COMING to Oldham Coliseum Theatre this October, ‘Glitterball’ is life-affirming cross-cultural comedy about a woman’s midlife crisis and her rollercoaster journey to find her voice, brought to life with music, wry humour and a whole lotta sparkle.
Presented by Rifco Theatre Company and Watford Palace Theatre, the new play comes to the Coliseum from October 11-15.
Sonia’s life has always been a bit of a double act, brought up as one half of a Shirley Bassey tribute act.
Alongside her overbearing mother Gloria, she left a trail of sequins across the working men’s clubs of East Anglia. Now she’s divorced, battling through the middle-age jungle, wrangling unimpressed teenagers and navigating rocky friendships.
But the unexpected arrival of Sonia’s half-brother Naim from Manchester brings a refreshed sense of belonging and cultural identity, as he introduces her to her Pakistani side she had never known before. Sonia is excited to immerse herself in the culture and finally begins to piece together the mosaic of her life
Inspired by a real-life, ‘Glitterball’ is a midlife coming of age comedy about motherhood, identity and finding your time to shine.
Writer Yasmin Wilde has been an actress for more than 30 years, working in theatre and television in the UK.
Performing new writing has always been her passion, and inspired by working with playwrights like Tanika Gupta and Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Yasmin applied for the RIFCO mentorship scheme.
Under their guidance, she developed her idea for a play about dual heritage, the fracturing of identity in motherhood, and Shirley Bassey – and Glitterball was born.
‘Glitterball’ is the first commission to come out of the Rifco Associates Programme, a talent development initiative to improve pathways into the industry for underrepresented voices.
• Tickets for ‘Glitterball’ can be booked by calling the box office on 0161 624 2829 or online at
www.coliseum.org.uk
