Pop Up Theatre

A performance I saw by the Hardgraft Theatre Company called I Love Oldham, written by Mark Whitely, who also played one of the parts alongside Rayyah McCaul was a fun event. These hardworking actors greeted their audience, sorted tickets and then performed a two act play whose action is set in a charity shop and in this case, a real charity shop.

A vacant retail unit in Oldham's indoor market was transformed into a play set. To passers by it looked like a regular charity shop but it was laid out with a collection of mis-matched chairs and was a theatre for a two week run.

Vacant shops are a part of life at the moment and with a bit of planning could be put to better use. I know that pop up restaurants have been coming and going in empty shops, particularly in London. I'm aware that craft workshops and exhibitions were commissioned in Lancashire a couple of years ago. With arts funding being reduced and in some cases cut it might be an idea for small theatre groups and community projects to have a look at some of these spaces. The only rental needed is for the run of the play and with the glut of shops available and the right script the idea could work anywhere in the country.

Well done Hardgraft.