Hello and welcome to another Curated Culture, in which we throw ourselves into the task of narrowing down what’s happening across the North East to a manageable weekly selection.
Below you’ll find our latest picks for the next fortnight, along with previous highlights which are STILL SHOWING, a look further ahead for what you might want to get booked in sharpish and our FESTIVE FORECAST keeping tabs at what Christmas stages have in store.
This week’s subscriber prize draw is a pair of tickets to see musical comedian Jazz Emu - The Pleasure is All Yours at The Fire Station, Sunderland on October 7. Entry details are at the end.
Enjoy the scroll – and thanks, as ever, for your attention and support.
Sam (Wonfor) and Dave (Whetstone)
Professionally preoccupied with North East Culture
THEATRE: All At Sea
Where: Live Theatre, Newcastle
When: September 24-October 10
Bookings and info: live.org.uk
North East playwright Alison Carr takes the extraordinary ‘Canoe Man’ case as the jumping-off point for All At Sea – but don’t expect a straightforward retelling.
Written during lockdown, Carr’s fictional version follows Colin (Phil Corbitt) and Deborah (Sarah Belcher), a married couple in a northern coastal town whose spiralling debts prompt an audacious solution: fake Colin’s death at sea and claim the insurance.
From there, as Carr puts it, “This is a wild story. Let’s tell a wild story.”
Directed by Maria Crocker, the two-hander explores marriage, money and the increasingly complicated consequences of one very big lie.
CONCERTS: Steve Reich at 90
Where: The Glasshouse, Gateshead
When: October 2-4 (Friday to Sunday)
Bookings and info: theglasshouseicm.org
He’s one of those composers whose music you probably know even if you think you don’t.
So says virtuoso Scottish percussionist and Steve Reich devotee Colin Currie, who has curated this concert programme to mark the American composer’s 90th birthday.
Reich doesn’t venture far from his home in upstate New York these days but his music certainly travels and he has fans all over the world.
The weekend festival begins with a Friday night concert in Sage One which features four pieces by Reich including his Clapping Music, a composition for two people clapping that will be performed by Currie himself and Royal Northern Sinfonia percussionist Jude Carlton.
A highlight for many will be the Sunday afternoon Sage Two performance of Different Trains, featuring the orchestra, Currie and Bryce Dessner on electric guitar (who returns only for that one).
But the concert that falls on Reich’s birthday, October 3, is not to be missed, featuring Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians and the first appearance at The Glasshouse of the Colin Currie Group which was formed 20 years ago to mark Reich’s 70th birthday at the BBC Proms.
SPOKEN WORD: Lemm Sissay - Let The Light Pour In Live
Where: Gala Theatre Durham
When: September 29
Bookings and info: galadurham.co.uk
For the past decade, Lemn Sissay has started his mornings by writing four lines of poetry and sharing them online, without a title or explanation.
Those daily verses have since found their way onto murals, into songs and even onto people’s skin, as well as into his bestselling collection Let the Light Pour In.
Now the BAFTA-winning author, poet and performer brings them to the stage, reading from the book and revealing some of the stories behind the words and the ways they’ve taken on lives of their own.
There’s also an audience Q&A and a book signing after the show
EXHIBITION: Impressions of Light
Where: Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
When: September 26 to March 14, 2027
Bookings and info: thebowesmuseum.org.uk
This eagerly awaited exhibition results from a partnership between the Bowes Museum and the Musée d’Art moderne André Malraux, known as MuMa, in the French port city of Le Havre.
It’s intended to track the evolution of landscape painting from Pre-Impressionism to Post-Impressionism, and gallery visitors will no doubt be hoping it doesn’t miss out the bit in the middle.
Impressionist paintings, once derided by critics but now hugely popular and coveted, recall a time of artistic change when artists became more attuned to the effects of light, colour and atmosphere.
Many of the Le Havre canvases will be on display in the UK for the first time.
Expect to see work by big hitters such as Claude Monet (1840–1926), Eugène Boudin (1824–1898), Gustave Courbet (1819–1877), Camille Pissarro (1830–1903), Jean-Francis Auburtin (1866–1930) and Raoul Dufy (1877–1953).
The paintings will be presented in themed groupings that reflect the landscape around The Bowes Museum and connections will be drawn with France where co-founder Joséphine Bowes was born.
She and husband John were frequent visitors to Le Havre.
FESTIVAL: Berwick Literary Festival
Where: Various venues across the town
When: October 5-11
Bookings and info: berwickliteraryfestival.com
Berwick Literary Festival returns from October 5-11 with more than 55 events and a programme which wanders far beyond the traditional author talk. This year’s theme, How We Find Our Way, takes its cue from the 200th anniversary of Berwick Lighthouse and the many ways stories help us navigate the world.
You can hear Northumbrian fantasy writers Hannah Kaner and Laura Steven discuss whether the region has its own answer to Game of Thrones, delve into the Eyemouth fishing disaster, or spend an hour in the company of Blackadder, Spitting Image and QI producer John Lloyd.
Elsewhere there’s Joanne Harris, David Hepworth on ageing rock stars, Audrey Hepburn, queer Georgians, baking, brains, spies, poetry, storytelling, book-printing tours and even animal rap. In short, plenty of ways to find your way into this year’s event.
EVENT: North Shields Open Quay
Where: Various venues around the town
When: September 26-27
Bookings and info: nscq.co.uk
More than 20 studios, workshops and other spaces in North Shields will welcome visitors on September 26 and 27, with more than 40 artists and makers taking part in the town’s first Open Quay weekend.
The free trail stretches from the Fish Quay through Howard Street, Northumberland Street and Nile Street, with opportunities to explore working studios, exhibitions and demonstrations spanning ceramics, photography, textiles, sculpture, stained glass, illustration and even vinyl pressing.
Highlights include large-scale public art at Sum Place, LEGO artist Steve Mayes’ studio and the creative community inside One Three One on Bedford Street.
DANCE: HOME
Where: Culture House Sunderland
When: September 25-27
Bookings and info: sunderlandculture.org.uk
Culture House Sunderland’s opening celebrations continue with HOME, a new large-scale production from Southpaw Dance Company.
Professional dancers will be joined by dozens of local participants for a show combining live performance, digital visuals and storytelling across the building, its windows and immersive scenes.
At its centre is Lyra, a Sunderland-born young woman who fulfils her dream of becoming an astronaut, before embarking on a journey through the city’s past, present and future – meeting some famous Wearside faces along the way.
It follows an opening weekend which saw 10,000 people visit Sunderland’s new cultural venue.
MUSIC: HORSE and band
Where: Cluny 2, Newcastle
When: October 1
Bookings and info: thecluny.com
Scottish singer-songwriter Horse McDonald is looking both backwards and forwards as she takes to the road with her band.
Drawing on a career spanning more than three decades, the set will dip into a sizeable back catalogue, including plenty of the songs audiences continue to request, while also offering a first taste of what comes next.
Horse is currently working towards her 13th album, and new material will sit alongside established favourites for a show neatly billed as offering “something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue”.
PERFORMANCE: Balance
Where: ARC, Stockton
When: Friday, September 25, from 2pm
Bookings and info: arconline.co.uk
Alongside the Turner Prize exhibition, opening at Mima in Middlesbrough this weekend, is a programme called Turner on Tees which is designed to highlight Teesside’s contemporary art scene.
One of the more unusual attractions – though perhaps not in Stockton where they’ve worked previously – is this, by Gillian Lees and Adam York Gregory.
They offer what ARC describes as “a modernist, durational performance that results in a sculptural installation”.
Gillian will stand on one end of a seesaw, raised up because on the other end is a concrete block heavier than her.
Over the course of several hours, she will chip away at the block with hammer and chisel until it weighs the same as her, at which point they will both be on a level.
The pair say their distinctive performances/events/happenings come out of conversation and sometimes argument.
They complement each other, though, Gillian with her background in visual art and dance, and Adam who studied biochemistry before becoming an artist, film-maker and writer.
Entry is free to Balance and you can come and go as you please.
EVENT: Newcastle’s Fairtrade Trail
Where: Participating venues across Newcastle
When: Until October 4
Info: foodnewcastle.org
Coinciding with Fairtrade Fortnight, Newcastle’s inaugural Fairtrade Trail offers a new way to explore the city while thinking more about where the things we buy come from.
Running until October 4, the trail links more than 15 cafés, shops and other venues stocking Fairtrade products, including The Seven Bridges at Dance City, The Cycle Hub and Rehills of Jesmond.
Alongside food and drink-based venues, a range of independent businesses specialising in other products are also taking part, including Heaton-based store Curvy Sounds, which sells a range of musical instruments and accessories.
Their team said: “The way we spend our money is powerful; if we buy Fairtrade, we are helping to push our world in the right direction.”
An online map plots all the participating venues, so you can pick a few or attempt the lot.
Co-organised by Food Newcastle, Shared Interest Society and the City Council, the trail also includes 40 Fairtrade-themed artworks created by local schoolchildren. Those taking part are encouraged to photograph one to enter a draw for a Fairtrade hamper.
EXHIBITION: Hommage A Gaia
Where: RePUBlic Gallery, Blyth
When: Saturday, September 26 to October 24
Bookings and info: republicgallery.co.uk
Next up in Blyth’s pub-turned-gallery (with a very good café attached) is this exhibition featuring the work of artists Nevill Wilson and Peter Drew.
Wilson lives in Amble but was born in Tynemouth in 1951 and studied at the Teesside and Sheffield schools of art before heading to London and the Royal Academy and Goldsmiths.
His work in the exhibition will include paintings, prints, photographic images and high resolution scans.
He says it’s suggestive of a kind of contemporary archaeology, the salting down of ordinary objects by time and tide alluding to the way we live our daily lives.
Peter Drew, who studied at Newport Art College and The Slade School of Fine Art, mounted regular solo shows at Galerie Swart in Amsterdam before moving to Mallorca.
Now living in Northumberland, his work is held in private collections in England, Scotland, the USA, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain.
His work in this exhibition will mostly comprise collages.
CLASSICAL: Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy
Where: Hexham Abbey
When: Saturday, September 26, 7.30pm
Bookings and info: hexhamabbeyfestival.org.uk
This is just one good reason to buy a ticket for one of the highlight concerts of this year’s Hexham Abbey Festival (September 23-27).
Supposedly the precursor to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, the Choral Fantasy was first performed at the benefit concert in Vienna in December 1808 that also featured the premieres of Beethoven’s Fifth and Sixth symphonies.
Beneficiary of the concert, which lasted four hours and took place in a bitterly cold hall, was Beethoven who had sought reward for contributing to previous charity concerts.
The beneficiaries this time will be festival-goers who will also hear Beethoven’s Mass in C, commissioned in 1807, and Martin Roscoe as soloist in the composer’s Piano Sonata No. 23, ‘Appassionata’.
Kate Symonds-Joy (mezzo), Robert Anthony Gardiner (tenor) and Andrew Greenan (bass) will be the vocal soloists and David Murray will conduct the
Hexham Abbey Festival Chorus & Orchestra.
It is unlikely this concert will be performed in freezing conditions.
But if you want to know more about those, catch another festival highlight, the documentary South: Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Glorious Epic of the Antarctic, showing at the Forum Cinema (September 27, 2pm).
STILL SHOWING
Theatre: Salt & Smoke: Stories of Blyth, starts Market Pavilion, Blyth, Sept 25-27
Comedy: Susan Calman - Tall Tales, Sunderland Empire (Oct 2); and Tyne Theatre and Opera House (Nov 6)
Exhibition: Keiken: Seeds, Stones and Future Bones, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, until Jan 17
Exhibition: Turner Prize 2026, MIMA, Centre Square, Middlesbrough, Sept 26-Mar 29
Theatre: Mrs Doubtfire the Musical, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Sept 23-Oct 11
Theatre: Jane Eyre, Middlesbrough Theatre; Alnwick Playhouse, Sept 23 and 24 respectively
Music: Elephant Kind, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle, Sept 25
Exhibition: Baltic Open Submission, Baltic, Gateshead, until Apr 4, 2027
Screen: Forever Home, Channel 5, from Sept 14
Theatre: Othello, Northern Stage, Newcastle, until Sept 26. Read our review
Exhibition: Kitchen Sink Realism, NGCA, Culture House Sunderland, until Jan 17
Comedy: Seann Walsh - This Is Torture, The Witham, Barnard Castle (Sept 25); and Queen’s Hall Arts (Sept 26)
Festival: WRITE Festival 2026, The Word, National Centre for the Written Word and other South Tyneside venues, until Sept 26
Audio: Music Lives Here podcast, Your ears, via wherever you get your podcasts
When: Weekly until Sept 25
Exhibition: CHROMA: A Measure of Colour, Arts Centre Washington, until Sept 18
Screen: Poised, STV player, available now
Exhibition: Victory Over the Sun: Adventures with Light, The Light, Aykley Heads, Durham, until Jan 17, 2027
Exhibition: Things That Go!, Discovery Museum, Newcastle, until Feb 29, 2027
Exhibition: MOXIE: Generation Alpha Curates the Middlesbrough Collection, MIMA, Middlesbrough, until Mar 28, 2027. READ MORE
Exhibition: Discovering Dark Skies, Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham, until Sept 19
Screen: Ashington AFC: Saving Our Club, available to stream on BBC iPlayer
Exhibition: Norman Cornish – A Life in Sketchbooks, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until Jan 3. Read our full report
Exhibition: Mourning Tea Tyne & Lost Frequencies, Globe Gallery, North Shields, ongoing
Exhibition: Joan Eardley, Granary Gallery, Berwick-upon-Tweed, until Oct 11
Screen: The Fortune, Channel 5, available now
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.
Radio: Si King on Desert Island Discs, BBC Sounds/iPlayer
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: Enigmas, RePUBlic Gallery, Blyth, ongoing
Radio: Tom and Lauren Are Going OOT!, BBC Sounds
Exhibition: Out of the Darkness, Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, until December
NOW BOOKING
Event: Mercury Prize 2026, Newcastle Utilita Arena, Oct 22
Music: Knats and Support, King Street Social, North Shields, Oct 23
Family: There’s a Monster in Your Show, Gala Theatre, Durham, Oct 28-30
Music: Nev Clay and Band, Live Theatre, Newcastle, Nov 3-4
Comedy: Dylan Moran - Looking for Trouble, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Nov 4
Music: Kathryn Tickell and the Darkening, The Fire Station, Sunderland, Nov 4
Theatre: The Hollow, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Nov 10-14
Screen: Withnail and Wine, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Nov 12
Music: Ashley Campbell and her Band, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Nov 15
Music: Big Country, Middlesbrough Theatre, Nov 19
Music: Anarchy in the UK Tour - The Sex Pistols, Newcastle o2 City Hall, Dec 5
2027
Theatre: Annie, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Jan 17-Feb 20
Theatre: Cats, Sunderland Empire, Jan 26-30
Dance: Strictly Come Dancing Live, Newcastle Utilita Arena, Jan 27-28 (Tickets on sale 9am Sept 25)
Theatre: Victoria Wood’s dinnerladies, Stockton Globe, Mar 19-30
Theatre: Chicago, Newcastle Theatre Royal (Mar 29-Apr 3) and Sunderland Empire (Oct 11-16)
🎄 FESTIVE FORECAST 🎄
Classical: Royal Northern Sinfonia Winter Tour, Various venues across the North EastNov 26-Dec 3
Music: Xmas Ukes and Singing, Barbour Room, The Glasshouse, Dec 5, 1.30pm
Panto: Jack and the Beanstalk, Phoenix Theatre, Blyth, Dec 5-27
Panto: Aladdin, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Dec 4-Jan 3
Family Theatre: Heart of Winter, Alnwick Playhouse, Dec 19-29
Music: Toyah’s Christmas Party, The Fire Station, Sunderland, Dec 5
Panto: Rapunzel, Gala Theatre, Durham, Nov 19-Dec 31
Family Theatre: The Snow Queen of Spitsbergen, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Dec 18
Panto: Robin Hood, The Exchange 1856, North Shields, Dec 3-24
Family Theatre: The Christmas Sorting Office, Northern Stage, Nov 21-Jan 3
COMPETITION TIME
Welcome to our latest newsletter prize draw - offering our subscribers an exclusive chance to win tickets to see or do something great.
This week, we’ve got a pair of tickets to see musical comedian Jazz Emu - The Pleasure is All Yours at The Fire Station, Sunderland on October 7.
He’ll arrive on Wearside on the back of a a US tour, a hit Edinburgh Fringe run and sell-out dates in London.
His latest show sees the gloriously over-the-top alter ego of Archie Henderson attempting to rein things in after being told his previous show was, apparently, “a bit much”.
Anyone familiar with Jazz Emu’s elaborate songs and videos – watched and streamed hundreds of millions of times online – might suspect restraint won’t come naturally.
HOW TO ENTER:
To be in with a chance of winning, simply email MePlease@culturednortheast.co.uk using the subject line: ‘Not your usual Jazz gig’ by 5pm on Sunday, September 27.
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.