| |
Octagon
Profile
About the Octagon Theatre, Bolton
"The Octagon continues to
attract large audiences and is recognised as one of
the most prestigious theatres in the country, staging
top-quality, entertaining productions which maintain
extremely high standards”
The Bolton News
“Committed to high standards
of production the multi-award winning Octagon Theatre,
Bolton does not disappoint as an entertaining night
out. Outstanding performances and superb facilities
have made the Bolton Octagon one theatre I highly
recommend to anyone”
Student Direct
Opened in November 1967 as a Bolton Council initiative,
with financial support from businesses as well as money
from highly popular community schemes Buy A Seat and
Buy A Brick, Bolton’s Octagon Theatre broke the
mould of regional theatre design with an innovative,
fully flexible auditorium where audiences are never
more than 30 feet from the stage and actors.
At a time when many regional theatres struggle for audiences,
the Octagon is seeing an upward trend in visitor numbers.
Over 135,000 people come to the Octagon each year as
audience members, as partakers of the Theatre’s
café bar and other facilities, or as participants
of the Octagon’s highly regarded community and
education programme, activ8. The Octagon’s audience
is an inspiring example of a theatre reflecting - and
responding to - its community. Today, 25% of the Octagon’s
audience are young people aged 16-25, with 12% of the
audience coming from culturally diverse backgrounds
- slightly above the latest census statistics for Bolton.
In the forty glorious years since it opened, the Octagon
has made a significant contribution to in the UK’s
creative landscape. Octagon productions continue to
break box office targets, win audience and critical
acclaim, receive awards and plaudits, and tour nationally.
Most recently, Alan Plater’s Blonde Bombshells
Of 1943, a co-production with Hampstead Theatre,
won the coveted Best Production award at the Manchester
Evening News Theatre Awards 2006 (the second year in
a row that the Octagon won this prestigious award),
and is currently enjoying a sell-out national UK tour.
Awards
- Manchester
Evening News Theatre Awards, 2007
- Awards:
BEST NEW PLAY for And Did Those Feet.
FAMILY SHOW for James and the Giant Peach
- Nominations:
BEST ACTOR: George Irving in Shining City,
BEST ACTRESS: Becky Hindley in Lisa's Sex
Strike, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Knight Mantell
in What the Butler Saw, BEST DESIGN:
James and the Giant Peach, FAMILY SHOW:
James and the Giant Peach, NEW PLAY:
And Did Those Feet, PERFORMANCE IN
A SUPPORTING ROLE: Martin Barrass in And
Did Those Feet, BEST PRODUCTION: And
Did Those Feet.
- Manchester Evening News Theatre
Awards, 2006
- Awards: BEST PRODUCTION for Blonde Bombshells
Of 1943 - the second year in succession
the Octagon has won this, the most prestigious
award in North West Theatre.
- Nominations: BEST PRODUCTION: Accidental
Death of an Anarchist and Blue/Orange;
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Barbara Marten
in Broken Glass and Freya Copeland
in A View From The Bridge; BEST ACTOR
IN A VISITING PRODUCTION: the entire cast –
Justin Brett, Stuart Fox, Daniel Poyser –
Blue/Orange; BEST ACTRESS IN A VISITING
PRODUCTION: Lynda Bellingham in Sugar Mummies
- Manchester Evening News Theatre
Awards, 2005
- Awards: BEST PRODUCTION: The Beauty Queen
Of Leenane; BEST DESIGN: Beautiful
Thing; BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Eileen O'Brien for The Beauty Queen Of Leenane;
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER for Oliver Lee in Beautiful
Thing, and BEST SPECIAL ENTERTAINMENT for
Out of Joint's visiting production of Macbeth
- Nominations: BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Maggie O’Brien in The Beauty Queen of
Leenane; BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE: Wyllie
Longmore in I Just Stopped ByTo See The
Man; BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Andonis
Anthony in Beautiful Thing; BEST ACTOR
IN A VISITING PRODUCTION: The cast of Going
Dutch
- Tower FM Awards, 2005
- BEST ENTERTAINMENT VENUE OF THE YEAR
- Manchester Evening News Theatre
Awards, 2004
- Awards: BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Leigh Symonds in Popcorn
- Nominations: BEST DESIGN: Little Malcolm
And His Struggle Against The Eunuchs, Four
Nights in Knaresborough; Kindertransport;
BEST PRODUCTION: Four Nights in Knaresborough;
MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER: Juliette Goodman in
Popcorn; BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING
ROLE: Ann Rye in Kindertransport; BEST
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE: Claire Redcliffe
in Kindertransport; BEST ACTOR IN A
LEADING ROLE: The cast of Four Nights In
Knaresborough – Marshall Griffin,
Ben Hull, Graham McTavish and Matthew Rixon
- E-Commerce Awards, 2003
- Award: Octagon Theatre website Highly Recommended
in Regional Finals.
- Manchester Evening News Theatre
Awards, 2003
- Award: MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER for Viktoria
Kay in Cooking With Elvis
- Nominations: BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING
ROLE: Libby Davison in Cooking with Elvis;
BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE: Vincent Penfold
in The Hypochondriac and Darren Southworth
in Ham; BEST ACTRESS IN A VISITING
PRODUCTION: Alison Pargeter in Sugar Daddies;
BEST ACTOR IN A VISITING PRODUCTION: Zach Lee
in Reunion; BEST DESIGN: The Hypochondriac.
- City Life Awards, 2002
- Award: BEST THEATRE PRODUCTION for Rat
Pack Confidential
Productions and Participatory Events
The Octagon Theatre usually has two seasons of shows
per year, running roughly from January to July and from
September to January, as well as, the best of the UK’s
touring companies, including children’s theatre
and stand-up comedy, and exhibits art installations
in the Bar throughout the year. Each season features
home-produced professional theatre productions, including
musical theatre, classic drama, contemporary classics
and comedies. To celebrate 40 years of the Octagon our
40th Anniversary season will run from September 2007
to July 2008. For more information on our current and
anniversary visit our What’s
On pages.
activ8, the participatory wing of the Octagon Theatre,
provides a stimulating, challenging, culturally relevant
educational resource for people of all ages and backgrounds
through a range of projects, some of which operate within
the Octagon Theatre and some within schools and community
venues in Bolton. The activ8 brand is well recognised
as a mark of excellence throughout Bolton, Greater Manchester
and the North West, and department is always in demand.
Mark Babych, Artistic Director
Mark is the Artistic Director of the Octagon Theatre.
Since joining the Octagon in 1999, he has received and
been nominated for several Manchester Evening News Theatre
Awards. His numerous productions at the Octagon include:
Death of a Salesman, Blonde Bombshells
Of 1943 (Best Production MEN 2006), Blue/Orange
(Nominated for Best Production MEN 2006), A View
From the Bridge, I Just Stopped By To See the
Man, Eight Miles High, Four Nights
in Knaresborough (Nominated for Best Production
MEN 2004) and Neville’s Island (Best
Production MEN 2000) to name a few.
Prior to the Octagon, Mark was Associate Director of
the Worcester Theatre Company, and his freelance directing
work includes productions for the Vanemuine Theatre,
Estonia; Childers St Theatre, Canberra; the Oldham Coliseum
Theatre and the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. Mark is
also an Associate Artist of Coventry-based new writing
company, Theatre Absolute, whose productions include
CAR (Fringe First winner Edinburgh Festival
1999), RAW (Fringe First winner Edinburgh Festival
2001) and KID. His production of Blonde
Bombshells Of 1943 is currently touring to packed
houses throughout the UK.
Theatre Auditoria
Although the theatre building is actually hexagonal,
the Octagon’s Main Auditorium is an elongated
octagon. This unique design offers complete flexibility
and is capable of being configured into four different
configurations - the round, end-on, thrust and horseshoe
- and provides the best possible sight lines for the
audience when any of the four auditorium shapes are
used. The auditorium seats up to 380, which allows for
a sense of intimacy between actor and audience - no
seat is further than nine rows from the stage and actors
are acutely aware of the closeness of the audience.
The Octagon also boasts a studio theatre, the BNT (Bill
Naughton Theatre), an 85-seat adaptable studio theatre,
which is mainly used for education and youth theatre
workshops, small scale music events and children’s
theatre. |
