Tag: Self Esteem

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More Things To Do in York and beyond at the dawning of 2026’s arts & culture diary. Hutch’s List No. 1, from The York Press

Joshua Arnold and Therine: On the bill for A Feast Of Fools III at the Black Swan

N his first guide to the New Year, Charles Hutchinson picks out upcoming highlights on January’s calendar and beyond.

Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools III, The Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7.30pm, doors 7pm

WELCOME to A Feast Of Fools III, York arts collective Navigators Art’s sign-off to “Holiday’s end – the last gasp of Mischief” in a celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas packed with live folk music and a nod to the pagan and the impish.

On the bill are Ancient Hostility, performing passionate political and personal song in harmony;  North West folk duo Joshua Arnold and Therine, presenting vocal-led trad and experimental versions of British folk songs; Pefkin, whose ritualistic hymnals draw heavily on the landscape and the natural world, and White Sail, York’s multi-instrumental alt-folk legends. Box office: www.ticketsource.co.uk/navigators-art-performance.

Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine and Alice Rose’s Snow White in Pickering Musical Society’s pantomime Snow White

First Ryedale panto of the New Year: Pickering Musical Society in Snow White, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, January 14 to 25, 7.15pm, except January 19; 2.15pm, January 17, 18, 24 and 25  

DIRECTED for the tenth year by resident director Luke Arnold and writer by Ron Hall, Pickering Musical Society’s 2026 pantomime combines comedy, spectacle, festive magic, dazzling scenery and colourful costumes.

The show features such principals as Marcus Burnside’s Dame Dumpling, Danielle Long’s Prince Valentine, Alice Rose’s Snow White, Paula Cook’s Queen Lucrecia and Sue Smithson’s Fairy Dewdrop. Audiences are encouraged to book early to avoid disappointment. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.littleboxoffice.com.

Harry Summers in rehearsal for the role of Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin – The Pantomime

Second Ryedale pantomime of the New Year: Malton and Norton Musical Theatre in Aladdin – The Pantomime, Milton Rooms, Malton, January 17, 1.30pm, 5.15pm; January 18, 2pm; January 20 to 23, 7.15pm; January 24, 1pm, 5.15pm

BETWIXT York roles in York Shakespeare Project’s The Spanish Tragedy and Black Treacle Theatre’s Anne Boleyn, Harry Summers continues to corner the market in dark, dramatic and deliciously boo-worthy roles as wicked magician Abanazar in Malton and Norton Musical Theatre’s Aladdin.

Fresh from his villainous scene-stealing in The Spanish Tragedy, Thomas Jennings plays the Emperor, insisting he is “one of the good guys”, even if his idea of good includes execution and arranged marriages. Further principal players in the mystical land of Shangri-La include Harriet White’s Aladdin, Isabel Davis’s Princess Jasmine; Rory Queen’s dame, Widow Twankey, Tom Gleave’s Wishee Washee, Mark Summers’ Genie of the Lamp and Annabelle Free’s Spirit of the Ring. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

To her Eternal Shame: Sue Perkins announces return to the comedy circuit after more than a decade

Amusing musings of the month: The Eternal Shame Of Sue Perkins, Grand Opera House, York, January 18, 7.30pm

YOU may know her as Bake-Off Sue, Taskmaster Sue, Just A Minute Sue, or the Sue that gives you travel envy, but stand-up Sue is full of surprises. In this new show, Sue Perkins shares the unlikely happenings from a career in the spotlight.

What’s the fallout when your pituitary gland goes haywire on live TV? How do you convince the public you didn’t really fall on to that vacuum cleaner attachment? And when intimate photos are splashed all over the internet, how do you switch the shame to dignity and joy? Find out in Perkins’ first live show in more than a decade, wherein shedelivers a humorous treatise on stigma, humiliation and misunderstanding. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Deadpan Players’ poster for their Star Wars sci-fi and AI spoof at the JoRo

The spoof, the whole spoof and nothing but the spoof: Deadpan Players in Star Wars: May The Farce Be With You, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, January 23, 7.30pm, and January 24, 2pm and 7.30pm

IN a time of deep unrest, rebel forces are fighting for survival. Led by Garth Vader, the Empire has created a sinister network called The Dark Web, through which Vader could travel back in time to crush the rebellion. Plucky Princess Slaya has encrypted and uploaded the password, along with a desperate cry for help to cute droid R2Ai.

Can Fluke Skywalker decipher the message, find Only One Kenobi, enlist the help of rogue pilot Ham Solo and the legendary, if rather pungent, Gedi Master, the diminutive but powerful “Odour”, then rescue the Princess and save the Galaxy? Find out by attending this fundraising event, with all proceeds going to Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Candlelighters. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Mike Joyce: Recollections of five years on the drummer’s stool with The Smiths at Pocklington Arts Centre

On the beat: Mike Joyce, The Drums: My Life In The Smiths, Pocklington Arts Centre, January 28, 7.30pm

DRUMMER Mike Joyce has been asked numerous times, “What was it like being in The Smiths?”. “That’s one hell of a question to answer!” he says. Answer it, he does, however, both in his 2025 memoir and now in his touring show The Drums: My Life In The Smiths.

To reflect on being stationed behind singer Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr from 1982 to 1987, Joyce will be interviewed by Guardian music journalist Dave Simpson, who lives near York. Audience members can put their questions to Joyce too. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

York Residents’ Festival 2026: Weekend of free attractions, experiences and offers

Festival launch of the month: York Residents’ Festival, January 31 and February 1

ORGANISED by Make It York, York Residents’ Festival offers residents free entry to York’s top attractions and exclusive offers on food, retail and unique experiences across the city in support of businesses and independent makers.  

Thefull list of offers and pre-booking will go live from 12 noon on January 9 at visityork.org/resfest. Among them will be York Museums Trust providingfree entry to York Castle Museum, York Art Gallery and the Yorkshire Museum and the National Trust doing likewise to Treasurer’s House.

Self Esteem: Headlining Futuresound’s July 10 bill at Live At York Museum Gardens

Looking ahead to the summer: Futuresound Group presents Self Esteem at Live At York Museum Gardens, July 10,  5pm

SOUTH Yorkshire’s Self Esteem is the second headliner to be announced for Futuresound Group’s third summer of Live At York Museum Gardens concerts, in the wake of Orchestral Manoeuvres in The Dark, Heaven 17, China Crisis and Andrew Cushin  being booked for July 9.

Rotherham-born Rebecca Lucy Taylor was part of Slow Club for a decade before turning solo as the sardonic Self Esteem, releasing the albums Compliments Please in 2019, Prioritise Pleasure in 2021 and A Complicated Woman last April. She will be supported by South African “future ghetto funk” pioneer Moonchild Sanelly and Sweden-based Nigerian spoken-word artist and musician Joshua Idehen, with more guests to be confirmed. Box office: futuresound.seetickets.com/event/self-esteem/york-museum-gardens/3555239.

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Jodie Comer to revive Prima Facie “one last time” on 2026 tour. Grand Opera House, York, awaits next Feb in only Yorkshire run

Jodie Comer in the role of defence barrister Tessa Ensler in Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie, heading for the Grand Opera House, York, in February 2026. Picture: Helen Murray

NEWSFLASH: 26/3/2025

GONE in a flash. Tickets have sold out already for Jodie Comer’s “one last time” return to Prima Facie at the Grand Opera House, York. On pre-sale to members at 10am this morning and the general public at 12 noon, The York Press reports that only 20 minutes later, the last seat was filled.

JODIE Comer will revive her Olivier and Tony Award-winning solo performance in Suzie Miller’s sexual assault drama Prima Facie “one last time” on a 2026 tour booked into the Grand Opera House, York, from February 17 to 21.

The Killing Eve star last appeared on a North Yorkshire stage in her professional debut as spoilt, mouthy but bright, privately educated Ruby, playing opposite York actor Andrew Dunn in the world premiere of Fiona Evans’s The Price Of Everything, at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in November 2010.

Tickets will go on sale at midday on Tuesday, March 25 at atgtickets.com/york for criminal lawyer-turned playwright Miller’s Olivier Award winner for Best Play, wherein Comer will play thoroughbred Tessa Ensler, a young, brilliant barrister who loves to win.

Ambitious Tessa has worked her way up from Liverpool and Luton council estates, via Cambridge University, to be at the top of her game in her early 30s as a criminal defence barrister for an esteemed London chambers: defending the accused, cross examining and lighting up the shadows of doubt in any case.

However, an unexpected event forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge.

Jodie Comer in her professional debut role as Ruby in Fiona Evans’s The Price Of Everything at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, in April 2010. In the background is York actor Andrew Dunn. Picture: Tony Bartholomew

“She played by the rules, but the rules are broken,” as the sleeve to Miller’s script puts it, when Tessa, the woman who defends men accused of rape, is assaulted herself.

Liverpool-born Comer, who turned 32 on March 11, won the Olivier Award for Best Actress for her 2022 performance as Tessa in her sold-out West End debut at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London, repeating that feat in the Tony Awards when Miller’s play transferred to Broadway in 2023.

The NTLive (National Theatre) and Empire Street Productions live capture of Prima Facie has enjoyed two record-breaking cinema releases, with streaming on National Theatre At Home too, and Comer also has recorded an audiobook adaptation by Miller.

Looking forward to reprising Miller’s monologue on tour, Comer says: “It is a huge privilege to return to Prima Facie for one last time and take this important play on tour across the UK & Ireland. The resonance of Suzie Miller’s writing, both in London and New York, exceeded anything we could have imagined.

“I’m so thrilled to have the opportunity to get the team back together and take the production to theatres around the country, including my hometown of Liverpool. On a personal note, I can’t think of a better finale to what has been such an incredible and deeply rewarding chapter in my life.”

“It is a huge privilege to return to Prima Facie for one last time,” says Jodie Comer. Picture: Helen Murray

In her play, Miller, who was a lawyer for 15 years before focusing on writing since 2010, drew on research from trials at the Old Bailey to address how the legal system conducts sexual assault cases.

“It’s almost impossible to actually run a sexual assault case and win it,” she told a 2022 roundtable with Comer, DSI Clair Kelland and barrister Kate Parker, hosted by Emily Maitlis (as reported by the Guardian, April 22 2022).  “It’s almost like the forum of the court is not fit for purpose for sexual assault.”

“I couldn’t be more thrilled about the Prima Facie 2026 tour,” says the Australian playwright, screenwriter, librettist, visual artist, novelist and human rights lawyer, who has degrees in both science and law. “This play has already achieved more than we all could have dreamed, and Jodie’s commitment to the story reaching so many new venues and communities means more people can be part of the conversation, and the solution.”’

Empire Street Productions producer James Bierman has announced that partnerships with the Schools Consent Project and Everyone’s Invited charities will continue on next year’s tour.

Set up in 2014 by barrister Kate Parker, the Schools Consent Project sends lawyers into schools to teach 11 to 18 year olds the legal definition of consent and key sexual offences.

The poster for the 2026 tour of Prima Facie

Their aim is to normalise these sorts of conversations among young people; to empower them to identify and communicate their boundaries, and to respect them in others.  To date, they have spoken to more than 80,000 young people across the country.

Throughout the tour, the production will be working with each venue to support the charity’s work in educating young people in the UK about consent.

Everyone’s Invited’s mission is to expose and eradicate rape culture with empathy, compassion and understanding. The charity offers a safe space for all survivors to share their stories completely anonymously. 

Everyone’s Invited allows many survivors a sense of relief, catharsis, empowerment, and gives them a feeling of community and hope. 

Conversations with friends and personal experiences throughout school and university revealed to founder Soma Sara how widespread the issue is, whereupon she began sharing her experiences of rape culture on Instagram.

Prima Facie playwright Suzie Miller. Picture: Sarah Hadley

In light of the overwhelming response from those who resonated with her story, Soma founded Everyone’s Invited in June 2020, later gaining charitable status in 2022 alongside the launch of the Everyone’s Invited education programme. So far, the programme has reached more than 50,000 students across the UK.

James Bierman says: “All of us involved in Prima Facie are honoured to be able to highlight and support the essential and brilliant work that Everyone’s Invited and The Schools Consent Project do up and down the country.

“Creating safe spaces for people to share their stories and be heard is vital, and to try and change the horrific levels of sexual assault we have in this country we have to change the way we as a society see and talk about consent. By educating young people the Schools Consent Project team are making the future a better place.”

The nine-city UK and Ireland tour will open at Richmond Theatre, London, on January 23 2026 and will visit the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin; Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, New Theatre, Cardiff; The Grand Opera House, York, in its only Yorkshire dates; Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury, and Birmingham Rep before closing with Comer’s home run at Liverpool Playhouse from March 17 to 21.

Prima Facie is helmed by Olivier Award-winning director Justin Martin, who is joined in the creative team by Rotherham-born composer Rebecca Lucy Taylor, the Brit Award-nominated singer and songwriter otherwise known as Self Esteem; set and costume designer Miriam Buether; lighting designer Natasha Chivers; sound designers Max and Ben Ringham; video designer Willie Williams for Treatment Studio and vocal coach Kate Godfrey.

Jodie Comer: the back story

Jodie Comer

BORN on March 11 1993 in Liverpool, Merseyside. Made professional stage debut in Fiona Evans’s The Price Of Everything, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, April 2010.

Best known for playing psychopathic assassin Villanelle in cult BBC America spy thriller Killing Eve (2018–2022).  Won Emmy Award for Lead Actress in a Drama Series and BAFTA Award for Best Leading Actress in 2019. Later nominated again for Emmy Award, BAFTA Award and Critics Choice Award, as well as Screen Actors Guild Award.

Made West End debut at Harold Pinter Theatre, London, in 2022 and Broadway debut at John Golden Theatre, New York, in 2023 in Suzie Miller’s legal drama Prima Facie. Won Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play, Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play and Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World awards. Nominated for Drama League Award too.

Starred in Channel 4’s Covid film drama Help, opposite Stephen Graham, marking her executive producer debut too. Won BAFTA for Leading Actress; Help won BAFTA for Single Drama. 

Further television credits include: Thirteen (BAFTA Award and RTS Programme Award nominations); Talking Heads; Doctor Foster; The White Princess; Rillington Place; Lady Chatterley’s Lover; My Mad Fat Diary and Remember Me.

Made feature film debut in Shawn Levy’s $300 million-grossing action comedy Free Guy, alongside Ryan Reynolds and Joe Kerry, in 2021. That year too, she appeared alongside Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Adam Driver in Ridley Scott’s historical drama The Last Duel, premiered at 78th Annual Venice International Film Festival.

In January 2024, she starred in The End We Start From, Mahalia Belo’s survival thriller based on Megan Hunter’s novel about the trials and joys of new motherhood in the midst of devastating floods that swallow up London.

Last year too, she joined Tom Hardy and Austin Butler in The Bikeriders, Jeff Nichols’s account of a fictional 1960s’ Midwestern motorcycle club, based on the photo-book of the same title by Danny Lyon.

Coming next, from June 20, will be 28 Years Later, Danny Boyle’s latest instalment in the 28 Years Later trilogy, where she stars alongside Aaron-Taylor Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell, followed by Kenneth Branagh’s The Last Disturbance Of Madeline Hynde.

Now filming The Death Of Robin Hood, playing opposite Hugh Jackman, directed by Michael Sarnoski.