Entertainment · Books & Arts · 1 hr ago
Julie Hesmondhalgh says regional theatres need more locally rooted stories
Actor Julie Hesmondhalgh says theatres across the UK are putting on fewer productions rooted in their local communities.
She says financial pressure leads regional theatres to share productions, which can make shows feel less specific to the places where they are staged.
A local story can also reach a wider audience: James Graham’s play Punch began at Nottingham Playhouse and later went to the West End, on tour and to Broadway.
Hesmondhalgh won an Olivier award for playing the victim’s mother in the play, which is based on a fatal one-punch attack in Nottingham.
She helped campaign to save Oldham Coliseum and is now a guest curator for its reopening programme, as the building undergoes refurbishment and redevelopment by the council.
The programme is intended to include work with a distinct Oldham identity as well as shows that travel to other venues.
Hesmondhalgh is due to receive a lifetime achievement award next month at the inaugural Great British Theatres awards.
Julie Hesmondhalgh says regional theatres are losing local identity as financial pressures lead them to make more co-productions.
She argues that locally rooted stories can resonate strongly with audiences and cites the success of James Graham’s Punch.
Hesmondhalgh is a guest curator for the reopening programme at Oldham Coliseum, which is undergoing major refurbishment and redevelopment.
She says fundraising is needed to support regionally specific work that cannot be co-produced.
Next month, she is due to receive a lifetime achievement prize at the inaugural Great British Theatres awards.
- Who
- Actor Julie Hesmondhalgh.
- What
- She says regional theatres need more locally rooted stories and that co-productions can weaken regional identity.
- When
- The Guardian published the story on 12 October 2026. Hesmondhalgh is due to receive the award next month.
- Where
- The comments concern regional theatres across the UK, including Oldham Coliseum and Nottingham Playhouse.
- Why
- Hesmondhalgh says financial pressures lead theatres to make more co-productions, which can result in less locally specific work.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
There’s a definite loss of regional identity, locally made productions.
New work is always so hard to sell but because it was such a local story, and by James Graham, it sold.
It’s a real experience being an actor in a play in Oldham and Nottingham. Every time there’s the mention of a place [the audience] recognise, there’s a ripple of approval – it’s wonderful.
There is no one in the public eye who embodies this spirit more than Julie Hesmondhalgh.
James Graham’s Punch, based on a true story of a one-punch death in Nottingham, opened at Nottingham Playhouse.
Hesmondhalgh was appointed guest curator for Oldham Coliseum’s reopening programme.
Beth Steel’s Till the Stars Come Down, about a Mansfield community, ran at Nottingham Playhouse.
The Guardian published Hesmondhalgh’s comments on regional theatres and locally rooted stories.
Hesmondhalgh is due to receive the lifetime achievement prize at the inaugural Great British Theatres awards.
- Actor
- Julie Hesmondhalgh
- Play
- Punch, by James Graham
- Punch opening
- Nottingham Playhouse, 2024
- Theatre
- Oldham Coliseum
- Award
- Lifetime achievement prize at the inaugural Great British Theatres awards
- Award context
- 50th anniversary of Theatres Trust
Sources
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