Curated Culture 08.04.25
Our weekly recommendations round up from North East stages and cultural venues
Hey there, and welcome to our latest Tuesday newsletter, once again brimming with cultural inspiration (and a few drops of our perspiration).
Each week, around about now, we pull this mailout together to highlight a pick ‘n’ mix of cultural delights from across the region – things we reckon are well worth your time.
A big hello to all our new subscribers. Before we dive in, there’s a quick 1, 2, 3 of admin notes for you.*
*Seasoned CNE subscribers can skip ahead to this week’s prize draw details.
Here’s what you can expect every Tuesday:
At least a double handful of featured listings we think you should catch over the next couple of weeks;
A round-up of everything STILL SHOWING from past Curated Culture emails;
Our NOW BOOKING section, flagging up future gems you might want to get locked in early
Oh, and don’t forget – this is also where you’ll find the chance to enter our weekly prize draw, exclusive to Cultured. North East subscribers. Free tickets to brilliant things? Yes please!
This week, we’ve got two tickets to see the wonderful Simon Munnery on Tour at The Stand Newcastle on Monday, April 14.
When you get to the end of the newsletter, you’ll find all the show details and pointers on how to enter. But take your time getting there.
See you soon and thanks as ever for your support
Sam (Wonfor) and 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
EVENT: Theatre Royal Open Day
Where: Newcastle Theatre Royal
When: April 17, 10am to 3pm
Bookings and info: theatreroyal.co.uk
The Theatre Royal is offering visitors the rare chance to explore the venue and meet the team who keep everything running.
Expert tours, history talks, stage management demos, craft workshops and - of course - and Easter egg hunt will be among the loveliness on offer between 10am and 3pm on April 17.
This will be the first time walk-in visitors will have been welcomed to the Grey Street theatre since the pandemic. Look out for a full preview next week.
EVENT/MUSIC: Record Store Day @ Beyond
Where: Beyond Vinyl, John Marley Centre, Newcastle
When: April 12
Bookings and info: beyondvinyl.co.uk
Record Store Day UK celebrations at Beyond Vinyl will also serve as an official opening for its newly expanded space as well as offering all the usual opportunities to grab exclusive releases… and - more importantly - to celebrate your local vinyl outlets.
A series of live music performances from artists including Megan Black, Dean Parker, Hels Pattison and Harrison Rimmer have been programmed both in the store and the foyer of the John Marley Centre throughout the day before an evening celebration.
Ooh, and early birds might just get a free brekkie from the revamped and relocated cafe.
Other North East Record Store Day participants include: RPM Newcastle; Reflex Records, Newcastle; Regency Records, Stockton-on-Tees; Beatdown Records, Newcastle; Vinyl Guru, Newcastle; and Hot Rats Records, Sunderland.
FILM: Stepney Western
Where: Newcastle Contemporary Art, 39 High Bridge
When: Until Saturday, April 26
Bookings and info: visitnca.com
Harry Lawson’s film was premiered at Berwick Film & Media Art Festival but is showing at Newcastle Contemporary Art (formerly Baltic 39 and prior to that Waygood) with a complementary exhibition of archive photography.
The artist-filmmaker worked with young people who attend Stepney Bank Stables, the charity based in Byker’s Ouseburn Valley which offers a practical alternative for those who find mainstream education challenging.
Fashioning a contemporary western from their stories and blending his footage with archive material, Harry invites us to think about the place of horses in our ever-changing urban landscape and about the nature of regeneration.
With its animated sequences reminiscent of Sergio Leone’s ‘spaghetti western’ genre, it’s a fun watch – although if you’re allergic to hay or horsehair, best avoid (hay bales stand in for cinema seating).
The photographs include some from the archive of the Amber Film & Photography Collective and others from The Ouseburn Trust and Stepney Bank Stables’ own collection of photos taken over the years.
SCREEN: The Feud
Where: Your living room (or wherever you get your telly)
When: April 14, 15 and 16
Bookings and info: channel5.com
A new domestic thriller filmed and produced in and around Newcastle will hit our TV screens next week.
The first three episodes of The Feud will premiere on 5 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday as viewers are introduced to the inhabitants of Shelbury Drive - a seemingly harmonious leafy street where neighbours are friends and everyone gets along.
That’s until Emma Barnett (played by Geordie acting treasure, Jill Halfpenny) decides she’s getting a kitchen extension and sets in motion a series of horrific events likely to have us all adding extra bolts to our doors and rethinking any home improvement plans.
Alongside Jill in the cast there’s Gavin and Stacey and Eastenders legend, Larry Lamb, Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks, Our House, The Drowning), James Fleet (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Vicar of Dibley), Tessa Peake-Jones (Only Fools and Horses, Unforgotten), Amy Nuttall (Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Downton Abbey) and Ray Fearon (Fleabag, Barbie).
The final three episodes are scheduled for screening the following week.
FAMILY: Dinosaurs Live!
Where: Stockton Globe
When: April 16
Bookings and info: nhmdinosaurlive.com
The Natural History Museum has teamed up with Mark Thompson Productions to launch Dinosaurs Live!, a new theatre production of epic scale.
This is the Museum’s first-ever touring theatre venture and is currently stomping across the UK on a 60-date tour.
Dinosaurs Live! promises an exciting, educational journey through the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. Audiences will join the adventurous Palaeontologist Dr Dina Rocks as she brings prehistoric creatures back to life on stage, making it a thrilling experience for both dinosaur fans and theatre lovers of all ages.
North East dates later in the tour are Whitley Bay Playhouse (Jun 28); Darlington Hippodrome (Aug 28); and The Fire Station, Sunderland (Oct 19).
EXHIBITION: Shakespeare Recovered
Where: Palace Green Library, Durham
When: Until November 2
Bookings and info: durham.ac.uk
The story of what happened when the Durham First Folio - a copy of William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies - was discovered a decade after it was stolen is told in this new exhibition at Palace Green Library.
The iconic treasure had been stolen along with six other items while on display in Cosin’s Library, but turned up, badly damaged, in Washington DC in 2008. After it was verified as the missing copy, it was returned to its rightful home.
The First Folio is the centrepiece of Shakespeare Recovered, an exhibition exploring the work of the conservation team who made sure it would survive to be enjoyed for future generations.
Tickets for Shakespeare Recovered are free but advanced booking is strongly recommended due to the limited capacity of the library space.
IN CONVERSATION: David Haldane & Ed Waugh
Where: Lit & Phil, Newcastle
When: Wednesday, April 23, 6pm
Booking & Info: litandphil.org.uk
North East cartoonist David Haldane has the knack of crystallising a complex news story into a pithy drawing with a caption that’ll invariably make you smile.
He also has a fund of stories arising from his many years supplying cartoons to some of our most famous publications including The Times, Private Eye, The Oldie and in fact most national newspapers. He once illustrated Piers Morgan’s pop column.
Growing up in Blyth, his youthful ambition was to be published in Punch, which he was many times before it closed over 20 years ago.
Hopefully his stories will be related in less pithy style when chatting to playwright Ed Waugh about his life’s work.
David does one of those jobs they tend not to tell you about in school because it’s not one that very many people do or could do.
“Everyone in Morpeth thinks I’m on the dole because they see me wandering around during the day,” he once chortled. “They must think, ‘What’s he doing living in a house like that? He’s never done a day’s work in his life’.”
THEATRE: An Inspector Calls
Where: Sunderland Empire
When: April 9-12
Bookings and info: atgtickets.com
Stephen Daldry's multi award-winning National Theatre production of JB Priestley's classic thriller is back on the road and on Wearside this week.
With 19 major awards under its belt, this epic production, which has been seen by more than five million people since it premiered in 1992, frames the story’s enduring and haunting relevance.
Set before World War One, The Birling family's celebration is interrupted by Inspector Goole, investigating the death of a young woman. As the Inspector questions each family member, dramatic revelations ensue and challenge us all to examine our consciences.
AUDIO-VISUAL: The Mother Goose Series
Where: The Glasshouse, Gateshead
When: Until July
Info: theglasshouseicm.org
To mark the 150th anniversary of the death of Maurice Ravel, Royal Northern Sinfonia has been devoting concerts to the French composer’s work this season – but principal conductor Dinis Sousa also wanted something extra.
James Bulley was commissioned to create an artwork inspired by Ravel’s fairytale-inspired Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) which it is to perform in Sage One at The Glasshouse on May 16.
James’s The Mother Goose Series, comprising a series of wall-mounted boxes or cabinets relating to the five movements of the piece, can be seen (and heard) on the Level 2 balcony above the venue’s East entrance.
An interview with James Bulley about the work can be seen on the Cultured North East website.
Royal Northern Sinfonia musicians, directed by Maria Włoszczowska, will be performing Ravel’s Tzigane and other works by him and compatriot Claude Debussy at The Glasshouse (Sage 2) on Saturday, April 19 at 7pm and at St Mary’s Church, Wooler, on Sunday, April 20 at 3pm.
EXHIBITION: Richard Hobson retrospective
Where: South Shields Museum & Art Gallery
When: April 12 to November 2
Info: southshieldsmuseum.org.uk
For some it’ll be an education, for others a nostalgic trip down memory lane – but everyone should find good reason for visiting an exhibition dedicated to the work of this chronicler of a North East way of life (in fact several North East ways of life).
Richard Hobson (1945 to 2004 – he died far too young) produced many paintings and drawings capturing the varied landscapes of the region, from the rugged moors to the sites of industries that were winding down or had ceased to function.
He depicted – in watercolours and pen and ink drawings – shipyards and cooling towers, fishing boats and mines (coal and lead) along with agricultural auction rings and even the Hoppings on Newcastle’s Town Moor.
Where there was life, he would be there, finding beauty where many wouldn’t.
To give it its full title, this exhibition is called Spirit of the North East: The Art of Richard Hobson, a retrospective. Not to be missed, we’d say.
STILL SHOWING
Music: Songs of the North East, various venues across the North East until May 23: Queens Hall, Hexham (April 11); Princess Alexandra Theatre, Yarm (April 29); The Customs House, South Shields (May 8); The Exchange, North Shields (May 9); Arts Centre Washington (May 21); and Ponteland Methodist Church (May 23). Another date in September at Redhills in Durham is TBC. Read our review.
Theatre: T*ts Up, Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay, until Apr 12. Read our preview
Theatre: National Theatre Connections, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Apr 7 to 11x
Comedy: Deidre O’Kane - O’Kaning It, Northern Stage, Newcastle, Apr 11
Classical: Red Priest, Morpeth Methodist Church, Apr 10Music: The Lindisfarne Story The Witham, Barnard Castle (Apr 11) and Whitley Bay Playhouse (Apr 12)
Theatre: Penguin, Live Theatre., Newcastle, Apr 9-12
Exhibition: Sheila Fell – Cumberland on Canvas, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, Apr 10-Jun 28
Exhibition: Sunlight. Shadow, RePUBlic Gallery, Blyth, until April 19
Exhibition: Ali Cherri/Laura and Rachel Lancaster, BALTIC, Apr 12 to Oct 12
Comedy: Lee Kyle - Bottle It, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle, April 18
Exhibition: Joséphine: A Woman of Taste and Fashion, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until March 2026
Exhibition: Spring Welcome, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, until Apr 13
Exhibition: Unravelling, Samantha Cary, Granary Gallery, Berwick, until May 18
Exhibition: Northumberland Open Exhibition, Woodhorn Museum, until June 1. Read David Whetstone’s full preview of the exhibition.
Exhibition: Sustainable Clay, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, until May 3. Read our review.
Exhibition: Romance to Realities: The Northern Landscapes and Shifting Identities, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, until April 26, 2025
Exhibition: Ted Holloway - A Bevin Boy Remembered, Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, until June 8, 2025
Exhibition: Magna Carta and the North, Durham Cathedral Museum, Jul 11 until Nov 2
Music: The Young’uns Big Boro Bash, Middlesbrough Town Hall, Nov 15
Big screen: Expo Sunderland Pavilion, Keel Square, Sunderland, throughout 2025
NOW BOOKING
Music: Dave Acari with support from Shannon Pearly, The Cluny, Newcastle, Apr 24
Theatre: Kinky Boots, Stockton Globe, Apr 29 to May 3
Comedy: Ellie Taylor - Palavering! Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle, May 1
Music: Midnight Callers - DJ Set from Paul Smith, Gosforth Civic Theatre, May 3
Music: Bryan Adams, Utilita Arena, Newcastle, May 8
Film: Sunderland Shorts Film Festival, various venues across Sunderland, May 12-18
Dance: Snow White - balletLORENT, Darlington Hippodrome, May 16-17
Theatre: Something in the Water, Newcastle Theatre Royal, May 18
Theatre: Unearthed Festival, Live Theatre, Newcastle, May 21-31
Theatre/Music: Across The Universe, Northern Stage, Newcastle, May 25
Comedy: Rory Bremner, Gala Theatre Durham, Jun 3
Theatre: Havisham, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Jun 12
Comedy: Katherine Ryan - Battleaxe, Middlesbrough Town Hall (Jun 13); Sunderland Empire (Jun 14)
Theatre: HARD, Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay, Jun 17-27
Event: 25 Years of Wylam (Brewery), 11am to 5pm and 6pm to Midnight, Jun 21
Music: Me Lost Me Album Launch, Live Theatre, Newcastle, Jul 18
Comedy: Laughing Stock Comedy Festival, Seaton Reach, Hartlepool, Jul 27
Music: Nearly Dan in Concert, Sage Two, The Glasshouse, Gateshead, Sept 13
Theatre: Kerry Ellis - Queen of the West End, Blyth Phoenix Theatre (Sept 25); Dance City, Newcastle (Oct 25); Gala Theatre Durham (Oct 26)
Theatre: Miss Saigon, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Oct 4-25
Dance: Riverdance 30, Utilita Arena, Newcastle, Oct 18-19
Comedy: Laffs for Kids, Utilita Arena, Newcastle, Dec 14
Music: Cara Dillon Upon A Winter’s Night, Sage Two, The Glasshouse, Gateshead, Dec 15
COMPETITION TIME
Welcome to our latest newsletter prizedraw, offering our subscribers an exclusive opportunity to win tickets to see or do something great.
This week, we’ve got two tickets to see Simon Munnery on Tour at The Stand Newcastle on Monday, April 14 at 8.30pm (doors at 7.30pm).
Stewart Lee calls him ‘one of the all-time great British stand-ups’ and he was once described as the ‘perennial fringe maverick’ by The Guardian.
Renowned for his inventive and surreal style - and characters like Alan Parker: Urban Warrior and The League Against Tedium - he blends sharp social commentary with absurd humour.
HOW TO ENTER:
To be in with a chance of winning, simply email MePlease@culturednortheast.co.uk using the subject line: Funny Munnery (12pm) on Thursday, April 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.