Preview: DiaoChan: Rise of The Courtesan at Hexham’s Queen’s Hall

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DiaoChan: Rise of The Courtesan.

Hexham’s Queen’s Hall Art Centre

Wednesday 2^nd March 2016

DiaoChan: The Rise of The Courtesanis touring the UKprior to opening at the Arts Theatre in London's West End, so this is your last chance to see the show for a reasonable price.

Taken from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and often referred to as the Chinese Macbeth, this is an epic tale of lust, jealousy and revenge, and it has been adapted for the stage by nominated British writer Ross Ericson - whose five star solo play 'The Unknown Soldier' has just received much critical acclaim at Edinburgh Fringe 2015.

'Us Europeans can often find classical Chinese drama a little impenetrable,' said Ericson, 'so my job has been to put the story into a structure and language that would be familiar to European audiences, whilst retaining the authenticity and spirit of the original text.'

The Empire is in turmoil and the tyrant DongZhuo, with the great warrior LuBu at his side, is systematically putting to the sword all those who oppose him. The minister WangYun fears for the lives of his family, but when both DongZhuo and LuBu show a lustful interest in DiaoChan -  a singing girl of WangYun’s household - she comes up with a plan that could solve both their problems – a plan that would see DongZhuo fall and see her rise to the ranks of the nobility.

"A wonderful experience to explore the culture and traditions of ancient Chinathrough their own mythology, in a manner that will appeal to everyone." - British Theatre Guide on The Autumn of Han

"Sumptuously costumed... a richly talented and promising ensemble." - The Stage on The Autumn of Han

The production is supported by Unity Theatre Trust and using public funding by Arts Council England.

On The Web:

Website http://www.reddragonflyproductions.co.uk

Twitter: @RDprod_theatre 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reddragonflyproductions.uk

Tickets:

DiaoChan: Rise of The Courtesan comes to Hexham’s Queen’s Hall Art Centre on Wednesday 2^nd March 2016

Evening: 7.30pm

Box Office: 01434 652477

Website: www.queenshall.co.uk 

Twitter: @QueensHall

Preview: SALAAM at Hexham Queens Hall

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SALAAM

Hexham Queens Hall Arts Centre

Wednesday 10^th February 2016

Internationally acclaimed South Asian artists Sonia and Sarvar Sabri are performing in Hexham for one night only!

Salaam meaning ‘peace’ is Sonia Sabri Company’s latest stunning creation. This double-bill programme cleverly weaves a dialogue between live music and Kathak dance, celebrating harmony, inner –stillness and the simple bliss of being alive.

Salaam combines a rare treat of Tabla music by world-renowned maestro, Sarvar Sabri. Sarvar performs outstanding compositions of rhythm, with complexity and speed, through his unique finger work. The talented Shoma Dey joins Sarvar Sabri and performs endearing musical patterns on the harmonium accompanied with powerful vocals, which fuel and vibrates a resonance in the performance.

Sonia presents sheer magic through expressive and rhythmic dance with live music. The audience are taken on a journey with Sonia’s poignant metaphorical narratives and through her command of intricate footwork; audiences will be in awe when watching Sonia’s eloquent gesture and rapid spins.

Salaam was originally created in response to the unrest around the world and aims to refocus and reminisce on all that is good. If you've ever wondered where beat-boxing and rapping originates from, this is a show that will reveal the roots and more wonders!

“Such an incredible musicality, it was impossible not to gaze in wonder and adoration... An uplifting crescendo of music and dance” (Dance Europe).

                                      

Tickets:

Tickets rage from £6-£13 and are available online from http://www.queenshall.co.uk/events/salaamor from the box office on 01434 652477.

Preview: The Legend of King Arthur at Hexham Queens Hall

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The Legend of King Arthur jousts in to the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham.

The Legend of King Arthur.

Hexham Queen’s Hall Arts Centre

Friday 11 December - Monday 28 December 2015.

It’s pantomime season at Queen's Hall Arts Centre and who better to add festive fun to one of the classic legends of all time than Hexham favourites, Oddsocks Productions.

Oddsocks return with their fabulous family adventure, The Legend of King Arthur.

Prepare for magic, music and mirth as the ‘boy who would be king’ pulls the sword from the stone. Cheer for your favourite jousting knight of the round table, admire the gutsy Lady Guinevere as she reveals her strength and skills, and gasp at the magical Merlin as he controls the twists and turns of this classic English legend.

Join Oddsocks, who previously brought Robin Hood, Treasure Island and Wind in the Willows to Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, for an exciting, interactive and action-packed winter treat for all the family! 

Audience comments on last year’s The Wind in the Willows.

-         Great production for children and adults. Much better than the big productions in Newcastle.

-         This was the best Oddsocks production to date. My children loved it

-         An excellent night’s entertainment and excellent value!

Read the North East Theatre Guide review of last year’s production Wind In The Willows - LINK here

Audience comments on previous Oddsocks’ Christmas shows

-        Smashing performance - thoroughly enjoyed it - as usual!

-         as usual was wonderful and the team excellent

-        Please keep Oddsocks booked in for Christmas as it’s an ideal Christmas production that we always look forward to

-         I enjoyed it immensely and the kids all had a great time

-         An old fashioned panto in many ways and it was good to see the kids getting so involved.

-         Great Pantomime, funny, engaging and entertaining we all enjoyed it very much

  

A full list of King Arthur shows can be found below.

Tickets:

Wind in the Willows is at the Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham from Friday 11 December - Monday 28 December. Tickets are £12.50 - £15.00 and are available from the Queen’s Hall Box Office 01434 652477 or online at www.queenshall.co.uk

Performances of The Legend of King Arthur

Friday 11 December                            10.00am & 1.00pm

Saturday 12 December                       2.30pm & 7.00pm

Sunday 13 December                          4.00pm

Monday 14 December                        1.00pm

Tuesday 15 December                        10.00am

Friday 18 December                            7.00pm

Saturday 19 December                       2.30pm

Sunday 20 December                          2.30pm

Monday 21 December                        7.00pm

Tuesday 22 December                        2.30pm & 7.00pm

Wednesday 23 December  2.30pm & 7.00pm

Thursday 24 December                      2.30pm

CHRISTMAS DAY                   No Shows

Saturday 26 December                       4.00pm

Sunday 27 December                          2.30pm & 7.00pm

Monday 28 December                        2.30pm

Review: Calamity Jane at Hexham Queens Hall

Laughs In The Black Hills of Dakota

Calamity Jane

Hexham Queens Hall

16^th May 2015.

You wait for Calamity Jane to be staged and 2 productions come along at once. After the Calamity of the professional show earlier in the year it was the turn of the Hexham Amateur Stage Societyto stage the thigh slapping musical.

Based upon the 1953 film starring Doris Day and Howard Keel, the musical keeps the sense of place and good humour. Calamity Jane rides into Deadwood, South Dakota, full of stories of her exploits. Her friends accept that she is good at bending the truth in order to create a good tale. When the local bar owner mistakenly books male actor Francis, thinking he was booking entertainment with a female called Frances, she decides to help out. She heads to Chicago in order to persuade big star Adelaide Adams to come back to Deadwood to entertain her fans. Nothing is what it seems and Calamity brings an entertainer back to help out. 

Early signs were good as a tight eight piece band, under the musical direction of Warren Smith, started up at Queen’s Hall. As the curtain was raised the large ensemble filled the stage and raise the roof with The Deadwood Stage (Whip-Crack-Away!). Kenny Toal, as Bill Hickock, and Clair Applegarth as Calamity Jane are both great singers who come across as very likeable characters. Along with Ruby Westlake as Katie Brown, they are immediately engaging and this helps the audience laugh along with the many humorous lines in the script. Special mention must go to Mike Routledge for his hilarious rendition of Hive Full of Honey.

The songs are memorable classics and delivered with zest. Under Elva Mason’s direction, the show whips along at a entertaining pace and it the two and a half hours quickly pass.

The show was full of brilliantly coloured dresses and sharp suits, loud bangs and big laughs. It was a delightfully fun show.

This review was written by Stephen Oliver for the North East Theatre Guide for Jowheretogo PR (www.jowheretogo.com). Follow Jo on twitter @jowheretogo, Stephen @panic_c_button or like Jowheretogo on Facebook www.facebook.com/Jowheretogo

Preview: Frank Sumatra On Tour

Frank Sumatra

On Tour Across The North East

Imagine Paddington Bear gone wrong. And not a bear. Bev and Keith are a nice young couple who do their bit for the environment and pay 10 quid a month to the World Wildlife Fund to sponsor an orphaned orangutan. They’re also trying very hard to have a baby but when their orangutan turns up on the doorstep they find themselves parents to a hairy, unruly teenager.

A dark and surreal comedy written by Mike Yeaman (Lucky Numbers, Canoeing for Beginners) performed live in the style of a radio drama.

Frank Sumatra is a new One Act play, commissioned by Queens Hall Hexham.

Cast: Jessica Johnson, Mat Hobbins, Pip Chamberlin. 

Directed by Bev Fox.

Tour Dates:

March 06 Hexham Queens Hall Venue website link

07 Bishop Auckland Town Hall Venue website link

08 South Shields Customs House Venue website link

12/13 Newcastle Alphabetti Theatre Venue website link

14 Bedlington Community Centre Venue website link

Preview: Reduced Shakespeare Company: The Complete History Of Comedy (abridged)

Reduced Shakespeare Company

The Complete History Of Comedy (abridged)

Written and Directed by Reed Martin & Austin Tichenor

Spring/Summer UK Tour 2015 including:

Wednesday 4^th February             Durham Gala

Thursday 5^th February                   Hexham Queens Hall Arts

Friday 6th February                       Kendal Brewery Arts Centre

Thursday 12^th February                 Middlesbrough Theatre

“This show proves (the Reduced Shakespeare Company) have not lost their touch - or their remarkable energy.”  The Stage (2014)

Following a hugely successful, critically acclaimed season at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2014 the Reduced Shakespeare Company will set out to reduce the UK to tears of laughter in Spring 2015. Yes that’s right, the bad boys of abridgementwill finally tackle the subject they were born to reduce. From the high-brow to the low, The Complete History of Comedy (abridged) covers comedy through the ages, from Aristophanes and Shakespeare to Vaudeville and Charlie Chaplin.

The Complete History of Comedy (abridged)is far more affordable than tickets to an amusement park, but you’ll still come away with the same feeling of nausea and motion sickness. From cavemen telling “Rock Rock” jokes to Chris Rock and everything in-between, the Company leave no joke untold as they deconstruct the entire history of comedy in 90 rollicking minutes.

The Reduced Shakespeare Companyis a three-man comedy troupe that takes long, serious subjects and reduces them to short, sharp comedies.

Since 1981, ‘The Bad Boys of Abridgement’ have created nine stage shows, two television specials, several failed TV pilots and numerous radio pieces – all of which have been performed, seen, heard and translated into Klingon the world over.

The company’s first three shows, TheComplete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), TheComplete History of America (abridged)and TheBible: The Complete Word of God (abridged)enjoyed a nine-year run at the Criterion Theatre in Piccadilly Circus. Not only were they London’s longest-running comedies, but at one point the Reduced Shakespeare Company had more shows running in the West Endthan Andrew Lloyd Webber. Some of them were funnier too…

The company were last seen on a four month t+our of the UKand Irelandwith The Bible: The Complete Word of God (abridged) at the start of 2014. Before that a whirlwind eight month tour of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) played to packed houses throughout the UKand London’s West End throughout 2013. Prior to this the “other RSC” were wowing the UK with their highly successful Complete World of Sports (abridged), which toured the country before completing a season in London’s West End during the 2012 Olympics.

WARNING! Side-effects may include uncontrollable milking and painful running gags. 

“The trio deliver 70 minutes filled with laughter to a delighted audience.”

British Theatre Guide (2014)

On The Web:

Website:           www.reducedshakespeare.com

Twitter:            https://twitter.com/reduced

Facebook:        www.facebook.com

Tickets:

Wednesday 4^th February Durham Gala Box Office: 0191 332 4041 www.galadurham.co.uk

Thursday 5^th February Hexham Queens Hall Arts Centre Box Office: 01434 652 477 www.queenshall.co.uk

Friday 6th February Kendal The Brewery Arts Centre Box Office:  01539 725 133  www.breweryarts.co.uk  

Thursday 12^th February Middlesbrough Theatre Box Office: 01642 815181  www.middlesbrough.gov.uk

Preview: Donna Disco - On Tour

Donna Disco

Chicken Pox Fox Productions

On Tour

‘A tour de force of writing, actingand directing’ *****Three Weeks

Written by                    Lee Mattinson  

Directed by                 Laura Lindow

Performed by              Paula Penman

For anyone who ever thought thatbeing fourteen was easy...

Donna is fourteen, clumsy and fat. She’s bland, bespectacled and, if she’d ever heard of The Beautiful South, she’d adore them.

She also has a new school project, to source a stranger’s story and present her findings at the annual Christmas Pageant. And so Donna takes it upon herself to befriend the colourful cross-dressing butcher from downstairs.

But when her mother goes AWOL and an innocent crush on a local pretty boy goes hideously wrong, Donna’s world begins to disband and the disco that plays in her heart is in danger of grinding to a glittering, gobsmacking halt.

Originally commissioned by Live Theatre and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England & supported by The Empty Space and Dance City through This Way up.

Chicken Pox Fox is a show and tell theatre company founded in 2010 by writer Lee Mattinson and performer Paula Penman.  Their first show Donna Disco was produced to critical acclaim in 2011 and our most recent one woman show premiered at the Bush Theatre’s RADAR Festival in 2013. They are currently working on a mockumentary film project, a country and western musical and a multi-narrative project for radio.

Running time      60mins

                             No Interval

Links

Web                     www.chickenpoxfox.com

Twitter                 https://twitter.com/chickenpoxfox  

Facebook           www.facebook.com/chickenpoxfox

February
26th-28th @ 7.30pm  Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne – 0191 232 1232 / bookonline
March
4th @ 7.30pm The Place Theatre, Bedford – 01234 354 321 / bookonline
5th @ 8pm Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury – 01743 281 281 / book online
10th@ 7.30pm Stage, Leeds – 0113 343 8730 / bookonline
13th @ 7.30pm Assembly Rooms, Tamworth – 01827 709 618 / book online
15th @ 7.30pm New Diorama Theatre, London -0207 383 9034 / bookonline
17th @ 7.30pm Capstone Theatre, Liverpool – 0844 8000 410 / book online
19th @ 7.45pm Cast, Doncaster – 01302 303 959 / book online
20th @ 8pm Hull Truck Theatre, Hull – 01482 323 638 / book online
24th-25th @ 8pm Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham – 01434 652 477 / bookonline
28th @ 7.30pm The Western, Leicester – bookonline