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Did you ever think you might not direct Guy Fawkes because of your pregnancy? ‘Absolutely not!’, says Gemma Fairlie

Gemma Fairlie directing a rehearsal for York Theatre Royal’s stage premiere of David Reed’s Guy Fawkes

DIRECTOR Gemma Fairlie is directing two productions this season, all while pregnant with a Christmas delivery on the way.

A driving force behind bringing York writer-performer David Reed’s play Guy Fawkes to the stage ever since Reed’s sketch comedy company The Penny Dreadfuls’ radio play more than a decade ago,  Gemma is overseeing rehearsals at the Central Methodist Church, St Saviourgate, for the stage world premiere at York Theatre Royal from October 28 to November 12.

Next, this director of Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre’s Henry V at the Castle car park in York in Summer 2019 will return to the Stephen Joseph Theatre Christmas show in Scarborough. After Jack And The Beanstalk last winter, she will be at the helm of Nick Lane’s Cinderella from December 2 to 31.

Here she discusses Guy Fawkes, Reed’s explosive comedy about York’s traitorous trigger man with its devilishly dangerous mix of Blackadder and Upstart Crow.

How did you become involved with the Guy Fawkes project, Gemma?

“The Penny Dreadfuls wrote the radio play about Guy Fawkes in 2009, which I heard and thought would work brilliantly as a theatre piece. So, in 2010, I approached the guys and we started to have conversations.

“It always takes time to get everybody in the room and start to figure out how it might work, but I knew David [writer David Reed] was excited about making it theatrical and exploring the journey of the characters in a different medium.”

 What intrigued you about the play?

“Guy Fawkes gets caught. Everyone knows that. But how can you shift an audience’s perception about a story they think they know? Are there moments where we hope he doesn’t get caught? Are there moments when we are on his side and want to blow up Parliament?

“It’s like Hamlet or King Lear. Everyone knows they die but you want the audience to have that moment where they don’t want that to happen, where they want a different ending. Can we have Guy as a hero and an anti-hero? And can a story that is so clearly a tragedy about a man that fails actually work as a comedy that makes us question that failure?”

When did York Theatre Royal first come on board?

“That was around ten years ago when we brought the play to York with the idea of the theatre being a co-producer or partner. I came to a programme meeting at the Theatre Royal and pitched the idea. They were really excited.

“Of course, it absolutely is a York-originated story although it’s set in London, and that’s a vital part of it. The North-South divide, particularly what that meant in the 1600s and how that relates to the characters and their experiences, is vital to the story.

“Then Covid happened and the planned York production was postponed, but what’s great is that this is absolutely the right time to put it on. What put Parliament back between 1604 and 1605 was the plague. What kept stymying them was this awful medical emergency and in the same way Covid has shifted our perspectives and our timescale over the last three years. It feels very prescient in that way.

“I think there’s disappointment and frustration with our current political system and a great deal of tribalism happening. It’s obviously very different to the persecution of Protestants and the Catholics, and what was happening politically in Guy Fawkes’ time, but there is a parallel in terms of the underlying tension and fear, with nobody knowing if they’re safe or quite knowing what’s going to happen next, what the next government will bring. Now is the perfect time to be doing this play.”

David’s play is billed as a comedy but the Gunpowder Plot – an attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605 – was a serious matter. Discuss…

“What we’re brilliant at in the UK is satire. This comes from a long tradition going back to pamphlets about the Whigs and political cartoons in general all the way through Monty Python, The Fast Show, even Spitting Image, which has recently had a renaissance.

“We love to skewer our political leaders; we love to question and cause trouble with humour. That’s absolutely what the arts should be doing: questioning our society and our values and what we hold dear as humans. Otherwise, what’s the point?

“For us, as a team, it’s about finding the right tone for the play – between comedy and the ultimate tragedy. So, sometimes there’s slapstick and it’s very silly but there’s an underlying truth and passion to this story and a real darkness to Guy’s fervour.” 

What should Theatre Royal audiences expect?

“We want people to discover the story of Guy Fawkes afresh. It’s really important people come in knowing it’s a comedy, so that doesn’t freak them out, but I think of it a bit like Blackadder Goes Forth. The end of the last series where they have to go over the top is a really heart-breaking moment.

“You have a bunch of clowns and they’ve been ridiculous; you’ve laughed at them a lot but you’ve also invested in them and grown to love them. That’s so important. The moment at the end where you think they’re all going to die, that’s incredibly moving, and that’s what comedy can do.

“If you laugh at someone, you start to care about them and really invest in their journey. We want our audience to laugh, laugh, laugh and then hopefully cry at the end.” 

You held the casting auditions in Yorkshire. How important was that?

“It was absolutely essential we represented York in the show and we have that authentic voice. We wanted to put York actors in front of York audiences and celebrate local talent. Also, having the right mix of people in the room that (a) an audience would love and (b) who would have comedy bones was key.

“You have to know very clearly who they are as characters and they’ve also got to work together as a team. We’re very lucky to have found a wonderfully talented bunch and it’s a total joy for David (Reed) and I to see it come to life, and see what the cast bring to it [including Reed in the title role].”

Did you ever think you might not direct Guy Fawkes because of your pregnancy?

“Absolutely not! I was always aiming to direct it, whether it was with a babe in arms or the day before being induced in hospital. Guy Fawkes has been my baby for so long, so what’s really lovely for me is to see this theatre baby come to life while my son grows in utero. 

“It’s kind of crazy to know they are both finally going to be out there in the world as both babies have taken me quite a long time to bring to life. Plus, laughter is really good for you in pregnancy and I’m getting lots of that in the rehearsal room!”

Next up?

“Directing Cinderella at the Stephen Joseph Theatre this Christmas. I’m very lucky I get to have this time in the rehearsal room at two incredible theatres, doing the thing I absolutely love, before I meet my son.” 

What sort of theatre work are you attracted to?

“I do a lot of Shakespeare, new work, and I come from a physical theatre background so I do movement and choreography within that, and occasionally a bit of circus as well. The pieces that I’m drawn to tend to have an epic edge to them, and they always have to have heart. Generally, they will have moments of big physicality and lots of comedy.

“When I go to Scarborough, I’ll be directing and choreographing five actors playing the whole story of Cinderella, playing multi-roles and singing their hearts out. I love that I go from Guy Fawkes with a stage revolve, pyrotechnics and sword fights to Scarborough, to work in the round with lots of Strictly Come Dancing moves and glitter. That’s the real joy of being a freelance director.”

Guy Fawkes runs at York Theatre Royal from October 28 to November 12, 7.30pm, except October 30 and November 6; 2pm, November 3 and 10; 2.30pm, November 5 and 12. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Cinderella, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, December 2 to 31. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.

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More Things To Do in York as Guy Fawkes heads home. Remember, remember, Hutch’s List No. 103, from The Press

Greg Haiste, left, and York-born writer and actor David Reed cross swords in rehearsal for York Theatre Royal’s premiere of Guy Fawkes. Picture: Charlie Kirkpatrick

POLITICAL fireworks, street art indoors, beer and bratwurst, a Velvet Underground pioneer and the history of ghosts spark up Charles Hutchinson’s interest.

Premiere of the week: Guy Fawkes, York Theatre Royal, Friday to November 12

WAR-WEARY, treasonous son of York Guy Fawkes vows to restore a Catholic monarch to the English throne, whatever the cost. In the private room of an upmarket tavern, a clandestine of meeting of misfits takes place between this dark dissident, a Poundshop Machiavelli, a portly boob, a clumsy princess, a preposterous toff and a shoddy ham as they plot the most audacious crime ever attempted on British soil.

David Reed, from comedy trio The Penny Dreadfuls, plays York’s traitorous trigger man in his long-awaited combustible comedy-drama with its devilishly dangerous mix of Blackadder and Upstart Crow. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Torrents (Willow Herald Speak), by Michael Dawson, from Navigators Art’s Coney St Jam art intervention at the StreetLife project hub

Exhibition of the week: Navigators Art, Coney St Jam: An Art Intervention, StreetLife project hub, Coney Street, York, until November 19

YORK collective Navigators Art draw inspiration from the city’s rich heritage and vibrant creative communities to explore ways to revitalise and diversify Coney Street. On show is painting, drawing, collage, textile and 3D work, complemented by photography, projections, music and poetry.

Taking part are: Steve Beadle; Michael Dawson; Alfie Fox; Alan Gillott; Oz Hardwick; Richard Kitchen; Katie Lewis; Tim Morrison; Peter Roman; Amy Elena Thompson; Dylan Thompson and Nick Walters.

Woman To Woman: Julia Fordham, left, Rumer, Judie Tzuke and Beverley Craven will be in harmony at York Barbican

Collaboration of the week: Woman To Woman (Beverley Craven, Judie Tzuke, Julia Fordham & Rumer), York Barbican, tonight, 6.30pm

NOT a rumour, definitely true, Beverley Craven, Judie Tzuke and Julia Fordham have invited Rumer to join them for the latest Woman To Woman tour.

In this collaboration between the four female singer-songwriters, they present hit singles and album tracks, such as Promise Me, Happy Ever After, Welcome To The Cruise, Slow, Holding On, (Love Moves In) Mysterious Ways, Aretha and Stay With Me Till Dawn.

“We cannot wait to share a stage together, create beautiful vocal harmonies with each other and collaborate on some possible new material,” they say. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Self aware: Comedian Helen Bauer discusses herself at Theatre@41. Picture: James Deacon

Comedy gig of the week: Helen Bauer, Madam Good Tit, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 8pm

SELF-AWARE stand-up Helen Bauer is on the road with her Edinburgh Fringe show about self-confidence, self-esteem and self-care. “It’s the year of ‘the self’ and I’m trying to be the change I want you to see,” says Helen, who grew up in Hampshire blandness and honed her comedic craft in Berlin. 

Expect adult themes and language, including natural disasters and eating disorders, forewarns Theatre@41, as York awaits the co-host of two podcasts, Trusty Hogs with Catherine Bohart and Daddy Look At Me with Rosie Jones. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Velma Celli: York drag diva supreme adds sauce to all the bratwurst and beer at Yorktoberfest

Festival of the week: Yorktoberfest Beer Festival, Clocktower Enclosure, York Racecourse, today and next Saturday, 1pm to 5pm, 7pm to 11pm; Friday, 7pm to 11pm. Doors open: evenings, 6.30pm; daytime, 12.30pm.

FOLLOWING up last year’s debut, Yorktoberfest returns in party mood for beer, bratwurst, bumper cars and all things Bavarian. This beer festival mirrors the first Oktoberfest staged in 1810 in Munich, where the citizens were encouraged to eat, drink and be merry at the wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and his princess bride.

Step inside a giant marquee to discover the rustic Bavarian Bar and Dog Haus, full of bratwurst, currywurst, schnitzel, apple strudel and pretzels; live music by the Bavarian Strollers oompah band and vocal drag queen entertainment by York’s own Velma Celli. Dodgems and a twister add funfair thrills. Box office: yorktoberfest.co.uk.

Underground overground: Velvets legend John Cale to be spotted at York Barbican on Monday

THE gig of the week, John Cale, York Barbican, Monday, 8pm

VELVET Underground icon John Cale’s only Yorkshire gig of his rearranged 2022 tour has moved from July 19 to Monday on his first British itinerary in a decade.

The Welsh multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer, who turned 80 in March, will be performing songs from a career that began in classical and avant-garde music before he formed The Velvet Underground with Lou Reed in New York in 1965.

Over six pioneering decades, Cale has released 16 solo studio albums, while also collaborating with Brian Eno, Patti Smith, The Stooges, Squeeze, Happy Mondays, Siouxsie And The Banshees, Super Furry Animals and Manic Street Preachers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Doctor Dorian Deathly: Will his face melt in his horror show at Theatre@41?

From ghost walk to ghost talk: Doctor Dorian Deathly: A Night Of Face Melting Horror (or The Complete History Of Ghosts), Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, Wednesday to October 31, 8.30pm

VISIT York Tourism Awards winner Doctor Dorian Deathly, spookologist and ghost botherer, celebrates Halloween season with six nights of ghost stories, paranormal sciences, theatrical trickery, horror, original music and perhaps the odd unexpected guest (with the emphasis on ‘odd’?).

“Together we will huddle around the stage and explore spine-chilling tales of hauntings, both local and further afield, dissemble horrors captured on film and follow the ghost story through from the origins to the Victorian classics and modern- day frights,” says Deathly, whose face-melting macabre amusements are suitable for age 13 upwards. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo: Black History Month concert at Grand Opera House, York

Harmonies of the week: Ladysmith Black Mambazo, supported by Muntu Valdo, Grand Opera House, York, October 29, 7.30pm

SOUTH African singing group Ladysmith Black Mambazo’s York concert marks Black History Month on their first British tour for many years.

When Paul Simon incorporated their harmonies into his ground-breaking 1986 album Graceland, that landmark recording was seminal in introducing world music to mainstream audiences.

Founded by the late Joseph Shabalala, the Grammy Award winners have since recorded with Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris and Barnsley folk singer Kate Rusby. Box office: 0844 871  7615 or atgtickets.com/york.

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The not-so-short Aesthetica Short Film Festival is back with much more than films

Cherie Federico: Director of the Aesthetica Short Film Festival

AESTHETICA Short Film Festival returns for 300 films in 15 venues over six days in York in its 12th edition from November 1 to 6.

The BAFTA-Qualifying event will have a hybrid format, combining the live festival with a selection of screenings, masterclasses and events on the digital platform until November 30.

New for 2022 will be York Days, a discount scheme with the chance to save 50 per cent on prices on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday programmes. “This is our local push,” says director Cherie Federico. “We believe that film is for everyone, and now you can join in York’s very own film festival.

“Each year, we transform the city into a cinematic playground, showcasing the world’s best film, providing a platform for the very new directors and short films to reach audiences. York is the place where the filmmakers of the future are discovered. As a city, we play a major role in supporting new talent.”

Comedies, dramas, thrillers, animation, family-friendly films and documentaries all feature among the 300 films – from around 4,000 entries – in a festival “where you can engage with global stories”, enjoy film premieres, workshops, the Virtual Reality Lab, installations and the festival Fringe.

“The success of our eight Film Club nights in the York Theatre Royal Studio from April to July gave me the idea to do York Days because it showed there’s an appetite for independent cinema in York,” says Cherie.

“York Days is your opportunity to attend the festival, soak up as many films as you can, and join in our award-winning masterclasses and workshops. This festival is for you and we want you to join in with your friends and family.”

Picking her recommendations for York Days, Cherie suggests seeing films aplenty from the Official Selection; attending a masterclass or workshop; experiencing Virtual Reality in the VR Lab at City Screen Picturehouse, and visiting the StreetLife project hub, in Coney Street, to view the ASFF exhibition, Unite. Create. Transform. For children, she advises attending Family Friendly screenings and signing up for children’s filmmaking workshops.

“We’re running four three-hour children’s workshops on how to direct your own film, divided into two age groups, seven to ten and 11 to 14, with places for 80 children from York to participate, free of charge, as I want to encourage young people to make films,” says Cherie.

Looking ahead to the 2022 festival overall, Cherie says: “I think this year is going to be very, very busy. For example, for our 60 masterclasses and workshops, people are travelling from across the world because they’re world-class, featuring leading representatives from the film industry’s top organisations.”

The 2022 Official Selectiion has been curated into six broader categories: Life As We Know It; The Bigger Picture; We’ll Cross That Bridge When We Come To It; How Do You Do?; Be Yourself, Everyone Else Is Taken and The Present Was Their Idea Of The Future.

“I find with these themes, it’s not about being complex but accessible,” says Cherie. “The power of films is that they’re reflective of daily lives but cinema is transformative because it can introduce you to different cultures, languages, customs, but at the same time it’s about encapsulating human experiences.

“That’s really powerful because it enables you to understand things that you have in common rather than the things that you don’t. This festival celebrates the highs, the lows, the joy, the pain, what it means right now to be on Planet Earth, which is extraordinary because it reminds us of the humanity that binds us together. We take the world’s temperature with this festival.”

Within the six overarching themes are a selection of ten fitting films that span the festival’s 12 genres, complemented by feature-length narratives, documentaries and Virtual Reality experiences.

Alongside, ASFF runs Guest Programmes from around the world, including Queer East’s spotlight on LGBTQ+ cinema from East and Southeast Asia; the Scottish Documentary Institute highlighting East African and Pakistan Stories, and this year’s country in focus, Norway. Look out too for the New Wave strand, showcasing graduate filmmakers.

The masterclasses and panel sessions with industry leaders take in such topics as sustainability and diversity, the ethics of cinema and human rights. Representatives from BBC Film, Sky, Film4, Canon and Ubisoft discuss every stage of film production, the latest film technologies, cinematography, film scoring, scripting, editing and directing.

New too for 2022 is the ASFF Fringe, whose highlights include the aforementioned Unite. Create. Transform group exhibition by ten award-winning contemporary artists, not least Aesthetica Art Prize finalists, at StreetLife, and the ASFF’s £5,000 commission of an immersive sound installation by Jin Chia Ching Ho, Sounds We Have Never Heard Before, presented in partnership with Audible, to be enjoyed on giant pillows at Bedern Hall.

For the Fringe, York Dungeon will be providing walking tours of the city (as well as running one of the festival workshops on make-up for the screen). “A walking tour at a film festival might seem a bit off-piste, but why not!” says Cherie.

To book festival tickets, whether for In-Person, Virtual or Hybrid packages, go to: asff.co.uk/tickets. Tickets for York Days can be booked at asff.co.uk/yorkdays or in person from November 1 at City Screen.

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REVIEW: Frantic Assembly in Othello, York Theatre Royal, until Saturday ****

Michael Akinsulire’s Othello in a street clash in Frantic Assembly’s 21st century Othello. Picture: Tristram Kenton

HOW reassuring to see packed houses for theatre shows in York this autumn, whether for Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d at the Theatre Royal or SIX The Musical at the Grand Opera House.

Sitting next to Theatre Royal chief executive Tom Bird on Tuesday night, he revealed that 60 schools – yes, 60 – had booked for Frantic Assembly’s combustible 21st century reimagining of Othello, Shakespeare’s tragedy of paranoia, sex and murder.

“That’s the draw of Frantic Assembly, not Othello,” he said. Maybe, but you don’t have one without the other.

The crackle of excitement in the air, the cheers that greeted the company’s arrival on stage, brought to mind the electric surge triggered by the visits of Emma Rice’s Wise Children company, most recently for Wuthering Heights, that again drew young audiences in abundance.

Drink it all in: Joe Layton’s Iago, left, Tom Gill’s Cassio, Felipe Pacheco’s Roderigo, Oliver Baines’s Montano and Matthew Trevannion’s Brabantio (right) in a scene from Frantic Assembly’s Othello. Picture: Tristram Kenton

You could draw comparisons between the two companies: the importance of choreography; the almost dangerous physicality of the performances; the unexpected moments of humour; the chemistry and one-for-all and all-for-one commitment between actors; the instant bond with the audience; the drive to bring text to thrilling life; the propulsive power of thunderous music.

Yorkshireman Joe Layton, who plays an incorrigible Iago, puts it this way: “The way Frantic work, you are creating a physical sequence, finding a physical connection between characters,” he says. “Then story and characters are layered in on top of that. You throw yourself in and trust the director. You have to give yourself and trust the process,” he says.

From the off, that working practice is borne out in a fast, furious and, yes, frantic Othello, adapted, directed and choreographed by Scott Graham and Steve Hoggett, newly updated for the 2022 tour co-produced with Curve, Leicester.

That opening feels like plugging into the powerlines of The Prodigy’s Firestarter in a wordless, breathless scene-setter that introduces characters (Shakespeare), setting (Laura Hopkins) and soundscape (Hybrid) all at once.

Michael Akinsulire’s Othello listens to Joe Layton’s poison-dripping Iago as Chanel Waddock’s Desdemona looks on. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Think Shameless or This England; a bar with a pool table and a slot machine; bottled beers; everyone off their heads or on a short fuse in high-street zip tops, trainers, hoodies, stretchy sportswear and joggers.

One long Friday night, full of broken glass, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents; a darker brew of John Godber’s Bouncers, where the booze meets the bruise.

Let Frantic Assembly light the fuse, then stand well back, but feel the fierce heat from all that brutal physicality as Layton’s mendacious manipulator Iago winds up Michael Akinsulire’s Othello, the Moor, who is as muscular with Shakespeare’s words as he is physically, his eyes bursting, his mind mangled, his baseball bat never far away.

This is an Othello of myriad street accents, making it universal, from Tom Gill’s Scouse Cassio to Akinsulire’s North London Othello; Chanel Waddock’s Essex Desdemona to Kirsty Stuart’s Scottish Emilia.

Luck’s out: Chantel Waddock’s wronged Desdemona in Othello. Picture: Tristram Kenton

The pace is relentless, the dialogue hot on the tongue, the choreography dazzling, sometimes beautiful and sensuous, as in Akinsulire and Waddock’s pas de deux spread across the pool table, later to be repeated in such contrasting circumstances at the finale.

Frantic’s trademark physicality extends even to Hopkins’ design, suddenly coming to life in wave-like motions, first when a drunken Cassio staggers along the wall, and later when Othello is overcome with shock at what he has done, wishing it might swallow him.

Nothing sums up this Othello better than Iago’s prophetic T-shirt, Just Do It. Let’s hope Frantic Assembly will be back to “just do it” again, whatever the play, because Shakespeare all shook up this way demands a follow-up with more of this full-on brand of theatre.

Frantic Assembly’s Othello, York Theatre Royal, 7.30pm tonight until Saturday; 2pm, Thursday; 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office:  01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

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Yorkshireman Joe Layton heads home as trouble-making Iago in Frantic Assembly’s Othello on tour at York Theatre Royal

What’s he plotting next? Joe Layton’s Iago in Frantic Assembly’s Othello, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Tristram Kenton

JOE Layton returns to his native Yorkshire from tonight to play Iago in Frantic Assembly’s electrifying reimagining of Shakespeare’s Othello at York Theatre Royal.

Once more he will confirming his English teacher’s hunch at a parents’ evening that Ilkley lad Joe “had some talent for acting”.

“He said, ‘I don’t say this very often, but I would encourage Joe to apply for drama school’,” he recalls.

He duly did so, supported by teacher Tony Johnson, who provided not only encouragement but help in preparing audition speeches. “I owe him a huge amount,” says Joe. “He came to see the last show I did in Leicester and hope he’s in the audience for Othello.”

This is Frantic Assembly’s third staging of their award-winning account of Othello, Shakespeare’s tragedy of paranoia, sex and murder, set in a volatile 21st century wherein Othello’s passionate affair with Desdemona becomes the catalyst for jealousy, betrayal, revenge and the darkest intents.

Shakespeare’s muscular yet beautiful text combines with the touring company’s own bruising physicality in a world of broken glass and broken promises, malicious manipulation and explosive violence, previously staged in 2008 and 2014 and now updated for 2022.

On the wind-up: Joe Layton’s Iago has a word with Michael Akinsulire’s Othello. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Frantic Assembly have had a marked effect on his career and aspirations already, as he was part of their Ignition programme – a free nationwide talent development programme for young people aged 16 to 24 – in 2009 and later appeared in Frantic’s The Unreturning.

“It’s for all genders now but Ignition started out as an all-male programme and was a space where sensitivity and masculinity were explored in a non-toxic way, which I hadn’t experienced before,” says Joe, one of no fewer than five Ignition graduates involved in Othello this season.

He saw Frantic Assembly’s original production in 2008 but it was another of the company’s shows that was particularly influential: Bryony Lavery’s two-hander Stockholm. “I must have been 15 years old,” says Joe. “It was one of those mind-blowing moments that gave you goosebumps. That was the moment I said to myself, ‘I want to work with Frantic one day’.”

His professional debut came two years later in Nikolai Foster’s production of George Orwell’s Animal Farm at West Yorkshire Playhouse. As a 17-year-old schoolboy, he was given special dispensation to leave early several days a week to do the Leeds show.

Looking back at his first encounter with Frantic Assembly’s Othello, Joe recalls how “it really leapt off the page for me and made it accessible, especially for teenagers. It was real, visceral and immediate”.

Honest, Iago? Joe Layton keeps at arm’s length from the truth in Othello. Picture: Tristram Kenton

Now he is playing Iago, the poison-dripping baddie of the piece, or is he possibly misjudged? Psychopath or “a bit of a villain”, Joe must ask himself. “As an actor, you have to get inside them, understand them, what makes them tick, and do the things they do which, in Iago’s case, is hideous, unforgivable things,” he says.

Movement becomes as important as words in Frantic Assembly’s style book. “The way Frantic work, you are creating a physical sequence, finding a physical connection between characters. Then story and characters are layered in on top of that. You throw yourself in and trust the director [Scott Graham]. You have to give yourself and trust the process,” he says.

“We begin rehearsals with a one-hour workout and high intensity training. The rest of the morning is given over to movement sequences. Everything is really highly choreographed. There’s nothing that happens on stage that’s not choreographed.”

Joe grew up in Ilkley, moved to London for drama school, met his wife in New York and now lives in the United States, while working on both sides of the Atlantic.

He headed to America after being scouted by a top actors’ agency. “I don’t regret moving to Los Angeles because it was a really interesting period of my life, although challenging in a lot of ways. I moved away from family and friends and all that sort of stuff.

Turning the tables: Joe Layton’s Iago plays his mind games on Michael Akinsulire’s Othello as Chanel Waddock’s Desdemona looks on. Picture: Tristram Kenton

“I couldn’t work for six months because I was waiting for my work visa to come through. I was a 21-year-old with not much money just sitting around.”

One role to emerge from his USA move was Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD. He was not picked for the role for which he auditioned but was offered a different one. He took part in the series for only a few weeks but found working in the Marvel superhero world to be “a whole different ballgame”.

“I have an agent in the US and the UK,” he says. “One of the things that really changed through the pandemic is that everything, including casting, went online, which means there’s even less need to be in London. It seems the industry is getting less London-centric. You can audition on film anywhere, read a scene and be cast off the tape. That’s been great for me in terms of quality of life and being able to live in America.”

During lockdown, Joe spent an enforced period back in Leeds while visiting family for Christmas celebrations. Unable to go home, he spent six months living in his grandmother’s cottage near Pateley Bridge.

He will return to the USA during a break in the Othello tour. “My wife is at home in America. She’s a writer and working on a new book, so she’s pleased to have me out of the house and have time for herself and her writing.”

Frantic Assembly’s Othello runs at York Theatre Royal from tonight until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm, Thursday; 2.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Did you know?

Joe Layton (Iago), associate director David Gilbert, co-choreographer Perry Johnson, Oliver Baines (Montano) and Felipe Pacheco (Roderigo) have all taken part in Frantic Assembly’s Ignition programme.

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Navigators Art’s art intervention Coney St Jam goes on show at StreetLife project hub

A collage of artwork from Navigators Art’s Coney St Jam: An Art Intervention exhibition at StreetLife’s project hub in Coney Street, York

TWELVE artists from York collective Navigators Art are opening their mixed-media exhibition at StreetLife’s project hub in Coney Street, York, this evening (17/10/2022).

Drawing inspiration from the city’s rich heritage and vibrant creative communities, the project explores new ways to revitalise and diversify Coney Street, York’s premium shopping street but one blighted with multiple empty premises.

In a creative response to Coney Street’s past, present and future, Navigators Art have made new work for StreetLife, designed to enhance and interpret its research, under the title Coney St Jam: An Art Intervention.

On show from today to November 19 will be painting, drawing, collage, photography, textiles, projections, music, poetry and 3D work. Entry to the exhibition space is accessible by one set of stairs. 

Taking part are: Steve Beadle, figurative painting and drawing; Michael Dawson, mixed-media painting; Alfie Fox, creative photography; Alan Gillott, architectural and scenic photography; Oz Hardwick, creative photography, and Richard Kitchen, collage, abstract drawing, prints and poetry.

So too are: Katie Lewis, textiles; Tim Morrison, painting and constructions; Peter Roman, figurative painting; Amy Elena Thompson, prints and tattoos; Dylan Thompson, composer, and Nick Walters, painting, video and sculpture.

A painting by Nick Walters at Navigators Art’s Coney St Jam show

Here, CharlesHutchPress puts questions to Navigators Art co-founder, artist and poet Richard Kitchen.

How did the exhibition come about?

“I heard talk of this project rather belatedly in April this year. After our Moving Pictures show at City Screen and providing art for York Theatre Royal’s Takeover Festival, I was looking for a community project the group could really get to grips with and actively support.

“I rather cheekily offered our services to the StreetLife project leaders and, after a bit of convincing, they agreed to let us devise an exhibition for them.”

What relationship have you established with StreetLife?

“A very good one. They were a bit wary at first, as we hadn’t been part of the initial set-up, but we convinced them we were genuinely interested in the project and wanted to interpret and enhance their research and findings creatively for a wider audience. That’s one of our missions as Navigators Art. This isn’t just another art exhibition!

“They’ve been really helpful with practical arrangements, allocated us a budget and agreed to let us put on an evening of live performance in aid of the homeless to mark the end of the show on November 19. That’s going to be very exciting.”

Torrents (Willow Herald Speak), by Michael Dawson, from Coney St Jam

In turn, what relationship have you established with project participants University of York, City of York Council, Make It York, My City Centre, York Civic Trust, York Music Venues Network and Thin Ice Press?

“The project leaders are all from the university, so we’ve got to know them, and also Bethan [cultural development manager Bethan Gibb-Reid] at Make It York. We’re not directly involved with the other agents as such, but we’re all part of the same enterprise and hopefully we can continue to develop existing relationships and make new ones.

“Collaboration is what we’re all about, now and in the future. Making project-specific and even site-specific work has been a very positive creative challenge, from which we’ve all learnt something, and we’re looking forward to further opportunities.”

How do you foresee the future of Coney Street?

“It’s in an interesting state of flux. I can’t speak for the StreetLife project itself or even fellow artists, but personally I regret that a future seems securable only through the involvement of giant property developers.

“I wish a more grassroots solution could be sought and found. But the Helmsley Group’s plans are on show to all at the StreetLife hub in Coney Street and there are public feedback forms by way of consultation.

“It looks positive enough, with provision for new green spaces and so on; I just hope it’s not all about financial interest at the expense of those who live here, or about economics over culture and wellbeing. Naturally, I’d love to see a cheap, Bohemian cultural quarter there, but I doubt that’s top of the agenda!

“Whatever the plans, serious thought needs to be given to social issues such as the question of accessibility. If the street is to be traffic-free, it also has to be accessible to all. The present system of bollards means that some people are unable to use the street at all. That doesn’t make sense.”

An exhibit by Tim Morrison, purveyor of paintings and constructions

How much should the past of Coney Street feed into its future?

“Its past was very much involved with the river, and future plans include developing the river area as a public space and retying lost connections between the river and the street in general. The thriving, lively street of yore is a model for what it may become again. And no future is sustainable without a foundation in history.

“The past can be celebrated and kept alive. It doesn’t have to be enshrined as a museum piece; certainly not one that people have to pay to enjoy! That’s something artists can offer.

Who should be taking the lead in envisioning the future? Looking at that list of who’s involved already, how do you establish joined-up thinking?

“That’s a question for them rather than us, I think. We’re only putting up some pictures! But all walks of life and all sectors should be having an equal say. I don’t think any of those groups is acting independently of the others. There is consultation, including with the developers.”

Where do the arts and art fit into that future?

“The arts are essential to public, cultural and personal wellbeing, despite efforts to ignore, undermine, underfund and generally devalue them to a shocking and highly unintelligent extent. The arts should be central to every decision-making process in government and to education at every level.

“In the times we’re living through, we need creative solutions on a gigantic scale and we need the sheer energy of the arts to help us survive and adapt. Those things aren’t going to be provided by bureaucracy or petty squabbling between political parties.

Ana Alisia, Big Issue Seller, by Peter Roman

“I’d say give artists the kudos they deserve and let us help to turn things around. Pay us. Give us space to work in: let us use those empty buildings! Art isn’t just about old monuments. There are many living artists in York who could successfully take on social responsibilities because of the nature of what they do. We’re an asset to the city and should be valued and promoted as such.

“Make Coney Street a flagship enclave for creatives and independent small retailers and an affordable, inspiring resource for the public to enjoy. That’s something we provided when we were based at Piccadilly [Piccadilly Pop Up] and we came to realise more and more how much that environment meant to people and benefited them. Offer that on a much wider scale and we’ll see real change for the better in society.”

What else is coming up for Navigators Art? Are you any closer to finding a new home?

“From January to March next year, some of us will be exhibiting at Helmsley Arts Centre, and we’ll be at City Screen again in March and April. We may be involved with Archaeology York’s Roman dig next year too.

“We’re eager to take on future community projects and commissions. We’re all artists in our own right but collectively we’re about much more than making and selling. We want to make a difference to the city and its people.

“We’ve grown from being just Steve Beadle and myself in 2020 to a trio last spring with Tim Morrison, and now we’re 12, including writers and musicians, as well as visual artists. The group is fluid, though, and we won’t all be involved in every venture. Some will come and go, others will join.

“Many of us have jobs and families and we’ve all worked on this show voluntarily, but I think we can continue to match the size of the group to the size of the project. Clearly, we’re not going to find one home for all and that’s fine. It would be wonderful to have a studio identity but we don’t have the funds for it at the moment.

Cavern, by Richard Kitchen, from Navigatgors Art’s show in Coney Street, York

“Others are welcome to join us any time. Steve and I want to develop the other strand of Navigators Art’s mission statement, which we started at Piccadilly Pop Up last year: to mentor young and under-represented emerging artists. Not everyone at Piccadilly shared that vision but I think we’re better prepared to do it now.

“Apart from anything else, we’d like to shake things up a bit culturally for ourselves. The initial longlist for Coney St Jam artists was quite diverse, but for health-related and other reasons we’ve ended up with a bunch of mostly white males. We’re working on that!”

Coney St Jam: An Art Intervention by Navigators Art, at StreetLife Project Hub, 29-31 Coney Street, York, opening tonight, 6pm to 8pm; then 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, except Wednesdays; 11am to 4pm, Sundays. Free entry.

Free tickets for tonight can be booked via https://streetlifeyork.uk/events/coney-st-jam-navigators-art-exhibition-launch-and-press-night

A live performance event on November 19, from 7pm to 10pm, will mark the end of the show.

What is StreetLife?

FUNDED by the UK Government Community Renewal Fund, StreetLife explores new ways to revitalise and diversify Coney Street, drawing inspiration from York’s history, heritage and creative communities and involving businesses, the public and other stakeholders in shaping the future of the high street.

The project is led by the University of York, in partnership with City of York Council, including Make It York/My City Centre, York Civic Trust, York Music Venues Network and creative practitioners, such as Thin Ice Press.

The poster for Navigators Art’s art intervention at StreetLife
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Bolshee launch Perform Yourself, a free eight-week creative project for women to find their voice at Friargate Theatre

Bolshee trio Lizzy Whynes, left, Megan Bailey and Paula Clark: Launching autobiographical performance project, Bolshee Women: Perform Yourself

THREE York women who set up an arts company this year to champion women and girls are to run a free project from October 20 with Make It York’s Cultural Wellbeing Grant funding.

Bolshee CIC– a female-led creative projects company – is run by artists and friends Paula Clark, creative director, Lizzy Whynes, associate director, and Megan Bailey, creative producer.

“We produce projects with the aim of helping everyone to feel heard, empowered and supported, regardless of their background, with a particular focus on women and girls,” they say.

“Collectively, as a team, we have 35 years’ experience in creating, producing and delivering creative arts projects with young people and adults, and in only six months, we’ve already made some noise in the city and beyond through collaborations with York St John University, At The Mill [at Stillington], Drawsome Festival, York Theatre Royal, ARC Stockton and York Design Week.”

Bolshee Women: Perform Yourself: New creative project funded through Make It York

Now, Bolshee CIC (community interest company) are launching an eight-week autobiographical performance project, Bolshee Women: Perform Yourself, for self-identifying women aged 25 and over to find their voice in collaboration with Make it York.

Paula explains: “It’s so important that we find our voice, take up space and share our truths. This is what Bolshee Women is all about. Coming together in solidarity to make friends, be creative and share our experiences has a hugely positive impact on our wellbeing.

“We wanted to offer a cultural provision, this time for women over the age of 25. We feel that this age group don’t have as many opportunities to get involved in performance in the city as younger people do. We also know that women will suffer disproportionately from the financial crisis we’re facing. That’s why Bolshee Women will be FREE to attend.”

Bolshee Women: Perform Yourself will be held at Friargate Theatre, Friargate, from October 20 to December 8 from 6.30pm to 8pm each week. “We will explore contemporary performance and autobiographical devising techniques, including free drawing and creative writing,” says Paula. “No experience is necessary. All materials will be provided.” To book for the workshops, go to: www.bolshee.com.

Full of drive: Lizzy Whynes, Megan Bailey and Paula Clark

Who are the Bolshee triumvirate?

Paula Clark is a creative director, theatre maker and community artist.

Lizzy Whynes is a performer, movement and theatre director and facilitator.

Megan Bailey is a designer and producer.

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All New Adventures Of Peter Pan brings faces familiar and fresh to York Theatre Royal panto with Evolution Productions

Putting the ‘new’ in All New Adventures Of Peter Pan: York Theatre Royal debutants Jason Battersby (Peter Pan) and Maddie Moate (Tinkerbell) on stage at the pantomime launch. Picture: Anthony Robling

REHEARSALS for All New Adventures Of Peter Pan will start on November 7 but already York Theatre Royal’s cast members have met up to launch the third pantomime collaboration with Evolution Productions.

In attendance for a photo-session and chat over sandwiches and brownies were Paul Hawkyard and Robin Simpson, last year’s award-nominated ugly sister double act Manky and Mardy; Faye Campbell, their fellow returnee from Cinderella, and two faces new to the Theatre Royal panto ranks, CBeebies’ Maddie Moate and Jason Battersby, promoted from Lead Shadow in Wendy And Peter at Leeds Playhouse last Christmas to Peter Pan this winter.

Absent that day was Jonny Weldon, a comedy video-making social media sensation with a “little part” in House Of The Dragon, who will play Starkey.

Hawkyard and Simpson had just finished Harrogate Theatre’s HT Rep season of three plays in three weeks, Simpson appearing in all three, Abigail’s Party, Gaslight and Men Of The World; Hawkyard in the first and last.

Caught on the hook: Paul Hawkyard’s Captain Hook, “the all-time best baddie”. Picture: Anthony Robling

“Robin and I have worked together before, for Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre in York, sharing a dressing room from the day we started. We get on well, we have a laugh, and it’ll be great working with my mate again,” says Paul, who is delighted to be playing Captain Hook.

“As soon as I found out they were doing Peter Pan here, I really wanted the part because he’s one of the all-time best baddies.”

Tall, imposing, but naturally comedic too, Paul is playing around with ideas, probably not entirely seriously. “I’m going to switch the hook from arm to arm, to see if anyone notices!” he says.

Rather more definitely, he adds: “There’ll be lots of comedy opportunities together with Robin.”

Maddie chips in: “I think people just enjoy seeing friendships, partnerships, on stage. People like that familiarity in panto.” Faye concurs: “If we’re having fun, the audience will have fun too.”

“It’s Smee!”: Or, rather, it’s Mrs Smee, the specially created dame’s role for Robin Simpson in All New Adventures Of Peter Pan. Picture: Anthony Robling

Robin may have worked flat out on HT Rep, rehearsing the next play from Wednesday to Saturday in the daytime before performing in the evening, but he has had no time to rest. Already he is hitting his straps in rehearsals at the Central Methodist Church for David Reed’s play Guy Fawkes ahead of its York Theatre Royal premiere from October 28 to November 12.

Come panto-time, he will be playing Mrs Smee, effectively the dame’s role in these All New Adventures, written by Evolution’s Paul Hendy and directed by Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster.

Not Mrs Darling, Robin? “As far as I’m aware, I’ll be Mrs Smee, though there’s still time to change that! The character is normally Smee, the pirate, Hook’s mate. Now it will be Mrs Smee and a sidekick, Starkey.”

Like Simpson, Faye Campbell will be completing a hattrick of Theatre Royal-Evolution pantos after her fairy in 2020’s Travelling Panto and title role in 2021’s Cinderella. “I’m playing Emily, who’s Wendy’s daughter, so it’s moved on in time from J M Barrie’s original story. Now it’s Emily who goes on the adventures, after hearing of the story of Peter Pan from her mother,” she says.

Maddie Moate, who follows Andy Day from the CBeebies team into the Theatre Royal panto, says: “For those who love the traditional story of Peter Pan, you will still meet Peter Pan, Hook, the Lost Boys, the crocodile. They won’t be disappointed. It will all be instantly recognisable,” she says.

Welcome back Faye Campbell: Returning to the York Theatre Royal pantomime for a third year, cast as Wendy Darling’s feistier daughter, Emily. Picture: Anthony Robling

“I’ll be playing Tinkerbell, after I played Fairy Phoenix, the good fairy, at Leicester De Montford Hall last year, who was a bit of a nerd, a fairy in training!”

Jason Battersby took a deep dive into JM Barrie’s world when researching his role as Lead Shadow at Leeds Playhouse. “I love the book and the way you can tell it’s written for children but from an intellectual viewpoint,” he says, as he turns his attention to leading the Theatre Royal show as Peter Pan. “It’s almost like it was written by an incredibly clever child.

“As I know from last year, there are so many different ways to tell the story, and it’s one of those stories where you can really bring your own thing to it. All New Adventures Of Peter Pan is completely different from Wendy And Peter. Different theatrical conventions. Different songs. Different characters.

“There’s a line in the book that says Peter Pan takes children who die to Neverland, so there are darker elements to him, but he’s never a character who’s set in stone. There are suggestions in the book, so you can play him dark, or you can play him for his childish, playful qualities, but, yes, he has some demons.

“Sometimes, some of those darker elements are not the ones you want to put in, and certainly I don’t want to play sad Peter Pan. That would be the wrong choice.”

All New Adventures Of Peter Pan will run at York Theatre Royal from December 2 to January 2 2023. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

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‘I’m a nice bloke doing a terrible job with care and compassion,’ says pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, ahead of York talk

Dr Richard Shepherd: Pathologist, professor, lecturer, author, apiarist and aviator, presenting Unnatural Causes at York Theatre Royal on Thursday and Leeds City Varieties on Friday

FORENSIC pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd is unearthing Unnatural Causes on his 22-date autumn tour, visiting York Theatre Royal on Thursday and Leeds City Varieties the next night.

Already this autumn, his latest true crime television series, The Truth About My Murder, has been running on CBS Reality since September 21, wherein he revisits high-profile cases from Great Britain and the United States of America.

“I know how the living send out signals which are designed to appeal to our hearts. But the dead can only tell the unadorned truth. I listen to their stories,” he says.

Now retired, Dr Shepherd, 69, has worked for the Home Office on multiple cases and was the forensic expert for the Bloody Sunday inquiry, the Hungerford Massacre and the death of Princess Diana, also advising on the management of British fatalities following 9/11 in New York.

He has performed more than 23,000 autopsies and is a detective in his own right,solving the mysteries of countless sudden and unexplained deaths. He has faced serial killers, natural disasters, perfect murders and freak accidents. 

His evidence has put killers behind bars, freed the innocent and turned open-and-shut cases on their heads. Yet all this has come at personal cost, having been diagnosed with diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder after suffering flashbacks.

Heading out on tour from Wednesday (12/10/2022) to November 11 with Unnatural Causes, a title shared with his book that spent ten weeks on the Sunday Times bestseller chart, Dr Shepherdtells the stories of the cases and bodies that have both fascinated and haunted him the most.

Additionally, he will explain his admiration for the complexities of the human body and examine how he has lived a life steeped in death. This week’s York and Leeds audiences can take part in solving a real-life crime scene mystery too when he invites their involvement.

Why pick pathology as a career choice, Dr Shepherd? “Really, it’s quite simple,” he says. “It was a Damascene moment. A schoolmate’s dad was a GP and when he smuggled a book on forensic medicine into the classroom, like any curious 14-year-old boy, I thought that’s amazing and took it home,” he recalls.

“My dad was quite an ‘anorak bloke’, and instead of saying ‘that’s disgusting, you shouldn’t be interested in that’, he said, ‘you have to work hard if you’re interested in that’, and I ended up going to medical school. All because of that moment at Watford High School.” 

Dr Shepherd trained as a doctor at St George’s Hospital medical school from October 1971, qualifying in 1977. It was a great place to be, at that time a very small school at Hyde Park Corner – it’s since moved to Tooting – with a very forensic component to it.

“I oscillated a bit around pathology. Bizarrely, I really liked obstetrics, but came back to qualifying in forensic pathology.”

Thirteen years later, in 1984, he was fully qualified, studies completed in Gower Street. “Most of those years, you’re being paid, remember, which makes it easier to study,” says Dr Shepherd, who took up a post at Guy’s Hospital in 1987. “It’s important to say that though I studied for 13 years, that’s the usual time for most consultants, but you do have a clear finishing point of a fellowship at the Royal College of Pathologists.”

Pathologist, author, professor and lecturer, Dr Shepherd spread his wings into television presenting (The Death Detective, Autopsy: The Last Hours Of…, Murder, Mystery And My Family) and theatre tours.

“I always did a lot of lecturing, mainly to medical student groups, but also to Rotary groups sometimes, and then did The Death Detective. It was going to be called Dr Dick, bit it was pointed out, ‘No, that might not be appropriate’!

“I wanted to not only tell the story of a case, putting the jigsaw pieces together, but also to say, ‘here is the face of forensic pathology’,” says Dr Shepherd. “I’m a nice bloke doing a terrible job with care and compassion.”

Looking back over the years, Dr Shepherd says: “I think society has changed. Often people don’t talk about ‘death’ now but about ‘passing’ and ‘passing on’, and we’re beginning to fudge the process; I suspect it’s becoming more hidden,” he says.

“I had to have my 14-year-old Jack Russell put down in my arms, and I thought it was important to feel that emotion in death, whereas now people are turning funerals into a bit of a media presentation with My Way and You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Dr Shepherd does not watch such series as Silent Witness. “Not because I dislike them, but because they are so far from what I know to be the truth, like not showing bits of a brain. The reality is not there, but then people think that what they see on TV must be close to reality, but then it happens to them and it’s not like it is on the TV,  and it’s a double blow. Deaths are sanitised, even in Casualty,” he says.

“A lot of people love how the forensic pathologists looks very clever on Silent Witness, and it all looks very exciting, but the reality is I don’t go around arresting people.”

How does he transfer his forensic expertise to the theatre stage? “I can talk about how I see things in my profession, but I can also talk about more about emotions; how the body has failed; how I can detect injuries and how they’ve been caused,” says Dr Shepherd.

“I have to be very careful for it not to be like a forensic lecture that I would give to students about how they would deal with injuries. On this tour, I’ll bring an imitation ‘body’ on stage with a knife sticking out of the chest. It’s a theatrical moment, and it’s always great to hear the audience gasp, so it’s close to reality, with no fudging. It’s the truth, but not the absolute truth because that’s too hard. The reality is, it’s that thing of life and death and going from one to the other.”

You may have seen Dr Shepherd contributing to Channel 4’s documentary Investigating Diana: Death In Paris on the 25th anniversary of her death in August. “It’s one of those deaths that I can feel viscerally, as many of us do,” he says, but he does not buy into any conspiracy theories. “She should have put her seat belt on.”

This month, his forensic mind is on his Unnatural Causes tour. “It’s the starting pointy of every report I’ve written: ‘Death is not due to natural causes’. ‘Death is due to unnatural causes’. It’s a phrase I have used all my professional life.”

Dr Richard Shepherd, Unnatural Causes, York Theatre Royal, Thursday; Leeds City Varieties Music Hall, Friday, both 7.30pm. Box office: York, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk; Leeds, 0113 243 0808 or leedsheritagetheatres.co.uk .

CBS Reality’s The Truth About My Murder is available on Freeview (67), Sky (146), Virgin (148) and Freesat (135). From a state-of-the-art laboratory, with ground-breaking digital technology, viewers will hear directly from the victim as Dr Shepherd uncovers the truth behind these perplexing crimes as told through the victims’ bodies.

These victims’ narratives are often re-written, hidden, manipulated, weaponised and concealed by their evil killers. In each case, Dr Shepherd will “separate fact from fiction and ensure the truth always prevails”.

Did you know?

Dr Richard Shepherd is an apiarist (beekeeper) and aviator (with a private pilot’s licence since 2004).

Did you know too?

His latest book, The Seven Ages Of Death, explores what death can teach us about living.