Minack Theatre’s Exciting Summer Schedule
It’s one of the most famous outdoor theatres in Europe, painstakingly carved into a rocky gully on cliffs overlooking the lulling shores of Porthcurno Bay.
After weeks of uncertainty due to the coronavirus lockdown, Cornwall’s Minack Theatre has announced a summer schedule of performances, allaying fears that this year’s entire programme would have to be cancelled.
The government’s recent announcement that outdoor arts performances would be able to resume (subject to social distancing rules) came as welcome news for this much-loved clifftop venue.
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“We’ve put loads of changes into the way we will operate” said the theatre’s executive director Zoë Curnow during an interview with ITV West Country News. “We would normally hold 700 – 800 people in this venue, and we’re now going to be looking at a capacity of around 300. So, a socially distanced audience, which actually will give people a bit more room… having a bit more space could actually be really nice for the audiences.”
This year’s revised schedule includes a virtuoso solo performance of the classic Dicken’s novel Great Expectations by Cornish-based actor, David Mynne; The Soldier’s Tale, originally composed by Igor Stravinsky, conducted by Patrick Bailey, and based on a Russian folk tale; and also two concerts performed by Fisherman’s Friends, Port Isaac’s all male a cappella singing group whose rise to fame was the subject of a recent feature film.
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The theatre, which is used to welcoming more than a quarter of a million visitors every year, had found itself stuck in limbo since the lockdown measures were announced in March. MP for St Ives, Derek Thomas, has since used the Minack Theatre as the perfect example of a Covid-safe outdoor venue, having successfully lobbied his Westminster colleagues for its reopening. “The summer is passing us by,” said Zoë Curnow, “we are desperate to put the heart and soul back in the Minack.”
Only a handful of miles from Land’s End, this “theatre under the stars” was first envisioned by Rowena Cade, who during the 1930s invited the local village players to perform on a terrace in her cliff gardens overlooking the magnificent Porthcurno Bay. The theatre soon became Rowena’s lifelong project, devoting endless hours to its construction, helped by her handyman and gardener, Billy Rawlings, and a dedicated team of volunteers – most of the work being done by hand above perilous drops and ravines. Once described by The Telegraph as “the extraordinary woman who almost single-handedly fashioned this marvel from the cliff-face”, her legacy remains etched deep in the theatre’s intricate stonewalls, terraces and winding walkways.
Today, the Minack remains one of the county’s premier attractions, also incorporating subtropical gardens which provide dazzling displays all year round. More recent building projects include an accessible balcony on top of the auditorium, and a café where you can sit back and marvel at the sea views beyond the iconic chequerboard stage.
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