Culture Digest 27.09.24
Culture Digest 27.09.24
Our weekly round up of some of the arts and culture stories from across the North East we think should be on your radar
Final curtain calls all over the shop
A brimming handful of theatre productions are putting on their last North East performances this weekend.
So, if The Nurses Station at Alphabetti Theatre; Abigail’s Party at Northern Stage; Subterranea at Laurels Theatre; Love It If We Beat Them at Live Theatre; and/or Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of) at Newcastle Theatre Royal were on your ‘To See’ list for September, time is running out.
(Note: Links to our reviews are peppered throughout the newsletter if you need help choosing!)
New album to celebrate the birth of the railways is on track
The first single from an album which will be released next year to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Stockton and Darlington Railway has been unveiled.
Pioneers is the semi-eponymous track from the album, Passengers and Pioneers, which will be released in March 2025 and draws on the archives documenting the first passenger railway journey in 1825 while also collecting stories right up to the present day.
Pioneers starts with George Stephenson walking through the night in a bid to convince the powers that be in Darlington of his vision for a passenger railway to ‘set the world on track’.
The album was recorded at Blank Studios in Newcastle by Sam Slatcher with a quartet of North East poets, Lizzie Lovejoy, Carmen Marcus, Rowan McCabe and Harry Gallagher.
Read more: Review - Wicked at Sunderland Empire
Awards open doors to the TV industry for North East writers
Two aspiring TV writers from the North East are among the three winners of this year’s Channel 4 Writing for TV Awards, giving them a gilt-edged introduction to the industry.
Rebecca Glendenning-Laycock, from Newcastle and Emily Low from the Tyne Valley will receive professional mentoring and a £3k bursary thanks to the initiative which is part of the Northern Writers’ Awards.
Read the full story on the website.
Gather in for Gathering Sounds
One of Teesside’s biggest all-day music events takes place this weekend.
Gathering Sounds Festival returns to Stockton with organisers promising to better its record breaking 2023 performance with a 40-strong line-up across multiple venues.
On a mission to give audiences “the chance to witness the next big thing before they explode onto the global stage”, headliners The Royston Club, Fat Dog and Wings of Desire are joined by the likes of SNAYX, Komparrison, The Crooks, The Cavs, About Bunny and Hannah Robinson.
Festival organiser Jimmy Beck says: “With new stages and more acts than ever before, we’re giving these rising stars a platform to shine. Stockton-on-Tees is the place to be for anyone who’s serious about music.”
Full programme details and tickets from the website.
Read more: Review - Pride and Prejudice* (*Sort Of) at Newcastle Theatre Royal
Pyromusical set to light up the skies again in County Durham
Tickets are on sale for a lavish firework show which is returning to Bishop Auckland on November 2.
Pyromusical is now in its sixth year and utilises the seven-acre stage (and its 8,000 seater tribune) used by outdoor production Kynren throughout the summer.
The 25-minute display, which is choreographed by the people behind the spectacular Kynren finale, marries a cracking firework display with music from the past five decades.
And while the show itself may be less than half an hour, visitors can make a night of it with pre-show food and drinks and fire pits dotted around the site.
Tickets are expected to sell out, so if you want them, don’t tarry. Details and bookings via the website.
Read more: Love It If We Beat Them at Live Theatre
Bathing in History
Two films will be screened at the Star and Shadow cinema in Newcastle as the campaigning group which saved Newcastle City Baths begins a series of events running up to the listed building’s centenary in four years time.
My Beautiful Turkish Baths directed by Sule Nisancioglu and The Lost and Saved Pools of Tyneside directed by Jordan Reeve, will both be followed with Q&A sessions on October 2.
Read the full story on the website
The Ramseys pledge their support for Christmas comedy fund(gift)raiser
North East comedy couple and world record holding podcasters, Chris and Rosie Ramsey have been confirmed on the bill for this year’s Laffs For Kids event, which is making its debut at Newcastle’s Utilita Arena in December after it outgrew its Newcastle City Hall home.
Chris and Rosie will join Adam Rowe, Carl Hutchinson, Clinton Baptiste, Brennan Reece, MC Hammersmith, Scott Bennett and (of course) the event founder, Jason Cook on stage for an evening of laughs and pure Christmas spirit.
The idea of Laffs for Kids is that everyone who books a ticket, also brings a Christmas present along for a child who otherwise wouldn’t be getting anything to open on Christmas morning… offering a bit of festive magic for youngsters growing up in poverty across the North East.
Laffs for Kids takes place on December 19. Buy your (very cheap) tickets here.
Sunderland painter enjoys first solo exhibition
Seventy-two-year-old retired art teacher, David Baillie has opened his debut solo exhibition at the Arts Centre Washington.
“I’d been painting all my life, but when I retired I painted much more and my work also changed and became more precise,” he says.
Describing himself as “a staunch Labour lad”, David, who lives near Bishop Auckland, says his art includes themes of pollution, industrialisation and how capitalism is affecting the planet.
His free Peoplescape exhibition is on display at the venue until October 26. Visit the website for more information.
New single and more good news for Katie Grace
Upcoming North Tyneside singer songwriter, Katie Grace released new single, Jodie ahead of a gig in London’s Camden alongside fellow North Easterner, India Arkin this week.
The song has been a staple of Katie’s live sets over the past year or so - including both Camp Bestival 2024 events where she shared the bill with the likes of The Darkness, Paloma Faith and Rick Astley in Dorset and Shropshire.
Read the full story on the website
Read more: Review - Abigail’s Party at Northern Stage
Terry Deary goes back to school
Celebrated North East author Terry Deary is returning to Monkwearmouth School for a special evening, hosted by Look North legend, Jeff Brown.
Best known for his phenomenally successful Horrible Histories series for children, this event will see Terry talking about his new book for adults, A History of Britain in Ten Enemies.
The evening is free to attend. Register using this QR code:
Shining a light on refugee literature at Durham Book Festival
Authors from Ukraine, Palestine and Ghana will share their experiences in Writing From Conflict, a Durham Book Festival event taking place on Saturday, October 12 at 3.30pm.
Young Ukrainian refugee writer Yeva Skalietska (You Don’t Know What War Is) and novelist Peace Adzo Medie (His Only Wife; Nightbloom) will be in conversation with Prof Hannah Brown of Durham University.
Read the full story on the website
Read more: Curated Culture - What’s On recommendations 24-09-24
Go wild with your camera in the Ouseburn
The deadline for entries to this year’s Wild Ouseburn Photography Competition is coming up fast.
So if you want to be in with a chance of having your photo as one of 12 featured in the 2025 calendar, don’t forget to get your snap in the running before October 6.
All manner of wildlife from deer to butterflies have been captured (on camera, not cages) and entrants are allowed to submit up to three photographs for consideration.
For all details and rules, visit the page on the Ouseburn Trust website.
2024 chapter for Books on Tyne Festival
Newcastle Libraries and the Lit and Phil have announced this year’s dates for the Books on Tyne Festival.
The 12th such event will take place from November 23-30 and is aiming to offer something for all with the Newcastle Witch Trials; a journey on the Metro; a contemplation of Beethoven; the Roman’s rugged northern landscape; notable women of the North East; and the return of the Polari LGBTQ+ literary salon being namechecked in the blurb for starters.
Tickets from eventbrite here.
Read more: Digging into Cambois’ Hidden Depths
When crime fiction and improvisation collide!
Leading on from the dates for Books on Tyne, one event from the programme caught our eye, thanks to a social media post from crime writer, Trevor Wood.
Whose Crime Is It Anyway will see seven crime authors come together to devise a best-seller in an hour… and the audience get to throw their plot twists into the mix too.
Taking place at the Lit and Phil on November 29, Trevor will be joined by fellow writers including Robert Rutherford, Fiona Erskine, Judith O’Reilly and Rob Parker.
Tickets, which are £5, from eventbrite.