Preview: Christmas Adventures at Live Theatre, Newcastle

On Monday 21 December, Newcastle Live Theatre’s Live Lab will present their Christmas Adventures variety show; a merry mash-up of theatre, comedy and music.

Following the Live Lab ethos, Christmas Adventures celebrates emerging talent, and gives artists a forum to try out new material with a Christmas theme.

Playwright and performer Alison Carr will be reviving her short monologue Mary, Jesus’s Mam, a comedic take on the school nativity.

Carr will be joined by Live Lab’s current Associate Artists Matilda Neill, Rowan McCabe and Matt Miller, who will be presenting specially-written play The Holiday, using their unique blend of theatre and poetry to explore the secret life of Santa and the darker side of Christmas.

Nina Berry’s The Terminal Velocity of Snowflakes will look at the lives of two individuals in a touching short play about fate, friendship and snow.

Live Theatre favourites Mixtape will also be performing a selection of seasonally inspired sketches. Part comedy sketch show and part music quiz, the audience will play along in teams to see who can guess the songs that have inspired their lyrical sketches. The winning team will be awarded with a limited edition Christmas Mixtape trophy.

Plus, there will also be comedy from Live Theatre’s Stand-Up Comedy Course graduate Hal Branson, a monologue written by Jamie Moran and a festive fancy dress competition, with a prize for the audience member with the best outfit.

Tickets for Christmas Adventures are £8, and are available from www.live.org.uk or (0191) 232 1232.