Curated Culture 16.09.25
Our weekly recommendations round up from North East stages and cultural venues
Hello and welcome to this week’s Curated Culture - our once-a-week mailout designed to keep your cultural calendar refreshed and your bum on a wide variety of seats.
We’re keeping things simple yet fulsome - an eclectic gathering of excellent ideas served up for you in one easy hit every Tuesday:
🗓️ Top Picks – featured listings we think are worth your time over the next couple of weeks
📌 Still Showing – highlights from recent mailouts still available to enjoy
📅 Now Booking – lovely stuff you might want to firm up sooner rather than later
🎁 Subscriber Prize Draw – this week we’ve got a pair of tickets to Here and Now at Newcastle Theatre Royal on October 28.
Thanks, as ever, for reading, sharing and sending us your recommendations. 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
FESTIVAL: Whitley Bay Film Festival
Where: Various venues
When: September 17-October 3
Bookings and info: whitleybayfilmfestival.co.uk
Whitley Bay Film Festival kicks off this week, promising screenings in some of the coast’s most atmospheric settings.
The festival opens on September 17 at St Mary’s Lighthouse with Bill Forsyth’s 1983 comedy Local Hero, followed by a 40th anniversary showing of The Goonies the following day. Other venues across the coast and villages will play host to cult classics and rarities.
At Cullercoats Watch House, Jacques Tati’s Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday will be shown (Sept 20), while on September 27, the village of Earsdon provides the backdrop for British sci-fi horror, Village of the Damned (1960).
The Mediators will provide an electronic soundtrack to the German Expressionist classic The Cabinet of Dr Caligari (Oct 3) at Whitley Bay Masonic Hall. Meanwhile, Seaton Delaval Hall will stage two 50th anniversary screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Sept 26).
CONCERT: The Sixteen
Where: Hexham Abbey
When: Friday, September 26, 7pm
Bookings and info: hexhamabbeyfestival.org.uk
This year’s Hexham Abbey Festival is fast approaching and one of the highlights – in fact, it’s a festival of highlights – is this concert by acclaimed choral group The Sixteen
The choir, founded by Harry Christophers in the late 1970s, has toured the world and comes to Hexham on its 2025 choral pilgrimage, Angel of Peace, offered as “a slice of tranquillity” in a troubled world.
The programme includes a new addition to the choir’s repertoire – Anna Clyne’s Orbits, for choir and solo violin, a setting of a poem by the Austrian Rainer Maria Rilke (translated by American poet Robert Bly), I Live My Life in Growing Orbits.
Clyne, a composer much in demand, is British but lives in America.
The Hexham Abbey programme also includes works by Hildegard of Bingen, Arvo Pärt, John Taverner and Durham-born Will Todd whose Let me be an angel of peace, from which the tour takes its name, is a musical setting of words by Cardinal Newman.
The programme is featured in The Sixteen’s new album on the CORO label, which is now available to download. You can listen here.
Hexham Abbey Festival runs from Wednesday, September 24 until Sunday, September 28.
COMEDY: Stewart Lee vs The Man-Wulf
Where: Darlington Hippodrome and Gala Theatre, Durham
When: September 24 and 25, respectively
Bookings and info: darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk and galadurham.co.uk
In his latest show, the world’s ‘41st best stand up ever’, Stewart Lee shares the stage with a snarling alter ego: a werewolf comedian from the subconscious who despises humanity.
The Man-Wulf taunts Lee as culturally irrelevant and physically enfeebled, challenging whether his once BAFTA-winning, critically acclaimed style can still bite. Nearing sixty, with health issues and a fading TV profile, the acclaimed comic asks if he can silence the beast within - or embrace it to stand alongside ‘Netflix-endorsed comedy of anger’.
The tour will swing back around to the region via the Tyne Theatre and Opera House on November 3 and 4; and Stockton Globe on May 16, 2026.
CONCERT: Rufus Wainwright’s Want Symphonic
Where: The Glasshouse ICM, Gateshead
When: Sunday, September 21, 7.30pm
Bookings and info: theglasshouseicm.org
Songs built for opulence, suggested The Guardian’s reviewer after Rufus Wainwright’s orchestral versions of his albums Want One and Want Two were performed at the BBC Proms in 2023.
On that occasion the singer was joined on stage at the Royal Albert Hall by the BBC Concert Orchestra.
Last year he repeated the exercise in Glasgow with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and it is this outfit he will perform with in Sage One at The Glasshouse on Sunday.
The Glasgow concert prompted the reviewer from The Herald, the city newspaper, to hail “a match made in heaven” and they’re certainly not holding back in Gateshead, promising “transformative baroque-pop” as the two “landmark albums” are reborn with “symphonic grandeur”.
Wainwright’s music, fusing pop, alt-rock, classical, jazz and more, is transformed into “a breathtaking sonic experience” by the new orchestral arrangements, they add.
There are still some tickets to be had so transport yourself to The Glasshouse to be musically transported.
Incidentally, Want One, which spawned the singles I Don’t Know What It Is and Oh What a World, was released on September 23, 2003; the follow-up Want Two – its “darker sibling”, according to the singer – came out the following summer.
THEATRE: Homebake
Where: Gosforth Civic Theatre
When: September 25
Bookings and info: gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk
Home Bake returns with an evening of new short plays from North East writers, offering audiences the first chance to see fresh work at an early stage of development.
The upcoming edition features Rest In Space by Neil Fodor, Katie and Tom by Rachel Taylor, Try a Little Tenderness by Jemma Martin, and Indulgence by Elijah Young.
The event is designed to give local playwrights and theatre-makers a nurturing platform to test out their ideas in a professional setting, with audience feedback helping shape the next stage of each piece.
At just £10 a ticket, Home Bake is a chance to support emerging talent and enjoy a varied showcase of stories and styles from some of the region’s most exciting new voices. Get along if you can!
EVENT: Festival of Thrift
Where: Billingham Town Centre and John Whitehead Park
When: September 20-21, 11am–5pm
Bookings and info: festivalofthrift.co.uk
Now in its 12th year, Festival of Thrift returns to Billingham this weekend with a packed weekend of free performances, installations, workshops and stalls.
Billingham Town Centre becomes Slow Fashion Alley, celebrating sustainable style, while John Whitehead Park hosts world-class circus, theatre and interactive family events.
Highlights include BAMBOO’s giant bamboo sculptures, Mud Plant Rave’s immersive premiere, playful children’s shows and over 90 independent traders. Visitors can learn new skills, explore creative ways to live sustainably, enjoy street food and music, and take part in hands-on workshops. And entry is as free as a bird.
Of the event’s enduring - or should that be sustained - popularity, festival co-founder and board member Wayne Hemingway MBE says: “We had ambitions for the Festival to grow and have impact but what has been achieved across its various Tees Valley locations over the years is phenomenal.
“Over half a million people have attended Festival of Thrift, over 500 small businesses have traded with us, there have been over 2,000 performances and workshops and the economic impact is immense. It’s always a highlight of my year!”
IN CONVERSATION: Celebrating 25 Years of Billy Elliot
Where: Live Theatre, Newcastle
When: September 19
Bookings and info: live.org.uk
Live Theatre marks a milestone with a special fundraising evening celebrating 25 years of the BAFTA-winning film Billy Elliot.
Screenwriter, Academy Award nominee and Geordie playwright, Lee Hall will be in conversation with Dr James Leggott, associate professor at Northumbria University and author of the new BFI Film Classics book on the film.
They’ll be joined by special guests from the original cast to reflect on the story that brought a North East boy’s passion for ballet to global audiences. Proceeds will support new writing in the region.
MUSIC: Rock and Raise - Country Night
Where: Wylam Brewery, Newcastle
When: September 30
Bookings and info: ticketweb
Country, folk and Americana take centre stage as Rock & Raise returns to Wylam Brewery for another night of live music in support of the Sir Graham Wylie Foundation and Teenage Cancer Trust.
Hosted by beloved broadcaster Bob Harris, the evening brings together Kezia Gill’s powerful vocals, the heartfelt songwriting of Chanel Yates, and The Often Herd’s award-winning bluegrass sound.
Adding to the mix are Lorraine Crosby, famed for her vocals alongside Meat Loaf’ and North Riding with their rootsy melodies. All proceeds go straight to the charities involved. And if that doesn’t tempt you, they’re putting on a country BBQ from 6pm.
SPECTACLE: Ghost Train – The Departure
Where: Darlington Market Square
When: Saturday, September 20, 3pm
Bookings and info: sdr200.co.uk
We’re two thirds of the way into S&DR200, the nine-month festival celebrating the bicentenary of the pioneering Stockton and Darlington Railway, and this is what many have been waiting for.
It’s a public spectacle with a carnival vibe and it’s also a two-parter, The Departure (Sept 20) being followed by The Arrival at Stockton Riverside during the evening of Sunday, September 28.
A co-production between Avanti Display and Walk the Plank, two of the country’s leading outdoor theatre producers, Ghost Train commemorates the first rail passenger link between the two towns.
The Departure begins with a procession starting in Darlington Market Square, where a theatrical reimagining of Locomotion No. 1 (the first engine to pull a passenger train) will be installed on a large plinth.
Six large structures mounted on customised Nissan Micras will bring to life, through performance, music, sound and feats of engineering, some of the most significant inventions of the last 200 years.
At 7pm, Locomotion No. 1 will steam into life, fuelled by 'coal of the future' made by 900 schoolchildren, and lead the carriages to Hopetown, Darlington's flagship attraction.
The Arrival, at Stockton Riverside, is billed as an epic outdoor show featuring the reimagined Locomotion No. 1 and carriages, a specially composed musical score, live music, projection and a community cast.
EVENT: Newcastle’s Dragon Boat Race
Where: Newcastle quayside
When: September 27
Bookings and info: ne1dragonboatrace.com
The River Tyne will come alive next weekend as teams go head-to-head in dragon-themed boats, racing between the Tyne Bridge and Millennium Bridge in what promises to be a thrilling day of competition.
The annual event will raise vital funds for the Great North Children’s Hospital Foundation, and includes a busy programme of activity for both racers and spectators including a traditional ceremonial Chinese dance, arts and crafts and roaming entertainers.
THEATRE: Nowhere/Now Here
Where: Burnlaw Centre, Whitfield, near Allendale, NE47 8HF
When: Sunday, September 21, 11.30am and 2.30pm
Bookings and info: tsf.org.uk
There are theatre productions that offer a comfortable seat and an interval bar… and there are those that demand a little effort on behalf of audiences. Often the effort is well worth making.
This is a continuation of the Seeds of Hope project, a collaboration by artists based in Tynedale (notably the founders of theatre company Théâtre sans Frontières) and those displaced by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
It bore fruit last year with exhibitions and performances (notably one at Ladycross Quarry).
Nowhere/Now Here, a new production to mark World Peace Day and the Autumn Equinox, “celebrates our ability to come together at times of crisis and share our common humanity”.
Through music, movement and text, it explores what it means to integrate into a new community in a foreign land where a doctor might become a cleaner and an artist seek work in a laundry.
The piece has been created by John Cobb, Bridget Enever, Yaryna Kvitka, Sarah Kemp, Karen Melvin, Lucy, Nychai, Natalia Petryk and Tim Rubidge with additional text by Linda France and support from Gwen Clay-Wallers and Layli Kooman.
Tickets (cash only) can be bought on the day and anyone attending is advised to dress appropriately for the weather and outdoor terrain. There’s a 200 metre walk from the carpark to the Centre, where there will also be an art exhibition. No dogs allowed except guide dogs. Refreshments will be available.
EXHIBITION: Three Artists: Zac Weinberg, Joanna Manousis, and Anthony Amoako-Attah
Where: National Glass Centre, Sunderland
When: September 17 to January 10
Bookings and info: sunderlandculture.org.uk
The National Glass Centre presents three solo exhibitions under one roof, showcasing artists based at the venue with international acclaim.
Visitors are invited to discover Zac Weinberg’s ingenious constructions, Joanna Manousis’s striking combinations of mirrored and cast glass, and Anthony Amoako-Attah’s vibrant works inspired by traditional Ghanaian textiles.
A rare chance to see three distinctive practices side by side in Sunderland’s home of contemporary glass. Showing in the National Glass Centre Gallery, Balcony Gallery & Research Gallery.
STILL SHOWING
Dance/Theatre: Detention, Northern Stage, Sept 16-17
Theatre: Yen, Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle, Sept 17-20
Music: Self Esteem, The Glasshouse, Gateshead and Newcastle 02 City Hall, Sept 17 and 18 respectively
Theatre/Music: Looking for Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle, Sept 18
Poetry: Remembering Julia Darling & Diamond Twig, The Lit & Phil, Newcastle, Sept 18
Poetry/Theatre: Book of Crow Tour, Bishop Auckland Town Hall; Lanchester Library; TCR Hub Barnard Castle and Gala Theatre, Sept 18, 25, 26 and Oct 11, respectively
Comedy: Scott Turnbull presents…Surreally Good Episode 2, ARC, Stockton, Sept 19-20
Literary: The Word Is Murder - South Tyneside Crime Fiction Festival, The Word, South Shields, Sept 20, 10am to 5pm
Theatre: Friends! The Musical Parody, Sunderland Empire, Sept 23-27
Comedy: David Eagle’s Funny Flim Flam for a Fiver, Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay, Sept 25
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.
Theatre: War Horse, Newcastle Theatre Royal, until Sept 20
Exhibition: Miners’ Weekend School (1984), The Burr of Berwick Film Library, Saturdays, 12-4pm until October 31
Event: Heritage Open Days, all over the North East, until Sept 21
Theatre: Inside No. 9 Stage/Fright, Sunderland Empire, Sept 16-20
Festival: Northern Festival of Illustration 2025, various venues in Hartlepool, until Nov 1
Art: Hadrian’s Wall Art Trail – FOLK, The Threshing Barn, Green Croft On The Wall; Field Shelter, Bridge House, Shield Hill, Haltwhistle; and Abbey Mill, Lanercost, Sept 19-21
Words: WRITE Festival 2025, The Word, South Shields and other South Tyneside venues, until Sept 27
Theatre: Walk Like a Man, Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay, until Sept 20
Screen: Transaction, ITV X, Full series available to stream.
Exhibition: With These Hands, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, until September 27
Exhibition: Pursued By Bulldozers, Gateshead Central Library, until Sept 27
Exhibition: Richard Hobson retrospective, South Shields Museum & Art Gallery, until Nov 2
Exhibition: Ali Cherri/Laura and Lancaster, BALTIC, until Oct 12
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
Theatre: Mary Poppins, Sunderland Empire, Oct 1-25
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
Course: Live Theatre Introduction to Playwriting, 10-week course, deadline Sept 26
Theatre: Miss Saigon, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Oct 4-25
Festival: Berwick Literary Festival, various venues around the town, Oct 6-12
Event: Discovery Nights - October, Discovery Museum, Newcastle, Oct 10
Music: Beyond the Moor Festival, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle, Oct 11
Comedy: Sketch for Sammy, The Exchange 1856, North Shields, Oct 12
Comedy: Metroland Live, Live Theatre, Oct 15-18
Event: Unity in the Community Weekender, Sunderland Minster, Oct 18-19
Music: Briana Corrigan, The Fire Station, Sunderland, Oct 27
Music: Bastille, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Nov 12
Theatre: Top Hat, Sunderland Empire, Nov 18-22
Comedy: Helen Bauer - Bless Her, The Stand Newcastle, Nov 23
Comedy: Andrew White - Rhinestone Comedian, Laurels Theatre, Whitley Bay, Nov 26
Music: Rob Brydon and His Fabulous Band, Sage One, The Glasshouse, Dec 4
Music: Madness present the Hit Parade UK Tour with Special Guests Squeeze, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Dec 9
Comedy: Suggestibles Impro Pantso, Live Theatre, Dec 18-19
2026
Comedy: Celebrating 100 Years of Laurel and Hardy, The Fire Station, Sunderland, Mar 10
Theatre: Horrible Histories - The Concert, Sunderland Empire, Apr 17-18
Theatre: To Kill A Mockingbird, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Apr 21-25
Comedy: MC Hammersmith, The Stand Newcastle, May 10
Music: Midge Ure - A Man of Two Worlds Tour, Sage One, June 5
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 two tickets to nineties nostalgia fest, Here and Now at Newcastle Theatre Royal on October 28.
A jukebox musical built on the soundtrack of Steps - the multi-million-selling group whose upbeat choruses and dance routines peppered a decade - spinning them into a tale of friendship, betrayal and the search for happiness.
The story unfolds in a seaside discount superstore, Better Best Bargains, where Friday nights are about laughter, camaraderie and dancing in the aisles.
At its centre is Caz, who begins to suspect that the bargains on the shelves hide more than she expected. Along with her friends Vel, Neeta and Robbie, she is forced to navigate a summer where romance and loyalty don’t always line up with pop-song promise.
HOW TO ENTER:
To be in with a chance of winning, simply email MePlease@culturednortheast.co.uk using the subject line: 5,6,7,8 by noon, (12pm) on Sunday, September 21, 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.