We Will Rock You comes to Newcastle Theatre Royal from Monday to Saturday.
Reasons to Stay Alive from English Touring Theatre and Sheffield Theatres is in Stage 1 at Northern Stage from Tuesday to Saturday. Meanwhile in Stage 2, Keep is a show about the stuff in Daniel Kitson's house and the thoughts in his head. All performances are sold out. Also in Stage 2 on Thursday at 1:30, Friday at 10:30 and Saturday at 10:30 and 2:00, the RSC presents First Encounters with Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice, a new production adapted for 7- to 13-year-olds.
Meanwhile from Wednesday until 26 October (7:00) at Byker Community Centre, Common Wealth presents I Have Met The Enemy (And The Enemy Is Us), a Common Wealth and Northern Stage co-production in association with Chapter and Southbank Centre. What if we said that Britain (this tiny island) is the second biggest arms dealer in the world? Site-specific theatre company Common Wealth transforms Byker Community Centre into a world charged with lasers, techno and robotic installation, asking audiences to take a close look at the UK defence industry and the role we play, as a nation and as individuals, in wars that are seemingly far away.
At Live Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday, Lung in association with Leeds Playhouse presents Trojan Horse, the story of a community torn apart by racial division, ‘British values’ and the culture of Prevent, following the real-life stories of Muslim teachers and governors who were accused of plotting extremism in Birmingham schools, a local story that hit the national news.
A partially recast production of Elijah Young’s Isolation in association with the Customs House and Alphabetti Theatre comes to Alphabetti from Tuesday to Friday. Then on Thursday and Friday at 9:30, Abu-Zayd DeGale presents Living in Limbo which uses storytelling, spoken word and song to map his life in Sudan and his journey to Newcastle, demystifying the myths around refugees and confronting his own demons along the way.
At Dance City on Thursday, Fertile Ground presents Twilight Dances, choreographed by Renaud Wiser and Malgorzata Dzierzon to a live performance of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden performed live by international string quartet Quatuor Voxpopuli.
Motown the Musical opens at Sunderland Empire on Tuesday and runs until 26 October.
Car Park King comes to Arts Centre Washington on Thursday.
1623 Theatre Company presents Macbeth: Toil and Trouble on Thursday at 11:00 and 1:00 at the Customs House in South Shields.
On Thursday, Jadek, the true story of when a working-class woman from Yorkshire moved in with her blind, Polish, 94-year-old Grandad, comes to The Phoenix Theatre in Blyth.
Dyad Productions' Orlando comes to The Maltings in Berwick on Friday.
On Wednesday and Thursday at the Queen’s Hall in Hexham, Elysium Theatre Company premières its production of Athol Fugard’s Playland. Then on Saturday, Puppet State Theatre presents The Man Who Planted Trees.
On Friday, Elysium Theatre Company’s production of Playland comes to The Exchange in North Shields.
Austentatious, creating a brand new ‘lost’ Jane Austen novel based on nothing more than a title suggested by the audience, comes to Durham's Gala Theatre on Wednesday at 8:00. Previous lost masterpieces have included Sixth Sense & Sensibility, Double 0 Darcy and Mansfield Shark, and no two shows are ever the same.
Status, written and performed by Chris Thorpe, developed with and directed by Rachel Chavkin, a show about someone who doesn't want his national status any more, is at ARC Stockton on Tuesday at 7:00.
Freckle Productions brings children’s show Stick Man, adapted from the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler, to Middlesbrough Theatre on Sunday at 1:30 and 4:00.
What the Moon Saw, inspired by Hans Christian Andersen and reimagined by 2Faced Dance Company, comes to Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre on Saturday and Sunday at 10:30.
From Tuesday to Saturday at Darlington Hippodrome, The Classic Thriller Company presents The Lady Vanishes, based on the Alfred Hitchcock film.
On Monday at 8:00 in The Hullabaloo, Darlington, Jade Byrne presents her one-woman show about having Type 1 Diabetes, Pricks.
Silas Marner, produced by Conn Artists Theatre Company, comes to the Georgian Theatre Royal in Richmond on Thursday.
This week is the Harrogate Comedy Festival 2019 at Harrogate Theatre and Car Park King features there on Wednesday.