More than 400 campaigners rallied round at Oldham Coliseum on Tuesday night in a united call for the theatre to be saved.
The public meeting was called by Equity following Arts Council England’s decision to halt its funding for the theatre - worth in the region of £1.8m over the next three years.
The much-loved theatre, which has been at the heart of theatre in Oldham for more than 100 years, has been left with no other option than to close its doors, announcing that this would take place on Friday, March 31 at the end of the current theatrical season.
The public meeting was offered as an opportunity for the Oldham community to come together, ask decision-makers why they had reached the conclusions they had, and demand they find a solution that retains jobs and would keep the Coliseum open.
Speakers on the night included Oldham Coliseum Chief Exec Chris Lawson, Equity North West Regional Official Paul Liversey and actress Maxine Peak.
One branded the decision ‘cultural vandalism’ with another adding that they just feel ‘handcuffed’ and at a loss for what their next steps can be.
Maxine stated: “When I was a young actor, actors from Oldham gave me inspiration and it just made me go ‘You can do it’.
“This town has such amazing talent and the reason why is because of the theatre in the centre of it. There'’s the saying ‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it’. It’s about what spaces like this give to the audiences that come in.
“As humans, storytelling is so important to our being - to be in stories, to witness stories, to share our experiences.
“Theatres have become so much more; they’ve become community centres. We all know the amazing work that these people are doing and they’re bringing people together. We can’t lose this theatre; we have got to save it. This isn’t good enough.”
Although plans have revealed a new theatre could be delivered for the town in three years time, Maxine said three years was too long to wait without a theatre in the town.
Representatives from Arts Council England, Oldham council and local politicians were also invited to speak.
However, Equity released a statement saying: “There will be no representative from Arts Council England, despite requests that they hold themselves accountable to the community in Oldham and answer their questions about the closure of the Coliseum. A symbolic empty chair will therefore be placed on stage, in reference to ACE’s absence.”
Gareth Forest, campaigns manager for Equity, urged everyone at the end of the night to keep fighting and campaigning to keep the Coliseum open.
After the seven speakers on the stage had all had their say, the floor was opened up to the audience to express the impact the theatre closure had had on them. There were many emotional, passionate responses.
One of these being from a local journalist who stated: “I went to university in London and when people asked me where I was from and I said Oldham, people had nothing nice to say - they remembered us from the 2001 race riots or from being on a list of the worst places to live in England. And my response to that was - we have the Coliseum. I rhymed off all of the amazing people that had started their careers on that stage.”
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