Review: Tess, a bold circus adaptation of the Hardy classic, at York Theatre RoyalFrom lidos to Eurovision: Ripon teacher’s quirky musicals

It was during an open day at a lido in Cumbria that composer and playwright Emily Roberts found the inspiration for her latest musical. 

The premise of All Those On Board suddenly popped into her head while she was chatting to campaigners of a multi-million pound project to bring the lido at Grange-over-Sands, which closed in 1993, back into use. 

The musical, which will run on selected dates in May and June, tells the story of a group of people trying to save and re-open a derelict lido. Emily, a fan of open water swimming, said: 

“I do love lidos. I went to Ilkley Lido a lot as a child and it gets a mention in my script, based on my memories of Wagon Wheels, crisps and queuing up on the tarmac.

“My musicals usually have a love story at heart, but this is different, it’s more of an ensemble piece. Although I suppose it is a kind of love story – it’s about the love of a lido and doing something for the love of community.” 

Inspiration

A classically trained pianist who teaches music at schools in Harrogate and Boroughbridge, Emily writes musicals in her spare time and always has a few ideas and titles floating around her mind, waiting to be developed. 

Currently, there’s one called When The Bell Goes based on her years of classroom teaching. There’s Just Twelve Days about a group of people trying to get Christmas back to being a 12-day festival rather than starting in September (Emily puts her tree up on Christmas Eve). Then there’s a vague notion about a ‘bad taste bookies’ which doesn’t yet have a title. 

At some point, Emily will get a flash of inspiration that gives her the hook she needs to develop one of them. She’ll then start with a rough storyline, followed by the opening number, something slower in the middle and then the finale. Once she gets going, it usually takes her two or three months to write. She said:

“I start by thinking of the style of the songs. I like writing songs that are part of the story – it’s much more fun. But I also want them to be able to stand alone, to be accessible and catchy. I like a good song that you can sing afterwards, like in The Sound of Music, Calamity Jane and Grease. But my initial plan can change quite dramatically. Anything can happen.”

Writing as ECR Roberts, Emily describes her musicals as upbeat with a couple of more poignant moments. She presented her first one, a romantic comedy of errors called Christoper Lonesome, 22 years ago. It was performed by students at Leeds Grammar School, where Emily was a teacher at the time, because she couldn’t find a venue willing to put on a show by an unknown writer. It was a sell-out, but it was a decade before Emily found the time in her busy life to write another one.

Going Grey was staged in the summer of 2013. It told the story of a recently-widowed woman who had met someone new and was performed to such great success in York that the following year it ran for 15 nights in venues across London and North Yorkshire.

Personal experience

Emily’s shows are often based on personal experience. Her third musical, The Pecking Order, was produced in 2018. It came about after Emily moved from York to Kirkby Malzeard near Ripon, giving her the experience of living in a rural community to flesh out her idea for a ‘farming boy meets city girl’ storyline. 

Her fourth musical, Let Me Be The One, was inspired by the UK’s worst ever decade in the Eurovision Song Contest, when it failed to reach the top ten at any point from 2010. Watching on TV as Michael Rice came last in 2019, Emily, a long-time fan of Eurovision who had always wanted to write a musical about it, had her lightbulb moment. She said: 

“It really struck me that it was the end of such a bad decade for the UK. I had the idea to set the story at that moment in time and focus on two fans and their efforts to help the UK get back in the top ten of Eurovision. The story ends on the finals night of 2020.” 

She wrote the show in anticipation of presenting it before the real contest in 2020, and even received sponsorship to take the show to Rotterdam, that year’s host. But when the pandemic put paid to those plans, she made it into a film instead and later took it to London and Knaresborough. 

Emily on guitar as part of a group of Eurovision fans outside the Conference Centre on the 40th anniversary of Harrogate hosting the competition.

With each musical, Emily learns something new. After lugging around three big bales of straw for The Pecking Order, she’s since stuck to more manageable props: All Those On Board features just eight deckchairs and some beach balls. Little things have made a big difference, such as placing songs to bring a scene to an end rather than them being an interruption in the middle of it. Instead of using a small band to accompany the shows, musical instruments are now incorporated into props or furniture and played by the cast for a more seamless production.   

All the shows are presented by Drip Drop Theatre Company, which Emily set up for her second musical and  named after a phrase from Azerbaijan’s 2010 Eurovision entry. The company’s cast members join mainly through word of mouth, with most coming from Kirkby Malzeard, Burton Leonard, Ripon and Ilkley. As well as writing the song music and lyrics, Emily also writes the script and the choreography, directs each show, occasionally performs, and does all the publicity and admin. She said:

“The whole joy for me is creating the music and the lyrics together. I particularly love trying to find quirky little rhymes and making the emphasis of the words fit the emphasis of the music. Cole Porter is my favourite of all musical writers. His music and lyrics are so beautifully written. He had such a way with marrying the lyrics with the musicality of the score.

And I really enjoy the choreography. When I write the shows now, I’m already thinking about the choreography.”

All Those On Board runs at seven venues including Ripley, Ripon and Kirkby Malzeard from May 30 to June 8. Tickets cost £10 for adults and £8 for under 21s (booking fee applies) and can be booked here.

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Did you know that Everyman in Harrogate screens National Theatre Live productions?

There’s no need to travel to the Big Smoke to see what’s on at the National Theatre, instead you can feel as though you’re at the renowned theatre in London thanks to the luxury cinema chain’s live screenings at its regional premises.

An initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London, it broadcasts live, by satellite, performances of their productions – and those of other theatres – to cinemas and arts centres around the world.

The programme began its pilot season in June 2009 with a production of Phèdre, starring Helen Mirren, which screened live in 70 cinemas across the UK. Two hundred more venues eventually showed the production internationally, resulting in a combined audience of around 50,000 people for this one performance.

The second production, All’s Well That Ends Well, was shown at approximately 300 screens.

Today, the number of venues that show NT Live productions has grown to approximately 700 with 11 million people watching them across the globe. Many of the cinemas also offer repeat screenings of popular productions which are termed as ‘Encores’.

Whether you’re watching Kit Harington go to battle in Henry V, or Phoebe Waller-Bridge delivering her solo tour de force in Fleabag, you’ll be at the heart of the action without the big trip down to London.

Did you know?

Most venues screen the productions live as they are broadcast, but due to time differences in South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States venues in those countries, they show the recorded production some days later.

The actors on stage deliver their performances as they normally would any other night. But to make sure audiences watching in the cinemas have the best seat in the house, it tailors the position of its cameras to capture each production and works closely with technical teams to make sure every element on stage such as lighting, hair and make-up look as good on the big screen so it’s the next best thing to being there.

What National Theatre productions are on this month and next at Everyman Harrogate?

Harrogate’s Everyman is showing Nye, which details the story of Aneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan, the Welshman who has often been referred to as the politician with greatest influence on our country without ever being Prime Minister.

This is all thanks to his tireless campaign for the nationalisation of hospitals that eventually became the birth of the National Health Service in 1948.

Roger Evans (Archie Lush), Michael Sheen (Nye Bevan) and Sharon Small (Jennie Lee). Photography credit: Johan Persson

Written by Tim Price and directed by Rufus Norris, fellow Welshman Michael Sheen plays the title role which delves Bevan into his deepest memories and a mind-bending journey back through his life; from childhood to mining underground, Parliament, and fights with Churchill.

It’s a must-see minus the travel.

Tickets from £19.50, it runs for two hours 40 minutes at 6.45pm on April 23, and 1pm on May 8. Everyman Harrogate, Westgate House, Station Parade, Harrogate, HG1 1HQ.

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Review: RAOS’s Sister Act is happy, hilarious and vibrantReview: RAOS’s Sister Act is happy, hilarious and vibrant

Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. Born and raised in Harrogate, Lauren recently moved back to North Yorkshire after a stint in London, where she regularly reviewed theatre – everything from big West End shows to small fringe productions. She is now eager to explore the culture on offer in and around her home town.  You can contact Lauren on laurencrispwriter@gmail.com. 

Ripon Amateur Operatic Society brought the house down at Harrogate Theatre last night with their take on the feel-good musical comedy, Sister Act.

Grace Knill assumes the role of sassy heroine Deloris van Cartier, a singer and wannabe star who is forced into hiding in a convent after witnessing a hit by her gangster boyfriend. Arriving to a frosty reception by the nuns’ stern Mother Superior (an excellent Rowenna Naylor), Deloris ultimately finds her purpose: to help the ladies learn how to sing.

Knill makes for a perfect Deloris; with joyful energy, she captures the humour and warmth of her character, belting out one showstopper after another with ease.

There are so many great personalities in this show, and the cast do them real justice, embracing their roles with gusto, providing a sense of warmth, familiarity and connection; audience members are drawn into the narrative easily.

Chris Wall as Deloris’ nasty ex, Curtis, and his trio of hilariously hapless gangsters, TJ (Luke Bailey), Joey (Will Thirlaway) and Pablo (Elliot Hutchinson), drew the biggest laughs, their choreography planned and executed to a T.

RAOS transport us to 1970s Philadelphia, with set, costume and sound combining to create an eruption of vibrant vivacity and fun on stage. John Atkin’s band sprinkle sparkle on the musical, with a good splash of soul and upbeat funk.

I had some difficulty hearing the occasional lyric early on, and many of the songs are appreciably tricky ones to sing, especially above a band, but any initial teething issues were swiftly ironed out. With banger after banger, you’re sure to come away feeling good.

A production filled with habits aplenty, gun-wielding gangsters, confession boxes and knockout showtunes, but mostly with colour, happiness and charm, the amateurs of Ripon know how to put on a show.

Sister Act is at Harrogate Theatre until Saturday, 20 April.

(Lead image: Helen Tabor Photography)

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5 alternative Easter activities in and around HarrogateReview: The Woman in Black haunts York’s Grand Opera HouseReview: The Cripple of Inishmaan brings dark comedy to Harrogate Theatre

Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. Born and raised in Harrogate, Lauren recently moved back to North Yorkshire after a stint in London, where she regularly reviewed theatre – everything from big West End shows to small fringe productions. She is now eager to explore the culture on offer in and around her home town.  You can contact Lauren on laurencrispwriter@gmail.com

Whilst the somewhat indelicate title of this Irish tragicomedy may have you doing a double take, don’t think twice about buying a ticket – it’s a performance not to be missed.

Written in 1996 by celebrated playwright Martin McDonagh, who has since found big-screen success with films such as In Bruges and The Banshees of Inisherin, The Cripple of Inishmaan centres on orphan Billy Claven, a disabled youngster living on the remote island of Inishmaan, off the west coast of Ireland, in 1934.

Plagued by the incessant ridicule of his neighbours, he is referred to by all (despite his protestations) as Cripple Billy.

This even extends to his own foster ‘aunties’, who love him like a son, yet apply the same casual cruelty that is the very lifeblood of this play. Whilst pondering their sickly ward’s future, his aunt, Eileen, doubts he’ll ever be kissed, “…unless it was by a blind girl”.

When a Hollywood film director arrives on a neighbouring island (to film the real-life documentary, The Man of Aran), Billy finally sees his opportunity to escape his miserable existence.

An outrageously dark comedy, the play mixes hilarity, cruelty and kindness with great dexterity, its writing electric, with one uproarious quip after the other.

The Harrogate Dramatic Society cast, under Stuart Kellett’s direction, performing their opening night last night, knew exactly how to deliver every line – particularly impressive for what is a challenging play, jam-packed with dialogue.

This is a pleasingly rounded story with a satisfying arc, but it is also made or broken by the ability to draw its cast of characters, whose absurdity and colourfulness lie at its core; there is no disappointment here, with the HDS’ small yet mighty cast of nine. The Irish accents were out in full force, and the performers’ efforts to maintain these throughout were truly commendable.

Engaging and thoughtfully chosen, the cast proved consistently comic and dependably droll. The play’s sole non-comic player, outcast Billy, was handled by Adam Naylor with great earnestness and vulnerability.

A play like this was made for the simplicity of the studio at Harrogate Theatre. It is one without fuss; a neat piece which hops from scene to scene with real deftness. A clean, no-frills set with few distracting props, this production is really all about its players, who capture both the play’s sentimentality and its more outlandish threads, providing an evening as punchy as potent poteen.

The Cripple of Inishmaan is on tonight and tomorrow evening at Harrogate Theatre, and twice on Saturday. More information is available here.

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Review: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in Harrogate filled with charm and heart

Lauren Crisp is a book editor, writer and keen follower of arts and culture. Born and raised in Harrogate, Lauren recently moved back to North Yorkshire after a stint in London, where she regularly reviewed theatre – everything from big West End shows to small fringe productions. She is now eager to explore the culture on offer in and around her home town.  You can contact Lauren on laurencrispwriter@gmail.com

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a family classic that surely needs no introduction, and Tuesday’s performance by the Harrogate Operatic Players (HOPS) overflowed with all the joy, humour and whimsy you’d expect.

Opening night brought with it some inevitable nerves, but after a few initial hiccoughs, all handled toot sweet and with consummate professionalism (including by the youngest members of the cast), the show went on, proving itself a well-oiled machine.

Always set to be challenging – a flying car alone would have any director scratching their head – the HOPS team were undeterred, delivering suitable magic to their set and staging. Costume, too, was a highlight, the outfit changes seemingly infinite, from white petticoats to regal regalia to samba ruffles. Performing a host of lively choreographed numbers, the cast, chorus and band dazzled with energy.

The stage adaptation is not the 1968 film reincarnate: it has all the classics we know and love, and then some, with a few extra surprises and catchy new numbers to boot. The script does not shy away from the more wicked humour of the film. Indeed, refreshingly, it might just be even more risqué, particularly with the help of two hilarious duos: Rohan Green and Rob Hastings as the court spies, and Chris Cowling and Georgie Gladwyn as the tyrannical Baron and Baroness of Vulgaria.

As for the more sinister threads of the tale? Jack Moran’s Child Catcher is a spine-tingling caricature, sniffing out his innocent prey with zeal and revelling in his role. Stealing a glance at some of the young children around me, they appeared somewhere between captivated and terrified; indeed, I overheard one nervously ask his mother, ‘Can he smell me?’.

Kate Griffiths deserves special mention as Truly Scrumptious, capturing the essence of the sweet but fiery heroine. Lucas MacLeod and Eva Lofthouse played siblings Jeremy and Jemima, and I think it would be fair to say, are probably the hardest-working children in Harrogate this week.

A production filled with charm and heart, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is so suited to the joys of local community theatre, with a huge cast and crew dedicated to putting on their very best show. This is what it’s all about: theatre that makes you smile, at whatever age; that has you humming as you leave, with a skip in your step.

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is at the Harrogate Theatre from today (June 14) every day until Saturday, June 17. For more information and to book tickets, visit the theatre website here.

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Sell out performances mark reopening of Pateley Playhouse

The Pateley Playhouse has opened its doors to sell-out performances after three years of renovation work.

The amateur-run theatre has seen a £120,000 re-vamp, opening up its foyer and bar area and installing a disability lift in the auditorium.

The theatre re-opened this week with a Pateley Bridge Dramatic Society adaptation of ‘See How They Run’ by Philip King.

The play is a farce set during the Second World War and involves an escaped German prisoner of war, lots of vicars and lots of silliness.

The production has seen standing ovations with the 72-seat theatre full every night.

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The renovation was complex as the tiny venue is 160 years old.

Fundraising required creative ideas: the downstairs wooden floor was divided up into 110 square metres and the society asked people to pay £10 to sign their name on the floor — Hollywood style — under their square. The squares sold out.

Making a tiny, provincial theatre commercially viable isn’t easy but the society believes the renovations will help its long-term financial position.

Treasurer Keith Burton said:

“The rule of thumb is that for every £10 ticket you sell,  you should try to get a further £4 from sales on the night. The longer bar means we have a longer point of sale area and will do better business at the bar.  This week we do seem to be getting near to what we want from point of sale.

“Before covid our overheads were £8,000 a year. Since covid our insurance costs have gone up by 50% due to a fear of cancellations and all of our heating bills have gone up by half as well. We are now between £10,000 and £11,000 a year to run it. “

For the first time in years the society has had to put its tickets prices up. But it’s now confident that if it puts on three productions a year, it can make enough money to survive and have a small surplus to invest in the theatre. Improving the sound system and lighting is next on the agenda.