Bolton Octagon at 50: mills, thrills and bellyaches – in pictures

The intimate Octagon theatre in Bolton has launched its 50th anniversary season. Take a look at some of its landmark productions from local playwrights Bill Naughton and Jim Cartwright and starring Andy Serkis, Barrie Rutter and James singer Tim Booth

Main image: Augustina Seymour and Patrick Knowles in Look Back in Anger, co-produced by the Octagon and Derby theatre, 2016 Photograph: Robert Day

  • Bolton residents and the council came together to raise funds to build their own local theatre, which was opened in 1967 by Princess Margaret. The Octagon’s founder, designer and first artistic director was Robin Pemberton-Billing. The theatre is eight-sided on the inside, hexagonal on the outside, and its flexible space can be used for in-the-round, end-on, thrust and horsehoe productions
    Bolton residents came together to raise funds to build their own local theatre, which was opened in 1967 by Princess Margaret

  • The opening production was Annie and Fanny, a new work by local playwright Bill Naughton, best known for his earlier drama Alfie
    The opening production was Annie and Fanny, a new work by local playwright Bill Naughton, best known for his earlier drama Alfie

  • Coronation Street regular John Pickles with Wilfred Harrison in John Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence, 1972
    Coronation Street regular John Pickles with Wilfred Harrison in John Osborne’s Inadmissible Evidence, 1972

  • Henry V staged at the Octagon in 1979
    Henry V staged at the Octagon in 1979

  • In 1984, the Octagon presented Way Upstream by Alan Ayckbourn which is set on a cabin cruiser and required the stage to be flooded
    In 1984, the Octagon presented Way Upstream by Alan Ayckbourn which is set on a cabin cruiser and required the stage to be flooded with water

  • The Octagon’s 1986 production of Hobson’s Choice by Harold Brighouse from the Manchester School of playwrights
    The Octagon’s 1986 production of Hobson’s Choice by Harold Brighouse from the Manchester School of playwrights

  • In 1989, Brookside stars Sue Johnston and John McArdle appeared in Jim Cartwright’s play Two, set in a pub
    In 1989, Brookside stars Sue Johnston and John McArdle appeared in Jim Cartwright’s play Two, set in a pub

  • Cartwright is one of the most famous local writers to have his work staged at the Octagon. In 2016, he presented a follow-up to that play, entitled Two 2
    Cartwright is one of the most famous local writers to have his work staged at the Octagon. In2016 he presented a follow-up to that play, entitled Two 2

  • Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne in Decadence, 1991. The couple, who had previously been on stage together at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, went on to get married
    Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis and Lorraine Ashbourne in Decadence, 1991. The couple, who had previously been on stage together at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, went on to get married

  • Jason Merrells, Melanie Ramsay and Tim Booth (who found fame as the singer in the band James) starred in Edward Bond’s Saved, 1998
    Jason Merrells, Melanie Ramsay and Tim Booth (who found fame as the singer in the band James) starred in Edward Bond’s Saved, 1998

  • Barrie Rutter and Eve Polycarpou in Lisa’s Sex Strike, Blake Morrison’s modern take on Lysistrata by Aristophanes, in 2007. It was a co-production with Rutter’s Northern Broadsides company
    Barrie Rutter and Eve Polycarpou in Lisa’s Sex Strike, Blake Morrison’s modern take on Lysistrata by Aristophanes, in 2007. It was a co-production with Rutter’s Northern Broadsides company

  • Melvyn Bragg and composer Howard Goodall’s 1984 musical The Hired Man, set in Cumbria and based on Bragg’s novel, was revived by the Octagon’s then artistic director David Thacker in 2010
    Melvyn Bragg and composer Howard Goodall’s 1984 musical The Hired Man, set in Cumbria and based on Bragg’s novel, was revived by the Octagon’s then artistic director David Thacker in 2010

  • The Octagon’s current artistic director is Elizabeth Newman, seen here as a trainee at the theatre in 2010
    The Octagon’s current artistic director is Elizabeth Newman, seen here as a trainee at the theatre in 2010

  • Pena Ilyambo and Frances Ashman in Bang Bang Bang at the Octagon in 2011. Stella Feehily’s play, presented in an Out of Joint touring production, was set during a Congolese civil war
    Pena Ilyambo and Frances Ashman in Bang Bang Bang at the Octagon in 2011. Stella Feehily’s play, presented in an Out of Joint touring production, was set during a Congolese civil war

  • Louise Jameson, Janet Henfrey, Souad Faress, Susan Twist and Denise Black in Winter Hill, a world premiere by Timberlake Wertenbaker at the Octagon in May 2017
    Louise Jameson, Janet Henfrey, Souad Faress, Susan Twist and Denise Black in Winter Hill, a world premiere by Timberlake Wertenbaker at the Octagon in May 2017
Topics