Tag: Phoenix Dance Theatre

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More Things To Do in York and beyond when sparking up the little grey cells. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 8, from The York Press

Katsushika Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, circa 1829-1832, from Making Waves at York Art Gallery. Picture: courtesy of Maidstone Museum

JAPANESE prints, a Belgian detective, a Tudor queen and a West Riding pioneer are all making waves in Charles Hutchinson’s early March recommendations. 

Exhibition launch of the week: Making Waves, The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print, York Art Gallery, until August 30, open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm

MAKING Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print presents Japanese art and culture in more than 100 striking and iconic works from renowned artists, such as Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige and Kitagawa Utamaro, among many others.

At the epicentre of this intriguing insight into the history and development of Japanese woodblock printing is the chance to see Hokusai’s The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, one of the most recognisable and celebrated artworks in the world. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk.

Phoenix Dance Theatre in Interplay, premiering at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Drew Forsyth

Connectivity of the week: Phoenix Dance Theatre, Interplay, York Theatre Royal, today, 2pm and 7.30pm

LEEDS company Phoenix Dance Theatre’s world premiere tour of Interplay opens at York Theatre Royal, featuring dynamic works by Travis Knight and James Pett (Small Talk), Ed Myhill (Why Are People Clapping?!) Yusha-Marie Sorzano & Phoenix artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis (Suite Release) and Willis’s Next Of Kin. 

Across duet and ensemble works, Interplay explores themes of duality and shared authorship, revealing how distinct artistic voices can intersect to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Each piece offers a unique perspective, united by a bold physicality and a deep curiosity about human relationships, rhythm and collective experience. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Death On The Nile: European premiere of Ken Ludwig’s new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s murder mystery at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Manuel Harlan

Murder mystery of the week: Fiery Angel presents Agatha Christie’s Death On The Nile, Grand Opera House, York, March 3 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

AFTER tours of And Then There Were None and Murder On The Orient Express, Death On The Nile reunites director Lucy Bailey, writer Ken Ludwig and producers Fiery Angel for the European premiere of a new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Death On The Nile.

On board a luxurious cruise under the heat of the Egyptian sun, a couple’s idyllic honeymoon is cut short by a brutal murder.  As secrets buried in the sands of time resurface, can Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Mark Hadfield), untangle the web of lies? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

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

Historical drama of the week: Black Treacle Theatre in Anne Boleyn, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 3 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

YORK company Black Treacle Theatre presents Howard Brenton’s account of one of England’s most important and intriguing historical figures: Tudor lover, heretic, revolutionary, queen Anne Boleyn (played by Lara Stafford).

Traditionally seen as either the pawn of an ambitious family manoeuvred into the King’s bed, or as a predator manipulating her way to power, Anne – and her ghost – re-emerges in a very different light in Brenton’s epic play, premiered by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in 2010. Box office: https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, as Anne Lister, rehearsing for Northern Ballet’s Gentleman Jack. Picture: Colleen Mair

Premiere of the week: Northern Ballet and Finnish National Opera and Ballet in Gentleman Jack, Leeds Grand Theatre, March 7 to 14, except March 8 and 9, 7.30pm, plus 2.30pm matinees on March 12 and 14

THIS groundbreaking new ballet marks a trio of ‘firsts’: the first time the story of Anne Lister has been told through ballet, the first large-scale commission for Northern Ballet since 2021 and the first under artistic director Federico Bonelli.

Yorkshirewoman Anne, the “first modern lesbian”, lived, dressed and loved as she desired, not as 19th century society expected of her. Northern Ballet’s interpretation of her life is choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, leading a female artistic team that includes Sally Wainwright, writer of the BBC/HBO television series Gentleman Jack. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Obert String Quartet: Opening York Late Music’s 2026 concert programme at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate. Picture: Drew Forsyth and BBC Philharmonic Orchestra (top left and bottom left)

Classical concert of the week: York Late Music, Obert String Quartet, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, March 7, 7.30pm

SALFORD’S Obert String Quartet explores themes of transformation, spirituality, and mortality in a celebration of  performers and composers from the North of England, pairing Schubert’s Death And The Maiden (String Quartet No. 14 in D minor) with new miniature works written in response by Northern Composers Network members Jenny Jackson (Flex), Hayley Jenkins (Give Me Your Hand), Ben Gaunt (Skulls, Various), James Cave (Rouffignac) and James Else (Still Movement).

The first half comprises Arvo Pärt’s Fratres, curator Else’s On The Wind and Bradford-born Steve Crowther’s String Quartet No. 2. Violinist Lisa Obert, Jackson, Gaunt, Cave and Else take part in a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm. Box office: latemusic.org.

Del Amitri’s Justin Currie, left, and Iain Harvie: Cherry-picking from four decades of songs at York Barbican in November

Gig announcement of the week: Del Amitri, Past To Present UK Tour 2026, November 16

GLASGOW band Del Amitri will open their 17-date Past To Present autumn tour at York Barbican, where core members Justin Currie and Iain Harvie will mark four decades of songs, stories and live shows.

The career-spanning set list will chart their early breakthroughs, classic singles such as Nothing Ever Happens, Always The Last To Know and Roll To Me, fan favourites and recording renaissance after an 18-year hiatus with 2021’s Fatal Mistakes. Box office: www.gigsandtours.com, www.ticketmaster.co.uk and www.delamitri.info.

York Community Choir Festival 2026: Showcase for 43 choirs at Joseph Rowntree Theatre

In Focus: Festival of the week: York Community Choir Festival 2026, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, March 1 to 7

THE annual York Community Choir Festival brings together choirs of all ages to perform in a wide variety of singing styles on each bill. Across the week, 43 choirs take part in nine concerts, making the 2026 event the largest yet.

Concert programmes feature well-known classical and modern popular songs, complemented by show tunes, world music, folk song, gospel, jazz and soul. Performances start at 2.30pm and 7.30pm tomorrow; 7.30pm, March 2 to 6; 2.30pm and 7.30pm, March 7.

Sunday, March 1, matinee

Stagecoach York Show Choir, Singing Communities Poppleton, Selby Youth Choir, Aviva Vivace! and The Stray Notes.

Sunday, March 1, evening

Easingwold Community Singers, Some Voices, Supersingers, Harrogate Male Voice Choir and Heworth Community Choir.

Monday, March 2

Huntington School Choirs, Tadcaster Community Choir and Community Chorus.

Tuesday, March 3

York Military Wives Choir, Jubilate, Sing Space York Musical Theatre Choir, Garrowby Singers and The Abbey Belles.

Wednesday, March 4

Elvo Choir, Sounds Fun Singers, In Harmony, Euphonics and Stamford Bridge Community Choir.

Thursday, March 5

Track 29 Ladies Close Harmony Chorus, Cantar Community Choir, York City Harmonisers, Stamford Bridge Singers and York Rock Choir.

Friday, March 6

Ryedale Voices, Eboraca, The Wellbeing Choir, Bishopthorpe Community Choir and Harmonia.

Saturday, March 7, matinee

The Leveson Centre Choir, Fairburn Singers, The Bridge Shanty Crew,The Rolling Tones and York Celebration Singers.

Saturday, March 7, evening

Pocklington Singers, Sound Fellows, Stonegate Singers, Main Street Sound and York Philharmonic Male Voice Choir.

Tickets are on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk; proceeds go to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre.

Alan Heaven: Pageant Master for York Mystery Plays 2026

In Focus too: York Mystery Plays 2026 volunteer launch event,  Bedern Hall, Bartle Garth, York, March 5, 7.30pm; doors, 7pm. Free entry; all welcome

THE Guilds of York will be the driving force behind the York Mystery Plays in June this year, marking more than 25 years of bringing the medieval plays to the city streets on pageant wagons.

The plays will be staged in procession on Sunday, June 28 and Sunday, July 5, complemented by twilightperformances in the Shambles Market on Tuesday, June 30 and  Wednesday, July 1. A Festival Fringe of various events will run for two weeks from around June 22, leading up to the main performances. 

This summer’s production renews a tradition that has belonged to the people of York for more than 700 years as a defining expression of the city’s history, identity and community spirit.

Produced by York Festival Trust, the 2026 production once again will bring medieval drama into the streets and historic spaces of the city, reconnecting modern York with a cycle of plays first performed by its medieval guilds.

From their earliest beginnings, the Mystery Plays have been a civic undertaking – created by local people, for local people – and that principle remains at the heart of the 2026 revival.

To begin this next chapter, York Festival Trust is inviting the city to a public volunteer launch event, calling on residents from all walks of life to help shape the production.

The event will combine a traditional call-out with a jobs fair-style marketplace, making it clear that there is a place for everyone. Opportunities range from music performance to costume, set and prop making, stewarding, administration and fundraising.

Many roles require no previous experience, only a willingness to contribute time, skills and enthusiasm to a shared civic project.

York Festival Trust chair Roger Lee says: “The Mystery Plays are one of the strongest expressions of York’s collective identity. They only happen because people step forward to give their time and talents. This launch is about opening the door wide and inviting the city to take ownership of the plays once again.”

The launch is open to all ages and backgrounds and is aimed particularly at those who may never have taken part previously. Families, students, craftspeople, historians, performers and those who simply care about York’s heritage are all warmly encouraged to attend.

Those attending will be able to meet members of the production team, led by Pageant Master Alan Heaven, as well as learning about specific volunteer roles and signing up for auditions, workshops and taster sessions taking place later in the year.

Further information on York Mystery Plays 2026 is available at yorkmysteryplays.co.uk  or by emailing volunteer@yorkmysteryplays.co.uk.

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Phoenix Dance Theatre celebrates dance duos and partnerships in Interplay world premiere at York Theatre Royal

On the stretch: Phoenix Dance Theatre dancers in Interplay, premiering at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Drew Forsyth

LEEDS company Phoenix Dance Theatre returns to York Theatre Royal for tomorrow and Saturday’s world premiere performances of Interplay.

Presented in association with the Theatre Royal, this powerful mixed bill brings together work by international choreographers Travis Knight and James Pett (Pett Clausen-Knight), Ed Myhill, Yusha-Marie Sorzano and Phoenix artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis.

Chief executive Paul Crewes, who has overseen a surge in dance performances at York Theatre Royal, says: “We are delighted to support Phoenix Dance Theatre with the premiere of Interplay and to give York audiences the first opportunity to see this eclectic and dynamic programme of contemporary dance performed on our stage.”   

Introducing Interplay, Marcus says: “This dynamic programme celebrates creative collaboration, placing dialogue, contrast and connection at its heart.”

Across duet and ensemble works, Interplay explores themes of duality and shared authorship, revealing how distinct artistic voices can intersect to create something greater than the sum of their parts.

“Each piece offers a unique perspective, united by a bold physicality and a deep curiosity about human relationships, rhythm and collective experience,” says Marcus.

Originally premiered in New York in 2013, Willis’s Next Of Kinhas been re-imagined for Phoenix to highlight the duet’s exploration of the subtle humour and tension between two kindred spirits navigating life together.   

Ed Myhill’s Why Are People Clapping?!, restaged by Camille Giraudeau, is set to Steve Reich’s Clapping Music and uses rhythm as its driving force. Combining wit with precision, the choreography highlights the music of life: how rhythm can be found in a tennis match, footsteps in an empty street and in the beat of our own hearts.  

In Travis Knightand James Pett’s Small Talk, two figures inhabit a shared yet distant space. Through quiet gestures and unresolved tension, the work reflects on relationships that fade, not through catastrophe, but through the slow exhaustion of time.

The work showcases a portrait of two people held in a fragile stand-off, suspended between what they once knew and what they can no longer admit. 

Interplay concludes with a new collaboration between Yusha-Marie Sorzano and Marcus Jarrell Willis. Inspired by ritual, meditation and the roots of hip-hop and house culture, Suite Release reclaims dance as instinct, resistance and communal connection and joy, inviting audiences not only to witness movement, but also to remember it. 

Marcus says: “I’ve always found it intriguing to observe dual artistic expression: the ways two creative minds come together and collaboratively work towards one goal in creation, while maintaining their individual artistic expressions.

“The programme consists of different forms of artistic duality, through choreographic voices, as well as the structure of the dance works themselves. I think it will be interesting for an audience to see a full programme that focuses on this particular theme – duality – while highlighting a range of different works.” 

Marcus continues: “I wanted to commission choreographers that have unique perspectives of what contemporary dance looks like today, which is what I believe Phoenix Dance Theatre stands for in this iteration of the company.  

“While the works are all linked by the theme of duality, the mixed bill offers something for every audience member from any background to connect with. The choreographers themselves come from various backgrounds across the UK and internationally, providing the opportunity to see dance through multiple lenses.” 

Marcus, who became Phoenix’s ninth artistic director in Autumn 2023 after seven years in Cardiff, concluded his first tour – Belonging – at York Theatre Royal in May 2024. “This is our first time back in York since then, and I’m excited about maintaining our relationship,” he says. “It’s a lovely theatre, where the audience received the company so well and we so enjoyed our post-show discussion, when, as whenever possible, we had the entire company involved because it’s good for them.”

Now Interplay, as its title suggests, “taps into what it means to have ‘interplay’ in different forms that we can bring together, either through choreographic partnerships or duo pieces, so it’s all about dual relationships and duos pairing up, “ says Marcus. “In this case, we have two re-shaped works, Next Of Kin and Why Are People Clapping?!, and two new creations, Small Talk and Suite Release.”

Highlighting the creative partnerships, he says: “Travis Knightand James Pett regularly create together. I believe they’re based in London but they work all over the place.

“Suite Release, a title that’s a play on words, brings me together with a choreographer that I’ve danced with for many years, Yusha-Marie Sorzano.

“We decided to do a piece about music and our relationship with music, and how we grew up together and lived our lives, so it’s a bit of a party! I’m originally from Eastern Texas, Musha was from Trinidad, then grew up in Mexico, and we met as teenagers in New York City.

“So this work is about remembering; remembering how to move and dance and connect to music – and that comes from our experiences and universal feelings, because our dance company is so diverse.

“That’s why we hit the sweet spot with Suite Release, remembering why we dance and thinking about what that means when we’re living in a world with so much weight in it, so much going on, where we need a release.”

Interplay encapsulates his artistic philosophy. “New York was so varied in its possibilities and artistic approaches, and I’m just cracking on with what I do with Phoenix,” he says.

Phoenix Dance Theatre presents Interplay, in association with York Theatre Royal, at York Theatre Royal, February 27, with post-show discussion; February 28, 2pm and 7.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatrerotal.co.uk. Also Leeds Playhouse, March 31 to April 2, 7.30pm; 0113  213 7700 or leedsplayhouse.co.uk.

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What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 8, from Gazette & Herald

Mark Simmons: Expertly crafted one-liners and off-the-cuff jinks with the audience at Pocklington Arts Centre

FISHING community memories, an abbey light installation and an exhibition addressing loneliness make for a diverse week ahead in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations. 

One-liners of the week: Mark Simmons, Jest To Impress, Pocklington Arts Centre, tonight, 7.30pm

CANTERBURY jester Mark Simmons won Dave’s Joke of the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024 with this gag: “I was going to sail around the globe in the world’s smallest ship but I bottled it”. Now he follows up his 200-date Quip Off The Mark two-year UK, Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand tour with Jest To Impress, a new show packed with one-liners, alongside his trademark off-the-cuff jokes based on random audience suggestions.

Simmons also hosts the Jokes With Mark Simmons podcast, where he invites fellow comics, such as Gary Delaney, Sarah Millican and Milton Jones, to discuss jokes that, for whatever reason, would not work. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

The poster for What The Sea Saw’s fishing stories at Helmsley Arts Centre

Rehearsed reading of the week: 1812 Theatre Company presents What The Sea Saw, Helmsley Arts Centre, Jean Kershaw Auditorium, tonight and tomorrow, 7.30pm

SET in Scarborough’s Bottom End and capturing the verbatim first-hand testimonies of remaining members of the fishing families, Helena Fox’s new play recounts the tragic events of the 1954 Lifeboat Disaster through the eyes of witnesses, as well as capturing the lost cultures and working practices of the coastal community, including the role of women in skeining and baiting.

Directed by Heather Findlay, the fundraising event for Scarborough RNLI features Stamford Bridge’s Big Shanty Crew’s performance of Scarborough 54. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Imitating The Dog light up Selby Abbey for three days of Selby Light 2026

Installation of the week: Selby Light 2026, Selby Abbey, tomorrow to Saturday, 6pm to 9pm

SELBY Abbey will be the setting for Homeward, Leeds company Imitating The Dog’s large-scale installation celebrating our different stories and the unified feeling of finding home, framed by the question How Did You Get Here?

Inside, the installation continues as a walk-through experience, complemented by Jazmin Morris’s Through The Liquid Crystal Display, a series of visual code illustrations inspired by Selby Abbey. The trail then extends into the town centre with works by Selby College students. Admission is free.

The 20ft Squid Blues Band: Combining 1950s’ Chicago style with 1960s’ blues explosion at Milton Rooms, Malton

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents The 20ft Squid Blues Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm

THE 20ft Squid Blues Band, from Sheffield, play upbeat, fast, irreverent blues, combining elements of the 1950s’ Chicago style with the more wayward aspects of the 1960s’ blues explosion.

They mix self-penned songs with numbers made famous by Howling Wolf and Little Walter, while throwing in artists not so obviously from the blues tradition, such as Tom Waits and Prince. Expect eye-popping harmonica, thundering bass, intricate beats and choice guitar. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Nick Doody: Topping Hilarity Bites Comedy Club line-up at Milton Rooms, Malton

Comedy bill of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club, Nick Doody, Ed Purnell and Will Duggan, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm

IN the first Hilarity Bites bill of 2026, Nick Doody will be joined by Ed Purnell and Will Duggan. Doody first performed as a student in the 1990s when he supported Bill Hicks at Hicks’ request, since when he has performed all over the world and written for Joan Rivers, Lenny Henry, Dame Edna Everage and Mock The Week regulars aplenty.

In a clever spin, Purnell, Ecuador’s numero uno comedian, delivers his set in Spanish with a sprinkling of English, whereupon audiences realise they can understand him without speaking his mother tongue. Duggan is a quick and witty host. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Phoenix Dance: Presenting world premiere of Interplay at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Drew Forsyth

Dance show of the week: Phoenix Dance Theatre, Interplay, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2pm, 7.30pm

LEEDS company Phoenix Dance Theatre’s world premiere tour of Interplay opens at York Theatre Royal, featuring dynamic works by Travis Knight and James Pett (Small Talk), Ed Myhill (Why Are People Clapping?!) Yusha-Marie Sorzano & Phoenix artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis (Suite Release) and Willis’s Next Of Kin. 

Across duet and ensemble works, Interplay explores themes of duality and shared authorship, revealing how distinct artistic voices can intersect to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Each piece offers a unique perspective, united by a bold physicality and a deep curiosity about human relationships, rhythm and collective experience. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Holly Taymar: Performing the best of Eva Cassidy’s back catalogue at Milton Rooms, Malton

Tribute gig of the week: Holly Taymar Sings Eva Cassidy, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 8pm

YORK singer-songwriter Holly Taymar turns the spotlight on Eva Cassidy, one of the most beloved voices of the 20th century. Revelling in Cassidy’s blend of folk, jazz and blues, she performs renditions of Fields Of Gold, Songbird, Over The Rainbow and Autumn Leaves.

“My show show is not an impersonation,” says Taymar. “It’s a heartfelt homage to an artist who left a lasting impact on my development as an artist and on the world of music.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Loneliness Is Not A Dirty Word: Exhibition collaboration between Hannah Turlington and local and wider community at Helmsley Arts Centre

Exhibition launch of the week: Hannah Turlington, Loneliness Is Not A Dirty Word, Helmsley Arts Centre, March 3 to May 1

LONELINESS Is Not A Dirty Word is a collaboration between artist Hannah Turlington and the local and wider community, involving sessions where participants were invited to share their own experiences of loneliness by creating pieces of visual art in a variety of mediums.

The resulting exhibition aims to create space for the viewer to consider their own narratives of loneliness and reduce the stigma associated with being lonely.

Del Amitri’s Justin Currie, left, and Iain Harvie: Cherry-picking from four decades of songs at York Barbican in November

Gig announcement of the week: Del Amitri, Past To Present UK Tour 2026, November 16

GLASGOW band Del Amitri will open their 17-date Past To Present autumn tour at York Barbican, where core members Justin Currie and Iain Harvie will mark four decades of songs, stories and live shows. Ticket will go on general sale on Friday at 9.30am at www.gigsandtours.com, www.ticketmaster.co.uk and www.delamitri.info.

The career-spanning set list will chart their early breakthroughs, classic singles such as Nothing Ever Happens, Always The Last To Know and Roll To Me, fan favourites and recording renaissance after an 18-year hiatus with 2021’s Fatal Mistakes.

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More Things To Do in York & beyond as greatest showman shows up & abbey lights up. Hutch’s List No. 7, from The York Press

Child’s play: Andrew Renn, Jon Cook and Jess Murray, back row, with Mark Simmonds and Victoria Delaney in York Settlement Community Players’ Blue Remembered Hills. Picture: John Saunders

FROM Dennis Potter to Stephen Sondheim, showman  P.T. Barnum to Selby Abbey’s light installation, Charles Hutchinson is spoilt for cultural choice.

Play of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Blue Remembered Hills, York Theatre Royal Studio, until February 28, 7.45pm nightly, except Sunday and Monday, plus 2pm Saturday matinees

FLEUR Hebditch, former Stephen Joseph Theatre dramaturg for a decade, makes her Settlement Players directorial debut with Dennis Potter’s stage adaptation of his 1979 BBC Play For Today drama.

Seven children are playing in the Forest of Dean countryside on a hot summer’s day in 1943. Each aged seven, they mimic and reflect the adult world at war around them, but their innocence is short lived as reality hits. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Cole Stacey’s social media posting for his Rise@Bluebird Bakery gig

Folk gig of the week: Cole Stacey, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York tonight, doors 7.30pm

VISCERAL singer-songwriter Cole Stacey weaves together British folk, 1980s’ pop, spoken word and ambient electronics, as heard on last February’s debut album with its symbiosis of “lost” places and forgotten words, stretching back to the 13th century, paired with his lyrical songwriting and field recordings.

“I’d like to invite you to come along with me on the next chapter as I head out to share Postcards From Lost Places in some unique and inspiring settings, beginning in York tonight,” says Stacey. “I loved my time and bread last year playing at Bluebird Bakery, so I’m very delighted to be invited back for an intimate gig in their fully working bakery. It’s a special setting and one I’m thoroughly looking forward to!” Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk.

Dnipro Opera in Carmen, on tour at York Barbican

Opera of the week: Dnipro Opera (Ukrainian National Opera) in Carmen, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm

THE Dnipro Opera, from Ukraine, performs Georges Bizet’s Carmen in French with English surtitles, accompanied by an orchestra numbering more than 30 musicians. 

Feel the thrill of fiery passion, jealousy, and violence of 19th century Seville in Carmen’s story of the downfall of naive soldier Don José,  who falls head over heels in love with seductive, free-spirited femme fatale Carmen. Whereupon he abandons his childhood sweetheart and neglects his military duties, only to lose the fickle Carmen to the glamorous toreador Escamillo. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Showman extraordinaire: Lee Mead’s P. T. Barnum in Barnum: The Circus Musical at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith

Touring musical of the week: Bill Kenwright Ltd in Barnum: The Circus Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees

MUSICALS leading man Lee Mead plays the most challenging role of his career, stepping into P. T. Barnum’s shoes and on to the tightrope as the legendary circus showman, businessman and politician in Jonathan O’Boyle’s touring production of the Broadway musical.

Mead leads the cast of more than 20 actor-musicians (playing 150 instruments), acrobats and international circus acts as, hand in hand with wife Charity, Barnum finds his life and career twisting and turning the more he schemes and dreams his way to headier heights. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Alexandra Mather’s Anne Egerman and Jason Weightman’s Fredrick Egerman in rehearsal for Wharfemede Productions’ A Little Night Music

Sondheim show of the week: Wharfemede Productions in A Little Night Music, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

SET in turn-of-the-20th century Sweden, A Little Night Music explores the tangled web of love, desire, and regret through Stephen Sondheim’s signature blend of sophistication, humour and hauntingly beautiful music, not least the timeless Send In The Clowns.

Directed by Helen “Bells” Spencer, Wharfemede Productions’ show combines the North Yorkshire company’s hallmark attention to emotional depth, musical high quality and character-driven ensemble storytelling. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Disney In Concert: The Sound Of Magic, celebrating music from Walt Disney’s animated films at York Barbican

Movie music of the week: Disney In Concert: The Sound Of Magic, York Barbican, February 25, 7.30pm

THE Novello Orchestra’s Disney In Concert: The Sound Of Magic performance is a symphonic celebration of Disney music, animation and memories, a century in the making, under the direction of creative director Amy Tinkham, music director Giles Martin and arranger and orchestrator Ben Foster. 

Favourite characters and music from across the Walt Disney Animation Studios catalogue come to life on the concert hall stage and screen in new medleys and suites on a magic carpet ride through Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Moana, Alice In Wonderland, Aladdin, The Jungle Book, Frozen, The Lion King, Fantasia, Encanto, Beauty And The Beast and more. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Homeward bound for Selby Abbey: Imitating The Dog’s large-scale installation

Installation of the week: Selby Light 2026, Selby Abbey, February 26 to 28, 6pm to 9pm

SELBY Abbey will be the setting for Homeward, Leeds company Imitating The Dog’s  large-scale installation celebrating our different stories and the unified feeling of finding home, framed by the question How Did You Get Here?

Inside, the installation continues as a walk-through experience, complemented by Jazmin Morris’s Through The Liquid Crystal Display, a series of visual code illustrations inspired by Selby Abbey. The trail then extends into the town centre with works by Selby College students. Admission is free.

Phoenix Dance Theatre in Interplay: World premiere opens at York Theatre Royal next Friday and Saturday. Picture: Drew Forsyth

Dance show of the week: Phoenix Dance Theatre, Interplay, York Theatre Royal, February 27, 7.30pm; February 28, 2pm, 7.30pm

LEEDS company Phoenix Dance Theatre’s world premiere tour of Interplay opens at York Theatre Royal next Friday and Saturday, featuring dynamic works by Travis Knight and James Pett (Small Talk), Ed Myhill (Why Are People Clapping?!), Yusha-Marie Sorzano & Phoenix artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis (Suite Release) and Willis’s Next Of Kin. 

Across duet and ensemble works, Interplay explores themes of duality and shared authorship, revealing how distinct artistic voices can intersect to create something greater than the sum of their parts. Each piece offers a unique perspective, united by a bold physicality and a deep curiosity about human relationships, rhythm and collective experience. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Levellers: Levelling The Land anew at York Barbican this autumn

Gig announcement of the week: Levellers, York Barbican, October 29

BRIGHTON folk-rockers Levellers have been among Britain’s most enduring and best-loved bands for nearly 40 years, their success in part built on the anthems that comprised their platinum-selling second album Levelling The Land, whose 35th anniversary falls on October 7.

To mark the occasion, Levellers will head out on a UK and European tour from October 16 to November 21, playing many songs from that album, alongside fan favourites from their extensive catalogue. Hotly tipped Essex punk duo The Meffs will support. Box office: https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/levellers-2026/.

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Opera North in Susanna, Leeds Grand Theatre, October 22

Anna Dennis as Susanna with Yasmina Patel from Phoenix Dance Theatre in Opera North’s Susanna. Picture: Tristram Kenton

HANDEL’S Susanna, billed as oratorio, might have been an opera but the Bishop of London banned staged performances of biblical topics not long before it was premiered in 1749.

Winton Dean even called it “an opera of English village life, and a comic opera at that”. Few these days would agree with him, given its tale of thwarted would-be abusers accusing their prey of adultery.

The story comes from ancient Greek sources via the Book of Daniel, where it is known as Susanna and the Elders. It’s not a comfortable topic but Opera North has never shied away from difficult issues.

Here that included its fourth collaboration with Leeds-based Phoenix Dance Theatre, adding a choreographic element not immediately evident in the anonymous libretto. That would seem to play into the hands of Dean’s vision of a pastoral idyll. In fact, Olivia Fuchs’s production, with choreography by Marcus Jarrell Willis, could hardly have treated such a serious theme with greater reverence.

Zahra Mansouri’s gantry set and modern costumes in pastel shades kept the focus firmly on the drama, with Jake Wiltshire’s lighting a constant ally.

Anna Dennis inhabited the title role to her fingertips. Her glorious tone gave life and substance not merely to Susanna’s happy marriage but to her painful trials, so that we felt every ounce of her desperation when she was falsely accused.

‘Crystal streams’ was sinuously luxuriant, while defiance was tangible in her final aria, as the Elders had their comeuppance, one debagged, the other receiving a painful kick. It was a sensational performance, riveting throughout.

Although given much less to do, James Hall as her husband Joacim was noble in support, with stunningly clear coloratura to match. Both ornamented their da capos appealingly.

Claire Lees as the young prophet Daniel – a role originally allotted to a treble – overcame the handicap of a comically androgynous costume to deliver a shining denouement with her ‘Chastity’ aria.

Fuchs resisted the temptation to make the Elders figures of fun: tenor Colin Judson and bass Karl Huml were well contrasted in both stature and temperament, the one with oily refinement, the other more impatient for conquest. Matthew Brook was firmly reliable as Chelsias, Susanna’s father.

The chorus was as forceful as ever and made more relevant with smaller gestures that chimed with the dance.

Handel provided an original overture, unusually devoid of borrowings, and the orchestra under Johanna Soller, conducting from the harpsichord, gave it fresh, enthusiastic treatment, with cleanly muscular lines in its fugue.

This set the tone for the evening, as the players gave every indication of knowing exactly what was required for a ‘period’ sound, not something you can expect from an opera orchestra. It led gracefully into perhaps the work’s greatest chorus, ‘How long, O Lord’, with the Israelites moping about their oppression – which is otherwise almost completely irrelevant to the story.

This was the first occasion where the choreography helped, with the writhings of the nine dancers enlivening an otherwise static scenario. This proved a telling feature throughout, particularly effective when the dancers acted in consort, thus reflecting the lines of the music.

At the other extreme, modern dance movements sometimes jarred with the Baroque underlay. When solo dancers acted as alter ego to a character delivering an aria, it added emotional depth; when they attempted to share too closely in the lovers’ idyll, for example, by providing an extra ring of embrace, it was intrusive, an invasion of personal space in modern parlance.

However, the continued collaboration between the two companies has undoubtedly benefited both, not least in broadening the limitations of each art form. We do well to remember that dance was regularly a component of opera from earliest times. The two need each other.

Review by Martin Dreyer

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Phoenix Dance Theatre to perform Belonging: Loss. Legacy. Love triple bill at York Theatre Royal tonight and tomorrow

Terms Of Agreement: Marcus Jarrell Willis’s first work for Phoenix Dance Theatre

PHOENIX Dance Theatre will perform artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis’s first work for the Leeds company as part of the Belonging: Loss. Legacy. Love triple bill at York Theatre Royal tonight and tomorrow.

Terms Of Agreement is the Texas-born choreographer’s third work of his Terms & Conditions series. Featuring original written compositions by Tomos O’Sullivan and music by popular artist, this one focuses on the more ethereal, spiritual and kismet perspectives to unravel the eternal question: what is true love? “Further to understanding this, once you have negotiated the terms, will you accept the agreement?” he asks.

“Building upon the resounding success of Phoenix Dance Theatre’s last tour, which fittingly reflected on the company’s remarkable 40th anniversary, Phoenix is directing its focus forwards. Marking this latest chapter for the company we are embarking on a tour of new choreographic works, including two world premieres,” says Marcus, who took up his post last October.

“I am thrilled to be contributing my own creation to this versatile programme, and it has been a privilege for me working with our exceptionally gifted dancers to craft my first work for Phoenix.”

Phoenix Dance Theatre performing Dane Hurst’s Requiem. Picture: Drew Forsyth

Terms Of Agreement forms part of a “powerfully visceral and thought-provoking triple bill exploring the nuances of human experience by three exciting international dance makers”: world premieres by Miguel Altunaga and Marcus Jarrell Willis, complemented by the Leeds company’s first touring performances of former artistic director Dane Hurst’s Requiem (Excerpts).

South African choreographer Hurst’s Requiem is a “powerful reimagining of Mozart’s awe-inspiring choral masterpiece in an emotional response to the grief experienced by so many around the world during the pandemic”.

The work was premiered at Leeds Grand Theatre last year as part of Leeds 2023: Year of Culture in a co-production with Opera North and South African partners Jazzart Dance Theatre and Cape Town Opera.

In his first stage commission for Phoenix, Afro-Cuban choreographer Miguel Altunaga premieres his daring new work, Cloudburst, set to a new score by composer David Preston. 

World premiere: Phoenix Dance Theatre in Miguel Altunaga’s Cloudburst

Altunaga first collaborated with Phoenix in 2022 to create the dance film EBÓ as part of the company’s inaugural digital programme. Now, in a continuation of that work, Cloudburst explores mankind’s relationship to tribe and community, mythology and spirituality, ritual and surrealism, and how choices made by our ancestors shape our culture as well as our very being.

“I believe that this mixed bill will speak to every audience member at each theatre we visit,” says Marcus. “The emotions we feel during the different stages of our life and the questions we ask about our past, present, and future shape who we are and inform our sense of belonging.

“The sentiments expressed through these three works will resonate differently with each individual present in the audience, allowing space for both an impactful and memorable experience.”

York Theatre Royal is the final venue of Phoenix’s first British tour since 2022. Tickets for performances at 7.30pm tonight and 2.30pm and 7.30pm tomorrow are on sale at 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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More Things To Do in Ryedale, York and beyond comedy & climate change. Here’s Hutch’s List No. 13, from Gazette & Herald

Vera Chok’s Lauren and Jay McGuiness’s Ben in a scene from 2:22 – A Ghost Story, on tour at Grand Opera House, York, this week

JUST a normal week? No, paranormal, more like, as a ghost story pumps up the spooks. Fear not, a hope-filled musical, dances of love, loss and legacy and soul, folk and funk gigs are Charles Hutchinson’s picks too.  

New ghost to haunt “Europe’s most haunted city”: 2:22 – A Ghost Story, Grand Opera House, York, spooking until Saturday, 7.30pm fright-nightly; 2.30pm today (1/5/2024) and Saturday; 3.30pm, Friday

JENNY believes her new London home is haunted, hearing a disturbance every night at the same time, but husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben.

Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is drawing closer, so they decide to stay up… until 2:22 in the morning… and then they’ll know in The Battersea Poltergeist podcaster Danny Robins’s paranormal thriller, wherein secrets emerge and ghosts may, or may not, appear. Fiona Wade, George Rainsford and Vera Chok join The Wanted singer Jay McGuiness in Matthew Dunster & Isabel Marr’s cast. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Come From Away: Award-winning musical of hope, humanity and unity on tour at Leeds Grand Theatre

Musical of the week: Come From Away, Leeds Grand Theatre, running until May 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees

IRENE Sankoff and David Hein’s four-time Olivier Award-winning musical tells the remarkable true story of 6,579 air passengers from around the world being grounded in Canada in the wake of 9/11. Whereupon the small Newfoundland community of Gander invites these ‘come from aways’ into their lives with open hearts.

As spirited locals and global passengers come together to forge friendships, we meet first female American Airlines captain, the quick-thinking town mayor, the mother of a New York firefighter and the eager local news reporter in a celebration of hope, humanity and unity. Box office: 0113 2430808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

The poster for Alexander O’Neal’s farewell tour, Time To Say Goodbye, bound for York Barbican on Friday

Farewell tour of the week: Alexander O’Neal, Time To Say Goodbye, York Barbican, Friday, 7.30pm

AFTER nearly five decades, Mississippi soul singer Alexander O’Neal is hitting the road one final time at 70 on his Time to Say Goodbye: Farewell World Tour, accompanied by his nine-piece band.

O’Neal will be undertaking a journey through his career with the aid of never-before-seen-photos, testimonies and tributes, all set to the tune of such hits as Criticize, Fake and If You Were Here Tonight. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Phoenix Dance Theatre in Dane Hurst’s Requiem, part of the Belonging: Loss. Legacy. Love programme at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Drew Forsyth

Dance show of the week: Phoenix Dance Theatre in Belonging: Loss. Legacy. Love, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm; Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

YORK Theatre Royal is the final venue on Leeds company Phoenix Dance Theatre’s first British tour since 2022 with a visceral triple bill of works by international dance makers Dane Hurst, Miguel Altunaga and Phoenix artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis.

Belonging: Loss. Legacy. Love opens with South African choreographer and former Phoenix artistic director Hurst’s reimagining of Mozart’s Requiem in response to pandemic-induced grief. Two world premieres follow: Afro-Cuban choreographer Altunaga’s first Phoenix commission, the daring Cloudburst, and Texas-born Jarrell Willis’s Terms Of Agreement. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The Milton Rooms’ poster for the Comedy vs Climate workshops this weekend in Malton

Workshop of the week: Comedy vs Climate Change, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday and Sunday

THIS weekend Comedy vs Climate Change hosts a brace of workshop projects for 18 to 30-year-olds from North Yorkshire with the aim of raising awareness of climate issues and funds for environmental causes, as well as finding hope in climate humour that shapes a greener, better and fairer future.

Saturday’s 2pm to 5pm session provides an introduction to stand-up and joke writing; Sunday’s 10am to 1pm session focuses on improv and character development. Both use humour to explore environmental issues based around local rivers. Ring 01653 696240 or go to themiltonrooms.com to book a place.

Jah Wobble & The Invaders Of The Heart: Playing dub, funk and world music at Pocklington Arts Centre

Funkiest gig of the week: Jah Wobble & The Invaders Of The Heart, Pocklington Arts Centre, May 9, 8pm

SUPREME bassist Jah Wobble’s two-hour show takes in material from his work with John Lydon in Public Image Ltd and collaborations with Brian Eno, Bjork, Sinead O’Connor, U2’s The Edge, Can’s Holger Czukay, Ministry’s Chris Connelly and Killing Joke’s Geordie Walker.

Born John Wardle in 1958, he was renamed by Sex Pistol Sid Vicious, who struggled to pronounce his name correctly. Wobble has combined elements of dub, funk and world music, especially Africa and the Middle East, in his songwriting and has written books on music, politics, spirituality and Eastern philosophy too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Gigspanner Trio: Led by fiddler Peter Knight at Helmsley Arts Centre

Folk gig of the week: Gigspanner Trio, Helmsley Arts Centre, May 10, 7.30pm

IN the wake of his departure from Steeleye Span, fiddle player Peter Knight has turned his full attention to the Gigspanner Trio, a ground-breaking force on the British folk scene.

Knight, who first performed with the fledgling Steeleye line-up in 1970, is joined in his trio by percussionist Sacha Trochet and guitarist Roger Flack. Together, they combine self-penned material with arrangements of music rooted in the British Isles and beyond. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly: On tour at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough

Half-term show announcement of the week: There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, May 28, 2.30pm

FIRST written as a song in 1953, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly was a chart-topping hit for singer and actor Burl Ives before being adapted into a best-selling book by Pam Adams a few years later, one still found in schools, nurseries and homes across the world.  

To mark the nursery rhyme’s 50th anniversary, children’s author Steven Lee has created a magical musical stage show for little ones to enjoy with their parents that combines the charming nonsense of the rhyme with his own “suitably silly twists”. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

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More Things To Do in York and beyond the paranormal before 2:22 in the morning. Hutch’s List No. 18, from The Press

Vera Chok and Jay McGuiness in a scene from 2:22 – A Ghost Story, haunting the Grand Opera House, York, from Tuesday

JUST a normal week? No, paranormal, more like, as a ghost story pumps up the spooks. Fear not, a Led Zeppelin legend, country-town teen days, a hope-filled musical and dances of love, loss and legacy are Charles Hutchinson’s picks too.  

New ghost to haunt “Europe’s most haunted city”: 2:22 – A Ghost Story, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm fright-nightly; 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday; 3.30pm, Friday

JENNY believes her new London home is haunted, hearing a disturbance every night at the same time, but husband Sam isn’t having any of it. They argue with their first dinner guests, old friend Lauren and new partner Ben.

Belief and scepticism clash, but something feels strange and frightening, and that something is drawing closer, so they decide to stay up… until 2:22 in the morning… and then they’ll know in The Battersea Poltergeist podcaster Danny Robins’s paranormal thriller, wherein secrets emerge and ghosts may, or may not, appear. Fiona Wade, George Rainsford and Vera Chok join The Wanted singer Jay McGuiness in Matthew Dunster & Isabel Marr’s cast. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Robert Plant’s Saving Grace: Playing Harrogate Royal Hall on Tuesday

Gig of the week outside York: Robert Plant’s Saving Grace, Harrogate Royal Hall, Tuesday, 8pm

ERSTWHILE Led Zeppelin singer and lyricist Robert Plant, now 75, leads the folk, Americana and blues co-operative Saving Grace, featuring Suzi Dian (vocals), Oli Jefferson (percussion), Tony Kelsey (mandolin, baritone, acoustic guitar, and Matt Worley (banjo, acoustic/baritone guitars, cuatro), on their 15-date Never Ending Spring itinerary. South Carolina singer-songwriter Taylor McCall supports. Box office: 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk.

Country matters: Henry Madd’s Henry and Marc Benga’s Jake in Land Of Lost Content at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Touring play of the week: Henry Madd’s Land Of Lost Content, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

NIC Connaughton, the Pleasance’s head of theatre, directs Land Of Lost Content, Henry Madd’s autobiographical insight into friendship, adolescence, forgiveness and life not going to plan in an empowering coming-of-age story about the trials of growing up in a small country town and its ongoing effects on two estranged mates.

Henry (Madd) and Jake (Marc Benga) were bored friends who grew up in Ludlow, where friendships were forged in failed adventures, bad habits and damp raves as they stumbled through teenage days looking for something to do. Then Henry moved away. Now he is back, needing to face up to the memories and the people he left behind. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Come From Away: Award-winning musical of hope, humanity and unity on tour at Leeds Grand Theatre

Musical of the week: Come From Away, Leeds Grand Theatre, Tuesday to May 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and Saturday matinees

IRENE Sankoff and David Hein’s four-time Olivier Award-winning musical tells the remarkable true story of 6,579 air passengers from around the world being grounded in Canada in the wake of 9/11. Whereupon the small Newfoundland community of Gander invites these ‘come from aways’ into their lives with open hearts.

As spirited locals and global passengers come together to forge friendships, we meet first female American Airlines captain, the quick-thinking town mayor, the mother of a New York firefighter and the eager local news reporter in a celebration of hope, humanity and unity. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.

Claire Morley: Directing York Shakespeare Project in Sunday’s rehearsed reading of John Fletcher’s The Tamer Tamed. Picture: S R Taylor Photography

Battle of the sexes, round two: York Shakespeare Project in The Tamer Tamed, Creative Arts Centre Auditorium, York St John University, tomorrow (28/4/2024), 5pm

YORK Shakespeare Project complements this week’s run of Shakespeare’s The Taming Of The Shrew at Theatre@41, Monkgate, with a rehearsed reading of John Fletcher’s Jacobean riposte to the Bard’s most controversial comedy, directed by Claire Morley.

In Fletcher’s sequel, the widowed Petruchio has a new wife and a new challenge as he discovers that he is not the only one who can do the taming. Fletcher borrows characters from Shakespeare and Ben Jonson and a key plot device from Ancient Greek dramatist Aristophanes’s Lysistrata for his exploration of marriage and relationships. Box office: parrabbola.co.uk or yorkshakes.co.uk.

The poster for Alexander O’Neal’s farewell tour, Time To Say Goodbye, bound for York Barbican on May 3

Farewell tour of the Week: Alexander O’Neal, Time To Say Goodbye, York Barbican, May 3, 7.30pm

AFTER nearly five decades, Mississippi soul singer Alexander O’Neal is hitting the road one final time at 70 on his Time to Say Goodbye: Farewell World Tour, accompanied by his nine-piece band.

O’Neal will be undertaking a journey through his career with the aid of never-before-seen-photos, testimonies and tributes, all set to the tune of such hits as Criticize, Fake and If You Were Here Tonight. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk

Phoenix Dance Theatre in Dane Hurst’s Requiem, part of the Belonging: Loss. Legacy. Love programme at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Drew Forsyth

Dance show of the week: Phoenix Dance Theatre in Belonging: Loss. Legacy. Love, York Theatre Royal, May 3, 7.30pm; May 4, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

YORK Theatre Royal is the final venue on Leeds company Phoenix Dance Theatre’s first British tour since 2022 with a visceral triple bill of works by international dance makers Dane Hurst, Miguel Altunaga and Phoenix artistic director Marcus Jarrell Willis.

Belonging: Loss. Legacy. Love opens with South African choreographer and former Phoenix artistic director Hurst’s reimagining of Mozart’s Requiem in response to pandemic-induced grief. Two world premieres follow: Afro-Cuban choreographer Altunaga’s first Phoenix commission, the daring Cloudburst, and Texas-born Jarrell Willis’s Terms Of Agreement. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

The Cult: Marking 40th anniversary with the 8424 tour this autumn. Picture: Jackie Middleton

Gig announcement of the week: The Cult, The 8424 Tour, York Barbican, October 29

SINGER Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy mark the 40th anniversary of The Cult, the Bradford band noted for their pioneering mix of post-punk, hard rock and melodramatic experimentalism, by heading out on The 8424 Tour.

Once dubbed “shamanic Goths”, Astbury and Duffy will perform songs from The Cult’s 11-album discography, from 1984’s Dreamtime to 2022’s Under The Midnight Sun, in a set sure to feature She Sells Sanctuary, Rain, Love Removal Machine, Wild Flower and Lil’ Devil. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

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Paul Crewes will be leader & team player as he takes over as Theatre Royal chief exec

Paul Crewes: The new chief executive at the helm of York Theatre Royal

WHAT a sight to greet new chief executive Paul Crewes at Tuesday’s opening night of Frantic Assembly’s pulsating reinvention of Kafka’s Metamorphosis: a full house at York Theatre Royal, with excited school groups to the fore.

Appointed in June, after Tom Bird flew off to Sheffield Theatres in January, Paul  took up his post last week, when Rambert’s Death Trap marked his arrival with two Ben Duke works full of the turbulence of life and death.

Metamorphosis? Death? New life? Re-birth? Paul will give himself time, letting his feet settle under his desk in St Leonard’s Place, before making his mark on the way forward post-Covid, post-Bird, post-De Grey Rooms.

His official statement put it this way: “I am thrilled to have now joined the great team at York Theatre Royal. Over the next few weeks and months, I’m looking forward to meeting our audiences, participants, creatives, members, donors and partners and hearing from them what makes this fantastic theatre so important in the life of our wider community.

“I will continue to build on all that work – supporting great artists and practitioners as well as attracting and growing new audiences. This is an exciting time at York Theatre Royal and I’m looking forward to getting started.”

Impact on the wider community. Supporting artists and practitioners, locally, nationally and internationally. Cultivating new audiences. Exciting time to arrive.  These are the bullet points, the right goals, at the right time.

No wonder his appointment made so much sense to the York Citizens’ Theatre Trust board of trustees, whose chair, Ann Green CBE, said at the time of his appointment: “Paul has a huge breadth and depth of knowledge and experience, and a passion for the positive role theatre can play in community life.

“Building on all the fantastic work the team have created in recent years, we are all excited to be embarking on a new, fresh and confident chapter in the life of York Theatre Royal together.”

At 62, Paul’s vast experience in theatre and the arts as a chief executive, producer and artistic advisor takes in organisations both in Great Britain and the United States. From 2015 to 2021, he was artistic director of the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Los Angeles, where theatre, dance, music and film vied for attention.

Before that, he was executive producer and chief executive officer of Kneehigh, the Cornish company that went national and international in a model of groundbreaking, exhilarating, innovative theatre expansion.

Earlier, Bristol Old Vic, Paines Plough, London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Plymouth Theatre Royal, the Lowry, Salford, Phoenix Dance Theatre and the West Yorkshire Playhouse (2001-2004) in Leeds all benefited from his producing skills, and he had three years as director of technical training at RADA too.

“I started my career at the Bristol Old Vic and I shall probably end it here in York,” says Paul. “I love the history of these theatres.”

He was born in Brixton, South London in May 1961, where his Methodist minister father was the chaplain at Brixton Prison in the Sixties. “He got to know the Richardsons, Charlie Kray, Ronnie and Reggie too, and the youth club he ran was raided daily by the police,” recalls Paul.

He went on to study English and History at Roehampton Institute, part of London University, where he served as social secretary of the students’ union in his second year. “I loved creating events, whether a ball, a party or a theatre show, working with a very small budget,” he says.

He did “get his head down” in his 3rd year, albeit while being social secretary for the rugby club – sport is his other great love – and was then elected to the sabbatical post of  students’ union treasurer, “looking after everything” and mothballing his plan to study teacher training in English and PE at Westminster College, Oxford.

Ken Baker’s vision for education in Margaret Thatcher’s Government prompted him to write a dissertation on why he would not be going into teaching. “At that point, I didn’t feel ready to teach,” he says.

He was, however, developing the skills that would take him into producing for theatres, having already stage managed a school production of Max Frisch’s Andora that played the Edinburgh Fringe, even picking up a review in the Scotsman. “That’s quite an experience for a 17-year-old,” he says.

“At university, I directed a play, Ball Boys, a two-hander by David Edgar, and had such a great time doing it. I never saw theatre as a career, but as a hobby, so when I entered that  world in 1985, I wasn’t planning for the long term.

“But then came the sudden realisation that if I’m going to do something, it must be something I enjoy, and that I should train in it from the very bottom, beginning at the end of the pier at Great Yarmouth, working on four shows seven days a week.”

His career was up and running, with the focus on producing and gradually overseeing the creativity that comes into the building. “Whether it’s programming or production managing, for the last 24 years, I’ve been involved in the producing side, working with great creative teams. For me, it’s always been about working with the team, and that will continue at Theatre Royal, brokering and guiding and at times being guided too, but ultimately with control in my hands.”

He thrives on such responsibility. “People are brought up being afraid to make mistakes, and that’s part of the problem with the arts, where they’re scared of failing, where you have to create prototypes, but if you’re not frightened of failing, then something more exciting will come out of it.”

Kneehigh’s success would be a case in point, and now York Theatre Royal should benefit from his artistic and commercial vision.

Copyright of The Press, York

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REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Opera North in Les Pȇcheurs de Perles, Leeds Grand Theatre, May 16

Opera North in The Pearl Fishers (Les Pȇcheurs de Perles). Picture: James Glossop

IT has been well over 30 years since Opera North looked at Bizet’s youthful stab at orientalism, The Pearl Fishers. But in that time orientalism has acquired some of the negative taints of colonialism, with claims made in the programme that Bizet’s attempts at exoticism sound dissonant to modern ears because he was not properly acquainted with Asian music.

It is doubtful if that thought would have even flitted into the minds of the Leeds – or any other –audience. Nowhere is credence given to the idea that the composer was not trying to be authentic, merely conjuring atmosphere as understood in his own day and still largely so now.

The mere fact that there is felt to be a need for such an apologia is an instant red flag that there might be a ‘concept’ lurking. Productions should be able to speak for themselves.

At this time of year, the company has customarily offered a concert staging in Leeds Town Hall. With that venue undergoing major refurbishment, a full staging at home base was the obvious fall-back, but all the touring dates are due to be only concert performances.

This is relevant since what we get is a very static production from Matthew Eberhardt, with little hint of context in Joanna Parker’s costumes.

Principals apart, it is hard to tell whether the chorus are supposed to be fisher-folk or Brahmins, since they are clad in black suits and dresses, very much like westerners. They are even to be found seated in chairs along the edges of the stage. So it is very close to a concert performance.

The only costume to make any impact is Nourabad’s rather jumbled salt-caked coat-tails, more like the Old Man of the Sea than a high priest.

Parker’s set is dominated by a central totem of tangled fishing ropes stretching up the ceiling. This appears to serve for an altar and is twice partially climbed by Leïla. Otherwise, the stage is littered with enlarged pearls of various sizes up to two metres in diameter. These mainly vanish in Act 3, allowing the chorus easier passage, though some larger ones are to be seen hanging in nets overhead.

Peter Mumford’s lighting is predominantly gloomy, most of the light coming from slender on-stage spots, which enliven the action but regularly leave faces in partial shadow. There is a continual video backdrop of waves in moonlight co-designed by him and Parker; it does not change even when the chorus sing of blue skies and calm sea. But we could have been anywhere, Mexico (as originally intended), Ceylon – or even Lowestoft.

There are compensations in the music. Quirijn de Lang, a welcome and regular visitor here, has rarely sounded as resonant as he does as Zurga, right from the start. He commands the stage. But he reins back for the big duet with Nico Darmanin’s Nadir, who had not quite reached full throttle at that point on this opening night. Nadir’s later anger is convincing enough and he partners Leïla sensitively.

Sophia Theodorides, making her house debut, is a confident Leïla, her ornamentation clear and her emotions tangible. Joseph Creswell makes a stentorian Nourabad, a powerful presence.

The chorus is certainly forceful, if not quite up to its usual blend. Matthew Kofi Waldren keeps them and his orchestra attentive, and alive to the nuances of Bizet’s orchestration. But this production would have been better billed as a concert staging. What we get is a half-way house that will have pleased few.

Review by Martin Dreyer

Further Leeds performances on May 25, 27, 31 & June 2, then touring (concert performances) to Manchester, Gateshead, Hull City Hall (June 24, 7pm)and Nottingham until July 1. www.operanorth.co.uk. Leeds box office: leedsheritagetheatres.com; Hull, hulltheatres.co.uk

REVIEW: Martin Dreyer’s verdict on Opera North in Requiem: Journeys Of The Soul, Leeds Grand Theatre, May 30

Emile Petersen, Aaron Chaplin and Rian Jansen with tenor soloist Mongezi Mosoaka in Mozart’s Requiem. Picture: Richard H Smith

IT’S an ill wind…some good may have come out of Covid. Music of mourning requires an outcome for the living: a vision of the hereafter, perhaps, but certainly closure or catharsis. Mozart’s Requiem and Neo Muyanga’s After Tears: After A Requiem combines the talents of Opera North and fellow Leeds company Phoenix Dance Theatre with South Africa’s Jazzart Dance Theatre and Cape Town Opera.

The vital link between the two is Dane Hurst, who has links with both dance companies; he choreographs and directs this double bill, inspired by personal loss during the pandemic.

Dance was always a feature of early Christian worship and remains so in less inhibited cultures than our own, so the idea of a balletic requiem is perhaps not as radical as it may at first seem.

The ‘After Tears’ is a relatively new tradition espoused by younger generations in South African townships and equates somewhat to a wake, whereby the blues of mourning are submerged in loud, dance music.

Simplistically, South African composer Muyanga’s new response piece picks up where Mozart leaves off. Hurst’s choreography keeps closely to the music. In the Mozart, it is immediately engrossing, not least because the soloists and chorus are constantly in physical touch with the dancers, offering sympathy and consolation.

The Dies Irae sees a frenetic outpouring from both chorus and dancers, the latter writhing in agonies of what appears to be self-recrimination. In contrast, for example, the Benedictus offers cool balm to the troubled.

Dancers from Phoenix Dance Theatre and Jazzart Dance Theatre with the Chorus of Opera North
in Opera North’s production of Neo Muyanga’s After Tears: After A Requiem. Picture: Tristram Kenton


The sheer energy of the dancing is a marvel, quite stunning. It is invigorated by a chorus that is equally on fire; the two forces clearly inspire one another.

Underpinning them is Garry Walker’s orchestra, ablaze with rhythmic fervour that can only be an inspiration to the dancers. The solo quartet – Ellie Laugharne, Ann Taylor, Mongezi Mosoaka and Simon Shibambu – blend superbly but are individually distinctive when need be. Shibambu’s stentorian bass is ideal in the Tuba Mirum.

Joanna Parker’s thin black wooden shards remain dangling overhead for After Tears, where Muyanga’s score initially lays emphasis on percussive effects. His melodic instincts are relatively subdued and tend towards minimalism as the piece progresses.

Between two main sections is a moment of ritual reflection involving a priestly figure who chants in African dialect and invokes the spirit of Fire. This is a welcome oasis of calm amid otherwise frantic activity, in which the 16 dancers now shriek with joy.

There is a sense in which the ritual aspect of this dancing evokes the atmosphere of Stravinsky’s Rite Of Spring, even though the music is less challenging. But the evening also offers an electrifying opportunity to re-evaluate our attitudes to death and mourning and discover the silver lining they canoffer. As an example of cross-cultural fertilisation, it tops the charts.

Review by Martin Dreyer

The final performance of Requiem: Journeys Of The Soul at Leeds Grand Theatre are on Saturday (3/6/2023) at 7pm and Sunday (4/6/2023) at 2.30pm. The production was co-commissioned by Leeds 2023 Year of Culture. Box office: 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com

A scene from After Tears