Geoff Turner’s Sir Thomas Graspallin 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.”
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).
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.
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
