Curated Culture 24.02.26
Our weekly round up of recommendations from stages and cultural venues across the North East
Hello and welcome to Curated Culture – your regular nudge towards a pick ‘n’ mix of arts and culture activities happening across the region’s collection of stages and spaces of all sizes.
Just a short scroll away, you’ll find:
🗓️ Top Picks – a freshly gathered batch of featured listings for the coming fortnight
📌 Still Showing – previous highlights that can still be enjoyed
📅 Now Booking – future dates worth securing sooner rather than later
🎁 Subscriber Prize Draw – a pair of tickets to see comedian Gavin Webster at Playhouse Whitley Bay on February 27 (That’s this Friday, so don’t tarry).
Entry details are at the foot of the newsletter.
As ever, thanks for reading, sharing and supporting what we do
Sam (Wonfor) & Dave (Whetstone)
Professionally preoccupied with North East culture
You can like/follow/high five us on our socials, on Facebook, Instagram and Blue Sky
COMEDY: Tyne to Stand Up 4 - Keep Standing Up!
Where: Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Newcastle
When: March 8
Bookings and info: tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk
Laughter, solidarity and serious stand up chops are reuniting at the Tyne Theatre on International Women’s Day as Tyne to Stand Up returns for its fourth outing.
Fronted by comedian (and star of long-running BBC drama Casualty) Sammy Dobson, this ever-joyful gala showcases a wealth of the region’s very funny women while raising funds for the invaluable work of Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland.
Among those on the bill are Zoe, Elaine Robertson, Fran Best, Anja Atkinson, Lauren Stone, Kerris, Sam Mayes, Kelly Rickard, Catherine Young, Pamela Tracey, Helen White, Alex Redman, Kelly Edgar and Katie Sheinman.
We guarantee you’ll come away feeling great - and booking multiple stand up shows off the back of who has tickled you.
JAZZ: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band
Where: The Glasshouse, Gateshead
When: Friday, February 27, 8pm
Bookings and info: theglasshouseicm.org
Still a few tickets left (but only a few) for this Sage Two concert featuring Michael Lamb’s North East big band and esteemed guest Giacomo Smith, clarinettist, saxophonist and jazz nut.
Smith, born in Italy but brought up in upstate New York, told Jazzwise magazine recently how he got into jazz after falling in love with “oldies” as a young kid, the rhythm of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll credited as his gateway into the genre.
“By the age of nine or 10 I was fully down the jazz rabbit hole,” he recalled.
Nowadays Smith is well known on the London jazz scene, having co-founded the Kansas Smitty’s House Band in 2013… along with the bar it performs in, since you can hardly be the house band without a ‘house’.
He has collaborated with the likes of Wynton Marsalis and has performed at venues including the Royal Albert Hall and the Lincoln Center in New York.
See him with our own accomplished big band in this intimate venue for what The Glasshouse are billing as “an evening of melodic, smooth and cool jazz that promises to be both refreshing and fun”.
THEATRE: TINA – The Tina Turner Musical
Where: Newcastle Theatre Royal
When: March 4-18
Bookings and info: theatreroyal.co.uk
The big wheels keep on turning as the touring West End production of TINA – The Tina Turner Musical powers back into the North East.
The show charts the journey of Anna Mae Bullock from small-town Nutbush to becoming Tina Turner; emerging from the trauma of her marriage to Ike Turner and becoming a global solo superstar.
Driven by a live-band soundtrack of era-defining hits: The Best, What’s Love Got To Do With It?, Private Dancer and River Deep, Mountain High, it’s sounds as much a concert as it is a biography.
Big vocals, big choreography and an even bigger story of resilience promise a full-throttle celebration of a woman who tore up the rule book and went on to tear up stadiums the world over.
You can read about Tina Turner’s appearances on Newcastle-based music show, The Tube as part of our From the Vaults series, here:
MUSIC: Bella Hardy + Bertie Armstrong (of Holly and the Reivers)
Where: Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle
When: February 28
Bookings and info: gosforthcivictheatre.co.uk
Folk luminary Bella Hardy brings her latest tour to Newcastle, performing with her trio, including guitarist Jenn Butterworth.
A former BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Singer of the Year, Hardy is known for her clear, expressive voice and songwriting that balances tradition with a contemporary sensibility.
Her songs, which have been showcased via 10 solo albums so far, explore love, loss and belonging with directness and warmth, and her live performances are marked by close musical interplay and an easy rapport with audiences.
EXHIBITION: Voices for Truth Exhibition
Where: City Library, Newcastle
When: February 26 to April 2
Bookings and info: voicesfortruthportraits.org
Newcastle artist Paul Piercy has done more than most to highlight human rights abuses.
Ten years ago, ahead of another Newcastle exhibition, he explained how he began his “human rights and social justice project” after seeing a TV news item about Liu Xiaobo.
While serving his fourth prison term in China, the writer and human rights campaigner (who died in 2017) had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Liu decided to paint his portrait in black paint because, clearly, he couldn’t sit for it.
It was the start of The Black Portraits, each featuring a political prisoner Paul heard about on the news or from Amnesty International.
If one was ever released, he would make contact and ask if they would be prepared to sit – which is why not all his portraits are black.
Among Paul’s fund of often sobering stories, his own is quite heartening.
Explaining that he moved to the city because it would exhibit his work, he said: “Newcastle has a fantastic history of social justice and the people here are the warmest I’ve found anywhere.”
This latest exhibition is to be opened by the Lord Mayor of Newcastle at 5.15pm on Thursday, February 26.
EVENT: Blyth Celebrates Festival of Energy
Where: Blyth town centre
When: March 5-8
Bookings and info: greatnorthumberland.co.uk
Blyth is set to glow as the Festival of Energy transforms the town centre and Quayside with large-scale spectacle, immersive experiences and bold new artworks inspired by the forces shaping its future.
At its heart, for the first time ever, Luke Jerram’s seven-metre Gaia and Museum of the Moon appear together inside the vast hall of the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult – twin celestial spheres inviting awe and reflection.
The climax of the Blyth Celebrates creative programme that began in August, Walk the Plank has produced the free four-day event, which also features Tower of Light, Whale Song, community-created work and a programme of films, talks and workshops.
Read David Whetstone’s full preview of the Festival of Energy.
THEATRE: Woman in Mind
Where: Sunderland Empire
When: March 4-7
Bookings and info: atgtickets.com
The cast of Woman in Mind are wrapping up their premiere run at London’s Duke of York theatre this weekend - and they won’t have much time to pack as the show is opening on Wearside next week.
Led by Olivier and BAFTA-winning actress Sheridan Smith and Romesh Ranganathan, the Sunderland Empire is one of only two venues to host the production following its three-month run in the capital.
One of Ayckbourn’s most powerful works, the revival is directed by Michael Longhurst and explores fractured reality, identity and escapism as Susan’s world splits in two following a head injury.
CLASSICAL: Samling in Masterclass
Where: Marchmont House, Duns TD10 6YL
When: Saturday, March 7, 2pm
Bookings and info: samling.org.uk
This promises to be a fascinating afternoon offering the chance to attend public masterclasses led by leading lights of music and theatre.
Among them will be actor Adrian Lester, a multiple award winner who is due to reprise his lead role in the RSC’s Cyrano de Bergerac in London’s West End this summer.
Also sharing expertise will be piano accompanist Malcolm Martineau and mezzo-soprano Anna Stéphany.
The latter have had a long association with the Hexham-based Samling Institute for Young Artists whose masterclasses are a widely acknowledged asset for any young classical singer or accompanist embarking on a career.
The public masterclasses will mark the end of an intensive week of tuition for the current cohort of Samling Artists, as all attendees are subsequently known.
They are Eyra Norman (soprano), Caitlin Mackenzie and Louisa Stuart-Smith (mezzo-soprano), Zheng Jiang (countertenor), Philippe Durrant (tenor), Sonny Fielding (baritone) and pianists George Herbert and Alina Tlushch.
Ann Stéphany herself became a Samling Artist in 2005, her name recorded on what is now an illustrious list.
Philippe Durrant, meanwhile, becomes only the third member of the Samling Academy, designed for talented youngsters living or studying in the North East, to become a Samling Artist.
Philippe studied at Durham University and was a choral scholar at Durham Cathedral.
EVENT: Early Spring Makers Market
Where: BALTIC, Gateshead
When: February 28
Bookings and info: baltic.art
If your idea of a good day out involves beautiful things and the people who make them, this one’s for you.
Fifty independent artists and designers from across the UK come together for a thoughtfully curated market packed with botanicals, ceramics, clothing, jewellery, knitwear, homeware, print and stationery.
Expect limited editions, fresh work for 2026 and plenty of one-of-a-kind finds you won’t spot on the high street.
Entry is £2 (under 18s free), with advance tickets available and card-only sales on the door.
EVENT: A Lubber Fiend Fundraiser - Curated by ONSIND
Where: The Lubber Fiend, Newcastle
When: February 27
Bookings and info: thelubberfiend.com
Durham folk-punk favourites ONSIND curate – and headline – this special fundraiser in support of Newcastle independent venue The Lubber Fiend, delivering a rare full-band set that could be your only chance to catch them in 2026.
Expect impassioned, politically charged punk, big choruses and plenty of singalong moments. They’re joined by local melodic firebrands Fast Blood and Liverpool’s intense, stripped-back Ancient Hostility for a line-up rooted in community and DIY spirit. Tickets are £5–£20 with a NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds) policy, and all proceeds go to the venue.
Tickets include access to the late night gig featuring Self Immolation Music, Louse and Diall and running through to 3am.
EXHIBITION: Lady Kitt – Lines of Legitimacy
Where: Hartlepool Art Gallery
When: Until April 18
Bookings and info: culturehartlepool.com
What has Lady Kitt been up to now? It’s a legitimate question since the disabled sculptor, drag ‘king’ and occasional set designer has been integral to many colourful creative happenings.
For this exhibition, Lady Kitt collaborated with the Museum of Hartlepool and local LGBTQIA+ communities to see how their stories have been recorded… if at all.
It had been “joyful”, said the artist, adding: “Our stories have often been given little space in museums and archives, sometimes being actively removed from collections.
“Being supported to make this work feels powerful, particularly at a time when Trans/Queer people are facing increased discrimination.”
The exhibition, starting in LGBTQIA+ History Month (February), features items from the museum collection.
They include a Victorian poster advertising as “another novelty” at Hartlepool’s Market Hotel, Miss Mary Walker, a “legitimate female barman” who was “acknowledged to be the greatest Male Impersonator in the World”.
Creations by Lady Kitt include a golden rocking ‘merhorse’ celebrating Hartlepool’s trans and gender non-conforming ancestors.
Other new artworks were made collaboratively and visitors are encouraged to add their own contributions.
The gallery opens Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10am–4pm. Admission free.
CLASSICAL: Prokofiev and Mendelssohn
Where: Darlington Hippodrome
When: Thursday, March 5, 7.30pm
Bookings and info: darlingtonhippodrome.co.uk
Royal Northern Sinfonia takes the stage for a concert featuring Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and the German Felix Mendelssohn’s ‘Scottish’ Symphony, No. 3.
“Two very different pieces by two very different composers,” say the orchestra.
The Prokofiev piece, with its nod to Russian folk melodies, was premiered in Madrid in 1935, with French violinist Robert Soetens doing the honours.
It went down a storm and Soetens was granted exclusive rights to perform it for one year. He gave the piece its first British airing in 1936.
Soetens lived to be 100 and played the piece many times during his long career, giving his last public concert in 1992, aged 95.
Soloist this time will be Maria Włoszczowska, Artistic Partner of The Glasshouse, Gateshead.
The seed for the Mendelssohn piece was sown in 1829 when he visited the ruined chapel at Holyrood House in Edinburgh and declared. “I think I have found there the beginning of my ‘Scottish’ Symphony.”
The orchestra’s principal guest conductor, Nil Venditti, will be on the podium and the concert will begin with a short piece called «rewind« by America-based British composer Anna Clyne.
The same programme will be performed at The Glasshouse on Friday, March 6 at 7.30pm.
STILL SHOWING
Art: Bright Lights Youth Arts Exhibition, Arts Centre Washington, until Mar 14
Exhibition: Out of the Darkness, Mining Art Gallery, Bishop Auckland, until December
Comedy: Gavin Webster, Playhouse Whitley Bay, Feb 27
Lecture: Imagining the Olympians, Lit & Phil, Newcastle, Feb 26, 6pm
Theatre: Noughts and Crosses, Northern Stage, Newcastle, until Mar 7
Festival: Bay Tales 2026, Whitley Bay Playhouse, Feb 28, 9.25am to 6.10pm
Words and Music: Nocturne, Alnwick Playhouse, Mar 1, 2.30pm
Theatre: Matilda The Musical, Sunderland Empire, until Feb 28. Read our review
Theatre: Mamma Mia!, Newcastle Theatre Royal, until Feb 28. Read our review
Dance: Poppy – Eliot Smith Dance, various North East venues until Feb 28
Exhibition: Northumberland Open Exhibition, Woodhorn Museum, until May 10
Film: Blyth Festival of Film, Various venues across the town, until March 21
Comedy: Sara Pascoe - I Am A Strange Gloop, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Gala Theatre Durham on Mar 27
Exhibition: Feeling Into The Unknown, Hartlepool Art Gallery, until Apr 18
Comedy: Chris Ramsey - Here Man, Stockton Globe and Newcastle 02 City Hall, Feb 26-27 and April 17-19, respectively
Theatre: The Complete Works of Jane Austen, Abridged, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle, Mar 5
Theatre: Celebrating 100 Years of Laurel and Hardy - The Centenary Tour, The Fire Station, Sunderland, Mar 10
Theatre: Hidden Biscuit, Queen’s Hall Hexham and Live Theatre, Newcastle, Mar 20 and Apr 2, respectively
Screen: Torvill and Dean - The Last Dance, streaming on ITVX,
Exhibition: Desire Lines, MIMA, Middlesbrough, until Apr 12
Theatre: I, Daniel Blake, Northern Stage, Newcastle, Mar 20 to April 4
Theatre: Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Apr 6-11
Theatre: Sunny Afternoon, Stockton Globe, April 14-18
Screen: Jools Holland’s New Orleans Jukebox, BBC iPlayer
Radio: Tom and Lauren Are Going OOT!, BBC Sounds
Exhibition: Miniature Worlds - Little Landscapes from Thomas Bewick to Beatrix Potter, Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle, until Feb 28, 2026. Read our report.
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: Joséphine: A Woman of Taste and Fashion, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until March
Exhibition: Works by Nathan Coley, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until Mar 1
Exhibition: Pippa Hale: Pet Project, Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle, until Mar 1
NOW BOOKING
Talk: A History of Tyne and Wear in 10 Remarkable Buildings, Lit and Phil, Mar 24
Comedy: Vittorio Angelone: you can’t Say Nothing any more, Tyne Theatre and Opera House, Mar 28
Music: Rob Heron and the Tea Pad Orchestra - 15 Year Anniversary Show, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Mar 28
Music: Richard Ashcroft, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Apr 6
Comedy: Gary Delaney - Gary on Laughing, various North East venues from May 7 to Mar 2027
Music: Emmylou Harris - Farewell Tour, Sunderland Empire, May 18
Theatre: The Ballad of Johnny and June, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Jun 2-6
Music: Midge Ure - A Man of Two Worlds, Sage One, The Glasshouse, Jun 5
Spoken Word: Pam Ayres - Doggedly Onward, Alnwick Playhouse, Jun 14
Music: Amy Macdonald, Stockton Globe, Jun 19
Theatre: The Last Laugh, Darlington Hippodrome, Aug 18-22
Comedy: Lucy Beaumont - Bad and Quiz Shows, Good with Weirdos, Tyne Theatre and Opera House (Sept 24); Middlesbrough Town Hall (Sept 27); Durham Gala Theatre (Oct 7);
Event: Professor Brian Cox, Utilita Arena Newcastle, Oct 17
Music: Jack Savoretti, Sage One, The Glasshouse, Oct 24-25
2027
Comedy: Jack Whitehall - Bad Influence, Jan 7Theatre: Back to the Future The Musical, Sunderland Empire, Apr 13-May 8
Theatre: Cats, Newcastle Theatre Royal, Jun 8-19 (currently Priority Booking)
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, you’d better be on your toes because we’ve got two tickets for Gavin Webster - The Gathering of the Gav at Playhouse Whitley Bay on February 27 (THAT’S THIS FRIDAY).
The veteran Geordie comic has been on the road with a new show circling the many ways we assemble - from gigs and concerts to neighbourhood watch meetings, church halls and more questionable modern congregations.
Surreal, sharp and entirely his own, this lad remains one of the North East’s most recognisable and enduring comedy voices. And this is the final date of his tour, so if you can make it, it’d be silly not to.
HOW TO ENTER:
To be in with a chance of winning, simply email MePlease@culturednortheast.co.uk using the subject line: Loads of Penguins by noon, (5pm) tomorrow (Wednesday February 25), 2026.
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.