performance Archives - Blackpool Social Club

26 Jan

The Old Electric showcase Blackpool’s emerging scriptwriting talent

Linda Hampton0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & PerformanceBlackpool, Blackpool and the Fylde College, blackpool arts scene, performance, the old electric, Theatre, workshops

Local actor and writer Linda Hampton was invited to take part as a reader for this live event hosted by The Old Electric, on a cold January night. Each year at the culmination of the annual scriptwriting course offered by The Old Electric performing arts organisation in Blackpool, participating writers are invited to show their work-in-progress to a live audience. Six Blackpool-based writers – George Bamber, Angela Murphy, Amanda Webster, Joshua Shaw, Lyndsey Barlow and Lydia Warrilow - have been developing their stories under the guidance of Melanie Whitehead, Artistic Director of The Old Electric. She has been helping the…

06 Dec

It’s time to get CAMP AT THE CINEMA with Blackpool Film Festival

Catherine Mugonyi0 CommentsFilm, Guidecinema, Film, performance

Blackpool Film Festival heads to the ARC Cinema (formerly Backlot) on Thursday 11 December for an evening of high drama and huge emotions at a special screening of Paul Verhoeven’s SHOWGIRLS (1995). Harry Clayton-Wright. Photo by Lee Baxter Using the much loved sensibility of camp, Harry Clayton-Wright and Catherine Mugonyi created Camp at the Cinema , a live cinema event that highlights iconic over the top moments on the silver screen. Audiences will be treated to a funny, engaging and insightful cinema talk that explores the idea of camp and shares examples of its presence in the world of film…

03 Jul

Blackpool Young People make waves at the National Youth Dance Company

Catherine Mugonyi0 CommentsGuide, Local News, Theatre, Dance & Performancecreative young people, dance, performance, Street Dance, young people

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] Three young dancers from Blackpool are about to tour the country with the prestigious National Youth Dance Company (NYDC) run by Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. Orson Crane, Dylan Dennis and Blake Rainey were selected to join the current NYDC intake after attending nationwide workshops that took place last year. 33 dancers hailing from 22 towns, cities and villages across England and aged between 16 and 24 years were chosen to join the training company. These young dancers have been working with Boy Blue on a new work, which kicked off the national tour with a premiere at…

26 Jun

Blackpool Mermaid Makes Waves at Winter Gardens

Blackpool Social Club0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performancecommunity, community theatre, performance, Theatre

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=""] The Old Electric proudly presents Memoirs of a Blackpool Mermaid, a mesmerising new production that brings to life powerful stories inspired by Blackpool. This play intertwines forgotten folklore with vivid tales from the town’s local history, illuminating Blackpool’s unique heritage while inviting audiences to reflect on whether anything truly changes. [/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=""]Memoirs of a Blackpool Mermaid is performed by The Electric Sunshine Project’s Community Theatre Company; Th’ESPs. An ever-evolving group of passionate and skilled local creatives, some of whom have been working together since 2016. Uniquely this company has also written, devised, choreographed and created the musical score,…

14 Sep

Performance Review: SHHHHH! The Midnight Cabaret Club

Claire Griffiths0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & PerformanceLBGTQI, performance, Queer Blackpool

Hidden away in a decorative, atmospheric, attic space echoing art deco cinema and 1920’s finery is Oscars bar. Look for a doorway to the right of the main entrance of to Funny Girls to find a new and utterly scintillating secret. Head up some lamp-lit, mirrored stairs to arrive in a warm glowing space filled with multiple stages, performance platforms and spiral wrought iron staircases where brightly lit orbs float above your head. I came to enjoy ‘SHHHHH!’ - a midnight cabaret performance that transports guests to the late-night lounge bars of the jazz age or the speakeasies of prohibition-era…

16 Mar

Theatre Review: Amy Johnson: Last Flight Out

Linda Hampton0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & PerformanceBlackpool, blackpool arts scene, heritage, performance, Theatre

Actor and writer Jenny Lockyer singlehandedly flew her audience through the fascinating story of the life of female aviator Amy Johnson with her one-woman show, Amy Johnson: Last Flight Out, at the Old Electric. Linda Hampton reviews and shares a fascinating local connection to the story. Amy Johnson: Last Flight Out celebrates this internationally famous woman pilot and her record-breaking solo flight from England to Australia in 1930. The play touches down on her early years as she discovered flying and went on to plan and execute her Australia flight in the face of huge physical and personal challenges. In…

13 Mar

Theatre Preview: Amy Johnson: Last Flight Out

Linda Hampton0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performanceblackpool arts scene, performance, Theatre

Amy Johnson: Last Flight Out, a one-woman show celebrating the life of the pilot and her record-breaking solo flight from England to Australia in 1930, touches down at the Old Electric on Friday. Written and performed by Jenny Lockyer, Last Flight Out tells the story of Johnson's passion for adventure and love of aviation. The show was originally created for the 2017 Croydonites Festival of New Theatre and has since played a string of sold-out runs in Croydon and toured key venues from Brooklands Museum to Herne Bay. Professor Dawn Bonfield at The Royal Academy of Engineering described the show…

11 Mar

Theatre Review: As She Likes It

Linda Hampton0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performanceblackpool arts scene, International Women's day, performance, Theatre

Chloe Wade Productions’ new play, As She Likes It, pivoted the Hollywood spotlight onto the truth behind the glamour at the Old Electric on Saturday. Actor, writer and theatre maker, Chloe Wade, started writing her play, As She Likes It, alone in lockdown. Four years later the production is in full swing and touring the country. Everything takes time to happen and four years is pretty good going in the theatre world. But the play, which came to The Old Electric on International Women’s Day 2024, also points out that 100 years is too long to wait for change. It…

05 Mar

Theatre Preview: As She Likes It

Linda Hampton0 CommentsTheatre, Dance & Performanceperformance, Theatre

If you thought that Hollywood was all glamour and fame, then perhaps you need to go along to see the debut touring show from Chloe Wade Productions, As SHE Likes It, coming to The Old Electric on Saturday 9th March. As part of the show’s UK tour, actor Chloe Wade comes to Blackpool to tell a story that many may not know - that of 20-year-old dancer Patricia Douglas who, in 1937, was brutally attacked and sexually assaulted at an MGM party. The young dancer took on Hollywood’s most powerful institution and filed charges which were swiftly dismissed and silenced.…

10 Oct

Creative Callout: Actors wanted for comedy pilot

Linda Hampton0 CommentsLocal Newsauditions, Blackpool, Comedy, community theatre, entertainment, performance, Theatre

A Blackpool-based production company is seeking three actors for their forthcoming November shoot of a comedy drama. Friendly Way Productions Ltd seeks three people to join the existing cast for the filming of the pilot episode of their new series, AmDram. Shoot dates are 2nd-4th November 2023 and the deadline for applications is 23rd October. Casting breakdown and all details of how to apply can be found here. Actors will be required to submit their self-tapes for consideration for the following roles: Thomas (late twenties-early thirties) is a recent divorcee who joins a local amateur theatre group as a way…