Discover An Unforgettable Season of Firsts and Favourites
WORLD PREMIERES, AWARD-WINNING PRODUCTIONS, LAUGH-OUT LOUD COMEDY AND GROUND-BREAKING VOICES TAKE CENTRE STAGE THIS AUTUMN AND WINTER AT LIVE THEATRE. DISCOVER AN UNFORGETTABLE SEASON OF FIRSTS AND FAVOURITES.
September’s opener is the world premiere of Alison Carr’s mesmerising fictionalised new play All At Sea. Inspired by the notorious ‘Canoe Man’ story, this gripping dark-comedy running from Thursday 24 September to Saturday 10 October before transferring to Stephen Joseph Theatre, takes a deep dive into an audacious plan and an extraordinary deception. With a sky-high mortgage and spiralling debt, where else can Colin and Deborah turn? The answer for them is the North Sea but the real drama is yet to come! Starring Phil Corbitt and Sarah Belcher with direction from Maria Crocker.
On Tuesday 13 October, Entertainment Unlimited and Stanley Creatives present Tits Up! by Alison Stanley and Leah Bell. A powerfully funny and deeply moving play about life, choices and the bonds that get us through. Tina, Rachel and Rosie find strength, laughter and resilience in the most unlikely of places.
Our Friends In The North: The Thatcher Years is an ambitious co-production and collaboration between three key players in Newcastle’s cultural ecology, Live Theatre, Eastlake Productions and Newcastle Theatre Royal. The iconic TV drama directed by Live Theatre’s Artistic Director Jack McNamara and adapted for the stage by the original writer Peter Flannery will premiere at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Thursday 15 to Saturday 24 October to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the original broadcast of the award-winning tv epic. The drama turns the spotlight on the Thatcher years of the original narrative, a period of seismic change in British politics, and explores how national shifts played out in ordinary lives.
No Apologies written and performed by Emma Frankland on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October is a radical, queer, mis-remembering of Nirvana’s iconic 1993 MTV Unplugged concert. Urgent and politically sharp, this witty and emotionally powerful show from Marlborough Productions is a spectacular collision between theatre and grunge.
Your Aunt Fanny return to Live Theatre from Thursday 29 to Saturday 31 October with Crease, a razor-sharp hour of unapologetically feminine sketch comedy, packed with real characters, absurd scenarios and impeccable wordplay. Bold, hilarious and boundary breaking.
November shines a spotlight on great plays with a rich programme of readings. The Vagina Monologues by V (formerly Eve Ensler) on Thursday 5 and Friday 6 November is a landmark work in women’s empowerment and Stones In His Pockets by Marie Jones on Saturday 7 November is a classic Irish tragicomedy about two Hollywood extras on a film set. A mini-series of groundbreaking diverse American voices features too with darkly comic fable Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks on Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 November and John by Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Baker on Saturday 14 November.
Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November brings My Name Is Rachel Corrie starring Harriet Bibby. This multi-award winning play which premiered at the Royal Court in 2025 tells the true story of a young idealist who travels to Rafa as part of an international peace. Taken from excerpts from Rachel’s diaries and emails home and edited together by the late Alan Rickman and now-editor of The Guardian, Katherine Viner, this beautiful, raw, intensely moving and often very funny play is as urgent and relevant as when it was first produced.
December wraps up with the return of two fantastic festive offerings. The Suggestibles’ Impro Pantso on Thursday 17 and Friday 18 December is a hilarious musical misadventure into the unknown from Newcastle’s legendary improv comedy troupe, Unscripted, unhinged and unbelievably funny! Flying back due to poop-ular demand is alternative Christmas play, Where Do All The Kittiwakes Go At Christmas? from Saturday 19 to Thursday 31 December. The fantastical and heartfelt tale will have audiences squawking with laughter over the misadventures of the cheeky pair of kittiwakes and their outrageous feathery friends.
Step into an unforgettable autumn and experience a season alive with masterful storytelling. Find our more and book your next unmissable visit to the theatre at www.live.org.uk
