Arts Diary: Will Marriott

Unfortunately for 15-year-old Robert Gration, he took the saying a little too literally. The young actor, appearing as one of the Queen’s Henchmen in Leeds Carriageworks’ Snow White, broke his leg.

“I did it while walking down a grassy bank on the first week of the school holidays,” said. “When people ask me how I did it I wish I could say something quite dramatic like I’d been para-gliding or mountaineering,”

Expect to see Robert, on crutches, in the panto which runs from September 30 to October 1.

We would say good luck to him, but...

The latest adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights has been announced as the opening gala screening as the Leeds International Film Festival celebrates its 25th anniversary.

The much-anticipated new version of the classic novel set in Yorkshire and filmed on the North Yorkshire Moors will open the 18-day festival with a gala screening at Leeds Town Hall on Thursday 3 November.

The film which stars Leeds newcomer James Howson as Heathcliff and Kaya Scodelario, star of hit television drama Skins, as Cathy has already been hailed as ‘stunning’ and ‘groundbreaking’ by film critics and picked up the prize for Best Cinematography at last week’s prestigious Venice Film Festival. And critics were fulsome in their praise for the Yorkshire landscape, which was described by one reviewer as “another character”.

In local Am-Dram there are normally far more women than men – not so for the Aireborough Gilbert and Sullivan Society. The organisation’s February 2012 production is to be Princess Ida, the story of a Princess who founds a women’s university and teaches that women are superior to men and should rule in their stead.

The action mostly takes place in a women’s university, where men are frowned upon, but the society have a rare problem – their men outnumber their women. If you can help with this shortage of women and fancy being in the chorus next year please either contact Margaret Barnes on 0113 228 7616.

While Dominic West and Clarke Peters in Othello at Sheffield next week might well be a starry night, Scarborough had a pretty impressive turnout for Neighbourhood Watch, Alan Ayckbourn’s 75th play, this week. Alan Yentob and legendary director Sir Peter Hall were just two famous faces spotted in the audience at the seaside town’s Stephen Joseph Theatre.

No such thing as a free lunch? Maybe not, but Leeds music fans can enjoy a free lunchtime concert – two a week in fact.

The Lunchtime Organ Music series takes place on Mondays at Leeds Town Hall and the Lunchtime Chamber Music series takes place on Wednesdays at The Venue, Leeds College of Music. And the tickets cost precisely nowt. With performances starting at 1.05pm and running for 50 minutes, they can easily fit into your lunch break. Leaflets at www.leedsconcertseason.com