John Peel Theatre

The Little Theatre at the Heart of Wigton

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Our Next Production:
Pink! The Panto!


Tickets available online

Book now
or by phoning 01697 424624
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President: Melvyn Bragg

2017 WINNER

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Our Facilities:


Proscenium arch theatre

90 raked seats

Wheelchair access

Induction loop

Licensed bar

Real coffee

Ice cream & snacks

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Registered Charity No: 1178881

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What's On
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Entertaining Wigton
for 70 Years

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Open Mic Night

First Friday of every month

Next event: 7th February

Running live in the theatre. Places must be booked via TicketSource
Check our Facebook page and newsletter for details.

7:30pm start

Find your voice in a relaxed and supportive environment. We invite artists to register and book a slot at no charge.

Entrance is also free for non-performers

Contact us to register or for further information:
openmic or via the theatre Facebook page.
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Virtual Open Mic Night

Second Friday of every other month (Feb, April, June, Aug, Oct, Dec)

Next event: 14th February 2025

Running virtually on Zoom.
Check our Facebook page and newsletter for details.

7:30pm start

Find your voice in a relaxed and supportive environment.
Pre-recorded videos and live performances are all accepted. Please check that your audio settings are optimised for music if you are performing live (this is a
good guide on how to do it).

You can upload your videos
here.

Contact Kate Jensen to register or for further information:
openmic or via the theatre Facebook page.
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Pink!
The Panto!

17th, 18th, 19th, 21st and 22nd February 7:00pm
22nd and 23rd February 2:00pm


Life in Panto land is perfect, everyone works at the toy factory producing wonderful toys, and everyone is happy. That is, until the evil Lady Plunderjoy starts to work her dark magic. Darbie, Polly and Tilly are three dolls who come to life when student of magic, Gertie, helps the town to fight back.

Will Darbie, Den and Gertie, helped by Mrs B, our redoubtable Dame and a host of other wacky characters, overcome the evil Plunderjoy? Will there be music, singing and dancing? Will there be lots of fun and laughter? Oh yes there will!

Book early to avoid disappointment!

Please note:
Saturday 22nd's matinee performance will be a relaxed performance with reduced lighting and sound effects.


Tickets: Adult £12 Child £8
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Folk at The John Peel

Miranda Sykes and Jim Causley

8th March 7:30pm

'The Last Of The Singers’ Tour 2025

Two of the UK’s most iconic voices have finally combined as a duo and will be touring a new album in 2025.

Miranda Sykes and Jim Causley have known each other for nearly 20 years and in 2024 they united with John Palmer to create and tour a show celebrating the centenary of the death of the song collector and author Sabine Baring - Gould.

They enjoyed working together so much and audience feedback was so positive that they made plans to record and tour an album together.

“The Last Of The Singers” is a collection of traditional, self penned and contemporary songs bringing their magical voices together.

Jim Causley
“The Finest Singer of his generation”
MOJO MAGAZINE

Miranda Sykes has spent so much time working with Show Of Hands its easy to forget what a good solo performer she is...gorgeous and very compelling stuff”
ROCK N REEL

https://www.mirandasykes.com/
https://www.jimcausley.co.uk/

Tickets £18

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Folk at The John Peel

Lee Collinson

9th May 7:30pm

From the earliest age Lee has been blessed with fingers capable of guitar-playing beyond mere mortals! His solo career began in 1987 after experiencing life as a lead guitarist in a number of rock bands. His impact was immediate, captivating audiences at folk clubs and festivals, reaching the BBC ‘Young Folk’ finals – twice, touring in a trio with Keith Hancock and Clive Gregson, and forging a successful solo career with his eclectic repertoire comprising folk and blues in all of its forms. His albums, co-produced by Dave Swan, feature guest appearances from the likes of Christine Collister, Barb Jungr and Tom McConville and his career has taken him all over the world.

Lee can switch from contemporary and traditional folk, to 50s style, blues and jazz. He started out by playing in rock band Cloud Nine, the duo, Richard III and then another rock band, Typically Max. In 1987, Collinson embarked upon a solo career, and was twice a finalist in BBC Radio’s Young Tradition Award. The subsequent broadcast, and a chance meeting with Spiv Records at a folk festival, resulted in his debut release, Limbo, followed by the much lauded Slip the Driver a Fiver.

Then miss a few years in his musical history for family and his career as a skipping coach... (ask him...)

So it 's a few years, now, since Lee Collinson was the up-and-coming darling of the folk festival circuit with his carefully chosen set of songs and his party-piece of Prince's Kiss, played strictly for laughs. It's funny, he says, everyone remembers Kiss, yet it was really my guitar work that I was most proud of. And proud he should be. Lee is a fabulous guitarist; not only that but a super singer. And he's better than ever.

"A lightning fingered guitarist and singer" - The Guardian

“Always engaging, always brilliant.” - The Ram Club

"Lee Collinson is one of Britain's finest acoustic guitarists and singers. Lee's immense versatility is demonstrated in the range of music he plays - from traditional and contemporary folk to bottleneck interpretations of modern rock and blues." - allgigs.com


Tickets £15
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Folk at The John Peel

Jackie Oates and Mike Cosgrave

22nd June 7:30pm

Jackie is performing for Folk at the John Peel and is joined by multi-instrumentalist
MIKE COSGRAVE (Cosgrave & Banks, Sin É, Daily Planet, Jackie Leven, Jenny Crook).

‘There’s a sweetness and melancholy to her voice that is like no other, and for which there is no known formula with which to replicate it.’ Songlines

Known for her exquisite vocals, emotive arrangements and expressive fiddle playing, Jackie is regarded as a ‘contemporary folk treasure’ and central figure in English traditional music. Jackie loves to collaborate with a diverse array of artists and commissions; seeking out new and surprising artistic corners to illuminate with her understated brilliance.

Her 8th solo studio album, Gracious Wings, took flight in September 2022, receiving acclaim from both within and beyond the folk press.
‘Her cover of ‘On and On’ by indie band the Longpigs is a bit of genius.’ **** (Get Ready to Rock).

As well as recording and music therapy work, Jackie regularly performs with her duo and band line-ups including with John Spiers, Jon Wilks, Mike Cosgrave, John Parker, Megan Henwood and with The Imagined Village.

‘Whatever Jackie Oates turns her hand to the result is always enchanting, captivating and spiced with surprises.’ Folking.com

https://www.jackieoates.co.uk/

Tickets £16
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Soul Junction

19th July 7:30pm

Soul Junction is a brassy, sassy seven-piece Cumbrian Soul and Motown band based in Penrith playing great live music with tight rhythms and a sizzling brass section, backing great female vocals. Come and join us at the John Peel Theatre for the very best live Soul and Motown dance music.

www.souljunction.co.uk/

Tickets £14
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Folk at The John Peel

Chris Wood

19th September 7:30pm

Reflections on minor league football, empty nest syndrome, learning to swim, Cook-in Sauce and of course, the Gecko as a metaphor for contemporary society!
Tom Robinson and Chris Difford are fans while Stick In The Wheel and The Unthanks look to him as an influence. In a world of soundbites and distractions Chris Wood is a truth seeker. His writing is permeated with love and wry intelligence, uplifting and challenging as he celebrates the sheer one-thing-after-anotherness of life.

Winner of 6 BBC Folk Awards, he's played with The Royal Shakespeare Company and was a key member of The Imagined Village along with Billy Bragg, Martin and Eliza Carthy. A wise and soulful craftsman, his concerts are a cliche free zone.

The Herald ***** 5 Stars
“As close as it gets to a perfect union of voice and guitar, lyrics and melody, compassion, irony, realism, wit, and humanity.”

The Irish Times ***** 5 Stars
“Nobody comes even close to equaling his bird’s-eye-view.”

Mojo **** 4 Stars
“a rarefied talent, both as writer and interpreter.”

http://chriswoodmusic.co.uk/

Tickets £18
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Handbagged
by Moira Buffini

24th - 27th September 7:30pm

Handbags, hairspray and sensible shoes.
The monarch - Liz.
Her most powerful subject - Maggie.
One believed there was no such thing as society. The other had vowed to serve it.

'A satire full of mischief and gossip'
The Times

'A clever, funny and charming political comedy'
Guardian

Tickets: Adult £10
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Folk at The John Peel

Budapest Cafe Orchestra

9th October 7:30pm

Something a little different from Folk at the John Peel!

In 2009 Christian Garrick established the refreshingly unconventional and snappily attired Budapest Café Orchestra. The intention to present a broad range of music from all over the world in the most entertaining and fun way. One of BCO's prime directives is to take the music seriously but not so much themselves. Part of the secret formula of the BCO's show presentation is performing all the music from memory and, combined their trademark wit and charm, audiences leave tingling with warmth and delight.

BCO are one of the very busiest acoustic groups for me today playing an average of 60 to 70 shows per annum. Since their inception they have recorded one album every year and in January 2023 made their 14th Pavane (& the whole shebang-bang). BCO are frequent guests to BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and on Martin’s Handley’s weekend Breakfast programmes.

Each member of the orchestra is a freelance musician in their own right. Both Eddie and Adrian teach prolifically for budding school-age musicians. Christian is a professor of jazz violin at Guildhall School of Music, Royal Academy of Music, and Royal College of Music in London.

Adrian is curator and director of the Imperial Balalaika Orchestra of Overton (IBOO) who sometimes appear with BCO at special gala concerts. Both Eddie and Christian are busy session recording the sessions and have each played on a multitude of movies. Eddie even had an on-screen role in the Nick Cage film Captain Corelli’s Mandolin!

From a musical family with jazz and classical learnings Christian Garrick is musical director of BCO and his influences run far and wide. He first discovered Hungarian and Romanian folk and gypsy music listening to Sandor Lakatos and Taraf du Haidouks. Christian’s arrangements for BCO of Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky and Greig - the so called ‘squeezebox concertos’ - are rooted in BCO folklore. His arrangements of traditional Gaelic tunes on the album The Gaelic Chronicles was met with critical acclaim with the likes of Cerys Matthews and Mark Radcliffe both championing the disc on their respective radio shows. Christian is influenced by a range of fiddlers from Grappelli to Stuff Smith to Indian virtuosos L Shankar and L Subramaniam. Nigel Kennedy, a sometimes collaborator with Christian on stage, described him as “one of my favourite violinists”. Christian’s own unique hybrid playing style, sheer emotional passion and extraordinary improvisational abilities thrills audiences everywhere.

"Not so much a band name as a whole genre of its own, Budapest Café Orchestra embraces an encyclopaedia of music and mischief." SCOTSMAN

“Your music is really great.” Helena Bonham Carter

"Their arrangements are brilliant, their improvisations inspired. Their humour and, on occasion, sheer silliness hides a real brilliance of execution. In every bit of the material the charming irony hides really serious and focussed music-making. This is entertainment of a high order." Sir Roger Norrington

“The music is magic in their hands.” Sean Rafferty BBC Radio 3

“Absolutely acoustically electrifying!” Time Out

“Back by popular demand, the fiery vivacity and awe-inspiring musicianship of the finest purveyors of Eastern European gypsy music this side of a Lada scrap heap will leave you with a grin on your face and rhythm in your feet…” TIMES

“BCO are a tonic to the eardrums and boost to the soul.” NME

www.budapestcafeorchestra.co.uk/

Tickets £20
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Folk at The John Peel

Chris While and Julie Matthews

1st November 7:30pm

With 30 years of unrivalled musical partnership and gathering numerous nominations, awards and critical acclaim along the way, much beloved British singer-songwriters Chris While and Julie Matthews celebrated a quarter of a century last year as one of the best loved and most prolific female duos to come out of this country.

They have played more than 2,600 gigs, appeared on over 100 albums, written hundreds of original songs and reached millions of people around the world. They are also part of female super group, Daphne’s Flight (Helen Watson, Melanie Harrold & Miranda Sykes) and Christmas band, St. Agnes Fountain with Fairport’s Chris Leslie. Now, 30 years after their debut, they sound as fresh and vital as ever.

Chris While (vocals, guitar, banjo, dulcimer, bodhran and percussion) & Julie Matthews (vocals, piano, guitar, mandolin and bouzouki) are stunning singers, songwriters, musicians and performers whose energy and commitment to their craft and their audience is boundless.


it's a real honour just to be an audience member but I've had the added honour of standing on a stage with them playing along in the background, things like that I'll treasure forever, truly gifted human beings"
Richard Hawley

"Chris While is the best singer in England"
Eddi Reader

Froots simply called Julie Matthews 'awesomely talented'.

www.whileandmatthews.com

Tickets £18