Culture Digest 03.04.26
A weekly round up of some of the arts and culture stories from across the North East, which caught our attention
Note: We’ve decided to embrace the bank holiday weekend spirit so there will be no Cultured. On Sunday - hence a bumper Culture Digest awaits… a perfect accompaniment for chocolate eggs. Wishing you all a peaceful Easter.
BBC backs North East with new drama and multi-million pound commitment
A new BBC crime drama set against the wild sweep of the Northumberland coastline is set to put the North East firmly back in the small screen spotlight - and it arrives as part of a major new wave of investment and ambition for the region’s screen industries.
Robson Green will lead the cast for The Northumbria Mysteries, which marks a significant return of BBC scripted production to the North East, with filming due to begin imminently.
Produced by Byker-based Lonesome Pine Productions (The Feud, The Inheritance), the eight-part daytime series centres on an unlikely crime-solving duo navigating a string of cases across coastal towns and rural communities.
Robson will star as Joe Ruby, a flawed, jack-of-all-trades drawn into solving crimes alongside the cerebral DI Rose O’Connell (casting to be confirmed).
Executive producer Lesley Douglas, said: “We could not be happier to have Robson Green lead the cast and bring Joe Ruby to life, within the magnificent backdrop of Northumberland. Working with the BBC to realise these characters has been a labour of love”.
News of the drama forms the centrepiece of a much broader push by the BBC to grow the North East as one of its key Creative Clusters.
The corporation has doubled down on its regional ambitions with a raft of new commissions, talent initiatives and a multi-million-pound investment package.
A newly extended memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the BBC and regional leaders translates to at least £40 million of network TV commissioning spend directed into the North East by the end of 2027, aligning with the BBC’s latest Charter period.
One-handed pianist Nicholas McCarthy on his rise to the top
One day at school, when he was 14, Nicholas McCarthy heard some music that changed his life, or at least determined the course of it.
Music cities network summit to land in Sunderland
Sunderland is set to take centre stage on the global music map this summer as it hosts the Music Cities Network (MCN) Summer Summit – the first time the international gathering has been held in the UK.
Music leaders, policymakers and industry figures from across the world will converge on the city from June 18-20, with a wider programme of events taking place throughout the week.
The summit marks a significant milestone for Sunderland, which only recently secured its status as a recognised Music City and joined the global MCN network. It will also serve as the finale to the city’s Year of Music, a 12-month celebration of its musical heritage and contemporary scene.
Over three days, the summit will focus on how music can shape future cities, with discussions exploring cultural policy, cross-sector collaboration and the role of innovation in sustaining music ecosystems.
International delegates will join local voices to share ideas and develop strategies aimed at strengthening music infrastructure both regionally and globally.
North East Playwriting Award rewards new writing
There was a palpable sense of warmth - and no shortage of full-throated cheers - inside Newcastle’s Live Theatre as a crowd of North East theatremakers came together for the 2026 North East Playwriting Awards.
Writers, actors, directors and industry figures packed into the Quayside venue on Tuesday night (March 31) for a night aimed squarely at celebrating the breadth of talent across the region and shining a spotlight on those pushing it forward.
Starting at the finale, it was writer Andrew Thompson, who took home the main North East Playwriting Award for Not A Happy Love Song - a new work exploring the unravelling of the NHS through a toxic relationship. The prize includes a full commission, with a view to staging the play on Live Theatre’s main stage.
Reacting to the win, Andrew said: “This means so much. It means everything to me as a writer to have my work read and championed by Live Theatre, a space I grew up in and have been constantly inspired by. I feel truly honoured to have won and am really excited for the opportunities this represents.”
The evening also celebrated emerging voices, with the Under 26 Award shared between two writers whose entries gave the judges an insurmountable challenge.
Fringe takeover puts North East comedy centre stage
Pioneering North East comedy collective, Felt Nowt is taking matters into its own hands when it comes to making the Edinburgh Festival Fringe a more realistic prospect for the region’s comedians.
The not-for-profit and artist-led co-operative is taking over a whole venue for the duration of the month-long festival and will run a programme exclusively featuring more than 30 North East acts.
The Garrett at The Alchemist on George Street will be the place to see a mix of established names and first-time performers who all count the North East as home while bringing their talents to one of the world’s biggest arts festivals.
Branded Felt Nowt at the Fringe, the initiative aims to challenge what organisers describe as a London-centric comedy industry and the growing financial pressures that make it increasingly difficult for many acts to take part.
Director John Gibson said: “In the same way that overseas embassies are technically part of that country, for the entire Edinburgh Festival one room will be technically part of the North East.
“We’re proud to launch a brand-new Fringe venue run by Felt Nowt, and we’re unapologetic that our reason for doing so is our simple belief that North East acts deserve the same opportunities as everyone else - and that fairness shouldn’t depend on your postcode.”
Step back in time with directors’ carriage
Visitors to a Northumberland heritage railway will be able to turn back the clock to the days when directors were a class apart from their passengers.
The Aln Valley Railway has restored the directors’ carriage which dates from 1896.
The North Eastern Railway carriage was equipped with its own kitchen, toilet and armchairs so that the directors and senior officers of the railway could travel in style.
Initially it was lit by oil lamps but there is evidence of both gas and electricity being used after 1911. The vehicle was later used as a dynamometer car, engineers’ saloon and tunnel inspection vehicle.
Now from April 4, it will be added to specified journeys on the Aln Valley line for passengers paying a £5 supplementary fee added to the normal ticket price.
From empty building to creative powerhouse
A new creative hub is set to open in the heart of Newcastle this autumn, as an underused city centre building is transformed into affordable studios, workspaces and a cultural venue for artists and makers.
Backed by a £1.7million investment from Newcastle City Council and funding from the North East Combined Authority, the project will bring 8,600 sq ft of space on the corner of Clayton Street and Nelson Street - just steps from the Grainger Market -back into use.
The building will become the base for Creative Central NCL, the five-year programme focused on strengthening Newcastle’s creative economy, while also addressing a longstanding problem for the sector: the lack of affordable, secure workspace in the city centre.
Once complete, the four-storey site will house studios for up to 45 creatives, alongside exhibition space, areas for events and workshops, and a café and retail offer.
Charity film needs your vote
A North East short is in the running for a Smiley Charity Film Award.
Animator Scott Tyrrell’s Any One Of Us was commissioned by The Cultural Spring and created in close collaboration with the service users of the mental health charity Sunderland Headlight.
Throughout the project, Scott facilitated a series of bespoke design and writing workshops with the group, ensuring the final piece was co-authored by those with lived experience.
The resulting film, which features narration by Sunderland comedian Matt Reed, is currently being reviewed by an official judging panel. It is also a contender for the People’s Choice Award, with the public vote remaining open until April 23.
You can vote for it here: smileycharityfilmawards.com
Boho Arts' city venture a sign of creative blossoming
With shuttered doors and windows and paintwork having seen better days, it’s the sort of place you’d drive past without a glance.
Thousands must do every day, melding into the traffic heading for the Redheugh Bridge.
But Bev Fox poses proudly in front of 66-76 Scotswood Road before beetling round the back, keen to show off what a visionary might see as potential and others as a dispiriting mess.
Artists tend to see what others can’t and Bev, co-founder of improv group The Suggestibles, clearly has that gift.
I’m looking at a forbidding wall with barbed wire on top, guarding an architectural mish-mash garnished with buddleia.
“We’re knocking through here so the outhouses become a garden and then we’ll have a balcony all round,” Bev says brightly.
“The council said we could get a pavement licence because there’s no through route.
“It’ll be really nice. I know you’ve got the traffic (roaring in close proximity along St James’ Boulevard) but you have that in Ibiza, everywhere.”
Exhibition tells untold story of women footie fans
One of the main goals of Professor Stacey Pope has been to give a voice to the female fans who have followed their teams with just as much passion as the men over the decades.
And as a base for her research the Durham University academic could scarcely have a better location than the North East, where football for many is a way of life.
She has talked to women committed to both Newcastle United and Sunderland, some as far back as the 1950s, who have staked their space in a male-dominated arena despite the challenges.
Those challenges have varied from the undercurrent that women fans intrude into a territory traditionally held by men, to being left feeling that their opinions and knowledge of the game are less than male supporters – that they are not “proper” fans.
The latest project by Prof Pope, director of research in the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences at Durham University, is a pop-up exhibition featuring the experiences, memories and views of black and white and red and white female fans.
Titled Away From Home: The Untold Stories of Women Football Fans, it is co-curated with David Wright.
Important auction unites science and art
The distinguished career of a North East scientist who became a world expert in his field took him to at least 80 countries.
Prof Brian Whitton was appointed as a lecturer in botany at Durham University where he spent his entire academic career.
And amid his research on river systems and algae he also became an expert on leading English abstract painter John Tunnard, building up an extensive collection of the artist’s work.
Prof Whitton died last year, aged 90, and now a first phase auction of his collection will be sold in Newcastle on April 23, with an estimated worth of more than £300,000. Part Two will follow later this year.
He held what is widely regarded as the finest private collection of the artist’s work, organised several exhibitions of Tunnard’s art and, with Alan Peat, wrote the definitive book, John Tunnard, his life and work. In 2000, there was a centenary exhibition at Durham University.
Cragside set for roof overhaul
It’s not a job you would want to tackle after a night on the tiles.
A major, £1.8 million roofing conservation project has begun at the National Trust’s Cragside property in Northumberland.
The roof is a network of over 100 roof drops, in a series of elevations, with interconnecting ridges at different heights. At its tallest point, the roof is 26 metres (85ft) high and beyond is a pattern of towering chimneys.
A complex scaffold will be used to carry out the works safely and efficiently.
The Cragside team is working with specialist contractors while the house remains open.
Works include re-tiling gaps; lifting and re-bedding all ridge tiles; re-roofing flat roofs; leading parapet gutters; removing foliage; re-pointing brickwork and chimneys; and complete replacement of large rooflights.
New North East studio recruits acclaimed director as ambassador
A new North East studio aiming to rebalance power in the creative industries has announced acclaimed Newcastle filmmaker Neil Marshall as its first official ambassador, alongside plans to recruit a founding cohort of regional talent.
Runway Rooms, set up by actor, producer and director Craig Conway with support Ammar Mirza CBE, is positioning itself as a different kind of studio model - one designed to support creatives from early development through to production and distribution, while allowing them to retain ownership of their work.
Marshall, whose credits include Dog Soldiers, The Descent (both of which starred Craig) and directing on Game of Thrones, said the project offers a practical alternative to traditional industry structures.
“I’ve seen first hand that independence can thrive when there’s genuine structure and commitment behind it,” he said.
“Runway Rooms represents that structure in the North East it’s a practical, people led studio where projects and creatives are supported, protected and moved forward from development into production.”
Alongside Marshall’s appointment, Runway Rooms has launched its Founding 100 Collective, a first intake of writers, directors, actors, producers and crew who will help shape its early output and long-term direction.
Sunderland Culture has a new chair
Tom Billington has been confirmed as the new chair to lead Sunderland Culture, following Jane Earl’s tenure.
A Durham-based consultant with a background in major cultural and heritage projects, Tom said he was drawn to the opportunity at a pivotal time for the sector.
He said: “It’s an interesting, but challenging time in the sector and I thought that I could bring some positive impact to this wonderful organisation.”
Chief Executive Nick Malyan welcomed the appointment, highlighting Billington’s experience and passion for arts and culture.