Classical music comedy hooligan Rainer Hersch brings his hit one-man show to the region, The Pogues play their first gig here in a decade, there is a big top cabaret masked ball, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book is staged outdoors and Pickled Image's dark and twisted Little Shop of Horrors. SIMON PARKIN picks six cultural highlights not to miss this weekend.

CABARET

The Masquerade Ball

Earlham Park, Norwich, June 14, 3pm-2am, £20, 01603 508050, www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk

Roll up, roll up there's a big top with a difference about to be pitched in Norwich's Earlham Park to house the latest event from fast growing cabaret party organisers Maui Waui. There will be mix of music, cabaret, burlesque and dancing that is being staged in a specially erected big top in the grounds of Earlham Park in Norwich this weekend. Set inside the big top over the course of almost 12 hours performances from Swingmachine — a full 17-piece swing orchestra who specialise in recreating the much-loved sounds of the 1930s, 40s and 50s and electro-swing specialists Lunatrix, plus DJs. Meanwhile there will be burlesque from Natalya Umanska who will be tantalizing and seducing you with her fantastic new show, plus walkabout performers and cabaret acts joining in the fun.

MUSIC

The Pogues

High Lodge, Thetford Forest, June 14, 7.30pm, £37.50, 03000 680400, www.forestry.gov.uk/music

Stalwarts famed for their compelling hybrid of folk, punk and rock, The Pogues made their mark on the British music scene by producing a string of classic albums including Rum, Sodomy & The Lash, If I Should Fall From Grace With God and Peace and Love. Their innovative records, played with traditional instruments and electric guitars, created captivating music especially due to the song-writing talent of inimitable frontman Shane MacGowan. Revered for their legendary live performances, the band regularly headlines festivals across the world yet the Forest Live date will be their first appearance in the East Anglian region in well over a decade.

THEATRE

The Jungle Book

The Cloisters, Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds, June 14, 5pm, £14 (£10 cons), £10 children, £42 family, 01284 758000, www.theapex.co.uk

In the magical Indian jungle, a new arrival changes the animal kingdom forever. This adaptation by award winning writer Laura Turner of Rudyard Kipling's story for Chapterhouse Theatre Company is not quite being staged in the jungle, but it will be suitably atmospheric in the beautiful Abbey Gardens in Bury St Edmunds. All the favourite animal characters are brought to life to create an enchanting and fun-filled musical show for children of all ages. Join Mowgli on his wonderful adventures with the loveable and wise Baloo the Bear, the powerful panther Bagheera, not to mention mischievous monkeys and the terrifying tiger Shere Khan.

SHOW

Little Shop of Horrors

Norwich Puppet Theatre, June 14, 7.30pm, £10 (£9 cons), £8 children, 01603 629921, www.puppettheatre.co.uk

Grimlake's Emporium of Novelties: a dilapidated shop on the outskirts of nowhere, where corny magic tricks and strange puppets collect dust and cobwebs. No one has entered the shop for years, but that's just fine by proprietor Albert Grimlake. Albert is a man obsessed with puppets, particularly ventriloquist dummies but growing old he recruit apprentice Eric who is young, eager and he's seen all the Muppet movies, twice. But Eric discovers there's so much to learn. How do you scream without moving your lips? Using extraordinary puppets, masks and props, Pickled Image has created a dark and twisted show with a wicked sense of humour, featuring a macabre collection of characters to rival their international successes, Houdini's Suitcase, Hunger and Late Night Wolf Tales.

CLASSICAL

The Morley Consort of Voices

St Botolph's Church, Trunch, North Walsham, June 14, 7.30pm, £9 (£7 cons) on door, www.trunchconcerts.co.uk

The Morley Consort of Voices, an ensemble of six singers whose original members came together in 1974, perform vocal ensemble music from the Renaissance to the present day, though the focus is on music from the 16th and 17th centuries. This Trunch concert, entitled Treasures from the Renaissance, will see the ensemble performing madrigals composed in honour of the then reigning Monarch Queen Elizabeth I from a collection entitled The Triumphs of Oriana.

COMEDY

Rainer Hersch

Woolpit Village Hall, June 15, 7pm, £15, 01284 769505, www.theatreroyal.org

As part of Woolpit Festival, stand-up comedian and musician Rainer Hersch — the world's first classical music hooligan according to the Sun, brings his hit one-man show All Classical Music Explained. Rainer, of German descent, has a Victor Borge-esque sense of humour is a a multi-talented comedian and musician who is equally at home closing the show at the famous Comedy Store in London or conducting the St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The show sees him turns his comic skills on those awkward questions: 'Why is organ music so boring?'; 'How can I play a musical instrument without practising?'; 'What do conductors actually do?'