Tag: Nick Patrick Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Anne Boleyn director Jim Paterson

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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How Anne Boleyn knocks them for six in Howard Brenton’s Tudor marital clash, staged by Black Treacle at Theatre@41

Lara Stafford’s Anne Boleyn and Nick Patrick Jones’s Henry VIII rehearsing for Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn. Picture: Jim Paterson

MOVE over Six The Musical with its six wives of Henry VIII competing in song for the right to be the queen of queens.

The focus falls on only one of his brides, his second pick, Anne Boleyn, in Howard Brenton’s play of that title, to be staged by York company Black Treacle Theatre at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from March 3 to 7.

Anne Boleyn, you will recall, was the first beheaded one, exiting stage left on May 19 1536, when charged with adultery and incest, her execution conducted by a skilled French swordsman inside the Tower of London, where she was she was forced to kneel in the French style to be given the chop.

So much for the history. Brenton’s play, premiered at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in 2010 to mark the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, presents the story of “one of England’s most important and intriguing historical figures”.

“Lover, heretic, revolutionary, queen, Anne Boleyn has been a figure of fascination ever since her momentous courtship with Henry VIII that led to the English Reformation and Henry’s break with the Catholic Church,” says Black treacle director Jim Paterson

“Traditionally seen as either the pawn of an ambitious family manoeuvred into the King’s bed, or as a predator manipulating her way to power, Anne – and her ghost – are seen in a very different light in Brenton’s epic play.”

Anne Boleyn director Jim Paterson

Winner of Best New Play at the Whatsonstage.com Awards in 2011, the play has a dual focus, both on Anne’s life from her arrival at court and on James I’s attempts to bring warring religious factions together as the ripples of her marriage and death continue to reverberate through England decades later. 

Whereupon Anne comes alive for him, a brilliant but reckless young woman, whose marriage and death transformed the country forever.

“This is a dynamic, dramatic and often very funny play that helps us look at both Anne Boleyn and the birth of the Church of England in a new way,” says Jim. “The reign of Henry VIII and establishment of the Church of England is one of England’s ‘creation myths’, which shapes how we think about the country and the moments and actions it is built on.

“Brenton’s play asks us to reconsider this outside of the history books, particularly through the clever juxtaposition of the early days of James I’s reign, as he grapples with clashing religious factions, and the intrigue and politics of Henry’s court and Anne’s attempts to forge her own path through it.”

Jim continues: “In fact, this year marks 500 years since Henry’s courtship of Anne began in earnest in 1526. So it felt like serendipity to stage this play, which makes us reconsider who Anne was, and what an important figure she is in our history.”

Taking the role of protagonist Anne Boleyn and antagonist Henry VIII will be Lara Stafford and Nick Patrick Jones. “I’m playing a woman in a lead part in a play and neither of those has happened since The House Of Bernarda Alba in 2009,” says Lara, who worked as an actor, including at York Dungeon and, for a while, in Hindi films in India, before retraining as a physics teacher.

Lara Stafford’s Anne Boleyn, with the masked ladies of the Tudor court behind her, in rehearsal for Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn. Picture: Paul Hutson

“It’s fascinating because, how often does a woman, in her early 40s, who can’t belt out a tune, get a chance like this to play a lead role? That chance has come with Black Treacle.”

Anne Boleyn appears as both wife and ghost. “She gives the opening scene from the perspective of having been through it all,” says Lara. “It’s interesting what she looks back on in a light-hearted way here.

“For Anne, the most upsetting part of her life were her pregnancies [she is believed to have fallen pregnant three or four times in her marriage from 1533 to 1536]. It’s a big part of her journey, whereas she’s quite flippant reflecting on getting her chopped off.

“There are moments of almost cheekiness, bawdy humour from James 1, where the play starts off light and playful, but then grows darker and darker, like Anne’s life.”

Nick chips in: “The second half is quite brutal, and Brenton doesn’t shy away from that.” Indeed not, as Nick plays a regal role for the third time. “I was the Earl of Richmond in York Shakespeare Project’s Richard III in 2023, then a folkloric King Henry from the tenth century in a devised piece that Skald Theatre did at Rise@Bluebird Bakery in Acomb last year, and now Henry VIII.

Nick Patrick Jones’s Henry VIII to the fore in a scene with Lara Stafford’s Anne Boleyn in rehearsal for Jim Patterson’s production of Anne Boleyn. Picture: Jim Paterson

“There’s a particularly iconic image of Henry being incredibly large both physically and metaphorically – this larger-than-life character – but you have to create the real person underneath, rather than a caricature. Brenton has done a lot to make that happen by giving the actor a living breathing human being to play, rather than just spouting political statements.”

Lara rejoins: “For almost the first time, he’s written it as Anne’s story, whereas previously it was written by men trying to make their place in history, where she is just ‘wife number two’.”

“She’s the chosen one, or actually she chooses him,” says Nick. “She’s the most significant one in that although four came after her, they were all in her shadow.”

“Exactly, it could only be that she set the tone,” says Lara. “I had no idea until doing this play just how much she drove their relationship.”

Nick concludes: “There’s a strong sense of them as potential equals, but the political structure doesn’t allow them to be equals in court, thus preventing her from fulfilling her potential.”

Black Treacle Theatre presents Anne Boleyn at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 3 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Paul Osborne’s Thomas Cromwell, left, and Ian Giles’s Cardinal Wolsey in Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn. Picture: Paul Hutson

Who’s in Black Treacle Theatre’s cast for Anne Boleyn?

Anne Boleyn – Lara Stafford

Henry VIII – Nick Patrick Jones

Thomas Cromwell – Paul Osborne

Cardinal Wolsey/Henry Barrow – Ian Giles

Lady Rochford – Abi Baxter

Lady Jane – Rebecca Jackson

Lady Celia – Isabel Azar

Simpkin/Parrot – Harry Summers

Sloop – Paul Miles

William Tyndale – Maurice Crichton

James I – Katie Leckey

Robert Cecil – Paul Stonehouse

George Villiers – Cameron O’Byrne

Dean Lancelot Andrewes – Sally Mitcham

John Reynolds – Martina Meyer

Katie Leckey’s James I, right, rehearsing a scene with Cameron O’Byrne’s George Villiers. Picture: Paul Hutson

Who’s in the production team?

Director – Jim Paterson

Lighting designers – Sage Dunn-Krahn and Kathryn Wright

Lighting technicians – Emma Jones and Dave Robertson

Set and prop designer – Richard Hampton

Costume designer – Julie Fisher and Costume Crew

Black Treacle Theatre: back story

YORK company has produced Constellations (March 2022); Iphigenia In Splott (March 2023); White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (November 2023); Accidental Death Of An Anarchist (October 2024) and The Watsons (July 2025, co-production with Joseph Rowntree Theatre).

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REVIEW: York Georgian Festival, The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t, Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Aldwark, York, tonight, 7.30pm ***

Geoff Turner’s Sir Thomas Graspall in The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t. Picture: Gareth Buddo

IMAGINE the joy of Sarah Cowling, York tour guide and Churches Conservation Trust volunteer at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, when research led to the discovery of the writings of Mr Joseph Peterson.

Parish records show that Peterson gave his living as “comedian” in the register at his son Joseph’s baptism in January 1738. Actor, writer and comedian would be more accurate, given that Peterson’s career blossomed at the Norwich Theatre Company from 1746 after working for Thomas Keregan’s company in York.

Yet before his exit stage left to Norfolk, York-born Peterson wrote expressly for his home city, and now Cowling is directing Holy Trinity’s revival of his first theatrical romp in a traverse staging at Merchant Taylors’ Hall, where it is thought the hour-long comedy might have been first performed.

There will be only one performance, tonight at 7.30pm, sold out alas, but last night’s dress rehearsal played to pretty much a full house too, so it had the atmosphere more befitting a first night.

Wood is everywhere: doors, dark panels on the walls, the floor, but thankfully not in the acting, led by Nick Patrick Jones’s Mr Joseph Peterson, introducing his piece of 18th century theatrical shenanigans in couplets, in the manner of Shakespeare’s Puck.

Jones will reappear as Peterson’s most exaggerated character, the coxcomb Sir Fopling Conceit, a narcissist as foppish and vain as his name, surely heading for a fall.

He is not alone in Peterson’s parade of vainglorious peacocks: step forward Geoff Turner’s Sir Thomas Graspall, in his case headed for a pratfall via the Raree Show of the title: a tented peep show that invites him to look inside. The Fox trap’t indeed.

Step forward with even more braggadocio Joe Standerline’s thunderous foxhunting enthusiast Squire Timothy, as quick on the bottom slaps as outrageous boasts.

They will be outwitted in a battle of wits by the womanly wiles of Mad Alice (York tour guide Alicia Stabler) in the guise of Betty, together with Joy Warner’s Corinna and Andrea Mitchell’s Belinda.

Further undermining the pompous posturing are the earnest machinations of Zander Fick’s Belamour and Matt Tapp’s Manly.

Standerline pops up too as Peterson’s answer to Shakespeare’s Fool, the self-explanatory Smart, albeit in a cameo, but one where he has fun with a hammy French accent and moustache.

Peterson crams into his hour all the tropes of Georgian theatre:  the wigs and the topical wit; the daft names and even dafter characters; villainous uncles, astute servants and absurdist foreigners; physical buffoonery, clashing swords and verbal spats; putdowns and comeuppances; unhappy exits and the obligatory happy ending.

Then add Georgian style to compliment the foppery and frippery, further boosted by the perky musicality of Nicky Gladstone’s violin and Chantal Berry’s keyboard.

The last word goes to Jones’s Peterson, who is unnecessarily apologetic about the standard of his debut work. What’s more, it won’t be the last word if Sarah Cowling has her way. “There’s a whole catalogue of these funny little York-grown Georgian shows,” she says. “I really hope we can unearth more.”

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York Georgian Festival revives Joseph Peterson’s 18th century comic romp The Raree Show at Merchant Taylors’ Hall

Geoff Turner’s Sir Thomas Graspall in Mr Joseph Peterson’s The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t. Picture: Gareth Buddo

IN a celebration of 18th century theatre and the lives of York’s Georgian players and comedians, The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t will open the York Georgian Festival 2025. 

Presented by Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, at Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Aldwark, on August 7, the hour-long 7.30pm performance promises entertainment, wit and historical intrigue.

Think of all the delightful clichés of 18th century theatre: mannered acting; plays with double titles; characters whose names give away their personalities;wicked uncles, clever servants, comedy foreigners; physical comedy and happy endings.

“Joseph Peterson’s The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t delivers all of this with a hearty dose of charm,” says director Sarah Cowling, York tour guide and Churches Conservation Trust volunteer at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, who is fascinated by York’s Georgian theatrical scene.

Andrea Mitchell’s Belinda. Picture: Toni Wainwright

“Joseph Peterson, a parishioner from Goodramgate, described in the parish register as ‘comedian’, wrote this piece specifically to delight and amuse the citizens of York – the city he ‘reveres’. When it was first performed in 1738, it is very likely that it was performed in the very hall we will be performing in on August 7: Merchant Taylors’ Hall.

“Very likely”, Sarah? “The source I had for proof that the piece was performed in York has proven unreliable. It is ‘most likely’ that it was performed here in York – as it was written for the city and the original Dramatic Personae are all from York – but I cannot find the playbill or proof. It is ‘most likely’ that it was performed in Merchant Taylors’. Indeed some of the original actors are known to have performed in there,” she says.

“After success at last year’s Georgian Festival with a read-through of Peterson’s masterpiece, Merchant Taylors’ have been kind enough to offer use of the hall for this year’s ‘off-book’ production.”

Peterson’s theatrical romp is billed as “a tale of a ward trapped into marriage against her late father’s wishes; divided couples reunited; sword fights; terrible French accents; clever tricks and a satisfying ‘happily ever after’”.

 Nick Patrick Jones’s Sir Fopling Conceit. Picture: Gareth Buddo 

“The driving force behind this production is the fascinating figure of Mr Joseph Peterson, an actor, parishioner of Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, and writer,” says Sarah. “Peterson was so dedicated to his craft that he added new meaning to the phrase ‘dying on stage’ – later in life, quite literally dying mid-performance.

“The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t is very much a vehicle for Mr Peterson. He wrote it, he introduces it, appears in it and wraps up the proceedings.”

Born in 1710, Peterson married Margaret Whare in St Michael le Belfrey at the age of 22. In January 1738, their son Joseph was baptised at Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, hence his listing as a ‘comedian’ in the parish records.

“He was a key member of Thomas Keregan’s company of actors, performing in productions such as Twin Rivals, The Shepherd’s Opera and The Trepan or Virtue Rewarded,” says Sarah.

Joy Warner’s Corinna. Picture: Gareth Buddo

“Before the establishment of York Theatre Royal, one of the venues used for theatre in York was the Merchant Taylors’ Hall, where we will stage our lively production, mirroring where The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t may have been performed nearly 300 years ago.”

18th century life on stage was often unpredictable. In 1746, Peterson left York theatre for the Norwich Theatre Company, where he continued to thrive. “However, in October 1758, while performing Measure For Measure at Market Cross Theatre in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, he collapsed mid-performance. His last words were, ‘reason thus with life if I do lose thee I lose a thing that none but fools would keep a breath thou art…’, says Sarah.

“He died in the arms of fellow actor Mr Moody. Curiously, Mr Moody had previously experienced another actor’s death in his arms on stage in Harrogate!”

What can next Thursday’s audience expect? “It might help to know that A Raree Show is essentially a peep show – images in a box, not necessarily risqué. In our production, the Raree Show refers to various current events (current to the 1730s), adding a satirical edge to the performance.”

The cast for last summer’s York Georgian Festival read-through of The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t

Funds raised from this charity performance will be used to conserve the First World War Roll of Honour from Bedern National School, displayed at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate. “The performance of the work, written by a former more than 100 years ago,” says Sarah.

Summing up next Thursday’s performance, she concludes: “We invite our audience to step into the 18th century and revel in the theatrical artistry of The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t. With its captivating storyline and historical insights, this production is sure to be an unforgettable highlight of the York Georgian Festival.

“The show has sold out, which is brilliant, but there’s a whole catalogue of these funny little York-grown Georgian shows. I really hope we can unearth more.” 

York Georgian Festival: Holy Trinity, Goodramgate, presents Joseph Peterson’s The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t, Merchant Taylors’ Hall, Aldwark, York, August 7, 7.30pm; doors 7pm. SOLD OUT. Booking link for returns: tps://bit.ly/3EnRhEY.

Who’s in the cast for The Raree Show of The Fox Trap’t?

York tour guide Mad Alice: Making cameo appearance in The Raree Show or The Fox Trap’t

Sir Thomas Graspall, played by Geoff Turner; Squire Timothy and Smart, Joe Standerline; Manly, Matt Tapp; Belamour, Zander Fick; Sir Fopling Conceit and Mr Joseph Peterson, Nick Patrick Jones; Servant and Mrs Peterson, Aileen Bloomer; Belinda, Andrea Mitchell; Corinna, Joy Warner, and Betty, Mad Alice (in a cameo by The Bloody Tour of York guide Alicia Stabler). 

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REVIEW: Black Treacle Theatre in The Watsons, finishing Austen business at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York ****

Sisters doing it for themselves? Jennifer Jones’s Elizabeth Watson, left, Livy Potter’s Emma Watson and Florence Poskitt’s Margaret Watson in Black Treacle Theatre’s The Watsons. Picture: Dave Lee

WHEN studying semiotics and semantics in year three of Cardiff University’s English Literature degree more than 40 years ago, one discussion point was ‘Who’s in control of a novel’. The writer?  The characters? Or the reader?

Roll forward to York company Black Treacle Theatre’s York premiere of The Watsons, where writer Laura Wade and indeed the characters ask that same question. The reader is replaced by audience members, whose control here is whether to laugh or not at Wade’s ever more anxious comedy.

The question is heightened by the playwright’s challenge. Wade penned Posh (the Royal Court one about the Oxford University dining club of Cameron and BoJo notoriety) and Home, I’m Darling (the darkly comic one about sex, cake and the quest to be the perfect 1950s’Welwyn Garden City housewife): two social studies of English behaviour. The Watsons is a third such study, but with a difference.

Not a fan: Victoria Delaney’s oft-disapproving Lady Osborne. Picture: Dave Lee

Wade picks up the unfinished business of a Jane Austen novel with all the familiar tropes of young sisters desperately having to seek husbands as the only way to improve their circumstances from a pool of unsuitable cads and awkward aristocrats, but with one sister demanding to do it on her own terms. For Pride And Prejudice’s  Lizzy Bennet, read The Watsons’ Emma Watson (Livy Potter).

Emma is 19, new in town in 19th century English society, but promptly cut off by her rich aunt and consigned back to the family home with her sisters, the more earnest  Elizabeth (Jennifer Jones) and ever excitable Margaret (Florence Poskitt).

Into Austen’s whirl spin the irresistible cad, Nick Patrick Jones’s Tom Musgrave, the tongue-tied toff, Cameron O’Byrne’s Lord Osborne, and his grandstanding mother, Victoria Delaney’s  Lady Osborne, with daughter Miss Osborne (Effie Warboys) in tow. A vicar is on the marital march too, Andrew Roberts’s awfully nice Mr Howard.

Livy Potter’s 19th century Emma Watson looks startled as Sanna Jeppsson’s Laura uses her 21st century phone in The Watsons. Picture: Dave Lee

So far, so Austen, if  Austen mini, and then…enter Laura (Sanna Jeppsson in her stage return after time out for yoga-teaching studies). Laura, wearing period costume when first seeking to fit in, turns out to be Laura Wade, wading in to explain that Austen’s story went no further (beyond notes to her sister containing advice on who Emma should not marry).

What happens when the writer loses the plot? Jeppsson’s Laura takes over, but it is not as straightforward as that. She does not merely grab Austen’s reins and gallop to the finishing line as the affairs of their heart play out. Instead, The Watsons becomes a piece of meta-theatre, exploring the role, the motives and the creative process of a writer, who, spoiler alert, ends up losing the plot herself.

What’s more, Laura will not have it all her own way. Potter’s feisty Emma speculates: what if she decides what she wants to do, rather than going along with Laura’s plotlines. Trouble is brewing, trouble accentuated by Emma’s fellow abandoned Austen characters rebelling too. Time for a breather, plenty to discuss.

Livy Potter’s Emma Watson puts Andrew Roberts’s clergyman, Mr Howard, to use carrying parcels in The Watsons. Picture: Dave Lee

Re-enter Jeppsson’s Laura, mobile phone in pocket and by now wearing jeans. Re-enter Austen’s increasingly errant characters as The Watsons heads ever further off-piste.

Not everything works – after all, this a reactivated novel in progress with room for trial and error – and you will not be surprised when Jeppsson’s Laura has an exhausted, exasperated meltdown, but you will surely love the characters’ philosophical discussions on Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, led by Matt Pattison’s scene-stealing Robert Watson.

What begins as stilted Regency period drama becomes free-form modern theatre of the absurd, mischievous yet smart, like the works of Austentatious, wherein Wade examines the art of storytelling, the right to free will and who has the final say on our finales.

Cry havoc: Effie Warboys’ Miss Osborne, centre, leads the battle charge in Black Treacle Theatre’s The Watsons. Picture: Dave Lee

Under Jim Paterson’s playful yet still sincere direction, The Watsons keeps the surprises coming, the energy dynamic, the intellect busy and the humour unpredictable. All the while, Jeppsson’s vexed Laura is the serious one, coming up with a theory to Potter’s Emma as to why Austen put the pen down on her.

Amid the social commentary, the parallels with today’s values, the ever dafter comedy, this union of writer, character and audience hits its peak.  

Black Treacle Theatre in The Watsons, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm; tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Box office: York, 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

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Tempest Wisdom turns York Shakespeare Project’s ‘Two Gents’ into Victorian music hall with scene-stealing dog at Theatre@41

Puppeteer Wilf Tomlinson and a bare-footed Lara Stafford (Launce) in rehearsal for York Shakespeare Project’s The Two Gentlemen Of Verona. Picture: Tony Froud

WHAT can a dog puppet do that a human can’t? Find out in York Shakespeare Project’s  The Two Gentlemen Of Verona at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from tomorrow to Saturday.

‘Two Gents’ is possibly the first play Shakespeare ever wrote and certainly the only one with a part for a canine.

Settling into a mission to bring all Shakespeare’s plays to York on a second cycle, these facts could have presented YSP with some interesting challenges. Luckily YSP found a director eager to deliver a fascinating take on this 1593 comedy.

Originally from the United States of America, Tempest Wisdom studied theatre at the University of Chicago before pursuing a Masters degree in theatre-making at the University of York.

Already making their mark on the York theatre scene as the creator and host of the bi-monthly Bard at the Bar, a Shakespeare karaoke night at Micklegate Social, now Tempest is bringing their enthusiasm and talent to YSP’s autumn production.

“I’m setting The Two Gentlemen Of Verona in a Victorian music hall,” says Tempest. “A bawdy, raucous place where a host of variety acts will come together to stage the play.”

Theatre@41 will be transformed for the occasion, giving cast members  the exciting challenge of becoming variety performers, each delivering their special act as well as lines from Shakespeare’s play, including Launce with his performing dog, Crab.

Nick Patrick Jones’s Proteus and Mark Payton’s Duke Of Milan in the rehearsal room. Picture: John Saunders

“The play-within-a-play structure combines Shakespeare’s signature wit with the razzle-dazzle and slapstick of an evening of variety,” says YSP chair Tony Froud. “A live pianist will add to the Victorian feel of the evening; Shakespeare’s characters will seamlessly rub shoulders with classic music-hall songs, such as Champagne Charlie and The Lass Of Richmond Hill, as the newly assembled company of knife throwers, strongmen, musicians and comedians pool their skills to bring together this rarely-performed comedy.”

Tempest explains the rationale behind the music-hall setting. “Two Gentlemen is one of Shakespeare’s earliest works, and you can already see the characteristic zaniness of his comedies beginning to take shape: cross-dressing, love songs, ribald humour.

“In my opinion, the best Shakespeare productions use their setting to complement the themes and tone of the text, and I thought a music hall, with its quick pace, slapstick and bawdiness, would be the best way to bring that zaniness to its full potential.”

The Two Gentlemen Of Verona is known by some as the play enjoyed by Dame Judi Dench’s Elizabeth I in the 1998 film Shakespeare In Love. The Queen is particularly taken by the performing dog, Crab, who, in time honoured fashion, outshines the actors.

The appearance of a dog is one of the most famous features of the play. In YSP’s production, Crab will be a puppet, built and brought to life by the capable hands of York theatre-maker and puppeteer Wilf Tomlinson.

“Working with Wilf is a joy,” says YSP cast regular, Lara Stafford, who plays Crab’s owner, Launce. “Crab might not have any lines but he’s got a huge presence; it’s a complete double act, and we’re having a great time in rehearsal. There are a lot of things human actors aren’t allowed to do that dog puppets can get away with. It’s going to be very funny.”

In the spotlight: director Tempest Wisdom

Tempest Wisdom

Where are you from?

“My answer changes depending on how much time you have! My father served in the Marine Corps through the entirety of my childhood, so I had a typical ‘military brat’ upbringing, moving across the world every couple of years.

“To this day, I haven’t lived anywhere longer than four years, and that was an anomaly. That’s all going to change, though: rehearsals for this production began on my third Moving-To-York anniversary, and if I have my way, I’ll be sticking around for several more.”

Where did you study and what part did Shakespeare play in your education?

“I went to school at the University of Chicago, where I had the honour of studying with the Shakespeare scholar David Bevington. He came to every production the Shakespeare troupe on campus ever put on, and would host a wine-and-cheese dramaturgy night at his home for the team.

“One of the highest compliments I have ever received was from him, when I played Antipholus & Antipholus in a vaudeville production of The Comedy of Errors (from which I have stolen shamelessly for Two Gents. If by any chance the director of that show ever reads this article: hello, Jacob, I’m not sorry!)

“Professor Bevington came up to me afterwards and told me it was one of his favourite student productions he’d ever seen. There are many people back in the States that I wish could see this show, and he is foremost among them.

“More recently, I received my Masters in Theatre-Making from the University of York.”

York Shakespeare Project’s poster for The Two Gentlemen Of Verona at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

What first drew you to performing and now directing Shakespeare? 

“I’ve been performing and studying Shakespeare since I was 11 years old, when I was cast in a bit part in a school production of Romeo & Juliet. I was given the iconic ‘Do you bite your thumb at me, sir?’ line in Act I, Scene I… and I completely flubbed it!

“To me, the fun of directing Shakespeare in particular, and really any exciting script, is in the storytelling. These are densely packed texts on both the macro and micro level, and it’s my job as director to puzzle out how to unpack as much as possible, to use the mechanics of the stage to reveal, highlight, comment or inflect.

“In many ways it’s the same with clowning: the challenge is to tell a story to the audience as clearly as possible. In this case, the text and the clowning have brought out the best in each other. I find that happens very often with Shakespeare: the man knew how to write for clowns!”

What gave you the idea to give Two Gents a Victorian variety act/music hall setting?

“Like I said, I think a strong sense of physical comedy and clown in a performance of Shakespeare really allows the text to sing. In this case, I mean that literally: this performance features a poem from the text set to original music composed by our music director, Stuart Lindsay.

Charlie Spencer’s Thurio, left, and Nick Patrick Jones’s Proteus in the rehearsal room at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: John Saunders

“So, clown was my first port of call when thinking about staging Two Gents. In terms of the music hall specifically, this play features such a zany cast of characters, many of whom only show up for a scene or two, and I wanted to highlight each and every one of them as a series of variety acts.

“There are plenty of interesting thematic resonances between this setting and the text, particularly when it comes to the sexual politics of 16th-century courtly romance and the prudishness for which the Victorians are known; the ideas Shakespeare is exploring around the construction of a public persona and the codification of celebrity that occurred in large part as a result of the national popularity of the music hall, and the evolving social codes around how women were allowed to exist in public.

“But to be completely honest with you, the primary thought that went into the choice was ‘how much fun would it be if…?’

“And, not to spoil anything, but the play-within-a-play framework gives us leeway to question and push back against some assumptions that Shakespeare’s text makes.”

How would you describe an evening at Bard at the Bar to the uninitiated?

“I need to start by saying that Bard at the Bar was not my idea. I lived in Seattle before I came here, where Bard in a Bar was my absolute favourite social event. When I left, I missed it so terribly, and I felt so strongly that York would love this sort of thing that I sought the blessing of the creator, Anthea Carns, to bring it with me.

“Bard at the Bar is Shakespeare, ‘karaoke’ style. What that means is I choose a play and pick out a couple key scenes, which are then performed sight-unseen by volunteers on the night.

“Everyone has a script in one hand, a drink in the other, and mischief on the brain. Recently we’ve had a love sonnet performed to a dog, a fight involving a chair being thrown (a stage fight, of course, not a real one), an a cappella rendition of Tom Jones’s It’s Not Unusual, and lots and lots of dirty jokes.

“It takes place on the last Sunday of every other month in The Den at the Micklegate Social, and both lovers of Shakespeare and those completely unfamiliar with his work have told me how much fun it is.

“I unfortunately had to cancel the last one because I caught Covid, but I’m pleased to announce that we are back on for November 24 (7pm), when we’ll be doing ‘The Scottish Play’ [Macbeth]. The best place for updates on that project is @bardatthebar_york on instagram and eventbrite.”

Who’s in the York Shakespeare Project cast for ‘Two Gents’?

Effie Warboys’ Silvia and Pearl Mollison’s Outlaw mid-rehearsal. Picture: John Saunders

Proteus:   Nick Patrick Jones

Valentine: Thomas Jennings

Silvia: Effie Warboys

Julia: Lily Geering

Chairwoman:  Jodie Mulliah

Pianist:  Stuart Lindsay

Panthino:  Charlie Barrs

Speed:  Liz Quinlan

Launce : Lara Stafford

Crab:  Wilf Tomlinson

The Duke of Milan: Mark Payton

Thurio:  Charlie Spencer

Antonio:  Stuart Green

Lucetta: Anna Gallon

Sir Eglamour: Jonathan Cook

The Outlaws:  Pearl Mollison, Kay Maneerot and  Celeste North Finocchi

York Shakespeare Project in The Two Gentlemen Of Verona,  Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Tuesday (cut-price preview) to Saturday,  7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk. “Book now for the event of the 19th century!” says Tempest.

Mark Payton’s Duke of Milan, left, and Charlie Spencer’s Thurio. Picture: John Saunders