A raw, explosive and unforgettable sung-through rock musical about love, loss and mental illness. As one family fights to hold itself together, how far will they go to find hope?

TDTC presents Next to Normal, a sung-through rock musical exploring one family’s struggle with mental illness and grief. The mother, Diana Goodman, lives with bipolar disorder and battles with depression, hallucinations, and the memories of a major loss.

As medication and therapy weaken her, husband Dan, daughter Natalie, and son Gabe struggle to stay afloat. Intimate and emotionally charged, Next to Normal is a musical that combines a powerful score with a gut-wrenching narrative to tell the story of a family learning that recovering from loss is never easy, and that hope only comes when they face the truth together.

Please note that this performance contains a visual depiction of a suicide attempt, self-harm, blood clearup, and electroconvulsive therapy.

£10 Standard

£9 Concession

£7 Performing Arts Members

This performance will take place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 N Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.

Performances will begin at 7.30pm or 2.30pm and last approximately 150min with interval. Doors will open 30min before the show begins.

Gospel Choir Presents “In the Beginning”: 40 voices and a full live band journey from creation’s first dawn to Bethlehem’s manger, weaving joyful Christmas favourites with soul-awakening gospel music.

This December, Durham University Gospel Choir invites you to return to where it all began. “In the Beginning” brings together 40 voices and live instrumentalists for an evening that moves from the light of creation to the wonder of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, combining beloved Christmas tunes with powerful gospel classics. Join us at Elvet Methodist Church for a night of light, hope, music and new beginnings. Every story has a beginning, let Gospel Choir share it with you in song!

£8 Standard

£7 Concession

£6 Performing Arts Members

This event is taking place at Elvet Methodist Church, Old Elvet Durham.

The performance will begin at 7.30pm and last for approximately 2h. Doors will open 30 mins before the start of the show.

When a mysterious government inspector is expected in town, a group of corrupt officials panic - and mistake a penniless young civil servant for the man they fear.

Bailey Theatre Company presents Nikolai Gogol's 'The Government Inspector', a riotous satire of corruption, deception, and bureaucratic absurdity.

When word reaches a provincial town that a government inspector is secretly coming to investigate, its officials are thrown into panic. Their fear turns to frantic hospitality when they mistake an unremarkable young civil servant for the inspector himself. Soon enough, bribes are offered, secrets are concealed, and increasingly elaborate attempts are made to win his favour - with disastrous consequences.

A sharp and wonderfully absurd satire of power, reputation, and human greed, this production launches BTC's new First-Timers' Play initiative.

£7 Standard

£6 Concession

£5 Performing Arts Members

This event is taking place at Leech Hall, St John's College, 3 South Bailey, Durham, DH1 3RJ.

The performance will begin at 7.30pm and last 2h 15m with interval. Doors will open 30 mins before the performance begins.

Join us for A Festive Night with Foot Notes- a joyful evening of beautiful music and glorious harmonies to get you in the Christmas spirit!

With a mix of festive favourites, stunning choral music and much-loved classics, there truly is something for everyone to enjoy. From the timeless beauty of Bach’s Gloria sei Dir Gesungen to the charm of folk favourite O My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose, Foot Notes will take you on a musical journey through a variety of styles that you are sure to love. Come and celebrate the season with us, we can’t wait to see you there!

£10 Standard

£8.50 Concession

£6 Performing Arts Members

This concert takes place at St Oswald's Church, Church St, DH1 3DQ.

This performance is taking place at 7.30pm and will last approximately 2h15m. Doors will open 30m before the concert begins.

A mix of merry melodies, there's no better way to get in the Christmas spirit!

Join Hill Orchestra at Elvet Methodist Church for an evening of winter tunes. With a mix of classical Christmas pieces, film scores, and even some Mario Kart, our concert of Merry Melodies promises an evening of fun and seasonal cheer.

£8 Standard

£7 Concession

£6 Performing Arts Members

This concert will take place at Elvet Methodist Church, Old Elvet, Durham.

The concert will begin at 8pm and run until 9.30pm with interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the show begins.

Join Durham University Classical Ensemble for a thrilling night of music, including Beethoven's Third Symphony - 'Eroica' and other works by Beethoven, Mozart, and Schubert.

Join Durham University Classical Ensemble in the beautiful setting of the Durham Town Hall to perform some incredible music.

Mozart’s Don Giovanni Overture opens the concert with thrill and drama. Beethoven’s Introduction to Christus am Ölberge, written alongside his Eroica, offers a moment of mystery and contemplation, before Schubert’s Three Entr’actes bring pastoral days, stormy nights and one of classical music’s most beautiful melodies.

Finally, Beethoven’s monumental Eroica Symphony brings an explosive conclusion: an architectural masterpiece journeying from the sudden eruptions of the first movement, through the grief-ridden funeral march, and finally to triumph. Truly one of the most influential symphonies ever written.

£10 Standard

£8 Concession

£7 Performing Arts Members

This concert takes place at Durham Town Hall, Market Place, Durham, DH1 3NJ.

The concert will begin at 7.30pm and last approximately 1h 40m. Doors will open 30m before the performance begins.

The Palatinate Ensemble presents an intimate programme of chamber music, followed by Dvořák’s String Serenade, Vaughan Williams’ Suite for Viola and Orchestra, and Haydn’s Symphony No. 104.

The Palatinate Ensemble present an evening of chamber and orchestral music, exploring the continent’s diverse folk traditions. The concert opens with a selection of chamber works, before Dvořák’s String Serenade brings the full ensemble together in music shaped by Czech dance and folk traditions.

Vaughan Williams’ Suite for Viola and Orchestra follows, performed by Oskar Herbert-Young, drawing on traditional English folk melodies and Christmas festivities. The programme concludes with Haydn’s Symphony No. 104, ‘London’, whose lively rhythms and memorable melodies provide an energetic conclusion to the night.

£12 Standard

£10 Concession

£8 Performing Arts Members

This concert will take place at St Oswald's Church, Church St, Durham, DH1 3DQ.

The performance will begin at 7.30pm and last until approximately 9.15pm. Doors will open 30 minutes before the performance begins.

Dunelm Consort and Players presents a legendary festive classic: JS Bach's Christmas Oratorio. Join us this December for a magnificent evening of top-quality singing, playing, and Christmas joy.

From its opening chorus 'Jauchzet, frohlocket!', the jubilant strains of Bach's Oratorio capture the wonder of Christmas like no other. First performed as six separate cantatas across the 1734 Christmas period, these depictions of the Nativity story's varying perspectives unite to form one lavish whole; one of the largest-scale sacred choral pieces Bach composed and containing some of the most beautiful chorales he ever wrote.

Conducted by Zac Smith, evangelised by Elliott Gregg, and in the hands of the celebrated Dunelm Consort and Players, this renowned work promises to make for a memorable evening and the perfect celebration of the festive season.

£15 Standard

£10 Concession

£8 Performing Arts Members

This performance takes place at St Godric's Church, 2 Castle Chare, Durham, DH1 4RD.

The performance will begin at 7.30pm and last for approximately 2h30m with interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the show begins.

In late-nineteenth-century Norway, Nora and Torvald Helmer prepare for Christmas when they receive an unexpected visit from an old colleague who threatens to unveil Nora's deepest, darkest secret.

Nora and Torvald Helmer’s marriage appears nothing but typical, threatened only by the arrival of Krogstad, a former employee of Torvald's, who blackmails Nora with her greatest secret: unbeknownst to her husband, she has illegally taken out a loan to save his life. Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ is a landmark work in proto-feminist theatre, exhibiting how Nora attempts to navigate the ties between reputation, sacrifice, and the laws of marriage.

£10 Standard

£9 Concession

£8 Performing Arts Member

This performance will take place at the Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, 40 N Bailey, Durham, DH1 3ET.

Performances will start at 7.30pm and last approximately 2h 30mins with interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the show begins.

Fall into a haze of sinister insensibility in Walkabout’s immersive, dark-fantasy adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale.

'“How do you know I’m mad?” said Alice.

“You must be,” said the Cat, “or you wouldn’t have come here.”

When Alice falls down the rabbit hole she’s confronted with a world crawling with creatures and creeps, desperately needing your help to navigate her way back to the surface. Treats that seem sweet soon turn sour as Alice proves that, whilst curiosity may not kill the cat, it can certainly harm the girl. White rabbits and oinking infants are the least of your troubles; there’s a far bloodthirstier threat awaiting you, croquet mallet in hand…

Prepare your grin: the Queen will see you now.

£10 Standard

£9 Concession

£7 Performing Arts Members

This performance will tak eplace at the Collingwood Arts Centre, Collingwood College, South Rd, Durham, DH1 3LT.

Performances will begin at 7.30pm and last approximately 2h with interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the performance begins.

Durham University Palatinate Orchestra's symphony orchestra returns to perform Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony, "From the New World", alongside works by Walton, Elgar and Chaminade.

The Durham University Palatinate Orchestra presents a programme spanning the rich musical and cultural traditions of Europe and America.

The evening opens with William Walton’s ‘Richard III Suite’, bringing Shakespeare’s tragic king to life through dramatic and turbulent orchestral writing. Following this, Edward Elgar’s ‘Three Bavarian Dances’ evokes the colours, dances and landscapes of southern Germany, before Chaminade’s ‘Flute Concertino’, performed by Emma Phipps, closes the first half.

The concert concludes with Dvořák’s iconic Ninth Symphony, ‘From the New World’, blending his Czech musical heritage with the sounds and influences of America, before Walton’s ‘Crown Imperial’ concludes the program.

£14 Standard

£12 Concession

£10 Performing Arts Members

This performance will take place at Elvet Methodist Church, 8 Old Elvet, Durham, DH1 3HL.

The performance will begin at 7.30pm and last until approximately 9.15pm with interval. Doors will open 30 minutes before the performance begins.