Oldham's iconic Coliseum Theatre is 'ready to go'

'The show must go on' as they say, and as far as Oldham Coliseum Artistic Director Chris Lawson is concerned, once he gets the thumbs-up from the Government, the famous old theatre will be 'ready to go'.

Lockdown times are certainly uncertain ones for the whole of society at present, but what Chris knows is that art is - and will - continue to be as important as ever, providing us with a form of escapism, a quiet moment of reflectionand a connection to others.

On Monday, March 16 the Coliseum’s building on Fairbottom Street was closed with immediate effect, following the Government’s advice that people should avoid public buildings.

Since then, and during the subsequent UK lockdown, the Coliseum hierarchy has been considering what that means for audiences and the current, ongoing, programme of work.

They decided to postpone, or cancel if absolutely necessary, all forthcoming events in the building, though thanks to the wonders of modern technology, there is still lots on offer digitally for theatre lovers of all ages.

"We're feeling generally quite positive at the moment," Chris told the Chronicle.

"There's been a lot of rescheduling, a lot of reprogramming and a lot of scenario planning and I guess the uncertainty that might exist for us is the same as everyone else's in the country really.

"We're waiting for guidance from the government for us to know what's happening and more specifically for us, from UK Theatre.

"As with everyone it's difficult to predict what's going to happen and where things are going to go.

"For us it's having almost five or six different scenarios.

"That's everything from going in six weeks time if we could reopen, then it's what we implement as there's all sorts of scenarios going through the different months really.

"That might be Christmas scenarios through to even early Spring scenarios for next year.

"There's not just one thing we're pushing to or aiming towards, we're just making sure that whenever we can safely reopen, we're ready to go.

"The staff that are working are having a meeting every week and the conversation and mood around what could happen keeps changing, and I think for us we're obviously looking at it from the other side of things.

"Of course there's social distancing around audience members, but then there's making of work, if it's made in the way we're used to seeing then obviously in a rehearsal room then that can be pretty difficult to rehearse with social distancing so that rules quite a lot of plays out.

"There's so much to consider.

"The auditorium is the main apect of course, but then there's the toilets, the bar area, front of house spaces - you have to really think about these things because they are spaces where people congregate."

Hopefully audiences will get to enjoy some live theatre at the Coliseum again soon, but many have still been able to remain involved, albeit from home thanks to the wonders of the internet.

Log on to: www.coliseum.org.uk and you can see for yourself exactly what's on offer for supporters of all ages while the theatre doors themselves remain closed.

Chris (pictured above) added: "It's been really important for the team to try and keep going in as many ways as possible, and if there's one thing that theatre and the arts world is, it's adaptable.

"We've got a new online programme out there, and a lot of digital work that's come out, ranging from writing competitions to their online play writing group.

"We've got out podcast too, and wonderfully we're also working and making plans with other theatres.

"I think it's also about making sure it's not just about the digital world, however.

"That's not always accessible to everyone in the same way, so we've had people making scrubs, gowns and PPE for NHS key workers.

"Our learning team have also been putting together education packs and running competitions.

"There is loads going on, weirdly, given everything that's going on.

"We're just doing things in a completely different way than what we've been used to."

The Coliseum has now confirmed new dates for The Jungle Book for Easter 2021, and staff are working to reschedule the rest of the Spring-Summer 2020 season wherever possible as a matter of priority.

The Oldham Coliseum Theatre has been serving Oldham and its communities for 135 years and has only closed once before.

In 1939 it was a group of passionate theatre lovers, the Oldham Repertory Theatre Club, that brought the theatre back to life, and it will be passionate theatre lovers of all ages and backgrounds that will keep theatre alive in Oldham during the current crisis.

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