Suzy Cooper’s Titania, centre, and Ian Giles’s Bottom, right, with the Fairy Queen’s fairies in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
HOT on the heels of fellow York musical theatre practitioners Black Sheep Theatre Productions staging The Tempest, York Stage branches out into performing Shakespeare.
Producer-director Nik Briggs has selected Bill the Bard’s most performed comedy for his company’s first co-production with the Grand Opera House.
This is very much a reinvention of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Out goes the formality of the ancient court of Athens; in comes the modern northern council estate of Athens Court, home to Theseus’s Pad and the Community Payback Centre, peopled with chunky chains, bling galore and shiny shell suits to match the fenced barriers.
As with Black Sheep Theatre’s The Tempest, music plays its part, this time in a combination of incidental music composed by musical director Stephen Hackshaw and performances of Nineties and Noughties’ dancefloor fillers arranged by Hackshaw and keys cohort Sam Johnson.
These are predominantly sung in fabulous style by York Stage fledgling-turned-West End performer May Tether, resplendent in silver suit and boots as she makes flying stage entries reminiscent of Kylie Minogue’s concerts. Welcome back, May, for a star turn at the heart of ensemble numbers such as the opening Freed From Desire and climactic We Found Love.
Mather is but one jewel in Briggs’s Dream casting. Suzy Cooper, for so long a golden staple of dame Berwick Kaler’s York pantomimes, returns to the Grand Opera House to play the dual role of Theseus’s southern prize, haughty Hippolyta, and the sensuous, voracious Fairy Queen Titania, her voice notably deepened and as pucker as Joanna Lumley.
For the finale, her Hippolyta re-emerges with a broadly Yorkshire accent, seemingly blending with those around her on the council estate.
Cooper forms a double act at the double with York-born Royal Shakespeare Company actor, who rules the estate and Hippolyta alike in studded leathers as a muscular, volcanic Theseus.
He then transforms into the king of bling, the Fairy King Oberon in cap, animal-print trimmed coat and taut see-through T-shirt, to play games with Cooper’s Titania in the forest with James Robert Ball’s impish Puck as his meddlesome agent of mayhem.
Holgate and Cooper have fused playful chemistry, mystery and magic from intense but limited rehearsal time, topped off by Elizabeth Real’s woodland costume designs for Cooper’s Titania, Kylie golden hotpants et al.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is full of competitive clashes: Athens Court versus the woodland; Oberon versus Titania; the young lovers versus each other; Puck versus the young lovers; Bottom’s ego versus the rest of the Rude Mechanicals, as they mount the play within the play to the shrill whistle of Jo Theaker’s Petra Quince.
In keeping with his flair for Nineties and Noughties’ signature costume designs, Briggs has cast his young lovers with delightful modernity: Meg Olssen’s exasperated Hermia; Amy Doneneghetti’s no-nonsense Helena; Sam Roberts’s solid northern lad and University of York DramaSoc alumnus Will Parsons, bringing shades of Mick Jagger elasticity to “posh boy” Lysander.
If you could choose one York actor to play Puck/Robin Goodfellow, it would surely be James Robert Ball, a polymath talent who now adds rope work to his skills as a professional musician, published novelist, singing and performance teacher, freelance musical director and pianist.
In gaudy shell suit and perky peaked cap, his diminutive Puck is nimble, mischievous, his voice as flexible as his lithe movement, and he has the ability to drift in and out, sometimes on rope or swing, and then be wrapped around the young lovers as he dispenses Oberon’s love potions.
Titania’s fairies in shimmering silver, have their moments too, while the Rude Mechanicals maximise their badinage, from Theaker’s Quince to Andrew Roberts’s Snout, with his unexpected spherical appendage in the climactic Wall Play. Ian Giles’s Bottom is more avuncular than usual, but still with that I Know Best boastful air that has him making an ass of himself in the company of Cooper’s Titania.
Briggs directs with a flourish, aided by Adam Moore’s superb lighting design, and his set design works a treat: one half metal for the council estate, with a set of steps, fireman’s pole and scaffolding; the other half, bare tree trunks and a wooden seat to denote the forest.
Witty touches include the use of York Stage red tabards to signify the Rude Mechanicals’ status as actors, not least Emily Alderson’s auburn-haired Starveling shaking her head at the colour clash.
If one scene sums up the Shakespeare-meets-Shameless vibe of Briggs’s ‘Dream’, with its rave culture echoes, it is The Seduction Medley in the woodland finale to the first half, where Mather’s Moon is in majestic diva mode singing Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Show Me Love and You Got The Love as Cooper’s Titania seduces Giles’s Bottom and all around her dance in sylvian rapture in silver.
York Stage in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, until Sunday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday and Sunday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Suzy Cooper’s Hippolyta in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
GARY Oldman will not be the only former Berwick Kaler co-star returning to a York stage in 2025.
Suzy Cooper, for more than 20 years the ditzy, posh-voiced, jolly super principal gal in the grand dame’s pantomimes, will lead Nik Briggs’s cast alongside York-born actor Mark Holgate in the dual roles of courtly Hippolyta and Theseus and the quarrelling Queen and King of the Fairies, Titania and Oberon, in York Stage’s reinvention of A Midsummer Night’s Dream from May 6 to 11.
In his tenth anniversary of producing and directing shows at the Grand Opera House, Briggs relocates his debut Shakespeare production from the court of Athens to Athens Court, a northern council estate, where magic is fuelled with mayhem and true love’s path still does not run smooth, set to a Nineties and Noughties’ dancefloor soundtrack of Freed From Desire, No Limits, Show Me Love, Everytime We Touch et al as Shakespeare meets Shameless.
Presented as York Stage’s first co-production with the Cumberland Street theatre, Briggs’s ‘Dream’ will feature a new score by musical director Stephen Hackshaw. “Whilst not being a musical, the show will include a live band alongside powerhouse vocals that York Stage are famous for with their musical production,” says Nik.
Mark Holgate and Suzy Cooper in rehearsal for York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Suzy last trod the Grand Opera House boards in dowager dame Berwick Kaler’s valedictory pantomime after 47 years on the York stage in Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse, the final curtain falling on January 6 2024.
“It will be lovely to be back in York, performing at the Grand Opera House again,” says Suzy. ““I’ve not worked with Mark before, but he did the Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre season in York the same summer that I did it at Blenheim, when we brushed shoulders in that amazing tent when we gathered for the start of the second summer. It’s going to be a lot of fun working with him.
“For ‘Dream’, the lovely Nik rang me and said, ‘it’s a very unusual thing we’re doing, a co-production with the Grand Opera House, and would you like to play Hippolyta?’. I didn’t need to think about, and not to have to audition was music to my ears!”
Mark’s career has taken in the Royal Shakespeare Company, Cheek By Jowl, Sheffield Crucible and theatres across the UK, as well as such roles as Banquo in Macbeth and Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night in Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre seasons in 2018 and 2019 in his home city.
Forest fireworks: Mark Holgate’s Theseus in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
He last performed on a York stage in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s staged reading of Maryland, Lucy Kirkwood’s “howl” of a protest play, directed by Bridget Foreman at the Friargate Theatre in November 2021.
Mark’s participation in York Stage’s ‘Dream’ was “actually all down to my Dad”. “He has always been a great support of my acting career,” he says. “He read an article in The Press and sent it over to me, about York Stage putting on ‘Dream’ and that they were holding auditions. I dropped Nik a line, came to York Stage to meet him and that was that.”
Reflecting on the contrast between his past Shakespeare experiences, including Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, and now with York Stage, Mark says: “The main difference is the rehearsal schedule. A lot of the cast have 9-5s and so rehearsals have worked around people’s availability. Whereas I would rehearse for three or four weeks consecutively, with this production you could have a gap of two weeks before being back in the room again.
“So you really have to be on your game at keeping track of everything you’ve discovered and set in rehearsal. Working in this way is completely new to me. It definitely keeps it fresh and exciting.”
Suzy Cooper: “Making decisions organically about how we’ll play Hippolyta’s relationship with Theseus”
Suzy adds: “Mark and I have had around five days’ rehearsals, which though it sounds really scary, as you’d normally do three weeks, but actually they’re intense days, so I just have to keep calm and carry on!
“We’re still undecided, right up to the last minute, making decisions organically about how we’ll play Hippolyta’s relationship with Theseus, where she’s been won as a prize, but maybe she’s not unhappy about that. Wait and see!
“It’s trickier than Titania, and you know me, I need to get my [acting] shoes on to get my feet rooted in a role.”
What are the challenges of playing two roles, Theseus and Oberon, in one play, Mark? “Remembering who I am playing in each scene. Only joking! Theseus is quite tricky as, once you’ve seen him in the first scene, he doesn’t appear again right till the end. Keeping hold of his journey after playing Oberon in between will be the challenge.
Mark Holgate’s Theseus and Suzy Cooper’s Hippolyta, centre, with Sam Roberts’s Demetrius, left, Amy Domeneghetti’s Helena, Will Parsons’ Lysander and Meg Olssen’s Hermia in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
“I’m really looking forward to taking them on to the Grand Opera House stage. Both of my daughters have performed there but I never have. They beat me to it.”
York Stage’s ‘Dream’ calls on Mark to do a double act at the double with Suzy Cooper’s Hippolyta and Titania. “Suzy and I have never worked together but we have crossed paths. On the first day of rehearsal I was a bit nervous as usual on the first day. Like the first day of school. Then Suzy entered the room, I walked over and gave her a hug and all my nervous energy disappeared.
“She has been an absolute joy to work with and I really look forward to sharing the Grand Opera House stage with her.”
Both Suzy and Mark have “previous” form for appearing in Shakespeare’s most performed comedy. “I’ve never played Titania before, but I did play the fairy, Mustardseed, and Snout the Tinker in Lucy Pitman-Wallace’s production at York Theatre Royal, with Malcom Skates as Bottom and Andrina Carroll as Titania, and then Peter Quince in Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre’s production at Blenheim Palace in 2019, the summer when I also played Lady Macbeth in Macbeth,” says Suzy.
“Suzy has been an absolute joy to work with and I really look forward to sharing the Grand Opera House stage with her,” says Mark Holgate
“Those nights doing ‘Dream’ were so joyful, when director Juliet Forster said ‘just trust in what you do’, but Nik’s show is a very different ‘Dream to any I’ve seen or done before, with Nik’s wonderful design and working with a composer. It’s the youngest, most exciting version I’ve experienced. I’m seeing out my history in the play with these new actors.”
Mark was part of Juliet Forster’s cast for Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre production of ‘Dream’ at the Eye of York in 2018. “The audience just love it,” he says, exploring the 1595 play’s abiding popularity. “Apart from theatre being a great form of escapism, the play itself is such a fantastic piece. It has great characters, it’s funny, dramatic, poetic, and in this production the songs, movement and storytelling from a superb ensemble will really blow your socks off.
“I hope people come to see it because it will be so different to the idea of Shakespeare that you have in your head. It will be a lot of fun. It’s on for only one week, so get those tickets booked.”
York Stage in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees . Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Dream casting: York Stage’s poster artwork for Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate’s participation in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Re-Lording Richard 3.0 writer-performer Philipp Sommer
YORK’S own King Richard III looks back at his history with Alexa at his side – a modern voice in 1485 – in Philipp Sommer’s Re-Lording Richard 3.0 at York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium on April 24 at 7.30pm.
The Berlin writer-performer is bringing his reimagining of Richard’s origin story to York as part of the 2025 York International Shakespeare Festival.
Re-Lording Richard 3.0 brings Richard III to the stage so that he may share his fears, his doubts, his joy and loyalty in this 50-minute retort to Shakespeare’s hatchet job, performed in English.
“Shakespeare’s play underpins his person as the embodiment of evil, but is that all he was?” asks Sommer. “Then, it was theatre; now, it’s social media that provides a platform for propaganda.”
The poster for Philipp Sommer’s Re-Lording Richard 3.0, playing York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium on April 24
Sommer describes his play as a “drama-dy”, combining drama and comedy. “‘Everyone has seen Richard III by Shakespeare, but have you seen Shakespeare by Richard III? This is the story from Richard’s point of view.”
Richard settles his accounts with Shakespeare, as Richard and Alexa ask the question: “Has the world really changed?”
Re-Lording Richard 3.0 supports the festival’s mission of bringing international voices to York to celebrate and elaborate upon Shakespeare’s work.
Founded in 2015, the festival is marking its tenth anniversary with this season’s April 22 to May 4 programme. For full details and tickets, go to yorkshakes.co.uk.
Produced by the community arts charity Parrabbola, the festival is now an annual event, returning to live performance in 2023 after a Covid-enforced break, with support from York St John University.
Mark Simmonds’s Prospero, staff in hand, in The Tempest at Theatre@41, Monkgate
AFTER focusing on musical theatre, adventurous York company Black Sheep Theatre Productions stretched its wings by staging Shakespeare’s everything-plus-the-kitchen-sink last play with original music by founder, director and musical director Matthew Peter Clare and Gregory Parker.
Several of Ariel’s speeches were turned into song for Gemma-Louise Keane, on her return to the stage after a long break where you may have seen her fronting the band Kisskisskill or on York’s ghost tour circuit as Deathly Dark Tours’ Daria Deathly. Inspired casting by Clare, finding a performer with bags of stage presence and personality, coupled with an individual look and voice, typified by her rendition of Full Fathom Five.
Mark Simmonds, who has made his mark as much in Jorvik Gilbert and Sullivan Society, York Opera and York Light Opera Company as in York Settlement Community Players, has a natural musicality and resonant timbre to his voice.
Charlie Clarke’s Trincula in The Tempest. Josh Woodgate’s Caliban adopts a prone position beneath his bags of wood
Allied with being tall, this gave him righteous if sinister command as the dispossessed Milanese duke, Prospero, a command exacerbated by conducting his magical, storm-stirring powers from the John Cooper Studio’s mezzanine level, as well as in his treatment of his island slaves, Ariel and Caliban (more of whom, later).
Clare built his production on a brace of interlinking triangles, bringing magic, music and mayhem to the play’s three plot lines of comedy, tragedy and romance, fuelled by familiar Shakespeare tropes of mistaken identity, a family at war, murderous plotting and plot-thickening intrigues. The magic emanated from Prospero, and so too did the mayhem that ensued in the torrid tale of a shipwreck and its high-society survivors, spilling out onto Prospero’s island.
The music emanated from percussionist Clare’s band of eight: Helen Warry and Elle Weaver’s violins; Clare Pearson’s viola and Lindsay Illingworth’s violoncello; Fergus Vickers’ guitar, Rosie Morris’s contrabass and, best of all, Sarah Paterson’s harp.
Chloe Pearson’s Fernanda, left, and Freya McIntosh’s Miranda in The Tempest
The underscoring was particularly effective, often beautiful too, and most ambitious of all was the transformation of the play within the play into a song, Blessings, with vocal interplay and solos for Maddie Jones’s Iris, Molly Whitehouse’s Ceres and Rocks Nairn-Smith’s Juno.
The Tempest is a restless, breathless play of constant struggle and ultimate resolution, a maelstrom of tortured emotions, terror, a need to find a home, love, a safe place in the world, a reason to shake off boredom or cast off grief. Or as Clare put it: a play of “family and love, subjugation and bloody plots, reconciliation and forgiveness, euphoria and despair”.
Hence its helter-skelter tumble of tragedy and comedy that Clare addressed successful by applying “more Brechtian style” for the more absurd characters, such as Charlie Clarke’s Trincula, Dan Poppitt’s Alonso, and especially the outstanding John Woodgate’s cruelly abused Caliban, while favouring naturalism for the plot-driven likes of Prospero, Meg Conway’s viperous Antonia and the Sapphic love of Freya McIntosh’s Miranda and Chloe Pearson’s Fernanda.
Josh Woodgate’s Caliban and Gemma-Louise Keane’s Ariel in Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ The Tempest
Mikhail Lim’s Gonzalo, Rosie Stirling’s Sebastyne and Jack Fry’s Master of Ships all contributed to the pleasures of this Tempest kicking up a storm anew, aided by Molly Whitehouse’s playful costumes, Charlie Clarke & Josh Woodgate’s striking, circus and cabaret-inspired make-up and Will Nicholson’s sound and lighting design, fast making himself the go-to-guy of York technicians in 2025.
After Woodgate’s turn as Caliban, eye-catching from the moment he emerged bleary eyed from beneath the shelter of the raised stage, CharlesHutchPress looks forward to his future performances, led off by his ensemble role in Inspired By Theatre’s Rent from Thursday to Saturday this week at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre.
Black Sheep Theatre Productions “stretching out its wings” in The Tempest in a radiant scene for Gemma-Louise Keane’s Ariel
Coming next from Black Sheep Theatre will be a return to Theatre@41 for an original play, The Inner Selves, from May 13 to 17. This four-hander charts the decline of two people’s mental health, and their marriage, as shown through Henry and Nora and the cacophonic assault of their inner thoughts. The play revolves are one bad day of mediocrity and boredom being the final straw for the pair as emotions come to a boil. Will this marriage survive? Even until morning?
Not for young children, its content warning takes in: alcohol, smoking, swearing, domestic abuse, emotional abuse, discussion of self-harm, marriage, divorce, loss of child, suicidal thoughts, mental health.
Tickets for the 7.30pm evening performances and 2.30pm Saturday matinee are on sale at tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Meg Conway, returning to the York stage after a nine-year hiatus, as Antonia and assistant director Mikhail Lim as Gonzalo in Black Sheep Theatre Productions’ The Tempest
The hen party heading for Menorca: Jo Patmore, left, Alyce Liburd, Annie Kirkman and Alice Imelda in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
A STAG do in Ibiza. A hen do in Menorca. What could go wrong?Everything…in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough.
The stags have made a solemn promise to each other: this is a boys’ weekend. Don’t talk to any girls, don’t even think about any girls, and most importantly, do not contact the hens.
The hens are ready for fun in the sun when the resort calls to say they’ve had to relocate them…to a hotel in Ibiza. Both groups of revellers are stuck on the same Mediterranean island. Cue shoddy disguises, mislaid love letters and theatrical chaos.
Repeating the Hutch Award-winning formula of 2023’s co-production of The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) with Precot’s Shakespeare North Playhouse, set in the heat of a 1980s’ clash of Yorkshire and Lancashire, Shakespeare’s riotous comedy is brought to life anew in the 1990s with belting musical numbers from the era of boy bands and Girl Power.
The same creative team reunites for Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less): co-writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber (daughter of playwright John Godber), director Paul Robinson and composer and sound designer Simon Slater. In the production team too are designer Jess Curtis, lighting designer Jane Lalljee, musical director Alex Weatherhill and choreographer Stephanie Dattani.
Co-writer Elizabeth Godber says: “I’m so excited to be back working with Nick, the SJT and Shakespeare North on another hilarious Shakespeare adaptation.
Unmasked: Alyce Liburd and Annie Kirkman in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
“Love’s Labour’s Lost is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays, and to get the chance to play around with the language, develop the (already great) female characters, and add in plenty of 1990s’ pop classics, has been an absolute joy!
“I can’t wait for audiences to come and see the show. It’s funny, irreverent, and I’m sure Shakespeare would approve – he would have definitely been a Britpop fan!”
SJT artistic director Paul Robinson says: “We had the most enormous fun making The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) in the spring of 2023, and our audiences did too! We couldn’t resist following it up with another of the Bard’s early comedies, this time set a decade later in the midst of the party era that was the 1990s.
“We’ll again be including some great music from the period, and just wait until you see those 90s fashions again!”
Shakespeare North Playhouse creative director Laura Collier says: “After the success of our 2023 co-production – a show so entertaining that people kept coming back for more – we knew we had to join forces again.
“We’re absolutely thrilled to be working with the Stephen Joseph Theatre again, alongside talented writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber. We all share a deep love for Shakespeare and his timeless tales, and a passion for exploring and presenting fresh, exciting perspectives and reworkings – a perfect foundation for an outrageously fun Love’s Labour’s Lost. We can’t wait to see what lies in store when we’re all transported back to the ’90s.”
Co-writer Elizabeth Godber: “I don’t think of it as a rewriting of Shakespeare; I think we’re twisting it, we’re putting a northern spin on it,” she says
Here co-writers Nick Lane and Elizabeth Godber discuss everything (more or less) about Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less).
How were you first brought together for The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less)?
Nick: “I was asked by Paul [SJT artistic director Paul Robinson, the show’s commissioning director] if I’d be interested in teaming up with a writer to do a modern version of Shakespeare.
“He had this idea about making Shakespeare accessible, demystifying it, making it relevant and funny, and playing around with titles that people know but aren’t necessarily plays that people know.
“Independently of each other, we came up with Liz. I wanted to work with Liz because I’ve known her all her life, and I got my wish!”
Elizabeth: “I’d done some writing development work at Scarborough before, so Paul was aware of my work, so when they were looking for someone to team up with Nick, he called me.”
Co-writer Nick Lane: “If Shakespeare was writing now, he’d want to reflect the time and the politics,” he says. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Do you have any qualms about rewriting Shakespeare?
Nick: “For me, initially, yes, but knowing that Liz knows lots more than I do about Shakespeare, I did feel like I was in safe hands, and it was a good partnership – we share a similar sense of humour. But we were both making it up as we went along.”
Elizabeth: “Yes, I had reservations, of course – it’s a big thing to do! But at the same time we both had this thought in our heads that we wanted to do something different, that was accessible and fresh. I don’t think of it as a rewriting of Shakespeare; I think we’re twisting it, we’re putting a northern spin on it.”
What is your process for writing – together or separately?
Elizabeth: “This time, for Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less), it’s been much more together than on Comedy Of Errors – we’ve learned and grown from that. We write some things separately, and we send emails and share, and we’ve got about a thousand voice memos on WhatsApp. Then we meet up multiple times, and we’ll spend a day going through everything we’ve written, tweaking and changing each other’s stuff.
Nick: “And enjoying some very nice meals…
Elizabeth: “And eating lots of biscuits!”
Annie Kirkman and Jo Patmore in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
What different qualities do you both bring to the writing?
Nick: “The fun thing for me is – well, the read-through is a perfect example. I sat through the read-through and laughed heartily at all the stuff Liz put in, and sort of smiled at my own bits and thought, ‘yes, that kind of works’. But I think we both find each other’s stuff funny.”
Elizabeth: “I would say that Nick brings a font of knowledge of random facts! He can pinpoint something exactly: ‘In August 1989, people weren’t doing that’.”
Nick “I do have a silly memory for things, it’s true. And Liz is cracking on all things Shakespeare – and when you have a silent third partner, that’s really, really useful.”
Why have you set Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) in 1990s’ Ibiza?
Elizabeth: “We knew we wanted to do Love’s Labour’s Lost, and we also had this idea for a stag-and- hen thing, which, if anyone’s read the original, it does kind of fit: there’s this kind of boys versus girls thing. That, and the club scene, and the ’90s, just felt like a good fit for the story.”
David Kirkbride punching the air in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
Nick: “It helps that you’re in an era before mobile phones. It’s fascinating how quickly we’ve adopted these things – they’re so intrinsically linked with our everyday lives now, and only 25 years ago, they existed, of course, but they weren’t the all-encompassing tools that they are now.
“I guess if we’d set it a bit later, it would have been erroneous text messages instead of the misdirected letters, but there’s no romance in texts, is there?”
How difficult was it making the song choices? Any particular favourites?
Elizabeth: “I loved making the song choices! The ’90s are my childhood; it’s very, very nostalgic and takes me back to school discos and primary school and brings me great joy. My favourite is probably the Spice Girls.”
Nick: “The opening number is Girls & Boys by Blur. If the Spice Girls were the ’90s for Liz, then Blur was kind of my thing – I was in my 20s.”
Where were you in the 1990s?
Elizabeth: “I was in Hull – being born and growing up!”
Nick: “Predominantly Doncaster, but I toured a lot – with Hull Truck, for Liz’s dad [playwright John Godber]!”
Jo Patmore in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less)
Have you ever acted in Shakespeare?
Nick: “No, I never have. I’ve done verse – I was in Tony Harrison’s Passion and Doomsday, but never a Shakespeare.”
Elizabeth: “I was in a school production, a 20-minute version of Romeo and Juliet – and in that production, I met my now husband!”
Nick: “I can even quote you your one line in that. It was ‘No’.”
Elizabeth: “It was! I think I’m better on Shakespeare when I’m not acting in it.”
Will Shakespeare be spinning in his grave at the prospect of Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) or giving it a five-star review (more or less)?
Thomas Cotran in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
Nick: “I would hope that if he is spinning, it’s to a 120 bpm dance track. He was a modernist in his day; he was satirical; he referenced things that were very of the time, and I think if he was writing now, he’d want to reflect the time and the politics. I think he’d be all right with it.”
Elizabeth: “We want to make a show that people come to see and have a great time, and I think that Shakespeare wouldn’t be against that – I think that’s what he wanted to do, too.”
Which Shakespeare play would you like to rewrite (more or less) next?
Nick: “One for Liz. I don’t know enough of them!”
Elizabeth: “I think I’d quite like to do A Winter’s Tale, because I really like the Shakespeare plays that are a little less done, that people don’t know as much about. I think that’s interesting. Love’s Labour’s Lost is one that people don’t know as well, and you can bring it to more people – that’s exciting. But my favourite is As You Like It, so…”
Stephen Joseph Theatre and Shakespeare North Playhouse present Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less) at Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, until April 19, Monday to Saturday, 7.30pm, plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
An ensemble scene from the Stephen Joseph Theatre and Shakespeare North Playhouse co-production of Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
Who’s in the cast for Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less)?
Thomas Cotran; Alice Imelda; Linford Johnson; David Kirkbride; Annie Kirkman; Alyce Liburd; Timothy Adam Lucas and Jo Patmore.
Four of the company have appeared at the SJT already: Linford Johnson was in Alan Ayckbourn’s The Girl Next Door in 2021, and Annie Kirkman appeared in 2023’s UK Theatre Award-winning Beauty And The Beast, returning in summer 2024 to play the title role in Dracula: The Bloody Truth. She also starred in John Godber’s Perfect Pitch, on tour.
David Kirkbride and Alyce Liburd were in the SJT’s first co-production with Shakespeare North Playhouse, the UK Theatre Award-nominated The Comedy Of Errors (More Or Less) in Spring 2023. Alice appeared in in Dracula: The Bloody Truth too.
Movin’ and groovin’ in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less). Picture: Patch Dolan
What’s on the playlist in Love’s Labour’s Lost (More Or Less)
1. Blur: Girls & Boys
2. Britney Spears: …Baby One More Time
3. Shania Twain: Man! I Feel Like A Woman!
4. Meat Loaf: I’d Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That)
English Touring Opera rehearsing a scene from Bellini’s Italian opera The Capulets And The Montagues. Picture: Craig Fuller
ENGLISH Touring Opera return to York Theatre Royal today and tomorrow with two exciting new Shakespeare-themed productions.
What Dreams May Come makes its debut in the Studio tonight at 7.45pm and tomorrow at 2.30pm before Bellini’s The Capulets And The Montagues is performed for only night only in the main house tomorrow at 7.30pm, preceded by a pre-show talk at 6.30pm. Both operas will be performed in their original language with English surtitles.
What Dreams May Come is a new studio piece that draws on hundreds of years of music inspired by and adapted from Shakespeare’s plays and poetry to depict the joys and sorrows of a long life, well lived.
Mixing puppetry with music by composers including Purcell, Finzi, Amy Beach and Britten, performed by a chamber ensemble, this 80-minute production explores the timeless appeal of Shakespeare’s words and characters for composers and audiences throughout history.
Singers include soprano Alys Mererid Roberts, mezzo-soprano Emily Hodkinson, tenor Tamsanqa Tylor Lemani and baritone Samuel Pantcheff.
Samuel Pantcheff, Tamsanqa Tylor Lemani, Alys Mererid Roberts and Emily Hodkinson in the rehearsal room for What Dreams May Come. Picture: Craig Fuller
The piece is devised and directed by Valentina Ceschi, whose past work for English Touring Opera (ETO) includes the 2023 production of Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims, children’s opera The Great Stink and the film for families The Firebird. Erika Gundesen conducts from the piano.
The Capulets And The Montagues, Bellini’s gritty re-working of Romeo And Juliet, remains a fresh, vital take on a well-loved story, bringing the warring families’ emotional and political struggle to life with devastating power. Remarkably, the work was composed by Bellini in only six weeks.
Soprano Jessica Cale, a First Prize winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and audience prize winner at the London Handel Festival International Singing Competition, sings the role of Giulietta.
She plays opposite mezzo-soprano Samantha Price, a regular performer with the Royal Opera and English National Opera, as Romeo.
Brenton Spiteri, who last performed with ETO in Manon Lescaut and The Rake’s Progress last spring, stars as Tebaldo, with Timothy Nelson as Capello and Masimba Ushe as Lorenzo.
The poster for English Touring Opera’s The Capulets And The Montagues
Eloise Lally, who directed ETO’s 2023 production of Lucrezia Borgia, is the director, while conductor, pianist and Le Balcon founder member Alphonse Cemin conducts in his debut season with ETO.
ETO director Robin Norton-Hale says: “This spring ETO celebrates the enduring power and relevance of the works of William Shakespeare with a season featuring one of the landmark operas of the 19th century alongside new works that draw inspiration from his themes and characters to create something entirely fresh and original.
“Bellini’s The Capulets And The Montagues puts a new spin on one of Shakespeare’s best-loved stories and is a classic of bel canto repertoire, with a dramatic contrast of sumptuous music and destructive violence.
“What Dreams May Come combines puppetry and song in an intimate exploration of life, love and death, set to new orchestrations of music inspired by the works of Shakespeare. It is a season that will showcase the best of ETO: wonderful storytelling and exceptional musicality.”
English Touring Opera rehearsing What Dreams May Come, a new production featuring depictions of grief, death and palliative care. Picture Craig Fuller
What Dreams May Come
Soprano – Alys Mererid Roberts Mezzo-soprano – Emily Hodkinson Tenor – Tamsanqa Tylor Lemani Baritone – Samuel Pantcheff
Director – Valentina Ceschi Conductor/piano – Erika Gundesen Puppetry designer – Matt Hutchinson
English Touring Opera cast members in rehearsal for The Capulets And The Montagues. Picture: Craig Fuller
The Capulets And The Montagues
Giulietta – Jessica Cale Romeo – Samantha Price Tebaldo – Brenton Spiteri Capello – Timothy Nelson Lorenzo – Masimba Ushe Ensemble – Daniel Gray Bell Ensemble – Harry Grigg Ensemble – Tamsanqa Tylor Lemani Ensemble – Samuel Pantcheff Ensemble – John Ieuan Jones Ensemble – Wonsick Oh
Director – Eloise Lally Conductor – Alphonse Cemin Designer – Lily Arnold Lighting Designer – Peter Harrison Répétiteur – Nicholas Bosworth Fight Director – Kaitlin Howard Movement Director – Carmine De Amicis
English Touring Opera’s poster for What Dreams May Come
English Touring Opera: the back story
TOURED live productions and education and community projects to more towns and cities than any other UK opera company since 1979
At the heart of the company ethos is “making exceptional artistic experiences available and accessible to everyone”.
ETO reaches 40,000 people per year with full theatre-based productions, specially commissioned operas for infants, children, families and young people with special educational needs, a series of creative workshops for people living with dementia and their carers, opera-making workshops in secondary schools, and song writing workshops in Alternative Provision settings designed to benefit young people’s mental health.
English Touring Opera complete climate change trilogy with The Vanishing Forest on March 2 return to Acomb Explore Library
English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Vanishing Forest, part three of a climate change trilogy of new operas. Picture: Julian Guidera
SOMETHING magical this way comes for families at Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, on Sunday (2/3/2025).
English Touring Opera present their family-friendly production of The Vanishing Forest, an enchanting adventure that blends Shakespeare, music and an environmental message.
“If you remember the mischievous Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you’re in for a treat,” promise ETO. “This brand-new opera picks up after the events of Shakespeare’s comedy, and things aren’t looking too good in the forest. The trees are being chopped down, and with them, the magic of the land is fading away. Puck knows it’s time to act – but he can’t do it alone!”
Enter Cassie and Mylas, the children of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta, who team up with Puck to save the forest before it is too late. Along the way, expect songs, puppetry, spells, mystical flowers and a story that will entertain and inspire young audiences while tackling the pressing issue of deforestation.
This musical adventure is the third and final instalment in English Touring Opera’s climate change trilogy, following The Wish Gatherer, winner of the Best Opera prize at the 2024 YAMAwards, and The Great Stink.
English Touring Opera’s poster for The Vanishing Forest
Written by Jonathan Ainscough, composed by Michael Betteridge and directed by Victoria Briggs, The Vanishing Forest is ideal for children aged seven to 11, the performance being designed to make opera accessible, fun and absorbing for younger audiences.
“Whether you’re a Shakespeare buff or completely new to the world of opera, this show is a wonderful way to introduce children to the magic of storytelling through music,” say ETO.
“So, if you’re looking for a magical way to spend a Sunday morning with the family, why not step into The Vanishing Forest? Expect laughter, adventure and some Shakespearean sparkle – just what everyone needs!”
“Previous performances by English Touring Opera at Acomb Explore have really wowed audiences and given children their first experience of professional opera in a very approachable and accessible way,” says Explore York executive assistant Gillian Holmes. “The latest performance is coming up very soon and there are still a few tickets left!”
English Touring Opera in The Vanishing Forest, Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, March 2, 11am. Tickets: tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives/1516069.
EXPLORE York Libraries and Archives is committed to making the arts accessible to all, so if the ticket price is a barrier, don’t worry. Free places are available: pop into your local library or email acomb@exploreyork.org.uk to find out more.
English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Vanishing Forest, part three of a climate change trilogy of new operas. Picture: Julian Guidera
SOMETHING magical this way comes for families at Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, on March 2.
English Touring Opera return to York to present their family-friendly production of The Vanishing Forest, an enchanting adventure that blends Shakespeare, music and an environmental message.
“If you remember the mischievous Puck from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, you’re in for a treat,” promise ETO. “This brand-new opera picks up after the events of Shakespeare’s comedy, and things aren’t looking too good in the forest. The trees are being chopped down, and with them, the magic of the land is fading away. Puck knows it’s time to act – but he can’t do it alone!”
Enter Cassie and Mylas, the children of Duke Theseus and Queen Hippolyta, who team up with Puck to save the forest before it is too late. Along the way, expect songs, puppetry, spells, mystical flowers and a story that will entertain and inspire young audiences while tackling the pressing issue of deforestation.
This musical adventure is the third and final instalment in English Touring Opera’s climate change trilogy, following The Wish Gatherer, winner of the Best Opera prize at the 2024 YAMAwards, and The Great Stink.
Written by Jonathan Ainscough, composed by Michael Betteridge and directed by Victoria Briggs, The Vanishing Forest is ideal for children aged seven to 11, the performance being designed to make opera accessible, fun and absorbing for younger audiences.
English Touring Opera’s poster for The Vanishing Forest
“Whether you’re a Shakespeare buff or completely new to the world of opera, this show is a wonderful way to introduce children to the magic of storytelling through music,” say ETO.
“So, if you’re looking for a magical way to spend a Sunday morning with the family, why not step into The Vanishing Forest? Expect laughter, adventure and some Shakespearean sparkle – just what everyone needs!”
“Previous performances by English Touring Opera at Acomb Explore have really wowed audiences and given children their first experience of professional opera in a very approachable and accessible way,” says Explore York executive assistant Gillian Holmes. “The latest performance is coming up very soon and there are still a few tickets left!”
English Touring Opera in The Vanishing Forest, Acomb Explore Library, Front Street, Acomb, York, March 2, 11am. Tickets: tickettailor.com/events/exploreyorklibrariesandarchives/1516069.
Explore York Libraries and Archives is committed to making the arts accessible to all, so if the ticket price is a barrier, don’t worry. Free places are available: pop into your local library or email acomb@exploreyork.org.uk to find out more.
Effie Warboys’ Ann Walker, left, and Sally Mitcham’s Anne Lister in York Shakespeare Project’s Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders
YORK Shakespeare Project audiences are greeted by not one, but two testaments to the groundbreaking impact of Anne “Gentleman Jack” Lister at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate.
First, by the entrance, York Civic Trust’s rainbow plaque commemorates the Easter 1834 wedding sacraments of “Anne with an ‘E’ and Anne without”, Ann Walker, recorded as the first lesbian marriage in Great Britain. Another historic landmark in this most storied of cities.
Once inside, by the churchyard path, Anne Lister has temporarily taken on tansy beetle form in a metallic sculpture for the York Trailblazers trail of unsung heroes until September 30.
Theatre spat: Rival actresses Lily (Alexandra Logan), left, and Felicity (Grace Scott) in York Shakespeare Project’s Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders
In Jen Dring’s design, the beetle’s back is covered in the diary scribblings of Anne Lister: words that have helped to shape the opening to Josie Campbell’s script to accompany 12 of Shakespeare sonnets in this tenth anniversary YSP production.
YSP’s theatrical conceit is to offer an invitation to a secret wedding – spoiler alert, the nuptials of Anne Lister (Sally Mitcham) and Ann Walker (Effie Warboys) – toasted on arrival with a free celebratory drink.
The audience is welcomed by the Reverend Goode, the “poptastic vicar and host” played by director Tony Froud, who promptly introduces himself as Ebenezer Goode in the first of a plethora of “couldn’t resist” pop culture references by Campbell. Status Quo, Paul McCartney and The Rolling Stones all follow, Rev Goode at one point quoting the lyrics of You Can’t Always Get What You Want.
Cleaning up: Marie-Louise Feeley’s Doreen and Helen Wilson’s Maureen, the church-cleaning double act in York Shakespeare Project’s Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders
Attired in York Theatre Royal costumes, Mitcham and Warboys play out the Lister-Walker betrothal, each bursting into a sonnet in the manner of characters breaking into song in a musical when there is no other form of expression that will suffice in that moment.
Mitcham’s assertive When I Have Seen By Time’s Fell Hand Defaced will be the first of four Shakespeare sonnets making their YSP debut in this summer’s set.
Warboys follows, one of six new sonneteers in Froud’s 2024 ranks, having made her mark in cheery fashion in YSP productions such as The Tempest. As she discovers in her opening conversation with Mitcham’s Miss Lister, the challenge for all is to acclimatise to performing outdoors, against the absorbant backdrop of the church walls, under the open sky.
Emily Hansen’s Lavinia, the unflappable costume designer, in York Shakespeare Project’s Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders
What’s more, the nearby restaurant kitchen fan is whirring loudly and the staff are busy with bustling crockery and food prep on the 6pm shift. Not the easiest of circumstances in which to perform, and Froud’s last words of advice before the first performance were of the need for volume.
In such a space, as soon as heads turn sideways, the loss in clarity can be considerable, but only through experience does a performer learn the skill of projection. Best advice here: follow the example of Maurice Crichton and Helen Wilson, old hands at this sonneteering malarkey.
No doubt, Froud will have given post-show notes to re-emphasise that volume speaks volumes. There is a case too for having the actors move closer to the seated audience, or indeed for the seating to be moved forward, and also to project straight on as much as possible in this declamatory framework.
Maurice Crichton’s intemperate director, Callum, offering advice to Alexandra Logan’s wilful leading lady, Lily, in Summer Sonnets. Picture: John Saunders
Crichton, in beret, cravat and exasperated Scottish accent, is playing Callum, “the far from calm director” of what turns out to be a rehearsal for an amateur company at Rev Goode’s church. And so, rather than a play within a play in keeping with Frayn’s Noises Off, Ayckbourn’s A Chorus Of Disapproval or Mischief’s The Play That Goes Wrong, instead we have sonnets within backstage shenanigans.
One by one, or two by two, we shall encounter staff, actresses and helping hands. Here come the church cleaners, debutant sonneteer Marie-Louise Feeley’s Doreen, an aspiring performer, and Wilson’s world-weary, seen-it-all-before Maureen, marigold gloves stuffed in her overalls. Her sonnet, Th’expense Of Spirit In A Waste Of Shame, is one of the high points.
Two rival actresses, steady-away Felicity (Grace Scott) and flighty young leading lady Lily (Alexandra Logan) will spar amusingly, the latter’s nascent prima-donna tendencies in the role of Anne Lister’s earlier paramour Maria Belcombe, testing Crichton’s acerbic Callum to breaking point.
Liam Godfrey’s Graham, the tardy actor, in a tender moment with Grace Scott’s Felicity in Summer Sonnets. Halina Jarosewska’s Maggie, the indispensable stage manager, looks on. Picture: John Saunders
Liam Godfrey, another of the debutants, captures the diffidence of tardy actor Graham (playing Captain Sutherland, from Anne Lister’s story) as he makes his reacquaintance with Felicity, his partner in pantomime cow, as Campbell brings another artform into play.
Emily Hansen’s Lavinia, the unflappable costume designer, and Halina Jarosewska’s Maggie, the indispensable stage manager, pop up regularly, in that quietly essential way that such theatre stalwarts do. Hansen’s delivery of Being Your Slave, What Should I Do But Tend suits Maggie perfectly.
The finale brings everyone together, Lister, Walker, et al, led by Froud’s good shepherd Rev Goode in Let Me Not To The Marriage Of True Minds, rounding out Campbell’s amusing caricature of the theatre world, celebration of love and abiding joy in Shakespeare’s sonnets.
York Shakespeare Project, Summer Sonnets, Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York, until August 17, 6pm and 7.30pm nightly, plus 4.30pm on Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/show/summer-sonnets/.
Tony Froud’s Reverend Goode, the “poptastic vicar and host”in Summer Sonnets, addressing the flock in the Holy Trinity churchyard. Picture: John Saunders
Coming next:
William Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen Of Verona, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, October 22 to 26, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
AFTER “much deliberation, and too many wonderful people auditioning”, director Tempest Wisdom has picked York Shakespeare Project’s cast for The Two Gentlemen Of Verona.
In the company will be: Jodie Fletcher; Stuart Lindsay; Jamie Williams; Nick Patrick Jones; Thomas Jennings; Lily Geering; Anna Gallon; Liz Quinlan; Lara Stafford; Wilf Tomlinson; Effie Warboys; Mark Payton; Stuart Green; Jon Cook; Charlie Spencer; Pearl Mollison; Kay Maneerot; Celeste North Finocchi and Charlie Barras.
The first night, October 22, will be a preview performance (£10). Tickets for the rest of the week cost £15. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Four go into three: Cast members James Aldred, Peter Long, Lucy Chamberlain and Charlotte Horner of The Three Inch Fools
OPEN-AIR theatre specialists The Three Inch Fools will head to Scampston Hall, Scampston, near Malton, on July 20 with their rowdy reimagining of the story of a troublesome Tudor king, The Secret Diary Of Henry VIII.
Further North Yorkshire performances will follow at Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York, on July 23, and Helmsley Walled Garden on August 6.
Founded in Cumbria in 2015 by the Hyde brothers, producer James and writer, composer and director Stephen, the company combines fast-paced storytelling with uproarious music-making as their modus operandi for their contemporary spin on the traditional touring troupe.
The Secret Diary finds a young Henry VIII attempting to navigate his way through courtly life on a tour that will visit heritage sites with Tudor links to transport audiences back in time, albeit with a different take on history than the one told by the great houses.
Stephen Hyde’s new work provides an “essential guide” to how to keep your head in the Tudor Court when unexpectedly thrust into the limelight, as Henry navigates the ups and downs of courtly life, all while fighting the French (again) and re-writing religious law. Cue a madcap take on Britain’s most epic monarch and those infamous wives.
Operating from their rehearsal residency at the National Trust property of Eastbury Manor House in Banbury, the Fools are touring 80 venues this summer with two shows, the second being their innovative twist on Shakespeare’s shortest, wildest farce, The Comedy Of Errors, with its tale of long-lost twins, misunderstandings and messy mishaps.
Directed by The Play That Goes Wrong’s Sean Turner, The Comedy Of Errors will play Helmsley Walled Garden on July 19.
In the Three Inch Fools cast will be James Aldred, Lucy Chamberlain, Charlotte Horner and Pete Long, while the production team includes fight director and choreographer Marcello Marascalchi, movement director Claire Parry and costume & props designer Aoife Hills.
The Three Inch Fools in The Secret Diary Of Henry VIII, Scampston Hall & Walled Gardens, Scampston, near Malton, July 20; Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York, July 23, and Helmsley Arts Centre, August 6, all at 7pm. The Comedy Of Errors, Helmsley Walled Garden, July 19, 7pm. Gates open at 6pm. Age guidance: 6+. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk.
Stranger things: Actors will meet up for the first time to stage a Shakespeare’s Speakeasy play in a day in York
SHAKESPEARE’S Speakeasy is heading to York for the first time on May 16, making its debut at Theatre@41, Monkgate.
“It’s Shakespeare, but it’s secret,” says the theatre’s website. “Can a group of strangers successfully stage a Shakespearean play in a day? Shakespeare’s Speakeasy is the place for you to find out.
“Taking an irreverent and entertaining view of the Bard’s work, this one-night-only production promises you an hilarious take on one of Bill’s best known plays. But which play will it be? Well, like all good Speakeasys, that’s a secret.”
Why so secret? Let artistic director Steven Arran explain: “We don’t actually unveil the play until the curtain goes up. ‘Speakeasys’ are supposed to be secret after all! And if I unveiled our reason for choosing it, that will probably give the game away. You’ll just have to come along and find out.”
Introducing the cast: Claire Morley. No stranger to Shakespeare, having performed his words for many years in York with companies such as York Shakespeare Project and Well-fangled Theatre. Latterly had fun with the characters of Malvolio (ALRA North), Macbeth (Northumberland Theatre Company), Aufidius (1623 Theatre) and Titania (Hoglets Theatre). “Ready for the adrenaline rush of the Speakeasy, I’m also excited to geta shot at another character long on the bucket list,” says Claire. “For the May 16 event I’m helping them to create some connections in York.”
Shakespeare’s Speakeasy started in Newcastle upon Tyne on September 11 2018. “We performed our first show at a great Fringe venue, the Alphabetti Theatre, but post-pandemic we migrated to The People’s Theatre, where we’ve developed a very enthusiastic and loyal audience who have responded well to our anarchic and irreverent style,” says Steven.
“As to why we started, that’s a horse of many colours. I’d been working in Canada as an actor, where I performed in a lot of outdoor Shakespearean productions. In North America, Shakespeare was treated like a holy text with a major focus on treating every line as sacrosanct – the major focus being on the poetry.
“For me, this really detracted from the characters being real humans with human emotions, and I knew that it was the latter I was more invested in as an audience member.”
This prompted Steven to think of his experiences watching Shakespeare in the UK. “No-one was really staging Shakespeare in Newcastle, and I realised the majority of opportunities I had to watch in Newcastle was if the RSC [Royal Shakespeare Company] or the National Theatre rolled through town at the Theatre Royal, and you’d pay top dollar for the privilege to watch a lot of posh boys and girls recite lines that you remembered from school,” he says.
“This did not make me feel included. The price made it feel like ‘a treat’ and the accents made me feel like Shakespeare was something for ‘them’, not for everyone. My drama school training had really opened my eyes that this should not be the case, and so I was resolved to cast local actors to produce shows for local audiences, in which they would see people like them reflected on the stage.
Introducing the cast: Tempest Wisdom, writer, director, performer and educator based in York. Specialises in clown, mask and Shakespeare, “making the Speakeasy a perfect fit,” Tempest says.
“Also, these plays are SO funny and entertaining, something lost in many productions, and I wanted to inject that excitement into my shows. Shakespeare’s audience was a rowdy lot for the most part, and we like ours to be too!”
Why begin in Newcastle? “No more exciting an answer than this is my home and I wanted to give my home opportunities that it didn’t already have,” says Steven. “When I was coming up as a young actor, the scene felt like a closed shop, and what little was being produced that we had access to felt very much of the ‘it’s grim up north’ variety.
“No-one was producing Shakespeare bar amateur dramatics groups, and even then it was often in a very affected style. After my experiences at drama school, where I was encouraged to use my own voice, I wanted to see more Geordies doing classical works without being forced to do an RP [Received Pronunciation] accent. It’s still something we run up against all the time though. People think Shakespeare and they think ‘posh’ and it’s simply not the case.”
Steven is the only core member of the Shakespeare’s Speakeasy production company. “One of primary aims is to ensure we employ as many directors and performers as possible, and so there is no wider team so to speak,” he says. “We employ and cast locally to give regional actors opportunities to direct classical pieces that they may not usually get a chance to professionally stage.”
Introducing the cast: Esther Irving, actor and theatre-maker from North Yorkshire with big passion for Shakespeare
This philosophy has led to the decision to spread Shakespeare’s Speakeasy’s wings to York in its sixth year. “The Yorkshire accent is so rich and versatile, and we want people to hear that on stage,” reasons Steven.
“A primary aim of Shakespeare’s Speakeasy is to champion local performers with local accents and disabuse people of the notion that Shakespeare is ‘posh’ or ‘done in a certain way’. We plan, eventually, to expand to several cities in the North. Venues in Manchester, Glasgow and Liverpool have already been confirmed.”
So far Shakespeare’s Speakeasy has tackled Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, The Comedy Of Errors, Macbeth, As You Like It, The Taming Of The Shrew, Love’s Labours Lost, Measure For Measure and Hamlet, some staged more than once.
“We mostly stick to the comedies, but have done a few tragedies, which our irreverent style has made a laugh riot,” says Steven. “It’s hard to make people feel the ‘feels’ of Hamlet in 70 minutes, so you may as well make them laugh at some of the more ridiculous elements.”
May 16’s inaugural York performance will be Shakespeare’s Speakeasy’s 13th show. “Unlucky for some, let’s hope it’s not us!” says Steven.
Introducing the cast: York actor Ian Giles, part of an international company that created Working Title for the York International Shakespeare Festival in April
Among those taking part will be Claire Morley, Esther Irving, Tempest Wisdom, Alice May, Ian Giles, Rowan Naylor Miles and Jake Wilson Craw. “We’ve assembled a really talented troupe for this production but, honestly, we could have cast the play three times over,” says Steven.
“It was humbling to see the enthusiasm we were greeted with by York’s acting community. Applicants came via word of mouth – actors who have worked with us voluntarily spread the word – and also through various social media groups. Theatre@41 and York Theatre Royal were also very gracious in spreading word of the opportunity. The cast has since had four weeks to learn their lines.”
The day will be a long and challenging one, but full of laughter and play too, for actors and director alike. “The actors will meet at 9am – the first time they meet in person – and do a line run of the whole play,” says Steven. “After that, we’ll spend the day, approximately eight hours, going through the show scene by scene, getting it on its feet and doing the basic business of blocking and tech on the fly.
“It’s a very collaborative experience. Actors are encouraged to share ideas they have for scenes, and we’ll give them all a try as long as we have the time. Whilst the directors always have a vision – we’ve done a Lion King version of Hamlet, Twelfth Night in a Butlins-style holiday camp – it’s really important for us to let the actors offer their suggestions. A good idea can come from anyone.”
The climactic performance will be fully teched and costumed. “Not to RSC standards, mind you. Expect cardboard sets, plastic swords and all manner of ridiculousness,” promises Steven. “This is Shakespeare as pure entertainment”.
Introducing the cast: Jake Wilson Craw, actor and writer from Newcastle returning to Shakespeare’s Speakeasy ranks in York debut
Asked to define the characteristics of a typical Shakespeare’s Speakeasy experience, Steven says: “I’ve reached out to some loyal audience members for this answer, as well as my own thoughts. The characteristics would be funny and local. Chaotic. Very silly. We’re entertaining first and foremost.
“We want you to have a good time, and because of that we’re often irreverent, sometimes bawdy, and sometimes downright daft. We want you to see the people you know in your everyday life on stage, not vaunted legendary characters. You will always leave with a smile on your face.”
Looking ahead, will Steven be seeking to make Shakespeare’s Speakeasy a regular event in York? “Hopefully yes,” he says. “Since our inception, we’ve staged 12 productions in Newcastle and see no reason why our format cannot be replicated in York and other cities in the north.
“One of our primary aims is to give regional actors more work. You shouldn’t have to move to London to work in the field you love – and the only way to do that is to stage productions.”
Shakespeare’s Speakeasy York, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 16, 7.30pm. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Steven Arran: back story on North East actor, theatre maker and artistic director behind Shakespeare’s Speakeasy
Steven Arran: Artistic director of Shakespeare’s Speakeasy
“I WAS a professional actor for ten years. I trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and was lucky enough to work in the UK and North America. My interest in Shakespeare only really emerged during this time when we spent a term at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.
“Being in that space, realising how the environment informed the play scripts and, most importantly, being encouraged to perform the text in my own accent and not an affected RP, really opened my eyes to how accessible Shakespeare could be.
“Seeing shows there whilst in the pit for £5 a pop didn’t hurt either. You can feel both financially and culturally excluded from Shakespeare and we aim to break down that assumption.
“I also wanted to give young local actors the opportunity to act in their own town, and to become familiar with classical plays, which they may have had no access to other than reading along in English class. (Not how we should be experiencing them).
“To date we’ve employed more than 80 actors from the North East and hope to do similar in different regions.”
Steve Arran’s profile on LinkedIn:
PROFESSIONAL actor, committed writer, passable stand-up, enthusiastic gamer, fanatical art historian and total cinephile. Very skilled in classical theatre and improvisation. Screenplays’ relation to historical events a speciality.
Did you know?
STEVEN Arran works with International House language school, helping non-English speakers to learn the language through acting in mini-Shakespeare productions.
