Remember Scarborough

A weekend of free arts events in Scarborough commemorated the 1914 bombardment of the town, including a powerful theatrical production, Remember Scarborough!
Scarborough composer John Pattison and Beach Hut theatre company teamed up with various local organisations to produce the events, a highlight of which was a powerful and moving musical drama documentary written and composed by Pattison.
Staged by six local actors and musicians in gardens between the town hall and seafront, the 45-minute production told the story of the bombardment and gave an insight into life in Scarborough 100 years ago.
The music was performed live by the composer using a specially created orchestral keyboard rig alongside more conventional instruments and stunning visuals created for the event by video artists Liam Watt Pattison and Paul Nash.
The gardens came alive to the sights and sounds of World War One. Scarborough Museums Trust and Scarborough Maritime Heritage Centre presented historical displays and exhibitions and pierrot shows were presented by Yorkshire Coast College performing-arts students.
Visitors followed a remembrance route through the gardens, honouring the 18 local people who died during or as a result of the intensive shelling by two German battleships on 16 December 1914, with information panels about each one. The route was manned by several ‘poppy girls’, students on YCC’s historical and performance costume for stage and screen course, wearing costumes they created in memory of the events of 1914.
At the top of the gardens, by a statue of Queen Victoria, rehearsed readings of six World War One plays by writers from the Stephen Joseph Theatre Outreach programme were presented by YCC acting students. The plays were previously presented as part of the Plays and Pinot season at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. This production was directed by Beach Hut artistic director Alison Watt.
In the sunken gardens opposite the Royal Hotel, which had 160 windows smashed in the shelling, students from YCC’s fine art and art foundation degrees spent the day creating a giant artwork depicting the bombardment on large canvases.