Northampton BID

Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Night
2025-11-15 19:30 (Europe/London) | Royal and Derngate Theatre, 19-21 Guildhall Road, Northampton, Northamptonshire, NN1 1DP
What happens when a psychopath is in power? Could you learn to spot a psychopath? Are you working for a psychopath? Is there a little bit of psychopath in all us?
Following a box-office busting, sell-out tour in 2024, Jon Ronson’s Psychopath Night returns with new live dates.
Sixteen years have passed since Jon embarked on the adventure that became his ground-breaking and best-selling work, The Psychopath Test. Now, the renowned journalist, filmmaker, and author reopens the case with exclusive anecdotes and fresh reflections, taking you on a thrilling exploration of madness and the elusive psychopathic mind.
Join Jon in 2025 for another electrifying journey into the enigmatic world of psychopaths and the perplexing concept of normalcy. In an age where society’s rationality is called into question, Jon will deliver an evening of incisive inquiry, seasoned with his trademark wit and profound insights.
This unmissable show prominently features mystery special guests whose extraordinary, twist-filled true tales are central to the story but not found in the original edition of the book. The less you know about them, the better…
Don’t miss this unforgettable night of revelation, intrigue, and mind-bending insights. With a chance to ask Jon your own questions…book your tickets now before they’re gone!

NMPAT: Youth In Concert
2025-11-16 18:00
Northamptonshire Music and Performing Arts Trust presents the first major event of the season, Youth In Concert, with performances by five award winning senior ensembles of NMPAT: County Youth Concert Band, County Youth Choir, County Youth Brass Band, County Youth Big Band and County Youth Orchestra.

Fawlty Towers
2025-11-18 19:30, 2025-11-19 19:30, 2025-11-20 19:30, 2025-11-21 19:30, 2025-11-22 19:30
The ‘Greatest British Sitcom of All Time’ (Radio Times) is back – this time on stage!
50 years since it first graced our TV screens, Fawlty Towers is now a brand-new stage play adapted by comedy legend John Cleese and directed by Caroline Jay Ranger.
Fresh from a sold-out West End season! This laugh-out-loud production was universally acclaimed by every London and national critic, selling out every single performance during its record-breaking West End run.
Join Basil (Danny Bayne), the delightfully bumbling Major (Paul Nicholas) and Polly (Joanne Clifton) and an 18-strong cast as they bring to life all your favourite moments from the show’s unforgettable twelve episodes. With sharp wit, chaos, and calamity at every turn, this is the comedy event of the year!
Secure your tickets now and relive the madness of Fawlty Towers live on stage. It’s a staycation you’ll never forget!

GenFest 2025: Red Rosa
2025-11-20 19:00
Red Rosa, inspired by Kate Evans’ graphic novel, illuminates the remarkable life of revolutionary thinker Rosa Luxemburg. Rosa rose from oppression to become a fearless leader, founding the German Communist Party and challenging capitalism, war, and patriarchy. She lived radically – politically and personally as a Jewish, disabled woman. This project explores her intellectual fire, her humanity, and her relevance today, through historical archives, cats and a little live music. Red Rosa is a call to courage, resistance, and imagination.
no more superheroes. is a bold, boundary-pushing company creating original theatre, digital work and participatory projects that speak to a new generation. We make work that’s urgent, playful and socially resonant. From national stages to grassroots spaces, we’ve partnered with organisations like the National Youth Theatre and the National Trust to nurture creatives and challenge how stories are made – and who gets to tell them.
www.nomoresuperheroes.com

Part of Genfest 2025
Discover the full line-up of performances, workshops and artist one-to-one’s taking place across GenFest, Sun 16 – Sat 22 November. Each event is part of our annual festival celebrating artist development and new work.
View the GenFest Brochure Online here | Find out more about the full GenFest line up here

Annabel Croft: From Tennis Balls to Glitter Balls
2025-11-20 19:30
The beloved former tennis pro turned experienced broadcaster is hitting the road for a brand new tour.
From winning the Wimbledon and Australian Girls’ Tournaments in 1984 to becoming British No. 1 and representing Great Britain in the Fed Cup, Annabel has solidified her status as a national treasure.
After hanging up her racquet, she seamlessly transitioned into the commentary box, captivating audiences as a presenter and pundit for major networks including Amazon Prime, BBC, ESPN USA, Eurosport, and Sky Sports.
Annabel also wowed audiences on the dance floor during her recent thrilling run to the final four on Strictly Come Dancing with her dance partner Johannes Radebe.
In her first ever theatre tour, Annabel invites you behind the scenes of the world’s greatest tennis tournaments, sharing unforgettable moments from her career including interviewing legends like Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. This is an unmissable experience for tennis and dance enthusiasts everywhere!

GenFest 2025: BIOSPHERE
2025-11-21 19:00
Four scientists. One year. Sealed away from the world in The Biosphere – an airtight dome; a great glass ark humming with natural life, technology and ambition. Their mission: to prove life can survive beyond Earth.
But as the atmosphere of their meticulously crafted world begins to change, passions fray and hunger bites, and the line between experiment and existence blur. What will they sacrifice to succeed?
Inspired by the infamous 1991 experiment, Olivia Foan’s BIOSPHERE is a new play about our relationship to nature, technology and the planet we call home.
BIOSPHERE is directed by Olivia Munk and produced by Part of the Main Productions.
Previous praise for THE TINKER, written by Olivia Foan & directed by Olivia Munk at VAULT Festival 2023:

“All the ingredients are in place for a spooky gothic affair, and on the whole this piece from Part of the Main Productions is grandly successful… Olivia Munk keeps things moving at a suspenseful pace, the threat of derailment always coiled in the air but never quite ruptured.” ???? LOST IN THEATRELAND
“Foan has produced a fascinating script which explores the question of belief: confronting what you have chosen to believe in the past to make the present work and what you go on to believe in order to get the result that you desire, no matter what the cost. The story ends with hope, however the end alludes to the darker side of these decisions.”???? THE RECS
Shortlisted for Theatre Royal Haymarket/Masterclass Pitch Your Play competition 2020 and longlisted for Finborough Theatre’s ETPEP Award

Access Enhanced Performance
Audio Described & Touch Tour
This performance will be Audio Described (Touch Tour begins at 6pm). This performance will be described by Jessica Bickel-Barlow

Part of Genfest 2025
Discover the full line-up of performances, workshops and artist one-to-one’s taking place across GenFest, Sun 16 – Sat 22 November. Each event is part of our annual festival celebrating artist development and new work.
View the GenFest Brochure Online here | Find out more about the full GenFest line up here

Garth Marenghi: This Bursted Earth Book Tour
2025-11-21 19:30
“Horror author Nick Steen is having visions… A sinister Black Steeple; eerie lights in the sky that look like
a Catherine wheel but are not remotely a Catherine wheel… Plus a giant skeleton with a moustache. Are
they omens? Auguries? Portenderings of things to come? (Spoiler – yes, they are).
For Nick Steen’s imagination is bursting out of his brain and threatening to burst in turn the entirety of Stalkford.
Can Nick stop the aforesaid bursting? Or have things already slightly burst regardless? And will there ultimately be a grand finale to this three-book series (aka a trilogy) or a more open-ended conclusion in order to leave potential room for further sequels? (That, btw, will ultimately be Garth’s decision.)
From the fevered imagination of Horror Fiction’s Grand Frightener Garth Marenghi, author of Sunday Times-Bestselling Garth Marenghi’s Terror Tome and Garth Marenghi’s Incarcerat, come
three freshly rancid tales of…This Bursted Earth…
“So dense with brilliant jokes that it cannot safely be read while drinking hot liquid” – Inews.co.uk
“puts the ‘boo’ into book tour” – The Guardian
“had the crowd hooting and hanging, insatiably, on every line.” – The Telegraph
Hardback copies of This Bursted Earth will be available for purchase on the day. Be warned: signings
are strictly time-limited. You’ll get no more than one minute with the world’s greatest
Frighternerman, Darkscribe, Doomsage (plus Man-Shee) before you’re moved on and/or manhandled.

GenFest 2025: Writing For Musical Theatre With Darren Clark
2025-11-22 13:00
Darren Clark is a two-time Olivier Award winning composer and lyricist working in the theatre in the UK and internationally. Since beginning his professional career in 2012, he has been commissioned to write music and lyrics for several national touring shows and his work has been heard in London’s West End, at The Royal Shakespeare Company, Off West End, Off-Broadway and in many of the UK’s finest regional theatres.
Following his days as an Otago University student in NZ performing in countless musicals and plays, Darren left NZ for the UK to pursue a career as a songwriter in London town. Following several years on the singer/songwriter circuit and with his band Columbus Giant, Darren began to write music & lyrics for the theatre.
Darren has written the music and lyrics for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which one three Olivier awards in 2025 including Best New Musical and the Off-West End Award for Best Musical Production in 2024. Button is currently running at The Ambassadors Theatre on London’s West End.
Along with Rhys Jennings, he is the inaugural recipient of the Music Theatre International Stiles & Drewe Mentorship Award and his songs have appeared as finalist in the Stiles & Drewe Best New Song Competition on three separate occasions, winning runner-up in 2015. He has been a finalist in the Iris Theatre XMas Factor Awards for the past three years, winning the Iris Theatre Panel Award in 2014, The Audience Runner Up Prize in 2015 and The Audience Award in 2016. His musicals have been licensed in the USA and Australia, his work has been showcased in the national BEAM Showcase in London and NAMT in New York.
Darren was a member of the BML Advanced Song writing Workshop, a weekly development workshop for four years. He is also a member of the MMD Advanced Composer & Lyricist Lab where he continues to learn his craft.
As a teacher and workshop leader Darren has taught at some of the UK’s leading drama schools including The Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, The Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music & Dance, Chichester Conservatoire, Leeds Conservatoire and Rose Bruford.
He is a founding member of Paper Balloon Theatre Company, dedicated to making original theatre for, with and by young audiences. Paper Balloon have now created several shows including Night Light at the Camden Fringe, a UK tour of The Grumpiest Boy in the World by Finegan Kruckemeyer, the utterly bonkers Christmas show Once Upon a Snowflake with the Moscow Puppet Theatre and most recently the original shanty story The Boy and the Mermaid.
Darren is passionate about being part of an ethnically and culturally diverse theatrical future and aims to reflect this in the making of all his theatrical projects. He is the founder of New UK Musicals, a project developed to help get the work of new musical theatre writers into the hands of performers through providing a platform for their sheet music. www.newukmusicals.co.uk

Part of Genfest 2025
Discover the full line-up of performances, workshops and artist one-to-one’s taking place across GenFest, Sun 16 – Sat 22 November. Each event is part of our annual festival celebrating artist development and new work.
View the GenFest Brochure Online here | Find out more about the full GenFest line up here

Musical Theatre Network – Future Producers of Musicals in the Midlands networking event
2025-11-22 16:00
Are you (or could you be) a producer of musical theatre in the Midlands?

Do you make live events happen, perhaps as a creative yourself, perhaps co-ordinating things for collaborators or your local community?
Are you interested in finding out more about being a producer of musical theatre in the Midlands? And about opportunities to get involved locally with new musicals/music theatre?
Or are you an early career producer of musical theatre or music in the Midlands and want to find out more about opportunities, and meet some like-minded individuals?

If your answer to any of these questions is ‘yes’, then we’d love to invite you to a free event hosted by Musical Theatre Network, China Plate and Royal & Derngate. We will share some industry insights, signpost relevant opportunities, and give you the chance to meet other producers/future producers, and discuss what would help you achieve your ambitions in this area.You don’t need to already be a producer. If musical theatre interests you, and you’re someone who likes making things happen – come join us for a conversation!

[View the full GenFest Programme]

GenFest 2025: Dorothy and Her Very Many Friends – by Jude Taylor
2025-11-22 19:00
Dorothy and Her Very Many Friends is a synth-pop musical about the true story of the persecution of gay sailors in 1980s America and the futile search for the elusive Dorothy who connected them all.

In 1980s America, the Naval Investigative Service are intensively hunting down and discharging gay sailors in the US Navy at an unprecedented rate. But if they truly want to win their war on homosexuality, they know that they must first defeat the one woman standing in their way: Dorothy.
Who is Dorothy? What does Dorothy want? How can she possibly be friends with every gay sailor? Can she bring down the entire Navy, and perhaps the country, too? Only one man, with a predictable secret of his own, can stop her.
Powered by an 80s synth pop score, ‘Dorothy and Her Very Many Friends’ is a surreal musical comedy inspired by a lesser-known chapter of queer history.

Part of Genfest 2025
Discover the full line-up of performances, workshops and artist one-to-one’s taking place across GenFest, Sun 16 – Sat 22 November. Each event is part of our annual festival celebrating artist development and new work.
View the GenFest Brochure Online here | Find out more about the full GenFest line up here

Josie Long: Now Is The Time Of Monsters
2025-11-22 19:30
A new show about extinct gigantic, charismatic, megafauna from 3-time Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominated Comedian, and very good comedian Josie Long.
In these troubled times, in this wicked world, it can feel like apocalypse is everywhere but did you know 11,000 years ago there were some really big armadillos? I’m talking about as big as a car. Really big. And they were vegetarian so don’t even worry about them. Also my daughter has a hamster and I’m not saying distract yourself from everything, but I’m saying he’s also part of everything.
Josie is back with a new show about discovery, wonder, extinction and how to walk through a landscape of monstrous disaster. There is also a good tip about silt, guaranteed.
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Dancing Schools UK! 2025
2025-11-23 10:00
Join us for fabulous Ballroom and Latin dance from Dancing Schools UK!
This event is designed to encourage school children from across the region to have a try at dancing and nurture team work. From its early days as Strictly Junior the show has evolved and seen over 3000 children braving the stage, stepping out in the spot light and trying something they thought they would never do – dance in front of hundreds of people.
There are two shows throughout the day at 10am and 1pm

GUS Band: The Snowman
2025-11-23 14:00
The GUS Band are delighted to bring this special screening of The Snowman, by iconic illustrator and cartoonist Raymond Briggs. Come and watch the quintessential Christmas classic with The GUS Band playing live alongside the film to bring the iconic score to life, offering an immersive experience for children and adults of all ages. In keeping with the book, the film is wordless and free of dialogue with the exception of the iconic Walking In The Air which will be performed by a local Northamptonshire singer.
The Snowman has become and integral part of Christmas for children and adults alike since the picture book was first published in 1978, with the animated version first broadcast on Channel 4 in 1982.
The GUS Band is one of the worlds leading brass bands, who are also based in Northampton. This timeless classic is suitable for all ages, and the performance will also include a short concert of family favourite Christmas songs and music from The GUS Band.

Step into Christmas
2025-11-24 19:30
Step Into Christmas for the most magical show of the year. This Christmas feel-good show brings all the magic of the season to life, with all your favourite songs you will know and love! Including All I Want for Christmas Is You, Last Christmas, Jingle Bell Rock, Stay Another Day, Let it Snow, White Christmas, Do They Know it’s Christmas, A Winter’s Tale, Merry Xmas Everybody, and many many more!

Josh Widdicombe: Not My Cup Of Tea
2025-11-25 19:30
Josh Widdicombe is back on tour… not again! By now he has almost certainly mastered the art of stand-up, either that or he has wasted the last 15 years of his life. Come along and decide for yourself. Expect it to be shorter and with lower production values than Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, but funnier and with more references to tea.
Josh co-hosts the hugely popular podcast Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett, which has somehow become so popular that they undertook a live arena tour in 2023 and released a book which topped the Sunday Times Bestseller Charts. He’s co-hosted in over 30 series of the multi-award-winning Channel 4 series The Last Leg, is a team captain on Sky Max’s Rob Beckett’s Smart TV and co-hosts Sky’s Hold The Front Page. And he has an almost complete collection of Panini football sticker books.

Ward Thomas
2025-11-25 19:30
Hampshire country music duo Ward Thomas have announced an intimate, acoustic UK tour for 2025.
Hailed as the UK’s most successful country act, twin sisters Catherine and Lizzy Ward Thomas will tour across the country with a special show with stripped back versions of songs from across their career.
Recording their debut album, 2014’s From Where We Stand, whilst still in school, the duo have since cemented themselves as pioneers in the UK Country and Americana scene; not least for the follow-up album Cartwheels released in 2016 going to No.1 in the UK Album Charts, the first by a UK country act to top the charts.
In 2019, the band were presented with the Country Music Association’s Jeff Walker Global Achievement Award in recognition of their success and impact on country music in the UK.
Music In The Madness was hailed by critics for its live sound mixed with country-pop style, whilst of their Barbican show earlier this year, The Upcoming said: ‘It’s safe to say Ward Thomas delivered a magical performance that left us on a high – an evening to remember.’
This unique show will take Ward Thomas back to their early days of performing and writing together, seeing the duo perform and share the stories behind the songs that have seen them make such an impact on country music.

That’ll Be Christmas!
2025-11-26 19:00
From the team who brought you the hit show That’ll Be The Day, comes a brand new Christmas show!
Nothing says Christmas quite like That’ll Be Christmas! This year is extra special as the cast of That’ll Be The Day celebrates their 40-Year Anniversary. Packed with your all-time favourite Christmas classics, laugh-out-loud comedy sketches, and heart-warming festive cheer, this is the perfect family night out.

Gareth Malone
2025-11-27 19:30
Gareth Malone – the man who got the nation singing – returns to stages across the UK this autumn with Sing-Along-A-Gareth: 50 Years Of Song.
After decades spent inspiring choirs in schools, workplaces and communities, Gareth now invites audiences to join him in a live, immersive celebration of the music that’s shaped his life – and been the soundtrack to so many of ours.
Backed by his stellar live band and singers, Gareth, with his signature infectious energy and joy for music, will lead the audience through a setlist of iconic songs from the ‘60s to today. Full of uplifting pop hits, anthems we all know by heart, and a few personal surprises, Sing-Along-A-Gareth: 50 Years Of Song is more than just a concert, it’s a shared experience. And just when you think there couldn’t be room for any more hit the show will culminate in a super-medley of increasing intensity and joy which has everyone dancing in the aisles.

Miracle On 34th Street
2025-11-27 19:30, 2025-11-28 19:30, 2025-11-29 19:30
A true Christmas classic comes alive this holiday season with White Cobra‘s staged radio performance of Miracle On 34th Street. The story is based on the famous 1947 film, which was first presented as a radio play at the Lux Radio Theatre.
A formidable Macy’s store executive, Doris Walker is desperately searching for a new store Santa Claus. She hires ‘Kris Kringle’ who insists that he is the real Santa Claus and proves immensely popular. However, when a conflict with the store’s incompetent psychologist erupts, Kris finds himself at Bellevue where, in despair, he deliberately fails a psychological test. All seems lost until Doris’ friend, Fred Gailey, reassures Kris of his worth and agrees to represent him in the fight to secure his release. Fred arranges a hearing in which he argues that Kris is sane because he is in fact the real Santa Claus!
The White Cobra cast bring alive a lively crew of characters, with radio jingles and sound effects that will delight audiences, young and old.

Strictly Northampton
2025-11-28 19:00
Join us for the 14th Anniversary of Strictly Northampton run by Step by Step Dance School! Now in its 14th year, this competition will see local superstars take to the stage in this Ballroom and Latin extravaganza. Leading up to this, contestants will be paired up with students from Step by Step Dance School. In support of Cynthia Spencer Hospice Charity. A night not to be missed!

Northants Sings Out: Christmas Party Live on Stage
2025-11-29 19:30
Britain’s Got Talent finalists Northants Sings Out electrified audiences with their SOLD-OUT 2024 homecoming show – and now they’re back for 2025!
Northants Sings Out (NSO), wowed millions with show-stopping performances praised by celebrity judges and even Madonna herself after their viral rendition of Music received over 1 million views online
Since leaving BGT, NSO has toured UK festivals, supported chart-topping group G4, recorded tracks with international producers, performed for Rudimental at BGP F1, led the Heathrow UK Christmas campaign, and become award-winning, all whilst captivating audiences nationwide with their stand-out live show.
Now, this iconic vocal ensemble returns for their ONLY 2025 homecoming show. Prepare for an unforgettable evening as over 200 vocalists, led by award-winning maestro Gareth Fuller (credits: Liam Gallagher, Elton John), deliver a high-energy party set list. From the classic It Is Well to ‘90s anthems like Show Me Love, Dreamer and Fatboy Slim’s Praise You plus so much more, prepare for your Christmas party playlist to come alive… on stage!!!
Dubbed “the best choir ever on BGT” by Amanda Holden and “SENSATIONAL” by Bruno Tonioli, NSO has earned praise from stars like Chris Evans, Zoe Ball, and Chaka Khan. This show promises the joy, showmanship and energy of a world-class production.
Don’t miss this exhilarating evening that will leave you thrilled and inspired – tickets are limited and will sell out fast! Book now!

Susie Dent: Word Perfect
2025-11-30 14:00
A brand-new tour of the joys of the English language with Britain’s best-loved wordsmith.
Following on from her hit show The Secret Life of Words, Susie Dent is back with a brand-new collection of facts and stories from the wonderful world of words. Have you ever wondered whether there’s a word for going to the fridge for the umpteenth time in search of something new? Or puzzled over the reason why a group of crows is called a ‘murder’, while owls form a ‘parliament’? Is teen slang actually designed to make us tear our hair out? And just how many words do we need for being drunk?
With the help of funny, insightful, and head-scratching examples, Susie will entertain and educate us with her pick of language’s greatest hits. Word Perfect will remind us just how unpredictable, wayward, and utterly magical our mother tongue can be.

The All New Adventures Of Peter Pan
2025-12-05 19:00
Donâ€™t miss our hilarious, fun-filled 2025 panto, The All New Adventures Of Peter Pan, with a star-studded cast. Heading up the cast are award-winning actor, writer, comedian and presenter John Thomson, taking on the role of Captain Hook, and CBeebies presenter George Webster, who will be joining the pirate crew as Starkey. Following his appearance as Ugly Sister Aldianna in 2024s Cinderella, seasoned pantomime performer Gordon Cooper returns to co-direct and play the part of the Dame Dolly. Also joining the cast are Simone Robinson (currently touring with The Lightning ThiefÂ The Percy Jackson Musical) as Wendy Darling, Oliver Scott as Smee, Northampton local David Breeds as Peter Pan, and Millie Davies as Elizabeth Darling. The award-winning Evolution Productions will be returning to produce this spectacular show, the same team behind 2023s smash-hit, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, and 2024â€™s brilliant Cinderella. Its never too early to book, and with lavish sets, hilarious jokes and fun for the whole family, whatâ€™s not to love? Hook your tickets now!
