A tongue-in-cheek theatrical extravaganza, Mr Blackpool’s Seaside Spectacular is an end of the pier show at the end of the world, exploring the iconic resort town’s history of variety and entertainment through a contemporary lens.

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 not 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. 

“An end of the pier show set at the end of the world” — that’s quite a pitch. What sparked the idea to fuse traditional seaside variety with something so apocalyptic and contemporary?

Well, back in 2019, Blackpool Council declared a climate emergency and I was just having these dystopian visions of what the future would look like when reading about how coastal communities would be heavily impacted by climate collapse. I started scratching the surface of these ideas at the beginning of 2020 with some research and writing and we all know what happened next, which meant we put those ideas on a shelf. I ended up spending my summers in 2023 and 2024 performing on a cruise ship which was pretty dystopian – sailing around the Greek Islands while they were on fire with a vessel full of holidaymakers was pure dissonance. But when we properly started making the show back in February, five years after I wrote that phrase: “an end of the pier show at the end of the world”, the world and its politics had changed so dramatically. The concept is the same, but the timeline feels nearer and it’s way more in the room with us. It can’t not be and that feels like an interesting thing to hold through a variety show, alongside exploring the entertainment history of Blackpool and with our personal stories in there too. Cabaret, theatre, dance, variety… It’s a hybrid genre piece for sure. 

You’re taking the spirit of Blackpool — bawdy humour, glitz, grit — and queering it for KUNSTY’s radical cabaret lounge. What does it mean to bring that energy from the North’s piers to London’s South Bank?

It means the absolute world to me! Firstly, Blackpool already feels pretty queer to me and I’m so proud to be from the town. I have always embedded that stylistic approach of presentation and showbusiness into my practice. Genuinely, I feel really lucky to be a performance artist and theatre maker who has such a strong entertainment background. I never went to university and my first ever performance job was at Butlins in Skegness hosting a Blues Brothers experience show. Then, from the age of 20, I spent my summers on Blackpool’s Golden Mile performing at attractions such as the Sea Life Centre, Sandcastle Waterpark, and for four years working at Carnesky’s Ghost Train which involved dressing up as the half-dead and running around in the dark, or driving the train and telling horror stories through a specific style of expressive movement performance. Side note, making someone so scared that they cry is a standing ovation on a ghost train. 

I found my way into the London cabaret scene in the early 2010s, toured the world in high end pieces of spectacle and then made my debut autobiographical theatre show in 2017 which allowed me to flex different muscles when it came to making things. That piece won some awards, was really well received, toured for four years and opened different types of doors that might not usually be open for an artist from Blackpool – having a traditionally working class entertainment background doesn’t always get you theatre commissions!

I wanted to take all I’ve learned along the way, with other artists who also grew up or started their careers in Blackpool, put us in a room and see what we could make. I’m so delighted that we are part of the KUNSTY programme. Honestly, the belief in the show from venues like the Southbank Centre and companies like Marlborough Productions who commissioned the work is so important and hopefully gives other venues the confidence that this exciting and interesting work from places like Blackpool should be brought to full production. 

Your performances often blur the line between drag, autobiography, and theatre. How do you decide what parts of Harry make it into the spotlight — and what stays offstage?

Everything is usually up for grabs. It’s just we only have 60 minutes to explore the themes and craft the narrative, so not everything is always relevant. I tend to generate more material than I need and then in the editing process it’s about refining things. I’m up for it though – if something doesn’t work, it’s gone – I’m not precious, or if I need to go deeper, then have my heart on a plate. I look after myself in the process, but we want to feel the tension and depth of something that connects to a soulful place. This does mean that sometimes I do have to prepare my family with an awkward conversation for what they’ll see or hear, and sometimes I have to tell them they can’t come at all! 

There’s plenty of sparkle in Mr Blackpool’s Seaside Spectacular, but also a raw, emotional undercurrent. How do you strike that balance between glitter and guts?

We are all living through such challenging times, on so many levels. A lot of people in their day to day life, wherever they are, often have to put on a face or a front to go about their business. The smile that isn’t entirely genuine. “Yeah, I’m fine” because they don’t wanna talk about it. It’s really interesting territory for performance in the context of entertainment where maybe underneath the tits and teeth, if you scratch the surface, there’s an undercurrent of something we can feel isn’t right while someone is giving you a 5,6,7,8… 

Blackpool is an amazing place to live and visit, it also comes with a unique, brilliant and sometimes challenging set of circumstances. The bright lights of the sea front glitter and dazzle, the spirit of community and entrepreneurialism, of hard work and passion and drive, they’re things that are tangible, inspiring and powerful in our town. Then the guts are the things you feel deeply through some alarming statistics which is the backdrop of where we live and work. But we have to face darkness to find light, especially right now.   

KUNSTY is all about collaboration and risk. What’s your process for building a show with others — and what makes collaboration different in a queer creative space?

Our show is created in collaboration with three brilliant artists. Oliver Gregory, aka Miss Titty Kaka, who is such a talented human. They started their career as a high kicking leading lady of legendary drag revue show Funny Girls when they were 18 years old. As well as a stunning showgirl as Titty, Oliver is cleverly crafting the sound design of the show. We also have the immense pleasure of making the show with Aysh De Belle and Sam De Belle, a married powerhouse duo from the town who not only run House of Wingz – a dance and movement organisation – but they’re genuine landladies too. Make sure to go stay at Ferny House! All of us offer choreographic and staging and narrative input. I want the process to be something that feels like us, that involves lots of conversation and being open, having lots of tea and biscuits and laughter, then we arrive at the most holistic place.  

British seaside humour has a cheeky, sometimes exclusionary history. How do you subvert those traditions to create a cabaret that feels radical and inclusive in 2025?

We want to show it is possible to use that construction of seaside entertainment and take it to a more politically mindful place than those who are maybe known for not always being as inclusive. That involves really investigating the history, form and current landscape to shape something that takes inspiration from the genre, bends it and makes it ours. 

You’ve built a reputation for fearless, boundary-pushing performance. But has there ever been a moment — on stage or off — that genuinely scared you?

Absolutely! The first time I ever performed an insertion act in front of an audience, I did so on a wet stage and luckily didn’t lose my footing and slip. It only hit me afterwards how dangerous it was to do that. Would have been an awkward trip to the hospital! Back in 2015, I was in drag at Glastonbury Festival with Cola Phalquero and the now TikTok famous James Barnett (aka @makemeaoffer) as our three teenage alter egos – Rebecca, Dolcé and Melody – in a 107 hour durational performance and the window got smashed in by revellers. That was pretty intense – the heart was pounding and adrenaline was pumping for sure.

KUNSTY promises audiences something “beyond the traditional auditorium.” What do you want people to experience when they step into that late-night cabaret space with you?

I want them to feel like we’re giving them a seaside holiday, we’re essentially the ABBA Voyage stage show of a weekend in Blackpool. 

And when the lights go down and the feathers come off — what keeps you grounded amid all the chaos, camp, and creation?

Oh, I’d say I am quite radically different to my stage persona. Performing feels a cathartic release for my chaos energy to burst out of me, but in real life, I’m much more likely to be found horizontal, in bed with a hot water bottle, or with my electric blanket on, cuddled up with a duvet and a documentary. I’m quite a peaceful being, only a chaos demon at work, I promise!

Links:

https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/harry-clayton-wright-mr-blackpools-seaside-spectacular/

@hclaytonwright on Instagram