Party six pack: David Barrott’s Toby Hancock, left, Adam Marsdin’s David Hinson, Heather Patterson’s Jennifer Hinson, Catherine Edge’s on-edge party hostess Rosa Smethurst, Xandra Logan’s Sandy Lloyd-Meredeth and Helen Wilson’s party pooper Mrs Hinson in Settlement Players’ Party Piece. All pictures: John Saunders
RICHARD Harris’s fractious farces have been the staple of amateur productions country-wide, from stalwart city companies to village hall societies.
The chances are you may well have encountered Outside Edge or Stepping Out, but maybe not Party Piece, the choice of American director, writer, producer, historian, author and stuntman Martin T Brooks for his York Settlement Community Players debut.
This is the 1992 one where control-freak doctor Michael Smethurst (James Wood) and his eager-to-please wife Roma (Catherine Edge) are preparing for their fancy-dress housewarming party, an event of military precision.
On the open-plan, somewhat rudimentary set design of two houses, their back doors and gardens, dischuffed, ornery Mrs Hinson (Helen Wilson) is looking through the peep hole in the (imaginary) wall, less than enthusiastic about her posh neighbours and their gentrification of her working-class street.
Old-fashioned washing on the line, Zimmer frame always at hand, and her late husband’s shed out of bounds, she is resolutely determined to stay put and hasn’t a good word for anyone – except her son David’s ex-wife, Rosemary.
David Barrott’s Toby Hancock, dressed in the guise of Alec Guinness in The Man In The White Suit, plus a fez for no particular reason, introduces his party outfit to fancy-dress party hosts Michael Smethurst (James Wood) and his wife Rosa (Catherine Edge), attired in role reversal as Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire
Mrs Hinson is the bane of North Yorkshire fruit- and-veg mini-empire boss David’s life, and even more so of sourpuss second wife Jennifer (Heather Patterson), who will never be good enough to replace Rosemary.
The party to end all parties turns out to be anything but as a series of disasters befalls the increasingly vexed Michael and Rosa, when the phonecall excuses for non-attendance pile up; the barbecue misbehaves in comedy tradition, and the Zimmer frame is lobbed over the wall.
The two guests who do turn up only add to the headache: step forward David Barrott’s Toby Hancock, an anaesthetist so dull he could send himself to sleep, and Xandra Logan’s coquettish Sandy Lloyd-Meredeth, who does something in property and has just split earlier that day from Gareth (who may or may not arrive). She is in need of a drink and company, any company, even dullard Toby.
One by one, David (Adam Marsdin), Mrs Hinson and Jennifer all pop round to the party, while Michael and Rosa make their exasperated way to the end of their tether.
All the ingredients are in place for the kind of English farce that Mischief’s mischief-makers have sent up so gloriously in The Comedy That Goes Wrong. What cannot be predicted is that Settlement’s play starts mirroring that show, misbehaving door panel et al (putting it out of use late on).
Mother and son vie for family top dog in Party Piece: Helen Wilson’s wily widow, Mrs Hinson and Adam Marsdin’s “big-in-fruit-and-veg” David Hinson
The normally reliable Helen Wilson has moments of struggling with Mrs Hinson’s lines, prompting Marsdin to whisper her cues loudly to her on a couple of occasions.
This has the effect of destabilising Settlement’s comedic rhythm, so important to farce, where confidence and timing are all. What a great shame as Helen’s grouchy dragon characterisation is spot on.
In keeping with David’s character, Marsdin takes charge, while also having fun with the practical joker in David, who tells his mother that the neighbours are called Jerry and Margo Leadbetter (Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith’s snobbish, conventional couple In The Good Life). He puts the cat further among the pigeons by informing Michael about the buried treasure in his garden.
Marsdin’s partnership with Patterson carries rather more conviction than the somewhat awkward physicality of Wood and Edge, but Harris’s wit and way with a funny line still break through the unease that took over Wednesday’s performance. Barrott and Logan gamely plough their own furrows, Logan in particular continuing her scene-stealing streak on the York stage.
York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until November 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Martin T Brooks: Directing York Settlement Community Players for the first time
Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire: Art, light and sound in harmony in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust
GARDEN art & light installations, wartime memories and Dracula and Cinderella retellings spark Charles Hutchinson’s interest.
Installation of the week: Echoes Of Yorkshire, York Museum Gardens, until Sunday, 6pm to 8.20pm
LET light, colour and music surround you at Luxmuralis’s light and sound installation as artist Peter Walker, composer David Harper and lighting designer Steve Rainsford bring the story alive of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens from 1,000 images.
Immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing York Museum Trust’s age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Tickets: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.
David Barrott, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ production of Party Piece
Calamitous comedy misadventure of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
AMERICAN director, writer, producer, historian and stuntman Martin T Brooks directs Settlement Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous 1992 comedy Party Piece.
Michael and Roma Smethurst are preparing meticulously for their fancy-dress housewarming party as Mrs Hinson, not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours, keeps a criticising eye on the attendees. Then disasters strike: an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door. Cue chaos. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Cassie Vallance, left, and Jane Bruce in Story Craft Theatre’s Bat, Cackle And Pop! at York Theatre Royal
Children’s Halloween show of the week: Story Craft Theatre in Bat, Cackle And Pop!, York Theatre Royal Studio, today until Friday, 10.30am and 1pm
WINIFRED the Witch thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday. Not so. There will be a big surprise party, but first, a special birthday cake must be made.
“We just need the last three rather spooky ingredients,” say York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance and Jane Bruce. “Our show is bubbling with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls – more silly than scary – and there’s plenty of opportunities to dabble in some spell making, as well as flying with luxury BAT Airways.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Jimmy Regal & The Royals: Playing Ryedale Blues Club at Milton Rooms, Malton
Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Jimmy Regal & The Royals, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm
JIMMY Regal & The Royals are a tough and howlin’ harmonica-led three piece from South London, brandishing a sound from Mississippi to New Orleans, Mali to Canvey Island. Signed to Lunaria Records, they are touring to promote latest album Well Boss, a live set recorded at the Temperance in Leamington Spa. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Stage Hammer: Revamping Bram Stoker’s Dracula
High stakes of the week: Stage Hammer in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow and Friday, 7.30pm; Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm
WOLVES howl in the forests of Transylvania. Waves crash violently against the cliffs below Whitby Abbey. The infection is spreading. Count Dracula (Stuart Sellens) walks among us. Yorkshire solicitor Jonathan Harker (Callum Mathers) travels to a castle in the Carpathian Mountains to finalise the sale of property for a reclusive nobleman.
When he seemingly vanishes, fiancée Mina (Jennifer Jones) and her closest friend Lucy (Kathryn Lay) fall into the grip of a sinister force. Their only hope for survival is the mysterious vampire slayer Professor Van Helsing (Christopher C Corbett) in East Yorkshire troupe Stage Hammer’s new account of Bram Stoker’s vampire story, adapted by Corbett and directed by Lydia Baldwin. Box office: York, 01904 658338 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; Pickering, 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
Fizzy with the singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone: Theo Rae, Isla Lightfoot, Olivia Swales and Beau Lettin
Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday
LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of 40 young performers in Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s musical, replete with the film songs You Give A Little Love, My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand SlamandBugsy Malone.
In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Little Seeds Music: Refreshing the fairytale world in Cinderella Ice Cream Seller
Fairytale retelling of the week: Little Seeds Music in Cinderella Ice Cream Seller, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm
OVER the past four decades, Cinderella’s has become the kingdom’s most beloved ice cream company, with a parlour on every street corner, but how did this humble maker become a multimillionaire business woman with her own empire?
Prepare your dessert spoons for a tale of perseverance, princes, palace balls, glass slippers and, yes, ice cream in writer-composer David Gibb’s hour-long family musical, wherein loyal Cinderella’s employees Talvi and Caldwell share her rags-to-riches tale and confront their own desires, hopes and the magic that lies within each scoop. Suitable for age five upwards. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Bomb Happy: Film and live performance double bill for VE Day at Milton Rooms, Malton
Theatre memorial of the week: Everwitch Theatre in Bomb Happy VE Day double bill, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 3pm
PRESENTED in the lead-up to Remembrance Sunday, whose focus this year falls on 80th anniversary of VE Day, Bomb Happy has been created by writer-performer Helena Fox and actor-vocalist Natasha Jones, of Everwitch Theatre.
From D-Day to VE Day, this powerful one-hour double bill of live performance (30 minutes) and short film (30 minutes) brings to life the verbatim accounts of two working-class Yorkshire Normandy veterans, highlighting the lifelong impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep trauma, not only on war veterans but on their families too. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Chris Smither: Playing All Saints Church, Pocklington tonight
In Focus: Chris Smither, All Saints Church, Pocklington, tonight, 7.30pm
CHRIS Smither, truly an American original, returns to the UK to perform songs from his vast catalogue on his 2025 UK and Irish tour as he approaches his 81st birthday on November 11.
Honing his synthesis of folk and blues for more than 50 years, this profound songwriter and captivating performer, from Miamai, Florida, melds the styles of his two major influences, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt, into his own signature guitar sound.
His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and humanist philosophers. His songs have featured in films and TV shows and been covered by John Mayall, Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall, among others.
Smither continues to tour festivals, music clubs and concerts halls all over the world. Now he showcases his 20th studio album, 2024’s All About The Bones, produced by long-time friend and producer David Goodrich, which complements eight new compositions with Smither’s renditions of Eliza Gilkyson’s Calm Before The Storm and Tom Petty’s Time To Move On.
The recording sessions took place at Sonelab Studios in Easthampton, Massachusetts, where Smither was joined by Goodrich, Zak Trojano, BettySoo and Chris Cheek.
The New York Times said of All About The Bones: “With a weary, well-travelled voice and a serenely intricate finger-picking style, Mr Smither turns the blues into songs that accept hard-won lessons and try to make peace with fate.”
Singer-songwriter BettySoo is Smither’s guest on the tour. Tickets for tonight cost £21.50 at www.smither.com.
Principal dancers, dance captains and siblings Anna Mai Fitzpatrick and Fergus Fitzpatrick in Riverdance’s 30th anniversary show, The New Generation
LEFT-FIELD Halloween entertainment, garden art and light installations, Normal comedy and a splurge gun musical spark Charles Hutchinson’s interest.
Dance show of the week: Riverdance, 30th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, today and tomorrow, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
VISITING 30 UK venues – one for each year of its history – from August to December 2025, the Irish dance extravaganza Riverdance rejuvenates the much-loved original show with new innovative choreography and costumes, plus state-of-the-art lighting, projection and motion graphics, in this 30th anniversary celebration.
For the first time, John McColgan directs “the New Generation” of Riverdance performers, none of them born when the show began. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Blair Bitch Project: Playing on Navigators Art’s bill at YO Underworld 6 at The Basement
Live, left-field, local new music, comedy and words for Halloween: Navigators Art presents YO Underworld 6, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 7.30pm
IN this special Halloween edition, York arts collective Navigators Art plays host to riot grrrl punk and grunge-inspired York quartet Blair Bitch Project and improvising cellist and sound artist Gaia Blandina, performing collaborative, open-form pieces with Ish, featuring Iris Casling, double bass, Des Clarke, oboe, and Nika Ticciati, voice.
Joshua Arnold & Therine: Welcoming the coming of Samhainat YO Underworld 6
Taking part too are dark hurdy-gurdy and vocal-led trad and experimental drone folk combo Joshua Arnold & Therine, welcoming the coming of Samhain; Kane Bruce, delivering his outrageously dark yet cheeky take on “taboo” topics, and Hull poet Melissa Shode, who explores identity in the socio-political climate and writes for release, justice and the voiceless. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance or on the door.
Steve Gunn: Showcasing his two 2025 albums at The Band Room, Low Mill, tonight. Picture: Paul Rhodes
Moorland gig of the week: Steve Gunn, The Band Room, Low Mill, Farndale, North York Moors, tonight, 7.30pm
STEVE Gunn, the ambient psychedelic American singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York, made his name as a guitarist in Kurt Vile’s backing band, The Violators. His myriad magical influences include Michael Chapman, Michael Hurley and John Fahey.
This weekend he will be showcasing his second album of 2025, Daylight Daylight, out on November 7 on No Quarter, as well as his first fully instrumental album, August’s Music For Writers. Box office: 01751 432900 or thebandroom.co.uk.
Hands and Voices: York choir singing at Laughs, Lyrics & You! at the Gateway Centre on Sunday
Inclusive open mic event of the week: Accessible Arts & Media presents Laughs, Lyrics & You!, Gateway Centre, York, Sunday, 2.30pm to 5pm
WHAT is Laughs, Lyrics & You!? “The idea is to have an open mic-type event, in a relaxed and friendly environment that’s accessible and fun, with tea and cake too,” says Accessible Arts & Media (AAM) chief executive officer Chris Farrell. “Our projects, IMPs, Movers and Shakers and Hands and Voices, will start the show with their wonderful music, dances and stories.
“Then it’s over to whoever would like to perform. Any talent is welcome, a duet, a solo instrument, a poetry reading, a recording of some original music, jokes…whatever you can think of would be great!” To take part, performers must contact projects@aamedia.org.uk or ring Hannah on 07762 428818. Admission is free; donations welcome.
Artist Ric Liptrot: Taking part in That Acomb Arty Thing
Art event of the week: That Acomb Arty Thing, Art Trail, until November 2; Open Studios, November 1 and 2
DISCOVER York artists’ work in venues around Acomb on the autumn Art Trail featuring Carla Ballantine, Linda Braham, Ric Liptrot, Jelena Lunge, Rae Merriman, Isaac Savage, Ginette Speed, Donna Taylor and Dianne Turner.
North Yorkshire Open Studios participants are hosting open studios next Saturday and Sunday: Paul Mathieson & Peter Mathieson, 49 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Peijun Cao, 60 Jute Road, 10.30am to 5pm; Fran Brammer, 81 Jute Road, 10am to 4pm; Charlotte Lister & Charley Hellier, 7 Chestnut Grove, 10am to 2pm; Robin Grover-Jacques, 35 Chestnut Grove, 11am to 4pm, and Mo Nisbet, 116 Acomb Road, 11am to 4pm.
Blue sigh thinking? Henry Normal reflects on himself, his mistakes, his Z celebrity status, in The Slideshow
Normal service resumed: Henry Normal, The Slideshow, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 8pm
THE Slideshow, as poet, film and TV producer/writer Henry Normal explains, is a multi-MEdia spectacular with the emphasis on the “me” in his celebration of his “meteoric rise to Z celebrity status”, followed by his joyous and inevitable slide into physical and mental decline.
Expect poetry, photos, jokes, music, dance, song, circus skills, costume changes, props and stories, exploring where Normal went wrong in life, plus lessons you can learn from his mistakes, in this memoir with cautionary verse. Box office: helmsleyarts.co.uk.
David Barrott, left, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Settlement Players’ production of Party Piece
Calamitous comedy misadventure of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 28 to November 1, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
AMERICAN director, writer, producer, historian and stuntman Martin T Brooks directs Settlement Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous 1992 comedy Party Piece.
Michael and Roma Smethurst are preparing meticulously for their fancy-dress housewarming party. Mrs Hinson, not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours, is keeping a criticising eye on the attendees. Then disasters strike: an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door. Cue chaos. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Cassie Vallance, left, and Jane Bruce in Story Craft Theatre’s Bat, Cackle And Pop! at York Theatre Royal
Children’s Halloween show of the week: Story Craft Theatre in Bat, Cackle And Pop!, York Theatre Royal Studio, October 29 to 31, 10.30am and 1pm
WINIFRED the Witch thinks everyone has forgotten her birthday. Not so. There will be a big surprise party, but first, a special birthday cake must be made.
“We just need the last three rather spooky ingredients,” say York company Story Craft Theatre’s Cassie Vallance and Jane Bruce. “Our show is bubbling with all sorts of ghosts and ghouls – more silly than scary – and there’s plenty of opportunities to dabble in some spell making, as well as flying with luxury BAT Airways.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rory Stewart: Discussing his new book, Middleland, at York Barbican
Book event of the week: Toppings presents Rory Stewart, Middleland, York Barbican, October 30, 7pm
NOW Professor of the Practice of Grand Strategy at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs and Alastair Campbell’s co-podcaster on The Rest Is Politics, Rory Stewart spent nearly a decade as Conservative MP of Britain’s most rural constituency, Penrith and the Border.
Living in the Eden Valley, he found inspiration in the beauty of Cumbrian landscape, its rugged history as a frontierland, and the spirit of its people, prompting him to write Middleland: Dispatches From The Borders, a portrait of rural Britain today: a place caught in tensions between farming and the natural world, between the need to preserve and to grow, between local and national politics. Over to you, Rory. Tickets: toppingbooks.co.uk/events/york/rory-stewart-middleland/.
Fizzy with the singers in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone: Theo Rae, Isla Lightfoot, Olivia Swales and Beau Lettin
Musical of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, October 31 to November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday ; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday
LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of 40 young performers in Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s musical, replete with the movie songs You Give A Little Love, My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand SlamandBugsy Malone.
In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
In Focus: Tom Grennan, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 25 2026
BEDFORD singer-songwriter Tom Grennan is the first act to be confirmed for the Music Showcase Weekend at the 2026 York Racecourse flat racing season.
Grennan, 30, has achieved three UK number one albums, 2021’s Evering Road, 2023’s What Ifs & Maybes and 2025’s Everywhere I Went Led Me To Where I Didn’t Want To Be, preceded by his top five-charting 2018 debut Lighting Matches.
He has chalked up hit singles too with Little Bit Of Love, Let’s Go Home Together (with Ella Henderson), Remind Me, Lionheart (Fearless, with Joel Corry), Here, How Does It Feel, It Can’t Be Christmas, By Your Side (Calvin Harris, featuring Tom Grennan) and Not Over Yet (KSI, featuring Tom Grennan).
Next summer’s Knavesmire gig will form part of a busy touring schedule for Grennan, who also co-hosts the You About? podcast with TV and radio presenter Roman Kemp.
Racing and music fans can take advantage of a price freeze on adult general admission on the track’s website, meaning entrance to the main Grandstand and Paddock enclosure, starts at just £40 per person for a group of six. As well as free car parking, no booking fees apply on this route to purchase. To book, visit www.yorkracecourse.co.uk.
On the racecourse, the racing action will see seven thoroughbred contests with combined prize money of £380,000. The Group Two feature race will be the Sky Bet York Stakes.
The Summer Music Saturday meeting will be held on June 27; the Friday evening Music Showcase Weekend meeting on July 24. Music acts for both those days are yet to be confirmed; keep checking www.yorkracecourse.co.uk for further announcements, expected soon.
James Brennan, head of marketing and sponsorship says: “It is great news that Tom Grennan is joining the artists to have performed on the Knavesmire; a performer who has gone from strength to strength. It will herald a month for music and racing fans to remember.”
In Focus too: Luxmuralis presents Echoes Of Yorkshire, York Museum Gardens, until November 2, 6pm to 8.20pm
Luxmuralis’s Echoes Of Yorkshire transforming the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Duncan Savage, Ravage Productions, for York Museums Trust
LET light, colour and music surround you at the Echoes Of Yorkshire light and sound installation conjured by the internationally acclaimed Luxmuralis, who bring alive the culturally rich story of the Yorkshire Museum and York Museum Gardens.
Visitors are invited to “immerse yourself in the story of the historic site with contemporary light and music showcasing its age-defining artefacts and extraordinary exhibits. Join us to celebrate all that the museum and its gardens bring to our city and the wider north of England.”
In the 30-year collaboration of sculptor and artist Peter Walker and composer David Harper, Luxmuralis travels the world to create stories in light and sound for audiences at locations ranging from the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral, London, to city-wide open-air projections in places such as Oxford and Limburg in the Netherlands.
Through combining fine art, light and sound, Luxmuralis reflects closely on the history and heritage of places by weaves together the contemporary and the ancient.
Now, for the first time, Luxmuralis is transforming the walls of York in Echoes Of Yorkshire in York Museum Gardens for ten evenings filled with six looping art installations and landscape lighting by Steve Rainsford.
Ticketed entry time slots are given every 20 minutes, but once in the gardens visitors can journey through the experience at their own pace with a recommended walking time of one hour. Refreshments will be available to buy on the night, including from Thor’s tipi.
Echoes Of Yorkshire is suitable for all ages. Audiences will experience the gardens’ history from the Roman period to its time as an abbey (St Mary’s Abbey) in tandem with Luxmuralis’s showcase of the Yorkshire Museum’s collections that span 60 million years from the Jurassic and the Mesolithic, through to the Romans, Viking, Anglo Saxon and Medieval.
Welcoming Luxmuralis to York Museum Gardens, Siona Mackelworth, head of audience and programme for York Museums Trust, says: “We are delighted that Luxmuralis agreed to produce a very special and bespoke show for us here in York.
“This is a celebration of all that the Yorkshire Museum brings to the city, its history and the location as the repository of great discoveries and stories. With this amount of content, the Luxmuralis light and sound show looks amazing.”
Luxmuralis artistic director Peter Walker says: “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with the team at Yorkshire Museum to deliver a truly distinctive experience set within the stunning and historically rich Museum Gardens.
“By drawing inspiration from the museum’s collections, this light installation re-imagines the architecture and landscape in an entirely new and transformative way.”
Tickets cost £13.50 per adult; £9.50 for children aged five to 16; free admission for under-fives. Box office: yorkshiremuseum.org.uk. Echoes Of Yorkshire is on a constant loop from 6pm to 8.20pm each night. Please note, only assistance dogs will be allowed into the gardens during the event.
York Settlement Community Players cast members Heather Patterson, Adam Marsdin and Helen Wilson in rehearsal for Richard Harris’s Party Piece
AMERICAN stuntman, director, writer and producer Martin T Brooks is directing York Settlement Community Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s calamitous comedy Party Piece at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from October 28 to November 1.
“Last November, a friend of mine suggested I apply to direct a show for the York Settlement Community Players, but not having much notable experience directing theatre, I didn’t think I had much of a chance,” he says.
“Luckily for me, and many others, YSCP’s mission is to give aspiring directors the chance to direct. So, I did my research, got my ducks all in a row and made my pitch to the committee. Must have done something right because here I am. Directing Party Piece.”
Here Martin discusses his YSCP debut with CharlesHutchPress.
What happens in Party Piece?
“Michael and Roma are meticulously preparing for their fancy-dress housewarming party. Roma is treating the event like the coronation of the newest monarch, with Michael thinking he is planning the Normandy landing, as well as manning the barbeque with five-star determination and the personality of Gordon Ramsay.
“Mrs Hinson – who is not the biggest fan of her upper-class new neighbours – keeps a watchful and criticising eye on the attendees with the evening looking to be the social event of the neighbourhood.
“That is until a series of disasters strike, including an embarrassing lack of guests, a burning barbeque, a marauding Zimmer frame and a corpse showing up at the front door, turning the party into a hilarious misadventure.”
What attracted you to directing Party Piece? What are the play’s strengths, and why put it on in 2025?
“I selected Party Piece for several reasons. One being that with everything going on these days, I think we could all use a good laugh – and this show as them in abundance. I can remember, back in the day, my dad was playing a recording of an old radio broadcast of Steptoe And Son.
James Wood’s Michael Smethurst, left, Darron Barrott’s Toby Hancock and Catherine Edge’s Roma Smethurst rehearsing a scene from Party Piece
“Being only six or so, I didn’t really understand the jokes, but my dad sure thought they were funny. And dad didn’t laugh much. I guess this is when I first realised there was something special about old-time British comedies.
“Party Piece reminded me a lot of the classic British sitcoms I used to watch when I lived in the States, such as Fawlty Towers, Are You Being Served, Chief (remember that one?) and my favourite, The Good Life – which Party Piece has a lot in common with.
“The show also includes special effects, such as a smoking barbecue and wig, exploding fairy lights and a collapsing chair. As a former professional stuntman, I always like to create such effects, especially for the theatre.”
What is the history of Party Piece? When and where was it first performed?
“According to Theatricalia.com, the play, written by award-winning British playwright Richard Harris, was first performed at the Thorndike Theatre on September 15 1987. Although its official publication date is 1992.”
Have you seen a previous production of Party Piece?
“I have not seen the production live and could only find a few photos of previous production by Am Dram groups.”
Have you brought new faces to the Settlement ranks or gone with settled Settlement faces?
“The auditions were open to anyone and brought in the usual suspects of veteran actors from the North Yorkshire area. We do have one newcomer in Heather Patterson, who will be making her stage debut with YSCP. I consider myself very lucky that I was able to find experienced actors who fit the characters they are portraying so perfectly.”
Darren Barrott, left, Catherine Edge and Adam Marsdin in rehearsal for Martin T Brooks’s production
What will be the set design for the show?
“I created the overall design and based it on the description in the script and what a typical English back garden would look like in the early 2000s. The set is being constructed by Richard Hampton.”
Will there be music for the party?
“One of the funniest running gags in the play is Michael’s many failed attempts to get the music planned for the party to play properly. I’ve selected a few appropriate party pieces of music like Whitney Huston’s I Wanna Dance With Somebody and Wham’s Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go, which play well alongside the comic action taking place on stage.”
What makes a good party?
“The people, the food and the music.”
What makes a bad party?
“Music that is way too loud.”
Do you have your own party piece that you can reel out at a gathering?
“Like most blokes, after a few pints, I think I’m a pretty good stand-up comedian and can tell a few good ex-wife jokes and what it’s like being an American living in the UK.”
York Settlement Community Players in Party Piece, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 28 to November 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk
Martin T Brooks: back story
American director, writer, producer, historian and author Martin T Brooks
1974: Auditioned for his first community theatre production, Oliver!. “I was severely bitten by the theatre bug,” says Martin. “I’ve been involved in the theatre, TV and film industries since that time, and I can’t imagine a world without myself being involved in these creative art forms.”
1985 to 1987: Writer/producer/director for local TV station (KABL-52 in Minnesota, USA), responsible for directing and broadcasting a variety of live and in studio productions. “During this time, I was recognised for my contributions to the local community and was awarded the Community Access Merit award,” says Martin.
1985 to 1995: In his ten years as a stuntman, Martin appeared (uncredited) in the film Drop Dead Fred, as well as a few pilot TV shows filmed in Phoenix, Arizona. “Most of my work was on live stunt shows like Thrill Show 2000, which you can find on my YouTube channel,” he says.
2007 to 2011: Deputy Manager and lighting technician for Watersmeet Theatre in Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire. “This provided me with many opportunities to be part of the technical/production staff, as well as stage manage numerous professional and amateur productions,” says Martin.
2011: “While working for St Michael’s Catholic High School in Garston, Hertfordshire, I was asked to direct the Year 9 & 10 production of Romeo And Juliet, as well as other shows put on by the senior performing arts students.
2017: Wrote and directed a series of “living history” plays based on real-life characters researched by Martin while writing the book Acts Of Caring And Other Heroics, Stories from the Leavesden Asylum/Hospital (1870 to1995).
“These plays were performed on an open-air stage during various history/Heritage Day events sponsored by the local district council, or in many primary schools as part of their local history/heritage studies,” he says.
2022 to 2024: Appeared in leading roles in 11 student/independent films and received Best Actor award from 2023 Alternative Film Festival, Toronto, Canada for portrayal of Charles in the short film The Beggers Story, produced by students at University of York’s TV/film programme.
2024: Wrote, produced and directed a short film, again based on real-life characters researched while writing Acts Of Caring And Other Stories. His film Going Home can be viewed at https://vimeo.com/986560818.
2025: Directing York Settlement Community Players for the first time in Richard Harris’s Party Piece.
Who’s in the Settlement Players’ cast for Party Piece?
JAMES Wood as Michael Smethurst; Catherine Edge as Roma Smethurst; Helen Wilson as Mrs Hinson; Adam Marsdin as David Hinson; Heather Patterson as Jennifer Hinson; Xandra Logan as Sandy Lloyd-Meredeth, and Darren Barrott as Toby Hancock.
