Worthing seafront remembered by artistic exhibits at festival

The project, called ‘The Happenings’, was organised by Worthing Theatres as a cultural experience for the community. It focused on the town’s seafront and showcased the work of Christine Cooper, Geoff Bartholomew and Lewis Gibson.

Christine’s, ‘A Seaside Holiday’, was a one-on-one, storytelling piece, set in a vintage tearoom. Christine recalled memories she had collected from members of the public and encouraged her audience to share their own.

She said: “The idea was to encourage more storytelling. It can be empowering for people to tell their stories. It was lovely to speak with older people.”

‘Sitting here together forever: The drift’ was a sound theatre piece by Lewis Gibson. Lewis’s audience listened individually to recordings of local people and locations while looking out to sea.

He said: “The people I spoke to said it transported them to another place and they found it very moving.”

Geoff’s untitled piece was a giant pinhole camera that the audience could step inside. It gave a view of the sunken garden and coastline beyond.

Gemma Nethersole, press officer at Worthing Theatres, said: “We received excellent feedback from viewers and participants on the day and are looking forward to doing something bigger and better next year.”