Category: Performance

John Tulip, former Managing Director of Northern Film + Media has sadly passed away. He is remembered fondly by colleagues and friends.

Peter Lathan explains why he did not watch the ‘night of Shakespeare’ recording of stage productions on BBC4.

If you are already a Shakespeare fan or expert, then The Tragedy of Macbeth worth a watch. If you are new to Macbeth then this film is a great introduction.

Open Clasp theatre company received the Content Creation and Distribution award as part of the Digital Culture Awards.

All revved up and ready to go, Bat Out of Hell – The Musical comes to the beautiful art deco theatre, Stockton Globe, for eight performances between Tuesday 1 and Saturday 5 February 2021. 

A new look at H G Wells horror fiction classic The Invisible Man, and re-cast this tale of devastation and uncertainty in modern Britain.

Exploring race, privilege, allyship and masculinity, Human Nurture tells the story of two ‘could-be’ brothers whose lives are cleaved when one is rehomed, and the other is left behind in the care system.

It was a fascinating cultural mix involved with the work camps: well-meaning aristocrats, trade unions, desperate unemployed miners, European students and now a group of upper-middle-class, left-wing, London musicians thrown into the cultural melting pot.

Another fantastic production is coming to the Peoples Theatre this January. Don’t miss The Hollow!

Musings on The Black Velvet Band

The original Likely Lads was a sitcom written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais that aired from 1964-1966 about two young working-class Geordies called Bob and Terry (Rodney Bewes and James Bolam) who loved beer, football, and girls.

The feast is normally celebrated on 6 January (marking the 12th day of Christmas), or on the Sunday following. It was popularly characterized as the weekend when ‘the world was turned upside down’; market towns and cities elected by lot ‘a Lord of Misrule’, masters became servants and servants masters – on a strict leash of course and normally for one day. This wasn’t just something we Brits got up to – it was similar to the continent

Seth Lakeman, British folk singer has released a new album, Make your Mark

As the panto season comes to a close Peter Lathan reflects on the region’s pantos and pantomime in general.

Molly Moselle (that was her stage name; her real name as Mary Burslem) was a dancer but, like most people in theatre then and now, she couldn’t always find get a performing job and was forced to take on other work, so in January 1949 she was an ASM (Assistant Stage Manager) on a touring […]

Apparently Staffordshire University is offering the world’s first pantomime degree.  If anyone really needs to discover how a successful pantomime should be then the current production of Cinderella running at the Darlington Hippodrome is a masterclass in what makes the perfect panto: a good script, a wealth of talent, beautiful costumes and scenery along with great one […]

The new Spielberg West Side Story is in cinemas now.

Simon Bewick and Victoria Watson, the team behind Virtual Noir at the Bar, have released tickets for their first physical event in Whitley Bay. Bay Tales Live, a one-day crime fiction festival for readers and writers, will be held at Whitley Bay Playhouse on Saturday, 12 Feb 2022 and will feature some of the most […]

“Music of the Future, Music of the past, to live without my music would be impossible to do because in this world of troubles my music pulls me through”. This is a true sentiment to many who hear those words when sung by singer songwriter and musician John Miles in his 1976 hit Music. Jarrow born, […]

Having just completed two huge sold-out shows at London’s Alexandra Palace, Sam Fender now talks about life on the road in a new On Tour video, presented by menswear specialists scotts.   The On Tour video was filmed at his recent gigs at Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom. Sam is quizzed by members of his live band about every aspect of the touring experience, spanning everything from […]

Gaze shows us the two worlds of two women, Alice Guy Blaché and Rose, spanning from the 1890s until now. We see the rise and fall of Alice’s career as the first female film maker, facing the challenges of betrayal and misogyny. Cut between this story we see our other protagonist, Rose, a modern day […]

If you are going to see Gary Barlow at the Newcastle Arena later this month you are in for a great evening. I went along to the Sheffield show, here is a taste of what to expect. Barlow arrives on stage at Sheffield Arena dressed in a cherry red suit, clicking his fingers as he […]

Vulnerable women who are seeking sanctuary should be helped and supported, not locked up. In Consett today there is a demonstration against the opening of Derwentside (Hassockfield) Immigration Removal Centre (IRC). This demonstration is being organised by Durham People’s Assembly, No to Hassockfield and Abolish Detention. They also have support from many individuals and organisations […]

Brit Award winner Sam Fender goes in search of a musical hero from another era – the late, great, Alan Hull of Lindisfarne in this one-off BBC Four documentary. Sam is amazed how few people, outside of his native North East, know about his hero’s work. He’s now on a mission to win back Alan’s […]

Ray Laidlaw was the drummer in Lindisfarne up until 2003. With the BBC4 documentary on Alan Hull , interest in the North East band has been ignited again.  I spoke to Ray about the band, Alan Hull and of course those famous Top of the Pops appearances. Do you think Alan got the recognition he […]

Once upon a time a beautiful Princess was placed under a terrible curse by the wicked fairy Carabosse! Just one prick of her finger and Princess Beauty would fall into a cursed sleep for 100 years only to be woken by true love’s kiss… With the help of the Queen and the hapless court jester […]

After a two-year hiatus due to Covid-19, literary festival Newcastle Noir is bringing crime back to Newcastle’s City Library on 5 December 2021. I caught up with festival organiser Jacky Collins aka Dr Noir to talk about the festival and our love affair with crime fiction. Newcastle Noir originally started as a one-day event How […]

Lumiere, the bi-annual event in Durham City Centre, returned this November. Europe’s largest light festival (in one of the UK’s smallest cities) attracts thousands of tourists, with tickets being free and local businesses taking part. Two years on from its last feature in 2019, there’s been an election, a pandemic that left the world in […]

Going into HMV in Newcastle local Lad, Sam Fender’s new album, Seventeen Going Under stands proudly on the stands as one of the staff’s choices of what to listen to.  A small hand written note placed on the front of the vinyl edition of the album proudly says: “I saw Sam performing few years ago […]

A new film, Don’t forget the birds will be released online as part of a collection of Open Clasp’s work to mark the UN’s 16 days of activism to eliminate violence. against women and girls. It will be available  25 November – 10 December. Don’t forget the birds tells the story of what happened after […]