This week's news from the Coliseum...

Tomorrow night sees the final performance from a group of young people who have been working on an exciting project about the 125 year history of the Coliseum. The project began last year when we held a Reminiscence Event, the night was a great success with a packed auditorium full of people sharing their memories of the theatre. Special guest Kenneth Alan Taylor (ex-Artistic Director) and front of house manager David Rustidge - who is longest serving member of Coliseum staff – were the master of ceremonies. There was also a screening of a fascinating film of the Coliseum in the 1950s from the archive.

The project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Young Roots programme which is specifically designed to engage young people with their local heritage. The young people involved in this project have been creating the performance over the last few months which has been inspired by Coliseum’s history. The 15 strong cast have been meeting once a week to put together the piece and this evening is the technical rehearsal – setting up all the light and music cues - for tomorrow night.

The show will open with a video trailer which will include clips from different stages of the project and what the group have been up to. The group will then zip through the last 125 years of the theatre (not an easy task!). There will also be the first unveiling of the exhibition display that was commissioned as part of the whole project. The display includes a selection of archive production photography and programmes from over the years along with little snippets about the Coliseum’s past. People who take part in the various educational drama groups - from Drama Daze (our weekly drama group for 5 – 12yr olds) to Full Circle (our creative classes for over 50s) - were consulted about how the stand would look and what should be included. It looks fantastic and you’ll be able to have a look at it when it’s erected at our new Box Office site at Unit 12 on Albion Street.

The project has also included the cataloguing of the Coliseum’s archive which is now in the process of being digitally scanned and logged at the Local Studies and Archives building on Union Street. There has also been a series of community workshops based on the archive at Barnardo's Asha Project and the young artists at Square 1 Recording Studios have created a soundtrack for the show. Students from University Campus Oldham who have recently formed a new production company – New Generation Productions – have created the visual effects for the performance.

I’m looking forward to seeing all the different aspects of the project come together on stage tomorrow evening. 

See you at the theatre.

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director