Shaw and Angela Hall and stained glass artist Helen Bower. Opening hours are 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday.

Dennis Rollins: Delivering Funky-Funk! to YorkJazzFest’s Bishopthorpe Road Car park Finale tomorrow

Festival of the week: YorkJazzFest, today and tomorrow

TODAY, Beppe Lombardo’s inaugural YorkJazzFest features: 6pm, Flowerden, The Winning Post; 6pm, Mutant DJ Jazz, Angel On The Green; 6.30pm, Emma Foulds Quintet, York Arts Barge; 7pm, SwanNek, Young Thugs Studios; 8.30pm, Al Morrison Quartet, The Winning Post;  8.30pm, Olivia Cuttill, York Arts Barge;  9pm, Borgia, Angel On The Green, and 9pm, Lovedancin’ DJ, Young Thugs Studios. For tickets, go to: yorkjazzfestival.com.

Tomorrow,  the Bishopthorpe Road Car Park Finale runs from midday with free entry and no ticket required. On the bill are: 12 noon, YorkJazzFest Orchestra; 1pm, Vipertime; 2.15pm, Big Bamboo; 4.15pm, Fergus Quill Sextet, and 6pm, Dennis Rollins’ Funky-Funk! Ian Chalk concludes the event at The Phoenix Inn at 8pm; free entry.

Federico Pendenza: Two world premieres at this afternoon’s York Late Music concert

Season finale of the week: York Late Music presents Federico Pendenza, Folk Roots To Classical Form, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviouragte, York, today, 1pm

UNIVERSITY of York guitarist Federico Pendenza concludes York Late Music’s concert season with Folk Roots To Classical Form, featuring William Walton’s only piece written for guitar (following a persuasive word from Julian Bream!), two intimate pieces by the “Chopin of the guitar”, Agustín Barrios, and two world premieres, Macey Collins’s Impressions Of Tension and Noor Hingorani’s Pomegranates On My Altar, which draws on the Persian Sofreh wedding ceremony, where pomegranates represent joy, passion and strength. Box office: latemusic.org/federico-pendoza-guitar or on the door.

York Unlocked: Unlocking York’s significant, hidden and secret buildings

Free discoveries of the week: York Unlocked, today and tomorrow

YORK Unlocked opens York’s most interesting, significant, even hidden and secret buildings to the public completely for free, although some buildings require free pre-booked tickets.  This weekend’s festival enables residents and visitors alike to see York in a new way and aims to educate and inspire a love of architecture this weekend. To download the full programme, go to: https://www.york-unlocked.org.uk/_files/ugd/972e50_ba8593730b26433e8b060829ff5bd5ac.pdf.

Michael Shafar: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club at The Basement

​Comedy gigs of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, 4pm and 8pm

LAUGH Out Loud promoter Damion Larkin has added an extra show at 4pm in response to ticket demand for tonight’s 8pm bill of Michael Shafar, Ant Dewson, Mike Carter and Gary Jennison.

Former lawyer Shafar left Australia to ply his comedy trade over here. Dewson is a comedian, mediocre piano player and singer of silly songs, many of them rude. Carter covers everything from living with your nan in your 30s to the realities of engaging in “kinky stuff” when you have a coordination disorder. Jennison promises dance-offs, game shows, magic and unbridled chaos. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

Brian Bilston: Poetic words at Milton Rooms, Malton

Poet of the week: Brian Bilston, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 7.30pm

BRIAN Bilston, a poet with more than 500,000 followers on social media, returns to the stage this autumn with his latest book, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, as he takes a journey through the hows, whys and whats of reading, writing and enjoying poetry every day.

Bilston has published such collections as You Took The Last Bus Home, Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love? and Days Like These, along with debut novel Diary Of A Somebody, poetry for younger readers and his 2025 album of poetry set to music, Sounds Made By Humans, recorded with The Catenary Wires. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Tracy-Ann Oberman’s Geri Essendine and Seb Carrington’s David Stillington in Present Laughter. Picture: Simon Annand

Coward classic of the week: Theatre Royal Bath Productions and Augusta Productions present Present Laughter, Grand Opera House, York, October 6 to 10, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

TRACY-ANN Oberman stars as hugely successful actress Geri Essendine – who has been 39 for the best part of a decade – in Lindsay Posner’s new touring production of Noel Coward’s celebrated portrayal of the temptations and pitfalls of theatrical celebrity. 

On the cusp of departing for a tour of Africa, Geri finds herself besieged by a bevy of would-be lovers, her long-suffering secretary, estranged husband and an obsessed young playwright. Will she ever disentangle herself from their tightening clutches and incessant demands? Then again, deep down, does she really want to? Box office: atgtickets.com/york. 

Pick Me Up Theatre cast members Pearl Mollison, left, Craig Kirby, Alexandra Mather, Andrew Isherwood, Helen Spencer, Adrian Cook and Mark Simmonds, under the withering eye of Rory Mulvihill, right, director of the play-within-the-play in Michael Frayn’s Noises Off

Slamming doors, falling trousers and flying sardines of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Noises Off, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, October 6 to 10, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

MICHAEL Frayn’s backstage farce Noises Off takes a wicked look at the follies of theatre folk, whose susceptibility to out-of-control egos, memory loss and passionate affairs turns every performance into a high-risk adventure.

This play-within-a-play captures a touring theatre troupe’s production of Nothing On in three stages: dress rehearsal, the opening performance and a performance towards the end of a debilitating run. Robert Readman directs a stellar York cast of Helen Spencer, Andrew Isherwood, Alexandra Mather, Rory Mulvihill, Pearl Mollison, Mark Simmonds, Craig Kirby, Jessica Hardcastle and Adrian Cook. Box office:  01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Joe Jackson: Returning to York Barbican

Gig of the week: Joe Jackson + Band, Hope And Fury Tour 2026, York Barbican, October 7, doors 7pm

JOE Jackson played York for only the second time at York Barbican on July 29 2022 as part of his Sing, You Sinners! Tour, having first shared a bill with Todd Rundgren and improvisational string quartet Ethel at the Grand Opera House in June 2005.

Now, the Portsmouth-raised singer, musician, songwriter, bandleader, producer, author and campaigner, 72, returns with his regular band to perform work from throughout his career and to showcase his 23rd studio album Hope And Fury, released in April. Conner Youngblood supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Acosta Danza in Andonis Foniadakis’s new work Pearls. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

In Focus: Carlos Acosta’s Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque, York Theatre Royal, October 3, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

IN this new double bill from Acosta Danza, the lush artistry of the Baroque period intersects with the energy, creativity and vibrancy of Cuban dance.  Emerging from the 17th and 18th centuries, the creative movement was characterised by deep colour, elaborate detail and intricate decoration.

Produced by Valid Productions in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, Cuban Baroque opens with the world premiere of Andonis Foniadakis’s new work Pearls, a journey to the rhythmic heart of Baroque, followed by choreographer and set designer Goyo Montero’s 2011 work Chacona.

Artistic director Carlos Acosta says: “I am very excited about this programme which will encapsulate the essence of Acosta Danza, fusing as it will, classical, Cuban and contemporary vocabularies and styles.

“I am, of course, a big fan of both choreographers and am delighted that Andonis will create a brand-new piece on my dancers. I look forward to seeing how that develops over the coming months.

“The flavour of the evening is summarised neatly by the title Cuban Baroque, but essentially this is a programme that anyone interested in any kind of dance can enjoy. I look forward, as always, to seeing how audiences react to the atmosphere this programme will create at its premiere in our first-ever visit to the wonderful York Theatre Royal.”

Acosta Danza in Goyo Montero’s 2011 work Chacona at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “It is truly wonderful that York audiences will be the first to experience this phenomenally exciting dance programme on our stage and we are really looking forward to working in collaboration with Carlos Acosta and his company on the show.”

Set to Esteban Sallas’s Salve Regina, the work explores the classic chaconne-looping structure that circles through phases of acceleration, fracture and rebound. As the score shifts from Baroque lyricism toward Cuban drive, Foniadakis showcases the fusion between memory and contemporary.

Andonis Foniadakis says: “The piece is being built as a chaconne in the broadest sense: a looping architecture that keeps circling back to the same theme like a mantra, each return opening a new variation in colour, density and impulse.

Cuban rhythmic principles will seep into the texture (clave, layered pulses, dance-derived momentum) and begin to tilt the baroque theme from within — bringing Sallas’s music fully into the present.

“In this dialogue, contrast becomes fusion: baroque memory meets Cuban propulsion; choral breath meets percussive drive; live sound meets a discreet electronic halo — shaping a single energetic trajectory that stays clear, intense, and emotionally resonant.”

Acosta Danza in Goyo Montero’s Chacona. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

Closing the 1hr 20 min programme is Goyo Montero’s powerful Chacona, a piece that originally was created for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett during Montero’s 17-year tenure as director. Chacona is the final movement of Bach’s masterwork Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied in this performance by guitar and piano. Physically and musically demanding, classical in sound and contemporary in heart, it requires total cohesion from the ensemble of 16 dancers.

Goyo Montero says: “This is going to be my fourth collaboration with Acosta Danza since 2015. To bring this work to them and adapt it to their fearless and exceptional dancers is something I am looking forward to very much. To restage this early work and revisit it for them will develop the work further and keep it alive, relevant and ever changing, a choreographer’s dream!”

In addition, Acosta Danza will hold an Open Class today (3/10/2026) at 10am on the Theatre Royal stage in an exclusive opportunity to watch how the dancers warm up and prepare ahead of a performance. This non-participatory event is open to all ages.  

The York Theatre Royal premiere of Cuban Baroque will be followed by performances at Sadler’s Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal with further 2027 dates to be added. Box office for shows and Open Class: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Did you know?

ACOSTA Danza performed Carlos Acosta’s Nutcracker In Havana at the Grand Opera House, York, in January 2026.

Acosta Danza in Pearls at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 40, from Gazette & Herald

Bread & Circuses, by Sarah Hall Baqai, from her exhibition at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York

FROM the terrors of Paranormal Activity to circus art, York’s four-day jazz festival to Brian Bilston’s egg-laying poetry, Charles Hutchinson looks ahead to October cultural opportunities.

Exhibition opening of the week: Sarah Hall Baqai, Bread & Circuses, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until November 19

YORK artist Sarah Hall Baqai’s new collection of artworks has the theme of Bread & Circuses, a phrase taken from Roman poet Juvenal’s work Satire X, written in 100AD. In a nutshell, “give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt”, on account of being distracted.

Distraction does not come brighter and more entertaining visually than Sarah’s paintings inspired by life behind the scenes at the circus (from her work with Gifford’s Circus and Fools Delight Circus at Ham Court, Bampton), complemented by lettering and graphic work celebrating York Minster and willow lanterns in the shape of jugglers’ sticks.

James Bye’s James arms himself with a baseball bat in Paranormal Activity. Picture: Credit: Johan Persson

Psychological thriller of the week: Paranormal Activity, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

IN a new story inspired by the worldwide horror phenomenon, Paranormal Activity is directed by immersive theatre pioneer and Punchdrunk artistic director Felix Barrett and written by Levi Holloway, the playwright behind Broadway hit Grey House.

When James (James Bye) and Lou (Hannah Sinclair Robinson) move from Chicago to London to escape their past, soon they discover that places are not haunted, but people are. Can you hold your nerve in the face of this chilling production on its first British and Irish tour? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Roham Bayat’s poster for the inaugural YorkJazzFest

Festival of the week: YorkJazzFest, tomorrow to Sunday

BEPPE Lombardo, soprano saxophone player in his Italian teenage days and supremo of Trinicria Sicilian Ristorante in Bishopthorpe Road for 15 years, is running the inaugural YorkJazzFest with funding from York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority Mayor David Skaith.

Angel On The Green, York Arts Barge, Young Thugs Studio, the Phoenix Inn and The Winning Post play host to concerts on the first three days, culminating in the Bishopthorpe Road Car Park Finale on Sunday, topped off by sets by Dennis Rollins’ Funky-Funk and Ian Chalk. For full listings and tickets, go to: yorkjazzfestival.com.

Masked up: Pop Yer Clogs Theatre in Doctor Faustus. Picture supplied

Devil in the detail of the week: Pop Yer Clogs Theatre in Doctor Faustus, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York , tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK company Pop Yer Clogs Theatre delivers a devilishly clever new twist on Doctor Faustus, placing a woman, Doctor Joan Faustus, at the epicentre of Christopher Marlowe’s late-16th century cautionary tale of ambition, temptation and damnation.

Director Lydia McCudden plays Faustus, who strikes a terrible deal by selling her soul to Lucifer in exchange for knowledge, power and worldly pleasures, only to encounter the Seven Deadly Sins.  Cue masks, commedia dell’arte, dark comedy and gothic tragedy as Hell awaits. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ben Portsmouth: Performing Presley’s pearls with his Taking Care Of Elvis Band at York Barbican

King of The King tribute shows: Ben Portsmouth: This Is Elvis, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

REGARDED as the “closest living performer to the legendary Elvis Presley”, Ben Portsmouth has enjoyed success in more than 20 countries and became the first European to be crowned by Elvis Presley Enterprises as the Worldwide Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist in Memphis in 2012.

This Is Elvis takes an immersive journey through Presley’s greatest hits from his rockabilly roots to the dazzling Las Vegas years in the company of Portsmouth and the Taking Care Of Elvis Band.  Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican: Satirical comedy lyrics on folk instruments from Barnsley

“Sexy knitwear” gig of the week: The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 7.30pm

FOUNDED in Barnsley Rock City in 2006 by their outspoken and energetic ringleader Scott Doonican, The Bar-Steward Sons Of Val Doonican are on a mission.

Anything but a typical folk ensemble, this collective of like-minded knitwear enthusiasts – Scott, Mo-Jo Doonican, Dave Doonican and the Reight Reverend Jeremiah Rickenbacker III – are determined to follow in their spiritual father’s immortal footsteps, keeping his legacy alive while Bar-Stewardising other famous people’s songs with satirical comedy lyrics on folk instruments, from Jump Ararnd to Goat Yoga. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Mark Harrison Band: Songs and stories at Helmsley Arts Centre

Where folk meets the blues: Mark Harrison Band, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

MARK Harrison writes original songs for today in the spirit of the great troubadours, coupled with stories to make you smile, move and think in a world where blues, roots and folk collide.

Finger-picking and slide guitarist Harrison is joined by Charles Benfield on double bass and Ben Welburn on drums and percussion to create a rhythm section that defies convention, as heard on eight albums to date. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Alchemy Live: Performing the songs of Dire Straits at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

In Dire Straits: Alchemy Live, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm

ALCHEMY Live were formed in 2020 by life-long Mark Knopfler fans and full-time musicians Martin Ledger and Neil Scott, who used the Covid pandemic and resultant lockdowns to put their Dire Straits tribute project in motion. Rehearsals started in 2021 after the worst of the pandemic was over, their first show being scheduled in York for Friday the 13th of May 2022 (what could possibly go wrong)?

They have never looked back, progressing to playing theatres since 2023. “It’s always been our ethos to concentrate on getting the music and sound right, rather than just putting on headbands and shiny jackets,” says frontman Ledger. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Brian Bilston: Showcasing his latest poetry collection at Milton Rooms, Malton

Poet of the week: Brian Bilston, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 7.30pm

BRIAN Bilston, a poet with more than 500,000 followers on social media, returns to the stage this autumn with his latest book, How To Lay An Egg With A Horse Inside, as he takes a journey through the hows, whys and whats of reading, writing and enjoying poetry every day.

Bilston has published such collections as You Took The Last Bus Home, Alexa, What Is There To Know About Love? and Days Like These, along with debut novel Diary Of A Somebody, poetry for younger readers and his 2025 album of poetry set to music, Sounds Made By Humans, recorded in collaboration with The Catenary Wires. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Olly Murs: Enjoying a Knees Up at Live At York Museum Gardens next July

Gig announcement of the week: Futuresound presents Olly Murs, Live At York Museum Gardens, July 9 2027

ESSEX singer-songwriter and The Voice UK coach Olly Murs is the first headline act to be confirmed for next summer’s Live At York Museum Gardens 2027 season, when the event will be expanded to two weekends for the first time. Special guests for that day’s bill are still to be announced.

Murs, 42, returns to the York outdoors after his hat trick of appearances at York Racecourse in 2010, 2017 and 2024. He rose to fame on The X Factor in 2009, since when he has released eight studio albums of pop, indie, ska and disco, the latest being last November’s Knees Up. Box office: York postcode pre-sale from today at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/olly-murs/york-museum-gardens/3730256?pre=postcode; general sale from Friday, 10am, at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/olly-murs/york-museum-gardens/3730256.

In Focus: Carlos Acosta’s Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque, York Theatre Royal, October 1, 7.30pm, October 2, 2pm, and October 3, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

Acosta Danza in Cuban Baroque. Picture: Johan Persson

IN this new double bill from Acosta Danza, the lush artistry of the Baroque period intersects with the energy, creativity and vibrancy of Cuban dance.  Emerging from the 17th and 18th centuries, the creative movement was characterised by deep colour, elaborate detail and intricate decoration.

Produced by Valid Productions in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, Cuban Baroque opens with the world premiere of Andonis Foniadakis’s new work Pearls, a journey to the rhythmic heart of Baroque, followed by choreographer and set designer Goyo Montero’s 2011 work Chacona.

Artistic director Carlos Acosta says: “I am very excited about this programme which will encapsulate the essence of Acosta Danza, fusing as it will, classical, Cuban and contemporary vocabularies and styles.

“I am, of course, a big fan of both choreographers and am delighted that Andonis will create a brand-new piece on my dancers. I look forward to seeing how that develops over the coming months.

“The flavour of the evening is summarised neatly by the title Cuban Baroque, but essentially this is a programme that anyone interested in any kind of dance can enjoy. I look forward, as always, to seeing how audiences react to the atmosphere this programme will create at its premiere in our first-ever visit to the wonderful York Theatre Royal.”

Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes says: “It is truly wonderful that York audiences will be the first to experience this phenomenally exciting dance programme on our stage and we are really looking forward to working in collaboration with Carlos Acosta and his company on the show.”

Set to Esteban Sallas’s Salve Regina, the work explores the classic chaconne-looping structure that circles through phases of acceleration, fracture and rebound. As the score shifts from Baroque lyricism toward Cuban drive, Foniadakis showcases the fusion between memory and contemporary.

Andonis Foniadakis says: “The piece is being built as a chaconne in the broadest sense: a looping architecture that keeps circling back to the same theme like a mantra, each return opening a new variation in colour, density and impulse.

Cuban rhythmic principles will seep into the texture (clave, layered pulses, dance-derived momentum) and begin to tilt the baroque theme from within — bringing Sallas’s music fully into the present.

“In this dialogue, contrast becomes fusion: baroque memory meets Cuban propulsion; choral breath meets percussive drive; live sound meets a discreet electronic halo — shaping a single energetic trajectory that stays clear, intense, and emotionally resonant.”

Closing the 1hr 20 min programme is Goyo Montero’s powerful Chacona, a piece that originally was created for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett during Montero’s 17-year tenure as director. Chacona is the final movement of Bach’s masterwork Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied in this performance by guitar and piano. Physically and musically demanding, classical in sound and contemporary in heart, it requires total cohesion from the ensemble of 16 dancers.

Goyo Montero says: “This is going to be my fourth collaboration with Acosta Danza since 2015. To bring this work to them and adapt it to their fearless and exceptional dancers is something I am looking forward to very much. To restage this early work and revisit it for them will develop the work further and keep it alive, relevant and ever changing, a choreographer’s dream!”

A Q&A with the company will follow tomorrow’s performance. In addition, Acosta Danza will hold an Open Class on Saturday at 10am on the Theatre Royal stage in an exclusive opportunity to watch how the dancers warm up and prepare ahead of a performance. This non-participatory event is open to all ages.  

The York Theatre Royal premiere of Cuban Baroque will be followed by performances at Sadler’s Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal with further 2027 dates to be added. Box office for shows and Open Class: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Closing the 1hr 20 min programme is Goyo Montero’s powerful Chacona, a piece that originally was created for the Staatstheater Nürnberg Ballett during Montero’s 17-year tenure as director. Chacona is the final movement of Bach’s masterwork Partita No.2 in D Minor for violin, accompanied in this performance by guitar and piano. Physically and musically demanding, classical in sound and contemporary in heart, it requires total cohesion from the ensemble of 16 dancers.

Goyo Montero says: “This is going to be my fourth collaboration with Acosta Danza since 2015. To bring this work to them and adapt it to their fearless and exceptional dancers is something I am looking forward to very much. To restage this early work and revisit it for them will develop the work further and keep it alive, relevant and ever changing, a choreographer’s dream!”

A post-show discussion with the company will follow Thursday’s 7.30pm show. In addition, Acosta Danza will hold an Open Class on Saturday (3/10/2026) at 10am on the Theatre Royal stage in an exclusive opportunity to watch how the dancers warm up and prepare ahead of a performance. This non-participatory event is open to all ages.  

The York Theatre Royal premiere of Cuban Baroque will be followed by performances at Sadler’s Wells in London and Norwich Theatre Royal with further 2027 dates to be added. Box office for shows and Open Class: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 37, from Gazette & Herald

Georgina Fairbanks and Johnson Willis in Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Nick Haeffner

WILKO Johnson’s miraculous renaissance, Alan Ayckbourn’s first courtroom drama, Phil Wang’s wise moustache and The Dunwells’ indie-folk rock spark Charles Hutchinson’s attention in the week ahead.

Punk godfather of the week: Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee   

WHEN Dr Feelgood co-founder and iconic guitarist Wilko Johnson faced a terminal cancer diagnosis in 2012, he was given only one year left to live. Declining medical intervention, Wilko chose to dedicate his remaining time to a meaningful farewell tour of the people and places that defined his life…only for an unexpected miracle to change the narrative entirely.

Jonathan Maitland’s Wilko: Love and Death and Rock’n’Roll examines the life of this punk-movement godfather, tracing a career that spanned Dr Feelgood, the Solid Senders, Ian Dury and The Blockheads and a late-career turn to acting in Game Of Thrones. Integrating live music and storytelling with Wilko’s own words, this show serves as a practical masterclass in living life to the fullest. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Richard Stacey’s war hero RSDO 83 and York actress Frances Marshall’s defence counsel Allistra Clay in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until October 4

ALAN Ayckbourn’s 92nd play is his first courtroom drama, one set in the future, as he explores the question that artists have been asking for centuries: what makes us human?

In 2194, humanity is scattered around the solar system and day-to-day life on Earth looks very different. Preparations are underway for a landmark legal case. Romeo Oscar, a military issue android, is on trial for murder: the first non-human to be tried in a court of law. The evidence is polarising and selecting an impartial jury is proving a challenge. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Movies In The Moonlight at Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema’s season in York Museum Gardens

Cinema event of the week: Picturehouse Outdoor Cinema, Movies In The Moonlight, York Museum Gardens, Friday to Sunday, 6.30pm

CITY Screen Picturehouse moves outdoors for three evenings of open-air screenings, comprising Grease (PG) on Friday, The Shining (15) and Evolution Of Horror podcast introduction on Saturday and Jurassic Park (12A) on Sunday. Screenings start at dusk or as soon as darkness falls.

Blankets, cushions and small picnic chairs are allowed. A limited number of deck chairs will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis; rain ponchos can be bought at the event, should the need arise. Guests are encouraged to take away waste for recycling where possible. Box office: picturehouses.com/outdoor-cinema/venue/york-museum-gardens.

Uh Oh! Here comes Phil Wang and his moustache that will “bristle with wisdom” at York Barbican

New moustache of the week: Phil Wang: Uh Oh, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

PHILIP Nathaniel Wang Sin Goi is a Malaysian-British stand-up comedian, comedy writer and member of the sketch comedy group Daphne, who co-created the BBC Radio 4 series Daphne Sounds Expensive.

Now comes his new stand-up show, Uh Oh. In the words of Phil, “he’s older than ever before. He’s got a moustache now. It bristles with wisdom. His eyes shine with good humour. His shoulders groan under the weight of being the only cool millennial left. Everyone’s an idiot but him. Nice is out. Right is in. The vibe shift is real. Old Wang’s riding it.” Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The boys Dunwell: Brothers Joseph and David, heading to Milton Rooms, Malton

Ryedale gig of the week: The Dunwells, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm

LEEDS indie-folk pop band The Dunwells have combined strong vocals, powerful melodies and heartfelt lyrics across four studio albums, a live album and a number of standout EPs and singles.

Prolific songwriting  brothers Joseph and David Dunwell, along with friends Adam Taylor and Rob Clayton, have toured extensively in the USA, Europe and the UK, as well as undertaking support slots with  Mumford & Sons, Elbow, Tom Jones, Scouting For Girls and Bryan Adams on British tours. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Sax to the max: Snake Davis heads to Helmsley on his Everlasting Love Tour

Saxophonist of the week: Snake Davis Band, Everlasting Love Tour, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST Snake Davis is “so happy to be back at Helmsley Arts Centre yet again”, this time showcasing new tunes and a new album on the Everlasting Love Tour with his four-piece band featuring guitar, bass guitar and drums. 

The set spans “floaty to danceable, soul & Northern Soul to pop, jazz to world”, embracing original material and classic sax pieces such as Baker Street and Night Train as Snake swaps performing arena and stadium gigs with stellar acts for playing intimate venues with his favourite musicians.  Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

James Felice & William Lawrence: Dreamy and quiet evening of Americana music and storytelling at Pocklington Arts Centre

Americana gig of the week: James Felice & William Lawrence, Pocklington Arts Centre, Saturday, 8pm

JAMES Felice and  drummer William Lawrence, two members of New York State’s  Felice Brothers, are taking to the road to perform songs from their respective solo works in a dreamy and quiet evening of Americana music and storytelling. James and William last appeared at Pocklington Arts Centre alongside Ian Felice and Jesske Hume in the Felice Brothers gig in June 2021. Box office: 01759 301547or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Alfie Moore: Offering the antidote to the breakdown of law and order, fake news and the price of baked beans in Acopalypse Now

Comedy gig of the week: Alfie Moore, Acopalypse Now, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 7.30pm

THE Four Horsemen of Rising Crime, Global Warming, AI and Culture Wars are galloping towards us. Are we on the road to hell? Can we avoid the potholes? In this new tour show, ‘Fair Cop’ Alfie has the antidote to the breakdown of law and order, fake news and the price of baked beans.

Moore has encountered more than his fair share of egotistical dictators in his policing career and learnt when pragmatism, and more than a dash of humour, can defuse even the most menacing showdown. Join him as he saddles up to see off those bullies on their pesky ponies. Doomsday is no laughing matter, but this show will be. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Chance to perform of the week: HAC Studio Bar Open Mic – Under 18s, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2pm to 4pm

IN a special edition of Helmsley Arts Centre’s regular social event in the studio bar, young musicians and artists have the opportunity to perform. There is no need to book to take part or listen; just turn up. All under-18s must be accompanied by an adult. 

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No 35, from Gazette & Herald

Dave: Headlining The Grid stage at Leeds Festival on Sunday. Picture: Leeds Festival

NOEL Coward at the double, Snake’s sax solos, Aardman model making and Leeds Festival’s summer serenade offer contrasts aplenty in Charles Hutchinson’s choices for the days ahead.

Festival of the week: Leeds Festival, Bramham Park, near Wetherby, tomorrow to Sunday 

KASABIAN headline day one of Leeds Festival on The Grid stage, where The Lathums and Arkayla play tomorrow too. Friday’s line-up on The Grid includes Blossoms, Role Model, Florence + The Machine and headliners Chase & Status Live, while headline-grabbing Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap play The Gallery that night. Look out too for Westside Cowboy and Paris Paloma in The Ballroom.

Saturday serves up York singer-songwriter Beth McCarthy (12.30pm to 1pm), James Marriott, Declan McKenna, Skepta, Charlie XCX and bill-topping Fontaines D.C. on The Grid. Catch Geese in The Gallery too. Sunday’s Grid finale features Absolutely, Slayyyter, Maisie Peters, Sombr, Raye and the festival-closing Dave. Box office: leedsfestival.com/tickets.

Justin Fletcher: Director of CBeebies House Party Live! featuring Mr Tumble at York Barbican

Children’s show of the week: CBeebies House Party Live!, York Barbican, today, 11am and 2pm

DIRECTED by CBeebies superstar Justin Fletcher, CBeebies House Party Live! is a fun-packed family stage show full of sensational songs, stupendous surprises and mega moments.

Throwing an epic party just for you will be Mr Tumble, Mister Maker, York Theatre Royal pantomime alumni Andy Day and Evie Pickerill, Duggee, Nigel Clarke and George Webster, who promise dancing, singing, streamers, giant jellies, bubbles galore and a CBeebies bedtime story. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Seascape artist Carolyn Coles: Hosting workshop for beginners at South Bank Studios, York

Workshop of the week: A Day At The Seaside with Carolyn Coles, South Bank Studios, Southlands Methodist Church, York, Friday, 10am to 5pm

SOUTH Bank Studios seascape painter Carolyn Coles hosts A Day At The Seaside, a workshop for beginners, in the Garden Room at South Bank Studios. “Start the day with the ‘Loosen Up and Feel The Flow’ workshop,” says Carolyn. “Then, in the afternoon, paint a panel and frame it.” Everything is included for £75. For more information and to book a place, email [email protected].

Looking ahead, Carolyn will take part in Staithes Festival of Arts & Heritage 2026 from September 11 to 13, when 113 artists will exhibit at 67 pop-up venues, alongside live music, heritage talks and outdoor screenings. General entry and the Artist Trail are free.

Lee Gemmell’s Egyptology student Edward Bellingham in Baron Productions’ The Mummy Lot No. 249

Thriller of the week: Baron Productions presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Mummy Lot No. 249, St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, Friday and Saturday, 7.30pm

FOUNDED by Daniel Wilmot in 2015, York company Baron Productions presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1892 one-act play The Mummy Lot No. 249 as its 2026 summer show, in which Oxford student Abercrombie Smith discovers his neighbour, Egyptology student Edward Bellingham, has used ancient magic to reanimate a malevolent mummy to terrorise and attack his rivals.

Wilmot’s cast features Jack McAdam as Smith, Lee Gemmell as Bellingham, M. Alder as Peterson, Lauren Hegarty as Hastie and Ellie Guffick as Monkhouse Lee. Box office: https://www.ticketsource.com/baron-productions.

Matt Price: Outrageous stories at York Barbican

Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, York Barbican, Friday,doors 7.30pm for 8pm start

CORNISH comedian Matt Price tops Friday’s bill with his  extraordinary and outrageous stories drawn from the wilder side of life, bringing warmth and heart to the stage while finding audacious humour in unexpected places.

Irish storytelling comedian Jack Hester supports, along with force-of-nature surreal humorist Gary Jennison, who promises dance-offs, game shows and magic in his 100 per cent unscripted, unsupervised set, where the audience can try to steer the unbridled chaos with suggestions and participation. Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.

The poster for Queen Of The Night: Whitney in focus at York Barbican

Tribute gig of the week: Queen Of The Night, A Tribute To Whitney Houston, York Barbican, Friday,7.30pm

THIS touring production honours the music and legacy of Whitney Houston in an electrifying show that combines sensational vocalists with a full live band. Prepare to be captivated by a journey through three decades of hits such as I Wanna Dance With Somebody, One Moment In Time, I Will Always Love You, My Love Is Your Love, So Emotional,  Saving All My Love, How Will I Know, Million Dollar Bill and The Greatest Love Of All. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.  

Noël Coward double bill of the week: UK Foundation For Dance and Pickering Musical Society in Noël & Gertie and Red Peppers, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

TRAVEL back to the 1930s of Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence in this first co-production between Scarborough’s UK Foundation For Dance and Pickering Musical Society in a double-bill of Coward’s comedy, wit and music.

The first-half revue, Noël & Gertie, introduces the legendary stage partnership and lifelong friendship of Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, with songs by Coward, Gershwin, Cole Porter, Kurt Weill and Rodgers & Hammerstein. Bill Scott on piano accompanies Tim Tubbs and Rachel Anderson, co-stars of Pickering’s 2025 hit Hello, Dolly!

Then comes Red Peppers, a short play from Coward & Lawrence’s 1936 production Tonight At 8.30. This comic interlude with music, set in a northern town’s palace of varieties, features a feuding husband and wife in a corny song and dance double act, in the dying days of music hall. Pickering actor Paula Cook join five Scarborough actors in this amusing backstage bickering match, bookended by two corny song and dance routines. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

Aardman Animation: Model-making workshops at York Barbican

Activity of the week: Aardman In Concert: Model Making Workshops, York Barbican, Saturday, 11.45am, 2.15pm and 4.45pm

MAKE your very own Aardman character at one of three self-led model-making workshops, where you keep your creation to take home. Aardman Animations, creators of Wallace & Gromit, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run and Morph, have created special instruction guides to enable you to create clay versions of their much-loved characters.

Choose between Gromit (11.45am), Shaun the Sheep (2.15pm) and Feathers McGraw (4.45pm). All materials will be supplied. The workshops are suitable for all ages from five upwards; children must be accompanied by a participating adult. Tickets: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The Dead South: Progressive bluegrass and alternative Americana at York Barbican

Recommended but sold out already: The Dead South, Europe 2026 The Return, York Barbican, August 31, doors 7pm

WHATEVER you call The Dead South’s music – progressive bluegrass, alternative Americana, country, folk or Western, people from different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, languages and ages love it, clubbing together as the cosplaying “Good Company” at gigs. 

Formed in 2012 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, the line-up comprises Nate Hilts, Scott Pringle, Danny Kenyon and Colton Crawford, always attired in bolo ties and custom brims. Carter Family meets Addams Family in songs that address themes of murder, disloyalty and ghosts while going from weepy to weird, wistful to wicked. Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra support. Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Heather Leech in Gleowit Productions’ Anne Boleyn’s Mother

Play of the week: Gleowit Productions in Anne Boleyn’s Mother, Milton Rooms, Malton, September 3, 7.30pm

WEDNESDAY, October 13, 1537: another ordinary day, except that a new queen, Jane, has given birth to a son, an achievement beyond compare in Henry VIII’s court. Elizabeth, Countess of Wiltshire, feeling the loss of her son George and her daughter Anne, previous queen of England, struggles to find cause for celebration, wholly aware of the treachery within the English court.

On the path to greatness, her losses have been heavy. Were they worth it? She is Anne Boleyn’s mother and grandmother to the motherless future Queen Elizabeth I, her story now told by actor, writer and director Heather Leech. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Snake Davis: Celebrating the art of the sax solo at Pocklington Arts Centre

Saxophonist of the week:  Snake Davis Band, Classic Sax Solos, Pocklington Arts Centre, September 3, 8pm

AN instrumental solo can break hearts, lift spirits, even change lives. Saxophone is the favourite instrument of many folk, and for good reason; so emotional, so passionate; it sings, screams, whispers. Step forward saxophonist to the stars Snake Davis, leading his five-piece band through more than  20 classics, from Baker Street, Careless Whisper, Respect and Yakety Yak  to his own solos from Take That’s Million Love Songs, M People’s Moving On Up and Lisa Stansfield’s Change.

Davis reveals their background and history as well as playing them in context. What is their individual magic ingredient; what makes these solos classic? How did they emerge; how did the players produce that magic? Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk. 

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 34, from Gazette & Herald

Mary Anning Rocks at the Yorkshire Museum, York. Picture: Antony Chappel Ross

DINOSAUR museum adventures and the CBeebies house party, CHIC’s good times on the coast and Sparks’ York return after 52 years offer contrasts aplenty in Charles Hutchinson’s choices for the days ahead.

Last-chance holiday activities: Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York, open Tuesdays to Sundays, 10am to 5pm

AS the school summer holidays enter their final fortnight, the Yorkshire Museum invites visitors to “make the most of the interactive activities, craft sessions and amazing exhibits before term starts again”.

Grab a dinosaur backpack to explore the Mary Anning and Jurassic galleries in dino-themed entertainment for younger ones, while spotting fossils and dino bones on their adventures on August 21, 24 or 28. The final Melsonby Hoard treasure trove crafting session will be held on August 26, although Viking beaded jewellery and bug brooch making are available every day through the summer break. Pay once to receive all these free activities and unlimited return visits for a year. Tickets: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.

No common ground: Pandora Clifford’s Mags and Liz Garland’s Liz in Handbagged at the SJT, Scarborough. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

Political drama of the week: Handbagged, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until August 29

MOIRA Buffini’s 2013 Olivier Award-winning play imagines what happened behind closed palace doors when two of the 20th century’s most powerful women, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, locked handbags. Meeting once a week for 11 years, one believed there was no such thing as society; the other committed her life to serving it.

Spanning 1979 to 1990, Handbagged asks if The Queen and the Iron Lady ever found common ground or did their stiff upper lips reign supreme? Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder directs the SJT cast of Pandora Clifford, Liz Garland, Alexandra Mathie, Deven Modha, Simon Darwen and Meriel Scholfield. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

The Magic Numbers: Brothers and sisters in unison at The Crescent

Siblings of the week: An Evening With The Magic Numbers, The Crescent, York, Friday, 7.30pm

THE Magic Numbers combine two pairs of siblings, Romeo & Michele Stodart and Sean & Angela Gannon, who are known for their unique harmonies, melodic hooks, songwriting craftsmanship and timeless sound, exemplified by Forever Lost, Love Me Like You and Love Is A Game across five albums. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Nile Rodgers: Performing with CHIC at Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Coastal gig of the week: Nile Rodgers & CHIC, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Saturday, gates open at 6pm

IN the final Scarborough Open Air Theatre concert of the summer, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Grammy Lifetime Achievement winner and composer, producer, arranger and guitarist Nile Rodgers returns to the Yorkshire coast for the third time with CHIC, the New York City R&B and soul band he co-founded with Bernard Edwards.

Expect such disco dancefloor fillers as Le Freak, Good Times, We Are Family and I’m Coming Out. Acid jazz combo Brand New Heavies support. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Sparks’ Ron and Russell Mael: Playing York after 52-year hiatus on August 25. Picture: Munachi Osegbu

York gig of the week: Sparks, York Barbican, August 25, doors open at 7pm  

CULT Californian pop-rock pioneers Sparks play York for the first time since 1974 on their 2025-2026 world tour, coinciding with this month’s release of latest album Live On The Moon.

The Mael brothers, Ron (keyboards), 81, and Russell (vocals), 77, are lining up a euphoric, career-spanning set, picking from such hits as This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us, Amateur Hour, Something For The Girl With Everything, Looks, Looks, Looks, The Number One Song In Heaven and Beat The Clock. Mr. B  The Gentleman Rhymer supports. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The poster for CBeebies House Party Live! at York Barbican

Children’s show of the week: CBeebies House Party Live!, York Barbican, August 26, 11am and 2pm

DIRECTED by CBeebies superstar Justin Fletcher, CBeebies House Party Live! is a fun-packed family stage show full of sensational songs, stupendous surprises and mega moments.

Throwing an epic party just for you will be special guest Mr Tumble, Mister Maker, York Theatre Royal pantomime alumni Andy Day and Evie Pickerill, Duggee, Nigel Clarke and George Webster, who promise dancing, singing, streamers, giant jellies, bubbles galore and a CBeebies bedtime story. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Lee Gemmell’s Egyptology student Edward Bellingham in Baron Productions’ The Mummy Lot No. 249

Thriller of the month: Baron Productions presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Mummy Lot No. 249, St Mary’s Church, Bishophill Junior, York, August 28 & 29, 7.30pm

FOUNDED by Daniel Wilmot in 2015, York company Baron Productions presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1892 one-act play The Mummy Lot No. 249 as its 2026 summer show, in which Oxford student Abercrombie Smith discovers his neighbour, Egyptology student Edward Bellingham, has used ancient magic to reanimate a malevolent mummy to terrorise and attack his rivals.

Wilmot’s cast features Jack McAdam as Smith, Lee Gemmell as Bellingham, M. Alder as Peterson, Lauren Hegarty as Hastie and Ellie Guffick as Monkhouse Lee. Box office: https://www.ticketsource.com/baron-productions.

The artwork for the interactive Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote at Milton Rooms, Malton

Crime detection games ahead: Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote, Milton Rooms, Malton, September 2, 7.30pm  

HOSTED by super-fan, playwright and PopHorror  co-producer Tim Benzie, cult event Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote comes to Malton with an interactive screening of NBC Universal Television’s classic Murder, She Wrote episode A Fashionable Way To Die, wherein Jessica Fletcher visits Paris to support her friend’s fashion show, but soon a murder takes place that only she (or you) can solve.

Combining games, prizes and audience participation, Solve-Along-A-Murder-She-Wrote features a race to solve the crime, via the Fameometer and the Suspiciometer; a Cabot Cove quiz; a singalong to the theme tune with new lyrics, plus clips and biographies of the campy guest stars. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com. 

The Snake Davis Band: Heading back to Helmsley Arts Centre

Return upcoming: The Snake Davis Band, Everlasting Love Tour, Helmsley Arts Centre, September 12, 7.30pm

SAXOPHONIST Snake Davis is “so happy to be back at Helmsley Arts Centre yet again”, this time showcasing new tunes and his new album on the Everlasting Love Tour with his four-piece band featuring guitar, bass guitar and drums. 

The set will span “floaty to danceable, soul and Northern Soul to pop, jazz to world”, embracing original material and classic sax pieces such as Baker Street and Night Train, as Snake swaps performing arena and stadium gigs with stellar acts for playing intimate venues with his own music choices and favourite musicians.  Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Michelle Yim in The Ballad Of Mulan, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Malcolm Tam

Tour show announcement of the week: Red Dragonfly Productions & Grist To The Mill Productions present The Ballad Of Mulan, York Theatre Royal Studio, September 11, 7.45pm; September 12, 2pm & 7.45pm

COMMISSIONED and performed by West Yorkshire-born British-Chinese actress Michelle Yim, The Ballad Of Mulantells the story of the real woman behind the legendary Chinese female warrior who disguised as a man to join the Empire’s army – and inspired Disney’s animation and live-feature Mulan.

Woman, warrior, legend, for ten years Mulan has fought for the Chinese Empire. Now, after one last battle, she will be going home, but can she return to her old life, becoming a woman again? Yim’s hour-long The Ballad Of Mulan presents a search for identity in a violent world. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York & beyond. Hutch’s List No. 32, from Gazette & Herald

York Georgian Festival, promenading through the streets and taking over York Mansion House

YORK River Art Market’s return, Georgian festivities, Shakespeare sonnets on the tennis court and Britpop tribute acts R catch Charles Hutchinson’s eye as August arrives.

York festival of the week: York Georgian Festival, tomorrow to August 10

HIGHLIGHTING the sights and sounds of 18th century life, York Mansion House plays host to the fourth York Georgian Festival in a five-day festival programme that ranges from free displays of dancing and military drills in St Helen’s Square to the York Georgian Masquerade Ball at the Grand Assembly Rooms on Saturday. Talk, tours, performances and workshops feature too. For full listings and booking details, go to: yorkgeorgianfestival.co.uk.

Oscar Langford, left, and James Robert Ball in rehearsal for York Shakespeare Project’s Summer Sonnets: What The Deuce? at Holy Trinity Churchyard, Goodramgate, York. Picture: John Saunders

New balls please: York Shakespeare Project presents 2026 Summer Sonnets: What The Deuce?, Holy Trinity Churchyard, Goodramgate, York, Friday to August 15, except August 11, 6pm & 7.30pm, plus 4.30pm Saturday shows

SUMMER at the Goodramgate Lawn Tennis Club finds four doubles teams competing for the chance to play in a Wimbledon amateur tournament, whereupon partnerships and rivalries lead to sabotage and break point. Who has the advantage? Who is at fault? Will the score be love?

Expect further tennis puns aplenty as Rosy Rowley directs Stuart Green’s script that asks a new collection of ten characters to play out this new sporting and unsporting situation where each finds a way to share a Shakespeare sonnet. Taking part will be James Robert Ball, Oscar Langford, Helen Clarke, Sarah McKeagney, Stuart Lindsay, Alexa Williams, Jamie McKeller, Alan Sharp, Christine Bramwell and Effie Warboys. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk/

New York Brass Band line up with Hyde Family Jam members Tom Gill (accordion), back row, third from left, and Will Dreyfus (vocals and guitar), front row, left, ahead of Friday’s York Barbican gig

Mash-up of the week: The Crescent presents New York Brass Band & Hyde Family Jam, York Barbican, Friday, 8pm

TWO of York’s biggest, bounciest musical party troupes collide at York Barbican for a co-headline show with a difference. Promoter Joe Coates has decided the four-piece Hyde Family Jam will be on stage first, followed by an eight-piece line up of New York Brass Band, each playing a 40-minute set before rampant folk-rock meets New Orleans brass head on in a collaborative finale of these high-energy street urchins’ biggest hits. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

York Stage’s poster for Raise Your Voice: MTI Broadway Junior Revue at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York

Musical theatre celebration of the week: York Stage presents brings Raise Your Voice: MTI Broadway Junior Revue, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Friday, 7.30pm, and Saturday, 2pm and 4pm

THIS uplifting showcase by the next generation of performers features iconic songs from Broadway Junior favourites, showcased by a talented young York Stage cast ready to sing out and shine as they take centre stage with confidence, courage and nascent star quality. Cue big numbers, heartfelt moments and personality aplenty. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

The poster for this summer’s York River Art Market. Illustration by Elliot Harrison (@York 360)

Open-air art event of the month: York River Art Market, Dame Judi Dench Walk, York, August 8 & 9 and August 15 & 16, 10am to 5.30pm

YORK River Art Market returns for its 11th year, bringing more than 30 artists from multiple disciplines to the Ouse riverside each day, this year presenting art and design market stalls on both sides of the pathway.

Described as York’s answer to the Left Bank in Paris, the event is being run for the first time this summer by Caroline Turner, a professional potter and ceramics teacher at Clay Space York. Admission is free.

Scissor Sisters: Heading for Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Saturday

Coastal gigs of the week: TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Scissor Sisters, Saturday; Holly Johnson, ABC and Heaven 17, August 14,  gates 6pm

AFTER their 2025 UK arena reunion tour and that summer’s Saturday night Glastonbury set, Scissor Sisters bring their trademark blend of glam, grit and glorious to Scarborough Open Air Theatre this weekend. Jake Shears, Babydaddy, Del Marquis and co will be rolling out such favourites as Take Your Mama, Laura, I Don’t Feel Like Dancin, Let’s Have A Kiki, Only The Horses and Filthy/Gorgeous.

Flamboyant, unapologetically bold Frankie Goes To Hollywood lead vocalist and lyricist Holly Johnson tops the 1980s’ triple bill next Friday, when he performs the chart-topping trio of  Relax, Two Tribes and The Power Of Love, further Frankie smashes Welcome To The Pleasure Dome and Rage Hard and solo hits Love Train, Americanos and Atomic City. Sheffield bands ABC and Heaven 17 support. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Holly Johnson: Frankie says Relax in Scarborough next Friday

Tribute gig of the week: SWT presents Pulp’d vs Blur 2, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm

PULP’D and Blur2 team up for a double-header of Britpop royalty tonight. Born and raised in Sheffield, passionate Pulp fans Pulp’d came together to re-create the hits, passion and Jarvis Cocker moves.

Blur2 bring the very best of Blur to every show: the energy, the fun, the sound, the looks and the musicianship of Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Alex James and co. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

The Magpies: Hosting their folk festival weekend at Sutton Park, Sutton-on-the-Forest

Folk festival of the month: The Magpies Festival, Sutton Park, near York, August 14 and 15

RUN by the folk trio of Bella Gaffney, Holly Brandon and Ellie Gowers, The Magpies Festival presents a Friday Main Stage bill of Daraa Tribes (6pm), The Magpies (8pm) and headliners Manran (10pm) and Brass Castle Stage bill of True Foxes (5pm), Elizabeth Davidson-Blythe & Daniel Quayle (7pm), SupaLung (9pm) and New York Brass Band (11pm).

The Saturday line-up on the Main Stage comprises Steady Habits (12 noon), Alex Hart (2pm), Blair Dunlop (4pm), Katherine Priddy (6pm), Gnoss (8pm) and headliners Cut Capers (10pm). The Brass Castle Stage plays host to Songs In The Round, with Katherine Priddy, Blair Dunlop and Chloe Foy (1pm), Tarren (3pm), Ophelia’s Beard (5pm), Around About Dusk (7pm) and Suntou Susso & The Gambian Superstars (9pm). Box office: themagpiesfestival.co.uk/tickets.

Katherine Priddy: Saturday set at The Magpies Festival

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 31, from Gazette & Herald, from July 29 onwards

Christina Bianco’s June Carter Cash and Christopher Ryan Grant’s Johnny Cash in The Ballad Of Johnny & June. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography

JOHNNY and June’s country musical, The Queen and Margaret Thatcher’s handbag clashes, a rare Blueflies gig and The Streets’ masterpiece in full perk up Charles Hutchinson for the week ahead.

Musical of the week: The Ballad Of Johnny & June, The Johnny Cash Musical, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees on July 29 & 30 and August 1

THIS thrilling musical from Jersey Boys director Des McAnuff celebrates the love, music and mayhem of country music couple Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash. Electrifying chemistry marks the performances of  Christopher Ryan Grant’s Johnny and Christina Bianco’s June in a story observed through the eyes of Ryan O’Donnell’s John Carter Cash, their son. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents The Blueflies, Milton Rooms, Malton, July 30, 8pm

ENDURING and beloved York blues and funk band The Blueflies – Miles Gilderdale, guitar and vocals, Gavin Ewing, bass and co-songwriter, and Paul Stipetic , drums – perform only rarely these days. Expect a night packed with outstanding musicianship, ace songs and the kind of atmosphere that only a combo with 40 years of musical muscle memory can create. Booking in advance is recommended on 01653 696240 or at themiltonrooms.com.

Neil Delamere: If it ain’t broke it, should he fix it at Pocklington Arts Centre? Not the seat, presumably

Tall tales of the week: Neil Delamere, Reinventing The Neil, Pocklington Arts Centre, July 30, 7.30pm

COMEDIC adventurer Neil Delamere returns with a new stand-up show, packed with tall tales and humorous stories. Join The Blame Game panellist and Celebrity Chase contestant as he ponders the eternal question: if it ain’t broke, should he fix it? Box office: 01759 or 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk. 

Stanley Chow’s poster illustration for The Songs of Joni Mitchell at The Citadel, York

Interpreters of the week: The Songs of Joni Mitchell, with Jesca Hoop & Lail Arad, The Citadel, York, Friday, doors 7pm, show 7.45pm

JESCA Hoop & Lail Arad, acclaimed singer-songwriters in their own right, perform intimate interpretations of their favourite Joni Mitchell songs, accompanied by Richard Sears on piano and special guest Naima Bock. Hoop presented Legend: The Joni Mitchell Story, the award-winning six-part BBC radio documentary and podcast on the Canadian singer-songwriter. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

 Liz Garland, left, and Meriel Scholfield in rehearsal for the Stephen Joseph Theatre production of Handbagged. Picture: Tony Bartholomew 

Political drama of the week: Handbagged, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Friday to August 29

MOIRA Buffini’s 2014 Olivier Award-winning play imagines what happened behind closed palace doors when two of the 20th century’s most powerful women, Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, locked handbags. Meeting once a week for 11 years, one believed there was no such thing as society; the other committed her life to serving it.

Spanning 1979 to 1990, Handbagged asks if The Queen and the Iron Lady ever found common ground or did their stiff upper lips reign supreme? Hannah Tyrrell-Pinder directs the SJT cast of Pandora Clifford, Liz Garland, Alexandra Mathie, Deven Modha, Simon Darwen and Meriel Scholfield. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

Four Forty Theatre: Breakneck character changes and mischief-making in A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Shakespeare show of the week: Four Forty Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Friday, 7.30pm

FOUR Forty Theatre (or 440 Theatre, as their website uses both names) tackle Shakespeare’s romantic romp of a chaotic comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with their trademark irreverence, wit and theatrical ingenuity, directed by Dominic Gee-Burch, formerly of fellow high-speed Shakespeare humorists Oddsocks Productions.

Lovers are enchanted, fairies feud and a troupe of hapless players rehearse their way into disaster, all in a single moonlit night. Inventive staging, breakneck character changes and playful dismantling of tradition mark out Four Forty Theatre’s mischief-making take on Shakespeare’s best-loved comedy: part affectionate homage, part riotous reinvention. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Saxophonist Snake Davis and guitarist Gareth Moulton: Best buddies’ bonding session at Helmsley Arts Centre

Duo of the week: Snake Davis with Gareth Moulton, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

THE Snake Davis and Gareth Moulton duo is back on the road, featuring saxophonist-to-the-stars Davis and Manchester-born, Macclesfield-based  singer-songwriter and guitarist Moulton, his best buddy, with the promise of new material and a new album.

Davis has performed with Paul McCartney, James Brown, Tina Turner, The Eurythmics and Amy Winehouse and has featured on more than 400 recordings by 60 artists, including Lisa Stansfield’s Change, M-People’s Search For A Hero and Take That’s Million Love Songs. Moulton is lead guitarist with Cutting Crew and “moonlighting” singer and guitarist with Wang Chung and has recorded and toured with Heather Small, Jim Diamond, Paul Young and Go West. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Mike Skinner of The Streets: Playing A Grand Don’t Come For Free in full at Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Coastal gigs of the week: Scarborough Open Air Theatre presents The Streets, A Grand Don’t Come For Free, Saturday; Sex Pistols featuring Frank Carter, Sunday, gates 6pm

FOR the first time, The Streets’ Mike Skinner is performing his landmark 2004 album A Grand Don’t Come For Free in full on tour. One of the most influential British records of the 21st century, the multi-platinum-selling chart topper delivered era-defining singles Dry Your Eyes, Fit But You Know It and Blinded By The Lights while taking a cinematic journey through the love, loss, chaos, heartbreak, hope and raw emotion of everyday life with poetic wit and honesty.

Original Sex Pistols members Steve Jones, Paul Cook and Glen Matlock are joined by vocalist Frank Turner on Sunday to mark “50 years of chaos and celebration” since the punk iconoclasts’ brace of Summer 1976 gigs at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall. The Stranglers and The Undertones are special guests. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Paul Smith: Radiating comic warmth twice in a week at York Barbican

York comedy gigs of the week: Hot Water Comedy Club presents Paul Smith, Happy, York Barbican, Saturday and August 5, 7.30pm

PAUL Smith, resident MC and compere of Liverpool’s Hot Water Comedy Club, is heading to York for two nights in his biggest, boldest tour show, Happy: fearless stand-up at full throttle, brimful of observations, true stories and audience interaction. Pulling tales from  real life, Smith finds joy in the chaos, laughter in the everyday and comedy in absolutely everything. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 29, from Gazette & Herald

Eliza Carthy: Performing with The Restitution at Ryedale Festival

A MYTHICAL tale of a goddess, a near-future re-spinning of the selkie myth, an Arthurian quest of a lifetime, a bothersome briefcase in a love story and  a nostalgia trip to variety’s golden days keep Charles Hutchinson  entertained.

Folk gig of the week: Eliza Carthy and The Restitution, Ryedale Festival, Selby Abbey, tonight, 7pm

FLAMBOYANT Robin Hood’s Bay fiddler and singer Eliza Carthy continues to re-imagine traditional music with fiery imagination and fearless individuality. The daughter of Martin Carthy and Norma Waterson, she grew up immersed in the folk world, and here she performs with her powerhouse touring band in one of Yorkshire’s most atmospheric and beautiful settings. For the full festival programme and tickets, go to: ryedalefestival.com.

Megan Drury in Wright & Grainger’s SELENE at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Radical myth revamp of the week: Wright & Grainger and Theatre@41 present Megan Drury in SELENE, Halfway To Edinburgh Season, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7pm, and tomorrow, 8.30pm

AUSTRALIAN actor Megan Drury stars in Easingwold duo Phil Grainger and Alexander Flanagan Wright’s tale of the goddess and the dark side of the moon in a radical explosion of an ancient myth.

A young girl watches the moon landings on repeat. A teenager makes a list of all the things they are not. A young adult starts to discover who they are. Expect a story addressing the light sides of us, the dark sides of us, the things orbiting around us as we grow up and not least the wild stuff inside us. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

The Three Inch Fools: Epic tale of Arthurian adventure and medieval mayhem at Helmsley Walled Garden

Outdoor theatre show of the week: The Three Inch Fools in King Arthur And The Holy Fail, Helmsley Walled Garden, tomorrow, 7pm

FOUNDED by Cumbrian brothers James and Stephen Hyde, The Three Inch Fools present an epic tale of Arthurian adventure and medieval mayhem, set in a land of daring quests, dashing knights and endless jousting.

Waiting in the wings is a would-be hero, by the name of Arthur, but when Camelot is rocked to its core by a tragic – and frankly improbable – incident involving a large table of an undisclosed shape, Arthur is thrust into the quest of a lifetime, Destiny awaits, chivalry calls and the quest to end all quests begins. Bring chairs, blankets and cushions. Picnics welcome. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Rowan Armitt-Brewster’s introverted Thomas and Lennie Longworth’s equally shy Daisy in A Brief Case Of Crazy

Silent love story of the week: Skedaddle Theatre & Shoddy Theatre present A Brief Case Of Crazy, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow to Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee

INSPIRED by the timeless genius of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Mr Bean,Rowan Armitt-Brewster, Samuel Cunningham and Lennie Longworth’s physical comedy A Brief Case Of Crazy is a silent love story with a very loud heart, told through slick choreography, mime, clowning and puppetry.

Meet Thomas, an awkward, introverted office worker with a quiet crush on his equally shy colleague, Daisy. His quest for love must contend with a boisterous boss named Simon and a rather bothersome briefcase that drags an awkward introvert into extraordinary events. Will his quest for love fail? Or will he discover that what’s on the inside counts most? Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age guidance: Five upwards.

Hannah Davies & Jack Woods: Re-imagining selkie myth in a not-too-distant future

Dystopian vision of the week: Hannah Davies & Jack Woods in The Ballad of Blea Wyke, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

IN North Yorkshire writer and storyteller Hannah Davies and musician Jack Woods’ dystopian re-imagining of the selkie myth in a not-too-distant future, a young woman wants to see the sea. A stranger stands on a cliff. The last grey seal swims towards the shore. 

On her 18th birthday, tough care-leaver Cerys breaks the city’s lockdown and travels to the coastal cliffs that birthed her, the crumbling landscape drawing her back to her mythic past. Cue a haunting interweaving of story, music, poetry and song. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Elf Lyons, the woman on the edge at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Comedy gig of the week: Halfway To Edinburgh Season presents Elf Lyons Is The Woman On The Edge (Work In Progress), Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 7.30pm

LET London comedian, classically trained clown and Sky Arts Award winner Elf Lyons introduce this Work In Progress preview of her Edinburgh Fringe-bound show Elf Lyons Is The Woman On The Edge: “I’m sorry, I’ve said too much…”

She does, however, go on to say it will be “a completely normal, autobiographical (and in no way complex) observational stand-up show about love. A perfect show to take yourself to. Inspired by Vertigo, Apollo 13 the opera Pagliacci.  Directed by Ingmar Bergman.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Dominic Goodwin in a triptych of his myriad roles in Twice Nightly

Recalling variety’s golden days: Pyramus and Thisbe Productions present Dominic Goodwin in Twice Nightly, Friargate Theatre, York, Friday and Saturday, 7.30pm

RYEDALE writer, performer and pantomime dame Dominic Goodwin is touring his first one-man comedy show, directed by York director and actor Thomas Frere.

Twice Nightly follows the story of struggling comedian Freddie Francis in 1956 as the final curtain hovers over variety. Many acts of the time are highlighted, including Norman “Over The Garden Wall” Evans (said to be an influence on Les Dawson) Stockton comic Jimmy James, wartime star Robb Wilton and the iconic Max Miller. Box office: York, 01904 655317 or ridinglights.org/friargatetheatre.

Tommy Banks; Turning up the heat at York Theatre Royal

Culinary event of the week:  An Evening with Tommy Banks: Spinning Plates: Live, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm

MICHELIN-STARRED chef and entrepreneur Tommy Banks makes the trip from his Oldstead family farm to York Theatre Royal to bring his extraordinary story to the stage for the first and only time. Told across three intersecting timelines – the past 25 years, the defining 12 months and the opening night for his latest pub —each moment teeters on a knife-edge.

Banks runs the Black Swan at Oldstead, Roots York, in Marygate, York, and the Abbey Inn at Byland, as well as co-founding Jeopardy Hospitality, whose first venture is the General Tarleton at Ferrensby, Knaresborough. For one night only, he combines storytelling and immersive cinema to lift the lid on hospitality service at its most intense. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

CMAT: Songs of identity, grief and beauty standards at Scarborough Open Air Theatre

Coastal gig of the week: CMAT, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Saturday, gates 6pm

CMAT, alias Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson, burst on to the music scene six years ago with her debut single Another Day (KFC). The Dublin-born, County Meath-raised singer and songwriter has since released three bitingly humorous, emotionally honest albums, 2022’s If My Wife New I’d Be Dead, 2023’s Crazymad, For Me and 2025’s  Mercury Prize-nominated Euro-Country, her exploration of identity, grief and beauty standards, exemplified by Take A Sexy Picture Of Me. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk.

Danger on T-Rex Mountain in Dinosaur Adventure Live at York Theatre Royal

Children’s show of the week: Dinosaur Adventure Live, Danger On T-Rex Mountain, York Theatre Royal, Saturday,  2.30pm

SIXTY-FIVE million years in the making, Dinosaur Adventure Live brings a fusion of family-friendly storytelling, puppetry, and roarsome science to the stage as the ancient world of dinosaurs crashes back to life for gasps, giggles and occasional jump-scares.

From a shadowy raptor on the loose to baby dinosaurs that you can feed (carefully!), Mike Newman’s show blends humour, thrills and hands-on learning into an interactive stage experience. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Matt Ford: In full swing at Milton Rooms, Malton

In the swing of things: Ryedale Festival presents Matt Ford and The Swing Legends Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 7pm

BRITISH singer and BBC Proms regular Matt Ford is joined by a full band to celebrate the songs of Frank Sinatra and fellow crooning legends Dean Martin, Tony Bennett and Michael Bublé. From late-night ballads to high-octane numbers shaped by elegance and irresistible wit, this is music that still knows exactly how to swing. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 26, from Gazette & Herald

Dan Wood, left, Stephen Wright, Lotty Farmer, Rosa Burns, Hannah Shaw and James Dickinson in York Light Opera Company’s production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

A SNAPPY crocodile and a Man-Wulf, a spelling bee musical and the York Mystery Plays on wagon wheels keep Charles Hutchinson’s arty eye on the ball and off the football.

Musical of the week: York Light Opera Company in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today to Saturday & June 30 to July 4, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinees and 2pm Sunday matinee (28/6/2026)

NEIL Wood directs York Light in Rebecca Feldman, William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s musical account of six ‘mid-pubescents’ battling for the spelling championship of a lifetime. While candidly disclosing stories from their home life, the tweens spell their way through a series of words hoping to never hear the bell that signals a mistake.

Cue a heart-warming message that highlights themes of friendship, identity and perseverance, all while celebrating the awkwardness and excitement of growing up. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Jordan Eskeisa, left, Marienella Phillips, Chelsea Da Silva (The Enormous Crocodile, front), Precious Abimbola and Ciara Hudson in Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile The Musical. Picture: Danny Kaan

Mischievous adaptation of the week: Roald Dahl Story Company in Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile The Musical, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to Sunday, 10.30am and 1.30pm

ROALD Dahl’s Enormous Crocodile is weaving his way through the jungle in search of delicious little fingers and squidgy podgy knees. Only fellow jungle creatures can foil his “secret plans and clever tricks”, but they need courage aplenty to stop this greedy, grumptious, horrid brute.

Equipped with Ahmed Abdullahi Gallab’s tunes, Suhayla El-Bushra’s rib-tickling book and lyrics and Tom Brady’s additional music and lyrics, the dastardly family adventure has been developed and directed by Emily Lim, working in tandem with co-director and puppetry designer Toby Olié. Chelsea Da Silva, Precious Abimbola, Jordan Eskeisa, Ciara Hudson, Marienella Phillips and actor-musician René Francalanza star.Age guidance: Three plus. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Stewart Lee’s illustration for Stewart Lee vs The Man-Wulf, on tour for three nights at Grand Opera House, York

Comedy gigs of the week: Stewart Lee vs The Man-Wulf, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm

AFTER a five-night Theatre Royal run in the fledgling days of Stewart Lee vs The Man-Wulf in January 2025, the contrarian comedian returns to York for three more nights of testing whether the beast inside us all can be silenced with the silver bullet of Lee’s scalpel-sharp stand-up?

Lee will play the same material three ways: first up, telling liberal jokes in a liberal way, then, after a screaming transformation into the Man-Wulf, reactionary jokes in a reactionary way post-interval and, finally, wolf’s head removed, reactionary jokes in a liberal, left-leaning way. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

The Moorlands Blues Band: Playing at Milton Rooms, Malton

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

IN The Moorlands Blues Band, the powerhouse blues ensemble founded by seasoned musicians Giuseppe Vitale and Rod Mackay is joined by Owen Houlston on voice and guitar. In high-energy performances of soulful depth, they play everything from the rawness of Old Delta Blues to the swing of Jump Blues and the gritty soul of Chicago Blues. Box office:  01653 696240  or themiltonrooms.com.

Karl Mullen: Everything from Chopin to Oasis, via Led Zeppelin and Les Dawson, at The Old Paint Shop

Cabaret gig of the week: The Old Paint Shop presents Karl Mullen, York Theatre Royal Studio, Friday, 8pm

AFTER two Old Paint Shop gigs last year, Karl Mullen, upright-piano busker, Phoenix Inn fixture and Leeds Piano Competition Pub Piano Champion, completes his hat-trick, serving up his energetic take on everything from Chopin to Oasis, via Led Zeppelin and Les Dawson, packed with outrageous and heartfelt stories from decades of gigging. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Coastal gig of the week: Pete Tong, Ibiza Classics, TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, Friday, gates open at 6pm

FROM the sun-soaked shores of Ibiza to the world’s biggest stages, Pete Tong has redefined live dance music over more than 30 years of pushing boundaries and supporting new talent.

After celebrating the tenth anniversary of Ibiza Classics with four sold-out nights at the Royal Albert Hall, he heads to the Yorkshire coast with The Essential Orchestra, having first visited Scarborough Open Air Theatre in 2023. Box office: scarbroughopenairtheatre.com.

Becky Hill: Performing after Saturday’s race meeting on Knavesmire

Under starter’s orders: Becky Hill, Summer Music Saturday, York Racecourse, Saturday, first race at 1.20pm

BECKY Hill, two-time BRIT Award winner for Best Dance Act, opens the summer of post-racing concerts at York Racecourse, promising a high-energy performance on the “Glastonbury-style stage” after seven races. For her set list, she can pick from such hits as Gecko; Back & Forth; Wish You Well; Lose Control; Better Off Without You; Heaven On My Mind; Remember; My Heart Goes; Run; Crazy What Love Can Do; History and Disconnect. For race-day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk.

York Mystery Plays: Returning to streets of York on June 28 and July 5

Theatrical event of the week: 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 four-yearly staging on the York Mystery Plays on pageant waggons take place at four locations across the city: free viewing at the Minster Refectory Gardens, Deansgate, (from 10.30am) King’s Square (from 11.10am), St Sampson’s Square (from 11.50am) and ticketed seats at Dean’s Park (from 12.30pm). 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 plays will be held in 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. Tickets: ticketsource.com/york-festival-trust.

The Choir Of Man: Harmony singing to the max at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: The Other Richard

Foot-stomping musical celebration of the week: The Choir Of Man, Grand Opera House, York, June 30 to July 2, 7.30pm; July 3, 4pm and 8pm; July 4, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

SET in the on-stage pub The Jungle, The Choir Of Man is billed as “the best trip to your local you’ll ever have” as a cast of nine (extra)ordinary guys combine beautiful harmonies and foot-stomping singalongs with tap dance and soulful storytelling in an uplifting celebration of community and friendship.

The debut UK & Ireland tour cast features Gustav Melbardis as Maestro; Oluwalonimi (Nimi) Owoyemi as Poet; Levi Tyrell Johnson as Hard Man; Ben Mabberley as Joker; Rob Godfrey as Beast; Jack Skelton as Handyman; Joshua Lloyd as Barman; Sam Walter as Romantic and Aaron Pottenger as Bore performing Queen, Luther Vandross, Sia, Paul Simon, Adele, Guns N’ Roses, Avicii and Katy Perry hits. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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

John Robb: Discussing his new memoir, Punk Rock Ruined My Life: And Other Stories, at Pocklington Arts Centre

WILDLIFE photography and nature-inspired poetry and music turn Charles Hutchinson’s thoughts to the sunnier days ahead. 

Talk of the week: John Robb, Pocklington Arts Centre, tomorrow, 8pm

JOHN Robb is a multi-faceted creature: author, musician, journalist, Louder Than War music website boss, Louder Than Words and Louder Than War Live festivals boss, Eco champion, vegan behemoth and punk rock warlord, as well as TV and radio talking head, frontman of post-punk mainstays The Membranes and ambassador for home-town Blackpool. 

To mark the May 12 publication of his memoir, Punk Rock Ruined My Life: And Other Stories, he is undertaking a spoken-word and book tour, where each show comprises a one-hour talk by Robb, followed by a conversation and Q&A with a special guest. Tomorrow, he welcomes Pauline Murray, Penetration singer and author of Life’s A Gamble, her 2023 autobiography. Box office:  01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Nobody puts Baby’s poster in the corner for Dirty Dancing In Concert at York Barbican

Film event of the week: Dirty Dancing In Concert, tomorrow, 7.30pm

RELIVE the film that stole the hearts of generations with this live-to-screen concert event featuring Emile Ardolino’s 1987 American romantic drama projected in full, accompanied by a live band and singers performing every song from the soundtrack. 

Feel the romance, rhythm and emotion as the love story of Baby and Johnny (Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze) comes to life on a full-size cinema screen. A dance-along encore party follows the final scene. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk

Now you see him, now you don’t: Daniel Davis and Georgina Sockett in Our Star Theatre Company’s The Invisible Man, to be spotted at Kirk Theatre, Pickering

Vanishing act of the week: Our Star Theatre Company in The Invisible Man, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm

THE thought of invisibility, and the advantages it could bring, has captured the imagination since HG Wells’s science-fiction novella was published in 1897. The Invisible Man has been adapted many times for film, but rarely for the stage. 

Here comes Derek Webb’s original, fast-paced and riotous adaptation boasting 15 characters, split between  three energetic actors, Daniel Davis, Georgina Sockett and Rhys Harris-Clarke, aided by quick and daft costume changes, prop manipulation, whacky imagination and tons of tongue-and-cheek fun in Herefordshire company Our Star’s touring production, directed by founder Ben Mowbray. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.

The poster for The Future Is Vintage, the latest Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox concert at York Barbican

Retro gig of the week: Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, The Future Is Vintage Tour 2026, York Barbican, Friday, doors 7pm

SCOTT Bradlee’s troupe of singers, dancers and instrumentalists perform a new show in signature time-twisting style, putting a retro spin on everything from Seventies’ rock classics and Britpop hits to the latest chart toppers and movie and video game soundtracks. 

“We’re humbly presenting our own unique vision of a spectacular future; one that is built upon the timeless musical genres of the past and the authentically human spirit of creativity that inspired them,” says founder and arranger Bradlee, who invites you to dress in your vintage best for the full time-travel experience. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

The Ocelots’ Ashley and Brandon Watson

Literature-inspired musings of the week: The Ocelots, The Arts Barge, Foss Basin Moorings, Tower Street, York, Friday,7.30pm

BLOOD harmonies are at the centre of The Ocelots’ sound with its Americana echoes of Neil Young and Sufjan Stevens. Twin brothers Ashley and Brandon Watson, from Wexford, Ireland, blend absurdity and sincerity in an array of literature-inspired musings.

Open tunings and clawhammer banjo merge country-folk contemplation with urban imagery, as heard on 2020’s Started To Wonder and 2025’s Everything, When Said Slowly albums and 2023’s Addlepated and March 2026’s Revisions EPs. Fionnuala Mary Bradbury supports. Box office: artsbarge.com.

Ian Smith: Stories of stress, love and buying a magic spell off Amazon in Foot Spa Half Empty at Helmsley Arts Centre

Comedy gig of the week: Ian Smith, Foot Spa Half Empty, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday 8pm

EDINBURGH Comedy Award nominee and Northern News podcast co-host Ian Smith heads out on tour with Foot Spa Half Empty, his new show about stress, love and buying a magic spell off Amazon, in his follow-up to 2023’s Crushing.

Smith, 37, from Goole, has appeared on Live At The Apollo, Have I Got News For You, The Stand Up Sketch Show, BBC Radio 4’sThe News Quiz, The Unbelievable Truth and Just A Minute and hosted his own Radio 4 series, Ian Smith Is Stressed. Box office:  01439 771700  or  helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Mike Amber: Taking on Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock songs with Lola-Mae at Navigators Art’s Back To The Garden night of poetry and music

Nature lovers of the week: Navigators Art presents Back To The Garden, York Festival of Ideas, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Saturday, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

NAVIGATORS Art has invited York performers to celebrate and explore the York Festival of Ideas theme of Place and Space with a focus on the peaceful, wild, mythical, inspirational green worlds of gardens.

Original words and music feature alongside well-loved works by familiar names in the company of storyteller Lara McClure; Mike Amber & Lola-Mae, taking on Joni Mitchell’s Woodstock; poet and novelist Janet Dean; performance poet Carrieanne Vivianette and alt folk band Sofa Sofa, whose songs are rooted in nature and people, woods, weather, long walks, short thoughts, longing and love. Box office: ticketsource.com/navigators-art-performance or on the door.

Country Bound: Performing upbeat country songs, complemented by floor fillers re-imagined in a country music style, at Milton Rooms, Malton

Country gig of the week: Country Bound, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm

COUNTRY Bound put the ‘fun’ into country function band, performing upbeat modern and classic country songs, complemented by classic floor fillers re-imagined in a country music style.

Fronted by Micki Consiglio, they cover hits by Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, Zach Brown Band, Luke Combs, Carrie Underwood, Chris Stapleton, Dolly Parton, Lady A, Blake Shelton, Faith Hill, Morgan Wallen, Billy Cyrus, Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Kacey Musgraves, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Kelsea Ballerini, Kenny Rogers, Patsy Cline and more. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Rick Wakeman: The Wizard of Prog reunites with the English Rock Ensemble at York Barbican next March

Gig announcement of the week: Rick Wakeman, The Wizard of Prog, Ultimate Highlights Concert Tour with English Rock Ensemble, York Barbican, March 11 2027

KEYBOARD player extraordinaire Rick Wakeman, who turned 77 on May 18, will be reuniting with the English Rock Ensemble to focus on a broad sweep across his classic back catalogue, including extracts from epic concept albums Journey To The Centre Of The Earth and The Myths & Legends Of King Arthur & The Knights Of The Round Table, Yes material and surprises.

The band line-up reassembles from 2025’s Return Of The Caped Crusader Part 2 tour: Wakeman, Jesse Smith (lead vocals), Adam Wakeman (keyboard, guitars and vocals), Dave Colquhoun (guitars and vocals), Lee Pomeroy (bass and vocals), Adam Falkner (drums) and backing vocalists Sara Davey, Jo Goldsmith-Eteson and Jo Marshall. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/rick-27.

Paul Hobson’s A Toad Swims Across Its Woodland Pond: Grand Prize winner in British Wildlife Photography Awards 2026, on show at Nunnington Hall

In Focus: British Wildlife Photography Awards 2026, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, until July 5, open Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm

THE winners of the British Wildlife Photography Awards 2026 have been unveiled at the National Trust’s Nunnington Hall, where 75 photographs are on show.

Paul Hobson’s A Toad Swims Across Its Woodland Pond, photographed from a pond-floor perspective in Sheffield, has taken the top prize from more than 12,000 images submitted by professional and amateur photographers. 

“I am lucky to have a pond close to my house that has relatively clear water,” says Hobson. “Toads use this pond to breed in, and I decided I wanted to try to capture an image looking up from the bottom of the pond.”

To accomplish this, he housed the camera inside a home-built glass box, complete with old tripod legs and ballast to prevent sinking, and triggered the camera using an adapted long cable release.

“I had to wait quite a long time until a toad swam across the surface,” says Hobson. “Most of them would usually swim below it and rest on the glass. He was eventually successful, however, and the outcome provides a rare view of a toad in its woodland home.

Ben Lucas’s Feathery Pillow: Winner of the Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award 2026

Ben Lucas won the Young British Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2026 award with Feathery Pillow, his charming image of a mute swan cygnet taking a nap on its sibling’s back. “Nature can often be so cruel, but tender moments like this warm my heart,” he says.

The annual showcase of nature photography is a crucial reminder of what value British woodlands, wetlands and other ecosystems still hold.

“This year’s winners celebrate the wonder, diversity and character of British wildlife in truly exceptional ways,” say British Wildlife Photography Awards director Will Nicholls. “From familiar species to rarely seen moments, the portfolio showcases the skill and passion of the photographers behind the lens.

“Together, they offer a joyful celebration of Britain’s natural world, while also reminding us why these places and species are so deserving of our care and protection.”

Photographers competed in 11 categories in the adult competition: Animal Behaviour, Animal Portraits, Botanical Britain, Black & White, Coast & Marine, Habitat, Hidden Britain, Urban Wildlife and Wild Woods, plus British Seasons and Documentary Series making up the special awards.

Three photographs from the British Wildlife Photography Award 2026 exhibition

Further awards were given for Wildlife in HD Video and three age groups in the youth competition: age 11 and under, 12 to 14 and 15 to 17.

All awarded images are published by Graffeg Books in a hardback coffee-table book, available online at bwpawards.org, with a foreword by actor, writer and director Mackenzie Crook.

The 2027 competition is open for entries at bwpawards.org, inviting photographers of all levels of experience to submit their photos of Britain’s nature at its best.

Nunnington Hall invites visitors take time in the organic gardens overlooking the River Rye to spot many birds and insects and maybe the occasional otter or kingfisher that calls the garden home.

Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall. Entry is free for National Trust members and under-fives.

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