Dawn Landes: Playing York for a fifth time next Wednesday
AMERICAN country roots singer-songwriter Dawn Landes will showcase The Liberated Woman’s Songbook at Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, on July 2.
Arriving on the back of making her Glastonbury debut on Sunday, she will be performing in York for the first time since her November 2018 gig with keyboardist husband Creighton Irons at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, where she contemplated the “big themes of midlife” in mid-tempo songs of heartbreak, youth fading into the distance and love lost and found.
Playing with Irons once more, this time Landes will interweave songs from her seven previous albums with her celebration of women’s voices of activism, freedom and equality, rooted in her March 2024 album that re-imagines 11 folk songs spanning 1830 to 1970s’ Women’s Lib.
The project began when Landes stumbled on the 1971 collection The Liberated Woman’s Songbook at a thrift store during the pandemic. Following the 2022 overturn of the Roe v. Wade case in the United States, the songs took on an even greater urgency, she says. “We’re suddenly back in 1971 all over again,” Dawn reflects. “I know we’re in for a long fight, and it helps to find solidarity where you can.”
Recorded in Upstate New York and and her home of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, The Liberated Woman’s Songbook features contributions from Emily Frantz (Watchhouse), Kanene Pipkin (The Lone Bellow), Rissi Palmer, Charly Lowry, Annie Nero and Lizzy Ross (Violet Bell).
“A lot of work went into the album,” says Dawn, 44. “I still feel I’m learning because I never took a course in women’s history, so it’s been an initiation into feminism for me.
The cover artwork for Dawn Landes’ album The Liberated Woman’s Songbook
“I did a lot of research and I continue to do that research. I just wanted to share with people what I’d learned because the important thing was to see how much progress there had been. Like how it took 100 years for women to get the vote – and it feels like we’re going backwards now.”
Dawn’s learning curve continues. “I didn’t intend to say I know everything about feminism [with this album]. There are 77 songs in the original 1971 songbook and I’ve only done 11 on the album,” she says. “But I do more in the full-length concerts, two hours, with costumes and projections, like I played at the [London] Barbican last year – and there are more songs that I’ve discovered.
“I really enjoy doing the full performances because it’s a more theatrical show in theatres, with the characters coming through, and I feel it works best in that setting, even more than as a double album.”
Finding the songbook was a light-bulb moment for Dawn. “I don’t remember which book store I was in, but I travel a lot, and wherever I go, I like to find a good cup of coffee and a good bookshop,” she says.
“I used to work in one, and I love second-hand bookshops in particular. When I found the book, I loved the cover and I was curious about the songs. Stuck at home in the pandemic, I unearthed the book and learned a song a day as my daily medicine when I was thinking, ‘how am I going to get through this day?’“
She felt connections with “female singers, who maybe I didn’t know and like-minded activist poets, when there’s not a lot of space for that to happen, where you can feel part of a community.
“I still feel I’m learning because I never took a course in women’s history,” says Dawn Landes
“I do feel that sense of community, which otherwise I feel I’m lacking, though even when I do the songs solo I still feel a connection to the women of the past,” she says. “A lot of people have come up to me at shows to say they had family members who had worked in the mills of North Carolina in poor working conditions, in the heat, in full skirts and black dresses.”
Looking ahead, without giving too much away, Dawn says: “I have some plans to do something this summer, so hopefully I’ll have something out soonest. I started on it in the spring.” Watch this space.
First comes her UK tour, where playing the Bluebird Bakery could not be more apt for Dawn. “I have an album called Bluebird, of course,” she says, recalling her 2014 release and its title track, sure to feature in Wednesday’s set list. “There’s a Bluebird Theater (CORRECT) I’ve played in Denver, Colorado, and my goal is to play all the Bluebirds in the UK.”
Dawn Landes, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, July 2, doors 7.30pm for 8pm start; box office: https://www.seetickets.com/event/dawn-landes/rise-bluebird/3372912?aff=id1bandsintown. Also Hebden Bridge Trades Club, July 3, 7.30pm; thetradesclub.com.
Did you know?
DAWN Landes was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on December 5 1980. She spent many years living and performing in Brooklyn, New York, where she studied at university, then in Nashville. Now she is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
In York, she played Fibbers twice in 2006, supporting The Earlies in May and Fionn Regan in September, then opened a five-date UK and Irish tour at Fibbers, Toft Green, in January 2015 and performed at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, in November 2018.
Out of the woods and into The Basement for Navigators Art’s Making Waves Live!, Sounds Of The Solstice today
BEST Musical multiple award winner Dear Evan Hansen and a Eurovision spoof light Charles Hutchinson’s fire as the June heat rises.
Midsummer festival of the weekend: Navigators Art presents Making Waves Live! Sounds Of The Solstice, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, 4pm to 10pm
FAVOURITE Navigators Art poets, comedians, singers and bands from the past two years will be complemented new friends in sessions from 4pm to 6.30pm, then 7.30pm to 10pm.
Taking part will be folk song duo Adderstone, poet Becca Drake, comedian Cooper Robson, storyteller Lara McClure, punk/jazz trio Borgia, psychedelic band Soma Crew; Will Martin; Jessica Van Smith; Cai Moriarty & Mason Chetnik, Mike Amber and more. Box office: bit.ly/nav-events.
The Wild Murphys: Performing One Night In Dublin for one night in York
Irish craic of the week: One Night In Dublin, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
THE Wild Murphys revel in sing-along Irish classics Galway Girl, I’ll Tell Me Ma, The Irish Rover, Dirty Old Town, Whiskey In The Jar, The Wild Rover, Black Velvet Band and many more in two hours of song and humour.
Songs by The Pogues, The Saw Doctors, The Dubliners, The Fureys, Flogging Molly and The Dropkick Murphys receive the fiddle and accordion treatment. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Flowers And Friendship Bracelets: Celebrating Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Miley Cyrus, Chappell Roan and Olivia Rodrigo’s pop power at Grand Opera House
Pop party of the week: Flowers And Friendship Bracelets, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday
FLOWERS And Friendship Bracelets combines music, dance and excitement in “the ultimate pop concert in celebration of the biggest hits from the hottest artistes of the moment”. The songs of Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Miley Cyrus, Chappell Roan and Sabrina Carpenter will climax with a huge pop party finale. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Kamaljeet Ahluwalia and Jas Ahluwalia: Absolute Focus programme on santoor and tabla at the NCEMon Sunday evening
Indian classical concert of the week: Kamaljeet Ahluwalia and Jas Ahluwalia, Absolute Focus, National Centre for Early Music, York, Sunday, 6.30pm
HUSBAND and wife duo Kamaljeet Ahluwalia, on santoor, and Jax Ahluwalia, on tabla, perform their Absolute Focus programme at the NCEM. These former students of the late Pandit Shivkumar Sharma and Ustaad Tari work on diverse projects, from Netflix, Apple TV+, Amazon and Disney series to live theatre, while introducing Indian classical music to audiences around the world in concerts of meditative introspection and energy-filled heights. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Looking to fit in: Ryan Kopel’s Evan Hansen in Dear Evan Hansen, on tour at Grand Opera House, York
Last chance to see: Dear Evan Hansen, Grand Opera House, York, June 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees
THE Grand Opera House will be the last English port of call on the UK tour of Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Steven Levinson’s Olivier, Tony and Grammy Best Musical award winner.
Dear Evan Hansen tells the story of a teenager with a social anxiety disorder that inhibits his ability to connect with his peers. After the death of fellow student Connor Murphy, Evan (played by Ryan Kopel) entangles himself in an unwieldy fib, claiming he was Connor’s secret best friend. Thrust ever deeper into a web of lies, he gains everything he has ever wanted: a chance to belong. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Ione Cummings’ Antonia in York Opera’s The Tales Of Hoffmann. Picture: John Saunders
Opera of the week: York Opera in The Tales Of Hoffmann, York Theatre Royal, June 25 to 28, 7.15pm plus 4pm Saturday matinee
ELIZABETH Watson and John Soper direct York Opera in Jacques Offenbach’s The Tales Of Hoffmann, based on three short stories by German romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann.
Tenors Karl Reiff and Hamish Brown perform the title role on alternate nights; Hoffmann’s evil enemies will be played by Ian Thomson- Smith and Mark Simmonds and his love interests will be sung by Stephanie Wong (Olympia), Ione Cummings (Antonia) and Katie Cole (Giulietta). Alexandra Mather takes the role of Hoffmann’s loyal friend, Nicklaus. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York Light Opera Company cast members in rehearsal for Neil Wood’s production of Eurobeat: Pride Of Europe
Eurovision celebration of the week: York Light Opera Company in Eurobeat – Pride Of Europe, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm, June 25 to 27 and July 1 to 4; 3pm, June 28 and 29 and July 5
AUSTRALIAN composer, writer and lyricist Craig Christie’s high-octane, electrifying musical Eurobeat: The Pride Of Europe celebrates the vibrant energy and spirit of the continent. Expect non-stop, infectious Eurobeat rhythms, dazzling visuals and a show to leave audiences breathless.
Prepare to dance and soak up the fun of an annual European song contest where audience participation decides the winner. Neil Wood directs a cast led by Annabel van Griethuysen as hostess Marlene Cabana and Zander Fick as master of protocols Bjorn Bjornson. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Just like hat: Be Amazing Arts Youth Theatre’s guys rehearsing Guys And Dolls for next week’s Joseph Rowntree Theatre run
Burgeoning talent of the week: Be Amazing Arts Youth Theatre in Guys And Dolls, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, June 26 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
MALTON company Be Amazing Arts Youth Theatre heads to York to present Frank Loesser, Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows’ musical fable of Broadway, Guys And Dolls.
Set in Damon Runyon’s mythical New York City, this oddball romantic comedy finds gambler Nathan Detroit seeking the cash to set up the biggest craps game in town while the authorities breathe down his neck. Into the story venture his girlfriend, nightclub performer Adelaide, fellow gambler Sky Masterson and straight-laced missionary Sarah Brown. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Snow Patrol: More likely sun than snow on return to Yorkshire coastline on Friday
Coastal gig of the week: Snow Patrol, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 27; gates open at 6pm
SNOW Patrol visit Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Friday for the first time since July 2021. The Northern Irish-Scottish indie rock band will be led as ever by Gary Lightbody, accompanied by long-time members Nathan Connolly, lead guitar, and Johnny McDaid, piano. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Danny Lee Grew: Mind-boggling magic at Friargate Theatre, York
Magic show of the week: Danny Lee Grew, 24K Magic, Friargate Theatre, York, June 27, 7.30pm
CLACTON-ON-SEA magician Danny Lee Grew presents his new mind-boggling one-man show of magic, illusion, laughs, gasps and sleight of hand sorcery. 24K Magic showcases the kind of magic usually seen on television, but now live, in the flesh and under the most impossible conditions. Box office: ticketsource.co.uk/ridinglights.
Shed Seven, huts five: Heading to the Yorkshire coast for the York band’s Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut today
OPEN studios, chocolate tales, dinosaurs and reflections on time make for a typically diverse week ahead in Charles Hutchinson’s diary.
Coastal gig of the week: Shed Seven, Jake Bugg and Cast, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, tonight; gates open at 6pm
THE 2025 season of Cuffe & Taylor concerts in the bracing sea air of Scarborough is under way. After two chart-topping 2024 albums in their 30th anniversary year, York band Shed Seven make their belated Scarborough Open Air Theatre debut tonight, supported by Jake Bugg and Cast. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Ric Liptrot: Taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios at PICA Studios, Grape Lane, York, today and tomorrow
Festival of the week: North Yorkshire Open Studios, today and tomorrow, 10am to 5pm
MORE than 200 artists and makers are taking part in North Yorkshire Open Studios 2025. In and around York, look out for Helen Drye; Emma James; Alex Ash; Dee Thwaite; Veronica Ongara; Rachel Jones; Laura Duval; Karen Winship; Donna Maria Taylor; Di Gomery; Caroline Utterson; Jacqueline Warrington; Constance Isobel; Jill Tattersall and Adele Karmazyn.
Opening their studios too will be: Mo Nisbet; Robin Groveer-Jacques; Fran Brammer; Rob Burton; Jo Walton; Ric Liptrot; Rae George; Lu Mason; Lisa Power; Lesley Shaw; Katrina Mansfield; Evie Leach; Drawne Up; Sam Jones; Greenthwaite Sculptor (Janie Stevens); Sarah Schiewe Ceramics; Gonzalo Blanco, Gina Bean; Freya Horsley; Graham Jones; Justine Warner; Andrew Bloodworth and Steve Page. Full details can be found at nyos.org.uk.
Theatre Of Connections: Bringing to life the deep roots of chocolate’s story in IxCacao at York Theatre Royal Studio
Chocolate story of the week: Theatre Of Connections, IxCacao, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 4pm
INSPIRED by the Mayan legend of the Cacao Goddess, IxCacao journeys into an ancient time when the Earth thrived under the care of matriarchs and the rhythm of nature. Movement, song, and storytelling combine in a reclamation of community, pleasure and ancestral knowledge in the face of domination: a reminder that joy is a revolutionary act and that true abundance is meant for all.
Theatre Of Connections, a York theatre group made up of “individuals from the global majority and people with refugee and asylum-seeker background”, brings to life the deep roots of chocolate’s story to honour the many who have carried its legacy forward. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Shepherd Group Brass Band : In concert at Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Brass concert of the week: Shepherd Group Brass Band Spring Concert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight, 7.30pm
FROM their Brass Roots through to their Championship section, the Shepherd Group Brass Band presents a mix of all genres of music, culminating in a grand finale when all band members play together on stage. Tickets update: Last few still available on 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Robert Lloyd Parry: Telling tales from The Archive Of Dread at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Tales of terror of the week: Robert Lloyd Parry in The Archive Of Dread: Revisited, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm
IN late 2019, Southport storyteller Robert Lloyd Parry inherited the contents of a flat belonging to a dead man he had never met. The property was full of boxes, stuffed with chilling documents: letters, diaries, newspaper cuttings, notebooks and postcards. Filed in disarray, they all told impossible tales of terror.
After the stunning revelation of two of these documents in York last year, Lloyd Parry now begs leave to share more items from The Archive Of Dread. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Rock’n’looroll: The Dinosaur That Pooped: The Rock Show at Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow
Children’s show of the week: The Dinosaur That Pooped: A Rock Show, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow, 12.30pm and 3.30pm
WHEN Danny and Dino’s favourite rock band announce their last ever concert, they go on a quest to acquire the last two tickets. However, a villainous band manager is lurking, so nothing goes to plan. Will the band perform? Will Danny rock out? Or will Dino’s rumbling tummy save the day?
Adapted from the number one best-selling books by McFly’s Tom Fletcher and Dougie Poynter, this new 60-minute stage show, directed by Miranda Larson, promises a “poopy good time” for all the family. Cue new songs by Fletcher and Poynter, loads of laughs and “a whole lot of poo”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Singer Jessa Liversidge, left, and her poet sister Andrea Brown: Combining in A Tapestry Of Life at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Life, love and loss: Jessa Liversidge: A Tapestry Of Life, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 6pm
EASINGWOLD singer, songwriter and community singing workshop champion Jessa Liversidge presents her 60-minute solo musical performance, inspired by Carole King’s album Tapestry.
Such much-loved songs as You’ve Got A Friend, Will You Love Me Tomorrow?, It’s Too Late, So Far Away, I Feel The Earth Move and Natural Woman will be interspersed with original songs, rooted in the powerful poetry of Jessa’s sister, Andrea Brown, from her Life, Love, Loss collection, reflecting on “life’s big themes of love and friendship and loss, situations and journeys, that every human can identify with”. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Comedian Raul Kohli: Exploring what it means to be British in Raul Britannia at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Comedy gig of the week: Raul Kohli: Raul Britannia, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, June 21, 8pm
COMEDIAN and proud Brit Raul Kohli is the son of a Hindu Indian and Sikh Singaporean, raised in Newcastle upon Tyne, where his best friend was a Pakistani Muslim.
Kohli has lived in every corner of this glorious nation and is fascinated by the diversity of these small isles. Imagine his surprise to hear from politicians and the media that “multiculturalism has failed”: the spark that lit the flame for his exploration of what it means to be British. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Poet Ian Parks: Performing in About Time Too at St Olave’s, Marygate, York, this evening
In Focus: York Festival of Ideas event of the day: Navigators Art presents About Time Too, St Olave’s, Marygate, York,today, 7pm
ABOUT Time Too rounds off a day of free talks celebrating time. Navigators Art’s evening concert features poetry readings, music and original song settings, including works by York-born poet W H Auden and Nobel Prize winner Seamus Heaney, together with time-related works by York writers and musicians.
Taking part will be Jane Stockdale, from White Sail; poet Ian Parks; electronic musicians Namke Productions; writer and University of York creative industries academic JT Welsch and poet and novelist Janet Dean Knight. Box office: bit.ly/nav-events.
Meanwhile, the Micklegate Arts Trail is in its final week, ending on Sunday (15/6/2025) with live music at The Falcon and The Hooting Owl at 2pm and 7pm, as well as works by 35 York artists in shops, cafes, pubs and restaurants.
Look out, in particular, for the display of 3D work in Holy Trinity church, curated by Navigators team member Nick Walters.
Navigators Art’s poster for Making Waves Live!, Sounds of the Solstice
In addition, the Making Waves exhibition is extending the Arts Trail into City Screen Picturehouse, Micklegate, where collage artist George Willmore has curated an exhibition by 20 further artists, including new and more familiar York names. The works are on show in the cafe and the first-floor corridor gallery until July 4.
All events are free and the trail and exhibition are open during business and licensing hours.
In the aftermath of the festival, Making Waves Live! Sounds of The Solsticein The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse will showcase some of Navigators Art’s favourite performers from the past two years of live events, complemented new friends, on June 21.
The first session will run from 4pm to 6.30pm; the second will start at 7.30pm after a break. “We’ve lined up a superb range of local poets, comedians, singers and bands in a celebratory midsummer festival,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen.
Taking part will be folk song duo Adderstone, poet Becca Drake, comedian Cooper Robson, storyteller Lara McClure, punk/jazz trio Borgia, psychedelic band Soma Crew and more. For full details and tickets (from Ticket Source), go to: bit.ly/nav-events.
Micklegate Arts Trail: 35 artists, 20 free events, one festival of art, music film and poetry
YORK creative collective Navigators Art launches the 2025 Micklegate Arts Trail today featuring works by 35 York artists on display in 14 shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants until June 15.
The launch day, running from 12 noon to 5pm, will present street buskers Joel Wilson (The Typing Poet), Borgia Trio, Jasmine Lowe and Nathan Kirby, along with music improvisations by Joe Allen, Desmond Clarke, Fin O’Hare, Tom Maynard (The Sounen Project) and Nick Walters at Holy Trinity Church, where Walters has coordinated the display of 3D sculptures and events.
Keep an eye out for the Extreme Knitting demonstration with giant needles by Hippystitch, alias Sally Stone in the church grounds. All these events are free.
Coordinated by Steve Beadle and George Willmore, Micklegate Arts Trail has expanded from last June’s inaugural Micklegate Art Trail – note the change from ‘Art’ to ‘Arts’ – to embrace music, film and poetry as well as art in a festival run in tandem with York Festival of Ideas that opens on the same day.
On show for the next fortnight will be works by:
Sinead Corkery: Work on show at No 84 Deli & Cafe
Raginie Duara at Lucius Books; Mark Kesteven at Old School Barber Shop; Barry Lewis, Desmond Clarke, Lu Mason, Nick Walters, Peter Baker, Richard Mackness, Sally Stone and Tom Maynard at Holy Trinity Church and Bill Oakey and Julia Leonard at Cads of Micklegate.
Look out for Nick Kobyluch, Sharon McDonagh and Sola at Skosh; Jane Dignum, Jo Rodwell and Lois Folkard at The Falcon; Chalky the Yorkie, Jasmine Foo, Jude Redpath and Sinead Corkery at No 84 Deli & Cafe; Susan Bradley at Divine Coffee Roasters; Fiona Kemp and Ali Hunter at Hudson Moody and Skulldog at Mack & Lawler Builders.
Isabel Bullon Benito and Marc Godfrey-Murphy (Marco Looks) can be found at Oxfam Bookshop; Chrissy Buse at Cafe Fleur; Elizabeth Smallman and Linda Combi at the Amnesty Bookshop and Melisaa Hill, Michael Campbell, Richard Thompson and Sarah Schiewe at The Hooting Owl in Rougier Street. Opening times may vary between venue.
“Micklegate Arts Trail is a rare community event of its kind in York,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen. “It’s been hard work to put it together, probably harder work than last year, because it’s not just an art trail now but we also have spoken-word and music events, taking place in three pubs, The Artful Dodger, The Falcon and The Hooting Owl.
“The great thing about the art trail is that all the work on show is chosen is chosen by the traders and shops themselves, and not by a panel. So the work is what they like and what suits their premises. That means there are no preconceptions about who will be chosen, and some quite big York names are missing out this year – the selection process is what makes it a true community event.”
Collage drop-in session at The Artful Dodger on June 8
Richard continues: “Our starting point for the festival is that Navigators Art likes Micklegate as a street, an historic street, but some people just see it as a cut-through, and some shops and traders are struggling, especially after the parking price increases, so we want to draw attention to what Micklegate has to offer.
“Hopefully the arts trail will attract pedestrians to visit the street. We’re very much doing this festival to support both Micklegate traders and the York artists they chose to display. That’s why it exists and we hope this second trail is a step to making it an annual event.”
Arts Trail events will include free live music sessions at The Falcon and The Hooting Owl on June 1, 8 and 15 at 2pm and 7pm featuring Andy Bowen and Liv Quigley, One Iota, Jasmine Lowe, Mike Amber and Will Martin.
Martin will return to The Falcon on June 4 and 11 at 7pm and further sessions will follow at The Hooting Owl on June 5 and 12 at 7pm.
The Falcon will play host to board game (in house or bring your own) on June 3 and 10. A spoken word, music and open-mic session will be held upstairs at The Artful Dodger on June 5 at 7.30pm when invited guests will include poets Janet Dean and Jessica Van Smith and singer Mike Amber. Bring your poem, an original song, guitar, or whatever, for the open-mic in a safe, supportive, non-discriminatory environment.
The poster for tonight’s YO Underground 3 bill of live & left-field music words & performance at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse
Experimental short films by Timothy Marvell, Nick Walters and Tom Walters will be shown in the Nativity hut at Holy Trinity Church on June 7 from 9pm to 10pm.
To coincide with the arts trail launch, Navigators Art presents YO Underground 3, a night of live new music and words at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, tonight from 7.30pm to 10pm.
Step forward Desmond Clarke, improvisers Joe Allen & Friends, Spartacus T ruth, University of York students Katie Laing and Dan Fishwick and The Jammingtons Experience (Tom Nightingale and Mark Stokes), purveyors of idiosyncratic songs that take an ironic look at life. Tickets are on sale at bit.ly/nav-events or on the door.
In the first art demonstration, George Willmore will hold collage sessions on June 8 at 1.30pm and 3.30pm upstairs at The Artful Dodger. Two days later, upstairs at The Hooting Owl at 7.30pm, artist Melissa Hill and poet-researcher Becca Drake will team up for Creative Arrangements, where Melissa will discuss her three vases on display for the arts trail that inspired Becca to write and perform her new work.
You are invited to draw or write verses in response to the vases, poetry and talk. Free materials will be provided at both demonstrations but you can bring your own too.
Further details will follow on two more Navigators Art contributions to the Festival of Ideas: the Making Waves art exhibition at City Screen Picturehouse from June 8 to July 4 and About Time Too!, a concert of music and words to complement a day of free talks celebrating ‘Time’ at St Olave’s Church, Marygate, on June 14 at 7pm.
Navigators Art’s music programme for the Micklegate Arts Trail
Navigators Art’s inclusivity policy
NAVIGATORS Art rejects racism, misogyny and other forms of bigotry. “We strive to achieve gender balance and across-the-board inclusivity at all times,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen.
Declan Vink: the creative musical and filmmaking force behind Flat Number Two
YORK alternative pop artist Flat Number Two launches his Cherish EP at The Basement, underneath City Screen Picturehouse, Coney Street, York, tomorrow.
“What better place for my first ever headline show,” says cinephile Declan Vink, the film school drop-out who is inspired as much by film as music in his creative project as a singer, songwriter, producer and filmmaker to boot.
“I became fascinated with the visual power of music and the ability to create imagery through words and sounds,” says Declan, who works as a producer for the BBC Radio York breakfast show by day.
“Adopting the philosophy of artists such as Frank Ocean to inject meaning into every sonic element of a track, Flat Number Two utilises a mixture of analogue synths, self-recorded soundscapes and drum samples to communicate my vision.”
His rare upbringing of Dutch, Irish and British heritage led to an unconventional approach to his immersive sonic and visual art. “More concerned with painting a picture than adhering to genre, Flat Number Two is far from predictable,” says Declan.
This is typified by his experimental approach to making music videos. His first, for the song Wet, was shot on VHS across The Balkans, while Bleach, his March 28 single, was filmed using an iPhone in New York.
In between, in February, Declan released a deeply personal and beautiful music video for Empty, another single to be taken from his Cherish vinyl EP, filmed on Super8 film in the desolate landscapes of Jyväskylä, Finland.
“It captures the overwhelming feelings of guilt and longing I felt when I moved to another city, leaving behind the empty nest my mother experienced after me and my sisters left home,” he says. “I dealt with it the only way I know how… by song-writing,” he says.
In the wake of his debut EP, I Don’t Want To Dream Anymore, urgings listeners to “recognise their power as a human being and their ability to change the world around them for the better”, his new EP “explores the complexities of change, impermanence and imperfection while holding on tightly to the things we treasure most”.
“I really wanted to start a new project when I moved to York from Keighley when I was 22/23, after performing under my own name,” says Declan. “I couldn’t think of a name but I was living at Flat Number Two at the time and the rest is history!
“I guess in a sense I was making a new name for myself, and it was a time of change. That flat was in Tang Hall, but now I’ve moved to Lawrence Street and it’s not Number Two and it’s not even a flat but I’ve kept the name.”
The artwork for Flat Number Two’s Cherish EP, newly available on vinyl
For tomorrow’s show, Declan will be joined by Kanani Vierra and Mickey Dale. “It’ll be the first time I’ve played with a full band – I previously did a small-scale acoustic gig at Guppy’s. Just me. A lot has changed since then.
“Kanani is a drummer who’s played with Jack Johnson; we met through a mutual friend. Mickey is from Bradford; he’s the keyboard player with Embrace and he’ll play bass, synth and keys, with me on guitar and vocals.
“He’s amazing at working with up-and-coming talent, and again I met him through a friend, when I was studying at Leeds Conservatoire .
“He has his own studio, the Cellar of Dreams, and we’ve been rehearsing for the gig which will have a visual side to it too, with a projector set up for the show.”
Declan is delighted to be playing tomorrow’s gig in a cinema building. “I approached City Screen because I liked the idea of my first headline show being below a cinema, and there’s a lot of visuals to my music,” he says.
“I love a lot of film soundtracks, like Lost In Translation and other Sofia Coppola films. I like the way artists convey a mood through their work and that’s something I like to do. Some of the projection will be the stuff I’ve filmed, like the film I shot in Finland and the VHS footage shot on holiday in North Macedonia and Albania, which has a nostalgic feel to it.”
Should you be wondering why Declan dropped out of the Northern Film School , he says: “It’s not that I’m not an academic person because I did go on to further education studies,” he says. “I failed my Maths A-level but I went on to gain a First Class degree in music production.
“But I struggle with learning the rules; I struggle to learn the language of the medium I’m trying to use, but the creative side is where I really thrive. I dropped out right at the end of the first year. For the final project, you had to direct a film to be screened in front of the whole year’s intake, and I got absolutely rinsed for my film.
“I was out of my comfort zone, and I thought, ‘this is not part of the creativity I want to be part of. This is meant to to be fun’ – but it wasn’t.”
Flat Number Two, by contrast, allows Declan to be fully expressive, combining his musical and film-making skills. Take a look inside his flat tonight.
Flat Number Two, supported by special guests and rising stars Em Louise and Bennett Elliott, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tomorrow (18/4/2025), 7pm to 11pm. Box office: eventbrite.com/e/flat-number-two-the-basement-at-cityscreen-picture-house-tickets-1146731557959.
Sinead Corkery: Making her York Open Studios debut in Monkton Road, York
PERFECT weather greets the opening of studio doors as artists parade their skills while politics comes under the spotlight in Charles Hutchinson’s recommendations.
Art event of the month: York Open Studios, today and tomorrow; also April 12 and 13, 10am to 5pm
YORK Open Studios showcases 160 artists and makers at 117 locations in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. Artists and makers, including 38 new participants, span ceramics, collage, digital art, illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture, textiles and wood, Full details and an interactive map can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk; brochures in shops, galleries, cafes and tourist hubs. Admission is free.
Rob Rouse: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club’s bill at The Basement tonight
Comedy bill of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, Rob Rouse, David Eagle, Ben Silver and Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, tonight, 8pm
ROB Rouse, from The Friday Night Project, Spoons, BBC3’s Comedy Shuffle, Mad Mad World, Upstart Crow and Rob And Helen’s Date Night self-help podcast, headlines tonight’s bill, hosted by Laugh Out Loud promoter Damion Larkin.
Support act David Eagle, a member of north eastern folk band The Young’uns, mines comedy from exploring how his blindness turns the most ordinary, commonplace events into surreal, convoluted dramas. Box office: 01904 612940 or lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Ged Graham: Leading the Seven Drunken Nights celebration of The Dubliners, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Prestige Productions
Irish craic of the week: Seven Drunken Nights: The Story of the Dubliners, Grand Opera House, York, Sunday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
SEVEN Drunken Nights takes a trip down memory lane in celebration of The Dubliners’ 50-year performing career on a 2025 global tour of 300 shows across 42 weeks. The Irish Rover, The Town I Love So Well and Dirty Old Town will be joined by new additions Paddy On The Railway and The Lark In The Morning in a new production for this year’s travels.
The show’s 2017 founder, frontman and narrator, Dublin-born writer and director Ged Graham, says: “The connection we’ve built with the audience over the years is incredible; they know we’re keeping the iconic music of The Dubliners alive with the same passion that they have for it.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Telling the whole story: Writer-performer Andrew Margerison in Dyad Productions’ That Knave, Raleigh
Historical play of the week: Dyad Productions in That Knave, Raleigh, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 7.30pm; Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 9, 7.30pm
DYAD Productions follow up I, Elizabeth with a return to the Elizabethan era in That Knave, Raleigh, writer-performer Andrew Margerison’s story of Elizabethan explorer, sailor, dandy and warrior Sir Walter Raleigh, Elizabeth I’s favourite and James I’s knave.
The Huguenots, America, the Armada and execution: is that the whole story? “There is so much you don’t know,” says Margerison of Raleigh, father, husband, writer, poet, adventurer, philosopher, soldier, tyrant, egotist, lover, traitor, alchemist, visionary and victim.
“The final chapter of Raleigh’s life is perhaps the most daring, strange and utterly heart-breaking. See the fall from grace taken directly from historical record; marvel at the magnetism of a man who seized every opportunity.”Box office: Helmsley, 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk; York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
The Manfreds: Playing Joseph Rowntree Theatre for the first time this weekend
Sixties’ nostalgia of the week: The Manfreds, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm
TICKETS are down to the last few for the chance to see The Manfreds in their Joseph Rowntree Theatre debut, featuring original Manfred Mann members Paul Jones and Tom McGuinness, both 83.
The set list takes in such Sixties R&B hits as 5-4-3-2-1, Pretty Flamingo, The Mighty Quinn and Do Wah Diddy Diddy, intermixed with jazz and blues covers from their solo albums. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Al Murray: Rolling out his barrel of laughs at York Barbican as the Guvnor puts you right on Sunday night
Political insights of the week: Al Murray, Guv Island, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE people have spoken. The Pub Landlord is back for another round of Guv Island with “New Extra Brew Material”in 2025, having pulled pints and punters at the Grand Opera House in March 2024.
Standing up so you don’t have to take it lying it down anymore, the Guvnor will “make sense of the questions you probably already had the answers to”. “Country, the UK, lost its way, seeks life partner/mentor/inspiration. Good sense of humour essential. No timewasters, tedious show-offs or offend-o-trons need apply. HR free zone,” says Murray. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Inspired By Theatre’s principal cast for Jonathan Larson’s musical Rent at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter
Musical of the week: Inspired By Theatre in Rent, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 10 to 12, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Inspired By Theatre – the new name for Bright Light Musical Productions – follow up Green Day’s American Idiot with another groundbreaking rock musical, Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award-winning story of love, resilience and artistic defiance.
Set in New York City’s East Village at the height of the AIDS epidemic, Rent follows a group of young artists struggling to survive, create and hold on to hope in the face of uncertainty. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Jan Noble in his verse drama Body 115. Picture: jannoble.co.uk/body115
Odyssey of the week: Jan Noble in Body 115, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April 11, 7.30pm
EVER wished you were somewhere else? Ever wished you were someone else? Escaping the rain, a journey on the London Underground becomes a descent into the underworld in Body 115, 2023 winner of the London Pub Theatre Award for Best Innovative Play.
Written and performed by Jan Noble, directed by Justin Butcher, this tale of broken hearts, old flames and open roads follows Noble’s down-and-out poet-hero through the sewers and tubes of King’s Cross Station to the heart of Italy. Part invocation, part rain dance, this poetic odyssey is delivered with a contemporary kick. From the terraces at Millwall to fashionable Milan, expect shadowy encounters, dodgy connections and chance meetings with a host of poet ghosts.
“Body 115 is an epic poem, a tale of inner and outer journeys in explicit homage to Dante’s Divine Comedy,” says Noble. “From the rain-washed, subterranean underworld of King’s Cross, ‘Body 115’ – the long-unidentified victim of the 1987 fire – becomes Virgil to my Dante in a rhapsodic paean to the trammelling ecstasy of loss: a trans-European odyssey turned safari of the soul.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Dianne Buswell & Vito Coppola: Strictly Come Dancing professionals team up for Red Hot And Ready
Show announcement of the week: Burn The Floor presents Dianne Buswell & Vito Coppola in Red Hot And Ready, York Barbican, July 6, 7.30pm; Leeds Grand Theatre, July 18, 7.30pm, and July 19, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing’s stellar professional dancers, 2024 winner Dianne Buswell and 2023 victor Vito Coppola, will star in the new show from the Burn The Floor stable, created by Strictly creative director Jason Gilkison.
Billed as “a dynamic new dance show with a difference”, Red Hot And Ready brings together Buswell, Coppola and a cast of multi-disciplined Burn The Floor dancers from around the world, accompanied by vocalists and a band. Expect “jaw-dropping choreography, heart-pounding music and breathtaking moves, from seriously sexy to irresistibly charming”. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
John Simpson: BBC News world affairs editor puts leaders and lunatics in the dock at the Grand Opera House, York, on Monday
In Focus: More political insights of the week: John Simpson: The Leaders & Lunatics Tour, Grand Opera House, York, April 7, 7.30pm
IN his bold, unflinching look at leadership, veteran BBC journalist and broadcaster John Simpson CBE ponders why some inspire while others descend into tyranny. “And…are all tyrants ‘lunatics’,” he asks.
After six decades of unparalleled access to world leaders – and lunatics – Simpson explores the personalities that have shaped history. From notorious figures such as Assad, Saddam, Mugabe and Gaddafi to admired leaders Gorbachev, Mandela, Havel and Zelensky, he reveals their common threads, unique quirks and lasting impact.
Drawing on his first-hand encounters and personal dealings, Simpson will unravel the enigmatic personas of Putin, Xi Jinping, bin-Laden and Thatcher, while pondering what links Mandela and Princess Diana or Zelensky and Mugabe.
In an increasingly volatile world, BBC News world affairs editor Simpson will navigate the intricate web of international relations, delving into the complexities of the most pressing global challenges of our time – conflicts, war, famine, economic crises and climate change – to reveal how the actions and decisions of leaders, from despots to visionaries, have shaped these crises and continue to influence our world today.
Simpson, now 80, has spent all his working life with the BBC, reporting from more than 120 countries, including 30 war zones, and interviewing myriad world leaders on his foreign correspondent beat.
As a household name who has covered almost every major event in the world from the 1960s to present day in his fearless journalism, he will turn from interviewer to interviewee to take questions from the audience in the second-half Q&A.
What on earth is going on, John? Hear his answers at this talk “truly for our troubled times”, when Simpson promises to entertain, enlighten, and inspire as he provides “insights into past and present events, with no doubt some focus on Trump and the shifting global order”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
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world affairs editor of BBC News. He has spent all his working life with the BBC, and has reported from more than 120 countries, including thirty war zones, and interviewed many world leaders.
In an increasingly volatile world, John will also examine the most pressing challenges of our time – war, famine, economic crises, and climate change – to reveal how the actions and decisions of leaders, from despots to visionaries, have shaped these crises and continue to influence our world today.
In the second half, the floor is yours. Ask your questions as John offers sharp insights into past and present events, with no doubt some focus on Trump and the shifting global order.
John Simpson: Leaders and Lunatics Tour
After a sell-out tour in 2024, legendary journalist and broadcaster John Simpson CBE is returning to the stage for an exclusive evening packed with unparalleled insights from one of the most distinguished foreign correspondents of our time.
With decades of first-hand encounters and personal dealings, John will explore the enigmatic personas of global figures such as Putin, Xi Jinping, bin-Laden and Thatcher.
John will navigate the intricate web of international relations, delving into the complexities of our global issues – from conflicts, war and famines, to world economies and climate change.
What links Mandela and Princess Diana? Or Zelenskiy and Mugabe? John will reveal the common threads linking these figures, and offer a unique perspective on the impact they’ve had on world affairs.
As a household name who has covered almost every major event in the world from the 1960’s to present day, you will have an opportunity to ask John your questions – what were these leaders and lunatics really like, and what on earth is going on? Don’t miss John for an evening that promises to entertain, enlighten, and inspire with his fearless journalism and captivating storytelling.
What on earth is going on? An event truly for our troubled times – don’t miss this enlightening and compelling evening.
Something to be Smug about: Smug Roberts tops Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club bill today
A CHORUS of song, a clash of operas and an eye for comedy fill Charles Hutchinson’s in-box of entertainment for the week ahead.
Extremely rare chance to see Channel 4 legend: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club presents Smug Roberts, Russell Arathoon, Oliver Bowler and MC Tony Vino, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, today, doors 3.30pm for 4pm start
BACK in the day, today’s headline act, Manchester humorist and radio presenter Smug Roberts, released the novelty anthem Meat Pie, Sausage Roll (Come on England, Gi’s A Goal) as Grandad Roberts. Three years earlier, he was discovered by Caroline Aherne when playing his first gig. He has since starred in That Peter Kay Thing, Cold Feet, Phoenix Nights, 24 Hour Party People and Buried.
“Smug is one the great unsung heroes of stand-up comedy and one of comedy’s best-kept secrets,” says promoter Damion Larkin. “His act is a joy to behold. A true superstar, he’s arguably the only non-famous genius among his North West contemporaries, and he’s not very often around in town, so make sure you grab this chance to see him.” Box office: lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Opera International in Madama Butterfly, on tour from Ukraine at the Grand Opera House, York
Opera dilemma of the day: Either…Senbla presents Opera International’s tour of Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyivin Madama Butterfly, Grand Opera House, York, tonight, 7.30pm.
BACK by overwhelming public demand, Opera International director Ellen Kent directs Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, the heart-breaking story of the beautiful young Japanese girl who falls in love with an American naval lieutenant.
Expect international soloists, full chorus and orchestra and exquisite sets, including a spectacular Japanese garden and fabulous costume, not least antique wedding kimonos from Japan. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
English Touring Opera in rehearsal for The Capulets And The Montagues, playing York Theatre Royal tonight. Picture: Craig Fuller
Or…English Touring Opera in What Dreams May Come, York Theatre Royal Studio, today, 2.30pm; The Capulets And The Montagues, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm
ENGLISH Touring Opera return to York Theatre Royal with a brace of Shakespeare-inspired new productions. Mixing puppetry with works by Purcell, Finzi, Amy Beach and Britten, performed by a chamber ensemble, What Dreams May Come 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.
The Capulets And The Montagues, Bellini’s gritty re-working of Romeo And Juliet, brings the warring families’ emotional and political struggle to life with devastating power. Soprano Jessica Cale sings the role of Giulietta opposite mezzo-soprano Samantha Price as Romeo. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Stamford Bridge Community Choir: Performing at York Community Choir Festival on March 5. Picture: Murray Swain
Festival of the week: York Community Choir Festival, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow until March 8, 7.30pm nightly, except 6pm tomorrow, plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
A FESTIVAL that began in 2016 with only 11 choirs now comprises eight concerts showcasing up to five choirs per night. More than 1,250 singers, including school groups and choirs from Harrogate, Selby and Malton as well as York, will perform diverse music styles from pop to classical.
Among the choirs will be Stamford Bridge Community Choir, who will use Makaton signing in their March 5 performance. Full details of all the choirs and their programmes can be found at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk/whats-on/all-shows/york-community-choir-festival. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Visible Women company members Caroline Greenwood, left, Linda Fletcher, Helen Wilson and Marie Louise Feeley: Two evenings of monologues for York International Women’s Week
York International Women’s Week (March 3 to 9): Lyrics Of Life by Visible Women, Black Swan Inn, Peasholme Green, York, March 4 and 5, 7.30pm to 9.15pm
VISIBLE Women, a group of “mature female performers” from York, present both well-known and lesser-known monologues over two evenings.
“We met last year in York Settlement Community Players’ production of Terence Rattigan’s Separate Tables, which had good parts for older women,” says York theatre group member Helen Wilson. “But as most playwrights are male, plays tend to be male dominated, so here we are doing our own thing!
“There are still not enough plays giving women of our age a platform. As Visible Women, we want to redress the balance. Let’s move this forward. Come along for an evening of entertainment for a good cause.”
Material by Alan Bennett, Joyce Grenfell and York playwright Sara Murphy, winner of the first Script Factor in York, will feature. Box office: email basicbafmaw@gmail.com or pay on the door. Proceeds from ticket sales (£7 each) will be donated to York Women’s Counselling (yorkwomenscounselling.org).
Rob Auton: One in the eye for comedy at The Crescent, York, on March 5
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.” Box office: York, thecrescentyork.com; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley in Myra’s Story, a tragic tale of a middle-aged homeless alcoholic struggling to survive on the streets of Dublin, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
Charity support of the week: Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley in Myra’s Story, Grand Opera House, York, March 4, 7.30pm
DIRECT from the West End, Irish playwright Brian Foster’s four-time Edinburgh Fringe hit, Myra’s Story, tells the turbulent, tragic tale of a middle-aged homeless alcoholic struggling to survive on the streets of Dublin as she begs from passers-by on Ha’penny Bridge.
Performed by Fíonna Hewitt-Twamley, this show will benefit Restore, the York charity that provides accommodation and support to those who would otherwise be homeless. The charity will be on hand to collect donations. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Queenz: On song in Drag Me To The Disco at the Grand Opera House, York
Drag show of the week: Queenz, Drag Me To The Disco, Grand Opera House, York, March 5, 7.30pm
JOIN the gals for “an electrifying, live vocal, drag-stravaganza, where Dancing Queenz and Disco Dreams collide for the party of a lifetime”, created and produced by David Griego. Flying their rainbow-coloured flag high in the sky, Bella Du-Ball, Dior Montay, Candy Caned, Billie Eyelash and ZeZe Van Cartier serve up sass, singalongs and a message of love, equality and acceptance.
Craig Colley, alias Billie Eyelash, says: “Drag queens really do come in all shapes and sizes, but if you want to see some hilarious, stupidly talented, beautiful and of course humble ones, Queenz really is the show for you.” Age guidance: 14 plus. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Gorka Marquez and Karen Hauer: On Speakeasy terms at York Barbican
Dance spectacular of the week: Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez, Speakeasy, York Barbican, March 6, 7.30pm
STRICTLY Come Dancing professionals Karen Hauer and Gorka Marquez follow up Firedance with new show Speakeasy on their biggest tour so far. Expect exhilarating live music and breathtaking choreography as they unlock the door to an undercover world of elegance and iconic dance flavours.
From the clandestine New York Speakeasy to the sultry Havana dance floors and from the burlesque cabaret clubs of the mid-1900s to the glittering mirror balls of Studio 54, this “delicious dance experience” serves up Mamba, Salsa, Charleston, Foxtrot and Samba moves. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.Also taking to the Yorkshire dance floor at Hull City Hall, March 5; Sheffield City Hall, March 9, and Bradford St George’s Hall, March 15.
In Focus: York Late Music presents Trifarious: Roger Marsh At 75, today, 1pm; Elysian Singers, Arvo PärtAt 90, today, 7.30pm, both at Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York
Trifarious: Marking Roger Marsh At 75 with this afternoon’s concert
YORK Late Music celebrates the music of Roger Marsh, a major contributor to the music and academic life during his time as Professor of Music at the University of York (1989 – 2019).
The programme includes works by Luciano Berio and Toru Takemitsu, who both have had a strong influence on his music, alongside pieces by two of his former students, Tom Armstrong and David Power.
Roger is coming over from France to hear this Roger Marsh At 75 concert.
Programme: Roger Marsh: Ferry Music; Tom Armstrong: The Chief Inspector Of Holes; David Power: Six De Chirico Miniatures – first performance; Toru Takemitsu: A Bird Came Down The Walk; Luciano Berio: Wasserklavier; Luciano Berio: Erdenklavier, and Roger Marsh: Easy Steps.
Here are Roger’s programme notes for the two works:
Ferry Music (1988) – for clarinet, piano and cello. This trio is composed around material originally invented for a music theatre piece Love On The Rocks – a piece concerning the mythical Charon, who poled the dead across the river into Hades.
The piece is in five short movements, and the ferry takes approximately eight minutes to complete the crossing. For today’s performance the cello part has been rewritten for viola by Tom Armstrong.
Easy Steps (1987) – for solo piano. The title Easy Steps may be misleading. For the performer there is nothing easy aboutthis piece, some passages requiring a level of virtuosity which the Associated Board mayfind difficult to quantify.
Rather the title has to do with the structure of the piece –alternating sections, horizontally then vertically conceived, increasing in complexity byeasy steps.
Elysian Singers: Celebrating Arvo Pärt At 90 tonight. Picture: Linda Dawson
Elysian Singers: Arvo Pärt At 90
AS the great Estonian composer Arvo Pärt turns 90 this year, the Elysian Singers celebrate his enormous contribution to choral music over the last half century. York Late Music includes two of his most substantial unaccompanied pieces, alongside works by Baltic and American composers who were influenced by him.
Programme: Arvo Pärt: Nunc Dimittis; Ola Gjeilo: Ubi Caritas; Eriks Esenvalds: The Heavens’ Flock; Morten Lauridsen: Madrigali; Eric Whitacre: When David Heard; David Lancaster: Of Trumpets And Angels – first performance, and Arvo Pärt: Seven Magnificat Antiphons
Here is David Lancaster’s programme note for Of Trumpets And Angels:
THIS new is a setting of John Donne’s Holy Sonnett XIII (What if this present were the world’s last night). This text contemplates the possibility of the current moment being the end of the world – something we may have all considered in recent days!
With this in mind, he focuses on the image of Christ crucified, questioning whether or not he should be afraid. He observes Christ’s tears and the blood from his wounds, wondering if such a compassionate figure could ever condemn him to damnation.
In the sestet, Donne seeks to atone for his earlier sins, in particular his love for ‘profane mistresses’, recognising the fallacy of making judgements based on outward appearance alone, and concluding that a beautiful appearance (like that of Christ) is indicative of a compassionate and merciful mindset.
Balancing act: M6 Theatre Company in Mike Kenny’s A Tiger’s Tale at Helmsley Arts Centre
A TIGER adventure and a boy with a stammer, two ghost stories and a pioneering DJ are in the spotlight in Charles Hutchinson’s entertainment tips for the week ahead.
Ryedale children’s show of the week: M6 Theatre Company, A Tiger’s Tale, Helmsley Arts Centre, today, 2.30pm
ROCHDALE company M6 Theatre presents York playwright Mike Kenny’s fantastical, riotous adventure A Tiger’s Tale, the extraordinary story of Fenella, the Holmfirth Tiger, in a high-spirited balancing act of circus, puppetry, live music and song.
From a circus train in South Africa, to a steamboat on the Atlantic Ocean and onward to West Yorkshire, the ramshackle travelling troupe of Titch, Ma and Pa relates the unbelievable true story of a family of acrobats and their adopted tiger cub. Suitable for ages four to 11. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Hilson Agbangbe’s Sonny in Bristol Old Vic’s Wonder Boy, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Steve Tanner
Play of the week: Wonder Boy, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday; evenings, 7.30pm, tonight and Friday; matinees, 2pm, Wednesday, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday
OLIVIER Award winner Sally Cookson directs Bristol Old Vic’s touring production of Wonder Boy, Ross Willis’s exploration of the power of communication, told through the experiences of 12-year-old Sonny and his imaginary friend Captain Chatter.
Playful humour, dazzling visuals and thrilling original music combine in this innovative show that uses live creative captioning on stage throughout as Sonny, who lives with a stammer, must find a way to be heard in a world where language is power. When cast in a school production of Hamlet by the head teacher, he discovers the real heroes are closer than he thinks. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Victoria Delaney as Mrs Morland and Tony Froud as Mr Morland in York Actors Collective’s production of J M Barrie’s Mary Rose at York Theatre Royal Studio. Picture: Clive Millard
Theatre Royal debut of the week: York Actors Collective in Mary Rose, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight to Saturday, 7.45pm plus 2.30pm Thursday and 2pm Saturday matinees
YORK Actors Collective make their York Theatre Royal debut with a revival of Peter Pan and Quality Street playwright J M Barrie’s Mary Rose, adapted and directed by Angie Millard.
“Barrie uses dimensions of time to great effect,” she says. “His treatment of love, loss and unwavering hope draws in an audience and gives it universality. I’ve adapted the script to appeal to modern thinking but his themes are intact. The strange and ghostly atmosphere fits beautifully into our autumn slot, which includes Halloween and is a time for considering other worldliness.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Helmsley company Clap Trap Theatre in the ghost story The Room Upstairs at Helmsley Arts Centre
Haunted drama for Halloween week: Clap Trap Theatre in The Room Upstairs, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
WHEN a young woman answers an advertisement for a trusted house-sitter, she arrives at a beautiful house in the middle of nowhere. It should be the perfect job but with one proviso. Please do not go into the room upstairs.
A mysterious cloaked figure narrates and commentates as two young people strive to unravel the long-held mystery of a haunted house in this new 55-minute black comedy by BAFTA-nominated television writer Tom Needham, performed by Cal Stockbridge, Florrie Stockbridge and Helmsley Arts Centre artistic director and Youth Theatre director Natasha Jones. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Skylights: York band headline York Barbican for the first time this weekend
York gig of the week: Skylights, York Barbican, Saturday, doors 7pm
ANTHEMIC York indie band Skylights play their biggest home-city gig to date this weekend with support from Serotones and Pennine Suite.
Guitarist Turnbull Smith says: ‘We’re absolutely over the moon to be headlining the Barbican. It’s always been a dream of ours to play here. So to headline will be the perfect way to finish a great year. Thanks to everyone for the support. It means the world and we’ll see you all there.” Box office: ticketmaster.co.uk.
Rob Rouse: Headlining Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club at The Basement. Picture: Andy Hollingworth
Comedy gig of the week: Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club, Rob Rouse, Peter Brush, Faizan Shan and Damion Larkin, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Saturday, 8pm
PEAK District comedian, television regular, Upstart Crow actor and self-help podcaster Rob Rouse, who trained as a geography teacher at the University of Sheffield, makes a rare York appearance with his hyperactive, loveable brand of comedy.
Harrogate Comedian of the Year 2012 Peter Brush combines a slight, bespectacled frame and scruffy hair with quirky one-liners and original material, delivered in an amusingly awkward fashion. Manchester comic Faizan Shah’s material makes light of growing up in an immigrant household with the mental health challenges it brings. Organiser Damion Larkin hosts as ever. Box office: 01904 612940 or lolcomedyclubs.co.uk.
Andy Kershaw: “Two-hour explosion of irresistible tropical dance music” at Milton Rooms, Malton
Declaring war on musical mediocrity: Andy Kershaw’s African, Caribbean & Latin Dance Night, Milton Rooms, Malton, November 8, 8pm
ANDY Kershaw, DJ pioneer, evangelist and Old Grey Whistle Test presenter, has brought global music to British audiences over more than three decades of programmes on BBC Radio 1 and Radio 3. His obsession with finding new music has resulted in a 7.5 ton record collection garnered from visits to 97 countries in pursuit of new and exciting sounds.
His one-man war on musical mediocrity promises a two-hour explosion of irresistible tropical dance music. Folk-infused York buskers and party, pub and festival covers’ band Hyde Family Jam support. Box office: 01653 692240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Rag’n’Bone Man: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre next summer
Gig announcements of the week: TK Maxx presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, July 6, and Rag’n’Bone Man, July 11 2025
“I THINK I’ve got the best reggae band in the world,” says UB40 legend Ali Campbell, who last played Scarborough OAT in 2021. “They are all seasoned musicians, who have spent all their lives in professional bands, and I feel so confident with them.” Support acts will be Bitty McLean and Pato Banton.
Triple BRIT Award and Ivor Novello Award winner Rag’n’Bone Man, alias Rory Graham, will follow up his 2023 Scarborough OAT show with a return next summer in the wake of his third album, What Do You Believe In? entering the charts at number three last Friday. His special guest will be Elles Bailey. Tickets for both shows go on sale at 9am on Friday at ticketmaster.co.uk.
Dexter Enjoying A Well Earned Toke, by Steve Walmsley, from the Punk/Jazz Contrasts & Connections exhibition
YORK creative hub Navigators Art & Performance is exploring iconic genres – the punk era and the jazz age – in its autumn exhibition at Micklegate & Fossgate Socials and Saturday’s live event at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York.
Punk/Jazz: Contrasts and Connections asks: A Love Supreme or No Future? Are punk and jazz at odds or two sides of a coin?
The answer to a question with a nod to American jazz saxophonist John Coltrane’s 1964 album and the Sex Pistols’ nihilistic mantra from 1977 single God Save The Queen comes through a combination of painting, drawing, collage, print, words, sculpture, photography and music.
“Punk and jazz? Each can be controversial, uncompromising, confrontational,” says Navigators Art co-founder Richard Kitchen. “The best of each is groundbreaking, pushing conventions to the limit. Both can hurt. Both can heal.”
The Palm Tree Jazz Club, by Ali Hunter
On show at the Micklegate Social and Fossgate Social bars is new work by a fresh line-up of artists from York and beyond. “We’re featuring a healthy mix of the known and the less familiar, including Ali Hunter, Carrianne Vivianette, George Willmore, Nick Walters, river smith, Sharon McDonagh, Steve Beadle and Steve Walmsley,” says Richard, who is among the exhibitors as ever.
“There’s a special treat too: the welcome return to the York art scene of entrepreneur and local legend Chalky the Yorkie.”
Saturday’s specially curated live performance at The Basement, Punk/Jazz: A Halloween Special, features York bands The Bricks, Teleost and Things Found And Made (Dunmada), the polemical words of activist poet Rose Drew and Saeth Wheeler delivering psychic-themed comedy.
Doors open at 7pm for this 7.30pm event, presented in association with The Random Cabaret and York Alternatives, and the Basement bar will be open throughout.
“Expect experiments, improvisation and noise! Some of the material will not be suitable for young children,” Richard forewarns.
Here, Richard Kitchen discusses punk, jazz and art, contrasts and connections with CharlesHutchPress
Punk Jazz, by Richard Kitchen
How can jazz and punk hurt, Richard?
“When we came up with the theme, many people said, ‘I don’t like jazz but I like punk’ or vice versa. We’re talking generalisations but not stereotypes here, and we’re interested in spiritual or free jazz, rather than more polite versions.
“They’re both polemical in terms of both sound and ideology. Many people feel threatened by them. Then, of course, they take aim at certain targets, political, social and cultural, and challenge them.”
How can jazz and punk heal?
“People can find themselves through music, whether as players or listeners. Both these forms of music offer a world, even a philosophy, that people develop a passionate relationship with.
“We’ve proposed that punk is an attitude, jazz is a state of mind. Freedom, independent creativity, social justice: they represent values systems that go beyond music in search of a better world. We as Navigators Art have followed those values in giving ourselves permission to achieve things that others have said we couldn’t – or even shouldn’t!”
How did dapper activist artist Chalky the Yorkie become involved in the exhibition?
“We met Chalky at a show last Christmas, chatted to him about art and music and his own history as an artist in York, and felt we’d like to get him involved in the scene again. He had some work that responds perfectly to the Punk/Jazz theme.”
Unnamed, by George Willmore
Names new to Navigators Art are among the Punk/Jazz artists: how were the exhibitors selected this time?
“We did a general call-out for the first time on social media and Curatorspace. We’ve had quite a constant presence over the past 18 months and it was time to freshen things up, to avoid the same people making the same kind of work each time. We’ve gone back to basics, with a core admin group and a network of wonderful new and emerging artists and performers.”
Are you a punk fan, a jazz fan, or both?
“Personaslly? A fan of both but they’re broad terms, aren’t they? Anything exploratory and exciting gets my vote. Sheer noise? No! Cocktail lounge tinkling? No! Extreme hardcore where there’s no space to let the music breathe? No! But others in the group have their own preferences of course.”
Punk gets things done in a rush with plenty to say; jazz just faffs around, taking forever to not make any point…Discuss! “Two sides of a coin, as we say. But the coin itself is the same. They aren’t exclusive. Sometimes you want to shout and get things out of your system; sometimes you want to muse on things at length.
“Punk or jazz, the musicians are working out how best to express themselves, whether it’s protesting about something for two minutes or exploring their own state of mind for hours! The key factor in both is honesty, being true to yourself. I’d say that’s what attracts an audience too.”
John Coltrane, by Carrianne Vivianette
Punk had no future, nowhere to go. Jazz is always evolving…Discuss.
“Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten/John Lydon realised punk was imploding very early on, becoming formulaic. Once you get into the punk that led to what became a post-punk freedom to experiment, there’s an openness to many other forms of music, including jazz, dub, world music and so on that created a kaleidoscope of marvellous new forms.
“New jazz is emerging now, which similarly draws on other influences, especially electronics. Labelling music as one thing or another is a convenient shorthand but genuinely creative artists rarely think in those terms.”
What is the full line-up for Saturday’s live event?
“The musicians will be The Bricks, an energetic punk band fronted by Gemma from comics shop Travelling Man, in Goodramgate; Teleost, who are more intense and improvisatory; the Neo Borgia Trio who have formed especially for the occasion from a University of York big band; Mike Ambler, with some grunge-influenced solo songs,; and Things Found And Made (Dunmada), whose experimental set is a secret even from us. Then there’s firebrand poet Rose Drew and comedians Isobel Wilson and Saeth Wheeler.”
What is Navigators Art & Performance?
Punk/Jazz: Two sides of a coin or not?
THIS York creative collective brings a DIY ethos and punk belief in building from minimal resources to exhibitions, live events, projects and commissions.
“We’ve created events for StreetLife and York Festival of Ideas, and we’re now running live events at The Basement, City Screen,” says co-founder Richard Kitchen.
“We present original material for an audience to discover something fresh and exciting.
We encourage young artists, emerging talent and those who feel disadvantaged or underrepresented.”
Punk/Jazz: Contrasts and Connections runs at Micklegate Social and Fossgate Social, York, until January, with the closing date yet to be confirmed.Free entry during opening hours.Tickets for Punk/Jazz: A Halloween Special are on sale at https://bit.ly/nav-punkjazz
Y Fronts, by Sharon McDonagh, from the Punk/Jazz: Contrasts & Connections exhibition
