Curated Culture 07.10.25
Our weekly recommendations round up from North East stages and cultural venues
Hello and welcome to the latest Curated Culture, your weekly newsletter dispatch signposting some of the theatre, music, film, exhibitions, festivals and events we think you’ll want to know about.
Published every Tuesday, we like to think of it as a bit of a cultural compass – pointing you toward the performances and happenings worth getting in front of.
New to the fold? Here’s the Tuesday structure:
🗓️ Top Picks – standout selections from the fortnight ahead
📌 Still Showing – highlights from newsletters gone by which can still be caught
📅 Now Booking – a forward look at what’s coming up next
🎁 Subscriber Prize Draw – this week’s giveaway: a pair of tickets to Metroland Live at Live Theatre on October 16.
Thanks as always for your supportive messages and helping spread the word. Keep it all coming!
Sam (Wonfor) & Dave (Whetstone)
Like Chas and Dave, but with less hair and better accents
PS: If you haven’t liked/followed/high fived us on our socials, you can rectify that on Facebook, Instagram and Blue Sky
MUSIC: Beyond the Moor
Where: Gosforth Civic Theatre
When: October 11, 3pm-10pm
Bookings and info: gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk
Returning for its third year, Beyond the Moor brings together an outstanding line-up of folk and roots musicians for a full day of live music across two stages.
This year’s bill includes Kathryn Tickell & The Darkening, Martin Simpson, Ross Couper & Tom Oakes, Ceitidh Mac, Nev Clay, Andy Watt, Eddie Doyle, and the Newcastle University Folk Degree ensemble.
Audiences can move between the Theatre and Studio stages, enjoy food and drink on site, and soak up a warm, inclusive atmosphere celebrating traditional and contemporary sounds.
PERFORMANCE: The Spirits of Newcastle
Where: Lit & Phil, Newcastle
When: Friday, October 24, 7pm
Bookings and info: litandphil.org.uk
Cara Hamilton, who hails from Cumbria, invites us to travel back with her to 19th Century Newcastle as she explains what part fortune telling and spiritualism played in the life – and perhaps afterlife – of our Victorian forebears.
The charismatic entertainer, who styles herself ‘mindreader, performer, broadcaster and writer’, has (metaphorically speaking) bewitched audiences in Britain and America with her stories of witches, weirdness and the occult.
In her ‘Spirits’ presentation – always tailored to the town or city in which she delivers it – she explains why our ancestors were so taken with shadowy practices such as mesmerism and spiritualism.
And always she aims to leaven the spooky nature of the subject matter with flashes of humour.
In the supposedly haunted Lit & Phil, she should find a venue much to her liking.
THEATRE: Enlightenment
Where: People’s Theatre Studio
When: October 13 to 18, 7.30pm
Bookings and info: peoplestheatre.co.uk
Fifteen years almost to the day after Shelagh Stephenson’s play premiered in London, it is being staged in her native North East (she was born in Tynemouth).
Her work is always worth seeing. She began as an actress, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appearing on TV in Coronation Street among other things.
She first made a splash as a playwright with The Memory of Water (1996) and An Experiment with an Air Pump (1998), in which she demonstrated her interest in science.
Three years ago her play A Northern Odyssey, imagining American artist Winslow Homer’s fruitful stay in Cullercoats in the 1880s, was revived by the People’s having been premiered at Live Theatre in 2010.
This play, billed as a psychological thriller, introduces us to the mother and stepfather of a young backpacker, Adam, who has disappeared while on a gap year trip in the Far East.
Could he have been killed in a bomb explosion in Jakarta? The not knowing is agony.
COMEDY: Sketch for Sammy
Where: The Exchange 1856, North Shields
When: October 12, 7pm
Bookings and info:
A hunt for the North East’s funniest comedy writers comes to a head with the A Sketch for Sammy grand final in North Shields this weekend (Oct 12).
Backed by the team behind the legendary Sunday for Sammy concerts – returning to Newcastle’s Utilita Arena next February for their 25th anniversary – the competition will see six original (and North East soaked) sketches brought to life by professional actors.
The finalists are Buskers by Julie Meredith, Peeping Toms by Hendrika Segura Bigg, Blind Gate’sheed by Georgia Nicholson, Main Gate by Janet Plater, BBC Breakfast by Katy Swainston, and Metro Station Announcements by Vanessa Karon and Paul Dunn.
Hosted by comedians Kelly Rickard and Cal Halbert, the night promises a mix of sketches, stand-up and music, with additional performances from Your Aunt Fanny, Metroland and Western Quay.
Expect laughs, local flavour and the chance to spot emerging talent supported by the Sunday for Sammy Trust.
CLASSICAL: Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence
Where: Elvet Methodist Church, Durham DH1 3HL
When: Friday, October 10, 7.30pm
Bookings and info: theglasshouseicm.org
Royal Northern Sinfonia players are on the road this weekend, performing a programme of which the Tchaikovsky piece – his only string sextet, premiered in 1892 – is the main course.
The composer worked on it while he was visiting Florence – hence the name – but dedicated it to the St. Petersburg Chamber Music Society after being made an honorary member.
The Sinfonia calls it a sun-drenched piece, “bursting with passion and warmth, mixing Italian inspiration with rich Russian tune-smithing”.
Preceding it will be music to evoke different emotions.
Prokofiev’s Quintet in G minor, with clashing harmonies and unexpected rhythms, was written for a travelling ballet troupe, while Shostakovich’s “haunting” String quartet no. 8, written in 1960, recalls the tragedy of the wartime bombing of Dresden.
The programme will be repeated at St Mary’s Church, Wooler, on Sunday, October 12 at 3pm.
FESTIVAL: Durham Book Festival
Where: Gala Durham, Clayport Library and Collected Books
When: October 10-12
Bookings and info: newwritingnorth.com
This year’s Durham Book Festival brings together a wide-ranging line-up of writers, poets and broadcasters for a weekend of readings, conversations and new commissions.
Among those appearing are Dame Pat Barker, Ann Cleeves, Jonathan Coe, Natasha Brown, Eliza Clark, Malika Booker and Andrew McMillan, alongside broadcaster Mary Portas, political columnist John Harris and Durham University chancellor Fiona Hill.
Highlights include Pat Barker in conversation with her daughter, Anna, about their memoir Dipped in Ink; a live reading of Eliza Clark’s She’s Always Hungry; Steph McGovern and Jeremy Vine discussing their first crime novels; and an event marking the 40th anniversary of Tony Harrison’s v., reimagined by contemporary poets.
The last of these will be especially poignant following Tony Harrison’s passing at the end of September.
Founded in 1990 and produced by New Writing North for Durham County Council, Festival director Rebecca Wilkie said the programme reflects both the region’s literary heritage and “the powerful voices coming out of the North East.”
If you can’t get a ticket or get along to stuff you want to see - you can stream lots of it from your sofa too.
FESTIVAL: Mercury Music Prize Fringe
Where: Various venues across Newcastle and Gateshead
When: October 10-15
Bookings and info: generator.org.uk
As the finishing touches are being put to the main Mercury Music Prize event at the Utilita Arena on October 16, the Mercury Prize Newcastle Fringe programme kicks off this week - comprising six packed days of activity to make sure the region benefits from the buzz of hosting such a globally recognised prize.
Venues all over the North East are playing their part ahead of the big ceremony, which will see nine of the 12 shortlisted acts (including our own Sam Fender) take to the stage to play tracks from the albums which caught the ears of the judges.
The six-day Fringe schedule - developed by Generator NE - promises to turn up the volume with live music, workshops, and community events designed to showcase the North East’s talent and give local audiences the chance to share in the excitement.
Highlights include:
Newcastle Festival of Jazz and Improvised Music, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Oct 10
Lyrics in Music Masterclass with Paul Smith and Sunderland Music City Emerging Artists Showcase both at Pop Recs, Sunderland on Oct 10
Howay Again, Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham on Oct 11
Tim’s Listening Party with Lanterns on the Lake at The Glasshouse on Oct 13
Generator Live Conference, Newcastle Civic Centre, Oct 14
BBC Introducing from The Glasshouse on Oct 14
But we really are just scratching the surface - get amongst what’s on here.
EXHIBITION: What the Others Built
Where: VANE, Gateshead NE8 2AP
When: October 9 to November 1
Bookings and info: vane.org.uk
Peter Hanmer, born in Northumberland and an MFA graduate of Newcastle University, creates beguiling and challenging landscapes peopled by small figures whose predicaments can often seem to mirror our own.
He won the North East Young Sculptor of the Year Award in 2017 and turned the potting shed at Cheeseburn into Plato’s Lair, putting his thumb-sized creations into a nightmarish shadowland.
The work we will see at VANE is a collaboration between Peter and two other artists, Durham-born Paul Raymond and Stuart Mel Wilson who was born in Gateshead and lives in Newcastle.
Jointly they drew inspiration from ‘the exquisite corpse’, a game developed by a bunch of surrealists in France in the early 20th Century which involved them taking turns to add to a composition of words or images.
The three current players set out to create an environment designed to show how humanity’s often short-sighted actions can result in unpredictable and precarious forms of existence.
These days you will find VANE (it has had a peripatetic existence) at Orbis Community, 65 High Street, Gateshead, where it opens Wednesday to Saturday, 12-5pm. Admission free.
MUSIC: Busted Vs McFly
Where: Utilita Arena Newcastle
When: October 10-12
Bookings and info: utilitaarena.co.uk
Two of Britain’s best-known pop-rock bands square up as the Busted vs McFly Tour arrives on Tyneside for three nights.
More than two decades since both groups first emerged, they remain part of the soundtrack of a generation, with hits that mixed cheeky humour, big choruses and guitar-driven energy.
This tour embraces the friendly rivalry between the bands, complete with playful digs and plenty of nostalgia. Feel good and lots of fun are all expected in buckets.
SCREEN & MUSIC: Hugo Max Performs Live Soundtrack to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
Where: Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle
When: October 18, 6pm
Bookings and info: tynesidecinema.co.uk
Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920) remains one of the most striking landmarks of early cinema - a tale of hypnotism, madness and murder told through jagged sets and warped perspectives that defined the visual language of horror.
For this special screening, British-Austrian musician and filmmaker Hugo Max performs a live, improvised score on solo viola.
Known for his haunting reinterpretations of silent film, Max draws out the film’s unease and intensity, creating a vivid new encounter with one of cinema’s most enduring nightmares.
THEATRE: The Chaos That Has been and Will No Doubt Return
Where: Live Theatre, Newcastle
When: October 21
Bookings and info: live.org.uk
Set over a single night in austerity-hit Luton, The Chaos That Has Been and Will No Doubt Return follows two friends navigating violence, neglect and the search for escape.
Written by Sam Edmunds, who grew up in the town, the play draws on lived experience to examine how environment shapes identity.
Blending dark humour with lyrical writing, it captures the restlessness and resilience of youth in a fractured landscape.
First staged at the Edinburgh Fringe, the production has earned multiple awards and critical praise for its unflinching portrait of friendship and survival.
THEATRE: Party’s Over - a rehearsed reading
Where: Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay
When: October 9 and 10
Bookings and info: Laurels website
Party’s Over drops audiences into six parties happening on the same chaotic night - from a tense dinner gathering to a doomed office do and a glitzy 1920s mansion where glamour curdles into something darker.
Written by Lewis Cuthbert, whose short plays have been staged at Northern Stage, Alphabetti and beyond, this new anthology piece blends sharp comedy with creeping unease, drawing on influences from Inside No. 9 to Julia Davis.
This is a rehearsed reading by a six-strong cast who will play more than 30 characters and is billed as being a fast, funny and unsettling trip through social awkwardness, satire and surreal horror.
STILL SHOWING
Visual Art: Gaia, Hexham Abbey, until Nov 16
Theatre: Bad Lads, Live Theatre, Newcastle, until Oct 11 Read our review
Comedy: John Shuttleworth - Raise the Oof, Gala Durham, Oct 8
Music: Lulu - If Only You Knew, Sage One, The Glasshouse, Gateshead, Oct 9
Theatre: Honestly, Everyman Theatre, Spennymoor, Oct 10
Theatre: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde + The Body Snatcher, various venues, touring until Nov 1
Theatre: Shore Lines from the Border Readers, various venues all over the North East until Dec 4
Dance: Se Gaest/The Guest, Queen’s Hall, Hexham (Oct 18), North Shields Fish Market (Oct 25), Auckland Palace (Nov 2) and Dance City, Newcastle (Dec 11) Read our review
Theatre: Mary Poppins, Sunderland Empire, until Oct 25. Read our review
Theatre: Miss Saigon, Newcastle Theatre Royal, until Oct 25
Exhibition: Three Artists: Zac Weinberg, Joanna Manousis, and Anthony Amoako-Attah, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, until Jan 10, 2026
Poetry/Theatre: Book of Crow Tour, Gala Theatre Durham, Oct 11
Screen: I Fought The Law, on ITVX, available to stream now. Read our report from the screening at the Gala Theatre with Sheridan Smith and Ann Ming.
Exhibition: Miners’ Weekend School (1984), The Burr of Berwick Film Library, Saturdays, 12-4pm until October 31
Festival: Northern Festival of Illustration 2025, various venues in Hartlepool, until Nov 1
Screen: Transaction, ITV X, Full series available to stream.
Exhibition: Ali Cherri/Laura and Lancaster, BALTIC, until Oct 12
Exhibition: Richard Hobson retrospective, South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, until Nov 2
Exhibition: Joséphine: A Woman of Taste and Fashion, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until March 2026
Music: Nick Cope – I’ve Lost My Bobble Hat, The Glasshouse, Gateshead at 11am on Oct 29
Exhibition: Cedric Morris, Artist, Plantsman & Traveller, Granary Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed, until Oct 12
Exhibition: Shakespeare Recovered, Palace Green Library, Durham, until Nov 2
Exhibition: Magna Carta and the North, Durham Cathedral, until Nov 2
Exhibition: The Words That Bind Us, Durham Cathedral, until Nov 2
Music: The Young’uns Big Boro Bash, Middlesbrough Town Hall, Nov 15
Family: Disney on Ice - Find Your Hero, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Nov 19-23
Exhibition: Guiding Entities, MIMA, Middlesbrough, until Nov 23
Exhibition: The Art of Conservation, South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, Ocean Road, until Dec 6
Big screen: Expo Sunderland Pavilion, Keel Square, Sunderland, throughout 2025
Exhibition: Three artists, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, until January 10, 2026
Exhibition: Works by Nathan Coley, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until Mar 1, 2026
Exhibition: Pippa Hale: Pet Project, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until March 1, 2026
NOW BOOKING
Theatre: Opera North - The Big Opera Mystery, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Nov 8
Music: Peter Hook and the Light, Boiler Shop, Newcastle, Nov 15
Comedy: Glory Be, It’s Gavin Webster, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle, Nov 21
Theatre: Fiddler on the Roof, Sunderland Empire, Nov 25-29
Music: Mumford and Sons, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Nov 29
Music: Bootleg Beatles, Stockton Globe, Dec 11
Theatre/Panto: The Wizard of Oz, People’s Theatre, Newcastle, Dec 13-21
Music: Martin Stephenson presents Frank & Jim - North East Legends, Sage Two, The Glasshouse, Dec 14
Music: Big Country (with Toyah supporting), Boiler Shop, Newcastle, Dec 17
2026
Comedy: Al Murray - All You Need is Guv, Stockton Globe (Jan 24); Darlington
Hippodrome (Mar 1); Middlesbrough Town Hall Sunderland Empire, Apr 23; Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle (Jun 5).
Event: Sunday for Sammy, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Feb 15
Theatre: Noughts and Crosses, Northern Stage, Newcastle, Feb 27-Mar 7
Music: 10cc in Concert, Sage One, The Glasshouse, Mar 5
Comedy: Jessica Fostekew - Iconic Breath, The Stand Newcastle, Mar 10
Music: The Cribs, Boiler Shop, Newcastle, Mar 18
Theatre: Hamlet (RSC), Newcastle Theatre Royal, Mar 31-Apr 4
Music: Royal Northern Sinfonia plays the Music of Star Wars, Sands Centre Carlisle, May 3
Theatre: Midsummer Murders, Darlington Hippodrome, May 19-23
Music: Otis Gibbs, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle, May 22
Comedy: John Kearns, Gala Theatre, Oct 22
COMPETITION TIME
Welcome to our latest newsletter prize draw, offering our subscribers an exclusive opportunity to win tickets to see or do something great.
This week, we’ve got a pair of tickets to see rising comedy collective Metroland Live at Live Theatre, Newcastle on October 16.
Praised by Sam Fender as “f***g brilliant!”, the sketch troupe are debuting a brand new show at the quayside venue.
Following a sell-out debut at London’s Soho Theatre, Jack Robertson, Caden Elliott, John Dole, Connor Lawson and Jack Fairley have booked in a four-night run on their native Tyneside, promising to bring their surreal and sharply observed take on life in the region to Live’s stage.
Featured in The Guardian and Rolling Stone’s top picks of Edinburgh Fringe 2024, they’ve since been nominated for Best Sketch Show and Best Newcomer at the Chortle Awards 2025.
HOW TO ENTER:
To be in with a chance of winning, simply email MePlease@culturednortheast.co.uk using the subject line: Wind Ya Neck In by noon, (12pm) on Friday, October 10, 2025.
The winner, who will be selected at random, will be notified within 48 hours of the entry deadline.
Terms and conditions: Only subscribers to the Cultured. North East newsletter are eligible to enter the Newsletter Prize Draw competition. Prizes are as stated - subject to availability - and non-transferable. No cash alternatives will be offered. You must be over 18 years of age to enter. The Editor’s decision is final.