His Last Report

Misha Duncan-Barry and Bridget Foreman

York Theatre Royal with Riding Lights Theatre Company production

York Theatre Royal

July 22-August 3, 2025; 2hrs 45mins

Anthony Jardine plays Seebohm Rowntree in His Last Report. All pics: SR Taylor

To most people, I suspect, the name Rowntree is mostly associated with sweets such as Fruit Pastilles or Fruit Gums, perhaps.

In York it means more than that; the Rowntree family has close connections with the city through reformer Seebohm Rowntree and the work of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, whose declared aim is to speed up and support the transition to a future free from poverty.

This preamble brings us to York Theatre Royal’s 2025 community production His Last Report, which stands in complete contrast to Sovereign, the most recent community show – an outdoor production with all the pomp, majesty and spectacle demanded of an adaptation of C J Sansom’s historical novel.

The subject of His Last Report was decided by consultation with the York community, which was asked for suggestions for subject matter. Seebohm came out on top, a man whose battle against poverty had, and still has, national as well as local repercussions.

Poverty could hardly be a more appropriate topic at a time when money – or, for many, lack of it, is a daily consideration.

The production is epic and not just because of its two hours and 45 minutes run time, which didn’t seem too long, something I didn’t think I’d be saying. There is a company of 100, both on and off stage, led by two professional actors, York-born Antony Jardine as Rowntree and Amelia Donkor, directed by York Theatre Royal’s creative director Juliet Forster and Riding Light’s artistic director and joint CEO, Paul Birch.

The first act sees Seebohm set about tackling poverty through research. The second act is more problematic and disjointed, as it shows how many of his reforms have backfired, leaving the country in the mess it is today.

Winston Churchill shows up, along with a trapeze performer, actor-manager Frank Benson and the theatre choir - which perhaps shows how off the wall the play becomes.

Jardine brings passion and conviction to Seebohm’s ambition to eradicate poverty, although Donkor seems wasted as Gulie Harlock, not just Rowntree's assistant, as many think, but a social scientist, health inspector and research partner who backed Seebohm’s ideas.

His Last Report boasts high production values and two unforgettable images – the first act finale's celebration, and a curtain call with more than 100 performers filling the Theatre Royal stage.

More info and tickets here