What's on in the North East

Published: 25 November 2018
Reporter: Peter Lathan

The Canary Girls (Gosforth Civic Thetare, Newcastle)
The River (City Theatre, Durham)
Jack and the Beanstalk (Harrogate Theatre)

Goldilocks and the Three Bears opens at Newcastle Theatre Royal on Tuesday and runs until 20 January 2019.

In Stage 3 at Northern Stage, Kitchen Zoo presents The Three Bears at Christmas (for the under-fives) from Tuesday until 5 January (various times although there are usually three shows a day). All but five shows before Christmas are sold out. Then from Saturday until 5 January in Stage 1, the theatre presents its own production of Neil Bartlett’s stage adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

From Tuesday to Saturday, Alex Oates's Silk Road (How To Buy Drugs Online) returns to Live Theatre after its sell out run earlier this year and its West End transfer in August.

At Alphabetti Theatre from Wednesday to Friday at 7:30, Bonnie and The Bonnettes present Drag Me to Love. On Saturday at 7:30, it’s the December Alphabetti Soup, featuring comedy from Your Aunt Fanny, an all-female comedy sketch group from the North East, and Blood, a new play by Micky Cochrane.

At Gosforth Civic Theatre on Friday at 1:30 and 7:30, Fun in the Oven presents The Canary Girls, physical comedy based on the real life stories of Britain's unsung WWII heroines, munitions workers.

The Book of Darkness & Light in association with LittleMighty present Shivers, three new ghost stories, set to the haunting sounds of the violin, at Arts Centre Washington on Thursday.

Beauty and the Beast opens at the Customs House in South Shields on Tuesday and runs until 5 January (various times). Then in the Studio from Saturday until 24 December (also various times), the theatre presents Santa's Naughty Elf: Celebration of Calamity, a celebration of ten years of stories of Santa's naughty elf, Elfluent—a show for the under-7s.

On Wednesday, Shivers comes to the Phoenix Theatre in Blyth.

Also on Wednesday in Hexham Library, Jake Jarratt performs Blokes, Fells, Geezers. This is a Pay What You Decide performance.

From Saturday until 5 January, Playhouse Whitley Bay presents its panto Peter Pan (various times).

On Saturday at 1:30, Theatre Hullabaloo & Theatre Iolo present Luna, a play for 2- to 5-year-olds, at The Exchange in North Shields.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs continues at the Gala Theatre in Durham until 5 January (various times). In the Studio from Thursday until 30 December (various times), the Gala presents its Christmas show for the under-5s, Once upon a Christmas. Many of these shows are already sold out.

On Thursday and Friday at 7:30 and on Saturday at 2:30 and 7:00 at the City Theatre in Fowler’s Yard, Durham, the Elysium Theatre Company presents Jez Butterworth’s The River, its first performance outside of London.

Beauty and the Beast opens at the Consett Empire on Saturday and runs until 31 December (various times—not Christmas Day).

Talegate Theatre Company presents Sleeping Beauty at Bishop Auckland Town Hall from Saturday to Monday 3 December (various times).

From Saturday to 6 January, Billingham Forum presents its panto, Peter Pan (various times).

At ARC Stockton on Wednesday at 7:00, Scott Turnbull presents a work in progress, The Smog, described as “Twin Peaks meets League of Gentlemen in this comic and intriguing modern day noir, with its cast of surreal animated characters.”

At Middlesbrough Theatre on Tuesday and Wednesday, Chapterhouse Theatre Company presents A Christmas Carol.

At Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre on Thursday, Scott Turnbull presents Where do all the dead pigeons go?.

At The Hullabaloo in Darlington on Wednesday at 7:00, Theatre Tours International in association with Maverick Theatre Company presents Guy Masterson’s one-man A Christmas Carol.

Jack and the Beanstalk opens at Harrogate Theatre on Wednesday and runs until 20 January (various times).

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