"We will be reunited": A triumphant last hurrah as town bids emotional farewell to Oldham Coliseum

It was a moment many hoped would not come to fruition, but on Friday night the curtains at Oldham Coliseum fell for a final time.

"We are not leaving like this," said a artistic director Chris Lawson, as he struggled to hold back tears. "In a minute we will fill this room with applause."

Gathering the evening's cast and crew on stage, and holding the hands of the Coliseum's former artistic directors Kevin Shaw and Kenneth Alan Taylor, he looked out into the auditorium as audience members rose to their feet, a rapturous applause filled the room and the curtains, very slowly, fell for one last time.

Read more: “It will echo off the walls when the lights go out”: Oldham Coliseum's powerful last word

Going out on "its own terms" after losing its £1.8m government subsidy, the Fairbottom Street theatre, which helped launch the careers of some of the UK's best-known actors and performers, was determined to go out with a bang. An emotional night of performances and tributes from the likes of Christopher Eccleston and Maxine Peake brought applause, laughter, and plenty of tears to the auditorium, as the cast, crew and audience said goodbye to the historic venue.

In November, it became the biggest theatre outside of London to lose its £600,000 a year Arts Council England (ACE) subsidy, in a funding shake-up that sent shockwaves through the arts community and the town.

While ACE have ringfenced the same amount of money - £1.85m over three years - to fund cultural activity in the town, and supported a plan by Oldham Council to create a new £24.5m theatre, which is due to open in 2026, many residents and supporters of The Coliseum remain sceptical and passionately campaigned to save the theatre in its current form. Despite public