Art should not be for the elite, it should be for everybody

ACTOR MAXINE'S PLEA TO SAVE THEATRE AS HUNDREDS ATTEND PUBLIC MEETING

- CHARLOTTE GREEN

Local Democracy Reporting Service "HANDS off Oldham," proclaimed actor Maxine Peake as she led a packed crowd in a chant in support of the town's Coliseum Theatre which faces permanent closure after more than a century of performances.

Four hundred people attended a public meeting at the Coliseum, organised by the acting union Equity, calling on Arts Council England (ACE) and Oldham council to save the historic theatre.

After being dropped from the Arts Council funding portfolio the Fairbottom Street venue is due to close at the end of March, with 70 staff facing losing their jobs.

The theatre has also been deemed 'beyond its expected lifespan' and a survey carried out in January uncovered 'numerous' urgent health safety works. However a replacement theatre announced by Oldham council would not open until 2026.

Actors, union members and Oldham residents delivered passionate a speeches about what the Coliseum means to them, the local community and to arts in the north.

Paul Hilton, an actor from Chadderton, told the packed stalls: "I can't bear to see this place go. I had no connection with the arts, the theatre, but I did a school play here when I was 15 and I found my calling - it was my touchpaper.