Everything You'll Want to Do This Month
March mayhem, must-see shows and everything you'll want to book now
Louise Lockhart: Cake Crumbs and Lemonade
Cake Crumbs and Lemonade is illustrator Louise Lockhart’s largest solo exhibition to date. Better known as The Printed Peanut, she works from a farm studio in Wales creating collage and print-based works using cut paper.
FROM 7TH MARCH
YSP Centre, West Bretton
ysp.org.uk
Narbi Price: Shadow on the Things You Know
While we normally direct you to Hexham’s Queen’s Hall for theatre shows – don’t forget about the art centre’s exhibitions too. This one’s particularly exciting as it’s Hartlepool-born artist Narbi Price’s first solo exhibition since 2020. See a body of paintings that show anonymous sites with cultural importance and varied histories.
7TH MARCH–30TH MAY
Queen’s Hall Arts Centre, Hexham
queenshall.co.uk
Zog
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s feel-good story Zog will come to life on stage in this child-friendly theatre show with puppetry. Can your children help Zog with his biggest challenge yet, so he can finally win a golden star?
16TH–21ST MARCH
Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds
carriageworkstheatre.co.uk
The Grand Babylon Hotel
In this comedy thriller, a cast of five promise a riotous night out! Nella wants steak and beer for her birthday, but these aren’t on the menu so her American Railroad Millionaire father buys the entire hotel, but The Grand Babylon isn’t all it seems.
18TH–21ST MARCH
SJT, Scarborough
sjt.uk.com
Nigel Havers: Talking B*ll*cks
With five decades in showbiz to share, Nigel Havers isn’t short of stories. Expect behind-the-scenes gossip, tales of triumph (and the less triumphant moments), and what he likes to call ‘talking b*ll*cks’. We’re promised a taste of his very first acting role and a showcase of one of his off-stage talents.
19TH MARCH
Tyne Theatre & Opera House, Newcastle
tynetheatreandoperahouse.uk
Opera North: The Marriage of Figaro & Peter Grimes
Opera North returns to Newcastle Theatre Royal with two contrasting masterpieces: Mozart’s comic masterpiece The Marriage of Figaro and Britten’s powerful, sea-swept drama Peter Grimes. Together, they showcase opera at its most entertaining and most emotionally gripping.
19TH–21ST MARCH
Newcastle Theatre Royal
theatreroyal.co.uk
Chris Ramsey: Here, Man!
Chris Ramsey is back on the road in 2026 with a brand-new stand-up show, and he’s stopping by York. Here Man is the follow-up to Chris’s last sell-out stand-up tour 2020, which saw him perform to more than 100,000 people nationwide. Tickets are bound to be popular.
20TH MARCH
York Barbican
yorkbarbican.co.uk
Living North LIVE
Living North LIVE is back in York for 2026! At Yorkshire’s leading homes, gardens, shopping, food and lifestyle event, expect stylish shopping, live demonstrations, talks and tastings. Living North LIVE brings you inspiring ideas for your home and garden, great gifts, delicious food and unique accessories that you won’t find anywhere else. We can’t wait to see you there! Early-bird discounted tickets are on sale now.
20TH–22ND MARCH
York Racecourse
livingnorth.com
Greg Davies: Full Fat Legend
As seen on Taskmaster, The Inbetweeners, The Cleaner, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, Man Down and Cuckoo, Greg Davies knows how to make us laugh, so we’re expecting great things from his biggest live tour yet.
21ST MARCH
Utilita Arena, Newcastle
utilitaarena.co.uk
The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years
The Cat That Slept for a Thousand Years will be at WX this spring – this extraordinary, enchanting creature stretches an impressive 10 metres in length and gently snores, purrs, twitches and swishes its tail. Created by innovative robotics studio Air Giants and originally commissioned by Manchester Museum, the installation uses pioneering technology to bring the gentle, dreaming cat to life.
21ST MARCH–12TH APRIL
WX Wakefield
experiencewakefield.co.uk
YOU:MATTER
In this digital interactive experience, you’ll see a fusion of art, science and creative technologies making the invisible visible and exploring a fresh perspective on the world you thought you knew.
UNTIL 22ND MARCH
The National Science and Media Museum, Bradford
scienceandmediamuseum.org.uk
Scouting for Girls
Their last tour sold out so you’ll want to act fast to bag tickets to Scouting for Girls’s gigs including this intimate one in Leeds.
24TH MARCH
O2 Academy Leeds
academymusicgroup.com
Bedroom Farce
Alan Ayckbourn’s 70s-set comedy Bedroom Farce presents audiences with three bedrooms and four different couples over one night. This new production is directed by Jen Lambert.
27TH–29TH MARCH
Cast, Doncaster
castindoncaster.com
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2025 and Exploring Identity
This spring and summer, visitors to the Laing Art Gallery can discover the history of portrait painting from the 16th century to the present day in two complementary exhibitions including this one – the National Portrait Gallery’s celebrated painting competition, the Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer Portrait Award 2025, now in its 43rd year. It will be shown alongside Exploring Identity, a portraiture exhibition curated from North East Museums’ art collections that provides historical context to the Portrait Award.
FROM 28TH MARCH
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
northeastmuseums.org.uk
The Plotters’ Forest Dragon Quest
Don’t miss Raby’s brand-new dragon quest. Your children will follow the winding paths of the Christmas tree plantation to complete their trail sheet encouraging interactive play and outdoor fun. They’ll love whispering secrets through the talking tubes.
14TH FEBRUARY–29TH MARCH
High Force
raby.co.uk
2:22 A Ghost Story
Following seven West End seasons, a record-breaking UK and Ireland tour and 12 productions across the globe, there’s still no stopping 2:22 A Ghost Story. The cast for this show in York features EastEnders actor James Bye and star of 2 Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps Natalie Casey.
30TH MARCH–4TH APRIL
Grand Opera House York
atgtickets.com
I, Daniel Blake
Adapted by Dave Johns from the film directed by Ken Loach, this stage adaptation of I, Daniel Blake is produced by Northern Stage in association with Leeds Playhouse. This spring it returns to Northern Stage after two sold out runs. Raw, honest and stripped back (if, at times, painful to watch) this production shares a poignant message. Find out more about the show at livingnorth.com.
20TH MARCH–4TH APRIL
Northern Stage, Newcastle
northernstage.co.uk
‘Don’t Let’s Ask for the Moon...’: Nocturnes and Atkinson Grimshaw
John Atkinson Grimshaw’s Moonlights from the 1880s brought the Leeds artist success and recognition and in this new exhibition you’ll see Leeds Art Gallery’s impressive collection of nocturnal pictures by this renowned artist, including Reflections on the Aire - on strike (1879) which is likely to be one of the first paintings depicting the consequences of industrial action.
UNTIL 19TH APRIL
Leeds Art Gallery
museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk
Perfume by Yann Nguema
Internationally renowned, contemporary, visual artist Yann Nguema is displaying an exciting installation for the new space at Preston Park Museum, The Spence Building, where visitors will be surrounded by gentle waves of colour and light, accompanied by the rhythm of an atmospheric soundtrack composed by Zero Gr4vity, creating hypnotic, poetic landscapes. For the Tracks of Change series as part of S&DR200, this is the first time Yann Nguema’s work has been shown in the UK.
UNTIL MAY
Preston Park Museum
sdr200.co.uk
