"Oh I Do Like to be Beside the Sea Side...
by Adam Jeanes
SEAS's excursion to the UK begins on Saturday: Suitcases will be performed at the Bathing Beauties festival in Mablethorpe, the first event of Skegness International.
The Suitcase will join a "linear gallery of bathing huts" on the sea front (a bathing hut is a small building where people can change into their swimming costumes). Several of the huts have been specially designed by artists and architects. One is in the shape of a huge glass of gin and tonic complete with straws and slice of lemon, designed by friend-of-SEAS Michael Trainor, and entitled "Come Up and See Me": another is called "Jabba the Hut" and is quite difficult to describe. A mobile gallery of Bulgarian communism will not be out of place.
Our hosts, East Lindsey District Council have big ambitions for SEAS Skegness - nothing less than changing the public image of the whole town. For any non-British readers I should explain that Skegness or Skeggy has a very special place in the hearts of the Brit's as a seaside resort. It has an enormous sandy beach, colourful funfair's, fish and chip shops every few metres, candy-floss, donkeys that can carry children on rides up and down the beach, lovely illuminations at night, bars, discos, cheap drink, expensive taxis and the motto "Skegness is SO bracing". It faces the North Sea determined to enjoy itself and tirelessly entertaining its guests despite the "bracing" wind.
But Skegness is losing out to package holidays in foreign countries. It invented the British seaside holiday in the 20th Century, but in the 21st Century Spain and Greece stole the patent - plus they have the advantage of more reliable weather. SEAS in Skegness is an experiment - it is one of several things that East Lindsey is trying out in order to project a new image of the town, to rebrand Skeggy. We have a big responsibility in our short time here.
But preparations are well underway. It is an odd experience for me to be organising a SEAS event in my own country. This is an experience which Corina and Chris have both already gone through in Romania and Sweden respectively. It seems strange to be doing all the usual pre-SEAS things in Britain: calculating per diems, hotel transfers, accommodation lists, technical planning, having "crisis" telephone calls, sending urgent emails...
But there are two things that are different at this SEAS from the others we have organised - the direction of the road traffic (it comes from the right-hand side here) and the electrical plugs (three-pins not two). These things, minor though they may seem, are a metaphor for Britain's relationship to the rest of Europe. And they both catch European visitors out.
Meanwhile back on the sea front in Mablethorpe, the Suitcase has been assembled. Oddly enough electrical wiring was also an issue today - the local technician who came to connect the Suitcase up to the British mains electricity supply stared almost speechless at the Bulgarian wiring built into the box and nervously told us that he couldn't't plug it in because it...well...didn't meet British "standards". As far as I know Bulgaria is not known for its defective wiring or regular electric shocks, but the British technician shook his head, simply unable to imagine that anyone would even consider wiring something like that.
But in true SEAS intercultural style, an electrical compromise was achieved involving three-pinned UK sockets and two-pinned Bulgarian plugs - and at last the Suitcase had landed. And out came the sun ...although the wind didn't stop.
But the wind, something the old Skegness has always been famous for , can be of use to the "new" Skegness. Out at sea stand 50 wind turbines generating the electricity that is flowing ashore to power the Suitcase. They silently stare back at Skegness as they revolve, like an army of alien creatures considering an invasion. Perhaps they represent Skegness's real future. Ecologically Skeggy has a big stake in environmental and climate-change issues, and in that most modern of Holy Grails - renewable energy. While it has been struggling with the legacy of its image and the economic impact of globalisation, it has been hit with a "treble whammy" - that the rising water levels of the Earth are now threatening the coastal defences and parts of Skegness are in imminent danger of flooding or vanishing into the sea. Wow, what can an arts festival do about that?
To the artists coming to SEAS: the Moral of this story is that YOU have to save Skegness - and you only have nine days in which to do it. But while carrying out this mission, please remember to look to the right when crossing the road and bring with you a Foreign-to-British adapter.
See Suitcases at Bathing Beauties in Mablethorpe - September 19th Sat and 20th Sun with the procession starting on the Promenade at 16.00 (near the donkeys) - the Suitcase gallery open all day till 19.00. Look out for the SEAS banner and the SEAS team in the Gin and Tonic Bathing Hut. Drop by and pick up a brochure...
FREE tickets: Embassy Theatre Box Office
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