18 things to see and do in Yorkshire in March

A look ahead to the month’s best things to see and do in Yorkshire and beyond March 1-5
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown’s mystery novel was critically acclaimed as a well-plotted, intelligent and complex thriller on its release in 2003. Only kidding!

It was universally trashed by everyone from Brown’s fellow authors to the Catholic church. The Da Vinci Code was, however, staggeringly successful: it sold tens of millions of copies and spawned three films. Ooh, and it’s now a stage play, too, with Nigel Harman (EastEnders) and Danny John-Jules (Death in Paradise) in the lead roles.
Hull New Theatre hulltheatres.co.uk

March 1-5
Magic Goes Wrong
A rip-roaring comedy from magicians Penn & Teller (who won’t be appearing, so don’t look for them) and the people who brought you The Play That Goes Wrong. This time the focus is on a
troupe of hapless magicians staging a charity night. Also at Hull New Theatre (March 8-12).
The Alhambra, Bradford bradford-theatres.co.uk

March 4 & 5
Rice
An award-winning and thought-provoking two-hander that focuses on the relationship between a determined young woman with ambitions to become Australia’s first female Indian CEO, and the older Chinese cleaner who works in her office. Asian-Australian writer Michele Lee explores themes of migration, ambition, family and friendship. Also at the Crucible in Sheffield (March – 9).
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough sjt.uk.com

March 5 & 6
York Ice Trail
Last year’s Ice Trail event was cancelled because… well… we’ll give you three guesses why. The good news is that the Trail is back this month (it was supposed to happen in February, but was delayed due to rising case numbers) with 40 sculptures including characters from Frozen, The Lion King, and Ratatouille. There’ll also be live ice carving at St Sampson’s Square.
City centre visityork.org/york-ice-trail

March 8-19
Dreamgirls
This award-winning musical — about young, black female singers making it big in 1960s America — is thought to be inspired by the story of Diana Ross and the Supremes (well, duh: it features a fictional group called Deena Jones and the Dreams). It includes the songs And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going, Listen, I Am Changing and One Night Only.
Lyceum Sheffield sheffieldtheatres.co.uk March 10
Ensemble 360
This concert from Ensemble 360 includes Sonata for Horn and Piano by Belgian composer Jane Vignery, and works featuring clarinet, horn and piano by Reinecke and Brahms.

Part of Music in the Round’s spring concerts taking place in venues across Sheffield (which, by the way, also includes a new series called Sounds of Now, curated by Radio Three’s Tom McKinney).
Studio Theatre, Sheffield, sheffieldtheatres.co.uk March 10
Glenn Tilbrook
One half of Squeeze comes to Ilkley to play songs from an astounding back catalogue. This potentially includes a plethora of Squeeze songs — including Take Me I’m Yours, Cool For Cats, Up The Junction, Another Nail In My Heart, Tempted, Labelled With Love, Black Coffee In Bed, etc — plus some excellent solo work.

Proof, if proof be needed, that Tilbrook and his Squeeze writing partner, Chris Difford, are among Britain’s finest songwriters. Also at The Crescent in York on March 13.
King’s Hall, Ilkley bradford-theatres.co.uk March 11-April 2
Resilience/On the Beach
This 2009 climate crisis double bill from playwright Steve Waters was first presented under the heading The Contingency Plan.

While both plays feature the same characters, they also work as standalone pieces: Resilience is a political satire about a scientific advisor working for the government, while On the Beach is a family drama.
Crucible Sheffield sheffieldtheatres.co.uk March 12- January 8, 2023
Robert Indiana: Sculpture 1958 – 2018
The American pop artist — who died in 2018 — is best known for his image of the word ‘LOVE’ which features a slanted letter O (you’ll have seen it in numerous galleries and gift shops). There are 57 of Indiana’s sculptures on display in this exhibition, six of which will appear in the YSP’s landscape.
Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Wakefield ysp.org.uk

March 15- 19
As You Like It
Halifax-based theatre company Northern Broadsides returns with its first full-scale touring show since the pandemic stopped it in its tracks in 2020. This gender fluid staging of Shakespeare’s comedy is high on flamboyance and visual spectacle — and it also happens to be Broadsides’ 30th anniversary production (the company was founded in 1992 by its former artistic director, Barrie Rutter). If you miss it here, you can catch it at the York Theatre Royal (March 23-26).
Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough 01723 370541 sjt.uk.com

March 17 & 18
The Invisible Man
Hull Truck is being visited by some dynamic new touring productions during its 50th anniversary year, including this short, sharp new adaptation of the HG Wells sci-fi classic from Northern Stage theatre company. Featuring ‘a new take on one of the most iconic characters in horror fiction’ it’s suitable for the over 12s.
Hull Truck 01482 323638 hulltruck.co.uk March 20
Hannah James and Toby Kuhn: Sleeping Spirals
James is a singer, accordionist and clog dancer who has worked with Maddy Prior from Steeleye Span and appeared with Seasick Steve on Jools Holland’s Hootenanny (altogether: “Hootenanny!”).

She’s teamed with Kuhn — a French cellist — to make Sleeping Spirals, a debut album that draws on English folk and European melodies.
Greystones Pub, Sheffield 0115 266 5599 hannahtobymusic.org March 22-26
Northern Ballet’s Casanova
Another outing for an uber-opulent production from Northern Ballet, with choreography by former principal dancer Kenneth Tindall (this was his first full-length ballet which had its inaugural UK tour in 2017, and became so successful it was broadcast on Sky Arts). The feast-for-the-eyes sets and costumes are by Christopher Oram.
Lyceum Sheffield sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

March 23
Sophie Ellis-Bextor – Kitchen Disco
Ellis Bextor is finally coming out of her kitchen — where she had regularly been performing mini concerts during lockdown that were broadcast over social media — and getting out on the road again. Sophie has proved herself to be something of a trooper over the last few years. Apart from keeping people’s spirits up during the pandemic, she raised over a million quid with a 24-hour danceathon for Children in Need last year.

Also at Sheffield City Hall on March 12.
St George’s Hall, Bradford bradford-theatres.co.uk March 24-April 2
Say Yes To Tess
Could this intriguing new musical comedy ‘do a Jamie’ and become a big, galloping, runaway hit? It’s the brainchild of theatre director and playwright Tess Seddon and recounts her real-life experience of standing for the Yorkshire Party in Leeds North East in the 2017 General Election.

Featuring original songs written by Harry Blake, it stars Seddon as herself — and, crucially, you don’t have to be interested in politics to enjoy it.
Leeds Playhouse leedsplayhouse.org.uk March 28-April 2
Footloose
Here’s something to make you feel old. Once, Darren Day would have been cast in the lead role of this hit musical — based on the Kevin Bacon film — about a dance-loving teen who brings rock ‘n’ roll to puritan small-town America.

Now, however, Day is playing the part of the crumbly God-fearing minister who thinks that jigging about to Let’s Hear it For the Boy is the route to eternal damnation. Former X Factor contestant Jake Quickenden stars in the Bacon role (not to be confused with a bacon roll).
Theatre Royal, York yorktheatreroyal.co.uk March 29 – April 2
Looking Good Dead
If you’re a fan of EastEnders, you’ll know that actor Adam Woodyatt played Ian Beale in the long-running soap for approximately 837 years (or maybe it just felt that long).

But now Woodyatt has left Albert Square and is treading the boards for the first time in four decades in this thriller based on the novel by best-selling author, Peter James.
Grand Opera House, York atgtickets.com/york

March 31
The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour
An adrenaline-fuelled celebration of the great outdoors, with a series of documentary films featuring extreme mountain expeditions, rip-roaring high altitude adventure and jaw-dropping cinematography.

The movies are chosen from hundreds of Banff Mountain Film Festival entries, an event held every November in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
York Barbican yorkbarbican.co.uk banff-uk.com