After an early flirt with theatre as a teenage member of Oldham Theatre Workshop (alongside Anne Kirkbride, aka Deirdre Barlow), and of Manchester Youth Theatre, I found my true calling making tea and coffee as a volunteer at Oldham Repertory Theatre - now Oldham Coliseum. But becoming a journalist and reviewer at the Oldham Chronicle helped to make up for the coffee stains and dishwasher hands, and made me the critic I am today...