OLDHAM COLISEUM THEATRE PRODUCES SITE-SPECIFIC REVIVAL OF
JIM CARTWRIGHT’S
A CHRISTMAS FAIR IN ASSOCIATION WITH NOT TOO TAME
Embracing the period of its current £10m refurbishment, Oldham Coliseum Theatre continues to make theatre beyond its doors and is producing a revival of Jim Cartwright’s festive play, A Christmas Fair in association with award-winning company Not Too Tame. The immersive, site-specific production will be staged in Oldham’s Chadderton Town Hall, directed by Jimmy Fairhurst (Artistic Director of Not Too Tame), who was nominated UK Theatre Award Best Director alongside Matthew Dunster for co-directing A Midsummer Night’s Dream with David Morrissey and Nadine Shah.
A Christmas Fair will run from 17 December – 2 January, and the cast of five includes John Henshaw (Early Doors), Samantha Robinson and Dickon Tyrrell, with further casting to be announced.
● As part of Not Too Tame’s ambition to create professional debut opportunities for every production, Not Too Tame and Oldham Coliseum are hosting open auditions on Monday 6th October. They are looking for two performers who have some form of professional training or have already earned professional credits.
● Jimmy Fairhurst adds: “We welcome and encourage performers from all backgrounds and abilities – especially those who are working-class or have protected characteristics. We’re passionate about representing real people and telling stories with heart, humour and guts.”
● For more information, go to https://www.coliseum.org.uk/get-involved/
Martina Murphy, CEO of Oldham Coliseum Theatre, comments: “Christmas at the Coli has always been at the heart of our theatre, and we’re pleased to be keeping that tradition alive. During this time of transformation as we prepare to return to our newly refurbished home next year, it has been fantastic to form a new partnership with Not Too Tame whose work resonates with our desire to interact more with our audiences. As we look ahead to a bright, exciting future, we continue to explore creative opportunities and find new ways of bringing theatre to the people of Oldham. Staging A Christmas Fair written by the inimitable Jim Cartwright in Chadderton Town Hall is the perfect setting to bring Jim’s characters to life in the most joyful and somewhat unruly manner.”
Director Jimmy Fairhurst (Artistic Director of Not Too Tame) says: “I’ve always believed theatre should be fearless, fun and rooted in the lives of everyday people. Being invited to be part of Oldham Coliseum’s history is a delight and working with Jim Cartwright – the Paul McCartney of theatre – is an honour. His plays told me as a young man that this industry could be for me. It’s my responsibility now to make sure that my work does the same for others. His words sing with humour, grit and humanity, and directing his work at Christmas feels incredibly special. This show is about resilience, celebration and togetherness – values that feel more vital than ever.”
Oldham Coliseum Theatre in association with Not Too Tame
A Christmas Fair
by Jim Cartwright
Directed by Jimmy Fairhurst
17 December – 2 January
Cast: John Henshaw (Caretaker), Samantha Robinson (Veronica), Dickon Tyrrell (Vicar)
Director: Jimmy Fairhurst; Associate Director: Kayleigh Hawkins
Designer: Jen McGinley;Lighting Designer: Benny Goodman; Sound Designer: Jack Baxter
Movement Director: Annie-Lunette Deakin-Foster
Musical Supervisor & Composer: Benjamin Holder
Young love might be in the air, the vicar’s distracted, Veronica is rallying her troops to keep things on track, and the caretaker just wants to go home. Will romance blossom? Will secrets be revealed? Or will the Christmas fair go with a bang…?
First premièred in 2012, renowned playwright Jim Cartwright’s A Christmas Fair is a love letter to village life. It tells the hilarious and heart wrenching stories of five characters amidst the buzz, bustle and festive mayhem of setting up the annual fair in the days before Christmas.
Following their sell-out production of Twelfth Night with Les Dennis at Shakespeare North Playhouse which saw 38% new attendees to live theatre, A Christmas Fair will be in Not Too Tame’s signature style of energising, popular theatre. Not Too Tame celebrates regional identity and champions community, creating work to attract, entertain and engage new audiences and highlighting that theatre is for all, both as a form of entertainment and as a possible career path.
Jim Cartwright is a multi-award winning, international playwright, screenwriter and director, and his work has been translated into over 35 languages. His plays include Road now considered a modern classic and winner of The George Devine Award, and The Samuel Beckett Award. The Rise and Fall of Little Voice won the Olivier Award for Best Comedy and the Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy. Other plays include, Bed, Two, Eight Miles High, Prize Night, Hard Fruit, A Christmas Fair, Mobile Phone Show and Raz. Film and television credits include Road, Vroom, June, Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise, Strumpet, King of the Teds, and the award-winning film Little Voice starring Jane Horrocks and Michael Caine which Cartwright adapted from his play The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. As a director, he has worked at the Royal Court Theatre, in the West End, the Royal Exchange Theatre and he directed a national tour of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. On television, he directed Johnny Shakespeare, winner of two Royal Television Society Awards, and King of the Teds starring Brenda Blethyn, Alison Steadman and Sir Tom Jones.
John Henshaw plays Caretaker. He is perhaps best known as Ken Dixon, the landlord in the BBC sitcom, Early Doors, written by Craig Cash. His theatre credits include Early Doors (The Lowry), King Cotton (The Lowry/Everyman), Beautiful House (Library Theatre) and Road (Bolton Octagon). Work on television includes The Royle Family, Life on Mars, Cutting It, Born and Bred, Nice Guy Eddie, Confessions of a Diary Secretary, New Tricks, Cops, Downton Abbey and Midsomer Murders. His many screen credits include Ken Loach’s Looking for Eric (British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor), The Keeper (Beijing International Film Festival Award for Best Supporting Actor)and The Angel’s Share.
Samantha Robinson plays Veronica. Theatre credits include Two (New Vic Theatre), Rita, Sue and Bob Too (Out of Joint/Royal Court), The Grand Gesture (Northern Broadsides), Dead, Heavy, Fantastic (Liverpool Everyman), Three Sisters on Hope Street (Hampstead Theatre), The Tempest (Royal Exchange), A Taste of Honey (Oldham Coliseum Theatre/national tour), The Lemon Princess (West Yorkshire Playhouse), Untouchable (Bush Theatre) and Song of the Western Men (Chichester Festival Theatre). Television and film credits include McKenzie, Brassic, Little Boy Blue, Cilla, Casualty, Shameless, Sixty Six and The Island at War.
Dickon Tyrrell plays Vicar. His stage credits include Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Bartholomew Fair, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, The Oresteia, The Duchess of Malfi, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, King Lear, Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet and Anne Boleyn (Shakespeare’s Globe), Anatomy of a Suicide (Royal Court), Labour of Love (Headlong/West End), Rutherford and Son (Northern Stage), The Romans in Britain (Sheffield Crucible), The Merchant of Venice and Major Barbara (RSC), Romeo & Juliet, (Northern Broadsides) and The Taming of the Shrew (West Yorkshire Playhouse). Television credits include Going Forward, Law and Order, Coronation Street, Rough Crossings, Aberfan and Peak Practice, and for film, The Isle.
Jimmy Fairhurst directs. After an early career in rugby league with Bradford Bulls and Leigh Centurions, Jimmy changed careers to become a professional actor, training at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where he was awarded the John Gielgud Award. On stage and screen, he has worked with directors and companies including Cheek By Jowl, Mike Leigh, Sarah Brigham, Owen Horsley, Cate Blanchett, Ruth Carney and Matthew Dunster. Jimmy is the founder and artistic director of Not Too Tame, which he formed with a cohort of working-class artists in 2014. For the company, he is an actor, writer and director, aiming to produce high-octane, heart-on-sleeve stories steeped in working-class culture, and made by working-class artists. He received a UK Theatre Award nomination for Best Director in 2023 for A Midsummer Night’s Dream which was the inaugural production at Shakespeare North Playhouse in a co-production with Not Too Tame and Northern Stage.
Listings
Chadderton Town Hall
Garforth St, Chadderton, Oldham OL9 6PY
boxoffice@coliseum.org.uk/ www.coliseum.org.uk
@oldhamcoliseum
@nottootame
@jimmy_fairhurst
Performance schedule 17 December – 2 January:
Monday to Saturday at 7pm (except 24 & 31 December)
Saturdays at 2pm
Additional Matinees on 24 & 31 December at 2pm
No Performances on 25, 26 December & 1 January
Ticket prices: from £10