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A Very Special Theatre
13 August 2007. Okey-Dokey visits the amazing Minack Theatre, on the edge of dramatic cliffs in Cornwall.
Imagine the most spectacular venue for a theatre show. You might imagine somewhere like the Minack Theatre. This open-air theatre is situated on the side of a cliff in south-west England - in the county of Cornwall, which is famous for its dramatic coastline.
We are here for an evening show - a performance of Peer Gynt, a 19th-century fantasy tale by Norwegian writer Henrik Ibsen. The 750-seater theatre is packed. Although it is summer, the sea breeze is very chilly. Everyone has wrapped up with coats, hat and scarves, and many people have brought hot drinks.
The play begins. We see the story of a man who has an adventurous spirit but no morals, who travels across many lands, meets many people, and is forced to consider who he really is.
All through the play, the view of the sea in the background, and the sound of waves hitting the rocks add extra power and poetry to the performance.
But it is after sunset that the atmosphere becomes most powerful. Now we are under the moon and the stars, and the bright theatre lights are captivating.
It is easy to imagine, sitting here, that the theatre is an old Roman ruin, but in fact it is the work and vision of one remarkable woman, Rowena Cade, and two local craftsmen.
History of the Theatre
Rowena Cade lived at Minack House, next to the sea. One year, she went to see a performance of Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream by a local group. The following year, the group planned to perform Shakespeare's The Tempest - a story set on an island - so Rowena Cade suggested they could perform in her garden next to the cliffs.
A rough stage and seating area was made, and in 1932, The Tempest became the first performance at Minack. It was a great success. In the following years, Miss Cade and her workmen toiled away building the theatre from granite (the local stone) and concrete.
Unbelievably, Rowena Cade continued working on the theatre for over 50 years, until she died in 1983, aged 89. She also financed the theatre for many years as it did not make money at first.
Today, the theatre is internationally famous and a popular tourist attraction. It is open during the day for tourists and holds theatre performances for 17 weeks each summer. This year it is celebrating 75 years of theatre under the stars!
The Minack Theatre is a short distance from Penzance and Lands End, the westernmost point in Britain. To find out more, visit the links below:
