"Hands Off Oldham" chanted over 400 attendees at our Save Oldham Coliseum event on Tuesday night.
Oldham Coliseum is a theatre that has been creating culture by, for and with the people of Oldham for 138 years. But last week it announceed it would be closing in the wake of Arts Council England cutting 100% of its NPO funding.
Held at Oldham Coliseum itself, the meeting was an opportunity for members of Oldham’s community to call on Arts Council England (ACE) to reverse the decision to cut 100% of its funding to the theatre.
On-stage speakers included Oldham Coliseum Chief Executive Chris Lawson, Lynda Rooke, Maxine Peake, Paul Hilton, Ian Kershaw, Zoe Iqbal, Najma Kahlid, Victoria Brazier, Paul Liversey and Gareth Forest, alongside community members from Oldham who spoke from the audience and posed questions to ACE regarding the planned closure of the Coliseum.
These questions will be sent to ACE who were absent from the meeting, despite having been invited and asked to hold themselves accountable to the people of Oldham. An empty chair with a sign saying ‘Arts Council England’ remained on stage in reference to the absence of a representative from ACE.
In response to Oldham Councils propositions of a new theatre, Equity North West Regional Official, Paul Liversey, said:
“While Oldham Council’s recommitment to building a new theatre is positive news, it still does not address the immediate problems that come with the Coliseum’s closure on 1st April. These include the redundancies faced by Equity members who work there, alongside the fact that until the opening of the new venue – scheduled for 2026, so at least three years from now – there will be no theatre in the borough.
“This will create a vacuum of arts access in Oldham, with the community left without a producing theatre to nurture the creation of new writing and performing arts, alongside proper union jobs. We call on Arts Council England and Oldham Council to release details about the arts provision planned for Oldham in the years before the opening of the new theatre and, if these do not include the existence of a producing theatre, to save Oldham Coliseum.”
While Oldham Council’s recommitment to building a new theatre is positive news, it still does not address the immediate problems that come with the Coliseum’s closure on 1st April. These include the redundancies faced by Equity members who work there, alongside the fact that until the opening of the new venue – scheduled for 2026, so at least three years from now – there will be no theatre in the borough. This will create a vacuum of arts access in Oldham."
Paul Liversey, Equity North West Regional Official
All attendees of the public meeting were given the opportunity to sign a petition to ACE calling on them to reverse their decision to cut funding to Oldham Coliseum. The petition was handed in to ACE's Manchester office by Equity President Lynda Rooke on Wednesday morning.
