THE tumultuous, tragic, yet joyful tale of America’s greatest folk poet will be told in his own words in Woody Sez, The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie, at the Grand Opera House, York, on Friday and Harrogate Theatre on Saturday.

Bound For Glory, Pastures Of Plenty, The Ballad Of Tom Joad, This Land Is Your Land and two dozen more of Guthrie’s protest songs will be brought to life by the original London cast of David M Lutken, Ruth Clarke-Irons, Eleanor Brunsdon and William Wolfe Hogan, under the direction of Dean Elliott.

Premiered at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe, this uplifting narrative about a difficult man’s difficult life during difficult times is a story of struggle, activism, patriotism and commitment that Lutken and co have taken to Glasgow, Belfast, Munich, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, New Zealand and China, as well as the West End.

In folk tradition, the show is performed without amplification, relying on the musicians' acoustic skills on 20 instruments. "But I have updated things a little as we have gone along," says David M Lutken. "When we started in Edinburgh in 2007, it was an hour long, so I've since brought in more and more details that I think are important, as there's so much in Woody's life to go at.

York Press:

David M Lutken as Woody Guthrie in Woody Sez

"For this tour, I've added an anecdote from when Woody was in the Merchant Marines, playing on a ship for all the crew. One Sunday, he asked a group of coloured troops to join him, but they said 'No, we can't do that'. Woody looked at them like they were crazy, and the matter went up the chain of command until it was agreed they could join him. We've now picked an old Negro spiritual, The Battle Of Jericho, to illustrate that story."

Lutken began to learn Guthrie's songs as a child in Dallas, Texas. "My teachers in the late-Fifties and early Sixties were very progressive, which I didn't realise at the time," he says. "They taught me about different cultures, and as my life filled out, that was the kind of music I gravitated towards: Woody Guthrie, The Carter Family, Leadbelly and Jimmie Rodgers. All of them had twists and turns in their lives, but Woody's was the one that was suited to a theatrical presentation."

Both this week's shows start at 7.30pm. Box office: York, 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york; Harrogate, 01423 502116 or harrogatetheatre.co.uk