Friargate Theatre have announced their autumn season – which includes family shows, fresh takes on Shakespeare, and a brand new comedy club.
Located on Lower Friargate, it’s a hidden cultural gem in York.
The intimate and cosy venue has just 100 seats, and has been bringing theatre magic to York for nearly 25 years.
It’s also the home of national touring company Riding Lights, who aim to produce entertaining and accessible theatre for communities around the country.
Ollie Brown, associate director and project manager for Riding Lights, chatted with YorkMix Radio‘s Laura and Leigh about their exciting upcoming season.
“We’re looking at building our audience back up at Friargate Theatre,” said Ollie. “We’ve put a season together for the autumn which has loads of different bits of work.
“We’ve got lots of family shows, improv and stand-up comedy, storytelling. We’ve got a great Christmas show called ‘A Christmas Cracker’, which we’re producing ourselves.
“We’ve got some great comedians coming, including Lost Voice Guy, Pat Monahan, and Tony Vino.”
They will be performing at Friargate Theatre as part of the venue’s brand new monthly comedy night Get Up Stand Up. Starting this September, it will be bringing some of the ‘biggest and best performers across the circuit’ to York.
Riding Lights’ comedy improv night Right Here Right Now will be continuing its brand of silliness based on audience suggestions.
Other highlights from the upcoming season are family shows such as Welcome to the World, an interactive show for 0-5 year olds featuring original songs and puppets; Finding Chester, which follows the story of a missing cat; and The Chronicles of Atom and Luna, an epic fairytale for those six years and over.
There will be fresh takes on timeless classics with Frankenstein (On a Budget) and The Shakespeare Jukebox, and live music offerings will include a homage to Frank Sinatra, with Joseph O’Brien, with all the Sinatra classic hits.
Friargate Theatre is a regular venue for the annual Aesthetica Film Festival, and will be again in 2024.
“We’ve had a long-standing commitment with Aesthetica, and we’re really excited that from 6-10 November they’re going to be coming and showing some films that you literally cannot see anywhere else.”
The theatre also has a rehearsal space that people can hire out to create their own work.
“We’ve opened the building up to local creatives and local artists, particularly those emerging artists who are just starting out, and we’ve been looking at ways we can support them,” said Ollie.
“We’ve got a rehearsal room and a theatre space, and we’re making that really accessible for people in the coming months in an affordable way.”
To see the full programme of upcoming events at Friargate Theatre and to book your tickets, visit the Riding Lights website.