The cast of Stick Man (l-r): Nancy Landry Trotter, Oliver Grant and musician Alex Tosh.
The first ever Great Yorkshire Fringe got underway at the weekend, kicking off ten days of comedy, theatre and music.
The city centre of York has been transformed for the festival, with three ‘spiegeltents’ being erected in Parliament Street as venues – the Turn Pot, the Tea Pot and the White Rose Rotunda.
A live performance of Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler’s book ‘Stick Man’ opened the festival. This play, which ran until recently at the West End, will run for the entirety of the Fringe. Music, songs, puppetry and physical comedy are combined to tell the story of Stick Man, who is swept away from his stick wife and three stick children by a series of unfortunate encounters while out for a jog one day.
The intimate venue of the White Rose Rotunda – part big-top, part bar saloon – allows the actors to get in amongst the crowd. The children at the first show of the Fringe run sat captivated for all of its 55 minute running time. The production is by Scamp Theatre, who specialise in theatrical performances with a focus on adapting children’s literature.
Other big names at the festival include Paul Merton, Al Murray and Reginald D Hunter.
For tickets and times for all events, see the Great Yorkshire Fringe website: http://www.greatyorkshirefringe.com/.