Visitors at Oldham Coliseum

Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
Visitors at Oldham Coliseum
Joel Chester Fildes

Visitors at Oldham Coliseum, Manchester 18 April — 4 May 2019 Tickets from £17.00 — Book now

Following the huge success of 2017 production of The Father, Oldham Coliseum will revisit the urgent topic of dementia in Visitors, Barney Norris’ first full-length work for the stage.

Norris’ first full-length play, Visitors shines a light on an elderly couple’s last few weeks together on the farm where they have lived for most of their lives. With a focus on ageing and care, rural life in England right now, and the fractures and distance between families, Visitors is a funny, tender and warm-hearted hymn to life-long love.

In a rural farmhouse at the edge of Salisbury Plain, a married couple, Arthur and Edie, are slowly crumbling. While Edie is presenting with all of the signs of dementia, Arthur, although robust and brave, is prone to falling down. Their son, Stephen cannot afford to put his mother into care and Arthur cannot afford to stop working and look after his wife.

When a young stranger with blue hair moves in to provide care for Edie, the whole family are compelled to question their future together, and who gets to choose how they live their lives.

Norris’ Visitors premiered in 2014 at The Arcola Theatre, London and won the Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright and Best New Play at the Off West End Theatre Awards. Norris was also nominated for the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Best New Play Award and the Evening Standard Theatre Awards Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Mature and tender, Visitors tackles issues around dementia and social care that will resonate with many people. What makes Norris’ play so special is that it succeeds in tackling a difficult subject, like dementia, with sensitivity and just the right amount of comedy. Ultimately, this deeply moving production is a sensitive tribute to married love and the beauty that shines through in a sense of shared past.

Visitors at Oldham Coliseum, Manchester 18 April — 4 May 2019 Tickets from £17.00 Book now

Where to go near Visitors at Oldham Coliseum

Oldham
Event venue
Hack Oldham

Hack Oldham is an event space that also offers co-working, community groups and crafting in the heart of Oldham.

Gallery Oldham, in Oldham Cultural Quarter
Manchester
Museum
Gallery Oldham

Gallery Oldham provides a wide range of exhibitions and activities targeted at different audiences of all ages within Oldham and the surrounding area.

The Yoga Seed Oldham
Manchester
The Yoga Seed Oldham

The Yoga Seed is an intimate studio just outside of Oldham town centre. Run by Sharon it offers small classes including a men only class.

Liverpool
Hotel
Epic Apart Hotel

The Epic Apart Hotel offers 14 serviced apartments – and right righin the middle of the Ropewalks district, right behind FACT.

Theatre
Middleton Arena

The Arena has a regular programme of arts and entertainment including live music, concerts, comedy and dances with stage shows and national tours. With two licensed bars this is the perfect location for a great night out.

What's on: Theatre

Free Activity at Aviva Studios
Until
ComedyManchester
Free Activity at Aviva Studios

From comedy nights to drop-in family craft sessions, Factory International bring an accessible and inclusive programme of events this spring – the best thing, it’s all free.

free entry

Culture Guides

Sextile
Music in the North

Open air clubs, new festivals and long-awaited gigs. The North West's live music scene is heating up this spring. 

A woman sits in a car with hands holding the steering wheel.
Cinema in the North

Vintage Alfred Hitchcock and a family friendly film festival are amongst our highlights this May.

Laura Ellen Bacon, Into Being, 2025. Photo © India Hobson, courtesy Yorkshire Sculpture Park
Exhibitions in the North

Willow weaving, textile collages, digital arts and ecology - all this and more in our exhibition top picks this month

Image by Jonathan Schofield.
Tours and Activities in the North

We've got many a good time in store this month as we round up the best walking tours, cultural classes and makers markets in the land.

Theatre in Manchester and the North
Theatre in the North

Dynamic dance, party-performance, high-energy stand-up and a site-specific show set in a pub. All this and more in our newest theatre guide.

Okechukwu Nzelu
Literature Events in the North

If it's inspiring, inclusive events and avant-garde, experimental afternoons you're after, look no further than live literature this spring – we've got you covered.