Oldham Coliseum new season includes Willy Russell musical

Opening the season at the Oldham Coliseum on 5 September is the classic tale of an unruly school trip Our Day Out: The Musical. Written by Willy Russell (Educating Rita, Blood Brothers) this trip down memory lane will see a large cast of talented young participants singing and dancing rings around their fraught teachers played by a professional company of actors.

Our Day Out: The Musical is described as a show which will 'transport you back to the school days of playgrounds, packed lunches and young love' in this rewrite of the hit 1977 TV show.

Comedy duo Lip Service return to the Coliseum with their new play, A Picture Of Doreen Gray, following their Inspector Norse and Desperate to be Doris, this new production will open at the Coliseum before heading out on a national tour.

In February there's the world premiere of Susan Hill’s The Mist in the Mirror. From the author of worldwide hit The Woman in Black and adapted by Ian Kershaw, this gothic horror tale tells of a weary traveller’s strange threats from beyond the grave. Visual theatre innovators imitating the dog will also be on hand to create an unnerving and unsettling ethereal atmosphere at the Coliseum before the curtain even opens.

The theatre’s final home-grown production of the season is the annual pantomime, which this year is family favourite – Aladdin. The mischief will return to the Coliseum on 15 November – 10 January, with regular crowd favourites Fine Time Fontayne the pantomime dame, Richard J Flatcher and Justine Bailey. The Coliseum has extended the run and added an extra week of shows to allow for demand.

Elsewhere in the season the theatre some touring shows including, Happy Birthday Sunita from Rifco Arts and Watford Palace Theatre and atmospheric thriller The Business of Murder from Middle Ground Theatre Company and the multi-award-winning Stones in His Pockets.