Celtic Tunes and Ghostly Comic Capers as Autumn Events Announced

Highlights Rural Touring Scheme is back with top quality arts performances and creative workshops in village halls and community venues across County Durham this autumn, with tickets going on sale on Monday 25 August.

And to celebrate a brand-new website, Highlights, which is a charity funded by Arts Council
England, is offering an Early Bird discount on all standard tickets booked from Monday 25
August to Tuesday 9 September.

“We’re delighted to be launching a new website ahead of our new season,“ says Highlights’
artistic director Kate Lynch.

“And we have some fantastic events coming up in the months ahead. We hope audiences will
make the most of the early bird offer and support their local village halls to host the best in arts
and entertainment on their doorstep this autumn.”

Highlights work with an army of volunteer promoters in over 70 community venues and village
halls across the North of England to bring high quality arts events to small rural communities.
This season sees 12 performances and two creative workshops in nine village halls and
community spaces in County Durham.

The performances start at Frosterley Village Hall on Friday 10 October, with Northumberland
Theatre Company bringing a double bill of haunting Robert Louis Stevenson classics, with The
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde followed by The Body Snatcher.

The same weekend, Barningham Village Hall presents Fatherhood from dance company
Altered Skin, as part of the national Rural Touring Dance Initiative. Drawing from personal
experience, performer Shane Shambu explores the complications of being a father in the 21 st
century through physical theatre rooted in the Indian performing artform Bharatanatyam and
multilingual spoken text and sign languages.

Bowes & Gilmonby Parish Hall and Edmundbyers Village Hall host Grimm by Evie Henderson, a
new immersive piece of theatre based on stories of the Cod War, Grimsby in 1961. Grab your
mate, skipper or loved one and meet us at the Ship’s Disco!

It’s Hi-de-Hi meets the League of Gentlemen at Scarth Memorial Hall, Staindrop with The
Deadcoats – as we encounter two ghosts stuck in a form of light entertainment that’s deader
than they are!

The music offer across County Durham is just as diverse. The first is by kora master Jali Bakary
Konteh and classical harpist Sarah Deere-Jones at St Thomas’ Church Hall, Stanhope; a unique
cultural fusion of soothing Celtic tunes weaving around the African sounds of the kora.

UTASS, Middleton-in-Teesdale host Cumbria musicians JP Worsfold andAnne-Marie Sanderson
and storyteller Jessie McMeekin in The Singing Bones, a musical storytelling feast set in the
Cumbrian wilderness.

Graffiti Classics come to Hamsterley Village Hall with 16 strings, eight dancing feet, four voices
and one aim to make classical music wickedly funny and fantastically exhilarating in this all-
singing, all-dancing, musical comedy cabaret show.

Frosterley Village Hall hosts a double bill of folk artists Filkin’s Drift and Lucy Grubb. This
performance is the first in an exciting collaboration with Sound Roots, a UK-wide organisation
that helps artists build their careers in folk music and beyond. Filkin’s Drift and Lucy Grubb are
two of the four artists on their mentoring pathway, an initiative which has previously nurtured
artists such as Katherine Priddy, Maddie Morris and Lady Nade.

Stellar performers Helen Longworth and Peter Rylands get us in the festive mood at Bowes &
Gilmonby Parish Hall and St Thomas’ Church Hall, Stanhope, with their evening of Season’s
Greetings. Helen is an actor, musician and composer, widely known for her role as Hannah
Riley in The Archers. Peter’s career spans over 40 years in theatre, TV, radio and film.

And rounding up the season we have BBC Radio 2 Folk Singer of the Year, Ríoghnach Connolly
at Cotherstone Village Hall with her eclectic and intricate sound.

Two creative workshops led by professional artists are on offer with sessions in printing and
fused glass providing a fantastic opportunity to learn a new creative skill and spend time with
friends.

For booking information and details about the full Highlights Rural Touring Scheme Autumn
Season visit www.highlightsnorth.co.uk