Fire Walk with Me at Temple Works

Fire Walk with Me is an opportunity to immerse yourself in Twin Peaks madness. The event is on 18 September at the appropriately atmospheric Grade 1 listed Temple Works in Leeds and brings together fans from across the globe. Tickets cost £12 in advance or £15 on the door.

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Guide to what’s on at the theatre in Leeds

Leeds boasts a lively and vibrant group of theatres. They are all very different in character and between them prove that Leeds residents and visitors don’t need to travel far to get their cultural fix. Whether you’re after cutting-edge physical theatre, revivals of classic plays or just a good old family panto, there’s plenty of treats on offer this autumn.

West Yorkshire Playhouse

The Playhouse is one of the region’s major producing theatres and will be celebrating its twenty-first birthday next year, having been opened in 1990 following a popular campaign amongst local people. Their autumn season kicks off with a new production of Billy Liar (4 Sept – 2 Oct), marking the fiftieth anniversary of the classic play.

First staged in 1960, Leeds-born writers Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall’s production portrayed a generation ready for change. The original show opened in the West End, with Albert Finney playing Billy Fisher, a role later reprised by Sir Tom Courtenay on both stage and screen. 50 years later the story returns home to Leeds.

There’s also Shakespeare on offer. The Playhouse can’t quite match the heavyweight casting of Sheffield Theatre’s new production of Hamlet, which sees Life on Mars star John Simm play the title role, but their new version of As You Like It (17 Sept – 16 October) should prove a fun night out.

There are two Christmas shows at the Playhouse this year – a version of A Christmas Carol (20 Nov – 15 Jan), made in partnership with Birmingham Rep, and a new version of Aladdin (3 Dec – 15 Jan), specially aimed at entertaining younger audiences. Other season highlights include a revival of the excellent musical Spend! Spend! Spend! (19 – 23 Oct), directed by Craig Revel Horwood and the world premiere of new play Crash (16 – 13 Nov) by William Nicholson.

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The Carriageworks Theatre

At the heart of the city in Millennium Square, The Carriageworks is the best place in Leeds to catch some of the finest touring work from across the UK. This autumn sees the theatre mark its fifth anniversary and the celebrations are marked by Freshly Picked, an excellent season of physical theatre by some of the most interesting companies working at the minute.

Centrepiece of the season is Ockham’s Razor’s impressive new piece of aerial theatre The Mill (30 Oct). Featuring an enormous wheel of wood and steel, which is powered by the performers and suspended in the air, the show is directed by Tony Sedgwick, who picked up an Olivier Award for his choreography on the National Theatre production War Horse.

The theatre is also hosting the premiere of the latest piece by Red Ladder, one of the city’s most established theatre companies. Ugly (27 – 28 Sept) comes from the pen of Emma Adams, whose previous collaboration with them, Forgotten Things, was shortlisted for the 2009 Meyer-Whitworth Prize.

Younger audiences are well catered for, with the latest production from Tall Stories, best known for their hugely successful adaptations of The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom. Twinkle Twonkle (26 Sept) is a new show inspired by nursery rhymes and the Big Bang. Night Pirates (26 Oct) is at half term, and adaptation of the much loved book featuring puppets, song and ballet-dancing pirates. Finally this year’s traditional family panto is Cinderella (3 Dec – 8 Jan) and is set to continue the success of last year’s production, which broke all Box Office records for the venue.

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The Grand Theatre

The traditional Victorian opera house is a beautiful building and well worth a visit just for the beautiful architecture. Fortunately there are some great shows on offer too. The theatre is home to Opera North, who this season offer us productions of The Adventures of Pinocchio (16 Sept – 31 Dec) and The Merry Widow (16 Oct – 22 Dec, both not in continuous runs). However, I’m particularly looking forward to their version of Henry James’ classic ghost story The Turn of the Screw (2 – 21 Oct), which should prove chillingly entertaining.

The Grand’s Christmas offering this year comes in the form of Northern Ballet Theatre’s excellent version of The Nutcracker (30 Nov – 12 Dec), which is sure to be a big seller. While you’re visiting don’t forget to check out the Howard Assembly Rooms, which have recently been opened following an extensive refurbishment and offers an eclectic mix of music, spoken word, film and performance.

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Open day at Swillington organic farm

On the 2 October from 11am to 2pm head to Swillington for a fun open day in the historic walled garden at Swillington Organic Farm. Find out more about the farm’s CSA programme, with activities including children’s activities and BBQ.

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Celebrate Headingley weekend

Residents of Headingley can get together from 10 – 12 September to celebrate where they live. Meet friends, make new ones, and enjoy the good things about the neighbourhood. Join in the fun which includes a BBQ, Ceilidh, theatre of the Dales performance and more.

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