'Not everyone can afford to take their kids to Manchester shows': Sadness as closure looms for Oldham's Coliseum Theatre
After more than a hundred years performing to generations of Oldhamers – the Coliseum Theatre is preparing for its last curtain call.
However this week bosses confirmed the devastating news that the historic theatre has entered into a period of consultation with staff and are proposing to shut permanently on March 31. But in the centre of Oldham, residents are still reeling from what the loss of its theatre will mean for their town.
“In Oldham a lot of people don’t have much money and being local it made it easier. Not everyone can afford to go and see shows or take their kids to ones in Manchester.” By the 21st century the Coliseum had become the only surviving professional theatre in the town. Despite its small size of just 585 seats, it has an illustrious CV of past performers, from comedy titans such as Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel, to modern movie stars Ralph Fiennes and Minnie Driver.
Without somewhere local, the 69-year-old says she’ll be likely forced to travel into Manchester to see similar productions. “With the tram it’s quite accessible, but it’s a shame for Oldham,” she adds. Mum Emma Whitehead took her young son to see Zog, an adapation of the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler at the Coliseum in 2021. She says its looming closure is ‘disappointing’.
Her father Antony Whitehead chimes in: “It was a nice theatre, it’s part of the town. It just feels like nobody is really interested in Oldham.” “The council has been talking to them since November when they found out they were losing Arts Council funding and we have tried to help them in every way possible to continue, but the scale and severity of their financial challenges seem to have proven insurmountable.
“We will continue to work with the Coliseum and Arts Council during this difficult time for the Coliseum and it’s staff, and see if there is a way to retain the name and the spirit of the great artistic legacy that the Oldham Coliseum has.”
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