Thursday, 25 October 2012

The curtain is ready to go up...

It’s finally here – opening night! Tomorrow is our big opening night and I cannot believe how quickly the last ten months have zipped past. Tomorrow evening we’ll be raising the curtain for the first ever production in the newly refurbished theatre.

The cast and company have been working hard over the last two weeks to put the production together. I said it before but I’ll say it again – everyone has been absolutely fantastic and they have gone the extra mile to make the show that you’ll see this weekend (if you’re coming along).

Many of the cast have said how glad they are to be part of this exclusive production and that got me to thinking about how many actors mention how much they enjoy working at the Coliseum. We make a commitment to employ actors from the North West and in return they commit to what the Coliseum is aims to deliver and are always very complementary about the theatre and working in Oldham.

The actors certainly aren’t coming back time and time again for the wages – little tip; if you want to make a fortune don’t work in the theatre. I think it’s a combination of the people who work for the theatre and the audience who see the play. It’s no secret that an Oldham Coliseum audience is quite unique. One of our actors once said: “This is my favourite place to work. You don’t get audiences like this anywhere else. Here they don’t come and sit back saying ‘entertain me!’ but they come for a genuine night out.” And that’s so true. Our audiences are one of a kind and the Coliseum really belongs to them. We are one of the only theatres where the cast will invite the audience to the bar for a drink after the show.

Plus the atmosphere in the rehearsal room is always really positive as well. The whole process never really feels likes work. As you may already be aware, we work with many of the same actors in our productions and I think this adds to the reason why people like working here. Actors that are new to the Coliseum will often be in the same cast as a Coliseum regular and very quickly learn the way the Coliseum operates and becomes part of the team in no time at all. I create an atmosphere where actors are able to fail and feel that their ideas are heard.

This is one of the main things I am so proud of about the Coliseum – this reputation for being such a welcoming theatre.

See you back in the theatre.

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director

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