Leading role to play...

Martyn Meets... Kevin Shaw in part two of our profile of the Coliseum’s artistic chief
THE future of Oldham Coliseum is in good hands. Who says so? Well, me actually . . .

Having spent several hours in the company of Kevin Shaw, the artistic director and chief executive of the business that is the Oldham Coliseum, I am utterly convinced that come hell or high water the theatre — still known to many of my generation as Oldham Rep — will outlive us all.

It has to; it’s part of the very fabric of Oldham, one of the many things that set us apart from our Greater Manchester neighbours.

I mentioned last week that only two of the other 10 boroughs that make up our hybrid county have full-time professional theatre companies. There are four others in total, three in Manchester — Royal Exchange, Contact and Library — and the Octagon in Bolton.

What sets Oldham apart from the other provincial offering in Bolton is that our quaint, if somewhat dated building in Fairbottom Street is a traditional theatre. It has a proper big stage, a proscenium arch and extensive flies.

Right, like me you are probably thoroughly confused by now so let me try to explain in layman’s terms:

The proscenium arch is the physical arch that frames the stage, separating the audience from the actors.

The “flies” — short for fly tower — is the cavernous space above the stage which allow sets and scenery to be “flown’, or rather raised and lowered in and out of the production, allowing for swift changes to scenery. It’s high because it has to accommodate scenery that could be the full height of the viewable stage.

“It’s what I call a chocolate-box theatre,” says Kevin with a satisfied sigh. “We have stalls, a circle and upper tier. It’s an intimate space and it works.”

And Kevin is mighty proud of this, trust me.

In my callow way I had suggested, not even tentatively, somewhat boldly, that I had a solution to the theatre’s future.

Why don’t you, I suggested, purchase the granite Union Club on Union Street, which has been vacant for years and is on the market, and has a 28,000 sq ft dance floor?

Alongside are a row of redbrick properties, some of which are empty, which could house the administration of a new theatre in the round in Oldham.

At a stroke we would transform Union Street, vacate the tired Fairbottom Street former circus, erected by Emanuel Whittaker all those years ago, and put Oldham into a new modern age.

Simples, as Martyn the Meerkat would say.

Except my idea is pie in the sky and was dismissed, gently but forcefully, like parent to child. My idea was rubbish.

Kevin was far too polite to laugh out loud at my far-fetched dream, but he’s probably still laughing to himself in private.

Greater Manchester, you see, doesn’t need another theatre in the round. We already have the Royal Exchange, Contact, Octagon and, right here in the Oldham, Grange Arts Centre — in which the Coliseum company is currently performing. So I’ll press on...

The works currently being undertaken at Fairbottom Street were identified in the early months of last year, when the aged boiler finally gave up the ghost.

“Replacement wasn’t that simple,” explained Kevin, pointing out that the relic couldn’t be repaired and that once the decision had been taken to install a new one, all sorts of associated issues arose, like pipes, radiators, pumps, taps and so on. Much of the stuff was wrapped in asbestos — albeit inert and safe — but once disturbed, a potential danger.

Specialist contractors were demanded to remove the material before a tool could be lifted for repairs and replacements.

So, while this work is going on, the theatre itself is being upgraded. New seats are being fitted — the old ones were second-hand from, Kevin thinks, the old ABC Cinema, once next to the Chronicle in Union Street.

“They were good seats, but they were designed for a cinema audience — which meant they were designed for the customer to look upwards at the screen,” he explained “Theatregoers — especially those in the circle and upper tier — are invariably looking down at the performance. So we have the opportunity to fit more appropriate seats and, while we are about it, we are realigning the whole auditorium.”

That means the central walkway will be no more when the theatre reopens in the autumn. Yes, really! No more central walkway!

“It makes sense. There was a big gap where the best seats should be,” Kevin explained, again with the sort of patience that must be essential for theatre directors.

All these works are costing around £1million and the money simply had to be found - otherwise Oldham could have lost its jewel.

“There’s an argument that the money should have gone towards a new theatre, but that isn’t on the horizon, in realistic terms, so the options were... repair or lose.”

So as the works go on and the old place begins to reinvent itself, Kevin and his talented team have taken to the road. The current Alan Ayckbourn production “Taking Steps” (that’s not a coincidence, surely?) is at Grange Arts Centre, with healthy audiences, thankfully.

We Oldhamers can pride ourselves on being understanding and adaptable. Another of the season’s shows will be at Grange too.

Kevin will then put to use the experience he gained running Forest Forge Theatre, where he cut his directorial teeth for seven years. He even plans a two-week production in the open air at Alexandra Park.

Now that’s exciting, I said. He smiled that patient smile and simply declared that all theatre is exciting.

“Theatre can’t please all of the people, all of the time. And nor should it aspire too. Subsidy means theatres like the Coliseum can put on challenging productions ans we can take risks with new works and new writers, new sets and new actors.

“Writers learn their craft in the provincial, professional theatre, which will often put on shows which go on to become hugely successful in the West End of London. The industry is essential to Great Britain’s economic wellbeing.”

And that, in a nutshell, if I have paraphrased Kevin correctly, is why the Arts Council, Oldham Council, and to a lesser degree small funders like Manchester Airport, subsidise theatres like the Coliseum.

I was - am - convinced now that Oldham has a huge role to play in the national economy. And quite right, too.

The Coliseum, he also points out, is a major driver of the Oldham economy, drawing 30 per cent of its audience from outside the borough.

“This means many local businesses enjoy a spin-off from our productions — just ask Mario how his restaurant business booms when we are playing. I reckon that every pound we take can be multiplied eight or 10 times in terms of the Oldham take.”

Oldhamers, he adds, are quite rightly proud of the Coliseum “whether they actually come here or not”.

It’s all about civic pride: without the Coliseum, Oldham would be poorer in many ways.

In Kevin Shaw we are lucky to have a committed guardian; a man who believes deeply and passionately in theatre in general and the Coliseum in particular. After 10 years in the job, he has no thoughts whatsoever of moving on. As I said at the very outset, the Coliseum is in good hands.