Summer Season 2013

We announced our summer season on Monday night!

The season opens with Ladies’ Day written by Amanda Whittington – described by the Guardian as Britain’s most consistently popular female dramatist. The Coliseum has programmed many of her plays over the years including Be My Baby, Satin ‘n’ Steel and Saturday Night Sunday Morning. In Ladies’ Day we spend the day at the races with a group of four intrepid lasses fresh from a fish factory in Hull. It’s a great situation comedy – Amanda writes some fantastic female roles. Some of you may remember the Hull Truck tour of Ladies Down Under which came to the Coliseum in 2007. This is a loose sequel to Ladies’ Day where the ladies all jet off on a trip of a lifetime to Australia for another adventure.

I’m really looking forward to directing a Noël Coward production – Hay Fever – which follows on from the successful Private Lives we staged a few years ago. Coward’s writing is always great fun to work with; dry, witty and a comedy of manners. I haven’t directed one of his plays for many years so I’m really looking forward to getting to grips with the Bliss family (the characters in the play) and setting them all off for a weekend of chaos.

Our two touring shows couldn’t be more different. Rifco are returning after the fantastic Britain’s Got Bhangra with Break The Floorboards which is sure to get people moving in their seats. On the other side of the spectrum is Original Theatre’s production of Birdsong – Sebastian Faulks’s heart wrenching story of love and sacrifice during the Great War.

There’s a great deal of events happening off the main stage including too festivals. First Break is a week long festival of new writing and work by emerging companies from across the North West taking place at venues throughout Oldham as well at the Coliseum’s studio theatre.

The season will also include Shake It Up! where young people will programme an entire week of productions for which they’ll promote, sell and administer all themselves. It will certainly be something special as we’ve never done anything like this before.

There’s lots more in the new season but I’ve run out of space. Make sure you have look as the whole season either online or by picking up a season brochure.

See you at the theatre,

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director

Searching for Bombshells...

A couple of weeks ago we held auditions for Blonde Bombshells of 1943 which opens in April. Blonde Bombshells is ‘a play with music’ by Alan Plater whose other work for the stage includes Close the Coalhouse Door which was recently revived and updated for a UK tour last year and also contained a great deal of songs. Plater also gained recognition as a TV writer with credits including Z-Cars, Softly Softly, The Beiderbecke Affair and A Very British Coup.

Blonde Bombshells is subtitled as a ‘play with music’ which differentiates itself from a musical. This particular production is a play with songs and music which are all part of the story rather than someone spontaneously bursting into song to convey emotion. Up on the Roof was the same – a play about an a capella singing group meant lots of excuses for songs to be part of the narrative rather than additional to it.

Some of you may recognise the name from the BBC film The Last of the Blonde Bombshells which starred Judi Dench and Ian Holm. The film was about the band in the present day with one of the characters reminiscing and attempting to get the group back together. When Plater adapted it for stage he decided to look back and see what the Bombshells were like in their hay day. Of course- you don’t need to have seen the film to enjoy the play.

Back to the auditions for Blonde Bombshells – these were a little more complicated than the usual audition process which involves the auditionee reading a scene with another actor. Sometimes there might be singing involved as well if the play has songs in it but when it comes to casting actor musicians that’s a whole other kettle of fish.

It’s a cast of eight and all of them will need to be able to act, sing and play a particular instrument including a saxophone, clarinet, double bass, piano and trumpet. Some of the characters play more than one instrument each and finding the right actors who tick every box isn’t as easy as it sounds. For example, one character plays both the saxophone and a ukulele which are two very different instruments and most people either learn how to play string instruments or wind instruments not both. Of course there are scores of musicians that could easily play both but they also need to act and sing to high standard.

Nevertheless there were some exceptionally talented people who auditioned and it will be a fantastic cast.

See you at the theatre.

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director

Sugar Daddies Review from a Coliseum Ambassador

Hello, hello! Long time no see! Truly so. I hope that you, our lovely audience, have been keeping well! Ok, let's get on with the review...

So then, Sugar Daddies have arrived to the Coliseum. Oh, I have been waiting for this show!! And here it is, I am ecstatic! I went to see it with a pen and paper, not so secretly hoping to learn a few tricks how to snare myself a Sugar Daddy! ;) Don't we all want one! Eventually, I came to a conclusion that it is a very tricky, delicate game. I think I will leave that to the professionals, like Sasha! It was so amazing to watch her journey from this naive (or so she presented herself) country girl into a city chic. Sarah Vezmar (who plays Sasha) is absolutely stunning in this role!

The audience have responded really well to the show. I heard so many warm words about it. Some people said they were pleasantly surprised, as one never knows what to expect with Alan Ayckbourn.

The characters were developed beautifully throughout the story. Brilliant work from the cast Maeve Larkin (Chloe), Heather Phoenix (Charmaine), Sarah Vezmar (Sasha), Paul Webster (Val), Christopher Wilkinson (Ashley) and the Director Robin Herford.

Another interesting thing is that we never really find out for sure what darkness Uncle Val hides in his past, or some facts about Ashley. Some questions are left unanswered.

All in all, the story has a beautiful witty ending. I, personally, strongly recommend to everyone to come and see the show at the Coliseum. It certainly will not disappoint! And remember to buy your programme for some writing tips from Alan Ayckbourn!

Until the next time,
Jane

Working together...

Our upcoming production of Sugar Daddies opened in Harrogate last Friday and will be coming to the Oldham next Tuesday 12 March. This is another fantastically acute social comedy from Alan Ayckbourn – the master of making light of social awkwardness.

The show rehearsed here during February and then up sticks to Harrogate to for the first week of performances and then you’ll get to see it next week. Sugar Daddies is another of our co-productions; this time Harrogate Theatre which is why it’s being performed at their venue as well.

Co-productions are a fantastic way of working with other theatres and the Coliseum has a long history of co-producing plays with theatres across the country. Recent collaborations include A Passionate Woman with New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich, The Glass Menagerie with New Vic Theatre in Newcastle-under-Lyme and The Hound of the Baskervilles tour which we produced with the show's designers imitating the dog.

Collaboration has huge amount of benefits for all companies involved and is something that has become more and more popular in the wake of funding cuts to the arts industry. The clear advantage of a co-production is the sharing of costs without compromising the quality - which can only be a positive thing.

Harrogate Theatre used to be a producing rep theatre company but like many other organisations have had to adapt the way they work in reaction to the changing industry. It is now mainly a receiving theatre meaning it only programmes tours and one night events that aren’t produced by the theatre themselves – i.e. receiving the productions. They do produce an annual pantomime but being part of a co-production allows them the chance to be part of the creative process for different types of shows.

We will also get the chance to share resources, both theatres or companies will be working towards the same goal – to produce and sell a high quality play. The two different education and outreach teams will work together on the workshops and additional activities that will accompany the production, marketing teams will share ideas about how to promote the show and the production team will be sharing items such as props to be part of the set design.

This sharing of creative thinking is such a great asset to the theatre and companies who collaborate. It’s important to learn how other companies approach the whole process and take away different aspects that could be applied to the Coliseum.

See you at the theatre.

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director