Curated Culture 17.03.26
Our weekly round up of recommendations from stages and cultural venues across the North East
Welcome to Curated Culture - our weekly sweep of the North East’s theatres, galleries, gig rooms and beyond.
Each Tuesday, you’ll find:
🗓️ Top Picks – fresh highlights for the next fortnight
📌 Still Showing – great things still running
📅 Now Booking – dates to get ahead of
🎁 Subscriber Prize Draw – this week, win tickets for up to five people for an exclusive preview of The Great Dinosaur Escape at the Life Science Centre in Newcastle on March 27 from 5pm-7pm.
Hope you enjoy the scroll
Sam (Wonfor) & Dave (Whetstone)
Professionally preoccupied with North East culture
THEATRE: Teechers
Where: Gala Durham
When: March 30-31
Bookings and info: galadurham.co.uk
John Godber’s iconic comedy returns, newly reworked for post-Covid audiences and still packing the punch that has made it a favourite for decades. Known for its sharp humour, rapid-fire performances and unflinching take on life in British schools, this latest version promises to resonate with a new generation.
Centred around three students staging their final performance piece, the show blends comedy with commentary on education, opportunity and change.
With Godber’s trademark energy and insight, it’s set to be a lively, thought-provoking night that balances big laughs with something more reflective beneath the surface.
MUSIC: Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra
Where: Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle
When: March 28
Bookings and info: gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk
Rob Heron & The Tea Pad Orchestra celebrate 15 years of genre-hopping mischief with a special anniversary show in their native Newcastle.
Known for blending rockabilly, blues, country, swing and soul into something distinctly their own, the band are marking the occasion with a ‘greatest hits’ set featuring past members and special guests.
The performance will also be recorded live for a forthcoming album release (which can be pre-ordered on the night), capturing the energy they’ve built a reputation for on stages from Glastonbury to village halls.
Expect sharp musicianship, dry humour and a set that reflects a decade and a half of doing things their own way.
CLASSICAL: The Soldier’s Tale
Where: The Glasshouse, Gateshead
When: Saturday, March 21, 3pm and 7pm
Booking & Info: theglasshouseicm.org
Toby Jones plays the narrator in this hard-to-define creation by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, more famous for earlier works The Firebird and The Rite of Spring.
The Soldier’s Tale tells of a weary soldier who, while returning home, enters into a predictably ill-starred pact with the devil, trading his violin for promised future wealth.
It was first performed in Switzerland in 1918, at the end of the First World War, but curiously its UK premiere was performed by the People’s Theatre, in Newcastle, a century ago, in November 1926.
The Glasshouse and Live Theatre entered into partnership to create these two performances in Sage Two of the Gateshead international centre for music.
As well as Toby Jones, it features Teesside actor Scott Turnbull and seven Royal Northern Sinfonia musicians led by violinist Maria Włoszczowska.
It is being directed by Jack McNamara, artistic director of Live Theatre, along with movement specialist Roberta Jean.
THEATRE: Bus Stop Goths
Where: ARC Stockton and Northern Stage, Newcastle
When: March 25-27 and April 24 respectively
Bookings and info: arconline.co.uk and northernstage.co.uk
Following a sell-out run in 2024, ARC associate artist Audrey Cook’s Bus Stop Goths returns for a limited run in the North East before heading out on national tour, including a date at Northern Stage, Newcastle.
This surreal, modern folktale dives into alt youth culture and the sacred outdoor spaces they call their own.
With humour and heart, it follows celestial beings Sid and Viv as they observe life on the streets of Middlesbrough, encountering vibrant subcultures and unexpected connections. Joyfully chaotic and full of imagination, Bus Stop Goths is a celebration of identity, belonging and finding meaning in overlooked places.
OPERA: Madama Butterfly
Where: Sunderland Empire
When: Monday, March 23, 7.30pm
Booking & Info: atgtickets.com
The indomitable Ellen Kent, one-time student at Durham University, has been bringing her opera productions to the Empire for more than 30 years.
Always spectacular, they require a big stage and an equally capacious auditorium.
This is billed as her farewell tour, with this one-off Wearside performance of Puccini’s famous tear-jerker to be followed by another, of Bizet’s Carmen, on April 1.
We’re told – because Ellen never hides a light under a bushel – that this production of Madama Butterfly features “exquisite sets including a spectacular Japanese garden and fabulous costumes including antique wedding kimonos from Japan”.
In the past there have been eagles and horses.
Having worked extensively with companies in Eastern Europe, including from Romania and Moldova, Ellen’s own adventures would make for a thrilling libretto.
More recently, though, she has been working with the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre, based in Kyiv, whose staff and performers you have to feel for.
Soloists, with the proviso that the cast is subject to change, include sopranos Elena Dee and Viktoria Melnyk, mezzo-soprano Yelyzaveta Bielous and tenors Oleksii Srebnytskyi and Hovhannes Andreasyan.
Exhibition: Portrait Award 2025
Where: Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
When: March 28 to September 5
Booking & Info: northeastmuseums.org.uk
The National Portrait Gallery’s portrait competition – the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award, to give the full title – is now in its 43rd year as a popular and revealing spectacle.
This year it features 46 selected portraits exploring themes of cultural heritage, companionship, sexuality, illness, conflict and grief.
Among the exhibits will be a self-portrait by Moira Cameron, winner of this year’s competition, Michelle Liu’s Kofi, winner of the Young Artist Award, and the second and third prize winners – Cliff, Outreach Worker by Tim Benson and Memories by Martyn Harris.
Showing alongside it will be Exploring Identity, a complementary portraiture exhibition drawing on the collections of North East Museums.
It will include works by Francis Bacon, Christina Robertson, Frederic Leighton, John Lavery, Harold Knight, Arthur Hughes, Norman Cornish, Robert Jobling and Harry Thubron.
There is an admission charge for the exhibitions.
Julie Milne, chief curator of art galleries at North East Museums, said the National Portrait Gallery exhibition had “provided the creative catalyst to look afresh at our excellent art collections”.
COMEDY: Laurels Comedy Gala
Where: Playhouse Whitley Bay
When: March 22
Bookings and info: playhousewhitleybay.co.uk
Laurels Productions kick off life beyond Whitley Road with a big night of stand-up at Playhouse Whitley Bay.
The Whitley Bay Comedy Gala pulls together a cracking line-up, with Kai Humphries, Tony Carroll, Mark Nelson and Lauren Pattison all on the bill, hosted by Elaine Robertson.
It’s a chance to catch some top comedy talent in one go, while also supporting Laurels Theatre CIO and its plans for ongoing community work.
Note: You can also find Elaine Robertson, alongside Simon Donald, Kelly Rickard and MC Jake Donaldson at Wylam Brewery, Newcastle on March 27 at Felt Nowt’s next Laugh Out Loud event.
THEATRE: Hamlet
Where: Newcastle Theatre Royal
When: March 31-April 4
Bookings and info: theatreroyal.co.uk
The Royal Shakespeare Company returns to Tyneside with a new touring production of Hamlet, directed by award-winning theatre maker Rupert Goold.
Arriving from Stratford-upon-Avon, the production revisits Shakespeare’s tragedy of grief, suspicion and revenge, as Hamlet confronts his mother’s troubling remarriage and the ghostly suggestion of murder.
Goold, whose previous work includes Dear England and King Charles III, is known for placing classic texts in a contemporary frame. The run includes a free post-show talk after the April 3 performance.
MUSIC: London African Gospel Choir: Paul Simon’s Graceland Reimagined - 40th Anniversary
Where: Sage One, The Glasshouse
When: March 21
Bookings and info: theglasshouseicm.org
The London African Gospel Choir bring their acclaimed show reinterpreting Paul Simon’s album, Graceland through gospel vocals, live band arrangements and layered harmonies.
Part of a special tour to mark the 40th anniversary of the album’s release, expect soaring voices and vibrant rhythms as familiar tracks, including You Can Call Me Al and Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes, are given a fresh (while still very familiar - feel via an irresistible celebration of African musical heritage.
EXHIBITION: Enigmas
Where: RePUBlic Gallery, Blyth
When: March 28 onwards
Booking & Info: republicgallery.co.uk
Next up at the little gallery in the former King’s Head pub on Bridge Street is an exhibition by North East artist David Drummond-Milne.
It includes examples of his work done over the past 15 years.
He studied at Sunderland Art College and Goldsmiths, University of London (as it now is) and has exhibited widely.
A show at Newcastle Arts Centre in 2013 was his first in the region for 25 years. It showed his fondness for close working and minute detail, an approach forced on him by an eye condition.
He is concerned, he says, “with the constructs of alchemy, transmutation, geometry and colour symbolism”.
He acknowledges a debt to “the esoteric aspects of surrealism” and particularly the writings of the Frenchman André Breton, one of the movement’s co-founders.
“The works themselves are essentially a prolonged meditation of the ‘enigma’ of life itself, portrayed in nature (tree, shell, stone, human form etc), myth, Eros and Thanatos, intuition, endless curiosity and finding self-enlightenment,” he explains.
There’s a preview event on Saturday, March 28 (2-4pm) to which all are welcome and the artist will be present.
FILM: TVFF Short Film Showcase
Where: Forum Cinema, Hexham
When: March 22, 3.30pm
Bookings and info: forumhexham.com
We included the Tyne Valley Film Festival, which got underway on Friday (March 13), in a Curated Culture newsletter a couple of weeks back, and picked out a few highlights.
But this compilation event showcasing a collection of North East-made short films might have skipped your attention.
Included in the slate of screenings will be Morning Sir Productions’ Gan Canny*, which is making quite the name for itself on the festival circuit.
Tickets for the shorts showcase are free but still need to be booked.
*Look out for our interview with the team who made Gan Canny later this week.
THEATRE: A Very Expensive Poison
Where: People’s Theatre, Newcastle
When: March 24-28
Booking & Info: peoplestheatre.co.uk
Vladimir Putin will be on stage at the People’s, or at least someone tasked with playing the Russian monster in this amateur production of Lucy Prebble’s play about the Litvinenko case, first staged in 2019.
Alexander Litvinenko, who defected and became a British citizen, was a former KGB spy who was poisoned by Russian assassins who put radioactive polonium in his tea in a London hotel.
Lucy Prebble first came to public attention with her 2010 hit Enron, inspired by the scandal surrounding the collapse of the American energy corporation, but she has since written for Succession, the TV drama series, on which she was also an executive producer.
The story of Litvinenko, who died in 2006, aged 44, was told in a book, also called A Very Expensive Poison, written by journalist Luke Harding. It formed the basis of Prebble’s play.
So “welcome,” say the People’s, “to the shadowy world of international espionage where high-stakes global politics, power games and propaganda collide”.
Unfolding on stage, they promise, will be a “bold telling of a shocking and absurd true story”.
STILL SHOWING
Music: Alex James’ Britpop Classical, Newcastle o2 City Hall, Mar 18. Read our preview
Theatre: Hidden Biscuit, Queen’s Hall Hexham and Live Theatre, Newcastle, Mar 20 and Apr 2, respectively
Music: Sandi Thom, The Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, Mar 22
Exhibition: Rebel Women of Sunderland, Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens, until Aug 1
Opera North: ‘Figaro’ & ‘Grimes’, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Mar 19-21
Theatre: I, Daniel Blake, Northern Stage, Newcastle, Mar 20 to Apr 4
Choral: The Creation, Newcastle Civic Centre Banqueting Suite, Mar 21
Comedy: Matt Forde - Defying Calamity, Various North East dates, Mar 20-27
Film: Kinoteka Polish Film Festival on tour, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, Mar 25
Brass: North of England Championships, Gala Theatre, Durham, Mar 21-22
Theatre: Because We Said We Would, Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham, Mar 24-25, 7pm
Theatre: Shuggy Boats, Live Theatre Newcastle, until Mar 21. Read our review
Comedy: Sara Pascoe - I Am A Strange Gloop, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Gala Theatre Durham on Mar 27
Film: Tyne Valley Film Festival, Hexham and various North East venues, until Mar 27
Exhibition: Women Behind Bars: Life in Newcastle Prison, 1828-1925, until Apr 27. Read our preview
Film: Blyth Festival of Film, Various venues across the town, until March 21
Exhibition: Voices for Truth Exhibition, City Library, Newcastle, until Apr 2
Theatre: TINA – The Tina Turner Musical, Newcastle Theatre Royal, until Mar 18. Read our review
Exhibition: Lady Kitt – Lines of Legitimacy, Hartlepool Art Gallery, Apr 18
Exhibition: Northumberland Open Exhibition, Woodhorn Museum, until May 10. Read more.
Exhibition: Feeling Into The Unknown, Hartlepool Art Gallery, until Apr 18
Screen: Torvill and Dean - The Last Dance, streaming on ITVX,
Theatre: I, Daniel Blake, Northern Stage, Newcastle, Mar 20 to April 4
Theatre: Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Apr 6-11
Exhibition: Desire Lines, MIMA, Middlesbrough, until Apr 12
Theatre: Sunny Afternoon, Stockton Globe, April 14-18
Comedy: Chris Ramsey - Here Man, Newcastle 02 City April 17-19
Screen: Jools Holland’s New Orleans Jukebox, BBC iPlayer
Radio: Tom and Lauren Are Going OOT!, BBC Sounds
Exhibition: For All At Last Return and first major UK exhibition by filmmaker and artist Saodat Ismailova, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, until Jun 7, 2026
Exhibition: Out of the Darkness, Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, until December
NOW BOOKING
Music: Showhawk Duo, Wylam Brewery, Newcastle, April 5
Family Theatre: Nick Cope, Queen’s Hall Hexham, April 12
Music/Poetry: Nev Clay, The Lonnings and Mouthful Voices, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Apr 29
Screen: The Room - With Greg Sestero Live!, Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle, May 1
Comedy: Judi Love - All About The Love, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle, May 2
Music: Kathryn Roberts and Sean Lakeman, The Witham, May 16
Music: Richie Remo, The Cluny, Newcastle, May 20
Music: Kathryn Tickell and the Darkening, Playhouse Whitley Bay, May 24
Ballet: My First Ballet, Newcastle Theatre Royal, May 30-31
Theatre: Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Sunderland Empire, Jun 5-27
Music: Teddy Thompson, The Fire Station, Jun 9
Comedy: Kelly Rickard - Burning Love, The Stand Newcastle, Jun 14
Music: Amy Macdonald, Stockton Globe, Jun 19
Theatre: The Cramlington Train Wreckers, Newcastle Theatre Royal, July 12
Spoken word: Jack Rooke’s Good Grief, Northern Stage, Newcastle, Oct 1
Theatre: Twelve Angry Men, Darlington Hippodrome, Oct 6-10
Music: Pussy Cat Dolly, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Oct 9
Music: Soul II Soul, Newcastle o2 City Hall, Oct 23
Comedy: Dylan Moran - Looking for Trouble, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle (Nov 4) and Middlesbrough Town Hall (Nov 5)
2027
Music/Screen: The Wizard of Oz in Concert, Sage One, The Glasshouse, Jan 31
Comedy: Ahir Shah, Gala Durham, Feb 5
Comedy: Jason Cook - Nothing But Happy Bits, Newcastle o2 City Hall, Feb 27
Theatre: CATS, Sunderland Empire (Jan 26-30) and Newcastle Theatre Royal (Jun 8-19)
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 special preview ticket for up to five people for The Great Dinosaur Escape at the Life Science Centre in Newcastle.
The winner - and up to four of their pals - can be among the first to experience the exciting new exhibition during an exclusive preview evening event on March 27 from 5pm to 7pm.
You will be able to step into the shoes of a ‘Dino Ranger’ and explore a prehistoric adventure packed with 25 animatronic dinosaurs - including a three-tonne T-Rex and a baby Stegosaurus.
There’s a trail; there’s a code to crack; there’s facts to collect and there’s light refreshments and the promise of plenty of surprises along the way.
Sounds R-O-A-R-some! (Apologies)
HOW TO ENTER:
To be in with a chance of winning, simply email MePlease@culturednortheast.co.uk using the subject line: DoYouThinkHeSaurus by noon, (5pm) on Sunday (March 22, 2026).
The winner, who will be selected at random, will be notified within 24 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.