Culture digest 10.01.25
Our weekly round up of some of the arts and culture stories from across the North East, which caught our attention this week
Golden Globe winner Peter Straughan due at Tyneside Cinema
Congratulations to Peter Straughan for winning the Golden Globe (Best Screenplay) for Conclave, thereby flying the flag for an excellent film which was also nominated in five other categories.
Hopes must be high that the Gateshead-born screenwriter’s success will be repeated at the Oscars (shortlists to be announced on Friday, January 17) and at the BAFTAs (Wednesday, January 15).
The screenplay category at the Oscars is divided into two with Conclave qualifying for Best Adapted (as opposed to Best Original) Screenplay, being the screen version of Robert Harris’s novel of 2016.
Peter’s screenplay has been nominated widely and has already emerged the winner at film critics’ association events in the United States, in St Louis and Washington DC.
Champion cast announce for new family drama at Live Theatre
A trio of North East actors, ‘bursting with soul’ have been cast in Ishy Din’s upcoming family drama, set to premiere at Live Theatre in Newcastle in February.
Christina Berriman Dawson (The Odyssey, Rattlesnake, The Hunt for Raoul Moat), Jack Robertson (Gerry and Sewell, Metroland Comedy) and newcomer, Daniel Zareie (currently training on the Project A programme at Newcastle Theatre Royal) have all signed on for Champion - a play set during iconic boxer Muhammad Ali’s now legendary visit to the North East in 1977.
Exploring the profound ripple effect that such a major event has on a mixed race family in South Shields, audiences will be introduced to brothers Azeem (Zareie) and Billy (Robertson) and their mother Sheila (Berriman Dawson).
Chumps to gather at Stan’s statue for grateful giggles
With so many things to get depressed about, do find solace in the activities of the Beau Chumps tent of Sons of the Desert who meet monthly in the Ashbrooke Sports Club in Sunderland.
“The who of WHAT?” you might cry.
Well, those in the know will tell you that Sons of the Desert is the international Laurel and Hardy society, dedicated to keeping the genius of the great comedy double act alive and taking its name from the 1933 film of that name.
On Sunday, February 23, the Chumps will be hosting a gathering of Laurel and Hardy fans at the statue of Stan in North Shields where the thin one (Oliver Hardy was the more amply proportioned one) lived with his family from 1895 to 1905.
Tyneside festival gives a platform to the arts and music of the Holocaust
Two concerts, an exhibition and a rare cabaret revival constitute the short but sweet Brundibár Arts Festival whose theme this year is In Exile.
The festival, says artistic director Alexandra Raikhlina, was conceived – and remains – as a homage to those who suffered during the Holocaust in the Second World War, but it is also about promoting tolerance and peace today.
“In Exile tells the stories of those who fled the Nazi regime for their lives,” she says.
“We tell their stories in the best way we can - through music.”
But she adds that the annual festival, the first of its kind in the UK, is also designed as “a thought-provoking reminder that today, still, thousands of people are displaced due to wars, forced to flee and living in diaspora”.
Durham Cathedral Schools Foundation alumni to celebrate 50th anniversary
Actor and broadcaster Alexander Armstrong will be among DCSF alumni assembling at Durham Cathedral next month for a special fundraising concert in celebration of 50 years of music at the Foundation.
Durham Cathedral Choir, DCSF chapel choristers, and a large choir and orchestra made up of Foundation’s alumni pro/semi-pro singers, instrumentalists will perform works including three choral favourites from composers Richard Lloyd and Will Todd and Handel’s Messiah.
The concert will take place on February 8. All proceeds will go towards a new means-tested bursary fund for former Durham Cathedral Choristers to enable their continued musical and general education at DCSF.
Tickets from the website.
Read more: Birdsong - A love story that has changed lives
New women’s playwriting award launched at Laurels
A new annual playwriting prize for the North East-based women creatives has been unveiled.
The Rose Fisher Award for Writing is open to female and female-identifying writers who are aged 30 years and older. The winner will be awarded a £2,000 cash prize and will also be offered a fully supported performance run of the winning script.
Entries should comprise a completed script - but the deadline for entries isn’t until June 30, so there’s still time to get it finished!
For more information, email Alison Stanley at Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay via alison@laurelswhitley.co.uk
Read more: Baked in highlights for 2025
Rupert Bear finds a place in Durham open art exhibitions
You can’t beat an open submission for winkling out artistic talent and there’s plenty of it on display at Bishop Auckland Town Hall where the Open Art Exhibition is on until February 15.
The annual exhibition, open to all who live and work in County Durham, spans a wide range of media and subject matter and sees artists at different stages of life and career showing side by side.
There are three works on display by Stuart Trotter, from Ferryhill, who for the past 17 years has been illustrating The Rupert Annual, chronicling the adventures of Rupert Bear.
Diners preparing to tuck into Restaurant Week offers
The new year incarnation of NE1 Newcastle Restaurant Week kicks off on Monday (January 130 with more than 100 venues offering a variety of discounts to help combat any January blues - and rumbling tummies - which are knocking around.
The popular event, which regularly brings in around 60,000 people into the city across the week, offers diners the chance to eat at some of the city’s best restaurants for between £15 and £25 per person.
DOOD, Cilantro, Sunshine Restaurant, Fred’s and EL& N at Fenwick are among the many joining the latest line up. For the full list of participating restaurants and offers, visit the website.
Read more: Curated Culture 07.01.25 - Our latest what’s on recommendations
Sunderland photography lecturer in the frame for Portrait of Britain
A photographic portrait of a member of the medical engineering staff at Newcastle Hospitals has been included in the latest Portrait of Britain collection.
The powerful image of Yann Kimpouni, which made the shortlist of the annual competition, was taken by University of Sunderland photography lecturer, Johannah Churchill.
Published by the British Journal of Photography, the photo makes up part of Johannah’s NHS Darkroom series, which was launched by the Newcastle Hospitals Charity in May 2023.
Comic to embrace his individual brand of fabulousness in new show
A work-in-progress outing for North East comedian, Cal Halbert’s latest show, Rotten Fruit, has been booked for his own comedy club at the Chillingham Arms, Heaton on February 14.
One half of comedy due, The Mimic Men with Alfie Joey (Britain’s Got Talent), Cal is promising to take ‘a sassy and unapologetic dive into LGBTQ+ stereotypes’ via anecdotes, impressions and laughter.
Tickets from www.calscomedyclub.com
Number two spot for Michael Harrison in The Stage’s 100 for 2025
Wallsend-born theatre director and producer, Michael Harrison has been listed at number two in The Stage’s annual Top 100 power list of people within British Theatre.
As well as being one of the UK’s most successful pantomime producers as CEO of Crossroads Pantomimes - including a 19-year run at Newcastle Theatre Royal which brought audiences The Little Mermaid for 2024/5 - the 45-year-old is also finding great success via partnerships with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Sir Cameron Mackintosh.
In 2024 Lloyd Webber Harrison Musicals opened a new reboot of Starlight Express; a tour of The Wizard of Oz and a co-production of Sunset Boulevard starring Nicole Scherzinger.
He also brought Imelda Staunton to the London Palladium in the revival of Hello Dolly!
For 2025, among many other things, we’re sure, he will be co-producing a new production of Miss Saigon with Sir Cameron Mackintosh - opening at Newcastle Theatre Royal.
Deadline approaching for Hachette Children’s Novel Awards
Debut writers of middle-grade children’s fiction and early teen fiction have until Monday (January 13) to submit their entries for the Hachette Children’s Novel Awards.
Romance, comedy, historical fiction, crime, mystery and fantasy are among the themes which are being encouraged for age ranges 7-11 and 11-13.
Entries should comprise an initial 3,000-6,000 words and synopsis.
Each of the two winners will be given a prize of £3,000 each alongside a programme of mentoring opportunities with professionals at Hachette Children’s Group and a children’s publishing agent.
For more details, visit the New Writing North website.