Thingumajig Theatre’s Ghost Caribou
When: 29th September – 6th October 2018
Where: Bournemouth, Dorset
£: Many events are free
What is it?
Arts by the Sea, Bournemouth’s annual inspirational and diverse arts festival will take place from Saturday 29th September to Saturday 6th October, with more than 100 unique and thought-provoking performances in locations across Bournemouth.
This year’s Arts by the Sea promises a week of participatory experiences in music, art and dance; a carnivalesque celebration of culture, accessible to all.
These include a first-time projection mapping on Bournemouth Town Hall, wandering street theatre acts, international musical performances, award-winning comedy and satirical stage shows, walkabout puppets, quick-witted poetry, film screenings from Bournemouth University, and a night-time carnival parade with a difference.
For 2018, a New Frontiers theme will bring a range of shows and artworks, showcasing how innovation and technology is transforming society at an incredible speed, and the impact this evolution will have on the future of humanity. The theme will highlight the impact of technological advances at a local level, celebrating the host town’s ambitions to become one of the UK’s leading digital economies by 2020.
Silicon Shores at Arts by the Sea
Arts by the Sea will take over the whole of Bournemouth’s town centre, from the Town Hall, Library, Central Gardens, Town Square and the Roundabout Theatre on Pavilion Dance Terrace; to the Lower Gardens, Bandstand, Pier Approach and the Beach.
Arts by the Sea will open on Saturday 29th September with The Colour Project. The Town Hall will be the focal point for a bespoke, 3D projection mapping show titled Silicon Shores.
Its ocean narrative will flip ‘surfing the web’ on its head in Bournemouth’s coastal location, as guests witness animated sea creatures climbing the walls of the town hall in a display of thematic lighting and enchanting video displays.
Visitors will be able to wander the streets and spot roaming performances. From the Town Hall to Lower Gardens, look out for the long white, bewitching characters of Herbert’s Dream Compagnie de Quidams show, where musicians and dancers will enchant with their ethereal and luminous presence.
Also on the same route, Ghost Caribou, Thingumajig Theatre’s giant, lantern caribou puppets will roam a mystical world after dark, performing through music, song and storytelling.
The Roundabout Theatre will have shows including the razor-sharp satire Sticks And Stones by BAFTA nominated Vinay Patel, a series of Coastal Comedy events, and the rip-roaring adventure of How To Spot An Alien.
The Town Square will see The Rajasthan Heritage Brass Brand, celebrating the vibrancy and colourful lifestyle best associated with this enchanting region. Join in with Bhangra beats, well-loved pop songs, and sci-fi and intergalactic funk.
The Rajasthan Heritage Brass Brand
For lovers of the spoken word, poetry revivalist Luke Wright will delve into the murky world of poets laureate past, while serving up a set of new poems at the Shelley Theatre.
Throughout the week, Bournemouth University’s Screen in the Square will be showing a selection of animation, art films, shorts and documentaries by BU academics, Lizzie Sykes, and Vicky Isley & Paul Smith (aka world-renowned artists, boredomresearch).
Depth of Field: Research through Film will include award-winning films exploring everything from food poverty to hidden Visual Riddles by Dr Trevor Hearing, written by poet and Professor Emeritus Sean Street, which viewers are invited to solve.
The closing parade at Arts by the Sea on Saturday 6th October will be hoping to create a spectacle, as more than 350 people from the local community, Avonbourne Trust and youth theatre groups, join the Circus Folly Night Carnival. The parade will commence at Stafford Road, before winding down Old Christchurch Road and finishing in the Triangle.
Cie des Quidams
Expect an immersive rebellion of curious creatures great and small as they dance to thumping percussion and reclaim the streets of Bournemouth. But these are no ordinary animal runaways. Many have escaped captivity by harnessing and disrupting human powers, cultures and technologies, becoming anthropomorphic in nature.
Join the movement and witness a spectacle of horses and riders in permanent charge, gangster pandas, a tyrannosaurus Rex returned from the dead and ethereal butterflies with street graffiti as camouflage.
More info: artsbythesea.co.uk