Review: Joking Apart, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough
ALAN Ayckbourn recalls the spark that ignited Joking Apart, his 1978 play that opens with fireworks. "Why don't you," a woman once asked him angrily, "ever write a play about a happy couple?"
Review: The Secret Garden, York Theatre Royal *****
Review: The Secret Garden, York Theatre Royal, until August 25. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk *****
Look now! Elvis Costello has made his first album since 2013
ELVIS Costello & The Imposters will release their new album Look Now on October 12 on the Concord label.
X Factor winner Sam Bailey to play Vampire Queen in Vampires Rock at Grand Opera House
STEVE Steinman's Vampires Rock show will have a new special guest star for its visit to the Grand Opera House, York, on January 25 next year.
Paul Merton's Impro Chums set York and Leeds dates for next year
PAUL Merton's Impro Chums will return to the road next year to play some of their favourite places, among them the Grand Opera House in York on June 1.
Resurgent Babybird to play Leeds Brudenell Social Club in November
RECOVERED from his "stupid irritating heart attack", Babybird's Stephen Jones will play a trio of late-autumn concerts, kicking off at Leeds Brudenell Social Club on November 30.
Power of nature and imagination in The Secret Garden is so important, says writer Jessica Swale
JESSICA Swale's stage adaptation of The Secret Garden began its life outdoors, since when the garden has moved inside, first at Keswick last Christmas and now at York Theatre Royal this summer.
Goodbye to the Fringe until next summer, but here comes The Full Monty
THE spiegeltents have been dismantled, the Tea Pot flattened, the village-green lawns rolled up, and the Great Yorkshire Fringe has left York after 11 days, but more comedy is just around the corner.
Great granny Jean Boswell to exhibit Yorkshire scenes and portraits at Pocklington Arts Centre
JEAN Boswell, York great-grandmother and cancer survivor, is turning a lifelong love of painting into an award-winning hobby.
