Plans to restore closed theatre 'back on the table'

Campaigners met Oldham Council leader Arooj Shah and MP Jim McMahon

Artists and activists have celebrated a milestone in a campaign to save a much-loved Victorian theatre that was closed after losing funding.

Oldham Coliseum closed in March 2023 after losing an Arts Council England funding despite a campaign to save it.

Campaigners have now said talks to restore the venue are "very much back on the table".

Oldham Council leader Arooj Shah confirmed the authority was “working up proposals for how we could bring the Fairbottom Street site back to life”.

The Coliseum was first built in 1885 on Henshaw Street before moving to Fairbottom Street two years later

It comes after an online petition to save the theatre passed more than 15,000 signatures.

At an event this week involving local politicians and campaigners, actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, who recently starred in the ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, said the Coliseum’s closure “left a huge hole in the cultural landscape of Greater Manchester”.

"The Coliseum was a destination venue bringing people into the town centre and was a big employer for artists and technicians, staff and creatives - off and on stage - and a training ground for many,” she said.

She said “a dogged, passionate, devoted, ragtag bunch of theatre lovers” had been meeting regularly to help work on plans to reinstate the venue.

'Work to do'

Addressing the event, Ms Shah said the council was now “undertaking surveys and analysis on the current building and producing plans for what a future for that building could look like”.

“We’re not in a position to make any formal announcements at this point – there is still work to do," she said.

“But what I can say is that Fairbottom Street is very much back on the table as a possible future home of theatre in Oldham. Watch this space.”

Plans were submitted last summer for a £24m theatre on Greaves Street and a new public space to stage outdoor events.

In the meantime, the Coliseum group has been building a 167-seater pop-up theatre, which will host events from the Civic Centre car park between April and July.