Minack Theatre - Cornwall, UK
Posted by: 
Sparks68
N 50° 02.451 W 005° 39.061
30U E 310181 N 5546538
The Minack Theatre is an open-air theatre located near Porthcurno, 4 miles from Land's End, Cornwall. The name Minack comes from Cornish meynek means a stony or rocky place
Waymark Code: WM84AW
Location: South West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/25/2010
Views: 18
The theatre was the brainchild of Rowena Cade, who lived at Minack House overlooking Porthcurno Bay. In 1929, a local village group of players had staged Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in a nearby meadow, repeating the production the next year. They decided that their next production would be The Tempest and Miss Cade offered the garden of her house as a suitable location, as it was beside the sea. Miss Cade and her gardener made a terrace and rough seating, hauling materials down from the house or up via the winding path from the beach below. In 1932, The Tempest was performed with the sea as a dramatic backdrop, to great success. Miss Cade resolved to improve the theatre, toiling hard over the course of the winter months each year throughout her life (with the help of Billy Rawlings and Charles Angove) so that others might perform each summer.
In 1955, the first dressing rooms were built. Since 1976 the theatre has been registered as a Charitable Trust and is now run by a local management team. Rowena Cade died on 26 March 1983, at the age of 89.
Nowadays, the theatre is used from June to September for a full summer season of 17 plays, produced by companies from all over the UK and visiting companies from the USA. The theatre is open for visitors throughout the rest of the year.
Type of Amphitheater: Contemporary Amphitheater
Amphitheater Website: [Web Link]
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