Arts Diary: Will Marriott

The brass bands of Yorkshire have form when it comes to unusual collaborations. A couple of years ago, Dodworth Colliery Band teamed up with indie outfit the Macabees and now Brighouse and Rastrick Band have found themselves in the spotlight. The champion band of both Yorkshire and Great Britain were drafted in for a UK tour which saw them sharing the stage with the Mercury-nominated The Unthanks.
By The Newsroom
Published 22nd Jul 2011, 10:21 BST

The musicians are now having a well-earned summer break, but will be back with The Unthanks this autumn when they will perform another series of dates, including a gig a Leeds Town Hall on September 15. For more details call 0845 2500 500.

WHILE arts funding may be in short supply, Heritage Opera are one company showing just what is possible in these straitened times. The tiny chamber opera company decided they would stage an open-air production of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park – the only problem was the show came with a £36,000 price tag. Undaunted, the company commissioned Jonathan Dove to write the piece and managed to raise the money needed through a mix of private sponsorship and after show collections.

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“It would be no exaggeration to say that this opera has been paid for by our loyal audiences in the North,” says Heritage Opera’s Chris Gill. “The music is simply beautiful, very melodic and approachable, and we are sure our fans will enjoy the result of their investment in us as an artistic force.”

The tour begins next month and comes to Temple Newsam in Leeds on August 6. Full details on 0845 519875, www.heritageopera.co.uk.

HIS latest work has proved a universal hit with critics and now Richard Bean is off to the West End. The Hull playwright has been lapping up the praise since One Man, Two Governors opened at the National Theatre.

The adaptation of Goldoni’s The Servant of Two Masters, which sees James Corden starring as a failed skiffle player, has won five-star reviews, with one critic describing it as the funniest thing he has seen for 30 years. Following a tour around the UK from September, it will move on to London’s West End. For those unable to get tickets, there’s more good news – One Man, Two Governors will also be screened in selected cinemas on September 15, but the advice is book now to avoid disappointment.

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A massive recruitment drive is now underway for next year’s staging of the York Mystery Plays. The first full-scale production since the Millennium, the event will be staged in the city’s Museum Gardens with the hope of attracting 30,000 people. A big production requires a big cast and York Theatre Royal, along with Riding Lights Theatre Company and York Museums Trust are hoping to involve as many people as possible.

“The York Mystery Cycle only continues today because it is inhabited, shared and belongs to the people of York,” says community producer Liam Ford Evans.

For more details about the project and how to get involved visit www.yorkmysteryplays-2012.com or email mystery2012@yorktheatreroyal.

Related topics:YorkshireBrighouseGreat Britain