A far from Pointless show

Alexander Armstrong, All Mouth & Some Trousers, York Barbican, this Sunday, 7.30pm

POINTLESS host Alexander Armstrong embarks on his first ever stand-up tour: a deliciously irreverent account of a career that has taken him from comedy duo Armstrong & Miller to television and radio presenting, documentary making, singing... and the voice of Toilet Duck.

Musical journey of the week

Darbari Minstrels, National Centre for Early Music, York, Tuesday, 7.30pm

A DOUBLE bill from South Asia showcases 15th century music from Kabul, Afghanistan, and Nankana Sahib, Pakistan. Composer Qais Essar explores the ancient melodies, moods and rhythms of the Rabab, a 2,500-year-old instrument, while Sri Kirpal Singh performs a series of Shabads, sacred songs from Sikh scriptures.

Ghost story of the week

The Woman In Black, York Theatre Royal, Tuesday to Saturday

STEPHEN Mallatratt’s stage adaptation first chilled spines in Susan Hill’s home town of Scarborough in 1987. Thirty-two years on, this study in creeping atmosphere, illusion and controlled horror still chills, as a lawyer obsessed with a family curse cast by the spectre of a Woman in Black engages a young actor to help tell his terrifying story.

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

NE Musicals York in Miracle On 34th Street, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, Wednesday to Saturday

NE MUSICALS York give a mid-November run to the “ultimate Christmas musical fantasy”, based on the movie of the same name.

Tribute show of the week

Carole, The Music Of Carole King, Grand Opera House, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm

PRESTIGE Productions’ cast of musicians, singers and dancers tell the story behind the music of Carole King.

Returning Eighties’ pin-up of the week

Adam Ant, York Barbican, Thursday, 7.30pm

FOR the first time, Adam Ant will perform his 1982 debut solo album, Friend Or Foe, in its entirety on his autumn tour, complemented by his multiple hit singles and personal favourites. Now 65, he last played York Barbican on May 31, 2016 on his Kings Of The Wild Frontier tour, when he stood and delivered that 1980 Adam And The Ants magnus opus in track order.

York premiere of the week

Rigmarole in When The Rain Stops Falling, John Cooper Studio, 41 Monkgate, Thursday to Saturday

DIRECTOR Maggie Smales presents Andrew Bovell’s When The Rain Stops Falling, a multi-layered story of betrayal, abandonment and destruction spread across 80 years and four generations of one family in England and Australia.

International play of the week

Hello And Goodbye, York Theatre Royal Studio, Thursday to November 30

YORK Theatre Royal associate artist John R Wilkinson directs Emilio Iannucci and Jo Mousley in South African playwright Athol Fugard’s 1965 drama, a tense meditation on family, selfishness and redemption.

One-man show of the week

Blue Fire Theatre Company in Kemp’s Jig, Friargate Theatre, York. Friday, 7.30pm

CHRIS Harris’s saucy romp of an Elizabethan travelogue celebrates Morris dancing while making merry highlighting Shakespeare’s supposed lack of humour.

Psychedelic jazz gig of the week

Yazz Ahmed: Polyhymnia, The Crescent, York, Friday, 7.30pm

British-Bahraini trumpet player and composer Yazz Ahmed seeks to blur the lines between jazz and electronic sound design. She will perform her new psychedelic Arabic jazz record, Polyhymnia, with a 12-piece ensemble.

Festive ballet of the week

Russian State Ballet in The Nutcracker, York Barbican, Sunday, 2pm and 7pm

CHRISTMAS comes early to York Barbican as the Russian State Ballet travel through the Land of Snow to an enchanted place in ETA Hoffmann’s story of a sad little girl, a nutcracker doll, a Mouse-king and his Mouse army.