THIS Spring, Oldham Coliseum Theatre presents a season of online events and experiences using interactivity and digital technology to transport audiences of all ages to different worlds and put them at the heart of the story.
From Friday, April 9 – Sunday, April 25, Oldham Coliseum Theatre and Front Room Productions present Whodunnit at the Coliseum? – a tongue-in-cheek interactive murder mystery set at the theatre in 1954 on the opening night of The Scottish Play.
It’s moments before curtain up and Front of House Manager Edward Fitch is found dead. Everyone is a suspect – and it’s up to you to figure out whodunnit.
The production is part theatre, part film and part video game, all taking place online. A series of choices will determine which scenes are seen and players can explore the theatre using a special game board.
The Coliseum is supporting Riptide to present Project Intimacy from Thursday, March 4 to Thursday, March 18 and working in partnership with Riptide to present The Lucky Ones from Saturday, March 20 – Friday, March 26.
Riptide create unique immersive and interactive theatrical experience which transport you to another world, combining innovative storytelling with digital technologies.
Project Intimacy is a two-week experience which aims to forge new connections and combat isolation with people from across the country. Each audience member is paired with someone for a two-week experience in which they receive daily instructions and through SMS text messaging form a remote pairing, and maybe even a friendship.
The Lucky Ones is a week-long experience that is part theatre, part video game and part escape room, coming to audiences via their phones, computers and letterboxes.
First contact will be made on Day One (March 20) and then audiences will have parts of the narrative fed to them across the week. Audiences can play individually or in a team of up to four people.
Available now, the Coliseum is proud to support two free online events from Stand and Be Counted (SBC) Theatre as part of the digital season: Hidden Winter and Have Your Passport Ready.
SBC Theatre is the UK’s first Theatre Company of Sanctuary, making work with, about and for those seeking sanctuary in the UK and internationally.
Hidden Winter is a brand-new story walk adventure for families, was co-created with young asylum-seeker children and families in Bradford.
The interactive adventure follows eight-year-old Hiba, a mischievous cat and a trail of winter clothes in a story celebrating the joys and difficulties of making friends in a new place. The adventure is available in English and Arabic, with a free activity pack to download.
Led by brothers Khaled and Mohammed Aljawad from Syria, now based in Sheffield, Have Your Passport Ready is a virtual experience that explores an unknown city without an interpreter. Audiences become players collecting evidence to prove their right to remain in the UK. The short film meets video game was originally commissioned my Knaive Theatre to launch A Digital Lyceum.
Previously announced, the Coliseum presents ThickSkin’s virtual reality experience PETRICHOR from March 1-7.
PETRICHOR is a dystopian reality where everything is routine, every moment is muted, managed and monochrome. A chance meeting brings two unlikely individuals together and they start to question everything they have ever known.
Originally planned to take place in the theatre’s auditorium during the Covid-secure November season (cancelled due to lockdown), audiences can experience PETRICHOR in 360-degrees at home on their phones or tablets.
Oldham Coliseum closed its doors to the public last March due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since then, the theatre’s teams have been working remotely to create and share great art and opportunities to be creative, and making regular phone calls to participants at risk of experiencing loneliness due to lockdown.
For more information or to book any of the events and experiences, go online: www.coliseum.org.uk