{"id":628495,"date":"2026-10-12T17:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-12T17:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/628495\/"},"modified":"2026-10-12T17:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T17:28:09","slug":"celebrity-traitors-julie-hesmondhalgh-theatres-should-be-100-faithful-to-local-stories-theatre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/628495\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrity Traitors\u2019 Julie Hesmondhalgh: theatres should be 100% faithful to \u2018local stories\u2019 | Theatre"},"content":{"rendered":"

There has been \u201ca loss of regional identity\u201d in the stories on stages around the UK due to the challenging circumstances facing theatres, according to Julie Hesmondhalgh<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The actor, who last week was the fourth contestant to leave The Celebrity Traitors, observed that for financial reasons regional theatres are increasingly making co-productions with other venues. This can lead to a \u201cgeneric\u201d product, she said, rather than a show that specifically says something about the local area.<\/p>\n

Hesmondhalgh highlighted the phenomenal impact of James Graham\u2019s Punch<\/a>, a drama about restorative justice, which opened at Nottingham Playhouse in 2024 and was based on the true story of a one-punch death in the city. The play, which brought Hesmondhalgh an Olivier award<\/a> for her performance as the victim\u2019s mother, went from Nottingham to the West End, a UK tour and Broadway. \u201cNew work is always so hard to sell but because it was such a local story, and by James Graham, it sold,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Asked if programming had become risk-averse since Covid, Hesmondhalgh said: \u201cIt\u2019s really hard for regional theatres. There\u2019s room in my heart for musicals and No\u00ebl Coward. There\u2019s a familiarity about the old classics that people love. But the world of co-pros is making things very difficult for people. In order to survive as a regional theatre now, you have to necessarily make so many co-productions with other regional theatres. There\u2019s a definite loss of regional identity, locally made productions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julie Hesmondhalgh at home in Tameside, Greater Manchester, in 2020. Photograph: Christopher Thomond\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

Hesmondhalgh, who led a successful campaign to save Oldham Coliseum from closure, was earlier this year appointed as a guest curator for its reopening programme. The building is undergoing major refurbishment and redevelopment by the council. It will stage shows that have \u201ca distinctive Oldham mark, a Coliseum mark\u201d as well as work that will visit other venues. The actor stressed \u201cthe amount of fundraising we\u2019re having to do to make some regionally specific work because we know we won\u2019t be able to co-pro it\u201d. The experience, she said, has given her \u201ca new empathy for people trying to run regional theatres \u2013 it\u2019s not easy\u201d.<\/p>\n

When audiences watch shows with a genuine local resonance \u2013 productions \u201cthat are of and for them\u201d \u2013 there is a visceral response, Hesmondhalgh added. She described witnessing such a response when she watched Beth Steel\u2019s Till the Stars Come Down, the tale of a Mansfield community, when it ran at Nottingham Playhouse<\/a> last month. \u201cIt\u2019s a real experience being an actor in a play in Oldham and Nottingham. Every time there\u2019s the mention of a place [the audience] recognise, there\u2019s a ripple of approval \u2013 it\u2019s wonderful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next month Hesmondhalgh, 56, will receive the lifetime achievement prize at the inaugural Great British Theatres awards to mark the 50th anniversary of Theatres Trust<\/a>, the national advice and advocacy body for UK theatres. Its CEO, Joshua McTaggart, said the award \u201cis to recognise someone who shares Theatres Trust\u2019s belief that everyone should have access to theatre and live performance no matter where they live or what their background is. There is no one in the public eye who embodies this spirit more than Julie Hesmondhalgh. Julie has used her platform as one of the country\u2019s most beloved actors to bang the drum for inclusive and equitable access to the performing arts and champion important community theatres.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hesmondhalgh, who is from Accrington in Lancashire, had a recent TV hit with Mr Bates vs the Post Office<\/a> and will soon star on stage in the Young Vic\u2019s documentary theatre production The Pelicot Trial<\/a> at County Hall in London. She joked that the award may be a tad premature \u2013 \u201cI still think I\u2019m 19!\u201d \u2013 and said that she had been fortunate to appear in \u201ca disproportionate number of plays and TV shows that have had something to say about the world, and that I\u2019ve been so proud to be a part of\u201d.<\/p>\n

She expressed faith, too, in Andy Burnham\u2019s understanding of the arts. \u201cHe\u2019s been to the theatre and seen me in stuff in Manchester and engaged with that. On a real level he knows that communities coming together \u2013 for a gig or a football match or a play \u2013 matters. I think he\u2019s got a handle on that. I do have quite a lot of faith in him to deliver on that. For communities that are struggling, having a cultural policy and investment in culture is always a tool for regeneration.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There has been \u201ca loss of regional identity\u201d in the stories on stages around the UK due to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":628496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-628495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=628495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/628495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/628496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=628495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=628495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=628495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}