MIDWEEK COLUMN WEDNESDAY 10 JUNE 2026
- STEVE COOKE AATA
- Jun 9
- 9 min read
An oasis of positivity celebrating the creative arts with previews, reviews, interviews, and recommendations.
MIDWEEK COLUMN WEDNESDAY 10 JUNE 2026
Previews: Rochdale Science Extravaganza 2026, Goofus Theatre: The Magical Key of Brave Little Dee plus Thespians - Greece The Musical (But not that one)
Review: TLC MAY
Rochdale Science Extravaganza 2026
Preview by Steve Cooke
Rochdale Science Extravaganza 2026 is set to transform our town centre into a celebration of science, climate action and community wellbeing
An invitation to explore AI, robotics, health, climate science, astronomy, medicine, physics, creativity and hands-on discovery at Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre.
This promises to be one of biggest community science events yet as Rochdale Science Extravaganza returns to the town centre on Sunday 28 June 2026, from 10:30am to 4:00pm, at Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre.
Created by Rochdale Science Initiative C.I.C., delivered in partnership with Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre and Falinge Park High School, and proudly supported by principal sponsors The Ogden Trust and the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the event will bring together scientists, schools, universities, artists, engineers, health professionals, environmental organisations, community groups, families and young people for a day of discovery.
This year’s theme is “Inspiring Climate Action Through STEAM and Living Well”, highlighting the links between science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics, health, sustainability, culture and everyday life.
The event has been designed as a welcoming, hands-on and inclusive science experience for the whole community. Visitors will be able to explore everything from AI and robotics to renewable energy, climate change, medicine, cancer research, heart health, astronomy, recycling, seaweed science, physics, chemistry, textiles, LEGO-based climate action and more.
Mohammed Rahman, Founder and CEO of Rochdale Science Initiative C.I.C., said:
“When my son Labib asked me why we had to travel outside our town to experience the wonders of science, and why people from our community weren’t represented, I knew we had to act. We founded the Rochdale Science Extravaganza to bring STEM directly to our streets and to break down the cultural and socioeconomic barriers that hold our youth back. Science belongs to everyone. By creating a space where families from all backgrounds can touch, build, and discover, we are not just hosting an event – we are inspiring the next generation of diverse British scientists, engineers, and innovators. Our community has limitless talent, and we are here to unlock it.”
The 2026 event will include a wide range of activities and demonstrations from leading organisations, universities, schools and community partners.
Highlights will include AI and robotics from VR, AR, fossils and meteorites from Immersive Experiences; wind turbines and fizzy rockets from Altus Education Partnership; climate science and big research from STFC Daresbury Laboratory; physics demonstrations from the University of Manchester and the Institute of Physics; the “Pocket Microscope Curry Lab” from Rochdale Science Initiative; water science from University of Manchester researchers; medicine-making with AstraZeneca; cancer research engagement from Manchester Cancer Research Centre; heart health activities from the University of Salford; and health checks and wellbeing activities from Living Well.
Visitors will also be able to take part in climate and sustainability activities, including LEGO Build the Change sessions with Touchstones Rochdale, carbon footprint activities, plastic recycling experiments, marine conservation with superhero seaweed, electricity and Net Zero activities, flood resilience engagement, recycling education, environmental management discussions and student-led renewable energy demonstrations.
Falinge Park High School pupils will be showcasing their own sustainability learning through practical physics and renewable energy activities.
Rose Edmondson, Science Teacher at Falinge Park High School, said:
“Falinge Park High School are incredibly proud to be working on the STFC funded project to raise the profile of Physics in Sustainability alongside 5 Rochdale primary schools. Our pupils have been showcasing renewable energy kits, using data loggers, IR cameras and researching how to make our school sites more sustainable now and in the future. We are excited to showcase our learning at the Rochdale Science Extravaganza events this year when our pupils will take you through some exciting demos and invite you to find out more about why we think physics is incredibly important for future proofing our communities.”
The event will also celebrate the cultural, creative and human sides of science. Activities will include astronomy linked to Islamic heritage with Rahma Alfarsay and the New Crescent Society, embroidery and wellbeing with artist and educator Elnaz Yazdani, community voice work through the “Round Here” campaign, and a dedicated Inclusive Sensory Room created by artist Rabia Begum with support from local SEND advocates and Rochdale Borough Council Children’s Service.
The sensory room will provide a calm, welcoming space for SEND children, young people, families and carers who may need time away from the busier areas of the event. BSL interpreters will also be available on the day to support Deaf visitors.
10:30am to 4:00pm on Sunday 28 June 2026 at Rochdale Exchange Shopping Centre
Highly recommended for families, schools, community groups, professionals, researchers, young people and curious minds of all ages.
Check out;
Goofus Theatre: The Magical Key of Brave Little Dee
Preview by Steve Cooke
A non-verbal adventure told with puppetry, play, music and heart for young people and the young at heart.
A town in trouble, a secret key, a brave girl, come, meet little Dee. A non-verbal adventure told with puppetry, play, music and heart for young people and the young at heart.
Performance times: there are 2 performances taking place on Sunday, 5 July 2026.
11.30am–12.30pm – this session is open to all families
2.30pm–3.30pm – a relaxed special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)‑friendly session, designed to be welcoming and inclusive
Booking required, tickets from £6 each: https://www.yourtrustrochdale.co.uk/whats-on/events/goofus-theatre-the-magical-key-of-brave-little-dee/
Rochdale Town Hall, The Esplanade, Rochdale OL16 1AZ
Goofus Theatre was founded in 2012 and is a touring theatre company creating original pieces with mask, puppetry, clowning, play and music.
The majority of Goofus work is non-verbal and aimed at audiences where theatre isn’t easily accessed for various reasons. They are a not for profit community interest company. Their home is in a fantastic Grade II listed cotton mill called Spinners Mill in Leigh, southern Lancashire.
The company works with small casts of no more than four performers.
Goofus work in various performance settings ranging from festivals, under tents, streets, disused shops, foyers, forests, community spaces, museums, care homes, hospices, hospitals and conventional theatre spaces. They tour all over the UK and internationally.
Goofus performers are very experienced and adaptable in working/devising very quickly, playing to all ages in all settings. Their skills are from many diverse performing. backgrounds including circus, street theatre, clowning, puppetry and mask work.
“We believe theatre should have no borders. We believe access to our style of performance is for all ages, all backgrounds, everywhere.”
“We believe in a theatre that is mischievous, funny, strange, moving, surreal, fantastical and dreamlike.”
TLC MAY
Review by Dr Joe Dawson
Another richly varied month in this eclectic weekly music series. Mixed voice choir, Gold medallist pianists and a masterclass in both soprano and bass clarinet
May 06: Madeleine Brown piano - After graduating in music from Cambridge, she is now at the RNCM, where in 2025 she won the prestigious Gold Medal. She was recently awarded the Silver Medal by the Worshipful Company of Musicians, adding her to the acclaimed Young Artist Programme. All this complements her 1st prizes in both the RNCM and Cambridge University Concerto Competitions. She immediately stamped her authority with a dramatic Polonaise-Fantaisie, Op.61 by Chopin followed by refreshing and charming excerpts from Rameau ‘s Suite in G major. The atmospheric contemporary piano piece Black Earth, by Turkish pianist-composer Fazil Say requires that to achieve maximum effect the player reaches into the strings and touches and mutes them along with conventional virtuoso keyboard playing to achieve a symbolic empty space, the unearthly harmonics creating a twilight zone. The piece de resistance was Prokofiev’s Sonata No.7. Through Madeleine’s mastery and incisive interpretation, we fully appreciated its rhythmic complexity, striking discords and emotional depths … sensational!
May 13 Students from Chetham’s School of Music: led by staff pianist and RNCM graduate, Ruth Hollick. First up was James who played Gregson’s Tuba Concerto of 1976 with verve and confidence. Soprano Madeleine sang Quilter’s Five Shakespeare Songs, Op. 23, and three of Britten’s Folksong Arrangements, Little Sir William, The Ash Grove, and the short and delightfully savage Oliver Cromwell. Her pure lyrical tone was like a refreshing English rose sandwiched between thorny but amazing concertos.
Finally, violinist Filip delivered two movements of Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 77. The Passacaglia was powerful and dazzling with a staggering cadenza culminating in a fiendish Burlesque final movement. This was fine playing with panache and passionate virtuosity beyond his years.
May 20 Eccles Community Choir is a delightful true mixed community choir with open policy of no auditions, low subscriptions and effective social support system. Hugely enjoyable repertoire from Purcell, Strauss and Offenbach to popular song arrangements and medleys of James Bond themes and ABBA. Accompanied by John Stott and directed by soprano and adjudicator Angela Rowley ARCM (who led by example with an accomplished rendition of Mozart’s aria Deh Vieni).
May 27 Elliot Gresty clarinets & Kanako Mizuno piano: Elliot is the Principal Bass Clarinettist of the BBC Philharmonic after associations with several top orchestras. First appeared here 2011-16 as a student at Chetham’s before a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. Played soprano clarinet for Poulenc’s Sonata, Burgmüller’s Duo Op 15, and dazzling finale of Lovreglio’s Concert Fantasy on La Traviata; in the middle he demonstrated bass clarinet adaptation Bach’s unaccompanied Cello suite No 3 in C, and Bozza’s Ballade. Japanese-born Kanoko Mizuno (Tokyo Conservatoire, RNCM Gold Medallist and RAM) collaborated on piano superbly.
The Queen’s Award-winning Toad Lane Concerts are every Wednesday at 12.30 pm at St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane, Rochdale, OL16 1DZ. Entrance fee is £6. Contact 01706 648872 for further information.
Thespians - Greece The Musical (But not that one)
Preview by Steve Cooke
Mischief, the team behind the multi award-winning The Play That Goes Wrong, rewrite ancient history with a brand-new musical comedy, Thespians, the first musical created by “the funniest theatre troupe in Britain”
534 BC. Greece’s smallest island is battling to avoid defeat in a nationwide prayer competition set up by a thin-skinned tyrant - where the loser is put to death. All is going dreadfully until Thespis accidentally invents acting, leading to the world’s first play and the origins of theatre as we know it!
We are invited to “Step into the amphitheatre, leave your troubles in the foyer, and escape into Ancient Greece as it bursts into song, with a thrilling plot, a love story worthy of Aphrodite, and enough laughter to fill the Acropolis. Thespians is an uplifting, hilarious, and timely reminder of the power of empathy and stepping into someone else’s sandals”.
Written by Jonathan Sayer (co-writer of The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong and The Comedy About A Bank Robbery) and Ed Zanders (musical director Mischief Movie Night), Thespians promises to be a prescription for modern day laughter packed with comedy, chaos and choreography that “will have every mortal in your household aching with laughter”.
If you thought something funny happened on the way to the forum, wait until you hear what happened enroute to the amphitheatre!
Tuesday 7 July to Saturday 18 July at HOME 2 Tony Wilson Place Manchester M15 4FN
Box Office 0161 200 1500
Restaurant 0161 212 3500
For general queries, please email: info@homemcr.org
RECOMMENDED
Wednesday, 10 June 2026
Toad Lane Concerts - Rochdale's Weekly Music at Lunchtime
This week we have - The Nightingale Singers - Conductor Ken Greaves piano Brian Milligan
Running every Wednesday, Music at Lunchtime is a weekly live classical music concert series that has been going since the 1960s. The sessions were initially run at the old Rochdale Art Gallery by the local authority, but since May 2001 have been run by volunteer-enthusiasts and artistic director, Dr Joe Dawson.
£6
Phone: Dr Joe Dawson 01706 648872
Doors open 12noon, concert starts 12.30pm - 1.30pm
St Mary in the Baum, Toad Lane/St Mary's Gate, Rochdale OL16 1DZ
Thursday, 4 June 2026
Visit Fireground Museum
Join us at Fireground this week to discover Greater Manchester's firefighting story.
Fire museum attractions are on show inside the museum including our collection of historic firefighting artefacts from the 18th century to present day, plus home-made refreshments in the new Fireground Café, and souvenirs from our fantastic new gift shop! We have a wide choice ranging from toddler to collector.
Under 4s Free, Children (aged 4-15) £6, Seniors £6, Students £6, Adults £8, Family (4 people) £24.
Phone: Fireground 01706 341219
Visit: https://www.fireground.org.uk/ Thursday, Friday & Saturday from 10am - 4pm
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Bookstart Baby and Bear Club - Balderstone Library
Every other Thursday during term time. Join Amy and Bookstart Bear for a fun session.
Free
For babies and toddlers up to pre-school age and their parents or carers.
Booking required: please book a ticket for every baby and/or child who is to attend. Accompanying adults will not need a ticket. See available sessions and book tickets through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/rochdale-borough-libraries-10695506106
When you and your child come along to their first session of Bookstart Baby and Bear Club, they will receive their very own Bookstart passport for you to get stamped each time they come along to a session or visit the library. For every 6 stamps they get in their passport, they'll receive a certificate. Don't worry, if you or your child are not library members already, you can join when you come along to Bookstart Bear Club.
1.30pm - 2.15pm
Balderstone Library, Balderstone Park, Platting Lane, Rochdale OL11 2HD
Thursday, 11 June 2026
Reading group - Castleton Library and Community Centre
Read, share and discuss a range of fiction and non-fiction in our reading group.
2nd Thursday of every month. Discover new authors and discuss different genres of books with other keen readers at our free, friendly and informal monthly meetings.
Free
For adults.
No booking required, you can just turn up.
11am - 12pm
Castleton Library, 604 Manchester Road, Rochdale OL11 3AF
Saturday, 13 June 2026
Lego Club - Rochdale Central Library
Every other Saturday. Get creative with Lego and join our free club, suitable for all the family. There's Duplo available for younger siblings.
Free
For families with children aged 2 and over, and teenagers.
No need to book, you can just turn up.
12pm - 1pm
Rochdale Central Library, Number One Riverside, Smith Street, Rochdale OL16 1XU
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