Sam Wonfor

Newcastle upon Tyne

Founder and Co-Editor at CULTURED. North East

North East writer. Founder and co-editor @culturemag. Wife of 1; Mum of 2. Like the Fog on the Tyne, these views are all mine.

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Articles

Culture Digest 18.04.25

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

Steph McGovern taps Boro star Faye Marsay to voice debut thrillerSteph McGovern has revealed that fellow Middlesbrough native and acclaimed actress Faye Marsay will narrate the audiobook of her debut thriller, Deadline. Sharing the news on Instagram, the broadcaster said she was “buzzing” that Marsay -known for roles in Andor, Ten Pound Poms and Netflix’s Adolescence - agreed to bring the novel to life. “As soon as I was asked who I’d like to do the audiobook I screamed FAYE MARSAY!” Steph wrote.
Pop star Jade assembles for unfiltered TV interview

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

North East singer Jade Thirlwall is set to be one of the first guests on The Assembly - a refreshing series that offers a new take on celebrity interviews. The ITV show, which was piloted on the BBC last year with a episode featuring Michael Sheen, will see a panel of autistic, neurodivergent, and learning disabled bringing their own perspectives, curiosity, and sense of humour to each interview.
Podcast series brings Tyne Derwent Way history to life

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

All episodes of a new podcast series, Telling Tales, which explores the rich history of the River Tyne through the voices of local people and historians, are now available. The six-part series focuses on the nine-mile Tyne Derwent Way, stretching from Gateshead to the National Trust’s Gibside estate in the Derwent Valley. Funded by Historic England and created through community workshops involving over 150 people, the podcast blends storytelling with historical insight.
Oscar-winning writer joins Live's Unearthed Festival line-up

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

Newcastle’s Live Theatre is set to host an 11-day celebration of fresh voices and creative risk-taking as it launches its new Unearthed Festival, running from May 20 to 31. Dedicated to new writing and artist development, the festival will bring together high-profile names and rising talent from the North East and beyond.
Ethel Smyth, composer, firebrand, suffragette

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

As Hexham Orpheus Choir prepares to perform the northern premiere of Mass in D by Dame Ethel Smyth (1858 to 1944), the choir’s JULIA GRINT looks back at the extraordinary life of a musical prodigy whose path to the top was fraught with difficulties…Ethel Smyth’s Mass in D would be far better known if only it had been written by an ‘Eric’ rather than an ‘Ethel’. It had itspremiere in 1893 in the Royal Albert Hall in the presence of royalty.
Fawlty Towers makes a double reservation with the North East

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

Comedy fans in the North East are in for a treat as the hit stage adaptation of Fawlty Towers heads to the region in 2026, with two major stops on its UK and Ireland tour. Following a sold-out West End run, Fawlty Towers – The Play, adapted by original co-creator John Cleese, will check in at Sunderland Empire from February 3 to 7, before heading to Newcastle Theatre Royal from June 30 to July 4.
"If you’ve got a dream to work in the performing arts, we want to hear from you"

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

Aspiring performers from across the North East are being offered the chance to secure funding to boost their careers, as the Sunday for Sammy Trust opens its latest round of grant applications. The Trust, established in memory of the late actor Sammy Johnson, is welcoming applications from young people aged 16 and over with talent, ambition, and a passion for the performing arts.
Lost medieval panel found in Hexham Abbey?

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

High tech work by a heritage scientist may have tracked down the missing image in a Northumberland series of medieval paintings. A wooden panel, found in Hexham Abbey, could be the missing part of a run of panel paintings called the Dance of Death. Four surviving paintings dating to around 1500, illustrate Death visiting powerful figures, including a cardinal, a king, an emperor, and the Pope. The possible existence of a fifth painting in the series had been discussed for hundreds of years.
First osprey eggs laid at Kielder for Easter

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

Female osprey KX7 has produced the goods at Northumberland’s nesting colony – just in time for Easter. The occupant of the “nest with a view” over Kielder Water has laid the first egg of the breeding season. She is maintaining a cracking pace as she set a new record for early arrival at Kielder on her migration flight from overwintering in Africa. She was soon joined by her mate KM18 with whom she has bred at the Kielder nest since 2020, raising 14 youngsters.
Auction revives story of Jarrow’s gibbeted pitman

1 week ago | culturednortheast.co.uk | Sam Wonfor

An infamous execution of a North East pitman has been recalled in an auction sale. William Jobling was the last man in the north of England to be hung and gibbeted his body covered in tar and enclosed in an iron cage suspended from a wooden derrick on Jarrow Slake. The episode took place during a bitter miners’ strike in 1832 and by 1843 gibbeting had been abolished.