Tag Archives: John Cooper Studio

The Goat or Who Is Sylvia?: From American Dream to Greek Tragedy

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York-based Pick Me Up Theatre present the northern UK premiere of Edward Albee’s sensational black comedy, The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? (or, Notes Towards a Definition of Tragedy). Once again transforming the black box John Cooper Studio into a completely fitting world, Robert Readman’s production design transports you smoothly to a liminal space; the perfect living room of a high-flying American family, in the moments before protagonist husband and father Martin drops a bombshell on it all. Continue reading →

Monster Makers: “give ’em something that they won’t expect”

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Stephen Dolginoff (Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story) serves up a jolly, camp romp in his new triple-feature musical Monster Makers, which celebrates the colourful talents behind the most (in)famous classic horror films. Continue reading →

Mad Alice: “I was a witch that day”

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Inspired by local landmark Mad Alice Lane and dedicated to her brother, Victoria Delaney’s new original play Mad Alice investigates the local legend we all think we know, but cannot accurately place in history. Opening in the ‘Mucky Duck’ (White Swan Inn) in 1825, an ominous electronic soundscape threaded with rumours and whispers plays as the cast creep on stage one by one, immediately establishing palpable dynamics between them with the slightest of glances. Continue reading →

Something Else: (“and now for ______ entirely different”)

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Open Barn Productions present Renae Mae Miller’s sharp new absurdist play Something Else at the John Cooper Studio @ 41 Monkgate as part of the Great Yorkshire Fringe. This striking and vehement fifty-minute script serves an enigmatic cocktail of paracetamol fever dreams, indiscernible package beach holidays and age-old hurts. Continue reading →

Impromptu Shakespeare: or, What You Will [throw into the bard’s britches]

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Jennifer Jordan, Charlie Sturgeon and Jules Munns burst onto the John Cooper Studio stage in stock Elizabethan breeches, shirts and silly moustaches following an epic, Hollywood-planetarium style opening voiceover documenting Dustin Hoffman’s frustration with Shakespeare’s words; namely, “‘You can’t improvise this s***’… This one’s for you, Dustin.” Continue reading →

The Great Gatsby: Homecoming

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This party is anything but little. Greeted warmly with York gin and tonic and Long Island accents, the cast and crew make themselves available to you from the moment you step over the threshold of the John Cooper Studio. Enigmatic suits and skirts of the American twenties beckon you around the building, now transformed into bars, dance halls, lounges and boudoirs. No corner is untouched, no person unwelcomed. Continue reading →