Jared More and the more-and-more-roles-playing Katie Coen in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s alternative Nativity play, Christmas Inn Trouble. All pictures: Tom Jackson, Jackson Portraiture
CHRISTMAS Inn Trouble is Riding Lights’ second festive show since the York faith theatre practitioners’ 2024 re-launch and the first since artistic director Paul Birch and executive director Oliver Brown teamed up as co-chief executive officers.
As is customary, Riding Lights are heading off around the country, this time taking in Barrow-in-Furness, Mold, Bulwell, Lliswerry, Cheltenham, Chiswick, Hadleigh, Colchester, South Benfleet, St Albans and closer to home, Easingwold, before a five-day finale back home at their Friargate Theatre headquarters.
First up was a brace of performances at St Peter’s Church, Norton, playing to 600 children from Norton Community Primary School, perched two child per chair, in the afternoon before a public show at 5pm, when plenty of children were present again, introduced with delightedly expressive enthusiasm by Reverend Jenny Buckler, who moved to God’s Own Country from Somerset in 2021.
Last winter, Birch wrote A Christmas Cracker, his first play since taking the Riding Lights reins, rooted in the transformative power of storytelling, delivered with Birch’s trademark comedy plus puppetry aplenty.
Katie Coen’s shepherd in Christmas Inn Trouble
Description and detailed plot progression played a stronger hand than visual, magical wonder under Erin Burbridge’s direction. This time, Birch is in the director’s chair, at the helm for Rachell Price’s fast-moving, fun, physical, fizzing two-hander for all the family that is a definite upgrade on A Christmas Cracker in its comedic impact while being as strong as ever on delivering “a magical new twist on the Nativity that turns the traditional tale on its head”.
After soothing the white-noise technical gremlins that stopped the start in its tracks – handled with admirable aplomb by cast members Katie Coen and University of York-educated Jared More – the hour-long show quickly finds its rhythm as bother aplenty afflicts The Bethlehem Inn and Spa.
The taps are leaking, the rats, squeaking, the rooms, fit to burst as the Bible story meets Fawlty Towers in the sparring of More’s hotel manager and the multi-role playing Coen’s dogsbody, doing all the graft. If she is more Polly than Sybil, More definitely has the flavour of Basil, from moustache, gait and height to oversized tie, temperament and oleaginous air.
His performance, however, is not mere Fawlty pastiche. Instead, he makes his manager a befuddled, exasperated character of his own as he awaits the arrival of a special guest.
Over-stretched: Jared More’s manager tries to handle multiple phone calls when the inn is already fully booked for Christmas
Given the date, we know who that “guest” might turn out to be, even if the manager is none the wiser, as all the clues build up in Coen’s portfolio of characters, turning herself into a grouchy, rascally Roman guard, Joseph (good with a hammer and wood), Mary (only too happy to take over the cow shed), a shepherd and a “Professor”, Price’s variation on the (un)Wise Men.
All are played with comic zest, all the better for Coen’s interaction with More that clicks instantly. They make for a highly humorous double act, but More reveals another side when, spoiler alert, cradling the baby.
Writer Price is alive to the power of puppetry and pooping noises being guaranteed to bring the young house down, and how they laugh at a cheeky donkey popping out of the myriad cupboards doors to bite More on the backside or grab and eat his bookings diary. The more the donkey does so, the louder the laughs grow. Likewise, the squelching boots of Coen’s shepherd are irresistibly comical, the more she walks.
Caitlin Mawhinney’s set is colourful and playful. The Spa sign is a loose-fitting add-on for a new facility, sure to fall off; the manager’s desk revolves around the stage at pace; the phone is sky blue, old-fashioned, but with a modern ring tone for the children to recognise. In the tradition of farce, two doors are in constant use; the cupboard ones even more so.
Riding Lights Theatre Company’s co-chief executive officers Oliver Brown and Paul Birch, director of Christmas Inn Trouble
“Our aim is to make theatre make a difference by creating unforgettable, entertaining theatre in response to current issues and the hopes and fears of the world we share,” says Brown. Christmas Inn Trouble does exactly that, not in a preachy, heavy-handed way, but with lightness and a sense of wonder at the abiding message of the magical Christmas story.
Mawhinney’s set and costume design are a joy, complementing the tone of Price’s storytelling with a palette of matching pleasures, while Patrick Burbridge’s songs are as much fun for the performers as they are for the audience.
Christmas Inn Trouble lives up to its vow to “bring you the Nativity like you’ve never seen it before!”, setting up families so joyfully for Christmas Day.
Riding Lights Theatre Company in Christmas Inn Trouble, The Galtres Centre, Easingwold, December 13, 2pm; Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, December 20, 1.30pm and 4pm, December 21 to 24, 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm. Box office: Easingwold, https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/booking/select/mbbjvlpojddg; York, 01904 655317 or ridinglights.org/christmasinntrouble.
Behind you: The scene-stealing donkey brings a smile to Katie Coen’s Professor, one of the (un)Wise Men by another name in Christmas Inn Trouble
Jared More and Katie Coen in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s Christmas Inn Trouble. Picture: Tom Jackson, Jackson Portraiture
RIDING Lights Theatre Company launches its 2025 festive show, Christmas Inn Trouble, at St Peter’s Church, Malton, today at 5pm.
Billed as “a magical new twist on the Nativity”, the York Christian theatre practitioners’ follow-up to last winter’s A Christmas Cracker is written by Rachel Price and directed by artistic director Paul Birch.
Set to bring Yuletide joy to families in Yorkshire and beyond, Christmas Inn Trouble promises to “turn the traditional tale on its head”.
Bother aplenty is afflicting The Bethlehem Inn and Spa, where taps are leaking, the rats are squeaking and the rooms are fit to burst. So many guests have arrived that parking your camel is impossible and, if things were not bad enough already, a rascally Roman soldier has come to make sure everything is above board.
Management problems for Jared More in Christmas Inn Trouble. Picture: Tom Jackson, Jackson Portraiture
“Join Riding Lights as we bring a Christmas comedy filled with silly shepherds, some very (un)wise men and a young family who have no idea what they have let themselves in for,” says says Oliver Brown, Riding Lights’ executive director and co-chief executive officer.
“Christmas Inn Trouble is a fast and friendly festive farce and the perfect way to start your holiday cheer! It’s a funny slapstick comedy perfect for telling the story of the Nativity to primary-school aged children and their families.”
Riding Lights is one of Great Britain’s most productive and long-established independent theatre companies. Founded in York in 1977, the company continues to take innovative, accessible theatre into all kinds of communities far and wide.
Katie Coen’s shepherd in Rachel Price’s play Christmas Inn Trouble. Picture: Tom Jackson, Jackson Portraiture
“Our aim is to make theatre make a difference by creating unforgettable, entertaining theatre in response to current issues and the hopes and fears of the world we share,” says Oliver.
Christmas Inn Trouble will be performed by a cast of Jared More and Katie Coen, with set and costume design by Caitlin Mawhinney and compositions and sound design by Patrick Burbridge.
The tour will take in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria; Mold, North Wales; Bulwell, Nottinghamshire; Lliswerry, South Wales; Cheltenham, Gloucestershire; Chiswick, West London; Hadleigh, Colchester and South Benfleet, all Essex; St Albans, Hertfordshire, and, closer to home, The Galtres Centre, Easingwold, concluding the travelling itinerary on December 13 at 2pm.
Behind you! Donkey brings a smile to Katie Coen’s (Un)wise Man in Christmas Inn Trouble. Picture: Tom Jackson, Jackson Portraiture
On the home front, Christmas Inn Trouble will play Riding Lights’ headquarters, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, on December 20, 1.30pm and 4pm, then December 21 to 24, 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm.
“We are so excited to bring this fantastically fun and joyful show to the Friargate Theatre this festive season,” says Oliver. “It’s jam packed with puppets, magic, song and story, bringing you the Nativity like you’ve never seen it before!”
Riding Lights prides itself on offering “affordable and accessible arts experiences to everyone”, so tickets for Christmas Inn Trouble are priced accordingly at £12.50 each or £40 for four people.
Billy Heathwood’s Riley, left, and Antony Jardine’s Seebohm Rowntree in His Last Report at York Theatre Royal. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
YORK Theatre Royal’s latest summer community play is in keeping with the progressive tenet of York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree’s trio of reports from 1899, 1936 and 1951. Community pulling together in enlightening enterprises. Welfare for the common man. Live well, play well, work well. He would probably have made the tickets free, but that isn’t practical.
“Made with passion, joy and enthusiasm”, in collaboration with York Christian theatre company Riding Lights, His Last Report involves 250 volunteers, from 100-strong cast and 55-larynxed York Theatre Royal Choir and new choir recruits, to wardrobe, props, stage management, hair & make up, technical, marketing, front of house and photography.
“The past is back. And it’s got something to say,” reads the tagline. It turns out it has a lot to say, arguably too much, over its two-and-three-quarter-hour span that crams in everything from politics to chocolate recipe improvements; cow parlour udder-pulling to aerial acrobatics; King Lear to Lloyd George and Winston Churchill; Caribbean chocolate trade slavery to the idyll of New Earswick; moo jokes to a salty dig at Saltaire visionary Sir Titus Salt.
Under the direction of Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch, everything is thrown in, including the kitchen-sink style of British theatre and films of the gritty, grainy late-Fifties and Sixties, with echoes of Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill’s Threepenny Opera too.
Amelia Donkor, one of two professional actors leading Juliet Forster and Paul Birch’s cast, in the role of Gulie Harlockin His Last Report. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s script has the restless, questing energy of York-born professional actor Antony Jardine’s Seebohm Rowntree, his name taken from his mother’s surname of Swedish-German origin, we learn in one of many facts dropped in with humorous relish.
We start at the end, Seebohm despondent post-reports, before heading back to 1890s’ York with personal secretary Gulie Harlock (Amelia Donkor), where his Quaker family’s cocoa works is booming, new Rowntree factory et al, under the noble guidance of father Joseph (Mark Payton, in a performance as bubbly as Aero, with a lightness of humour to match).
But something is not hitting the sweet spot for chemist, industrialist and philanthropist Seebohm. Blue-collar life is bitter, when it needs to be better for the factory workers, housed in the city’s back streets and snickelways. In tandem with Donkor’s perspicacious Gulie, he advocates better working and living conditions, improved wages and the provision of education for all and facilities to bolster both mental and physical health.
He never invented a chocolate bar called Nirvana, but his vision of a promised land of healthier, happier, wealthier workers that in turn benefits the productivity of businesses provides the seed bed for the welfare state, attracting the support of Churchill (Colin Beveridge) and Lloyd George (Andrew Wrenn).
Maurice Crichton’s Frank Benson, centre, in King Lear guise in His Last Report, with principals and ensemble looking on in His Last Report. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
Welcome to New Earswick, the model of a village to house the workforce, with a school and a library. Welcome to Rowntree’s world of Yearsley Swimming Pool, the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, gymnastics, pageants and plays. All’s well but can it end well? Ah, there’s the rub. Finance. All the good things cost money.
Jardine’s Seebohm is haunted by the spectral figure of an impoverished child, Riley (Edmund Djimramadji/Billy Heathwood) that only he can see, and all around him the figures don’t add up. The second half turns post-modern, with modern clothing interwoven with period couture, references to writers Misha and Bridget and an in-joke impersonation of the Theatre Royal’s costume department Scottish supremo Pauline.
Rather than ending well it ends Orwellian, Jardine’s despairing Seebohm observing the Britain of today, the Britain of cuts to the arts and libraries, swimming pool and factory closures, robots replacing workers, jargon replacing plain speaking, and being number 52 on the waiting list when phoning the GP at 8am.
Maurice Crichton gives us his best King Lear in the guise of grandstanding actor Frank Benson railing against the way Shakespeare is taught at schools. You may find yourself thinking, “are we going too far off the beaten track here?”, but Crichton, not for the first time, makes every second in the spotlight count.
There is nevertheless a feeling that His Last Report is preaching to the converted, those of us who do go to the theatre, who know of its value beyond cost. Who needs to listen? Those who don’t go, those who slash and burn.
A modern-day board meeting full of blue sky/dark cloud thinking as His Last Report turns theatre of the absurd. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
You might wish the solution were as simple as waving a magic wand. Seebohm Rowntree tried to do more than that, but the truth is that in this rotten world, the good things increasingly cost too much, when even chocolate bars and tins are forever diminishing in size.
Forster and Birch’s cast and choir, as much as Duncan-Barry and Foreman, make an impassioned, worthy case for wishing that life could be as Seebohm envisaged. The theatrical scale is grand, the humour uneven, the ensemble spectacle impressive, orchestrated by David Gilbert’s movement direction. Edwin Gray’s compositions and sound design, in tandem with Madeleine Hudson’s vocal musical direction, are impactful throughout.
Returning after designing previous Theatre Royal community productions The Coppergate Woman and Everything Is Possible: The York Suffragettes, Sara Perks’s set design is five-star quality, whether evoking the Rowntree building, factory floor, boardroom, train carriage or cow parlour, complemented by Craig Kilmartin’s lighting and Hazel Fall’s delightful costumes.
One last thought, where is the Seebohm Rowntree of today?
York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company present His Last Report at York Theatre Royal until August 3, 7.30pm except Sundays and Mondays, plus 2pm matinees, July 26 and August 2 & 3. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Gymnastic skill: Christie Barnes’s Brynhild Benson in His Last Report. Picture: Natasha Sinton
Amelia Donkor and Antony Jardine arrive at York Theatre Royal for their first day of rehearsals for His Last Report. Picture: Millie Stephens
PROFESSIONAL actors Antony Jardine and Amelia Donkor are leading the cast for York Theatre Royal’s 2025 summer community production His Last Report.
They take the roles of Seebohm Rowntree and Gulie Harlock respectively, performing alongside the 100-strong community ensemble in Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s play about pioneering sociologist and social reformer Seebohm Rowntree, whose groundbreaking investigation into poverty illuminated the struggles of the working class and laid the foundation for the welfare state.
His Last Report delves into the life and legacy of one of the city’s most influential figures, who not only conducted three social studies in York in 1899, 1936 and 1951, defining the poverty line, but was an industrialist and philanthropist too, making his mark on the Rowntree family’s chocolate company and the development of the model community at New Earswick.
Juliet Forster, creative director of York Theatre Royal and co-director of His Last Report, says: “We are thrilled to welcome Antony and Amelia to the cast. It is so brilliant to work on these kinds of community productions where we bring together the wonderful talents of both professional actors and an ensemble cast of local people.”
Antony grew up in York, first appearing at the Theatre Royal as a “precocious child actor” in John Doyle’s days as artistic director, playing one of the princes in the tower opposite panto villain David Leonard’s Richard III in the War Of The Roses season and in Willy Russell’s Our Day Out.
“I’ve been based in London for 20 years but I did come back to the Theatre Royal in The Secret Garden, which transferred from [co-producers] Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, in 2018,” he says.
“My children were born in London, so there’s no Yorkshire in them, apart from encouraging them to eat Yorkshire Pudding and love Yorkshire Cricket Club.”
Amelia is performing at York Theatre Royal for the first time. “I’m finishing my Yorkshire Holy Grail, after playing the Stephen Joseph Theatre [Scarborough] in The 39 Steps, Hull Truck Theatre in James Graham’s The Culture and Leeds Playhouse in The Fruit Trilogy,” she says.
Antony and Amelia joined rehearsals with the ensemble company already deep into their preparations. “It was very different for us coming in that stage, when people say, ‘so this is what this scene looks like’, but everyone has been so welcoming,” says Amelia.
Antony Jardine: Suited for the role of Seebohm Rowntree in His Last Report. Picture: Millie Stephens
“It’s such a powerful piece about community being told by the York community and such a beloved story, and we’ve been really welcomed into it,” says Antony.
Introducing the character of Gulie Harlock, Amelia says: “Originally from Northampton, she worked in the East End of London, working in public health as a member of the welfare committee.
“She came to York with Seebohm originally as his personal secretary but then he realised she had a great understanding of this [social reform] work and so she ran the New Earswick project.
“She was also involved in the framing of the last report and really spearheaded the involvement of women when it was a man’s world, when Seebohm realised how important it was to represent women’s voices.”
Amelia continues “We still don’t know that much about Gulie, but we have a wonderful historical expert, Catherine Hindson, who’s been working with us, having written a piece about her for the Rowntree Foundation.
“There’s still a lot we don’t know about her, but our writers, Misha and Bridget, have really enjoyed learning about her.”
Exploring Seebohm’s story, Antony says: “He was a chemist, which is where his initial forays lay, with that influencing the chocolate recipes, but then he undertook his reports to implement social change, but to make those changes is not as easy as coming up with a mathematical solution for solving poverty.”
Amelia rejoins: “Seebohm made three reports in total, and in the second act, we deconstruct the legacy of those reports because they had such a huge impact beyond York, as Lloyd George and Churchill both wanted to use his reports as part of restructuring programmes.
“The reports changed the way politicians saw poverty. Seebohm created the concept of the poverty line and the language we use now [in relation to social reform] came through him.”
“There’s still a lot we don’t know about Gulie Harlock, but our writers, Misha and Bridget, have really enjoyed learning about her,” says actress Amelia Donkor. Picture: Millie Stephens
Antony adds: “Seebohm felt that if certain things were lacking in social structures, such as if people didn’t have access to education, leading to skilled employment, they would struggle to lift themselves above the poverty line and so they would continue to struggle.
“This gave rise to the Rowntree family creating New Earswick to address the problem of living conditions not being adequate.”
Amelia picks up that point. “Seebohm created the idea of living well and working well, so that people didn’t just live but could thrive. He understood that if people were thriving, the business would be thriving too.”
Seebohm’s projects led to the establishment of the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, the New Earswick library and the primary school, later attended by Antony, by the way.
Misha and Bridget’s play then turns its focus to applying Seebohm’s principles to the modern world, with its cuts to access to the arts and threat of library closures. “What would Seebohm think about those cuts, when all the progression that he brought about has stalled?” says Antony. “The play contemplates how maybe we can affect changes ourselves.
“York does brilliantly with such a thriving cultural scene, and this play could not be a better example of what Seebohm was seeking to achieve.”
Amelia concludes: “We hope people come out feeling entertained, moved and inspired, and feel they could be part of a call to action as Misha and Bridget ask: what might you do?
“You think, ‘maybe I could do this at school, or the local community centre’, so maybe it could cascade. When people know they’re empowered, they can go and do that in the rest of their lives.”
York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company present His Last Report, York Theatre Royal, until August 3, 7.30pm, except Sundays and Mondays, plus 2pm, July 26, August 2 and 3. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
“When I met Juliet Forster and Paul Birch for my audition and told them about the Rowntree connections, they couldn’t believe it either,” says York-born-and-educated actor Antony Jardine, who plays Seebohm Rowntree in His Last Report. Picture: David Kessel
Extra, extra. York Theatre Royal’s syndicated interview with Antony Jardine
What is the story behind the community production His Last Report and your character Seebohm Rowntree?
“The show is based on Seebohm Rowntree’s life and his works. He published three reports looking at poverty in York and those reports went on to become the basis of the welfare state.
“They did remarkable things for the quality of life for people and particularly for people that worked at the Rowntree’s chocolate factory at the time and lived in the village of New Earswick. The play tells that story.
“In the second half, the timeline moves around a little bit, and you begin to see what Seebohm Rowntree would make of the modern world and how after the years that have passed his research has come into fruition. The play uses a lens to look at what’s going on in society today.”
You have some interesting personal connections to this summer’s community production. What are your family’s links to the Rowntrees?
“It was quite an interesting phone call with my agent when she said she had an audition for me in York. I thought, brilliant I’d love to be back in York and work in my home city. She sent over the script, and I saw it was about the Rowntrees. I thought, that’s great, I know the Rowntrees well, and then when I read the play, I couldn’t believe all the other connections as that never really happens.
York Theatre Royal’s poster for His Last Report
“I was born and raised a Quaker. I went to New Earswick primary school, which is the school that the Rowntrees built for the village of New Earswick. I learnt to swim in the swimming pool which gets name checked in the play.
“I went to the library, which is also mentioned in the play. I went to Bootham School, which is the same school that Seebohm went to, and my dad worked for the Joseph Rowntree Housing trust for 44 years. When I met Juliet [Forster] and Paul [Birch] for my audition and told them about the connections, they couldn’t believe it either.”
Does your approach to character differ when playing a real person?
“It raises questions about what source material you have and how you use it. It’s very hard to do an accurate imitation and it’s fair to say that a lot of our audience might not have met Seebohm, so that gives us a bit more freedom to take what we do know and develop that further.
“We don’t want to turn him into James Bond or anything like that, but we want our audience to invest in every character on the stage and more importantly, the work they are doing. He’s a very beloved son of York and I really want to get it right!
“We are condensing his life down into two hours, so the journey is much more compact, so much more like a rollercoaster ride. Ultimately the source material is so solid and so factual and that underpins as a foundation for the whole piece.”
“He’s a very beloved son of York and I really want to get it right,” says Antony Jardine of his role as Seebohm Rowntree
You last performed at York Theatre Royal in The Secret Garden in 2018. What keeps you coming back to York?
“Well, it’s a pretty nice city to live and work in! The theatre itself has a beautiful auditorium; as a performer it’s a joy to be on that stage. The vibrancy in the building is incredible; there are so many people working and being creative, which I think Seebohm would have approved of enormously.
“There’s just such a lot going on, but everyone is so friendly and welcoming. It’s an absolute treat and a joy to be able to come back here.”
Why book a ticket to His Last Report?
“Trust us, you’ll be in for a great night of theatre. When I first read the script, I was absolutely bowled over by how much is incorporated into it. It’s Shakespearian in its scope; it ticks every box.
“There’s so much joy. There’s going to be a trapeze, Morris dancing, music, it’s such a great story and so specific to York, but on a national and international scale as well.
“The story is about bringing people together and realising that an issue needs to be addressed, but also the production itself is bringing together a large community of people that can express themselves artistically in the theatre. I think all of that coming together is a rare and special thing.
“I would say if you are going to go and see a play, make it this one because you will learn so much, you will think about yourself in a good, positive way and you’ll laugh and have fun and maybe even an ice cream at the interval.”
Paul Birch: Leading scripted comedy workshop for York Settlement Community Players on Sunday
FRIARGATE Theatre artistic director, comedy writer and improv supremo Paul Birch is to hold a workshop for York Settlement Community Players on scripted comedy on Sunday (6/7/2025) at Room 1, Southlands Methodist Church, York.
“This Funny Business workshop is a great way to find your funny and explore ways in which to play comedic texts without worrying about getting laughs,” says Paul. “Using a range of scripts and some helpful games and exercises, this session will equip actors and directors to love, rather than fear, the comedic text.”
The charge for Sunday’s 2pm to 4.30pm session is £10 or “a bit more if you can manage it”. “Paul is doing the workshop at no charge to YSCP to help us out of our current financial difficulties because he is a thoroughly decent bloke,” says organiser Maurice Crichton.
Grace Hussey-Burd’s Ebenezer Sneezer, left, and Claire Morley with Cracker the dog at Saturday morning’s performance of Riding Lights Theatre Company’s A Christmas Cracker
AFTER a winter tour of schools, writer and artistic director Paul Birch’s first play since taking the reins of Riding Lights Theatre Company heads home to Friargate Theatre for its finale.
Billed as “an alternative, unusual way into the Nativity story”, this one-hour play for family audiences is rooted in the transformative power of storytelling, delivered with Birch’s trademark comedy plus puppetry aplenty.
CharlesHutchPress attended Saturday morning’s show, when understudy Claire Morley took the role of Cracker the dog’s puppeteer and grouchy farmer Mrs McGinty opposite Grace Hussey-Burd’s “world-famous” storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer.
For the 1pm performance, York actress Morley would be switching to Ebenezer, accompanied by Holly Cassidy in the other roles. “My head is full of words,” she said of the task ahead.
And “full of words” aptly sums up Birch’s playful play, where description and detailed plot progression play a stronger hand than visual, magical wonder under Erin Burbridge’s direction, although a somewhat incongruous climactic bout of fisticuffs with accompanying sound effects hits a physically comical note, as do the sporadic interjections of a “turbulent turkey”.
Hussey-Burd’s Ebenezer, in top hat, tails and multi-coloured waistcoat, is lost at the start, snow in her silver boots, and motley-looking mutt Cracker, her chatterbox canine companion, by her side, head bursting with strange ideas about Christmas, always offering an unpredictable, often cheeky word in the ear like Basil Brush.
Holly Cassidy with Cracker the dog and Ebenezer Sneezer’s story basket. Picture: Tom Jackson
Without permission, as the shed doors open out like the inside of Dr Who’s Tardis, they take shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn. On the wall is a No Singing sign, last seen in York in Shaun Collinge’s long reign as landlord at The Maltings, in Tanner’s Moat, (newly transformed into the Irish pub The Dubliner, replete with live music, by the way).
Mrs McGinty is as grumpy as that other Ebenezer on a winter’s night, Scrooge, but gradually we learn why in a Birch story that champions “the importance of love, the importance of perseverance”, while highlighting the dangers of misinformation, disinformation and misunderstanding.
In doing so, as Birch seeks to “make sense of the world, not by providing answers, but by seeing new opportunities through new ideas”, he passes topical comment on a pernicious planet quick to judge and misjudge, especially on social media. One that puts the extreme into X streams of abuse, for example.
Ebenezer and Cracker will be allowed to stay if the nimble story-spinner can warm flinty Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart with the glad tidings of a tremendous tale. If not, they will be booted back out into the storm.
Mrs McGinty has an even more crotchety fellow villain of the piece in Deadly the dastardly donkey, who puts the unstable in the stable, with a pronounced aversion to festive comfort and joy. Again, do not judge a book by its cover, however, as Mrs McGinty turns storyteller with revelations of her past and Deadly’s too.
Wrapped inside is the story of the Nativity – Riding Lights is a Christian theatre company – and Birch has certainly found an alternative way to tell it, perhaps a tad too complex to sustain the full concentration of the four-year-olds in the audience, but engagingly, entertainingly and energetically told by Hussey-Burd and Morley.
Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, at 11am, 1.30pm and 6pm, today; 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm, tomorrow. Box office: 01904 655317 or ridinglights.org/achristmascracker.
Casting a shadow: James Willstrop’s bullying bruiser Bill Sikes in Pick Me Up Theatre’s Oliver Twist at Theatre@41, Monkgate
THE myriad delights of Christmas entertainment shine through Charles Hutchinson’s tips to vacate the festive fireside.
Dickens at Christmas, but not A Christmas Carol: Pick Me Up Theatre in Oliver Twist, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, until December 30. 7.30pm performances on December 21, 27, 28 and 30, plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. No performances on December 23 to 26
HELEN Spencer takes the director’s reins and plays Fagin in York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s staging of Deborah McAndrew’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s 1838 novel, described as a “a new version of Oliver with a festive twist”.
Not to be confused with Lionel Bart’s musical Oliver!, it does feature musical arrangements by John Biddle to to complement Dickens’s tale of Oliver Twist being brought up in a workhouse, sold into an apprenticeship and recruited by Fagin’s band of pickpockets and thieves as he sinks into London’s grimy underworld in his search for a home, a family and love. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Harris Beattie andJonathan Hanks in Northern Ballet’s revival of A Christmas Carol at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Tristram Kenton
Christmas ballet of the week: Northern Ballet in A Christmas Carol, Leeds Grand Theatre, until January 4 2025
FIRST choreographed by Massimo Morricone and directed by Christopher Gable in 1992, Northern Ballet’s retired landmark production of A Christmas Carol is being revisited by director Federico Bonelli to the glee of longtime supporters and new audiences alike.
“Charles Dickens’s classic Victorian tale of redemption, with its message of human kindness and compassion, is something that resonates with us all, especially at this time of year,” says Bonelli. “Its iconic characters lend themselves so well to ballet”, complemented by Lez Brotherston’s colourful sets and costumes and Carl Davis’s festive score. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Holly Cassidy and Grace Hussey-Burd in a scene from Riding Lights Theatre Company’s winter show A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson
Alternative Nativity play of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, York, today to Christmas Eve, 11am and 1.30pm each day; 6pm, first three days; 4pm, last day
IN Paul Birch’s first play as artistic director of Riding Lights, world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer is lost, with snow in her wellies and faithful canine companion Cracker full of strange ideas about Christmas.
When caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on the condition that Ebenezer brings her glad tidings with her stories. If so, a hot supper awaits. If not, exit pronto. Ebenezer must triumph over not only Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart but also Deadly, a dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable. Box office: 01904 613000 or ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.
The poster for The Snowman screenings with live orchestra at York Barbican
Christmas film & music event of the week: The Snowman with Live Orchestra, York Barbican, Sunday, 1pm and 4pm
CARROT Productions presents two screenings of Dianne Jackson and Jimmy T Murakami’s animated 1982 film with the accompaniment of a live orchestra of professional musicians.
Raymond Briggs’s story of a young boy’s Christmas snowman magically coming to life for a journey to meet Santa Claus will be shown with The Snowman And The Snowdog at 1pm and The Bear, The Piano, The Dog And The Fiddle at 4pm. Each show includes a fun introduction to the orchestra and a visit from the Snowman himself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Shed Seven’s Paul Banks and Rick Witter: Performing as an acoustic duo at Huntington Working Men’s Club in the last gigs of their 30th anniversary celebrations this weekend. Picture: David Harrison
Recommended but sold out already: Shed Seven’s Rick Witter and Paul Banks, Huntington Working Men’s Club, York, tonight and Sunday, doors 7pm
AFTER two number one albums in a year, summer shows in York Museum Gardens and their biggest ever tour, Shed Seven end their 30th anniversary celebrations back home in York, where lead singer Rick Witter and guitarist Paul Banks play a weekend of acoustic sets in the intimate setting of a working men’s club.
“We’re finishing the year in the village where Rick and I first met back in 1984, and where all of this began,” says Banks. “What a journey we’ve been on.” Sheds’ bassist Tom Gladwin serves up a DJ set too. Box office for returns only: store.shedseven.com.
Nun better: Freida Nipples hosts her Baps & Buns burlesque Christmas cabaret at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb
Feast your eyes on: Freida Nipples’ Baps & Buns Burlesque Christmas Cabaret, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, tonight, 8pm; doors open at 7pm
YORK’S queen of burlesque, Freida Nipples, presents drag, comedy and showgirls in her Baps & Buns Christmas Cabaret with festive good cheer after a joyous year of shows at Rise, Acomb’s answer to Paris’s Folies Bergère.
“Prepare yourself for an evening of debauchery and glamour in Acomb,” says Freida. “The big question is: are you ready for it?!” Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Central Methodist Church: Hosting City Screen Picturehouse’s pop-up Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, York
Pop-up film event of the festive season: City Screen Picturehouse presents Christmas Cinema at Saint Saviourgate, The Great Hall, Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, York, until December 23
CITY Screen Picturehouse, York, has set up a pop-up screen at Central Methodist Church for the Christmas season. Dougal Wilson’s Paddington In Peru (PG) will be shown at 4pm on Sunday, followed by Jon Favreau’s Elf (PG) at 7pm and Monday screenings of Robert Zemeckis’s The Polar Express (U) at 4pm and Frank Capra’s season-closing 1946 chestnut It’s A Wonderful Life (U) at 7pm. Box office: picturehouses.com/YorkXmas.
Ronan Keating: Playing at York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend next summer. Picture: Supplied by York Racecourse
Outdoor gig announcement of the week: Ronan Keating, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, July 26
IRISH singer, charity campaigner and breakfast show host Ronan Keating will perform after the Saturday race card as the first act to be confirmed for next summer’s Music Showcase Weekend on Knavesmire. A further act will be announced for the evening meeting on July 25.
Keating, 47, has three decades of hits to call on, from Boyzone boy band days to his solo career, from Love Me For A Reason and When You Say Nothing At All to Life Is A Rollercoaster and If Tomorrow Never Comes. Olly Murs is confirmed already for the new 2025 race day of June 28. For race day tickets, go to: yorkracecourse.co.uk.
It’s a Cracker:Holly Cassidy with the puppet dog in A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson
WRITER and artistic director Paul Birch is staging his first play since taking the reins of Riding Lights Theatre Company at Friargate Theatre, York, in July.
On tour from November 25 to December 18, A Christmas Cracker will conclude its travels with a home run in York from December 21 to 24.
Introducing a magical show packed with comedy, puppetry and seasonal storytelling for all the family, Paul says: “Things are not going well for world-famous storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer. She’s lost. There is snow in her wellies and her wise and faithful dog, Cracker, has some strange ideas about Christmas.
“Caught taking shelter in Mrs McGinty’s barn, she allows them to stay on condition that Ebenezer warm up her Christmas with some of her seasonal stories. If they bring her enough glad tidings, there’s a hot supper on the cards. If not, they will be thrown back out into the storm.
“With Mrs McGinty’s frozen heart in need of a magnificent miracle and Deadly the dastardly donkey ready to kick comfort and joy out of his stable, will Ebenezer triumph? Despite turbulent turkeys and hysterical hay fights, she has a plan and some tremendous tales to turn things around.”
Full of Birch’s trademark humour, “it’s kind of an alternative, unusual way into the Nativity story,” he says. “I would say it’s like a cross between Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run in its tone, and hopefully it pulls off that Pixar trick, where the whole family can sit down and enjoy it together.
Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch, right, with executive director Oliver Brown outside Friargate Theatre
“It’s a play about communicating the importance of love, the importance of perseverance and the wonder and power of storytelling.
“So it’s a re-working of the Christmas story that also recognises that the act of storytelling itself has such a powerful effect on people. Part of the play shows how stories can be harmful too, where we have the ‘villains of the piece’ not actually being villains but playing out roles when they’ve been treated as villains, but then they discover that’s not the true story at all.”
Paul continues: “Stories are not just something we tell to each other but they also shape us. It’s about re-discovering the stories we tell and how we tell them to each other.
“It’s very difficult to live with the cynicism of our age. One of the things I think about the Creation story, whether you think the story is true or not, is that people can be transformed for the better and there is hope in that.
“Christian stories or stories of other faiths have hope embedded in them, and we have to come back to the hope that we can be better, we can make things better. What links His Last Report [next summer’s community play about the life and legacy of Seebohm Rowntree that Riding Lights will be doing with York Theatre Royal] and A Christmas Cracker is the common theme of the power of human beings to change things for the better.
“Maybe that is the case with all theatre: that thing of what happens as a result of that change into a new story. It’s not that stories simply go, ‘here is the message’, but that it is a point of connection between audience members and connection between theatre-makers and their audience.
Grace Hussey-Burd and Holly Cassidy in a scene in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s winter show A Christmas Cracker. Picture: Tom Jackson
“We’re trying to make sense of the world, not providing answers, but seeing new opportunities through new ideas.”
Paul points to the ever-changing shape of theatre being one of its prime strengths. “The difference between film or other recorded media and theatre is that they cannot be changed, but theatre can do that with each performance. It will change and shift, and not only the performers, but the audience too – and when theatre is good, it’s a dialogue between the two. That’s not to say it might not have clear provocations within it, but it always needs to be responsive.”
Paul first wrote A Christmas Cracker more than a decade ago. “I did re-write it for this production and even now I would re-work it again. We are always re-tuning. Watching with a young audience is always really interesting because they will tell you when it’s working and when it’s not.”
Paul’s hour-long play is directed by Erin Burbridge, retaining the Burbridge family involvement in Christian theatre company Riding Lights after the death of company founder Paul in May 2023. Her cast features Grace Hussey-Burd as Ebeneezer Sneezer and Holly Cassidy as Cracker and Mrs McGinty, with York actress Claire Morley on understudy duty.
Time to get cracking to secure tickets.
Riding Lights Theatre Company in A Christmas Cracker, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, December 21 to 24. Performances: 11am, 1.30pm and 6pm, December 21 to 23; 11am, 1.30pm and 4pm, December 24. Box office: 01904 655317or ridinglights.org/achristmascracker.
Leading lights: Riding Lights’ new executive director Oliver Brown, left, and artistic director Paul Birch outside Friargate Theatre in York
RIDING Lights Theatre Company today announces the appointment of its new artistic director, Paul Birch, and executive director, Oliver Brown.
They will serve as joint chief executive officer of the national touring theatre company, based at Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York.
Playwright, sketch writer, improv comedy trailblazer and theatre director Paul Birchrejoins the company as artistic director after holding early roles as its youth theatre director and associate director of education and community.
He succeeds Paul Burbridge, co-founder of the Christian theatre company and artistic director since its foundation in 1977, who died after a short illness in April 2023.
As a freelance writer-director, his work has been produced in many theatres nationwide, expanding into audio dramas and a practice focused on improvisation, collaborating with improvisers from all over the world.
Paul has developed a track record of applied theatre-making and was artistic director of Out Of Character, a York company comprising artists with lived experience of mental illness, for eight years.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Riding Lights for over 20 years. Paul Burbridge was a great mentor to me and offered me many early opportunities in acting, writing and directing,” he says. His influence and inspirational teaching in theatre-making has had a profound and lasting impact on my work.
“The creativity of Riding Lights has always been about making work with and for all kinds of people in all kinds of places; often those hardest to reach. I’m looking forward to finding new artistic ways to create powerful and joyful theatre in that spirit.”
Riding Lights’ new executive director, Oliver Brown, left, and artistic director Paul Birch in the black-box studio theatre at Friargate Theatre, York
Oliver Brown FRSA, at present associate director at Riding Lights,takes up the post of executive director after holding senior leadership roles in production and operations at venues including Hull Truck Theatre and CAST in Doncaster. He is the elected vice-chair and trustee director of the Association of British Theatre Technicians.
His first encounter with Riding Lights was in 1999, when the teenage Oliver knocked on the door of Friargate Theatre, soon after it opened, asking for a technical work placement. Over the subsequent decades, he has worked as a freelance technical and stage manager for the company on many occasions.
“After being a part of Riding Lights for nearly 25 years, I am delighted to be joining the company once again as executive director, having spent my summers at its annual residential summer school, my early years up a ladder amongst the lights in Friargate Theatre, and out on national tours,” he says.
“Along with Paul, I am looking forward to Riding Lights’ 50th anniversary in 2027 and planning for the future.
“I am passionate about communicating faith and social justice issues through theatre and community work – a tradition in which Riding Lights is a leader, and one in which I will be honoured to play a part as we develop the evolving vision of Riding Lights.”
Riding LightsTheatre Companyhas been making and touring theatre informed by a Christian faith for 47 years, making it one of Great Britain’s most productive and long-serving independent theatre companies. Its productions have been seen across the world, from the United States of America, through Europe, to Israel and Palestine.
John Emmett, chair of the board of directors, says: “I am delighted that Paul and Ollie have agreed to join Riding Lights. Both of them have a long association with the company and understand well Paul Burbridge’s remarkable legacy. I am confident that they will build on this in fresh and exciting ways to create theatre which entertains, challenges and inspires.”
Friargate Theatre has announced an autumn season of theatre, stand-up and improv comedy, storytelling, music, film and family shows that opens on September 5. For full details and bookings, head to: friargatetheatre.co.uk. Box office: 01904 613000.
Riding Lights is in rehearsal for Cups On A String, a new play by York playwright Bridget Foreman, directed by David Gilbert for an eight-week autumn tour across the UK, to be staged in partnership with Transforming Lives for Good, a charity that brings hope and a future to struggling children.
The brochure cover artwork for Friargate Theatre’s autumn return
Riding Lights: the back story
RIDING Lights Theatre Company was founded in 1977 by Paul Burbridge, Murray Watts and Nigel Forde and has been based in York ever since.
Riding Lights opened Friargate Theatre, in Lower Friargate, York, in 1999. It has since operated as the company’s office and rehearsal space and has two performance spaces: one a ground-floor cabaret-style space seating around 60 people; the other an upstairs black-box studio theatre seating 100.
World premieres in recent years have includedAfrican Snow, a co-production with York Theatre Royal (York Theatre Royal, West End transfer and national tour); Augustus Carp Esq. by Himself (Friargate Theatre); Dick Turpin (Friargate Theatre) and an adaptation of Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men In A Boat (national tour, co-produced with Northcott Theatre, Exeter).
In Summer 2012, Riding Lights, in tandem with York Theatre Royal and York Museums Trust, produced the epic-scale, outdoor production of the York Mystery Plays in York Museum Gardens.
Frequently characterised by quirky satire, Riding Lights’ productions challenge audiences to engage with topical themes and issues, often examining the reverberations of historical events in today’s society.
Classic plays such as Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (two national tours), Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist (the inaugural production at Friargate Theatre), Dario Fo’s Mistero Buffo (Friargate Theatre and national tour) and Max Frisch’s The Fire Raisers (Bridewell Theatre, London) have found fresh and arresting relevance in Riding Lights productions.
Friargate Theatre’s brochure cover for the Autumn 2024season
THE poster boxes have gone, the windows are clear, the entrance hallway has new seating, all signs of the revival of activities at the Friargate Theatre in York.
Most significantly of all, brochures for the autumn season of comedy, theatre, storytelling, music, film and family shows at the home of Riding Lights Theatre Company are being distributed around the city.
In the wake of the death of Riding Lights founder and director and Friargate Theatre artistic programmer Paul Burbridge last year, the Christian theatre company is in the process of recruiting a new executive director and artistic director.
As the search goes on, the task of overseeing the Lower Friargate theatre and the autumn season falls to associate director Ollie Brown. “This season is all about rebuilding our audience,” he says. “Maybe some people have forgotten us as York’s hidden theatre by the river; we want to be come better known again with a programme that really supports York’s arts scene with shows York wants to see.”
Comedy will be to the fore, led off by the return of Right Here, Right Now, York’s improv comedy night on September 20, October 18, November 15 and December 6, when the merry band of improvisers will turn audience suggestions into chaotic comedy, music, mayhem and joy-filled nonsense.
September 26 marks the launch of Get Up Stand Up, York’s new monthly comedy club, featuring stand-ups from the British comedy circuit, each bill comprising a compere introducing two acts.
Check online at friargatetheatre.co.uk for updates on the 8pm line-ups for the last Thursday of each month, including October 31 and November 28. Steffen Peddie will host the first two shows, Tony Vino, the next two, and Patrick Monahan and Lost Voice Guy (Lee Ridley) will be among the acts heading for Lower Friargate.
Frankenstein (On A Budget), on October 5, combines one man, one monster, one glorious dream to singlehandedly tell the most famous cult horror story of all time on no budget whatsoever. What could possibly go wrong in this comedy musical Hammer Horror homage, replete with new music, cardboard creations and characters inspired by Mary Shelley and Boris Karloff.
Súper Chefs: Interactive musical exploring family, food and gender roles at Friargate Theatre on November 17
Still on the comedy front, ever witty York sketch writer and playwright Paul Birch will be holding workshops at his Improv Gym, some at Friargate Theatre, others at York Theatre Royal.
The autumn season will open on September 7 with the first family show, Welcome To The World, Little Wild Theatre’s interactive entertainment for nought to five-year-olds that takes a journey with Mother Earth’s children, Tide, Ariel and Blaze as they take their first steps in the world.
On September 28, Rhubarb Theatre’s Finding Chester follows the story of Edith Tiddles’ missing moggie when she needs the help of her delivery team to orchestrate the search.
Murray Lachlan Young’s epic fairytale for six-year-olds and upwards, The Chronicles Of Atom And Luna, will be performed by Funnelwick Limb on October 29 and October 30, with its story of special twins, one who can talk to the birds, the other who can control the moon.
Further family entertainment follows with Jam Jar Theatre’s puppetry musical How A Jellyfish Saved The World on November 3; Maya Productions’ Súper Chefs, a bi-lingual, interactive Latin American family musical by Betsy Picart, on November 17, and York company Next Door But One’s The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, a magical voyage across lakes and over mountains based on Philip Pullman’s novel, on November 30.
A season of thought-provoking and dynamic plays will start in a hurry on October 12 when Crew Of Patches present The Shakespeare Jukebox. The rules are simple: “give us the name of a Shakespeare play and we’ll do it…well, a bit of it at least”. History, comedy and tragedy combine chaotically, faced with 37 plays to slay.
Climate change will be the topic on October 12 in Decommissioned, a heart-warming, comical play inspired by the true story of Fairbourne in Wales, with its story of caring for children, falling in love and staying sane while tackling the climate catastrophe.
Frankenstein (On A Budget): Comedy musical Hammer Horror homage with gore & flashing lights on October 5
On October 25, Adverse Camber presents storyteller Phil Okwedy in The Gods Are All Here, a personal story sparked by the discovery of letters from his father in Nigeria to his mother in Wales. Myths, folk tales and legends of the African diaspora feature.
On November 29, Andrew Harrison performs The Beloved Son, a new play written and directed by Riding Lights luminary Murray Watts for Wayfarer Productions that explores hope and longing, family dynamics, sexual and emotional crises and the profound insights of priest and psychologist Henri Nouwen.
Mat Jones brings Charles Dickens’s Victorian story of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge to life in his solo performance of A Christmas Carol on December 13.
The autumn’s season’s storytelling sessions promise a busy day for Gav Cross on November 2, presenting Ghastly Stories For Gruesome Gremlins at 2pm and After Supper Ghost Stories, a portmanteau of ghostly tales told by an unreliable narrator, at 7.30pm.
On the music front, on October 19, Saturday Night With The Shakers showcases the hits, misses, B-sides and lost classics from the golden age of Merseybeat. On November 1, Joseph O’Brien pays homage to Frank Sinatra in A Man And His Music.
The Aesthetica Short Film Festival will be in residence from November 6 to 10 and a Christmas film double bill of The Muppet Christmas Carol (2.30pm) and Die Hard (8pm) is booked in for December 7.
Riding Lights return home for A Christmas Cracker, Paul Birch’s festive family show bursting with seasonal stories, told by world famous but lost storyteller Ebenezer Sneezer, from December 21 to 24. Comedy, puppetry and storytelling, strange ideas and a dog called Cracker combine in this magical glimpse of Christmas.
To book tickets, head to friargatetheatre.co.uk or ring 01904 613000.
