Oldham Coliseum is launching its first Crowdfunder campaign on Monday to ask fans to “Get Behind Us”.
“An urgent fundraising campaign to raise £40,000 is our only available option to help secure the Coliseum’s future,” say theatre bosses. Public donations will be matched by local businesses and trusts, doubling the total available to the theatre..
Like many theatres, the Coliseum is a charity, and like most has had no ticket income since March: “Having had to cancel or reschedule all of our events since then, we’re facing a very tough Christmas and an uncertain future.
“The Coliseum contributes millions to Oldham’s economy and has helped to launch the career of many famous faces. Usually at this time of year we’d be in rehearsals for our renowned annual pantomime. This year to keep all our wonderful audiences safe and adhere to social distancing guidelines, we can’t present the festive spectacular.
“For many years you have come to the Coliseum at Christmas to shout ‘it’s behind you!’, now we’re asking you to get behind us and help to save Christmas in Oldham for generations to come. We believe the Coliseum, its history and its future, are worth fighting for.”
Donations can be made here from September 28.
In fact the Coliseum has continued operating throughout the pandemic – largely on material available online – and is now slowly coming back to life.
Late this week the theatre put its first two socially-distanced events on sale for November (see here), while associate company Fine Comb Theatre has been in the theatre studio working on a new play, The Way Things Are. The Coliseum has also started recruiting for a forthcoming project, the UK Theatre Award-nominated Teaching Theatre Pathways.
More info here