Halfway to Edinburgh

Halfway to Edinburgh returns to Theatre@41 from 13 to 26 July, a two-week run of comedy and theatre previews that brings a slice of the Edinburgh Fringe to York. The festival has grown this year, with a programme that now covers both stand-up and theatre, and most of the acts are showing work they'll be taking up to Scotland later in the summer.

On the comedy side, there's Andrew O'Neill, who won the Sky Arts Comedy Award, and Elf Lyons, who's been nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award. They're joined by New Zealand comic Sully O'Sullivan and fellow Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Josh Glanc. It's a good mix of established names and newer voices, and because these are previews, you're seeing the material as it's still being worked on.

The theatre half of the bill is just as varied. Yorkshire's own Wright&Grainger bring back Selene after touring it through Australia and New Zealand, and Norwegian filmmaker and clown Karen Houge performs Dreamgirl. There's also Dylan Howells' magic show, Forget About Me, and new work from Fringe First winner Joe Sellman-Leava, who's known for his impressions, and Hannah Maxwell, whose show is titled Turn Your Fing Phones Off. On 16 July, there's a Test Drive Scratch Night* run by Four Wheel Drive and Theatre@41, which puts together snippets of new work from local artists and writers.

Tom Bellerby, the theatre's director, describes the festival as a chance to see new work from some of the country's best comics and theatre-makers in one place, and says it fits Theatre@41's reputation as one of Yorkshire's spots for innovative, quality, and affordable work. It's a paid event, and you can book tickets for the various shows at 41monkgate.co.uk.