The Octagon Theatre in Bolton has announced the first part of its 60th anniversary programme, with an actor-musician Sunset Boulevard, a new family Christmas show and three world premieres rooted in Bolton stories.

The theatre was conceived in 1966 by five students and their drama lecturer, Robin Pemberton-Billing, and opened to the public in November 1967 as Bolton's first producing theatre, with a fully flexible performance space. The season was launched at an event at the theatre on 28 September 2026.

What's on

The season opens this month with Cinderella: A Fairytale, directed by Sarah Punshon, who directed The Jungle Book at the Octagon in 2024. It runs from 20 November 2026 to 9 January 2027.

Iqbal Khan, who began his career at the Octagon, returns to direct Romeo and Juliet, a co-production with Derby Theatre and Hull Truck Theatre, from 4 to 27 February 2027.

Artistic director Lotte Wakeham directs a new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard, performed by a company of actor-musicians, from 2 April to 1 May 2027. It is a co-production with Royal & Derngate Northampton and York Theatre Royal, and the theatre describes it as the first new professional production of the musical to be created by a theatre in the north of England.

Kimberley Sykes, who started out as an assistant director at the Octagon, makes her main stage directing debut there with Willy Russell's Educating Rita, from 3 June to 3 July 2027.

The Bolton Trilogy

Three new plays make up what the theatre calls the Bolton Trilogy:

• The Forger by Ben Weatherill, directed by Wakeham, tells the story of artist Shaun Greenhalgh, whose art fraud began in a garden shed in Bolton (9 September to 2 October 2027).
• Egging by Adam Kotwal, a one-person comedy about Haris trying not to be egged on the day before his wedding, directed by creative associate Jonnie Riordan (16 to 26 June 2027). Kotwal won the inaugural Lancaster Playwriting Prize, and this is his professional playwriting debut.
• A Totally Unbiased History Of The Wanderers – According To My Best Mate by Becky Prestwich, performed by the Octagon Young Company with an adult community company and directed by Ruth Allison (19 to 21 August 2027).

The theatre is also starting Social Theatre, a new group for adults who want to take part in creative activity, and has launched a fundraising drive called Sponsor a Story, so supporters can help develop new plays for future seasons.

What the theatre said

Wakeham said she wanted to "stay true to the ethos that was set out by its founders", adding: "Championing new writing has always been at the heart of the Octagon, and I am delighted that this season includes the Bolton Trilogy: three new plays by ambitious playwrights who are all sharing stories that are rooted in Bolton and its communities."

Chief executive Roddy Gauld said: "This is just the first part of our anniversary programme, with much more to come over the next two years." He said the studio would be relaunched next year with a programme combining theatre and film events.

According to the theatre, an estimated four million people have seen shows at the Octagon, and Danny Boyle, Vanessa Kirby, Fiona Shaw, Kwame Kwei-Armah, Es Devlin and Maxine Peake are among those who have trained or worked there.

Sources: the Octagon's announcement of its 60th anniversary season, as published by ManchesterTheatres.com, including the quotes from Lotte Wakeham and Roddy Gauld; reporting by Alex Wood for WhatsOnStage (29 September 2026); and the Octagon's own Sunset Boulevard page. Dates can change, so check with the theatre before booking. This article was produced with the help of AI tools and checked by an editor against the sources above.