Oldham Coliseum to host exciting shows as part of Alchemy festival

Five exciting shows are to tour at the Oldham Coliseum Theatre as part of  'Alchemy' - The Southbank Centre's  Festival.
Oldham Coliseum theatre has partnered with London’s Southbank Centre to bring the  shows to the region. 
Alchemy has grown since its inception in 2010 and this year sees the festival tour for the first time across the UK, to Oldham Coliseum Theatre (Oldham), Cast (Doncaster) and Black Country Touring (across the Black Country).
 As part of this collaboration, the partners have worked together on a programme inspired by Alchemy themes, with each organisation leading on a significant piece of work to be presented to the local communities and then toured nationally.
Five shows make up the touring programme: Variety is the Spice, a music and comedy variety show with artists from the North West of the UK; Sonia Sabri’s production Occasionally We Skype, combining digital projection and iPhones into a multi-faceted theatre production; United Colours of FrustrAsian, a thought provoking theatre piece directed by Kully Thiarai;  broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli examining the relationship between food and cultural history with a cast drawn from all four regions in knives, forks and fingers and the searing play Nirbhaya, which follows the tragic events of the 2012 Delhi bus rape, written and directed by Yaël Farber with an international cast;. Further show information below. 
Alongside the touring productions will be Alchemy-inspired activity specific to Oldham, the Coliseum Bazaar on Yorkshire Street in the centre of the town, which will run throughout the day on Saturday 23 May.
Southbank Centre’s Alchemy in London presents exciting collaborations and new work from both emerging and legendary artists – across dance, music, theatre, design, comedy and literature – as well as a stimulating programme of workshops, book clubs, talks and debates. 
In its sixth year, the festival highlights include internationally-renowned tabla musician Zakir Hussain, Bollywood singer and playback artist Shreya Ghoshal, the world-famous Jaipur Literature Festival, sensational swimming pool based production Synchronised and the UK’s first ever visit by Nrityagram dancers, direct from the world-renowned Odissi dance centre in Bangalore.
Rachel Harris, Alchemy Curator at Southbank Centre said “Collaboration has always been at the heart of Alchemy and it is fantastic to see such excitement for South Asian-inspired work across the country. I am delighted that the touring partnership is impacting all our venues so positively, in terms of extending the reach and diversity of the programme. 
Kevin Shaw, Chief Executive and Artistic Director at Oldham Coliseum, said “Alchemy will give us the opportunity to showcase vibrant new work to our communities in Oldham and share experience across a variety of different audiences.”
Alchemy has been supported by Arts Council England’s Strategic touring programme, aimed to give more people across the UK better access to quality work at a range of venues, as well as Esmée Fairbairn Foundation which improves the quality of life for people and communities throughout the UK.
For more information on Alchemy please see: www.southbankcentre.co.uk/alchemy 
For tickets see: Oldham Coliseum Theatre: www.coliseum.org.uk