Agnes as Tiger Lily, left, Esther as Wendy and Lottie as Tink in York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre’s Wendy & Peter Pan. Picture James Drury
THIS large-scale production marks York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre’s return to the Main House for the first time since 2019.
In scratching that seven-year-itch, it must be hoped that such appearances become a more regular occurrence to complement the smaller shows performed by the various age groups each year.
No fewer than 46 performers aged eight to 19 are participating in head of communities Lydia Crosland and departing head of youth theatre Sophie-Jade Howell’s co-production, supported by seven young people working backstage.
As the title suggests, Wendy & Peter Pan switches the focus to Esther’s plucky Wendy Darling in Ella Hickson’s girl power revamp of J M Barrie’s tale, where Lottie’s Tink blossoms as a sassy, punk-rock Geordie fairy, Sylvie’s Mrs Darling joins the Suffragettes and takes up work as a seamstress two days a week and Agnes’s Tiger Lily is fearlessly free-spirited. The villainous Hook is now female too (as played by Molly; no surnames are included in the digital programme), along with sidekick Smee (Lily).
Harry’s Peter and cast members in York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre’s Wendy & Peter Pan. Picture: James Drury
The men, more particularly Mr Darling (Connor) and the eldest Darling boy, lanky John (Aidan), have lessons to learn and attitudes to be changed in how they look upon women. Hickson stirs the pot and heats the plot with mockery of Edwardian stereotypes and male ego-deflating humour that strikes home with all present. John, you will learn how to use an iron.
Peter (Harry) is a more serious, mysterious and mystical figure than the hands-on-hips, flighty boy In Barrie’s story, here burdened by the need to defeat Hook at all costs, reckless in his treatment of Wendy, but still lithe, athletic and nimble.
A fourth Darling child, the ailing Tom (Elliott), is central to Hickson’s version, his departure from his bed in Peter’s arms inducing divisive grief in the Darling parents and spurring Wendy to try to find him, joined by John and his rather perkier younger brother Michael (Percy).
Kate Marshall’s open-plan town house, Neverland and Jolly Roger set designs are kept busy, busy, busy with an ever-changing roster of Lost Boys, fairies, pirates and more besides, topped off by the Crocodile, divided into linking body parts, each carried at head height. Among the supporting stand-outs are Astrid’s feisty Tootles and Angus’s Martin, who revels in the riff on Dirty Dancing: “No-one puts the camp boy in the corner”.
Lily’s Smee, left, and Molly’s Hook in Wendy & Peter Pan. Picture: James Drury
Not every line is delivered with clarity, while battle scenes are deliberately prone to chaos under York Dance Space’s movement direction, where the Darling children’s flight through the night sky takes the form of being lifted into the air rather than wire-rigging and harnesses. Harry’s Peter evokes flying through gymnastic movement too.
Joe Allen’s compositions and sound design are light on the feet, often playful but moving too when the mood demands.
At the heart of Hickson’s punchy reinvention – “Bog off” exclamation et al – is Wendy no longer being satisfied with merely “playing mother”, but leading the campaign against Hook’s ragbag pirates, overcoming Tink’s initial jealousy and bonding with Tiger Lily. How fitting that Esther’s Wendy should take a solo round of applause after everyone else has left the stage.
York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre in Wendy & Peter Pan, York Theatre Royal, 7pm tonight; 2pm & 7pm tomorrow. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre cast members revelling in performing Wendy & Peter Pan on the Main House stage. Picture: James Drury
Jared More, left, and Matthew Rutherford in Riding Lights Theatre Company’s The Selfish Giant
A GIANT in a garden, Wendy turning piratical in a re-imagined Peter Pan, a slapstick take on The Three Musketeers and an enlightening Helmsley exhibition are among Charles Hutchinson’s highlights in the week ahead.
Inspirational tale of love and generosity of the week: Riding Lights Theatre Company in The Selfish Giant, Friargate Theatre, Lower Friargate, York, until Saturday, 1.30pm and 4.30pm
STEP into the magical world of the Giant’s garden, a place full of music, beauty, bird song and stories in Jon Boustead’s stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s The Selfish Giant. The Giant, however, is cross when he returns to find children – children! – playing happily in his beautiful orchard, whereupon he erects a big wall to put a stop to all the fun.
Once winter seizes the garden in its icy fingers, will summer ever return? Through storytelling, interactive games, live music and puppetry, York company Riding Lights presents a 50-minute play for family audiences. Box office: 01904 613000 or friargatetheatre.co.uk. Age recommendation: Three upwards.
York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre’s cast in Wendy & Peter Pan. Picture: James Drury
Neverland revamped: York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre in Wendy & Peter Pan, York Theatre Royal, tomorrow to Saturday, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee
YORK Theatre Royal Youth Theatre returns to the Main House stage for the first time since 2019 for 46 performers, aged eight to 19, to present Ella Hickson’s feminist take on J M Barrie’s Peter Pan in Lydia Crosland and Sophie-Jade Howell’s large-scale production.
A quiet sadness permeates the Darling household, until the unexpected arrival of a mischievous young boy called Peter and a rather sassy fairy, Tink, whereupon Wendy leads the rebellious lost boys, takes on the terrifying Captain Hook, finds the key to her parents’ lost happiness and discovers the power of being brave and strong. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
The poster for Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries
Spoken-word gig of the week: Say Owt presents Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries by Pete the Temp, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm
POET, author and comic Pete the Temp’s Romantics, Mystics and Revolutionaries is a spoken-word show about rebellion, resistance and wild imagination. The 1800s’ Romantic movement began as a rebellion: against empire, industry and the mechanisation of the soul. Yorkshire became the epicentre of its rebellion.
Tomorrow’s storytelling stage show fuses scholarship with music, comedy and poetry in a spellbinding history of riot, repression and psychedelic experimentation. As we face this age of despair, find out what we can learn from past dreams of freedom and renewal. Bangladeshi-Geordie spoken-word poet and creative practitioner Tahmina Ali supports with her explorations of identity, belonging, motherhood, mental health and cultural inheritance, viewed through a distinctly northern lens. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
Our Star Theatre Company: Whirlwind of confusion, mayhem and comical mishaps in The Three Musketeers
Slapstick silliness of the week: Our Star Theatre Company in The Three Musketeers, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Friday, 7.30pm
OUR Star Theatre Company’s re-telling of The Three Musketeers is packed with humour, audience participation and energetically silly turns as a small troupe of performers gears up for its debut performance of Alexandre Dumas’s story.
However, what starts as a simple theatrical endeavour soon unravels into a whirlwind of confusion, mayhem and comical mishaps. From forgotten lines to chaotic set changes, the actors become entangled in a series of blunders. Box office: 01904 501935 or josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
York actress Frances Marshall in rehearsal for Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar. Picture: Tony Bartholomew
Premiere of the week: Alan Ayckbourn’s The Trial Of Romeo Oscar, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, Friday to October 4
ALAN Ayckbourn’s 92nd play is his first courtroom drama, one set in the future, as he explores the question that artists have been asking for centuries: what makes us human?
In 2194, humanity is scattered around the solar system and day-to-day life on Earth looks very different. Preparations are underway for a landmark legal case. Romeo Oscar, a military issue android, is on trial for murder: the first non-human to be tried in a court of law. The evidence is polarising and selecting an impartial jury is proving a challenge. Box office: 01723 370541 or sjt.uk.com.
See the world more curiously in: Be Like Blippi, York Barbican, Saturday, 1pm and 4pm
JOIN Blippi and Meekah for a one-of-a-kind interactive adventure that inspires children to move, play and explore like Blippi in a new show packed with high-energy music and surprises, featuring fan favourites The Excavator Song, Monster Truck, Dino Dance and Curious Like Me.
Equipped with Blippi’s signature mix of play, learning, and exploration, Be Like Blippi invites you to break out your orange Blippi glasses and ignite your spark of curiosity. Please note, Blippi and Meekah will be played by professional stage performers. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
The Illegal Eagles: Checking into the Hotel California at York Barbican
Tribute gig of the week: The Illegal Eagles, Hotel California Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.30pm
THE Illegal Eagles mark 30 years on the road in 2026 with their new Hotel California Tour. Renowned for their vocal and guitar prowess and ability to re-create the legendary sound of the Eagles, the tribute act’s milestone itinerary features a full performance of the iconic Hotel California album, featuring Life In The Fast Lane, New Kid in Town and the unforgettable title track. Expect all the timeless Eagles greatest hits too. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Robert Dutton & Andrew Moodie: Launching Into The Light exhibition at Helmsley Arts Centre
Exhibition of the week: Robert Dutton & Andrew Moodie, Into The Light, Helmsley Arts Centre, September 8 to 30
THIS exhibition presents landscapes that evoke a strong affinity for different reasons. Dramatic mountainous terrain, breathtaking moorland landscapes and coastal sea sand and communities all have their place.
“We hope that Into the Light may extend beyond the artwork to suggest a sense of optimism, moving from darkness to light, in a sometimes troubled world,” say artists Robert Dutton and Andrew Moodie. “The paintings are presented both to inspire you and also to bring you that same sense of awe and wonder with nature that we felt as we painted them, enjoying the unique quality of the light that led us to each location.”
Jeanette Hunter’s Pearl, left, Jackie Cox’s Jan, Nicki Clay’s Shelley and Gemma McDonald’s Linda in MARMiTE Theatre’s Ladies Day. Picture: Lucy Baines
Racing romp of the week: MARMiTE Theatre in Ladies Day, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, September 8 to 12, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee
LIFE is one long slog for four fish factory packers from Hull, Pearl, Jan, Shelley and Linda, but their fortunes could change when they head to Knavesmire on the day Royal Ascot came to York in 2005.
Factory hairnets make way for fascinators as the friends hit the racecourse for an unforgettable day out. Secrets are spilled, along with copious amounts of champagne, as their friendships are tested to the limits in Martyn Hunter’s s production of Amanda Whittington’s comedy gem. Box office:https://tickets.41monkgate.co.uk/
Louisa Ashdown in the rehearsal room for Hephaestus Theatre’s Richard iii Redux
Introducing: Hephaestus Theatre in Richard iii Redux, The Basement, City Screen Playhouse, York, September 10, 7.30pm
UNIVERSITY of York theatre graduates Eleanor Doig (producer) and Louisa Ashdown (director and performer) introduce new York company Hephaestus Theatre in Kaite O’Reilly and Phillip Zarrilli’s dark comedy Richard iii Redux.
The company’s mission is to tell disabled stories and put disabled and neuro-diverse actors on stage and behind the scenes, this time with Ashdown playing The Actor opposite Georgina Way’s Presenter (on film) in a journey to find who the real Richard iii was while exploring the challenges of being a disabled actor. Box office: eventbrite.co.uk.
Maria Gray in a scene from Your Sin, filmed at York Theatre Royal
INDEPENDENT film director and screenwriter Miles Watts first met movement director, actress and voiceover artist Maria Gray while walking their dogs in Barton-le-Willows, near York.
Maria needed to make a show reel, calling on Miles’s filmmaking skills. “Maria mentioned she’d never made a feature film. We bonded together and set up Outward Films, agreeing to make a film with no budget,” says Miles, best known for his Zomblogalypse horror/comedy web series.
As the company’s profile puts it at mileswatts.com/work/outwardfilms: “Outward Films is a creative partnership dreamt up by writers and filmmakers Miles Watts and Oliver Semple and actor and writer Maria Gray. All three unsavoury characters reside near the hazy metropolis of York, UK.
“Between us, we’ve written, produced, directed and acted in plays, series and films our whole lives, and have joined forces to create an ambitious slate of new work including feature films shot on iPhone, micro-budget movies for international audiences and a stack of screenplays across genres”.
Vicky Parry’s logo design for Outward Films, featuring the silhouette of Wattshisface
If you look at the logo for Outward Films, designed by Miles’s partner Vicky Parry, you will note it resembles a tatty luggage label bearing the image of a scruffy person – not even slightly based on someone she knows – looking out at the big wide world and daydreaming of stories and adventures.
“That’s our entire ethos,” says Miles. “We’re small-town creators with ambitious dreams. Maria is making her break into features with our first iPhone movie, Your Sin, a theatre-set drama-thriller which she wrote and stars in.”
Your Sin is now in post-production for the rest of the year after eight days of filming, wrapped at York Theatre Royal on June 16. “I once shot a film in only six days. That was my second movie,” says Miles. “There are so many limits to film-making, so this time we thought, ‘let’s get our iPhones out’, as there’s a renaissance of this form of film-making.
“Like the indie horror film Obsession, which was made on a budget of under $1m in 20 days, has been outselling the latest Star Wars at the box office!”
The poster for Maria Gray and Miles Watts’ debut film for Outward Films, Your Sin
York Theatre Royal came on board to permit filming in The Studio, such as for a nightclub scene in its guise as The Old Paint Shop cabaret club, and in the Main House too, and further locations included the Brew & Brownie cafe at 7.30am one morning, Kirkham Woods, Howsham Wood and LazenbyBrown in Shambles.
“We told actors there was no money for the film, but they wanted to audition anyway,” says Miles, whose principal players are David Ajao, Kate Hampson and Liam Wilks, alongside Maria.
“A lot of the ladies in the film are students from the film and acting course at York St John University who are making their own iPhone movies.”
Maria adds: “We couldn’t believe how many people came forward to audition. From 10am to 4pm over two days in the Keregan Room at the Theatre Royal, we saw over 30 actors, and we received lots of self-tapes too.”
Miles Watts, second from left, filming on iPhone at York Theatre Royal
Written by Miles and Maria, Your Sin depicts a troupe of actors making a movie for a notorious director in a theatre with a ghostly legend. However, as the filming begins, there are more skeletons in the closet than ghosts in the shadows.
“It’s a film within a film, with the film. Very meta,” says Miles. “A film about making a film about people making a film! Then the film has a ghost element where they think a ghost is having an influence on the film and everyone starts thinking about how every theatre has a ghost – or not!” Should you be wondering, the film within the film is called The Sinful Virgin.
“It’s the first straight drama I’ve ever done, so there are no jokes,” says Miles, whose horror films are usually laced with darkest humour.
Maria, who plays an aspiring actor called Maria, fell pregnant during the film project. “We’ve now written Maria’s pregnancy into the story, with a story strand about the mistreatment of actors who are pregnant. We wanted to show you can work with pregnant actors,” says Miles. “I said, it’s not a problem; in fact, let’s make a virtue of it’.”
A poster image for Outward Films’ thriller Your Sin
Maria says: “The whole concept of the film is to consider how much should an actor say No to something; how much is the actor’s responsibility for their safety and wellbeing if they’re not comfortable with doing something? How much autonomy do they have? How much pressure are they under to say Yes all the time?”
Filming on iPhone has its advantages and one disadvantage. “The biggest problem is running out of storage,” says Miles. “But filming on iPhone is way more accessible. Everyone has a film camera in their pocket – even my mum has one and she’s 80. If you can learn how to use these things, anyone can make a film.
“Using an iPhone makes film-making very liberating, where I’m more in control than working with a cameraman.”
Maria takes on the role of producer for Outward Films’ next iPhone feature film, Drop Dead!, a horror mystery that “looks back to 1999 with its promise of cinematic DIY freedom that’s experiencing a renaissance in 2026”.
Your Sin’s principal cast and production team in tandem at York Theatre Royal
“We start production for film number two in Harrogate in under a week’s time, with the last day of filming set for September 8 after two blocks of three-day shoots,” says director Miles, who has written the script with Alan Melikdjanian.
The cast will include Tom Mordell, Juné Tiamatakorn and York Theatre Royal pantomime star Tommy Carmichael in the tale of six friends deciding to capitalise on the DIY filmmaking boom in 1999 by making their own horror movie, but the forces of evil have other ideas.
York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre’s cast for Wendy & Peter Pan. Picture: James Drury
YORK Theatre Royal Youth Theatre will perform on the Main House stage for the first time since 2019 in a large-scale production of Ella Hickson’s Wendy & Peter Pan from September 3 to 5.
Forty-six young performers aged eight to 19 will perform this magical re-telling of J M Barrie’s Peter Pan, where the focus now falls on Wendy’s adventures in Neverland.
Performers are drawn from all the youth theatre groups, as well as newcomers, while a further seven young people are supporting the production as backstage crew, from stage management, sound and lighting to craft and prop making.
Lydia Crosland, York Theatre Royal’s head of communities for five years, is co-directing the show with Sophie-Jade Howell in her last production after two years as head of youth theatre before leaving the Theatre Royal on September 23 to take up a new youth theatre post at Leeds Heritage Theatres.
“This is such a wonderful opportunity to showcase the talent of our brilliant Youth Theatre community, both on stage and off,” says Lydia. “There is something truly special about co-creating a show with young people and I can’t wait to watch their creativity shine. We’re seeking to make a production where young people really feel ownership of it.”
Sophie-Jade says: “Ella Hickson’s take on the Peter Pan story is so beautiful and heartfelt. It’s got everything I love in an adventure: raucous pirate battles, a punk-rock fairy and plenty of magic and mischief along the way. We have such a talented company of young performers and I know the whole process will be such a blast!”
Soar up into the night sky with Wendy, Peter and Tink in Hickson’s fairy dust-sprinkled girl power account of Barrie’s story as a quiet sadness besets the Darling household, until the unexpected arrival of a mischievous young boy called Peter and a rather sassy fairy, Tink.
Sophie-Jade Howell, left, and Lydia Crosland, co-directors of York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre’s production of Wendy & Peter Pan
Cue Wendy leading the rebellious Lost Boys, taking on the terrifying Captain Hook, finding the key to her parents’ lost happiness and discovering the power of being brave and strong.
“We picked the play with the young people from our Youth Theatre Forum,” says Sophie-Jade. “We hold 13 youth theatre sessions per week in term time, and from each class two people take part in the forum.
“We were encouraged by the theatre management to pick a classic, which I’m always excited by because there are loads of stories that be told in new ways.
“We brought the forum four or five plays to choose from, and Ella Hickson’s play won unanimously. We did a reading and got everyone interacting on their feet.”
Wendy & Peter Pan appealed to the co-directors and youth members alike with its radical re-positioning of Wendy in the storyline. “I always think, ‘why does Wendy only get to play at being as mum in J M Barrie’s story, when everyone else gets to be a pirate?’,” says Lydia.
“But in this play, she does get to do battle with the pirates , and everyone really identified with that, wanting to celebrate their empowerment. Tink is sassy too, and Mrs Darling joins the Suffragettes and takes a job as a seamstress and dress maker, so all the female roles are much more fleshed out.”
Sophie-Jade adds: “It’s now Wendy’s story. It just felt right to us as creatives to look at this story in a new way, and it’s exciting to do that in a feminist way. When you’re working with this age group, you have to look at stories that speak to them in a contemporary way.”
Molly as Captain Hook and Esther as Wendy in York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre’s Wendy & Peter Pan. Picture: James Drury
Hickson’s play features a fourth Darling child, Tom, a Lost Boy, whose loss necessitates Wendy to become his mother figure because the parents are so grief-stricken.
“The story has real heart to it,” says Lydia. “But there are comedic moments too; it’s funny and playful at times, raucous too, and because of that, the emotional, tender moments work even better, to contrast with the absolute carnage of the pirate scenes!”
Lydia and Sophie-Jade are joined in the production team by designer Kate Marshall and lighting designer Craig Kilmartin and composer and sound designer Joe Allen, with music being co-created by York Theatre Royal’s Youth Theatre and Access All Areas group, complemented by actor-musician students from Leeds Conservatoire.
York Dance Space will also be supporting with movement direction for the show. “We’re trying to move away from the traditional idea of Peter Pan flying across the stage,” says Sophie Jade. “We’re using physical theatre and puppetry instead, with lots of lifting and movement.”
York Theatre Royal’s Autumn Youth Theatre will start again for another term from September 21 with places available for children of all ages from five to 19.
The weekly drama sessions take place at York Theatre Royal, York College and York St John University, offering young people a fun way to develop performance skills, improve their confidence and make new friends. For more details on how to take part, go to: https://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/be-part-of-it/children-and-young-people/youth-theatre.
On September 24, Sophie- Jade will begin her new post “updating the youth theatre programme” with Leeds Heritage Theatres, which runs Leeds Grand Theatre, Leeds City Varieties Music Hall and Hyde Park Picturehouse.
“”I’m really sad to be leaving because York Theatre Royal has been my home,” she says. “I’m not leaving for any other reason than that I live in Leeds.”
York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre presents Wendy & Peter Pan, York Theatre Royal, September 3 to 5, 7pm plus 2pm Saturday matinee. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk. Age guidance: five plus. The show is being made with support from The Feoffees of St Michael’s Spurriergate, York Youth Partnership Funding and the York Common Good Trust.
Age guidance: Five plus. Content guidance: This production has theatrical smoke, sudden loud noises and audience participation (a large inflatable ball will be passed around the Stalls).
The poster image for York Theatre Royal’s co-production of Death Of A Salesman with Glasgow Citizens Theatre.Picture: FEAST
YORK Theatre Royal will present a major new revival of Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman as the centrepiece of the new season.
In a first for the St Leonard’s Place theatre, the production will be co-produced with Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre.
Directed by Citizens Theatre artistic director Dominic Hill, Death Of A Salesman will open at York Theatre Royal on March 2 2027, preceded by previews from February 24, and will run until March 27 before transferring to Glasgow from April 7 to May 1 2027.
Richard Grassie’s image for Emma Rice Company’s revival of Tristant & Yseult
Miller’s heartbreaking story of the pursuit of wealth and popularity remains devastatingly relevant today. After 34 years on the road, Willy Loman returns home exhausted, having sacrificed everything in pursuit of success and recognition. Yet the American Dream seems always just out of reach.
When his career falters and the debts mount, Willy is lost in memories of the past as his family tries desperately to reconcile the man they love with the tragic consequences of his delusions.
In another co-production, York Theatre Royal will continue its creative collaboration with the Emma Rice Company and Nottingham Playhouse in a revival of Kneehigh and Emma Rice’s Tristan & Yseult. Last seen on stage in 2017,the production will be staged at York Theatre Royal from April 6 to 17 as part of a nationwide UK tour.
The artwork for John Godber’s new play This Is The Life, touring York Theatre Royal next January
Paul Crewes, York Theatre Royal’s chief executive officer, says: “We’re very excited about this upcoming season. Most notably, in a first for us, we will be working with our friends at Citizens Theatre in Glasgow on Arthur Miller’s modern classic Death Of A Salesman, directed by the fabulous Dominic Hill. This is a wonderful collaboration with a great theatre.
“Spring 2027 will also see us co-producing again with the Emma Rice Company and Nottingham Playhouse on a revival of Tristan & Yseult. I have such fond memories of originally producing this show with Emma when we were both at Kneehigh alongside Mike Shepherd. I can’t wait for York audiences to have the chance to finally see this production that successfully toured the world for many years.”
Paul continues: “These productions join the line-up of our other produced work already on sale, including our revival of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad later this year with Amelia Bullmore as Penelope, our Youth Theatre production of Wendy And Peter Pan and the highlight of the festive season, our panto Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.
The Penelopiad: Directed by York Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster this autumn
“Our dance programme also continues to be one of the most exciting in the north of England, with the return of London City Ballet, the world premiere of the latest show from Carlos Acosta and the Acosta Danza Company and Ben Duke’s Lost Dog coming to York for the first time. I hope we have given audiences plenty to look forward to with a range of classics, new work and family favourites on our stage.”
Dominic Hill, artistic director of Citizens Theatre, says: “I am delighted to be directing a new production of this brilliant Arthur Miller play that is one of the most influential works of the 20th century.
Lost Dog’s Juliet & Romeo, playing York Theatre Royal on November 20 and 21. Picture: Paul Blakemore
“It could not be more timely in the age of Donald Trump’s politics of greed and toxic masculinity. But Death Of A Salesman is also an ordinary working man’s story, as a family tries to wrestle with living up to expectation and forging their own path. I can’t wait to see the reaction from audiences in York and Glasgow to this new production.”
Other highlights include the UK premiere of Acosta Danza’s Cuban Baroque, in collaboration with York Theatre Royal, running from October 1 to 3. The visiting programme also includes the UK premiere of London City Ballet: Firebird – A Mixed Bill ( co-produced by York Theatre Royal, London City Ballet and Opera De Vichy) on September 18 and 19.
In a new touring production starring Jane Asher and Samantha Womack from November 10 to 14, Daisy Goodwin’s By Royal Appointment tells the story of Queen Elizabeth II’s life behind-the-scenes. Lost Dog’s dance-theatre duet Juliet And Romeo flips the story of Romeo And Juliet on its head, blending dance, comedy and theatre on November 20 and 21.
The poster artwork for By Royal Appointment, booked into York Theatre Royal for November 10 to 14
York Theatre Royal will welcome back a variety of York and Yorkshire companies in the upcoming season in the Studio, including York Actors Collective in The Strongbox (October 28 to 31) and Story Craft Theatre’s festive production of The Enormous Christmas Pudding (December 16 to 24).
Wakefield’s John Godber Company will return with John Godber’s new play, This Is The Life, from January 27 to 30 in the Main House, where York Light Opera Company will perform the Dolly Parton musical, 9 To 5 – The Musical, from February 4 to 13.
THE EMMA Rice Company has announced the cast for the 2026-2027 revival of Emma Rice’s Tristan & Yseult, booked into York Theatre Royal for April 6 to 17 next year.
First produced in 2003 and last seen on stage in 2017, now the new production will be co-produced by York Theatre Royal and Nottingham Playhouse and will preview at Theatre Royal, Bath, from September 11.
John Leader and Nandi Bhebhe will lead the cast as Tristan and Yseult, joined by Matthew Churcher (Frocin), Tom Fox(Morholt and Brangian), Jack Heydon(Love Spotter), Stephanie Hockley (Whitehands), Edward Rowe(King Mark) and Nigel Sudarkasa (Love Spotter).
In the band will be Pat Moran, Stu Barker, Harry Miller, Philippa Hogg and, as alternate for the New York run, Mary Johnson.
John Leader: Cast as Tristan in Emma Rice Company’s Tristan & Yseult
Staged originally by Cornish company Kneehigh and Emma Rice, Tristan & Yseult opened in the open air at Restormel Castle in Cornwall and Rufford Abbey in Nottinghamshire. In 2004, it played cliff-side Minack Theatre, in Porthcurno, Cornwall, before being re-imagined as an indoor production for the Cottesloe at the National Theatre in 2005. Now, the new UK tour marks the first time Tristan & Yseulthas been performed to audiences since 2017.
Written by Anna Maria Murphy and Carl Grose and adapted and directed by Rice, the show will be staged by a creative team featuring Stu Barker (composer), Simon Baker (sound designer), Malcolm Rippeth (lighting designer) and Etta Murfitt (choreographer & intimacy coordinator). Bill Mitchelll’s original set and costume design is refreshed by Vicki Mortimer.
One of the most influential theatre productions of the 21st century, Tristan & Yseult’s “poem to love and its madness” is returning for the first time in ten years, offering a rare chance to encounter a modern masterpiece fresh and live on stage.
Visceral, playful and heartbreakingly beautiful, Rice’s internationally celebrated production blends myth, music, movement and storytelling. Box office: 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Nandi Bhebhe: Cast as Yseult in Emma Rice Company’s Tristan & Yseult
The Penelopiad: One of the shows in the new free membership scheme for £15 tickets for young theatregoers at York Theatre Royal
YORK Theatre Royal is launching a new free membership scheme for 16 to 30-year-olds to provide the opportunity to enjoy the best seats in the house for only £15.
They can book two tickets (one for themselves, one for a friend or family member of any age) for a variety of Theatre Royal main-house productions.
Shows on offer include such Theatre Royal in-house dramas as Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad and Arthur Miller’s Death Of A Salesman; world-class dance performances in London City Ballet’s Firebird and Acosta Danza’s Cuban Baroque; musical offerings from York Light Opera Company, including 9 To 5 The Musical, and much more besides.
16-30 YTR Members also will acquire access to invitations to exclusive membership events and monthly £15 Club newsletters to keep up to date when new shows are added.
For each production included in the discount scheme, 100 £15 tickets will be released, available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The cast for York Theatre Royals’ revival of The Penelopiad
AMID the summer buzz over Christopher Nolan’s film account of The Odyssey, the full cast and creative team is in place for York Theatre Royal’s autumn revival of Margaret Atwood’s The Penelopiad.
Joining the already announced Amelia Bullmore in the leading role of Penelope will be Nell Baker (Laertes), Danielle Bird (Eurycleia), Olivia Burton-Laws (Naiad Mother), Theatre Royal pantomime alumna Faye Campbell (Melantho), Pena Iiyambo (Helen), Kat Johns-Burke (Antonius), Syakira Moeladi (Telemachus) and Charlie Russell (Odysseus).
Directed by Theatre Royal creative director Juliet Forster, the production will open on October 14, with previews from October 10, and will run until October 31.
“Margaret Atwood is such a phenomenal writer – she’s clever, witty, subversive and her insights into human dynamics are acutely well observed,” says Juliet. “The Penelopiad is a funny, moving, fast-paced, visual feast, a classical tale told through a contemporary lens. The epic, heroic story of The Odysseywill never look the same again! I am thrilled we will be staging it here at York Theatre Royal, and I can’t wait to get started on the show.”
The Penelopiad writer Margaret Atwood. Picture: Luis Mora, 2020
Adapted for the stage by Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood from her 2005 novella, The Penelopiad’s feminist retelling of The Odyssey reimagines Homer’s epic through the eyes of Penelope and her chorus of maids.
Atwood, author of the modern feminist classic The Handmaid’s Tale, presents a powerful, irreverent and darkly humorous retelling that unpicks one of the oldest of myths. Immortalised as the devoted and faithful wife to the glorious Odysseus, Penelope waits 20 years for her husband to return from the Trojan War, silently weaving and unpicking and weaving again. Now it is time to hear the story of those left behind.
Reimagining this ancient tale, Atwood gives voice to the silenced Penelope and her maids. Wandering the underworld, Penelope spins a different kind of thread: her side of the story – a tale of injustice, betrayal and revenge.
Forster, director of such York Theatre Royal productions as Little Women and Around The World In 80 Days-ish!, will deliver an exuberant and witty retelling that questions the version of events we think we know and exposes the truth behind the myth.
Juliet Forster: Director of York Theatre Royal’s production of The Penelopiad
Juliet says: “It has been such a joy to meet so many brilliant women over the last couple of months, and what a phenomenally talented cast and creative team we have lined up for The Penelopiad. It is clear just how strongly this story resonates with people today, and I am looking forward to a rehearsal room buzzing with excitement and creativity.
“Margaret Atwood’s powerful script is so rich with wit and humour as she unveils a new feminist perspective on the familiar Odyssey myth. The show is interwoven with songs and exuberant movement and we hope to offer audiences an entirely different way of understanding the story of Penelope and her maids – and most importantly a great night out.”
Amelia Bullmore will return to the stage to star as Penelope, having last trod the boards in the 2018 revival of Annie Baker’s 2009 play Circle Mirror Transformation at HOME, Manchester.
Amelia says:“I’m thrilled I’m going to be working at York Theatre Royal – such a beautiful theatre – on this fantastic play. The Penelopiad manages to be funny, dark, moving and provocative by turns. And it’s Margaret Atwood, so the writing is uniquely brilliant. I think audiences will love how playful it is and how directly it connects with them.”
Amelia Bullmore: Cast as Penelope in The Penelopiad
Welcoming her to York, Juliet says: “It is wonderful to have Amelia on board to lead the cast for The Penelopiad. Penelope is such a fascinating and complex character in Margaret Atwood’s retelling and I know Amelia will do her justice! I can’t wait to work with her to bring this compelling story to the stage for York audiences.”
Joining Forster in the all-female creative team will be designer Sara Perks, lighting designer Alexandra Stafford, composer, musical director and sound designer Kate Marlais, movement director Michelle Edwards and casting director Ellie Collyer-Bristow.
To ensure as many people as possible can enjoy the show, the first preview on October 10 will be offered on a ‘Pay What You Choose’ basis, allowing audiences to pay as little or as much as they wish.
The York Theatre Royal Choir will present special foyer performances for audiences on October 10 and press night, October 14, before the 7.30pm shows start.
Tickets are on sale on 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
York Theatre Royal’s poster for The Penelopiad. Concept: Émilie Chen. Photography: Camilla Greenwell
Did you know?
MARGARET Atwood’s The Penelopiad premiered at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon, in July 2007 in a co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Canada’s National Arts Centre. York Theatre Royal’s production marks the first major UK revival since that original staging.
Amelia Bullmore: back story
THEATRE credits include Circle Mirror Transformation (HOME Manchester); A Christmas Carol (Noël Coward Theatre); The Norman Conquests (The Old Vic and Circle in the Square Theatre, New York); The Crucible (Sheffield Crucible); Really Old, Like Forty Five (National Theatre); Road and The Queen And I (Leicester Haymarket, Royal Court Theatre and UK tour).
Also, The Thickness Of Skin (Royal Court Theatre); A View From The Bridge, Romeo And Juliet (Royal Exchange Theatre and UK Tour); All My Sons and How The Other Half Loves (Cheltenham Everyman); Be-Bop-A-Lula (Liverpool Playhouse and UK tour); The Red Balloon (Contact Theatre); The Threepenny Opera (Birmingham Rep); Major Barbara and Sweet Bird Of Youth (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow);The Way Of The World (Wilton’s Musical Hall) and Ladies In The Lift (Red Stockings Theatre Company.)
Her television credits include Riot Women; The Buccaneers; Happy Valley; Gentleman Jack; Scott & Bailey (as series regular DCI Gill Murray and co-writer); Twenty Twelve; The Crown; Vienna Blood; I’m Alan Partridge; Jam; Big Train; State Of Play; Ashes To Ashes; The Jetty; Marble Hall Murders;The Larkins and Coronation Street (as series regular Steph Barnes).
Her films include Mrs Dalloway, Festival, The Truth, Endgame and What We Did On Our Holiday.
She is an acclaimed writer for TV, radio and stage. Her play Di And Viv And Rose premiered at Hampstead Theatre, London before transferring to the Vaudeville Theatre in the West End.
Christina Bianco in the role of June Carter Cash in The Ballad Of Johnny & June. Picture: Michael Wharley
AFTER sold-out seasons at La Jolla Playhouse, San Diego, California, and the Citadel Theatre, Edmonton, Canada, Christopher Ryan Grant is playing Johnny Cash on tour in The Ballad Of Johnny & June. Next stop, Grand Opera House, York, from June 30 to June.
Joining him as June Carter Cash will be Drama Desk Award nominee Christina Bianco, the American actress, singer and impersonator last seen in York playing the multi-voiced LV in Jim Cartwright’s tragic-comedy The Rise Of Little Voice at York Theatre Royal in July 2022.
Christina had hankered after the role of the reclusive LV for a decade and what a performance she delivered, mastering an Oldham accent, suitably quiet and diffident yet full of stage presence as she brought the house down with her myriad voices.
“I had the time of my life there because York was one of those places where, when I opened a book, I thought it looked so beautiful, so magical,” she recalls. “Then when Ian [York-born actor and fellow cast member Ian Kelsey] took me around all the sights, it was hard to take it all in, so this time I have a list of things I’d like to see and others I want to go back to.”
Christina Bianco on her guided tour of York with Ian Kelsey, her fellow actor in The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice at York Theatre Royal, in July 2022
Christina has been living in the UK for “coming up five years now”. “In fact, it was just before ‘Little Voice’ that I made the move with my husband Bill and our dog Jeff Vader, who’s an adorable Schnauzer/Poodle mix,” she says.
“He’s almost 17 years old, so I guess I started the ‘oodle’ mix trend, though I didn’t know I was trendy at the time! I’m a life-long New Yorker but Jeff Vader’s life has been improved by living in the UK.”
Now Christina is enjoying starring in the new musical co-created and shaped by the recollections of John Carter Cash, Johnny and June’s son, whose role in the show will be played by Ryan O’Donnell, who narrates the story from the son’s perspective.
In that story, love is a burning thing, and no-one burned brighter than Johnny and June. He was a small-town musician and storyteller with a volcanic voice that stirred the soul. She was a multi-talented performer and a music pioneer. The pair married in 1968 and remained together until June’s death in 2003.
“I feel a great responsibility to present June as accurately as possible, without doing an impression,” says Christina
“I’d heard of the show when it was at La Jolla Playhouse, where I had a couple of friends in the cast,” says Christina. “I’m a big fan of Johnny and June Carter Cash, with my dad being a DJ, so I had my eye and ear on it when it was being built, but then I did sort of forget about it.
“But then I remember sitting in my dressing room when playing the Narrator in Joseph And The Amazing Dreamcoat – an absolute dream come true, doing my eight shows a week, when the Narrator does more than usual, playing other roles, working my booty off – and I was thinking it would be great to do more of an acting role next.”
Whereupon she received Des McAnuff and Robert Cary’s script for The Ballad Of Johnny & June from the show’s producers, Trafalgar Theatre Productions. “It was so true to Johnny and June’s story, and the fact the piece has the blessing and input of John Carter Cash makes it a show like none other,” says Christina. “The film [James Mangold’s 2005 biopic Walk The Line] is only about 60 per cent accurate, whereas it’s so special that this show comes from the family.”
No doubt that is music to the ears of John Carter Cash, who has said: “It has meant a great deal to me to be involved in bringing this new musical to the stage and see my parents Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash’s story told with such care, heart and honesty.
“Johnny and June’s music was inseparable from their lives, and this musical captures that truth through powerful story telling by a brilliant company, set to their genre-defining music. I have loved working with the creative team, and my family and I are both delighted and proud that audiences across the UK and Ireland get to see this celebration of their legacy.”
Christina Bianco with Christopher Ryan Grant, her fellow American co-star in The Ballad Of Johnny & June. “We got on like a house on fire immediately, bringing out the New Yorker in me. We just seemed to fit together perfectly,” she says. Picture: Michael Wharley
In turn, Christina is delighted to be working with two-time Tony Award-winning director Des McAnuff, whose credits include Jersey Boys, The Who’s Tommy and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.
“Des and musical director and arranger Ron Melrose, who worked with Des on Jersey Boys, are names I have respected and revered all my working life, and nothing can prepare you for the first meeting,” she says.
“You know the music well, but there was a pressure to get it right, every word, every line, and it went so well that I was sure I wasn’t going to get the part! But it turned out I got the job very early on, and it did feel like a marriage made in heaven.
Christopher Ryan Grant’s Johnny Cash and Christina Bianco’s June Carter Cash in a scene from The Ballad Of Johnny & June. Picture: Pamela Raith Photography
“I then met Christopher Ryan Grant – who my friends in America said had been so marvellous as Johnny – at the photo-call last November and we got on like a house on fire immediately, bringing out the New Yorker in me. We just seemed to fit together perfectly.”
As for playing June, Christina says: “Without giving too much away, the story focuses a lot on June, her story. Like Johnny, she had her problems with addiction [prescription pills in later life], though people didn’t know that, but it’s in John Carter Cash’s book. I feel a great responsibility to present her as accurately as possible, without doing an impression.”
Summing up a show that is as much a play with music as a musical, Christina says: “Like any good musical, it will have you singing along, it will make you laugh, make you cry and hopefully leave you thinking there’s hope in the story of love and redemption – and who doesn’t need that?”
The Ballad Of Johnny & June – The Johnny Cash Musical, Grand Opera House, York, July 28 to August 1, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday matinees. Box office: atgtickets.com/york.
The latest tour poster for The Ballad Of Johnny & June, The Johnny Cash Musical
NEWSFLASH
ON July 29 at 1pm, the Grand Opera House has organised a pop-up performance by The Ballad Of Johnny & June principal cast members Christina Bianco (June Carter Cash), Christopher Ryan Grant (Johnny Cash) and Ryan O’Donnell (John Carter Cash) at Forty Five Vinyl Cafe, Micklegate, York’s Nashville-inspired home of concerts by American country acts, record store and coffee house.
“They will play a short selection of songs from the show, which we are really excited about,” says marketing and communications manager Lucy Perrins.
Hannah Davies & Jack Woods in tandem. Picture: Matt Jopling
THE Ballad Of Blea Wyke began as a five-minute commission for the Green Shoots project at York Theatre Royal in May 2022 that demanded further exploration.
Then came the Scarborough Fair Fringe premiere of the 60-minute version in June 2025.
Now, North Yorkshire slam champion poet, theatre-maker, storyteller and writer Hannah Davies and guitarist Jack Woods’ re-imagining of the selkie myth for a not-too-distant dystopian future on the North Yorkshire coast is shedding its skin anew, playing Rise@Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, and Helmsley Arts Centre, with the backing of York arts organisations Say Owt and Next Door But One.
Hannah, by the way, has been on the move too, leaving Scarborough for Saltburn-by-the-Sea, with a return to York upcoming, but the draw of the sea prevails in The Ballad Of Blea Wyke, where her fascination with the myth of seals transforming into humans by shedding their skin plays out so imaginatively.
The crashing of waves wrapped within an eerie soundscape set the haunting atmosphere in the bar seating at Helmsley Arts Centre, with a door open to the garden beyond, enhancing the sense of direct connection with the natural world (as opposed to using the HAC theatre).
Leather’O musician Woods sits to the side, complementing Davies’s lyrical word-spinning throughout with simpatico acoustic guitar, loop effects and sporadic harmonies.
Davies, in sea green dress, has a magnetic, mellifluous voice and highly original turn of phrase, allied with a grace of presence, that makes her storytelling so compelling in its combination of contemporary insight, timeless mystery and folkloric mythology in her subject matter.
In her too-close-for-comfort near-future, especially prescient in this hottest of summers, there is nothing left to fish, ice cream and buses have long gone, cities are locked down, motorways have closed, Bluetooth and sugar are taxed, the military issues permits and fines, and most people have never seen the sea.
The waters are rising, the shallows are toxic, the East Coast cliffs are crumbling, and the last grey seal is bobbing in the water “like a blubbery shuttlecock”.
In her private school, scholarship student Cerys feels out of place on her 18th birthday, and not only because of her Broad Acres accent that has the other girls calling out “Hey, Yorkshire” as she stands scowling in the canteen queue at the end of term before they “fly off to their air-cons in private jets”.
Cerys, the loner, will instead venture to the place where no-one is allowed to tread: Blea Wyke, the headland located south of Ravenscar, “the Town That Never Was” (on account of Victorian plans to convert the hamlet into a resort to rival Scarborough being abandoned after only 12 houses were built).
Born in a storm and fearless, Cerys is carrying her social worker’s case folder, containing everything about her life, her back story. Looking on from Clifftop Farm, as she wades into the sea, is a tall, wiry, weather-beaten stranger who has patched up a hole in his jacket with Gaffer Tape.
His farm is now a shell, ruined through fire and flood, landslides are commonplace, and yet still he remains, counter to the government scheme to repatriate farming families in towns.
What keeps him there? What draws Cerys to the sea? Davies’s story will hook you in, as all the while the last grey seal looks on and the love story of the farmer and selkie girl is revealed.
Davies’s imagery keeps on delighting, whether describing the selkie’s shod skin as an “oily rind” or “discarded peel” or depicting “girls with fossils for toes” and “eyes like Whitby Jet”. Humour peppers the salty sea tale too, typified by a badge that proclaims “Geology Rocks”.
Nostalgia for lost times, erosion of coast and rural tradition alike, the curse of climate change and lost nature, the need for mystery and magical realism to survive, for love and ultimately hope to prevail, are interwoven into Davies’s mystical yet earthy storytelling drama, replete with poetry and siren song, directed so harmoniously by Em Whitfield Brooks, whose PitchWitches vocal quintet had opened the Helmsley show.
Above all, The Ballad Of Blea Wyke reinforces the joy to be found in sharing stories. As Hannah told CharlesHutchPress: “Stories are embedded into us at the very core. We are all made up of our stories and by telling and sharing them we get to see and understand ourselves in others action, words and deed. Humans need connection and shared experience to thrive and I think stories do that for us all. In such a divided world we need that more than ever.”
How true. If you missed this month’s York and Helmsley performances, put this date in your diary: October 8, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, 7.30pm. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.
