Other Than Plays

The ”wonderfully wacky and weird” - I totally agree with the description in his promotional leaflet - comedian John Shuttleworth (Graham Fellows) is back on the road after a longish absence from touring - and we are delighted he will be paying us a visit with his new show Out of Our Sheds on Thursday 30 May.

Shuttleworth’s easy on-stage awkwardness underscores Graham’s brilliant characterisation and comic inventiveness. He’s been playing Shuttleworth for so long the character is completely real. If you flick through any Coliseum brochure, or explore the events guide on our website, you will know that between our drama productions we always have one night events ranging from musical theatre to comedy, and music gigs of every musical hue. 

 

These one-nighters are an important part of our programming policy because they are absolutely fundamental to our commitment to provide entertainment for the whole of our local community, young and old. We aim to have a diverse range of events to appeal to as many people as possible.

  The Shake It Up! programme (22 – 27 July) is one such community-based idea –put together by a group of 14 – 25 year olds, and thus sure to add to our events schedule material I might not even have heard of (since I’m far too old). More on that in another column – not about me being old, but about what the week will involve! 

I know from chatting to audiences on these nights in our two bars that the comedy and music one-nights are often their first visit to the Coliseum.  It’s a pleasure to hear their first time comments about the theatre’s warm welcome and its intimate auditorium.  All we can do is make sure they have a sufficiently good time to come back to catch a play – homegrown or otherwise, and I’m pleased to say quite a lot of people do.  But I happily accept that those who come here to comedy or music nights might have no great interest in theatre. We can persuade and cajole, but we can’t insist!

One terrific thing about these events is that the atmosphere in the place positively buzzes. Audiences for our plays may or may not know the play or the performers, so their feelings may be a little more reserved at first. But if you are coming to see John Shuttleworth or Mike Harding, you’re a fan and you expect to have a great time – so you do!

So I’ll make you a promise: we’ll keep putting on a lot of non-drama entertainment, if you keep coming to watch and enjoy it!  

One nights at Oldham Coliseum Theatre this season:

John Shuttleworth: Thurs 30 May at 7.30pm

Magic - A Kind of Queen : Queen's Greatest Hits : Friday 31 May at 7.30pm

Broadway and Beyond: shows from Broadway's finest musicals: Sat 1 June at 7.30pm

Sounds of the Glen Miller Era: Sat 20 July at 7.30pm  

See you at the theatre,

Kevin Shaw

Artistic Director

Starting Young

Ladies’ Day opened last Friday, and it is a show particularly close to our guest director Gareth Tudor Price’s heart. He directed the original production of Amanda Whittington’s comedy for Hull Truck Theatre Company back in 2005.

Another point of resonance for Gareth is that casting unites both old and new. Old – well, we prefer to say established - are Sue McCormick and Annie Sawle, who created the roles of Jan and Pearl, and Tom Bevan, who plays all nine male roles; and emerging new talent in actresses Laura Aramayo and Amy Walsh, former members of Hull Truck’s youth theatre company during Gareth’s tenure there.  Both girls went on to train professionally; Laura at the Arden School of Theatre in Manchester and Amy at London’s Academy of Live and Recorded Arts.

That two talented young women discovered theatre, then went on to make it their profession, is testament to the education department over at Hull Truck.  This tradition of young people learning the ropes in youth theatre and participatory projects is found all over the UK (and of course especially in Oldham, which has provided many of today’s TV and theatre performers). It is certainly something that is incredibly important to our work at the Coliseum.

Young people’s achievements are numerous.  We had a very lively chorus of young people for our production of Kes, for example, and 2012’s award winning Star-Cross’d featured an energetic chorus of young people who performed in Alexandra Park, night in, night out - often in some spectacularly unpleasant weather. Every year, our acclaimed pantomime features a chorus drawn from local dance schools and theatre groups.  Children and young people in our audience are enthralled to see youngsters like themselves on stage, and this glimpse of what is possible is often the impetus to join a dance group, to find out about acting classes or to join the Coliseum’s participatory programmes.  

This summer promises to be a busy time for our education team.  I’m particularly intrigued by the sound of July’s Shake It Up!, which is a youth takeover of the theatre, engineered by young people for young people.  Having programmed a week of performances ranging from comedy to drama and music, they are in charge of marketing it and getting it in front of the public on stage. 

We are realistic, of course. Not every young person will go on to work or even train as a performer. But for many, this first encounter with a working theatre inspires a lasting lifelong love of live arts – and a theatregoing habit.   

See you at the theatre,

Kevin Shaw
Artistic Director

A Sense of Place

Next Tuesday we open First Break, a mini festival in which we showcase the very best in new writing and emerging theatre talent with a northern flavour.   The Coliseum’s new writing policy is to commission writers with a connection to the north, either by birth, location, heritage or subject, and we aim to work on two new plays a year.  I see the Coliseum as rooted in a sense of place, with a clear northern voice.  

Currently, we’ve got Amanda Whittington’s Ladies’Day on stage, originally commissioned by Hull Truck - Coliseum audiences will know Amanda’s Be My Baby, Friday Night, Saturday Morning and writing masterclasses. 

  

Ladies Day has a clear identity: its setting is a Hull fish-fileting factory and a factory girls’ day out to a Royal Ascot relocated to York - the absolute antithesis of a society day out.   In an interview in the Ladies’ Day programme, Amanda talks about the importance of finding a world to explore and how characterisation springs from that.  She pinpoints the mark of authenticity: the identification that audiences feel when they see aspects of their lives reflected on stage.  She says people come up and tell her they’re a ‘Pearl’ or know a ‘Shelley’ – both of whom are strong characters in the show.  

Amanda outlines her long journey to becoming established, and from my years of working with writers, overnight success is extremely rare.  Dogged perseverance plays its part - part of the process is submitting scripts for feedback. Here at the Coliseum we read every unsolicited script we receive.  You never know if the next one will be a masterpiece!  Scripts are read by a panel of experienced theatre professionals and given constructive feedback.

I’m often asked if I have any tips for writers.  Rule number one – a lesson in life, I think – is don’t prevaricate.  Keep focused and keep writing.  Nothing has to be word perfect since you can always go back and re-write whatever you aren’t happy with first time round.  Frankly, I don’t envy writers at home with the temptation of hours of black and white films on daytime TV, the internet and the necessity of sharpening pencils, even though you’ve used a computer for years. If it wasn’t for the demands of the rehearsal room and getting a play on to the stage, I’d be at home, reading the Guardian website and looking longingly at a shelf needing dusting.  

Come retirement,  I could run a cleaning service but right now, I’m content seeing talented writers producing work for our audiences  – whether it’s Amanda, or new writers, or maybe you? 

See you at the theatre,

Kevin Shaw

Artistic Director 

Economics

I was thinking about all the amazing artistic experiences I’ve had, and it got me thinking about one that I won’t have the pleasure to enjoy. Artist Anthony McCall’s artwork, Column, a six mile high spiral of steam rising into the Liverpool skyline, didn’t come to fruition, despite investment from Arts Council England.

For each stalled project like this, there are many startling success stories - like the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, masterminded by Radcliffe-born Danny Boyle.  If that didn’t show off Britain’s creative chutzpah, I don’t know what could!  

Liverpool has undergone a tremendous creative-led regeneration in recent years, what with the first Tate Gallery outside London, the haunting Museum of Slavery and the revitalised Liverpool Museum - not forgetting the Liverpool Playhouse and Everyman, now undergoing significant refurbishment.  It’s a markedly different city as a result.

Closer to home, Oldham has tremendous creative energy. Oldham Council, even in these austere times, views the work by the Coliseum and our wider family - Oldham Theatre Workshop, Gallery Oldham, Oldham Libraries, Oldham Local Studies and Archives, Oldham Arts Team - as vital to the town’s well-being, and we couldn’t do what we do without council support. 

This Saturday our very successful run of Blonde Bombshells of 1943 comes to an end. The play has had very positive reviews and wonderful audience feedback.  Twitter and Facebook - not to mention our lobby located audience comment book in the lobby, are a pleasure to read when you have a hit on your hands.  The success on stage comes from a committed production team and a ridiculously talented ensemble of actors / musicians working together.  This is made possible by investment from Arts Council England, AGMA, Manchester Airport, and the continuing support of Oldham Council.  

Why do they support us? Simply put, the Coliseum provides employment, skills training and development, enrichment and entertainment. We are very proud of that contribution – we employ people, generate millions for the local economy, contribute to inward investment and help to make Oldham a nicer place to live, to work or do business.  Arts minister Maria Miller recently reminded us of the economic benefit of the arts, and I find myself agreeing with her.  

But let a member of the audience have the last word – after all, we produce theatre in Oldham for them. This comment about Bombshells on Tripadvisor: ‘blown away by the talent onstage’.  Economic benefit aside, that’s another pretty compelling reason to do what we do. 

See you in the stalls,

Kevin Shaw

Artistic Director