One sunny day in 1996 I stayed at a guest house in Porthcurno Cornwall. It's a little cove near Lands End.
It's claim to fame is that it is where the first undersea telegraph cables were laid from and has a museum dedicated to that subject. It has a beautiful white sand beach on which you can see the cables poking out in places.
Early in the evening I heard a fair amount of traffic passing and knowing that the road only went as far as the pub at the top of the cliff I went to investigate. I stumbled across the incredible Minack Theatre.
It is an open air theatre that is set into the cliff with views out over the Atlantic ocean. I sat and watched a George Bernard Shaw play about American Independence.
The theatre was entirely the work of a lady by the name of Rowena Cade who purchased the land in the 1920's and built a house on the headland. After making costumes for a production of A Midsummers Night Dream in 1929 it was proposed that the Minack headland would be perfect for a production of the Tempest in 1930. That winter Rowena and her Gardener fashioned a basic stage and some seating on the cliff and the Minack Theatre was born.
She lived until her late 80's and until she died was working on the theatre. Much of it is made of local granite carved by Rowena and her gardener and when they could no longer afford granite she perfected the art of replicating it in concrete using a screwdriver!!!!
She would carry sand from the beach in bags and steal timbers from wrecked ships in the cove in order to build theatre
It is the most amazing place to see production and truly takes your breath away. The sound system allows you to clearly hear everything and just adds to a memorable experience.
For More information visit.
www.minack.com/theatregoers/history.htm
