Stan Graham's Leisure Guide for North and West Yorkshire
I normally post reviews as soon as time permits with events which run for a few performances getting priority so that you can read about them whilst there is still time to book, or avoid! One night stands may be left for a day or two as they have come and gone. This particular article…
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Strange how some nights you just know everything will be good. The train from Leeds to Huddersfield was rammed and lots of passengers were standing but one thoughtless numpty was sitting in the aisle seat with no one in the window. I hate people who are inconsiderate so I tapped him on the shoulder, as…
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A funny thing happened on the way to the theatre. No, it is not the beginning to a corny comedy routine from the Fifties, a funny thing really did happen to me on the way to the theatre. I try to avoid going into Leeds on a Sunday during the NFL season, as that is…
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Well, The Green Season has hit with a vengeance. Not only are all of the components of the production, such as costumes, scenery, sets and props being reused or made from recycled or second-hand elements, but this opera is concerned with the fate of the planet and the devastation it is facing. Being opera it…
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I was unsure about what to expect from this play written and acted by Alys Williams. What I got was a powerful reenactment of a period of her life when all seemed lost. Please don’t let that put you off as there is plenty of humour and music to lighten, literally, the mood, in spite…
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In the words of the song from South Pacific, there is nothing like a dame. If anyone needed proof then they should have been at Howard Assembly Room on 2nd October listening to Dame Sarah Connelly. She gave the most amazing performance of a variety of songs from Brahms to Weill. There was also the…
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I can’t remember ever being so irritated and annoyed by a piece of work, partly because of the upsetting subject matter but also by the way in which it was written and produced, negating all of the valid points by reducing them to cliches. The play, adapted by Dave Johns from the film by Ken…
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Leeds International Festival of Ideas 2023 was brought to a close by this ‘fireside chat’ between two people for whom I have the greatest admiration. I have had the pleasure of interviewing Lisa Holdsworth, the Leeds writer, on behalf of a publication I once worked for. She was very gracious in sparing me her time…
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It’s that time of year again when the Opera North Winter Season begins. The various environmental groups will be pleased to read that it has been renamed The Green Season as all of the productions conform to the Theatre Green Book standards which sets out new benchmarks for sustainability. What might upset them though is…
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At lunchtime on 26th May, 1967 a group of us sent our friend David to Valances Record and Electrical Shop in what is now Dortmund Square. We were at Park Lane College, which had just changed its name from Leeds College of Commerce, and we had entrusted him with our spending money as he had…
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Tyke It To The Limit 