It's a grey, blustery Wednesday afternoon in Oldham town centre, but despite the miserable weather, Heather Tomkinson is out and about, making a beeline for the Oldham Coliseum to buy tickets for the last shows before they stop from the end of March.

Heather and her husband Michael have been coming to the Coliseum since the 1980s, after they heard a radio adaptation of the Howard Goodall play Girlfriends and booked tickets to see it in Oldham.

This week, the Fairbottom Street theatre, which in its 135-year history has helped launch the careers of countless Northern stars, announced it would be cancelling all upcoming shows after losing its entire Arts Council England (ACE) funding, despite the fact the town is supposed to be one of the priority 'Levelling Up for Culture' areas.

Read more: Oldham Coliseum to cancel upcoming shows amid funding crisis

The venue, one of the oldest still operating in Britain, formerly received around £600,000 a year from ACE, but lost its subsidy in a funding shake-up announced in November. With a funding gap of almost £2 million, the theatre says the current financial situation is not sustainable.

Having relied on funding from ACE for several years, and because Oldham was listed as a ‘Levelling Up for Culture’ place by ACE, the Coliseum hoped it would remain in the Portfolio for 2023-2026, however its application for £615,182 a year to 2026, totalling £1.84 million was unsuccessful.

Arts Council England said it had received a ‘record-breaking’ number of applications and consequently had to make ‘difficult decisions’ on where to distribute funding. Nonetheless, ACE says it has set aside £1.8m for the arts in Oldham. Just not for the Coliseum.

Now, its new season, including its hugely popular pantomime Sleeping Beauty, has been scrapped and its future lies in doubt. Its a hammer blow not only to the arts sector in the North, but the people of Oldham, whose treasured Coliseum represents much more than a theatre.

“It’s dreadful, an absolutely dreadful blow,” says Heather. I think Oldham will have lost part of its heritage because it’s been here a long time. A lot of the people we see on TV like Sarah Lancashire came through Oldham Theatre Workshop, which used to be the young people’s acting group, and performed at the Coliseum.”

Theatregoer Michael Tomkinson outside the Oldham Coliseum

Michael agrees. “It’s an institution,” he adds. “It’s been a great apprenticeship for so many famous actors, many who started as children at the workshops.”

Situated in the heart of Oldham, the much-loved theatre began its life as the Grand American Circus and Hippodrome in 1885 and was at one point surrounded by almost a dozen other theatres. Today, it is the only surviving professional theatre in the town.

Countless performers have trod its boards - from comedy greats Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel to movie stars such as Minnie Driver and Ralph Fiennes - and it has also served as a training ground for a host of Coronation Street stars including Barbara Knox, William Roache and Anne Kirkbride.

Meanwhile, its annual pantomime attracts audiences of over 35,000 from across the North West. And as many stars from stage and screen have pointed out this week, it is very much woven into the cultural fabric of Oldham itself.

Further into the town centre, Melanie Turton is walking along Yorkshire Street with her family. She’s hopeful the Coliseum can be saved, and has signed a petition which has called on the council to keep the beloved venue open.

“It’s a place to take the grandkids when they get older,” she says. “It’s making memories as well with the family and the kids and it’s what they know.

Oldham Coliseum has cancelled future shows after losing funding

“My friend goes every year to the Christmas panto. It’s what’s made Oldham basically, the Coliseum. It’s been there for years and years. If it goes it’s another thing that’s moving or we’re losing in Oldham.”

In the box office of the theatre, the phone hasn’t stopped ringing. People from across the country have been calling up to express their sympathies and ask how they can help. Some share their memories, while others ask if there is a petition or official campaign they can support. “It’s overwhelming, it’s going to make me cry,” one staff member says.

Among those offering their support are Corrie stars past and present including Julie Hesmondhalgh, who played Hayley Cropper in the soap. In November, she joined union members outside the Arts Council in Manchester when plans to cut Oldham’s Coliseum were first announced - though her support of the venue stretches back much further.

“Not only is the theatre a place of historical and cultural significance - it has been so many people's first experience of theatre over the 135 years it's been operational - but it is also a massive employer of creatives across the region and beyond,” she says.

Julie, like many who have a strong connection with the theatre, understands how much it means not only to those who took their first steps into acting here, but the local community who it has been primarily designed to serve. One need only look at the fact that ticket prices here are subsidised and intentionally kept low to see how integral it is to the town and its people.

Melanie Turton with her family on Yorkshire Street in Oldham

“Many people's careers were launched and nurtured here. The outreach and community engagement - praised by the ACE (Arts Council England) - has taken years of work to build, creating trust in hard to reach communities in and around Oldham, and this will leave a huge gap.

“And as I've said many times, I have rarely felt such ownership of a theatre as that which the 'Coli' engenders in the town.

“In a time when we are talking about levelling up, about access to culture, and art as a tool for regeneration, this decision feels incomprehensible to me. Oldham is a town that has been hit hard by austerity and the cost of living, and the long term effects of the closure of the Coliseum can only mean further hardship.”

Fellow Corrie star Stuart Wolfenden, who started his career at the theatre in the early 1980s, where he worked backstage and performed in the production ‘Tommy’, added on Twitter: “This cannot be allowed to happen! Shame on you Oldham Council and you Arts Council.” He also launched a GoFundMe page following the news, which has nearly raised £5,000 so far.

Julie and Stuart are not the only ones determined to rescue the venue. Maxine Peake, known for her roles in Dinnerladies and Shameless, as well as her theatre work including the play 'Beryl' about a Champion cyclist, which showed at Oldham Coliseum last year, echoes concerns that losing another local institution like the Fairbottom Street theatre signals more bad news for the North.

Speaking from Oldham Coliseum this week, she told Channel 4 the town needs a place to come together. “It feels for me the further north you get the worse it gets. Our cultural institutions, identity and spaces are being taken away, stripped back - we feel like we’re constantly being punished for being in the North."

The much-loved theatre began its life as the Grand American Circus and Hippodrome in 1885

Also voicing concerns for what the theatre going dark will mean for the area, actor Christopher Biggins told BBC Newsnight that this was just the beginning. “The community thrives on it and if it goes in March then all the community around it will suffer - restaurants, clubs, bars - where people go after or prior to the theatre, so it’s a very bad time indeed for Oldham.

“I think sadly this is the tip of the iceberg. I think we will see the loss of a lot of theatres throughout the country over the next couple of years.”

For Chris Lawson, artistic director and chief executive of the Coliseum, the cancellation of the coming season’s productions has been devastating. “Personally it’s been horrific,” he says. “And it’s something that will sit with me for the rest of my life. I don’t think there is any preparation to have to do something like that.

The question on everyone’s lips now is whether the Coliseum can stay at the current site and what an alternative might look like, but Chris says those conversations are out of their hands and lie now with Arts Council England, which set aside £1.8m for culture in Oldham and the local council.

“I think the overarching priority is what does arts and culture look like in Oldham going forward and where does the Coliseum sit within that? And at the moment, in some cases we still have more questions than answers,” he adds.

“We are very realistic about our current situation and that’s why we have made the decisions that we have had to make, but there are conversations around a new building and we want to remain part of those.”

Artistic Director of Oldham Coliseum theatre, Chris Lawson

However, problems with the theatre that were not resolved by a 2012 revamp, which saw largely cosmetic additions, means Chris now believes a long-term solution may lie in a new venue in the Greater Manchester town.

“There are problems with the building away from the public spaces. There was a wall that fell down a few weeks ago and repairs on the ceilings across the building,” Chris explains. “What naturally comes with a building as old as this is ongoing repairs and increasing costs at a time of economic difficulty.

“Ultimately the question around staying in the building long term was never really on the cards. But that’s difficult when a new build is still being discussed but doesn’t yet exist.”

While the last few months have clearly taken a toll on Chris, he remains optimistic that there may be a way for the show to still go on. “The Arts Council have been highly praising our work in the community and our work on stage, whether that’s Maxine Peake’s ‘Beryl’ that went on tour, or Jim Cartwright’s ‘Road’ that was on in September,” he says.

“Panto is a big part of what we do and we had 83 performances of panto this year and over 33,000 people come through the doors, and I think that indicates what the theatre means for Oldham and, for many, this is their first experience of live theatre.

“The cancellation of the season accurately reflects the very real risk that we’re facing but equally, as a team, we can’t just sit and allow that to be the narrative while there are opportunities to speak to the council and the Arts Council and those conversations are ongoing.”

Actor Maxine Peake and Artistic Director of Oldham Coliseum theatre, Chris Lawson

The timing of the announcement this week coincides with a decision by the Government last month to award its second round of Levelling Up funding to local authorities. While Oldham successfully secured £20m for a new green technology network, a second bid for culture and a ‘creative improvement district’, including a new theatre, was unsuccessful.

Speaking on the latest developments, council leader Amanda Chadderton said they had been in almost daily contact with the theatre and were looking at options for their future. “While this news is a huge blow, this will not be the end of theatre in Oldham and Oldham council remains absolutely committed to arts and theatre in the borough,” she said.

Oldham’s two MPS, Jim McMahon and Debbie Abrahams, are also throwing their support behind the theatre. "The Oldham Coliseum is an important social and economic treasure for Oldham and beyond,” Mr McMahon said.

"Theatre, art and culture has the power to bring us joy, challenge our ideas and reshape how we think about society. It’s something that should be open to everyone regardless of where they live or how much money they make.

"That’s why it’s so disappointing and baffling that ACE have decided to withhold this funding from an area like Oldham that is a ‘levelling up’ area for culture and choose to put a theatre that has been at the heart of Oldham for 135 years into turmoil.”

The Robin Hood pantomime at the Coliseum

Ms Abrahams tweeted that she was ‘devastated’ by the news of the cancellations, and said it showed that the government’s ‘endless talk about 'levelling up' is just hot air’.

She added she would be meeting with the Arts Council next week, alongside the Shadow Secretary Of State for Digital, Media and Sport Lucy Powell and Shadow Minister for the Arts & Civil Society, Barbara Keeley to discuss the “worrying situation at Oldham Coliseum”.

In a statement they added: “Labour agrees in principle with more ACE funding to the North, but the Oldham Coliseum decision seems to fly in the face of this. We have already raised their plight directly with ACE - which is an arms length body – but we are meeting them again on Monday with local MPs.

“We’ve also raised this issue in Parliament with Ministers. Historic and valued regional theatres like Oldham Coliseum are at the heart of creating the buzzing, vibrant places we in Labour want to see.”

Commenting on the theatre's cancellation of its shows, an Arts Council England spokesperson said: “We appreciate how difficult it has been for the team at Oldham Coliseum to come to a decision to cancel forthcoming events, and how unsettling this must be for the staff and all those who work with the theatre, as well as how disappointing this is for audiences.

"The Arts Council is committed to supporting performing arts in Oldham, which hugely benefits the local community. We will continue to work together with the theatre and Oldham Council over the coming weeks on future plans. We are maintaining our investment in the town and have ring-fenced £1.845 million for Oldham over the next three years and are working with the council as they pursue their ambition to develop a new performing space for the town.”

Oldham Coliseum will go dark at the end of March

On whether the £1.8m the Arts Council allocated towards culture in Oldham could be used to support the Coliseum in a new venue, the spokesperson added: "We have ringfenced this money specifically to be applied for by Oldham Council and are in discussion with them about a programme of cultural activity that will be supported over the next three years. Oldham Council is planning a new performance space in Oldham which is supported with investment from the Government’s Towns Fund and these plans are still in development."

Mayor Andy Burnham also weighed in on the issue, telling BBC Radio Manchester that the Coliseum’s plight was a “really sad story”. He said: “It's not strictly levelling up funding, but it is a levelling up issue because if you take venues like that out of Northern towns, you take the heartbeat out of them in the end.

"Oldham council are committing to a theatre in Oldham. They don't run the Coliseum so it's a difficult position for them.

"We do give out culture grants. We're one of the city-regions that spends most on culture. Because we know it brings life to places like Oldham.”

Echoing many others' sadness and frustration at the events that have unfolded since last November, the mayor added: “We’ve got to commit to ensure that Oldham has a theatre. The bottom line is that as far as I'm concerned."

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