Michael Ball’s poster for his Glow UK Tour 2026, when he will play Yorkshire shows at Bradford Live, Sheffield City Hall, Hull Connexin Live and York Barbican
MUSICAL star and radio and TV presenter Michael Ball will promote his 23rd solo album, Glow, on next year’s 25-date tour.
“There’s probably only one thing I enjoy more than being in the studio – writing, producing and singing songs with people I love – and that’s taking it all out on the road and performing those songs, as well as all the old favourites to the audiences I love,” he says.
“I hope you enjoy the new album, and I hope you come to see us on tour next year. It’s going to be an exciting year, and I can’t wait to see you all.’’ Tickets go on general sale on Friday at 9am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/michael-ball-2026/.
Featuring original material, Glow will be released “early next year” and will be available via the Michael Ball store at https://michaelball.tmstor.es/. Fans can pre-purchase the album now to gain exclusive tour access, starting today at 9am.
Ball will be on the road from August 26 to October 2 2026 on his Glow UK Tour, whose itinerary takes in further Yorkshire concerts at Bradford Live on September 3, Sheffield City Hall, September 5, and Hull Connexin Live, September 6. Box office: livenation.co.uk; gigsandtours.com or michaelball.co.uk.
Michael Ball: back story
BORN in Bromsgrove on June 27 1962, Great Britain’s “leading musical theatre star” is a double Olivier Award-winning, Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum recording artist and radio and televison presenter.
For more than 40 year, he has starred in West End and Broadway musical theatre productions, winning critical acclaim, a devoted following and awards for his stage work and recording career.
His theatre credits include Edna Turnblad in Hairspray (ENO/Coliseum); Javert in Les Misérables – The Staged Concert (Gielgud Theatre & UK/Australia Arena Tour); Anatoly in Chess (ENO/Coliseum); Mack in Mack And Mabel (Chichester/UK Tour), and Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd and The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street (West End), winning Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Further credits include Edna Turnblad in Hairspray (Original West End cast), winning Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical; Kismet (English National Opera); Patience (New York City Opera); The Woman In White (West End/Broadway); Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (West End); Passion, The Phantom Of The Opera, Aspects of Love (West End/Broadway), and creating the role of Marius in Les Misérables (Original West End cast).
TV credits include the Victoria Wood BBC TV film, That Day We Sang, opposite his Sweeney Todd co-star, Imelda Staunton.
He presents his own show on BBC Radio 2 on Sundays. On TV, he has hosted The Michael Ball Show on ITV1, his first TV travelogue, Wonderful Wales on Channel 5 and an Easter Sunday special for the BBC.
Tours UK regularly as a concert artist, selling millions of albums over the past 40 years, as well as performing in Australia, China, USA and Japan. In 2007, he made his BBC Proms debut in An Evening With Michael Ball at Royal Albert Hall, London, marking the first time a musical theatre star had been given a solo concert at the Proms.
Deep in conversation: Snow goes underground in A Winter Wonderland at JORVIK Viking Centre
A SNOWY reboot, festive trail, treasured exhibition and pantomime launches spell out that winter staples aplenty are up and running, as Charles Hutchinson reports.
Time travel of the week: A Winter Adventure at JORVIK Viking Centre, York, untilFebruary 22 2026
A WINTER Adventure brings a new wintery experience to the underground York visitor attraction, where the 10th century Vikings are preparing to celebrate Yule with natural decorations hung on their houses. For the first time, visitors can peer through Bright White’s time portal into the blacksmith’s house excavated on this site in the 1970s.
They will then board a time sleigh to travel back in time around the backstreets, transformed for winter by Wetherby set dressers EPH Creative, who have covered streets and houses in a thick blanket of snow, bathed in cold blue lighting.Pre-booking is essential for all visits to JORVIK at jorvikvikingcentre.co.uk.
Christmas at The Bar Convent in York. Illustration by Nick Ellwood
Activity trail of the week: Christmas At The Convent, The Bar Convent Living Heritage Centre, Blossom Street, York, until December 22, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm, last admission 4pm
DECEMBER visitors to The Bar Convent can uncover fascinating festive traditions through the centuries in a family-friendly activity trail through the exhibition that combines the convent’s history with the Advent season.
Families can enjoy finding clues, making decorations, dressing up, discovering traditions from Christmas past and much more. Look out for the traditional crib scene in the chapel. Tickets: barconvent.co.uk.
Garlands galore at An Inspired Christmas at Treasurer’s House, York. Picture: National Trust, Anthony Chappel-Ross
Festive exhibition of the week: An Inspired Christmas at Fairfax House, York, until December 21,open Saturday to Wednesday, 11am to 4pm, last entry 3.30pm
TREASURER’S House has undergone a winter transformation, where stories of its past residents come to life through handcrafted decoration as rooms are re-imagined by the National Trust with festive flair, inspired by the 17th-century house’s rich history.
Each room is styled to reflect the personalities and tales of those who once called Treasurer’s House home, from last occupant Frank Green, the visionary industrialist who gifted the property to the National Trust, to the Young family, Jane Squire, Ann Eliza Morritt, Elizabeth Montague, Sarah Scott, John Goodricke and Royal visitor Queen Alexandra. No booking is required, with free entry for National Trust members and under-fives.
The Jeremiahs: Irish folk band play York for the first time on December 3. Picture: Tony Gavin
York debut craic of the week: The Jeremiahs, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 3, 7.30pm
IRISH band The Jeremiahs have travelled extensively, including playing 26 states in the USA, performing rousing new songs and tunes in the folk genre, peppered with picks from the trad folk catalogue. Lead vocalist and occasional whistle player Joe Gibney, from County Dublin, is joined by his fellow founder, Dublin guitarist James Ryan, New York-born fiddler Matt Mancuso and County Clare flautist Conor Crimmins. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Malton White Star Band: Performing Brass and Voices At Christmas at Milton Rooms, Malton
Ryedale festive concert of the week: Brass and Voices At Christmas with Malton White Star Band, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 7pm
MALTON White Star Band and Community Training Band team up with singers from Norton Primary School for the 2025 edition of Brass and Voices at Christmas. Doors open at 6.30pm. Tickets are on sale at https://donate.givetap.co.uk/f/malton-white-star-band/christmas-concert-2025 or by ringing Dave Creigh on 07766 237947.
The one and only Jesca Hoop: Playing NCEM in York tomorrow
Singer-songwriter of the week: Brudenell Presents and Please Please You present Jesca Hoop, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 4, 7.30pm
DISCOVERED by Tom Waits, invited on tour by Peter Gabriel and encouraged to relocate to the UK by Elbow’s Guy Garvey, Jesca Hoop left California for Manchester to carve out a singular path across six albums of original material. Collaborations with producers John Parish (PJ Harvey), Blake Mills (Feist), and Tony Berg (Phoebe Bridgers) have only sharpened the intricacy of her craft. Box office: thecrescentyork.com/events/jesca-hoop-at-the-ncem-york/.
Ryedale Christmas children’s show of the week: Esmerelda The Elf And Father Christmas, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 12 noon, 2pm and 3.30pm; Sunday, 10.30am, 12 noon, 2pm and 3.30pm
WHO thought it was a good idea to put Elf friend Esmeralda in charge of Christmas sweeties? Can you help her to have everything ready in time? Will any goodies be left by the time Christmas Day arrives?
Each family has its own space to sit in at this interactive show and can visit Father Christmas individually at the end. All children will receive a gift. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Bec Silk’s Robin Hood and writer Martin Vander Weyer’s Dame Daphne in 1812 Theatre Company’s pantomime Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure
Ryedale pantomime opening of the week: 1812 Theatre Company in Robin Hood’s Helmsley Adventure, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; Sunday, 2.30pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; December 14, 2.30pm
HELMSLEY Arts Centre artistic director Natasha Jones directs company-in-residence 1812 Theatre Company in this traditional panto with a Knock Knock Joke Contest, scripted by Martin Vander Weyer.
Robin Hood will be rescuing the lovely Maid Marian from the wicked Sheriff of Pickering, while Black Swan landlady Dame Daphne will lead the merriment and mayhem. Knock Knock! Who’s there? Daphne! Daphne who? Daph-nitely book early to avoid disappointment on 01439 771700 or at helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Hannah King’s Peter Pan in Rowntree Players’ The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan at Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York
Putting ‘Pan’ into pantomime: Rowntree Players in The Pantomime Adventures Of Peter Pan, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm, Sunday, 2pm and 6pm; December 9 to 12, 7.30pm; December 13, 2pm and 7.30pm
JOIN Wendy, John and Michael as they fly with Peter Pan to the fantastical world of Neverland in Howard Ella and Gemma McDonald’s pantomime for Rowntree Players. Cling on to your seats as Peter and the Lost Boys do battle with Jamie McKeller’s rather nasty Captain Hook and his even nastier bunch of pirates. Fear not as Nanny McFlea and her ever eager apprentice Barkly are on hand to assist in the most ridiculous of ways. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Michael Ball: Glowing at York Barbican next September
Concert announcement of the week: Michael Ball, Glow UK Tour, York Barbican, September 12 2026
MUSICAL star and radio presenter Michael Ball will promote his 23rd solo album, Glow, on next year’s 25-date tour. “There’s probably only one thing I enjoy more than being in the studio – writing, producing and singing songs with people I love – and that’s taking it all out on the road and performing those songs as well as all the old favourites to the audiences I love,” he says.
“It’s going to be an exciting year, and I can’t wait to see you all.’’ Tickets go on sale on Friday at 9am at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/michael-ball-2026/.
Jonny Owen and Vicky McClure: Two of the co-founders of the Day Fever daytime dancing phenomenon that hits York Barbican tomorrow
LET Line Of Duty and Trigger Point star Vicky McClure introduce Day Fever, tomorrow’s disco-dancing destination of choice at York Barbican from 3pm to 8pm. Yes, you read that right, 3pm to 8pm.
“It feels like a massive house party at your nan’s. No drama, no egos, just people acting daft, getting dressed up, and having the best time,” says Nottingham actress Vicky, who launched this daytime clubbing phenomenon with filmmaker and broadcaster husband Jonny Owen, Reverend & The Makers frontman Jon McClure (no relation), his brother Chris McClure and Sheffield businessman James O’Hara at Christmas 2023.
From its debut in the Sheffield City Hall Ballroom to a nationwide tour that sees thousands hit the dancefloor each month, the message remains the same: people everywhere are craving a space to let loose, laugh and dance, all before 8pm
“It started as a WhatsApp idea,” says Jon McClure. “Jonny [Owen] just said, ‘A daytime disco, how good would that be?’ We’re all a bit nuts, so we just said, ‘Come on then’!”
What began as a spark of an idea among friends has turned into a full-blown national movement, and after a record-breaking September, the good times are rolling into November before the team turns up the tinsel for a Christmas takeover when Day Fever will transform into Sleigh Fever.
Should you feel that your clubbing days are behind you, think again with Day Fever. No dress code, no pressure, and the hangover is optional; just wall-to-wall feel-good tunes and an open invitation to dance like nobody’s watching.
Looking forward to this weekend, Jonny says: “It’s our first one ever in York. It’s been a city that we’ve been looking to come to for quite a long time. Jim (O’Hara), our business partner on this, has worked hard to make it happen. He was a big fan of coming to York. He said it’s a great city to go for a day out and a night out.
“Obviously a famous tourist city too; I’ve been there myself, so the idea was to take it to York and the ticket sales have been fantastic, so it was the right decision.”
Jonny partly puts Day Fever’s popularity down to Vicky’s impact. “She has an amazing following, because of her acting and the work she does with the Dementia Choir, so Vicky’s brought a lot to it and people trust her. It’s just something that’s really connected,” he says.
“There are a myriad of reasons, I think, why people really enjoy it, from people wanting to go out earlier in the day, if they’re a bit older, to the fact that you’re going out dancing and socialising and listening to great music, but I do think at the very apex of it all is definitely Vicky and her connection with people. Her mantra is always that music is medicine.”
Vicky says: “When we started, it was addressed to people over 30 but we very quickly scrapped that. People came and they came with their families, mothers and daughters and aunties and nieces. The thing is, the hits are still the hits today. Motown or disco, those kind of tracks, they’re known across the world as songs that will never die.
“Then we’ve got a great Nineties’ section as well, which hits a slightly younger audience, so from my nephew, who’s 18, to people in their late-80s; it really is for everybody.”
From Nottingham to Newcastle, Glasgow to York today, every Day Fever event has its own flavour. Local DJs who know their crowds keep the energy high with a nostalgic mix of Northern Soul, disco, indie and Nineties’ classics. “If Vicky’s there, we have to play Whitney, it’s non-negotiable!” says Jon.
“With our DJs, it sounds like a football team,” says Jonny. “We’ve got a stable of people who are very good and they do tend to be more localised; often we use local presenters…people who are very experienced, who know how to speak to a crowd, play the right music.
“We encourage people to come up on stage and dance, a bit like the old days on Top Of The Pops used to be, right in the centre of it. We know that these events are going to go off brilliantly if people play the right stuff.”
What you wear is all part of the fun. “What I love about Day Fever is that some people will get absolutely dressed up to the nines,” says Vicky. “Some people will do fancy dress; somebody came to Day Fever in London not so long ago in an inflatable giraffe! They got in without any bother!
“Basically, it’s not really got a dress code, and I think people love having the option of not being forced into feeling you’ve got to be dressed up. I always wear trainers, and I wanna dance, and I can’t dance in heels. So it’s joggers, a T-shirt, some trainers. I’m super-comfy.
“I don’t care if I look silly or people are taking pictures. I get lost in the music – and it’s not just me, it’s everybody getting lost in it.”
From December, Day Fever will don its festive finery for its rebrand as Sleigh Fever, a run of special Christmas editions that promise all the usual joy, dancing and daftness, sprinkled with extra sparkle, singalongs and seasonal surprises.
Expect glitter, Santa hats, Mariah moments, and maybe even a mince pie or two on the dancefloor. As Jon puts it: “It’s like a wedding party where everyone actually wants to be there, only this time, Santa’s invited too.”
Day Fever, York Barbican, tomorrow (22/11/2025), 3pm to 8pm. Box office: https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/day-fever/
Follow the Yellow Brick Road at Christmas at Castle Howard: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz
FROM The Wizard Of Oz wonderland at Castle Howard to daytime dancing at York Barbican, Gothic tales to Dickensian ghost stories, ’tis the season to be out and about, reports Charles Hutchinson.
Christmas transformation of the week: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Castle Howard, near York, until January 4 2026
CASTLE Howard becomes an immersive Christmas experience, dressed in set pieces, decorations, floristry, projections, lighting and sound for The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, set to delight tens of thousands of visitors over seven weeks.
Created by CLW Event Design, headed up by Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie, the show-stopping Emerald City High Street in the Long Gallery is the highlight of this winter’s transformation, with life-size fabricated shop fronts inspired by York’s Shambles, while the 28ft Christmas tree sparkles in the Great Hall. Leeds theatre company Imitating The Dog has provided the projections and soundscapes. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.
Day Fever co-founders Jonny Owen and Vicky McClure: Bringing the fun of daytime dancing to York Barbican on Saturday
Dance party of the week: Day Fever, York Barbican, Saturday, 3pm to 8pm
LAUNCHED in early 2024 by Trigger Point actress Vicky McClure, filmmaker and broadcaster Jonny Owen, Reverend & The Makers frontman Jon McClure (no relation), brother Chris McClure and Sheffield businessman James O’Hara, Day Fever has fast become a cultural sensation, built on people craving a space to let loose, laugh and dance, all before 8pm.
“It feels like a massive house party at your nan’s,” says Vicky. “No drama, no egos, just people acting daft, getting dressed up and having the best time.” No dress code, no pressure, only wall-to-wall feel-good tunes and an open invitation to dance like nobody’s watching. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Primitives: Playing The Crescent tonight
Indie gig of the week: The Primitives, The Crescent, York, Saturday, 7.30pm
COVENTRY band The Primitives emerged from the UK independent music scene in 1984 with a sound that distilled the shimmering guitar chime of The Byrds, the buzzsaw style of The Ramones and Sixties’ girl group melodies into quickfire pop gems. After debut album Lovely, breakthrough single Crash and further albums Pure and Galore, they split in 1992, only to re-form in 2009.
This year, Elefant Records released the double vinyl collection Let’s Go Round Again – Second Wave Singles & Rarities 2011-2025, adding new material to A sides, B sides and more besides from the past 14 years. Tonight they head to York with a line-up featuring original members Tracy Tracy, vocals, Paul Court guitar/vocals, and Tig Williams, drums. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Roald Dahl’s Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Saturday and Sunday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm; November 25 to 28, 7.30pm; November 29, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
DIRECTED by Steve Tearle, this musical will take you to a world of pure imagination in Roald Dahl’s devilishly delicious tale of young golden ticket winner Charlie Bucket entering the scrumptious chocolate factory. There, he and his grandpa Joe, along with five more children, will meet the mysterious confectionary wizard Willy Wonka for an adventure like no other.
“The story of chocolate is at the very heart and history of this amazing city and it is only fitting that NE Theatre York brings Charlie And The Chocolate Factory to York,” says Steve. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Mohammed Moussa: Headlining Say Owt’s bill on Sunday at The Crescent
Poetry gig of the week: Say Owt presents Mohammed Moussa, The Crescent, York, Sunday, midday
YORK spoken-word collective Say Owt welcomes Gaza Poets Society founder, Palestinian poet and podcaster Mohammad Moussa to The Crescent. Now living in Turkey, he writes with urgency, humour and hope, seeking to build connections across borders.
Supporting Mohammed on Sunday’s bill of shared personal stories will be York-based poets Nadira Alom and Minal Sukumar. Nadira writes about mental health and her experiences as a woman and a Muslim; Minal is a writer, performance poet and doctoral researcher at the Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York. Box office: thcrescentyork.com.
James Swanton: Returning to York Medical Society with a brace of Charles Dickens’ ghost stories
Storyteller of the week: James Swanton presents Charles Dickens’ Ghost Stories, York Medical Society, Stonegate, York, November 24 to 30,Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, 7pm; Sunday, 2pm and 6pm
YORK storyteller supreme and Gothic actor James Swanton returns to York Medical Society with two of Dickens’ seasonal ghost stories: A Christmas Carol, the famous saga of Scrooge (November 25 and 28, 7pm, and November 30, 2pm and 6pm), and The Haunted Man, a neglected Gothic classic (November 24 and 27, 7pm).
“Their words unlock a world teeming with chain-rattling spectres, with dark and shadowy doubles, with Ghosts of Christmases Past and Present and Yet To Come,” he says. “These tales chill the marrow and tickle the funny bone, but always they enchant, as only the works of a master storyteller can.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Meanwhile, Robert Lloyd Parry’s performance of three M R James ghost stories, Not Truly Dead, at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, on November 23 (7.30pm) has sold out.
O’Hooley & Tidow: Playing NCEM
Folk gig of the week: O’Hooley & Tidow, So Long For Now, National Centre for Early Music, York, November 26, 7.30pm
AFTER 15 years of performing together, eight studio albums, four BBC Folk Award nominations, composing Gentleman Jack as the BBC/HBO drama theme tune and gigs at hundreds of UK and European venues and festivals, Yorkshire folk duo Belinda O’Hooley & Heidi Tidow have made the momentous decision to say farewell for now to explore other adventures.
To help their loving and loyal audiences process this news, they are embarking on one last tour of all their favourite venues from over the years, taking in the NCEM next Wednesday. Tickets update: Sold out. For returns only, ring 01904 658338.
Ross Noble: Geordie surrealist tapping into his Cranium Of Curiosities at the Grand Opera House, York
Comedy gig of the week: Ross Noble, Cranium Of Curiosities, Grand Opera House, York, November 26, 8pm
THE Wizard of Waffle, the Rambler Royale, the Noodlers’ Noodler is touring a tornado of tangents. “What the show will be about is anybody’s guess, but that’s all part of the fun when you look inside my Cranium of Curiosities,” says Newcastle-upon-Tyne stand-up comedian and actor Ross Noble, who cut his comedy teeth in York as the bygone Comedy Shack’s master of ceremonies at The Bonding Warehouse. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Rebecca Vaughan: Telling haunting tales of the festive season in Dafyd Productions’ Christmas Gothic at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Frailties of human nature of the week: Dafyd Productions in Christmas Gothic, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 27, 7.30pm
REGULAR York frequenters Dafyd Productions return with Christmas Gothic, an invitation to come in from the cold and enter into the Christmas spirit as a dark and spectral woman (Rebecca Vaughan) tells haunting tales of the festive season, lighting a candle to the frailties of human nature and illuminating the chilling depths of the bleak, wintry dark. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 49, from Gazette & Herald, 19/11/2025 onwards
Adrian Lillie and Charlotte Lloyd Webber, of CWL Design, standing by the 28ftChristmas tree in the Great Hall at Castle Howard, where their Wonderful Wizard Of Oz immersive experience enchants until January 4. Picture: Tom Arber
SNOW storms with clowns, Castle Howard’s immersive Wonderful Wizard Of Oz and Count Arthur Strong and Adam Z Robinson’s solo takes on A Christmas Carol put the ‘yes’ into November for Charles Hutchinson.
Christmas transformation of the week: The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, Castle Howard, near York, until January 4
CASTLE Howard becomes an immersive Christmas experience, dressed in set pieces, decorations, floristry, projections, lighting and sound for The Wonderful Wizard Of Oz, set to delight tens of thousands of visitors over a seven-week period.
Created by CLW Event Design, headed up by Charlotte Lloyd Webber and Adrian Lillie, the show-stopping Emerald City High Street in the Long Gallery is a highlight of this winter’s transformation, with life-size fabricated shop fronts inspired by York’s Shambles, while the 28ft Christmas tree sparkles in the Great Hall. Leeds theatre company Imitating The Dog has provided the projections and soundscapes. Tickets: castlehoward.co.uk.
Slava’s SnowShow: Arrival in York coincides with forecasts of snow across the North
Weather forecast of the week: Slava’s SnowShow, Grand Opera House, York, 7.30pm, today to Saturday; 2.30pm, tomorrow and Saturday; Sunday, 2pm and 6pm
ENTER an absurd and surrealistic world of “fools on the loose” in Slava Polunin’s work of clown art, wherein each scene paints a picture: an unlikely shark swimming in a misty sea; clowns and the audience tangled up in a gigantic spider’s web; heart-breaking goodbyes with a coat rack on a railway platform, and audience members being hypnotised by giant balloons. The finale is an “out-of-this-world snowstorm”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Kerry Godliman: Welcome to the life of a middle-aged woman who has outsourced her memory to her phone in Bandwidth. Picture: Aemen Sukka, of Jiksaw
Straight-talker of the week: Kerry Godliman: Bandwidth, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm
WHILE parenting teenagers, bogged down with knicker admin and considering dealing HRT on the black market, Kerry Godliman can’t remember what was in her lost mum bag after outsourcing her memory to her phone. Welcome to the life of a middle-aged woman who lacks the bandwidth for any of this.
Godliman, comedian, actor, writer, podcaster and broadcaster, from Afterlife, Taskmaster and Trigger Point, builds her new stand-up show on straight-talking charm and quick wit. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York artist Lesley Birch at work in her studio for her Flower Power exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, York. Picture: Esme Mai Photography
Blooms of the week: Lesley Birch: Flower Power and Jacqui Atkin: Ceramics, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until mid-January 2026, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm
LESLEY Birch is showing 22 paintings from her Flower Power series in an exhibition that coincides with the publication of her small artbook of the same title by independent York publisher Overt Books, also featuring Esme Mai’s photographs of Lesley’s home studio and the York artist’s free-verse musings. On show too are Pottery Showdown potter Jacqui Atkin’s ceramics.
Dickens of a good show: Count Arthur Strong Is Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol, York Barbican, tomorrow, 8pm; Whitby Pavilion Theatre, November 23, 7.30pm; Scarborough Spa Theatre, November 27, 8pm
IN response to public pressure, doyen of light entertainment and raconteur Count Arthur Strong is extending his fond farewell with new dates aplenty for his one-man interpretation of A Christmas Carol, performing his own festive adaptation in the guise of literary great and travelling showman performer Charles Dickens. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Whitby, whitbypavilion.co.uk; Scarborough, scarboroughspa.co.uk.
Gerard Hobson: Cut out for three days of Christmas art
Christmas exhibition of the week: Gerard Hobson, 51, Water Lane, Clifton, York, Friday and Saturday, 10am to 4pm; Sunday, 12 noon to 4pm
YORK printmaker Geard Hobson’s artwork comprises hand-coloured, limited-edition linocut prints and cut-outs focused on nature and wildlife, inspired by the countryside around where he lives in York.
As well as prints and bird, animal, tree and mushroom cut-outs, he creates anything from cards, mugs, cushions and coasters to chopping boards, lampshades, tea towels, notepads and wrapping paper. This week’s festive exhibition focuses on Christmas gifts, cards, prints and cut-outs.
Mexborough poet Ian Parks holding a copy of his new book The Sons Of Darkness And The Sons Of Light. The Basement at City Screen Picturehouse awaits on Friday
Word-and-song gathering of the week: Navigators Art presents An Evening with Ian Parks and Friends, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Friday, 7.30pm
YORK arts collective Navigators Art plays host to An Evening with Ian Parks and Friends, where Parks reads from his new collection, The Sons Of Darkness And The Sons Of Light, and will be in conversation with Crooked Spire Press publisher Tim Fellows.
Joining Parks will be award-winning York novelist and poet Janet Dean, poet and critic Matthew Paul and singer-songwriter Jane Stockdale, from York alt-folk trio White Sail. Tickets: £5 in advance at bit.ly/nav-events or £8 on the door from 7pm.
Rant: Scottish quartet of fiddle players heads for Helmsley Arts Centre
Fiddlers of the week: Rant, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
SCOTTISH chamber-folk fiddlers Rant return to the road after releasing third album Spin last year, featuring their ambitious, bold and reflective reinterpretation of influential tracks by bands and players from across the globe from their formative years.
In the line-up are Bethany Reid, from Shetland, Anna Massie and Lauren MacColl from the Highland peninsula of the Black Isle, and Gillian Frame, from Arran, whose live set reflects years of honing their sound together and their love for the music of each home region through their writing, repertoire and stories. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Adam Z Robinson: Playing Scrooge and 27 more characters in A Christmas Carol at Helmsley Arts Centre
Ryedale solo show of the week:The Book of Darkness & Light Theatre Company in A Christmas Carol, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
MARLEY was dead.. to begin with. So starts The Book of Darkness & Light Theatre Company’s ghostly staging of Charles Dickens’s festive tale, performed by Adam Z Robinson, whose solo adaptation “teases out the gothic aspects” and requires him to play 28 characters.
Join miserly misery Ebenezer Scrooge on a supernatural journey into the past, present and yet-to-come. The chilly atmosphere of Victorian London is brought to life and the spirits of Christmas return from the dead, all through the spellbinding art of storytelling that combines gripping narration with eerie recorded voices and an immersive soundscape. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Becky, left, and Rachel Unthank: Playing All Saints Church, Pocklington, this weekend
Recommended but sold out already: The Unthanks At 20, All Saints Church, Pocklington, Saturday, 7.30pm
POCKLINGTON’S Hurricane Promotions bring North Eastern folk band The Unthanks to All Saints Church as part of their 20th anniversary scaled-back, intimate series of shows in support of “today’s best small venues”.
The Unthanks play Pocklington fresh from singing sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank and pianist Adrian McNally being part of the cast of eight for the October 22 to November 2 theatre piece for Bradford UK City of Culture 2025, creating and performing the music for Javaad Alipoor’s staging of York author Fiona Mozley’s Booker Prize-shortlisted novel, Elmet.
The show poster for The Sounds Of Simon at the Kirk Theatre, Pickering
Tribute show of the week: The Sounds Of Simon, The Music of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, Old Friends, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Saturday, 7.30pm
THE Sounds Of Simon, the UK’s longest-running tribute to Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel, takes a musical journey from their years as Simon and Garfunkel to the successes of their solo careers, as they explore the friendship that led to songs such as Mrs Robinson, The Sound Of Silence and Bridge Over Troubled Water, onwards to You Can Call Me Al, Graceland and Garfunkel’s Bright Eyes.
The show incorporates elements of the duo’s famously fractious relationship, as well as replicating their beautiful harmonies, complemented by video clips, stories and memories from more than 50 years. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
SCOTT Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox will return to York Barbican on May 29 2026 on The Future Is Vintage world tour across the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Founded by New York-based pianist Scott Bradlee in 2011, his rotating collective of singers, dancers and instrumentalists will perform a new retro-futurist show in the troupe’s signature time-twisting style.
After playing York Barbican on their Moonlight & Magic World Tour on May 7 this spring, Postmodern Jukebox will put a retro spin on everything from 1970s’ rock classics and Britpop hits to present-day chart toppers and movie and video game soundtracks in The Future Is Vintage.
Combining a heavy dose of danceable numbers with jaw-dropping showstoppers, the show “works equally well as the perfect date night or family outing”.
Founder and arranger Scott Bradlee says: “In the midst of the AI hype all around us, some folks have gone so far as to proclaim that in the not-so-distant future, all of the music that we listen to will be AI generated.
“We’ll gladly take the other side of that wager. On the 2026 Postmodern Jukebox UK tour, we’re humbly presenting our own unique vision of a spectacular future; one that is built upon the timeless musical genres of the past and the authentically human spirit of creativity that inspired them.”
Dress in your vintage best for the full time-travel experience, Bradlee advises.
Slava’s SnowShow: Bringing joy to children and drawing out the inner child in adults at Grand Opera House, York
SNOW storms and Count Arthur Strong’s Scrooge; dancing full of Momentum and Jon Ronson’s latest psychopath tests put the ‘yes’ into November for Charles Hutchinson.
Weather forecast of the week: Slava’s SnowShow, Grand Opera House, York, November 19 to 23, 7.30pm, Wednesday to Saturday; 2.30pm, Thursday and Saturday; Sunday, 2pm and 6pm
ENTER an absurd and surrealistic world of “fools on the loose” in Slava Polunin’s work of clown art, wherein each scene paints a picture: an unlikely shark swimming in a misty sea; clowns and the audience tangled up in a gigantic spider’s web; heart-breaking goodbyes with a coat rack on a railway platform, and audience members being hypnotised by giant balloons. The finale is an “out-of-this-world snowstorm”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
London City Ballet in Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures At An Exhibition at York Theatre Royal
Dance show of the week: London City Ballet: Momentum, York Theatre Royal, today, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
LONDON City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, returns to York Theatre Royal with Momentum, a new repertoire that showcases artists and works rarely seen in the UK.
Here come George Balanchine’s Haieff Divertimento; New York City Ballets artist-in-residence Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures At An Exhibition; Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum and Paris Opera Ballet premier danseur and emerging choreographer Florent Melac’s new work. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Jason Manford’s show poster for A Manford All Seasons, returning to York Theatre Royal this weekend
Comedy gig of the week:Jason Manford in A Manford All Seasons, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
SALFORD comedian, writer, actor, singer and radio and television presenter Jason Manford makes his second York in his 2025 stand-up show. He cites Billy Connolly as his first inspiration and he cherishes such family-friendly entertainers as Eric Morecambe, Tommy Cooper and Les Dawson. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Pictish Trail: Expect psychedelic goo at Rise@Bluebird Bakery on Monday
Rising to the occasion: Blair Dunlop, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, tonight, 7.30pm; Pictish Trail, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, November 17, 7pm
CHESTERFIELD folk musician, singer, songwriter, storyteller and actor Blair Dunlop performs traditional and contemporary songs from his five albums, released between 2012 and 2024, this weekend.
Known for his wildly inventive electro-acoustic pysch-pop, crafted on the Isle of Eigg in the Scottish Hebrides, Pictish Trail, alias Johnny Lynch, has completed work on his new album, a sticky, shimmering swirl of sound and slime. To celebrate, he previews songs at Monday’s intimate show, performing in raw, exploratory mode, armed with acoustic guitar, sampler and his warped imagination. Expect tenderness, weirdness and generous dollops of goo. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
Chris Wood: Seeking the truth in song at the NCEM
Folk gig of the week: Chris Wood, National Centre for Early Music, York, Sunday, 6.30pm
REFLECTIONS on minor league football, empty nest syndrome, learning to swim and the Gecko as a metaphor for contemporary society add up to a typically wise and soulful Chris Wood set. Tom Robinson and Squeeze’s Chris Difford are fans, while The Unthanks look to him as an influence, and he has played with the Royal Shakespeare Company and in The Imagined Village project with Billy Bragg and Eliza Carthy.
In a world of soundbites and distractions, six-time BBC Folk Awards winner Wood is a truth seeker, whose uplifting and challenging writing is permeated with love and wry intelligence as he celebrates “the sheer one-thing-after-anotherness of life”. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
King For A Day: Paying tribute to Nat King Cole at York Theatre Royal
Nostalgia of the week: King For A Day: The Nat King Cole Story, York Theatre Royal, November 17, 7.30pm
VOCALIST Atila and world-class musicians take a fresh, thoughtful and entertaining look at the life and work of Alabama pianist, singer and actor Nat King Cole, whose jazz and pop vocal styling in songs such as Nature Boy, Unforgettable and When I Fall In Love define a golden era of 20th century American music.
Cole’s most celebrated songs and stylish re-workings of his lesser-known gems are complemented by projections of rare archive images and footage, weaved together by narration. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Kerry Godliman: Welcome to the life of a middle-aged woman who has outsourced her memory to her phone in Bandwidth. Picture: Aemen Sukka, of Jiksaw
Straight talker of the week: Kerry Godliman: Bandwidth, York Theatre Royal, November 19, 7.30pm
WHILE parenting teenagers, bogged down with knicker admin and considering dealing HRT on the black market, Kerry Godliman can’t remember what was in her lost mum bag after outsourcing her memory to her phone. Welcome to the life of a middle-aged woman who lacks the bandwidth for any of this.
Godliman, comedian, actor, writer, podcaster and broadcaster, from Afterlife, Taskmaster and Trigger Point, builds her new stand-up show on straight-talking charm and quick wit. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Jon Ronson: Hosting Psychopath Night at York Barbican, where he will welcome questions from the audience
Mind-bending insights of the week: Jon Ronson: Psychopath Night, York Barbican, November 18, 7.30pm
WHAT happens when a psychopath is in power? Could you learn to spot a psychopath? Are you working for a psychopath? Is there a little bit of psychopath in all of us? Sixteen years since journalist, filmmaker and author Jon Ronson embarked on The Psychopath Test, he reopens the case.
Expect exclusive anecdotes and fresh reflections in Ronson’s exploration of madness and the elusive psychopathic mind, re-booted with mystery special guests whose tales were not in the original book. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Recommended but sold out already at York Barbican: Adam Ant in Ant Music, November 19, doors 7pm.
Count Arthur Strong: Telling Ebenezer Scrooge’s tale in Charles Dickens guise at York Barbican
Dickens of a good show: Count Arthur Strong Is Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol, York Barbican, November 20, 8pm; Whitby Pavilion Theatre, November 23, 7.30pm; Scarborough Spa Theatre, November 27, 8pm
IN response to public pressure, doyen of light entertainment and raconteur Count Arthur Strong is extending his fond farewell with new dates aplenty for his one-man interpretation of A Christmas Carol, performing his own festive adaptation in the guise of literary great and travelling showman performer Charles Dickens. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Whitby, whitbypavilion.co.uk; Scarborough, scarboroughspa.co.uk.
Pianist Robert Gammon
Dementia Friendly Tea Concert: Maria Marshall, Jill Shepherd and Robert Gammon, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, November 20, 2.30pm
IN a change to the advertised programme, unfortunately Billy Marshall is unable to play, prompting cellist Maria Marshall and flautist Jill Shepherd to agree at short notice to join pianist Robert Gammon for Thursday’s concert. Plans are afoot for Billy to play next year instead.
The programme includes music by Mozart, Elgar’s Salut d’Amour, the charming Liebesleid by Fritz Kreisler, an attractive Berceuse by Edward German and a lovely baroque trio sonata by Boismortier. As usual, 45 minutes of music will be followed by tea, coffee and homemade cakes in the church hall. Seating is unreserved and there is no charge although donations are welcome.
Mexboroughpoet Ian Parks holding a copy of his new book The Sons Of Darkness And The Sons Of Light
Word-and-song gathering of the week: Navigators Art presents An Evening with Ian Parks and Friends, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, November 21, 7.30pm
YORK arts collective Navigators Art plays host to An Evening with Ian Parks and Friends, where Parks reads from his new collection, The Sons Of Darkness And The Sons Of Light, and will be in conversation with Crooked Spire Press publisher Tim Fellows.
Joining Parks will be award-winning York novelist and poet Janet Dean, poet and critic Matthew Paul and singer-songwriter Jane Stockdale, from York alt-folk trio White Sail. Tickets: £5 in advance at bit.ly/nav-events or £8 on the door from 7pm.
In Focus:Lesley Birch: Flower Power and Jacqui Atkin: Ceramics, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until mid-January 2026, Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm
Lesley Birch at her Flower Power exhibition opening with Pyramid Gallery owner and curator Terry Brett
YORK artist Lesley Birch is showing 22 paintings from her Flower Power series in an exhibition at Pyramid Gallery that coincides with the blooming of her small art book of the same title.
The book is published by Overt Books, the independent York publisher set up by York Creatives creator Ben Porter.
“I’ve always meant to publish an art book and never quite got around to it, but with Ben’s help, I was able to pull together this small volume,” says Lesley. “There are beautiful photographs of my home studio from Esme Mai Photography, more photos by Eloise Ross, and some of my free verse musings to accompany photographs of the paintings.
Lesley Birch in her studio. Picture: Esme Mai Photography
“There are only 50 copies available at this time. I’m thrilled to say that there is a foreword from my generous PICA Studios studio mate Mark Hearld
Lesley is sharing space at Pyramid Gallery with ceramicist Jacqui Atkin, who works with The Pottery Showdown programme. “I love the combination of my flower paintings with Jacqui’s ceramics,” she says. “They sit beautifully together and it was lovely to hear her details about making these exquisite pieces.”
Lesley’s Flower Power paintings were painted in response to abundant summer blooms in her garden and from Shambles Market in York.
Lesley Birch’s book cover for Flower Power
Sunflowers, from Lesley Birch’s Sunflower series
“I’m often keen on certain pots and vases too and I like to set up lots of bouquets here and there, playing with colour, texture and shape,” she says.
“I find myself immersed in a world of pure discovery and concentration. These works I’ve been developing for the past ten months and they’re now finally ready to go out on show.”
The Flower Power book is priced at £12 plus £3 postage and packaging. Contact Lesley via lesleybirch@icloud.com for a copy.
Danny Horn’s Ray Davies leading The Kinks in Sunny Afternoon, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Manuel Harlan
SUNNY Afternoon’s Kinks songs for dark nights, Dibley comedic delights and drag diva Velma Celli’s frock rock catch Charles Hutchinson’s eye.
Musical of the week: Sonia Freidman Productions and ATG Productions present Sunny Afternoon, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Friday and Saturday matinees
RETURNING to York for the first time since February 2017, four-time Olivier Award winner Sunny Afternoon charts the raw energy, euphoric highs, troubling lows, mendacious mismanagement and brotherly spats of Muswell Hill firebrands The Kinks, equipped with an original story (and nearly 30 songs) by frontman Ray Davies.
The script is by Joe Penhall, who says: “As a band The Kinks were the perennial outsider – punk before punk.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Nicki Clay’s Reverend Geraldine Granger in MARMiTE Theatre’s The Vicar Of Dibley at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York. Picture: Paul Miles
Village drama of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in The Vicar Of Dibley, Theatre:41, Monkgate, York, until Saturday,7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
NICKI Clay is going doubly Dibley for MARMiTE Theatre in the new York company’s debut production of The Vicar Of Dibley, having played Geraldine Grainger for The Monday Players in Escrick in May.
Martyn Hunter directs Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter’s cherry-picking of the best of Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer’s first two TV series, bringing together all the favourite eccentric residents of Dibley as the new vicar’s arrival shakes up the parish council of this sleepy English village. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
N’Faly Kouyaté: Dancing shoes recommended
African rhythms of the week: N’Faly Kouyaté, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, 7.30pm
AFTER gracing stages across the world with Afro Celt Sound System — where Celtic voices and instrumentation met the vibrant heartbeat of African rhythms — avant-garde griot N’Faly Kouyaté embarks on a profoundly personal journey.
This masterful Guinean multi-instrumentalist, inspired vocalist and living bridge between ancestral heritage and future sounds returns with his album Finishing, whose songs stir the soul, provoke reflection, elicit smiles and set bodies moving. Bring your dancing shoes! Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Velma Celli: Rock Queen with a nod to David Bowie’s Aladdin Sane slash. Picture: Sophie Eleanor Photography
Drag night of the week: Velma Celli: Rock Queen, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm
YORK’S international drag diva deluxe Velma Celli follows up her iconic October 1 appearance in Coronation Street soapland withan “overindulgent evening celebrating and re-imagining the best of rock classics” with her band.
The alter ego of West End musical star Ian Stroughair, who has shone in Cats, Fame, Rent and Chicago, cabaret queen Velma’s live vocal drag act has been charming audiences for 14 years, whether at Yorktoberfest at York Racecourse, her Impossible Brunches at Impossible York, or in such shows as A Brief History Of Drag, My Divas, God Save The Queens and Divalussion (with Christina Bianco). Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Beth McCarthy: Heading back home to play Big Ian’s A Night To Remember charity concert. Picture: Duncan Lomax., Ravage Productions
Charity event of the week: Big Ian’s A Night To Remember, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
BIG Ian Donaghy hosts a “night of York helping York” featuring a 30-strong band led by George Hall with a line-up of York party band HUGE, Jess Steel, Beth McCarthy, Heather Findlay, Graham Hodge, The Y Street Band, Simon Snaize, Annie-Rae Donaghy, fiddler Kieran O’Malley, Samantha Holden, Las Vegas Ken and musicians from York Music Forum, plus a guest choir.
Proceeds from this three-hour fundraiser go to St Leonard’s Hospice, Bereaved Children Support York, Accessible Arts & Media and York dementia projects. Tickets update: Balcony seats still available at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Staff woes: William Ilkley, left, Levi Payne and Dylan Allcock in John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough
One helluva party of the week: John Godber’s Black Tie Ball, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, November 12 to 15, 7.30pm plus 1.30pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
ON the glitziest East Yorkshire fundraising night of the year, everyone wants to be there. The Bentleys are parked, the jazz band has arrived, the magician will be magic, but behind the bow ties, fake tans and equally fake booming laughter lie jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs, as overdressed upstairs meets understaffed downstairs through a drunken gaze.
The raffle is ridiculously competitive, the coffee, cold, the service, awful, the guest speaker, drunk, and the hard -pressed caterers just want to go home. Welcome to the Brechtian hotel hell of John Godber’s satirical, visceral comedy drama, as told by the exasperated hotel staff, recounting the night’s mishaps at breakneck speed in the manner of Godber’s fellow wearers of tuxedos, Bouncers. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
Ensemble 360: Performing works by Shostakovich and Dvořák at Helmsley Arts Centre. Picture: Matthew Johnson and Music in the Round
Classical matinee concert of the week: Ensemble 360, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2.30pm
ENSEMBLE 360’s chamber musicians Benjamin Nabarro and Claudia Ajmone-Marsan, violins, Rachel Roberts, viola, Gemma Rosefield, cello, and Tim Horton, piano, perform the dramatic intensity and soaring lyricism of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor, Op. 57 and the radiant warmth and Czech folk-inspired melodies of Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81, a piece cherished for its lush harmonies, spirited dances and seamless instrumental interplay. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Rock’n’roll show of the week: Two Pianos, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday, 7.30pm
IN the words of Jerry Lew Lewis, “Two Pianos are awesome rockers”. Tomorrow night, David Barton and Al Kilvo bring their rock’n’roll piano show to Pocklington for a journey through the golden age of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Ray Charles, Wanda Jackson, Brenda Lee and, yes, the “The Killer” himself. Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Lydia Hough and Joseph Taylor in London City Ballet’s Pictures At An Exhibition, on tour at York Theatre Royal
Dance show of the week: London City Ballet: Momentum, York Theatre Royal, Friday, 7.30pm (with post-show discussion); Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm
LONDON City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, returns to York Theatre Royal with Momentum, a new repertoire that showcases artists rarely seen in the UK. Haieff Divertimento, an early George Balanchine work, was thought to be lost for 40 years after its premiere and remained unseen outside the USA until now. Emerging choreographer Florent Melac, premier danseur at Paris Opera Ballet, combines inventive transitions with intimate partnering in his fluid new work.
Alexei Ratmansky, New York City Ballet’s artist in residence, presents Pictures At An Exhibition, performed to Modest Mussorgsky’s eponymous score, set against a backdrop depicting Wassily Kandinsky’s paintings. Unseen in the UK since its 2009 premiere, Liam Scarlett’s Consolations & Liebestraum is a response to Franz Liszt’s piano score, depicting the life cycle of a relationship, its blossoming and later fracturing love. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Sir Gareth Southgate: Discussing his new book Dear England at York Barbican…and the subject of James Graham’s play of that title at Leeds Grand Theatre
SIR Gareth Southgate, of Swinsty Hall, Fewston, Harrogate, makes the comparatively short trip to York Barbican to discuss his eight years of leading England’s footballers on the world stage with a revolutionary management style that combined calm empathy with mental resilience, courageous integrity with strong accountability.
He will discuss his new book Dear England: Lessons In Leadership, a title shared with James Graham’s Olivier Award-winning play (and forthcoming television drama) that takes its name from Southgate’s open letter during the Covid-19 pandemic.
David Sturzaker plays Southgate, Samantha Womack, team psychologist Pippa Grange, in this “inspiring, at times heart-breaking and ultimately uplifting story” of England, penalties, lost finals and a new-found national identity.
The cast also includes returning performers Jass Beki as Bukayo Saka, Courtney George as Alex Scott, Miles Henderson as Ensemble and Tom Laneas Eric Dier, joined by Jake Ashton-Nelson as Jordan Henderson, Luke Azille as Jadon Sancho, Ian Bartholomew as Greg Dyke, and Ashley Byam as Raheem Sterling.
Steven Dykes plays Sam Allardyce; Oscar Gough, Harry Kane; Jayden Hanley, Marcus Rashford; Connor Hawker, Harry Maguire; Ian Kirkby, Gary Lineker; Jack Maddison, Jordan Pickford; Liam Prince-Donnelly, Dele Alli, and George Rainsford, Mike Webster.
In Conversation With Gareth Southgate, Lessons In Leadership, York Barbican, November 3, 7.30pm;National Theatre in Dear England, November 4 to 8, kick-off at 7.30pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
David Sturzaker’s Gareth Southgate, in signature waistcoat, in James Graham’s play Dear England, on tour at Leeds Grand Theatre
Here stage and screen writer James Graham discusses Dear England, meeting Gareth Southgate, his own lack of sporting prowess and the power of theatre.
What did you feel when you met Gareth Southgate, James?
“Well, he’s a hero, so I felt nervous. But I was relieved that he didn’t remotely disappoint. I felt moved by his humility, his evident decency and his normality. He gave me confidence.
“I felt like a bit of a fraud in the world of competitive male sport. I wasn’t a sporty person at school. PE was my least favourite subject. I wanted to do plays, but I felt safe with Gareth. He’s a bit more like me, slightly shyer and softer and not an alpha male in the traditional sense.
“In a very Gareth Southgate way, he was mortified that the play was happening and that a famous actor [Joseph Fiennes, National Theatre, 2023] was playing him. He said he wanted to help, but he would never come and see it.”
Samantha Womack’s Pippa Grange, the team psychologist in Dear England. Picture: Mark Brenner
Have other England players seen the play?
Former England greats such as Gary Lineker, David Seaman and Ian Wright have come along. Lee Dixon too. And members of the women’s team, such as Alex Scott. The reaction has been really positive because they think that what Gareth has done is extraordinary and it’s exciting for them to come to a theatre and see their world reflected.
“They also enjoyed the comedic impressions of people they’re familiar with. Gary Lineker thought Gunnar Cauthery, who played him when he caught the production in 2023, was bang on.”
What can you say about making Dear England into a four-part TV series for BBC One?
“On stage, it’s a big panorama, quite comedic and the football is very abstract. That all plays to theatre’s strengths. On television, it’s going to be more literal and naturalistic, with more of the behind-the-scenes machinations and more of the players’ interior lives.”
David Sturzaker’s Gareth Southgate leading a team talk in Dear England. Picture: Mark Brenner
You say you weren’t a sporty child at school. More of a nerd?
“An absolute nerd. I tried to get out of games all the time. I did support Nottingham Forest and Mansfield Town but didn’t follow club football like some people do. It was the sheer operatic scale of World Cups and international tournaments, the stakes of them, the fact that they only come round so often, that I loved.
“I had to get over my imposter syndrome with this play, and in a very Gareth Southgate way, what I’ve learned is you can’t fake it. I knew I had to walk into a room of young actors who could explain the offside rule in two and a half seconds and admit that there are things about football I don’t know or feel innately. I feel the drama and passion of it but I don’t know the data.”
Why do you love theatre so much?
“Because there’s nothing else in the modern world except arguably sport, arguably football, that demands you leave your home and go to a physical space and sit in proximity with your community and laugh and cry together.
Goal celebration for, who else, but England in James Graham’s Dear England. Picture: Mark Brenner
“You interrogate your nation together, and the systems that run it, and what it is to be alive together and it’s that final bit of being together that makes it just electric.
“I felt that the first time I was ever in a play at school. The feeling of making your neighbours laugh and sharing it as an endeavour with your cast mates. The chemical reaction of it is extraordinary. It’s the most eruptive thing I experience in my life, and it is so satisfying.”
Did you know?
THE National Theatre is running a year-long schools engagement programme inspired by Gareth Southgate’s Dear England open letter that he wrote to England fans in 2021.
This programme, designed to prompt young people across the UK to reflect on their own place in history, just as the footballers in Southgate’s squad were encouraged to do, is in response to the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.
It is being delivered in schools across England with assemblies and workshops using spoken word and sound design to support students to share the hopes and aspirations they have for themselves, and other young people, 80 years from now.
The resulting sound archive will form a unique 2025–2026 time-capsule. Students also will be invited to see performances of Dear Englandduring the tour.
This engagement programme is expected to reach more than 10,000 young people.
Oh dear, England. Will we ever win a final again? David Sturzaker’s Gareth Southgate in contemplative mood on James Graham’s play. Picture: Mark Brenner
David Walliams: Frank chat at York Barbican. Picture: Charlie Clift
CANDID conversation, outrageous anecdotes, storytelling and surprises combine in An Evening With David Walliams, actor, writer, sketch comedian and talent show judge, at York Barbican on November 4.
Everything, from his breakthrough with Matt Lucas on Little Britain, Come Fly With Me and judging duty on Britain’s Got Talent to his prolific book writing for young readers, will be on the table, opening in Little Britain attire and topped off with the chance to put questions to “one of Britain’s most beloved entertainers” in the second-half Q&A.
“I was last in York for a book signing about a year ago. I love the city,” he says. “Went to the Minster, bought some old-fashioned sweets. I like cities and towns where you can walk around, not too big. That’s why I like Edinburgh, Bath and York.
“I love the National Railway Museum too. I’ve been there a few times. I went there as a kid, when the Mallard was my favourite. I had a Horny train set too. I like a train journey, so I’ve always wanted to write a book based around trains but I haven’t had the right idea yet.”
When does he know that moment has arrived? “I think it’s when…I make a lot of notes…and it’s normally when you have a number of ideas coming out of you at once. What will make it different from other books?” says David, whose books have been translated into 55 languages.
“I read a brilliant book by Stephen King about writing where he said, ‘a good book has to have two ideas’, and it just stuck with me. With kids’ books, you write in a world halfway between imagination and reality, Like, if there was an empty house on my street as a child, I would say it was haunted.
“With each book now, it’s very much a case of having to top the last book, having started by drawing on my childhood experiences, like The Boy In The Dress, writing stories very much grounded in our world, even though fantastical things might be happening.
“But as I went on, I had to invent more, or I would have written the same book again, and indeed I’ve had to let my imagination run riot. What is popular with kids is writing a series of books, like The World’s Worst Children, but most of the time with my books I have to start with a new character, maybe a new setting.”
Writing a book can be a slog, but that slog is worthwhile. “It’s not something I can speed up. It’s not something you can dash off,” says David, who puts plenty of planning into his writing. “Some things get cancelled because they’re just not working.”
Has the prolific David Walliams ever experienced writer’s block? “Sometimes I don’t know what to write, but I then just get up and do something else. There is always tomorrow,” he says. “Sometimes maybe you need to go for a walk, or weirdly, when you’re not thinking about it, your brain goes into problem-solving mode and comes up with the solution.
“I’m constantly alive to ideas, wherever they come from, like reading an article in the newspaper and thinking, ‘this is a great story’. The other day I was reading about an archaeologist and then flipped it on its head for an [Egyptian] mummy to travel to the modern world.
“It’s stuff like that which makes you constantly open to new ideas – and I’ve had many more ideas than I’ve used. Just like with Little Britain, where we had so many characters that never saw the light of day, maybe two thirds of the things we came up with.”
The three series of Walliams & Lucas’s satirical sketch show Little Britain aired from 2003 and 2005 and, such is the nature of comedy, they were very much of their time whereas books tend to transcend time – or so I suggested to David.
“My son is 12 and we watch comedy movies together, and he’s drawn to the ones from 20 years ago, like Borat [from 2006] and the Austin Powers films [from 1997 to 2002]. You might think, ‘you couldn’t do that now’, but I think, ‘what’s the point of this debate?’. They’re still really funny. Sometimes it’s context.
“If you don’t like Borat, which I think is the funniest film ever made, what are you going to do to complain about it?”
David continues: “Interestingly, people are still finding Little Britain funny and teenagers are sharing it on social media, which is pleasing because it means they’re enjoying it. You can remember bad reviews and negative voices, which are always loud. People can always turn off the TV if they don’t like it.
“You have to remember that there’s a spread of opinions, and just because there are negative opinions, it doesn’t mean they are more important.
“At the end of the day, there were moments of satire, but it was silly as well, and entertaining people, if you’re successful, is a fantastic feeling, because it can be life-changing when people say ‘I was going through difficult times and thank you for helping me to get through that’.”
Humour, by its nature, will either be found funny or not, and that may change with changing tastes too. “Come Fly With Me, which came out in 2011 [first episode, December 25 2010], the kids are really into it now, partly because it’s edgy,” says David. “We’re watching things thinking ‘you couldn’t make that now’, but Mitchell & Webb have just done a new sketch show [Mitchell And Webb Are Not Helping, Channel 4] that I loved.
“It’s just that people are much more able to articulate their response now. You can be on your phone at the same time [as you are watching], saying you find something offensive, whereas before you had to call the BBC and wait in a queue, when 100 complaints would be a big deal.”
Was he tempted to call his tour show ‘A Night With’ rather than ‘An Evening With’? “No. I think if you said ‘Night’, you would think you’d be up all night on a crawl of kebab shops!” he reasons. “I was first asked to go to Australia and New Zealand with ‘An Evening With’ and had a brilliant time there as they’re very aware of what shows I’ve done.
“We put together this show with all my funny stories and favourite characters, talking about my career and where ideas came from, showing clips of the best bits, then inviting audience questions.”
What is the most unusual question he has been asked? “In Australia, an 11-year-old girl said her mum had given her her ticket because she wasn’t well…‘My question is, who are you?’! The audience love it when they put you down.”
He is enjoying the format, with more shows planned for next year after this autumn’s dates in York, Hull and Derby. “It’s like a stand-up show with a stool for me to sit on,” says David. “I’m at that age [54] where you make noises when you get up!”
An Evening With David Walliams, York Barbican, November 4, 7.30pm. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.Also Hull Connexin Live, November 5, 7.30pm. Box office: https://connexinlivehull.com/
Film critic Mark Kermode: Book talk and gig with his band Dodge Brothers at York Theatre Royal in the Beyond the Frame strand of Aesthetica Short Film Festival 2025. Picture: Julie Edwards Visuals
THE 15th Aesthetica Short Film Festival tops the bill in a week when Sir Gareth Southgate and David Walliams are keen to talk too, as Charles Hutchinson highlights.
Festival of the week: Aesthetica Short Film Festival, all over York, November 5 to 9
NOT so much a film festival as a “screen and media event”, in its 15th year, York’s Aesthetica Short Film Festival is bigger and broader than ever. Not only more than 300 shorts, features, documentaries, animations and experimental films, but also the VR & Games Lab; masterclasses and panels; workshops and roundtables; networking and pitching; Listening Pitch premieres; the inaugural New Music Stage and Aesthetica Fringe shows; Beyond the Frame events at York Theatre Royal; the UNESCO City of Media Arts EXPO and the Podcasting strand. For the full programme and tickets, go to: asff.co.uk.
Joseph Egan’s club boss Fat Sam from the Team Bugsy cast for Pick Me Up Theatre’s Bugsy Malone
Young swells of the week: Pick Me Up Theatre in Bugsy Malone, Grand Opera House, York, until November 8, 7.30pm, except Sunday and Monday; 2.30pm, both Saturdays and Sunday
LESLEY Hill directs and choreographs York company Pick Me Up Theatre’s cast of more than 40 young performers in Alan Parker and Paul Williams’s Jazz Age musical, replete with the film songs You Give A Little Love, My Name Is Tallulah, So You Wanna Be A Boxer?, Fat Sam’s Grand Slam and Bugsy Malone.
In Prohibition-era New York, rival gangsters Fat Sam and Dandy Dan are at loggerheads. As custard pies fly and Dan’s splurge guns wreak havoc, penniless ex-boxer and all-round nice guy Bugsy Malone falls for aspiring singer Blousey Brown. Can Bugsy resist seductive songstress Tallulah, Fat Sam’s moll and Bugsy’s old flame, and stay out of trouble while helping Fat Sam to defend his business? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Mark Steel: Addressing the leopard in his house at York Theatre Royal tonight
“Leftie, working-class, BBC Radio 4 favourite” comedy gig of the week: Mark Steel: The Leopard In My House, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm
COMEDIAN, nation-travelling radio presenter and writer Mark Steel has not so much an elephant in the room as The Leopard In My House. Under discussion is his battle with throat cancer, one that he is winning (thankfully) and that has spawned his new comedy tour show. Cancer, by the way, has done nothing to dull the edge of Steel’s trademark acute political and cultural observations.
“This show is the story of my year, of wonderful characters and often tricky but bafflingly positive experiences,” says Steel. “Doing the show doesn’t quite make me glad that it happened, but it definitely makes up for it quite a bit”. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The Magpies: Launching new EP at the NCEM
Folk gig of the week: The Magpies, National Centre for Early Music, York, tonight, 7.30pm
THE Magpies, the folk trio that hosts The Magpies Festival at Sutton House, near York, every summer, combine rich harmonies with fiddle-led fire and lyrical storytelling, wherein Bella Gaffney (banjo, vocals), Holly Brandon (fiddle, vocals) and Ellie Gowers (guitar, vocals) meld Anglo and American traditions.
Tonight’s intimate gig marks the launch of this autumn’s EP, The One Thing That I Know. Lead single Painted Pony is a stirring tribute to the St John and St Lawrence rivers of Canada: a song that flows with memory, movement and the quiet majesty of nature’s imprint. Box office for returns only: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
George Stagnell in the short film Bomb Happy, part of an Everwitch Theatre double bill
Theatre and film memorial of the week: Everwitch Theatre in Bomb Happy VE Day double bill, Milton Rooms, Malton, Sunday, 3pm
PRESENTED in the lead-up to Remembrance Sunday, whose focus this year falls on 80th anniversary of VE Day, Bomb Happy has been created by writer-performer Helena Fox and actor-vocalist Natasha Jones, of Everwitch Theatre.
From D-Day to VE Day, this powerful one-hour double bill of live performance (30 minutes) and short film (30 minutes) brings to life the verbatim accounts of two working-class Yorkshire Normandy veterans, highlighting the lifelong impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and sleep trauma, not only on war veterans but on their families too. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Leading light Mad Alice: Welcoming passengers to her Ghost Train on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
Train ride of the week: Mad Alice’s Ghost Train, North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Pickering Station, Sunday, 6.15pm and 8pm
JOIN York ghost walk hostess Mad Alice as she takes a spine-tingling ghost-train ride through the haunted heart of the North York Moors from Pickering to Levisham and back again in an hour-long eerie adventure. “I’ll be joined by Jonny Holbek, from York Light Opera Company, and professional actor Joe Standerline to help me tell stories in the carriage,” says Mad Alice. “Plus a few extra ‘ghosts’, who are actually either NYMR volunteers or York Light members – and even my own niece!”
All on board to learn of the mysterious ghosts that still haunt the carriages and stations; hear of supernatural tales and folklore of the land, and enjoy a special retelling of Charles Dickens’s ghost story, The Signal Man, all while sipping Mini Mad Alice’s Bloody Orange Gin & Tonic from York Gin (age 18 upwards). Box office for waiting list only: nymr.co.uk/Event/ghosttrain.
Sir Gareth Southgate: Discussing his new book Dear England at York Barbican…and the subject of James Graham’s play of that title at Leeds Grand Theatre
Ex-England manager at the double: In Conversation with Gareth Southgate, Lessons In Leadership, York Barbican, November 3, 7.30pm; National Theatre in Dear England, Leeds Grand Theatre, November 4 to 8, kick-off at 7.30pm plus 2pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
SIR Gareth Southgate, of Swinsty Hall, Fewston, Harrogate, makes the comparatively short trip to York Barbican to discuss his eight years of leading England’s footballers on the world stage with a revolutionary management style that combined calm empathy with mental resilience, courageous integrity with strong accountability.
David Sturzaker’s Gareth Southgate, in trademark waistcoat, in James Graham’s play Dear England, on tour at Leeds Grand Theatre. Picture: Mark Brenner
He will discuss his new book Dear England: Lessons In Leadership, a title shared with James Graham’s Olivier Award-winning play (and forthcoming television drama) that takes its name from Southgate’s open letter during the Covid-19 pandemic.
David Sturzaker plays Southgate, Samantha Womack, team psychologist Pippa Grange, in this “inspiring, at times heart-breaking and ultimately uplifting story” of England, penalties, lost finals and a new-found national identity. Box office: York, yorkbarbican.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.com.
David Walliams: An evening of frank chat and outrageous anecdotes at York Barbican. Picture: Charlie Clift
Candid comedic conversation of the week: An Evening With David Walliams, York Barbican, November 4, 7.30pm
SKETCH comedian, prolific author, talent show judge and English Channel swimmer David Walliams presents an evening of laughter, storytelling and surprises, discussing his Little Britain breakthrough, Come Fly With Me and his days on Britain’s Got Talent.
Expect the stories behind legendary TV sketches and reflections on his myriad books and the highs and lows of a career. Prepare for candid conversation and outrageous anecdotes, topped off with the chance to put questions to Walliams in the Q&A. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Ben Rosenfield and Laura McKeller in The Wetwang Hauntings – Live. Picture: Emma Warley
Halloween horrors and jump scares of the week: Neon Crypt & The Deathly Dark Tours present The Wetwang Hauntings – Live!, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, November 4 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
BETWEEN 1986 and 1993, a series of often violent hauntings rocked the small Yorkshire town of Wetwang. The cases went cold and all the records were lost…until now! Join York ghost walk guide Dr Dorian Deathly as the Neon Crypt and The Deathly Dark Tours team digs into the history and horrors of these cases. “This show is not for the faint of heart,” he forewarns. Suitable for age 13 upwards. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Nik Briggs: York Stage director back on stage to play a contestant in The Great British Bake Off Musical
York musical premiere of the week: York Stage in The Great British Bake Off Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, November 5 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
BAKING battles, singing sponges and a sprinkling of hilarity is the recipe for York Stage’s York premiere of The Great British Bake Off Musical, rising to the occasion under the direction of Nik Briggs, who also makes a rare stage appearance as one of the Bake Off contestants.
Expect a sweet and savoury symphony of British wit and oven mitts, propelled by a menu of jazz hands and jubilant original songs that capture the essence of the Bake Off tent, from nerve-wracking technical challenges to triumphant showstoppers. Be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster ride, where cakes crumble, friendships form and dreams become fruitful reality. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Katie Leckey: Directing Griffonage Theatre’s three nights of Kafka’ strangest short stories in the House of Trembling Madness cellar in Lendal
Deliciously disturbing stories of the week: Griffonage Theatre, Kafka By Candlelight, The House Of Trembling Madness, Lendal, York, November 5 to 7. 6.30pm and 8.30pm
“NO rest for the week,” say Griffonage Theatre, York’s purveyors of the madcap and the macabre, who are performing Kafka By Candlelight in the cavernous belly of the House Of Trembling Madness cellar as part of Aesthetica Short Film Festival’s debut Aesthetica Fringe, featuring 25 shows across the city.
This one showcases five of Franz Kafka’s strangest short stories, told disturbingly in the darkness with the audience in masks (optional). “Dare to join us?” they tease. Box office: eventbrite.com/e/kafka-by-candlelight-tickets-1815618316259.
York actor, writer and director Constance Peel: Presenting Service Please at Aesthetica Fringe 2025
In Focus: Introducing Constance Peel, Service Please, Aesthetica Fringe, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, November 4 and 7, 8.30pm; Micklegate Social, Micklegate, York, November 9, 2pm and 8pm
CONSTANCE (Connie) Peel, York-born director, producer, writer and performer, will present her debut one-woman show Service Please as part of the inaugural Aesthetica Fringe.
“I’ve been working as an assistant director and performer in theatre professionally for the past two years, since graduating from the University of York,” says Connie, 24. “This show explores the reality of working in hospitality, including the harassment and sexism you can face as a young woman.”
Service Please is billed as “a relatable and comedic monologue that follows Lara, a creative writing graduate, who hopes to write the next best-selling fantasy romance novel. There’s only one thing standing in her way, her casual waitressing job that keeps the money coming in.”
“We’ve all been there, but Lara wasn’t ready for the stressful and chaotic reality of working in the service industry,” says Connie, introducing her monodrama. “Can Lara keep her sanity and get her big writing break or will she crumble under the pressure of understaffed shifts, creepy comments and customers who say their only food allergies are ‘women’?”
Hospitality is the fastest-growing economic sector, worth £93 billion to the UK economy. “But it’s under severe pressure with more than 100,000 job losses predicted by the time of this month’s Budget, due to National Insurance rises (according to UK Hospitality),” says Connie.
“It’s evident working in the sector that to continue profits and keep up with the cost of living, food prices and discounts both need to increase while labour hours decrease. Being a server has never been more stressful and unpredictable and this experience (as other working-class experiences) is so often overlooked by theatre.”
Sexual harassment is an epidemic in the hospitality industry too, says Connie. “As many as 47 per cent of workers having experienced it – and 69 per cent witnessed it in 2021 (Culture Shift).
“These statistics, though informative, mask the personal cost to the individuals harassed and abused. My play presents interpretations of my own personal experiences, including those with harassment, and they’re an unfortunate part of the job when working as a waitress.
“They shouldn’t be, and awareness of this experience even in Fringe-scale theatre is always beneficial to the cause.”
Lastly, says Connie, Service Please tells the story of an artist with no clear way into her industry. “This is the most personally accurate part of my script. I wrote and performed the 50-minute monologue while producing and marketing it alone for its six-day debut run at the world-famous Edinburgh Fringe, where it won plaudits from critics and top reviews.
“Though this is hopeful for creatives, both in the execution of the play and my own story behind it, I wanted to show the emotional toll of struggling as an artist, especially as in the past five years there has been one third fewer art jobs (directly impacting my career).
“It was important that I brought this show back to where my career started, in York where I graduated from the University of York and where I’ve been working for the past three years between York and Leeds. I hope this production and my story makes people see the importance of a small-scale play like this in today’s society.”
