IF YOU LIKE: Newcastle Fringe Festival

Image: Ola Labib

Newcastle Fringe Festival is a fine example of the benefits of having a grassroots ethos; having received no external funding, the 10-day programme relies on the hard work and knowledge of the team involved, and having grown the festival to include over 110 performances across eight venues in the city, it’s clear they’re a passionate bunch. The festival are committed to ensuring anyone can access the events, and have pledged that 10% of all tickets will be sold under a ‘no questions asked’ remit.

Taking place from Tuesday 22^nd July-Saturday 2^nd August (Tuesdays to Saturdays), the venues taking part include returning favourites Alphabetti Theatre, Prohibition Cabaret Bar, The Old Coal Yard, The Cumberland Arms and Dance City, plus newbies The Lubber Fiend, Newgate Social and Artisan at The Biscuit Factory. For the full low-down of this year’s extensive programme visit their website, and check out some of our recommended highlights below…

IF YOU LIKE…

HOMEGROWN TALENT

The region’s glittering comedy talent is well-represented, with shows from familiar faces including Consett’s Ian Younghusband, whose comedic storytelling aims to challenge perceptions around disability (Alphabetti, 23-24 July); the perennially funny Matt Reed presents a gloriously offbeat show, Jumble Tales (Newgate Social, 24 July); one of our faves Si Beckwith offers his new show Debt Midler, which deals with debt in his typically heart-on-sleeve style (Alphabetti, 2 Aug); and Lauren Pattison hosts a series of comedy and variety events at Newgate Social throughout the festival. There’s also music courtesy of anthemic alt. indie band Wolfred, supported by Weathership, Diago, Joe Holtaway and Aleksandra Karpiuk at Old Coal Yard (2 Aug); and Teesside songwriter Katie Doherty and her band The Navigators play Alphabetti (26 July). Spoken word fans will enjoy a night of poetry and prose with Neela Moon Collective (Dance City, 25 July) and self-proclaimed ‘gobby lass’ Lizzie Lovejoy (Alphabetti, 2 Aug). Thought-provoking theatre comes courtesy of Gemma Webster-B and Victoria Zakis-Smith’s show Letters To Grief, which takes a reflective look at a subject matter that comes to us all (Cumberland Arms, 24 July); Arun Graves-Kochhar and Isabelle Sander’s Foot In The Door fearlessly explores motherhood, ambition and identity through three compelling stories (Alphabetti, 25-26 July); and Newcastle-based puppetry company Made By Racoons offer a powerful visual journey of resistance and hope in Tales From Our Revolution (Alphabetti, 23-24 July).

Image: Inua Ellams by Danny Kasirye

BIG NAMES

The Fringe is no stranger to household names too. Poet Carol Ann Duffy is joined by virtuoso musician John Sampson for an evening dedicated to the wonders of nature, while internationally acclaimed playwright Inua Ellams presents a spontaneous performance which dives into his rich archive of storytelling (both Old Coal Yard, 31 July). There’s comedy aplenty too, with confessions and chaos from Ola Labib (Dance City, 25 July); trailblazing comic Dane Baptiste confronts his younger self in new show Don’t Do What Dane Does (Newgate Social, 22-23 July); Susie McCabe’s work in progress show Best Behaviour recounts the absurdities of her own life (Cumberland Arms, 23 July).

TOURING UP & COMERS

Take an opportunity to discover your new favourite performer, from Kathryn Haywood’s yoga and sex-themed show (Cumberland Arms, 30 July), to Toussaint Douglass’ joyfully absurd Purple Drizzle (Old Coal Yard, 24 July), and Canadian potty-mouth Katie-Rose’s deliciously dark Dirty B*tch (Cumberland Arms, 30 July). There’s taboo-breaking shows courtesy of Glasgow-based artist Beth Knight, who uses nude self-portraits to overcome the shame she has held about her body (Artisan, 29 July); Ample Aggression take a foray into queerness in politics and celebrity culture in their show World Leader Pretend (Alphabetti, 30 July) and Joe Dennis’ Tides offers an insight into the wonderful yet challenging world of autism (Alphabetti, 23-24 July).

Image: Tales From Our Revolution