Culture Digest 09.01.26
A round up of the arts and culture stories which caught our attention over the past couple of weeks...
Initiative opens film industry door to North East newcomers
Screen movers and shakers gathered on Thursday night (January 8) for the launch of the Tyneside Cinema Talent Unit, an initiative designed to help young people break into the industry.
The Talent Unit, funded by the Sir Graham Wylie Foundation, includes editing suites, podcast studio, rehearsal space, film and sound equipment for hire and spaces for collaborative working.
The aim is to nurture talent regardless of circumstance, so those from low-income backgrounds will not be disadvantaged.
Professional-standard facilities will be free to access and mentoring will be available for those aspiring to careers in film, television and other branches of a burgeoning moving image industry.
Chief executive Nic Greenan said the Tyneside Cinema had always believed in the power of film to change lives.
And she added: “The Talent Unit is a natural extension of that belief, a place where young people can experiment, learn, connect and imagine futures for themselves in the screen industries.”
Open call for underground performances
Performers are being invited to take part in the 2026 Sounds of the Underground programme, an atmospheric series of music and comedy events staged in complete darkness beneath Newcastle city centre.
Taking place in the historic Victoria Tunnel, the programme champions the weird, wonderful and experimental, with artists encouraged to respond creatively to the unusual underground setting.
Organisers say applications are especially welcome from performers keen to embrace the tunnel’s unique acoustics and sense of disorientation.
More information on applying here.
Roman industry uncovered on banks of the River Wear
Community diggers have discovered evidence of a Roman industrial hub on the banks of the River Wear.
The Offerton site, on the edge of Sunderland, has so far yielded more than 800 whetstones – stone bars used to sharpen bladed tools and weapons – and 11 stone anchors.
The site was found and excavated by volunteer enthusiasts from the Vedra Hylton Community Association and supported by Durham University’s Department of Archaeology.
Association president and TV archaeologist Gary Bankhead, who led the dig, said: “Here, we see compelling evidence of one of Sunderland’s earliest known industries.”
Ganning canny - North East-made short enjoys UK Film Awards success
A short film made by North East production company Morning Sir Productions did the double at the recent UK Film Awards 2025.
Gan Canny was named Best Comedy Drama and one of its stars, Lily Storey won the category of Best Newcomer for her debut screen performance as Paige. The film was also a finalist in the Best Music category.
Written and directed by Lou Burns, Gan Canny is described as a darkly comic, working-class family comedy-drama rooted in Geordie culture.
The story centres on siblings Tyler and Paige, who clash with their estranged mother over the arrangements for their Nana’s funeral. When frustration tips into impulse, they steal the hearse and take Nana on one last, ill-judged road trip before saying goodbye.
The film was developed in the aftermath of personal loss for its writer, following the death of her father, who was also the grandad of editor and co-director Aaron Burns.
First look at Woman in Mind
The first production images have been released of Sheridan Smith and Romesh Ranganathan in Alan Ayckbourn’s psychological comedy Woman in Mind, ahead of its visit to Sunderland Empire from March 4-7.
One of only two UK venues to host the production outside the West End - it is currently in the throes of a limited run at the Duke of York’s Theatre - the revival is directed by Michael Longhurst and explores fractured reality, identity and escapism as Susan’s world splits in two following a head injury.
Homecoming gigs and national dates for Tom A Smith
Sunderland singer Tom A. Smith has announced a new run of UK headline shows, as his national profile continues to grow.
The spring tour will begin at Glasgow’s King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut on March 26 and take in 12 dates across the UK, including stops in Manchester, Leeds and London. Closer to home, Tom will play Newcastle’s The Cluny on April 12.
The dates follow the release of Smith’s latest EP, Say What You Want, released via Fiction Records in autumn 2025, which features tracks such as Fashion and I Don’t Blame You.
Before heading out on the road, Tom will help Sunderland venue, Independent celebrate its 20th birthday with an intimate show on January 31, which falls during Independent Venue Week.
Not much older than the venue he will be playing to celebrate, Tom has already built an enviable live résumé, with festival appearances at Glastonbury and BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, as well as support slots alongside artists including Sam Fender, Miles Kane and Elton John.
Live Aid Musical books a date with Wearside
Just For One Day – The Live Aid Musical has confirmed a run at Sunderland Empire in 2027 as part of a UK and Ireland tour.
The production tells the behind-the-scenes story of Live Aid, the global music event staged in July 1985 that brought together artists and audiences across London and Philadelphia, reaching an estimated 1.5 billion people worldwide.
More than 40 years on, the musical revisits how the concerts came together and why the day continues to resonate.
Produced by Jamie Wilson Productions, the show features songs by artists including Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Queen, U2, Madonna, Elton John and Paul McCartney. It is written by John O’Farrell and directed by Luke Sheppard.
Just For One Day completes its West End run in February 2026 before touring, and continues to support the work of The Band Aid Charitable Trust, with £1.5m raised to date.
For North East audiences, June 8-12 are the dates to note down. Tickets are on sale now.
A tasty (Roman) challenge for North East writers
The third ClassicsFest has been announced which is excellent news for creative writers and anyone fascinated by the lives of the ancients – and, indeed, those with a gourmet streak.
Food and Feasting in Antiquity is this year’s tasty theme (domestic life, to widen it just a touch) and the inspiration is a unique cookery book dating from the time of the Roman Empire.
It is called De re coquinaria (The Art of Cooking) and is attributed to Marcus Gavius Apicius, a wealthy merchant from Rome who lived in the 1st Century AD until – so it’s said – committing suicide by poisoning as his fortune dwindled.
The reason for Apicius’ impending poverty is said to have been his fondness for lavish hospitality and his appetite for rare delicacies.
Call out for memories of the Tyne Theatre when it was a picture house
Newcastle’s Tyne Theatre & Opera House is inviting the public to help preserve a chapter of the city’s cultural history, with a call for memories and photographs from the years when the venue operated as the Stoll Picture Theatre.
The appeal focuses on the period between 1919 and the early 1970s, when the theatre was transformed into a cinema by impresario Oswald Stoll.
Over more than six decades, the Stoll became a central part of Newcastle’s social life, screening everything from silent films and variety acts to Hollywood’s golden-age “talkies”, and welcoming stars including Ingrid Bergman.
The material collected will form part of a new semi-permanent exhibition, Stoll Picture Theatre – Past Lives, Present Voices, due to open in the theatre’s 1867 Café in 2026.
Organisers say the aim is to capture first-hand experiences before they are lost, and to celebrate the cinema’s role in shaping generations of shared memories.
A similar callout in 1974 unearthed vivid recollections, from audience sing-alongs and courting couples in the gallery to tripe eaten from newspaper during screenings of Ben-Hur, and the much-loved “chocolate boat” cakes enjoyed in the Winter Gardens.
Anyone with stories or photographs from the Stoll years is encouraged to contribute, either online, by email or by post (Stoll Picture Theatre Project, TTOH, Westgate Road, Newcastle NE1 4AG).
Community-led scheme to enhance wildlife on the Ouseburn
A three-year community-led project has been launched to protect and enhance wildlife along a major tributary of the River Tyne.
The Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN), with support from the Reece Foundation, is behind Wildlife Ways, which focuses on the Ouseburn in Newcastle and which will also improve local green spaces.
The Reece Foundation has awarded NHSN £157,000 of a total project cost of £187,000, which will see Wildlife Ways appoint an Ouseburn ecologist to help connect people and nature along the waterway.
Historic trade union banner set to go under the hammer
An outstanding example of trade union art and heritage is to be sold on Tyneside.
The dark blue silk banner of the South Shields branch of the National Union of General and Municipal Workers is estimated at £1,000-£2,000 and will be sold by Anderson & Garland in Newcastle on January 15.
The banner features a central illustration of South Shields Market Place, and separate images including Westoe Village, Marsden Rock, the town’s Wouldhave Memorial, Mill Dam with the Customs House tavern and Seamen’s Church, a fully rigged ship sailing past the Groyne lighthouse and pier, and ships unloading, in dock, and being built.
A newspaper report tells how the new banner was unfurled in 1894 at the Free Library in South Shields before “an assemblage of trade unionists”.
“The Mayor unfurled the banner, presenting to the gaze of an admiring audience an emblematic ornament of artistic design.”
It was created by Samuel Peacock of Baring Street in South Shields who, in addition to being a banner maker, was also a dealer in china and an insurance agent.
Remembering the savage winters of Northumberland’s past
The blizzard of headlines about the first snow of the winter would have perplexed past generations who lived in a Northumberland valley.
The reaction certainly bemuses author Andrew Charleton, born and bred in the Coquet Valley and who lives in Rothbury.
He has written his latest book on the sort of snow which could cut off people in upland locations for months.
“Imagine living then when the winter weather could be savage. If you think that the winter weather today is bad you should have lived when it was much worse in days past,” says Andrew, retired after a career in the water industry and who has written books on the illicit whisky stills in Upper Coquetdale and also the area’s folk tales.
“What is truly amazing is the stoicism of the hill farmers. Today society grinds to a halt amid hand wringing when half an inch of snow falls on the road out of Rothbury.”
National recognition for The Auckland Project
Bishop Auckland regeneration charity, The Auckland Project has been awarded nationally recognised Accredited Museum status by Arts Council England for Auckland Palace, the Faith Museum, the Spanish Gallery and the Mining Art Gallery.
The accreditation recognises the organisation as meeting the highest standards in museum management, collections care and visitor experience, and opens the door to new funding opportunities, touring exhibitions and expert support.
Jane Ruffer, CEO of The Auckland Project, said: “Local museums play a vital role in building shared experiences by offering spaces that are accessible to visitors and the local community.”
Gerry and Sewell touches down in the West End
Final rehearsals are taking place for Gerry and Sewell’s transfer to the West End.
Written and directed by Jamie Eastlake, the co-production between Eastlake Productions and Newcastle Theatre Royal - a stage adaptation of Jonathan Tulloch’s book The Season Ticket and the associated film, Purely Belter - opens at the Aldwych Theatre for previews on Tuesday with a red carpet gala performance booked in for Thursday (January 15).
We’ll be reporting back from the event next week, which is expected to attract a crowd of North East support.