Hello!
It might still be freezing outside, but we are looking ahead to sunnier times with our fresh, new Summer Season at ARC. As ever, there is a huge variety on offer, so we hope you’ll find something that entices you in for a visit to ARC over the coming months. Below, you can find out more about everything we have coming up this season, with additional details of our personal highlights. Tickets for all of these events and more go on sale Thu 20 Feb at 12pm!
We begin an epic season of live music at ARC with everyone’s favourite Easter weekend treat. Stockton Calling 2025 is a major date on our calendar every year and is co-promoted by Tees Music Alliance, ARC and KU Promotions. The festival sees nine stages being presented in a range of venues across the town centre, featuring scores of bands performing from early afternoon onwards. Local legends Maximo Park are headlining at ARC this year so make sure you get your tickets in for a proper homecoming celebration.
There’ll be some amazing original music from the likes of Megson, The Christians and The Undertones. UK Blues guitarist Aynsley Lister headlines the Stockton Blues, Rhythm and Rock Festival while Jeremy McMurray and the Pocket Jazz Orchestra continue to impress crowds with their relaxing jazz classics.
Our partnership with purveyors of great nights out, Electricity Limited, continues with The Southmartins Acoustic, The Rollin’ Stoned, The Marley Experience and Livewire: The AC/DC Show. Fleetwood Bac and Limehouse Lizzy are back by popular demand and the Creedence Clearwater Review bring their Green River Tour to life.
We’ve also got a special music and dance event celebrating 50 years of the iconic Bollywood classic, Sholay. Yeh Dosti: Celebrating 50 Years of Sholay! Will absolutely blow you away with costumes, sets and incredible performances.
ARC’s Theatre & Dance programme is absolutely packed with new plays, devised pieces and dance theatre. Supported by the Foyle Foundation this programme brings you the very best in homegrown talent and entertaining work from all over the country.
We kick off with the award-winning Rum by Joe Mallalieu. We saw this one-man show about a plasterer at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and are so proud to be helping it kick-start its tour of the UK from Stockton. The play explores masculinity, men’s mental health in an entertaining and ultimately moving way. The show is partnering with Andysmanclub who offer free to attend peer-to-peer support groups for men aged over 18. Tickets are limited so book early!
Another highlight is the latest piece by Tees Valley Artist of the Year, Scott Turnbull. Unexpected Item in the Bagging Area is a haunting and absurdly funny exploration of isolation, family and out of date hot dogs. You can get further under the skin of the show by taking part in one of the many workshops and projects attached and you can even help to get the show to Edinburgh Fringe by attending the Friday night performance that will conclude with an entertaining auction.
You can also catch work by Teesside-born artist gobscure, theatre legend Chris Thorpe’s new show Talking About the Fire, accessible work by EGO Arts, Reece Williams’ powerhouse new show This Kind of Black (Requiem for Black Boys), Hamzeh Al Hussien’s Penguin, and Northern School of Art Acting and Directing students will be showcasing their talents with performances of Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus, and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.
The season concludes with another of our Make New Work commissions and no summer is complete without a wedding. Seemia Theatre’s Let’s Love will celebrate the power and importance of love in all its forms. Make sure you get your seat at the top table.
Coming in September…another Make New Work commission – Free by Akeim Toussaint Buck.
If it’s a proper good night out you are after, our regular Catch 22 Comedy Club takes place on the last Friday of every month. And if you book for three consecutive Catch 22 Comedy Club events, you qualify for a special discount*. You have to experience Beat the Gong where potential rising stars and endearingly awkward first-timers all take to the stage.
If you prefer your comedy to be a bit more structured then James Rowland, Jamali Maddix, MC Hammersmith and Nina Gilligan bring their latest shows to ARC.
Keeping it pithy, we have also got some great Spoken Word events with comedy legend Henry Normal teaming up with “the Banksy of the poetry world” Brian Bilston and ARC regular Luke Wright sharing plenty of JOY!
*terms and conditions apply
There’s always a place for families at ARC. Whether it’s our weekly Saturday screenings of family films, complete with creative activities or if you want to come to one of our monthly theatre shows, ARC can be a one-stop shop for you and your little ones. Take a moment to chill and have a bite in our café either before or after your screening or performance.
If you want to get your Club Groovy on the ever-energetic Urban Kaos have a Springtime Bash & a Funky Family Fest they would like to invite you to.
We aim to bring you the best family-friendly theatre and theatre for children with wrongsemble’s Three Little Vikings, the very musical Cinderella Ice Cream Seller or alternative take on the myth of Robyn Hood. The stage adaptation of The Detective Dog arrives in the May half-term so if you are looking for holiday activities, consider your plans sorted.
In addition to our weekly Fun with Film programme for families, Teesside’s only independent cinema regularly hosts screenings in partnership with Teesside Dementia Link Services. These Dementia Supportive events are open to the public but particularly suit those living with dementia and their supporters.
We also host a monthly club for people who love documentaries about music and musicians. We Will Doc You happens on the last Tuesday of every month. Past screenings have included Buena Vista Social Club, Getting It Back: The Story of Cymande and In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.
Keep an eye on our socials for the latest on what’s going on in our cinema programme!
Special Events
One of ARC’s primary missions is to connect people and ideas. As one of the only arts centres in the Tees Valley, we want to use our stages and platforms to bring people together and help improve people’s wellbeing through creativity. This means we have a really exciting programme of celebratory events happening all year round.
This season we have deep discussions as part of Café Scientifique, a chance to meet other Swifties with Rise Up and Sing’s Taylor Swift Singalong, our nightclub for learning disabled adults ARCtic Piranha, our regular Refugee Week Celebrations and plenty of events for Stockton Pop-Up Pride including the Pride Pop Party featuring local acts Zela, Loren Heat and many more.
We also have a number of exhibitions in our galleries including Teesside artist gobscure’s you have already survived. So make sure you get on our mailing list and stay tuned in to our socials for all the latest information.
We are very excited about all the different events we want to share with you this summer. We hope you find something you like that means we can welcome you to ARC soon.
Alex and all the team at ARC.