Minack Theatre at Porthcurno

This is a pretty remote and often windswept part of Cornwall, in West Penwith beyond Penzance and not far from Land's End. All the more remarkable therefore that this should be the location of the most unusual theatre in Britain, Minack Theatre. Created in the 1930s by an amazing lady, Miss Rowena Cade - much of it literally by her own hands - this cliff-top open-air theatre was hewn from solid rock, looking for all the world like an ancient Greek theatre. Seating looks out over the Atlantic and the balconies, terraces and steps are all part of the unusual stage on which the action sometimes surrounds the audience. Minack's season runs from May to September but you do take your chances with the weather. Highly professional productions run from such as Beowulf, through Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde to opera. Throughout the year you can visit Minack's Visitor Centre to learn the amazing story of the theatre's creation in an excellent small exhibition. There is a good coffee shop (note that you have to pay an entrance fee to use this), a shop and a small sub-tropical garden. We revisited in October 2004, as part of an outing that included nearby Porthcurno Telegraph Museum and a coast path walk to the charming fishing cove of Porthgwarra.

Minack, what a setting!

From Penzance, A30, B3283 through St. Buryan, and B3315