It’s amazing how many people, on hearing I was going to see The Flying Dutchman, gave the same response – “At least that’s one of Wagner’s shorter operas.” Yup, it may not go to the same bladder-testing lengths as The Ring Cycle, but its taut three-act…

I know it’s a cliché to say this sort of thing, but it REALLY doesn’t seem possible that Matthew Bourne’s innovative re-imagining of that perennial favourite Swan Lake had its premiere thirty years ago. The buzz at the time considered whether it might all…

Tchaikovsky’s 1892 Nutcracker Suite must provide the most gloriously inconsequential excuse for a ballet ever, offering quite literally a sumptuous feast of sugar plums that still delights sweet-toothed audiences today. It’s also a fabulous excuse for co…

Shockingly, despite having lived in Newcastle for 5 and a half years, this was my first ever gig at The Cluny. It definitely won’t be my last, as I was genuinely taken aback by how lovely the atmosphere is there. I could tell most of the crowd was made up…

Did you know that My Fair Lady is based on a play? I didn’t. George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, in turn inspired by the Greek myth about the man who makes a woman out of clay and then falls in love with her, is somewhat darker than the beloved film. It foll…

When Marius Muller killed a man by slowly beheading him, he was haunted by the sound of the man’s soul leaving his body, almost like the hum of a moth's wings. When he tells this story to John Josana, he becomes similarly haunted by the sound. When I watc…

If a combination of southern gothic, country pop and punk can exist in harmony, there could be nowhere better to catch it than at Mattiel’s performance at the Cluny this Tuesday gone. Another American to brave the great Atlantic leap over to the Cluny, An…

With support from Sunnbrella, an equally moody but more pop-leaning British counterpart, this Wednesday saw Texas-based alt-rock band Glare bring a bit of that Rio Grande sunshine to the Ouseburn. It's easy to sum up a band like Glare to alternative rock …

Is there anything more enjoyable than cat videos? I don’t think so, and the Star and Shadow Cinema seems to agree with me. In order to raise money for Newcastle Dog and Cat Shelter, they’ve edited together an hour-long montage of cats knocking things over…

Now that Christmas is over and pantomime season has passed, I got a chance to go down to the Theatre Royal and watch everybody’s favourite moustachioed Belgian detective do his thing. In this stage adaptation of the famous novel, Hercule Poirot tries to h…

I last went to see Dylan John Thomas just over 2 years ago at a venue that was exactly half the capacity of NX, which is where he was performing this time around. This is a testament to the Glaswegian artist’s remarkable ability to attract a rapidly growi…

It may only have been around since 1843, so a mere newcomer to Festive Season traditions, but “A Christmas Carol” does manage to pack in all the things we think Christmas ought to be about, from fond memories, forgiveness and happy endings to gigantic ro…

The Damned kicked off the first night of their UK tour in Newcastle, and everyone was excited to see that 1980s line-up back together again with David Vanian, Captain Sensible, Rat Scabies, Paul Gray and Monty Oxymoron all present and correct. First up…

As we waited for The Jesus and Mary Chain to appear on stage, a huge cloud of dry ice floated towards us. The excitement was palpable. The band – who have a new album out (‘Glasgow Eyes’) along with a memoir from founding members and song writing partners…

Given how swiftly styles of choreography and stage design can change, this revival of Ballet North’s 1992 production of “Romeo and Juliet (originally directed and devised by the late, great Christopher Gable) might have been perceived as a trip down memor…

Richard Hawley, one of the UK`s best singer/songwriters, returned to the Firestation, Sunderland on 03/12/2024, as previously promised, for a rare and intimate show for the start of his latest 2024 tour promoting his superb new 9th album “In This City The…

With our constant re-evaluation of just what “traditional” fairy tales might really be about, it was interesting to see balletLORENT offering a family-friendly dance version of Snow White, but also a grittier, more visceral variant freshly retold in words…

Benjamin Britten’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” Doesn’t so much set Shakespeare’s play to music as release the music inherent in the text, the drama and most of all, the characters. It brays, it soothes, it tricks and it celebrates, matching and enhancing …

Of the many pantos I’ve attended down through the years, this was the first time I’d seen ‘The Little Mermaid’ given the full glitzy treatment. Needless to say, fans of fish-based puns certainly weren’t left feeling short-changed. Once again – for the 19t…

It feels a bit odd writing a review of a performance by a restaurant critic. Celebrity chef Jay Rayner is at his funniest when giving hilariously scathing accounts of bad restaurants, but unfortunately there’s nothing for me to be scathing about here. Ray…

When she did her routine at Live Theatre, most of Karen Dunbar’s audience members were her fellow Scottish people, and there was a level of audience participation that was starting to make me a bit nervous. Spectators were announcing their bathroom trips,…

The Aussie four-piece shed/pub punk rock band – who have just released their ‘Cartoon Darkness’ album – are renowned for their energetic and chaotic live shows and videos, and an expectant, sold- out, Newcastle crowd certainly weren’t disappointed tonig…

It’s a relief to find Opera North director James Brining describing Mozart’s The Magic Flute as, stylistically, a bit of a jumble sale. The mad plot by Schikaneder (the original Papageno) is both fairy-tale simple (the daughter of the Queen of Night, Pami…