Millgate Arts Centre – MILLGATE ARTS CENTRE

Giving our audience a backstage pass

By Leslie Kerwin @ Saddleworth Independent (reproduced by permission) “I’VE BEEN involved at the Lyceum and at the Playhouse 2 in Shaw – but this is the place which feels like home.” So says Pauline Walsh, theatre director and long-time member of the Millgate Arts Centre in Delph. Strewn across the stage behind her sits a podium, balcony, and a large banner that reads ‘Degrees for Women’ – the leftovers of the theatre’s latest play, Blue Stockings. But on this one unusual […]

Thank you to Action Together in Oldham Council

In summer 2026 we will complete some structural repair to the internal wall of the bar to provide damp proofing against the Saddleworth weather and replace the stairs as preparation for exciting work in 2027. We’re delighted to announce that Millgate Arts Centre has been funded by Oldham Council, working with Action Together, who has set up the Community Regeneration Partnership Capital Grants Programme as part of Oldham’s Levelling Up agreement with the government. This […]

Building the Future Summer 2026 update

Millgate Arts Centre are delighted to announce the next two phases of ‘Building the Future’. We have already completed phase 1 have had some amazing support from generous donors to continue to improve our community theatre. Phase 1: summer 2025 We rebuilt the iconic front of the building that was falling down, we replaced rotten joints and floorboards on the stage and improved the insulation, heating and electrical wiring behind the curtain, and added new […]

Thank you to Antony J Adler trust

Our third Phase of the ‘Building the Future’ appeal at Millgate Arts Centre will land in summer 2027: We are planning to develop the bar to create a flexible space that will act as a bar and studio theatre: Flexible studio theatre space for 60 audience members, new bar, new kitchen, installation of a lift to improve access for audience members and rebuild the front 4 rows of the main auditorium to move entrances to […]

‘A spirited and inspiring evening’: opening night review of Blue Stockings by Helen Rigby

Opening night review of Blue Stocking at the Millgate Arts Centre, Delph.

Millgate Matters and SP NEWS June 2026

Dear Members and Friends, There are just three weeks to go before opening night for Jessica Swale’s Blue Stockings; the story of the first female students to attend Girton College Cambridge against a back drop of misogyny and ridicule. (Blood boiling as I think of it!) Of course now is the time when everyone involved is in a flurry of line learning, stage and large props building and painting,, small props collecting etc. etc. For […]

Blue Stockings Directors Notes

In 1896 Girton College Cambridge was the first college to admit women. If you were a young woman at University in the 1800’s you would face long walks from out of town colleges to attend lecture, mocked by other students and teachers, forced to sit at the back, have your work left unmarked or rejected, denied entry into lectures as tutors would deem you unworthy of their time, humiliated in the street and as universities […]

Celebrating Saddleworth Concert Society’s 50th Anniversary

On March 18th, Saddleworth Concert Society (SCS) celebrated 50 years of concerts spanning across jazz, classical, folk and contemporary music genres. Formed by Roger Tanner and Ruth Gillespie in 1975, the society’s aim was to curate classical music concerts by professional musicians, contributing to the local cultural scene in Saddleworth. Throughout the years, concerts have been given by musicians and ensembles such as the Lindsay Quartet, the King’s Singers, the Brodsky Quartet, and Paul Lewis; […]

Theatres Trust grant lights up Millgate Stage

We are delighted to have be awarded a grant from Theatres Trust which enabled us to purchase new LED Lighting to improve the quality of shows and attract more external shows. The new lighting has been used to create sell out shows across 2025 and 2026. Our lighting rig, a stock of 60+ conventional fixtures and 4 LED RGB pars, plus a 48 way dimmer bank, needed modernising for Saddleworth Players shows , concerts and […]

A breath-stopping thriller lights up Delph: Wait Until Dark at Millgate Arts Centre

Review by Gemma Carter The Saddleworth Players have delivered a gripping and assured production of Wait Until Dark at the Millgate Arts Centre, a masterclass in tension that keeps audiences on edge from start to finish. Originally a West End and Broadway hit, this expertly constructed thriller wastes no time drawing the audience into its web. For those unfamiliar with the story (as I was), the plot unfolds unpredictably. A trio of criminals, sinister con […]