A Blessed night of chat, an Almodovar classic, a Sarah Waters story on stage, a Godber rugby revival, Velma's drag act, a Yorkshire protest singer and Americana in Selby are in CHARLES HUTCHINSON'S diary for September 2 to 8

Pedro Almodovar's other film of the week

All About My Mother (15), City Screen, York, Tuesday, 6pm

ASSUMING you have seen the new Pain And Glory - if not, you must - here is a chance to enjoy anew an earlier Pedro Almodovar Spanish gem about strong women, motherhood, female solidarity and the very notion of being a woman.

Penelope Cruz and Cecilia Roth star in this 1999 melodrama, set whenManuela returns to her native Barcelona after the death of her son Esteban, run over by a car. She vows to start a new life and tell the boy's transgender father of the son he never knew he had.

Voice of the week

An Evening With Brian Blessed, Grand Opera House, York, Tuesday, 7.30pm

YORKSHIREMAN, actor, writer, presenter, man mountain and mountaineer Brian Blessed, now 82, combines anecdotes from his 50-year film and television career with tales of his adventuring.

Expect stories of Z-Cars, Flash Gordon and Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare films, plus recollections of Everest climbs without oxygen, expeditions to Venezuelan jungles, space training in Russia and his trek to the North Pole. Apparently, this show may not be suitable for people of a nervous disposition.

Play of the week

The Night Watch, York Theatre Royal, Wednesday to Saturday

OLIVIER Award nominee Hattie Naylor has adapted Sarah Waters' beautiful novel set in 1940s London: a time when hearts beat faster and life burned more brightly.

The Night Watch is a tender, tragic and poignant portrait of four ordinary people caught up in the aftermath of an extraordinary time.

Touring for the first time, this theatrically inventive production comes from the team behind Birdsong and The Habit Of Art.

Revival of the week

John Godber's Up N Under, Hull New Theatre, Wednesday to September 14

LUKE Adamson, Selby actor and former rugby player to boot, is part of John Godber's cast for his revival of his fast and furious 1984 physical comedy.

Feel the pain in the search for glory as amateur Rugby League minnows The Wheatsheaf Arms take on their terrifying rivals The Cobblers, from Castleford.

Can fitness guru Hazel lick the boozy lads into shape?

Tribute show of the week

Wannabe, The Spice Girls Show, Grand Opera House, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

WANNABE pays homage to Ginger, Scary, Posh, Sporty and Baby Spice in a Spice World journey through their Spice Girls and solo careers.

This celebration of "the world's biggest girl band" promises "the biggest Nineties' party in town" in a spectacular concert that re-creates the era of Girl Power.

North Yorkshire return of the week

Sadie Jammett, The Basement, City Screen, York, Thursday, doors 7pm

PROTEST singer and songwriter Sadie Jammett spent part of her childhood in a "cultish" Christian community at Botton on the North York Moors.

The passing of her priest mother last year prompted her to write Good Friday for her new album, Phoenix. Her politically charged anthem, Don't Silence Me, penned for a friend assaulted by a French film director, has been picked up by the #metoo movement.

In York, Sadie will showcase Phoenix and songs from her two previous studio albums, backed by former York electric guitarist Dave Feeney. Rachel Croft supports.

Anniversary show of the week

Beyond The Barricade, Grand Opera House, York, Thursday, 7.30pm

CELEBRATING the 20th anniversary of Britain's longest-running musical theatre concert tour, Beyond The Barricade features past principal performers from Les Miserables.

In the company delivering two hours of Broadway and West End song will be David Fawcett (Valjean), Andy Reiss (Enjolras and resident director for the national tour of Les Miserables), Katie Leeming (Eponine) and Poppy Tierney (Cosette). Songs from Les Mis form the finale.

Cabaret show of the week

The Velma Celli Show, The Basement, City Screen, York, Friday, doors, 8pm

YORK'S international cabaret star Velma Celli switches between impressions of darling divas Britney Spears and Cher and stripped-back, acoustic, heart-wrenching arrangements of pop and rock favourites, re-imagined in ways you have never heard or would ever imagine.

Show tunes, fruity comedy, jazz standards and even sing-alongs feature in the drag delights of Ian Stroughair.

Americana act of the week

Front Country, Selby Town Hall, Friday, 8pm

A WELCOME return for San Francisco via Nashville Americana roots-pop quintet Front Country, who first played Selby in 2015. Led by the glorious bluesy vocals of Melody Walker, they combine bluegrass instrumentation with folk, pop, blues and jazz influences.

"They blend everything from high-lonesome mountain music to new-wave power pop, new-grass picking, old-grass harmonies and just plain glorious musicality," says Selby Town Council arts officer Chris Jones.

Folk gig of the week

The Furrow Collective, The Crescent, York, Sunday, 7.30pm

YORK promoters Please Please You and the Black Swan Folk Club present the English/Scottish combo of Lucy Farrell (viola, saw, voice), Rachel Newton (harp, fiddle, voice), Emily Portman (banjo, concertina, voice) and Alasdair Roberts (guitars, voice).

The focus will be on their third album, last November's Fathoms, produced in Powys and Oxfordshire by honorary fifth Furrow, Andy Bell.