Events summer and onwards in 2019
Details of all concerts in summer and autumn 2019 are now posted below - scroll down to reveal. The paper 'Good Gig Guide' for the autumn season is printed and out and more up to date details are on this website. A reminder for regular visitors: to ensure our future as a venue please consider becoming a 'Supporter' - click on the 'Supporters' tab at the top for more details. And don't forget to sign up for our email newsletter if you live in the area - click on the 'Get Newsletter' tab at the top and enter your email address in the space provided.
We have a lot of varied events coming up - comedy with Tommy Tiernan, music (Old Blind Dogs, Flook, Martin Simpson, Indigenous People and Peatbog Faeries) plus drama, dance and family shows - so there really is something for everyone. Extra details will be added to this website when we have them. A new film season will also start towards the end of November - again details will be on this site.
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Upcoming Events
Events List Navigation
Alexander Chapman Campbell (music) Fri 30th Aug, 8pm
Chart-topping local composer and pianist Alexander Chapman Campbell will be returning to the Universal Hall to launch his captivating new EP for solo piano, Contemplations. The audience is invited to lie on the floor around the piano in order to experience the contemplative journey of the music in a deeper way (limited floor space, but usual seating available). Some mats will be provided, but please bring what you need to be comfortable.
“Refreshingly original” Classic FM
“…neither classical, jazz or improvised, but a glimpse of something new” Positive News
Entry is by donation and CDs will be for sale on the night.
To see a video of Alexander click here
Find out more »Looping – Scottish Dance Theatre (Dance) Sat 31st Aug, 8pm
All ages, genders and abilities welcome. Please let us know in advance if you have any accessibility needs.
Please note: there may be loud music/flashing lights in this event.
£12/£10 concs/£8 U16s
To buy tickets online (10% booking fee) – click here
To see a video trailer of the show click here
Workshop: Universal Hall Dance Studio 4.30 – 6.30pm on Saturday 31st August. Scottish Dance Theatre’s team will lead the pre-show practical workshop, designed to give participants an insight into the concepts of the performance and develop everyone’s engagem
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Old Blind Dogs (music) Wed 4th Sept, 7.30pm
The legendary, multi-award winning Old Blind Dogs bounded into their 25th anniversary year with a cracking new album Room with a View. With a line-up from the world of Scottish folk music that is approaching superstar status, the band creates a sound which stands at the forefront of the Scottish roots music revival. ‘Room with a View… could well be a contender for Scottish album of the year.’ Folk World
£15/£13 concs/£11 U16’s
To buy tickets online (10% booking fee) click here
To watch a video of the band click here
Find out more »Flook (music) Wed 11th Sept, 7.30pm
Taking inspiration from their roots in the Irish and English traditions, Flook have an enviable trademark sound, weaving and spinning traditionally rooted tunes over precise acoustic grooves, with a rare blend of fiery technical brilliance, delicate ensemble interaction and a bold, adventurous musical imagination. Twenty-four years after their first gig together, Flook continue to inspire and enchant audiences of all ages. With their new album ‘Ancora’ out in 2019, it’s plain to see that Flook, with their roots firmly anchored in the tradition, are holding fast to their reputation as major musical innovators.
“Four brilliant musicians. Four times as much brilliant music” Time Out
£15/£13 concs/£11 U16’s
To buy tickets online (10% booking fee) click here
To see a video of the band click here
Find out more »Indigenous People – Kakatsitsi and Mbilou (music and dance) Sat 14th Sept, 8pm
Making a hugely welcome return to the Universal Hall, Kakatsitsi have established themselves as one of the leading African drumming groups, renowned for the quality of their singing and their accessible, funky, danceable drumming grooves. For this performance they will be collaborating with Mbilou who is an Nganga – healer, musician and dancer from the Bwiti traditional religion of the forest regions of equatorial Africa, modern day Gabon. Bwiti is an ancient shamanic tradition, originally practised solely by the forest peoples of the central African rainforest. See below for details of associated workshops.
£16/£14 concs/£12 U16’s
To buy tickets online (10% booking fee) click here
To see a video of the artists click here
Workshops (all workshops are pay on the door and all are on Sunday 15th Sept)
Universal Hall Auditorium, 12.30 – 5pm Ghanaian Drumming for people with some experience. £30.
Universal Hall Dance/Drama Studio 12.30 – 2.30pm Ga and Bwiti chanting. £15.
Universal Hall Dance/Drama Studio 3 – 5pm Bwiti Dance. £15.
Dancing Green behind Universal Hall 7.30pm Outdoor open participatory event with workshop participants. Free to all – will be held indoors in the Hall if wet.
To book a place on any of the workshops, please email: uhallpromo@gmail.com
Find out more »Martin Simpson (music) Sat 21st Sept, 8pm
Nominated ‘Musician of the Year’ – BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2018 – Martin is known as a guitarist of formidable talent. Equally at home playing English traditional folk, American folk and blues and his own compositions, he is consistently named as one of the very finest fingerstyle guitar players in the world. Listed in Gibson Guitars’ Top 30 Acoustic Guitarists of all time, Martin is also acclaimed as a brilliant slide guitar player, and a fine banjo-picker to boot. His solo shows bear witness to an artist at the very top of his game.
“His clarity of playing is just amazing.” Jackson Browne
£14/£12 concs/£10 U16’s
To buy online tickets (10% booking fee) click here
A video of Martin is here
Find out more »The Chosen – Company Chordelia (dance) Sat 28th Sept, 7.30pm
Created and directed by Kally Lloyd-Jones, The Chosen is an intensely moving dance piece about dying and embracing the art of living. How do we choose to live in the face of the inevitable and how do we think about the final stage of our life cycle? The Chosen addresses our individual mortality from the shifting perspectives of ourselves and our loved ones. This is the world premiere tour from Scotland’s acclaimed Company Chordelia – the winner of Sunday Herald Culture Awards Best Live Performance.
£12/£10 concs/£8 U16s
To buy online (10% booking fee) click here
To see a video click here
Find out more »Stick by Me (family theatre) Sun 29th Sept, 2.30pm
Produced by Red Bridge Arts this is a theatre show for children aged 3-6 years featuring a storyline about well – a stick, just a stick. But for one, all alone, this stick has something special. And soon the two are the best of friends. They run, play, hide and rest…and stick together when things get tough. Beautifully crafted, making treasure from everyday objects, Stick by Me is a joyful show about friendship and play, and the importance of treasuring little things. Originally commissioned by Gulbenkian
“a joyful and funny show” ★★★★ The Guardian
£7/£6 concs/£5 U16s
To buy online tickets (10% booking fee) click here
To see a video click here
Find out more »Outside the Box – a Live Show about Death (theatre) Wed 2nd Oct, 7.30pm
Liz Rothschild is a performer, celebrant and award-winning burial ground owner. In this one-woman show she shares her unique insights and experiences from life’s finishing line. Funny, wise and taboo busting; Outside The Box confronts the trickiest of subjects with grace and humour, using a weave of untold and surprising stories, a hint of history and some pithy commentary on the funeral industry (from one who knows!).
“… empowers us, not in a wishy washy way, but with real concrete recipes for action.” Mike Kenney, Olivier Award Winning Playwright
£10/£8 concs/£5 U16s
To buy tickets online (10% booking fee) click here
To see a video click here
Find out more »Peatbog Faeries (music) Fri 18th Oct, 8pm
Based on the Isle of Skye, the Peatbog Faeries bring Celtic Dance music into the 21st century by incorporating many influences which take them from traditional jigs and reels through jazz, hip hop, reggae and more. From the moment they take to the stage, the mood is set for a no-nonsense feel-good atmosphere – each number sounding like an encore itself. They tease unlikely combinations from the familiarity of instruments such as fiddle and highland pipes – blending with techno rhythms and soaring sounds and take this to another plane. The Peatbogs have released seven studio albums, have played to audiences all over the world, and won the award for ‘Best Live Act’ at the prestigious Scottish Traditional Music Awards. Please note: there may be loud music in this event and there will be dancing.
“Powerful melodies …pumped out with a smart degree of techno attitude…” The Scotsman
£16/£14 concs/£12 U16’s
To buy tickets online (10% booking fee) click here
To see a video of the Peatbogs click here
Find out more »Dancers of Damelahamid (indigenous dance) Wed 23rd Oct, 7.30pm
Hailing from British Columbia, The Dancers of Damelahamid are an Indigenous dance company. Their rich history of masked dance inspires a compelling performance, celebrating the diversity and history of the many beautiful Canadian Indigenous cultures. Through dramatic dance, captivating narrative, intricately carved masks, and elaborate regalia, the company transform time and space, bringing the ancient into a living tradition. Running time: 1 hour.
£12/£10 concs/£8 U16s
To buy online tickets (10% booking fee) click here
To see a video of the dancers click here
Find out more »Tommy Tiernan – Paddy Crazy Horse (comedy) Fri 1st Nov, 8pm
Back on the road again with his new stand-up show Paddy Crazy Horse, Tommy Tiernan rants and raves, he dances and acts. He mixes a love of comic rebellion and a refusal to be conscripted into a rational view of the world with a deep love for talking and the poetry of everyday speech. Tommy Tiernan is the Star of Channel 4’s hit show Derry Girls and Live at the Apollo (BBC) writes a weekly newspaper column for the Sunday Independent and hosts his own chat show on Ireland’s RTE 1 Age recommendation 15+
“There is a spirituality to Tiernan that makes him stand out. The church’s loss is comedy’s gain…Imperious” The Irish Independent
£20 plus booking fee
To book online click here
To see a video of Tommy click here
Find out more »Fallen Fruit (theatre) Wed 6th Nov, 7.30pm
Created and performed by Katherina Radeva, this is a one-woman theatre show that tells the stories of Katherina’s childhood experiences, as a 7 year old in communist Bulgaria, of the fall of the Berlin Wall back in 1989. This is a beautiful and captivating story of love, breaking free and Europe, made all the more relevant by the thirty year anniversary of the fall of the Wall and the continuing saga of Britain’s relationship to Europe.
“Compelling… a captivating performer.” The List
£12/£10 concs/£8 U16s
To buy tickets online (10% booking fee) click here
Find out more »Slug (family theatre) Sat 9th Nov, 2pm
Visible Fictions presents Slug – a comic clowning adventure with no words for all aged 7 and up. Slug is munching through your prize winning cabbages eating your roses and leaving slimy trails all over the lawn. Slug is taking over your thoughts and tormenting your dreams. Slug needs to be stopped. Slug doesn’t care! Join us for the battle of the century as gardener vs slimy foe fight to reclaim the garden. Devised and Directed by Dougie Irvine and Melanie Jordan. Running time 50 mins, no interval. The show is performed by two actors and a musician and is a wordless piece and suitable for deaf audiences.
£7/£6 concs/£5 U16s
To buy online tickets (10% booking fee) click here
Find out more »Hope and Joy (theatre) Fri 15th Nov, 8pm
A co-production between Stellar Quines and Pearlfisher, Hope and Joy is a seriously funny play that explores love and loss in a changing environment. Hope’s labour is unusual and uneggspected. But nothing fazes Joy, the hospital cleaner who supports and befriends her. When Joy is sacked for letting human-bird hybrids escape out the window, Joy moves in with Hope and her swan-boy son Magnus. Their lives collide in chaos. Recommended age 12+
£12/£10 concs/£8 U16s
To buy online tickets (10% booking fee) click here
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