What's on this month
Events in Scarborough
This month you can step back in time at Scarborough castle as each weekend there will be a chance to see how knights prepared for war. 'Fighting Knights' lets you see fully armoured knights, accompanied by their squires, in hand to hand combat as the lady of the castle looks on. For the youngsters there is also a junior knights and princesses event with story-telling, arts and crafts and dressing-up sessions. A good day for all the family.
Cinema
At The Hollywood Plaza at the moment, you can catch up with Woody, Buzz and all the rest of your your favourite toy characters in 'Toy Story 3', in which Andy is about to set off for college leaving his box of toys to an uncertain future.
Meanwhile, the Futurist is showing another successful follow on film with 'Shrek Forever After’, which features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz. If you want something rather darker, you can watch 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse', the third part of the incredibly popular series.
For details of films and screening times as they become available go to hollywoodplaza.co.uk.
Theatre
On at the moment and until the 4th of September, there is a treat in store as the Stephen Joseph Theatre Company stage an updated version of Gilbert and Sullivan's 'The Mikado'. In this version Japan is replaced by the Titipu Cricket Club but all the original songs are there as is the satire on capital punishment. Having seen last year's production of The Pirates of Penzance, I will definitely be going to see this one.
A further treat is the revival of Alan Ayckbourn's time-travelling comedy 'Communicating Doors' in which events that take place over a forty year period come together on one night in the same hotel suite. The possibility of crossing time barriers and altering the future leads to a great deal of humour and some excellent performances.
Also at the SJT you can watch some of the best films on release. The films showing this month include 'The Prince of Persia', 'Kick-Ass', 'Shutter Island' and 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.
For more details of plays and films visit Stephen Joseph Theatre .
Shows
There's plenty of comedy in store at the Futurist this month. On the 11th Cannon and Ball meet Jake and Elwood in 'Rock with Laughter', a mixture of comedy and Blues singing. And if you are still in need of cheering up, The ever popular Chuckle Brothers return to Scarborough on the following day, and again on the 19th and 26th, with some of their favourite live routines and supporting acts. For many, though, the highlight will be the King of Comedy, Ken Dodd, when his 'Happiness Show' returns to the Futurist on the 28th.
For more details of the shows and their start times visit The Futurist website
If you like musicals you could go to the YMCA where they are staging 'Beauty and the Beast' all through August and to the 9th of September. For details go to http://scarborough.ymca.org.uk/theatre-shows
Finally, if you want to see a real variety show, you should go to the Scarborough Spa to see their 'Summer Spectacular 2010', which features; music from the Beatles, Abba, and Michael Jackson; fabulous costumes and beautiful dancers; hilarious comedy; and even excerpts from Mary Poppins. What more could you ask for?
To see what more the Spa has to offer, visit http://www.scarboroughspa.co.uk/
Regular Live Music Venues
You can also listen to live music in many venues around Scarborough. Details of who is playing where is advertised in the local newspapers.
Please come back soon for new information on freetime activities in and around Scarborough.
For a detailed calender of events visit Hightide magazine.