There's always lots going on if you're looking for gigs and plays. Here are the listings this week from Monday to Sunday June 24-30.
Whether you like acoustic gigs, big touring concerts or a standup routine in a cosy venue, Durham's size belies a busy listings schedule. See if you can find a performance below to perk up your week.
There are also some more plays and dramas in the Summer in the City listings story.
Read next: Here's how to get tickets for Tears For Fears' Durham concert
The starred links below are affiliate - at no extra cost to you, ExplorAR receives commission, without which we couldn't keep this site running.
#1: Hilarity Bites New Act Competition 2019 - Heat Four, Darlington
The fourth round of the Hilarity Bites New Act Competition 2019 is taking place on the evening of Monday June 24. This is the twelfth year the Hilarity Bites New Act Competition has run, and will be hosted by Andy Fury, who the BBC describes as 'an absolute genius of a comedian'.
The Hilarity Bites New Act Competition 2019 is at the Hole in the Wall, Darlington, doors 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £3 plus 30p booking fee. You can purchase tickets* from the official booking page.
Read next: Hardwick Live 2019 information if you're thinking of going
#2: Hilarity Bites Comedy Club, Durham
The regular Hilarity Bites Comedy Club comes to Durham City, in Outstanding Arts. This time it features Laura Lexx: Knee Jerk (Work in Progress). A star of Live at the Apollo, Laura Lexx is a 'bouncy, bubbly stand up star', says the Telegraph. Her sell-out 2018 show 'Trying', was called a 'masterpiece' By Voice and given five stars, and earned her a prestigious Comic's Comic Award. In this show, Laura Lexx takes on society's big issues, but come for jokes not answers.
Also performing is Steve Bugeja: Single Mum (Work in Progress). Steve helped his single mum find her Prince Charming all while learning his times tables (he was seven). The host of Radio 4's Economics with Subtitles, Steve Bugeja returns following four critically-acclaimed shows. Steve Bugeja has also appeared on The Russell Howard Hour on Sky One.
The Durham Hilarity Bites Comedy Club is on Thursday June 27, doors 7.30pm.
Tickets* cost £15 plus £1.50 booking fee from the official booking page.
Read next: Durham family events for this weekend
#3: Little Big Sing, Witham Arts Centre
A good one for the children - the Little Big Sing at Barnard Castle's Witham is a musical adventure with Opera North based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Little Big Sing is a multi-sensory experience with a room packed full of live instrumental music and singing for 45 minutes.
Barnard Castle's Little Big Sing is suitable for children aged 0-4. It costs £6 for adults and for the first child, and £3 for each extra child. Babies go for free. It's on June 24. On the same day is Opera North's Big Sing: Wonderland Restored at 6pm, where pupils from Barnard Castle and Bishop Auckland perform a new piece written by composer Will Todd and based upon his opera Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Tickets cost £3.
Tickets for the 11.15am Little Big Sing performance are available on the booking page and for Wonderland Restored here.
#4: Disney's Peter Pan JR, Durham Gala Theatre
Fly away to Neverland with Peter and the Darling children in this adaptation of Disney's beloved Peter Pan by Gala Theatre Stage School. It has been adapted for young performers and has a one hour running time. It's on Sunday June 30 at 2pm and 7pm.
Tickets cost £10 or £38 for a family ticket from the booking page.
Read next: Derwent Valley Literary Festival is on right now - here's what you're missing
#5: Acoustic Cafe, Witham Arts Centre Barnard Castle
The Acoustic Cafe gives local musicians the chance to play on the balcony in the cafe. This month features local band Gedenforde. The Witham Acoustic Cafe is on Saturday June 29 at 2pm and is free entry.
#6: She Wins All The Races: A Tragicomedy with Biscuits, Binchester Community Centre Bishop Auckland
'She Wins All The Races' by Mad Alice Theatre Company is a dynamic, fun, heartening one-woman show about a little girl growing up with the certainty of loss. It is a celebration of the courage and resilience of the human spirit.
She Wins All The Races is at Binchester Community Centre on Thursday June 27 at 7.30-9pm.
Tickets cost £6 and £4 concessions from the booking page.
Read next: Try one of this week's free Durham events
#7: Eddi Reader, Durham Gala Theatre
Eddi Reader is celebrating her 40th year as a live performer, a career which started in 1978 singing on Scottish country rock tours, then appearing on worldwide festival and concert hall stages with Gang of Four and Fairground Attraction through the 1980s and her own solo live career.
Eddi Reader is in Durham on Friday June 28 at 7.30pm.
Tickets cost £24 from the booking page.
#8: National Theatre Live: Small Island, Witham Arts Centre Barnard Castle
Andrea Levy's Orange Prize-winning novel Small Island comes to life in an epic new theatre adaptation. Small Island embarks on a journey from Jamaica to Britain, through the Second World War to 1948. This is a screening from the National Theatre and is on Thursday June 27 at 7pm.
Tickets cost £12, £10 under 17s from the booking page.
#9: Northern Ballet: Victoria, Empire Theatre Consett
In celebration of her bicentenary year, Northern Ballet's new production brings the story of Queen Victoria to life in dance.
Northern Ballet's Victoria is on Tuesday June 25 at 7pm at the Empire Theatre Consett on Front Street.
Tickets cost £15 or £13 concessions from the booking page.
Read next: When is Durham Miners Gala 2019?
#10: Million Dollar Men, Sedgefield Racecourse
Based around the film Magic Mike, Million Dollar Men has classic 90s and 2000s RnB and Channing Tatum moments from the film.
Million Dollar Men in Sedgefield Racecourse is on Saturday June 29 at 6.30pm.
Tickets cost £15 from the booking page.
#11: The Big Band Theory – Pop Meets Swing, Witham Arts Centre Barnard Castle
Big Band Theory offers a blend of big band tradition and pop hits. Based in Leeds and directed by Edd Maughan, this 15-strong line up of 20 and 30-somethings are musicians from across the North of England.
Big Band Theory at Barnard Castle's Witham Arts Centre is on Saturday June 29 at 8pm.
Tickets cost £5 from the booking page.
Read next: Guided walks in County Durham for the rest of June 2019