British Theatre Guide

News, reviews, features and podcast on theatre across the UK

North East

Reviews

Macho

Michael Heatley and the company

Hit the Ground Running Dance Theatre Company

From 10 May 2021

Listen In

Kay Greyson, Richard Boggie & Lauren Pattison

Esther Fearn and Ali Pritchard for Alphabetti

Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle

4–15 May 2021

Blackmail: A Reiver Tale

Blackmail: A Reiver Tale (The Covid-19 Monologues Volume 2)

Steve Byron

Elysium Theatre Company

16 April–15 May 2021

One Small Globe

One Small Globe (The Covid-19 Monologues Volume 2)

Janet Plater

Elysium Theatre Company

From 16 April 2021

News

Daniel Bye and Boff Whalley

When a writer and a songwriter go running together

10 May 2021

They make a show about it! Daniel Bye and Boff Whalley, in a new show, These Hills Are Ours, explore their love of running and ask what they are really running from.

Alice in Wonderland - Down the Rabbit Hole

Hole lot of Wonderland

10 May 2021

Alice in Wonderland—Down the Rabbit Hole returns on a UK tour featuring children’s TV presenter Kerry Boyne.

Laurel's Theatre

New theatre, new opportunities

7 May 2021

Olivier winner sets up a new theatre and artist development programmes in Whitley Bay.

Tub Time: Unplugged

Coming soon to a space near you!

7 May 2021

Northern Stage is bringing summer events to neighbourhoods across the region.

Cameron Blakely as Gomez and Samantha Womack as Morticia

Morticia and Gomez head for Newcastle

6 May 2021

The Addams Family is coming to Newcastle Theatre Royal in 2022.

West End production

The Dream Girls are coming to Sunderland

3 May 2021

The hit musical Dreamgirls is coming to Sunderland next year.

Top: Becky Lindsay, Jack Breedon, Emily Corless, Lucy Marie Curry. Bottom: Kieron Michael, Chloe Jane Millar, Benjamin Michael Smith, Jackson Watson

The 2021 Takeover play cast announced

1 May 2021

The Customs House has announced the cast for the 2021 Takeover play, Cherryade Supernova.

Darlington Hippodrome

The Hippodrome stage is coming back to life

30 April 2021

Darlington Hippodrome has announced a whole range of shows from June 2021 to May 2023.

Marianne Locatori

New CEO at Newcastle Theatre Royal

30 April 2021

Newcastle Theatre Royal has announced the appointment of a new Chief Executive.

Durham Fringe Festival

A Fringe Festival for Durham

29 April 2021

The first Durham Fringe Festival opens in July.

Live appoints new Artistic Director

29 April 2021

Newcastle’s Live Theatre has announced the appointment of a new Artistic Director / Joint CEO, Jack McNamara.

Alphabetti opens its doors again

28 April 2021

Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre prepares to welcome audiences back inside in May, although not for live theatre.

Melva Mapletree and the Quest for Barnabas Boggle

From play to game to help kids’ mental health

28 April 2021

Prudhoe-based creative learning company Mortal Fools has turned its children's production Melva into an interactive game.

burn / gobscure

Bursary award for NE theatre-maker

22 April 2021

NE writer / theatre-maker burn / gobscure has been awarded a bursary from MGCfutures.

Opera North returns to the North East

22 April 2021

Opera North will return to the North East in November 2021 and March and June 2022.

Sunderland theatre company goes back on the road

20 April 2021

Sunderland-based Theatre Space NE will be touring in the region in May with a seven outdoor venue tour of April De Angelis’s Wild East.

Stephen Tompkinson (Frank) and Jessica Johnson (Rita)

Rita is coming to Newcastle

20 April 2021

The 40th anniversary tour of Educating Rita will finally reach Newcastle this year.

Climate Change Catastrophe

Climate Catastrophe collaboration

20 April 2021

A new film, Climate Change Catastrophe!, is from a collaboration between primary schoolchildren, Newcastle University scientists, NE singer-songwriter Katie Doherty and Cap-a-Pie theatre company.

Elysium's online 'afterlife' prized

18 April 2021

Manchester theatre company Elysium has won an Olwen Wymark award after taking work online in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coming to the Royal

17 April 2021

Newcastle’s Theatre Royal has announced is post-lockdown re-opening season.

Homecoming for North East dance company

17 April 2021

North East dance company Eliot Smith Dance has announced its return to live performances with Homecoming, a series of four new works.

Challenging men’s mental health stigma

16 April 2021

Macho, a new dance film from North East based Hit the Ground Running Dance Theatre Company, confronts the stigma still attached to male mental health problems.

More COVID-19 Monologues from Elysium

14 April 2021

Durham-based Elysium Theatre Company launches five new COVID-19 Monologues online.

Peter Terson in 2020

Peter Terson (1932–2021)

14 April 2021

Playwright Peter Terson has died at the age of 89.

Features

Passionate People. Passionate Places

What’s to come in North East theatre

20 March 2021

What’s to come is, of course, still unsure, but Peter Lathan takes a look at how North East theatres are preparing to re-open.

NE theatre in 2020, as seen from our house (mainly)

31 December 2020

Peter Lathan tries to cheer himself up by taking a light-hearted look at the theatre year in the North East but finds it’s not that easy.