The People's Theatre new season

Plus some Newcastle Fringe highlights

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First of all, though, I wanted to thank everyone who has sent nice messages, bought be Ko-fi or gifts or otherwise just been super kind while I am still recovering from surgery. It’s actually taken way more out of me than I anticipated, and trying to balance rest and recovery while keeping on top of client stuff and general life admin has been pretty draining, so I appreciate everyone’s kindness and patience. (Also I am definitely not at 100% yet so please excuse any errors / typos).

[Image description: blood spatter fabric, cross stitch that says ‘he’s all and he’s more’]

New season at The People’s Theatre

I’ve talked plenty of times about how The People’s Theatre is a favourite of mine, offering quality amateur productions in a gorgeous venue (with a very nice bar, to boot). Its new season is typically ambitious, offering a mix of safe crowd pleasers (The Mirror Crack’d, by Agatha Christie, comes to the theatre next year) with bold contemporary choices.

These include Laura Wade’s Home, I’m Darling, which was a hit when it was staged at The National Theatre, and Christopher Hampton’s translation of Florian Zeller’s The Son, a story of teenage alienation likely to be a hit with fans of Adolescence.

A play by lauded local playwright Shelagh Stephenson, Enlightenment is billed as a psychological thriller that deals with a son gone missing on his gap year travels, only to mysteriously reappear.

A previous winner of the prestigious Papatango New Writing Prize, Matt Grinter’s drama Orca comes to the theatre’s studio, and is the story of two sisters in a remote fishing village caught up in an ancient ritual.

On a lighter note, Bleak Expectations by Mark Evans is a fun-sounding riff on Dickens, while The Ghost Train is billed as a “comedy thriller perfect for Halloween”. And, of course, there’s always the festive panto, which this year is The Wizard of Oz.

Remember that because it’s an amateur theatre, runs tend to be short, and the studio is very limited in space, so if you fancy something, I’d recommend booking well in advance. And if you are speedy, you can catch the next production, Waiting for God, based on the popular sitcom.

You can check out the full season here.

Newcastle Fringe

So, full disclosure. Because I have basically been sofa-bound for the last few weeks (and had to cancel four – FOUR – shows I had booked!) I have mostly been avoiding info about Newcastle Fringe, as I don’t want to see lots of promo for things I can’t go and see.

But I have been getting a lot of press releases, so below are some things that sound fun.

Sweet Boy’s Up in Lights is billed as a drag clown spectacular and tells the story of a non-binary drag clown’s journey to finding belonging, featuring comedy and music. It comes to Alphabetti at the start of August.

An afternoon of Opera with Rachel Abbott is a great chance to either hear some old favourites or, if you are unfamiliar with the genre but curious to know more, get a taster for opera in the unpretentious setting of The Old Coal Yard. Soprano Abbott’s credits include English National Opera, so she clearly knows her stuff.

Also at Alphabetti, Kathryn Haywood’s Magic and Sex is about becoming a magician, and she is also bringing her earlier show, the Offie-nominated comedy Yoga and Sex… for Women Over 40 to the Cumberland Arms.

Artisan at the Biscuit Factory is also hosting a range of events for the Fringe. One I’m gutted to miss is the Bare Bones production of Flicker, a new comedy by Benjamin Storey, whose work I have seen and enjoyed before. The idea behind Bare Bones is it’s a chance to see upcoming work before a wider release – sort of a souped-up scratch night.

I also love the sound of Beth Knight’s Who Told You to Be Small, in which the Glasgow-born artist uses nude self-portraits to explore body shame, painting and the art world. (It also starts at the very Fringe time of 9pm, so while I like to think I’m going to see it, realistically I’m not a ‘show kicks off at nine pm’ person, I am a ‘wants to be home by 9.30 person’.)

You can find details of Fringe events here.

What I have been watching

Since I have had roughly the attention span of a blowfly these last few weeks, I actually haven’t watched as much TV as you’d think, although I have been steadily working my way through a rewatch of Brooklyn 99.

But there were two long anticipated returns this month, which landed with varying degrees of success. The long-awaited sequel of 2020 action hit The Old Guard finally landed in July – and I admit I was pretty disappointed. Based on the Greg Rucka and Leandro Fernández comic books, The Old Guard was a near-perfect film. A smart concept, sharp direction and a talented international cast (led by Charlize Theron) made this stand out, as did and the almost unheard of in an action movie centring of a gay relationship, charismatic immortal lovers Joe (Yusuf) and Nicky, who met on opposite sides of the Crusades. (Google The Old Guard van scene if you want a shot of pure romance.)

The sequel, unfortunately, squanders much of its promise with messy, cluttered storytelling and an open ending that clearly sets up a next instalment that, with Netflix’s record, might come in 10 years or not at all, leaving it all feeling a bit pointless. It’s not terrible - there are some solid moments, and the cast are great, it just feels an anticlimax after such a long wait. Still, at least we still have Joe and Nicky being cute with each other.

Far better was the new season of The Bear, which just arrived on Disney Plus. While I agree with many that season 2 was the strongest, there’s still a lot to love in a show based around working class lives, which somehow manages to be both frenetic and one of the gentlest shows on TV. The wedding episode is a particular standout, and I enjoyed the whole thing so much I went back and did a from-the-start rewatch.

[Image description: To the Dogs, Louise Welsh]

What I have been reading

Again, a knackered attention span has me behind on my reading, but I am enjoying the Glasgow-set crime novel To The Dogs, by Louise Welsh. The story of a university professor who thought he’d left his family’s shady past behind him but gets dragged back towards the darkness when his son gets arrested, this book is very smart about the uneasy straddling of different worlds, with some biting things to say about modern academic culture and the moral compromises its international nature requires.

Anyway, thanks again for reading – please do share with your friends! Every new subscriber really does give me a boost. And remember if you want to support my writing but a paid subscription isn’t for you (times are hard, I get it!), you can buy me a one-off Ko-fi or buy one of my books.

Remember: everything included is my personal preference / opinion, and while I strive to be accurate, I always advising checking with the relevant venue.