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 Awards, 2009
  • Awards: BEST DESIGN Oleanna, UP AND COMING TALENT Vanessa Kirby on All My Sons and Ghosts, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Oscar Pearce in All My Sons, BEST ACTOR Tim Healy in Looking for Buddy.
    Nominations: BEST DESIGN Oleanna, The Venetian Twins and The Caretaker, MOST PROMISING NEWCOMER Vanessa Kirby in All My Sons, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Oscar Pearce in All My Sons, BEST ACTRESS Kosha Engler in Oleanna, BEST ACTOR Tim Healy in Looking for Buddy, Colin Stinton in Oleanna and Nick Haverson in The Venetian Twins, BEST PRODUCTION All My Sons Dir. David Thacker and Oleanna Dir. Iqbal Khan
    
• Manchester Evening News Awards, 2008

• Awards: BEST ACTOR for David Fielder in The Merchant of Venice, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR for Paul Simpson in Road and Spring and Port Wine, BEST DESIGN for Oh What a Lovely War
• Nominations: Best ACTOR for David Fielder in The Merchant of Venice, BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE for Paul Simpson in Road and Spring and Port Wine BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE for Catherine Kinsella in The Merchant of Venice, BEST DESIGN for A Christmas Carol (Dawn Allsopp), Oh What A Lovely War (Richard Foxton) and The Merchant of Venice (Tom Scutt)

 

• 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
    

Notable productions include The Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare (RSC, and national tour and West End); Julius Caeser by William Shakespeare (RSC and international tour); The Merchant of Venice and Coriolanus by William Shakespeare (RSC); The Last Yankee by Arthur Miller (Young Vic and West End); Broken Glass by Arthur Miller (National Theatre, national tour and West End - Evening Standard Award for Play of the Year); Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller (National Theatre and BBC); A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller (Bristol Old Vic, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and West End); An Enemy of the People (The Arthur Miller version, Young Vic and West End – nominated for an Olivier Award as Director of the Year); Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen (Young Vic and West End); Some Kind of Hero by Les Smith (Young Vic); A Touch of the Poet by Eugene O’Neill (Young Vic and West End – nominated for the Kenneth Tynan Award for Outstanding Achievement); Comedians by Trevor Griffiths (Young Vic), and Cabaret by Joe Masteroff, Fred Ebb and John Kander (the Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster)

He has worked at eight producing theatres including the Royal Shakespeare Company (Director-in-Residence), the Young Vic (Director), the Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster (Theatre Director), and the National Theatre. Seven of his productions have transferred to the West End.

He has won Olivier Awards for Best Director (Pericles) and Best Revival (Pericles) and the London Fringe Award for Best Director (Ghosts) and Best Production (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?).

David is also a prolific television director. He has directed more than 30 TV productions, including episodes of The Vice, Silent Witness, Foyle’s War and Waking the Dead. He has also directed films, such as Measure for Measure, A Doll’s House, Broken Glass, The Mayor of Casterbridge and Faith.

He has directed many outstanding actors, including Samantha Bond, David Bradley, Pierce Brosnan, Hugh Bonneville, Connie Booth, Josette Bushell-Mingo, David Calder, Cheryl Campbell, Warren Clarke, Timothy Dalton, Penny Downie, Trevor Eve, Pam Ferris, Joe Fiennes, Tara Fitzgerald, Jason Flemyng, James Fox, Iain Glen, Richard Harris, Bernard Hill, Douglas Hodge, Ian Hogg, Ewan Hooper, Geraldine James, Michael Kitchen, Estelle Kohler, Margot Leicester, Anton Lesser, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Patrick Malahide, Helen Mirren, Warren Mitchell, Virginia McKenna, John Nettles, Clive Owen, Michael Pennington, Corin Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson, Natasha Richardson, Miranda Richardson, David Tennant, John Thaw and Zoe Wannamaker.

He has worked alongside directors such as Michael Attenborough, Sir Trevor Nunn, Sir Richard Eyre, Sir Peter Hall, Katie Mitchell, Sam Mendes, Adrian Noble, Phyllida Lloyd and Max Stafford-Clark.

David has worked with writers including David Edgar, Ted Hughes, Arthur Miller, David Lodge, Ted Whitehead and Trevor Griffiths.