While the future of a permanent theatre building for Oldham continues to be debated - will it be a new building, or will the original historic Oldham Coliseum in Fairbottom Street be rescued? - the team keeping the flame alive is bringing a 160-seat, pop-up theatre to the town centre from April 27-28, with a free welcome weekend (10am-4pm, both days). Coliseum at the Roundabout, in the car park of the town centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, will be home to a variety of live events and an artistic programme focusing on work made in Oldham. Free events this weekend include a drumming workshop, Mr Bubbles and a beatshop workshop. Over the coming months there will be opportunities for local community groups to use the space. Exisiting Coliseum groups, including Full Circle for the over 50s, Culture and Chips (an open group for discussions about arts and culture), and Roma Connections Ia project for Roma women), will also meet there. Cultivate, the Coliseum's week-long festival for anyone keen to get into the different areas of theatre, will be held and local theatremakers will be given a small budget to develop and showcase their work through Crafted at the Coliseum. August will see the return of the Khushi Festival. Named after the Urdu word for happiness, Khushi is an annual festival showcasing work by Oldham’s South Asian communities. More info here

While the future of a permanent theatre building for Oldham continues to be debated - will it be a new building, or will the original historic Oldham Coliseum in Fairbottom Street be rescued? - the team helping keep the flame alive is bringing a 160-seat, pop-up theatre to the town centre over the summer, launched with a free welcome weekend this Saturday/Sunday (April 27-28,10am-4pm, both days). Coliseum at the Roundabout, in the car park of the town centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall, will be home to a variety of live events and an artistic programme focusing on work made in Oldham. Free events this weekend include a drumming workshop, Mr Bubbles and a beatshop workshop. Over the coming months there will be opportunities for local community groups to use the space. Exisiting Coliseum groups, including Full Circle for the over 50s, Culture and Chips (an open group for discussions about arts and culture), and Roma Connections (a project for Roma women), will also meet there. Cultivate, the Coliseum's week-long festival for anyone keen to get into the different areas of theatre, will be held and local theatremakers will be given a small budget to develop and showcase their work through Crafted at the Coliseum. August will see the return of the Khushi Festival. Named after the Urdu word for happiness, Khushi is an annual festival showcasing work by Oldham’s South Asian communities. More info here

Joan Littlewood Blackeyed Theatre Company Theatr Clwyd, The Mix April 23-27, 2024, 2 hrs This production is a timely revival to mark 60 years since Joan Littlewood's iconic production, which actually celebrated its 60th anniversary last year - the show has been touring since last September. The original Oh What a Lovely War aimed to capture the futility of warfare in World War I - waged by generals with little clue what they wanted to achieve and how it would affect the millions of volunteer and conscripted soldiers being manipulated by them. "Lions led by donkeys" was the famous phrase. This production did this admirably, yet was less successful in capturing the blind devotion to King and country that saw millions take the King's shilling merely because everyone else was doing so. The cast - Tom Benjamin, Tom Crabtree, Harry Curley, Alice E Mayer, Ghioma Uma and Euan Wilson, each playing multiple roles - is excellent. They are full of energy and enthusiasm and demonstrate copious talent, moving seamlessly from acting to playing various instruments. The team shows great imagination and sensitivity, interacting strongly with the audience. Stand out moments include the rendition of Keep the Home Fires Burning by Gioma Uma, and the ramping-up of tension as the show tells the events of the famed football match in the trenches between opposing forces in 1914. It helps if you have a working knowledge of the events of World War 1. The action is so fast-paced at times that some of it is hard to follow, and while the statistics, cleverly displayed at the entrance to a trench, are shocking, sometimes they are hard to read. The roots of this production lie in the original production, improvised by Littlewood and her famous company Theatre Workshop. The action here captures the not-terribly-subtle satire of the original, with the same clown costumes, make-up and end-of-the-pier-show style that was still popular in the 1960s, and the same nostalgic songs - It’s a Long Way to Tipperary and I Don’t Want to be a Soldier among them - to increase the pathos. Even if you don't pick up every last nuance, this play is an excellent watch, no less effective at highlighting the savagery of war and the seemingly inconsiderate attitudes of the powers that be than it was 60 years ago. It leaves the audience in no doubt about its intentions. More info and tickets here

Know your theatre: The most beautifully-located profes-sional theatre in the UK, Theatre by the Lake traces its origin to 1948 and a team of theatre enthusiasts who created a 225-seat mobile theatre to take live performance around post-war Britain. The convoy of trailers arrived in Keswick for the first time in 1961, but by 1975 was unfit to tour, so the company successfully took up residence by Derwentwater. In 1996 the convoy was uprooted one last time, to be replaced by the current permanent structure, the last theatre built in Britain in the 20th Century and the first to be built – at a cost of £6.5m –with the help of the national lottery. The theatre opened in August 1999 with Charley’s Aunt . There are two stages, a 400-seat main house with a central rake that has excellent sight lines, and a 100-seat studio. The main house is large for its seating capacity, high and wide, with a stage capable of holding big shows. In the main house the company presents a busy programme of now mainly wide- appeal co-productions (partnering with theatres including Bolton Octagon and Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough) throughout the year and a wide-ranging series of studio shows. TBTL also hosts a variety of festivals and visiting companies. The theatre has a loyal local audience, alongside the many tourists who enjoy a night of theatre after tramping the fells. Theatre by the Lake, Keswick Address: Theatre by the Lake, Lakeside, Keswick, Cumbria CA12 5DJ Phone: Box Office: 017687 74411 (9.30am-7.30pm/6pm non-performance nights). Admin: 017687 72282 (9am-5pm). Catering: 017687 81102 (9am-9pm). Also available by email . The theatre is currently closed but expects to reopen in autumn 2021. Facilities: A modern theatre with modern sensibilities when it comes to loos and disabled facilities. Avoid the main theatre side seats if you can, despite their lower cost. The adjacent restaurant is open 10am-3pm daily, and a tourist attraction in itself, with views across the lake. When the theatre reopens allow plenty of time to dine as service can be slow – though there is that view to look at... Parking: The theatre is located off Lake Road and is indicated on brown tourist signs throughout the town. Lakeside car park (Allerdale Borough Council, pay and display) is next to the theatre, and in summer gets very busy, so allow plenty of time to park. Charge is £1 from 7pm-7am. Before 7pm charges vary. Go here and follow the booking route to your show choice. Online box office:

Know your theatre: Built for £95,000 by public subscription and opened in 1967, the Octagon was the first professional theatre built in the North West after World War II – one of very few 'in the round'. Particularly associated with local playwrights Bill Naughton and Jim Cartwright, the Octagon today offers a wide range of repertory productions and co-productions mixing classics and lighter material. When the theatre's future was threatened in 1999, 12,000 people signed a petition to 'Keep theatre made in Bolton', and succeeded. The theatre closed in 2018 for a £12m renovation and officially reopened, after Covid delays, on July 6 2021, with a production of The Hound Of The Baskervilles . The revamped building has a new roof, electrics and plumbing, is more environmentally friendly, has greatly improved accessibility, new restaurant, bar and back stage facilities. The Octagon's main space seats up to 390, its studio space 100. The main house has the best sight lines of any theatre – that's probably a fact. Octagon Theatre, Bolton Address: Octagon Theatre, Howell Croft St, Bolton BL1 1SB . Phone: Box Office: 01204 520661 (Mon-Sat, 9am-6pm, opt 2; applies also to group bookings). You can also contact info@octagonbolton.co.uk with general inquiries and boxoffice@octagonbolton.co.uk with booking inquiries. Facilities: The new theatre has an extensive cafe/bar area (open Tue-Sat, 10am-4pm) breakfast served until noon), extensive facilities for disabled patrons, new seating and studio and classroom spaces. Parking: Nearest car park: Octagon NCP multi-storey (BL1 1TN). Free street parking (some disabled bays) in Le Mans Crescent after 6pm, (limited spaces). Online box office: Go here for what's on and follow the show links for tickets. Access 24 hours.

Know your theatre: Wales’ largest producing theatre opened in 1976 next to County Hall, in a complex opened by the Queen. The theatre has a proud history of major productions with star international names. Theatr Clwyd productions are seen throughout the year both in Wales and on UK tours. Appointed as artistic director in 2023 Kate Wasserberg, formerly artistic director of new-writing company Stockroom and Cardiff's The Other Room, is overseeing an ambitious, £35m redevelopment project to create a large extension at the front, including a new three-storey foyer and restaurant, bar and cafe. The building has three performing spaces and a multi-purpose function room, and though the redevelopment will massively upgrade facilities, the theatre spaces won't be changed. The main Anthony Hopkins Theatre is a single-raked tier seating up to 569, with five wheelchair spaces. The Emlyn Williams Theatre is a flexible studio space for 147-250. Studio 2, built to TV broadcast standards, can hold up to 120 for performance events and is used as a second rehearsal space. The theatre also has a small cinema (capacity 113) and a large function room used for gigs (capacity 240). Theatr Clwyd Address: Raikes Lane, Mold, Wales CH7 1YA Phone: General inquiries and box office: 01352 344101 (line open 10am-6pm) Facilities: The theatre complex is large, containing theatre spaces and other events and refreshment facilities. The theatre website is here . Disabled visitors are well catered for with wheelchair access to all floors, disabled parking spaces, an induction loop for hearing aid users, some "relaxed" performances when audience movement and noise are acceptable, and facilities for visual impairment. See here for details. Parking: Once in the Mold area prominent signage points you to the theatre complex. Currently, an underground car park is closed but parking is available on a tiered open air car park. Avoid parking immediately in front of the building. Online box office: Go here if you haven't booked online at Theatr Clwyd before, or find the show on the website and follow the bookings link. Email box.office@theatrclwyd.com with queries.