YORK theatre company Procter Goblin are to stage a dark comedy double bill of new works from "some of the most morbid minds in all of Yorkshire".

Oh No! Not This will be presented in The Basement at City Screen from October 6 to 9, combining This Time It Lives! with Kath, Alice And? Stibs! at 7.30pm nightly.

Special guest David Paulides will join Harold Bremmer and Arthur Fisher from Harold and Arthur’s Comedy Horror Podcast for an unusually live edition of their morbid monthly podcast in This Time It Lives. This time, they will be discussing mysterious river deaths with Paulides. "Who will turn up. He'll definitely turn up. There's no way he won't, otherwise there'd be no event," says Procter Goblins' Ben Rosenfield.

"Come along if you like conspiracy theory, the horror genre, terrible poetry about birds or just want to know more about the actual podcast. Also, there's beer. But you have to pay for it. No freebies. First two rows might get wet and... damn those advert breaks."

York Press:

Kirsty Wolff as Kate in Kath, Alice, And? Stibs

Kath, Alice And? Stibs!, by Photocopy Theatre's Mark Watson, was first staged as a short play in 2011. "The piece aims to strike a chord with those who suspect we live in a moron-driven society," says Ben.

Why would anyone obey an idiot, asks Watson. "When the idiot is in charge, of course," replies his play, wherein attending one night at an adult education class teaches the intrepid pupils more than they ever dreamed of.

Tutor Justin will bring new meaning to their lives as he reveals amazing techniques and unconventional skills, but is the reward of self-discovery enough to justify the method? "No. It is not," suggests Watson. "The message is clear: To snatch another's destiny from their faltering grasp, all you need is unnatural self-confidence."

Procter Goblins' brace of shows will suit audiences aged 15 upwards. Tickets are available at £10, concessions £8, from the City Screen box office or thebasementyork.co.uk/blank-cf5i