Culture House closed for the weekend - here's what's happening
The new venue is closed for three days.
“We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but it will be worth it,” say the team at Culture House as the new venue closes its doors this weekend.
The new landmark in Keel Square is closed to the general public from today, Friday, September 25, as well as Saturday, September 26 and Sunday, September 27, and won’t reopen until 10am on Monday, September 28.
The closure is to facilitate a dance performance called Home, which is being staged throughout the building as part of opening celebrations.
As such, only ticket holders will be able to gain access during that time.
After that, from Monday, normal opening hours of 10am to 6pm seven days a week will resume.
Blacks Corner, however, has its own entrance so is unaffected by the performances, with business as usual.
Delivered by Southpaw Dance, who are based at Sheepfolds Stables, the performance, which takes place at time slots throughout the weekend, features 80 local residents joining professional dancers.
Ticket holders wear VR headsets as they watch performers throughout Culture House’s various spaces. While the performers appear as they are when viewed through the headsets, it adds a layer of virtual reality to their surroundings.
Home tells the story of Lyra, a young woman born in Sunderland who achieves her dream of becoming an astronaut following encouragement by her late father to reach for the stars and ‘look up’.
In space on a bold adventure, she goes on a journey through Sunderland’s past, present and future meeting a few of Sunderland’s most famous sons and daughters along the way.
A spokesperson for Culture House said: “We apologise for any inconvenience and thank you for your understanding. Trust us, it’ll be worth it. Home is going to be epic, so be sure to grab a ticket and experience it for yourself.”
There are six public performances of HOME with numbers strictly limited for each performance to allow audiences to move around the building and experience the story of Sunderland throughout Culture House.
Some of the Sunday performances are now sold out with tickets for remaining performances priced £3 from: https://www.sunderlandculture.org.uk/whats-on/home/