Durham’s Gala Theatre has announced its autumn 2018 season. As ever there is music and stand-up comedy, film and live screenings. The theatrical highlights are:
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13 – 13 September
My Mother Said I Never Should
By Charlotte KeatleySet in Manchester, Oldham and London and using a kaleidoscopic time structure, four generations of women of one family confront the most significant moments of their lives.
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25 – 26 September
Where We Began
SBC TheatreWhen every citizen is ordered to return to their place of birth, Where We Began examines where we could end up in a wild and vivid vision of the future, combining storytelling, movement and live music. Five performers from across the globe challenge existing notions of ‘home’ in this multilingual celebration of personal identity.
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2 – 6 October
Two
By Jim Cartwright
Gala Theatre productionOver one evening, we see a microcosm of working-class life, through the regulars of a Northern pub. All human life is here. It’s a place where people celebrate and mourn; secrets are shared and resentments simmer. At its heart are the Landlord and Landlady, who are at war with each other. He’s the manager, with an eye on the money, she the gossipy heart of the bar. Together, they miss nothing, and with quick-witted northern charm, they‘re in their element. Until they are forced to examine their own lives.
The two performers are Jess Johnson (Educating Rita and The Fighting Bradfords at the Gala and Key Change for Open Clasp) and Christopher Price (Alice in Wonderland and Blue Remembered Hills at Northern Stage, Overdue for Coracle Productions at Alphabetti Theatre).
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16 October
Next UpThe Gala’s own scratch night of new work from the North East.
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17 October (1:30 and 4:30)
Tabby McTat
Freckle ProductionsTabby McTat is a cat with the loudest of meee-ews and a best friend with a guitar. Together they sing their favourite songs delighting the crowds, until one day Fred disappears. Separated and alone, Tabby finds shelter and a new life with all the home comforts that any cat could dream of. However, memories of his life with Fred haunt him, and he sets off to search the streets for his long-lost friend.
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22 October
Dido and Aeneas / Jonas / I Will Not SpeakEnglish Touring Opera -
23 October
Radamisto
George Frideric Handel
English Touring OperaRadamisto tells the dramatic story of a royal family in old Armenia, locked in mortal conflict. Whilst championing faithfulness and marital love, Radamisto has a gallery of moral depravity and intolerance.
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1 November
The Muddy Choir
By Jesse Briton
Theatre CentreIt’s November 1917 and the Third Battle of Ypres is lurching towards its bloody conclusion. Young soldiers Will, Robbie and Jumbo are thrust into a landscape starkly different to their Sunderland home.
United by their childhood oath, Robbie dreams that their music will be a ticket away from the front, but attracting the attention of their commanding officers may prove more dangerous than bullets and gas.
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8 November
Ventoux
2Magpiesthe story of Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani whose drug-fuelled race in 2000 was the greatest cycling ever seen.
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22 November
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
By Neil Armstrong and Paul Hedley
Gala Theatre productionRupert Von Rottenchops (Neil Armstrong) rules the land. After taxing the villagers for everything they have, with the help of henchman Corporal Crosby (Pip Chamberlin), he’s about to blow the town to smithereens and take off with all their money. To get away with it, he just has to keep one little secret…
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29 November – 30 December
Once upon a ChristmasThe Gala’s Christmas show for the under-5s
Once upon a Christmas, there was a toyshop, the sort of shop where warm light flooded out onto the street outside, enticing and inviting children of all ages to choose their favourite toy, the sort of shop where you could feel the magic as soon as you walked inside.
But one year, the lights are a little dimmer, the magic a little weaker and inside there was a toymaker who was thinking about giving up.
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14 December at 8:00
The Suggestibles’ Impro PantsoIt’s a panto, but not as you know it! Your suggestions inspire the characters, songs and the twists and turns in this improvised Christmas cracker of a show.
Expect "an off-the-wall epic tale of good versus evil. To boo, cheer and go aah! To roll in the aisles laughing and raise the roof singing."
Recommended age: 18+