Time for some business planning...

It’s that time of year again - business planning time. This plan is an extremely important tool that steers the entire organisation for the next three years. It outlines the key objectives that the theatre aims to meet during those years such as a different type of programming or developing the theatre’s audience. It’s really exciting to explore what the Coliseum could be doing in the future.

We started thinking about the business plan for April 2012 – 2015 earlier this year when the theatre applied for National Portfolio of Organisations (NPO) status from the Arts Council. This was part of the restructure of Arts Council funding that has been introduced following savage government cuts. Thankfully the Coliseum came out of the process unharmed and was one of five building based theatres nationally that actually had their funding increased.

The planning starts with our senior management team but it will eventually involve everyone in the organisation. We had a staff day last week during which everyone contributed ideas to the vision of the Coliseum. This is really valuable as myself and other senior managers can find out what’s important to staff and they can have their say about how we operate which is a fantastic opportunity.

The staff day was also a great chance to visit the new venues that the Coliseum will be inhabiting in 2012 - there’s been a lot of talk about it but there’s nothing quite like the reality of seeing where you’ll be actually be working for six months. We visited the old library on Union Street which will be our producing hub while the Fairbottom St. building is refurbished. The library will host all aspects of production including wardrobe, technical stage management and rehearsal space. We then visited a potential box office venue in the town centre – nothing is confirmed yet but we’re hoping to have a central booking office that will be convenient for you to book your tickets. Later we took a tour around the Grange Arts Centre to see where we’ll be producing Taking Steps in February.

Now, a worrying amount of audience members have come up to me to talk about the theatre closing in the New Year. Let me take this opportunity to make this very clear, the Coliseum is not closing in 2012. The company will be producing theatre in and around Oldham while the Fairbottom St. venue is refurbished and we will return to our usual home in October 2012.

While we’re still here though, make sure you come and see our current production of Deathtrap. The show is getting a great response from both audiences and critics. Pop into the theatre and see what everyone’s talking about.

See you at the theatre.

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director