Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
A couple of firsts here; my first tribute show and the first time I have visited Harrogate’s Royal Hall. I hope that I will get more opportunities to repeat the latter. I found the former most confusing as, rather than a bloke with glasses taking to the stage to sing Accidents Will Happen, Oliver’s Army…
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Another Harrogate Theatre Drama Season draws to a close with this piece by Michael Morpurgo, best known for writing War Horse, which I have enjoyed both on stage and as a film. This one-man play is also set at the beginning of the last century and covers action in England and on the First World…
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After my trip in the Tardis to 1943 on Tuesday, tonight I went back to the 1950s – I think. Dial M For Murder is a good old-school murder mystery – you don’t need to be Miss Marple to work that out – meaning there is nothing in the programme regarding the synopsis so as…
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The 2026 Harrogate Theatre Drama Season kicks off with a belter. It is a new work by Leeds playwright, Philip Stokes, and is set in Room 102 of the Grand Hotel, Brighton on 12th October, 1984 during the Conservative Party conference which was being held there. For those of you too young to remember, just…
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It was great to cover an event within walking distance of home, especially on a summer evening. It did seem a bit incongruous, slapping on the factor 50 to go see a presentation which would obviously culminate in the details of this year’s pantomime, still, I thought to myself, enjoy it while you can –…
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It’s not often I get to visit a lesbian cabaret club on a Wednesday night, or any night for that matter, so, when asked to this one I couldn’t refuse, and I am glad I didn’t. This wasn’t any old lesbian cabaret club, it was Le Monacle and not any old Wednesday, it was a…
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Here we go with pantomime number two of the season, and this one is in Harrogate which means that like all good children, I should be home for bedtime. Are you listening, Santa! Like most pantos it is based on a fairy tale, a term coined in France by Madame d’Aulnoy in the late 17th…
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Humour is a funny thing, it either gets you or it doesn’t. I am not a great fan of farce, being too logical, probably the Virgo in me, and prefer cerebral antics to physical ones. That being the case, I didn’t hold out much hope for Bedroom Farce, by the esteemed Yorkshire-based writer, Alan Aykbourn,…
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I am being spoiled for comedy this week, what with Consumed on Thursday and Black Tie Ball tonight. Both were hilarious and both relied on stereotypes, doesn’t most comedy, but they couldn’t have been more different. I wrote that Consumed took stereotypes and turned them on their head, whereas Black Tie reinforces the initial opinion…
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After a very quiet August, it was great to get back to work, and what better way than with a play staged within walking distance of home which ended at the civilised time of 9.20pm. The Signalman is based on a short novel by Charles Dickens, which was part of a collection called The Mugby…
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