Anthony Gardner’s John Wellington Wells practises his magic for York Opera’s production of The Sorcerer on a visit to The Potions Cauldron in Shambles, York
ON the last occasion that York Opera staged The Sorcerer in 2001, John Soper played the lead role of John Wellington Wells, the sorcerer of the title.
Roll on 23 years to find him directing the 1877 work, the first of Gilbert and Sullivan’s full-length operas, in next week’s run at York Theatre Royal.
“It’s a delight to be revisiting this great comic opera but this time as the director,” he says. “It’s shaping up to be a fantastic opera.
“In The Sorcerer we see the pattern for all Gilbert and Sullivan’s major works, from H.M.S. Pinafore to The Gondoliers. Its central character, John Wellington Wells, family sorcerer of St Mary Axe, was the first in the line of comedy ‘patter’ roles, followed in the ensuing years by the Major General, the Lord Chancellor, Koko and many others.”
Hamish Brown’s Alexis, left, Alexandra Mather’s Miss Aline Sangazure and Anthony Gardner’s John Wellington Wells in York Opera’s The Sorcerer. Picture: John Saunders
What unfolds in The Sorcerer? Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre invites you to attend afternoon tea in the formal gardens of Ploverleigh Hall to celebrate the happy betrothal of his only son, Alexis, to Miss Aline Sangazure, daughter of Lady Annabella Sangazure. R.S.V.P. Ploverleigh Hall.
A love-at-first-sight elixir is mixed into the celebration tea by the sorcerer, John Wellington Wells. Mayhem ensues as the assembled guests fall under the magic spell. What could possibly go wrong?
All the cast members have been involved in numerous York Opera shows, led off by Anthony Gardner’s John Wellington Wells, his first York Opera principal role since Dick Deadeye in H.M.S. Pinafore in 2022.
Amanda Shackleton’s Mrs Partlet, left, Emma Burke’s Constance and Chris Charlton-Matthews’ Dr Daly in The Sorcerer. Picture: John Saunders
Hamish Brown, Macduff in Macbeth in 2023 and Tamino in The Magic Flute in 2021, will be Alexis, playing opposite Alexandra Mather, Josephine in H.M.S. Pinafore in 2022 and Pamina in The Magic Flute, as his beloved Aline.
Chris Charlton-Matthews, director of The Elixir Of Love in 2023, will play the vicar, Dr Daly, and Ian Thomson-Smith follows up Macbeth in Macbeth and Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore with the role of Sir Marmaduke Pointdextre.
Rebecca Smith, Little Buttercup in H.M.S. Pinafore, will be the aristocratic Lady Sangazure; Amanda Shackleton, Dame Hannah in Ruddigore in 2010, will play the “pew opener” Mrs Partlet, and Emma Burke, Gianetta in Elixir Of Love, will return as her daughter Constance.
York Opera in Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Sorcerer, York Theatre Royal, July 3 to 6, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Stuart Vincent’s Amir in The Kite Runner at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Barry Rivett
THE return of The Kite Runner and Forest Live, a mega-musical full of nuns and a new case for Holmes & Watson add intrigue and woodland joys to Charles Hutchinson’s week ahead.
Play of the week: The Kite Runner, York Theatre Royal, running until Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
DIRECTED by Giles Croft, Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel presents a haunting tale of friendship that spans cultures and continents as it follows Amir’s journey to confront his past and find redemption.
In his childhood recollection, Afghanistan is on the verge of war and best friends Amir (Stuart Vincent) and Hassan (Yazdan Qafouri) are about to be torn apart. Amid the excitement of a Kabul kite-flying tournament, no-one can foresee the terrible incident that will shatter their lives forever. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Murder mystery to solve: Calf 2 Cow in Sherlock & Watson – A Murder In The Garden at Helmsley Walled Garden
Immersive murder mystery experience of the week: Calf 2 Cow, Sherlock & Watson – A Murder In The Garden, Helmsley Walled Garden, tomorrow, 7pm (gates, 6pm)
WHEN a body is mysteriously found lying in the middle of Landsdown Manor Gardens, the police have no option but to persuade Sherlock Holmes to take on his toughest case to date.
Assisted by the loyal Watson, the detective duo must battle through villains to discover who is behind the murder in Bath comedy troupe Calf 2 Cow’s new adaption, full of slapstick, multi-role playing and rock’n’roll, penned by artistic director Matthew Emeny. Bring chairs, blankets and picnics. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Richard Hawley: Made in Sheffield, performing in Scarborough
Yorkshireman of the week: Richard Hawley, Scarbrough Spa, tomorrow (20/6/2024), 7.30pm
ON the heels of his Olivier Award-winning Sheffield musical Standing At The Sky’s Edge opening a six-month West End run at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, Richard Hawley showcases his ninth studio album In This City They Call You Love on his late-spring tour. Scarborough hosts the closing night. Box office: scarboroughspa.co.uk.
Nile Rodgers: Turning Dalby Forest into a disco floor with CHIC on Saturday, when Sophie Ellis-Bextor & Deco will be on the bill too
Welcome return of the week: Forest Live at Dalby Forest, near Pickering, Bryan Adams, Friday; Nile Rodgers & CHIC, Saturday; Richard Ashcroft, Sunday; gates 5pm
FORESTRY England revives Forest Live at Dalby Forest for the first time since 2019 for three nights of open-air concerts in aid of woodland conservation. Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, he of forest fame from (Everything I Do) I Do It For You for Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, on Friday night will be followed by disco icons Nile Rodgers & CHIC on Saturday and the Wigan singer, songwriter and The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft on Sunday. Box office: forestlive.com.
Jessa Liversidge: Two Bards And A Songbird, one concert and a workshop in Helmsley. Picture: David K Newton
English and Scottish union of the week: Jessa Liversidge, Two Bards And A Songbird, Helmsley Arts Centre, Saturday, 7.30pm
EASINGWOLD singer and choir leader Jessa Liversidge presents her celebration of song inspired by two bards: William Shakespeare and Robert Burns, from her native Scotland. Her heartfelt performance spans traditional folk, pop and musical theatre, sung to her piano accompaniment plus a loop pedal to layer melodies and sounds.
Audience suggestions are invited to enable Jessa to improvise a new song around a Shakespeare/Burns quotation. From 4pm to 6pm, she will host a harmony-singing workshop for participants to sing in the evening show, with a combined ticket available for the workshop and concert. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
York Light Opera Company cast members in rehearsal for Nunsense: The Mega-Musical
York musical of the week: York Light Opera Company in Nunsense: The Mega-Musical!, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm, June 26 to 28, July 2 to 5; 3pm; June 29 and 30, July 6
AFTER the unfortunate passing of four beloved sisters in a “culinary catastrophe”, the remaining Little Sisters of Hoboken find themselves in a sticky situation. To raise funds for a proper burial (and perhaps a new cook), the nuns take centre stage for a riotous revue unlike any other.
Director Neil Wood brings Dan Goggin’s musical to mega-sized life in a version that boasts an expanded cast, new characters and even more musical mayhem. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk
Tom Jones: Returning to Scarborough Open Air Theatre, where he last performed in July 2022
Coastal gig of the week: Tom Jones, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 26, gates open at 6pm
SEATED tickets have sold out for Welsh whirlwind Tom Jones’s outdoor gig in Scarborough but that still leaves room for standing. Sixty years since releasing his first single, Chills And Fever, in 1964, he is still blowing those bellows as powerfully as ever at 84, having made history as the oldest man to notch up a number one with an album of new material in the UK Official Album Charts in 2021 with Surrounded By Time, overtaking Bob Dylan.
Expect It’s Not Unusual, What’s New Pussycat?, Delilah, She’s A Lady, Green, Green Grass Of Home, Kiss, You Can Leave Your Hat On, Sex Bomb et al from Sir Tom. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Sully O’Sullivan: Putting the comedy boot in on June 28 in Malton. Picture: Andy Hollingworth
Comedy gig of the week: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club, Sully O’Sullivan, Don Biswas and host Danny Deegan, Milton Rooms, Malton, June 28, 8pm
SULLY O’Sullivan has played New Zealand, Australia, Croatia, Canada and all over Great Britain, now adding Malton to that list. Politically charged Don Biswas covers such subjects his Asian upbringing, his neuro-diversity as someone with dyspraxia, ADHD and ASD [Autism Spectrum Disorder], topped off with conspiracy theories.
Northern comedian, writer and actor Danny Deegan hosts the show with tales of mischief and multiple characters. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
Alison Moyet: 40th anniversary album and 2025 tour, visiting York Barbican next February. Picture: Naomi Davison
Gig announcement of the week: Alison Moyet, York Barbican, February 20 2025
MARKING 40 years since she left Yazoo to launch her solo career, Essex soul singer Alison Moyet will play York Barbican on her 25-date 2025 itinerary, her first headline tour since 2017.
After graduating from Brighton University in 2023 with a first-class degree in fine art printmaking, Moyet will combine art and music on her 18-track October 4 album, Key, creating the artwork as well as reworking singles, fan favourites and deep cuts, complemented by two new songs. Box office from 10am on Friday: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/alison-moyet-2025/.
Childhood friends: Stuart Vincent’s Amir, left and Yazdan Qafouri’s Hassan in The Kite Runner, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Barry Rivett
THE Kite Runner has flown into York for the first time since its May 2018 visit to the Grand Opera House, and it finds relationships on the global stage even more fractured and fractious in 2024.
The United States at war with itself in Trump versus Boden, the re-match. Afghanistan back under control of the Taliban. Putin signing a pact with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un. Russia invading Ukraine. Israel and Hamas, never-ending.
Whenever Giles Croft’s production returns, the impact of Californian playwright Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of medical practitioner and writer Khaled Hosseini’s novel grows incrementally, as does a feeling of despair.
Spangler is a professor of playwriting and theatre of immigration in San Jose, where Hosseini settled after leaving Afghanistan, mirroring the path of protagonist Amir, who moves to Fremont, California.
After omnipresent musician Hanif Khan sets the mood with his table-playing on stage, Stuart Vincent’s warts-and-all Amir narrates his confessional story, heading back to his 1970s’ Afghanistan childhood as the privileged son of a wealthy Kabul family.
As in Willy Russell’s Blood Brothers, adults play childhood friends, in this case Amir and Hassan (Yazdan Qafouri), the kite-running son of long-serving family servant Ali (Tiran Aakel).
The innocence of playing cowboys (like in Blood Bothers, incidentally) and sharing stories of mythical deeds will be swamped as the boys become entangled in a web of betrayal and guilt in a male-dominated world of masters and servants, bullies and victims, where Amir’s blossoming talents as a writer are not appreciated by his authoritarian, widowed father, Baba (Dean Rehman).
Reconciliation and redemption – the chance to be “good again” – will emerge eventually, but what a shocking price, both destructive and self-destructive, has been paid, as Vincent’s Amir leads the story between his crushing past and haunted, guilt-shrouded present.
For all the beauty of kites in flight, the essence of Kabul’s kite-flying tournament is the skill required to cut the line of the losers: a metaphor for the damage inflicted in such a macho world (from Baba and Ian Abeysekera’s General Taheri’s lack of appreciation of books and writing to the schoolboy bullying inflicted by Bhavin Bhatt’s Assef).
Matching this male-prescribed culture, the cast has only one significant female role: Daphne Kouma’s Soraya, the intransigent General’s literature-loving daughter. Later to become a teacher, she is the first female voice to enter Amir’s ear, and what a transformative effect she has, after his cowardly childhood behaviour had so tragically damaged the ever-loyal Hassan and himself.
At odds with our age of alternative truths and doctored recollections, Amir’s account is painfully truthful as he introduces scenes and steps in and out of the story, so frank in exposing his own faults and fallibilities as much as those of the men around him.
Such is the theatrical intelligence of Croft’s nuanced production, at once brutal yet deeply humane, playing to heart and mind in equal measure. You will laugh initially, feel rising anger, and then cry too, in direct correlation with the ebb and flow of Vincent’s superb performance, and all the while Qafouri’s Hassan, and later in his second role as his son Sohrab, will tear at your heart.
Barney George’s designs, in tandem with William Simpson’s skyline projections, capture the fiery heat and stifling culture of Afghanistan and the contrasting freedoms of California, complemented by Charles Balfour’s lighting design, as once more the intense drama and soul-searching honesty of The Kite Runner makes for confrontational theatre at its best.
The Kite Runner, York Theatre Royal, 7.30pm tonight; 2pm and 7.30pm, Thursday; 7.30pm, Friday; 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Saturday. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Bhavin Bhatt’s villainous Assef, left, and Stuart Vincent’s Amir in The Kite Runner, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Barry Rivett
THE return of The Kite Runner and Forest Live, a family art show and coastal concerts, a Scottish-English union and a girl group tribute spice up Charles Hutchinson’s week ahead.
Play of the week: The Kite Runner, York Theatre Royal, June 18 to 22, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees
DIRECTED by Giles Croft, Matthew Spangler’s adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel presents a haunting tale of friendship that spans cultures and continents as it follows Amir’s journey to confront his past and find redemption.
In his childhood recollection, Afghanistan is on the verge of war and best friends Amir (Stuart Vincent) and Hassan (Yazdan Qafouri) are about to be torn apart. Amid the excitement of a Kabul kite-flying tournament, no-one can foresee the terrible incident that will shatter their lives forever. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Amy Stubbs: Exhibiting with her sister Emily and father Christopher in Canvas, Clay and Cloth at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York
Family exhibition launch of the week:Stubbs3 – Canvas, Clay and Cloth, Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, today until August 3
FAMILY artistry unites in Stubbs3 – Canvas, Clay and Cloth, a unique exhibition featuring works by sisters Emily Stubbs and Amy Stubbs, regular participants in York Open Studios, alongside their father, Christopher Stubbs, from Hepworth, West Yorkshire.
Their first-ever joint showcase brings together diverse artistic media in a celebration of family creativity. Contemporary ceramicist Emily Stubbs works from PICA Studios, in Grape Lane; Amy specialises in textile and surface pattern design in a range of homeware and wearable art; Christopher will be exhibiting framed paintings and sketches. All three will attend today’s launch in a Meet The Artists session from 12 noon to 2pm.
Christopher Stubbs: Exhibiting framed paintings and sketches at Pyramid Gallery
Film music of the week: A Tribute To Hans Zimmer and Film Favourites Illuminated, Grand Opera House, York, tomorrow (16/6/2024), 3.30pm and 7pm
EXPERIENCE cinema’s most iconic soundtracks performed by the London Film Music Orchestra in a tribute to Hans Zimmer and more besides in an immersive illuminated setting.
The chamber orchestra will be performing music from Harry Potter, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Gladiator, E.T., Pirates Of The Caribbean, Jaws, Interstellar, Indiana Jones, Schindler’s List and Inception. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Jessa Liversidge: Two Bards And A Songbird, two concerts and two workshops. Picture: David K Newton
English and Scottish union of the week: Jessa Liversidge, Two Bards And A Songbird, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm, and Helmsley Arts Centre, June 22, 7.30pm
EASINGWOLD singer and choir leader Jessa Liversidge presents her celebration of song inspired by two bards: William Shakespeare and Robert Burns, from her native Scotland. Her heartfelt performance spans traditional folk, pop and musical theatre, sung to her piano accompaniment with judicious use of a loop pedal to layer melodies and sounds.
At each concert, audience suggestions are invited to enable Jessa to improvise a new song around a Shakespeare/Burns quotation. At both venues, from 4pm to 6pm, she will be hosting a harmony-singing workshop for participants to sing in the evening show. Box office: York, tickets.41monkgate.co.uk; Helmsley, helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Paul Sinha: In conversation at The Crescent, York. Picture: Andy Hollingsworth
Show title of the week: One Sinha Lifetime, Paul Sinha, The Crescent, York, June 17, 7.30pm
COMEDIAN, white-suited chaser on ITV quiz show The Chase, former doctor and villainous Abanazar in his 2016 pantomime debut in Aladdin at York’s Grand Opera House, Paul Sinha has plenty to discuss in conversation at The Crescent as he marks Penguin Books’ June 20 release of his coming-of-age memoir One Sinha Lifetime.
Subtitled Comedy, Disaster and One Man’s Quest for Happiness, broadcaster and quiz champ Sinha’s book charts his unconventional odyssey through love, family and the joy of general knowledge. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.
Simple Minds in Scarborough: Charlie Burchill and Jim Kerr head to the East Coast on Tuesday. Picture: Dean Chalkley
Coastal gig of the week: Simple Minds and special guests Del Amitri, Scarborough Open Air Theatre, June 18; gates open at 6pm
SOMEONE somewhere in summertime, namely Simple Minds in Scarborough on Tuesday, finds Jim Kerr and Charlie Burchill’s band revisiting such hits as Promised You A Miracle, Glittering Prize, Alive And Kicking, Sanctify Yourself, Don’t You Forget About Me and, aptly for Scarborough, Waterfront.
Opening the Scottish double bill will be fellow Glaswegians Del Amitri, led as ever by Justin Currie. In further Scarborough OAT shows, Hampstead pop singer Jess Glynne performs tonight and yet more Glaswegians, Deacon Blue, Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh et al, appear on Friday. Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.
Wannabe: Celebrating 30 years of Spice Girl power at Grand Opera House, York
York tribute show of the week: Wannabe – The Spice Girls Musical, Grand Opera House, York, June 20, 7.30pm
WANNABE, the “world’s longest-running” Spice Girls tribute stage production, celebrates three decades of girl power in a nostalgic journey through the Spice World.
The show charts the English girl group’s meteoric rise, from July 1996’s debut number one, Wannabe, to Scary, Sporty, Baby, Ginger and Posh’s reunion at the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony. Expect “meticulously crafted costumes, unique vocal and musical arrangements exclusive to Wannabe, iconic dance routines and stunning visual flair”. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Richard Hawley: Made in Sheffield, performing in Scarborough
Yorkshireman of the week: Richard Hawley, Scarborough Spa, June 20, 7.30pm
ON the heels of his Olivier Award-winning Sheffield musical Standing At The Sky’s Edge opening a six-month West End run at the Gillian Lynne Theatre, Richard Hawley showcases his May 31 album In This City They Call You Love on his spring tour. Scarborough hosts the closing night. James Bagshaw supports. Box office: scarboroughspa.co.uk.
Nile Rodgers: Turning Dalby Forest into a disco floor with CHIC next Saturday, when Sophie Ellis-Bextor & Deco will be on the bill too
Welcome return of the week: Forest Live at Dalby Forest, near Pickering, Bryan Adams, June 21; Nile Rodgers & CHIC, June 22; Richard Ashcroft, June 23; gates 5pm
FORESTRY England revives Forest Live at Dalby Forest for the first time since 2019 for three nights of open-air concerts in aid of woodland conservation. Canadian rocker Bryan Adams, he of forest fame from (Everything I Do) I Do It For You for Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, on Friday night will be followed by disco icons Nile Rodgers & CHIC next Saturday and the Wigan singer, songwriter and The Verve frontman Richard Ashcroft next Sunday. Box office: forestlive.com.
Alison Moyet: 40th anniversary album and 2025 tour, visiting York Barbican next February. Picture: Naomi Davison
Gig announcement of the week: Alison Moyet, York Barbican, February 20 2025
MARKING 40 years since she left Yazoo to launch her solo career, Essex soul singer Alison Moyet will play York Barbican on her 25-date 2025 itinerary, her first headline tour since 2017.
After graduating from Brighton University in 2023 with a first-class degree in fine art printmaking, Moyet will combine art and music on her 18-track October 4 album, Key, creating the artwork as well as reworking singles, fan favourites and deep cuts, complemented by two new songs. Box office from 10am on June 21: yorkbarbican.co.uk/whats-on/alison-moyet-2025/.
In Focus: British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley
What’s All The Fuss About?, Will Palmer’s photo of Arctic walrus Thor on the Scarborough harbour slipway, from the British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition at Nunnington Hall. Courtesy of National Trust
THE British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition at Nunnington Hall aims to raise awareness of British biodiversity, species and habitats.
On display are award-winning images selected from 14,000 entries in more than a dozen categories, including film and three for juniors, all in celebration of the diversity of British wildlife and wild spaces.
In particular, look out for What’s All The Fuss About?, taken by Scarborough photographer Will Palmer, who captured the headline-making Thor as the Arctic walrus rested ashore on the harbour slipway cobbles on December 31 2022.
Scarborough photographer Will Palmer with his photograph of Thor, the Arctic walrus, at Nunnington Hall
Will’s image was judged the runner-up in the Urban Wildlife category. “It’s always a huge privilege to be recognised for your work and especially when the awards are as prestigious as this,” he says.
“I captured the image by laying on the cobbles to capture Thor at eye level with the harbour behind. I was very fortunate to get there early and capture the moment at night and before the crowd arrived.”
Nunnington Hall is the nearest National Trust property to the Scarborough coastline. “It’s really special to see the image included in the exhibition and especially at Nunnington Hall, with such a wonderful exhibition space and grounds to boot.
“I’ve hugely appreciated seeing all the effort that’s gone into the exhibition, and with it being on my doorstep, I’m looking forward to visiting it again soon.”
Ocean Drifter, overall winner in the British Wildlife Photography Awards, by Ryan Stalker. Courtesy of National Trust
Laura Kennedy, experience & programming manager at Nunnington Hall, says: “We’re delighted to offer our visitors the opportunity to see this year’s selected images. They are always of such a high quality and the variation of categories means there’s something for everyone.
“More than 14,000 images were submitted into this year’s competition, so you really are seeing the very best of British wildlife photography when you visit the exhibition here at Nunnington.”
British Wildlife Photography Awards exhibition, Nunnington Hall, Nunnington, near Helmsley, until July 7. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 10.30am to 5pm; last entry at 4.15pm. Tickets: nationaltrust.org.uk/nunnington-hall.Normal admission prices apply, which includes entry to the exhibition, with free entry to National Trust members and under-fives.
For more information on the British Wildlife Photography Awards, visit www.bwpawards.org.
British Wildlife Photography Awards’ Hidden Britain winner: Ross Hoddinott’s Three’s A Crowd. Courtesy of National Trust
Tiran Aakel, left, Stuart Vincent and Amar Aggoun in a kite-flying scene in The Kite Runner. Pictures: Barry Rivett
STUART Vincent was three weeks into his cover role on the 2020 tour of The Kite Runner when the Covid pandemic sent the world into lockdown.
“The tour got cancelled, including the possibility of going to America,” he recalls. “But then I was contacted in December, when they asked if I was available and if I’d like to come back for the new tour. I said I’d love to try out for one of the lead roles – how about Amir?”
Stuart auditioned successfully, graduating from understudying the villainous Assef to playing Amir on a tour that began in late-February and brings Californian university professor and playwright Matthew Spangler’s stage adaptation to York Theatre Royal for the first time since October 2014 next week.
Based on Khaled Hosseini’s novel, this haunting tale of friendship spans cultures and continents as it follows Amir’s journey to confront his past and find redemption. That past was in Afghanistan when the country was on the verge of war and best friends Amir and Hassan were soon to be torn apart on a beautiful afternoon in Kabul, when a terrible incident at a kite-flying tournament would shatter their lives forever.
Giles Croft’s production is as resonant as ever, given the fracturing of the overheated political world and its clashing cultures. “It really is prescient, and we get a beautiful response every time we step out on stage,” says Stuart. “The roars we receive, the standing ovations.”
The innocence of playing cowboys, of sharing mythical stories, will disappear as the boys – played by adults – become entangled in a web of betrayal and guilt in a male-dominated world of masters and servants, bullies and victims, where Amir’s blossoming talents as a writer are not appreciated by his macho father, Baba.
Reconciliation and redemption will come eventually, but what a terrible price has been paid, as Stuart’s Amir leads the story between his past and haunted present.
Childhood friends: Stuart Vincent’s Amir, left, and Yazdan Qafouri’s Hassanin The Kite Runner
“The character of Amir is difficult because he’s trying to make the right decisions, but they backfire on him, and he must then try to make things good again,” he says.
“As the audience follows his journey, they really get involved, especially with him talking directly to them over the two and a half hours.
“It’s been a challenge, for sure, with so much storytelling to do. In rehearsal, first of all you have learn all the lines and then there’s the other element of keeping the audience engaged at all times, and as an actor you put so much pressure on yourself to do that.
“But with the trust of the director [Giles Croft] and associate director [Damian Sandys], and the training I’ve been through, all you need to do is tell the story organically and really feel the lines.”
Stuart continues: “You don’t have to have loads of visuals, just fill it with emotion, as the writing paints with imagination, capturing what Afghanistan used to be like, painting that spectacle – how beautiful it once was.”
A sense of impotent rage, despair and frustration grows among audiences every time The Kite Runner goes on tour. “History is always repeating itself, with all these heartbreaking things that are happening in the world. Look back 50 years and you see the same things are happening again, everything that Hosseini’s characters are going through,” says Stuart.
Croft has assembled a multicultural cast. “We understand the issues of immigration and that culture, and that’s why it’s important to tell this story because it’s happening to us all,” says Stuart.
“This is a play for everyone, with so many themes,” says Stuart Vincent
“It may be about different cultures, but this is a play for everyone, with so many themes – love, brotherhood, betrayal, friendship and redemption – that everyone in the audience has been through and can relate to.
“Whether they’ve had a friendship that meant the world to them, or they made mistakes or had to redeem themselves.”
Stuart develops this theme further. “One of the things that I’ve been taught is that we are unique individuals, but at the same time we’re all the same, because we all go through these kinds of emotions. Take away the cultural differences, that’s what we can all relate to: love; how alive you feel, like a kid again sometimes.”
Now 34, Stuart reflects on the lasting impact of childhood friendships. “With those friendships, you have one hell of a wild imagination, with no sense of hazards or warnings,” he says.
“I remember climbing up walls, and standing on the top, fearless, whereas now I think about vertigo. As a child, you have no thoughts of health and safety; in your imagination, one minute you’re a cowboy, the next, an astronaut.
“When I go back to some of the things I did with my friends and my cousins when I was young, I think, ‘I wouldn’t do that now’.”
The Kite Runner, York Theatre Royal, June 18 to 22, 7.30pm plus 2pm Thursday and 2.30pm Saturday matinees. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
In Focus: Actor Bhavin Bhatt on playing villainous Assef in The Kite Runner
Bhavin Bhatt’s Assef in The Kite Runner
BHAVIN Bhatt never set out to be an actor. He was just another schoolboy before his acting potential was spotted by a teacher.
“I was 12 or 13 years old and there was an annual Christmas show at my school and people were thinking about auditioning,” he says. “I was umming and aahing when my drama teacher – with whom I’m still in touch – said to me after class, ‘I want you to audition’.
“I did audition and got one of the roles! One of the leads in a cast of about 40. One night the drama teacher and director said they were going to bring in some (acting) agencies because they felt there was a lot of talent there. Luckily enough I got signed up and have been working as an actor ever since.”
Bhavin arrives at York Theatre Royal on Tuesday on the latest British tour of The Kite Runner in the role of Assef, the one that won him the Best Newcomer award at the Asian Media Awards while he was in the West End production.
Bhavin sees Assef as more than the villain of the piece. “When you read the book or the script for the first time, he comes across as a rough-and-tough bully. But the detail, especially in the book, gets inside the mind of a psychopath,” he says.
“As the story goes on, you see all the stages and the full-on psychopath he becomes later on. There are so many nuances and small details that enable you to bring out from your physicality and voice the way you deliver the lines. That makes it so interesting for an actor to play.
“We have managed to add a comedy element into the story, which I think is completely needed,” says Bhavin
“The playwright has been just so genius with the way he’s put everything that’s in the book into the script.”
Bhavin’s first experience of the play was in a smaller role, which meant he saw another actor portraying Assef. Was that a help or a hindrance when he came to play him? Neither, he says. “The person playing the part was great, but when I got the chance to play Assef I chatted with the director and decided to start again from scratch.
“My performance didn’t have to be a copy or based on anyone else’s performance. It was beautiful to go through the rehearsal process, doing your own research.”
Returning for the 2024 tour has seen much the same approach of starting from scratch. This is Bhavin’s first villainous character: fun to play, but the rehearsal process, with the need to ‘get into the mind of a psychopath’, was challenging, he says.
Humour assists Giles Croft’s production, perhaps why it has proved, and is still proving, so popular on tour. “We have managed to add a comedy element into the story, which I think is completely needed,” says Bhavin. “We take audiences on a rollercoaster ride. They’re laughing out loud at one scene and then on the edge of their seat the next.”
Bhavin Bhatt’s Assef and Stuart Vincent’s Amirin The Kite Runner
He is enjoying touring again with The Kite Runner. “It takes you away from home, from family and friends, so you have to adjust as you can. We’re doing seven or eight shows a week, so you have to look after yourself physically and vocally,” he says.
“Every single show we have to keep fresh. It’s interesting as you go up and down the country and see how audiences in different parts of the country react in different ways.”
A previous 2020 tour was cut short by the pandemic lockdown but not before the production had played the Dubai Opera House. “That building was absolutely stunning and the production was received incredibly well there,” says Bhavin.
His pursuit of diverse roles has been, and still can be, difficult, he reveals. “I remember when I was applying to drama schools and the way I was treated wasn’t nice. Some very hurtful and racist comments were made towards me. I have always tried to push for diversity, not just for myself but other people,” he says.
“People opened doors for me, and I would like to leave a legacy of opening doors for other people. It’s been tough but I really hope it’s moving in the right way. I think it is but there’s so much more to be done.”
“Discovering the wonderful world inside a book”: Georgie Samuels’s Mum, left, Pierre Hanson-Johnson’s Charlie and Freya Stephenson’s Izzy in Little Angel Theatre’s Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book. Pictures: Brian Roberts
LITTLE Angel Theatre’s new adaptation of Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book is booked into York Theatre Royal from today to Saturday.
The touring production for three to eight-year-olds reunites adaptors Barb Jungr and Samantha Lane – who also directs – after their Olivier-nominated collaboration on The Smartest Giant In Town, another picture book Donaldson and illustrator Scheffler published by Macmillan Children’s Books.
Charlie Cook loves reading, especially books about pirates, but his sister hates it. “It’s boring!” she protests. Can Charlie convince her that reading is fun? Perhaps if she read a book about a pirate, who is reading a book about Goldilocks, who is reading a book about a knight…
Little Angel Theatre invites you to delve into a range of books with Charlie, brought to life with puppetry and enchanting songs, and “maybe you will be able to help his sister discover the wonderful world inside a book”.
Pierre Hanson-Johnson’s Charlie in Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book, on tour at York Theatre Royal from today to Saturday
“I am delighted that Little Angel Theatre has adapted Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book for the stage,” says Julia Donaldson. “It is a book that celebrates the joy of reading in many forms: books, magazines and even encyclopaedias.
“It is a book within a book within a book – in fact in there are 11 books in total – complete with pirates, ghosts, dragons and aliens, to name a few. I am excited that the story has moved from page to stage, complete with puppets and songs, and that the production will travel across the UK this year.”
Axel Scheffler adds: “Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book is very different to the other stories by Julia that I have illustrated, as it is made up of many stories in one book. I enjoyed illustrating the different genres and creating the various characters, and it is great to see my illustrations now come to life on the stage.
“Animal puppets appear out of their individual books as their stories happen”: A scene from Little Angel Theatre’s Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book
“Little Angel Theatre’s clever production team has designed and created animal puppets that actually appear out of their individual books as their stories happen, which is such a brilliant idea. I am delighted to see Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book come to life on stage and I know that all our readers, young and old, will enjoy this production.”
Little Angel Theatre, The Lowry and Rose Theatre, Kingston, present Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book, York Theatre Royal, today, 4.30pm; tomorrow, 10.30am (relaxed performance), 1pm, 4.30pm; Saturday, 10.30am, 1.30pm, 3.30pm. Age guidance: three to eight. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
Did you know?
GEORGIE Samuels, a familiar face around the Yorkshire cultural scene, such as when she was events manager at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre, is making her professional stage debut as Mum in Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book after studying for a BA Hons in Acting at Leeds Conservatoire.
Georgie Samuels, right, in her professional stage debut as Mum in Charlie Cook’s Favourite Book
Tempest Wisdom: Writer, director, performer and teaching artist
TEMPEST Wisdom, York theatre-maker and educator, will direct York Shakespeare Project’s autumn production of The Two Gentlemen Of Verona at Theatre@41, 41 Monkgate, York.
Chair Tony Froud says: “Tempest [they/them] emerged from a strong field of applicants to direct the play. Their imagination, infectious enthusiasm and love of Shakespeare won the day. I cannot wait to see their production.”
Since moving to York in 2021, Tempest has made their mark with their work for York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre and as assistant director for York Theatre Royal and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s New Plays Festival, as well as in numerous stage appearances.
This year, they directed Jules Risingham’s Anorak in Next Door But One’s Yorkshire Trios at York Theatre Royal Studio and appeared in Shakespeare Speakeasy at Theatre@41 and Wittenberg Revisited, as part of the 2024 York International Shakespeare Festival.
Look out too for Tempest as the writer, producer and MC of Bard At The Bar, the bi-monthly “Shakespeare karaoke” readings at the Micklegate Social bar.
“I have exciting plans for the production, set in a Victorian music hall,” says Tempest. “I’m looking for a diverse and multi-talented ensemble of lively actors to bring Shakespeare’s comedy to life for a contemporary audience.”
Auditions for the October 23-26 production will be held at Southlands Methodist Church, in Bishopthorpe Road, on June 19 and 20 with callbacks on June 23. For further information and details of how to apply, contact Tempest via https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hVNoRWLyKhVQQfEcBn-hv-r0WfWj4mT0/view
Tempest Wisdom (they/them): the back story
Writer, director, performer and freelance teaching artist.
Originally hails from United States of America, where they wrote, directed, performed and taught for several years. Received Bachelor’s degree in theatre and performance studies from University of Chicago in 2018.
Relocated to York in 2021 to pursue Masters in theatre-making. Now here to stay!
Specialises in clown, mask and comedy work, with majority of training stemming from Italian tradition of commedia dell’arte.
THE publicity for Simple8’s Moby Dick promised a “fun, fast and joyous” production: three words not usually associated with Herman Melville’s labyrinthine leviathan novel.
What’s more, writer Sebastian Armesto described his adaptation as “mercifully brief”. “If you haven’t read the novel, you can watch our show and then pretend that you have,” he said, wryly.
Fun? No? Joyous? No. Fast? First half, yes, but the second half began to lull before a storming finale. Overall, “mercifully brief” would be doing a disservice to the intelligence and theatrical invention behind Royal & Derngate artistic director Jesse Jones’s production, although it never quite reaches the sublime heights, beauty, tragedy and surprising humour of Ockham’s Razor’s circus adaptation of Tess at the Theatre Royal last month.
The two touring productions share a use of planks of woods and sheets, an ensemble cast and a script pared back from a weighty 19th century novel, along with a combination of physicality and psychology that is the essence of theatre.
Spoiler alert, the whale of the title that cost Captain Ahab his leg turns up only in the “last few pages” as Guy Rhys’s Ahab takes his vendetta against the sperm whale to reckless extremes with his Pequod crew.
The rest is imagination: getting inside the head of Ahab and, first, the equally single-minded Ishmael (Mark Arends), the schoolmaster drawn to Nantucket to experience whale hunting on the Pequod.
The unseen threat of Moby Dick – mirroring Covid’s creeping progress, as Armesto commented in his interviews – is conjured through description and even in the shape of bones held aloft by cast members as we await the leviathan’s stealthy arrival. The only puppet is a porpoise pulled from a bucket.
Equally, Captain Ahab is the subject of much discussion, the last to arrive on board, inducing fear, adrenaline and stomach butterflies as much as the whale. His delayed entry, when it does come, is preceded by the thud of his stump, raising the blood pressure still more.
Arends’s Ishmael, rather than Ahab, is the narrator, the thinker, the innocent, intrigued outsider, learning as we do, gradually consumed by Ahab’s obsessive mission for vengeance.
In keeping with the duties of a crew, Jones’s ensemble cast of actor-musicians are “all in this together”. “Everyone does everything for a really live, complicit experience,” as Armesto puts it. They act, they move scenery, they sing rousing, haunting sea shanties, all the while evoking the dangers of the sea and the mystery and the wonder of whales.
Who needs water or the shape of a whaling ship when you can make do with plenty of floorboards, scaffolding, sheets, a raised platform and a crow’s nest.
Armesto has called his play “a ripping yarn, a great piece of theatre for all ages”. It has humour, especially in the first encounter of Ishmael and Tom Swales’s Queequeg; it has spectacle too, but it is primarily a psychological drama full of existential fear and isolation, more than a seafaring (mis)adventure, leading to the loss of momentum until the climactic clash of whaler and whale.
For all that talk of being “fun, fast and joyous”, you should not expect to have a whale of a time, but Armesto, Jones and a highly committed cast deliver a deep dive into Moby Dick.
Simple8 in Moby Dick, York Theatre Royal, 7.30pm tonight; 2.30pm and 7.30pm tomorrow. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk ***
Guy Rhys’s Captain Ahab, centre, leads the whale hunt in Simple 8’s Moby Dick, on tour at York Theatre Royal
SEEKING a whale of a time? Head off to Moby Dick, open studios and musicals full of physical exercise, suggests Charles Hutchinson.
Touring play of the week: Simple8 in Moby Dick, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to Saturday, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
SEBASTIAN Armesto’s stage adaptation captures the romantic, ambiguous, richly allegorical spirit of Herman Melville’s novel for Simple8, specialists in creating worlds out of nothing in bold new plays that tackle big ideas with large casts.
Armed with sea shanties played live on stage, planks of wood, tattered sheets and a battered assortment of musical instruments, the ensemble of actors and actor-musicians, led by Guy Rhys’s whale-seeking Captain Ahab, brings Moby Dick ingeniously to life. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Wildlife and landscape artist Jonathan Pomroy: Opening his studio at 4 Pottergate, Gilling East, for North Yorkshire Open Studios
Art event of the week: North Yorkshire Open Studios 2024, Saturday and Sunday, 10am to 5pm
STRETCHING from the coast to the moors, dales and beyond, 169 artists and makers from North Yorkshire’s artistic community invite you to look inside their studios this weekend.
Among them will be Steve Page (Sheriff Hutton); Russell Hughes (Easingwold); Richard Gray (Easingwold); Justine Warner (Sheriff Hutton); Patrick Smith (Sheriff Hutton); Calum Balding (Thornton le Clay); Sue Walsh (Cawton); Jonathan Pomroy (Gilling East); Stephen Bird (Ampleforth); Mary Raynar (Helmsley); Ruth King (Boltby) and Marcus Jacka (Boltby). For full details, go to: nyos.org.uk. A full brochure is available.
Tim Pearce’s poster artwork for Life Forms In Motion at Blossom Street Gallery, York
York exhibition of the week: Life Forms In Motion, Blossom Street Gallery, Blossom Street, York, until June 30
SIX Yorkshire artists give individual responses to the challenge of interpreting the motion of life forms in a range of static media. In a nutshell, time and space condensed into single, dynamic images.
Taking part are Tim Pearce, painting and sculpture; Cathy Denford, painting; Jo Ruth, printmaking; Adrienne French, painting; Mandy Long, ceramic sculpture, and Lesley Peatfield, photography. Opening hours: Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm; Sundays, 10am to 3pm.
Save our lido: Drip Drop Theatre in All Those On Board at Helmsley Arts Centre
Making a splash: Drip Drop Theatre in All Those On Board, Helmsley Arts Centre, tomorrow, 7.30pm
NORTH Yorkshire company Drip Drop Theatre presents the premiere of E C R Roberts’s new musical All Those On Board, wherein Bingham-by-the-Sea’s Save The Lido group members are determined to save the town’s long-closed 1930s’ swimming pool from demolition.
They need to come up with the funding before the deadline, no matter to what lengths they must go. Fifteen original songs, live instruments, leg-kicking choreography and colourful swimming hats combine in this lido-themed show for fans of upbeat musical theatre and outdoor swimming in whatever form. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Gary Stewart: Playing the Paul Simon songbook at Helmsley Arts Centre
Ryedale gig of the week: Gary Stewart, The Only Living Boy In (New) York: The Songs of Paul Simon, Helmsley Arts Centre, Friday, 7.30pm
PERTHSHIRE-BORN singer, songwriter, folk musician and Hope & Social drummer Gary Stewart’s compositions are influenced by Sixties and Seventies’ folk artists. Chief among them is New Jersey’s Paul Simon, whose songs Easingwold-based Stewart grew up learning and performing.
Here he interprets such Simon standouts as The Boxer, Mrs Robinson, Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard, Kodachrome and Graceland. Box office: 01439 771700 or helmsleyarts.co.uk.
Ryedale Primary Choir: Taking part in Across The Whinny Moor at St Peter’s Church, Norton, on Saturday
Ryedale Festival community event of the week: Across The Whinny Moor, St Peter’s Church, Norton, Saturday, 4pm
THE world premiere of the Community Song Cycle: Across The Whinny Moor follows the trail of North Yorkshire’s Lyke Wake Walk, meeting cheeky hobs, angry mermaids, resourceful giants and wise witches along the way.
The all-age cast for a walk through stories and songs by John Barber and Hazel Gould includes the schoolchildren of the Ryedale Primary Choir, the Ryedale Voices, Harmonia and The RyeLarks choirs, Kirkbymoorside Town Junior Brass Band, storyteller Rosie Barrett and mezzo-soprano soloist Victoria Simmonds, conducted by Caius Lee. Box office: ryedalefestival.ticketsolve.com/ticketbooth/shows/1173652657.
Mezzo-soprano Victoria Simmonds: Singing in Across The Whinny Moor
Tribute gig of the month: The Belgrave House Band presents Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black, Milton Rooms, Malton, June 16, 8pm
THE Belgrave House Band, specialists in reimagining classic albums, have visited Malton previously with their interpretations of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours and David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars.
Now they return with their take on Amy Winehouse’s second album, 2006’s Back To Black, joined by London vocalist Lydia Kotsirea and a full horn section, backing vocalists and rhythm section from the burgeoning Leeds jazz scene. York singer-songwriter Maggie Wakeling supports. Box office: 01653 696240 or themiltonrooms.com.
The poster artwork for Calamity Jane, whip crackin’ its way to the Grand Opera House, York, next spring
Show announcement of the week: Carrie Hope Fletcher in Calamity Jane, Grand Opera House, York, April 29 to May 3 2025
IN the week when Nikolai Foster’s production of An Officer And A Gentleman The Musical is on tour at the Grand Opera House, the York theatre announces the booking of another show with the North Yorkshire director at the helm, this one bound for the West End.
Three-time WhatsOnStage Best Actress in a Musical winner Carrie Hope Fletcher will star in the whip-crackin’ musical as fearless Dakota gun-slinger Calamity Jane. “She is one of those roles that doesn’t come around all too often,” she says. “She’s action, romance and comedy all packed into one character, and I can’t wait to take on the challenge of filling her shoes.” Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
Driven by a vendetta: Guy Rhys’s Captain Ahab in Simple8’s Moby Dick. Picture: Manuel Harlan
MOBY Dick, Herman Melville’s leviathan tale of vengeful whaler versus great white whale, keeps returning to the Yorkshire stage.
Remember Slung Low’s The White Whale on water at Leeds Dock, the one with headphone sets for the audience, in September 2014?
Or John Godber and Nick Love’s version for the John Godber Company, the one with crates and bicycles, in the repurposed dock of Hull’s amphitheatre Stage@TheDock in June 2021?
Now, from Thursday to Saturday, York Theatre Royal plays host to Sebastian Armesto’s adaptation for Simple 8, the indoor one with sea shanties, planks of wood, tattered sheets and a battered assortment of musical instruments.
Why should you see this one? “It’s mercifully brief and means that if you haven’t read the novel you can watch our show and then pretend that you have,” says a droll Sebastian.
“Mercifully brief”? Two hours, including the interval, should you be wondering, as Royal & Derngate artistic director Jesse Jones’s ensemble cast of nine actor-musicians presents “a fun, fast and joyous production that transports you right to the heart of the hunt for the most famous whale on Earth”.
Mirroring whaling voyages, Jones’s ensemble must apply graft, not only conjuring ships, seas, storms and even whales from sparse means, but also playing and singing all the sea shanties live, in the Simple8 house style of “poor theatre” of multiple roles and minimal materials where “everyone does everything”.
Then add the task of taking the nautical indoors as Guy Rhys’s Captain Ahab and the Pequod crew seek vengeance on Moby Dick, the whale responsible for taking his leg.
Sea shanty singing in Simple8’s Moby Dick, on tour at York Theatre Royal. Picture: Manuel Harlan
“Not only the setting is a challenge, but so is the size of the novel the play is adapted from, the ‘ginormity’ of the beast, the scale of the drama, the sky, the sea, and then there are the massive themes of the novel,” says Sebastian.
“In taking it indoors, there’s an element within it that suits the forced imaginative leap, where the suspension of disbelief inherent in theatre is directly within the fabric of the novel too.
“In the book, there are chapters and chapters about what a whale is – its bulk, its history – so it’s a novel that’s trying to devise meaning for everything. The whaling industry. Ahab’s character. Whale behaviour. The existential crisis.”
Sebastian continues: “The idea that you have to do it with nothing on stage sort of aligns with the novel’s struggle with itself. That’s my justification for not doing it in a dry dock, though I might enjoy that.
“I’ve seen a Norwegian production with puppets, a dance production, John Huston’s [1956] movie starring Gregory Peck and Orson Welles: whalers in pursuit of Moby Dick to their eventual demise, just as it will destroy you in pursuit of it. I’m sure it’s folly to try to adapt such books, but it’s also part of the pleasure.”
Sebastian reckons Melville’s novel is “one of those books that people would rather prefer they didn’t have to read, with its meandering passages”, but nevertheless he has a long association with Moby Dick.
“I adapted it a long time ago, previously completing an adaptation in 2010, but it wasn’t until 2013 that we first staged it, when I directed it,” he recalls.
“I was told that I did turn into Captain Ahab, obsessed with physical movement, to the detriment of everyone else, which doesn’t surprise me – and I apologise for that.”
Guy Rhys’s Captain Ahab, centre, leading his crew on the Pequod in Simple8’s Moby Dick. Picture: Manuel Harlan
Reviving his adaptation for Simple8’s tour, the script has changed, “as it inevitably will because it will never be complete,” he says. “Watching it fires me with more ideas and more things that I can do. This production and the text are evolving: the play is fluid, rather than solid.
“It’s been rewarding to go back to it. There are bits that I had forgotten, parts of the novel too, though in the end, there are things in the re-write that have not made it into the new version on stage for practical reasons.”
Significantly too, the existential fear and threat of the Covid 19 virus, its enforced lockdowns and resulting isolation, have given new resonance to the psychological and psychiatric impact of an unknown threat in Moby Dick.
“I come back to the initial discussion about putting Moby Dick on stage, being forced to imagine, when even the characters in the book don’t see Moby until the last 15 pages,” says Sebastian.
“Mime is very important to this production, particularly the idea that the actors are collectively committing to something that is completely imaginary, so there’s a lot of very intense physical storytelling, emphasising how they are grappling with something that they don’t fully understand.
“Post-pandemic, everyone has been grappling with something they couldn’t see, didn’t understand and were contained and confined by. That sense of being pursued by an unseen threat, endangering your survival, is really clear post-Moby Dick, with its imprint on other stories, from Joseph Conrad’s novels to Jaws.”
Simple8, in association with the Royal & Derngate, Northampton, present Moby Dick, York Theatre Royal, June 6 to 8, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Sebastian Armesto: the back story
Sebastian Armesto: Actor, writer and director
Born: June 3 1982. Son of historian Felipe Fernandez-Armesto.
Education: Eton College.
Occupation: Film, television and theatre actor, writer and director.
Acted in high-profile theatre productions in Great Britain, including shows at National Theatre and Royal Court, London.
Writes and directs theatre with Simple 8 company.
Productions include directing and adapting Les Enfants du Paradis; co-writing and directing play based on William Hogarth’s The Four Stages Of Cruelty and new versions of The Cabinet of Dr Caligari and Moby Dick.
Influence on directing style: 1981 Ashes-winning cricket captain, psychotherapist and psychoanalyst Mike Brearley’s book The Art Of Captaincy: What Sport Teaches Us About Leadership.
