Based on her incomplete novel, this witty play looks under the bonnet of Jane Austen and asks: what can characters do when their author abandons them?
'“The thing is – Jane Austen isn’t just any author; she’s your author.”
Emma Watson is nineteen and new in town. She’s been cut off by her rich aunt and dumped back in the family home. Emma and her sisters must marry, fast. If not, they face poverty, spinsterhood, or worse: an eternity with their boorish brother and his awful wife.
Luckily there are plenty of potential suitors to dance with, from flirtatious Tom Musgrave to castle-owning Lord Osborne, who’s as awkward as he is rich.
So far so familiar. But there’s a problem: Jane Austen didn’t finish the story. Who will write Emma’s happy ending now? Can a new author keep the rebellious characters in check? And just what happens when the writer loses the plot?
£8 Standard
£7.50 Concession
£7 Durham Student Theatre Members
This performance is taking place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.
The performances will start at 7.30pm (2.30pm on the matinee), and last for approximately 135 minutes with a short interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the show.
Welcome to the Woodplayers Charity Cabaret! Book your tickets for an exciting night of acting and musical theatre in support of the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity.
Woodplayers are thrilled to announce our Woodplayers Charity Cabaret! Performing in Week 1 of Easter Term in the Mark Hillery Arts Centre, we are excited to offer an opportunity for budding musical theatre and acting talent to hone their craft while supporting the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in a cabaret setting.
£6 Standard
£5 Concession
£4.50 Durham Student Theatre Members
This performance is taking place in the Mark Hillery Arts Centre, Collingwood College.
The show will begin at 7.30pm and last for 90 minutes. Doors will open 30 minutes before the show starts.
Things are about to get a little wild in "Little Shop of Horrors," at the Assembly Rooms Theatre! Watch as an ambitious florist faces a killer plant with dark humour and unforgettable songs. Don’t miss this twisted night of fun!
Bailey Theatre Company are proud to present their Easter Term Musical... Little Shop of Horrors! Seymour, a struggling florist, discovers the mysterious plant Audrey II. Promising fame, fortune and love in exchange for blood, as the plant grows, so does its appetite for destruction, pushing Seymour to make dangerous choices. With twisted humour and memorable songs, this show will have you rooted in your seat. Don’t miss this hilarious and chilling night of fun that will leave you wanting more!
£8 Standard
£7.50 Concession
£6.50 Durham Student Theatre Members
This performance will take place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 N Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.
The performances will begin at 7.30pm and last for approximately 140 minutes with a short interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the show.
DUMT presents 'Heroes vs. Villains', a cabaret-style evening of performances from the heroes or villains of your favourite musical theatre shows, battling it out for which group can out-sing the other!
'After their acclaimed Edinburgh Fringe run of 'Undecided: A Musical Misadventure', this year's troupe have brought together your favourite pop culture heroes and villains, facing off in an evening of song, dance, laughter and fear. With numbers from Come From Away, Lightning Thief, Shrek the Musical, Tangled, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, this is certainly not one to miss! And in true DUMT style, it will be you, the audience, who decide whether to join the good or bad guys in their scheming...so, who will it be?
£8 Standard
£7.50 Concession
£6.50 Durham Student Theatre Member
This performance will take place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.
The performance will start at 7.30pm and run for 75 minutes. Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the show.
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Slam of the North brings together the best performance poets from five northern universities to compete over one exciting evening!
For one night only, Durham University Poetry Society and University of Leeds Spoken Word Society present Slam of the North, bringing together the best performance poets from five northern universities to compete in a spectacular celebration of poetry and spoken word.
£7 Standard
£5 Concession
The performance will start at 7.30pm, and doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the performance. There will be a 10 minute interval
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''Find your grail' with Oswald's Players' final (and biggest) show of the year - this Tony-winning adaptation of the hilarious Monty Python classic!
'England. 932 AD. King Arthur has been charged with a sacred quest: band together an army in pursuit of the promised Holy Grail. But constant distractions by an ensemble of bizarre characters - like the Knights Who Say Ni, a killer bunny, and some French people - sets the knights' quest back time and time again. In the face of defeat, Arthur's crew can only rely on the allure of the mystical Lady of the Lake, who gracefully guides and encourages them along the way...
£7 Standard
£6.50 Concession
£6 Durham Student Theatre Members / South College JCR Members
This production is taking place at Mount Oswald Hub, The Drive, Durham, DH1 3FP.
The performances will begin at 7pm and last 140 minutes with a short interval.
Durham University Classical Theatre proudly presents Noël Coward's 'Hay Fever' - 100 years after it was first performed! Step into the eccentric world of the Bliss family where drama, romance, and absurdity collide in a weekend of hilarious misadventures.
''Hay Fever' is a sparkling comedy of manners that invites audiences into the chaotic country home of the unconventional Bliss family. Retired actress Judith, her novelist husband David, and their high-spirited children, Simon and Sorel, each unknowingly invite a guest for the weekend - only to subject them to a whirlwind of emotional outbursts, theatrical tantrums, and bewildering social games. As the bemused visitors struggle to keep up with the family's eccentricities, misunderstandings and melodrama escalate, leaving them desperate to escape. Noël Coward’s razor-sharp wit and timeless humour make Hay Fever a delightful exploration of self-absorption, absurdity, and the art of performance.
£7.50 Standard
£7 Concession
£6.50 Durham Student Theatre Members
This play is taking place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 N Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.
The performance will begin at 7.30pm and last approximately 120 minutes with short interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the play begins.
Join Durham University Orchestral Society for a programme of favourites from the classical world in Elvet Methodist Church.
Full of dazzling passages, lyrical melodies and witty conversations between the soloist and orchestra, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor is the pinnacle of the composer’s oeuvre. With Joshua Evett as the soloist, look forward to half an hour of classical poise and romantic tenderness.
Prokofiev’s ‘Classical’ Symphony No. 1 is, in the composer’s own words, a symphony as Mozart or Haydn might have written if they were born in the 20th Century. Including mischief, surprises and musical fireworks, this masterpiece contains the simplicity of the classical period paired with Prokofiev’s contemporary originality.
Also featured is Wagner’s poetic and beautiful love-letter, the Siegfried Idyll, and Tony Finno’s orchestration of the only surviving movement of Debussy’s B minor Symphony - an early premonition of the genius to come.
£14 Standard
£12 Concession
£10 Durham Student Music Members
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'For one night only, the Durham Revue are joined by the Bristol Revunions and Manchester Revue to bring you a summer sketch show extravaganza!
Following their successful Comedyfest in the Gala Theatre last term and performances around the country, The Durham Revue return with 100% new material for one night only! We're super excited to welcome our fantastically funny friends from Bristol and Manchester for the first time ever to bring you an unmissable evening of raucous laughs, cutting-edge sketches and comedy for everyone! With alumni including Nish Kumar, Jamie Demetriou, Charlotte Ritchie, Ed Gamble and more, these award-winning groups are not to be missed!
£7 Standard
£6.50 Concession (inc Durham Student Theatre Members)
This performance is taking place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.
The performance will begin at 7.30pm and last until 9.30pm with a short interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the show starts.
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Castle Theatre Company is delighted to announce its production of Twelfth Night. When a ship is wrecked on the rocks, a tale of mistaken identities, love triangles, and humorous deceptions ensues.
Castle Theatre Company is one of the oldest performing arts groups at Durham University, and for over four decades have taken an annual summer Shakespeare tour around the south of England and the USA, performing classic comedies on the lawns of stately homes, gardens, and abbeys. 2024’s touring production of 'As You Like It' was performed to sold-out audiences around the south of England.
After the shipwreck, Viola is separated from her twin brother, Sebastian. Disguised as a man, named Cesario, she enters the service of Duke Orsino, who already loves Lady Olivia. However, Olivia falls for Cesario, unaware that she is Viola, while Viola secretly loves Orsino. Meanwhile, Sebastian, who survived the shipwreck, arrives, leading to Olivia marrying him, thinking he is Cesario. As the confusion unravels, Viola's identity is revealed, and Orsino realizes his love for her .
£7 Standard
£6.50 Concession
£6 Durham Student Theatre Members
£5.50 University College JCR Members
This performance will take place in the Master’s Garden at Durham Castle, DH1 3RW.
The performances will begin at 2.30pm and last until 5pm with a short interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the show.
‘Let’s do the Time Warp again’ as DULOG presents the ultra-camp cult classic sci-fi satire and celebration of self-expression: The Rocky Horror Show!
'Fifty years since it first hit stage and screen, The Rocky Horror Show follows all-American high-school sweethearts Brad and Janet on their journey into the mysterious, madcap castle of the fiendishly fabulous Dr Frank-N-Furter: a mad scientist with a plan to make the perfect man! Featuring an unforgettable cast of characters, set to an iconic rock’n’roll score and with plenty of surprises in store, DULOG invites you to ‘give yourself over to absolute pleasure’ for ninety minutes of gender- and genre-bending entertainment!
Content warnings: Sexual content and themes / Profanity and crude humour / Violence / Drug use / Audience participation
£8.50 Standard
£7.50 Concessions
£7 Durham Student Theatre Members
This performance is taking place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.
The performances begin at 5.30pm, 7.30pm or 9pm and last about 105 minutes with a short interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the performances. Check individual dates below for further information.
In 1988, a Tory politician Robin Hesketh returns to his Cotswold home with his left-wing wife. What begins as light teasing soon escalates into a brutal conflict, shattering the calm of their 30-year marriage.
Hansard is an intimate drama about a troubled marriage set against the backdrop of Section 28, which banned the “promotion” of homosexuality. The play takes place in the Cotswolds, where Tory cabinet member Robin Hesketh and his disillusioned, left-wing wife Diana live. After Robin returns from a TV debate, Diana confronts him over his political views, criticising the Tories' stance on homosexuality. What starts as light teasing quickly turns into a brutal conflict, exploring the emotional disconnect between the characters and the clash of political ideologies.
Content Warnings: Suicide / homophobia
£7 Standard
£6.50 Concession
£6 Durham Student Theatre Members
This performance is taking place at the Mark Hillery Arts Centre, Collingwood College.
This performance will begin at 7.30pm and last until approximately 9pm. Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the show.
18 of Durham's finest musical theatre performers welcome you for an evening of them being Miscast in roles they wouldn't normally get to play.
Join over a dozen of Durham's finest performers for an evening of Miscast mayhem as they perform songs they would never get to otherwise. A dazzling showcase with numbers ranging from side-splitting solos, to dynamic duets, to energetic ensemble numbers, this is an evening of comedy and fun that you won't want to miss!
£6.50 Standard
£6 Concession
£5.50 Durham Student Theatre Members
This performance takes place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 North Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.
This show will begin at 7.30pm and run for 110 minutes with a short interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the start of the show.
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In the London Blitz of WW2, Alice’s life is turned upside down, and she and her friend Alfred are forced to shelter in a tube station bunker. When Alfred is quarantined, Alice encourages him to escape with her into their cherished book and journey down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.
In the rubble of the London Blitz of World War II, Alice Spencer’s budding teen life is turned upside down, and she and her dear friend Alfred are forced to take shelter in an underground tube station. When the ailing Alfred is quarantined, Alice encourages him to escape with her into their cherished book and journey down the rabbit hole to Wonderland.
As they travel through the tale, Alice by Heart explores the poignancy of first love, coming to terms with loss, and finding the courage to move forward.
The story shifts between the surreal world of Wonderland and the starkness of the bomb shelter. Familiar characters like the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, and Queen of Hearts emerge as figments of Alice’s imagination, mirroring the people in the shelter and the emotions Alice wrestles with. Wonderland becomes a metaphorical realm where Alice can confront her fears, grief, and feelings of powerlessness. This world-premiere musical encourages us all to celebrate the transformational power of the imagination, even in the harshest of times.
£10 Standard
£8 Concession
£7.50 Durham Student Music Members
This event is taking place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 N Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.
The performances will begin at 7.30pm (or 2.30pm on the matinee), and last for approximately 105 minutes with a short interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the performance begins.
