Macbeth and Lady Macbeth cast in Oldham Coliseum Theatre’s bold new production

Oldham Coliseum Theatre has announced Andrew Sheridan and Erin Shanagher will take on the roles of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth in its radical staging of Shakespeare's Macbeth, directed by the Coliseum’s new Creative Director, Nick Bagnall.

The 19-performance run will play at Liquid & Envy in the centre of Oldham from Friday, October 23 to Saturday, November 7. 

Andrew Sheridan is an award-winning actor and writer who starred as Terry in the Joy Division biopic, Control. His other screen credits include HBO’s Industry, Channel 4’s The Couple Next Door, Sky/HBO’s Chernobyl and Peaky Blinders.  

Theatre highlights include Peter in A Taste of Honey at Manchester’s Royal Exchange, Hakan in Let the Right One In, Nathan in Nora: A Doll’s House, Mark in People, Places and Things and Nuclear War at the Royal Court. His debut play, Winterlong, won the Bruntwood Prize. 

Erin Shanagher (pictured below) stars as DS Karen Hobson in the hit ITV drama The Bay and most recently appeared in Ridley for ITV and Number One Fan for Channel 5. Previous screen credits include Peaky Blinders, Viewpoint and The A Word, as well as a starring role in Prano Bailey-Bond's Censor. Erin also performed in the two-hander Beginning at the Royal Exchange Theatre to rave reviews. 

Bringing together these two actors with strong connections to the North West is Creative Director Nick Bagnall, whose distinctive reimagining of Shakespeare’s tragedy places the story within a gritty, contemporary world inspired by Oldham’s history and culture. 

Nick said: "It is with great pride, joy and excitement that I welcome Andy and Erin, our Macbeths, to my first Oldham Coliseum Theatre show. After working with Andy in the Henry VI trilogy at Shakespeare's Globe, I cannot wait for our audiences to be dazzled by this extraordinary actor's ability to terrify and charm in equal measure. Andy is one of the most respected actors around, and I have been dying to work with him again. 

"I have watched Erin from afar and vowed to get into a room with her to do work. I cannot think of a more perfect project for her. She will be quite an astonishing Lady Macbeth. 

"Erin and Andy are two of the most agile, skillful and soulful actors I have seen, and to have them excavate the world of this play with me in Oldham feels like a dream come true." 

Feared, respected and rewarded for his capacity for violence, Macbeth knows how to play the game. He has spent his life making other men powerful. Now it is his turn. 

Staged inside a reimagined nightclub, this bold new production pulls audiences directly into the workings of Macbeth's mind, exploring ambition, masculinity, power and identity through a contemporary Oldham lens. 

Nick Bagnall relocates Shakespeare's tragedy to a gritty late-1970s world of gangsters, casinos and shifting social codes, drawing on the sights, sounds and atmosphere of Oldham at a time when the town's clubs, mills and streets were charged with change. The result is a Macbeth that feels closer to a night out than a night at the theatre, while retaining the force and poetry of Shakespeare's language. 

Macbeth is the most ambitious production Oldham Coliseum has staged since it began programming in temporary and site-specific venues, signalling the scale and ambition of the theatre's next chapter as refurbishment of its historic home on Fairbottom Street continues. 

For the creative team, bringing Macbeth back to Oldham and into one of the town's nightclubs creates a striking connection between the town's theatrical past and its future. 

The production forms part of Oldham Coliseum Theatre's programme of work, taking place across Oldham while restoration work continues on its historic home. 

Access has been designed into the run from day one. The two-week season includes a relaxed performance, an audio-described performance, a captioned performance and two performances interpreted in British Sign Language. 

Further casting and production details will be announced shortly. 

Performance schedule 

October 

Friday 23rd, 1.30pm (preview) 

Saturday 24th, 1.30pm and 6.30pm (previews) 

Monday 26th, 7.00pm (preview) 

Tuesday 27th, 7.00pm (press night) 

Wednesday 28th, 7.00pm 

Thursday 29th, 1.30pm and 7.00pm 

Friday 30th, 6.30pm 

Saturday 31st, 1.30pm and 6.30pm 

November 

Monday 2nd, 7.00pm 

Tuesday 3rd, 1.30pm and 7.00pm 

Wednesday 4th, 7.00pm 

Thursday 5th, 1.30pm and 7.00pm 

Friday 6th, 6.30pm 

Saturday 7th, 6.30pm 

Macbeth by William Shakespeare Directed by Nick Bagnall 

Venue: Liquid & Envy, Retiro Street, Oldham OL1 1SA. Tickets: £15 concessions; £20 preview; £25 Oldham/local price; £28 standard. Available at coliseum.org.uk/whats-on/macbeth.