Minack Theatre

The Minack Theatre is Cornwall’s amazing open-air theatre, carved into a rocky granite outcrop that juts right out into the sea. It is set in glorious gardens overlooking the spectacular panorama of Porthcurno Bay and just 4 miles from Lands End.

The Theatre is one of those “must-see” places to go when visiting Cornwall. The theatre faces South East across the mouth of the English Channel, an area rich with wildlife and a wonderful place to experience the wild beauty of the Cornish coast.

The theatre was the brain child of Rowena Cade, who moved to Cornwall after the First World War and built a house for herself and her mother on land at Minack Point. In 1929, a local village group of players had staged Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a nearby meadow at Crean, 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.

Over the next three years, Miss Cade and her gardener, Billy Rawlings, 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, working over the course of the winter months each year throughout her life so that others might perform each summer.

Today the Minack Theatre stages a full programme of live performances and at other times you are welcome to explore the dramatic site and enjoy the glorious sub-tropical gardens full of exotic plants.

Because it is a working theatre there is often something happening on stage even when there isn’t a performance. You will often be able to watch a workshop or a rehearsal in progress, or you may see a set being built for the next production.

When there is nothing on, you can explore the open air theatre itself, stand on the stage (even declaim a bit if you wish!)

Admission to the Minack is by advance booking of a specific time slot.