More new visiting shows for the spring and early summer of 2024 at Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre have been announced. They are:
Self-Raising (20 & 21 February): “It starts with a secret, but this one’s different, this one’s mine.” Award-winning Artistic Director of Graeae, Jenny Sealey has spent a lifetime championing stories by Deaf and disabled artists. Now she takes to the stage to tell her own story. Unravelling the past and facing the future, Self-Raising is a blisteringly honest, laugh-out-loud one-woman show about growing up deaf in a family with secrets.
Queer Spaces: Live! (22 February): Presented by Roots, in association with the SJT and York Theatre Royal. York’s Toffs nightclub on a Sunday night; London’s Royal Vauxhall Tavern; the house-share after a bad break-up; virtually all of Brighton; countless bookshops. When writing about queer sanctuaries, these were novelist Natasha Bell’s choices. Inspired by Natasha’s blog, Roots has invited Yorkshire artists to share their stories for a one-off celebration of queer lives that is joyful and real.
Henry Normal: Everything and More (25 April): Poet, writer and producer – he co-created The Royle Family and co-wrote the first series, and has worked extensively with Steve Coogan – Henry says: “I usually pick a topic for each tour. In this new show I’m concentrating on everything. Jokes, poems and stories, digging deep into the subject of every single thing in the universe and beyond.”
DNA (8 to 11 May): So there’s this group of teenagers, and they’ve done something bad – really bad – and now they’re panicking and desperately trying to cover it up. But when they find that the cover-up is actually bringing them together in their need to be a part of something more, maybe it isn’t all so bad after all? Dennis Kelly’s dark comedy is the inaugural production from the SJT’s Young Company. Come and see the next generation of acting talent.
Making Waves (18 May): York Dance Space and partners bring an evening of dance. Professional artists – including BBC Young Dance finalist Maiya Leek and Yorkshire-based dance company Northern Rascals – and community groups will showcase brand new dance work, each accompanied by original music composed by North Yorkshire Composer Wilfred Kimber.
Richard Herring: Can I Have My Ball Back? (23 May): In 2021 Richard went to his GP to find out why his right ball seemed to be growing bigger. It turned out that he had testicular cancer and one month later he was lying in hospital waiting to have his murderous gonad removed. Would he survive? (No spoilers!).
Tony Skingle: The Best of the Elvis ’68 Comeback Special (26 May): Tony returns to the Round with the show that sold out last year, bringing together sections of the ’68 Comeback Special and the Vegas years, all performed in his own unique way. Tony is one of the UK’s best Elvis tribute acts, based in Scarborough and performing all over the world.
There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly (28 May): I don’t know why she swallowed a fly… But The People’s Theatre Company does! And now you can too as they bring this much-loved story to life with live action, animation and puppetry.
Seriously Collins – A Tribute To Phil Collins & Genesis (1 June): Get ready to be transported back in time to relive the legendary hits of Phil Collins and Genesis! Seriously Collins is not just a tribute show; it’s an electrifying journey through the music that has touched hearts and defined an era.
Alfie Moore: A Face for Radio (14 & 15 June): Thirty years of shift-work and being punched in the face, had left ‘Fair Cop’ Alfie with a ‘face for radio’: a face not so much ‘lived in’ as inhabited by squatters with little regard to property maintenance! A surprising career shift turned middle-aged Alfie from street cop to BBC radio star. But when TV fame beckoned could he grasp it or was he past it?
The Elton John Show (22 June): With over 300 million records sold, Sir Elton John is the most successful singer-songwriter of his generation. This tribute show brings young Elton back to the stage at his energetic best.
Tickets for the new visiting shows go on sale to members of the Circle, the SJT’s membership scheme, from 10am on Friday 1 December 2023 and on general sale from 10am on Wednesday 6 December. Tickets are available from the box office on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com
