New Developments
You’d think that a year like 2021, following an even worse 2020, would be a year of hunkering down, of retrenchment, of wound-licking and eventual slow emergence from hiding, and, if we’re honest, to a certain extent it was, but there were still those, both individuals and organisations, who were prepared to take risks.
Early in the year, a group of theatre enthusiasts, just ordinary people with a love of theatre in Durham, decided it was time that Durham had its own Fringe Festival to rival that of nearby Newcastle, so they set about organising one.
It was short, running from 28 July to 1 August, and featured four venues with capacities ranging from 75 to 175—two were theatres with proscenium arch stages, one was a bar and one an outdoor (garden) space. The idea was to attract shows to stop off on their way to the Edinburgh Fringe and in the end there were 111 performances of 27 shows—theatre, music, dance, stand-up and magic.
Then, less than a fortnight later on 12 August, five new short plays by NE writers, under the title Coast, were presented in a new theatre above a new tapas bar in Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. Laurels, founded by theatre producer Jamie Eastlake from Theatre N16 in London and writer and filmmaker Stephen Robertson, went on to begin its first full season with a solo show from Serena Ramsey, Waxa Belta Helta Skelta (14–24 September).
Its first season runs until 6 March 2022.
On 10 December, Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture (MAC) Trust opened a new £11m 460-seat Auditorium, which can hold up to 800 standing, as an extension to The Fire Station which currently houses the Sunderland branches of Dance City and Live Theatre as well as a bar and bistro.
The Auditorium will host music of all kinds, as well as some dance, theatre and stand-up, and is programmed through to April 2022.
In August, in the first year in which regions and groups of towns were encouraged to apply, Co Durham, with principal partner Durham University, submitted a bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2025.
At Live Theatre in late August, the new Artistic Director, Jack McNamara, formerly of Notts-based New Perspectives Theatre Company, took up his post, replacing Joe Douglas who left in 2020.
In October, the new AD at Northern Stage, Natalie Ibu, presented her first production for the company, Jim Cartwright’s Road.
In October, Cap-a-Pie, in association with Newcastle University and helped by hundreds of year 4 children from across the North of England, made a film called Climate Change Catastrophe!, based on the ideas put forward by the children, which was shown at COP26 in Glasgow on 12 November and the whole event was live-streamed on the COP26 YouTube channel.
And Barnard Castle’s arts venue The Witham presented its first ever panto in December.
So much positivity from theatre-makers, theatres and other organisations. Let's hope 2022 is the year when normality returns to all our lives!