Theatre by the Lake
Theatre by the Lake has a setting on the shores of Derwentwater no other professional theatre in Britain can match. Each year it stages up to nine of its own productions of classic, modern and new plays on its two stages and has won multi-starred reviews from national critics. It also hosts festivals of literature, jazz, film and mountains. Daytime and evening refreshments are available from light snacks to pre-theatre meals.
There are lifts to all levels and wheelchair users can get to all front-of-house and backstage areas. Both auditoria have enhanced-hearing and induction loop systems.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.theatrebythelake.com, where you can now choose your own seat and see the view of the stage before you buy. Alternatively, call the Box Office on 017687 74411 – it’s open from 9.30am to 8pm daily.
Location
The theatre is a five minute walk from the town centre (follow signs for the Lake), with Allerdale Borough Council’s Lakeside pay & display car park immediately adjacent to the theatre building. There are bus links with Ambleside to the south, Carlisle to the north, Penrith to the east and Cockermouth and Workington to the west.
Noises Off
A wildly hilarious, fast-paced comedy that takes you behind the curtain of a chaotic touring theatre company desperately trying to maintain their composure and regain any shred of credibility.
From their frantic last-minute rehearsals in Weston-Super-Mare to a disastrously silent performance in Ashton-under-Lyne, and a spectacularly calamitous final performance in Stockton-on-Tees, Noises Off promises an evening of non-stop laughter and mayhem as the doomed actors struggle to keep their performance together whilst everything around them quite literally falls apart.
Written by the multi-award-winning British novelist and playwright Michael Frayn, this is a new production of one of the most celebrated plays ever written.
Big Days for Tiny Theatre Makers: Wonder Gigs
Our Big Days for Tiny Theatre Makers include a show and a series of activities for you to enjoy, including storytelling, puppet play and art activities. Activities are open before and after the show, so you’re welcome to stay and play for as long as you like!
Wonder Gigs is an uplifting and relaxing hour with a live musician playing beautiful acoustic versions of well-known folk, jazz and pop songs, alongside atmospheric sensory visuals.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival Showcase
Big Fish Comedy Club hosts an exciting and hilarious showcase of up and coming comics, all heading up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year!
A chance to discover the next best thing in comedy before your Fringe schedule for 2025.
MC’d by local comic Stephanie Bradshaw.
The Bookshop Band
The award winning Bookshop Band write and perform songs inspired by books. Formed in September 2010 they released their first album two months later and have since released 13 albums collaborating with over 100 authors, including Philip Pullman, Louis de Bernieres and Margaret Atwood.
They have toured extensively around the UK, Europe, Canada and America, and are equally at home in a bookshop, at an arts centre, in a folk club or on a festival main-stage. They have been commissioned by the BBC, The V&A, and most recently by Aardman Animations to compose the music and songs for their Oscar and BAFTA Nominated musical Robin Robin, with the band picking up an Ivor Novello Award nomination for their score. The band have been working with producer and musician Pete Townshend (The Who) on their 14 studio album.
Between them Ben Please and Beth Porter bring the books to the stage along with a multitude of instruments, including cello, harmonium, glockenspiel, guitars and ukuleles which, along with their distinct voices, create a cinematic sound that draws the audience right in to a highly intimate performance, at once touching and mesmerizing, heart wrenching and funny. No previous knowledge of the books is required as the band guide the audience through the stories behind each song’s inspiration.
Beth has performed and recorded with Peter Gabriel, The Proclaimers and is part of The Lost Words Spell Songs alongside musicians including Karine Polwart, Kris Drever and Julie Fowlis. The band are based in Wigtown, Scotland’s Book Town.
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen’s most iconic love story is brought dazzlingly to life on stage.
When it comes to the subject of marriage, headstrong Lizzy Bennet is determined to resist the mounting pressures and expectations from society. But can she resist love, especially when the infuriatingly intriguing Mr. Darcy keeps popping up at every turn?!
With sharp humour and sparkling dialogue, this witty stage adaptation brings to life the classic story of love, misunderstandings, and second chances (with plenty of music and dancing). Lose yourself in the world of Regency parties and courtship, as hearts race, tongues wag and passions swirl around the English countryside.
Discover the absurdities and thrills of finding your perfect (or imperfect) match in life, with this vibrant retelling of Austen’s beloved novel, performed by a large cast of immensely talented actors. This UK premiere production is adapted by award-winning playwright Kate Hammil and directed by Octagon Theatre Bolton’s Artistic Director Lotte Wakeham.
Aardman Model Making Workshop
Watch a Wallace and Gromit classic before joining the expert team from Aardman to learn the unique art of model making at these fun, interactive clay modelling workshops.
You’ll receive a step-by-step demonstration by an expert model maker from the Aardman studio, and discover how to craft your own model.
Choose to make Gromit (11am) Feathers (1pm) or Shaun the Sheep (3pm).
Big Days for Tiny Theatre Makers: Playtime
Our Big Days for Tiny Theatre Makers include a show and a series of activities for you to enjoy, including storytelling, puppet play and art activities. Activities are open before and after the show, so you’re welcome to stay and play for as long as you like!
Come along for Playtime where you’ll join Ratty and her friends for a fun and gentle introduction to theatre through silly and relaxed play.
Di and Viv and Rose
Back in the 80s, Di, Viv and Rose are university housemates. Energetic and idealistic, they become friends – but where will life take them after that?
Filled with the iconic culture, fashion and music of the 80s, 90s and Noughties, Di and Viv and Rose follows these three women through the messy complexity of adulthood, in a must-see celebration of the power of lifelong friendship.
Candid and full of humour, Di, Viv and Rose talk about sex, ambition and love – sharing joyful moments, painful experiences, and some surprising secrets.
Di and Viv and Rose is written by actor-writer Amelia Bullmore, best known for her portrayal of Steph Barnes in Coronation Street and more recently Riot Women (2025), Happy Valley (2016) and Scott & Bailey (2011).
The original production of Di and Viv and Rose transferred to the West End after a sell-out run at Hampstead Theatre.
Black Tie Ball
It’s the glitziest night of the year, and everyone wants to be there, from the great to the good.
The Bentleys are parked, the Jazz Band has arrived, and the magician is magic; so pick up your invite for this fundraising frenzy.
But behind the bow ties and fake tans there are jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs This is upstairs meets downstairs through a drunken gaze.
The raffle is ready, the coffee is cold, the service is awful, the Guest speaker is drunk and the hard pressed caterers just want to go home.
By turns satirical and touching, Godber turns his laser gaze onto the Black Tie Ball in all its sophisticated pomp.
Told in his signature visceral style, this hilarious comedy sees the hotel staff recount an entire evening at breakneck speed from arrival at seven to carriages at midnight.
Being short staffed has never been so funny.
Cara Dillon
Cara Dillon, an extraordinary, multiple award-winning Irish folk singer, and acclaimed musician and producer Sam Lakeman, will captivate listeners once again with their exquisite and enthralling live performance.
Throughout an enviable career which has seen them explore opportunities to tread many different paths – from releasing folk crossover albums on indie label Rough Trade; recording on Disney soundtracks to collaborations with orchestras and even leading dance DJs – Cara has continuously chosen to firmly plant herself within the landscape of her Irish cultural heritage and that’s something to celebrate.
Their enduring partnership has ensured they have remained at the very pinnacle of the folk genre for well over two decades and this performance will feature a selection of acoustic songs from previous releases and may also include material from her highly anticipated 2024 release,“Coming Home”, her first in over six years. Within it Cara effortlessly blurs the lines between spoken word and song to stunning effect, exploring profoundly personal memories, her native Co. Derry and the people, places and customs she holds closest to her heart; revealing a newly found freedom to express herself within the tiniest of details and life’s larger mysteries.
Join Cara and Sam for an intimate evening full of exceptional music and the genuine warmth they bring to the stage.
The Enormous Turnip
Help save the day as we pull The Enormous Turnip out of the ground before it takes over the planet!
Living in their tiny shed squeezed in amongst the garden tools, Mr and Mrs Chickweed’s amazing prize-winning vegetables have taken over everything! Before they retire, they can’t resist planting one last seed, try for one more champion vegetable and one more trophy!
But no one knew that a vegetable could grow bigger than the cat, bigger than the dog, bigger than you and me put together! It’s gigantic, it’s blocking out the light and it’s still growing!
Suitable for all the family (recommended for ages 3-10).
Directed by Niki McCretton
Music by Matthew Huxley
Stuff and Nonsense make inspiring shows for families. We unite creativity and imagination, so that children and adults can learn together and inspire each other. Our shows are co-created with children and incredible artists. We also teach, lead workshops, give schools resources and work with families to learn and make things.
Stuff and Nonsense have delighted over a quarter of a million people this decade alone.
Invest in your children’s imaginations: join us in the theatre and take playfulness home with you!
Shlomo’s Beatbox Adventure For Kids
Join world record-breaking beatboxer SK Shlomo who makes amazing music with just a mouth and a mic, and has performed around the world with legends like Bjork, Ed Sheeran and Rudimental.
Their 5-star sell-out show Shlomo’s Beatbox Adventure for Kids is back.
Anybody can become one of this sonic superhero’s sidekicks in a world of funny sounds, brilliant noises, and cool music, whether they’re aged 1 or 101!
The Wizard of Oz
We’re not in Keswick anymore…
From Aunty Em’s Cumbrian cottage Dorothy dreams of returning to her old life in London. But as she climbs out of the window to run away, a storm whisks her up, and she gets far more than she bargained for.
How do you get from Oz to London? There’s only one person who could possibly help – The Wizard!
For Christmas 2025 join Dorothy and her faithful companion Toto on an adventure down the yellow brick road, facing witches and flying monkeys and making new friends. Along the way she learns that there’s no place she’d rather be than home with Aunty Em.
Inspired by the book by L. Frank Baum, this brand new adaptation of the classic story features all your favourite characters – a very brave lion, a big hearted tinwoman and a super smart scarecrow, and brings Oz right up to date with original pop songs. It’s the perfect treat for all the family – just don’t forget your magic shoes!
Cumbrian Christmas Cracker
Open the season of goodwill at the ‘Cumbrian Christmas Cracker’
A nostalgic evening of seasonal readings, poems, dialect and music. Author Alan Cleaver, Countrystride producer David Felton and special guests unpack a stocking of seasonal gifts featuring memories of past times, traditional yuletide food, a journey into Cumberland dialect and tunes, and the inevitable fire-side ghost story.
Little Gift
Meet Ted, a cautious old soul living all alone in a busy, bustling town. He likes it that way. It’s quieter and safer. Until one extraordinary day, a surprise visitor turns his lonely life upside down.
Told by a very special performer, with a playful mix of puppetry, music and song, Little Gift is a tender and warm story about friendship and the joy to be found just around every corner.
Your enquiry will be sent directly to Theatre by the Lake. Please fill in as much detail as you can.
Theatre by the Lake has a setting on the shores of Derwentwater no other professional theatre in Britain can match. Each year it stages up to nine of its own productions of classic, modern and new plays on its two stages and has won multi-starred reviews from national critics. It also hosts festivals of literature, jazz, film and mountains. Daytime and evening refreshments are available from light snacks to pre-theatre meals.
There are lifts to all levels and wheelchair users can get to all front-of-house and backstage areas. Both auditoria have enhanced-hearing and induction loop systems.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.theatrebythelake.com, where you can now choose your own seat and see the view of the stage before you buy. Alternatively, call the Box Office on 017687 74411 – it’s open from 9.30am to 8pm daily.
Location
The theatre is a five minute walk from the town centre (follow signs for the Lake), with Allerdale Borough Council’s Lakeside pay & display car park immediately adjacent to the theatre building. There are bus links with Ambleside to the south, Carlisle to the north, Penrith to the east and Cockermouth and Workington to the west.
Noises Off
A wildly hilarious, fast-paced comedy that takes you behind the curtain of a chaotic touring theatre company desperately trying to maintain their composure and regain any shred of credibility.
From their frantic last-minute rehearsals in Weston-Super-Mare to a disastrously silent performance in Ashton-under-Lyne, and a spectacularly calamitous final performance in Stockton-on-Tees, Noises Off promises an evening of non-stop laughter and mayhem as the doomed actors struggle to keep their performance together whilst everything around them quite literally falls apart.
Written by the multi-award-winning British novelist and playwright Michael Frayn, this is a new production of one of the most celebrated plays ever written.
Big Days for Tiny Theatre Makers: Wonder Gigs
Our Big Days for Tiny Theatre Makers include a show and a series of activities for you to enjoy, including storytelling, puppet play and art activities. Activities are open before and after the show, so you’re welcome to stay and play for as long as you like!
Wonder Gigs is an uplifting and relaxing hour with a live musician playing beautiful acoustic versions of well-known folk, jazz and pop songs, alongside atmospheric sensory visuals.
Edinburgh Fringe Festival Showcase
Big Fish Comedy Club hosts an exciting and hilarious showcase of up and coming comics, all heading up to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year!
A chance to discover the next best thing in comedy before your Fringe schedule for 2025.
MC’d by local comic Stephanie Bradshaw.
The Bookshop Band
The award winning Bookshop Band write and perform songs inspired by books. Formed in September 2010 they released their first album two months later and have since released 13 albums collaborating with over 100 authors, including Philip Pullman, Louis de Bernieres and Margaret Atwood.
They have toured extensively around the UK, Europe, Canada and America, and are equally at home in a bookshop, at an arts centre, in a folk club or on a festival main-stage. They have been commissioned by the BBC, The V&A, and most recently by Aardman Animations to compose the music and songs for their Oscar and BAFTA Nominated musical Robin Robin, with the band picking up an Ivor Novello Award nomination for their score. The band have been working with producer and musician Pete Townshend (The Who) on their 14 studio album.
Between them Ben Please and Beth Porter bring the books to the stage along with a multitude of instruments, including cello, harmonium, glockenspiel, guitars and ukuleles which, along with their distinct voices, create a cinematic sound that draws the audience right in to a highly intimate performance, at once touching and mesmerizing, heart wrenching and funny. No previous knowledge of the books is required as the band guide the audience through the stories behind each song’s inspiration.
Beth has performed and recorded with Peter Gabriel, The Proclaimers and is part of The Lost Words Spell Songs alongside musicians including Karine Polwart, Kris Drever and Julie Fowlis. The band are based in Wigtown, Scotland’s Book Town.
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen’s most iconic love story is brought dazzlingly to life on stage.
When it comes to the subject of marriage, headstrong Lizzy Bennet is determined to resist the mounting pressures and expectations from society. But can she resist love, especially when the infuriatingly intriguing Mr. Darcy keeps popping up at every turn?!
With sharp humour and sparkling dialogue, this witty stage adaptation brings to life the classic story of love, misunderstandings, and second chances (with plenty of music and dancing). Lose yourself in the world of Regency parties and courtship, as hearts race, tongues wag and passions swirl around the English countryside.
Discover the absurdities and thrills of finding your perfect (or imperfect) match in life, with this vibrant retelling of Austen’s beloved novel, performed by a large cast of immensely talented actors. This UK premiere production is adapted by award-winning playwright Kate Hammil and directed by Octagon Theatre Bolton’s Artistic Director Lotte Wakeham.
Aardman Model Making Workshop
Watch a Wallace and Gromit classic before joining the expert team from Aardman to learn the unique art of model making at these fun, interactive clay modelling workshops.
You’ll receive a step-by-step demonstration by an expert model maker from the Aardman studio, and discover how to craft your own model.
Choose to make Gromit (11am) Feathers (1pm) or Shaun the Sheep (3pm).
Big Days for Tiny Theatre Makers: Playtime
Our Big Days for Tiny Theatre Makers include a show and a series of activities for you to enjoy, including storytelling, puppet play and art activities. Activities are open before and after the show, so you’re welcome to stay and play for as long as you like!
Come along for Playtime where you’ll join Ratty and her friends for a fun and gentle introduction to theatre through silly and relaxed play.
Di and Viv and Rose
Back in the 80s, Di, Viv and Rose are university housemates. Energetic and idealistic, they become friends – but where will life take them after that?
Filled with the iconic culture, fashion and music of the 80s, 90s and Noughties, Di and Viv and Rose follows these three women through the messy complexity of adulthood, in a must-see celebration of the power of lifelong friendship.
Candid and full of humour, Di, Viv and Rose talk about sex, ambition and love – sharing joyful moments, painful experiences, and some surprising secrets.
Di and Viv and Rose is written by actor-writer Amelia Bullmore, best known for her portrayal of Steph Barnes in Coronation Street and more recently Riot Women (2025), Happy Valley (2016) and Scott & Bailey (2011).
The original production of Di and Viv and Rose transferred to the West End after a sell-out run at Hampstead Theatre.
Black Tie Ball
It’s the glitziest night of the year, and everyone wants to be there, from the great to the good.
The Bentleys are parked, the Jazz Band has arrived, and the magician is magic; so pick up your invite for this fundraising frenzy.
But behind the bow ties and fake tans there are jealousies and avarice, divorces and affairs This is upstairs meets downstairs through a drunken gaze.
The raffle is ready, the coffee is cold, the service is awful, the Guest speaker is drunk and the hard pressed caterers just want to go home.
By turns satirical and touching, Godber turns his laser gaze onto the Black Tie Ball in all its sophisticated pomp.
Told in his signature visceral style, this hilarious comedy sees the hotel staff recount an entire evening at breakneck speed from arrival at seven to carriages at midnight.
Being short staffed has never been so funny.
Cara Dillon
Cara Dillon, an extraordinary, multiple award-winning Irish folk singer, and acclaimed musician and producer Sam Lakeman, will captivate listeners once again with their exquisite and enthralling live performance.
Throughout an enviable career which has seen them explore opportunities to tread many different paths – from releasing folk crossover albums on indie label Rough Trade; recording on Disney soundtracks to collaborations with orchestras and even leading dance DJs – Cara has continuously chosen to firmly plant herself within the landscape of her Irish cultural heritage and that’s something to celebrate.
Their enduring partnership has ensured they have remained at the very pinnacle of the folk genre for well over two decades and this performance will feature a selection of acoustic songs from previous releases and may also include material from her highly anticipated 2024 release,“Coming Home”, her first in over six years. Within it Cara effortlessly blurs the lines between spoken word and song to stunning effect, exploring profoundly personal memories, her native Co. Derry and the people, places and customs she holds closest to her heart; revealing a newly found freedom to express herself within the tiniest of details and life’s larger mysteries.
Join Cara and Sam for an intimate evening full of exceptional music and the genuine warmth they bring to the stage.
The Enormous Turnip
Help save the day as we pull The Enormous Turnip out of the ground before it takes over the planet!
Living in their tiny shed squeezed in amongst the garden tools, Mr and Mrs Chickweed’s amazing prize-winning vegetables have taken over everything! Before they retire, they can’t resist planting one last seed, try for one more champion vegetable and one more trophy!
But no one knew that a vegetable could grow bigger than the cat, bigger than the dog, bigger than you and me put together! It’s gigantic, it’s blocking out the light and it’s still growing!
Suitable for all the family (recommended for ages 3-10).
Directed by Niki McCretton
Music by Matthew Huxley
Stuff and Nonsense make inspiring shows for families. We unite creativity and imagination, so that children and adults can learn together and inspire each other. Our shows are co-created with children and incredible artists. We also teach, lead workshops, give schools resources and work with families to learn and make things.
Stuff and Nonsense have delighted over a quarter of a million people this decade alone.
Invest in your children’s imaginations: join us in the theatre and take playfulness home with you!
Shlomo’s Beatbox Adventure For Kids
Join world record-breaking beatboxer SK Shlomo who makes amazing music with just a mouth and a mic, and has performed around the world with legends like Bjork, Ed Sheeran and Rudimental.
Their 5-star sell-out show Shlomo’s Beatbox Adventure for Kids is back.
Anybody can become one of this sonic superhero’s sidekicks in a world of funny sounds, brilliant noises, and cool music, whether they’re aged 1 or 101!
The Wizard of Oz
We’re not in Keswick anymore…
From Aunty Em’s Cumbrian cottage Dorothy dreams of returning to her old life in London. But as she climbs out of the window to run away, a storm whisks her up, and she gets far more than she bargained for.
How do you get from Oz to London? There’s only one person who could possibly help – The Wizard!
For Christmas 2025 join Dorothy and her faithful companion Toto on an adventure down the yellow brick road, facing witches and flying monkeys and making new friends. Along the way she learns that there’s no place she’d rather be than home with Aunty Em.
Inspired by the book by L. Frank Baum, this brand new adaptation of the classic story features all your favourite characters – a very brave lion, a big hearted tinwoman and a super smart scarecrow, and brings Oz right up to date with original pop songs. It’s the perfect treat for all the family – just don’t forget your magic shoes!
Cumbrian Christmas Cracker
Open the season of goodwill at the ‘Cumbrian Christmas Cracker’
A nostalgic evening of seasonal readings, poems, dialect and music. Author Alan Cleaver, Countrystride producer David Felton and special guests unpack a stocking of seasonal gifts featuring memories of past times, traditional yuletide food, a journey into Cumberland dialect and tunes, and the inevitable fire-side ghost story.
Little Gift
Meet Ted, a cautious old soul living all alone in a busy, bustling town. He likes it that way. It’s quieter and safer. Until one extraordinary day, a surprise visitor turns his lonely life upside down.
Told by a very special performer, with a playful mix of puppetry, music and song, Little Gift is a tender and warm story about friendship and the joy to be found just around every corner.
Your enquiry will be sent directly to Theatre by the Lake. Please fill in as much detail as you can.