Edinburgh preview shows from two of the top comedians heading to the Edinburgh Festival the following month.

Jo Caulfield: Work In Progress
TV and radio star Jo Caulfield has been dubbed "funniest woman in Britain", she lives up to the title with razor-sharp wit, acerbic observations and scandalous one-liners, all excellently written and impeccably delivered. A Funny Way To Be Comedy regular, Jo always delivers a top class show.

Brennan Reece: Everlong
2016 Edinburgh Best Newcomer Nominee and 2015 English Comedian of the Year returns with a 'powerfully entertaining' (Chortle.co.uk) show about the stars (in the sky), memories (in the mind) and his Nanna (in a home). Tour Support for Joe Lycett and Jason Manford. Sold Out UK/Australian Tour. As seen on BBC, ITV and Channel plus 4. 6 million YouTube hits. "Unstoppable force"...Chortle.co.uk
"A teenage Alan Bennett"...Skinny

Under Northern Skies is an exhibition of sensitively depicted sites that will lead visitors around the Dispensary Gallery, taking them on a journey through the local countryside.

Exhibiting artists Hazel Smith and Jill Eagle both live in, and are inspired by, The Yorkshire Dale. Employing contrasting styles and use of media that complement each other culminating in an exciting exhibition of landscape paintings.

Gallery closed Sundays and Mondays

The Earth's Layers is an exciting exhibition of fine art painting, printmaking, ceramics, paper-cut, and mixed-media installation by a group of artists from across the north of England.

Spanning fine art painting, printmaking, ceramics, paper-cut, and mixed-media installation much of the work in The Earth's Layers exhibition is conceptual, yet all of it is entirely accessible due to physical, tactile nature of the work selected for display. The artists comprise a mix of established and early career artists living and working across the north of England and exhibiting together for the first time in this exhibition. Many of the works are inspired by maps, paths, and topography, whilst others are inspired by naturally occurring geological formations, and other works are inspired by the greater forces of nature, and their related wayfinding systems.

Gallery closed Sundays and Mondays

Performed on the spectacular water stage of Lake Constance in Bregenz (Austria), George Bizet’s Carmen is a story of passion, destiny and obsession. The French composer’s opera is most famous for its Spanish melodies, including the Flower Song, Habanera and the Toreador Song.

On 14 September, experience Carmen like never before – recorded live on the floating stage during the Bregenz Festival. As with their previous spectacular productions, you can expect the staging of this classic tale to have an extravagantly original and innovative design, with the waters of the lake being used as an extension of the stage.

This production of Carmen will be directed by Kasper Holten, Director of Opera at the Royal Opera House in London, with the set designed by the British artist Es Devlin. Her past work includes sets for such stars as Adele, Take That, U2, Pet Shop Boys and Kanye West.

Click here to watch a video

“..hard to believe there’s only one man on stage.” (Rock Society Magazine)
“…a superior fingerstyle troubadour.” (Guitar and Bass Magazine)
“..a prodigiously talented fingerpicking guitarist.” (R2 Magazine)

A talented, committed musician in his youth, Adrian Nation describes his first compositions as "the ramblings of a searching teenager". He may ramble less these days, but his search continues, and he has evolved into one of the most insightful and incisive songwriters of his generation.

Influenced at an early age by the genius of Bob Dylan and the melodic fluidity of Mark Knopfler's haunting guitar, Adrian's teenage eyes and ears were truly opened when the late Isaac Guillory "played the guitar like I had never seen" ("Diamonds in the Stream", Sowing Seeds, 2003). Reflecting on this experience Adrian says, "Suddenly the acoustic guitar was a much bigger instrument than I ever thought it could be. My mind was set."

Adrian's hectic touring schedule is testament to his popularity and quite exceptional guitar playing. The ceaseless cycle of touring and playing has continued unabated since the release of "Sowing Seeds" and has established him as a stalwart of the festival, folk and acoustic scene. It therefore beggars belief that the follow up to "Sowing Seeds" has been written, recorded and is now in post production.

Pivotal to all of this however, is the sublime guitar and voice of Adrian Nation. He is the central pillar around which these performances sit, and the songs are the very foundations upon which the superb "Fall or Fly" stands.

Handmade inspiration for all occasions, bespoke gifts, demonstrations and have a go experiences. The Witham and Designer Makers Market and Vintage Essence offer a creative exploration of wedding possibilities.

Some of the stallholders on the day include:

ALWAYS TIME FOR TEEPEES  -  https://www.alwaystimeforteepees.co.uk/

BROOKES TAILORS  -  http://www.brmaddyookestailors.com/

CLAIRE COLLINSON PHOTOGRAPHY  -  http://www.clairecollinson.co.uk/

GIVE A LITTLE'S  -  https://www.facebook.com/givealittles/

GLASSIC GLASS   -  http://www.glassicglass.com/

IN THE SILVERROOM  -  http://www.inthesilverroom.co.uk/

TAMARA BIBBY INDEPENDANT CELEBRANT  -  https://www.tamarabibbycelebrant.com/

KATHRYN GUY  - https://www.facebook.com/KathrynGuyTextileArtist/

KTEAS CAKES  -  http://www.kteascakes.co.uk/tearoom/

LILYANN  -  https://www.lilyann.co.uk/

MAD ABOUT WOOL  -  https://www.facebook.com/madaboutwool/

SARAH HALL BARQAI  -  https://www.sarahhallbaqai.com/

TIA BULMER DESIGNS  -  https://www.facebook.com/TBsurfacepattern/

VETERANS WOODCRAFT  -  http://veteranswoodcraft.co.uk/

VINTAGE ESSENSE  -  https://www.facebook.com/vintageessenceflowers/

and more . . .

Mozart’s glorious opera The Magic Fluteis brought enchantingly to life in David McVicar’s production with beautiful sets by John Macfarlane. Prince Tamino promises the Queen of the Night that he will rescue her daughter Pamina from the enchanter Sarastro. He begins his quest, accompanied by the bird-catcher Papageno – but all is not as it seems...David McVicar’s classic production embraces both the seriousness and comedy of Mozart’s work. The audience is transported to a fantastical world of dancing animals, flying machines and dazzlingly starry skies. The setting provides a wonderful backdrop for Mozart’s kaleidoscopic score, from the Queen of the Night’s coloratura fireworks to Tamino and Pamina’s lyrical love duets and Papageno’s hearty, folksong-like arias.As well as being a comedy The Magic Flute is an expression of Mozart’s profound spiritual beliefs: Enlightenment concerns with the search for wisdom and virtue are at the heart of this enchanting tale. The Magic Flutewas an instant success with audiences and Mozart’s supposed rival Salieri described it as an ‘operone’ – a great opera.

Approximate running time: 3 hours 10 mins, including one interval | sung in German with English subtitles

King Lear (Kevin McNally) decides to divide his kingdom amongst his three daughters, but fails to anticipate the consequences of his actions. His generosity is cruelly repaid. As he comes to realise the false values by which he has lived, he finally encounters his own humanity. Broadcast live to cinemas from the iconic Shakespeare’s Globe, this brand new retelling of one of the Bard’s greatest plays will capture your heart on September 21.

Using carborundum grit and collagraph techniques of scratching, scoring and cutting you will develop a printing plate. Once sealed the plate can be inked, wiped and printed numerous times and in a variety of ways. Multiple prints will then be taken using oil based inks on a printing press.

Penny is a painter printmaker who also prints onto hand built ceramics using relief printing bocks or coloured slips to monoprint onto the surfaces, etching into them before washing with body stains.Work is based on trying to capture the atmosphere and elements in our wild landscapes, particularly around her studio in the Western Dales, where she runs printmaking and ceramic courses.She is an experienced artist and teacher, to see further examples of her work go to www.penny-hunt.co.uk 

Cumbria Printmakers CIO is a Social Enterprise working to champion printmaking through exhibitions, events and outreach activities. The group aims to support artists, promote printmaking and collaborate with our partners and the local community to develop courses and workshops which make printmaking accessible for everyone. Their values of equality, inclusion, sustainability, respect, transparency and supporting local arts drives all that they do.

Like this? Then do please check out the final Cumbrian Craft Workshops of the series.

With a love of early jazz style, Emma Fisk and James Birkett present an entertaining and virtuosic programme inspired by the great jazz violin and guitar partnership: Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang. The duo's debut at Newcastle Jazz Cafe in July was featured as one of The Guardian's 'Editor's Picks'.

The names of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli are familiar to many as pioneers of string-based swing jazz. Less universally known are the names Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang, the Italian-American duo who played hot violin and guitar jazz in the 1920s and 30s until cut short by Lang’s untimely death in 1933. Joe Venuti has been referred to as ‘the father of jazz violin and was a leader in the development of jazz violin techniques and style, while his musical partner Eddie Lang is widely regarded as the first jazz guitar virtuoso.

Bringing together their shared knowledge of early jazz styles and improvisation, Emma Fisk and James Birkett present an entertaining, virtuosic and informative programme of music associated with and inspired by the first great jazz violin and guitar partnership. A typical performance includes  original compositions by Venuti/Lang including Cheese & Crackers, Sunshine, Black and Blue Bottom; jazz standards of the 20s and 30s such as Pardon Me Pretty Baby, Hiawatha's Lullaby, My Honey's Lovin' Arms, Dinah and I've Found A New Baby ; original compositions that explore the duo's soundworld, and some of James and Emma's favourite tunes played a la Joe and Eddie.

Emma Fisk has attracted critical acclaim for her performances of Venuti’s repertoire at UK jazz festivals and was featured in the musical role of Joe Venuti with The Jazz Repertory Company at Cadogan Hall as part of the 2015 London Jazz Festival. James has been performing Lang’s repertoire since he was introduced to this music in the late-70s. However, it is only now that he has realised his ambition to recreate the duo repertoire of Lang and Venuti in concert in the original duo setting with Emma.

The duo made its debut at Newcastle Jazz Cafe this summer  but already has gained rave reviews and capacity crowds at the venues they have visited. James and Emma are currently preparing material for an album, which will be ready for release in 2017.

Mendelssohn's beloved Octet (one of the miracles of 19th century music) was written when the composer was only sixteen, and is one of the most popular pieces of chamber music ever written. Royal Northern Sinfonia contrasts this with the rich melodies of Borodin's evocative String Quintet and the stirring brilliance of Shostakovitch's Octet.

Supper Club Option at 6pm

A chance to sit back and relax, enjoy a homemade meal and soak up the atmosphere before enjoying the evening's entertainment. £12 pp, including homemade supper, a drink and tasty little sweet.

Tonight's dish: Delicious Chilli (vegetarian chilli also available)

Handcrafted Boutique Fair with a quality selection of handmade products from around the North East.

When Rodolfo, a penniless poet, meets Mimì, a seamstress, they fall instantly in love. But their happiness is threatened when Rodolfo learns that Mimì is gravely ill. Acclaimed director Richard Jones (Boris Godunov, Il trittico) directs a new production of Puccini’s La bohème. Irresistible in its witty, passionate blend of comedy and tragedy, the opera focusses on the lives of a group of young artists as they eke out an existence on the bohemian fringes of Paris. Jones brings his characteristically acute insight to this much-loved classic, visualized in Stewart Laing’s spectacular setting.Puccini’s romantic depiction of bohemian Paris, with memorable music and a love story drawn from everyday life, has captivated audiences around the world, making La bohème one of the best-loved of all operas. It was first performed in Covent Garden in 1897 and has had more than five hundred performances there since.

Approximate running time: 2 hour 35 minutes, including one interval | sung in Italian with English subtitles.

Dales vet, Neville Turner, shares his passion for music and photography in this compendium of his grand finales from countless presentations over the years. Set to music (from Mozart, Faure and Vivaldi, to Rag-Time and electronic music), he will cover wide-ranging subjects such as swans and hay-meadows to brass bands and markets. The programme, lasting an or so, is interspersed with anecdotes about his subjects.

The James Brothers are not really outlaws, neither are they brothers and only one of them is called James.

They come from the lands down under – Australia and New Zealand to be precise; lands in which the traditional songs and tunes of the British Isles have evolved their own unique characteristics, like musical marsupials. And it’s these songs and tunes, and several of their own making, that The James Brothers have united to play.

The James Brother who is called James is Sydney-born James Fagan – best known as one half of Nancy Kerr & James Fagan(musically and maritally), but also spotted playing guitar and bouzouki in The Cara Dillon Band, the live circus that is Bellowhead and with his parents and sister as The Fagans, where his folk career began (in a decade which has only just become fashionable).

The James Brother who isn’t called James is Jamie McClennan – a Kiwi who found himself in a duo with Scotland’s BBC-award-winningEmily Smith (whom he also married) having chosen not to follow his first bandmates to Ireland, where they formed the much celebrated Gráda. Jamie has been sighted on fiddle, whistle and guitar next to the likes of Sharon Shannon, Beth Nielson Chapman, Jerry Douglasand his mum.  He also likes to run barefoot, but that’s his own business.

While both men are quick to point out that their work with their wives is still the primary passion, The James Brothers allows them to be centre stage – playing the music of their roots and telling jokes without fear of being told off.

For Fagan and McClennan this is about bringing their distinct Antipodean-steeped folk to a new audience, with songs and tunes brought to life by a fraternal bond between two very silly, but captivatingly gifted musicians.

Hair - worn long, worn short, worn wavy or in braids - is the subject of this funny and uplifting dance theatre performance. With a sizzling soundtrack of Ghanaian pop music, join stylists Linda and Riyah who will take you on a hair journey that will have you laughing out loud.

The Head Wrap Diaries is an immersive-interactive dance theatre production that uses comedy to explore, women, beauty, hair and culture. Told through the stories of three female characters we explore community, heritage, womanhood and friendship. This is not a ‘Natural verses Weaves’ it is a celebration of versatility and diversity.

Brought to us by Highlights Rural Touring Scheme

Using one of the artist’s books as a starting point, on this workshop you will be shown how to make a simple flag book based on the same construction, using a range of papers including some printed and some you will produce yourself using a monoprint technique.

You will also have a demonstration of how to make your own gelli plate at home and how it can be used for your own future work.

See more of Tracy’s work at www.runningloose.com

Cumbria Printmakers CIO is a Social Enterprise working to champion printmaking through exhibitions, events and outreach activities. The group aims to support artists, promote printmaking and collaborate with our partners and the local community to develop courses and workshops which make printmaking accessible for everyone. Their values of equality, inclusion, sustainability, respect, transparency and supporting local arts drives all that they do.

ewellery, prints, jams, toys, cards, scarves, hats, chocolate, soaps, knitted-gifts, puzzles, wooden-gifts, bags, vintage

Based in Cumbria, Northern Crafts are event organisers, running arts, craft, gift and wedding events in Cumbria and the North East of England.

Founded in 2012, they aim to provide local artists and craftspeople with access to good quality venues and events at affordable prices.

They have a wide variety of artists and craftspeople featured on our website and present at our fairs, along with a selection of purveyors of quality gifts and foods.

Come along, or browse the website, and see for yourselves .

A full-throttle war play that revels in the sweat of the battlefield, Coriolanus transports us back to the emergence of the republic of Rome.

Caius Martius Coriolanus is a fearless soldier but a reluctant leader. His ambitious mother attempts to carve him a path to political power, but he struggles to change his nature and do what is required to achieve greatness. In this new city state struggling to find its feet, where the gap between rich and poor is widening every day, Coriolanus must decide who he really is and where his allegiances lie.

Rome Season Director, Angus Jackson, completes the Royal Shakespeare Company’s collection of Shakespeare’s Roman plays with a visceral production which sees Sope Dirisu (One Night in Miami, Donmar Warehouse, 2016) take on the title role.

2nd Thursday of every month
In these relaxed and friendly art sessions, you will be introduced to a different technique each session, allowing you to have a go at a variety of different media. Based on my experiences and interests as an artist and maker these will include a range of textile, paper and up-cycling projects to try your hand at.

So, come and give something new a go; make new friends and enjoy the benefits being creative can bring.

Tickets are £15 and include materials to make a necklace.

Please note refunds cannot be issued except in the case of the session being cancelled.

Tickets Available Via Facebook

Three brilliant African American women at NASA serve as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history: the launch of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that turned around the Space Race and galvanized the world.

"A space-race segregation drama full of star power." The Telegraph

Heather Gillespie is one of UK’s finest glass cutters and engravers. She won the Master of Crafts Award (2012) and is an Associate Fellow of the Guild of Glass Engravers for her services to glass in the UK.

Working from your own design on to a glass form, Heather will guide you through the design and making process. The workshops are suitable for people with no experience of working with glass. This process does get a little messy, so old clothing, and sturdy shoes are required. Heather will brief you on H&S, and protective masks are included because it can get a little sandy!  Sharp objects are involved.

Masterclass fee of £40 per person includes all materials but not lunch. 

The low cost of these workshops are subsidized by trusts and foundations. Please book as places are limited. For further information and to book, contact Karen on 017683 53954 or buy online through the link above.

Luminosity is the 2017 Highlights Rural Touring Craft Tour Exhibition that will visit The Witham for an extended period this year in order to accommodate a programme of exciting education and outreach activities.

Luminosity is name given to the 2017 touring craft exhibition curated by the Highlights Rural Touring, based in Appleby, Cumbria. The exhibition comprises works by artists and makers who create work inspired by light. Touring around the region, the exhibition has been organised in association with Lumiere (Durham Festival of Light). This exciting exhibition and associated education and outreach programme of activities aims to delight, challenge, inspire and amaze audiences. Funding for the tour and outreach programme come from Arts Council England and other charitable trusts and foundations.

My, my, what a big imagination you have!

Retrace Little Red Riding Hood’s path in the woods with two little ones as they play a game of ‘what-if’ and pretend. They run and chase each other through the story, playing all the parts, but both desperate to take on the role of Mr Wolf …or is that…Miss Wolf?

Join the duo as they turn the pages in a light-hearted story filled with new discoveries at every turn.

Enter the belly of the wolf and experience the tale of Little Red Riding Hood like never before.

For ages 3 - 8 years

In this workshop you will spend the day in a relaxed and creative environment learning mixed media techniques and creating two stunning canvases to take home with you at the end of the day.

You will create one 30cm x 30cm deep edged canvas and one 50cm x 20cm canvas. You will learn different techniques to create both dramatic and subtle textures, including how to create a crackled effect, how to produce rusty peaks and using stencils with structure paste.

There will be examples to guide and inspire you, but you will also be given space and encouragement to work to your own design and style if you would prefer. You will be able to chose from a range of colour palettes to create a piece of work that will fit with any room in your house.

This workshop is run by visual artist, Abigail Lagden. All materials will be provided for you, just bring your imagination.

Please visit www.curiously-contrary.co.uk/workshops for more information and to book your place.

20 stalls of handmade gifts and goods.

Jewellery, prints, jams, toys, cards, scarves, hats, chocolate, soaps, knitted-gifts, puzzles, wooden-gifts, bags, vintage

Based in Cumbria, Northern Crafts are event organisers, running arts, craft, gift and wedding events in Cumbria and the North East of England.

Founded in 2012, they aim to provide local artists and craftspeople with access to good quality venues and events at affordable prices.

They have a wide variety of artists and craftspeople featured on our website and present at our fairs, along with a selection of purveyors of quality gifts and foods.

Come along, or browse the website, and see for yourselves

At a garden party on a sunny afternoon, Alice is surprised to see her parents’ friend Lewis Carroll transform into a white rabbit. When she follows him down a rabbit hole events become curiouser and curiouser... As Alice journeys through Wonderland, she encounters countless strange creatures. She’s swept off her feet by the charming Knave of Hearts, who’s on the run for stealing the tarts. Confusion piles upon confusion. Then Alice wakes with a start. Was it all a daydream?

Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland burst onto the stage in 2011 in an explosion of colour, stage magic and inventive, sophisticated choreography. Joby Talbot’s score combines contemporary soundworlds with sweeping melodies that gesture to ballet scores of the 19th century. Bob Crowley’s wildly imaginative, eye-popping designs draw on everything from puppetry to projections to make Wonderland wonderfully real.

Alice encounters a cast of extraordinary and instantly recognizable characters, from the highly strung Queen of Hearts – who performs a hilarious send-up of The Sleeping Beauty's famous Rose Adage – to a playing-card corps de ballet, a sinuous caterpillar and a tap-dancing Mad Hatter. But the ballet does not avoid the darker undercurrents of Lewis Carroll’s story: a nightmarish kitchen, an eerily disembodied Cheshire Cat and the unhinged tea party are all here in vivid detail. The delicious result shows The Royal Ballet at its best, bringing together world-class dance with enchanting family entertainment.

Approximate running time: 2 hour 50 minutes, including two intervals

Create scary monster masks, lanterns, bats and more from up-cycled materials, all created especially to spook your friends.

Join artist maker Kathryn Guy and get crafty for Halloween making masks, lanterns and bats from up-cycled materials.

Painter, author, tutor and illustrator, Linda Birch, M.S.I.A.D shares her fascinating tales from her varied and wonderful career - from working as a much-loved children's illustrator (Simon and the Witch, Jackanory, Bagpuss) to painting and tutoring today. Learn more about the stories behind the pictures and meet the artist herself. Includes a Q & A session.

Disney's 2017 live action re-telling of the classic animation, Beauty & the Beast refashions the characters from the tale as old as time for a contemporary audience. The film stays true to the original music while updating the score with several new songs.

"Beauty and the Beast review: Emma Watson dazzles in Disney's show-stopping chocolate box of a remake" The Telegraph ****

In rural England, 1865, a woman who is trapped in a loveless marriage to a much older man begins a passionate affair with a man her own age.

"Florence Pugh is lethally charismatic in William Oldroyd's daring journey into the darkest corners of the world of bonnets and bows." The Guardian

The Castle Players present Peter Shaffer's ingenious comedy. When a couple throw a party to impress her father and gain the patronage of a billionaire art critic, they little expect the chaos that ensures.

Academy Award® nominee Benedict Cumberbatch (BBC’s Sherlock, The Imitation Game) takes on the title role of Shakespeare’s great tragedy.

Now seen by over 750,000 people worldwide, the original 2015 NT Live broadcast returns to cinemas.

As a country arms itself for war, a family tears itself apart. Forced to avenge his father’s death but paralysed by the task ahead, Hamlet rages against the impossibility of his predicament, threatening both his sanity and the security of the state. Directed by Lyndsey Turner (Posh, Chimerica) and produced by Sonia Friedman Productions.

Starring Jim Broadbent and Charlotte Rampling, a business owner reunites with his first love after a letter and a diary force him to confront the past.

"An elegant adaption of Jullian Barnes's Booker prize-winning novel". The Guardian

Fancy a homemade Christmas this year? This workshop will get you started with a whole host of fun and festive upcycling crafts to adorn your home and create gifts for friends and family. Work with designer maker Kathryn Guy to make this Christmas extra special.

20 stalls of handmade gifts and goods.

Jewellery, prints, jams, toys, cards, scarves, hats, chocolate, soaps, knitted-gifts, puzzles, wooden-gifts, bags, vintage

Based in Cumbria, Northern Crafts are event organisers, running arts, craft, gift and wedding events in Cumbria and the North East of England.

Founded in 2012, they aim to provide local artists and craftspeople with access to good quality venues and events at affordable prices.

They have a wide variety of artists and craftspeople featured on our website and present at our fairs, along with a selection of purveyors of quality gifts and foods.

Come along, or browse the website, and see for yourselves 

Teesdale Christmas Art Fair presents an exciting opportunity to purchase unique, locally made fine art in time for the festive season.

Following the success of the inaugural Teesdale Christmas Art Fair in 2016 we are delighted to announce dates for the second Teesdale Christmas Art Fair that will take place for an extended period of time giving visitors more of an opportunity to visit the exhibition and purchase unique gifts.

Teesdale Christmas Art Fair is a large, group exhibition of carefully selected art work by artists from across the region whose work will be displayed in exhibition spaces throughout The Witham. The exhibition comprises original works of art spanning fine art painting, drawing, sculpture, textile art, and limited edition prints in addition to applied art that will be on display and available to buy in the Shop at The Witham.

The Teesdale Christmas Art Fair will also form part of The Witham's vibrant programme of Christmas activity that sees visitors of all ages flock to the arts centre for activities and entertainment.

Closed Sundays and Mondays.

In these relaxed and friendly art sessions, you will be introduced to a different technique each session, allowing you to have a go at a variety of different media. Based on my experiences and interests as an artist and maker these will include a range of textile, paper and up-cycling projects to try your hand at.

So, come and give something new a go; make new friends and enjoy the benefits being creative can bring.

Tickets are £15 and include materials to make a necklace.

Please note refunds cannot be issued except in the case of the session being cancelled.

With their unique approach to harmony singing, intelligent and thoughtful arrangements of both traditional repertoire and original compositions, Hazel Askew, Hannah James and Rowan Rheingans harness and celebrate their united voice. Whether unearthing a feminist twist hidden in a traditional tale, delivering a poignant anti-war ballad, or showcasing their immense multi-instrumental talents in original compositions that draw on a myriad of musical influences, Lady Maisery are skilful explorers of the power, beauty and vitality of song. Over the last five years, the trio have toured widely, performing sell-out shows across the UK and Europe.

Underpinning every performance are Lady Maisery’s distinctive harmonies: sometimes lush and rich, sometimes dark and invigorating, they intertwine with assured precision. The trio are also one of the foremost English proponents of mouth music, or “diddling” – once common in England, and still found across parts of southern and northern Europe, this form of singing without words is a perfect showcase for their sheer musicality. Each also an accomplished instrumentalist, many songs are expertly accompanied by a rich tapestry of Rowan’s fiddle, banjo and bansitar, Hazel’s harp and concertina and Hannah’s accordion and foot percussion.

Since the release of their debut album in 2011, ‘Weave and Spin’ (named Album of the Week by the Independent newspaper), Lady Maisery have attracted substantial attention, including being nominated for the Horizon Award at the 2012 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and regularly appearing live on national radio. Their second album ‘Mayday’ (2013), a darker and more politically coloured record, cemented their growing reputation as a truly unique band on the English folk scene, with five star reviews from the likes of The Financial Times newspaper, music critics called it an album full of “ideas, purpose and urgency…powerful, enthralling work" (Songlines). Their much anticipated third album Cycle was released in October 2016 with a sell-out 23 date tour and more rave reviews from the national press. The Guardian called it "some of the most some of the most exquisite, thrilling vocal harmony work in the English folk scene".

Supper Club Option at 6.30pm

A chance to sit back and relax, enjoy a homemade meal and soak up the atmosphere before enjoying the evening's entertainment. £12 pp, including homemade supper, a drink and tasty little sweet.

Tonight's dish: Mouthwatering Paella (vegetarian paella also available)

Korky Paul, the energetic illustrator welcomes you to the wonderful world of Winnie the Witch! In this fast-paced, fun-filled reading aloud workshop, Korky demonstrates how to draw in a way that is colourful, witty, and animated. Magical things always happen when Korky puts his pens and paints to paper.

For ages 5 - 11 years.

Bring your class to meet Korky Paul, the lively illustrator of Winnie the Witch! In this fast-paced, fun-filled reading aloud workshop, Korky demonstrates how to draw for the children that is colourful, witty, energetic, and animated. Magical things always happen when Korky puts his pen to paper. For 5 - 11 year olds with group discounts and school staff come free!  Please contact The Witham about other workshop times throughout the day.

Spend a fun-filled day creating your very own hare sculpture for display in either your home or your garden.

You will spend the first part of the day building the base structure of your hare, before learning fabric sculpting techniques which will allow you to 'dress' your hare in whatever style you choose. Once dressed and dried, you will use a dry brushing technique to colour your hare and enhance all of the fabulous textures of the fabrics.

Your hare will be ready to take home at the end of the day but will need three weeks curing time before it can go outside and survive the British weather. Your hare will measure approximately 35-40cm tall.

'Unique handcrafted goods, direct from the maker.'

Designer Makers Market showcases the very best regional designers and craftspeople, with original work and a strong up-cycled theme. Meet the designer makers and buy handcrafted goods of gallery quality. Some will be demonstrating their skills and others will be running 'have-a-go' sessions.

Widely considered Britain’s most popular artist, David Hockney is a global sensation with exhibitions in London, New York, Paris and beyond, attracting millions of visitors worldwide.

Now entering his 9th decade, Hockney shows absolutely no evidence of slowing down or losing his trademark boldness.

Featuring intimate and in-depth interviews with Hockney, this revealing film focuses on two blockbuster exhibitions held in 2012 and 2016 at the Royal Academy of Art in London.

Director Phil Grabsky secured privileged access to craft this cinematic celebration of a 21st century master of creativity.

The outstanding young talent of Ceara Sutton-Jones will perform a Violin Concerto by Saint Saens. The mighty violin skills of Nathan Barker will also be shown off in Danse Espagnole in D (Lamentation). Extracts from Dido and Aeneas make up the second half of the concert.

Handcrafted Boutique Fair with a quality selection of handmade products from around the North East.

Like rare single malts, each member of Blazin’ Fiddles draws the distinct flavour of music from their part of the Highlands and Islands.

‘We Are The Lions, Mr. Manager!’ is the story of the Grunwick Film Processing Factory Strike of 1976-78 and the inspirational strike-leader Jayaben Desai, one of many newly arrived British passport-holding Asian Gujurati workers expelled from Uganda and Tanzania in East Africa four years before.

In 1976 a group of workers in a backstreet London factory, in Willesden, stood up to their bosses and kick-started one of the longest and most important industrial disputes in British history. Led by Asian women, the Grunwick strike challenged stereotypes, changed the face of traditionally white, male trade unions, and inspired others to speak out against injustice.

Grunwick wasn’t just a strike about wages and conditions – it was about something much more important than that: it was about dignity. Dignity at work. These women had been employed by the Grunwick factory bosses in the belief that they would be easy to handle, to browbeat and to exploit. Yet, they found their own distinctive voice in the course of the struggle to secure their rights.

The strike leader, Jayaben Desai had the measure of the most brutish and charmless of her managers, when she told them: ‘What you are running here is not a factory, it is a zoo. But in a zoo there are many types of animals. Some are monkeys who dance on your fingertips, others are lions who can bite your head off. We are the lions, Mr. Manager!’

Grunwick made history:

1. it focused the issue of the exploitation of immigrant workers
2. it nailed the myth that Asian workers were passive
3. it showed how a section of totally unorganised workers, ignorant of trade unionism and insecure in a foreign land can develop militancy and attract huge solidarity
4. it defined the trade union and political lives of tens of thousands from across the nation who came to the streets of Willesden to back the Grunwick workers.
5. it showed too that all the forces of the state, the media, the police, the courts, employers, racial prejudice and women’s inequality can be swept aside by the freshness and dynamism of determined struggle.

This is social history presented in Townsend Productions’ imaginative, particpatory, engaging style with songs and music of the 1970s.

Grunwick still poses questions to today’s generation about the role in society of women, workers and immigrants. And the strike still carries a challenging message about the need for human dignity.  Brought to us by Highlights Rural Touring Scheme

In 1947, British statesman Lord Mountbatten serves as India's last Viceroy and is charged with handing India back to it's people. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Gillian Anderson and Michael Gambon.

"An gripping political drama with a populist edge". The Guardian

Handel's 'Messiah' comes to life on stage with conductor Simon Dearsley featuring Soprano: Philippa Dearsley, Alto: Tamsin Davidson and Bass: Neil Turnbull with the fantastic Barnard Castle Choral Society

The young Clara creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve to play with her favourite present – a Nutcracker doll. But the mysterious magician Drosselmeyer is waiting to sweep her off on a magical adventure. After defeating the Mouse King,  the Nutcracker and Clara travel through the  Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets,  where the Sugar Plum Fairy treats them to  a wonderful display of dances. Back home,  Clara thinks she must have been dreaming – but doesn’t she recognize Drosselmeyer’s nephew? Peter Wright’s nigh-on definitive production for The Royal Ballet ranks as one of the most enduring and enchanting versions of The Nutcracker. With its festive period setting, dancing snowflakes and enchanting stage magic, Lev Ivanov’s 1892 ballet has become the perfect Christmas entertainment, with Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous, sugar-spun music the most recognizable of all ballet scores.

Loosely based on the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann, the ballet opens with a lively Christmas party, its Victorian setting captured in opulent detail by Julia Trevelyan Oman’s designs. Wright’s choreography ingeniously incorporates surviving fragments of the ballet’s original material, including the sublime pas de deux for the Sugar Plum  Fairy and her Prince. But in emphasizing the relationship between Clara and the Nutcracker Prince, the production also gains a touching subtext of first love.

Approximate running time: 2 hours and 15 minutes, including one interval.

Be part of the audience for the live recording of Jig Doll with Hannah James at The Witham.  A rarity in folk music, Hannah James is a singer, musician and innovative clog dancer. Jig Doll combines all of these disciplines in a beautiful show exploring the life of the travelling player: sometimes exotic, sometimes frightening, it’s a world where home changes daily, and the only touchstones are the skills you carry with you, and the people you meet on the way.

At The Witham earlier this year and so pleased with her experience here, Hannah is returning to record the film of the show. Being a part of the audience means you will enjoy Jigdoll as never seen before, with Hannah presenting her very best performance to be recorded and shared in years to come. Please be aware, this may mean some re-takes and pauses to guarantee the film crew capture what they need - we cannot guarantee the finish time. Please come and join us to enjoy the exclusive experience at The Witham.

As it's an exceptional event, we have set up a reservation fee for a seat of £2. We are asking, following the show, you donate what you would have paid for the ticket price following the gig.

Rory Kinnear (The Threepenny Opera, Penny Dreadful, Othello) is Marx and Oliver Chris (Twelfth Night, Green Wing) is Engels, in this new comedy written by Richard Bean and Clive Coleman. Broadcast live from The Bridge Theatre, London, the production  is directed by Nicholas Hytner and reunites the creative team behind Broadway and West End hit comedy One Man, Two Guvnors.

1850, and Europe’s most feared terrorist is hiding in Dean Street, Soho. Broke, restless and horny, the thirty-two-year-old revolutionary is a frothing combination of intellectual brilliance, invective, satiric wit, and child-like emotional illiteracy.

Creditors, spies, rival revolutionary factions and prospective seducers of his beautiful wife all circle like vultures. His writing blocked, his marriage dying, his friend Engels in despair at his wasted genius, his only hope is a job on the railway. But there’s still no one in the capital who can show you a better night on the piss than Karl Heinrich Marx.

Stephen Sondheim’s legendary musical is staged for the first time at the National Theatre and broadcast live to cinemas.

New York, 1971. There’s a party on the stage of the Weismann Theatre. Tomorrow the iconic building will be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs and lie about themselves.

Tracie Bennett, Janie Dee and Imelda Staunton play the magnificent Follies in this dazzling new production. Featuring a cast of 37 and an orchestra of 21, it’s directed by Dominic Cooke (The Comedy of Errors).

Winner of Academy, Tony, Grammy and Olivier awards, Sondheim’s previous work includes A Little Night Music, Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George.

Ross Wilson presents his Celtic lullabies and Caledonian Soul that are 'elegant, eloquent and immensely stirring'. AMPPICKER. Enjoy latest songs on the release of Ross's upcoming album, The Water of Leith.

In the space of only a short few years and two stellar albums, Blue Rose Code, Edinburgh-born Ross Wilson, has gone from song-writing in the obscurity of an East London flat to being celebrated by the industry and fans alike as a legacy artist whose work stands alone. As BBC Radio 3 broadcaster Mary-Anne Kennedy said recently, “Blue Rose Code is one of those rare artists whose work makes you sit up and listen”.

The Ballads Of Peckham Rye, Blue Rose Code’s second record, was nominated for the prestigious Scottish Album Of The Year Awards in 2014 and featured a roll-call of remarkable talent, including Danny Thompson, Karine Polwart, John Wetton, Aidan O’Rourke and Kathryn Williams.

'GRATEFUL', the first single from the new album was released at the end of 2015 and was playlisted on BBC Radio Scotland for a full five weeks. Truly remarkable for an act without the backing of a label or a heavy management deal.

Further praise has come from the most unexpected of quarters in Hollywood A-lister, Ewan McGregor. Ewan explained, “My uncle Denis Lawson, (star of Local Hero) gave me a copy of The Ballads Of Peckham Rye, it’s beautiful and I can’t stop listening to it.”

Performing live he is stunning, and this reputation led Edith Bowman to personally ask Ross to perform on the launch show of BBC At The Quay with Texas and Stornoway. Edith described Ross’ performance with a nine-piece band, including guest Karine Polwart, as “truly special and beautiful”.

In these relaxed and friendly art sessions, you will be introduced to a different technique each session, allowing you to have a go at a variety of different media. Based on my experiences and interests as an artist and maker these will include a range of textile, paper and up-cycling projects to try your hand at.

So, come and give something new a go; make new friends and enjoy the benefits being creative can bring.

Please note refunds cannot be issued except in the case of the session being cancelled.

Another performance at 7.30 pm

Join The Castle Players for this traditional family treat. Scrooge is all about hoarding and keeping, but with mulled wine, mince pies, carol singers, and excited children, there's no escape from Christmas.

Supper Club Option at 1.30pm and 6pm

A chance to sit back and relax, enjoy a homemade meal and soak up the atmosphere before enjoying the evening's entertainment. £12 pp, including homemade supper, a drink and tasty little sweet.

Tonight's dish: Pre-Christmas treat of Pie and Roast Vegetables for both the Matinee and evening performance.

Times to be arranged with schools

The Holly and Ivy workshop is a concert lasting between 45 and 60 minutes, presenting songs, stories, dances and customs associated with Midwinter, Christmas and the New Year. It's lively, informal, participatory, and highly professional. It helps children and teachers gain deeper insights into the significance of many of our midwinter customs and traditions. Schools receive a detailed participatory letter and a teachers' notes pack, giving background information and words and music for some of the material.

Workshops suitable for Primary aged children and open to whole school performances. Times to be arranged with schools.

The Holly and Ivy roadshow is a concert presenting songs, stories, dances and customs associated with midwinter, Christmas and the New Year. It's lively, informal, participatory and highly professional. With a special contribution from Teesdale's Cream Tees.

Dance the night away and support The Witham at the same time!

Join a wonderfully festive and fun celebration this New Year's Eve with a live Ceilidh band, hog roast, disco and a glass of fizz at midnight.
We advise booking in advance as last year’s celebration was sold out.

The Witham hosts the launch of the Castle Players’ Winter Tour - a new adaptation of Charles Dickens’ ever-popular story of ‘the parish boy’s progress’ - Oliver’s journey from workhouse orphan to adopted respectability via the dark and sinister underworld of 19th century London.

Dramatised and directed by Laurence Sach, the production brings a host of Dickens’ vivid characters to life - Oliver, the Artful Dodger, Mr Bumble the Beadle, Fagin, Bill Sykes, Nancy and many more

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The majority of the members of Barnard Castle Art Society have no formal artistic training, yet posses a relentless passion for creating art and immortalising the beauty of their Teesdale environs.

During the summer months members of Barnard Castle Art Society meet regularly to sketch together en plein air, making the most of the fine weather and the effects that the high, bright light has on the landscape at this time of year.

During the colder months, members of the group meet for practical work sessions, to share ideas, knowledge and techniques. These meetings and the support they offer inspire other members to produce work in preparation for their annual exhibition.  Closed Sundays and Mondays.

The corruption of innocence is at the heart of Verdi’s potent tragedy in David McVicar’s production for The Royal Opera.

Rigoletto, court jester to the libertine Duke of Mantua, is cursed by the father of one of the Duke’s victims for his irreverent laughter. When the Duke seduces Rigoletto’s daughter Gilda, it seems the curse is taking effect…

David McVicar’s production highlights the cruelty at the heart of the court of Mantua. Richly dressed courtiers engage in orgies and revelries to Verdi’s heady, spirited dances. The opera’s many musical highlights include the ebullient ‘La donna è mobile’, in which the Duke boasts of his disregard for women; Gilda’s exquisite, plangent duets with Rigoletto and the Duke; and the gorgeous Act III quartet that beautifully weaves the voices together as the story quickens to its shattering conclusion.

Giuseppe Verdi wrote in 1855 that Rigoletto was his ‘best opera’. He had had to overcome state censorship to stage it – the censors objected to its depiction of an immoral ruler – but he was vindicated by the premiere’s huge success in 1851. Rigoletto was performed 250 times in the next 10 years and has remained one of the most popular of all operas.

Approximate running time: 2 hours and 45 minutes, including one interval. Sung in Italian with English subtitles

MUSIC GIUSEPPE VERDI
DIRECTOR DAVID MCVICAR
CONDUCTOR ALEXANDER JOEL
RIGOLETTO DIMITRI PLATANIAS
GILDA LUCY CROWE
DUKE OF MANTUA MICHAEL FABIANO

From the National Portrait Gallery London, Musée d’Orsay Paris & National Gallery of Art Washington DC. 

Exhibition on Screen is thrilled to present one of the most talked about exhibitions of the year. Dedicated to the portrait work of Paul Cézanne, the exhibition opens in Paris before traveling to London and Washington.

One can’t appreciate 20th century art without understanding the significance and genius of Paul Cézanne. Featuring interviews with curators and experts from the National Portrait Gallery London, MoMA New York, National Gallery of Art Washington, and Musée d’Orsay Paris, and correspondence from the artist himself, the film takes audiences beyond the exhibition to the places Cézanne lived and worked and sheds light on an artist who is perhaps the least known of all the impressionists – until now.

'Dunkirk review: heart-hammering and heroically British, this is Christopher Nolan at the peak of his powers.' The Telegraph

Director, Antony Nolan, delivers an utterly immersive film with stunning cinematography.  Staring Kenneth Branagh.The Witham Friends' Discount Event!

Learn how to capture the beauty of our local landscape. 

Working with local artist Anne Mason, enjoy a day learning the techniques to capture the stunning Teesdale landscapes in winter.

Join Alan Hinkes OBE for this special screening of the film about his life. 

Alan is the first Briton to have climbed the world’s highest mountains and this is the biopic of his life, created by critically acclaimed and award-winning filmmaker Terry Abraham and producer of the BBC hit ‘Life of a Mountain: Scafell Pike’ and ‘Life of a Mountain: Blencathra’. Hinkes is the first and only British mountaineer to summit all 14 of the world’s highest mountains, each over 8,000 metres. Alan will introduce the film and take part in a Q & A at the end of the screening. 

Film running time: 90 mins + intro with Q and A.

Enjoy the fresh produce on offer!  One of the longest running Farmer's Markets in the North, come to enjoy the delicious food of our region from the producers and farmers who produce it.

Tosca is one of the great evenings of opera, and from its strident opening chords conjures up a world of political instability and menace.

Jonathan Kent’s production for The Royal Opera captures the dangerous political turbulence of Rome in 1800. The Chief of Police, Scarpia – one of the most malevolent villains in opera – ruthlessly pursues and tortures enemies of the state. His dark, demonic music contrasts with the expansive melodies of the idealistic lovers, Tosca and Cavaradossi, who express their passion in sublime arias, including ‘Vissi d’arte’ and ‘E lucevan le stelle’. Giacomo Puccini’s dramatic work was a hit with audiences on its 1900 premiere and it remains one of the most performed of all operas – with its gripping plot and glorious music, it’s easy to see why.

A candle-lit church, Scarpia’s gloomy study with its hidden torture chamber and the false optimism of a Roman dawn: this handsome production throws into relief the ruthlessly taut drama, as the tension is wound up towards a fateful conclusion. Puccini’s meticulously researched score is infused with the same authentic detail, from distant cannon fire during the Act I Te Deum to tolling church bells and the sounds of a firing squad.

Approximate running time: 3 hours, including two intervals. Sung in Italian with English subtitles

MUSIC GIACOMO PUCCINI
DIRECTOR JONATHAN KENT
CONDUCTOR DAN ETTINGER
FLORIA TOSCA ADRIANNE PIECZONKA
MARIO CAVARADOSSI JOSEPH CALLEJA
BARON SCARPIA GERALD FINLEY

'A disaffected farmer’s fling with a Romanian worker reawakens his love of the land in Francis Lee’s tender, impressive debut.' The Guardian

Set and filmed in Yorkshire this critically acclaimed film follows the love story between a farmer and an immigrant worker.  'Pure poetry' EMPIRE *****

Scottish folk singer Emily Smith and New Zealand-born Jamie McClennan celebrate 15 years of making music together in 2017. 

With rich vocal harmonies , accordion, fiddle and sublime guitar backing, Emily Smith and Jamie McClennan are one of the most vibrant duos on the UK folk scene today.

Having spent much of 2016 off the road (with Emily on maternity leave) the couple have taken time to focus on writing new material with an album release planned in 2018.  The tour showcases a big new sound for the duo with originals by McClennan and reworked traditional songs from Smith paired with some of their favourites from the past 15 years.

Meeting in 2002 when McClennan moved from NZ to Scotland, fiddle player Jamie soon became an integral part of Emily’s sound, taking on the role of lead guitar and backing vocals and producing several of her albums.   They have performed throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Russia and North America with their music firmly rooted in the roots idiom drawing on influences from the folk tradition, Americana and beyond.  Emily’s emotive voice lifts souls with its simple beauty.  Paired with McClennan’s sensitive accompaniment and rich harmonies they are one of the most vibrant duos on the UK folk scene today.

A family crafty-workshop where the whole family can get involved in preventing Hen's eggs from cracking!

How will you protect Hen’s egg? Fox thinks Hen’s eggs look delicious and she needs your help to keep them safe. Using the materials on offer can you stop the egg from cracking and keep Hen happy and out fox the Fox.  Approx. 5- 11yrs

Christopher Luscombe, Director of Love Labour's Lost (2014) and Much Ado About Nothing (2016) returns to the RSC to tackle Shakespeare's greatest comedy.

'I am all the daughters of my father's house,
And all the brothers too.'

Twelfth Night is a tale of unrequited love – hilarious and heartbreaking. Two twins are separated in a shipwreck, and forced to fend for themselves in a strange land. The first twin, Viola, falls in love with Orsino, who dotes on OIivia, who falls for Viola but is idolised by Malvolio. Enter Sebastian, who is the spitting image of his twin sister...

Christopher Luscombe, Director of the ‘glorious’ (Daily Telegraph) Love’s Labour’s Lost and Much Ado About Nothing (2014 and 2016), returns to the Royal Shakespeare Company to tackle Shakespeare’s greatest comedy, a brilliantly bittersweet account of "the whirligig of time".

Exploring connections between artists, spaces and audiences.

Part of Navigator North's Latest Edition Project, this exhibition features six regionally based artists; Carol Devey-Haughton, Diane Watson, Becki Harper, Nick Kennedy, Theresa Easton and Alex Sickling. Includes ceramics, printmaking, textiles, photography and sculpture with an affordable artist designed gift range for sale.

Latest Edition is a Navigator North project building upon the success of previous professional development programmes and opportunities offered to visual artists. The focus of this project is around sustainable practice for artists who are interested in making work for exhibition and commission as well as sales of original and limited edition works and artist merchandise – exploring a range of income streams as part of creative practice.  Gallery closed Sundays and Mondays

The TBA 2017 is organised by Enterprise House and the awards ceremony is to be held on the Thursday 15th February 2018 at The Witham in Barnard Castle.

Working with category sponsors, Enterprise House is organising The Teesdale Business Awards.

The idea of the awards is simply for our local business community the opportunity to showcase and promote successes

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In the unfathomable darkness of space, an invisible missile starts its journey to Earth from Mars... 

In the unfathomable darkness of empty space, an invisible missile starts its journey to Earth from Mars. And another. And another. And another...

Ten missiles fired at the unsuspecting Earth and rushing through the empty gulf of space. Ten missiles carrying an invading force of Martians, their intellects vast, cool and unsympathetic. Hour by hour, day by day, closer and closer the Martians come, ready for war and the massacre of mankind.

The War of the Worlds charts the fortunes of a band of survivors as they become refugees in their own country, forced to flee from an unknown and unprovoked enemy, and battle against the devastation and destruction of their planet. Northern Stage's vivid and dynamic new production relocates H.G. Wells' iconic novel to the North East of England, in a contemporary re-telling of a sci-fi classic.

Suitable for ages 12+

A Northern Stage production

By H.G. Wells.  Directed by Elayce Ismail

A new adaptation by Laura Lindow

A concert of favourite popular songs from the world of Musicals and Operetta.

Duets, trios and ensembles with Simon Dearsley, Philippa Dearsley and Penny Randell-Davies.

Following his smash hit production of A Streetcar Named Desire, Benedict Andrews’ ‘thrilling revival’ (New York Times) stars Sienna Miller alongside, Jack O’Connell and Colm Meaney.
On a steamy night in Mississippi, a Southern family gather at their cotton plantation to celebrate Big Daddy’s birthday. The scorching heat is almost as oppressive as the lies they tell. Brick and Maggie dance round the secrets and sexual tensions that threaten to destroy their marriage. With the future of the family at stake, which version of the truth is real – and which will win out?

★★★★ "A bold reimagining…innovative and powerfully acted"
Sunday Times

★★★★ "A brilliant, lacerating account of the play… unforgettable"
The Independent

★★★★ "Miller and O’Connell get to a raw and naked truth"
The Metro

Christopher Wheeldon, Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet, created his adaptation of Shakespeare’s late great romance The Winter’s Tale for The Royal Ballet in 2014. Building on the success of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Winter’s Tale received ecstatic praise at its premiere, acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for its intelligent, distinctive and emotionally powerful story, told through exquisite dance. It is now widely judged to be a modern ballet classic.
The story follows the destruction of a marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child and a seemingly hopeless love. Yet, through remorse and regret – and after a seemingly miraculous return to life – the ending is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. With powerful designs by Bob Crowley and atmospheric music by Joby Talbot, The Winter’s Tale is a masterful modern narrative ballet.

Approximate running time: 3 hours, including two intervals.

CHOREOGRAPHY CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON
MUSIC JOBY TALBOT

Enjoy the fresh produce on offer!  One of the longest running Farmer's Markets in the North, come to enjoy the delicious food of our region from the producers and farmers who produce it.

Karen Babayan presents Patterns in Nature.  Spring is on its way and in celebration we will use plants and flowers as inspiration.  Participants will make a series of sketches, which they will then develop into relief prints incorporating repeat pattern and colour.

Carmen is the best-known work by French composer Georges Bizet, and one of the most famous operas in the entire art form – numbers such as the Habanera and the Toreador Song have permeated the popular consciousness as little else has. The opera’s heady combination of passion, sensuality and violence initially proved too much for the stage, and it was a critical failure on its 1875 premiere. Bizet died shortly after, and never learned of the spectacular success his Carmen would achieve: the opera has been performed more than five hundred times at Covent Garden alone.

This ever-popular opera is given a fresh point of view in Barrie Kosky’s highly physical production, originally created for Frankfurt Opera. The Australian director is one of the world’s most sought-after opera directors, whose Royal Opera debut with Shostakovich’s The Nose in 2016 was greeted with delight. For Carmen he has devised a far-from-traditional version, incorporating music written by Bizet for the score but not usually heard, and giving a new voice to the opera’s endlessly fascinating central character.

Approximate running time: 3 hours 20 minutes, including one interval. Sung in French with English subtitles

MUSIC GEORGES BIZET
DIRECTOR BARRIE KOSKY
CONDUCTOR JAKUB HRŮŠA
CARMEN ANNA GORYACHOVA
DON JOSÉ FRANCESCO MELI
MICAËLA ANETT FRITSCH
ESCAMILLO KOSTAS SMORIGINAS

Olav Lukesengard Mjelva (Norway), Anders Hall (Sweden) and Kevin Henderson (Shetland Islands), The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc are in great demand worldwide for their gripping unique blend of traditional fiddle music.

With a firm focus on the rich traditional fiddle music from where they each belong, they have developed a sound that has been described as “unique”, “meaningful”, “intense” and “invigorating”.

Their clever use of harmony, rhythm, riffs and bass lines creates a sound that leaves the listener enthralled but at the same time dumbfounded that the sound only comes from three fiddles.

“Seldom before can three fiddlers have sounded so well matched as the Nordic Fiddlers Bloc. And seldom before can three fiddles have sounded so much like four and at times five instruments without using electronic trickery.” – The Herald.

To date their music has taken them to the USA, Canada, the UK, Ireland and across mainland Europe captivating audiences along the way.

2016 saw the release of their eagerly awaited second album, “Deliverance”, the follow up to their eponymously entitled debut album released in September 2011 to great critical acclaim.

“On the evidence to hand, pure fiddle doesn´t get much better than The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc.” Folkworld.

The Witham Friends' Discount Event!

Pianist Chiyan Wong has been astonishing audiences with the sincerity and authority of his playing and was recently awarded a prestigious prize as one of most promising young artists to appear at the International Mozarteum Summer Academy. 

He will be playing Bach's Goldberg Variations, Beethoven's Six Bagatelles, Busoni's Sonatina Seconda and Liszt's Don Juan.

LOVING VINCENT, the world’s first fully oil painted feature film, brings the artwork of Vincent van Gogh to life in an exploration of the complicated life and controversial death of one of history’s most celebrated artists.

More than six years in the making with the help of 125 specially trained painters, LOVING VINCENT is a uniquely animated film composed of 65,000 painted frames.

Drawn from meticulous research and inspired by van Gogh’s masterpieces, subjects, and 800 personal letters, LOVING VINCENT captures the world of van Gogh in a cinematic experience like no other

With ever increasing pressures on the NHS, there's never been a more important time to take positive action to take care of your own health.

Come along and find out about some of the good things available in Teesdale and the surrounding area to help you to achieve this.

John Otway is a singer-songwriter who has built a cult audience through extensive touring, a surreal sense of humour and a self-deprecating underdog persona.

'A cabaret act masquerading as a rock act. Gleeful, anecdotal, funny and life-enhancing.' Cambridge Fayre Review

Perhaps more than any other artist, Van Gogh’s life has long captured the imagination of storytellers. Delving deep into his fascinating and sometimes deeply troubled world comes this definitive, award-winning documentary directed by David Bickerstaff.

Showcasing Van Gogh’s iconic works like never before and featuring exclusive interviews with the curatorial team at the Van Gogh Museum, this EXHIBITION ON SCREEN favourite from Season 2 makes a welcome return to the big screen.

This diverse and vibrant exhibition celebrates our coastline in the North East and Cumbria with stunning artworks in a range of genres.

Featuring regional artists including:

Ann Whitfield, Aphra O'Connor, Colleen Vaux, Glenn Tomkinson, Helen Costello, Jenny Ullyat, Jill and Lee Brewster, Mark Sofilas, Sarah Hill

Gallery closed Sundays and Mondays

Ben Whishaw (The Danish Girl, Skyfall, Hamlet) and Michelle Fairley (Fortitude, Game of Thrones) play Brutus and Cassius, David Calder (The Lost City of Z, The Hatton Garden Job) plays Caesar and David Morrissey (The Missing, Hangmen, The Walking Dead) is Mark Antony. Broadcast live from The Bridge Theatre, London.

Caesar returns in triumph to Rome and the people pour out of their homes to celebrate. Alarmed by the autocrat’s popularity, the educated élite conspire to bring him down. After his assassination, civil war erupts on the streets of the capital.

Nicholas Hytner’s production will thrust the audience into the street party that greets Caesar’s return, the congress that witnesses his murder, the rally that assembles for his funeral and the chaos that explodes in its wake.

Jenny’s a vicar. But she’s got problems. Her creepy ex-husband keeps sending her flowers and won’t sign the divorce papers.

The church hall is being renovated by a dodgy builder, who’s being investigated by the police.

And her best friend Danny has turned up in the vestry with a gun. Danny has anger issues. He’s just had a fight with his best mate Benson. They’re in too deep and running out of options.

So when he turns to the church Jenny has to choose between doing the right thing or doing the legal thing.

Presented by Little Mighty

Learn how to tool and colour your own spring-themed leather, from pouches and tiles to wallets and bookmarks.

Mark Rowney has been tooling , carving  and hand painting leather Accessories, Sculptures and objet d'art for 30 years. He has a passion for 'The Arts & Crafts' movement, contemporary rural Art and Nature.  These can all be witnessed in his work.  Highly detailed and richly designed pieces are made bespoke for all clients. He has worked for Paul Smith producing leather products for his New York and Paris stores and has also worked in India as an embroidery designer.. He has spent the last few years building and designing 'The Hide', a purpose built studio/workshop decorated throughout with beautiful Leather work from which he teaches this wonderful Art form.

Each participant will create a min. of two items you have tooled yourselves to take home.

Reg Vardy have been North of England Brass Band Champions 35 times and are listing in the top 20 of the World Brass Band Rankings.

Based in Stanley, the band are renowned for giving high quality concerts of new original music alongside the more traditional brass band repertoire

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New Wayne McGregor / The Age of Anxiety / New Christopher Wheeldon

The Royal Ballet celebrates the centenary of Leonard Bernstein’s birth with an all-Bernstein programme from the Company’s three associate choreographers, Wayne McGregor, Liam Scarlett and Christopher Wheeldon.

Leonard Bernstein was one of the first classical composers in America to achieve both popular and critical acclaim. He was eclectic in his sources – drawing on jazz and modernism, the traditions of Jewish music and the Broadway musical – and many of Bernstein’s scores are remarkably well suited to dance. He was particularly associated with Jerome Robbins, their credits together including Fancy Free and West Side Story. To celebrate the centenary year of the composer’s birth, The Royal Ballet has united all three of its associate choreographers to celebrate the dynamic range and danceability of Bernstein’s music.

The programme includes two world premieres by Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor and Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon, marking each artist’s first foray into Bernstein. At the heart of the programme is the first revival of Artist in Residence Liam Scarlett’s The Age of Anxiety, created in 2014 to Bernstein’s soul-searching Second Symphony. Both symphony and ballet are both inspired by W.H. Auden’s masterful modernist poem, itself written in response to the atmosphere of disillusionment and uncertainty that followed the end of World War II.

Inspired by Handel’s profound religious masterpiece, this acclaimed Bristol Old Vic production provides a rare chance to experience a powerfully dramatic account of Messiah and to rediscover the intense spirituality of its many well-known arias and choruses.

Staged by the Tony Award-winning director Tom Morris (War Horse), this extraordinary production features Europe’s most celebrated Baroque orchestra The English Concert, the magnificent Erebus Ensemble and a cast of internationally-renowned soloists.

The story explores the drama and struggle of faith, showing a group of people whose grief at the loss of their leader is transformed into hope through a narrative of resurrection. Through their despair, the Apostles gradually realise their mission is to redeem the world by sharing the story of Jesus’s life and death with all humanity.

Described by the critics as an ‘astonishingly beautiful’ (The Stage),‘direct and impactful interpretation’ (The Times), this dramatised concert is a rare treat for connoisseurs and enthusiasts alike.

Designer Makers Market showcases the very best regional designers and craftspeople, with original work and a strong up-cycled theme. Meet the designer makers and buy handcrafted goods of gallery quality. Some will be demonstrating their skills and others will be running 'have-a-go' sessions.

Admission is free but a donation to St Teresa's Hospice would be gratefully received.

An abundance of materials await in you in this workshop, just bring your imagination.

Come and create a character you have invented or an old favourite from a story, large or small it is up to you.

Once you’re done bring the puppet to life in the pop up theatre. This workshop is aimed at children aged approximately 3-11yrs but EVERYYONE is welcome.

Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi’s opera based on Shakespeare’s tragedy, with a magnificent cast including Anna Netrebko and Anna Pirozzi, Željko Lučić and Ildebrando D’Arcangelo.

Verdi’s life-long love affair with Shakespeare’s works began with Macbeth, a play he considered to be ‘one of the greatest creations of man’.

With his librettist Francesco Maria Piave Verdi set out to create ‘something out of the ordinary’. Their success is borne out in every bar of a score that sees Verdi at his most theatrical: it bristles with demonic energy.

Phyllida Lloyd’s 2002 production for The Royal Opera is richly hued, shot through with black, red and gold.

The witches – imagined by designer Anthony Ward as strange, scarlet-turbaned creatures – are ever-present agents of fate. Lloyd depicts the Macbeths’ childlessness as the dark sadness lurking behind their terrible deeds.

The Royal Opera’s production uses Verdi’s 1865 Paris revision of the opera, which includes Lady Macbeth’s riveting aria ‘La luce langue’.

Presented by Little Mightly.  Be enthralled by this epic musical folktale told on a miniature scale. A Heart at Sea uses haunting live music to tell the story of a young Boy who bottles up his heart and throws it into the sea. Original song-writing is set to breathtaking visuals centred around a beautifully carved wooden chest that holds the secrets to the story.

Intricate puppets are swept through a transforming wooden world created by the spectacular chest. Be astounded as backdrops flip up, pirouette and change, sending the Boy tumbling through danger and discovery. Puppets roam on this unique contraption to recount the story of whales, tiny boats, sea captains and beards.  Suitable for age 7+

'This beautiful show is indescribable' - Edinburgh Guide

Bought to The Witham thanks to Highlights Rural Touring Scheme.

Handcrafted Boutique Fair with a quality selection of handmade products from around the North East.

One of Scotland's premier traditional bands.  As they approach their 50th anniversary in 2018, the Tannahill Weavers are one of Scotland's premier traditional bands. Their diverse repertoire spans the centuries with fire-driven instrumentals, topical songs, and original ballads and lullabies. Their music demonstrates to old and young alike the rich and varied musical heritage of the Celtic people. These versatile musicians have received worldwide accolades consistently over the years for their exuberant performances and outstanding recording efforts that seemingly can't get better...yet continue to do just that.

The Tannahills have turned their acoustic excitement loose on audiences with an electrifying effect. They have that unique combination of traditional melodies, driving rhythmic accompaniment, and rich vocals that make their performances unforgettable. As the Winnipeg Free Press noted, "The Tannahill Weavers - properly harnessed - could probably power an entire city for a year on the strength of last night's concert alone. The music may be old time Celtic, but the drive and enthusiasm are akin to straight ahead rock and roll."

Born of a session in Paisley, Scotland and named for the town's historic weaving industry and local poet laureate Robert Tannahill, the group has made an international name for its special brand of Scottish music, blending the beauty of traditional melodies with the power of modern rhythms. The Tannahill Weavers began to attract attention when founding members Roy Gullane and Phil Smillie added the full-sized highland bagpipes to the on-stage presentations, the first professional Scottish folk group to successfully do so. The combination of the powerful pipe solos, Roy's driving guitar backing and lead vocals, and Phil's ethereal flute playing breathed new life into Scotland's vast repertoire of traditional melodies and songs.

Over the years the Tannies have been trailblazers for Scottish music, and their tight harmonies and powerful, inventive arrangements have won them fans from beyond the folk and Celtic music scenes.  In 2011 the band was inducted into the Scottish Traditional Music Hall of Fame, and in 2014 they are joined by innovative piper Lorne MacDougall. Lorne comes with a high pedigree, having arranged and performed pipes for the Disney Pixar movie “Brave”, along with a long list of other accomplishments.

With their impending 50th anniversary in 2018, the Tannahill Weavers are firmly established as one of the premier groups on the concert stage. From reflective ballads to footstomping reels and jigs, the variety and range of the material they perform is matched only by their enthusiasm and lively Celtic spirits.

Come and create things from space!   To celebrate Kitchen Zoo bringing Tin Foil Astronaut to the Witham why not join bring your little astronaut to create their own rocket, design a planet beyond Pluto or invent the uninvented?

Anyone fancy a balloon powered rocket race to the moon?

This workshop is aimed at approximately 3-11yrs but EVERYONE is welcome!

Brought to us by Suitcase Studio

Royal Northern Sinfonia, Orchestra of Sage Gateshead, is the UK’s only full-time chamber orchestra and the leading professional orchestra in the North East. The Witham are delighted to welcome an ensemble of players to play a programme including  Brahms’ String Quintet No.1 in F

A co-commission by ARC, Queens Hall Hexham, and Arts Centre Washington.  On your marks... get set... BLAST OFF!

Today is the day of the space race! A race to put the first human on the Moon! But our astronaut isn't quite like others, she's... different.

Alba has been in training and she has even made her own rocket! But can she really power a rocket with crisps? What is past Pluto? Are there robots in Space? And will anyone ever listen to the smallest of space explorers? It's one small step for most astronauts, but one giant leap for little Alba!

Join us for a surprising space race and see if Alba really can make it all the way to the moon.

A cosmic adventure to outer space!

A story of discovery, individuality and a celebration of differences for 3-7 year olds and their families.

From the makers of The Owl and the Pussycat.

A co-commission by ARC, Queen's Hall Hexham and Arts Centre Washington.

Performance recorded in HD from Teatro Comunale di Bologna.  Set in the idyllic 19th century Paris, La Bohème tells the story of a love affair between a poor poet and a seamstress. But they are soon faced by the cruel realities of poverty and ill health which ends up putting their relationship to the test.

This production of one of opera’s classic and unforgettable stories is led by a cast of four talented young artists as the lovers.

Starring: Mariangela Sicilia and Hasmik Torosyan

Conductor: Michele Mariotti

Stage Director: Graham Vick

Tight harmonies, killer songs, and a lot of fun!  Winter Wilson’s current tour showcases their latest album “Ashes and Dust”, the follow up to “Cutting Free” which made the Daily Telegraph’s ten recommended folk albums for Summer 2014.

Having honed their craft during many years as semi-professional musicians, the duo went full time in 2012 and haven’t looked back since. They have a fine repertoire of self-penned songs, telling stories of everyday life which often reflect the bigger picture of this life we lead. (“Songs for local heroes,” as one punter said.)

Kip Winter (vocals, accordion, guitar, flute) is one of the finest singers on the circuit, expressing power and emotion in equal measure “from melting to belting”.

Dave Wilson (vocals, guitar and banjo) is amongst the top tier of British song writers, with his songs covered by some of folk’s “greats”.

But it’s in live performance that Winter Wilson really excel, bringing a sense of intimacy to every stage, welcoming audiences into their world, mixing songs with stories of life on the road. “This isn’t a performance – it’s a domestic!”

Tight harmonies, killer songs and a lot of fun – that’s Winter Wilson.

Recently supported Fairport Convention!

RESCHEDULED: Shakespeare's tale of love and loss becomes compelling dance drama in Christopher Wheeldon's ballet adaptation, with music by Joby Talbot

Christopher Wheeldon, Artistic Associate of The Royal Ballet, created his adaptation of Shakespeare’s late great romance The Winter’s Tale for The Royal Ballet in 2014. Building on the success of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Winter’s Tale received ecstatic praise at its premiere, acclaimed by critics and audiences alike for its intelligent, distinctive and emotionally powerful story, told through exquisite dance. It is now widely judged to be a modern ballet classic.
The story follows the destruction of a marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child and a seemingly hopeless love. Yet, through remorse and regret – and after a seemingly miraculous return to life – the ending is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. With powerful designs by Bob Crowley and atmospheric music by Joby Talbot, The Winter’s Tale is a masterful modern narrative ballet.

Approximate running time: 3 hours, including two intervals.

CHOREOGRAPHY CHRISTOPHER WHEELDON
MUSIC JOBY TALBOT

The Witham Friends' Discount Event!

Presenting work by selected artists from TeesdaleArtNet.  Presenting work by selected artists from TeesdaleArtNet, the recently established network for all artists living or working in the dale.

This is an exciting exhibition running alongside the inaugural TeesdaleArtNet Open Studios event featuring all aspects of visual art created locally.

Closed Sundays and Mondays

The extraordinary true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria's (Academy Award winner Judi Dench) remarkable rule.  Judy Dench stars in this compelling drama about the true story of Queen Victoria's unlikely friendship with a young Indian clerk.

Celebrate spring by making relief prints with inspiration from plants and flowers - this workshop was postponed from 3rd March. due to the adverse weather conditions.  Karen Babayan presents Patterns in Nature.  Spring is on its way and in celebration we will use plants and flowers as inspiration.  Participants will make a series of sketches, which they will then develop into relief prints incorporating repeat pattern and colour.

Nancy Kerr, James Fagan, Jess and Richard Arrowsmit.  From deep roots in their hometown’s vibrant music, song and dance scene, to smashing concert appearances in the UK and abroad, Sheffield-based Melrose Quartet have attracted a reputation for making music that truly connects with people. All four are internationally renowned singers, instrumentalists, writer/composers and teachers and in 2017 they were proud to be named the new patrons of Whitby Folk week.

Their latest album Dominion expands and strengthens the musical presence they first asserted with “Fifty Verses”, their 2014 BBC Folk Award-nominated debut CD.

In concert, Melrose Quartet perform a diverse repertoire - carousing chorus songs, lively dance tunes, ancient stories and modern pieces written in celebration of everything from weddings & birthdays to issues that affect all of our 21st century lives. This is music for everybody.

Melrose Quartet are known for their outstanding workshops ranging from harmony singing to accompaniment, and they also can offer The Melrose Ceilidh Band, with the addition of Nigel Holmes on Bass. This is a ceilidh with a difference, as the band use singing as well as instruments for the dance music, to great effect.

Live Screening by the Royal Ballet.

Kenneth MacMillan’s source for Manon was the 18th-century French novel by Abbé Prévost, already adapted for opera by Massenet and Puccini. Renowned dance musician Leighton Lucas and his assistant Hilda Gaunt provided a score drawn from across Massenet’s music, including his famous yearning Elégie as the theme for the lovers. The premiere was given on 7 March 1974, with the lead roles of Manon and Des Grieux danced by Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. The ballet quickly became a staple of The Royal Ballet’s repertory, and a touchstone of adult, dramatic dance.

MacMillan found new sympathy with the capricious Manon and her struggle to escape poverty. Designs by his regular collaborator Nicholas Georgiadis reflect this, depicting a world of lavish splendour polluted by miserable destitution. MacMillan’s spectacular ensemble scenes for the whole Company create vivid, complex portraits of the distinct societies of Paris and New Orleans. But it is Manon and Des Grieux’s impassioned pas de deux – recalling the intensity of MacMillan’s earlier Romeo and Juliet – that drive this tragic story, and make Manon one of MacMillan’s most powerful dramas.

What does it mean to be a man or a woman?

Is gender innate or is it nurtured?

Kit is in an amusing and unique position, having transitioned from female to male in his early thirties, he has experienced adult life on both sides of the gender fence, giving him the opportunity to notice what differences there are in how he is treated by society - what he gains and what he loses by becoming a man. However, his biggest challenge comes when he enters a male gym changing room for the first time and is confronted by masculinity in all its forms - the good, the bad and the ugly. What kind of man will he be when he finishes changing? With this refreshingly honest and irreverent physical theatre comedy by critically acclaimed company Rhum and Clay and darkly comic theatre writer and director Kit Redstone, they explore the epic path that we all have to take when trying to forge an identity.

What kind of 'man' are you?

Winner of the best theatre show award at the Pleasance 2017 & nominated for the Peter Brook Empty Space Award 2017

Multi-layered and gripping physical theatre piece. - Lyn Gardner

Presented by Rhum and Clay

Jewellery, prints, jams, toys, cards, scarves, hats, chocolate, soaps, knitted-gifts, puzzles, wooden-gifts, bags, vintage

Based in Cumbria, Northern Crafts are event organisers, running arts, craft, gift and wedding events in Cumbria and the North East of England.

Founded in 2012, they aim to provide local artists and craftspeople with access to good quality venues and events at affordable prices.

They have a wide variety of artists and craftspeople featured on our website and present at our fairs, along with a selection of purveyors of quality gifts and foods.

Reviving the tradition of Longsword Dancing teams from Teesdale schools and further afield present the grand finale of the 'Day of Dance' in Barnard Castle - the first of its kind in the country - with Town Mayor Sandra Moorhouse presenting awards and certificates.

Performance recorded in HD from Teatro Alla Scala.  Soprano Rosa Feola takes to the stage in this opera directed by Riccardo Chailly. Don Pasquale follows an old bachelor who decides to marry and produce an heir to spite his disobedient nephew Ernesto, who wants to marry for love rather than money. But Pasquale’s chosen bride isn’t who she seems and bears her own secret...

Conductor: Riccardo Chailly

Stage Director: Davide Livermore

Starring: Ambrogio Maestri and Rosa Feola

Shakespeare’s psychological thriller marks Christopher Eccleston’s RSC debut and Niamh Cusack’s return to the company.  Returning home from battle, the victorious Macbeth meets three witches on the heath. Driven by their disturbing prophecies, he sets out on the path to murder. This contemporary production of Shakespeare's darkest psychological thriller marks both Christopher Eccleston's RSC debut and the return of Niamh Cusack to the company

Winner of two BBC Folk Awards 2017: The Horizon Award for best newcomer and Best Traditional Track

Daoirí is one of the most important traditional singers to emerge in the last decade - Dónal Lunny

I’ve been listening to Daoirí’s emerging sounds since first hearing him at the Góilin Singers Club in Dublin when he was a young lad….always a treat to hear him sing - Christy Moore

Effortless, instinctive, natural…the real deal -  Mark Radcliffe, BBC Radio 2 Folk Show

A former electrician, who decided to change profession after seeing Christy Moore perform on Irish TV, Dublin-born traditional singer and bouzouki player Daoirí (pronounced ‘Derry’) Farrell is being described by some of the biggest names in Irish folk music as one of most important singers to come out of Ireland in recent years, and has delivered the album to prove them right.

After a promising debut album, The First Turn, back in 2009; Daoirí spent several years studying traditional music and performance at The University of Limerick. It was here that Fintan Vallely introduced him to the singing of the late Liam Weldon, an encounter that was to prove formative to his sound and his approach to folk song.

Daoirí had cut his teeth as a singer in Dublin’s famous Góilin Singers Club, where he was spotted early on by Christy Moore, and at other sessions across the city, many of which he still visits.  Following his studies he quickly found work accompanying artists including Christy Moore himself, as well as a list of names that sounds like a who’s who of folk music: Dónal Lunny, Martin Hayes, Dennis Cahill, Alan Doherty, Danú, Dervish, Julie Fowlis, Arty McGlynn, The John Carty Big Band, Kíla, Sean Keane, Gerry O’Connor (Banjo), Gerry O’Connor (Fiddle), Lynched and more.  In 2013 he won the All Ireland Champion Singer award at the Fleadh in Co. Derry, and in 2015 won the prestigious Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections in Glasgow with the line-up FourWinds.

Daoirí finally stepped into the limelight launched his own solo live career at the 2016 Celtic Connections.

His determination not to put out another album until he was sure it was the best he could produce, means the long-awaited release of True Born Irishman in October 2016 was hugely anticipated.  And indeed when a stream of the album was accidentally leaked online for around an hour in July, it was being shared and tweeted about within minutes. The ten track album was recorded in Dublin across the first half of 2016 and was produced by Daoirí with Tony Byrne and Robbie Walsh.  It features contributions from, among others, Michael McGoldrick, and is dedicated to departed Irish traditional singer Liam Weldon.

As the final touches were being made to the album, and as a relative unknown to the UK audience, in May 2016 he was invited to fly to Manchester to do a live session on the BBC Radio 2 Folk Show with Mark Radcliffe. Two UK tours and UK festival dates followed in 2016 including Moseley Folk Festival, Broadstairs Folk Week and FolkEast.

Calls were coming in from across the world and dates were put in place in Australia, Canada, Belgium, Denmark

Presented by award winning performance company, Curious Seed.  This internationally acclaimed production, Chalk About was created for young audiences aged 8+ and is a playful, funny and sometimes moving look at how we see ourselves and others, featuring dance, chalk, chat and one perfect scene containing everything you could wish for…

Chalk About explores the nature of identity and asking some BIG questions.  What makes us who we are?  Is it where we are from?  Or how we talk?  Is it the way we dance?  Our pasts, our futures?  And, most importantly, doesn’t everyone like pizza?

Bought to The Witham thanks to Highlights Rural Touring Scheme.

Award-winning performance company, Curious Seed, was formed in 2005 by Scottish choreographer, Christine Devaney.  Based in Edinburgh, we produce and present compelling, dance theatre work that questions the world we live in; work which touches and moves people, unlocking new ways of experiencing and feeling something different about the world.

They collaborate with exceptional artists - musicians, actors, dancers, designers and video makers – to create emotionally charged performances that reach across ages and art forms, and to bring something unique to the dance landscape of Scotland.  Their work has been presented across the globe from Milan to Macao, New Zealand to Norway; appearing at prestigious international festivals and venues from Sadler’s Wells to Sydney Opera House.

(For ages 8+)

Chalk About was commissioned by Imaginate, supported through the Scottish Government's Edinburgh Festivals Expo Fund. Produced by Catalyst Dance Management and co-produced in association with Tanzhaus NRW [Dusseldorf] and The Work Room [Glasgow]. Supported by Fresh Tracks Europe and Artspace.

Felt Art - a workshop of wild abandon…… Learn how to create stunning pieces of textural felt art in this fun and creative session using a wonderful selection of wool (including merino), silks and other fibres. You will come away with at least two pieces of work, where you will experiment and understand how fibres go together in the process of felt making.

Presented by Luke Wright.  We all want something to believe in. It’s 1987 and Frankie Vah gorges on love, radical politics, and skuzzy indie stardom. But can he keep it all down?

Following the multi-award-winning What I Learned From Johnny Bevan, Luke Wright’s second verse play deals with love, loss, and belief, against a backdrop of skuzzy indie venues and 80s politics. Expect frenetic guitars, visceral verse, and a Morrissey-sized measure of heartache.

Written and performed in deft verse by Fringe First & Stage Award for Acting Excellence winner, Luke Wright.

With Frankie Vah, he’s managed to craft a gorgeously-worded powerhouse of a play, in one of the only verse dramas that could claim to get a crowd cheering and stamping their feet throughout. Again. ★★★★★ Broadway Baby

This is a mature, lyrical and politically relevant piece of poetic writing … beautifully performed…  I watched and listened in awe and pleasure, just drinking, drinking, drinking in the beauty of this show. ★★★★★ Exeunt

This isn’t just socialist agit-prop, though; it reaches far further than that. In his visceral, virile verse, Wright skewers the essential cadences of all political drama. ★★★★ The Stage

The Witham Friends' Discount Event!

Presented by Old Kent Road.  SEE THE SOUND. FEEL THE MOVEMENT.

The show takes a journey through quintessential jazz, entangling movement within the graceful perspective of tap dance. Conversations of question and answer between soloists of the band and the performers expose emotions and trigger manoeuvres back and forth between each art form on stage.

Led by a live musical force the show takes an experimental ride attempting to understand the journey of falling out of love. These fervent dancers find ways to uncover their passion, love for, and raw relationship with tap dance. Using the sparse setup of the wooden boards concealing how love can never be defined, Fall Out pushes the boundaries of strength and intensity through the bare sounds of music and dance, articulated through complex rhythms and spectacularly technical performance.

Running time: 55 mins, no interval

Age: All

The internationally acclaimed choreographer’s interpretation of the classic fairy tale has, at its heart, a true war-time romance. A chance meeting results in a magical night for Cinderella and her dashing young RAF pilot, together just long enough to fall in love before being parted by the horrors of the Blitz. The sights and sounds of war-torn London are recreated by Lez Brotherston’s Olivier Award-winning costumes and sets, lighting by Olivier Award-winning Neil Austin and surround sound designed by Paul Groothuis. Matthew Bourne’s vivid story telling has never been more heart-stopping and touching, and will take the audience into the heart of Prokofiev’s magnificent score.

‘A dazzling spectacle’
The Times

‘A big-hearted ballroom Blitz. Cinders sets the stage alight in Matthew Bourne's wartime revival’
The Observer

'A Valentine to the power of love’
LA Times

Recorded at Sadler’s Wells, London in 2017
Running time: 110 minutes (3 acts, no interval)

Ballet recorded live in HD from Teatro Alla Scala

Le Corsaire follows the swashbuckling adventures of a dashing pirate who journeys across the high seas to save his beloved from the Pasha’s harem with danger looming at every turn.
With lavish sets and costumes, the choreography mirrors Russian ballet master Maris Petipa’s revival from 19th century St. Petersburg.

Full of action, passion and a romantic twist form the heart of this unmissable ballet.

Conductor: Patrick Fournillier
Choreographer: Anna-Marie Holmes

Two of folk music's most highly regarded and celebrated musicians, John McCusker and Heidi Talbot, are joining forces for the first time as a duo.

2018 will see Heidi and John celebrate their tenth year as musical partners with a new EP released in November on Under One Sky Records and an extensive Uk & European tour. John has produced Heidi's last 3 albums, they have both toured all over the globe in each others live bands but this will be the first time the pair collaborate exclusively as a duo.

Between them they have shared the stage with among others - Paul Weller, Mark Knopfler, Alison Krauss, James Taylor, Teenage Fanclub, Graham Coxon, Eddi Reader, King Creosote, Tim O'Brien and Jerry Douglas.

“One of the UK’s most gifted and versatile musicians in any genre, John McCusker is equally in demand as a multi-instrumentalist, producer and

composer”. The Guardian

“Simply vocal heaven” The Sunday Times

Swan Lake has had a special role in the repertory of The Royal Ballet since 1934. While remaining faithful to the Petipa-Ivanov text, Scarlett will bring fresh eyes to the staging of this classic ballet, in collaboration with his long-term designer John Macfarlane.
Prince Siegfried chances upon a flock of swans while out hunting. When one of the swans turns into a

beautiful woman, Odette, he is enraptured. But she is under a spell that holds her captive, allowing her to regain her human form only at night. Swan Lake was Tchaikovsky’s first ballet score. Given its status today as arguably the best loved and most admired of all classical ballets, it is surprising Swan Lake was poorly received at its premiere in 1877. It is thanks to the 1895 production by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov that Swan Lake has become part of not only ballet consciousness but also wider popular culture. That success is secured not only by the sublime, symphonic sweep of Tchaikovsky’s score, but also by the striking choreographic contrasts between Petipa’s royal palace scenes and the lyric lakeside scenes created by Ivanov.
The Royal Ballet Choreography: Liam Scarlett and Frederick Ashton after Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Music: Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky

Four acts, approx. 180 minutes (including two intervals)

This breathtakingly beautiful Tony® Award-winning Broadway musical, inspired by the Oscar® winning MGM film, tells the impassioned story of discovering love in the ‘City of Light’.

Featuring the gorgeous music and lyrics of George and Ira Gershwin (including the classic hits ‘S Wonderful and I Got Rhythm), stunning designs, and show-stopping choreography. With a record-setting 28 five-star reviews from critics, An American in Paris is coming from London’s West End to a cinema near you.

Jerry Mulligan is an American GI striving to make it as a painter in a city suddenly bursting with hope and possibility. Following a chance encounter with a beautiful young dancer named Lise, the streets of Paris become the backdrop to a sensuous, modern romance of art, friendship and love in the aftermath of war...

Experience this “truly ravishing” (The Guardian) production in the comfort of The Witham.

The East Pointers write about real life, sketching out its joys and sorrows in vivid strokes.  The East Pointers - fiddler/singer Tim Chaisson, banjoist Koady Chaisson and guitarist Jake Charron – have spent the last two years touring Canada, the US, the UK, and Australia in support of their JUNO Award winning album, Secret Victory.
In 2016, they won ‘Touring Artist of the Year’ at the Music PEI Awards and ‘Ensemble of the Year’ at the Canadian Folk Music Awards. Their sophomore album, What We Leave Behind, produced by songwriter/producer Gordie Sampson, will be released in September 2017.

What We Leave Behind carves a new path for The East Pointers, as they continue to blur the lines between traditional and popular music and develop a devoted fan base around the globe.

The ruined aftermath of a bloody civil war. Ruthlessly fighting to survive, the Macbeths are propelled towards the crown by forces of elemental darkness. 

Directed by Rufus Norris

Shakespeare’s most intense and terrifying tragedy, directed by Rufus Norris (The Threepenny Opera, London Road), will see Rory Kinnear (Young Marx, Othello) and Anne-Marie Duff (Oil, Suffragette) return to the National Theatre to play Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

What if your first true love was someone you’d been told you must hate? 

Set in a world very like our own, this Romeo and Juliet is about a generation of young people born into violence and ripped apart by the bitter divisions of their parents.

The most famous story of love at first sight explodes with intense passion and an irresistible desire for change, but leads all too quickly to heartbreaking consequences.

Music Director John Butt conducts the Dunedin Consort—one of the UK’s leading Baroque ensembles—in Samling Academy Opera’s production of John Blow’s Venus and Adonis and Henry Purcell’s Come, ye Sons of Art.

Featuring Samling Artist Tim Morgan as Cupid and Samling Academy Singers, this production is directed by Samling Artist Miranda Wright and choreographed by Mandy Demetriou.

Don’t miss the chance to witness this double-bill of Blow’s masterpiece, considered the first English opera, and Purcell’s much loved Baroque ode dedicated to Queen Mary.

Samling Academy Opera is generously supported by The Shears Foundation, The Foyle Foundation, Sir James Knott Trust, Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland, The Barbour Foundation, Newcastle University, Durham University, Sage Gateshead, The Joicey Trust

Photo credit: Samling Academy singers Rachel Bird and Peter Dunn © Jen Hart, 2017

Winners of the 2016 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Original Track .

The Rheingans Sisters make playful, powerful and richly connecting music that is wholly contemporary while deeply anchored in folk traditions. Drawing on their pan-European musical scholarship (having studied extensively in France, Sweden and Norway) and their spirited mission to make connections between the music of different geographical roots, they have developed a rich artistic approach to the deconstruction and reimagining of traditional music alongside their own beguiling compositions. Since the release of their award-winning album Already Home (2015) audiences across the UK, Europe and Australia have been captivated by their live performances; as full-hearted performers and on-stage improvisors - via the adventurous use of fiddles, voices, banjo, bansitar, tambourin à cordes, poetry and percussion - The Rheingans Sisters are a unique and unmissable act on the folk and world music stage today. Their hotly anticipated third album 'Bright Field' is released in March 2018.

"Superb" - The Independent

“Magnificent… music you wish to return to again and again” ★★★★★ - Songlines

“The Rheingans Sisters enchanted one and all with their reverie on stage” - The Canberra Times

“Quite simply extraordinary”- fRoots

Troilus and Cressida swear they will always be true to one another. But in the seventh year of the siege of Troy their innocence is tested, and exposed to the savage corrupting influence of war, with tragic consequences.

Virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie collaborates with RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran to create a satirical futuristic vision of a world resounding with the rhythm of battle, broadcast live to cinemas from Shakespeare's home town.

The Greek army is encamped under the walls of Troy and, at the point at which the play begins, the war has reached stalemate. The Greeks are quarrelling amongst themselves. Achilles, their greatest champion, refuses to fight and has withdrawn to his tent with his lover, Patroclus. Equally at odds with themselves, the Trojans are debating the value of continuing the war merely for the sake of keeping Helen.

Troilus is much distracted from these military concerns by his love for Cressida, the daughter of a Trojan who has defected to the Greek camp. The young lovers are eagerly assisted by Cressida's uncle Pandarus, who acts as their go-between. However, after only one night together they are parted when Cressida is sent to join her father in the Greek camp. Almost immediately she betrays Troilus with the Greek Diomedes and, discovering this, Troilus is plunged into despair.

With the fall of Troy certain, Troilus vows revenge on Achilles.