Oldham’s 136-year-old Coliseum Theatre is to ‘go dark’ from March 26—cancelling all forthcoming events from that date.
Whether it is the final curtain for one of the region’s treasured venues remains to be seen, but after it lost its vital Arts Council grants in the last round of funding the future looks uncertain.
A bulletin from the theatre released this afternoon says: “It is with great regret that Oldham Coliseum Theatre is cancelling all forthcoming events from Sunday 26 March 2023, including the Spring-Summer programme and the 2023-24 pantomime Sleeping Beauty.”
The Coliseum has a particularly strong pantomime tradition, winning several awards for its annual stagings. The venue seats more than 500 theatregoers and also has a 50-seat Studio space.
Following the news last November that the Coliseum will no longer be part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio from this April, the board of trustees and senior leadership team have been striving to find a solution.
The theatre put the pantomime on sale in November and announced the spring-summer season early December, while still exploring options that might have enabled their continuation.
“However, the current financial situation is not sustainable for the season as planned. We are working with Arts Council England and Oldham Council to honour agreements with artists and producing partners.”
All events at the Coliseum until March 26 go ahead as planned. Ticket-holders for all other events will be refunded over coming weeks.
“It has been an incredibly difficult decision to cancel the programme of events and we understand the disappointment this will undoubtedly cause. The Coliseum asks audiences to be patient whilst staff work through each refund transaction manually.”