Curated Culture 16.06.26
Our weekly guide to exhibitions, gigs, theatre shows, screenings and more assorted cultural distractions from across the North East
Hello, and thanks for joining us for another Curated Culture.
Ahead lies our latest handpicked selection of cultural distractions from around the North East - from gigs and exhibitions to theatre, comedy and a few things you might want to get booked in sharpish.
At the end of the newsletter, you’ll also find details of this week’s subscriber prize draw: a pair of tickets to see Nadine Shah with the Royal Northern Sinfonia as part of this year’s BBC Proms programme at The Glasshouse.
Happy reading/booking.
Sam (Wonfor) and Dave (Whetstone)
Professionally pre-occupied with North East culture
EXHIBITION: Norman Cornish – A Life in Sketchbooks
Where: Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
When: June 27 to January 3, 2027
Bookings and info: thebowesmuseum.org.uk
The latest exhibition dedicated to one of County Durham’s best loved artists is described as an intimate affair with the focus on his sketchbooks.
They are to be displayed alongside paintings and, say the Bowes teasingly, a “significant new acquisition” – all aiding an exploration of his working imagination.
During his life (1919 to 2014), Cornish filled 269 sketchbooks, capturing the streets, people, and communities of the Durham coalfield with distinctive insight and warmth.
It was his belief that sketchbooks should “have a life of their own… to teach people to look at things” and the intention with this exhibition is to bring that idea to life.
That new acquisition, strengthening the museum’s Cornish collection, was made possible with the legacy funds of the Friends of the Bowes Museum.
THEATRE: Operation Mincemeat
Where: Newcastle Theatre Royal
When: June 22-27
Bookings and info: theatreroyal.co.uk
If you like your history with a generous helping of chaos, comedy and astonishing true-life absurdity, Operation Mincemeat should be firmly on your radar.
Winner of the 2024 Olivier Award for Best New Musical, this wildly inventive production has become the most reviewed show in West End history, racking up 113 five-star notices and earning a Tony nomination on Broadway.
Set in 1943, it tells the extraordinary true story of the secret mission that helped turn the tide of World War II - involving a stolen corpse, a fake love letter and Ian Fleming.
FESTIVAL: What A Wonderful World Festival
Where: Alnwick Playhouse and various venues
When: June 25-28
Bookings and info: whataww.org
Bellowhead frontman Jon Boden heads to Northumberland this month as the headline act for the 2026 What a Wonderful World Festival. His performance, which also includes a Q&A with Dr Adam Holden from Durham University, will showcase his acclaimed album collection, The Floodplain Trilogy.
The concert on June 27 is part of a wide-ranging festival programme celebrating music, nature, creativity and community across Alnwick and beyond.
Evidence from previous festivals promises an uplifting and thought-provoking event with plenty to discover and enjoy.
We’ll be taking a deeper dive into the full programme and sharing our interview with Jon ahead of his appearance later this week.
MUSIC/MOVEMENT: CAT Make Music Day
Where: Dance City, Newcastle
When: Sunday, June 21, 3.30pm
Bookings and info: dancecity.co.uk
Every year, June 21 is Make Music Day – a global celebration of music that originated in France with a 1981 survey which revealed that while five million people in the country claimed to play an instrument, very few ever took part in any musical event.
With a view to creating performance opportunities, France’s Fête de la Musique took place the following year and was soon taken up around the world.
The first Make Music Day in the UK took place in 2012 and now features hundreds of free community-led concerts, workshops and open jam sessions in public spaces, parks and venues.
This event, which is free but ticketed, brings together the talented young musicians who study at The Glasshouse’s Make Music Weekend School and the young dancers from Dance City’s Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) programme.
A lively showcase of emerging talent is in store.
MUSIC: Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra
Where: Darlington Hippodrome
When: June 19
Bookings and info: darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk
TV and music treasure, Jools Holland is making his first touring visit of the year with a gig in Darlington and - as ever - he’s bringing his excellent Rhythm and Blues Orchestra along with him.
A joyful mix of jazz, boogie-woogie, blues, soul and swing will undoubtedly be served up as well as special guest Roachford and guest vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka.
Note: Never get bored of watching this clip from a banging concert film my dad (Geoff Wonfor) made with Jools in Blackpool 10-or-so years ago.
Since presenting The Tube from Tyne Tees TV in his early 20s, Jools - who has since clocked up more than three decades presenting music telly institution Later… - has retained a great affection for the region and never fails to include it generously on his touring schedule.
To prove the point, he will be back in the region in December with gigs at the Stockton Globe (Dec 2) and Newcastle o2 City Hall (Dec 3). Visit his website for more details and booking.
EXHIBITION: Mourning Tea Tyne & Lost Frequencies
Where: Globe Gallery, North Shields
When: Thursday, June 18, from 6pm (preview)
Bookings and info: globegallery.org
The Mügge brothers, Sebastian and Christoph, were born in Bonn, Germany, in the early 1980s but are now based in Sweden.
They have worked collaboratively since 2017, creating – say the Globe - “ambitious installations that draw on local histories, found objects, archives and community participation to explore themes of memory, loss, belonging and the traces people leave behind”.
Their most recent projects have come to fruition in Hanover, Vienna, the Italian city of Brescia, Copenhagen and the Faroe Islands.
But recently they’ve been resident in North Shields, based at the gallery on Howard Street, building up to this exhibition – or “immersive environment” - with its extraordinary title.
The brothers have created, through domestic objects, forgotten collections, old photographs, handwritten notes, souvenirs, household oddities and everyday clutter, the imagined home and archive of an imaginary person who has died.
THEATRE: Smack Family Robinson (reading)
Where: Live Theatre, Newcastle
When: June 19
Bookings and info: live.org.uk
Live Theatre is marking playwright Richard Bean’s 70th birthday with a special one-off reading of Smack Family Robinson, his darkly comic Whitley Bay-set play which premiered at the Quayside venue in 2003.
The cast for the performance includes Denise Welch and her son Louis Healy, appearing together alongside Trevor Fox, Beth Crame and Luke Maddison.
Best known for the smash-hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors, Bean has enjoyed a long association with Live, making this anniversary event a fitting celebration of his work - and a chance to revisit one of his sharpest and funniest North East stories.
COMEDY: Rachel Fairburn and Chris Cantrill (Work in Progress)
Where: The Stand Newcastle
When: June 27
Bookings and info: thestand.co.uk
Edinburgh preview season is upon us, and this double bill offers the chance to catch two sharp comic minds road-testing new material before they head north for the Fringe.
Rachel Fairburn - known from Live at the Apollo and hit podcast All Killa No Filla - will be trying out work from her new show Vexy Beasts while three-time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Chris Cantrill will be working out his show, Rewilding, a darkly funny tale of countryside calm, community justice and mushrooms.
CLASSICAL: RNS Summer Tour
Where: Carlisle, Hexham, Hartlepool, Cullercoats
When: June 25, 26, 27, 28
Bookings and info: theglasshouseicm.org
Never let it be said grass grows under the feet of Royal Northern Sinfonia musicians.
They’re off on a tour of churches this month with violinist Charlotte Scott directing.
The itinerary includes St Cuthbert’s Church, Carlisle (June 25, 7.30pm), Hexham Abbey (June 26, 7.30pm), St Hilda’s Church, Hartlepool (7.30pm) and St George’s Church, Cullercoats (June 28, 3pm).
A programme of “radiant musical sunshine” comprises Dvořák’s Czech Suite, Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 and Schubert’s Symphony No. 5.
Meanwhile, RNS musicians will be at Arts Centre Washington on Wednesday (June 17, 7.30pm) to premiere a new work by Sunderland composer Ben Lunn who will also conduct.
Anna Marra Missa, commissioned by RNS with support from the Royal Philharmonic Society, is a song cycle inspired by the epic poem of the same name by the late William Martin.
It will be performed by soprano Rosalind Dobson and Sinfonia musicians directed by Bradley Creswick.
The concert will also feature Concerto Grosso Op. 4 No. 1 by Newcastle-born Charles Avison (1709-70) and Symphony No. 8 ‘Sunderland’ by William Herschel (1738 to 1822) who was first violin for a time in Avison’s orchestra.
MUSIC: Midsummer Party with Matthias (Superluminal)
Where: Cobalt Studios, Ouseburn
When: June 20
Bookings and info: cobaltstudios.co.uk
Italian-born and Berlin-based DJ and producer Matthias heads to the North East for a midsummer set built for serious dance music lovers.
Known for DJ sets drawing on his “vast discography”, he has earned a loyal following on Europe’s underground scene.
Prepare for a night of immersive rhythms, subtle shifts and expertly selected sounds from an artist with a clear love of the craft… and obviously do not forget your dancing shoes.
POETRY: New collections
Where: Lit & Phil, Newcastle
When: Wednesday, June 17, 7.30pm
Bookings and info: litandphil.org.uk
New collections by two notable poets are being launched in this free (but ticketed) event.
Linda Anderson’s second collection, Against Falling (Pavilion Poetry), was inspired by the random jottings in her notebooks and the surprising links they brought to mind.
At its heart, we are told, is an exploration of time and ageing.
It is a Poetry Book Society recommendation.
Linda, emeritus professor of English at Newcastle University, founded the Newcastle Centre for the Literary Arts in 2009 and Newcastle Poetry Festival which is being resurrected as an independent charity after the university stopped funding it.
(Its first event features poet Denise Riley in conversation with Prof Deryn Rees-Jones, editor of Pavilion Poetry, at The Common Room, adjacent to the Lit & Phil, on June 27 at 2pm.)
Wednesday’s other new collection is The Green Parcel (Bloodaxe), the second by John Challis, formerly of Tyneside but now living in York where he teaches creative writing at York St John University.
The book’s “rural terrain” explores history, class and work, as well as our relationship to the natural world and cycles of growth and decay.
FILM: Fear Eats The Soul (cert. 12A)
Where: Baltic, Gateshead
When: Thursday, June 25, 6.30pm
Bookings and info: baltic.art
Next up in the Baltic Cinema season is a Rainer Werner Fassbinder classic coming appropriately on the heels of Refugee Week (June 15-21).
Set in former West Germany, it tells of the romance between a 60-year-old widow, Emmi, who works as a cleaner, and a much younger Moroccan man, Ali, a ‘guest worker’ in the country.
He asks her to dance in a Munich bar frequented by immigrants, where she has gone to escape the rain, setting in train “a heart-on-sleeve melodrama of a doomed romance across racial and age divides”.
The film, a double winner at Cannes in 1974, the year of its release, was critically acclaimed at the time and remains one of Fassbender’s most highly regarded films.
Neither Fassbinder nor any of the principals is still alive.
Emmi was played by Brigitte Mira, who won a leading actress award for her performance, and Ali by Moroccan actor El Hedi ben Salem who at the time was in a relationship with Fassbinder which was doomed to end rather less well than the film.
It is in German with English subtitles. A pop-up cinema bar will be open from 6pm.
STILL SHOWING
Music: Pitmen Poets, various North East venues, Jun 27-Jul 12
Music: An Evening with The Futureheads, The Fire Station, Sunderland, Jun 20
Dance: This is Rambert, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Jun 16-17
Theatre: Mother?, ARC, Stockton and Live Theatre, Newcastle, Jun 18-19 and Jun 30 respectively
Festival: Alnmouth Arts Festival, Alnmouth, Northumberland, Jun 20-21
Exhibition: Joan Eardley, Granary Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed, until Oct 11
Theatre: Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Sunderland Empire, until Jun 27. Read our review
Exhibition: Wild Africa, Gallerina, 1 Victoria Road, Darlington, until Jul 25
Exhibition: The Visitors, The Storehouse, Berwick Barracks, until Jun 27
Screen: The Fortune, Channel 5, from Jun 2, 9pm
Screen: Smoggie Queens, BBC Three and BBC iPlayer, available now
Screen: This Is Not A Murder Mystery, UTV and streaming on Channel Four, available now.
Exhibition: Foundation Press – Starting Lines, BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, until Aug 30.
Exhibition: The Graduates, National Glass Centre, Sunderland, until Jul 31.
Radio: Si King on Desert Island Discs, BBC Sounds/iPlayer
Exhibition: Vivienne Westwood: Rebel – Storyteller – Visionary, The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until Sept 6
Exhibition: Following the Eagle, Segedunum Roman Fort, Wallsend, until Oct 3
Exhibition: Picture This: Someone Like Me, Great North Museum: Hancock, until Jan 2027
Exhibition: Portrait Award 2025, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, until Sept 5
Exhibition: Enigmas, RePUBlic Gallery, Blyth, ongoing
Exhibition: Rebel Women of Sunderland, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, until Aug 1
Screen: Torvill and Dean - The Last Dance, streaming on ITVX
Screen: Jools Holland’s New Orleans Jukebox, BBC iPlayer
Radio: Tom and Lauren Are Going OOT!, BBC Sounds
Exhibition: Out of the Darkness, Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, until December
NOW BOOKING
Comedy: Lasses x The Girlie Show, Live Theatre, Jul 4
Screen: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (40th anniversary) + Tarquin Gotch Q&A, Tyneside Cinema, Jul 7
Theatre: The Spy Who Came In From The Cold, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Jul 7-11
Theatre: The Karate Kid The Musical, Sunderland Empire, Jul 14-18
Comedy: Edinburgh Preview Day, Queen’s Hall Arts, Hexham, Aug 1
Music: Kula Shaker, The Fire Station Parade Ground, Sunderland, Aug 2 (Part of the Summer Parties programme)
Comedy: Things We Didn’t Know Podcast Live (with Jason Cook and Carl Hutchinson), The Customs House, South Shields, Aug 14. Tickets on sale Jun 19.
Music: Northern Soul All Dayer, The Glasshouse concourse, Aug 30
Festival: Lindisfarne Festival, Beal Farm, Northumberland, Sept 3-5
Event: Jon Ronson - Enter the Castle, Gala Durham, Sept 17
Event: Caitlin Moran - How To Be Hopeful, Northern Stage, Newcastle, Sept 27
Music: Crash Test Dummies plus Special Guests, Wylam Brewery, Oct 1
Comedy: Your Aunt Fanny - Crease, ARC Stockton, Oct 10
Music: Soul II Soul, Newcastle o2 City Hall, Oct 23
Music: Megson, The Witham, Barnard Castle, Oct 29
Music: The Script, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Nov 5
Comedy: Harry Enfield and No Chums, Darlington Hippodrome (Nov 11); Stockton Globe (Nov 21); Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle (Mar 20, 2027)
Event: Miriam’s Full English Live, Darlington Hippodrome, Nov 18
2027
Music: Stornoway, The Fire Station, Sunderland, Feb 18
Theatre: Christmas Carol Goes Wrong, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Feb 23-27
Comedy: Mike Wozniak - The Bench, Gala Durham, Mar 19
Music: Gabrielle, Newcastle o2 City Hall, Apr 3
Theatre: The Most Famous Tree In The World, Live Theatre, May 6-29
Classical: Thomas Zehetmair conducts Mozart, Sage One, The Glasshouse, Jun 4
Theatre: Starlight Express, Sunderland Empire, Jul 14-31
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 Nadine Shah with the Royal Northern Sinfonia as part of this year’s BBC Proms programme at The Glasshouse.
South Tyneside-born Nadine will be making her Proms debut by playing a special gig on the concourse with the venue’s resident orchestra - conducted by Ellie Slorach - as well as special guest, Newcastle jazz-fusion outfit, Knats.
When the BBC Proms’ North East programme was announced earlier this year, the Mercury Music Prize-nomintaed singer songwriter said: “This summer, I’ll be making my proms debut with Royal Northern Sinfonia.
“The performance will take place in the North East at our finest establishment, The Glasshouse in Gateshead. It’s high art, it’s fancy, call me ‘Nadine Shah lah-de-dah’. It’s about time, on the Tyne.”
Audiences should expect songs form each of Nadine’s albums, as well as new music too.
This will be the fifth year BBC Proms has programmed performances in the region - and this is its biggest selection yet.
As well as a packed programme at The Glasshouse, concerts are also happening at The Fire Station in Sunderland (Royal Northern Sinfonia: Mozart and Mendelssohn, directed by violinist Maria Włoszczowska on July 25) and Middlesbrough Town Hall (The Unthanks and RNS on July 23).
Visit The Glasshouse website for full BBC Proms programme details.
HOW TO ENTER:
To be in with a chance of winning, simply email MePlease@culturednortheast.co.uk using the subject line: ‘Would I like to see Nadine at the BBC Proms? Shah thing!’ by 5pm on Sunday (Jun 21)
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.