JUST as York has to keep saying "we're open for business" to counter the drip-drip effect of negative publicity after the Boxing Day floods, so Pocklington Arts Centre is still up and running amid its ongoing redevelopment.

The show, or indeed plenty of shows, must go on while the workmen are in situ, and while the brochure is slimmer than usual, no fewer 16 shows are in the Pock diary for February to July 13, along with a cinema and live broadcast programme to July 8.

Hearthside Tales open the season with the children's show The Snow Bear on February 16 at 2.30pm. This wintry tale in a snowy landscape combines live music and magic with puppetry, projection and a miniature theatre in a story inspired by Norwegian folk tales as a polar bear is carried away from his Arctic home.

On February 20, LipService Theatre, alias York actress Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding, present The Picture Of Doreen Gray, a satirical modern twist on Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray that considers the hazards of ageing in the public eye. Celebrity presenter Doreen has a drive-time radio show and a lifestyle TV show, but as she hits 50, she finds her face no longer fits the bill. Cue LipService's trademark combination of the surreal and the downright silly.

Actress Anne Reid, from Last Tango In Halifax, Ladies Of Letters and Dinnerladies, turns cabaret performer to present an evening of songs and stories with musical director Jason Carr on March 10, when she recalls filming with Daniel Craig, performing Shakespeare at Buckingham Palace and making Last Tango.

Les Enfants Terribles open their Marvellous Imaginary Menagerie on April 2 at 3pm when Dr Longitude will be on a musical quest for imaginary animals in a children's show with puppetry where he asks "how do you catch a bumblewasp?", "what do whistling panks eat?" and "what happens if you lick a tressillian toad?".

In the third children's show of the season, The People's Theatre Company stage How The Koala Learnt To Hug, adapted from Steven Lee's short stories, on April 30 at 3pm. This charming new musical extols the magic of family life and the importance of a nice warm hug as Steven and such wild characters as Natascha the Witch, the reggae beavers and Karen the koala enjoy stories, songs, games and first-class hugging.

Bradford's Black Dyke Band, winner of the National Brass Band Championships for a record 23rd time in 2014, play a Sunday afternoon concert of classical pieces, military marches and film music on April 3 at 3pm. Iranian-British comedian Omid Djalili and German Comedy Ambassador Henning Wehn play 8pm gigs on April 13 and April 22 and 23 respectively, while London comic Rob Beckett takes on the big issues of the day, KitKats and flatbread, on May 6 at 8pm and Bristol humorist Mark Watson returns on May 22, this time with I'm Not Here, his new follow-up to his Flaws show.

York Press:

Comedian Mark Watson

Another returnee, Reform Theatre Company, bring their 2016 tour of John Godber's Debt Collectors to Pock on May 4. Mixing money and love with the love of money, two out-of-work actors fall into the world of debt recovery, and although it is a role they despise, they are made for the job and desperate for cash.

Gyles Brandreth, wit, writer, former MP and Government Whip, jumper enthusiast and panel show stalwart, takes an unexpected magic carpet ride around the world of words on May 9, The Upbeat Beatles pay tribute to the Fab Four on May 12 at 8pm and Scottish singer, songwriter and Burns devotee Eddi Reader combines the traditional and the contemporary in her 8pm concert on June 11. New York's Slambovian Circus Of Dreams visit Pock with their melodic avant-folk, psychedelic Americana and hillbilly Pink Floydisms on June 22, again at 8pm.

Looking further ahead, Pocklington Arts Centre's 2016 Platform Festival at the Old Station will welcome the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain on July 13 at 8pm. The full festival line-up will be announced very soon.

Shows start at 7.30pm unless stated otherwise. Full details of the cinema and live broadcast programme can be found at pocklingtonartscentre.co.uk; tickets for the season ahead can be booked online or on 01759 301547.