Centre stage from the off is the city of Blackpool in this colourful, multi-faceted spectacular. Embraced is the city’s history, its glitz, its chintz, its modern day drag humour and old school cheeky chappy gags. This is an end-of-the-pier showcase from bygone times Harry Clayton-Wright has put together, in collaboration with Oliver Gregory and fellow cast members Aysh de Belle and Sam de Belle, to share a broader past alongside a more personal one of an iconic British seaside destination. A nostalgia that is both flavoured with rose-tints and Northern grit.
This is a 360 degree love letter show to the city from all sides, from fetish dungeon dancing to a George Formby wink and twinkle. It’s a collage of music hall formatted turns, piling up upon themselves, layering up, each one fine-tuning the picture of the whole a little bit more. Until we are left with an image of the whole relationship between Clayton-Wright and his beloved hometown, love and rejection, light and dark. He is indeed Mr Blackpool.
This is an ensemble piece, as much as Clayton-Wright is centre stage, with the support from Blake Layton, Aysh and Sam de Belle working just as hard as the wurlitzer organ and colourful lighting to take us there. All are sympathetic to the show’s changing tones, one moment tits and teeth in synchronised 50s dances, the next a hen do drunkenly grinding on the main drag. Utilising music, dance, magic, and colourful costume changes – it’s a glorious heartbreaking sideshow variety show..
Mr Blackpool’’s complicated love for a specific golden past casts a glimpse at all of our origin stories from every corner of the country, the question ‘what next?’ lingering as the lights rise.
Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts (ACCA), 7-9 May 2026, 8pm, from £20
