Behind the scenes on A Fine Bright Day Today

Sam as Rebecca in the production

Hi I’m Jonno the Deputy Stage Manager at the Oldham Coliseum Theatre.

Our current production is A Fine Bright Day Today which has a cast of three seasoned pros. Sam plays the role of Rebecca and during the course of the play her boyfriend Pete is mentioned several times but he’s never actually seen.

I’m on the floor for this production; basically back stage running around dealing with props and so on. And in true stage management style I go on stage in low lit scene change lighting to re-arrange small bits of furniture at the end of each scene.

On the first preview performance I went on stage ransacking my brain as to which vase goes where and “do I move the tea cups or is that another scene?” and I could hear ladies in the front row saying “Oh that must be Pete” Of course I’m not Pete! I look nothing like what we are led to believe Pete looks like, unless Pete permanently wears black, with a Coliseum logo and a radio headset. Anyways, according to the script he spends all his time in the pub whilst I in actual fact can be found between cues in the stage management office catching snippets of the Wimbledon Highlights (there aren’t an awful lots of cues in this show).

People joke about life back stage at a theatre being less than glamorous but on this occasion – with A Fine Bright Day Today - I have to say it simply isn’t true. Lovely cast, Wimbledon Highlights and of course fabulous scene changes.

Perfect end to this season at the Colly.

Jonno
Deputy Stage Manager

An introduction to the new season by Artistic Director Kevin Shaw

Hello all, here goes my first blog post...

On Monday I revealed the fantastic line-up of productions in store at the Coliseum this autumn - it’s a season of real contrasts, each play is a classic of its genre written by a master of their craft. I can’t wait for rehearsals to start.

We’ve got a thrilling production to kick off the season; the darkly comic Deathtrap by Ira Levin is a real edge-of-your-seat drama full of laughs plus some genuine screams from the audience – you will love it.

We also have The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, one of my top five favourite playwrights of all time. It’s a funny yet heartbreaking portrait of a 1930’s family in crisis - you’d be hard pressed not to get caught up in the heartfelt drama of the story.

The final Coliseum production of the season is Taking Steps by Alan Ayckbourn, I think this is one of the funniest plays in the English language. One of the secrets to the comedy is the fantastic staging – it’s a real visual feast. The story takes place over three floors in a dilapidated mansion house. You may wonder how we would fit this onto a stage, the solution is that the three floors are next to each other. We’ll perform the play at The Grange Arts Centre which has an ‘in the round’ auditorium with the audience seated on all four sides of the stage. It’s much easier to stage that it is to explain, all will become clear when you see the show.

We also have some fantastic touring productions, all chosen to complement our in-house shows. Firstly, we’re hosting London Classic Theatre’s production of Equus, the ‘psycho-drama’ which some of you may recognise from the recent revival in the West End with Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role. We will then be teaming up with Tamasha to co-produce the world debut of their new play Snookered by Ishy Din. Ishy won our writing competition, it’s wonderful to see his work now being performed nationally. Finally, Rifco Arts will be presenting their high energy, award winning musical Britain’s Got Bhangra which sold out their recent run at The Lowry so if you missed it here’s another chance to catch it.

The reason we’ll be staging Taking Steps at the Grange Arts Centre is because in January we are temporarily leaving our home in Fairbottom Street, while some vital refurbishment work takes place. We’ll be at the Grange Arts Centre for most of spring in addition we have plans for a large scale open air production in the summer, which is in the early planning stages, so watch this space for further details. Finally we will return to the refurbished theatre in the autumn. Phew!

For full details of our new season and the exciting move out of the building visit www.coliseum.org.uk or call the Box Office on 0161 624 2829 or just pop in and pick up a season brochure.

See you at the theatre.

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director

Welcome to the Backstage Blogger

As well as our new website we also have a re-vamped blog to keep you in the know about everything going on behind the scenes at the Coliseum.

The next year will be very exciting for the Coliseum; in January 2012 the company will be moving out of the existing building on Fairbottom Street while essential refurbishment takes place at the theatre.

The Backstage Blogger will keep you informed of all the action while we prepare for our big move. They'll be weekly updates from the theatre's Artistic Director Kevin Shaw plus little snippets from staff about what they're up to.

Watch this space...