Minack Theatre

Few theatres have a backdrop like this one. The Minack is cut into a steep granite gully on the cliffs above Porthcurno, at the far western tip of Cornwall, and its terraces of seats step down towards a stage that seems to hang over the Atlantic. Behind the actors there is nothing but sea: the turquoise water of Porthcurno Bay, the pale sand of Pedn Vounder beach, and on a clear day the coastline running all the way to the Lizard peninsula. The paths down to the stage wind through a garden of sub-tropical plants, aeoniums, agaves and agapanthus, that thrive in the mild, salty air.

The theatre is essentially the work of one woman. Rowena Cade moved to Cornwall after the First World War and built a house on Minack Point. In 1929 she became involved with a village group of players, and when they looked for a setting for The Tempest, she offered the gully below her garden. With her gardener Billy Rawlings she built a rough terrace and seats, and the play was performed there in 1932, with the sea as its scenery. She never stopped. For the next half century, mostly through the winters, she and a few helpers kept extending the terraces, dressing rooms and stairways, working well into her eighties. She died in 1983, shortly before her ninetieth birthday.

Look closely at the seats and walkways. Much of the theatre is concrete, mixed with sand that Cade carried up from Porthcurno beach, and while it was still wet she decorated it with an old screwdriver: Celtic knots, shells, waves, compass roses, and on many seats the names and dates of plays performed here. The result looks ancient at a glance, like a Greek theatre worn by weather, but it is a deeply personal, handmade place. Since 1976 it has been run as a charity, and it still stages a full summer season of plays and music from Easter to the end of October. An exhibition on the site tells Cade's story.

Getting there

The theatre is at Porthcurno, about 6 km from Land's End and about 12 km from Penzance, the nearest town and the terminus of the main railway line through Cornwall. The Land's End Coaster, an open-top bus from Penzance to Land's End, stops at Porthcurno. The nearest airport with regular flights is Cornwall Airport Newquay (NQY), about 65 km away. There is a limited car park at the entrance with a grass overflow area.