Theatre’s £12m future turns into fight for life

A THEATRE which should have been moving to a new £12m home has instead been left fighting for its future.

The Octagon Theatre, Bolton, has always been a popular attraction, but the financial pressure of the coronavirus lockdown has left organisers trying to fill a huge hole in funds.

Normally, shows at the venue bring in around £1m in ticket sales each year. That money is used to keep the theatre running.

Despite support from Bolton council and England’s Arts Council, lack of recent productions has created a serious problem.

It comes at an extremely unfortunate time, with the theatre set for a big move back into its home on Howell Croft Street South in Bolton town centre following an extensive rebuild.

The venue has been closed for around two years while construction crews demolished the old building and replaced it with a state-of-the-art new auditorium at a cost of £12m, mostly funded by the Arts Council and the local authority.

But, while the Octagon’s future home is nearly completed, financial pressure on day-to-day operations has become so keen that the theatre’s managers have had to turn to the public for help.

“We have tremendous support from Bolton Council and Arts Council England, who have invested in our building as well as our ongoing work,” chief executive, Roddy Gauld said.

“They are standing by us in these difficult times but they cannot realistically replace the huge amount of income we are losing. We are using the government’s furlough scheme, making savings and using our reserves to see us through, but still face a challenging shortfall.

“Every pound generously donated helps reduce that shortfall and I’m really grateful to everybody who has helped us.”

The theatre is targeting a total of £35,000 in donations by the end of June in order to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

This includes help from The Oglesby Charitable Trust, a support group which has committed to doubling all the cash that is contributed by the public.

As well as putting on shows, The Octagon also runs a range of community programmes, from youth theatre projects to a special group for female refugees and asylum seekers.

So far, more than £25,000 has been raised.