HARRY CLAYTON-WRIGHT OPENS THE END-OF-THE-PIER EXTRAVAGANZA MR BLACKPOOL IN SALFORD, WITH A ONE-NIGHT-ONLY PREMIERE AT LOWRY ON SATURDAY 2 MAY
Presented by Harry Clayton-Wright, Marlborough Productions, Lowry and Word of Warning
“At the end of the world there’ll still be a showgirl in Blackpool kicking her legs behind her ears and thank god for that”
Salford, prepare to be well and truly razzled and dazzled by Harry Clayton-Wright’s sensational Mr Blackpool for its biggest performances yet.
Following a spectacular pilot tour with performances at Northern Stage, the Southbank Centre headlining the inaugural KUNSTY Festival and Liverpool’s Unity Theatre as part of Homotopia Festival, multi award-winning theatre maker Harry Clayton-Wright opens the end-of-the-pier extravaganza Mr Blackpool in Salford, with a one-night-only premiere at Lowry on Saturday 2 May, presented in partnership with Word of Warning. Mr Blackpool then heads south to the Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts for three performances as part of Brighton Festival, before concluding this leg of the tour in style with a homecoming gala at the iconic Blackpool Grand Theatre.
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 draws on the town’s enduring connection to four performers, who have been nourished and sharpened by the salty air and coastal glamour. Mr Blackpool lays bare both the glitz and grit of the iconic seaside town in lurid technicolour and garish spectacle using autobiography, local legend, class and politics as inspiration for cabaret and variety turns.
Lowry’s Director of Theatre and Performance, Matthew Eames says: “Harry is a remarkable performer, and we are excited to welcome Mr Blackpool to Lowry alongside our partners at Word of Warning. It promises to be a special night at the end of Pier 8!”
Clayton-Wright will be joined on stage by three of Blackpool’s finest delights: Aysh de Belle and Sam de Belle, a married dancing duo whose dazzling work has been seen on both stage and screen, and introducing Blake Rainey, a spectacular emerging young performer trained by the de Belles at House of Wingz in Blackpool and who was selected to be part of the prestigious Sadler’s Wells’ National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) cohort in 2025.
Mr Blackpool was developed alongside some of UK theatre’s most brilliant creatives with dramaturgy courtesy of both luminary theatre maker, director and performance artist Ursula Martinez (C’est Duckie, La Clique, La Soirée, A Family Outing, Wild Bore) alongside acclaimed actor, activist and broadcaster Scottee (The Listeners, BBC One; Self Help; After the Tone; Loose Ends; BBC Radio 4). Choreographer, director and House of Ghetto founder, Darren Pritchard, as movement director and further dramaturgy, with costume design from Olivier-nominated and WhatsOnStage award winning Ryan Dawson Laight (La Cage aux Folles, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre; Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare’s Globe, Ride the Cyclone, Southwark Playhouse; My Son’s a Queer (But What Can You Do?), New York, West End, Edinburgh Fringe, Turbine Theatre). Plus, sound design from multidisciplinary artist and creative director Oliver Gregory, otherwise known as Miss Titty Kaka, who started their career at legendary Blackpool drag institution Funny Girls when they were just 18 years old.
In a series of acts inspired by personal story and the town’s history, these Blackpool treasures promise 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 comes to Lowry, Salford on Saturday 2 May. Tickets are available now from thelowry.com