Coliseum New Season – Alfie, Baskervilles & New Venues

The Oldham Coliseum has never performed an entire season entirely away of their Fairbottom Street base before. The season features a nationwide tour in collaboration with theatre company Imitating the Dog, Coliseum produced performances at The Grange Arts Centre and a huge open air promenade production in Alexandra Park written specifically for Oldham.
 
The Box Office will be set up right in the centre of Oldham in Unit 12, Albion Street, next to Tommy Field Market making it easier than ever to pop in and book your favourite seats. Booking will be easier on the purse strings as well with ticket prices rolled back to what they were in 2009. There will even be a dedicated coach service from Oldham to Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield where the first production of the season opens.

The season begins with a chilling production of The Hound of the Baskervilles – the Coliseum will be working in collaboration with innovative theatre company Imitating the Dog who specialise in digital media design. This spectacular telling of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s haunting tale will open at the Lawrence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield before embarking on a ten week tour across the country.
 
The season also includes a brand new production written by Oldham born playwright Ian Kershaw. Star-Cross’d is a re-working of Shakespeare’s classic tale of doomed love Romeo and Juliet set in Oldham. Robbie O, a typical tracksuit wearing Oldham lad, and Judy, a beautiful Bengali student of Oldham College, come from very different backgrounds and live very different lives. When the star-crossed pair meet and fall in love, their relationship is faced with conflict from all sides. Staged in promenade at Alexandra Park in the heart of Oldham this production is specifically made for the town with the valued involvement of local brass bands, dance groups and Oldham Theatre Workshop.

Much of the rest of the season will be performed at The Grange Arts Centre near Oldham College which includes Joe Penhall’s Dumb Show – a harsh satire on the relationship between press and celebrity and Bill Naughton’s Alfie – a co-production with Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough; New Vic Theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Octagon Theatre Bolton Production. The only visiting production of the season comes from funny girls LipService and their sideways take on the many adventures of Sherlock Holmes – Move of Moriarty – a perfect accompaniment to The Hound of Baskervilles.

For further details of the new season, please visit the Oldham Coliseum website.