Theatregoer walks out of play as cast had Yorkshire accents – in York

Ee bard gum! Theatregoer walks out of Shakespeare play and demands refund because the cast had Yorkshire accents – in York

• Northern Broadsides performed ‘As You Like It’ at York Theatre Royal last week
• Touring company claims it has never received a complaint about accents before
• York Theatre Royal’s chief executive Tom Bird poked fun at complaint on Twitter
• In a tweet, he reassured followers the complainant had ‘no chance’ of a refund

A theatregoer walked out of a Shakespeare play and demanded a refund because the cast had Yorkshire accents – in York.

Theatre company Northern Broadsides performed ‘As You Like It’ at the York Theatre Royal last week in what they advertise as ‘bold, accessible and unapologetic Northern voices’. 

The touring company, based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, has been performing on stages across the country for 30 years – but claims it has never received a complaint about accents before.

The theatre’s chief executive Tom Bird poked fun at the complaint on social media, saying the customer had bemoaned ‘Yorkshires accents right here in Yorkshire’.

Social media users were also left bemused by the complaint, with one questioning: ‘Surely in the top 10 of ridiculous complaints?’

Northern Broadsides performed ‘As You Like It’ (pictured above) at the York Theatre Royal last week in what they advertise as ‘bold, accessible and unapologetic Northern voices’

The touring company, based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, has been performing on stages across the country for 30 years – but claims it has never received a complaint about accents before. Pictured: An advert posted by York Theatre Royal for ‘As You Like It’

In a tweet to his followers, Mr Bird confirmed they had received a complaint and reassured followers the complainant had ‘no chance’ of a refund.

He said: ‘We’ve got a complaint this morning @YorkTheatre from someone who left after an hour of @NBroadsides #AsYouLikeIt last week, because it had “Yorkshire accents” in it.

‘That’s Yorkshire accents, right here in Yorkshire. They want a refund.’

The post has since attracted more than 116 retweets and 1,146 likes from other baffled social media users.

Northern Broadsides marketing and communications manager, Jess Rooney, added: ‘It’s made us all chuckle – I’ll be honest.

‘I’m not sure who the complaint applied to specifically but pretty much all of the actors have a Northern accent. They don’t hide them.

‘Our whole selling point and what we do differently is Shakespeare in northern voices. We were just quite bemused by it at first. 

‘We’ve been working on platforming northern voices on stage for the last 30 years. In my time, I’ve never seen this complaint.’

The production, which states it is performed by ’12 Northern actors’ on its posters, ran from March 23 to March 26 – with theatre critic Mark Fisher describing one performer’s accent as ‘gorgeous’.

But despite the company being complimented for its Northern accents, one theatregoer felt drawn to file a complaint.

The theatre’s chief executive Tom Bird poked fun at the complaint on social media, saying the customer had bemoaned ‘Yorkshires accents right here in Yorkshire’

The production, which states it is performed by ’12 Northern actors’, ran from March 23 to March 26 – with theatre critic Mark Fisher describing one performer’s accent as ‘gorgeous’

Ms Rooney said: ‘It’s a normal thing to hear northern voices and Yorkshire accents on stage these days.

‘We were one of the first to do this 30 years ago and since then I think a lot of people have taken it on board.

‘It’s more of a thing people enjoy to hear. It makes the [characters] sound like them and people can relate to it a little bit more.

‘A lot of Shakespearian language is hard to get used to anyway so if you hear it in your own voice, it makes the experience a lot more accessible.

‘A lot of our actors are from Manchester. Bailey trained at Manchester School of Theatre, Isabel is from Lancaster, Shaban is from Manchester, Gemma is from Leeds, Terri is from Manchester. We’ve got someone from Wirral and someone from Hull.

‘We have it on the York Theatre Royal website. On all our posters and flyers it says “performed by 12 Northern actors.” It’s everywhere, basically.

Social media users were left bemused by the complaint, while Mr Bird reassured followers the complainant had ‘no chance’ of a refund

‘I think they were expecting a more traditional approach to the text, maybe. It’s done us a world of good this complaint.’ 

Responding to Mr Bird’s post, one social media user said: ‘Yorkshire accents, in Yorkshire, from a Yorkshire-based theatre company, that was SPECIFICALLY created to showcase Yorkshire accents in all roles? Heaven forbid.’

Another added: ‘This makes me soooo angry! Bored of this narrative that people shun northern accents because they’re ‘not supposed to be on stage or represented because it’s not [received pronunciation]’.

‘Keep representing Northern accents. They are real, deserve to heard and are just as important as standard receive pronunciation or other more commonly comfortably heard southern accents.’

A third wrote: ‘Northern broadsides are a Yorkshire gem.

‘I saw them in Manchester and will see them in Leeds next – shocked some theatre goers are so ignorant!’ 

And a fourth commented: ‘I once had an audience member write to me personally at a theatre I had performed at, because she didn’t appreciate my foul language/attitude on stage, in character, delivering the lines as written.

‘Wow. These people don’t deserve it.’ 

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