Tag Archives: Oldham

Writer:  Shelagh Delaney Director:  Chris Lawson Reviewer: Richard Hall Written when she was only 18, Shelagh Delaney’s, A Taste of Honey, has been credited as being one of the first kitchen sink dramas of the Twentieth Century. It is claimed that Delaney wrote it in response to seeing a play by Terrence Rattigan and wanted to rid the stage of ...

Writer: Compton Mackenzie Adaptor: Philip Goulding Director: Kevin Shaw Reviewer: Donna Kelly As Britain marks 100 years since women first gained the right to vote, Oldham Coliseum Theatre, Hull Truck Theatre and New Vic Theatre present a brand new, all-female adaptation of Compton Mackenzie’s comedy classic Whisky Galore. Set in 1955, Whiskey Galore tells the story of the islanders of ...

Writer:  Tom Wells Director: Chris Lawson Reviewer: Richard Hall Following the success of his debut production, Jumpers for Goalposts, the Coliseum’s Associate Director, Chris Lawson, closes the theatre’s winter season with another of Tom Wells’ award-winning plays The Kitchen Sink. Winner of the Critics’ Circle Award for most promising playwright in 2011 and the George Devine Award in 2012, The ...

Writer: John Godber Director: Chris Lawson Reviewer: Iain Sykes Over thirty years after its inception in the rugby league heartland of Hull, John Godber’s comedy Up’n’Under is as sharp as ever in another hotspot of that particular sport. This Oldham Coliseum production has the unusual aspect of the Oldham audience cheering for a group of Yorkshire lads rather than the ...

Book & Music: Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop, Charles Chilton, Gerry Raffles,  and members of the original cast Director: Kevin Shaw Reviewer: Jo Beggs When Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop conceived what was to become their most lasting piece of theatre, the Second World War was still a vivid memory for most of the cast. Littlewood herself had lived through two, having ...

Writers:  Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton Director: Kevin Shaw Reviewer: Richard Hall The Coliseum’s final in-house production of the spring/summer 2017 season is a bold and innovative choice for this venue. The Father, by French novelist and playwright Florian Zeller, is a powerful, dark, tragic comedy about the harrowing and devastating impact of dementia on one man and his family. ...

Writer: Chares Dickens Adaptor: Stephen Jeffreys Director: Chris Lawson Reviewer: Ruth Gerrard Timing is occasionally everything and with a general election looming amid a backdrop of political unrest in the UK; Oldham Coliseum’s production of Hard Times fits perfectly into this current programme.  Although originally published in 1845; the central themes of Charles Dicken’s novel ring true today.  The conflict ...

Writer: Bill Naughton Director: Chris Honer Reviewer: Donna Kelly The story of a household living in fear of tyrannical father may seem a little dated in today’s liberated society but Bill Naughton’s subtle comedy Spring and Port Wine feels surprisingly resonant today as it did in 1959. Set in the Greater Manchester town of Bolton, Spring and Port Wine tells ...