Blackpool’s award-winning performance artist and theatre maker Harry Clayton-Wright is taking end of the pier entertainment on the road this November with Mr Blackpool’s Seaside Spectacular, a bold new theatrical performance exploring the past and future of this iconic seaside town through a contemporary, cabaret-infused lens in lurid technicolour and garish spectacle.
Rooted in the traditions of ‘end-of-the-pier’ entertainment and set in the too distant future against the decimated backdrop of climate collapse or late stage capitalism – you decide, could be both – Mr Blackpool’s Seaside Spectacular draws on the town’s enduring connection to four performers, who have been both nourished and sharpened by the salty air and coastal glamour.
Clayton-Wright will be joined on stage by three of Blackpool’s finest delights: Oliver Gregory, aka Miss Titty Kaka, an international showgirl sensation who began their performance career at Blackpool drag institution Funny Girls at just 18, as well as Aysh De Belle and Sam De Belle, a married dancing duo whose dazzling work has been seen on both stage and screen. In a series of turns inspired by personal story and the town’s history, these Blackpool treasures are promising pure escapism with flavours of cabaret, variety, drag, dance, magic and sideshow.
Commissioned by leading UK producer of queer-led intersectional performance, Marlborough Productions, and Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts with public funding from Arts Council England, this theatrical spectacular will hit Newcastle and London, bringing these Blackpool artists to stages across the UK.
Northern Stage, Newcastle, on 6 November https://northernstage.co.uk/whats-on/mr-blackpool/