The Minack Theatre have announced their 2022 season.
The Minack’s Executive Director, Zoë Curnow says “For the last two seasons the uncertainty caused by Covid forced us to hold back on performance announcements until late in the year, but we’re now able to plan with more confidence. I’m delighted at the exciting line up of music, drama and other events we have put together for 2022.”
The season will open in March with a black comedy by Cornish writer Carl Grose (Dead Dog in a Suitcase, The Tin Drum). Superstition Mountain is the hilarious story of three brothers from St Day in Cornwall, who follow the family legend of a hidden goldmine all the way to the wild west. Superstition Mountain is produced by The Minack Theatre in partnership with Ha Hum Ah Theatre.
This will be followed at Easter by another Minack Production, Hetty Feather by Emma Reeves, based on the popular children’s books by Jacqueline Wilson.
“This production was in rehearsal in 2020 when Covid struck,” explains Zoë. “The set was built, and we were only a few days from opening when Lockdown was announced. The cast includes a number of young performers from our Minack Acting Academy, and it was especially heart-breaking for them to cancel after all their hard work.
“It’ll be very emotional to bring it back to life now, after the two years we’ve all been through. It’s an appropriate play with which to start a new year, as it celebrates the triumph of the human spirit even through the darkest times. I just hope the children haven’t grown too much, or we may need to make some new costumes!”
A highlight of the season will be Calvino Nights, a new productionby Mike Shepherd In Cahoots with the Minack and imPossible Producing. Founder and former Artistic Director of Kneehigh, Mike, and co-director Elayce Ismail, invite you to join the marvellous Mr Calvino and his motley troupe of tale-tellers, song-makers and fire-raisers for an unforgettable ride through life told, quite literally, on a cliff-edge precipice!
Calvino Nights is a show for those who’ve lost their moral compass (it’s where you left it!) or for those who simply need a damned good night out!
Zoë says, “We are delighted to be working in cahoots with Mike and imPossible Productions to produce this new piece of theatre. Many generations of Cornish school children (myself included) were inspired by Mike’s work at the Minack in the early days of Kneehigh and we are really excited to reintroduce this style of performance to a new generation of young people, the Cornish community and our visitors.”
The 2022 season is packed with favourite, classic drama, including adaptations of Jane Eyre, Vanity Fair, David Copperfield, Cranford, The Scarlet Pimpernel and A Room with a View, as well as 3 Shakespeare productions, Twelfth Night, The Merry Wives of Windsor and The Tempest. Surrey Opera will be bringing Mozart’s Don Giovanni to the theatre and, in June the Minack will be staging an exciting new opera production of The Firework Maker’s Daughter, by David Bruce and Glyn Maxwell, based on the beautiful fairytale by Philip Pullman (author of His Dark Materials).
Alongside these productions there will be a series of music evenings and touring productions, including Liz Richardson’s one-woman exploration of grief and wild swimming, SWIM co-produced with Theatre by the Lake. Public booking for the majority of events opens 31 January and details of the programme are available on the Minack website.