York Theatre Royal – charleshutchpress

May 2, 2026May 2, 2026

More Things To Do in York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 17, from The York Press

Eileen Walsh in rehearsal for her lead role as Sheila Gold in the world premiere of The Psychic at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan

DYSON and Nyman’s world premiere dark thriller and women sporting Holmes & Watson waxed moustaches tickle Charles Hutchinson’s fancy in his recommendations for the week ahead.

World premiere of the week: The Psychic, York Theatre Royal, until May 23

“IS any of it real,” ask Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman in The Psychic, the latest spook-fest from the writer-director duo behind Ghost Stories. In their twisted new thriller, popular TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case that brands her a charlatan, costing her not only her reputation but also a fortune in legal fees.

When a wealthy couple ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, she senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed, leading her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Cutting-edge music and art collaboration of the week: York Late Music presents Late Music Ensemble: Picture This!, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate York, tonight, 7.30pm

INSPIRED by the relationship between visual art and music, Picture This! explores how composers have responded to artworks across time, from Modest Mussorgsky to the present day.

Today’s audience is invited on a promenade through an imagined exhibition, where works by Vincent van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, Bridget Riley and John Martin, alongside sculpture by Alexander Calder, are reflected in a musical programme featuring a new arrangement of Pictures At An Exhibition, Igor Stravinsky’s miniature tribute to Pablo Picasso, songs by Don van Vliet (Captain Beefheart) and David Byrne, plus new works. Nick Williams gives a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.

Comedy gig of the week: Tom Davis in Spudgun, Grand Opera House, York, tonight

CROYDON comedy turn, actor and podcaster Tom Davis is back on the road, firing out his freshly cooked observations on life’s hot topics. Co-host of the Wolf And Owl podcast with Romesh Ranganathan, star of BAFTA and Royal Television Society award-winning comedy series Murder In Successville and BBC One comedy King Gary, he also has his own Sky and NOW TV special, Underdog. “Get ready,” he says. “This one is fully loaded.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Bluegrass gig of the week: Hank, Pattie & The Current, Selby Town Hall, tonight, 7.30pm

HARD-HITTING bluegrass pickers who moonlight as symphonic classical musicians, Hank, Pattie & The Current approach their string band much as they would a string quartet. The Raleigh, North Carolina four-piece are led by Hank Smith’s banjo and Pattie Hopkins Kinlaw’s fiddle in an innovative twist on traditional bluegrass flavoured with classical, Motown, jazz and pop. Box office: 01757 708449 or selbytownhall.co.uk.

Vintage performance of the week: Steve Cassidy Band, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

THE Steve Cassidy Band return to their favourite home-city venue with guests in tow for a night of rock and country music chosen to appeal to all age groups. Steve, a three-time winner on New Faces, recorded with John Barry as a teenager and performed on shows with legends of the music industry. His line-up features John Lewis, guitar, George Hall, keyboards, Mick Hull, bass, guitar and ukulele, and Brian Thomson, percussion. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Folk gig of the week: Katherine Priddy, Pocklington Arts Centre, Sunday, 8pm

AFTER writing and recording two songs with Poet Laureate Simon Armitage and appearing on Later…With Jools Holland, Birmingham folk singer-songwriter Katherine Priddy released her third album, These Frightening Machines, in March on Cooking Vinyl.

Priddy’s new compositions explore what it means to keep going when things fall apart, to hold on to connections in a world that sometimes divides and to figure out where we fit into the machines and systems we find ourselves confronting. Northallerton singer-songwriter George Boomsma supports. Box office: pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk.

Exit stage left: Ellen Kent, The Farewell Tour, Madama Butterfly, May 3, 7.30pm, and Carmen, May 4, 7.30pm, both at Grand Opera House, York

OPERA impresario and director Ellen Kent is on the road with her farewell tour, presented by Senbla, featuring Opera International Kyiv, from Ukraine, in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly and Bizet’s Carmen.

Sung in Italian with English surtitles, Madama Butterfly’s heart-breaking story of the beautiful young Japanese girl who falls in love with an American naval lieutenant will be led by sopranos Elena Dee and Viktoria Melnyk, mezzo-soprano Yelyzaveta Bielous and tenors Oleksii Srebnytskyi and Hovhannes Andreasyan. Sung in French with English surtitles, Carmen promises passion, sexual jealousy, death and unforgettable arias, performed by Dee, Melynk and Mariia Davydova. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Mystery thriller of the week: Neon Crypt in The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 5 to 9, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

JOIN York company Neon Crypt for side-splitting stupidity, hot dog disguises and absolute terror in Jamie McKeller’s staging of Peepolykus co-artistic director John Nicholson’s incredibly high-brow adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s mystery The Hound Of The Baskervilles.

Sherlock Holmes (Laura McKeller) and Dr Watson (Laura Castle) must unravel the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, found dead on his estate with a look of terror still etched on his face and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body. Look out for Michael Cornell popping up as Sir Henry and Sir Charles Baskerville and Yokel 2. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Tribute gig of the week: K-Pop All Stars, Grand Opera House, York, May 6, 7pm

RIDE the global K-pop wave with K-Pop All Stars’ explosive live celebration of the music, artists and Korean culture that is taking over the pop world. Feel the power of stadium-sized anthems, razor-sharp choreography and a cast that delivers every beat with precision and passion, performing hits by Blackpink, NewJeans, Katseye, BTS, Itzy, Stray Kids, Twice, Jung Kook and more. Cue light sticks glowing in the crowd. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Recommended but sold out already: Dervish, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, May 6, 7.30pm

LEGENDARY Irish traditional folk music band Dervish, recipients of a BBC lifetime achievement award in 2019, have recorded and performed all over the world, playing at festivals from Rio to Glastonbury. Fronted by singer Cathy Jordan. the line-up of fiery fiddle, flute, bouzouki, mandola, bodhran and accordion delivers vibrant sets of tunes and compelling songs. Box office for returns only: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

May 1, 2026May 1, 2026

Neon Crypt bring added comic bite to The Hound Of The Baskervilles at Theatre@41

Michael Cornell’s Sir Henry Baskerville, Laura McKeller’s Sherlock Holmes, centre, and Laura Castle’s Dr John Watson in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles

YORK Gothic humorists Neon Crypt will serve up The Hound Of The Baskervilles with side-splitting stupidity, hot dog disguises and absolute terror at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, from May 5 to 9.

Expect a very silly, very funny and very fast-paced show suitable for all ages, albeit with some mild peril, as Laura McKeller, Laura Castle and Michael Cornell tackle a typically high-brow, 60-minute adaptation by Peepolykus co-founder John Nicholson, in the wake of staging Nicholson and Le Navet Bete’s Dracula: The Bloody Truth last May.

Directed by Jamie McKeller, alias York ghost walk supremo Dr Dorian Deathly of Deathly Dark Tours, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story is given a madcap makeover as Holmes and Dr Watson are summoned to investigate the ancient curse of the Hound of the Baskervilles.

To do so, they must unravel the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, who is found dead on his estate, with a look of terror still etched on his face and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body.

The Hound Of The Baskervilles director Jamie McKeller in Dr Dorian Deathly ghost walk guide mode

“Our memories of The Hound Of The Baskervilles in York go way back to York Theatre Royal doing it with panto villain David Leonard as Holmes [in 2016],” says Jamie. “Within Neon Crypt, there are four of us, and we get together to throw it around the room, saying ‘you read this part’, ‘you read that part’, and it ended up landing the way it has with the two Lauras as Holmes and Watson and Michael playing Sir Henry Baskerville, Sir Charles Baskerville and multiple Yokels.

“We knew one of us would direct the show, and the general feeling was that it would go a certain way, but it didn’t go the way we thought it would! I thought I’d end up as Holmes because he’s so stoic, but then Laura [McKeller] read the part and nailed the arrogance and Basil Rathbone air of ‘Britishness’.

“Laura [Castle] has such an everyman quality to her acting, and she started to read Dr John Watson in an Received Pronunciation English accent, but I said, ‘no, give me Bradford, give me the moors, give me West Yorkshire’, and that’s how she’s now playing him.”

Laura C will focus on Watson and a Yokel, while Laura M will be even busier in her multi-role-playing duties than Cornell. “She’s doing at least ten roles because Holmes is not always present. She’ll be Mr and Mrs Barrymore; the train guard; Cecile Stapleton; Jack Stapleton and Selden, ‘the Notting Hill murderer’, among others,” says Jamie.

Laura McKeller’s Sherlock Holmes in hot dog disguise in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of he Baskervilles

“She has go off, change character and be back on in a heartbeat – and our stage manager will be multi-rolling too with all the scenes changes, costume changes and props, so she’s as much a character in the show as the other three. Though she doesn’t say anything, she has to do a lot on stage, with the running joke of the cast tipping her every time she comes on but becoming more and more begrudging about doing that.”

Analysing The Hound Of The Baskervilles’ abiding popularity, Jamie says “It’s a good sleuth story where the audience feels ‘Let’s go sleuthing’. If anything, in this version, the story is on the backburner, so there are moments when the sleuthing is going on, where we have to find the chance to hit the brakes to say to the audience, ‘Are you keeping up?’.

“We’re staging it on a thrust set design, so the audience are invited into the action straightaway. Within 30 seconds, the house lights are up and the audience are involved.

“The show is right up our street in terms of silliness, and though we place it in the late-1800s, with Watson in a Victorian two-piece and Holmes in a deer stalker and cape, the cast can break out of the period setting, like the moment when they pull out a mobile phone.”

No smoke without (gun) fire: Laura Castle’s Dr John Watson in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles

The two Lauras wore Holmes and Watson’s waxed moustaches in rehearsal for the first time last night (30/4/2026). “But Laura M is no stranger to having moustaches and mono-brows on stage,” says Jamie. “Laura C likes to do her nails with themed symbols on: bats for her Dracula last time; now moustaches on blue nails for Doctor John Watson!”

From Star Wars music in one scene to the bubbling bromance of Holmes and Watson, anything could happen in Neon Crypt’s show. “I think there’s permission that if anyone ‘cracks’ on stage in a preposterous comedy, it’s not the end of the world,” posits Jamie. “It makes it feel more grounded, and you’re at such close quarters with the audience at Theatre@41 that it’s a really transformative venue, where you can have it anyway you want.”

Jamie has plenty on his thespian plate, by the way. “I’ll be playing Frank in Jim Paterson’s production of Educating Rita for Black Treacle Theatre in June, and with the volume of lines in each show, I couldn’t have done both Sherlock and Frank,” he says.

Neon Crypt in The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 5 to 9, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

April 29, 2026May 1, 2026

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 17, from Gazette & Herald

Kristian Barley’s Adam, left, Steve Tearle’s Bernadette and Matthew Clarke’s Tick in NE Theatre York’s Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert

FROM Priscilla in the outback to dark thriller The Psychic, the Romanian Richard III to Neon Crypt’s Holmes and Watson, Charles Hutchinson picks the week ahead’s best shows and gigs.

Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

STEVE Tearle, creative director of NE Theatre York, plays Bernadette, joined by Matthew Clarke as Tick and Kristian Barley as Adam, in the adventure of two drag artists and a trans woman embarking on a life‑changing road trip across the Aussie outback in their battered tour bus, discovering the power of love, identity, acceptance and true friendship.

“As they head west through the Australian desert to chase a dream aboard their lavender bus, our three terrific travellers come to the forefront of a comedy of errors,” says Tearle, whose high-energy production also features Helen Greenley as Shirley, Ben Rich as Jimmy, Steve Perry as Bob, the mechanic, Ali Butler-Hind as his wife Cynthia, plus disco divas Perri Ann Barley, Melissa Boyd and Aileen Hall. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Andy Nyman, left, and Jeremy Dyson in rehearsal for their world premiere of The Psychic at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan

World premiere of the week: The Psychic, York Theatre Royal, today to May 23

When a wealthy couple ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, she senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed and leads her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Gemma Curry in Hoglets Theatre’s Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre

Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre presents Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre, York International Shakespeare Festival, York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium, today, 6.30pm

HAGS, hauntings, hobgoblins and more emerge from the spooky suitcase owned by Lady Macbeth (Dotty to her friends). These spectres from performances past must retell their stories before they can find peace in the literary afterlife, but are they friends or will we need to be vanquished back into the supernatural suitcase?

Written, crafted and performed by Hoglets Theatre founder, director, writer and performer Gemma Sharp, this funny, energetic children’s theatre experience presents a world of hand-made puppets, music and storytelling, all performed from a single suitcase. “No prior knowledge of Shakespeare is required,” she says. Box office: https://yorkshakes.co.uk/programme-2026/spooky-shakespeare-suitcase-theatre/.

Dirty Ruby: Playing the blues at Milton Rooms, Malton

Blues gig of the week: Ryedale Blues Club presents Dirty Ruby, Milton Rooms, Malton, tomorrow, 8pm

SPECIALISING in sharp-edged blues rock, East Midlands five-piece Dirty Ruby have drawn comparison with 1970s’ acts Stone The Crows and Vinegar Joe with their energetic combination of Hammond organ, beautiful bluesy guitar, tight rhythm section and soulful lead vocals. After a five-track EP and debut single, they are working on completing their debut album. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Paulus The Cabaret Geek in the Victoria Wood tribute Looking For Me Friends

Tribute of the week: Looking For Me Friend: The Music Of Victoria Wood, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 7.30pm

PAULUS The Cabaret Geek and pianist Michael Roulston marks the tenth anniversary of Victoria Wood’s death in Looking For Me Friend. Directed by Sarah-Louise Young (from An Evening Without Kate Bush), the show is filled with Wood’s best-loved songs, such as Ballad of Barry & Freda’ (Let’s Do It) and It Would Never Have Worked. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Sarah McQuaid: Playing Helmsley Arts Centre on Friday

Folk gig of the week: Sarah McQuaid, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

SINGER and songwriter Sarah McQuaid draws on her seven albums of velvet-voiced folk songs, performed with wit and warmth in concert on acoustic and electric guitars, keyboards and occasionally drums.

Born in Spain, raised in Chicago, holding dual Irish and American citizenship and now settled in rural England, she brings the eclecticism of her background to her contemplative ballads, playful blues and atmospheric instrumentals, her music inviting reflection, connection and a deep appreciation of the quiet power of a well-crafted song. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Eduardo Martín & Ahmed Dickinson Cárdena

Guitar concert of the week: Eduardo Martín & Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas, National Centre for Early Music, Walmgate, York, Friday, 7.30pm

GRAMMY nominee composer Eduardo Martín and virtuoso classical guitarist Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas combine in an intergenerational duo that celebrates the depth and diversity of Cuban guitar music, weaving together classical, Afro-Cuban, jazz, rock and cinematic influences into a vibrant and emotionally rich dialogue.

Together, Martín and Dickinson Cárdenas embody a powerful artistic synergy. More than a concert, their collaboration is a sonic journey where generations meet, traditions evolve and Cuban identity resonates on a global stage. Box office: 01904 658338 or ncem.co.uk.

Liviu Cheloiu in Richard III – The Man at York International Shakespeare Festival. Picture: Teatrul Tony Bulandra

Discontented son of York of the week: Tony Bulandra Theatre in Richard III – The Man, York International Shakespeare Festival, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Friday, 7.30pm

SHAKESPEARE’S “most captivating character” returns to York in Targoviste company Tony Bulandra Theatre’s Richard III – The Man, performed in Romanian with English surtitles by versatile actor and festival director Liviu Cheloiu, celebrated in the Eastern European country for his film roles and theatre work.

Exploring themes of power and its corrupting allure, the nature of evil, the manipulation of language and the thin lines between reality and fiction, the show delves into Richard III’s psyche while attempting to relate the Bard’s description – or character assassination? – with the historical truth about the Yorkist Plantagenet king in a series of scenes inspired by the Bard’s plays, showcasing Richard’s chameleon-like personality to reveal how he utilises those around him to achieve his goals. Box office: yorkshakes.co.uk or tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Laura Castle’s Dr Watson, left, and Laura McKeller’s Sherlock Holmes in Neon Crypt’s The Hound Of The Baskervilles

Mystery thriller of the week: Neon Crypt in The Hound Of The Baskervilles, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, May 5 to 9, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

Sherlock Holmes (Laura McKeller) and Dr Watson(Laura Castle) are summoned to investigate the ancient curse of the Hound of the Baskervilles and unravel the mysterious death of Sir Charles Baskerville, found dead on his estate with a look of terror still etched on his face and the paw prints of a gigantic hound beside his body. Look out for Michael Cornell popping up as Sir Henry Baskerville and Yokel 2. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

April 25, 2026April 30, 2026

More Things To Do in York and beyond as Shakespeare and Rocky Horror shine on. Hutch’s List No. 16, from The York Press

Collage and mixed-media artist Donna Maria Taylor: Participating in York Open Studios at South Bank Studios

FROM Rocky Horror film stars to Shakespeare in a suitcase, Bowie to Boe, Priscilla to The Psychic premiere, Charles Hutchinson is spoilt for choice again.

Art event of the week: York Open Studios, York and beyond, today and Sunday, 10am to 5pm

FOR a second weekend, 150 artists and makers within York and a ten-mile radius of the city are welcoming visitors to 107 workplaces and studios.

This annual event offers the chance to gain a sneak peek into where the artists work, their methods and inspirations, whether a regular contributor or the 27 new participants, spanning traditional and contemporary painting and print, illustration, drawing, ceramics, mixed media, glass, sculpture, jewellery, textiles and photography. For more information, visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk; access the interactive map at yorkopenstudios.co.uk/map.

Weather Balloons’ Anne Prior: Playing Navigators Art’s YO Underground #7 bill at The Basement, City Screen Picturehouse

Arts collaboration of the week: Navigators Art/Projects presents YO Underground 7, The Basement, City Screen, York, tonight, 7.30pm

CONTINUING its mission to present adventurous left-field music and words from York and the region, Navigators Art plays host to a mixed bill of uniquely styled indie song-writing from Weather Balloons’ Anne Prior, the Joe Douglas Trio’s North African-inspired free jazz and a collaboration between audiovisual projections and Ben Hopkinson’s quartet Synaefonia. Box office: bit.ly/nav-events.

Blue: In full bloom at York Barbican tonight

Limited ticket availability: Blue and special guests 911, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm; Alfie Boe, York Barbican, April 28, 7pm

REVITALISED boy band Blue have released the single Flowers, penned by good friend Robbie Williams and Boots Ottestad, ahead of their 25th anniversary tour date at York Barbican.

“Robbie reached out to me a while back and said ‘I’ve got a song for Blue’,” says Blue’s Antony Costa, who will be joined as ever by Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe. “We only got to record it recently and thought it would be perfect to release for the anniversary tour. We can’t wait for you all to hear Flowers.”

Tenor Alfie Boe plays York on Tuesday and Harrogate Royal Hall on Wednesday on his 35-date tour, combining his most iconic hits and fan-favourite classics with material from new album Face Myself. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk; for Boe, https://gigst.rs/AB26.

Alfie Boe: Tenor dramatics at York Barbican. Picture: Ray Burmiston

Book event of the week: Rivers, Water and Wildness, A Talk by Amy-Jane Beer, St Chad’s Church, Campleshon Road, York, April 28, 7.30pm to 9pm

THE Friends of Nun Ings invite you to Rivers, Water and Wildness, Our Rivers and Their Landscapes, a talk by biologist-turned-writer and former South Bank resident Amy-Jane Beer, author of The Flow, winner of the Wainwright Prize for Nature Writing 2023, who now lives on the Derwent.

The Flow is a book about water, and, like water, it meanders, cascades and percolates through many lives, landscapes and stories. From West Country torrents to Levels and Fens, rocky Welsh canyons and the salmon highways of Scotland to the chalk rivers of the Yorkshire Wolds, Beer follows springs, streams and rivers to explore tributary themes of wildness and wonder, loss and healing, mythology and history, cyclicity and transformation. Tickets are available via eventbrite; admission is free but donations are welcome.

Nell Campbell (Columbia), Barry Bostwick (Brad Majors) and Patricia Quinn (Magenta) celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Let’s do the Time Warp…again: The Rocky Horror Picture Show 50th Anniversary Spectacular Tour 2026, York Barbican, Sunday, 7pm

JOIN the original Brad Majors (Barry Bostwick), Magenta (Patricia Quinn) and Columbia (Nell Campbell) for this once-in-a-lifetime screening event with a live shadow cast. Jim Sharman’s 1975 film of Richard O’Brien’s musical will be shown in a 4K remastered edition, preceded by a Q&A with the movie stars. Expect a costume contest, memorabilia display with film artefacts and a participation prop bag for every ticket holder. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: In Concert: David Bowie on screen at York Barbican

Fantastical film and music event of the week: Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: In Concert, York Barbican, April 27, 7.30pm

JIM Henson’s musical fantasy film Labyrinth is on tour in concert in celebration of its 40th anniversary, transporting audiences to Goblin City in a fusion of film on a large HD cinema screen and live music on stage, performed by a band playing David Bowie and Trevor Jones’s soundtrack score and songs in sync with Bowie’s original vocals.

Taking on an ever-growing cult status since its release on June 27 1986, Labyrinth stars Bowie as principal antagonist Jareth the Goblin King, who rules the goblin kingdom, kidnaps protagonist Sarah’s baby brother and presents a charming yet menacing challenge, appearing as a rock star-like figure who lures and influences her journey. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Degrees Of Error’s poster for you-do-it whodunit Murder She Didn’t Write

Sleuthing opportunity of the week: Degrees Of Error in Murder She Didn’t Write, Grand Opera House, York, April 28, 7.30pm

DON your deerstalker, grab your magnifying glass and prepare your “finger of suspicion” as Edinburgh Fringe favourites Degrees Of Error return for your sleuthing pleasure, creating a classic murder mystery on-the-spot in this ingenious improvised comedy.

You, the audience, become the author as the cast acts out your very own Agatha Christie-inspired masterpiece live on stage. At each show, the company uses your suggestions to create an original and comical murder mystery. All you have to do is solve it. Ms Gold poisoned at a synchronised swimming gala? Dr Blue exploded by cannon during a hot air balloon race? Professor Violet crushed to death at a Love Island re-coupling? You decide – but will you guess whodunit before the killer is revealed? Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

Kristian Barley’s Adam, left, Steve Tearle’s Bernadette and Matthew Clarke’s Tick in NE Theatre York’s musical Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert

Musical of the week: NE Theatre York in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 28 to May 2, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

“As they head west through the Australian desert to chase a dream aboard their lavender bus, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, our three terrific travellers come to the forefront of a comedy of errors,” says Steve, whose high-energy production also features Helen Greenley as Shirley, Ben Rich as Jimmy, Steve Perry as Bob, the mechanic, Ali Butler-Hind as his wife Cynthia, plus disco divas Perri Ann Barley, Melissa Boyd and Aileen Hall. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Eileen Walsh, left, Jaz Singh Deol, Megan Placito, Andy Nyman, Nikhita Lesler and Jeremy Dyson in rehearsal for the world premiere of The Psychic at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan

World premiere of the week: The Psychic, York Theatre Royal, April 29 to May 23

When a wealthy couple ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, she senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she has ever believed and leads her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Pulling Shakespearean strings: Gemma Curry in Hoglets Theatre’s Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre at York International Shakespeare Festival

Children’s show of the week: Hoglets Theatre presents Spooky Shakespeare Suitcase Theatre, York International Shakespeare Festival, York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium, April 29, 6.30pm

HAGS, hauntings, hobgoblins and more emerge from the spooky suitcase owned by Lady Macbeth (Dotty to her friends). These spectres from performances past need to retell their stories before they can find peace in the literary afterlife, but are they friends or will we need to be vanquished back into the supernatural suitcase?

The poster for Scott Bradley’s premiere of A Kingdom Jack’d at York International Shakespeare Festival

The poster for Scott Bradley’s premiere of A Kingdom Jack’d at York International Shakespeare Festival starring Rosy Rowley, whose birthday coincides with the opening night

Shakespeare spin-off of the week: 1st Zanni Theatre in A Kingdom Jack’d, York International Shakespeare Festival, Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, York April 29 and 30, 7.30pm

IN A Kingdom Jack’d, American playwright Scott Bradley re-imagines an iconic moment in political and Shakespearean history: what if disgraced knight Jack Falstaff (Rosy Rowley) somehow found his way onto the throne of England in 1399, instead of serious warrior-king Henry IV?

Stupid, lecherous, selfish but humorous, Shakespeare’s most (in)famous clown must somehow fund the army, balance the budget and make foreign policy between naps. His government is drunk, his enemies are plotting,his allies are scheming, and even his girlfriend wants a piece of the action. Falstaff is king but for how long? Box office: yorkshakes.co.uk.

April 24, 2026April 24, 2026

How a chance chat led to York Theatre Royal premiere of Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s supernatural thriller The Psychic

Andy Nyman, left, and Jeremy Dyson in rehearsal for their world premiere of The Psychic at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan

IT began with a chance conversation at a University of York honorary degree ceremony in 2024.

York Theatre Royal chief executive Paul Crewes found himself next to actor, writer and comedy talent Steve Pemberton, who was in York with The League Of Gentlemen and Inside No. 9 collaborator Reece Shearsmith to be honoured with doctorates by the department of theatre, film and television.

Crewes, who had taken up his post in October 2023, said he was seeking new work for the Theatre Royal: the perfect opportunity for Pemberton to reveal that League Of Gentlemen cohort Jeremy Dyson and regular writing partner Andy Nyman were working on a new play and looking for a theatre to stage the premiere.

“Finding creative partners is the secret to doing good work,” says Jeremy, seated in the Theatre Royal foyer alongside Andy in a break from co-directing rehearsals for their twisted dark thriller The Psychic, whose world premiere will open with previews from April 29.

“It was a moment of fate that Steve happened to be sitting next to Paul. To Paul’s credit, he contacted me straightaway and we arranged to meet in Leeds the next day as I live in Ilkley. We met at Paranormal Activity, which was having its premiere at Leeds Playhouse.”

Crewes read the script, loved it, and a new partnership was born in a city that has become a creative haven for Dyson and Nyman.

“I’m fascinated by [Carl] Jung’s Synchronicity, his concept of ‘meaningful coincidences’,” says Jeremy. “Anyone who does creative work knows it’s a phenomenon different from serendipity. It’s more mystical than that, like how me and Andy had taken to coming to York when we had creative problems, first when we were working on our novel The Warlock Effect [a Cold War spy thriller] that came out in 2023.

“We were a couple of years on from Covid, we both had lots on, and we thought, ‘let’s get away’. As Andy lives in London, I’m in Ilkley, we said, ‘let’s come to York’. I loved coming to York on day trips, growing up in Yorkshire; but Andy had never been.”

They stayed at The Principal York, now The Milner, for two or three days and did so again when working on one of the drafts for The Psychic. “York has taken on this special meaning for us, and when we were looking for somewhere to stage The Psychic, somewhere outside of London that ‘got’ it, York Theatre Royal was that place,” says Jeremy.

“It meant so much to us as York has become our problem-saving place, and it’s worth saying that Paul and his team have been fantastic, being so supportive and so enabling, and their ambition for the show is even greater than ours.”

Andy adds: “We also believe, as we did with Ghost Stories, starting that show at Liverpool Playhouse and the Lyric Hammersmith and going around the world for 16 years now, that we want to pay back those theatres.

“We deeply believe in subsidised theatre, how important it is for the city. Theatres are not for ‘posh people’’; they’re essential for all, and we love producing something new that can help put coffers back in the community.”

As Andy notes, York is a city “drenched in the supernatural”, making the Theatre Royal the perfect location for The Psychic, wherein TV psychic Sheila Gold loses a high-profile court case, branding her a charlatan.

It costs her not only her reputation, but a fortune in legal fees. When a wealthy couple ask Sheila to conduct a séance to attempt to make contact with their late child, Sheila senses an opportunity to bleed them for money. What follows makes her question everything she ever believed and leads her on a journey into the darkest corners of her life.

“One of the fascinating things about ghost stories, and spirituality in general, is that it exists, whether you believe it or not, in whatever form,” says Andy.

“So our play is exploring the questions without giving definitive answers, but looking at it from all sides,” says Jeremy.

“Pilate asked Jesus this question 2,000 years ago: What is truth? It’s a perennial question, and here we are 2,000 years later with Trump in power. In this play we are asking the deeper question about what really matters in life – and ghost stories are a very helpful lens to look at that because they give you a bridge to eternity as there are ultimate truths around mortality.”

Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s The Psychic runs at York Theatre Royal from April 29 to May 23. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Copyright of The Press, York

April 20, 2026April 20, 2026

Panto villain Jocasta Almgill returns to York as fitness queen on murder charge in Legally Blonde at Grand Opera House

Jocasta Almgill’s Brooke Wyndham leading the skipping-rope exercise in her big number, Whipped Into Shape, in Legally Blonde The Musical. Picture: Matt Crockett

WEST End star Jocasta Almgill is heading home to Yorkshire to play fitness-empire queen Brooke Wyndham, on trial for murder, in Legally Blonde The Musical.

Hull-born Jocasta last appeared on the York stage as villainous fairy Carabosse, East Riding accent and all, in Sleeping Beauty at Theatre Royal last winter, and now she is on tour in Heather Hach, Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin’s American musical. Next stop, Grand Opera House, York, from tomorrow (21/4/2026) to Saturday.

“I auditioned for the part last summer before going to Japan to play Diana Morales in A Chorus Line. We were there for ten weeks, playing three cities, Tokyo, Sendai, Osaka and then back to Tokyo. Japanese is a tricky language to learn, but within the company there were lots of Japanese people, so I could practise my Japanese.”

How did that go? “Sometimes they would laugh at me! Like when I thought I was saying ‘That was delicious’ and in fact I’d said ‘Would you marry me’!”

She could not reveal her Legally Blonde role until the full cast was rubber stamped shortly after her panto run in York, one she had so enjoyed. “Playing Carabosse was fantastic. I really loved playing a baddie. That was fun!” says Jocasta. “It’s such an amazing time to be there, for Christmas, taking my dog, Luna, with me, who’s now doing this tour too.

Jocasta Almgill’s villainous Carabosse in York Theatre Royal & Evolution Productions 2025 pantomime Sleeping Beauty. Picture: Pamela Raith

“She’s a Lurcher, a big dog but a super theatre dog because she’s so quiet. She goes everywhere with me on tour, and there are only a few theatre that aren’t dog friendly. It’s absolutely wonderful I can take her with me, and though I could do it without her, it makes it so much better that she’s there, making friends in the theatre.

“When you’re on tour, touring becomes everything, but with Luna there, I get up every day and go on a walk with her and it’s a reminder that there’s more to life. It gives a broader sense of purpose.”

Jocasta’s Theatre Royal pantomime performance – her first as the baddie after myriad Fairy roles – featured her Act Two-opening big number Pinball Wizard, and likewise Legally Blonde calls on her to inject high energy straight after the interval. “Brooke opens Act Two with this amazing number [Whipped Into Shape]. She’s a fitness influencer, and in this scene we’re exercising with skipping ropes,” she says.

“It’s a really spectacular opening to the second half, and for me, it feels so exciting to play this role because previously it’s been played by very slender women, but I like to think of myself as curvy and strong, so it’s been interesting to show a different side to the fitness industry.

“In the Olympics, they’re all different body shapes, and I’m really finding joy in portraying this role, showing women you don’t need to be one shape to be fit.”

Hull-born actress Jocasta Almgill

Buoyed by the perennially pink perma-positivity of stereotype-shattering ‘It Girl’ fashionista-turned-Harvard Law School ace student Elle Woods (played by 2025 Strictly Come Dancing finalist Amber Davies), Legally Blonde is “such a feel-good show”, enthuses Jocasta. “It would be hard to watch this show and not feel uplifted,” she says. “It’s a story about being yourself, fighting and persevering, even in the face of being judged, discovering who you are and being happy with that.”

Legally Blonde will be Jocasta’s fourth show in York: “I was in the original tribute to The Blues Brothers, which came to the Grand Opera House years ago in my first job out of college [Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, from where she graduated in 2009],” she recalls. “Then I came back on tour in 2018 with Hairspray, when I was Peaches, one of The Dynamites.”

After her journey to the dark side as Carabosse in Sleeping Beauty last Christmas, now Jocasta will be in the dock in Legally Blonde, on the road in North Yorkshireman Nikolai Foster’s co-production for Curve Leicester and ROYO until next January.

“That means no panto this winter, unfortunately, because I love panto, but there are very good reasons for that!” she says, as she revels in playing Brooke Wyndham. “The whole company are so wonderful, with a good working atmosphere among us, which is so important.”

Made At Curve & ROYO present Legally Blonde The Musical, Grand Opera House, York, April 21 to 25, 7.30pm plus Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees, 2.30pm. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.

April 17, 2026

REVIEW: Royal Shakespeare Company in Hamlet, all at sea at York Theatre Royal ****

All aboard for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, set on a sinking ship in 1912. Picture: Marc Brenner

SOMETHING is still rotten in the state of Denmark, but now on board a sinking – not stinking – ship in 1912, rather than at Kronborg Castle, Elsinore.

Steered on tour by revival director Sophie Drake (what a good surname for nautical adventures), Rupert Goold’s Royal Shakespeare Company production takes to the seas on April 14 as the clocks to each side of the stage click round to midnight and beyond, marking the 114th anniversary of the demise of the RMS Titanic.

As chance would have it, the York Theatre Royal run opened that night, adding to the poignancy of the occasion. Hamlet is played out in Es Devlin’s design on an expansive deck that restores a spectacular rake to the Theatre Royal stage for the first time since the 2016 renovation, recalling the days when nervous touring companies and repertory shows alike used anti-rake furniture to defy the steep incline.

Complemented by Adam Cork’s sound design of the sea’s swirling motions and hum of the engine, the ship’s bow crests the waves in Akhila Krishnan’s video projections of the ever-rising, whirling, freezing waters, into which the coffin of King Hamlet is tossed, wrapped in the flag of Denmark.

“Hamlet is a play about the inevitability of death: the death of fathers, the death of kings, the mortality facing each and every one of us, but it is also a play about how to live, what makes a good life and a just one too, however brief our allotted time,” says Goold, in a concise summary of Shakespeare’s greatest play.

As happened on the Titanic, Hamlet’s tragedy will “come to pass in a little over two and a half hours”, taking place in real time, lending urgency to Goold and Shakespeare’s quest to answer the question of “what it means to be human and decisive when time is running out”.

In doing so, Goold achieves his desired balance of catastrophic thriller and poetic meditation, a wish made flesh in Ralph Davis’s Hamlet, who is as physical in the sound of speech as he is in movement.

Shaven head meets skull as Ralph Davis’s Hamlet recalls his childhood encounters with late jester Yorick in the RSC’s Hamlet. Picture: Marc Brenner

On occasion, you need to suspend disbelief and go with the flow instead, bathing in the innovation and imagination of an audacious production that is shipshape and Bristol fashion in its delivery. Georgia-May Myers’ Ophelia still dies by drowning; Davis’s Hamlet kills Richard Cant’s delightfully camp, theatrical Polonius with a pistol (referred to as a “rapier”) but fights Benjamin Westerby’s hot-headed Laertes with a sword.

Hamlet will be sent off to England as usual, only to return minutes later, but that is fine. The claustrophobia of a ship from which he cannot escape is a physical manifestation of his mental descent into Elsinore being a prison. Such constraints compound his “madness”.

Davis’s tall, lithe, shaven-headed Hamlet, often bare footed and in rolled-up trousers, is a chameleon in appearance, matching his mood, whether in dark coat, baggy white shirt, red jumper and shorts, ship’s captain’s cap or bowler hat and tails.

His voice keeps shifting gear and accent too, poised and reflective in his set-piece soliloquies; quick to anger with mother Gertrude (Poppy Miller) and murderous Claudius (Raymond Coulthard); haunted in his encounter with the Ghost of his father (Ian Hughes); sometimes playful yet earnest too with best friend Horatio (Colin Ryan) and the Player King (Ian Hughes); ever-changing in tone with Ophelia.

He can be mocking too, mimicking the American accents of dandy, cloth-headed old school friends Rosencrantz (Jamie Sayers) and Guildenstern (Julia Kass). Further impersonations bring out the theatrical in Hamlet (who commissions the incriminating play The Mousetrap), whether in mannerism or voice. At one point, Davis seems to assume a Belgian accent to say “murder” in the manner of David Suchet’s Poirot.

The auditorium may have felt as hot as the ship’s engine room, but setting a play full of water imagery on an icy ship is a voyage of re-discovery that brings out that sinking feeling, the depths of despair in Hamlet to full fathom five. If ‘to sea or not to sea’ is the question, the answer is See It Now.

Royal Shakespeare Company in Hamlet, York Theatre Royal, 7pm tonight; 2pm and 7pm tomorrow. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Depths of despair: Ralph Davis’s Hamlet, adrift at sea in an undertaker’s coat in the RSC’s Hamlet. Picture: Marc Brenner

April 15, 2026April 28, 2026

More Things To Do in York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 14, from The York Press

Amabile Clarinet Trio: Playing innovative programme at York Late Music concert

HAMLET on a sinking ship, family politics on a calamitous wedding day and artists’ studios opening on two weekends are the headline acts on Charles Hutchinson’s latest bill of arts delights.

Classical concert of the week: York Late Music presents Amabile Clarinet Trio, Unitarian Chapel, St Saviourgate, York, April 11, 7.30pm

THE Amabile Clarinet Trio – York clarinettist Lesley Schatzberger, cellist Nicola Tait Baxter and pianist Paul Nicholson – presents an innovative programme featuring two premieres plus Thea Musgrave’s Canta Canta!, patron Nicola LeFanu’s Lullaby and Nocturne, American composer Robert Muczynski’s rarely played Fantasy Trio and the first York performance ofAlexander von Zemlinsky’s Trio in D minor.

The UK premiere of David Lancaster’s Canzone Sospesoand a world premiere from composer David Power will be complemented by a set of Morris newly transcribed by York composer Steve Crowther. Lancaster gives a pre-concert talk at 6.45pm, to be enjoyed with a complimentary glass of wine or juice. Tickets: latemusic.org or on the door.

Lesley Jones and Steve Coates: Teaming up for the last time for Swing When You Sing

Farewell concert of the week: Steve Coates Music Productions present Swing When You Sing, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, April 12, 7.30pm

BEV Jones Music Company and The Jubilee Celebration Singers producer Lesley Jones bids farewell to the York stage after 20 years of mounting shows with Swing When You Sing, presented with Steve Coates Music Productions.

Alan Owens’s 16-piece big band will be joined on stage by singers Ruth McNeil, Annabel van Griethuysen, Hayley Bamford, Johanna Hartley, Adele Barlow, Larry Gibson, Terry Ford, Stephen Wilson, David Hartley and Geoff Walker to perform Rat Pack, Minnie The Moocher, Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Under The Sea, Cheek To Cheek, Sway (Latin), Fever, Mr Bojangles, Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black and Sing, Sing, Sing (with Bob Fosse-style dancing). “Varied? Yes! Upbeat? Yes! Emotional? Yes!” says Lesley. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

The poster for the launch of Bishy Road Community Choir

Start-up of the week: Bishy Road Community Choir, Stables Yoga Centre, Nunmill Street, York, from April 13

THE Stables Yoga Centre and Rachel Davies are setting up the Bishy Road Community Choir to run on Mondays from 5pm to 5.50pm at £5 a session from April 13. This welcoming, musically accessible group will use song to promote happiness, wellbeing and community. No experience or musical skills are needed; only enthusiasm to try feel-good singing. To book a place, visit stablesyoga.co.uk/timetable.

Wedded bliss amid wedding-day blisters: Darren Barrott’s Marek and Joy Warner’s Sylvia in York Actors Collective’s Till The Stars Come Down

Family politics of the week: York Actors Collective in Till The Stars Come Down, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, April14 to 18, 7.30pm, Tuesday to Friday; 2pm and 6pm, Saturday

PREMIERED at the National Theatre in 2024 and now receiving its York premiere, Beth Steel’s contemporary British family drama is set on the wedding day of Sylvia and Marek in a South Yorkshire mining town.

Directed by Angie Millard, Till The Stars Come Down explores the tumultuous dynamics of a working-class family in a changing world of economic decline and political shifts as long-held secrets, passions, and tensions surrounding class, immigration, and social change spill over into chaos and tragedy. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ralph Davis’s Hamlet in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, set on a sinking ship, on tour at York Theatre Royal

Titanic anniversary event of the week: Royal Shakespeare Company in Hamlet, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to 18, 7pm plus 1.30pm, April 16 and 2pm, April 18

LET director Rupert Goold introduces the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, starring Ralph Davis, as the tour sets sail for York on the 114th anniversary of the Titanic’s descent to the depths. “Our production is set aboard a ship but one that is soon to founder, going down with all hands,” he says.

“Its inspiration comes from the most famous sinking in history, and just as that icy tragedy came to pass in a little over two and a half hours, our play takes place in real time and for about as long, as much catastrophic thriller as poetic meditation. This production asks what it means to be human and decisive when time is running out.” Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Jan Brierton and Henry Normal: Poetic humour at Milton Rooms, Malton

Poetry at the double: Edge Street Live presents Henry Normal and Jan Brierton, Milton Rooms, Malton, April 16, 7.30pm

WRITER, poet, television & film producer and Manchester Poetry Festival founder Henry Normal is joined by Dubliner Jan Brierton for an evening of poetry and humour. Normal, whose credits include co-writing The Mrs Merton Show and the first series of The Royle Family, will be reading from his new book A Quiet Promise.

Brierton riffs on modern life, love and friendships, wellness and ageing, rage and domestic exasperation in her poetic reflections on being a wife, mother, daughter, sister and retired raver, plus plenty of stuff about tea, lipstick and biscuits. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Aggers & Tuffers: The chatter of cricket and the clatter of wickets at York Barbican

Not just cricket: Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell in An Audience With Aggers & Tuffers, York Barbican, April 16, 7.30pm

TEST Match Special commentator-and-pundit duo Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell take to the road for more cricket chat from beyond the boundary. Former Leicestershire and England fast bowler and three-decade BBC cricket correspondent Aggers teams up anew with record-breaking former England spin bowler and crowd favourite Tuffers, who gives his spin on his maverick playing days and second wind as a media personality on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, Strictly Come Dancing and A Question Of Sport. Box office update: limited availability at yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Maureen Onwunali: Slam champ spinning words at Say Owt

Slam champ of the week: Say Owt presents Maureen Onwunali, The Crescent, York, April 17, 7.30pm

YORK spoken-word collective Sat Owt’s guest poet for April’s gathering will be Dublin-born Nigerian poet and two-time national slam champion Maureen Onwunali.

Rich with political observations and carefully crafted verse, her work has been featured by musicians, radio shows and organisations, such as the British Film Institute, Penguin, BBC, Roundhouse, Apples and Snakes, Obsidian Foundation and the Poetry Society. Box office: seetickets.com/event/say-owt-slam-featuring-maureen-onwunali/the-crescent/3588134.

Jacqueline James: Demonstrating her hand-woven rug-making in Rosslyn Street, Clifton, at York Open Studios

Art event of the month: York Open Studios, York and beyond, April 18 & 19 and April 25 & 26, 10am to 5pm

ARTISTS and makers involved in York Open Studios are putting the final touches to their workplaces and studios within York and a ten-mile radius of the city, in readiness to welcome visitors across two weekends.

This annual event offers the chance to gain a sneak peek into where the artists work, their methods and inspirations, whether a regular participant or the 27 newcomers, spanning traditional and contemporary painting and print, illustration, drawing, ceramics, mixed media, glass, sculpture, jewellery, textiles and photography. For more information, visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk; access the interactive map at yorkopenstudios.co.uk/map.

Book launch event of the week: Michelle Hughes, Printing Birds and Wildlife in Linocut, The Harriet Room, York Cemetery, York, April 15, 6.30pm

Michelle Hughes at work on a linocut. Picture: Jackson Portraiture

YORK printmaker Michelle Hughes is holding a special evening to celebrate the launch of her book Printing Birds and Wildlife in Linocut and her upcoming tenth anniversary in business.

Published in February, Michelle’s beautifully illustrated book shares how to design, carve and print birds and wildlife using traditional linocut techniques, guiding readers from simple one-colour prints through to more advanced multi-colour methods, including jigsaw, reduction and multi-block printing.

“Whether you are completely new to linocut or already exploring printmaking, the book offers clear step-by-step guidance, practical tips and creative inspiration for capturing birds and wildlife in this rewarding craft,” says Michelle.

She started her creative business on June 1 2016 in the wake of her fourth redundancy. After a 25-year career in design, she decided to take a leap by working for herself.

The cover artwork for Michelle Hughes’s book Printings Birds and Wildlife in Linocut

What began with freelance graphic design and a few linocut prints has grown into a thriving creative practice. Today, Michelle creates limited-edition linocut prints, teaches in-person workshops, runs online courses for students around the world and produces commissions for organisations, including the National Trust.

What to expect at the event:

A short talk about Michelle’s journey to becoming a professional printmaker
Behind-the-scenes insights into how the book was created
The chance to see original prints and lino blocks featured in the book
A Q&A session about linocut printmaking
Book signing
Opportunity to buy signed copies

“Come and celebrate wildlife, printmaking and the joy of carving and printing by hand,” says Michelle, who will be participating in York Open Studios 2026 at Venue 37, in Holgate, York, on April 18 & 19 and April 25 & 26, 10am to 5pm.

April 15, 2026April 23, 2026

What’s On in Ryedale, York and beyond. Hutch’s List No. 15, from Gazette & Herald

Ralph Davis’s Hamlet in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, set on a sinking ship, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Marc Brenner

HAMLET on a sinking ship, family politics on a calamitous wedding day and artists’ studios opening on two weekends are the headline acts on Charles Hutchinson’s latest bill of arts delights.

Titanic anniversary event of the week: Royal Shakespeare Company in Hamlet, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday, 7pm plus 1.30pm, April 16 and 2pm, April 18

LET director Rupert Goold introduce the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, starring Ralph Davis, as the tour sets sail for York on the 114th anniversary of the Titanic’s descent to the depths. “Our production is set aboard a ship but one that is soon to founder, going down with all hands,” he says.

Wedded bliss amid wedding-day blisters: Darren Barrott’s Marek and Joy Warner’s Sylvia in York Actors Collective’s Till The Stars Come Down

Family politics of the week: York Actors Collective in Till The Stars Come Down, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm, tonight to Friday; 2pm and 6pm, Saturday

Aggers & Tuffers: The chatter of cricket and the clatter of wickets at York Barbican

Not just cricket: Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell in An Audience With Aggers & Tuffers, York Barbican, tomorrow, 7.30pm

TEST Match Special commentator-and-pundit duo Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell take to the road for more cricket chat from beyond the boundary. Former Leicestershire and England fast bowler and three-decade BBC cricket correspondent Aggers teams up anew with record-breaking former England spin bowler and crowd favourite Tuffers, who gives his spin on his maverick playing days and second wind as a media personality on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here, Strictly Come Dancing and A Question Of Sport. Box office update: limited availability at yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Patricia Veale School of Dance: Showcasing young talent in Show Dance

Dance show of the week: Patricia Veale School of Dance in Show Dance, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Friday, 7.30pm, and Saturday, 2.30pm and 7.30pm

IN an exciting celebration of dance, the Patricia Veale School of Dance showcases its talented dancers in their very first Show Dance, drawing inspiration from classic musicals on film and Broadway, complete with top hats, flair and razzle-dazzle. Expect a vibrant mix of ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap and much more besides. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.

Rainey’s Revue: Evoking A Night In Harlem in….Helmsley

Jazz gig of the week: Rainey’s Revue: A Night In Harlem, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm

LED by Richard Exall on tenor saxophone and clarinet and musical director Dom Barnett on piano, Rainey’s Revue presents meticulous arrangements of Ma Rainey’s songs while capturing the essence of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.

Sam Kelly, on drums, and Marianne Windham, on double bass, set the rhythmic foundation for the enchanting voices of Chrissie Myles and Emily Windham, whose vocals evoke the jazz clubs of yesteryear. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.

Comedy gig of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club presents David Eagle, Anth Young and Nicola Mantalios, Milton Rooms, Malton, Friday, 8pm

HILARITY Bites headliner David Eagle has performed on BBC Radio 2’s topical comedy series The Now Show, supports Boothby Graffoe on tour frequently and is one third of three-time BBC Radio 2 Folk Award-winning band The Young’uns. Being blind, his comedy often explores how his disability means the most ordinary, commonplace events are turned into surreal and convoluted dramas.

Fellow north eastern act Anth Young finished runner-up in the Great Yorkshire Fringe New Comedian of the Year competition in 2017 in York. Completing the bill, Greek-Geordie bisexual comedian Nicola Mantalios won the 2025 Funny Women Stage Awards, hosts weekend shows at Newcastle Stand and runs her own gigs, such as Queers and Beers, in Newcastle. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

The Rollin Stoned: Covering the hits and deeper cuts from The Rolling Stones’ 1960s’ catalogue at Milton Rooms, Malton

Tribute gig of the week: The Rollin Stoned, Milton Rooms, Malton, Saturday, 8pm

THE rock’n’roll circus rolls into Malton for a tribute to The Rolling Stones that focuses on the Brian Jones years from 1964 to 1969. Now in its 27th year, in The Rollin Stoned show the costumes are shamelessly camp, gaudy and fabulous, the instruments vintage, the wit irreverent, the trademark tongue never far from the cheek, but never to the detriment of the music.

As Keith Richards’ late mother, Doris, once remarked of the line-up featuring Mick Jaguar, Byron Jones, Keith Retched, Bill Wymandy, Charlie Waits and pianist Nicky Popkins: “Phenomenal…I can’t wait to tell Keith and Mick that you could easily stand in for them.” Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.

Prachi Bhatnagar: Making York Open Studios debut at her Ouse Lea studio in York

Art event of the month: York Open Studios, York and beyond, April 18 & 19 and April 25 & 26, 10am to 5pm

April 13, 2026April 13, 2026

Royal Shakespeare Company sends Hamlet to the icy seas as Ian Hughes returns to York Theatre Royal 38 years since debut

Depths of despair: Ralph Davis’s Hamlet in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, docking at York Theatre Royal from April 14 to 18. Picture: Marc Brenner

THE Royal Shakespeare Company’s visit to York Theatre Royal with Rupert Goold’s production of Hamlet, set on a sinking ship, will coincide with the 114th anniversary of RMS Titanic’s demise on the night of April 14-15 in 1912.

Around 1,500 people perished at sea that night from the estimated 2,240 on board. Death stalks Shakespeare’s tragedy too, Polonius, Ophelia, Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Queen Gertrude, Laertes, King Claudius and Hamlet himself joining his already dead father, King Hamlet.

“Our production is set aboard a ship but one that is soon to founder, going down with all hands,” says Goold. “Its inspiration comes from the most famous sinking in history, and just as that icy tragedy came to pass in a little over two and a half hours, our play takes place in real time and for about as long, as much catastrophic thriller as poetic meditation. It’s a production that asks what it means to be human and decisive when time is running out.”

Among those joining Ralph Davis’s Hamlet in Goold and revival director Sophie Drake’s touring cast in Shakespeare’s epic family drama of deceit and murder is Royal Shakespeare Company regular Ian Hughes in the roles of King Hamlet’s Ghost and the Player King.

From April 14 to 18, he will be returning to York Theatre Royal, 38 years since he made his professional debut in the 1988 pantomime Peter Pan, in the days when Frank Barrie played the dame. “Frank had made his debut there too in 1959 in Henry IV, Part 2, the play that marked my debut for the RSC in the 1990s – and I’ve learned that Frank had played Hamlet at the Theatre Royal in [March] 1974,” says Ian.

Ian Hughes, front, in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet. Picture: Marc Brenner

“In another Yorkshire connection, Harrogate Theatre artistic director Andrew Manley saw me in Peter Pan and said afterwards, ‘do you fancy joining my Harrogate rep company?’. “I was a Kit Kat Girl in Cabaret; we also did Mrs Warren’s Profession, the regional premiere of Caryl Churchill’s Serious Money, Alan Bennett’s Forty Years On and the panto.

“Because I didn’t go to drama school, those Harrogate shows with Andrew were effectively my drama school after starting with the Theatre Royal panto, when I played John Darling, the boy with the top hat and the round glasses – and we got to ‘fly’!

“The Theatre Royal was beautiful, and it was so lovely to play there, when Frank made me so welcome. He was marvellous, dry-humoured company with his wonderful anecdotes of who he had worked with as an actor from an earlier time, when he had performed with [Laurence] Olivier.”

Ian was born in the South Wales Valleys, growing up in Merthyr Tydfil and joining the National Youth Theatre of Wales at 16 to work under director Alan Vaughan Williams, who nurtured the talents of Rob Brydon, Michael Sheen and Ruth Jones too. “Alan took no prisoners, treating us like professionals,” he recalls. “It was invaluable for me. I loved it.”

Only seven years later, Ian would be understudying Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet in Adrian Noble’s production at the RSC. “I was 23, so I have a long connection with the play. I had to learn every line of the Second Quarto version, which runs to more than four hours [making Hamlet the role with the most lines in Shakespeare’s 37 plays] – and I never went on once!

“Kenneth kept saying ‘people are flying in to see me, I have to go on’, so I never had the chance, despite learning all those lines.”

That sinking feeling: The Royal Shakespeare Company staging Hamlet on a ship in 1912. Picture: Marc Brenner

Instead, Ian had to content himself with playing Polonius’s servant Reynaldo and Fortinbras. “Part of the reason that I joined the RSC was because I’d just won the inaugural Ian Charleson Award for my [title] role in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s Torquato Tasso at the Lyric Hammersmith,” he says.

“I didn’t know anything about the award. I got asked to go to the National Theatre and found I was up against Simon Russell Beale in the RSC’s Edward II, thinking ‘I’m just this young actor from South Wales’. I won £5,000 and was presented with the award by Sir Alec Guinness. What a wonderful start to a career.”

Ian has gone on to play multiple parts for the RSC, most recently appearing in The Merry Wives Of Windsor two summers ago. Now he returns as the Ghost and Player King. “These parts appealed to me as a character actor,” he says. “I thought, ‘I fancy a go at these’, because of the interest in Hamlet, and the short tour appealed too.”

Analysing the impact of setting Hamlet on a ship,” Ian says. “In a nutshell, it brings out the claustrophobia. That exacerbates Hamlet’s feeling of frustration that he can’t escape. The sinking of the ship is effectively the metaphor of Denmark being a prison for Hamlet, and I think that works very well. Shakespeare’s plays are open to reinterpretation, and this reinterpretation is very powerful, with all its technical accomplishments too.

“Because Hamlet has so many water and sea references, you could be drowning in the play.”

Royal Shakespeare Company in Hamlet, York Theatre Royal, April 14 to 18, 7pm plus 1.30pm, Thursday, and 2pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.