Absent is a unique, site specific experience which has been created by internationally acclaimed theatre makers dreamthinkspeak, led by Tristan Sharp. Small groups are invited to take a magical mystery journey through the hidden spaces of Blackpool’s iconic Winter Gardens into a modern hotel to experience the splendour of a bygone age.
In 1958 a young woman wins the Premium Bonds jackpot and, to celebrate checks into the exclusive Pavilion Suite of Blackpool’s most fashionable establishment – The Winter Gardens Hotel. Over fifty years later she is still living there, whilst all around her this world-renowned hotel has been crumbling into financial and physical collapse.
The new owner of the building, Northern Leisure Holdings, a global property company, claim that they are redeveloping the hotel and its surroundings in order to make it more affordable for working people whilst creating jobs and prosperity. But what is really happening? What’s going on inside the darkened corridors and faded interiors of this once splendid, mysterious hotel?
Above all who is this enigmatic woman and why has she been resident there for so long?
Travelling in small groups, at their own pace, audiences are invited to take a tour of the new Winter Gardens Hotel to begin their journey. They will be taken on a theatrical journey of discovery along a maze of rooms and corridors that are inexplicably transforming before their very eyes. Mixing film, architecture and vast model-making installations with a haunting soundtrack, you will enter a kaleidoscope world that shifts between Blackpool’s past, present and future to create a beautiful and unforgettable experience.
The Grand were able to secure Arts Council funding by joining forces with LeftCoast in order to provide Blackpool with the kind of theatrical experience that would normally only be available in big festival cities. Absent takes you on a journey through parts of the beautiful Winter Gardens that are not normally open to the general public. Using this extraordinary building as a backdrop allows audiences to glimpse the past, touch the present and discover what the future may hold in this challenging world.
You’ll never look at the Winter Gardens in the same way again, you’ll never look at Blackpool in the same way again!
Absent runs 20 to 25 August, 12 to 16 September, 25 to 29 September with Tour Times 12.00pm to 9.45pm. For more information or to book tickets call Winter Gardens Hotel on 01253 743344 or visit wintergardenshotel.co.uk
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