I became aware of Pablo Fanques story and that the Beatles had played on the site when it was a music hall during my research in developing the arts strategy for Alumnos new building. The commissioned artworks include a large scale poem by Ira Lightman and a working 'zeotrope' based on Pablo Fanque circus skills.
Ira Lightman's poem tells the story of Britain's first Black circus owner Pablo Fanque (who was born nearby) and the poem can be sung to the Beatles song ' For the Benefit of Mr Kite'. John Lennon found a circus poster in an antique shop and based the song on the performers mentioned on the poster, including 'Pablo Fanque's Fair', and the song was features on the Beatles Sgt Pepper album.
Pablo Fanque, born William Derby, was born in Norwich, between 1796 and 1810, he grew up to become a master horseman and his circus was the most successful and almost certainly the most loved fair in Victorian Britain. He made his way through a uniformly white society, and in doing so he successfully performed to capacity crowds for the nearly 30 years.
