Five things to see this weekend in York

The end but not the finale as Berwick Kaler bids farewell to pantomime

The Grand Old Dame Of York, York Theatre Royal, final performance, 7.30pm tomorrow

BRITAIN’S longest-serving dame bows out after 40 years as Berwick Kaler hangs up his boots, frocks and red and yellow stockings.

Expect presentations, tears, speeches, more tears, on what is traditionally an unruly, riotous last night but will be very different this time when Dame Berwick’s Molly Motley leads his Motley crew for the last time. While this sold-out show is the final curtain for his dame days, 72-year-old Kaler is not retiring from the stage. “Definitely not,” he says. Watch this space.

Fire and ice at York Ice Trail. Picture Charlotte Graham

Weather forecast for tomorrow’s York Ice Trail? Icy, of course

York Ice Trail, York city centre, tomorrow, 10am to 6pm

YORK Ice Trail has moved from crowded December to quieter February, and the chilly weather could not be a more apt setting for tomorrow’s event.

Now in its fourth year, Britain’s largest outdoor ice trail will take the theme of Myths and Legends with 50 giant ice sculptures across the city, an ice carving wall and interactive sculptures in Parliament Street and Chinese dancers to mark the Chinese New Year.

Fire and ice are promised at the street event organised by Make It York, not least a live carving of a phoenix sculpture from 12 noon in St Helen’s Square. Once complete, it will be set on fire.

Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in Green Book

Golden Globe Award-winning film of the weekend

Green Book (12A), 130 minutes

INSPIRED by a real-life friendship, Peter Farrelly’s charming, life-affirming comedy drama tells the story of an Italian-American bouncer (Viggo Mortensen) and a black pianist (Mahershala Ali) standing on opposite sides of a racial divide when American motels and restaurants could segregate or exclude clientele based on the colour of their skin.

The script, co-written by Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga and Brian Currie, fine-tunes conflict between the two men during an eight-week pre-Christmas concert tour that screeches from the bright lights of New York City to the Mississippi Delta. The result is a love letter to the endurance of the embattled human spirit that won the Golden Globe gong for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.

Bin there, done that: Mark Wynn at The Crescent

Unpredictable gig of the weekend

Mark Wynn, The Crescent, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

PLEASE Please You gig promoter Joe Coates reckons a Mark Wynn gig is “not for every day” and “generally an unforgettable experience”.

How come? Be warned, lo-fi, mickey-taking poet Wynn likes to rag his guitar; deliver deadpan rants; dance around a mop bucket and drape himself over a wheelie bin.

Expect social commentary monologues, self-deprecating life stories and wittily dry, satirical songs delivered in a nonchalantly Yorkshire, heart-warming way.

Adam Price, left, musical director Sam Johnson, Mark Hird and Kirsty Hughes in rehearsal for A Night At The Musicals

Fundraising show of the weekend

Pick Me Up Theatre and York Stage Musicals, A Night At The Musicals, John Cooper Studio @41 Monkgate, York, tomorrow, 7.30pm

TWO York companies will “Raise The Roof”, singing favourite songs from the shows in a cabaret night whose ticket sales will go towards fixing the theatre’s roof.

Hits from Les Miserables and West Side Story will be complemented by selections from newer shows such as Songs From A New World.