The Joy of [Biological] Sex
Ignore the noise -- follow the signal. Otherwise you might find yourself at a tribunal. Plus the best performance events around Yorkshire Apr 23-26
Last week’s illness, or whatever it was, has left me out of plunter and out of sorts. The half-bottle of Cava I downed on last Wednesday night didn’t help. I did it to toast the UK Supreme Court decision that defined a woman for the purposes of the Equality Act 2010 as a biological woman rather than a ‘certificated’ one. But, what the hell, it felt like VE Day — even though in reality, it was probably just the moment when biological commonsense, having gained a foothold on the Normandy beaches with Forstater v CGD Europe, reclaimed the Port of Antwerp and made ultimate victory over gender insanity inevitable.
There’s still a slog ahead. Institutional hostility to reality-based thinking is based on deep levels of misinformation. As long ago as 2021, British barrister Akua Reindorf KC concluded that LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall’s advice was misleading and potentially illegal. It misrepresented the 2010 Act to suggest the legislation included “gender identity” as a protected characteristic, when in fact it’s “gender reassignment”. Thanks to the diabolical success of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme an entire generation of HR personnel and managers’ have misapplied anti-discrimination legislation based on Stonewall Law — “the law as Stonewall would prefer it to be, rather than the law as it is,” as Reindorf so pithily put it.
One morning, as a non-lawyer, I read the Judgment in its entirety. It is 88 pages of legal clarity and commonsense. Certificated ‘transwomen’ have been stripped of some rights they never really had, but certificated ‘transmen’ have regained a couple of important ones they nearly lost. (It was biological women, however they identified, who always lost ground in the gender ideology nuthouse.) And gay rights, which would have been curtailed if sex had been legally defined to include ‘certified sex’ for the purposes of the 2010 Equality Act have been protected.
Given the history of supposed experts misrepresenting the law, I urge people to read the Judgment themselves rather than taking at face value the wilder claims of both activists and those whose income depends on them believing in these six varieties of nonsense. If there’s a disparity between what you’re being told and the textual evidence take further advice.
For Women Scotland Ltd (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers (Respondent)
Now, back to normality:
The glory of the creator economy is that there’s no subeditor breathing down my neck. (It might be better if there was — I’d spend less time on social media.) So, because I didn’t unduly stress myself over Easter Weekend, here belatedly are a few interesting shows and events happening around Yorkshire this week and also slightly beyond:
Over the next few days I’m seeing two things at York Theatre Royal. The first is Bad Apple Theatre Company’s The Thankful Village. Countrywoman Kate Bramley trained with John Godber at Hull Truck and for 25 years has made and toured work of relevance to rural communities. This play, a decade in the making, follows the lives of three women, from the same household, during the long years of The Great War. The songs and music, by her long-time collaborator SONY Radio Academy Award Winner Jez Lowe, have featured on Radio Four. Apr 24-26, £20, going fast.
The second is Krapp’s Last Tape with Gary Oldman. The press performances take place midway through the run, which is later then usual. But since the production was always likely to sell out many times over, I suppose there was no upside to arranging early publicity. So far, the press embargo is holding but the digital chatter in York is most exited — people are posting Reels of him signing autographs in the foyer. Performances run to May 17 — they’re sold out but it’s not impossible the Theatre Royal will add more or dribble in extra tickets so keep checking.
Despite ongoing Musician’s Union rumbles about the way Northern Balllet has replaced its Sinfonia with freelance musicians, Cathy Marston’s Jane Eyre (first seen in 2016) is still one of the classiest things around. Based on Charlotte Bronte’s novel, it features Dominquie Larose as Jane Eyre, Amber Lewis as Bertha and Joseph Taylor as Mr Rochester. Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, to Apr 26, £15-£56.50, then Sadler’s Wells, London, May 13-17, £15-£75.
Opera North’s concert staging of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra (in Italian with English surtitles) is in the magnificent Victorian setting of Bradford’s St George’s Hall. Originally a practical adaptation to accommodate an orchestra that was bigger than the available orchestra pit, the company has become famous over the years for putting its musicians onstage in full view of the audience. Roland Wood sings the title role conducted by Anthony Hermus and directed by PJ Harris. Apr 24-26, £19-£58, Hull New Theatre, May 17, £16-£51 plus nationally.
If you’re a fan of contemporary musicals, Dear Evan Hansen is a good ‘un, and you’ll find it at Hull New Theatre this week. The show, which premiered in Washington DC in 2015, takes on the fashionable subjects of social anxiety, social media and teen mental health and has won multiple awards. Ryan Kopel stars as Evan - he is directed by Nottingham Playhouse's Artistic Director Adam Penford. Hull New Theatre, Apr 23-26, £20-£62, Grand Opera House, York, Jun 24-28, £26-£78, plus nationally.
Of note too is The School Of Night’s brief trip North. A sophisticated treat, the troupe improvise ancient, undiscovered Shakespearean masterpieces based on audience suggestions. The original School of Night was purported to be a secret, atheistic cabal of artists, writers and intellectuals that gathered around the pirate-statesman, poet, explorer, political prisoner and all-round cool dude Sir Walter Raleigh. The 21st-century edition visits Slung Low Temple, Leeds, Apr 24, pay what you can, and the Georgian Theatre, Richmond, Apr 25, £16. Given that the latter venue is the most complete working Georgian playhouse in Britain, it’s the perfect posh date.
First Look: One Good Thing
This never happens! Beverley’s East Riding Theatre staged a three-day new writing festival in 2024 (PlayLab) and they loved a submission so much that they decided to give the play a full production. Writer Joe Bravaco is one to watch as he’s chalked up playwriting competition wins both here and in his native United States. The play is a 90-minute comedy-drama about two Irish brothers and is amusingly subtitled: “Are Ya Patrick Swayze?” Directed by Richard Avery. Apr 24-May 10, £15-£25.
York International Shakespeare Festival 2025
It’s been going for a decade now and is the only Shakespeare Festival in the UK which sloughs off parochialism to present the Bard as a writer of global signficance. One highlight is the world premiere reading of a new play Codename Othello by the Ukrainian writer Olga Annenko. This is the second fairy-tale writing discovery of this newsletter edition; Annenko was eventually tracked down to France after Prof. Nicoleta Cinpoes, the Festival’s International Adviser and a leading European Shakespeare Academic, came across a fragment in Ukrainian. Codename Othello, York St John University Creative Centre Auditorium, Apr 25, £5.50.
The rest of the programme, and it is packed with wonders, may be found here. To May 4, prices vary.
The Signalman
An “occult illusionist” sounds like an odd thing. But then I discovered this thought-provoking TED Talk by conjuror David Alnwick explaining why he thinks that in capable hands the artform is deserving of at least as much respect as upmarket horror flicks.
His retelling of Charles Dickens’s chilling story The Signalman is at the entirely appropriate Whitby Pavilion, Apr 25, £20, and kicks off the “Dracula” town’s three-day Gothic Gathering.
Saturday
And heading into next weekend we have Dr Peter Harrop’s talk Mummers Plays: A Confluence of Custom and Theatre at Todmorden Folklore Centre. Apr 26, £5. As with all things ‘folk’ the lineage and influence of these early dramas is more convoluted than you’d think.
Cuckoo Day is the culmination of Marsden Cuckoo Festival Apr 25 & 26, an annual village celebration of this fast-disappearing bird. Daytime activities are a charming mix of rubber duck races, maypole dancing, mummery, music and family activities but the evening culminates in something special — a performance by Marsden-born Poet Laureate Simon Armitage, his band LYR and community actors at Marsden Mechanics Hall. Tickets for this latter have been snaffled up by locals but the rest sounds like great fun.
Rare Treat
And finally, ‘they’ person John-William Watson, a highly original Leeds-based choreographer, dances a new solo double bill called A Treachery Of Images. The first, Why This Chair Does Not Exist, is inspired by both film-maker Buster Keaton and surrealist painter Renee Magritte, with music by Adam Vincent Clarke. The second, The Rules Of Safe Lifting, has been created around the discovery of an ancient health-and-safety poster and features designs by Joshua Cartmell. Seven Arts, Leeds, Apr 26, £10 & £15.
That’s it for now. Have a stupendous rest-ofyour-week stuffed full of art performances, and I’ll see you when I see you.
Liz x