Curated Culture 10.12.24
Our weekly pick 'n' mix of stuff-to-see recommendations from venues and attractions all over North East England
Welcome to this week’s carefully selected what’s on suggestions from the region’s cultural stages, venues and attractions.
As regular readers will be well aware, this is the newsletter which exists to help make sure you don’t miss stuff you wish you’d known about.
Every Tuesday, we serve up at least a double handful of featured listings - things we think are worth your time over the next couple of weeks.
Our STILL SHOWING section rounds up everything which has been highlighted in previous Curated Culture mailouts - and which is still available to enjoy.
Meanwhile the NOW BOOKING area beams a searchlight further into the future to gather together shows, gigs, exhibitions, events etc, which are happening over the coming months.
If you’ve missed this newsletter over the past few weeks - or have only just subscribed to it - you may not have picked up Parts One, Two and Three of our Christmas shows listings trilogy, which featured more than 75 pantomimes and other theatre productions, gigs, concerts and events, which are obviously and more. Click here for a full rundown if you’re looking for an abundance of festive fun.
For this week’s newsletter prizedraw - which always offers Cultured. North East subscribers an exclusive chance to win tickets to something great - we’ve got a pair of tickets for Seagulls and Sad Sad Stories at Laurels Theatre in Whitley Bay.
More info and details of how to enter can be found at the end… but there’s loads to enjoy before you get to that!
See you soon
Sam and Dave*
*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, X/Twitter and Blue Sky
CLASSICAL: The Manchester Carols
Where: Trinity Church, Gosforth
When: December 15, 7.30pm
Bookings and info: ticketsource.co.uk
Newcastle Choral Society’s 70th anniversary year climaxes with a concert whose full title is The Manchester Carols and Festive Favourites.
The former was first performed in 2007 with words by former Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy and music by Sasha Johnson Manning.
It’s a telling of the story of the Nativity through a series of choral items and solos linked by a narration.
The latter will be provided by Tony Childs, actor and director at the People’s Theatre, Newcastle.
A pay bar and complimentary mince pie are promised.
Read more: Review - Alice in Wonderland at People’s Theatre, Newcastle
MUSIC: After Midnight’s Christmas Party
Where: Cluny 2, Ouseburn, Newcastle
When: December 20 and 21
Bookings and info: thecluny.com
North East music treasures, After Midnight have booked their Christmas party for Dec 21 at The Cluny. (They’re also playing there on Dec 20, but that gig is returns only).
The band (Mike Hall, Greg Strettle, former Geordie member Dave Robson and Steve Hutchinson) spent more than 20 years touring with their tribute show, Classic Clapton.
While this show is sure to feature a couple of Slowhand tracks, the After Midnight setlist has a much wider remit and will include and renditions of beloved tunes from the likes of The Beatles, Steely Dan, Free and Dire Straits.
This is a rare chance to see them - hence the first date selling out - so if you fancy it, do not tarry.
COMEDY: The Suggestibles - Impro Pantso
Where: Queen’s Hall, Hexham, Northern Stage and Cumberland Arms, Ouseburn
When: December 13, 19-20 and 21, respectively
Bookings and info: thesuggestibles.co.uk
The festive incarnation showcasing the improvisation talents of The Suggestibles is coming to three North East venues over the next fortnight.
Using the installed set for Jack and the Beanstalk (Queen’s Hall) and A Christmas Carol (Northern Stage) for the first three performances, expect their trademark havoc and mischievous adventures into the unknown via songs, dances, crackers characters and plot twists. Oh and you should prepare to laugh your Christmas socks off too.
As ever, the audience will play a big part as the suppliers of the suggestions the troupe of seasoned professionals pick up and run with.
Not for the kids, this one. Finally!
Read more: Review - Beauty and the Beast at Gala Durham
DANCE: The Velveteen Rabbit
Where: Gosforth Civic Theatre
When: December 20-22 (six performances)
Bookings and info: gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk
Inspired by Margery Williams’ magical and long-told (if bob-tailed) tale, balletLORENT’s retelling of The Velveteen Rabbit comes to Gosforth Civic Theatre in time for Christmas.
Suitable for all ages, everyone can expect to be spellbound as they see toys come to life through the magic of storytelling, music and dance.
Some performances have already sold out.
Look out for Dave’s interview with Liv Lorent this week.
THEATRE: Elf The Musical
Where: Utilita Arena, Newcastle
When: December 30
Bookings and info: utilitaarena.co.uk
Following previous sell-out tours and two West End seasons at The Dominion, the arena take on the classic Christmas movie is coming to Tyneside.
Prepare for a flying sleigh, an audience snowball fight, a live orchestra, some giant candy canes, stockingsful of memorable scenes and Jordan Conway as the leading man in green.
Read more: Review - Present at Live Theatre
CLASSICAL: Jess Gillam Ensemble
Where: The Glasshouse, Gateshead
When: December 12
Bookings and info: theglasshouseicm.org
Jess Gillam is an electrifying saxophonist and musical personality – her Christmas concert at the Glasshouse is one for the whole family taking Silent Night and the Nutcracker as a starting point but sure to range wide across the musical multiverse.
Read more: Exhibition - We All Came Here from Somewhere at BALTIC
LECTURE: The Santa Saga
Where: Lit & Phil, Newcastle
When: December 18, 6pm
Bookings and info: litandphil.org.uk
He'll be coming down your chimney pretty soon but who the heck is Santa Claus, or Father Christmas as some prefer to call him?
If anyone knows, it’s sure to be Gail-Nina Anderson, cultural historian, polymath and seasoned Lit & Phil lecturer.
In this festive illustrated talk, she will explain how the popular image of this rubicund, roly-poly dispenser of gifts and good cheer has been shaped by folklore, religion, poetry, advertising, publishing, popular culture and two civil wars… and possibly more besides.
But does all that mean he isn’t real? Now there’s a question.
Read more: Review - A Christmas Carol at Northern Stage
CONCERT: Ryan Corbett (accordion)
Where: King’s Hall, Newcastle University
When: December 12, 1.15pm (doors open 12.45pm)
Bookings and info: Free admission - no booking required
Last up before Christmas in the King’s Hall lunchtime concert series is a young musician who plays the accordion possibly as you’ve never heard it played before.
If it’s an instrument you associate with fairgrounds or street corners, Ryan Corbett will change your perception with arrangements of Ferruccio Busoni, Scarlatti, Mendelssohn, Bach and Vladislav Zolotaryov.
Born in Glasgow in 1999, he studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and has performed as soloist and with orchestras and ensembles around the world and made his Wigmore Hall debut recently.
Composer Sir James MacMillan hailed him as “one of the most astonishing and surprising newcomers in Scottish music”.
Read more: Exhibition - Lizzie Rowe - Life and Works
EVENT: Seaton Deleval Late opening
Where: Seaton Delaval Hall
When: December 13, 14
Bookings and info: nationaltrust.org.uk
For the first time, the popular National Trust property in South East Northumberland is opening late for Christmas, until 8pm on Friday and Saturday, December 13 and 14.
Visitors will be able to see the giant Christmas bauble made by Sunderland-based designer and maker Leon Garshong which has been hung in the entrance hall.
The north front of the Sir John Vanbrugh-designed mansion will be lit up for Christmas and there will be entertainment from Sid Bowfin, back by popular demand after his first appearance here in 2022.
Bowfin is the “manic idiot violinist” creation of classical musician, clown and master of improvisation, Adrian Garratt.
Check the website for details of Robin’s Winter Wander, described as a festive adventure around the grounds, and other attractions at Seaton Delaval Hall over the festive period.
Read more: New fixtures lined up for The Bench, a play by Jeff Brown
EXHIBITION: Nerys Johnson - Disability and Practice
Where: The Laing Art Gallery
When: From December 21
Bookings and info: laingartgallery.org.uk
A new exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery is to open in time for Christmas and it promises to be a winter treat.
Nerys Johnson died in 2001, aged 58. Originally from Wales, she’d come to Newcastle to study fine art and became keeper of art at the Laing in 1967 and three years later keeper in charge of the old DLI Museum & Art Gallery in Durham.
After retiring, she focused on the painting that was her passion.
Nerys, who suffered from Still’s disease - a rare form of arthritis - loved flowers and sunshine and colour and it’s all there in the paintings, two dimensional expressions of joie de vivre.
In 2022 a large body of her work, including sketchbooks, prints and watercolours, was donated to the Laing by her estate.
The new exhibition will celebrate her life and work while looking at the impact of her disability on her artistic practice.
Read more: Review - The Little Mermaid at Newcastle Theatre Royal
STILL SHOWING
Comedy: Laffs for Kids, Utilita Arena, Newcastle, Dec 15
Screen: Smoggie Queens, BBC Three and iPlayer
Screen: Mycelial, online screenings, until Dec 17
Event: AGLOW at Auckland Palace, Bishop Auckland, until Dec 31
Theatre: Seagulls and Sad Sad Stories, Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay, Dec 9-23
Exhibition: We all came here from somewhere, BALTIC, until Feb 9
Exhibition: Sheila Fell - Cumberland on Canvas, Tullie House, Carlisle, until Mar 16, 2025 (coming to Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens after it closes
Exhibition: Framing Fashion, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until Mar 2, 2025
Exhibition: Romance to Realities: The Northern Landscapes and Shifting Identities, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, until April 26, 2025
Exhibition: Hannah Perry - Manual Labour, BALTIC, until Jan 19, 2025
Exhibition: Ted Holloway - A Bevin Boy Remembered, Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, until June 8, 2025
Exhibition: Mali Morris - Returning, Hatton Gallery, Newcastle, until Jan 11, 2025
NOW BOOKING
Jan 10-12: Tyneside Americana Blues Festival, The Exchange 1856, North Shields
Jan 14-18: Murder on the Orient Express, Newcastle Theatre Royal
Jan 23: Jason Fox - Life at the Limit, Queen’s Hall, Hexham
Jan 26: The Magic Numbers, Sage Two, The Glasshouse
Jan 31: Animal Farm, Darlington Hippodrome
Feb 5-22: Hadaway Harry - 10th Anniversary Tour, various venues around the region
Feb 24: Luke-Sital-Singh, Middlesbrough Town Hall
Feb 28: Max Cooper 3D AV Live, Sage One, The Glasshouse
Mar 8: Joel Dommett, Gala Theatre Durham
Apr 3: North East Football Stole Our Hearts, Harry Pearson and Michael Chaplin in Conversation, Gosforth Civic Theatre
Apr 12: Megson, ARC Stockton
Apr 23: Joan as Police Woman, Sage Two, The Glasshouse
May 8: David Ramirez, Gosforth Civic Theatre
May 10: Jenny Eclair, Gala Theatre Durham
May 22: MC Hammersmith, ARC, Stockton
Jun 24-28: The Last Laugh, Newcastle Theatre Royal
Jun 17-Jul 26: Hamilton, Sunderland Empire
Aug 28-31: Lindisfarne Festival, Beal Farm, Northumberland
Sept 24: Stewart Lee vs The Man-Wulf, Darlington Hippodrome (also playing Gala Theatre Durham on Sept 25; and Newcastle Tyne Theatre on Nov 3 and 4;)
Oct 4: Graham Nash - More Evenings of Songs and Stories, Sage One, The Glasshouse
Oct 4-25: Miss Saigon, Newcastle Theatre Royal
Oct 6: Deacon Blue, Utilita Arena, Newcastle
2026
Feb 15-28: Matilda the Musical, Sunderland Empire
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 a pair of tickets to Seagulls and Sad Sad Stories (on until December 23) at Laurels Theatre in Whitley Bay.
The winner of the inaugural Richard Jenkinson Commission, Sarah Bond has unveiled her debut playwriting effort, which was picked from more than 700 entries.
Featuring three teenage lads in South Shields and a Zoltar fortune telling machine which gives them more than they bargained for, the boys must decide whether to believe its predictions of misery and misfortune or fight for the future(s) they know they deserve.
Oh, and of course there’s a seagull, who’s determined to be part of the story too.
Find out more about the show from our interview with Sarah… and look out for our review coming soon.
HOW TO ENTER:
To be in with a chance of winning, simply email MePlease@culturednortheast.co.uk using the subject line: GET OFF ME CHIPS before midday (12pm) on Friday, December 13, 2024.
The winner, who will be selected at random, will be notified within 24 hours of the entry deadline.
The tickets will be for a performance of your choice, subject to availability,
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.