• Sat. Jul 27th, 2024

North East Connected

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Screen Shot 2023-05-24 at 18.10.19 copyLewis Jobson
A PLAY based on the experiences of a Butlin’s Redcoat wants to share your holiday memories as part of the show.

Redcoat, written and performed by former Butlin’s holiday camp entertainer Lewis Jobson, is currently touring Wearside community venues as part of The Cultural Spring’s ‘bitesize’ theatre programme.

The show opened earlier this week at ELCAP in Easington Lane, and there are further performances at 6pm on Thursday (May 25) at The Volt in Pallion; at 1.30pm on Friday (May 26) at Columbia Village CA; at 6pm on Saturday (May 27) at 17Nineteen in Hendon, and at 6.30pm on Saturday, June 3 at Red House Community Centre.

Lewis explained: “We are asking people across Sunderland to share with us these treasured memories, photos and souvenirs as part of my ever growing holiday camp exhibition.

“We want to hear your favourite, silliest, most memorable holiday stories. If you have a photo or a momento of a special holiday we’d love to hear from you – especially if it’s a Butlin’s memory!”

As part of the show Lewis and theatre company The Six Twenty chat with audiences and communities about their favourite holiday stories – from school trips abroad to trips of a lifetime.

A selection of your holiday stories will travel with the show as part of a growing collection of stories for people to enjoy on the road.

You can share your stories, snaps and memories by coming to a Holiday Club story session as part of the show or emailing info@thesixtwenty.com

Set in 2012, Redcoat is a tale of mishaps and misbehaving – about getting your first real job, leaving home, making new friends and learning all about children’s entertainment. Expect classic holiday tunes, dance routines, balloon modelling, karaoke sing-a-longs and a bit of Redcoat sparkle.

Emma Scarr, Project Co-ordinator for The Cultural Spring, said: “We were so happy with how our first night went, ELCAP were a fantastic host with the perfect venue to start off our tour of Sunderland. Audience feedback was lovely with many saying it had brought back fond memories of their holidays. We have met a few former redcoats in the audience too!”

Cozmic 3piphany, an LGBTQ+ group of young people has been working with Lewis and The Six Twenty to help develop the show.

After each performance of Redcoat, food will be shared with the audience.

For more information, or to book tickets for Redcoat, go to … https://www.theculturalspring.org/bitesize For more information on The Six Twenty, go to www.thesixtwenty.com

The Cultural Spring was launched in 2014 and is funded by Arts Council England’s Creative People and Places project. It aims to increase participation in arts activity in Sunderland its partners are University of Sunderland, the Customs House (South Shields), Sunderland Music, Arts and Culture (MAC) Trust, Sangini, Sunderland’s Young Asian Voices (YAV) and The Cultural Spring Charity.