Independent report ordered into Oldham Coliseum governance

In addition, an independent review into the state of the 138-year-old Fairbottom Street building, which has asbestos but which is said to be safe, will also be commissioned.

In a letter written by the Coliseum’s new chair of trustees Duncan Craig OBE, the chair details the ‘tragedy’ of the Coliseum’s closure and says he and his fellow board members ‘won’t stop working’ until a new producing theatre, with a building, is ‘thriving’ in Oldham once more.

Mr Craig has stated his intention to provide regular updates on the matter and says the reopening of the building is ‘highly unlikely to happen’.

Sign up to our newsletters to get the latest stories sent straight to your inbox.

The theatre is currently in discussions with the team at Oldham Council in an effort to ‘secure the future of theatre in Oldham’, the letter details.

The theatre, which saw performances from a range of famous actors including Dame Thora Hird, Charlie Chaplin, Bernard Cribbins and Christopher Eccleston saw its final curtain call at the end of March after the Arts Council refused its bid for funding.

Christopher Eccleston and Maxine Peake in a rendition of I, Daniel Blake (Image: Darren Robinson Photography)

Instead, the funding was allocated to Oldham borough and to be administered by the local authority after concerns over the theatre’s governance, despite repeated calls to save the beloved theatre by trade unions and the public.

In February, Oldham Council revealed plans for a new £24m theatre building.

In a message posted to the Coliseum’s website, Mr Craig thanks the Coliseum team for their work in ‘difficult circumstances’ and commits to ‘being as open as possible’.

The chair says notice has been served on the building in order for Oldham Coliseum Ltd to stay solvent.

Using funds that do remain, an independent review of the state of the building and an independent report into previous governance have been commissioned.

Seats were full at the Coliseum's final performance (Image: Darren Robinson Photography)

In his letter, Mr Craig says: “I feel strongly that the people of Oldham and Greater Manchester deserve full transparency about exactly how the theatre came to lose its ACE funding and how the building was allowed to degrade to such a degree.

“We aim to complete these reviews before we return the keys to the Council in June and will publish all findings.”

The chair goes on to say he knows a lot of people are ‘grieving and mourning for the loss of the old Coliseum’, and acknowledges anger directed towards the previous leadership of the organisation.

The letter concludes by thanking Oldham Council, local MPs, the Arts Council, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Mayor Andy Burnham, and Oldham Coliseum’s staff and volunteers.