Shakespeare for young and old, lake adventures, a farewell gig, a pink festival, a Baby with an aversion to corners, extreme art and a circus in a studio theatre are in CHARLES HUTCHINSON'S diary

Nobody puts “Baby” in the corner... again

Dirty Dancing, Leeds Grand Theatre, until August 17

DIRTY Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage is in Yorkshire on the final leg of its 2018/2019 tour, playing Leeds Grand Theatre with Michael O’Reilly as Johnny Castle and Katie Eccles as Frances “Baby” Houseman.

Produced by Karl Sydow and written by the film scriptwriter Eleanor Bergstein, this production features all the1987 movie’s characters and original dialogue, plus extra scenes, along with such hit songs as Hungry Eyes, Do You Love Me? and the climactic (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life.

New Zealand invasion of the week

Tiny Ruins, The Crescent, York, Monday, 7.30pm

TINY Ruins, from Auckland, New Zealand, were conceived in 2009 by songwriter Hollie Fullbrook as a forum for her solo output. Her group now features Cass Basil on bass, Alex Freer on drums and Tom Healy on electric guitar, and together they traverse early influences of folk and blues to draw equally on ethereal and grungy soundscapes.

Born in Bristol, Fullbrook moved to West Auckland at the age of ten. This year came her band’s latest album, the vivid yet serene Olympic Girl. York’s Fawn support.

Children’s show of the York summer

Swallows And Amazons, York Theatre Royal, until August 24

COME aboard the Swallow and join John, Susan, Titty and Roger as they sail to Wild Cat Island and meet Nancy and Peggy, the self-proclaimed Amazon Pirates, and the dastardly Captain Flint in this action-packed adventure. Arthur Ransome’s children’s story is brought to stage life in Helen Edmundson’s imaginative adaptation with original “rich and yummy” music by The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon.

Read our review here>>

Haunted gig of the week

This House Is Haunted, The Crescent, York, Friday, 7.30pm

THIS York three-piece - Zak, Dom and Jenn - blends post-hardcore and metal with nods to Thrice, Alexisonfire and Deftones, plus instrumental bands Mew, Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky. Band members have played previously in such York metalcore bands as The Family Ruin, River City Ransom and Leeds bands The Minor Fall, Laura Audio and Cocean Zak also has solo projects on the go, while Jenn and Dom have performed with stalwart York acts Boss Caine and Chris Helme.

Most welcome Scots of the week in York

Aidan Moffat and R M Hubbert, The Crescent, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

ONCE the droll voice of Arab Strap, Aidan Moffat is saying farewell to his latest project with a valedictory tour and a single, Cut To Black, to “celebrate our uncoupling”.

Moffat and guitarist R M Hubbert say: “A year on from our first album - a very busy year in which we also released a Christmas album, a live album, and played countless shows and sessions - much like the brief encounters and doomed dalliances of our songs, we have decided it’s time to part ways. The heart can only hold so much.”

If you keep meaning to go, then go...

Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, Shakespeare’s Village, Castle Car Park, York, until September 1

TWELFTH Night, Hamlet, Henry V and The Tempest, in no particular order of preference - but you really should see Twelfth Night - occupy the Elizabethan pop-up stage for a few more weeks, come rain, shine, thunder, tempest, change of Prime Minister, global warming, gloating Australians et al.

Read our Hamlet review here>>

Read our Henry V review here>>

Read our Twelfth Night review here>>

Read our review of The Tempest here>>

Festival of the Week

FEVA, Knaresborough, until August 18

FEVA stands for Festival of Entertainment and Visual Arts, and the annual presence of this long-running event is denoted by a sudden outburst of the colour pink.

Running from tomorrow for 10 days, FEVA combines music for all tastes and children’s entertainment with plays, talks, walks, art shows, workshops, special menu offerings and the annual Lions beer festival. Among the acts will be Gomez’s Ben Ottewell, saxophonist Snake Davis, Jez Lowe & The Bad Pennies, Cadenza, Arioso and Swing Commanders. Picnic In The Park will be on August 17; full details at feva.info.

Shaking up Shakespeare for children

Billy Shakes: Wonderboy!, Shakespeare’s Rose Theatre, York, until August 24

WHAT did William Shakespeare get up to as a child? Leeds theatre company Wrongsemble come up with an answer in a barmy family show billed as “the imagined childhood of the Big Bard himself”. This irreverent, raucous introduction to the delights of Shakespeare is led by Harri Pitches in a 50-minute show for children aged four upwards and their grown-ups.

Read our review here>>

Edgy exhibition of the week

The York Extremartistes: Edge, City Screen, York, until September 8

THE Extremartistes are a loose collective of art enthusiasts that met at an innovative drawing class at York Arts & Crafts under the tutelage of Tim Morrison. Here, Joy Herman, Meg Huby, Madeleine Lockwood, Nicola Lee and John Sparrow present very different interpretations of the theme “Edge”, demonstrating the group’s extreme range of interests, ideas and use of medium.

Circus show of the week

Circo de Bland, John Cooper Studio @41 Monkgate, York, Saturday, doors open 7pm

THIS one-off performance in York will be an unashamed celebration of classic bygone vaudeville performances, featuring Yorkshire’s greatest circus talents and an “after party for the ages” with a swing band. live, so dress up! Acts included fire dancer Josh Munks, World’s Strongest Man athlete Paul Smith and contortionist Polly Witherick.