The QT

Sunday 22 December 2024
22/12/2024

6 March 2024

A modern twist on the classics

Hercules reborn as a self-obsessed Peterlee strongman seems a dead cert to be one of the highlights of ClassicsFest, a new festival blowing the dust off ancient Greek and Roman literature. A key part of the new festival was a challenge to North East writers to produce a modern version of one of the monologues …

Straight from the horse’s mouth

Ernie, the retired racehorse, stands sleepily in a stall, his mouth clamped wide open, ready to have a troublesome tooth extracted. It’s another busy day for James Marshall, who looks after the teeth of thousands of horses every year in his role as one of the North East’s leading equine dentists. “Open a bit wider …

The strike which destroyed Coaltown

Ashington, Northumberland. Famed for being the home of superstar footballers Bobby and Jack Charlton, not to mention Jackie Milburn, and once the largest mining town in Europe, known as Coaltown. The pit stood proudly at the centre of the community, with super pit Ellington — the Big E — just a few miles down the …

Wilde ride in store for theatre audiences

Every long running stage show has its ups and downs, and nights where nothing seems to go right on stage, but in the case of The Importance Of Being… Earnest? the wheels come off with alarming regularity.  In fact during every single performance of the show the lead actor inexplicably misses their cue, and for …

Better not enough for women in tech

Five years ago I was invited to be part of an International Women’s Day panel event in Newcastle, designed to explore the challenges for females operating in the technology sector and how we might overcome them. It was the most eye-opening event I’ve ever been part of.  Before I go any further it’s pertinent to …

Live Theatre in Newcastle is a nationally-recognised centre for new writing

Talented writers take centre stage

A trio of North East writers can be found at the centre of Live Theatre’s 2024-25 season. The Bounds, a co-production with the Royal Court by Northumberland writer Stewart Pringle; the first stage adaptation of cult horror film Saint Maud by Sunderland writer Jessica Andrews; and Middlesbrough writer Ishy Din’s Champion about Muhammad Ali’s historic …

Remembering Hairy Biker Dave Myers

Last week the food and entertainment industry lost one of its most well-known and loved figures. Dave Myers, one half of cooking duo The Hairy Bikers, passed away aged 66, two years after revealing that he had been diagnosed with cancer.  Born and raised in Barrow-in-Furness, Dave Myers’ route to becoming a TV presenter was …

Eyes and ears

GREGGS BONUS: Thousands of Greggs staff will receive a share of a £17.6m bonus pot after the bakery chain announced a record annual profit and revealed it had overtaken McDonald’s to become the No.1 takeaway breakfast seller in Britain for the first time. Profits increased by 27% to £188m, meaning that 25,000 of its 32,000 …

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