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Dateline: 26th October, 2008
Spring/Summer at Bolton It was an almost tearful presentation of the new season's programme at the Octagon Theatre on Friday night as executive director John Blackmore and artistic director Mark Babych introduced the last productions of Babych's ten-year reign at the helm of of the Bolton theatre. After the Christmas production of Roald Dahl's Danny the Champion of the World, adapted for the stage by David Wood, the Octagon teams up once again with Nitro, this time for a soul-funk musical Up Against the Wall by Felix Cross and director Paulette Randall with a soundtrack of famous 70s soul and funk songs. Henry is the leader of the band The Emperors of Funk who has been preaching the gospel of soul and funk for nearly thirty years with dwindling audiences, but beautiful backing singer Gloria gives the band a new lease of life. In March, Babych directs Harold Pinter's 1960 play The Caretaker, as two brothers and a tramp fight for supremacy. Following this, veteran scriptwriter Alan Plater has written a new north east-based musical about a Geordie Philip Marlowe, Looking for Buddy, with an original jazz score by Alan Barnes for this co-produced premiere in association with Newcastle's Live Theatre. David Mamet's controversial but powerful battle of the sexes, Oleanna, runs from April to May. Babych's final production as artistic director in June 2009 is Conor McPherson's boozy Irish comedy The Seafarer, which recently visited Greater Manchester in the playwright's own production for the National Theatre at the Lowry. For younger audiences, Big Adventures will perform So You Think You're A Superhero?, Pandora's Box brings both Pirate School and Katy and the Nurgla, Dramatically Healthy examines alcohol abuse and underage drinking in Mine's A Pint and Loudmouth Theatre Company presents My Mate Fancies You and Ben, Nat and Baby Jack. There will also be performances of The Last Taboo from Apples and Snakes, Eroded Noise from Gathered Earth and World Wide Workshop from Refugee Theatre Company, plus talks on the 'talking cure' from psychotherapist Rachel Morris, on the Pendle Witches from lecturer John Doughty and on the work of Conor McPherson in the context of contemporary Irish drama from Martin Thomasson and Brid Andrews of the University of Bolton. David Chadderton
Please note that all three Archive indices are very long and will therefore take some time to download.
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