Christmas spooks and sparkles at Newcastle’s Star and Shadow
Newcastle’s volunteer-run Star and Shadow Cinema has lit up its programme for the festive season and it’s certainly wide ranging in its appeal.
There’s a screening at 2pm on Saturday (December 14) of The Last Unicorn, an American cult classic from 1982 featuring the work of many of the Japanese animators who went on to form Studio Ghibli.
Directed by collaborators Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, it tells of a unicorn who, on learning she is the last of her kind, embarks on a quest to find out what happened to the rest.
Adapted from the 1968 fantasy novel by Peter S. Beagle, it features the voices of Alan Arkin, Jeff Bridges, Mia Farrow, Angela Lansbury and Christopher Lee.
A change of mood in the evening (7.30pm) brings the Star & Shadow’s third Ghost Stories for Christmas event with a live reading of E. Nesbit’s 1886 chiller Man-Size in Marble followed by three screenings from the BBC Archive of stories by MR James.
There’s a gig on Saturday night, too, by Monster Ceilidh Band with songs performed by Josie Duncan and Rachel McShane.
For cinema buffs who love a classic in monochrome, there’s a screening of The Hound of the Baskervilles, 1939 vintage, on December 22 (7.30pm) with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce as Holmes and Watson.
And across the programme you’ll see the name of Chris Bostock, Tyneside storyteller par excellence.
He’s to be an important element of the Mummers Winter Ceilidh, a Storytellers Streetband presentation called Baron Big Oil’s Return, on December 18 (7.30pm), billed as “a seasonal family show with live music, theatre and social dancing”.
Then at 2pm on December 22, with musician Ken Patterson, he will perform a children’s show called The Mouse House, suitable for youngsters aged three to eight.
And if you’re feeling crafty, there’s a free Festive Crafts session with Rosi Rejig from 12 noon to 3.30pm on December 22 when willow stars and decorations made of recycled metal will be rolling off the production line (children must have an adult in tow).
But this is just some of what’s offered throughout December at the quirky venue on Warwick Street. Check the website for details of other activities, mostly free but some ticketed.