I have recently been made aware of the decision to reduce the output of the Bolton Octagon Theatre, as an independent producing house, and the plan to make it a receiving house for touring shows in an attempt to increase the theatre's income. I feel this plan has inherent problems. The large number one tours such as Blood Brothers, Forbidden Planet etc are physically too big for this venue and, even if the stage could accommodate them, the seating capacity is not sufficient to bring in the kind of returns these large scale productions require to make them financially viable. I suspect that the kind of tours that could utilise the Octagon's audience would be better suited to the studio space, The Bill Naughton Theatre. In that scenario, the Octagon could take in these shows and still produce good local theatre.

I understand that the problems are financial that the theatre is not making enough money. But let's be honest, good theatre is not about making money, theatre is aesthetic. It does for a community what decor does for a house or home. Each community deserves its own theatre to indulge in a programme of plays relevant to that community.

David Crellin

Victoria Road, Horwich

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.