A Taste Of Honey, Darlington Civic Theatre
Shelagh Delaney wrote this play when she was only 18, her first attempt at writing for the theatre.
Rocky Horror Show, York Grand Opera House
Thirty-three years after debuting in a small London theatre, Richard O'Brien's show is still going strong.
A reluctant member of the glitterati
Christopher Biggins, one of the first people to see The Rocky Horror Show, tells Steve Pratt about the unfortunate mishap that befell one of the original cast members.
Success out of step
Dancer, artist and choreographer Bill Shannon talks about his career with critches.
George's Marvellous Medicine: Darlington Civic Theatre
SUCH is the spell-binding nature of a nasty grandma who talks about eating caterpillars that throats are furry with concentration when George (Matthew Noble) first asks a theatre bursting with youngsters to give vocal support for his ingredients for the marvellous medicine. Not for long, however.
The Marriage of Figaro: Newcastle Theatre Royal
A who thinks opera is dry and po-faced should start off with Mozart's comic piece The Marriage of Figaro, condemned when it was first performed as vulgar and frivolous.
Trainspotting, Gala Theatre, Durham
TEN years after its premiere, the thought-provoking play that inspired the cult film is shocking the country once again. It is based on the best-selling first novel from Scottish author Irvine Welsh about a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh.
The New Statesman: Episode 2006, The Blair B'stard Project, York Grand Opera House
Those seeking subtle political satire will be sorely disappointed by this stage version of the award-winning series that ran on ITV in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This is a show that takes sadistic, schoolboy delight in being as rude, smutty and politically incorrect as the law allows.
Treading a different path
Steve Pratt talks to the director of a group which aims to integrate the disabled into mainstream theatre productions.
A dodgy bit of business
Viv Hardwick reports on the thigh-slapping, high-kicking bonanza that is one of Opera North's latest productions.
They're our Fair Ladies
AMY Nuttall is quite frankly surprised to hear so many favourable comparisons with Audrey Hepburn as she brings Eliza Doolittle and My Fair Lady to the North-East until the end of May.
Strangers On A Train: Newcastle Theatre Royal
WITH a well-known cast that includes Alex Ferns, and a play based on Patricia Highsmith's best-selling thriller, this promised to be an exciting evening's entertainment.
Blasted, The Studio, York Theatre Royal
TEN years after its first performance, Sarah Kane's controversial play has lost none of its ability to shock. List just a few of the horrors in the story - cannibalism, male rape, mutiliation - and you can understand why the play provoked such a bitter for and against debate on its debut in London.
Hero and heroin
EXPECT few anoraks, horn-rimmed spectacles and well-thumbed notebooks when Trainspotting arrives at Durham's Gala in a couple of week's time. Young people have been turning out in droves for the adaptation on tour of Irvine Welsh's infamous novel about Edinburgh low-life which spawned the cult 1996 film starring Ewan McGregor as drug addict Mark Renton.
My Fair Lady, Sunderland Empire
WITH a little bit of blooming luck, this may well be the North-East's best musical so far. While not boasting the electronic muscle of predecessor Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a show featuring Lerner & Loewe's adult-attractive clutch of songs has ageless appeal.
More stars but fewer RSC plays
Patrick Stewart of Star Trek fame; comic actress Tamsin Greig and Casualty star Patrick Robinson are among the well-known names coming to Newcastle for this autumn's Royal Shakespeare Company season. But Steve Pratt discovers that the impact of producing all the Bards's works at Stratford has reduced the Tyneside season to four works.
Key boys
Describing themselves as 'more hairdresser than barbershop', 4 Poofs And A Piano have worked with many of their idols on Jonanthan Ross's Fiday night chat show. Now they're supporting another icon, Joan Collins, on her nationwide tour. They talks to Steve Pratt.
Daughters of war
The team behind a new play exploring the issues of war ended up risking their own lives in the name of research, Steve Pratt discovers.
A virtual journey to the jungle
The warmth of the people of the North-East more than made up for the cool climate, children's writer Eva Ibbotson tells Steve Pratt
A write turn for the punk princess
Afer 20 years in the punk collective Chumbawamba, late-starter Alice Nutter felt impelled to make serious changes in her life, she tells Steve Pratt.
Sweet Charity: Darlington Civic Theatre
NEIL Simon's book about Charity Hope Valentine, the girl who wanted to be loved, has been a successful Broadway production and a Hollywood movie starring Shirley MacLaine.
West Side Story: Newcastle Theatre Royal
THE excellent West End Operatic Society has taken a calculated risk in putting on the smash hit 50s revamp of the Romeo and Juliet tale, set in the streets of New York.
The Magical Dance of Ireland, Darlington Civic Theatre
DESPITE the rival attractions of Michael Flatley's touring Celtic Tiger show up on Tyneside the Civic was close to capacity on Saturday to see a scaled-down version of the now hugely popular Irish dance experience.
Should the Big Bad Wolf go free?
The wolf gets the chance to tell his side of the story in Nick Lane's inventive retelling of the Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. He talks to Steve Pratt.
A man with a trick up his sleeve
Steve Pratt talks to an entertainer who has a lot of magic in his life, even after killing off the Great Soprendo.
Edward Scissorhands, Newcastle Theatre Royal
Edward Scissorhands is a work that generates strong feelings in its devotees; sometimes when you really, really love a film and then go to see a stage production it can be a big disappointment.
We all do silly things
"IF you ask Leslie Grantham questions about THAT Internet episode or his family he'll put the phone down", I was warned. But as he recently hit the headlines again about being allowed to return home by his wife it was a risk worth taking. And, the phone does go down... 'twice', but only because his mobile reception fails. Leslie remains chatty, upbeat and optimistic about his future as he brings Jeffrey Archer adaptation Beyond Reasonable Doubt to Darlington's Civic Theatre next month.
The Far Corner, Durham Gala Theatre
Football is often said to be sporting theatre, so it is somewhat surprising that the national game has generally been overlooked when it comes to the stage.
A perfect Coward
"IT'S not 'either' writing, directing or appearing as Gary Essendine in Noel Coward's Present Laugher it's AND," says Simon Callow correcting me with a laugh about his workaholic lifestyle.
Boyle Yer Stotts: Worlds Apart at The Customs House, South Shields
SOUTH Tyneside audiences are revelling in the success of another homespun playwriting partnership this week.
Rocking the jungle
Viv Hardwick talks to Stockton actor/dancer Ben Redfern about returning to the North-East in the popular family show The Jungle Book which plays Billingham and Sunderland.
Northern Sinfonia, Sage Gateshead
If laughter is the best medicine then an audience was well and truly cured after an evening of Charlie Chaplin at the Sage Gateshead.
Wars Of The Roses, Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
It began at 10.30am with the funeral of one king and ended 12 hours later with the death of another English monarch.
Why the King is all shook up
Gyrations can be bad for your health, the actor playing Elvis in a new musical tells Viv Hardwick.
Feeling runs high
ZOE Birkett clearly isn't in love with her mobile phone. A first attempt to contact her on tour with musical What A Feeling! results in a forthright ansaphone message about the **** reception of the Motorola V3.
The Vermeer Quartet: Sage Gateshead.
The Vermeer Quartet carry the name of an artist whose command of the translucent effects of light is legendary.
A Nightingale Sang In Eldon Square, Live Theatre, Newcastle
Nearly 30 years have passed since CP Taylor's hugely enjoyable play was first performed when this atmospheric Quayside theatre was only a few years old.
Old Big 'Ead, The Spirit Of The Man, Billingham Forum Theatre
IT doesn't sound like a promising idea at first... Football legend Brian Clough receives a message from an angel and comes back from the dead to help pen a play about Robin Hood?
La Boheme, Sunderland Empire
THE first thing that struck me about this production, from the Chisinau National Opera through Ellen Kent and Opera International, was the youthfulness of the cast. They looked as though they really could be living through the days spent in their freezing attic, sharing whatever they had and always hoping Fate would propel them to fame and fortune.
Dale's cup
South Shields actor Dale Meeks is leaving Emmerdale but is taking on the World Cup in his local theatre before he goes. The actor talks to Viv Hardwick about his new play and how his brother Philip joined the TV soap as a acriptwriter.
In injury time
Barbara Maren tells Steve Pratt that she'd come to terms with the demands of the theatre until the Teessider discovered that playing a role from a wheelchair, in Arthur Miller's Broken Glass, really did give her a bad back.
Trouble with the king's knee
It takes more than a snub by the Royal Shakespeare Company to stop bluff Yorkshireman Barrie Rutter in his tracks. Steve Pratt reports.
Game for football
ACTOR David Nellist's big claim to sporting fame is that he once took the field as a schoolboy against the famous Wallsend Boys' Club containing Alan Shearer.
See How They Run, Theatre Royal, Newcastle
FROM the sandbags stashed around the theatre to the penetrating melodies and rhythms of World War Two's popular music, played on loudspeakers everywhere, the current touring production of See How They Run rolls out a barrel of appropriate nostalgia.
Future acts
Philip Bernays is the new man in charge of putting Newcastle's Theatre Royal on the map in the 21st centrury. He talks to Viv Hardwick about the fast-approaching £5.2m rebuild and what's around the corner for Tyneside's most attractive venue.
The Sleeping Beauty: Birmingham Royal Ballet at Sunderland Empire
A MAGNIFICENT golden curtain set the tone for this stunning production by Peter Wright of The Sleeping Beauty, and as it drew back to reveal the set for the royal court, there was a gasp of pleasure from the audience.
Scuffer, Courtyard Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse
It's nearing the end of a difficult day for Danny in Mark Catley's vibrant and energetic new play set in the Beeston area of Leeds.
Taylor-made tribute
The amazing but tragic career of North-East playwright C P Taylor is recalled this week.
Buddy, Darlington Civic Theatre
ELLIOT Harper is close to becoming our best Buddy as he dons the famous thick-rimmed specs to continue the British love affair with a US-based musical which started back in 1989.
The Hollow, Billingham Forum
WHAT is it about murder that so fascinates us? Whatever, it has made Agatha Christie a national treasure, and 30 years after her death, she's still as popular as ever.
Tales of triumph
A LOT of firsts are arriving for Darlington-born actor Darren Tunstall who is about to open in Royal Shakespeare Company's ensemble tour of The Canterbury Tales at Sunderland's Seaburn Centre next week.
Double delight
With leading roles in a Yorkshire stage premiere and a film, North-East actors Richard Glaves and David Leon are two of our brightest rising stars. Steve Pratt talks to them about Scuffers, playwrights and working with Lauren Bacall.
Extra steps
Viv Harwick talks to Brimingham Royal Ballet artistic director David Bintley about his decision to bring Cyrano back for audiences on Wearside, just as Sleeping Beauty is ready to delight dance fans.
Ballet interesting
IT'S happened with ballroom dancing, ice skating and, to a lesser degree, opera and classical music, but can a reality TV series raise the profile of ballet by kicking open the class door to Billy Elliot wannabes? Yes, says Birmingham Royal Ballet artistic director David Bintley, who is bringing his company to the North-East and North Yorkshire more and more often.
Kensuke's Kingdom, Darlington Civic Theatre
A JOURNEY of a lifetime sailing around the world with his parents becomes a voyage of discovery for Michael when he is washed overboard and finds himself in Kensuke's Kingdom.
So Shaw about Mrs Pat
Steve Pratt discovers why Isla Blair finds an actress from another century so fascinating as she prepares for Yorks' world premiere of Mrs Pat.
Lessons in love
Back on screen and back in pantomime at Newcastle's Theatre Royal, Jill Halfpenny continues to put her best foot forward with her acting career. The Geordie Strictly Come Dancing winner talks to Steve Pratt.
Gangster rap
Joining Angela Rippon on stage for Anything Goes was a terrifying prospect for Michael Starke. He talks to Viv Hardwick about his major musical debut alongside the ex-BBC announcer while cast members Harry Howard and Middlesbrough's Dawn Spence tell all about touring.
Saturday Night Fever: Newcastle Theatre Royal
IT'S the show that made white polyester fashionable, and many of the audience were there at the time.
Talking Heads, Harrogate Theatre
MIDDLE-aged Graham feels threatened after his mam meets an old boyfriend. Vicar's wife Susan deals with life by drowning her sorrows. And Doris's obsession with tidying up has potentially tragic repercussions.
A Brand of gold
Battered but unbowed, Jo Brand heads for York knowing that a new novel and TV awaits this queen of comedy.
Thinking big
He was never going to be a mathematician, Dara O'Briain tells Viv Hardwick, but he's glad that people remember his name. TV's Mock The Week chairman is rated as the intelligent man of stand-up as he heads for the North-East.
Romeo & Juliet, Darlington Civic Theatre
DIRECTOR Billy Bryden's soaring use of an all-purpose wooden platform and backdrop - take a bow production carpenter Bob Fitzsimmons - slots apart like a Christmas puzzle to provide everything from balcony scene to unlocked tomb.
Marrying The Mistress, Newcastle Theatre Royal
JOANNA Trollope's best-selling novel has been skilfully adapted by David Taylor and features a well-respected cast whose faces will be familiar from TV programmes. This calibre of actor is more Judge John Deed and Midsomer Murders than Casualty and The Bill, and it's good to see them taking to the regional stage.
Hedda Gabler, Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse
WHEN it came to happiness, they forgot Hedda Gabler. Was there ever such an unhappy, discontented women, whose resentment at the world and its ways caused her to behave so poisonously?
Taking a fall... and loving it
Marlene Sidaway's family never expected her to become an actor... but its added up to a wonderful career, she tells Steve Pratt.
Titanic: The Musical, Durham Gala Theatre
THE unsinkable Durham Musical Theatre Company takes on Maury Yeston's relatively new musical version of the Titanic story, and the company rises to the challenge with admirable professionalism.
Pioneering spirit
Long-running children's show Rentaghost is now a manic muscial thanks to ex-jungle king Joe Pasquale.
Swinging career
In between trapeze work, Nathalia Tena is awaiting the film release of the next Harry Potter, in which she plays a crazy witch. She talks to Steve Pratt about how she began a stage a screen career by accident.
What a nurse
Darlington Civic Theatre favourite Su Pollard is back on the boards next week in her most adventurous role so far, that of Nurse in Romeo And Juliet. She talks to Viv Hardwick about making her Shakespearean debut and a possible return to TV as a hapless private detective.
Steptoe And Son In Murder At Oil Drum Lane, Comedy Theatre, London
EASTENDERS actress Barbara Windsor was in the front row, veteran actress June Whitfield was sitting a few rows behind.
September In The Rain, York Theatre Royal Studio
NICHOLAS Lane's revival of John Godber's two-hander is pretty much a perfect piece of theatre - funny, warm and touching.
Prisoner of fortune
Forced to return to acting because he was blacklisted as a builder, Ricky Tomlinson has gone on to become one of Britain's favourite actors thanks to Brookside, The Royle Family and Down To Earth. Viv Hardwick talks to him about his stage tour which reaches Durham's Gala Theatre next month.
What Lucy did next
Lucy Porter has written gags for some of our best known comedians. Now she's doing it for herself, she tells Steve Pratt.
The joy of Jerry
Rolf Saxon has a cult following as the voice of George in computer game Broken Sword, now he's on stage with tap-dancing Ku Klux Klansmen.
Rambert Dance Company: Newcastle Theatre Royal
I've never experienced modern dance before, so the knowledgeable comparisons by my colleagues went right over my head, as did some of the performance.
Just kidding
Viv Hardwick snatches a conversation with Confessions Of... film star Robin Askwith as he reveals that playing the evil Childcatcher is not without risk to the life and limb and why he loves life on the Isle of Gozo.
Anything goes
High-kicking former newsreader Angela Rippon talks about her musical debut at Darlington.
East is East, Gala, Durham
HAVING started as a play then become a smash hit film, the brilliant work by Ayub Khan-Din returns to the stage for this Pilot Theatre production.
Sub Zero, Middlesbrough Cineworld
MIDDLESBROUGH, sometime soon. The talk is of crime, anti-social behaviour and CCTV.
Mack the life
David Soul explains to Viv Hardwick why he gave up Jerry Springer The Musical to tour instead in Mack and Mabel playing the legendary silent movie mogul Mack Sennett. Chances are that the actor still known world-wide for his TV Starsky And Hutch days will end up in the West End as mightly Mack.
Bit on the side
Omid Djalili, 'Britain's only Iranian stand-up comedian and actor' is currently filming with Heath Ledger as Casanova's sidekick Lupo. He talks to Steve Pratt about his struggle to be taken seriously.
The Rakes, Newcastle University
IN a music scene saturated with indie bands, it's important to have a sound that is a little bit different.
Richard Thompson, Grand Opera House York
'I'VE got hundreds of records out at the moment - it's quite embarrassing," Richard Thompson told a near-capacity crowd at the York's Grand Opera House.
The King's Consort, The Sage Gateshead
A CAPACITY audience at the Sage Gateshead was transported back in time to the Baroque era by one of Europe's leading period instrument orchestras, joined by its equally renowned choir.
The Kooks, Carling Academy 2, Newcastle
W HEN The Kooks supported The Thrills on their UK tour in 2004, they were young, raw and a band with tremendous potential. Today that potential is being realised and they are quickly establishing themselves as one of the most exciting live bands of 2006.
The Reduced Shakespeare Company presents Completely Hollywood (abridged), Theatre Royal, Newcastle
THE energetic madcap humour of the fantastic RSC, which started life as a pass-the-hat show in San Francisco 25 years ago, is laugh out loud comedy but also makes a serious point.
Spirited life of Brian
Two North-East theatres are fielding a tribute to Brian Clough, the greatest manager that England never had. Colin Tarrant talks about being in Cloughies boots.
Days of horror
From a sideshow at Stockton's Riverside Festival ten years ago, the Circus Of Horrors has become a regular on the theatre circuit attracting thousands of fans. Steve Pratt talks to big top boss John Haze.
Moscow City Ballet: Romeo & Juliet / The Nutcracker, Newcastle Theatre Royal
ARTISTIC director and founder Victor Smirnov-Golovanov blows away the cobwebs with this lavish new production of the world's favourite love story, Romeo and Juliet.
Cheers Charles
There are Great Expectations all round for Northern Stage as the Newcastle-based company goes on tour later this year. Viv Hardwick talks to associate director Neil Murray about the importance of Charles Dickens to the North-East as this lastest adaptation opens at Durham's Gala Theatre.
Musicals hit 'em for six
The lack of drama hasn't quite turned into a crisis for regional theatre, as Viv Hardwick discovers in his first weekly look at the North-East stage.
Clown prince
Big Brother winner Anthony Hutton's stage debut has helped Darlington Civic Theatre's panto break box office records. The former postman talks to Viv Hardwick about his new fitness DVD and his love life.
Barbara Dickson will take to stage
RENOWNED singer and actress Barbara Dickson will perform at a leading North-East venue this month.
Curtain up for Babes and The Hood
ROBIN Hood and Maid Marian are at large in North Yorkshire - in true pantomime style.
Dramatic debut
The annual festival of plays at the Customs House, South Shields, promise more exciting new experiences.
