Child’s play: Mark Simmonds’ Willie impersonating a bomber plane in Blue Remembered Hills. Picture: John Saunders
FLEUR Hebditch, former Stephen Joseph Theatre dramaturg for a decade in Scarborough, is making her Settlement Players directorial debut with Dennis Potter’s stage adaptation of his 1979 BBC Play For Today drama.
She brings together actors very familiar to York audiences (Mark Simmonds, Victoria Delaney, Jess Murray), three from York Theatre Royal’s 2025 community play, His Last Report (Andrew Wrenn, Jon Cook and Thom Feeney) and one who moved to York only four months ago (Rich Wareham).
Each is playing a seven-year-old child on a hot summer’s day in the Forest of Dean in wartime 1943, where their child’s play in the woods mimics and mirrors the adult world at war, whether Simmonds’ Willie dive-bombing like a war plane or impersonating the bogeyman figure of an escaped Italian prisoner of war from a nearby camp.
Jess Murray’s Audrey, left, and Victoria Delaney’s Angela in Blue Remembered Hills. Picture: John Saunders
Each is pictured in their programme profile aged seven – the director included – whether with big glasses, bigger teeth, white hair band, a giant Rupert Bear, an apple-cheeked cheeky grin or reading a comic.
No pictorial aid, however, is needed to see their transformation into Potter’s West Country boys and girls, one achieved through movement, mannerism, voice and Judith Ireland’s typically exemplary wardrobe, from the boys’ 1940s’ tank tops and baggy shorts to Murray’s Audrey in dungarees and Delaney’s Angela, forever pushing a pram and carrying a dolly, in cornfield yellow party dress and matching bows in her hair.
Simmonds and Wareham retain full beards but the boy inside emerges through the bristle thicket. Richard Hampton’s set design could be a child’s primitive drawing: to one side, barn doors with a milk churn, pail and straw bale inside; to the other, a painterly tree; in the centre, an expanse of grass, all seen as if through the children’s perspective.
All eyes are on Andrew Wrenn’s John, left, as Jon Cook’s Raymond, Victoria Delaney’s Angela, Mark Simmonds’ Willie, Rich Wareham’s Peter and Jess Murray’s Audrey look on. Picture: John Saunders
As sage ancient Greek philosopher and polymath Aristotle proclaimed: “Give a me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.” In turn, Potter will show you both the man and the woman, and the inner child within both, as he “takes you back to your own childhoods, the laughter, the fun, the freedom, but also the heartache and pain”.
That heartache and pain is expressed in the absence of fathers, away on war duty, both in tears and the boastful my-dad’s better/bigger/smarter/more important-than-yours fisticuffs of Wareham’s Peter and Wrenn’s John, and in the teasing of Feeney’s loner Donald “Duck”, hiding away, playing on his own in the barn.
There is machismo menace beneath the surface, much like in William Golding’s Lord Of The Flies, as adult traits are forged in the children’s pecking order that finds Cook’s kindly, gentle Raymond always playing second or, rather, fourth fiddle to ringleader Peter, John and Willie.
Victoria Delaney’s Angela and Thom Feeney’s Donald “Duck”
Or fifth fiddle, if you were to include the never-seen but respected leader Wallace Wilson. The girls, meanwhile, don’t compete for such roles, Murray’s Audrey fitting in as a tomboy and Delaney’s Angela as an aspirational mother in the making.
Hebditch asked her actors not only to connect with their inner child (Delaney incidentally first trod the Theatre Royal boards aged eight), but also to “focus on instinct rather than intellectual consequences”. Good advice that bears fruit in performances that capture how “emotions flit in the blink of an eye” and “relish in the pure emotions of children”.
Performances are suitably individual too yet collectively excellent, full of the freedom to play like children in Rowntree Park, yet darkened by the claustrophobic shadow of war, even amid the bucolic beauty of the woods.
Blue Remembered Hills director Fleur Hebditch
Like Donald, Hebditch lights a match under Potter’s play, then watches it catch fire and burn with increasingly fierce heat.
As the children blame each other, then exonerate themselves of any guilt – it was ever thus in the slithering grown-up world too – an adult voice reads from A E Housman’s poem that gave Potter’s play its title with its account of the happy highways making way for the land of lost content.
The play makes that very same journey, from fun to fear, from afternoon tease to sucker punch, from innocence to experience, all too quickly to need an interval. Short, and sharp as Willie’s cooking apple, Blue Remembered Hills still shocks.
York Settlement Community Players, Blue Remembered Hills, York Theatre Royal Studio, until February 28, 7.45pm nightly, resuming Tuesday to Saturday, plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Fisticuffs: Andrew Wrenn’s John, left, clashes Rich Wareham’s bully Peter as Victoria Delaney’s Angela and Jess Murray’s Audrey egg them on. Picture: John Saunders
Victoria Delaney in rehearsal for York Settlement Community Players’ Blue Remembered Hills. Picture: John Saunders
FROM Dennis Potter to Stephen Sondheim, showman P.T. Barnum to a Phil Collins tribute, Charles Hutchinson is spoilt for cultural choice amid the incessant rainfall.
Play of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Blue Remembered Hills, York Theatre Royal Studio, tonight to February 28, 7.45pm, except Sunday and Monday; February 21 and 28, 2pm matinees
FLEUR Hebditch, former Stephen Joseph Theatre dramaturg for a decade, makes her Settlement Players directorial debut with Dennis Potter’s stage adaptation of his 1979 BBC Play For Today drama.
Seven children are playing in the Forest of Dean countryside on a hot summer’s day in 1943. Each aged seven, they mimic and reflect the adult world at war around them. Their innocence is short lived, however, as reality hits. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Blue Remembered Hills director Fleur Hebditch
Spooky adventure of the week: Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in The Addams Family Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tomorrow to Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Flying Ducks Youth Theatre undertake a whimsical, spooky musical adventure into the delightfully dark world of the hauntingly eccentric Addams Family on a night of unexpected revelations.
When Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normal” boy, chaos ensues. As the two families converge over dinner, secrets are revealed and the true meaning of family is put to the test. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Kathryn Williams: Opening Mystery Park Tour at Pocklington Arts Centre
Time’s shifting tides of the week: Kathryn Williams, Mystery Park Tour 2026, Pocklington Arts Centre, Friday, 8pm
KATHRYN Williams, the Liverpool-born, Newcastle-based folk singer-songwriter, novelist, podcaster, tutor and artist long celebrated for her quiet emotional depth and lyrical precision, promotes her 15th studio album, last September’s Mystery Park, with support and special guest guitarist Matt Deighton in tow.
Opening her 12-date tour in Pocklington, 2000 Mercury Music Prize nominee Williams marks 27 years of diverse, multi-faceted music projects with a reflective, textured work, made in the quiet margins of motherhood and memory, shaped by time’s shifting tides. “This is the most personal record I’ve made,” she says. “The artwork is my own painting, based on the willow pattern from my grandmother’s tea sets. Each part of it ties into the songs: a map of memories.” Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Megson’s Debs Hanna and Stu Hanna: Performing at Helmsley Arts Centre on Friday
Folk gig of the week: Megson, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
FOUR-TIME BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards nominees and double Spiral Earth Awards winners Megson combine heavenly vocals, lush harmonies and driving rhythmic guitars, topped off with northern humour.
Hailing from Teesside and now based in Cambridgeshire, husband-and-wife folk roots duo Debs Hanna (vocals, whistle, piano accordion) and Stu Hanna (guitar, mandola, banjo) followed up 2023 studio album What Are We Trying To Say with Megson – Live In Teesside, recorded at Stockton-on-Tees Arc in 2025. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Ryedale film event of the week: Summit Stories, Kirk Theatre, Pickering, Friday, 7.30pm
THIS evening of adventure films to raise funds for the Scarborough & Ryedale branch of Mountain Rescue England & Wales features a variety of exciting off-piste adventures, such as ski mountaineering, mountain climbing and mountain biking.
Created by elite athletes from around the world, the Faction Collective’s 150 Hours From Home, Blair Aitken of British Backcountry’s 10 In A Weekend, Commencal’s Dolomites and Jessie Leong’s The Last Forgotten Art contain scenes to take the breath away. The mountain rescue team, by the way, supports adventurers when things go wrong and conducts day-to-day searches and rescues off the beaten track. Box office: 01751 474833 or kirktheatre.co.uk.
Seriously Collins: Taking Phil Collins at Face Value in tribute to solo and Genesis years at Milton Rooms, Malton
Tribute gig of the week: Seriously Collins – A Tribute To Phil Collins & Genesis, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm
RETURNING by popular demand, Seriously Collins relive the hits of Phil Collins and Genesis, taking a musical journey through the songs that defined an era, echoing Collins’s soulful solo sound and re-creating the energy, intricacy and intensity of his more expansive original band. Expect “no gimmicks, just a genuine tribute to one of the greatest artists of our time”. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Lee Mead, centre, as showman P. T. Barnum, surrounded by actor musicians and circus acts in Barnum: The Circus Musical, on tour at Grand Opera House, York. Picture: Pamela Raith
Touring musical of the week: Bill Kenwright Ltd in Barnum: The Circus Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees
MUSICALS leading man Lee Mead plays the most challenging role of his career, stepping into P. T. Barnum’s shoes and on to the tightrope as the legendary circus showman, businessman and politician in Jonathan O’Boyle’s touring production of the Broadway musical.
Mead leads the cast of more than 20 actor-musicians (playing 150 instruments), acrobats and international circus acts as, hand in hand with wife Charity, Barnum finds his life and career twisting and turning the more he schemes and dreams his way to headier heights. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Maggie Smales’s Madame Armfeldt and Libby Greenhill’s Fredrika rehearsing for Wharfemede Productions’ A Little Night Music
Sondheim show of the week: Wharfemede Productions in A Little Night Music, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 24 to 28, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
SET in turn-of-the-century Sweden, A Little Night Music explores the tangled web of love, desire, and regret through Stephen Sondheim’s signature blend of sophistication, humour and hauntingly beautiful music, not least the timeless Send In The Clowns.
Directed by Helen “Bells” Spencer, Wharfemede Productions’ show combines the York company’s hallmark attention to emotional depth, musical high quality and character-driven ensemble storytelling. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Levellers: Revisiting Levelling The Land at York Barbican this autumn. Picture: Steve Gullick
Gig announcement of the week: Levellers, Levelling The Land 35th Anniversary Tour, York Barbican, October 29
BRIGHTON folk-rockers Levellers have been among Britain’s most enduring and best-loved bands for nearly 40 years, their success built in part on the anthems that comprised their platinum-selling second album Levelling The Land, whose 35th anniversary falls on October 7.
To mark the occasion, Levellers will head out on a UK and European tour from October 16 to November 21, playing many songs from that album, alongside fan favourites from their extensive catalogue. Hotly tipped Essex punk duo The Meffs will support. Tickets go on sale on Friday at 10am from https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/levellers-2026/.
YorkSettlement Community Players director Fleur Hebditch stands outside York Theatre Royal, where her production of Blue Remembered Hills opens on Wednesday
FLEUR Hebditch, former Stephen Joseph Theatre dramaturg for a decade in Scarborough, is making her York Settlement Community Players directorial debut with Blue Remembered Hills.
From Wednesday to February 28, her production of Dennis Potter’s stage adaptation of his 1979 BBC Play For Today drama will run at York Theatre Royal Studio.
This is the Potter one where seven children – five boys, two girls – are playing in the Forest of Dean countryside on a hot summer’s day in 1943. Each aged seven, they mimic and reflect the adult world at war around them, but their innocence is short lived as reality hits hard.
“I first saw the play at the National Theatre in the 1990s with Steve Coogan in the role of Willie,” says Fleur. “Without giving the plot away, it just affected me so much that I can still remember images to this day – and I’ve never seen it since.”
On moving to York, her own involvement in theatre took a back seat while looking after her eldest daughter Ariel’s career as a stand-up comedian, who has performed at the Brighton Fringe and the Edinburgh Fringe (with Spruce Moose).
“But then last year I spoke with Juliet [York Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster] to see if she needed any help with the community production of His Last Report, and I worked as assistant director on that show,” says Fleur.
York Settlement Community Players cast members in rehearsal for Blue Remembered Hills. Picture: John Saunders
“That’s where I met Helen Wilson and Maurice Crichton, who were in the cast, and they said they were always looking for directors for Settlement Players. ‘Oh, that’s my favourite job,’ I said.”
Fleur duly put forward Blue Remembered Hills for Settlement’s February’s choice of classic play for timely revival. “It’s Potter’s writing that attracted me, the stories he tells, and how he’s at the forefront of being able to be on the edge [as a playwright], which is the same with seven-year-old children in this play and how they’re playing in the fields and the barn,” she says. “I’m also attracted to dark tales, and this is one of them.”
Potter’s play calls on adults to play children who in turn are mirroring adult behaviour. “They’re all so different, and that goes back to the audition process,” says Fleur. “They were so impressive when we started with a workshop where I needed the actors to improvise and have a freedom to get into character, not as children but as human beings. At that point we then read the text.”
As stage manager Helen Wilson notes: “It’s a very, very physical play.” “That’s another reason I like it, as I was a dancer when I was young,” says Fleur, who has had her cast playing games of Tig in the rehearsal room. “There’s a lot of playing around and fighting in the play, and that’s why I’ve stripped away the props so that it’s just about the actors interacting.
“The play is just straight through, no interval, and it’s all over in an hour. That makes it very immediate, and so the audience is in the moment, just as the characters are. It’s very intense as well as really physical, and that helps the actors as they don’t have a break and their journey through the play is very focused.”
Potter’s dialogue matches that intensity. “He is quite fantastical in a lot of his plays, but this one is more naturalistic, because the language is colloquial, and that helps the actors find their characters. They speak as children without making it a parody,” says Fleur.
Victoria Delaney in the Blue Remembered Hills rehearsal room
“The beauty of his writing is that the words are very simplistic, but as we’ve gone through rehearsals, we’ve realised the depth of what we’ve been given to explore.”
Helen joins in: “Even the bully, Peter [played by Settlement newcomer Rich Wareham, after only four months in York] , you actually see the other side of him through Potter’s writing, so there’s a poignancy to him, even it’s only for a few seconds – and there is empathy with all of the characters.”
Fleur rejoins: “Being children, they have this innocence about them, where they don’t yet know what ‘wrong’ is. I decided to create each of their worlds by working individually with each actor, like working with Rich on bringing out the reasons for why he’s a bully; making him a more human character, rather than merely two-dimensional where you just think, ‘well, he’s a bully’. Bringing out the individuality has fed into the rehearsals really well.”
Although Aristotle once said, “Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man”, Fleur notes how a seven-year-old child’s behaviour differs from adulthood. “That’s a specific time when they go from one emotion to another in the blink of an eye, and you just have to put your adult self to one side because that’s how children are. It’s about having that freedom, where they go from being best friends one minute to falling out or pulling their hair. They can be feral.”
Fleur, by day a registrar at York Register Office, has enjoyed her Settlement directorial debut “immensely”. “I’ve been trusted to use my artistry and to be creative in the way I wanted, and having that freedom has been fantatstic,” she says.
York Settlement Community Players in Blue Remembered Hills, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 18 to 28, 7.45pm, except Sunday and Monday; 2pm, February 21 and 28. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The March To Coppergate, when 500 Vikings parade through York city centre on February 21 in a highlight of the 2026 JORVIK Viking Festival
THE Vikings are invading York once more while the Dark Skies Festival is full of stars in Charles Hutchinson’s tips for adventure and artistic discovery.
Festival of the week: JORVIK Viking Festival, York, February 16 to 22
YORK is gearing up for another action‑packed February half‑term as the JORVIK Viking Festival brings a week of hands‑on history, craft activities and Norse‑themed entertainment to the city’s streets and historic venues.
Organised by York Archaeology, Europe’s largest Viking festival promises an accessible programme for families, featuring a mix of free drop‑in events and low‑cost bookable sessions designed to spark curiosity in young Vikings and their grown‑ups. The full programme and tickets are available at jorvikvikingfestival.co.uk.
Milky Way over Ravenscar at the North York Moors National Park Dark Skies Festival. Picture: Steve Bell, North York Moors National Park
Celebrating jewels of the night sky: North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales National Parks Dark Skies Festival, nightly until March 1
NORTH York Moors and Yorkshire Moors National Parks celebrate their 11th Dark Skies Festival this month. Discover activities at night to heighten the senses, such as night runs, canoeing and night navigation, astrophotography workshops, stargazing safaris, children’s daytime trails, art workshops and mindful experiences.
Full details of nocturnal activities at the two International Dark Sky Reserves, at the peak of the stargazing season, can be found at https://www.darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk/north-york-moors-events and https://www.darkskiesnationalparks.org.uk/yorkshire-dales-events.
Day Fever: Turning York Barbican into a dance floor this afternoon
Dance moves on St Valentine’s Day: Day Fever, York Barbican, today, 3pm
FULL of revellers ready to party to the best feelgood music, personally curated by Jon McClure of Sheffield band Reverend And The Makers, the gang behind Day Fever guarantee an afternoon of no-holds-barred fun times and dancing. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Fladam Theatre duo Florence Poskitt and Adam Sowter in Astro-Norma And The Cosmic Piano at Helmsley Arts Centre
Children’s show of half-term week: Fladam Theatre in Astro-Norma And The Cosmic Piano, Helmsley Arts Centre, Sunday, 2.30pm
FLADAM Theatre, the York actor-musician duo of Adam Sowter and Florence Poskitt, return with an intergalactic musical adventure ideal for ages four to ten. Meet out-of-this-world pianist Norma, who dreams of going into space, like her heroes Mae Jemison and Neil Armstrong, but children can’t go into space, can they? Especially children who have a very important piano recital coming up.
When a bizarre-looking contraption crash-lands in the garden, is it a bird? Or perhaps a plane? No and twice no, it’s a piano, but no ordinary piano. This is a cosmic piano! Maybe Norma’s dreams can come true in a 45-minute show packed with awesome aliens, rib-tickling robots, and interplanetary puns that will have children shooting for the stars. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
For whom the Bells toll: The Best Of Tubular Bells I, II & III, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Best of Tubular Bells I, II & III celebrates Mike Oldfield’s iconic and seminal musical pieces on a 26-date 26 date UK tour featuring an expansive live group, led and arranged by Oldfield’s long-term collaborator Robin Smith.
1973’s Tubular Bells will be performed in full, complemented by extended sections of 1992’s Tubular Bells ll and 1998’s Tubular Bells lll, as well as worldwide hit single Moonlight Shadow. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Hottest ticket of 2026 in York: Jodie Comer as defence lawyer Tessa Ensler in Suzie Miller’s Prima Facie at the Grand Opera House. Picture: Rankin
Recommended but sold out already: Jodie Comer in Prima Facie, Grand Opera House, York, February 17 to 21, 7.30pm plus 3pm Thursday and Saturday matinees
JODIE Comer returns to her Olivier and Tony Award-winning role as lawyer Tessa Ensler in the “Something Has To Change” tour of Suzie Miller’s Prime Facie in her first appearance on a North Yorkshire stage since her professional debut in Scarborough as Ruby in the Stephen Joseph Theatre world premiere of Fiona Evans’s The Price Of Everything in April 2010.
Comer’s Tessa is a thoroughbred young barrister who loves to win, working her way up from working-class origins to be at the top of her game: prosecuting, cross examining and lighting up the shadows of doubt in any case. An unexpected event, however, forces her to confront the lines where the patriarchal power of the law, burden of proof and morals diverge. Box office for returns only: atgtickets.com/york.
Thom Feeney in rehearsal for York Settlement Community Players’ Blue Remembered Hills
Child’s play of the week: York Settlement Community Players in Blue Remembered Hills, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 18 to 28, 7.45pm, except Sunday and Monday; 2pm, February 21 and 28
FLEUR Hebditch, former Stephen Joseph Theatre dramaturg for a decade, makes her Settlement Players directorial debut with Dennis Potter’s stage adaptation of his 1979 BBC Play For Today drama.
Seven children are playing in the Forest of Dean countryside on a hot summer’s day in 1943. Each aged seven, they mimic and reflect the adult world at war around them. Their innocence is short lived, however, as reality hits. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Spooky adventure of the week: Flying Ducks Youth Theatre in The Addams Family Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 19 to 21, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Flying Ducks Youth Theatre undertakes a whimsical, spooky musical adventure into the delightfully dark world of the hauntingly eccentric Addams Family on a night of unexpected revelations.
When Wednesday Addams falls in love with a “normal” boy, chaos ensues. As the two families converge over dinner, secrets are revealed and the true meaning of family is put to the test. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Kathyrn Williams: Opening Mystery Park Tour at Pocklington Arts Centre
Folk gig of the week: Kathryn Williams, Mystery Park Tour 2026, Pocklington Arts Centre, February 20, 8pm
KATHRYN Williams, the Liverpool-born, Newcastle-based folk singer-songwriter, novelist, podcaster, tutor and artist long celebrated for her quiet emotional depth and lyrical precision, promotes her 15th studio album, last September’s Mystery Park, with support and special guest guitarist Matt Deighton in tow.
Opening her 12-date tour in Pocklington, 2000 Mercury Music Prize nominee Williams marks 27 years of diverse, multi-faceted music projects with a reflective, textured work, made in the quiet margins of motherhood and memory, shaped by time’s shifting tides. “This is the most personal record I’ve made,” she says. “The artwork is my own painting, based on the willow pattern from my grandmother’s tea sets. Each part of it ties into the songs: a map of memories.” Box office: 01759 301547 or pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.
Katherine Jenkins: Playing York Barbican on 25th anniversary tour
Concert announcement of the week: Katherine Jenkins, York Barbican, October 15
WELSH mezzo-soprano Katherine Jenkins, 45, the biggest-selling classical artist of the 21st century, will play York Barbican as the only Yorkshire venue of her 25 Year Anniversary Tour. Tickets will go on sale at 10am on February 20 at https://www.yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/katherine-jenkins-2026/.
“Reaching 25 years in music is incredibly emotional, but this tour is truly a celebration of the fans who have been there from the very beginning,” she says. “To be heading out across the UK and Ireland for 18 special shows feels less like a celebration of a career and more like a reunion with old friends, and I can’t wait to stand on stage, look out into those familiar faces and share it all over again.”
Russell Hicks: In action at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, and The Wardrobe, Leeds on his This Time It’s Personal tour
In Focus: Comedy gig of the week, Russell Hicks, This Time It’s Personal, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm
LAST year, Russell Hicks was just Happy To Be Here on his tour travels, discussing his life in the UK after moving from the USA.
Now the improvisational Californian comedian is looking inwards on his latest tour that visits Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight and The Wardrobe, Leeds, on February 22 (7.30pm). “This year it’s about…me. I’m back. And This Time It’s Personal,” he says, explaining the show title.
Deciding to leave the Trump-era politics to the likes of Jon Stewart, “I thought I would talk about more personal things, which is a challenge because I’m reactive to the climate, having done this thing of being a fish out of water [in Happy To Be Here].
“I’ve done that thing of discussing British culture through an American perspective on Instagram and Facebook, and I write Dear Diary entries about moving to Britain. I’ve done stuff on Marmite and Wetherspoons, as an American who knows nothing about this culture and is very honest about it, but they’re mostly just jokes.
“Like in America, I’m seen as a drinker; in England, I’m a legend (when it comes to drinking). That gave me an outline to talk about the UK versus the USA, and having done that, now I’m looking at myself in my new show, trying to sharpen my perspective, where I’m 42 now and so you get to the point where you’re more reflective.”
Russell continues: “That’s kind of the hallmark of being this age. At 35/40, people are starting to look at where they are and what got them there, good or bad. As in any culture, there is so much attention paid to early choices and early paths through life, but then there’s no guide to what to do in a capitalist society after 40. Then it’s just about maintenance.”
Do not mistake This Time It’s Personal for a navel-gazing exercise. “I’m very sensitive that that might be boring, where people do this show that can best summed up as ‘why I’m not successful’. But in my show, I’m celebrating being a comic and the experiences that I have,” says Russell.
“An audience member once came up to me and said, ‘comedians are like university drop-outs: they’re smart but they make the worst choices’. In a comedy club, I’m always in the moment, but then once I’m outside, I’ll look at what makes me uncomfortable. It’s that thing of thinking that you’re talking about yourself but actually you’re talking about all of us.”
As ever, Russell will be weaving improvisation into his shows in York and Leeds. “Improvisation, for me, is just something that’s inevitable. It’s the only way that I know how to perform, bringing in more as I talk about myself, and I’m always happy to find something in the room and then go off track,” he says.
“It’s just exciting. There’s a purity of connection. Being on stage, it’s the closest you get to hanging out with someone, making them laugh.”
As for the jokes, “I always know a joke’s really worked when they’re laughing uncontrollably at something and then have a hard time trying to re-tell it!” he says.
One final question: do you have any memories of past York visits, Russell? “One night in York, I went on a ghost walk before the show, then died on stage. I was like my own ghost that night!”
Occupation: Exuberant, provocative stand-up comedian noted for weaving improvisation into material, and writer of weekly journals of life as an ex-pat.
Appeared on: Channel 4, BBC and ITV. Starred as loveable Texan Coach Hughes in Prime Video series Lovestruck High, narrated by Lindsay Lohan. Written for and starred in ITV’s Stand Up Sketch Show. Won Channel 4 competition series Captive Audience with his fully improvised stand-up.
Track record: Won Prague Fringe Festival 2024. Headlined at every major UK club, including The Stand, Glee Club and Up The Creek. Residency at Top Secret Comedy Club in London. Comperes at Leeds and Reading Festival. Curates indie venues, historic theatres such as Hammersmith Apollo, and private members clubs. Endorsed as Global Talent by Arts Council England in 2022.
What else? Regularly entertains studio audiences at Have I Got News For You, The Last Leg and As Yet Untitled. Works Stateside with legendary Hollywood clubs The Comedy Store, The Improv and The Laugh Factory. As voice actor, he has lent his voice to Sky Comedy and Great Big Story and works for international brands in global campaigns.
Still more? Presenter on Yahoo Entertainment. Opens shows regularly for friends Axel Blake (2022 winner of Britain’s Got Talent), Simon Brodkin and Al Murray. Multiple film roles include appearing Edgar Wright’s The Running Man (2025) and Amazon MGM Studios romantic comedy Maintenance Required (2025) on Amazon Prime. Posts Dear Diary series on Instagram, gaining millions of views.
Previous tours: The Age Of Hicks, 2022; Next Level, 2023; first national UK itinerary, Happy To Be Here, 2024-2025, discussing his life in the UK.
Latest tour: This Time It’s Personal, January 23 to June 5.
Reflection of the day: “I still can’t believe I get to make people laugh for a living, travel the world and, most importantly, not wake up early on Monday mornings.”
Robin Simpson’s Sam, the emotional support dog, in Catherine Dyson’s The Last Picture. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
“I CAN’T think of anyone better to play a dog than Robin,” said York Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster at Saturday night’s post-show discussion.
She is referring to West Yorkshire actor and storyteller Robin Simpson, best known in York for his six seasons as the Theatre Royal’s pantomime dame – and already confirmed for next winter’s Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs too.
Simpson’s ability to connect with audiences is “extraordinary”, said director and associate artist John R Wilkinson, an ability needed for both his panto role and now York Theatre Royal, English Touring Theatre and An Tobar and Mull Theatre’s world premiere co-production of Catherine Dyson’s one-act solo play.
In a nutshell, what links the two parts is the requirement for “direct address” to the audience. Here Simpson is playing Sam, an emotional support dog on a Year 9 school trip to a museum (unspecified but the Imperial War Museum in all but name).
Robin Simpson: Storytelling prowess in The Last Picture. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
Simpson is not dressed as a canine, nor does he walk on all fours, but his tabard bears the message “Don’t Pet Me I’m Working” and his roll-neck jumper and trousers evoke the colours of a Golden Retriever or Labrador.
This dog talks, taking the narrator’s role, while evoking the school head of history and a particularly sensitive schoolboy, and taking the audience by the hand as he invites us to imagine being in a theatre in 2026,then the group of school children, on the bus trip and in the museum, and most hauntingly, the victims of the Nazi Holocaust in each Second World War picture.
Writer Dyson decreed only a few stage instructions, the most significant being that the pictures being described by Sam should never be shown. Instead, the images should be formed in our imagination – one of theatre’s most powerful tools – but such is the impact of Kristallnacht (the Night of Broken Glass), the children’s exodus from Poland, the Jewish ghettos and the concentration camps that, when combined with Dyson’s descriptions and Simpson’s storytelling prowess, we readily draw on imagery from history books, films and documentaries.
Dyson’s structure is methodical, building momentum all the while. A head count is taken as regularly as Simpson’s Sam asks us how we are feeling after each picture. Simpson’s narrator explains how Sam can sense our emotions, our distress, without having the capacity to understand the play’s greater question: Why?
Director John R Wilkinson in rehearsal with actor Robin Simpson for the world premiere of The Last Picture
Gradually, we see teacher, breakaway 13-year-old pupil and dog all break down in reaction to what they are encountering, all conveyed so expressively by Simpson.
We learn too of other children’s reactions: wanting to know when lunch will be; wondering why something that happened so long ago in a different country should matter to them as they head from room to room, one marked Escalation, Deportation, Final Solution. They reach for the mobile phones at the earliest opportunity to flick through the latest posts.
Interestingly, contrary to myth, dogs do see in colour, but not in the same way we see colour, and here Wilkinson and set designer Natasha Jenkins complement Dyson’s descriptions of colour used by Sam to sum up the mood of each scene.
The back wall is covered with a plain cloth (an aid for us to build up a picture); the flooring has a metallic black sheen, framed by Isle of Skye lighting designer Benny Goodman’s strip lighting that changes from white to yellow. When the cloth drops suddenly, the stage is bathed in fiery orange.
Natasha Jenkins’s set design for York Theatre Royal’s production of The Last Picture. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
The minimalism stretches to the props: one table to the side, with a water bottle marked Sam (for Simpson’s vocal lubrication) and five lecture hall/school room chairs that Simpson uses in differing ways, most disturbingly to portray dead children when lain on their side.
Every detail has been thought through to the max, honed in four weeks of rehearsals, a research visit to Holocaust Centre North in Huddersfield, and in Wilkinson’s bond with Dyson over the power of abstract, non-literal theatre and European drama, as well as in Simpson’s remarkably adroit performance.
The Last Picture had begun life as one of 37 new plays picked from 2,000 entries to mark the500th anniversary of Shakespeare’s First Folio in 2023 with a national playwriting initiative, when Wilkinson directed a rehearsed reading at York Theatre Royal and saw its potential for a full-scale production.
Robin Simpson’s Sam in a rueful moment in The Last Picture. Picture: S R Taylor Photography
This is that production, the full picture of The Last Picture, and what a fitting, moving first show for the Theatre Royal to make for the Studio space since the accursed Covid pandemic.
Add Max Pappenheim’s sound design, a devastating use of Mendelssohn’s music – deemed “degenerate” by the Nazis – and movement direction full of circular rhythm by Alexia Kalogiannidis, and Dyson’s play is unique, wholly original, thoroughly theatrical.
The Last Picture is unmissable, unforgettable, urgently needed theatre at its best.
The Last Picture, York Theatre Royal Studio, until February 14, 7.45pm plus 2pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees, then on tour. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.The tour will visit HOME Manchester, February 18 to 21; Bristol Old Vic, February 24 to 28; Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, March 5 to 7; Mull Theatre, March 11 and 12; Bunessan Village Hall, March 13; Iona Village Hall, March 14.
Robin Simpson in The Last Picture at York Theatre Royal Studio, Picture: S R Taylor Photography
MUSICALS aplenty and a posthumous debut exhibition for two York artists are among Charles Hutchinson’s favourites for February fulfilment.
Solo show of the week: The Last Picture, York Theatre Royal Studio, until February 14, 7.45pm except Sunday, plus Wednesday and Saturday 2pm matinees
ROBIN Simpson follows up his sixth season as York Theatre Royal’s pantomime dame by playing a dog in York Theatre Royal, ETT and An Tobar and Mull Theatre’s premiere of Catherine Dyson’s anti-Fascist monodrama The Last Picture, directed by associate artist John R Wilkinson.
Imagine yourself in a theatre in 2026. Now picture yourself as a Year 9 student on a school museum trip, and then as a citizen of Europe in 1939 as history takes its darkest turn. While you imagine, emotional support dog Sam (Simpson’s character) will be by your side in a play about empathy – its power and limits and what it asks of us – built around a story of our shared past, present and the choices we face today. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Colour & Light turns the spotlight on Viking invader Eric Bloodaxe among York’s rogues, scoundrels and historical figures in Double Take Productions’ light installation at York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower. Picture: David Harrison
Illumination of the week: Colour & Light, York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower, York, until February 22, 6pm to 9pm
YORK BID is bringing Colour & Light back for 2026 on its biggest ever canvas. For the first time, two of York’s landmark buildings are illuminated together when York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower become the combined canvas for Double Take Projections’ fully choreographed projection show, transforming the Eye of York.
Presented in partnership with York Museums Trust and English Heritage, the continuous, looped, ten-minute show bring York’s historic rogues, scoundrels, miscreants, mischief makers and mythical characters to life in a family-friendly projection open to all for free; no ticket required.
Suede: Showcasing Antidepressants album on York Barbican return
Recommended but sold out already: Suede, York Barbican, tonight, doors 7pm
AFTER playing York Barbican for the first time in more than 25 years in March 2023, Suede make a rather hastier return on their 17-date Antidepressants UK Tour when Brett Anderson’s London band promote their tenth studio album.
“If [2022’s] Autofiction was our punk record, Antidepressants is our post-punk record,” says Anderson. “It’s about the tensions of modern life, the paranoia, the anxiety, the neurosis. We are all striving for connection in a disconnected world. This was the feel I wanted the songs to have. This is broken music for broken people.” Box office for returns only: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Sara Pascoe: Contemplating smart and astute nocturnal thoughts in I Am A Strange Gloop
Comedy gig of the week: Sara Pascoe, I Am A Strange Gloop, York Theatre Royal, tonight, 7.30pm
HAVE you ever been awake in the middle of the night and thought something so smart and astute that you could not wait for the world to wake up for you to tell them? “This show is that thought, in that it doesn’t make much sense and is a bit weird on reflection,” says Dagenham comedian, actress, presenter and writer Sara Pascoe.
In I Am A Strange Gloop, Sara & Cariad’s Weirdos Book Club podcaster and former The Great British Sewing Bee host Pascoe reveals how her children don’t sleep, her kitchen won’t clean itself and her husband “doesn’t want to be in it”. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Sally Ann Matthews’ supermarket boss Patricia in Here & Now The Steps Musical. Picture: Danny Kaan
Comedy and Tragedy show of the week: Here & Now, The Steps Musical, Grand Opera House, York, February 10 to 15, Tuesday to Saturday, 7.30pm; Wednesday and Saturday, 2.30pm; Sunday, 3pm
PRODUCED by Steps, ROYO and Pete Waterman, Here & Now weaves multiple dance-pop hits by the London group into Shaun Kitchener’s story of supermarket worker Caz and her fabulous friends dreaming of the perfect summer of love.
However, when Caz discovers her “happy ever after” is a lie, and the gang’s attempts at romance are a total tragedy, they wonder whether love will ever get a hold on their hearts? Or should they all just take a chance on a happy ending? Look out for Coronation Street star Sally Ann Matthews as supermarket boss Patricia. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Gi Vasey’s Annas and Joseph Hayes’ Caiaphas in Inspired By Theatre’s Jesus Christ Superstar. Picture: Dan Crawfurd-Porter
Boundary-pushing theatre show of the week: Inspired By Theatre in Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 11 to 14, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
YORK company Inspired By Theatre’s gritty, cinematic and unapologetically powerful staging of Jesus Christ Superstar presents director Dan Crawfurd-Porter’s radical new vision of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1971 musical.
On Gi Vasey’s shifting building-block set design, part temple, part battleground, the story unfolds through visceral movement, haunting imagery and a pulsating live score, capturing Jesus’s final days as loyalties fracture, followers demand revolution and rulers fear rebellion. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Annie at the double: Hope Day, left, and Harriet Wells will be sharing the title role in York Light Opera Company’s musical. Picture: Matthew Kitchen Photography
The sun’ll come out, not tomorrow, but from Thursday at: Annie, York Light Opera Company, York Theatre Royal, until February 21, 7.30pm, except February 15 and 16; matinees on February 14, 15 and 21, 2.30pm; February 19, 2pm
MARTYN Knight directs York Light Opera Company for the last time in the company’s first staging of Charles Strouse, Martin Charnin and Thomas Meehan’s Annie in 25 years.
This heart-warming tale of hope, family, and second chances, packed with such knockout songs as Tomorrow, Hard Knock Life and You’re Never Fully Dressed Without A Smile, stars Annabel van Griethuysen as Miss Hannigan, Neil Wood as Daddy Warbucks and Hope Day and Harriet Wells, sharing the role of Annie. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Liz Foster: Exploring memory, landscape and the childhood feeling of being immersed in wild places in Deep Among The Grasses
Exhibition launch of the week: Liz Foster, Deep Among The Grasses, Rise:@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, February 12 to April 10
YORK artist Liz Foster’s new series of abstract paintings, Deep Among The Grasses, invites you into rich, expansive imagined spaces where she explores memory, landscape and the childhood feeling of being immersed in wild places.
Full of colour, feeling and atmosphere, this body of work is being shown together for the first time. Everyone is welcome at the 6pm to 9pm preview on February 12 when Leeds-born painter, teacher and mentor Liz will be in attendance.
Craig David: Performing his TS5 DJ set at York Racecourse Music Showcase weekend
Gig announcement of the week: Craig David presents TS5, York Racecourse Music Showcase Weekend, Knavesmire, York, July 24
SOUTHAMPTON singer-songwriter and DJ Craig David will complete this summer’s music line-up at York Racecourse after earlier announcements of Becky Hill’s June 27 show and Tom Grennan’s July 25 concert.
David, 44, will present his TS5 DJ set on Music Showcase Friday’s double bill of racing and old-skool anthems, from R&B to Swing Beat, Garage to Bashment , plus current House hits, when he combines his singing and MC skills. Tickets: yorkracecourse.co.uk; no booking fees; free parking on race day.
Ice amid the January rain: York Ice Trail 2026
Festival of the week: Make It York presents York Ice Trail, An Enchanted City, York city centre, today and tomorrow, 10.30am to 4pm
THE streets of York will be transformed into An Enchanted City, where a spell has been cast, as ice sculptures, alive with enchantment, appear across the city’s cobbled and narrow streets.
Created by Icebox, 36 sculptures inspired by magic, mystery, the weird and wonderful will make an extraordinary trail, but who cast the spell and why? Follow the trail to uncover the truth. Pick up a trail map from the Visit York Visitor Information Centre to tick off all the sculptures; collect a special sticker on completion.
The sculptures will be: Ice Ice Baby (neon photo opportunity), provided by Make It York; Igloo 360 Photobooth, Party Octopus; The Ice Village (curated market); All Aboard for Railway Stories, National Railway Museum; Bertie the Shambles Dragon, Shambles Market Traders; The Wizard of Ouse!, City Cruises York and Mr Chippy; The Enchanted Chocolate Bar, York’s Chocolate Story.
Drake’s Spellbound Catch, provided by Drake’s Fish and Chips; Sword in the Stone, York BID; The Yorkshire Rose by Kay Bradley, Bradley’s Jewellers; Saint William’s Poisoned Chalice, York Minster; Toadstool House, York BID; York Park & Brrr-ide, First Bus; Wizard Teddy Bear, Stonegate Teddy Bears; Bettys Bern Bears, Bettys; The Magic of Connection, Grand Central Rail.
Lord of the Lodging, provided by The Judge’s Lodging; The Ice Wall (photo opportunity), Make It York; Spellbound Train Ticket, The Milner York; From Grand Roots, Magic Blooms, The Grand, York; Hobgoblin, York BID; Enchanted, Icebox; Wade The Giant, North York Moors National Park; Let It Sew, Gillies Fabrics; The Hungry Dragon, Ate O’clock; Barghest, York BID.
The Prophet Hen, provided by SPARK: York; Jack Frost, York BID; Wings of Ice, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall; Magic Mixie Monster, York Mix; Mjolnir – The Bringer of Lightning, Murton Park; Beaky Blinder the Puffin, RSPB; Food and Drink Area; Ice Masterclass (paid experience); The Snow Block (photo opportunity), Make It York, and Live Ice Carving (from 12 noon each day).
In Focus: Navigators Art performance & exhibition, The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, York, Sunday, 5pm
Penesthilia, by Penny Marrows
TO mark the opening of Penny Marrows and J P Warriner’s posthumous exhibition at City Screen Pictiurehouse, Penny and artist Timothy Morrison’s son, London jazz guitarist Billy Marrows, performs tomorrow with Portuguese Young Musician of the Year 2025 Teresa Macedo Ferreira, supported by lutenist Simon Nesbitt. Admission is free.
The exhibition launch follows at 6pm, celebrating two late York artists whose paintings were never exhibited in their lifetimes.
Born in 1951, Penny grew up in Tockwith, west of York, and attended Mill Mount Grammar School for Girls before studying 2D and 3D art at York College, training as a sculptor, then taught art in prisons and adult education in London.
On returning to Yorkshire, she painted and drew trees, landscapes and portraits for 30 years, including her self-portrait as an heroic winged figure.
Her exhibition is curated by husband Timothy Morrison, York artist and teacher, who says: “I met her in a printmaking evening class in Brixton, where Penny made linocuts and engravings of alarmingly aggressive-looking mythical beasts.
“Billy came along…and as a teenager fell in love with the guitar and jazz, and went on to study at Royal Academy of Music.
“Fast forward to early 2023 when Penny was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, Billy started sending little video recordings of his music to cheer her up (and me). New compositions, and duets with Teresa [Macedo Ferreira].
Penny Marrows in her garden
“The Beech Tree had its premiere at Penny’s funeral, and some of these pieces became Billy’s first album, Penelope, released soon after in her memory. So far it’s raised almost £7,000 for World Child Cancer.”
In 2025, Penelope was shortlisted in the category of Best New Album in the Parliamentary Jazz Awards. “Penny doesn’t know about all this, nor that thanks to Billy’s music her paintings have had an extraordinary resurrection.
“The trauma of the illness, combined with major retro-refit work in the house, meant that the paintings were buried in the chaos. We found them at the back of a huge pile. First exhibited at the funeral, they’ve since gone round the world beautifully emblazoned on Billy’s album covers.”
Penny loved trees, especially walking through woods. “The paintings seemed to burst from nowhere at the time, almost with a secretive devil-may-care diffidence, but are actually distillations of detailed observational sketchbook drawings done in the Howardian Hills while we collected wood for our stove,” says Timothy.
“Her early notebooks tenderly catch details of family life in Tockwith with an almost Bonnard-like natural draughtsmanship. My garden is a beautiful sculpture garden.
“If Penny is anywhere, she’s in the trees, both in the paintings and out there. Her work inspires my own drawings; I think of her as Daphne and I often depict her as a bird perched humorously and enquiringly on her very own branch.
“I would like to thank Richard Kitchen, who greatly encouraged me to curate this show of Penny’s work, and for making it possible.”
J P Warriner’s work Untitled, featuring in Navigators Art’s exhibition
BORN in Ireland in 1935, J P (John)Warriner lived most of his life in York, where he died in 2019 aged 84. “He has no surviving family or partner,” says Navigators Art’s Richard Kitchen. “Research indicates he was a brilliant and kind man, and a grandfather figure to troubled local youth.”
John was a contemporary figurative painter whose style spanned surrealism, post pop, erotic and neo-mythic genres. Married to Effie, the couple had two children, Ronald and Nigel, who both died tragically young.
“John seemed to have taken to painting to heal from the losses he and Effie endured,” says his exhibition curator, Cath Dickinson, of Notions Vintage. “He remains somewhat of an enigma, with little recorded about his life or artistic endeavours.
“We know that he was a retired Nestle employee, living in Acomb, suspected to have hailed from Omagh, County Tyrone. With no social media or websites to dissect, no records of known influences or potential drivers, the journey of discovery about JP is just beginning.”
Local accounts reveal that he was a much loved go-to grandfather figure to all the children in his street in Foxwood, Acomb, never missing a birthday or Christmas, delivering shortbread and fixing many broken bikes.
In a strange encounter, curator Cath Dickinson, who has been collecting paintings by John for five years, met someone who knew a friend and neighbour of John by chance.
“I discovered that John had been more than a friendly neighbour but amentor to troubled local adolescents and young people who were struggling with the temptations of life in the hedonistic 1990s and 2000s,” says Cath.
Artist J P Warriner with “our Amy”
“John had a particularly close friend, mentee and muse in ‘Our Amy’, a wonderful young mum who was full of life, and had a fantastic sense of humour. John became Amy’s mentor and confidante and tried to not only guide but also record many of the pivotal moments in her tragically shortened life.”
Exhibition visitors hopefully will be able to discover and share more of the history of John’s painting and subjects. “The main part is in tribute and memory to Amy and John and their bond which transcended generations and societal norms,” says Cath. “John’s works have been likened to Alasdair Gray and Grayson Perry. They span decades and observe war, tragedy, comedy, temptation, love and loss.
After the exhibition in memory of John, Effie and Amy ends on March 6, some of John’s works will be available to buy from notionsvintageyork.com at 6 Aldwark Mews, York, YO1 7PJ.
“This joint exhibition has been both a labour of love and a voyage of discovery for its two curators,” says Richard. “Come and discover the work of two wonderful creative artists and their vibrant contrasting styles and subject matter.”
Penny Marrows & J P Warriner, City Screen Picturehouse, York, on show until March 6, open daily from 10.30am until closing time.
Did you know?
BILLY Marrows also played at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse, on February 5 with Di-Cysgodion, a contemporary jazz quartet making waves in the capital and touring the north following their appearance at London’s Vortex Jazz Club.
Billy will return to The Basement with the Billy Marrows Band on March 26 in a 7.30pm concert promoted by Jazztones at 7.30pm. Tickets: TicketSource booking at bit.ly/nav-events.
The quartet brings together exciting London jazz scene improvisers to present York-born Billy’s boundary-pushing compositions, where they explore the relationship between improvisation and composition, incorporating grooves from across the globe and taking inspiration from many genres, including contemporary jazz, funk, progressive jazz and classical.
Penny Marrows’ artwork for Billy Marrows’ album Penelope, which received a four-star review in Jazzwise
Joining Billy, electric guitar and compositions, will be Chris Williams, alto sax (Led Bib, Sarathy Korwar, Grande Familia, Let Spin), Huw V Williams, double bass (Gruff Rhys, Ivo Neame, Chris Batchelor, Di-Cysgodion) and Jay Davis, drums (Mark Lockheart, Eddie Parker, Elliot Galvin, Di-Cysgodion).
Their debut album, Dancing On Bentwood Chairs, will be released on February 13, and this concert forms part of the accompanying tour,
Billy, who grew up in Sheriff Hutton, near York, studied jazz guitar at the Royal Academy of Music. He also leads the chamber-jazz project Grande Família, whose appearances have taken in top British venues, Scarborough Jazz Festival and a sold-out residency at Pizza Express Jazz Club, Soho.
In addition, Billy performs with Docklands Sinfonia, Tom Ridout Quintet, Chelsea Carmichael, Patchwork Jazz Orchestra and Di-Cysgodion. For more details, go to: billymarrows.com.
Two into one won’t go: Lisa Faulkner’s Allie, left, and Kym Marsh’s Hedy in Single White Female. Picture: Chris Bishop
AN update of a Nineties’ psychological thriller and a panto dame’s transformation into a dog top Charles Hutchinson’s cultural picks for early February and beyond.
World premiere tour of the week: Single White Female, Grand Opera House, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm matinees today and Saturday
SCREEN actress, 2010 Celebrity MasterChef winner, TV presenter, chef and cookery book author Lisa Faulkner returns to the stage for the first time in 21 years in Rebecca Reid’s darkly humorous stage adaptation of psychological thriller Single White Female, now updated to the social-media age.
Faulkner’s recently divorced mum Allie is balancing being a single parent with the launch of her tech start-up. When she decides to advertise for a lodger to help make ends meet, Kym Marsh’s Hedy offers her a lifeline, but as their lives intertwine, boundaries blur and a seemingly perfect arrangement begins to unravel with chilling consequences. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Viking illumination: Colour & Light celebrates Eric Bloodaxe at York Castle Museum. Picture: David Harrison
Illumination launch of the week: Colour & Light, York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower, York, today to February 22, 6pm to 9pm
YORK BID is bringing Colour & Light back for 2026 on its biggest ever canvas. For the first time, two of York’s landmark buildings will be illuminated together when York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower become the combined canvas for a fully choreographed projection show, transforming the Eye of York.
Presented in partnership with York Museums Trust and English Heritage, the continuous, looped, ten-minute show will bring York’s historic characters to life in a family-friendly projection open to all for free; no ticket required.
Matt Tapp’s ‘Wild’ Bill Hickok and Helen Gallagher’s ‘Calamity’ Jane in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Calamity Jane
Musical of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Calamity Jane, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, tonight to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
HELEN Gallagher’s tough talkin’, gun-totin’ heroine ‘Calamity’ Jane and Matt Tapp’s former peace-officer ‘Wild’ Bill Hickok lead director Sophie Cooke’s cast for Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster’s musical Calamity James.
Deadwood’s citizens are content with their ways of life: supporting their fort of soldiers and socialising at the beloved Golden Garter saloon. However, when a new face blows in from the Windy City to create a stir, friendships will be formed, long-time loyalties tested and perhaps even secret love revealed. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Alexander Flanagan Wright in Wright & Grainger’s Helios at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Ancient & modern drama of the week: Wright & Grainger in Helios, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
EASINGWOLD theatre-makers Alexander Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger begin their new partnership with Theatre@41 by re-visiting Helios, wherein a lad lives half way up a historic hill, a teenager is on a road trip to the city in a stolen car and a boy is driving a chariot, pulling the sun across the sky.
In Wright’s story of the sun god’s son, Helios transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound around the winding roads of rural England and into the everyday living of a towering city. “It’s a story about life, the invisible monuments we build to it, and the little things that leave big marks,” he says. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Robin Simpson in rehearsal for Catherine Dyson’s The Last Picture, premiering at York Theatre Royal Studio
Solo show of the week: The Last Picture, York Theatre Royal Studio, tomorrow to February 14, except February 8, 7.45pm, plus Wednesday and Saturday 2pm matinees
ROBIN Simpson follows up his sixth season as York Theatre Royal’s pantomime dame by playing a dog in York Theatre Royal, ETT and An Tobar and Mull Theatre’s premiere of Catherine Dyson’s The Last Picture, directed by John R Wilkinson.
Imagine yourself in a theatre in 2026. Now picture yourself as a Year 9 student on a school trip, and then as a citizen of Europe in 1939 as history takes its darkest turn. While you imagine, emotional support dog Sam (Simpson’s character) will be by your side in a play about empathy – its power and limits and what it asks of us – built around a story of our shared past, present and the choices we face today. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Simeon Walker: Inviting his audience to gather around the piano at Helmsley Arts Centre
Pianist of the week: Simeon Walker, An Evening Around The Piano, Helmlsey Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
LEEDS modern classical pianist and composer Simeon Walker performs in Great Britain and Europe, while notching 50 million streams across online platforms and having his music played on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM.
Walker, who has a keen interest in jazz, folk and ambient music too, has collaborated on interdisciplinary work with artist Mary Griffiths, Portuguese choreographer Sara Afonso, writer Emma White and filmmakers Will Killen and Ben Cohen, plus BBC Radio 4 and University of Leeds. His concerts span moments of quiet, gentle solitude to boisterous, flowing exuberance. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Julie Carter: Addressing themes of feminism, land rights, ageism and ableism, history and literature in The Dreamtime Fellrunner
Wellbeing on the run: Julie Carter, The Dreamtime Fellrunner, Milton Rooms, Malton, February 12, 7.30pm
IN her first theatre show, poetry and creative non-fiction author Julie Carter charts her running exploits on the Lakeland fells in this moving and humorous account of being an athlete with a physical disability in the form of a developmental disease of the spine.
Presenting fell running as a type of land art and spiritual practice, Carter emphasises body-mind-spirit-place connections while addressing themes of feminism, land rights, ageism and ableism, history and literature, in a 60-minute immersive performance supported by original music, topped off by second-half opportunities for discussion and reflections on wellbeing and the ways we inhabit our environments. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Mark Stafford: Solo performance at the double in The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde at Helmsley Arts Centre
Split personality of the month: Mark Stafford in The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde, Helmsley Arts Centre, February 21, 7.30pm
PUBLISHED in 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic mystery tale of the timeless conflict between good and evil is performed by Mark Stafford in his compelling and faithful adaptation.
In fog-bound Victorian London, respectable lawyer Gabriel Utterson is concerned by a strange clause in his friend Henry Jekyll’s will, whereupon he investigates the sinister Edward Hyde, Jekyll’s unlikely protégé. Convinced that Jekyll and Hyde’s relationship is founded on blackmail, Utterson finds the truth to be far worse than he could have ever imagined. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
The poster for Saturday’s EQUUS UK Film & Arts Fest’s day of equine films at Helmsley Arts Centre
In Focus: EQUUS UK Film & Arts Fest, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, Block 1, 12 noon to 2.16pm; Block 2, 3.30pm to 5.07pm; Block 3, 7pm to 9.45pm
HELMSLEY Arts Centre, in collaboration with Ryedale Bridleways Group, presents the first British screening of the EQUUS UK Film & Arts Festival this weekend.
Founded in 2013 by Illinois equestrian Lisa Diersen, who has spent her life in the company of horses, EQUUS aims to show the world how horses can bring everyone together regardless of race, age, gender, abilities or disabilities.
Saturday’s event comprises two afternoon blocks of short films, exhibitions from Ryedale artists and an evening showing of the 96-minute feature film Big Star, The Nick Skelton Story.
Showing from 12 noon will be Horse & Human Connection, featuring Wings Of Angels, Healing Horses In Mongolia, Heart Of Compton and My Life Between The Reins.
The Wild Horse Collection, from 3.30pm, presents American Mustang (music video), Wild Heart Mustang Book Project, Wild Horse Refuge “Dahtetse”, A Mustang Story promo, Okanagan Wild, Hellbent, Evoke and Renegade.
The Big Star Collections opens at 7pm with Healing In The Open, followed by Inside The In Gate and Unstable. After a 15-minute interval, Big Star will close the event.
Tickets for single blocks or the whole day are available on 01439 771700 or at helmsleyarts.co.uk.
An equine photograph from Valerie Mather’s 2025 trip to the USA
AMONG the exhibitors at Saturday’s EQUUS UK Film & Arts Fest event will be Yorkshire lawyer-tuned- portrait, documentary and travel photographer Valerie Mather.
“After a successful career in law, I retired early to pursue a lifelong passion for photography,” she says. “I learned to ride (English style) as a child but was brought up watching Western movies on television and longed to see for myself the real cowboys and cowgirls of the American West.
“That dream came true in 2025 when I visited the United States and spent time at the McCullough Peaks wild horse area and the Shoshone National Forest ranchlands in Wyoming. “
Another of Valerie Mather’s McCullough Peaks photographs on show at Helmsley Arts Centre on Saturday
Did you know?
RYEDALE Bridleways Group (RBG) covers the Ryedale district and North York Moors National Park. Activities include fundraising events, such as equestrian talks and films. RBG works with local authorities to seek to resolve issues on bridleways and Countryside Access Service Unsurfaced Unclassified Roads, as well as carrying outpractical work such as bridleway clearances and surveys.
Director John R Wilkinson and actor Robin Simpson in the rehearsal room for York Theatre Royal’s premiere of Catherine Dyson’s The Last Picture: James Drury
IN the first York Theatre Royal production to be made for the Studio since 2019, associate director John R Wilkinson directs Robin Simpson in The Last Picture from February 5 to 14.
After his sixth season as the Theatre Royal pantomime dame in Sleeping Beauty – and confirmed already for a seventh winter in Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs – Robin will swap the dame’s frocks and puns for the role of a dog in YTR, ETT and An Tobar & Mull Theatre’s world premiere co-production.
Robin will play an emotional support dog in Catherine Dyson’s 75-minute solo play, first performed in a reading at the Theatre Royal as one of 37 winning scripts selected from more than 2,000 entries by the Royal Shakespeare Company for its 37 Plays competition in 2023.
“We were given three of the plays to do in book-in-hand readings,” recalls John. “Juliet [creative director Juliet Forster] did one about MeToo ; Mingyu [resident artist Mingyu Lin] Lin directed one about immigration and diaspora. Then, by default, I was given this one – and I lucked out because The Last Picture was the best play.
“Part of the deal is that the writer comes up to see the reading. Catherine is an actress from Swansea – one of her main roles was playing the ‘woman in black’ in The Woman In Black, the role that’s never credited in the programme! – and she’s branched out into writing plays.
“She and I really connected over my love of European theatre – bare-bones abstract work – that leans into a storytelling in collaboration with the audience, where there’s very little in terms of set and design elements and instead the audience is encouraged to conjure the play for themselves.”
Dyson’s monodrama invites you to imagine yourself in a theatre in 2026. Now picture yourself as a Year 9 student on a school trip, and then as a citizen of Europe in 1939 as history takes its darkest turn. While you imagine, emotional support dog Sam will be by your side to look after you and keep everyone safe in a play built around empathy, its power and limits and what it asks of us. In a nutshell, The Last Picture explores our shared past, our present, and the choices we face today.
“For context, Catherine has Jewish heritage,” says John. “Her grandfather escaped persecution just before everything happened in Poland, escaping over the Tatra Mountains, so there’s a personal connection with this story.”
In a novel theatrical conceit, “Catherine was interested in telling the story through the eyes of a dog”, says John, in a device where Robin does not come on dressed as a dog but gives voice to what the dog is seeing and experiencing.
Robin says: “Pretty much straightaway it’s made clear that it’s being told by a dog, where we’re asking the audience to go on a journey of the imagination, when the story is told through a series of pictures created in language.”
John rejoins: “There are only one or two, very clear, stage directions by Catherine, but one was that there should be no actual pictures: they should all be created in the audience’s imagination.”
The production will lean into folklore and ritual. “The play is really fascinating in that we’re operating on several different levels. Firstly, I’m telling a story where I’m asking the audience to accept that I’m a dog, who’s part of a group of Year 19 pupils – aged 13, 14 – as their emotional support on a museum visit,” says Robin.
“Then I ask the audience to be the pupils, so they’re very much part of the story, sometimes in the story with me, and at other points we’re asking them to empathise with the people in the pictures created through language, because it’s a play about empathy and humanity.”
Robin continues: “I think the reason Catherine chose the dog’s point of view is that the dog can say dispassionately what’s going on in the pictures without having that human connection to the story, so the audience can make up their own mind.
“In finding the voice for the dog, it has to be about a balance between telling the story and colouring the story with emotion without performing it.”
John adds: “It’s such a clever form of storytelling that Catherine has leant into. One thing we said is that it’s not an animal study, but the dog gives the storytelling comfort and warmth.”
At the beginning, there is a description of how dogs have the ability to absorb human emotions without understanding them. “The dog picks up on the children’s emotions of being affected by what they’re seeing without the dog understanding why,” says Robin.
“What Catherine has done really cleverly is that there a lot of sticky political situations going on in the world that she doesn’t directly refer to,” says John. “But in terms of what she’s asking the audience to do, she doesn’t give a political viewpoint but she lets you sit and reflect on how it relates to what’s happening now.”
The Last Picture, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 5 to 14, except February 8, 7.45pm plus 2pm, February 7, 11 and 14. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Dame for a laugh anew: Graham Smith returns to the pantomime stage with Shiptonthorpe Community Theatre
A PANTO dame’s return and another’s transformation into a dog top Charles Hutchinson’s cultural picks for early February and beyond.
Pantomime of the week:Shiptonthorpe Community Theatre in Robin Hood And The Babes In The Wood, Shiptonthorpe Village Hall, Shiptonthorpe, near Market Weighton, today, 3pm and 7pm; Sunday, 2pm; February 6 and 7, 7pm
GRAHAM Smith, Rowntree Players’ pantomime dame from 2004 to 2022, pulls on the frocks once more after a three-year hiatus in the York guest house proprietor’s debut for East Riding company Shiptonthorpe Community Theatre.
He plays Nellie Nickerlastic in Richard Waud’s production of Robin Hood And The Babes In The Wood, joined in principal roles by Neil Scott’s King Richard, Toby Jewsen’s Robin Hood, Chris McKenzie’s Little John, Henry Rice’s Will Scarlett, Paul Jefferson’s Friar Tuck, Alison Rosa’s Sheriff of Nottingham and Chloe Jensen’s Maid Marion. Tickets: 07922 443639 or email richardwaud@yahoo.co.uk.
Femme Fatale Faerytales: Dark feminist re-telling of age-old classic
A homecoming, a haunting, a holy rebellion: Femme Fatale Faerytales present Mary, Mary, Fossgate Social, Fossgate, York, February 1 and 2, 8pm (doors 7pm)
MARY, Mary quite contrary, wouldn’t you like to know how her garden grows? Step into the fairytale world of Femme Fatale Faerytales as Sasha Elizabeth Parker unveils a dark, lyrical, feminist re-telling of an age-old classic. Part confession, part ritual, part bedtime story for grown-ups, Mary, Mary invites you to meet the woman behind the nursery rhyme in all her wild, untamed, contrary glory.
In her York debut, expect enchanting storytelling, poetic prophecy and a subversive twist on the tales you thought you knew on two intimate, atmospheric nights in one of York’s cult favourite haunts. Box office: wegottickets.com. Box office: wegottickets.com.
Kym Marsh’s Hedy, left, and Lisa Faulkner’s Allie in Rebecca Reid’s updated version of Single White Female, on tour at the Grand Opera House, York
World premiere tour of the week: Single White Female, Grand Opera House, York, February 3 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees
SCREEN actress, 2010 Celebrity MasterChef winner, TV presenter, chef and cookery book author Lisa Faulkner returns to the stage for the first time in 21 years in Rebecca Reid’s darkly humorous stage adaptation of psychological thriller Single White Female, now updated to the social-media age.
Faulkner’s recently divorced mum Allie is balancing being a single parent with the launch of her tech start-up. When she decides to advertise for a lodger to help make ends meet, Kym Marsh’s Hedy offers her a lifeline, but as their lives intertwine, boundaries blur and a seemingly perfect arrangement begins to unravel with chilling consequences. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Colour & Light: Illuminating Clifford’s Tower and York Castle Museum from February 4
Illumination launch of the week: Colour & Light, York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower, February 4 to 22, 6pm to 9pm
YORK BID is bringing Colour & Light back for 2026 on its biggest ever canvas. For the first time, two of York’s landmark buildings will be illuminated together when York Castle Museum and Clifford’s Tower become a combined stage for a fully choreographed projection show, transforming the Eye of York.
Presented in partnership with York Museums Trust and English Heritage, the continuous, looped, ten-minute show will bring York’s historic characters to life in a family-friendly projection open to all for free; no ticket required.
Matt Tapp’s ‘Wild’ Bill Hickok and Helen Gallagher’s ‘Calamity’ Jane in Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company’s Calamity Jane
Musical of the week: Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Calamity Jane, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 4 to 7, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
HELEN Gallagher’s tough talkin’, gun-totin’ heroine ‘Calamity’ Jane and Matt Tapp’s former peace-officer ‘Wild’ Bill Hickok lead director Sophie Cooke’s cast for Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster’s musical Calamity James.
Deadwood’s citizens are content with their ways of life: supporting their fort of soldiers and socialising at the beloved Golden Garter saloon. However, when a new face blows in from the Windy City to create a stir, friendships will be formed, long-time loyalties tested and perhaps even secret love revealed. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Alexander Flanagan Wright in Wright & Grainger’s Helios at Theatre@41, Monkgate
Ancient & modern drama of the week: Wright & Grainger in Helios, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, February 5, 7.30pm
EASINGWOLD theatre-makers Alexander Flanagan Wright and Phil Grainger begin their new partnership with Theatre@41 by re-visiting Helios, wherein a lad lives half way up a historic hill, a teenager is on a road trip to the city in a stolen car and a boy is driving a chariot, pulling the sun across the sky.
In Wright’s story of the son of the sun god, Helios transplants the Ancient Greek tale into a modern-day myth wound around the winding roads of rural England and into the everyday living of a towering city. “It’s a story about life, the invisible monuments we build to it, and the little things that leave big marks,” he says. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Robin Simpson in rehearsal for Catherine Dyson’s The Last Picture, premiering at York Theatre Royal Studio
Solo show of the week: The Last Picture, York Theatre Royal Studio, February 5 to 14, except February 8, 7.45pm, plus Wednesday and Saturday 2pm matinees
ROBIN Simpson follows up his sixth season as York Theatre Royal’s pantomime dame by playing a dog in York Theatre Royal, ETT and An Tobar and Mull Theatre’s premiere of Catherine Dyson’s The Last Picture, directed by John R Wilkinson.
Imagine yourself in a theatre in 2026. Now picture yourself as a Year 9 student on a school trip, and then as a citizen of Europe in 1939 as history takes its darkest turn. While you imagine, emotional support dog Sam (Simpson’s character)will be by your side in a play about empathy – its power and limits and what it asks of us – in a story of our shared past, present and the choices we face today. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Super Furry Animals’ summer concert at York Museum Gardens
Gig announcement of the week: Live At York Museum Gardens presents Super Furry Animals, York Museum Gardens, July 11
FUTURESOUND completes the line-up for its third Live At York Museum Gardens season with Welsh art-rock icons Super Furry Animals, celebrating more than 30 years together with multicolour hits and off-piste deep cuts, lovingly handpicked from nine albums.
Gruff Rhys, Huw Bunford, Cian Ciarán, Dafydd Ieuan and Guto Pryce are returning to the concert platform in 2026 for the first time in ten years. Joining them in York will be special guests Baxter Dury, Los Campesinos!, Divorce and Pys Melyn. Tickets for SFA, along with Liverpool’s Orchestra Manoeuvres In The Dark on July 9 and South Yorkshire ’s Self Esteem on July 10, are on sale at futuresoundgroup.com/york-museum-gardens-events.
Super Furry Animals: Playing first concerts in ten years in 2026, including Live At York Museum Gardens headline show
In Focus: Norwell Lapley Productions in Tales From Acorn Wood, York Theatre Royal, February 3 to 5
JULIA Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s beloved Tales From Acorn Wood stories are brought to life in an enchanting lift-the-flap experience where poor old Fox has lost his socks. Are they in the kitchen or inside the clock?
Rat-a-tat-tat! Who’s keeping tired Rabbit awake in a children’s show that also invites you to join in with Pig and Hen’s game of hide-and-seek and discover the special surprise that Postman Bear is planning for his friends.
Rabbit’s Nap in Tales From Acorn Wood
Packed full of songs, puppetry and all the friends from Acorn Wood, this show featuring Fox’s Socks, Rabbit’s Nap, Hide-and-Seek Pig and Postman Bear comes from the team behind Dear Zoo Liveand Dear Santa.
Writer Julia Donaldson says: “I am really happy that the Tales From Acorn Wood are now moving to the stage. Fans of the books are bound to enjoy seeing the four main characters, Fox, Bear, Pig and Rabbit, brought to life through Norwell Lapley Productions’ clever staging.
“Live performance and songs are both very close to my heart and I am sure this production will delight children and families.” Performances: Tuesday, 1.30pm; Wednesday and Thursday, 10.30am and 1.30pm. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.Age guidance: One plus.
The deep freeze: Snow goes underground in A Winter Wonderland at JORVIK Viking Centre
A FESTIVE trail, treasured exhibition and snow reboot, pantomime and A Christmas Carol 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, until February 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, seeing what it would have been like to live there.
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. 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, wife to King Edward VII. No booking is required, with free entry for National Trust members and under-fives.
Guy Masterson’s Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, on tour at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York
Festive ghostly return of the week: Guy Masterson in A Christmas Carol, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, today, 2pm 7.30pm
HEADING back to Theatre@41 for the fourth time, Olivier Award winner Guy Masterson presents Charles Dickens’s Christmas fable anew, bringing multiple characters to vivid life as ever, from Scrooge and Marley to the Cratchits and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come.
Be dazzled, be enchanted by a performance destined to linger long in the memory. “It’s guaranteed to get you into the Christmas Spirit – in many more ways than one,” says Masters. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Ellie Gowers: Songs exploring distance, longing and identity at Rise@Bluebird Bakery
Ecological songs of the week:Ellie Gowers, Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, Sunday, 8pm, doors 7.30pm
WARWICKSHIRE singer-songwriter – and Morris dancer to boot – Ellie Gowers blends contemporary acoustic sounds with the storytelling traditions of folk. Her 2022 debut album Dwelling By The Weir addressed ecological themes and her 2024 EP You The Passenger received airplay on Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie’s BBC 6Music show.
Her influences range from Mipso to Jeff Buckley is songs that explore distance, longing and identity. An extended version of the EP arrives this autumn 2025. Easingwold singer-songwriter Gary Stewart supports. Box office: bluebirdbakery.co.uk/rise.
St Agnes Fountain: Promoting new Christmas album Flakes & Flurries at NCEM, York
Folk gig of the week: Black Swan Folk Club presents St Agnes Fountain, National Centre for Early Music, York, December 1, 7.30pm
AFFECTIONATELY known as “the Aggies”, Chris While, Julie Matthews and Chris Leslie bring their Christmas cheer to the NCEM, presenting carols with a curve. They celebrate 25 years together with material from new festive album Flakes & Flurries (Fat Cat Records), old Aggie classics and a doff of the fedora to founder member David Hughes, who died in 2021. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.
Name of the dame: Robin Simpson will be playing Nurse Nellie in Sleeping Beauty at York Theatre Royal
Pantomime opening of the week: Sleeping Beauty, York Theatre Royal, December 2 to January 4 2026
THEATRE Royal creative director Juliet Forster directs returnee dame Robin Simpson’s Nurse Nellie, Jocasta Almgill’s Carabosse, Tommy Carmichael’s Jangles, CBeebies star Jennie Dale’s Fairy Moonbeam, Aoife Kenny’s Aurora and Harrogate actor Christian Mortimer’s Prince Michael in Sleeping Beauty.
Written once more by Paul Hendy, the Theatre Royal’s festive extravaganza is co-produced with award-winning Evolution Productions, the same team behind All New Adventures Of Peter Pan, Jack And The Beanstalk and last winter’s Aladdin. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Mark Thomas in Ed Edwards’s play Ordinary Decent Criminal at York Theatre Royal Studio. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
Recommended but sold out already: Paines Plough presents Mark Thomas in Ordinary Decent Criminal, York Theatre Royal Studio, December 2 and 3, 7.30pm
MEET recovering addict Frankie, played by political comedian Mark Thomas in his second acting role for playwright Ed Edwards after England & Son in 2023. In Ordinary Decent Criminal’s tale of freedom, revolution and messy love, Frankie has been sentenced to three and a half years in jail for dealing drugs.
On his arrival, none of his fellow convicts are what they seem, but with his typewriter, activist soul and sore lack of a right hook, he somehow finds his way into their troubled hearts, and they into his. In the most unexpected of places, Frankie discovers that the revolution is not dead, only sleeping. Box office for returns only: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
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.
The one and only Jesca Hoop: Playing NCEMon December 4
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.
Now she has released Selective Memory, an unplugged reworking of 2017’s Memories Are Now, recorded live at home with bandmates Chloe Foy and Rachel Rimmer for Last Laugh Records. Box office: thecrescentyork.com/events/jesca-hoop-at-the-ncem-york/.
In Focus: York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust in A Nativity For York, on tour, November 29 to December 10
A Nativity For York director Paul Toy
YORK Mystery Plays Supporters Trust is touring A Nativity For York to Acomb, Fulford, Nether Poppleton and All Saints Church, North Street, bringing the Christmas story to York neighbourhoods from November 29 to December 10.
Directed by Paul Toy, this new and unique interpretation of the Nativity dramatises events surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ from the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, presented by a community cast and production team with music in candlelight.
Using medieval scripts from the York Cycle of Mystery Plays and music both medieval and folk in style, A Nativity For York “tells a familiar story of a marvellous birth, threaded with humour, reverence and, sadly, hatred”.
The candlelight emphasises the constant struggle of the light against the darkness in Toy’s production, set in a time of threat when a homeless couple and their newborn baby are driven from home by oppressors.
“My vision is that of an underground, secret activity; clandestine performances of a play promoting banned religious doctrine in a time of oppression,” he says. “It mirrors both history and our current world situation, but it’s also a time of great hope.”
The York Mystery Plays were written in medieval times: 48 plays, once performed in the streets by the city’s Guilds, telling the Biblical story from Creation to Judgement Day, including the life of Jesus Christ.
York Mystery Plays Supporters Trust is a registered charity whose group of volunteers aims to keep the story of the York Mystery Plays alive at the forefront of York’s cultural heritage.
Performances will take place at St Hilda’s Church, Tang Hall Lane, York, on November 29 at 1pm and 4pm; St Mary Bishophill Junior, York, December 2 and 4, 7.30pm; St Mary’s Church, The Village, Haxby, December 6, 1pm and 4pm, and All Saints Church, North Street, York, December 10, 7.30pm
Tickets are on sale at https://ympst.co.uk/nativitytickets or on 0333 666 3366. The performance lasts 60 minutes with no interval. Festive refreshments will be available.
