Smith
presented by ARC Kids Senior
Friday 25th July
7.30pm
F:£6 C:£4
In the dangerous streets of 18th-century London, Smith a 12-year-old pickpocket lives in the shadow of the hangman's rope. Then one day he steals a document from a gentleman - only to witness his murder minutes later.
Lead by tutors Adam Exton and Mik Errington, ARC Kids Seniors will build on the success of last year's completely devised piece 'The Fulcrum' - with this performance of Smith by Leon Garfield, adapted by Robert Staunton.
Super Night Shot
presented by Gob Squad - Part of Stockton International Riverside Festival
Friday 1st and Saturday 2nd August
9pm
F:£6
Super Night Shot begins exactly one hour before you arrive at the theatre when Gob Squad take to the streets. Their cause? The war on anonymity. Their choice of weapon? Video cameras. Their mission? To produce a moment of pure emotion and passion.
Gob Squad’s work playfully looks at the construction of contemporary identity and the need for fantasy and spectacle in making sense of everyday life. Super Night Shot is a completely unpredictable show that elevates the everyday into the epic and plays with your perceptions of the familiar. Anything can happen, and usually does.
http://www.gobsquad.com/
View a Gob Squad Video here.
Popcorn Theatre Company presents Stags and Hens
Friday 5th September
7.30pm
F:£6 C:£4
Following their success at this year’s Shakespeare Youth festival Popcorn Theatre Company are proud to present Willy Russell’s hilarious, Stags & Hen’s.
Set in a trashy nightclub, the action is mainly in the gents and women's toilets of the disco where both Linda (The Bride) and Dave (The Groom) have decided to hold their stags and hens nights, not knowing that their other half is at the same place. When Linda's ex-boyfriend, Peter, arrives and offers her an escape. She is forced with a difficult decision - to stay or to go.
ION Productions presents Son of Samurai
Comedy
Thursday 18th – Saturday 20th September
7.30pm
F:£7 C:£6
A young Geordie shoe salesman discovers that he's the descendant of a legendary Samurai warrior, resulting in an inevitable and affectionate clash of cultures, attitudes and swords.
From the writers of hilarious smash hits Dirty Dusting and Waiting For Gateaux, and presented by Ion Productions in an original style which promises a high quota of laughs with some audience participation thrown in for good measure - well someone's got to do the sound effects!"
'Laugh out loud... the actor's comic timing is top notch... touching moments’. Shields Gazette
Open Clasp Theatre Company presents A Twist of Lemon
Comedy
Thursday 25th September
7.30pm
F:£9 C:£7
A Twist of Lemon highlights the courage, strength and humility of young lesbians and lesbians living in the North East. Butch Jackie wants a holiday, so four women set off to the island of Lesvos. However a lost suitcase, along with a white knuckle ride on the resorts banana boat not only put one woman’s back out but results in the women having a major fallout.
ARC Youth Theatre Company presents Blood Brothers
An amateur production by arrangement with Samuel French.
Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd October
7.30pm
F:£6 C:£4
Described as a Liverpudlian West Side Story, Willy Russell's popular tale, Blood Brothers tells the terrible story of two brothers separated at birth. Shrouded in superstition and sadness, it is a story of a class divide that breaks through blood and kin.
Fast-moving and perceptive, entertaining and thought-provoking, funny yet ultimately tragic.
Phantom of the Musicals
Musical Variety
Friday 3rd October
8pm
F:£10 C:£8
Phantom of the Musicals bring you all the latest and greatest from London's West End & Broadway. All the classic greats are included for your enjoyment. From the music of the maestro Andrew Lloyd Webber, to the magic of Les Miserables, plus classic greats such as West Side Story, Calamity Jane, Chicago, Evita, Grease and Mama Mia, to name but a few, are here for your entertainment.
Opera Della Luna presents Gilbert & Sullivan's Nightmare Songs
Operetta
Saturday 4th October
7.30pm
F:£12 C:£10
On a rainy night in a town in the North of England, the patter man’s understudy in the famous D’Oyly Carte Opera Company is given a day’s notice that he is ‘on’. A sleepless night ensues and in the dingy bedroom of his theatrical digs, he tries to rehearse his role – helped, but more often hindered, by one of the other residents of the house – an itinerant variety performer. This new music-theatre piece contains most of the G&S patter songs within a play that is in turns hilariously funny and surprisingly moving.
“There are laughs a-plenty in this fast-paced hour and a half of mayhem… Like the items on K o-Ko’s little list this really mustn’t be missed” Oxford Times
http://www.operadellaluna.org/
Mappa Mundi presents Canterbury Tales
Adaptation of Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.
Wednesday 15th October
8pm
F:£9 C:£7
Mappa Mundi’s new revival of their popular sell-out show takes Geoffrey Chaucer’s text and transforms it into a dramatic and comical entertainment, full of wit and charm.
As they make their annual pilgrimage to Canterbury, a group of Welsh commoners pass the time by performing some of Chaucer’s most appealing tales, filling the stage with a blend of boisterous comedy, romance and fetching images. The show features some of Chaucer’s best-loved stories (including The Miller’s Tale, The Nun’s Priest’s Tale and The Wife of Bath’s Tale), all set to a delightful Mappa Mundi score. Ideal for all those who enjoy earthy humour and a good story, Canterbury Tales is an enchanting, fast-paced entertainment guaranteed to put hair on your chest!
‘..Unashamedly populist, cleverly conceived and riotously funny..’
Western Mail on Canterbury Tales 2006
Suitable for audiences aged 12 and over.
Mr. Panda and the Mean Green Witch
Children's Theatre
Saturday 1st November
11am & 2pm
F:£8 C:£6 Family Tickets – For 5:£20 For 4:£15
Come and join the loveable Mr. Panda and friends in this fast, energetic children’s show, to capture the Mean Green Witch. Children discover why The Mean Green Witch is so sad- she hasn’t any friends! Join in with the singing, magic and adventure and meet Mr. Panda after the show!
Children’s tickets include a free fun-size bag of Haribo.
Box Clever Theatre Company presents Sixteen Up
Drama
Wednesday 5th and Thursday 6th November
7.30pm, 10.30am & 1.30pm
F:£8 C:£7 School F:£5
A Sort of Love Story
Step into the private world of 16-year-olds Ad and Evie.
There was a kiss.
There was a tongue.
And well, now there’s no more normal anymore.
Box Clever present a compelling new adaptation of their award-winning production SIXTEEN, offering an intimate, witty and unique take on the complexities and confusions of first love.
Through intricate wordplay a young couple challenges each other in their own private language, and their honesty and intensity entices the audience into a tender world of inexperience.
Following on the heels of last year’s acclaimed thriller DIRTY KISSING, this is the second tour in Box Clever’s Urban Mischief Project.
www.boxclevertheatre.com
Théâtre Sans Frontières presents La Pelota Mágica (The Magic Ball)
Children's Theatre
Tuesday 11th November
10.30am & 1.30pm
F:£5
Brother and sister Luis and Natalia, are playing in the foothills of the Andes. They see a beautiful, shimmering ball and chase after it. However, the ball belongs to the cold-eyed witch of the mountains! When Natalia is trapped by the witch’s magic, Luis must race against time to save her.
Théâtre Sans Frontières brings its flair for engaging children in different languages and cultures to this Argentinean folktale which is told through a combination of puppets, performers and live music. A short, free workshop is available to encourage children to learn and join in with the songs in the show.
An enchanting tale from Argentina performed in simple Spanish for 6 – 10 year olds, teachers, families and friends.
“It made new language fun and exciting. Both children and staff thought it was a great performance” Teacher, Holy Trinity CE Primary School, Stockton on Tees
Vivid Theatre Company presents Our Country’s Good by Timberlake Wertenbaker
Comedy Drama
Wednesday 12th – Saturday 15th November
7.30pm
F:£8 C:£6
‘Alone, frightened, nameless in this stinking hole of hell. Take me, my comfort, and we’ll remember England together…’
Australia, 1789. The first transport of prisoners has arrived and a young lieutenant has been given the impossible task of directing the convicts in a production of ‘The Recruiting Officer.’ With only two copies of the text, a leading lady who may be hanged and senior officers hell-bent on destroying the production, Ralph Clarke must prove that his cast are not animals but human beings who should be offered a second chance.
Leading Teesside theatre company Vivid return to ARC with Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Olivier award-winning comedy drama. Fresh from a year that has seen sell-out performances, productions at international theatre festivals and world premieres of new work, Vivid return to Teesside with their strongest piece yet. Be sure to book early.
‘Vivid Theatre Company always present fine acting, tightly performed’ broadwaybaby
Educational workshops on both this play and Brechtian theatre are available and sell out quickly. Please visit www.vividtheatrecompany.co.uk for more information.
Reform Theatre Company presents John Godber’s Bouncers
Comedy
Thursday 20th November
7.30pm
F:£10 C:£9 O:£6
After their 2005 sell out tour Reform return with their highly acclaimed version of one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, John Godber’s Bouncers.
It’s Friday night, it’s disco night – time for Bouncers to come alive!
Judd, Ralph, Les and Lucky Eric invite you for a night on the town in this hilarious and outrageous look back at the 80’s nightclub scene.
In the tatty, glamour and flashing lights we meet the smooth talking DJ, the lager swilling lads, the lip-sticked, laquered girls and many more gyrating to the pulsating beat of the dance floor.
And so begins the journey into Friday night under the ever watchful, ever ready, ever observant…… Bouncers.
Opera North presents Hansel and Gretal
Family Theatre/Opera
Thursday 4th and Friday 5th December
2pm & 7pm
F:£8 C:£5 Family Ticket: For 5:£22 For 4:£16.50
Humperdinck’s best loved opera Hansel and Gretel is a pure delight. This reduced version of the opera retains all of the beauty and charm of Humperdinck’s famous work and is the perfect opera for the whole family to enjoy. Performed by five singers, seven musicians and a children’s chorus from a local primary school, the music of the opera magically evokes the contrasting worlds of the story.
Don’t miss the chance to experience this enchanting fairytale classic which will lead you on a journey into the depths of the forest and through the realm of the supernatural!
ARClub Youth Theatre presents The Snow Queen
Sunday 21st December
2.30pm & 7.30pm
F:£6 C:£4
Kai is captured by the evil Snow Queen and whisked to her palace of ice. His friend Gerda sets out to rescue him with the help of the magical Jack Frost. They are followed by Gerda's grandmother, who, unbeknown to Gerda is a good witch. On the way, they encounter the riddling Crowman, a troll, the evil Black Ice and even Father Christmas!
Join the students of ARClub in their traditional Christmas pantomime, fun for all the family!