New Coliseum boss offers nightclub Macbeth
- Paul Genty
- 2 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Oldham Coliseum Theatre's new artistic chief has announced his first season - despite not having a theatre.
In fact there is currently no real sign that the multi-million-pound Coliseum refurbishment is anywhere near ready, since the reopening has been further delayed into 2027 by the discovery of expensive, unforeseen problems. The Coliseum was originally expected to reopen with its 2025 Christmas panto.
New Coliseum creative director, Nick Bagnall, will nonetheless direct Macbeth in local nightclub Liquid and Envy in October. The company is calling it a "landmark" production, though it will have to go quite some way to be more of a landmark than the theatre's 1947 production of the work, which ended with one actor dead and a supposed haunting of the building...
Nick's first Oldham production will run at Liquid & Envy in Retiro Street (150 yards from the theatre) from October 23-November 7. The 19-performance run will be the most ambitious production the Coliseum has staged since starting to operate in temporary and site-specific venues three years ago.
Nick has relocated the action to a gritty, late-1970s world of gangsters, casinos and shifting social codes.
The production is steeped in the sights and sounds of Oldham in the late 1970s, when the town's clubs, mills and streets were changing dramatically. The result, it is claimed, is a Macbeth that "feels closer to a night out than a night at the theatre, without losing the force of Shakespeare's language".
"Macbeth asks profound questions about power, identity and what it means to be a man," said Nick. "Those questions feel urgent in a proud industrial town like Oldham. I want to blow the dust off Shakespeare. It's about creating an experience that grabs people by the throat, whether they have seen Macbeth 10 times or never before.
"We want people who have never set foot in a theatre to walk into Liquid & Envy and feel this story belongs to them." The production will also lean heavily on music to create an "otherworldly presence that stalks Macbeth throughout the evening".
Keen Oldham theatre fans might want to sign up first for An Evening with Nick Bagnall and Julie Hesmondhalgh on August 21 at Oldham Theatre Workshop (Gallery Oldham), where he will no doubt explain the kind of theatre he wants for the reborn theatre.
Alongside Macbeth, the Coliseum's autumn and winter programme features comedy You're My World (November 6-20, various venues) , a new work from Oldham-born artist Mark Newsome, who developed his performing skills through Oldham Theatre Workshop and the Coliseum's creative programmes.
Mark and collaborator Sarah Nelson are the first participants in the Coliseum's new Artists in Residence scheme, part of the organisation's continuing commitment to local talent.
The season opens in September with award-winning writer, rapper and beatboxer Testament bringing his new show Saints on a Bridge (September 10) to George Street Chapel, mixing spoken word, hip hop, theatre and music in an exploration of race, faith and belonging.
Music and working-class identity take centre stage in Anthem for Dissatisfaction (November 8, Playhouse 2, Shaw) by Skelpie Limmer, a gig-theatre production set against the backdrop of the 2007 financial crash. 
Lost Dog returns with its dance-theatre hit Juliet & Romeo (November 17, Oldham Sixth Form College Gallery), imagining Shakespeare's famous lovers decades after their supposed happy ending.
The season also includes Joy Ride (December 12), co-created with people from Oldham, which transforms a bus journey through familiar streets into an immersive celebration. 
Silent Uproar's interactive experience The Night of the Werewolves (December 13) invites audiences to become players in a live social deduction game inspired by The Traitors. There will be a special pre-show Question & Answer session with Oldham Coliseum’s guest curator Julie Hesmondhalgh, who will be sharing stories about her time in Celebrity Traitors.
Hikapee Theatre's The Hideout (October 26, Spindles Shopping Centre) combines circus, parkour and physical theatre in a story about friendship and trust.
Families can enjoy the Coliseum's festive production of Peter Pan, and Natasha Kim Chapman's The Jeweller's Daughter, an interactive celebration of migration, culture and community.
:: This week (August 1) the theatre has its annual Khushi Festival, a south Asian-inspired "festival of happiness" celebrating culture and community spirit with a wide selection of performances and experiences, held in Oldham Central Library.
Full details and tickets here