Noughts & Crosses, Romeo And Juliet, The Howl & The Hum, and what else? Rhod Gilbert’s return, a Brexit show, Lip Service and a new French farce are all in CHARLES HUTCHINSON’S diary for April 1 to 7

Romeo And Juliet story of the week

Noughts & Crosses, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Saturday

SEPHY is a Cross and Callum is a Nought, and between Noughts and Crosses there are racial and social divides.

A segregated society teeters on a volatile knife edge, and as Sephy and Callum draw closer, their romance can only lead them into terrible danger in Sabrina Mahfouz's stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman's novel for young adults, presented by York Theatre Royal and resident company Pilot Theatre.

The other Romeo And Juliet show of the week

Romeo And Juliet, York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre, Theatre Royal Studio, Thursday to Saturday

THREE York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre groups, each aged 14 to 16, present three versions of Shakespeare's torrid tale of star cross'd lovers. One is set in the 1980s, another in the 1990s, the third in the present day, and two will be performed each night.

York Press:

He voted Remain, his mum voted Leave, then he wrote a show: Kieran Hodgson 

Topical comedy show of the week

Kieran Hodgson: '75, Burning Duck Comedy Club, The Basement, City Screen, York, Thursday

PASSION. Betrayal. Harold Wilson. Character comedian and history-know-it-all Kieran Hodgson tells the surprising tale of how Britain joined Europe in the first place.

On a deeply personal quest for understanding, he discovers the Seventies were about more than TISWAS, the colour brown and the words "Let’s go on strike again".

What sparked this show? Brexit. His mum voted Leave; Hodgson, Remain. Awkward.

York Press:

King for a day in York: King Creosote at the Stained Glass Centre

Cult Scottish gig of the week

King Creosote, Stained Glass Centre, Martin-cum-Gregory Church, Micklegate, York, Thursday

PLEASE Please You presents an intimate gig with a capacity of only 80 by King Creosote, alias Fife singer-songwriter Kenny Anderson, who founded the Fence Collective coterie of musicians in the fishing village of Anstruther.

York Press:

Back in the Barbican: The Bootleg Beatles

Tribute gig of the week

The Bootleg Beatles, York Barbican, Friday

TRACING the Fab Four’s journey through the swinging 60s, with a little help from their own Pepperland Sinfonia orchestra, this time The Bootleg Beatles celebrate the 50th anniversary of "the White album", Dear Prudence et al. How apt one Bootleg member should be called Steve White.

York Press:

Leaping off the page: Rhod Gilbert's The Book Of John show 

The Hiatus Is Over comedy show of the week

Rhod Gilbert, The Book Of John, York Barbican, Saturday

AFTER six years away from the stand-up circuit, doing all manner of TV, Welsh firebrand Rhod Gilbert works up a new head of steam, promising "no more lies, no more nonsense".

Rhod thought he had hit rock bottom, but then he met a bloke called John, and this typically irate show is the result.

York Press:

Murder on their mind: Lip Service in Strangers On A Train Set

Spoof of the week

Lip Service in Strangers On A Train Set, Pocklington Arts Centre, Thursday

SATIRICAL duo Lip Service, alias York actress Maggie Fox and Sue Ryding, return in a fast-moving show designed to appeal to crime aficionados and narrow gauge railway enthusiasts alike.

Challenging a youth to turn down his music, Irene Sparrow, inventor of the left-handed crochet hook, finds herself under suspicion of murder after the train emerges from a tunnel with the young man dead.

This is no ordinary train, however. Each passenger is reading a book, each book is a portal into a parallel universe of train-related crime fiction. Watch out for multiple train sets, keeping the comedy on track.

York Press:

French farce: Freddie Fox as playwright Edmond Rostand in Edmond de Bergerac. Picture: Graeme Braidwood

Anglo-French alliance of the week

Edmond de Bergerac, Birmingham Repertory Company, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday

PLEASE note, this British premiere has nothing to do with Bergerac on the telly. No, this is a French hit comedy newly adapted into English, turning the spotlight on the man behind the story of big-nosed Cyrano de Bergerac

The setting is Paris, 1895,where Edmond (Freddie Fox) is a struggling playwright with writer's block. That all changes when he helps best friend Leo woo a girl called Jeanne by writing romantic letters to her as if from him. Suddenly, he has the perfect plot for a new play, Cyrano de Bergerac.

Fox is joined in a stellar cast by Henry Goodman's celebrated actor Coquelin, Josie Lawrence's theatrical legend Sarah and Chizzy Akudolu's faded star called Maria.

York Press:

Howling in the night: The Howl & The Hum at The Crescent

York band gig of the week

The Howl & The Hum, The Crescent, York, Friday

HOME city gig for York's spiralling band of the moment, led by gifted songwriter Sam Griffiths.

The Howl & The Hum sum themselves up thus: "a miserable disco who write Bond themes for films where Jimmy is still hung up on that girl. They combine dark hypnotic pop with post-punk influences, pierced with lyrics that make you call your mum the next morning."

York Press:

Energy, optimism and romance: Alfie Boe in Harrogate

Big voice of the week

An Evening With Alfie Boe, Harrogate Convention Centre, Saturday

THE tenor voice of the Fisherman's Friend lozenge advert is on tour in the wake of releasing his 1930s-themed album As Time Goes By.

"I'm excited to get back on the road, especially with a new record that I'm so proud of. We'll be enjoying some of great songs from my previous records, but I more than anything want to bring back to life an era when British audiences discovered a brand new kind of American music, full of energy, optimism and romance. "