“Hands off Oldham!” This was the chant led by actress Maxine Peake at a public meeting held to save the historic Oldham Coliseum in Greater Manchester.
The star, known for TV programmes including Dinnerladies, Shameless and Anne, hailed local theatres as the “lifeblood” of communities as she spoke at the event.
She was one of several famous faces among an estimated 400 people supporting the campaign, following the announcement that funding will be cut.
Oldham Coliseum, which was built in 1885, faces closure at the end of March. Arts Council England says the venue has been facing “financial and governance challenges for some time”, and that the building, which is owned by Oldham Council, is “reaching its natural end”.
The organisation is backing plans by Oldham Council for a new theatre in the town but says that after current funding ends for the Coliseum it has agreed additional support of almost £360,000 “to help with decisions about the future”.
But Peake, who is originally from Bolton in Greater Manchester, told attendees at the meeting on Tuesday: “It’s all about community and it’s about what this theatre means to Oldham. When I was a young actor, actors from Oldham gave me inspiration; it made me think, ‘you can do it’.
‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it’
“There was this amazing talent with this theatre in the centre of it… and there’s a saying: ‘If you can’t see it, you can’t be it’. It’s about what spaces like this give to the audiences that come in.”
She continued: “As we have a government that is further and further dividing communities… theatres have become community centres.
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“Even if I hadn’t been an actor, it gave me inspiration in my life to be braver, and watching theatre gives me inspiration to be braver.”.
Oldham Council recently announced plans for a new theatre in the borough, reportedly costing £24 million, which is scheduled to open in 2026.
“They’ve got to pull their finger out, this is not good enough – a three-year wait? No way,” Peake said. “Art should not be for the elite, it should be for everybody.”
Following her speech, Peake led a “hands off Oldham” chant.
Other speakers at the event, organised by performing arts union Equity, included playwright Ian Kershaw, Tony Award-nominated actor Paul Hilton and Ackley Bridge actress Zoe Iqbal.
Paul Liversey, northwest regional official for Equity, said the theatre’s closure would create “a vacuum of arts access” in the town.
“While Oldham Council’s recommitment to building a new theatre is positive news, it still does not address the immediate problems that come with the Coliseum’s closure,” he said.
“These include the redundancies faced by Equity members who work there, alongside the fact that until the opening of the new venue – scheduled for 2026, so at least three years from now – there will be no theatre in the borough.”
‘The building is reaching its natural end’
A spokesperson for Arts Council England acknowledged in a statement that Oldham Coliseum is a “well-loved fixture” in the town and “understandably many people have strong feelings” about its future.
The statement continued: “Oldham Coliseum Ltd has been facing financial and governance challenges for some time and as guardians of public money we could not invest in an organisation which we assessed to be such a high risk.
“Their funding continues until the end of March after which we’ve agreed additional support of nearly £360,000 to help them with decisions about the future.
“Arts Council England is absolutely committed to supporting arts and culture for the people of Oldham, and we’re standing by our commitment to invest £1.85 million in performing arts in the town and overall our investment in the arts in Oldham will be higher than ever before.
“The Oldham Coliseum building, which is reaching its natural end, is owned by Oldham Council and has never been part of our funding to the company.”
The organisation says it is “fully behind” the council’s plans for a new performing space “that will be informed by the legacy of the Oldham Coliseum and which will ensure there’s brilliant theatre in Oldham for people to enjoy for years to come”.
Sky News has contacted Oldham Council for comment.
Tom Brady has promised to be “a better parent” after a Netflix comedy special poked fun at his divorce.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion appeared on The Roast Of Tom Brady, where comedians like Kevin Hart tore into his split from Gisele Bundchen in 2022 after 13 years.
While the 46-year-old said he “loved when the jokes were about me,” Brady told The Pivot Podcast that he “didn’t like the way it affected my kids”.
“It’s the hardest part about, like the bittersweet aspect of when you do something that you think is one way and then all of a sudden you realise ‘I wouldn’t do that again’ because of the way that it affected, actually, the people I care about the most in the world,” he said.
“It makes you, in some ways, a better parent going through it ’cause again sometimes you are naive. You don’t know, or you get a little like, ‘oh shit’.”
Brady has two children – Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11 – with Bundchen. He also is a father to a third child, 16-year-old John, with actress Bridget Moynahan, who he dated until 2006.
‘Single life is what you deserve’
Hart, who hosted the Netflix special, kicked off proceedings by referencing their split, saying: “Single life is what you deserve because you had no choice.
“Gisele gave you an ultimatum. Gisele said ‘you retire or we’re done’. That’s what she said to you, Tom. ‘You retire, or we’re done’.
“Let me tell you something. When you got a chance to go eight, nine, and all it will cost is your wife and your kids, you gotta do what the f*** you gotta do.”
Nikki Glaser also fired jabs at Brady’s divorce, saying: “Five-time Super Bowl MVP, most career wins, most career touchdowns.
“You have seven rings. Well, eight, now that Gisele gave hers back.”
Brady also told the podcast that as a parent, “you just don’t see the full picture all the time,” and added the roast taught him “a good lesson”.
“I’m going to be a better parent as I go forward because of it,” he added. “And at the same time, I’m happy everyone who was there had a lot of fun.”
Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, David Beckham shared he texted Brady to check on him after the roast aired, saying: “I know Tom well and I must admit, I did fire him a message just to check if he was okay.
“He’s more than okay, but yeah, it was hard to watch.”
Brady, who is widely regarded as the greatest quarterback ever, played 20 regular seasons with the New England Patriots and three regular seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during which he won the Super Bowl seven times and was a three-time runner up.
Hollywood stars have begun campaigning for Kevin Spacey to resume his acting career “after seven years of exile”.
Sharon Stone, Liam Neeson and Stephen Fry are among the names speaking up for the Oscar-winner following the release of a Channel 4 documentary levelling fresh allegations against 64-year-old Spacey, which he denies.
The Oscar-winning actor was one of Hollywood’s biggest names when allegations of sexual misconduct were made in 2017, leading Netflix to cut all ties with him at the height of his House of Cards fame.
Despite being acquitted of numerous sexual offences after a trial in London, and winning a US civil lawsuit in which he was accused of making an unwanted sexual advance, Spacey said he still feels ostracised from the industry.
Basic Instinct star Stone told the Telegraph: “I can’t wait to see Kevin back at work. He is a genius. He is so elegant and fun, generous to a fault, and knows more about our craft than most of us ever will.”
The 66-year-old said it was clear aspiring actors had “wanted and want to be around him”.
She added: “It’s terrible that they are blaming him for not being able to come to terms with themselves for using him and negotiating with themselves because they didn’t get their secret agendas.”
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Taken and Star Wars actor Neeson, 71, told the paper: “Kevin is a good man and a man of character. Personally speaking, our industry needs him and misses him greatly.”
British actor and writer Fry said Spacey had been both “clumsy and inappropriate” on many occasions, but to “devote a whole documentary to accusations that simply do not add up to crimes… how can that be considered proportionate and justified?”
The 66-year-old said Spacey’s reputation had been “wrecked”, adding: “Surely it is wrong to continue to batter a reputation on the strength of assertion and rhetoric rather than evidence and proof?
“Unless I’m missing something, I think he has paid the price.”
A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “Spacey Unmasked is an important film exploring the balance of power and inappropriate behaviour in a work environment, aiming to give a voice to those who have previously been unable to speak out.”
Spacey won two Academy Awards as best supporting actor for The Usual Suspects in 1996 and best actor in 2000 for American Beauty, which also scored him a BAFTA for leading actor.
The weapons supervisor for the Western film Rust is appealing against her conviction for involuntary manslaughter over the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on set, according to court documents.
She was in charge of weapons during the production of the film in October 2021, when a Colt 45 revolver fired by actor and co-producer Alec Baldwin went off during a rehearsal.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died, while director Joel Souza was injured.
A defence lawyer for Gutierrez, who is serving an 18-month sentence at a prison for women in New Mexico, filed a shortly worded appeal notice on Monday.
Her legal team has 30 days to submit detailed arguments. They previously requested a new trial following the verdict.
Gutierrez’s trial was told she unwittingly brought live ammunition to the set, where it was expressly prohibited, and failed to follow basic gun safety protocols.
During her sentencing hearing, she told the court she had tried to do her best while working on the production, despite not having “proper time, resources and staffing”.
Baldwin, who was a producer for the film as well as its star, has also pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
He maintains he pulled back the gun’s hammer – but not the trigger – before it fired, and is set to face trial in July. He denies any wrongdoing.
The 66-year-old was originally charged in January 2023, more than a year after the shooting, but those charges were dropped a few months later. He was charged again in January this year.
His legal team has filed a motion calling for the charges to be dropped. Prosecutors responded with a 32-page documentclaiming that footage of the star on set shows he had “absolutely no control of his own emotions” and “no concern for how his conduct” affected those around him.
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Assistant director David Halls, who also faced charges, entered a plea bargain for negligent use of a deadly weapon last year, receiving a six-month suspended sentence.