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Northern Theatre News
August - Week 3
Anthony Cawood
August 20, 2025
August - Week 3
Welcome to Northern Theatre News!
I’m fresh back from seeing War Horse at Leeds Grand Theatre, what an amazing show and in my favourite venue too!
Check out my review and get your tickets quick, they’re selling fast!
As always, I’d love to hear your feedback. So let me know what you’d like to see featured (or not!) in future editions of the newsletter.
Enjoy!
News roundup
Get your knitting needles out!
Joining Mark Hadfield as Agatha Christie’s famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, in the UK Tour of DEATH ON THE NILE, will be Glynis Barber as Salome Otterbourne and Bob Barrett as Poirot’s trusted friend, Colonel Race. See them all at the Lowry, Salford. 26 Sept - 4 Oct |  Glynis Barber |
  Vicky Binns | Bruntwood-prize winning play returns to the North of England for a strictly limited run! A decade after its critically acclaimed premiere at the Royal Exchange in 2015, Anna Jordan’s (Succession, One Day) smash hit play, Yen, returns to the North of England from 3-20 September. Yen will be performed by a stellar cast headed up by soap star Vicky Binns (Coronation Street, Emmerdale) as Maggie. Wednesday 3rd September - Saturday 13th September 2025 at Bolton Octagon Wednesday 17th September - Saturday 20th September 2025 at Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle |
Subscriber giveaway
£50 monthly prize giveaway
Each month we’ll be giving away a £50 Theatre Token to one lucky subscriber, usable in over 250 venues around the UK, including a bunch of our Northern venues. All you have to do is subscribe to be in with a chance of winning! First draw will be at the end of August with the winner announced in the first newsletter in September - keep an eye on your inbox!
What’s on over the next few weeks
North East
Sunderland’s Empire has Bat out of Hell coming on the 18th for a week. AND… this show is part of ATG’s Summer Saver promotion! Click on the pic to see which shows/tickets are on offer!
Newcastle’s Theatre Royal has the ever popular SIX for a couple of weeks from the 12 - 23 Aug, as you’d expect this is almost sold out!!!
Alphabetti Theatre, Newcastle, has a magical puppet show until 23 August.
Darlington Hippodrome have a spooky production of The Haunting of Blaine Manor from 21 - 23 August. They also have a fun after show Ghost Tour running on the 21st, get your EMF Meter ready!
We have a new company up next, Ensemble ‘84 have Pits, People and Players in Horden, County Durham from 19 - 23 August,
North West
Liverpool’s Empire has TINA, the ever popular Tina Turner musical (obvs!) from 12 - 23 August.
Blackpool Grand Theatre has The Last Laugh 26 - 30 August.
Hope Street Theatre Liverpool has Treasure Island 21 - 24 August
Liverpool’s Royal Court is staging The Legend of Rooney’s Ring. This is the ultimate Scouse sword and sorcery tale, packed with magic, romance, original songs and stupid gags, lots of stupid gags! |  Until 23 August |
Wizard of Oz runs until 24th Aug as a theatre in the park experience, presented by The Dukes in Lancaster.
Opera House Manchester has Riverdance 30: The New Generation from 23 - 27 Aug.
Palace Theatre in Manchester has the spectacular Moulin Rouge for two weeks from 20th Aug.
Chester’s Storyhouse is running multiple open air experiences with a brand new adapatation of Sherlock Holmes! Running 18 July - 31 Aug. Plus Pride & Prejudice 24 July - 31 Aug.
We have a mini tour up next with the ever popuplar WWII jukebox musical When The Lights Go On Again. The production is hitting three North West venues in August. So check it out in the final remaining stops at the Seven Oaks in Manchester! QUICK - Just a few days left! |  |
The Lowry, in Salford, has The Diana Mixtape 19 - 21 Aug, followed by Chicago 25 - 30 Aug. Plus they have A Squash and A Squeeze 5 - 24 Aug in the Quays Theatre.
Running all summer at The Old Laundry Theatre in Bowness-on-Windermere is a musical spectacular centered around Peter Rabbit - kids are sure to love it!
Running until 6 Sept, Theatre by the Lake in Keswick has the classic Pride and Prejudice.
Yorkshire & Humberside
The beloved adaptation of the Railway Children is staged on the very tracks they used in the film, the show begins when you board a vintage steam train! Sets off daily until 7th Sept and is garnering rave reviews!
Leeds Playhouse have a new musical, Reception, based on the music of David Gedge, at The Warehouse in Holbeck 22 Aug - 6 Sept.
Leeds Grand Theatre has the amazing War Horse 19 Aug - 6 Sept. Check out the Northern Theatre News review here
Theatre Royal Wakefield has the classic Guys and Dolls running from 20 - 30 Aug.
York Theatre Royal is promoting a Shakespearian offering with a difference, 15 - 23 Aug in Holy Trinity Church!
I love to see the creativity of outdoor performance during the summer months, and the Junction Goole have a series of performances of Thumbelina in local parks from 23 - 25 Aug, in a different park each day.
Did i mention it’s FREE?!? You just need to book a ticket.
Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough has a new production of the classic Noises Off, for the first time ever presented in the round! 9 - 6 Sept.
Check out Northern Theatre News review here!
The Forum in Northallerton have Snow White as a summer Panto, 21 - 25 Aug.
I don’t want to ignore any of the amazing venues we have in the North, so I’ve also created an index of all the venues I could find and have included it in the newsletter’s associated website - just look at the header or footer on the website and you’ll see ‘Theatres’ and a drop-down menu/list.
Let me know if I’ve missed any!
War Horse - A Northern Theatre News review
Some productions never lose their power. War Horse, which graced the National Theatre stage in 2007, has returned to Leeds Grand Theatre and proves once again why it stands as one of the most impressive pieces of theatre of the 21st century.
Ticket offers not to miss!
I’ll try and bring you all the ticket deals and offers I can find!
Summer Saver offers
ATG Entertainment, who run a number of theatres up and down the country, has a Summer Saver offer on, select tickets are discounted on over 120 shows, including the Liverpool Empire, Manchester Palace Theatre, Manchester Opera House, Stockton Globe, and Sunderland Empire.
Other News
Darlington Hippodrome reached out to me and asked if I could share details of their Access Scheme, happy to oblige!
Now onto a request from the future generation of theatre stars! Reuben & Katie are fundraising for their continued theatre education with a show later this month. Love the work ethic and creativity on display here! So if you can support please check out their Facebook page for more details. It is being held at The Playhouse Whitley Bay on August 28th with a great range of performers on show. |  |
Theatre competitions
A quick roundup of competitions that involve our Theatres, or in general where there’s something good for you. All are free to enter and run by 3rd parties (not me!), and I will keep them in each newsletter whilst the entry date is still valid.
They’re not all northern, but when they’re not they usually involve a hotel stay too, good luck!
Theatre spotlight
The eagle eyed will know that I covered the Leeds Grand Theatre in the very first edition of the newsletter, but readership was low then and now I have the opportunity to tie it in to the War Horse review
So, again, the theatre I consider home.
Leeds Grand Theatre     All images from Leeds Heritage Theatres | Opened in 1878 with a huge seating capacity of 2600, this amazing venue, designed by James Robinson Watson, has been the beating heartbeat of the Leeds theatre scene for almost 150 years, despite nearly being demolished in the 60s! Today the Grade II* listed old lady is run by Leeds Heritage Theatres (who also run City Varieties and Hyde Park Picture House). Thanks to its investments in state of the art tech, the Grand lures blockbuster tours – Phantom of the Opera, Wicked, Dirty Dancing, Six – alongside Opera North seasons and regular visits from Northern Ballet. Seating is now a more manageable 1500 over Stalls, Dress Circle, Upper Circle, Balcony, Upper Balcony and some 10 Boxes. Though, with that many seats it is still one of the largest venues in the country. The theatre boasts a beautiful Waterford Crystal chandelier with over 6000 Swarovski crystals, takes some cleaning that’s for sure, as you can see on this TikTok video Like many older theatres, stories of ghosts abound with the Lavendar Lady and the disappearing Waiter rumoured to haunt the stalls. Checkout the Dailymotion video for more spooky goings on! If you’d like to see this magnificent theatre then get yourself to Leeds and see one of their incredible shows… in the meantime here’s an amazing 360 Tour of all areas of The Grand They also have a great timeline of the history of the theatre and a wealth of additional info if you’d like to know more. |
That’s it for this week
Would love to know what you think of our newsletter, what we can do to make it better next time and what else you’d like to see in the newsletter.
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