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.
Mark Holgate and Suzy Cooper in rehearsal for York Stage’s reinvention of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
WHY did artistic director and producer Nik Briggs pick A Midsummer Night’s Dream for York Stage’s debut Shakespeare production where the Bard meets the streets?
“As this is our first Shakespeare, we wanted to choose a show that, like our big musicals, appeals to the masses!” he reasons, ahead of the May 6 to 11 run at the Grand Opera House, York. “‘Dream’ is a perfect choice for this with its themes of love, rebellion and reconciliation.
“Then there are the magical aspects of the story, which really have allowed us to use the big production values that York Stage are renowned for. Audiences can expect flying fairies, big costumes, sensational music and, of course, lots of high-quality drama.”
York pantomime golden gal Suzy Cooper and York-born Royal Shakespeare Company actor Mark Holgate will lead Briggs’s company in his reinvented version that brings a bold new aesthetic to the 1594-1596 romantic comedy, one where the ancient court of Athens is replaced by Athens Court, a northern council estate, to the accompaniment of a soundtrack of Nineties and Noughties’ club classics, performed live.
Here come northern accents, enchanting extras such as magical, flying fairies and a rave in the woods, propelled by York Stage’s trademark high energy and bursts of explosive theatre inspired by such companies as Frantic Assembly.
Nik Briggs: York Stage producer and director
“Through our transportation to a council estate, we’ve been able to maintain the high dramatic stakes and mayhem that Shakespeare fuelled his story with, whilst reframing the action so a modern audience see the themes of rebellion, love, passion and community as part of a world more reminiscent of cult British dramas such as Shameless and Brassic,” says Nik.
Briggs’s production will, however, stick to Shakespeare’s script and traditional language. “The core of the production is still very much Shakespeare’s beautiful text but that doesn’t mean it’s delivered in RP [Received Pronunciation] or the King’s English. It’s Shakespeare’s text performed in our actors’ accents.
“I very much believe Shakespeare, and the brilliant stories he created, are totally accessible to everyone when told in the right way. The balance of respecting the text whilst keeping story-telling at the heart of our rehearsals means we can create a show that will be enjoyable and entertaining to audience members ranging from those who’ve never seen Shakespeare before to those who regularly pick up the complete works for some light reading.”
Nik continues: “Shakespeare created his shows for the masses from the working classes to the gentry and that should still be the case today. We aren’t making theatre for academics and upper classes; everyone should feel at home watching theatre.
“I remember seeing a brilliant production of the ‘Dream’ by Edward Hall’s Propeller when I was at school. It was the first time I’d seen Shakespeare on stage and it all just clicked for me as a school student who comes from a family who’d never read Shakespeare or been to university.
York Stage’s poster for A Midsummer Night’s Dream with its Dream casting of Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate
“The story I saw on stage just made sense. I may not have understood every word or phrase at that stage but I knew the story clearly by the end and felt every emotion the actors were portraying.”
The comedy in ‘Dream’ will be portrayed in many different layers. “It’s our job to understand what made it funny to an Elizabethan audience and to find ways to connect that to our audience,” says Nik.
“Are there comparisons to the world we’re creating onstage that we can make from the original text etc? Then we look at how to share all this with the audience, whether it’s how we deliver the lines or through visual comedy and occasionally from ad-libs that come about naturally in rehearsals.
“Like a good cheese or wine (or curry from last night’s takeaway), it always tastes better when it’s left to mature and is enjoyed later – the comedy in our show is very much like that.
The choice of Nineties and Noughties’ dancefloor fillers emerged from the world of the Athens Court council estate. “It’s the music that would surround that world; the people who live in Athens Court would listen to and love these songs,” says Nik.
“When we shortlisted the songs, we then realised they all come from a similar time period, which we’ve taken forward into other design and cultural choices for this new setting for the show. This has led into some brilliant discoveries and invoked memories of the early ‘chav’ culture of the Nineties and Noughties, which has given us lots to play with in rehearsals.
Suzy Cooper’s Hippolyta in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Cue singing and dancing in Briggs’s ‘Dream’, as seen in York Stage productions aplenty. “Shakespeare’s theatre was filled with music and A Midsummer Night’s Dream has lots of music in it already. We’ve taken this, re-created it so it fits with additional music we’re using in the show. Audiences who know York Stage shows can expect the same high energy and big production numbers we have in our musicals,” says Nik.
“With a whole ensemble of mischievous and ‘chavvy’ fairies, we’ve been able to create some real wow moments that will really excite and amaze our audiences.”
Is York Stage’s show recommended for school pupils studying Shakespeare? “Yes! All ages will love this show. I think school pupils will relish in the mayhem of our production. There are some naughtier aspects but there is nothing that’s not in the original version and indeed the pace and high japes energy we’re bringing to the story will be perfect for the Gen Alpha, TikTok-loving audience.
May Tether, who first made her mark on the York stage before appearing in the West End production and UK tour of Heathers The Musical, will be returning north to sing such songs as Free From Desire and Show Me Love.
“I am so excited to be returning to perform at the Grand Opera House,” she says. “It’s always felt like home for me. To be involved with a Shakespeare production is so exciting and in such a special venue to my heart, I can’t ask for anything more.”
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. A 20-minute Q&A with the cast will follow Wednesday’s matinee, ideal for schools. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
What happens in A Midsummer Night’s Dream?
“IN the mystical twilight of Midsummer’s Night, the realms of reality and fairy blur. Four youthful lovers, grappling with the prospect of a loveless union, flee the confines of Athens, wandering into an enchanted forest.
Meanwhile, a troupe of aspiring actors rehearses a play to commemorate an impending royal wedding. As these unsuspecting mortals cross paths with the tumultuous clash of a fairy King and Queen, chaos reigns in the natural world.
The lines between truth and magic begin to dissolve, leaving only the whimsical Puck privy to the secrets of what is real and what is spun from enchantment.”
May Tether returns to York Stage
May Tether: Reuniting with York Stage to play the singing siren Moon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream
MAY Tether, who first made her mark on the York stage before heading to the West End, will be returning north to sing such songs as Free From Desire and Show Me Love in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
“I am so excited to be returning to perform at the Grand Opera House,” she says. “It’s always felt like home for me. To be involved with a Shakespeare production is so exciting and in such a special venue to my heart, I can’t ask for anything more.”
May made her professional debut in York Stage’s pandemic pantomime, Jack And The Beanstalk, in December 2020 before appearing in the West End smash hit and UK tour of Heathers The Musical, where she played the lead role of Veronica Sawyer many times.
May Tether as Elle Woods in York Stage’s production of Legally Blonde The Musical
She has since performed in Halls The Musical at the Turbine Theatre, York and Boy George’s Taboo at the London Palladium; played Dainty June in Gypsy The Musical In Concert at the Manchester Opera House and performed with the John Godber Company in Moby Dick at Stage@The Dock, Hull.
Her York Stage credits at the Grand Opera House include playing Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray and Elle Woods in Legally Blonde The Musical.
York Stage producer Nik Briggs says: “I’m so looking forward to working once again with May. Since meeting her at 16 years of age, I always knew she was set for a brilliant career in performing, and only a few years after graduating she is already doing this!
“Her powerful vocals and huge range, alongside her transfixing performance presence, will be a huge asset in our show. Reuniting her with Stephen Hackshaw, who is arranging and composing the soundtrack for the show, will undoubtedly lead to a sensational musical result.”
May Tether as Jill Gallop in York Stage’s pandemic pantomime Jack And The Beanstalk
Pease talks: John Pease features in Patch’s new Funny Fridays comedy forum at the Bonding Warehouse
A NEW comedy night in a bygone location and Shakespeare on a council estate stand out in Charles Hutchinson’s picks for cultural exploration.
Laughter launch of the week: Funny Fridays, Patch, Bonding Warehouse, Terry Avenue, York, May 9, doors 7pm for 7.30pm start
LIVE comedy returns to the Bonding Warehouse for the first time since the days of the late Mike Bennett presenting the likes of Lee Evans and Ross Noble under the Comedy Shack banner. Stand up for Funny Fridays, hosted by York humorist Katie Lingo (alias copywriter Katie Taylor-Thompson) with an introductory price of £6.50.
On her first bill will be Kenny Watt, Tuiya Tembo, BBC New Comedy Awards semi-finalist Matty Oxley, Saeth Wheeler and Edinburgh Fringe Gilded Balloon semi-finalist John Pease. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk/e/funny-fridays-at-patch-tickets.
Sean Heydon: Magical sleight of hand at the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club tonight
Magical comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club presents Sean Heydon, Big Lou, Oliver Bowler and MC Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm
LAUGH Out Loud headliner Sean Heydon has performed to A-list celebrities and blue-chip companies, as well as at comedy clubs, with his combination of madcap comedy, sleight-of-hand magic and illusions for more than 15 years.
Big Lou offers a modern twist on old-school joke telling in the Les Dawson style; comedian, actor and writer Oliver Bowler discusses life experiences on the mean streets of Bolton; regular host and promoter Damion Larkin keeps order. Box office: 01904 612940 or lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Anastacia: Playing York Barbican on her Not That Kind 25th anniversary tour
Anniversary tour of the week: Anastacia, Not That Kind Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.45pm
CHICAGO singer-songwriter Anastacia , 56, heads to York on her European tour marking the 25th anniversary of her debut album Not That Kind and its breakthrough hit I’m Outta Love.
Further singles Not That Kind, Paid My Dues, One Day In Your Life, Left Outside Alone and Sick And Tired charted too, as did 2001 album Freak Of Nature (reaching number four) and 2004’s chart-topping Anastacia, 2005’s Pieces Of A Dream, 2008’s Heavy Rotation, 2014’s Resurrection and 2015’s Ultimate Collection Her special guest will be Casey McQuillen. Box office: for returns only, yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Newton Faulkner: Unveiling new songs from his upcoming Octopus album at The Crescent, York
“No technological funny business” of the week: Newton Faulkner, Feels Like Home Tour 3, The Crescent, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
LET Reigate singer-songwriter Newton Faulkner describe his York gig: “Folks, I give you the Feels Like Home Tour 3. We’re talking no technological funny business in my set-up. I love switching my focus back to just playing and singing. I also cannot wait to introduce you properly to the new material and my new head.”
Often Faulkner has found himself in his home studio working solo, but not for this next record, nor for this tour. His new phase is full of collaboration, one where “seeing these songs come to life on stage is going to be nothing short of joyous” ahead of the September 19 release of Octopus. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape on his return to York Theatre Royal after 45 years. Picture: Gisele Schmidt
York theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, until May 17
OSCAR winner Gary Oldman returns to York Theatre Royal, where he made his professional debut in 1979, to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since 1989.
“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Tickets update: check availability of returns on 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York musician Steve Cassidy: Once he worked with John Barry and producer Joe Meek, now he plays with his mates on regular nights at the JoRo
Return of the week: Steve Cassidy Band, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
YORK singer, songwriter, guitarist and former head teacher Steve Cassidy will be joined by special guests when he lines up as usual with John Lewis on lead guitar, Mick Hull on bass guitar, ukulele, guitar and vocals, Brian Thomson on percussion and George Hall on keyboards.
Expect rock and country songs, as well as instrumental pieces, selected especially for this evening. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Rupert Julian’s 1925 film The Phantom Of The Opera, starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin
Film event of the week: 100th anniversary of The Phantom Of The Opera, with pianist Jonny Best, National Centre for Early Music, York, May 6, 7.30pm
BENEATH the opulence of the Paris Opera House, in the darkness of the catacombs, lurks the Phantom, a lonely creature whose only comfort is the sound of the music that drifts down to him from the stage above. When a new soprano arrives, he becomes enraptured by her voice and swears to possess her at any cost in Rupert Julian’s lavish 1925 American silent film.
Both a dark love story and a horror classic, noted for its vast sets and innovative experiments with film colour as well as the skull-like appearance of Lon Chaney’s Phantom, Julian’s film is accompanied by a new improvised piano score by Jonny Best to marks its centenary. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Neon Crypt Productions bite back in Dracula: The Bloody Truth
Taking their first bite of the week: Neon Crypt Productions in Dracula: The Bloody Truth, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 6 to 11 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
THE York producers of The Deathly Dark Tour and A Night Of Face-Melting Horror, Jamie and Laura McKeller, get stuck into their debut stage show under the name of Neon Crypt Productions.
From the mischievous minds of physical theatre specialists Le Navet Bete, Dracula: The Bloody Truth reveals the truth behind the fangs, as told by a disgruntled Jamie McKeller’s Professor Van Helsing and a troupe of three very stressed actors, Laura Castle’s Count Dracula, Laura McKeller’s Mina and Michael Cornell’s Jonathan Harker. Together they will shatter the lies spoken by the charlatan Bram Stoker and finally shed light on what actually happened. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Mark Holgate’s Oberon and Suzy Cooper’s Titania, 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
Reinvented play of the week: 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
YORK pantomime golden gal Suzy Cooper turns Fairy Queen Titania opposite York-born Royal Shakespeare Company actor Mark Holgate’s Fairy King Oberon in Nik Briggs’s debut Shakespeare production for York Stage.
In his first co-production with the Cumberland Street theatre, Briggs relocates the Bard’s most-performed comedy from the court of Athens to Athens Court, a northern council estate, where magic is fuelled with mayhem and true love’s bumpy path is played out to a new score by musical director Stephen Hackshaw and Nineties and Noughties’ dancefloor fillers, sung by May Tether. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Katherine Toy in rehearsals for AKA Theatre’s The Flood, on tour in York, Hull and Leeds. Picture: Cian O’Riain
Premiere of the week: AKA Theatre Company in The Flood: A Musical, Friargate Theatre, York, May 9 and 10, 7.30pm; Godber Studio, Hull Truck Theatre, Hull, May 13, 7pm; Leeds Playhouse Burton Studio, May 14 and 15, 8pm
AKA Theatre Company’s premiere of Lucie Raine and Joe Revell’s musical The Flood blends live music and heartfelt storytelling based on true accounts of facing up to disaster in West Yorkshire in 2015.
“This is a story about what it means to come together when everything falls apart,” says writer-director Raine, who uses a cast of five actor-musicians. “It’s not just a play. It’s a tribute to resilience and creativity, inspired by Hebden Bridge and its people. It’s a celebration for all communities who have faced adversity and emerged stronger.” Box office: York, ticketsource.co.uk; Hull, hulltruck.co.uk; Leeds, leedsplayhouse.org.uk.
Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox: Putting the retro into today’s hits at York Barbican
Nostalgia for today: Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox: Magic & Moonlight Tour 2025, York Barbican, May 7, doors 7pm
AFTER chalking off their 1,000th show, retro collective Postmodern Jukebox are on the British leg of their Moonlight & Magic world tour. Enter a parallel universe where modern-day hits are reimagined in 1920s’ jazz, swing, doo-wop and Motown arrangements. Think The Great Gatsby meets Sinatra At The Sands meets Back To The Future. Dress vintage for the full effect. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
In Focus: York Late Music, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, Stuart O’Hara & Marianna Cortesi, today at 1pm; Trio Agile and Northern School of Contemporary Dance, today at 7.30pm
Stuart O’Hara & Marianna Cortesi
YORK Late Music plays host to two concerts today, the first featuring bass Stuart O’Hara and pianist Marianna Cortesi this afternoon as Sounds Lyrical presents settings of poets Hugh Bernays, John Gilham, Richard Kitchen and Alan Gillott by composers Thomas J Crawley, Robert Holden, Jenny Jackson, Katie Lang, Dawn Walters and James Else.
The concert comprises: Elizabeth Lutyens’ Refugee Blues (Auden); David Blake’s Morning Sea (CP Cavafy); Dawn Walters’ Pre-dawn (Richard Kitchen); Jenny Jackson’s Collecting Stones (Richard Kitchen); Robert Holden’s Flaneur (John Gilham) and Katie Laing’s Maker (Richard Kitchen).
Then come Thomas J Crawley’s Leather Heart (Hugh Bernays); James Else’s Retras IV (Alan Gillott); Tim Brooks’s Jeer (Lizzie Linklater); David Blake’s Voices (CP Cavafy) and Stephen Dodgson’s Various Australian Bush Ballads, 2nd Series. The programme also includes music by David Blake and Elizabeth Lutyens.
Northern School of Contemporary Dance dancer Antonio Bukhar Ssebuuma: Performing with Trio Agile tonight
TONIGHT’S concert marks a first collaboration between York Late Music and the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Trio Agile and NSCD’s Freedom Dances programme.
Bringing together the freedoms of dance, music and rhythm, Trio Agile combine their experimental flair and improvisatory talent with four dancers from the Leeds school, Antonio Bukhar Ssebuuma, Darcy Bodle, Genevieve Wright and Maya Donne.
The 7.30pm performance blends a range of styles from across the globe in a shared expression of the power and joy of the arts, including new works from Indian composer and performer Supriya Nagarajan, Angela Elizabeth Slater, David Lancaster, Steve Crowther, David Power, Athena Corcoran-Tadd and James Else.
Curated by James Else in partnership with the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, the programme comprises: Susie Hodder-Williams & Chris Caldwell, Prelude; Angela Elizabeth Slater, Weaving Colours; Paul Honey, Une Valse Assez Triste; James Else, Freedom Dances and David Lancaster, The Compendium Of Ingenious Mechanical Devices.
Then follow Susie Hodder-Williams & Chris Caldwell, Pas de Deux; Tom Armstrong, Aunt Maria’s Dancing Master; Paul Honey, Pizzìca; Athena Corcoran-Tadd, To You; Supriya Nagarajan, Mohanam Raga; Steve Crowther, Once Upon A Time Harlequin Met His Columbine; David Power, Something In Our Skies; Susie Hodder-Williams & Chris Caldwell, Light Dances and Athena Corcoran-Tadd , Hope Is A Boat.
The musicians will be: Susie Hodder-Williams, flutes; Chris Caldwell, saxophone and bass clarinet; Richard Horne, vibraphone and percussion; Supriya Nagarajan, voice, and Paul Honey, piano.
Chris Caldwell, Susie Hodder-Williams and composer James Else will give a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm with a complimentary glass of wine or juice.
Tickets are on sale at latemusic.org or on the door.
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
Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate: Playing Titania and Hippolyta and Oberon and Theseus respectively 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 actor Mark Holgate as the quarrelling Queen and King of the Fairies, Titania and Oberon, in York Stage’s 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.
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. “Keep your eyes peeled over the coming weeks for more Dreamy cast announcements. The next one will be very soon.”
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 from December 9 2023 to January 6 2024.
Britannia rules the waves: Suzy Cooper’s fairy in Robinson Crusoe &The Pirates Of The River Ouse at the Grand Opera House, York, in December 2023. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
“It will be lovely to be back in York, performing at the Grand Opera House again,” says Suzy, who will take the role of Hippolyta too opposite Holgate’s Theseus. “I’ve never played Titania before, but I did play the fairy, Mustardseed, 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 [when she also appeared as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth].
“I’ve not worked with Mark before, but he did the Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre season the same summer that I did, and it’s going to be a lot of fun working with him.”
Explaining how this production and the initial casting came to fruition, producer-director Nik says: “This is a new venture for York Stage in our first co-production with the Grand Opera House, so as part of that we were looking at how we could create the next generation of York Stage productions.
“Like when we did our first pantomime [the socially distanced Jack And The Beanstalk in the Covid-shadowed winter of 2020] and we’ve also talked about using professional casting alongside our community casting, where a lot of our actors have professional credits too.
“It was important for York Stage to use professional actors with connections with York, and Suzy was someone I had wanted to work with for a long time. We’d talked several times about doing a show, and this was the perfect opportunity. It’s been in the offing since late-summer when we started talking about it.”
York Stage director Nik Briggs: Relocating Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream from the court of Athens Court, a northern council estate
Nik continues: “We were thinking about making ‘Dream’ like Brassic or Shameless, set on a northern council estate. In the original telling, Hippolyta is the Amazon queen, who is almost a prisoner of the Athenian court, and the idea struck me that with Suzy being a southerner but adopted by York after performing here for nigh on 30 years, she would be ideal as the southern counterpoint to the northern world in the tumultuous battle that unfolds, adding a North-South divide to it.”
Nik will be directing Mark Holgate for the first time too. “Our paths have never crossed before. Mark’s father had seen a piece in The Press about us looking for actors and said that Mark had had a career with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Cheek By Jowl, Sheffield Crucible and theatres across the UK and was a real master of Shakespearean acting, but he’d never performed at the Grand Opera House or York Theatre Royal.
“The opportunity to perform in one of the big theatres in his home city, with his family living in the city, was a real draw for him. He’s played such roles as Banquo in Macbeth and Duke Orsino in Twelfth Night – he was sensational in that – for Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre but until now I wasn’t aware that he was from York.
“So we met up, he did some readings and he was exactly what I’d envisaged for Oberon. It really hinges on Oberon in this play, and Mark got my vision; he had just what I wanted from the role. It’s really exciting to see what he’ll bring to it.”
Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate will star in York Stage’s 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.
Laura Fraser’s DI Bea Metcalf on the York waterfront in Channel 4’s crime drama Patience. Picture: Channel 4
FROM a neurodiverse TV crime drama to an Oscar winner’s stage return, Charles Hutchinson picks highlights of the year ahead.
Seeing York through a different lens: Patience, Channel 4 from January 8, 9pm
CHANNEL 4’s six-part police procedural drama Patience, set in York, opens with the two-part Paper Mountain Girl, on January 8 and 9, wherein autistic Police Records Office civilian worker Patience Evans (Ella Maisy Purvis) brings her unique investigative insight to helping DI Bea Metcalf (Laura Fraser) and her team.
Written for Eagle Eye Drama by Matt Baker, from Pocklington, Patience is as much a celebration of neurodiversity as a crime puzzle-solver. “The centre of York itself is a little bit like a puzzle,” he says.
Lara McClure: Atmospheric storytelling at A Feast Of Fools II at the Black Swan Inn
Out with the old, in with the new: Navigators Art presents A Feast Of Fools II, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, Sunday, 7pm to 10.30pm; doors, 6pm
YORK collective Navigators Art presents a last gasp of mischief in an alternative end-of-season celebration of Twelfth Night and Old Christmas, packed with live folk music, spoken word and a nod to the pagan and the impish.
Dr Lara McClure sets the scene with atmospheric storytelling, joined by York musicians Oli Collier, singer, guitarist and rising star Henry Parker, York alt-folk legends White Sail and poet and experimental musician Thomas Pearson. Book tickets at bit.ly/nav-feast2.
Seeing eye to eye: Rob Auton in his new touring comedy vehicle The Eyes Open And Shut Show
The eyes have it: Rob Auton: The Eyes Open And Shut Show, Burning Duck Comedy Club at The Crescent, York, March 5, 7.30pm; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, May 3, 7.30pm
“THE Eyes Open And Shut Show is a show about eyes when they are open and eyes when they are shut,” says surrealist York/Barmby Moor comedian, writer, artist, podcaster and actor Rob Auton. “With this show I wanted to explore what I could do to myself and others with language when eyes are open and shut…thinking about what makes me open my eyes and what makes me shut them.”
On the back of last summer’s Edinburgh Fringe trial run, Auton goes on the road from January 27 to May 4 with his eyes very much open. Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
York-raised artist Harland Miller with his title work for the XXX exhibition at York Art Gallery. Picture: courtesy of White Cube (Ollie Hammick), 2019
No stopping him this time, please: Harland Miller: XXX, York Art Gallery, March 14 to August 31, Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm
AFTER the first Covid lockdown curtailed his York, So Good They Named It Once show only a month into its 2020 run, international artist and writer Harland Miller returns to the city where he was raised to present XXX, a new exhibition that showcases paintings and works on paper from his Letter Paintings series.
Stirred by his upbringing in 1970s’ Yorkshire and an itinerant lifestyle in New York, New Orleans, Berlin and Paris during the 1980s and 1990s, Miller creates colourful and graphically vernacular works that convey his love of popular language and attest to his enduring engagement with its narrative, aural and typographical possibilities.
Harland Miller, XXX, oil on canvas, 2019. Copyright: Harland Miller. Photo copyright: White Cube, Theo Christelis
Coinciding with the release of a book of the same title by Phaidon, XXX features several new Miller works, including one that celebrates his home city, in a hard-edged series that melds the sacred seamlessly with the everyday, drawing inspiration from medieval manuscripts, where monks often laboured to produce intricate illuminated letters to mark the beginning of chapters.
In these works, the Yorkshire Pop artist – who is represented by White Cube – uses bold colours and typefaces to accentuate the expressive versatility of monosyllabic words and acronyms such as ESP, IF and Star.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a Q&A with the artist plus community activities to “inspire, inform and involve all”. Tickets: yorkartgallery.org.uk/tickets.
Gary Oldman in the dressing room when visiting York Theatre Royal last March to plan this spring’s production of Krapp’s Last Tape
Theatre event of the year: Gary Oldman in Krapp’s Last Tape, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to May 17
ONCE the pantomime Cat that fainted thrice in Dick Whittington in his 1979 cub days on the professional circuit, Oscar winner Gary Oldman returns to the Theatre Royal to perform Samuel Beckett’s melancholic, tragicomic slice of theatre of the absurd Krapp’s Last Tape in his first stage appearance since the late-1980s.
“York, for me, is the completion of a cycle,” says the Slow Horses leading man. “It is the place ‘where it all began’. York, in a very real sense, for me, is coming home. The combination of York and Krapp’s Last Tape is all the more poignant because it is ‘a play about a man returning to his past of 30 years earlier’.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Suzy Cooper and Mark Holgate: Teaming up as Titania and Oberon – and Hippolyta and Theseus too – in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Look who’s back too: Suzy Cooper in York Stage’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Grand Opera House, York, May 6 to 11
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 actor Mark Holgate as the quarrelling Queen and King of the Fairies, Titania and Oberon.
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. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Beach hut five, Shed Seven: York band to make Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut in June
“Biggest ever headline show in their home county”: Shed Seven, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 14
IN the aftermath of their 30th anniversary celebrations and two number one albums in 2024, refulgent York band Shed Seven will focus on the great outdoors in the summer ahead, fulfilling a dream by making a long-overdue Scarborough OAT debut, when Jake Bugg and Cast will be their special guests. “It’s a stunning and historic venue…Yorkshire’s very own Hollywood Bowl!” enthuses lead singer Rick Witter.
The Sheds also return to Leeds Millennium Square on July 11, supported by Lightning Seeds and The Sherlocks. Box office: Scarborough, scarboroughopenairtheatre.co.uk or ticketmaster.co.uk; Leeds,gigsandtours.com and ticketmaster.co.uk.
Bridget Foreman: Co-writer of York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights’ community play His Last Report
Community play of the year: York Theatre Royal and Riding Lights Theatre Company in His Last Report, York Theatre Royal, July 22 to August 3
YORK Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster and York company Riding Lights artistic director Paul Birch will co-direct a large-scale community project that focuses on pioneering York social reformer Seebohm Rowntree and his groundbreaking 1900s’ investigation into the harsh realities of poverty.
Told through the voices of York’s residents, both past and present, Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman’s play will ask “What is Seebohm’s real legacy as the Ministry begins to dismantle the very structures he championed?” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Berwick Kaler’s dame Dotty Dullaly in his last pantomime, Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
BERWICK Kaler, Britain’s longest-running pantomime dame, is “bowing out gracefully after 47 years of getting away with complete nonsense” on the York stage, but there could yet be one final show.
“It has crossed my mind to maybe do a one-off performance as a thank-you, a show of appreciation to the staunch fans of our pantomime,” says Berwick.
Most likely it would be held at the Grand Opera House, host to the Kaler panto for the past three winters.
“I don’t want to say too much but the farewell has been handled wrongly,” says Berwick. “I’ll be 78 later this year [October 31], I’m ready to retire, but I would like to have made the decision in a better way.”
A seven-minute standing ovation had concluded the final night of Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse – written and directed by and starring the dowager dame as ever – but ticket sales for the December 9 to January 6 run had been underwhelming, even prompting a discounted price campaign.
“All those panto companies in the business, they need to make money,” acknowledges Berwick. “But I just thought, after the reception from the audience to that last show, which was totally amazing…
“…I’ve always said that every show I’ve done was ‘rubbish’, but that standing ovation, I don’t know if they knew something that night.
“I know it can’t go on forever. It can’t. I’ve not spoken anyone apart from [UK Productions managing director] Martin Dodds, who rang to let me know, so I’ve kept it to myself for a week.
“What I don’t want is for us to continue and for me to find that my energy levels – which were as good as ever for Robinson Crusoe – were suddenly not there. I smoke, I drink, I’m lucky to have got to the age I have!”
The last gang show: Martin Barrass, left, dame Berwick Kaler, Suzy Cooper, David Leonard and AJ Powell promoting Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouseoutside the Grand Opera House, York.Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
That thought would seem to rule out any suggestion of a move for Kaler and co to the Joseph Rowntree Theatre for winter 2024, in favour of a farewell one-nighter.
“I’ve had a pacemaker for eight years,” says Berwick, who also had a double heart bypass operation in July 2017. “I wanted to get out of hospital the day after the pacemaker was fitted. They said ‘No’, but I did leave the next day!
“I’m just sorry that I didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to our most wonderful audiences, to say ‘thank you’ on my part and everyone in the panto gang’s part too. Now it’s about just getting used to looking after my two dogs on my own in Acomb.”
And now, the end is here, the final curtain falling after panto producers UK Productions decided not to retain the services of veteran dame Berwick, who had transferred across the city after 40 years at York Theatre Royal to stage Dick Turpin Rides Again and subsequently Old Granny Goose and Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse.
“I would love to thank everyone in York for giving me a career that would not have gone on this length of time without their support, because every minute I’ve been on stage I’ve just bounced off the audience’s energy, and I’m so grateful for that,” says Berwick.
“When we went to the Grand Opera House, it continued to be ‘the York pantomime’, and that’s a reputation I hope will go on.”
Exiting panto stage left too will be Kaler’s “loyal gang”: long-serving comic stooge Martin Barrass, vainglorious villain David Leonard, principal golden gal Suzy Cooper and “luverly Brummie” A J Powell after their three-year run at the Cumberland Street theatre.
Thanking his co-stars for “putting up with me for so many years”, Berwick says: “I don’t know why UK Productions, even if they didn’t want me anymore, wouldn’t want to keep David, the best villain in the country, the amazing Suzy, Martin and AJ.”
Born in Sunderland, Berwick moved to London in his teenage years to be a painter and decorator, but the acting bug bit. Initially, in pantomime Berwick took to the dark side as a villain but 1977 found him donning his wig as Ugly Sister Philomena in Cinderella at the Theatre Royal after playing Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream that summer.
This would be the last time: Berwick Kaler’s dame Dotty Dullaly in familiar rudimentary wig and workman’s boots with contrasting laces in Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
He would go on to play dame, write the script, ignore conventional plot lines, ad lib ad nauseam and direct “the rubbish”, year after year, bringing him the Freedom of the City, an honorary doctorate from the University of York and a Lifetime Achievement Award in the Great British Pantomime Awards.
“I came to York, not known to the Theatre Royal audience, but the thing is, they take a comic actor to their heart and that was case with me,” he says.
He retired once… “Don’t forget, when I announced my retirement from the Theatre Royal, I was ready to retire. It was that thing of marking 40 years.”
He soon regretted that decision, even more so after writing, co-directing and appearing on screen in the 2019 panto, Sleeping Beauty, and particularly so after the Theatre Royal decided to part with the Kaler gang to make way for a new partnership with Evolution Pantomimes.
The invitation to take up a three-year contract at the Grand Opera House brought about his comeback in 2021, but his finale to his last interview with The Press turned out to be prescient.
“I’m not going to announce my retirement. I’ll just go quietly, whenever. I’ve had my big send-off already [after 40 years at the Theatre Royal],” he mused last December.
“When they announce the next Grand Opera House pantomime, it will either be with us or without us.”
The reality is, “without us”, but with a new “star casting” instead for Beauty And The Beast’s run from December 7 to January 5 2025, with tickets on sale from Monday, March 11 at 4pm at atgtickets.com/york.
As for that Berwick Kaler farewell show, watch this space.
Ape japes: Berwick Kaler in his last pantomime, as Dame Dotty Dullally, in Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
BERWICK Kaler, Britain’s longest-running pantomime dame, is “bowing out gracefully” after 47 years on the York stage.
The final curtain has fallen after Grand Opera House panto producers UK Productions decided not to retain the services of veteran dame Berwick, 77, who had transferred across the city in 2021 after 40 years at York Theatre Royal.
Exiting panto stage left too will be long-serving comic stooge Martin Barrass, vainglorious villain David Leonard, principal golden gal Suzy Cooper and “luverly Brummie” A J Powell after their three-year run at the Cumberland Street theatre.
In his quote at the very bottom of the Grand Opera House’s official announcement of Beauty And The Beast as the 2024-2025 pantomime, Berwick says: “After 47 years of getting away with complete nonsense, it’s time to bow out gracefully and I couldn’t have wished for a better production than Robinson Crusoe [And The Pirates Of The River Ouse].
“I’d like to thank all of the audiences over the years, and particularly those who came to the Grand Opera House this year for making it so memorable. I’d also like to thank the producers UK Productions for their support, and for bringing to life my frankly mad ideas so spectacularly.
The last gang show: Berwick Kaler, second from right, with David Leonard, Martin Barrass, Suzy Cooper and A J Powell, promoting Robinson Crusoe And The Pirates Of The River Ouse on King’s Staith
“Last and of course not least, my loyal gang, David, Suzy, Martin and AJ, for putting up with me for so many years.”
The official statement reads: “Also announced today is the departure of Berwick Kaler from the Grand Opera House pantomime.
“Berwick has been a beloved Dame in York since 1977 and it has been a privilege for the Grand Opera House to host Berwick and the gang for the last three years. Martin Barrass, Suzy Cooper, AJ Powell and David Leonard will also not be returning.”
UK Productions took over the Grand Opera House pantomime after only one year of Berwick and co performing for Qdos Entertainment/Crossroads Live in his comeback show Dick Turpin Rides Again.
Managing director Martin Dodd, always an enthusiastic advocate for Berwick Kaler’s pantomimes, nevertheless makes no mention of the parting of the ways in the Grand Opera House announcement.
Instead, he looks to the future, as the pantomime partnership with the York theatre is retained but in a new form with “star casting”. “We are delighted to continue our relationship with the Grand Opera House and bring one of the most popular fairy tales of all time, our award-winning Beauty And The Beast, to audiences in York,” he says.
“The production is spectacular and contains all the elements that young and old will love, and we look forward to announcing the star casting very soon.”
Likewise, Grand Opera House theatre directorLaura McMillan, focuses on the new era: “The annual pantomime is the biggest show in the theatre’s calendar and to be welcoming Beauty And The Beast to our stage is incredibly exciting.
“There’s nothing like pantomime to introduce children and young people to Theatre and I have no doubt that Belle, The Beast and the rest of the characters will bring so much joy this winter.”
Beauty And The Beast will run from December 7 2024 to January 5 2025.Tickets, from £15, will go on sale on Monday, March 11 at 4pm at atgtickets.com/york.
“I’ve done 11 pantos for Berwick now, and he’s always really lovely to me off stage,” says Jake Lindsay after a decade of dame jokes at his expense on stage. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
TRUE to form, dowager dame Berwick Kaler has advice for Jake Lindsay, the long-serving Essex lad in his York pantomime ensemble in Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse.
“Ah, Jakey lad. I keep telling you, take up painting and decorating,” teases the dowager dame, who earlier told The Press in his panto interview: “Every year I tell him, ‘go and get another career’ and he never listens. Anyway, it’s a while before you see him as Robinson Crusoe!”
It is indeed: not until the second half on Destiny Island in fact, but for all those years as the butt of Kaler’s jesting, Jake has enjoyed a gradual graduation from ensemble to “Jakey Lad” character parts, now crowned by playing the title role as well as being the leading light of the ensemble of Villagers and Pirates at the Grand Opera House.
“I’ve done 11 pantos for Berwick now, and he’s always really lovely to me off stage,” says Jake. “He’s really seen me grow up. I would have been 20-21 when I started at the Theatre Royal, when you’re like a vortex or a mirror, taking in everything. Now I don’t think I could go and do any other panto after being part of this pantomime spectacular for a decade.
Jake Lindsay, centre, with ensemble cohorts Henry Rhodes and Benjamin Goodwin in Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
“There’s a certain magnificence and magic that Berwick captures that’s in keeping with classic panto; the details that he can zoom in on. He’s always watching from the wings when he’s not on stage; he never misses a trick.
“When he directs us, he’s very clear what his vision is, and now we’re working with commercial pantomime producers [UK Productions], he’s a maestro of walking that tightrope of what we can say on stage with a certain savvy.
“It’s a delicate dance…where you have to keep up with the times, when it’s tough to know what’s too much, but that commercial edge is useful because it keeps us aware of what the boundaries are now.”
Relishing the “Jakey Lad” panto persona that “has kind of stuck”, Thurrock-born Jake enjoys adding to the diversity of a Wearside dame (Kaler), daft Yorkshire sidekick (Martin Barrass), luverly Brummie lackey (AJ Powell), pucker principal gal (Suzy Cooper) and devilishly thespian villain (David Leonard).
“It’s wonderful to be part of the team; I’ve learned so much from them,” says Jake, 31. “This style of pantomime is such an art in itself; how they carry things from year to year while embodying a new character, retaining the essence the audience first loved all those years ago. And it’s an audience where it feels like they are on stage with you.”
Jake Lindsay, left, and Martin Barrass in a scene from Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse at the Grand Opera House. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
Trained in musical theatre, heavily focused on dance, at CPA Studios in Romford, Jake recalls his early on-stage encounters with Kaler’s dame. “Initially, when he introduced me to the audience at each show, there was genuine fear on my part! Like a father-and-son fear, more respect than fear, but let’s call it fear!” he says. “It was a genuine reaction because Berwick is such a character, but we’ve kept that going over the years.”
A switch to painting and decorating, however, will not be happening. “An apprenticeship is not on the cards but I wouldn’t rule anything out. I’ll try anything,” says Romford-based Jake.
“I’m retraining at the Collective Acting Studio to become a television actor, and I’ve been doing that since Covid. I thought I’d fallen out of love with acting at that time, but as I’ve progressed there’s a lot I want to showcase in different ways.
“Theatre is such a beautiful medium to broaden perspectives, so I’d like to broaden out into writing too, and there are a few projects that I’m exploring at the moment. I’d like to incorporate dance into that: it was my first love, more than acting. I suppose I’m a dancer first and foremost.”
In the meantime, as the pantomime programme reveals, Jake is Berwick Kaler’s understudy as the dame – Dotty Dullaly this time – in Robinson Crusoe. What does his preparation for that role entail?
Understudying for Berwick Kaler as the dame? “The beard would probably have to go,” says Jake Lindsay
“In honesty, Berwick’s ability to see what an audience likes in the first few scenes, to gauge and then respond to that, is something that can only be learned from observing him, side of stage,” he says. “Of course, they know each other so well and they have grown together, so it isn’t something that could ever be replicated.
“Prep looks like taking note from the wings and hoping I never have to practise being ready on stage in front of an audience! But knowing the core audience would always be supportive and understanding in that scenario, with a plus being that there isn’t much of a script to learn!”
If the call came to be Dotty, “I would have to give Berwick’s accent a go for a laugh – or perhaps I wouldn’t put people through that, but the beard would probably have to go.”
Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse heads for Destiny Island at Grand Opera House, York, until January 6 2024. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
One last question, Jake
Have you had any memorable understudying experiences?
“Last year, rehearsing for the flying scene, it took a few more of the tech team to get me in the air!”
Copyright of The Press, York
Suzy Cooper’s Polly Dullaly and AJ Powell’s Lovely Jubbly in Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse. Berwick Kaler’s dame, Dotty Dullaly, front left, looks on. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
In Focus: Relaxed Performance of Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse at Grand Opera House, York, on January 4
AS Christmas Day approaches, many feel rushed, but the new year could be the perfect time to relax and enjoy a pantomime show in a less formal environment.
The Grand Opera House, York, will be holding a Relaxed Performance of Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse on Thursday, January 4 at 2pm.
“This year’s panto is popular with all ages but anyone who is very young, new to the theatre environment, or struggles with staying in their seats, may find the Relaxed Performance just the thing,” says Grand Opera House theatre director Laura McMillan.
“The performance, which fits in perfectly with school holidays, enables those who would normally find a trip to the theatre daunting or stressful to come to the show and suits those with an autism spectrum condition, a learning disability or anyone who would benefit from a more relaxed environment.
“Loud bangs are removed, the lighting and sound are adjusted, and everyone is free to move around as they wish. While the environment is more calm, there will still be plenty of panto excitement to enjoy. We also create a chill-out room for anyone who would like to have time out of the auditorium.”
Ahead of this theatre visit, if any audience member would like to be prepared for what to expect, the Grand Opera House can provide a visual story via yorkaccess@theambassadors.com
The parent of a child who visited the pantomime with his school last week said: “As a result of having it [the visual story], our son was able to sit through his first-ever full pantomime today and he loved it so much.
“I can’t explain to you how much that means to him or to us when so many things aren’t accessible and he has so many struggles. For a couple of hours, apparently he was belly laughing, booing and hissing and cheering, and knowing what was going to happen massively reduced his anxiety.”
Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse has two performances most days of the run until January 6, including a BSL (British Sign Language) interpreted show on Wednesday, December 27 at 5pm and an Audio Described performance on Thursday, December 28 at 1pm.
The Grand Opera House aims to be as accessible and inclusive as possible for all visitors, so that everyone can enjoy live entertainment at the Cumberland Street theatre.
Show details:
Relaxed Performance: Thursday, January 4, 2pm
Show length: Approximately 1 hour 50 minutes, including interval
Box office: Open 90 minutes before the performance
Name that dame: Berwick Kaler will play Dotty Dullaly in his 43rd York pantomime. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick
BERWICK Kaler first performed in a York pantomime in 1977. Now he is 77.
“I feel fit,” says the grand dame, ahead of Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse setting sail on Saturday with the usual crew on board. “When I get on stage, I don’t feel any different. I’ve just been doing the flying sequence, and they worry for me, but I was fine. I didn’t think twice about doing it. It felt the same as ever.
“Yes, I do see changes in my dame, but it’s only age.” Physically, however, Dame Berwick has shrunk from his prime panto fighting weight of 11 stone, thinner in the face and legs, wiry of frame, eyes as big as a spaniel’s, as he sits in Dressing Room One at the Grand Opera House for this lunchtime chat.
He breakfasts on porridge, smoked salmon and two poached eggs, but has not recovered any of the two and a half stone he lost in a year when his long-time partner, David Norton, died.
“The doctors have checked me over, and no-one can find anything wrong with me. It’s driving me mad,” says Dame Berwick, who had a double heart bypass operation six years and relies on “Gerry”, his pacemaker, to keep him ticking over.
Not only does he feel fit, but he feels Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse is fit too for its public bow this weekend – even if Daniel Defoe’s 1719 tale of adventure and survival is not the easiest fit for pantomime service.
“I’ve never done Robinson Crusoe before,” says writer-director Dame Berwick, who will be appearing in his 43rd year York panto. “It’s not a pantomime; it never has been! But now, yes, it is a pantomime, but I’ve had to mix a lot of ingredients into it because it’s essentially a one-man story – and Man Friday has had to go.
“What was I on to have made that decision to do it,” he asks himself. “But I do like picking at bones to make a show.”
Robinson Crusoe does have York links: born in the city in 1632 to a middle-class upbringing, he set out from here on his travels. That fact alone gave Dame Berwick the bones on which to flesh out his script. “I blame Martin Dodd for the title!” he says, referring to the managing director of UK Productions, producers of the Grand Opera House pantomime for a second year. “He suggested pirates for the show, and so we have the Pirates Of The River Ouse.”
Those pirates will be played by the dance ensemble, while Jake Lindsay, so often the butt of Kaler’s jesting in his gradual graduation from ensemble to character parts over the past decade, will take the title role. “Every year I tell him, ‘go and get another career’ and he never listens,” says Dame Berwick. “Anyway, it’s a while before you see him!”
As ever, Dame Berwick’s regular partners in pantomime are reassembling. “I’m playing Dotty Dullaly, and we’re getting very modernistic as she was married before, to Mr Crusoe. Robinson is her son,” he explains.
“She was going to go on a cruise with Mr Crusoe and Robinson, but at the last minute she was taken ill and it was the last time she saw them. Then she got married to Mr Dullaly, and they had two children: 18-year-old Suzy Cooper [Polly Dullaly] and 16-year-old Martin Barrass [Willy Dullaly]!
The Ouse crew’s regular front five: David Leonard, left, Martin Barrass, Suzy Cooper, Berwick Kaler and A J Powell. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick :
AJ Powell will be appearing in trademark Brummie mode as Luvverly Jubberly, while inveterate villain David Leonard will revel in the vainglorious name of Narcissus. “He has to come to York to acquire half an amulet before sailing to the Island of Destiny – it’s not called that in the book! – to extract the other half from around Robinson’s neck,” says Dame Berwick.
“You can’t do anything with the real story of Robinson Crusoe, so I’ve introduced magical elements, like a book of spells that Robinson is in control of. Since he was shipwrecked on the island, he’s been made into an idol, but Narcissus, whose mother was a good witch, who never wanted him to get his hands on that book, is determined to force Robinson into the Tomb of Destiny to retrieve it.”
Echoes of Aladdin’s Cave and the arch antagonist Abanazar in Aladdin, you ask. “There are hints of Aladdin, hints of Sinbad The Sailor, in there, but it’s not a copy of them. It’s my new twist on them,” he says.
After Dick Turpin Rides Again and The Adventures Of Old Granny Goose, Dame Berwick is enjoying creating his third Grand Opera House panto. “Why keep doing it? I don’t need to do it, and I’ve told my agent I don’t want do to TV, films and stage shows any more. I’ve done all that. Just panto,” he says.
“I’m not a writer but I have to say I quite like the process of writing. Would I miss panto? Yes. I’d just be sitting at home with the dogs watching rubbish TV, which would be bliss, but I prefer to be doing this.”
Familiarity breeds content that suits long-serving company and York Pantomime (Berwick Kaler) Appreciation Society devotees alike. “It’s the only pantomime where you can get away with in-jokes, as it’s the audience that laughs, not the actors, because they’ve been following us for so long,” says Dame Berwick.
“We are five performers who know each other inside out; we can talk on common ground; we know how to work together; I know what to write for them all, though it gets more difficult over the years! I could bring others into the cast but no, this is a staunchly loyal group that has served York so well, doing great deeds in the world of panto.”
The core team remains intact, but Dame Berwick has had to adapt to the age of cancel culture. “Up to the last couple of years I wrote with a sense of humour that we’d had since I can remember, where nothing was taken as an insult to anyone,” he says. “But lately, if anyone said, ‘oh that’s a bit naughty’, I’d have to say, ‘no, I wrote it in innocence’.
“The last two years I’ve learned that it’s a lot safer if we laugh at ourselves on stage, taking the mickey out of each other, but that does take away from a lot of things that worked before and that’s a shame. There still has to be a shock element to comedy.
“I’ve always found that people come away from our shows saying, ‘I didn’t expect your panto to be so different from all the others’. You still have to have ‘he’s behind you’ in there, but come on, let’s keep surprising people.”
Contemplating the future, Dame Berwick says: “I’m not going to announce my retirement. I’ll just go quietly, whenever. I’ve had my big send-off already [after 40 years at the Theatre Royal]
“When they announce the next Grand Opera House pantomime, it will either be with us or without us.”
Robinson Crusoe & The Pirates Of The River Ouse, Grand Opera House, York, December 9 to January 6 2024. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
