Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
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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Thursday, 3rd July, 2026 saw the official launch of the inaugural Yorkshire Fringe. To celebrate this eight-day long series of events throughout the county, we were gathered in Leeds Conservatoire for a briefing, some snippets from the works on offer and a networking opportunity for those in the various strands of the arts featured to…
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After all the articles I have written about theatre you would have thought I had seen about everything, so did I, but here I was, leaving York Theatre Royal, munching on a piece of caraway bread that I had just seen been baked live on stage. The thing is that it wasn’t done during a…
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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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I’m a bit late to the party with this one. Nothing new there, then. Harrogate BID’s contribution to your sanity by keeping the family occupied this summer, is a trail of Lego sculptures depicting jungle animals. I donned my Pith helmet, safari jacket and long, khaki shorts – only metaphorically as I didn’t want to…
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I am writing this article the day following the Lionesses retaining their Women’s European Championship after extra time and penalties. Had the men’s team enjoyed even a fraction of the success gained by the women, this play by Christopher Wollaton may have turned out much differently. The piece is a two-hander, starring the playwright and…
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Tyke It To The Limit 