24-31 MAY 2025
WHAT'S ON

Over the late May half term The Culture House will be presenting its next programme of cultural activity with outdoor and indoor theatre shows, workshops and activities providing fun and engaging experiences for all the family.

Supported by Create North East Lincolnshire, Arts Council England, Without Walls and AP Robinson, the Our Future Starts Here programme in May 2025 promises fun days out and experiences for all ages, while also being a little thought-provoking.

This year Our Future Starts Here links with a national festival called Beach of Dreams, coordinated overall by national arts organisation Kinetika.

A North East Lincolnshire partnership is hosting a wide range of activity in Cleethorpes on Monday 26 May for Beach of Dreams and The Culture House’s contribution through Our Future Starts Here includes amazing free outdoor shows, a lovely children’s theatre show and nature inspired creative sessions.

Other local Beach of Dreams partners include LaCuna, Outdoor Learning Schools, Our Big Picture, What if We Create and Sarah Allen who are all hosting activities on Monday 26 May, making for a busy day in the resort.

Culture House will be providing more shows on Saturday 24 May, Tuesday 27 May and Saturday 31 in Grimsby for a variety of audiences (see further below).

Culture House Director, Charlotte Bowen, said:

“The aim of the Our Future Starts Here programme is to explore the rapidly changing world around us now, through an arts innovative programme.

“This year we are additionally joining forces with local partners to participate in ‘Beach of Dreams’, a national festival celebrating the UK’s coastlines. This means that all Our Future Starts Here activity on Monday 26 May will take place in Cleethorpes, along with all the other partners’ events and activities.

“We’re gathering thoughts about what Cleethorpes means to people alongside hosting an amazing programme of highly skilled performance in a range of spaces. There will be indoor and outdoor shows and workshops, all exploring nature and the environment in fun and creative ways.

“In addition to all of this, there will be three more free entry theatre shows on different topics and for different ages, on Saturday 24 May and Tuesday 27 May and Saturday 31 in Grimsby, all highlighting and supporting understanding of issues of our time, in imaginative ways.”

A visual theatre show with original music and delightful puppetry. Suitable for everyone from 4 – 104.

Flotsam is soft, flexible, laid back. She slides and glides through life on the ice. Jetsam is the opposite, his insectile body is stiff and nervy, alert and watchful, suspicious of all in his forest home.

And then comes the weather… and they are both cast adrift in a world that is strange to them and full of a range of dangers.

Finally washed up on the same island beach they must discover the other and work out how they can work together.

A hopeful, adventure story about two very different creatures that must learn to work together.

“I loved it all. It was beautifully performed. The puppets were lovely and the music was enchanting.”

Come and witness world-class acrobats and circus artists as they create an installation from Bamboo and use impressive feats of strength and agility to bring the WOW factor by performing a show you will have never seen before!

Watch them build, move, navigate and inhabit the structure as they go – other than bamboo and a few natural rubber ties, there is no ‘circus equipment’!

The bamboo sculptures weave in and out, moving through space and within themselves, all in response to the actions of the artists who carry, climb, swing from, jump, balance, and tumble on and off as they navigate the web of interconnected layers.

This tension between the delicate nature of the bamboo and its ability to withstand pressure and strength creates a truly impressive and mesmerising audience experience – celebrating what is possible when humans and the natural world work in harmony, trusting each other.

The show lasts 45 minutes and is suitable for all ages. Accessible space.

Joli Vyann’s new show, ‘Life’s a Beach’ is a joyous view of a day at the beach. It is a fun and playful show, also touching on serious subjects such as sewage in our seas and antisocial behaviour.

Using their unique style of dance/ circus fusion Joli Vyann play a couple living by the sea from their 20s to old age, with the show featuring hilarious scenarios of selfie obsessions, obnoxious beach behavior and embarrassing swimwear!

Witness skilled acrobatic performance while seeing scenes of friendship, beach meditation, dog walking and the couple growing old together.

The sound-track will feature local people and visitors expressing what they love about Cleethorpes.

Catch Joli Vyann on Sunday 25 May at the Kingsway Kiosk when they will be out and about interviewing people about what they love about Cleethorpes! This will be made into a recording and played as part of the soundtrack for the show on Monday.

The show lasts 35 minutes and is suitable for all ages. Everywhere’s a Beach by Hikapee is on straight afterwards. Accessible space.

Join us for a day at the beach unlike any other in this high energy, outdoor circus theatre show!

Perfect for the whole family, Everywhere’s a Beach is a charmingly ridiculous performance, taking place on a giant revolving beach parasol!

You’ll be swept away as this show embraces everything we love about the beach. A spinning parasol creates the perfect setting for these eccentric beach loving characters. Watch as their world collides with yours, as sophistication turns to chaos in this aerial circus performance.

The show lasts 35 minutes and is suitable for all ages. Accessible space.

Come along and build an adventure playground from bamboo!

Two performers (“builders”) will work with you while weaving stories in.

2 hours (stay as little or as long as you like) and is aimed at children and families. Accessible space.

Go ‘beachcombing’ for finds of natural treasures that have been washed up on the shore and then develop images using the art of Cyanotype (a sustainable photography practice using water and sunlight to develop images).

Sarah Allen will be helping children and families make a series of eye-catching and thought-provoking artworks that incorporate these treasures that nature has provided as well as the trash that has been discarded/washed up on the shore. 

While doing the activity, there’s chance to discuss the small changes we can make to protect our local landscape and the wider world.

2 hours (stay as little or as long as you like) and is aimed at children and families.

Participate in a range of activities including:

Using eco-friendly resources, come and participate in gel plate shell mono-printing, create sand-based temporary collages, discover information about single use-plastics and benefit from free samples that encourage sustainable lifestyles.

Your chance to hear what young people from North East Lincolnshire want for their future, in this specially created sound-scape listened to through headphones, which was the result of our recent Voices of the Future project.

You will also have the chance to contribute to sound recordings on the day about Cleethorpes.

You’re invited to a unique theatrical experience celebrating men’s sheds and the communities around them.

Uniquely blending theatre, movement and documentary, Shed Stories is a heartwarming performance that brings to life the world of ‘Men’s Sheds’; community groups where people can come together to make, repair and repurpose as well as improve their wellbeing and mental health. Combining real-life interviews with compelling movement, it shines a light on the characterful communities around this growing phenomenon.

Funny, thought-provoking and uplifting, Shed Stories shines a light on community, connection and the little things that keep us going – friendship, laughter… and a nice cup of tea.

Shed Stories is commissioned by Lincoln Arts Centre & Applause Rural Touring, and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

It’s bin day and two refuse collectors are heroically cleaning the streets. But what’s this? A dustbin that refuses rubbish.

Delving into its depths, we discover that ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’, as a wonderful myriad of stories and treats ensue from all that is rubbish and recycled.

Rhubarb Theatre bring a dustbin of fun, a black sack of eco messages and heaps of mime, physical theatre, comedy, puppetry and creativity into this entertaining storytelling piece.

Free – must be booked. Suitable for all ages. Accessible venue.