C-Attack!

Commissioned by Sea Change Arts. Funded by the Arts Council East.

RED ALERT! Watch out in Great Yarmouth town centre on the 29, 30 and 31 October 2008 for some very strange events… RUN WHILE YOU CAN! Final Show - Friday 31 October 2008 6pm Great Yarmouth Market Place

We created a theatrical street extravaganza for Great Yarmouth's OutThere Festival 2008. C-ATTACK! was the only show being produced for the Festival and it was created especially for the streets of Great Yarmouth with the people of Great Yarmouth, using a professional team of actors and designers working together with members of the community and volunteers. C-ATTACK!  was a highly visual, accessible, entertaining, engaging and provocative professional street theatre performance for the seaside town of Great Yarmouth, which encouraged the active participation of members of the community and professional artists from the region.

The Process

C-ATTACK!  was created through a series of residencies where Dende Collective travelled and lived in Yarmouth. We were be able to immerse in the history, geography and issues that concerned the city, bringing them to the fabric of the show. The project consisted of outdoor interventions in everyday non-theatrical spaces and a final outdoor promenade/ site-specific spectacular show. C-ATTACK! involved around 100 participants and was seen by over 1,000 people. This was the only performance especially commissioned for the Festival, developed over a 6-month period.

The Story

Once upon a time a big black oil stain drove away from the sea millions of dispossessed Sea Creatures, some of them arrived to the Great town of Great Yarmouth. They came with their suitcases, and all their belongings, they were curious to see the local way of life. Some of them were looking for jobs, some of them were acting like tourists and trying to communicate with the locals. Meanwhile, the local press reports this arrival in a very sensationalist manner, the radio and the news are talking about invasion, destruction of native values and customs, of evil. Some members of the community take the streets with megaphones and voice their concerns and anger, distributing leaflets and lecturing people about the “true nature” of the newly arrived creatures. Some people in the city are being affected by the Sea influence and start behaving in a strange manner, as if they were in the Sea instead of the city (fishing on top of roofs, saving people from drowning when they cross a busy road) The authorities decide to intervene and arrest all the creatures: some scientific experiments are carried on some of them, while others are put to work. But of course, the children of the town stop the barbaric experiments and force the release of the creatures. Finally, more Sea creatures arrive playing music and getting the town to dance in a big, colourful party.

Partners

The project was commissioned by Sea Change Arts, a local arts organisation for its 2008 “Out There!” International Arts Festival. The project was funded by the Arts Council East and we worked with Zap Arts, street theatre specialists to deal with technicalities of an outdoor performance.