A car and a camper van, a Van Gogh film, a theatrical former MP, a wrestling ring, a slide guitar, a Pinter play and a trio of bands vie for CHARLES HUTCHINSON’S attention from June 3 to 9
Vehicle of the week No 1 in York
Little Miss Sunshine, A Road Musical, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday to Saturday THE Hoover family set off on an 800-mile trek from New Mexico to California in their rickety, bright yellow VW camper van. Why?
Daughter Olive has set her heart on winning the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest and nothing will deter her. Move over the road movie, here comes the European premiere tour of the road musical.
DOUBLE ACT: Damon & Naomi at The Crescent
Cult Gig of the week
Damon & Naomi, The Crescent, York, Monday
DAMON & Naomi first caught the ear with their Galaxie 500 recordings in the 1980s. Albums on the Sub Pop label followed in the Nineties, and now now they pop up in York with their latest opus, In The 21st Century.
Live, Damon & Naomi often perform as a duo, stripped back, intimate and direct: Damon on acoustic guitar, Naomi on keyboard, alternating lead vocals and singing together in harmony.
BREAK A LEG! Gyles Brandreth celebrates theatre in Selby
Former politician of the week
Gyles Brandreth: Break A Leg!, Selby Town Hall, Monday
ALL political careers end in tears, they say. In Gyles Brandreth’s case, they are tears of laughter as the actor, author, ex-MP, One Show reporter and QI and Have I Got News For You guest goes on tour with a new show celebrating all things theatrical.
Without hesitation or repetition, but just a touch of deviation, the Just A Minute regular delivers wit, wisdom, high drama, low comedy and name-dropping from on high.
Art film of the week
Van Gogh & Japan, City Screen, York, Tuesday
VAN Gogh & Japan is the latest release in the Exhibition on Screen series. The film reveals the career-defining impact Japan had on Vincent Van Gogh, despite never travelling there himself.
Featuring the Dutch artist’s personal letters and written accounts by friends and contemporaries, it explores Van Gogh’s deep connection to Japanese visual culture and its importance in understanding his most iconic works.
GAME OF CHARADES: Ian Giles's Spooner in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land. Picture: Chris Mackins
Familiar faces, new stage for “veteran” York duo
No Man’s Land, John Cooper Studio, 41 Monkgate, York, Tuesday to Saturday
IAN Giles and Rory Mulvihill launch Leeman and Stephenson Productions with Harold Pinter’s last full-length play, the typically enigmatic No Man’s Land.
The setting is the sitting room of an affluent house in Hampstead one summer evening in 1975, where Mulvihill’s Hirst is joined by Giles’s Spooner for a nightcap. The comedy and the ambiguity intensify with the arrival of Foster and Briggs: are they Hirst’s staff or his captors?
ON THE SLIDE: Debashish Bhattacharya at the NCEM in York
Guitar maestros of the week
Debashish Bhattacharya & Derek Gripper, National Centre for Early Music, York, Thursday
DEBASHISH Bhattacharya, the slide guitar master of India, reworks the Hawaiian instrument for South Asian sounds. South African guitarist Derek Gripper not only transcribes West African kora music on to six-string classical guitar, but also has studied Indian music.
After performing together in India and the USA, they are doing so for the first time in Britain, playing solo before a series of spectacular collaborations.
MORE THAN A SLIGHT RETURN: The Bluetones, back at Fibbers
Britpop gig of the week
The Bluetones, Fibbers, York, Friday
YORK promoters Under The Influence present West Londoners The Bluetones on their return to Fibbers, supported by York band and Leeds United fansSkylights. Expect Bluetonic, Slight Return, Keep The Fires Burning et al.
Seeing is believing show of the week
True Grit Wrestling, Fibbers, York, Saturday
OVER the top, hard hitting, jaw dropping, bone crunching, USA-style pro wrestling hits the canvas in a full-size ring at Fibbers. Cue body slams, suplexes, chairs, tag teams, high flyers and larger-than-life characters.
PROUD AND UNBOWED: Paula Wilcox as Daisy Werthan in Driving Miss Daisy. Picture: Shaun Conway
Vehicle of the week No 2 in York
Driving Miss Daisy, York Theatre Royal, Friday to June 29
PAULA Wilcox, Maurey Richards, Cory English and an old limo will star in the Theatre Royal production of Alfred Uhry’s comedy drama, set in Atlanta over 25 years against a backdrop of prejudice, inequality and the American Civil Rights movement.
HOMECOMING: Mostly Autumn play The Crescent
York band of the week
Mostly Autumn, The Crescent, York, Friday
YORK classic rock band Mostly Autumn showcase their latest prog-infused album, White Rainbow. In the thoughts of Bryan Josh, Olivia Sparnenn-Josh and co will be late member Liam Davison, to whom the album is dedicated.
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