THIS has been the week when the statisticians have said fewer people in the north are attending their local theatre but the income from ticket sales has nevertheless increased.

Value for money from a funded theatre – whether funded by Arts Council England, the county or local authority – is under a greater spotlight than the commercial neighbour with its portfolio of musicals, touring plays, comedians and pop acts, and this is why York Theatre Royal is to be praised for putting so much stock in diversifying its audience.

This autumn has seen two such examples, firstly the Theatre Royal's On Our Turf programme for outreach work around North Yorkshire that turned the spotlight on Easingwold from October 2 to 4. The weekend combined a Little Fest of free creative arts activities, music, theatre and poetry with a community promenade production of Alice In Wonderland that combined the forces of On Our Turf creative producer Alex Wright, Gobbledigook Theatre director Phil Grainger and writer David Jarman.

A cast of 70 actors and musicians took to the streets, Easingwold Town Band played their part too as The Queen's Band, as did composer Jonny Greenwood and York duo Vesper walk, who wrote and played dazzling pieces as they shared a keyboard in the show's second act.

This act, the infamous Mad Tea Party, was conducted in a glorious tent in the local park with a resplendent table made by Easingwold furniture makers Kendalls. In other words, here was a theatre show that stretched out to so many corners of its community.

There were joyous performances from experienced hands John Holt Roberts as The Hatter and Mandy Newby as Tweedledum, but these community shows also introduce new talent, led by Ella Bond's Alice and Rory Vince's The Little Hatter.

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Sally Ann Staunton as Maude in Interplay Theatre's A Journey With Maude. Picture: Callum McLeod

Closer to "home", the Theatre Royal has taken up residence at the National Railway Museum during its £4.1 million redevelopment and the theatre has taken advantage of this opportunity to draw new audiences. Not least in half-term week when the TakeOver Festival took over the NRM for a series of railway-themed shows and creative stations for assorted activities for children.

Artistic director Lizzy Whynes and her festival team, all aged under 26, found myriad ways to use the NRM, its halls, its carriages, its walls and its Warehouse collection, and it was a joy to spend an afternoon moving from show to show, carriage to carriage, stopping off to watch Of Time And The Railway, a film of a rail journey shown on loop throughout the festival.

Performances ranged from performance poet Henry Raby's thoughts on Trainspotting on the Great Hall footbridge to the short plays Coal In The Garden, A Journey With Maude and The Gentleman For Nowhere. This was a festival on the right track in every way.