Culture Digest 05.12.25
A round up of the arts and culture stories which caught our attention over the past week or so...
Matty Healy to make Sunday for Sammy return at 25th anniversary show
Matty Healy has announced he will take to the Sunday for Sammy stage in February 2026, performing at the beloved North East fundraising concert as it marks its 25th anniversary.
The frontman of The 1975 revealed the news during a surprise appearance at Gateshead College on Tuesday morning, where students from the music, performing arts and media courses had gathered expecting a Zoom call – only for Matty to walk on stage in person, flanked by his dad, actor Tim Healy, and Sunday for Sammy producer and Lindisfarne legend Ray Laidlaw.
The gig, affectionately known as the Geordie Command Performance, returns to Newcastle’s Utilita Arena next year for its first outing since 2020. For Brit and Ivor Novello award winner Matty, who grew up steeped in the charity his dad co-founded, the moment marks a homecoming.
Once the surprise had landed and the cheers had settled, Tim and Ray took seats in the audience to leave Matty to take part in an in-conversation-cum-masterclass that veered between creative insight, songwriting demonstration, and a mini jam session with five students who probably thought they were in a collective fever dream.
Laurels Theatre shortlisted for top honour as it bids farewell to its first home
Laurels Theatre has been nominated for Fringe Theatre of the Year at The Stage Awards 2026.
The recognition comes at a pivotal moment for Laurels, whose team has just handed back the keys to its original base at the former Buffs Club on Whitley Road, where the venue has operated since summer 2021.
Now a registered charity, Laurels is searching for a new permanent home while planning to stage work at The Exchange 1856 in North Shields and at pop-up locations across the North East.
Meanwhile rehearsals will soon be underway for one of its early productions, Gerry and Sewell which will enjoy a two week run in the West End in January.
North East creatives call for a ‘Festive Rebellion’ this Small Business Saturday
A North East-wide movement encouraging people to swap mass-produced presents for handmade, locally crafted gifts is gathering momentum ahead of Small Business Saturday tomorrow (6 December).
The “Festive Rebellion”, launched by North East Cultural Freelancers (NECF), aims to rally support for artists, makers and creative independents at a crucial time for the sector.
With many freelancers still feeling the strain of the cost-of-living crisis, NECF is urging shoppers to make choices that directly sustain the region’s creative talent. “Shopping small is rebellious,” the organisation says. “It’s choosing people over corporations. Craft over convenience. Creative courage over mass-produced sameness.”
The campaign shines a spotlight on the North East’s diverse creative community -from ceramicists and illustrators to jewellers, printmakers, photographers and independent studios - championing “local art over global giants”.
Check out the Festive Rebellion Gift Guide here
New trailer drops for North East-shot horror
Fans of Danny Boyle’s ‘28 [insert time frame here] Later’ horror universe will be delighted to hear a new trailer for the next instalment has been released.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple follows the international success of 28 Years Later earlier this year - with both films showcasing the North East as an excellent big screen backdrop… and starring young Newcastle actor, Alfie Williams who reprises his role as Spike in the upcoming release.
Written by Alex Garland and produced by Andrew Macdonald, Peter Rice, Bernard Bellew, Danny Boyle and Garland, the film continues to expand the dystopian world first created over two decades ago.
Ralph Fiennes leads the story as Dr Kelson, whose unsettling new relationship threatens to upend what remains of society.
The synopsis, for The Bone Temple suggests the franchise is fully committing to the shift teased at the end of 28 Years Later, where the human survivors - not the infected - emerged as the true source of terror.
Well that’s me taking a big cushion to the flicks. 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple will be released in UK cinemas on January 16.
Note: This is a trailer for a SCARY film. Watch at your own discretion.
Northumberland estate lights up world’s tallest living Christmas tree
Christmas has delivered a world record for an historic Northumberland visitor attraction.
A mighty decorated giant redwood at the National Trust’s Cragside estate has secured the Guinness World Records title for the World’s Tallest Bedded – or growing – Christmas Tree.
The 44.7m giant redwood (Sequoia wellingtonia) is dressed in over 1,300 lights, with the towering festive showstopper standing at more than twice the height of the Angel of the North.
It is one of millions of trees planted in the 1860s by the estate’s founders, William and Margaret Armstrong, some of which are now the tallest of their kind in the country.
New TV thriller starring Jill Halfpenny is set for new year premiere
Jill Halfpenny will be back on our screens first thing in the new year in Girl Taken, a tense new six-part psychological thriller premiering on Paramount+ on January 8.
The Gateshead actor stars as Eve, a mother fighting to rebuild her shattered family after one of her twin daughters is abducted. She appears alongside Game of Thrones actor Alfie Allen, who plays Rick Hansen, the seemingly trusted local teacher responsible for the kidnapping.
Filmed in northern Spain, the series is based on Hollie Overton’s novel Baby Doll and follows twins Lily and Abby - played by real-life sisters Tallulah and Delphi Evans - after Lily escapes years of captivity.
As the plot develops, freedom proves far from simple for Lily. The world she dreamed of returning to has changed, and the family must confront the trauma that still binds them.
Heritage award for Durham venue The Story
A heritage and cultural centre created from a restored and extended historic home has landed a national award.
The Story venue near Durham City, which occupies the listed Mount Oswald House, is the winner in the Royal Town Planning Institute Awards for Planning Excellence.
The Durham County Council venue received the award for Excellence in Planning for Heritage and Culture, which celebrates outstanding projects that have improved or enhanced places with a particular historical or cultural significance, for the benefit of the community and future generations.
Judges described The Story as a “big, bold, ambitious project delivering on heritage, culture, architecture and environmental objectives.”
The national RTPI Award was won in conjunction with Kier, the main contractor in delivering the design and build of The Story.
Family audiences invited into A Town Called Christmas
Children across the North East are being treated to a dose of “pure delight, escapism and twinkly festive magic” this month as A Town Called Christmas brings its uplifting story to two of the region’s stages.
The Wrongsemble and Red Ladder production is currently charming audiences at ARC Stockton as part of its UK winter tour, before it heads to Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle from December 19-21.
For writer and co-director Elvi Piper, the show springs from a deep-rooted love of festive theatre. She vividly remembers being “completely transported” during a Bobby Davro panto on a primary school trip.
“The sparkly costumes, the cheeky jokes, the huge dance numbers, the puppets, and what (to me) felt like real magic happening before my eyes completely swept me up,” she says.
Those memories underpin the world she has created for A Town Called Christmas - a warm, musical adventure for audiences aged three and up, designed to ignite imaginations in exactly the way hers was all those years ago.
Community mural crowns student’s year-long placement
Student Adam Graham has designed and delivered his own course in street art, culminating in a new mural at the heart of Northumbria University’s city campus.
Adam, a final year graphic design student, completed a year-long student in residence placement with Converge Northumbria.
Backed by the National Lottery Community Fund, Converge offers free educational campus-based opportunities to those 18+ in the community who have or are experiencing challenges associated with mental health.
Participants are enrolled as a ‘Converge student’ and become part of the wider community, working alongside university students and academics.
Adam planned and delivered ‘There Will Be Paint’ – a short course exploring spray painting and street art.
The programme saw six Converge students collaborate with Adam to create the artwork now displayed on the side of the Northumbria Students’ building.
Durham sees The Light - or will when it opens in 2026
Lumiere may have gone – from Durham at least – but welcome to The Light.
That’s the name chosen for the building at Aykley Heads formerly known as the DLI Museum and Art Gallery.
The new name’s certainly snappier than the old one and Durham County Council hope it describes the building’s future role as a beacon for creativity, arts and culture.
Currently in the throes of a complete internal rebuild, the plan – as expressed by the authority - is that The Light, once complete, will be “a multi-purpose cultural space”.
Under the same roof will be a dedicated DLI Gallery, telling the story of the Durham Light Infantry – the ‘Durhams’ - through objects, documents and film, and a gallery equipped to mount “internationally significant” exhibitions of contemporary art.
There will be facilities for hosting conferences and private events and a café on the ground floor.
Competition puts the beauty of Northumberland in the frame
The array of landscapes and features in Northumberland National Park have been described as a photographer’s paradise – and now people are being invited to prove it.
The park authority is launching a photography award competition to mark its 70th anniversary in 2026.
Entrants of all ages and abilities can submit images they have captured of the landscapes, wildlife, and people that make the park what it is.
With the advances in phone camera technology, the awards are for any images from any camera or phone, ensuring the photography award is open to everyone.
Why the fun and silliness of panto is a serious business
It’s tempting to see pantomime as seasonal silliness, a prolonged moment of madness as the theatre puts on its glad rags and goes into something like office party mode.
But to disassociate seriousness and the annual adventures of Aladdin, Cinderella and the rest would be to make a serious mistake.
That’s according to the Arts Council which, with its grants to the likes of opera, ballet and contemporary art, also might be seen as tending towards the high-minded – although its funding supports many theatre companies currently in the throes of panto.
To dispel any such misconception, the Arts Council has been gathering the panto thoughts of interested parties – including Jade Thirlwall and Chris Ramsey for whom the Customs House panto in South Shields has been an important part of their lives.
Cocoa by day, cocktails by night at Newgate Social’s festive sing-alongs
Newcastle’s festive season is getting an energetic remix this year as The Newgate Social transforms December 22 into a full day of communal singing, silliness and Christmas cheer.
The venue will host two back-to-back events created by theatre-maker and Newcastle Fringe Festival director Ali Pritchard: a family-friendly Carols & Cocoa in the afternoon, followed by the adults-only Carols & Cocktails in the evening.
Far from a traditional carol concert, both shows promise a mash-up of bandioke, live music and ‘sing-along spectacular’.
Ali, who stepped aside from being Alphabetti Theatre’s founding artistic director last year, began developing the events after a successful partnership with Newgate Social through Newcastle Fringe.
“We were all dead happy with how that partnership went, so when Newgate came knocking at my door afterwards, I doffed my Fringe hat and rummaged through the grey matter for something festive.
“I threw a number of ideas at them, but the one that stuck was part bandioke, part gig, part carol concert - and Newgate Social felt like the perfect home for it. So I said, ‘How about we turn Christmas into a sing-along spectacular?’ and here we are.”
Thousands of river finds shed light on centuries of life in Durham
Those who have lived or visited Durham over the centuries have left a legacy in the river which runs through the city.
Underwater archaeologist Gary Bankhead has spent 16 years diving in the Wear to retrieve 14,500 objects from the riverbed.
The huge range of objects from the vicinity of the historic Elvet and Prebends bridges give a glimpse into the everyday lives of the residents and pilgrims in Durham across 700 years.
Now Gary has written a new book on the religious-related finds in what has become known as the Durham River Wear Assemblage – the biggest collection of its type in the North of England.
Vicky gets back to Strictly
Newcastle reality telly star and presenter, Vicky Pattison will return to the dancefloor as one of the newest additions to the 2026 Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour, which stops at Utilita Arena Newcastle early next year.
Announcing the news, she said: “I had an incredible couple of months on Strictly! Now I’m buzzing like an old fridge that I get to continue this amazing experience… including my hometown of Newcastle!”
Vicky will dance with her Strictly TV partner Kai Widdrington. They join a starry line-up of couples including Harry Aikines-Aryeety and Karen Hauer; La Voix and Aljaž Škorjanec; and Ellie Goldstein and Vito Coppola, as well as judges Shirley Ballas, Anton Du Beke and Craig Revel Horwood.
Strictly live tour is at the Arena on January 27 and 28. Tickets from the website now.
One more shot for rock and souler Lynne Jackaman
Robert Plant, Ronnie Wood, Glenn Hughes and the late, great Terry Reid all agreed when it came to powerhouse performer Lynne Jackaman: they were unanimous in their verdict that the soulful blues rocker was a generational talent with potential to burn.
After bursting onto the scene with the award-winning Saint Jude, the charismatic Londoner hot footed it to Muscle Shoals and the world renowned FAME Studios to cut her solo debut.
And Lynne heads to the North East in the New Year on a mission to showcase the very best of that chart-topping record — the critically acclaimed One Shot — before launching into the next chapter of a colourful career.