Ghosts After Dark: Lighting up York Museum Gardens for four nights
EXPERIENCE Ghosts in the Garden like never before! So reads the York BID and York Museums Trust invitation to the first ever Ghosts After Dark at York Museum Gardens,
Showcasing York’s rich tapestry of historical figures with light, sound and storytellers for four nights only, this exclusive event runs from today (7/11/2024) to Sunday from 6.30pm to 9.30pm nightly with last entry at 8.30pm.
Tickets are selling out fast, so prompt booking is advised. Once booked, ticket holders will receive an information pack with a map to help them to plan their night.
Ghost garden visitors can choose their own path to explore the ghostly sculptures, hidden around the gardens, each lit dynamically against an atmospheric background of smoke and sound.
Ghosts After Dark will feature an exclusive new ghost sculpture, a medieval pig, “celebrating the city’s history that can still be felt today”. The sculpture is an homage to Finkle Street, once known colloquially as Mucky Pig Lane, on account of being used as a through passage to move pigs to the Thursday Market, held in St Sampson’s Square, and the Swinegate Markets.
Mad Alice: Telling gruesome tales by the St Mary’s Abbey ruins in York Museum Gardens
York storytellers and ghost walkers will share a mix of much-loved classics and previously unheard stories every 15 minutes. For lovers of all things gruesome, Mad Alice, of the Bloody Tour of York, will share the grisly truth about the Archbishop, Executioner, Bear and Stone Mason at the Ruins.
Lady Brigante, of the Polite Tourist, will uncover the criminal past of the hidden stories of the Victorian Lady and Gentleman, Artist and Merchant at the Hideaway. The Wild Man of the Woods will explore the lore around the Cat, Fox, Pig and Falcon in the Woodland Clearing.
The York Dungeon’s Dick Turpin will recount how he met his infamous end at Palmer’s Corner while the Dungeon’s Guy Fawkes will share his ill-fated past at the Plot.
For those brave enough, Dr Dorian Deathly, of the Deathly Dark Tours, will lead visitors on a lantern-lit tour of St Olave’s Church, sharing a story made exclusively for Ghosts After Dark. “You will have to wear Bluetooth headphones for this one, with atmospheric music as he walks you through the churchyard with his spooky stories of monks and nuns,” says Carl.
Ghosts After Dark is the new companion piece to Ghosts In The Garden, which began four years ago with ten ghosts installations in York Museum Gardens. “It started as a spooky offering for Halloween but we quickly decided it wasn’t really about that,” says York BID operations manager Carl Alsop. “Year two and three we spread our wings and now it gets more exciting and challenging each year, with 45 sculptures this year.
“Like acknowledging Yorkshire’s oldest working observatory being in the Museum Gardens. We thought, ’let’s put a Georgian astrologer in there’. Or the Bear, because there was a menagerie here in the late 1800s that used to escape and chase the gardener around. Or the Mill, which now stands outside the Castle Museum, that used to be a working mill on the Moors.
Dr Dorian Deathly: Leading visitors on a lantern-lit tour of St Olave’s Church
“There’s a ‘long duck’ too because we do have ducks in the Museum Gardens but people can interpret it as attribute to a certain Long Boi at the University of York.”
The wire mesh sculptures are created by York company Unconventional Designs. “We have used them since the start,” says Carl. “We give them a character and an idea about the character and they come back with the design.
“The low aperture wire mesh is the gift that keeps on giving after I had this crazy idea! People might say why would you use chicken wire but the way you look at each sculpture changes depending on the time of day. Some of them appear, some of them disappear, in the changing light, because of the way they are set up!”
The York Bid and York Museums Trust has been keen to “keep growing this event, not just increasing the number of sculptures and locations, from the rail signaller at the railway station to a female stonemason at Holy Trinity Church, a taylor at Merchant Taylors Hall to a beekeeper in St Olave’s Grove,” says Carl.
“Now we’ve added this ticketed event, Ghosts After Dark, for the first time as we want to bring business into the city in what can be a quieter time of the year, coming to the city not only for the ghost sculptures but also to enjoy York’s evening economy. The ghosts will be lit up with different colours after we did a dress rehearsal to trial colours with fog and background music.”
Ghosts After Dark, York Museum Gardens, Museum Street, York, tonight to Sunday. Box office: yorkmuseumstrust.org.uk. Tickets cost £7.50 for adults and just £1 for under-16s.
Elbow: July 3 headliners for next summer’s Live At York Museum Gardens concert series
GUY Garvey’s Mercury Prize-winning Bury band Elbow are confirmed as the first headliner for Futuresound’s second Live At York Museum Gardens concert weekend, after the sold-out success of Shed Seven’s 30th anniversary shows and Jack Savoretti this summer.
Elbow will be supported by Ripon-born, London-based singer-songwriter Billie Marten and Robin Hood’s Bay folk luminary Eliza Carthy & The Restitution.
The York exclusive postcode presale (for YO1, YO24, YO30, YO31 and YO32) goes on sale tomorrow at 10am at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/elbow/york-museum-gardens/3195333?pre=postcode. General sales open at 10am on Friday at https://futuresound.seetickets.com/event/elbow/york-museum-gardens/3195333.
Rachel Hill, project manager for Futuresound Group, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the York Museum Gardens team once more for another great event. This year was such a proud moment for all involved.
“Witnessing how incredibly important it is to the people of York, their support and how it was received is so heart-warming. Seeing the city come to light and witnessing the benefits of the economic impact was a wonderful thing.”
Richard Saward, head of operations at fellow event promoters, York Museums Trust, said: “We are excited to welcome the concerts back to York Museum Gardens in 2025. The events last year brought in new audiences to the city and the gardens, with the income we raised invested back into our museums, galleries and collections.”
Watch this space for further news of next summer’s Live At York Museums Gardens programme.
Specialist builder Leo Wolterbeek within the Mesolithic build at York Museum Gardens. Picture: Gareth Buddo
IT took four days for two Dutchmen to build “Britain’s oldest house” in York Museum Gardens, where the Mesolithic Hut will stand until September 1.
Made of reeds, matting and twine, the house design dates from 11,000 years ago, transporting visitors back to life in North Yorkshire in the Mesolithic age, the Middle Stone Age, between the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic.
Teams from York Museums Trust and the University of York have combined with experts in ancient technology and archaeology to build the replica house in front of the Yorkshire Museum, using evidence, techniques and materials, such as stone tools and plant materials, gleaned from the prehistoric archaeological site at Star Carr, five miles south of Scarborough, where the oldest known house in Britain was discovered.
University of York head of archaeology Professor Nicky Milner and postdoctoral research fellow Dr Jess Bates are spearheading the project with specialist craftsman Diederik Pomstra and builder Leo Wolterbeek and support from Dr Adam Parker, curator of archaeology at York Museums Trust, in a project made possible by £10,000 funding from the National Heritage Lottery Fund.
“Being an archaeologist is like being a detective, using clues to build the picture,” says Professor Nicky Milner, head of archaeology at the University of York. Picture: Gareth Buddo
Dr Parker says: “This is an extraordinary opportunity to experience a Mesolithic build, using evidence-based information such as the tools and the resources, much of which we are showing in the Yorkshire Museum.
“Taking our lead from Star Carr, we are able to harness and harvest materials from the environment that will be similar to the components these people utilised all those years ago.
“Displays at the museum includes the original implements and items left behind from the lives that unfolded there. It’s a chance to get to know and understand a relatively unknown period of history in a fun and open way for all ages. Come and see for yourself.”
Professor Milner says: “We invited Diederik and Leo from the Netherlands, who come over once a year to do experimental archaeological work, because they’re really skilled at prehistoric archaeological buildings.
“For example, they know what materials to use to make the twine for fastening. It’s about understanding the natural world and how to make things out of materials and how to make tools out of flint.”
Specialist craftsman Diederik Pomstra with Professor Nicky Milner and Dr Adam Parker. Picture: Gareth Buddo
The use of reed for the replica house is derived from the research at Star Carr. “We found post holes and a hollow that signified the oldest house in Britain. The soil there was darker and we can look at that soil with its high organic content, in particular the silica cells from different plants, and some of those looked like reeds,” says Prof Milner. “Star Carr was by the river, so there would have been reeds there.
“Jess [Dr Bates] spent three years doing a PhD looking at the flint finds at Star Carr under a microscope, and from that you can tell what the flint was used for: cutting up meat, processing fish; working with hides, bones, antlers and wood. So we begin to understand the activities in the house.
“We can use science to bring alive evidence. In terms of materials, there was a lot of organic material because the preservation was so good, and from the research we can put together a picture of what life was like; what their skills were.”
Prof Milner continues: “Being an archaeologist is like being a detective, using clues to build the picture, working in our experimental centre, where research gives you more questions to be answered.
Diederik Pomstra, left, Leo Wolterbeek, Professor Nicky Milner, of University of York, and Dr Adam Parker, of York Museums Trust, at the Mesolithic Hut build in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Gareth Buddo
“We have to be honest and say there’s an element of speculation, so we think they used reed to build the house as it was by the river, though we can’t confirm that. They may have used animal skins.”
Prof Milner stresses the importance of the partnership with York Museums Trust, whose Star Carr exhibition, Life After The Ice, at the Yorkshire Museum offers visitors the chance to learn more about the site and see tools, objects and ritual artefacts found there.
“We both want people to know about Star Carr, the house, and how we got to where we are now. I don’t mind if we are speculating because it gives everyone a chance to ask questions about the past,” she says.
“Star Carr was first excavated in the 1940s and became very famous in the archaeological world because of the incredible preservation of the site, but locally people didn’t know about it. I didn’t until I went to university and couldn’t believe it was on my doorstep, where I grew up!
Dr Jess Bates, from the University of York, with Elizabeth, left, and Eleanor Grahame-Clarke at the Mesolithic build. Picture: Gareth Buddo
“Since then, it’s been a passion of mine for everyone to learn about it as Star Carr is as important as Stonehenge.”
Dr Parker concurs: “Life After The Ice is our first exhibition after two years of having the Star Carr collection, and this is a Yorkshire collection on display in Yorkshire, informed by research happening in York, telling a story that’s important for us to tell, displaying an archive of international significance, presented in a way that maybe the university couldn’t do.
“This is a project that serves both research and public engagement, and the benefit of what we’re doing this month is that it brings the museum outside, and we hope that by people seeing one, they want to see the other.”
Free activities, such as storytelling with Hoglets Theatre Company and Into Wilderness Bushcraft Adventures, are running in a marquee next to the Mesolithic Hut until September 1, open daily from 10am to 4pm. Participating children must be accompanied by an adult at all times; full details can be found yorkshiremuseum.org.uk.
Access to the Museum Gardens and the Mesolithic build is free; there is a charge for entry to the museum, open 10am to 5pm.
Activities in marquee next to Mesolithic Hut, in front of Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, Museum Street, York
Eleanor Grahame-Clarke learning skills from specialist builder Leo Wolterbeek in York Museum Gardens. Picture: Gareth Buddo
Creative Family Wednesdays: Star Carr Special, August 28, 10.30am to 3.30pm
DROP in anytime – no booking required – for artist-run creative workshops inspired by the Star Carr exhibition, delivered outdoors.
Star Carr Storytelling: August 29, 10.30am to 11.15am; 11.30am to 12.15pm; 2pm to 2.45pm and 3pm to 3.45pm. No need to book.
JOIN Hoglets Theatre, Gemma Curry’s York company, for an adventure into the prehistoric world of Star Carr in these immersive, outdoor story-telling sessions suitable for all the family.
Into Wilderness Bushcraft Adventures, August 30 to September 1,10.30am to 4pm drop-in sessions throughout the day. No booking required.
EXPERIENCE wild Britain from an Aboriginal bushcraft perspective and immerse yourself in the Mesolithic in these hands-on workshops led by the team at Into Wilderness.
In addition, a Star Carr Skills Weekend was held on August 17 and 18, when expert Chris Woodland’s drop-in sessions highlighted Mesolithic craftsmanship, using natural materials, and offered the chance to learn skills needed for everyday life at Star Carr, demonstrating how to turn nettles into twine and shale into decorative pendants.
Leading lights: Riding Lights’ new executive director Oliver Brown, left, and artistic director Paul Birch outside Friargate Theatre in York
RIDING Lights Theatre Company today announces the appointment of its new artistic director, Paul Birch, and executive director, Oliver Brown.
They will serve as joint chief executive officer of the national touring theatre company, based at Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York.
Playwright, sketch writer, improv comedy trailblazer and theatre director Paul Birchrejoins the company as artistic director after holding early roles as its youth theatre director and associate director of education and community.
He succeeds Paul Burbridge, co-founder of the Christian theatre company and artistic director since its foundation in 1977, who died after a short illness in April 2023.
As a freelance writer-director, his work has been produced in many theatres nationwide, expanding into audio dramas and a practice focused on improvisation, collaborating with improvisers from all over the world.
Paul has developed a track record of applied theatre-making and was artistic director of Out Of Character, a York company comprising artists with lived experience of mental illness, for eight years.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with Riding Lights for over 20 years. Paul Burbridge was a great mentor to me and offered me many early opportunities in acting, writing and directing,” he says. His influence and inspirational teaching in theatre-making has had a profound and lasting impact on my work.
“The creativity of Riding Lights has always been about making work with and for all kinds of people in all kinds of places; often those hardest to reach. I’m looking forward to finding new artistic ways to create powerful and joyful theatre in that spirit.”
Riding Lights’ new executive director, Oliver Brown, left, and artistic director Paul Birch in the black-box studio theatre at Friargate Theatre, York
Oliver Brown FRSA, at present associate director at Riding Lights,takes up the post of executive director after holding senior leadership roles in production and operations at venues including Hull Truck Theatre and CAST in Doncaster. He is the elected vice-chair and trustee director of the Association of British Theatre Technicians.
His first encounter with Riding Lights was in 1999, when the teenage Oliver knocked on the door of Friargate Theatre, soon after it opened, asking for a technical work placement. Over the subsequent decades, he has worked as a freelance technical and stage manager for the company on many occasions.
“After being a part of Riding Lights for nearly 25 years, I am delighted to be joining the company once again as executive director, having spent my summers at its annual residential summer school, my early years up a ladder amongst the lights in Friargate Theatre, and out on national tours,” he says.
“Along with Paul, I am looking forward to Riding Lights’ 50th anniversary in 2027 and planning for the future.
“I am passionate about communicating faith and social justice issues through theatre and community work – a tradition in which Riding Lights is a leader, and one in which I will be honoured to play a part as we develop the evolving vision of Riding Lights.”
Riding LightsTheatre Companyhas been making and touring theatre informed by a Christian faith for 47 years, making it one of Great Britain’s most productive and long-serving independent theatre companies. Its productions have been seen across the world, from the United States of America, through Europe, to Israel and Palestine.
John Emmett, chair of the board of directors, says: “I am delighted that Paul and Ollie have agreed to join Riding Lights. Both of them have a long association with the company and understand well Paul Burbridge’s remarkable legacy. I am confident that they will build on this in fresh and exciting ways to create theatre which entertains, challenges and inspires.”
Friargate Theatre has announced an autumn season of theatre, stand-up and improv comedy, storytelling, music, film and family shows that opens on September 5. For full details and bookings, head to: friargatetheatre.co.uk. Box office: 01904 613000.
Riding Lights is in rehearsal for Cups On A String, a new play by York playwright Bridget Foreman, directed by David Gilbert for an eight-week autumn tour across the UK, to be staged in partnership with Transforming Lives for Good, a charity that brings hope and a future to struggling children.
The brochure cover artwork for Friargate Theatre’s autumn return
Riding Lights: the back story
RIDING Lights Theatre Company was founded in 1977 by Paul Burbridge, Murray Watts and Nigel Forde and has been based in York ever since.
Riding Lights opened Friargate Theatre, in Lower Friargate, York, in 1999. It has since operated as the company’s office and rehearsal space and has two performance spaces: one a ground-floor cabaret-style space seating around 60 people; the other an upstairs black-box studio theatre seating 100.
World premieres in recent years have includedAfrican Snow, a co-production with York Theatre Royal (York Theatre Royal, West End transfer and national tour); Augustus Carp Esq. by Himself (Friargate Theatre); Dick Turpin (Friargate Theatre) and an adaptation of Jerome K Jerome’s Three Men In A Boat (national tour, co-produced with Northcott Theatre, Exeter).
In Summer 2012, Riding Lights, in tandem with York Theatre Royal and York Museums Trust, produced the epic-scale, outdoor production of the York Mystery Plays in York Museum Gardens.
Frequently characterised by quirky satire, Riding Lights’ productions challenge audiences to engage with topical themes and issues, often examining the reverberations of historical events in today’s society.
Classic plays such as Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale (two national tours), Ben Jonson’s The Alchemist (the inaugural production at Friargate Theatre), Dario Fo’s Mistero Buffo (Friargate Theatre and national tour) and Max Frisch’s The Fire Raisers (Bridewell Theatre, London) have found fresh and arresting relevance in Riding Lights productions.
70 Objeks & Tings: 75 years of Caribbean culture on show at York Castle Museum
70 OBJEKS & Tings, a celebration of 75 years of Caribbean culture, will showcase 70 items that connect us to the Windrush Generation at York Castle Museum from June 19 to November 1.
Billed as an “extraordinary exhibition of the ordinary”, it will feature objects that combine familiarity and practicality and have been passed down the generations.
The “small but powerful” show is being brought to York by Museumand, the National Caribbean Heritage Museum, founded by mother-and-daughter team Catherine Ross and Lynda Burrell.
Lynda Burrell, left, and Catherine Ross, founders of Museumand
These inspiring women have created this unique travelling exhibition as a fun and informative way to share more about the Windrush Generation and their descendants.
70 Objeks & Tings will be a chance to explore their experiences and lives through cooking and household goods, food packaging and beauty supplies, funeral items, music, games, books, newspapers and more.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a hardback book by Catherine and Lynda, available in the York Castle Museum shop, and a podcast too.
“Objeks and tings” from the Museumand exhibition, going on show at York Castle Mueum from June 19
Catherine Ross, Museumand’s founder director, says: “We are so elated to bring 70 Objeks & Tings to York. As aspects of Caribbean culture are so entwined with British culture and Yorkshire’s cultural traditions especially, this leg of our tour across the UK is particularly exciting for us.
“We hope to eke out more stories from people of the Caribbean diaspora and others that know about the islands and their peoples. Together, with York Museums Trust, we hope from our time in York, we will be able to add new stories and information from people of the Caribbean diaspora in York and the surrounding areas to the growing archive of the Caribbean presence and contribution to British life.”
Philip Newton, community participation manager at York Museums Trust, says: “What an insight into the lives of this generation this exhibition gives us. Little pieces of the Caribbean, which arrived on the landing of SS Empire Windrush at Tilbury Docks on June 22 1948, carrying passengers from the Caribbean who had been invited by Britain to help with post-war construction.
York Castle Museum’s exterior
“These items continued to play a part in the new lives that this generation embarked upon, passing them down to their children and incorporating into British identity too. The title, and interpretation, has a nod to patois, a traditional form of language for many Caribbeans, with ‘objeks and tings’ referring to the things that Caribbeans, especially those of the Windrush Generation, hold dear and are important to them.
“We are really proud to collaborate with Museumand and delighted to bring this gem of an exhibition to York Castle Museum, where its ethos and inspiration fits well within our displays.”
70 Objeks & Tings will run at York Castle Museum, Eye of York, York, from June 19 to November 4. Opening hours: Monday, 11am to 5pm; Tuesday to Sunday, 10am to 5pm. Tickets: yorkcastlemuseum.org.uk
Next Door But One founder and artistic director Matt Harper-Hardcastle. Picture: Esme Mai
NEXT Door But One may be new to Art Council England’s National Portfolio, but this York community interest company (CIC) has been a familiar, welcoming face to many in the community for ten years.
When Arts Council England announced its £446 million investment in 990 organisations each year from 2023 to 2026, to “bring art, culture and creativity to more people in more place across the country”, six York organisations were given funding, alongside such big hitters as the Royal Opera House and Royal Shakespeare Company.
Maintaining their previous NPO status are York Theatre Royal, York Museums Trust, the National Centre for Early Music and Pilot Theatre, while Next Door But One (NDB1) and Explore York/York Explore Library and Archive both join for the first time.
“It might sound bizarre, but it’s OK if people haven’t heard of us yet,” says NDB1 founder and artistic director Matt Harper-Hardcastle. “We’ve been busy in residential settings, youth centres, pub courtyards and even the odd portable cabin or two – making sure that we get theatre to people who want it, in a way that is accessible, relevant and meaningful to them.
“People have always come first, and profile second. But now becoming an NPO allows us to shout louder about our work and reach out to even more people.”
Set up by Matt in 2013, the applied theatre company cum community arts collective began by using improvisation to tell the stories of women’s groups, Muslim families and people new to York.
“Soon our storytelling was being used to make research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and enabling City of York’s training programmes to be more engaging and accessible,” he says.
Ceridwen Smithin Next Door But One’s production of The Firework Maker’s Daughter. Picture: James Drury
“Our original productions were then showcased at York Disability Pride, the Great Yorkshire Fringe and York’s Dead Good Festival. From 2016, we’d honed our model of co-production and created partnerships with Camphill Village Trust, The Snappy Trust, York Carers Centre and Converge, to name a few.
“In the last year, we engaged more than 600 participants and 2,000 audience members. Something that, as a part-time team of five, we’re incredibly proud of.”
At the height of the Covid pandemic, NDB1’s activity went up by 61 per cent. “This was due to our community partners turning to us and saying ‘Can you help keep our communities connected and creative?’,” says creative producer El Stannage.
“So, we made digital performances for neurodivergent young people, online Forum Theatre to support the wellbeing of adults with learning disabilities and ran three online theatre courses for adults accessing mental health services, LGBTQ+ teenagers and unpaid carers.
“The need for our work has not decreased, even once lockdown restrictions were lifted, and that’s why we applied to be an NPO; to sustain our increased programme and to reassure our community groups that we’re still going to be there for them.”
This work’s impact on the York community has been acknowledged with formal recognition and awards from the Lord Mayor of York, the Archbishop of York and as a finalist in the Visit York Tourism Awards for “Innovation and Resilience”.
Anne Stamp, service manager at The Snappy Trust, is delighted that NDB1 are to become an NPO, helping to continue their long-standing collaboration. “Next Door But One is a much-needed service in York: a great resource for many and a service that helps to provide children and young people with a wider range of experiences, enabling them to learn, grow and have fun,” she says.
NDB1 are finalising their plans for 2023 but are working already on revivals of performances that toured to their fellow NPO, York Explore, including The Firework-Maker’s Daughter and Operation Hummingbird, as well as expanding their professional development offer for local performing arts professionals that originally produced Yorkshire Trios at The Gillygate pub in April 2021; the first live, in-person performances that year in York once lockdown restrictions were lifted.
“All NPOs must go into a negotiation phase with Arts Council England until early 2023, but for now what Next Door But One are saying is, ‘We are here and we can’t wait to continue working with communities across York or meet new people for the first time, and create together,” says Matt.
Artistic director Matt Harper-Hardcastle answers CharlesHutchPress’s questions on what lies ahead for Next Door But One, York’s community arts collective
Next Door But One artistic director Matt Harper-Hardcastle making a point in rehearsal as actress Emma Liversidge-Smith looks on
From Harrogate Theatre to Pocklington Arts Centre and English National Opera, venues and companies have suffered blows in Arts Council England’s National Portfolio awards for 2023-2026. What were the factors that meant Next Door But One NDB1) was selected as one of the new recipients in a climate where ACE talked of “levelling up” in its allocations?
“While we’re delighted to receive the NPO support, we are equally devastated for our peers across the industry who did not receive the support they had hoped for.
“We see us receiving the funding as validation for our community-driven approach, which makes our work inclusive and relevant to those we serve, while also taking on the responsibility to support our peers and create partnerships with those who aren’t part of the portfolio, so we can all continue to deliver our equally valuable work.”
York has come out of the NPO awards with tails up: York Theatre Royal, York Museums Trust, the National Centre for Early Music and Pilot Theatre retaining NPO status; Next Door But One and York Explore Library and Archive joining for the first time. What does that say about the health and diversity of arts provision in York?
“I think we’ve known for a long time just how much the city is steeped in arts a culture, and as you suggest, this goes towards celebrating that – and what a diversity of offerings York will have over the coming three years.
“From central building-based theatres, to touring companies, music, museums, libraries and a nimble participatory company like us, there really is going to be something for everyone, and we’re proud to be contributing to that collective.”
What are the benefits to NDB1 of acquiring NPO status?
“The main benefit for us is sustainability. Over the years, we’ve been able to do what we do by working hard on securing project grant funding, but this can become time consuming and resource heavy.
James Lewis Knight, left, as Jimmy and Matt Stradling as James in Next Door But One’s Operation Hummingbird. Picture: James Drury
“Knowing that we have our core funds secured for three years means we can really invest in current delivery while also having more headspace to think strategically about how we continue even further into the future.
“On the day we got the funding announcement [November 4], I phoned or emailed every partner we work with to tell them ‘We will still be here for you’ and that’s what it really means to us to become an NPO.”
Being a participatory arts and community-focused performance organisation gives you a different profile to other arts organisations in the city. All that with a part-time team of five. Discuss…
“It does, and I think that’s the real joy of the portfolio, particularly in York. We’re part of this great network of arts and culture creators, all approaching it from different angles, which should mean that everyone in York can access the things they want in a way that works for them.
“There can be a mistake when there are lots of organisations doing similar things into viewing it as ‘competition’, when it’s not. It’s complementary and collaborative. In fact, we’ve already had many discussions and meetings with fellow NPOs to see how we can support one another; how our work can go to their venue or how our participatory approach can strengthen a certain one of their projects.
“As for the part-time team, it’s great to have stability in our roles, which means we can grow both in terms of impact and by working with more York freelancers on upcoming projects.
“Even though it’s a full-time passion, we see our ‘part-timeness’ as a real strength; among our team we have those that in other areas of their working week are arts and mental health programme managers, music specialists, campaigners and directors of other theatre companies. All that additional skill and insight is really welcomed into NDB1.”
Is this the key: “Making sure that we get theatre to people who want it, in a way that is accessible, relevant and meaningful to them. People have always come first, and profile second”?
“Yes, we pride ourselves on meeting people where they are, in terms of geography but also in terms of experience and aspiration. So, whether that is taking performances to community libraries or residential gardens, or workshops to children’s centres and support groups, we go to where we’re needed, connect and create together.
First orders: Next Door But One’s Yorkshire Trios reopened outdoor theatre in The Gillygate pub garden after lockdown restrictions were lifted. Picture: James Drury
“This can often mean we don’t inhabit large, prolific buildings or that our work has huge visibility, but as long as we remain meaningful to those we do engage, then that’s what counts to us. And being an NPO will enable us to sustain this work while also reaching out to new communities and asking them what they want from us.”
Within the York community, you involve people who would not otherwise participate in the arts. Discuss…
“Well, rather than saying ‘We have this thing and you need to get involved’, we approach it the other way around by saying ‘We know about theatre, you tell us how you want that to work for you’.
“For example, our programme of Forum Theatre came about through communities of people with learning disabilities, their support staff and family wanting safe yet productive ways of exploring independent living.
“So, we worked with members of The Snappy Trust and Camphill Village Trust to gather the tricky situations that they wanted to explore, trialled the format with them, evaluated together and now this has become an embedded process and programme of engagement.
“This has been the same with us using storytelling and performance skills to increase the self-confidence of unpaid carers wanting to apply for volunteering and employed work, or offering online creative writing sessions to keep LGBTQ+ young people connected and openly exploring topics important to them.
“Our approach is for the community to identify what they want, and then our responsibility is to shape the theatre with them to meet that goal.”
Lastly, Matt, put some flesh on the bones of what you have planned for next year…
“So, as every NPO now must do, we’re in a negotiation phase until the end of January 2023 to confirm the first year of plans with ACE, but in short, both programmes of Forum Theatre for people with disabilities will continue and increase, as will our training course in Playback Theatre for adults with mental ill health.
“We’ll also be remounting our 2021 production of Operation Hummingbird with York Explore, creating new audiences with our adaptation of The Firework-Maker’s Daughter, building on our relationships with schools and universities with a new tour of She Was Walking Home and supporting a cohort of local performing arts professionals with a series of mentoring and skills-based workshops.”
She Was Walking Home: the back story
“We cannot let statistics dehumanise what’s actually happening or forget the real voices behind each lived experience,” saysKate Veysey, associate director of Next Door But One
PROMPTED by the kidnap and murder of York-born Sarah Everard in March 2021, Next Door But One mounted a city-centre audio walk last year, in response to “the reaction from women in our community and the unfortunate subsequent attacks and murders”.
Subsequently, it was expanded by Rachel Price into a live adaptation this spring, performed by a cast of four women at York Explore on May 5, Theatre@41, Monkgate, on May 20, The Gillygate pub, May 26, and University of York, June 14.
“She Was Walking Home aims to put the focus on the voices of local women, but not the responsibility or accountability for their safety,” says NDB1 associate director Kate Veysey.
Last year, for the first time, The Office for National Statistics (ONS) released data on how safe people feel in different public settings. One in two women felt unsafe walking alone after dark in a quiet street near their home, or in a busy public place, and two out of three women aged 16 to 34 experienced one form of harassment in the previous 12 months.
Cast member Anna Johnston in the rehearsal room for She Was Walking Home
“Behind every one of these statistics is a true story of harassment, abuse, rape or even murder – a life changed forever,” says Kate. “We cannot let statistics dehumanise what’s actually happening or forget the real voices behind each lived experience.”
She Was Walking Home takes the form of a series of monologues created from the testimonies of women living, working and studying in York. “We created this production in response to the heart-breaking murder of Sarah Everard and the understandable shock and uncertainty it caused in our local community,” says Kate.
“We wanted to amplify the voices of local women, while also prompting conversations around where responsibility and accountability lies for their safety. Since the original audio walk, listened to by almost 800 people, there have been further attacks and murders of women, including Sabina Nessa and Ashling Murphy, and still the rhetoric seems to be skewed towards rape alarms, trackers, self-defence classes and dress codes being the solution. We needed to continue and challenge this conversation.”
The 2022 tour to libraries, pubs, theatres and universities in May and June aimed to “bring this very real issue home with the experiences encountered on the very streets that make up York. “The invitation was to come and watch, listen, but also to think ‘What is it that I can do in making the women in our community safer?’,” says Kate.
Cast member Emma Liversisdge-Smith with Next Door But One artistic director Matt Harper-Hardcastle alongside her
Alongside the touring performance, Next Door But One have created a digital pack for schools and community groups, including a recording of the performance and a workbook containing prompts for debate and conversations that will lead to change.
“As a company, we want the theatre we make to be as useful as it can be; a tool that supports people in the ways they need,” says creative producer El Stannage.
“The tour reached different communities through the venues we visited, but equally the digital pack can be used to evoke conversations now, for change that will be seen into the future; empowering girls to report experiences of abuse and harassment and raising awareness of how boys and young men can be better allies in keeping women safe, for example.”
Watch this space for details of the upcoming performances in 2023.
Next Door But One’s tour poster for She Was Walking Home
Steve Messam’s inflatable installation Portico, from a distance looking like flickering flames consuming York Art Gallery, Exhibition Square, York. Copyright: York Art Gallery
WHAT exactly is that orange spiky inflatable thing nesting on York Art Gallery’s frontage all of a sudden?
The answer is Steve Messam’s Portico, one of the shortlisted works for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2022 exhibition that opens today.
The County Durham environmental artist’s temporary installation exploits colour and scale, “creating a moment of interruption in the familiar”, in the manner of These Passing Things, Messam’s series of installations for the National Trust at Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, near Ripon, from last July to October.
Messam’s bold and large-scale installations “uncover layers of narrative within the landscape, drawing on existing uses of the land and architecture, reflecting an understanding of the geological, cultural and agricultural practices used to shape it”.
Messam says: “Portico changes the way people look at York Art Gallery, temporarily transforming the front of the building and the way people use the space. You can see it from the city walls, the open-top buses, and you can come sit and have your lunch outside and enjoy it too. I love how many people have been stopping to take photos already.”
Cherie Federico, Aesthetica Art Prize curator and director, says: “As a curator, installing Steve Messam’s Portico is truly inspirational. The marriage between the historic and contemporary creates a feeling of surprise, awe, and contemplation.
“You start look at the building with fresh eyes and the gallery is transformed. Portico is a surprise and makes you feel good. The bold colour and spikes ignite the imagination.”
York Museums Trust is urging people to share their photos of Portico by tagging York Art Gallery and Aesthetica Magazine on Instagram and Twitter.
The winners of the Aesthetica Art Prize – York’s international contemporary art competition, now in its 15th year – were announced last night when Baff Akoto won the main prize and Yukako Tanaka received the Emerging Artist prize.
Running until September 18 in one of York Art Gallery’s ground-floor galleries, the 2022 exhibition by the 20 finalists invites audiences to explore, discover and engage with themes from our rapidly changing world.
This year’s finalists hail from Argentina, France, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Great Britain and the United States, and their works is equally diverse, spanning painting and drawing; photography and digital art; three-dimensional design and sculpture; installation, performance and video art.
On show are works by winners Akoto and Tanaka and fellow finalists Messam; Sophie Dixon; Elise Guillaume; Rebecca Lejić-Tiernan; Sarah Maple; Guen Murroni; Bart Price; Jason Bruges Studio; Sara Choudhrey; Akihiro Boujoh; Ulf König; Marcus Lyon; Ellen Carey; Gjert Rognli; Omar Torres; Ingrid Weyland; K Young and Terrence Musekiwa.
Morgan Feely, senior curator at York Art Gallery, says: “It’s a pleasure to host the Aesthetica Art Prize 2022. I hope people will be inspired by the transformation of the exterior of the gallery and come in to see the full stunning exhibition, which is free to see.
“This year’s Aesthetica Art Prize runs alongside our new exhibition Body Vessel Clay: Black Women, Ceramics & Contemporary Art. Together, they show our commitment to celebrating new art at York Art Gallery.”
Gallery opening hours are 11am to 5pm, Wednesday to Sunday. Admission to the Aesthetica Art Prize exhibition and the gallery’s permanent collections is free.
Reyahn King: Leaving her post as chief executive of York Museums Trust after seven years . Picture: Richard Kearns
REYAHN King is to step down as chief executive officer of York Museums Trust to be the National Trust for Scotland’s director of heritage properties in a summer return to her birthplace.
Reyahn has been in post since September 2015, leading the independent charity that cares for the City of York’s collections and operates York Castle Museum, Yorkshire Museum, York Museum Gardens, York Art Gallery and York St Mary’s.
As CEO, she has steered York Museums Trust through one of the toughest periods in its history, when facing the need for lockdowns in the Coronavirus pandemic.
During her seven-year tenure, Reyahn has achieved great change for the trust. Under her leadership, she introduced a new vision and mission that puts audiences and communities at the heart of its work, while strengthening the charity’s fundraising activity and generating increased revenue from commercial activities.
York Art Gallery has presented such public exhibitions as the Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years ceramics and chart-topping Leeds band Kaiser Chiefs’ award-winning fusion of art and sound, When All Is Quiet, as well as championing experimentation in Strata- Rock- Dust- Stars.
Alongside this step change in the public programme, Reyahn oversaw the opening of two new permanent galleries: Jurassic Yorkshire at the Yorkshire Museum and Shaping The Body at York Castle Museum.
Cocktail Party, 1989, from last year’s Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years exhibition at York Art Gallery
Reyahn will leave a lasting legacy for York Museums Trust, having overseen the acquisition of the St Mary’s Abbey 13th-century Limoges Figure of Christ and the Ryedale Roman Bronzes, soon to go on display at the Yorkshire Museum in April 2022. She worked with City of York Council, stakeholders and the public to develop a compelling vision for York Castle Museum.
Reyahn has been a leading figure within the museum sector championing inclusion, diversity and equality. She has championed the inclusion of diverse and underrepresented artists within the public programme, with exhibitions such as Sounds Like Her and The Sea Is The Limit. and has led a significant internal inclusion, diversity and anti-racism culture change programme at York Museums Trust.
As chair of the York Cultural Leaders Group, Reyahn led the development of York’s Culture Strategy, which sets out to “create a more collaborative, higher-profile cultural city that truly benefits residents”.
Reyahn says: “It has been a joy and a privilege to lead the amazing staff at York Museums Trust and to be part of York’s cultural scene. I’m thrilled to be joining National Trust for Scotland at a time when NTS is doing such important work for Scottish culture, heritage and nature.”
James Grierson, York Museums Trust’s chair, says: “Reyahn has been a wonderful chief executive, modernising the organisation and culture of York Museums Trust, bringing in some great new talents, enriching our collections and staging some important and inspiring exhibitions.
“She led the leadership team’s highly professional response to the enormous challenges of the last couple of years and, notwithstanding the shadow the pandemic has caused, leaves the trust in good heart.
“The richness of experience she has had in York will, I am sure, be put to very effective use with the National Trust for Scotland and, while my fellow trustees and I will be sorry to lose her, Reyahn leaves behind a significant legacy, and one of the most exciting jobs in the sector, and I’m confident that her successor will be very well placed to take York Museums Trust on the next stage of its journey.”
Kaiser Chiefs band members at the December 2018 launch of their When All Is Quiet: Kaiser Chiefs In Conversation With York Art Gallery exhibition, winner of the Museums + Heritage Award for Partnership of the Year
Phil Long, chief executive of the National Trust for Scotland, says: “The National Trust for Scotland’s portfolio of properties is the foundation of all that we do. Caring for them also means caring for the stories of Scotland and enabling everybody to find out about and be inspired by our shared heritage.
“That’s why Reyahn’s appointment is so important for the trust and, given her track record of success with York Museums Trust and other organisations, we are delighted that she will be joining us to bring to the trust her experience and insight.”
Recruitment for Reyahn King’s successor in York will begin this spring.
Reyahn King: the back story
AS chief executive of York Museums Trust, Reyahn has strategic and operational responsibility for museums, an art gallery, botanic gardens, scheduled monuments and Museums Development Yorkshire.
Before moving to York, Reyahn had been head of the Heritage Lottery Fund West Midlands, director of art galleries at National Museums Liverpool and head of interpretation and exhibitions/masterplan at Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery.
Reyahn is an experienced leader who brings people together to develop new visions for culture and heritage. She is on the board of Culture Perth and Kinross and is thrilled to be returning to work in the country of her birth as the National Trust for Scotland’s director of heritage properties from this summer.
Passionate about diversity and equality, Reyahn began her career as a curator and programmer who produced exhibitions notable for their relevance to a wider, more diverse range of audiences, such as curating the ground-breaking Ignatius Sancho: An African Man Of Letters at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Gemma Curry, in her washer woman garb and with her favourite puppet, the Hare, for The Hare In The Moon
HAVE you ever wondered why, when the Moon is full, the shadow of a Hare is cast across its face?
If so, discover more when Hoglets Theatre’s Gemma Curry presents The Hare In The Moon at the Storytelling Circle, an enchanting wooded theatre space in the Museum Gardens, York, on Sunday.
“When a stranger wanders into the woods, all the animals try to help them, but Hare has no gift to give. How far will she go to make another happy?” asks York performer-writer Gemma, the Hoglets founder, as she hosts 30-minute performances at 11.30am, 1pm and 2.30pm.
Hoglets Theatre will take Sunday’s audiences on a magical journey for all the family, exploring the true meaning of kindness through a combination of interactive storytelling, puppetry and live music in an original play by Gemma based on an old folk tale .
“Please note, this is an outdoor event in a natural setting, so my advice is to dress for all weathers, and feel free to bring picnic blankets and cushions to make yourself comfortable,” she says. “The show is suitable for children aged three to 11 and all children must be accompanied by an adult.”
Should you be unfamiliar with the Storytelling Circle, Gemma says: “I didn’t know about that space until my children ran into it one day! It feels very private but it’s open, so it can be a nice, safe experience for our Sunday performances.”
The Hare In The Moon is “brand new-ish”. “I first did it as a Zoom show in March 2021, working with a London company called Onceupona Children’s Theatre, who run a children’s theatre festival, but when that couldn’t go ahead, they got in touch with companies to ask if they’d like to do shows on Zoom,” she says.
“I ended up doing one last March, then one for Christmas, then Easter, and so The Hare And The Moon was done for that one. It’s now going from being performed and recorded at the end of our bed, under the covers, at home to being staged in this beautiful outdoor space.”
The text remains the same. “We used a lot of projection and shadow puppetry on Zoom to show the animals, and this time, in the Storytelling Circle, it will be more physical with me as the storyteller, basing myself on an old Greek storyteller, Clotho,” says Gemma.
“She was the Greek goddess of omens and the patron saint of washer women apparently, so I’ll be dressed as a washer woman with a beautiful costume by Julia Smith, who designed the costumes for Playhouse Creatures, my first Hedgepig Theatre show in 2012.”
Gemma will take the washer-woman imagery further. “I’ll come on stage with all these different cleaning products that will became different animals at various points in the show,” she says.
Curry in a hurry! Gemma Curry, performer, writer and founder of Hoglets Theatre, on the move
“The lovely thing with children is that you can say ‘this is an otter’ and they will suspend disbelief immediately. They can also be your warmest or harshest critic and they’ll tell you what they think there and then!
“That’s the thing I missed when we couldn’t perform to live audiences: that immediacy of reaction that theatre needs, which is both fantastic and yet terrifying as they won’t even wait for a break to say ‘this is rubbish!’.
“I love the way that children will take things as a given, but also question things at the same time. It keeps you on your toes.
“Children have a depth of knowledge nowadays that I didn’t have as a child, and they know when they’re being patronised, so you treat them as you would an adult audience. It’s great to have them there to bounce the show off.”
The story in Gemma’s performance is drawn from an old Buddhist parable that believes the Moon has been watching the world since time began, accumulating stories to tell.
“I’d never thought, ‘there’s a hare in the moon’ until I came across the story when I was doing a Zoom project for York Explore library, but if you look really, really closely – it doesn’t have to be the full moon, but bigger than a crescent moon – you can see the outline of a hare, even if the Moon is waxing or waning,” she says.
“The story is so lovely, and at the time I was writing the script, it was just so appropriate because it’s about the importance of being kind to each other, and how we work best when we work together even when we’re apart, like we’ve had to be during the lockdowns, which is a lovely message to children. It was my favourite story that I did for Zoom and it has my favourite puppet too!”
The chance to perform in the Museum Gardens emerged from another Gemma project. “I got in touch with York Museums Trust, who I’d been working for with Lara Pattison [York teacher, actor and home-schooling science communicator] for their family-friendly scripts, getting the chance to walk around the Castle Museum on our own!
“So, I asked if I could use the Storytelling Circle to do three shows in one day, and the trust was brilliant to me, saying ‘Yes’.”
Looking ahead, coming next from Hoglets Theatre will be a 19-date Christmas tour of Yorkshire libraries, presenting The Snow Bear, based on the Norwegian folk tale East Of The Sun And West Of The Noon. Look out for Explore York shows at York Explore library, Acomb, Tang Hall and Clifton, as well as visits to Scarborough, Northallerton and Rotherham, with more details to follow.
Hoglets Theatre in The Hare In The Moon, Storytelling Circle, Museum Gardens, York, Sunday, 11.30am, 1pm and 3pm. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-hare-in-the-moon-tickets-175292954947.
Copyright of The Press, York
The poster for Hoglets Theatre’s The Hare In The Moon
Let Ian Massie take you to Another Place in his Northern Soul show at Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole from May 17
NO mention of home entertainment here, as Charles Hutchinson decides to cast fears aside – albeit while acting responsibly – as he looks forward to theatres, bars, galleries, museums and music venues opening their doors once more.
Cupid, draw back your bow and let the beer flow, straight to the York Theatre Royal patio
LOVE is in the Step 2 air, and soon on the York Theatre Royal stage too for The Love Season from May 17.
Cupid’s Bar: Follow the arrow to the York Theatre Royal patio. Picture: Livy Potter
Perfect timing to launch Cupid’s Bar for five weeks on the Theatre Royal patio, where the bar will run from midday to 9.30pm every Thursday to Sunday, providing an outdoor space in the heart of the city for residents and visitors to socialise safely.
Working with regional suppliers, Cupid’s Bar will offer a range of drink options, such as draught beer from Black Sheep Brewery, Masham, and York Gin from, er, York.
Ian Scott Massie: Finding Northern Soul in his landscape watercolours and screenprints. Picture: Steve Christian
Exhibition of the month ahead outside York: Ian Scott Massie, Northern Soul, Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le-Hole, North York Moors National Park, May 17 to July 11
MASHAM artist Ian Scott Massie’s Northern Soul show of 50 watercolours and screenprints represents his personal journey of living in the north for 45 years.
“The north is the truth of England, where all things are seen clearly,” he says. “The incomparable beauty of the landscape; the harsh ugliness left by industry; the great wealth of the aristocracy; the miserable housing of the poor; the civic pride of the mill towns and a people as likely to be mobilised by political oratory as by a comedian with a ukulele.”
The Waterfall Of Nikko-Zan In Shimotsuke Province, by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1853, from York Art Gallery’s show of rarely seen Japanese prints, Pictures Of The Floating World. Image courtesy of York Museums Trust
Reopening exhibition of the month ahead in York: Pictures Of The Floating World: Japanese Ukiyo-e Prints, York Art Gallery, from May 28
YORK Art Gallery’s display of rarely seen Japanese Ukiyo-e prints, complemented by much-loved paintings from the gallery collection, will go on show in a new Spotlight Series.
Marking next month’s gallery reopening with Covid-secure measures, Pictures Of The Floating World will feature prints by prominent Ukiyo-e artists such as Utagawa Hiroshige, along with works by those influenced by Japanese art, York artist Albert Moore and Walter Greaves among them.
This free-to-visit exhibition will highlight the significant impact of Japanese art on the western world and the consequential rise of the artistic movements of Aestheticism and Art Nouveau.”
Van the manoeuvre: Morrison’s York Barbican gigs put back to July
On the move: Van Morrison’s York Barbican shows
NO reopening date has yet been announced for York Barbican, but Irish veteran Van Morrison’s shows are being moved from May 25 and 26 to July 20 and 21.
“Please keep hold of your tickets as they will be valid for the new date,” says the Barbican website, where seats for Van The Man are on sale without social distancing, in line with Step 4 of the Government’s pandemic Roadmap to Recovery, whereby all legal limits on social contact are potentially to be removed from June 21.
Morrison, 75, will release his 42nd album, Latest Record Project: Volume 1, a 28-track delve into his ongoing love of blues, R&B, jazz and soul, on May 7 on Exile/BMG.
Lockdown love story: The taster poster for Alan Ayckbourn’s new play at the Stephen Joseph Theatre
New play of the summer: Alan Ayckbourn’s The Girl Next Door, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, June 4 to July 3
AFTER the 2020 world premiere of his virus play Truth Will Out lost out to the Covid pandemic restrictions, director emeritus Alan Ayckbourn returns to the Stephen Joseph Theatre to direct his 85th play, The Girl Next Door, in the summer season.
“I wrote it back in Spring 2020. I like to think of it as a lockdown love story,” says Ayckbourn, introducing his touching, tender and funny reflection on the ability of love to rise above adversity and reach across the years.
Influenced by his own experiences in two “lockdowns”, one in wartime London in childhood, the other in the on-going pandemic in Scarborough, Ayckbourn will play with time in a plot moving back and forth between 2021 and 1941. Box office: sjt.uk.com.
May and April in tandem: York Barbican date for Imelda next spring on her first tour in five years
Gig announcement of the week in York: Imelda May, York Barbican, April 6 2022
IRISH singer-songwriter Imelda May will play York Barbican next April in the only Yorkshire show of her Made To Love tour, her first in more than five years.
“I cannot wait to see you all again, to dance and sing together, to connect and feel the sparkle in a room where music makes us feel alive and elevated for a while,” says May. “Let’s go!”
Last Friday, the 46-year-old Dubliner released her sixth studio album, 11 Past The Hour. The box office opens tomorrow at 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Dance like Fred Astaire…or more likely like Tim Booth as James end the summer at Scarborough Open Air Theatre
Gig announcement of the week outside York: James, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, September 9
WHERE better for James to announce a summer show in the week they release new single Beautiful Beaches than at Scarborough Open Air Theatre?
The Manchester legends will play on the East Coast in the wake of launching their new album, All The Colours Of You, on June 4. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (23/4/2021) at 9am at scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
This will be the third that James, led by Clifford-born Tim Booth, have played Scarborough OAT after shows in 2015 and 2018.
The writers, actors, directors and organisers in a Zoom gathering for Next Door But One’s Yorkshire Trios at The Gillygate pub, York
And what about?
GOOD news: Live theatre bursts into life in York for the first time since December 30 when York community arts collective Next Door But One presents Yorkshire Trios in The Gillygate pub’s new outdoor seating area tomorrow and on Saturday.
Themed around Moments Yet To Happen, trios of actors, directors and writers will bring to theatre-starved York a quintet of short stories of laughter, strength, dreams and everything in between: a neighbour with a secret; a delivery driver full of wanderlust; an optimistic carousel operator; a poet inviting us into her world and a Jane McDonald fan on a soapbox.
Bad news for tardy readers? The 7.30pm shows have sold out.
