From world-class theatre to community showcases and live music, there’s plenty happening across the town.

Here are five of the best events to check out this week.

See a Classic Reimagined: Waiting for Godot

Waiting for Godot (Image: Octagon Theatre)

Samuel Beckett’s iconic play arrives at the Octagon Theatre in a major new co-production running from Wednesday, April 15 to Saturday, May 2.

Starring Matthew Kelly and George Costigan, this fresh staging places audiences in the round, immersing them in Beckett’s stark and darkly humorous world.

Tickets start from £15, making this a great opportunity to catch a landmark piece of theatre close to home.

Support Local Performers at the Albert Halls

Dawsons Academy of Dance & Stage celebrates 35 years with Tonight’s The Night on Wednesday, April 15.

The show promises an energetic mix of dance, singing, and musical theatre, showcasing the talents of local young performers.

It’s a feel-good community event where, as the organisers say, “every pupil feels like a star for a night.”

Experience the Energy of K-Pop Live

K-Pop fans won’t want to miss K-Pop Party at the Albert Halls on Thursday, April 16.

Described as the UK’s first touring K-Pop concert experience, the show features hits from global superstars including BTS, BLACKPINK and TWICE, alongside music inspired by Netflix’s K-Pop Demon Hunters.

With immersive staging and high-energy performances, it’s designed for both dedicated fans and newcomers alike.

Enjoy a Stadium-Style Tribute to Coldplay

Rounding off the week, Coldplace, widely regarded as the world’s leading Coldplay tribute act, perform at the Albert Halls on Sunday, April 19.

The show features all the biggest hits, from Yellow and Fix You to Viva La Vida and A Sky Full of Stars, complete with LED wristbands for a full stadium-style experience.

It’s the only Greater Manchester date on their April tour, making Bolton a key stop for fans.

Explore Local Talent at Bolton Museum’s Open Art Exhibition

Bolton Museum is celebrating the very best of local creativity with its 2026 Open Art Exhibition, running until Sunday, May 17.

Featuring more than 240 works from artists who live, work or study in the borough, the exhibition spans painting, photography, textiles, sculpture and digital art. Visitors can also vote for the Visitors’ Choice Award.

With free entry, it’s one of the most accessible cultural events in Bolton this spring.

The protests – which involved blockades of streets in the capital, Ireland’s only oil refinery, and key depots – strangled fuel distribution across the country and prompted an escalated policing response that resulted in several arrests and public order gardai deployed in Cork, Galway and Dublin.

Away from film sets, Duhamel, who is based primarily in Minnesota, gravitates towards a simpler life away from Hollywood, spending time outdoors with his wife Audra Mari, 32, and growing family. He reflects: “Running around, exploring the woods, jet skiing, tubing… it’s just, it’s such a great way for them to just see… a simpler life.”

Two fire crews were called to the scene in Pottery Lane, off Dodsworth Avenue, shortly after 11.15pm on Saturday (April 11).

Firefighters extinguished the shed that had been on fire in the rear garden and dampened down the area, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

A service spokesperson said: “York and Acomb’s crews attended an incident at a residential property involving a shed fire in the rear garden.

“Crews used two hose reel jets, two breathing apparatus, one thermal imaging camera and lighting to extinguish and dampen down [the area].”

US Vice President JD Vance has said that no agreement has been reached with Iran after 21 hours of negotiations in Islamabad, citing their nuclear ambitions as a key blocker for peace

JD Vance has announced that no deal has been reached with Iran following 21 hours of negotiations, pointing to the country’s nuclear ambitions as a major stumbling block.

Talks between the US and Iran were held in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, over the weekend, with the vice president heading up the American delegation.

“The bad news is we have not reached an agreement,” Vance told reporters.

Sources indicate there were numerous “disagreements” between the Iranian and American delegations throughout the discussions, with Iranian media citing “excessive demands” and “overreach” from Washington.

Reports emerging from within the peace talks suggest the status of the strait remains a significant bone of contention, though Vance indicated the crux of the matter centred on a nuclear enrichment agreement.

Vance stated that the principal sticking point was that the US hasn’t seen a “fundamental commitment of will for the Iranians not to develop a nuclear weapon”.

He went on to say: “That is the core goal of the President of the United States, and that’s what we’ve tried to achieve through these negotiations.”

Speaking to journalists outside the White House on Saturday, Donald Trump claimed military victory over Iran and played down the significance of the ongoing ceasefire talks, insisting “regardless of what happens, we win”.

“Let’s see what happens – maybe they make a deal, maybe they don’t,” the president said. “It doesn’t matter. From the standpoint of America, we win.”

Vance confirmed he would be returning to the US following the conclusion of the talks. He continued: “We go back to the United States having not come to an agreement.

“We’ve made very clear what our red lines are, what things we’re willing to accommodate them on and what things we’re not willing to accommodate them on.

“And we’ve made clear as we possibly could. And they have chosen not to accept our terms.”

Following Tuesday’s fragile ceasefire agreement, Iran and the US were attempting to broker a lasting resolution to the conflict.

The two nations face substantial hurdles as they remain deeply divided on crucial matters.

Townend has now won the Gold Cup and National in the same season for a second time and had the choice of eight horses from the Mullins yard to ride.

“When they jumped off I got into a nice rhythm again, I still didn’t think he travelled with the enthusiasm of the first year, but I just thought the cheekpieces helped me in the middle part of the race,” he explained.

“I saw the horse in front [Jordans], I wasn’t going to be the one to go chasing them. I was able to get a lead to the Elbow and I didn’t know where the loose horse was going. He [I Am Maximus] is a really, really good horse, that’s why [I always believed in him]. Obviously, Grangeclare West’s preparation was really good in the Bobbyjo, but this lad wasn’t telling me not to ride him.”

In all, 16 horses finished the race. Robbie Dunne was taken to hospital after a heavy fall from Stellar Story, while three horses – Mr Vango, Top Of The Bill and Quai De Bourbon – were all taken back to the racecourse stables for further veterinary assessment after falls.

The winner will, doubtless, be paraded outside Mullins’s local, The Lord Bagenal, at some stage but do not expect it to last as long as the race.

Explaining the winner’s character, Mullins said: “Normally the horses come to the car park, we have an ice-cream van for the kids and people want their photographs taken with the horses.

“Galopin Des Champs was there for an hour and a half, Lossiemouth for two hours, but I Am Maximus… he ate about three babies and kicked about four pensioners. We had to load him and take him home after five minutes. That’s I Am Maximus, he’ll eat you without salt. He is a character – don’t stand in his way.”

PC Mark Roberts was jailed for speeding through a red light while responding to a 999 call where he smashed into an elderly couple and killed a 74-year-old woman

A police officer who raced through the streets in response to a call about a choking baby has been jailed after his car crashed into a motorbike and killed a woman.

PC Mark Roberts of Northumbria Police was responding to the grade-one emergency call when his marked car smashed into an elderly couple, Ronald and Muriel Pinkney, as they rode their motorbike in Gateshead, north East, on July 8, 2022.

A court heard how Roberts, from Darlington, was driving at 43mph on the 30mph stretch of road near the MetroCentre. As he approached the lights, he was driving around 25mph when his car crashed into the couple, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said.

Mrs Pinkney, 74, tragically suffered fatal injuries to her head and neck in the horror smash which occurred on a 30mph stretch of road near the MetroCentre. Mr Pinkney also sustained injuries, including a bleed on the brain and several fractures.

The cop has since been prosecuted and convicted of of causing death by dangerous driving and causing serious injury by dangerous driving, Birmingham Live reports, despite a plea from the couple’s daughter not to send him to prison.

Roberts was arrested after the collision and answered ‘no comment’ to questions during his police interview but provided a prepared statement.

In it, he said the ambulance service had requested assistance about a choking five-week-old baby, which indicated paramedics did not believe they could get to the patient before police.

Roberts said he took his marked vehicle from Whickham police station, activated his blue lights and sirens, changing the tone of the alert at times, as he made his way through traffic and red lights.

Moments before the collision, the officer saw a white van make an emergency stop. He said: “I couldn’t see anything else before travelling towards the junction. The next thing I recall is there was a bang and both airbags deployed and I hit the windscreen, which knocked me out for a few seconds.”

He he then saw two people on the ground with crash helmets on. Roberts blacked out again and was treated in an ambulance and then taken to hospital. He said: “I believe this was a tragic accident.”

Jurors were told Northumbria Police’s roadcraft guidance stated that risk taking, even in a ‘noble cause’, was not justified. In mitigation, the court heard Roberts was ‘heartbroken’ by the ordeal.

The court was told he had led a ‘remarkable life of public service’, joining the police after an Army career which saw him serve in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

He was jailed for two years and three months at Teesside Crown Court on Tuesday (April 7).

Passing sentence, Judge Francis Laird KC, said: “In my judgement only a custodial sentence can be justified for these offences.”

The judge told Roberts that he was entitled to use exemptions from the speed limit and the ban on driving through red lights but that ‘these exemptions must be exercised cautiously and appropriately’.

“Your speed as you approached the junction was too high,” the judge said. “You observed the junction was clear and you simply chose to drive through without stopping or at least reducing your speed to a point where you could stop should another motorist enter the junction.”

He went on to say: “The evidence suggests Ronald and Muriel Pinkney were visible to you when you approached the junction, however you were so focused on getting to your destination you failed to notice them.”

Roberts was also banned from driving for five years and one month.

The couple’s daughter, Dawn Hunter-Pinkney, said in a statement that the family ‘don’t blame the officer for what happened’.

She said: “For a long time we were angry but the more we hear about why the officer was driving the way he was, the more we understand.” She went on to say: “We don’t want him to go to prison for doing his job.

“We do accept this is a very tragic accident with a very tragic outcome, but sending the officer to prison won’t bring mam back.”

Ms Hunter-Pinkney said her parents had been inseparable and her dad had been ‘devastated’ by his wife’s death, going from doing everything with her to ‘doing almost nothing’.

She said: “My dad used to be very active and fit, now he rarely leaves the house.”

Roberts has been suspended by the force. Andy Hill, assistant chief constable of Northumbria Police, said: “I reiterate my previous comments in recognising that no words will make the pain of Mr Pinkney, his family and anyone impacted by this tragic incident, any easier.

“On behalf of Northumbria Police, I wish to express my sincere condolences for your loss and our thoughts very much continue to be with you at this time.” He added: “Each and every day we respond to emergencies and thankfully tragedies of this nature are extremely rare.

“Officers are highly trained and supported to help ensure they keep both themselves and the public safe. Regrettably, on this occasion the standard of driving fell short of what it is expected which has led to the most devastating of outcomes.”

Leinster ran in six tries as they trounced Sale Sharks 43-13 to book their place in the Investec Champions Cup semi-finals.

The Irish province got off to the perfect start at the Aviva Stadium when, after they had secured line-out ball, they went through the phases before hooker Dan Sheehan crashed over to score a 10th-minute try and Harry Byrne added the conversion.

Sharks reduced the deficit six minutes before the break with a penalty from England fly-half George Ford, but they were down to 14 men with four minutes left on the clock when No 8 Dan du Preez was shown a yellow card for a deliberate knock-on.

Full-back Hugo Keenan stretched Leinster’s lead with a second try three minutes after the restart and prop Simon McIntyre’s yellow card for a high tackle did not aid Sale’s cause despite a second Ford penalty.

Flanker Ryan Baird crossed for a third try for the hosts and wingers Rieko Ioane and Tommy O’Brien followed suit with Byrne adding the conversions.

Sale replacement Alex Willis touched down in the corner and Ford obliged with the extras, but a Byrne penalty and a converted Jamie Osborne try wrapped up a convincing win.

They will host Toulon in the semi-finals, with Bath awaiting the winner of Sunday’s blockbuster clash between Bordeaux Begles and Toulouse.

PA

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