Oldham Coliseum is in trouble, again

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The curse of Harold

The haggard ghost of Harold Norman treads the boards of Oldham Coliseum. It’s said that “all the women in the audience” screamed when the then-actor was stabbed during a performance of Macbeth in 1947 — Norman was Macbeth, killed while enacting his duel with Macduff all too realistically. His demise made the New York Times, and his haunting made the Oldham Times: his spirit allegedly visits the theatre most often on a Thursday.

Norman is said to have spoken the name of the play out loud repeatedly, ignoring the superstition and bringing a curse upon himself, and perhaps the Coliseum. The theatre, whose Fairbottom Street building was saved from the bulldozers in 2024, could count ghostly apparitions as the least of its problems right now.

Its current CEO and former chair fails to explain tens of thousands of pounds in trustee expenses and overnight stays in luxury hotels in nearby Manchester. Since the theatre building closed, the company has produced just two original shows, one of which is described to me by staff as “possibly the worst thing they’ve ever seen.” 

The company is haemorrhaging money while producing fewer plays than ever, and staff have been instructed not to speak to one another.

So what’s gone wrong this time?