THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ - Octagon Theatre, Bolton

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz visual story, Octagon Theatre Bolton Box Office: 01204 520661 | www.octagonbolton.co.uk | [email protected]

VISUAL STORY FOR OUR

PRODUCTION OF

THE WONDERFUL

WIZARD OF OZ

AT THE UNIVERISTY OF BOLTON STADIUM

mailto:[email protected]


CONTENTS

Getting to the venue…………………………………………………………………………….3

About the venue………………………………………………………….………………………4

Toilets………………………………………………………………………………………………6

Chill Out and Quiet Areas..……………………………………………………………………..6

Extra Information…………………………………………………………………………………7

The Auditorium……………………………………………………………………………………7

The Story……………………………………………………………………………………………8

The Actors………………………………………………………………………………………….8

The Characters……………………………………………………………………………………11

The Show…………………………………………………………………………………………..15



This visual resource is an insight into our production of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

and is suitable for children and adults with an autistic spectrum condition, sensory

and communication disorders and those with learning disabilities. It is intended to

help prepare any visitors for a new experience and to help them to become familiar

with the surroundings and situation.

Getting to The University of Bolton

Stadium

As the Octagon Theatre town centre building is undergoing a major redevelopment our

festive show is taking place in the Premier Suite at the Bolton Wanderers Football ground –

The University of Bolton Stadium (formerly known as the Macron)

The address of the stadium is

Bolton Wanderers Football Club

University of Bolton Stadium

Burnden Way

Bolton

BL6 6JW

Directions are

By Road

From the North

If travelling down the M6, follow signs for the M61 and leave at Junction 30. Once on the

M61, follow signs for Manchester/Bolton and leave at Junction 6 (the University of Bolton

Stadium should be visible on the left). Take the first exit off the roundabout onto the A6027,

after the De Havilland Way. Turn off De Havilland Way into the Stadium (Following signs for

Car Park A).

From the South

If travelling up the M6, follow signs for the M62 and leave at Junction 21a, following signs for

Manchester. Join the M60 at Junction 12 and proceed to follow signs for the M61 towards

Preston. Do NOT take the A666 towards Bolton. Turn off the M61 at Junction 6 and take the

third exit off the roundabout onto the A6027, after the De Havilland Way Turn off De

Havilland Way into the Stadium (Following signs for Car Park A).

Where can I park?

Car Park A

This is the car park available for show attenders and is located at the South end of the

stadium and is accessed via the A6027, De Havilland Way. This car park is clearly sign

posted from the motorway junction, and is the car park in front of the hotel entrance



By train

Macron Stadium is located approximately 200 metres from Horwich Parkway Station. Trains

regularly run from Blackpool and Preston if travelling from the North, and Manchester and

Bolton if travelling from the South. For more details please visit www.rail.co.uk

For Rail enquiries call: 08457 484950

For Bus enquiries call: 0161 228 7811

About the Venue

How to get to the Premier Suite?

If you are stood outside/in Car Park A, with the hotel main entrance to you, it’s to the right.

You walk (externally) about 60 yards and the The Premier Suite is there on your left

There will be Octagon staff and volunteers to point you in the right direction!

Is the Premier Suite Accessible?

The suite is entered at ground floor level and all the seating is on the flat (there is a large

raised stage at one end) so there aren’t any steps to navigate. If you use a wheelchair

please let the Box Office know when booking your tickets and they will book you in the

appropriate area of seating in the room.


http://www.rail.co.uk/


.

Octagon volunteers will be outside in the car park wearing red high visibility jackets and will

be available to help direct you to the Premier Suite entrance.

Front of House assistants will be at the entrance of and inside of

the Premier Suite. Front of House assistants are the people

responsible for providing information, helping any visitors who need

assistance, selling programmes and generally making sure that

everyone is ok. All of the Octagon Front of House assistants wear

black t-shirts with white writing on the front.

They also have little radios so they can talk to each other – if it

looks like they are talking to themselves don’t worry! They are just chatting to other Front of

House assistants using their radios.

Here is the entrance to the Premier Suite.

It might be quite noisy when you arrive as lots of people will be coming to see the show.

If you need to collect your tickets then just go to the Box Office team who will situated behind

the desk to the right of the entrance. Everyone is very friendly and will help you to get your

tickets for the show – all you have to do is tell them your name.



Toilets All of the toilets are located close to the entrance of the Premier Suite. You will go through a

set of double doors (see below) and the toilets will located to your right. As you go through

these doors.

Chill Out Area

If you need to leave the theatre for any reason at any point during the show, you can visit our

chill out area where you can enjoy art activities or just relax. You are then welcome to re-join

the performance at any time.

Boy’s toilet Girl’s toilet Accessible toilet



Extra Information

If you have any questions or queries in the lead up to your visit, please contact our Box

Office on 01204 520661 who will be able to answer your questions, or they will take a

message and get back to you if it is something they don’t know the answer to.

If you would like to come for a visit before the performance to have a look around then you

can book in a time that suits you with our friendly Head of Box Office and Customer Service,

Marie Irving-Murphy. You can call Marie on 01204 557144 or just send her an email and she

will get back to you: [email protected].

The Auditorium

The auditorium has a big stage raised up at one end and lots of seats which look towards

the stage. This room is where you will watch the play. You will have a ticket that tells you

which is your seat to sit in and there will be Front of House assistants in the auditorium if you

want any help. They can answer your questions and they can show you where to go if you

feel that you would like to leave the auditorium space at any time.

During the show the actors will be moving around the auditorium, sometimes running and

coming in and out of doors, so you might meet them on your way in or out of the auditorium

if you are also moving around. They will be very careful not to bump into you if you are out of

your seat; they are used to being in the auditorium space and are really lovely people!

This is a picture of the stage and the seats.



The Story

This is a play based on the well-known story of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This is a new

version of the story and Dorothy the main character is from Bolton and not Kansas as you

have seen in other film version of the story.

Dorothy and her pet dog Toto are caught up in a storm and her house is transported from

Bolton to the magical world of Oz where it lands on top of a wicked witch! The people in this

land are very strange and are called Munchkins. She swaps her normal shoes for the Ruby

Red trainers that used to belong to the wicked witch.

Dorothy wants to go home, so a good witch tells her she must follow the yellow brick road to

find the Emerald city where the all-powerful Wizard lives who will have the power to send her

back to Bolton. Dorothy and Toto start their journey to Oz, along the way she meets some

new friends. A Scarecrow, a Tinman and a cowardly lion. Together escape the Wicked Witch

of the West who wants the ruby red slippers for herself and make it all the way to the

Emerald City.

During the play you might feel happy, a little bit scared, or sad. It is ok to laugh or feel sad if

you want to. And if you feel scared, don’t worry – there is a happy ending!

The Actors

Many of the actors play different characters; we’ve included all of the names of the

characters next to the actor who plays them in a list here. To change character they

sometimes put on a different costume and sometimes change the sound of their voice.

Anne O’Riordan plays Dorothy

Helen Sheals plays Aunt Em and the Good Witch of the North



Matthew Ganley plays Uncle Henry and the Wizard.

David Heywood plays the Scarecrow

Thom Petty plays the Tinman

Alexander Bean plays the lion

Sufia Manya plays the Wicked Witch of the West and Jade

The adult actors are joined each show by a Young Company of 21 local children who play

different roles throughout the show including Toto, Munchkins, flying monkeys and the good

witch of the South.



Declan Anthony, Leena Adenmousun,

Faith Barlow, Jessica Buckthorpe, Calli

Crook, Adam Crompton, Mollie Gatrick,

Bea Glancy, William Grunstein,

Mairghread Hodgkinson-Bostock, Alice

Loftus, Luke Power

Sam Ainsough, Amy Burns, Emma

Catterall, James Grundy, Alexandra

Lewis-Hurst, Francesca Lewis-Hurst,

Marth LeRoy, James Storey, Taniesha

Marsden, Rosalyn Harper, Emily

Scrutton, Alfie Williams

This is Teddy, he plays Toto in the opening scenes in Bolton.



The Characters

Dorothy

This is a picture of Dorothy who is the main character. She is very

friendly and likes to sing and dance. She often wears red trainers in

the play. Give her wave if she walks past you in the auditorium.

Aunty Em and Uncle Henry

These are Dorothy’s Aunty and Uncle

who love her very much and work hard

to look after her.

Toto

Toto is Dorothy’s pet dog, he is played by

Teddy the Scottie Cross in the scenes in

Bolton and played by a member of the young

company in the scenes in Oz.



Munchkins

These are the people who live

where Dorothy’s house lands in

Oz. They want to make Dorothy

their leader as they are happy

she landed her house on the

wicked witch.

Good Witch of the North

This is the Good Witch of the North who helps Dorothy

when she first lands in Oz.

Wicked Witch of the West

This is a picture of the wicked witch who tries to catch

Dorothy and her friends so she can have the ruby red

trainers. She can be a bit scary but don’t worry, Dorothy and

her friends are OK in the end.



Scarecrow

This is a picture of the first friend Dorothy makes. He

is a scarecrow but can walk and talk and sing! He’s

very nice and sometimes gets his words confused.

Tin Man

This is the Tin Man. He is the second friend in Oz

Dorothy makes. He is very friendly but is sometimes

sad because he hasn’t got a heart, so he goes to the

Wizard to ask him to give him one.

Lion

This is the Lion. When the friends first meet him he

tries to be scary but is actually scared himself. He

wishes he was braver but actually is more brave than

he realises and helps the friends out of some tricky

situations.



Jade

This is Jade who is the gatekeeper of the Emerald

City. She is very friendly helps show the friends

around the big city.

The Wizard

This is a picture of The Wizard. He appears on a big

screen and shouts a lot. But he is nice really and helps

our Dorothy and her friends in the end.

Flying Monkeys

These are the Flying Monkeys who do the

bidding of the Wicked Witch of the West.



The Show

When the performance is ready to start the lights will fade a little bit but will stay on

throughout the show. It will never go completely dark. The lights in the auditorium will

change a lot. See below a picture of the stage when the lights are on.

The actors will come out onto the stage and the play will start. The actors will be on stage

most of the time, but sometimes they walk down the stairs and between the seats where

the audience are sitting. There are a few different entrances and exits on to the stage.

The actors will be in character and will sing, play musical instruments and perform

throughout the show.

People in the audience might talk a little bit, make noise or get up and move around,

but this is ok. You can do the same if you need to. If you need to go to the toilet or

leave the auditorium during the performance then that’s fine.

There will be music and noises in the performances that will come out of the speakers all

around the auditorium.

We don’t mind if you want to make noises during the show – it’s great to let us know

how you feel!

There will be a twenty-minute break when the actors leave the stage and the lights will

turn back on full. This is called the interval. People might get up to go to the toilet,



walk around or get a drink. When the interval has finished the actors will come back

on stage and the show will carry on.

At the end of the show everyone will clap their hands to show the actors that they

enjoyed the play. You can join in if you want to.

When the clapping has ended, the lights will get brighter. This means the performance

has come to an end and you can leave the theatre or stay in the auditorium to meet

the cast and explore the set and props used during the performance.

If you need to know anything else call our Box Office team on 01204 520661 or email

[email protected]

We hope you enjoy the show!



THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ - Octagon Theatre, Bolton

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