• Andy Sheppard

    Andy Sheppard, solo tenor and soprano saxophonist.

    Don’t miss this! A real treat and not just for jazz lovers, this is a chance to get up close and personal with one of the UK’s leading jazz musicians and composers. For those who think they aren’t into jazz, come and be entranced by Andy’s lyrical, weaving tunes and soulful playing, enhanced by his subtle use of live backing loops. Andy will play a single 75 minute set, to be followed by an informal question and answer session chaired by a local jazz enthusiast.

    The man who has emerged as one of Britain’s foremost tenor and soprano saxophonists was introduced to the music of John Coltrane at the age of nineteen and immediately went out and bought his own saxophone. A successful recording artist, bandleader and composer (for film, TV and theatre), Andy Sheppard is one of a very few British jazz artists to have made a significant international impact. He has worked with an astonishing range of musical partners and is remarkably, one of a very few soloists to have played in the big bands of all three of the greatest post-war jazz composers, Carla Bley, George Russell and Gil Evans. Other collaborators have included Northumbrian piper and fiddler Kathryn Tickell, and eclectic pianist Joanna MacGregor. Andy has a string of albums to his name, including Learning to Wave (1998), Nocturnal Tourist(2001), Movements in Colour (2009) and his latest collaboration with Michel Benita and Sebastian Rochford, Trio Libero (2012).

    Sheppard is always a compelling voice…’, Time Out

    ‘Romanticism, carefully managed anarchy and accessibility subtle, elegant jazz…’  The Guardian

    Tickets £10/£9 concessions.

  • MAYDAY MAYDAY by Theatre Damfino

    On the eve of Mayday 2004 Kneehigh’s Tristan Sturrock broke his neck falling off a wall in Padstow as part of the celebrations. Paralysed in Treliske hospital and about to become a father for the first time, he was told he may never walk again.

    After a sell out run at Bristol Old Vic he brings his poignant, & life-affirming true story back to his homeland Cornwall – appropriately close to Mayday 2012 – as part of a UK tour.

    Since his recovery in Derriford’s spinal unit where he was put back together again, he has performed all over the world, most recently on Broadway in Kneehigh’s Brief Encounter. “

    Audiences have called it ” Horrifying and wonderful… beautiful and brilliant… transporting and funny… a true celebration of theatre, life and the NHS..

    Tickets £9 (£7 concessions)

  • Gigspanner

    A welcome return of Steeleye Span violinist Peter Knight and his band with their unique brand of high energy folk.

    Tickets £10

  • Spiers and Boden

    Founder members of modern folk icons Bellowhead, Spiers and Boden are described by the Guardian as “the finest instrumental duo on the traditional scene.”

    Together they have made the genre of spontaneous, punky English folk very much their own stomping ground.
    “Joyousness reigns.” …The Observer
    Tickets £12, £10

  • Teasel Theatre: Grisly Tales from Tumblewater

    Edward Jaspers is a captivating storyteller spinning a yarn which grips from the initial downpour all the way through to the first glimpse of sunshine at the end.

    In association with Carn to Cove

    Tickets £5

  • Wardrobe Ensemble: Riot

    Based on the real life riot at the opening of a new Ikea store in Edmonton in 2005. At the stroke of midnight the British public punch, kick, strangle and
    eventually stab their way to £45 sofas and £35 bed frames. ‘Riot’ is an epic tale of violence, greed, and cheap sofas.

    Tickets £9, £8, Children £4

  • The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra Brass Section

    In association with Carn to Cove

    A very special opportunity to enjoy a variety of classical music from the brass section of the renowned Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.
    Tickets £10, £8 and Family £25

  • Release

    ‘RELEASE’ explores the lives of three prisoners in their first few months after release, as they attempt to reconnect with the people and remnants of life they left behind.

    “A sharp, impeccably performed and blazingly impassioned piece of theatre…simply terrific.”

    The Times

    Tickets £9, £8, Children £4

  • Loot

    Loot follows the fortunes of Hal and Dennis, who rob a bank next to the funeral parlour where Dennis works and return to Hal’s home to hide the money. Hal’s mother has just died and the money is hidden in her coffin. But where will they hide the body?

    Fay, a sexy young nurse with seven deceased husbands to her name, is interested in marrying Hal’s father, McLeavy. However, Dennis has already had his way with Fay and wants to marry her. And he can offer her more financial “security”.

    Inspector Truscott arrives and the plot turns topsy turvy as Hal and Dennis try to keep him off their trail.

    During Joe Orton’s short but prolific career, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his farcical black comedies.

    Loot, first performed in 1965, was Orton’s third major production, following Entertaining Mr Sloane and the television play The Good and Faithful Servant. Playing with the conventions of popular farce, Orton examines English attitudes and perceptions in the mid twentieth century.

    The play won several awards in its London run and is now regarded as a comic masterpiece.

    Loot will be at The Tolmen Centre in Constantine on Friday 2nd December at 7.30pm
    And at the Poly in Falmouth on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th December at 7.30pm

    Loot is presented by Cornwall’s newest theatre company, Fruit.
    It is directed by Keri Jessiman, well known for her legendary comic performances in the early days of Miracle Theatre.

  • Jackie Oates with Tristan Seume

    “Oates has emerged as a frontrunner among the new generation of Brit folkies, marked out by the purity of her voice”…The Observer

    Tickets £10, £8, Children £4

    Jackie Oates is a singer and fiddle player hailing from Staffordshire. Her unique treatment of English ballads and songs, and pure, haunting singing style has established her at the forefront of the new English folk revival.

    Since appearing as a finalist in the BBC Radio 2 Young Folk Awards 2003, she has performed extensively at festivals and venues across the country and beyond, in a solo capacity and with her band. She was a founder member of Northumbrian group and Mercury nominated Rachel Unthank and the Winterset, Jackie is now a permanent member of the folk super-group The Imagined Village as well as touring in her own right.

    The end of 2009 saw her album Hyperboreans receive a nomination for the Roots Critics’ Poll Album of the Year, and nominations for the 2010 Folk Awards for Folk Singer of The Year, Album of the Year and Best Traditional Track for ‘Isle Of France’.

    In September 2011 Jackie Oates released her fourth studio album titled ‘Saturnine’, featuring contributions from Jim Moray, Karen Tweed and The Claque. Now a major name in the English folk scene, Jackie followed the release with a major round of touring in the UK and abroad and a packed season of festival appearances, with sales of Saturnine eclipsing those of her previous albums.

    In 2012 she began an extensive period of research into an area of song that is particularly close to her heart: lullabies.  The album ‘Lullabies’ will be released on 18th March 2013 by ECC Records and followed by two Lullabies tours in April and October 2013.

    ‘Standing out from English folk’s remarkable new wave, Oates has the finest voice of them all…Saturnine shows Oates at the top of her game’ Independent On Saturday (album of the week).

    Tristan Seume is one of the UK’s leading acoustic guitarists as a soloist, accompanist and session musician. As well as currently touring with  Jackie, he performs at arts centres and festivals all over Europe. He is also a respected tutor, lecturing at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, and is a regular columnist for international publications, Guitarist and Guitar Techniques.

    Delighting audiences up and down the UK with his blend of folk, country, Celtic and neo-classical styles, and with his cheerful stage presence, he has been likened to players such as John Renbourn and Gordon Giltrap     “A spectacular player” – Neville Marten, Guitarist Magazine

  • Translunar Paradise

    After a ground-breaking season, which saw the company premiere ‘Translunar Paradise’ to substantial critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe 2011, they have gone on to win a clutch of theatre awards for this production, including Liverpool Daily Post ‘Best Fringe Show of 2011’, The Fringe Review ‘Outstanding Theatre Award’ 2011, The Observer ‘Iron Man’ Award for Kim Heron and Brave New World Award & Audience Award at the Sarajevo MESS Theatre Festival, Bosnia & Herzegovina 2011.

    Exquisitely created, Translunar Paradise is told entirely without words and in their place are movement, haunting music and masks. This is a powerful and emotional tale of a man who is confronted by the solitude of bereavement.

    Director and performer George Mann says,“This is about the gap between young and old. Age, like a mask, can obscure the fact a person was once young. We’re working without words to convey this story through the body and music on a poetic level. The audience will be immersed in feeling, sensations and movements. We hope they go home feeling they’ve experienced something very special.”

    • “an extraordinary performance”The Observer
    • “Extraordinarily poignant…beautifully performed…. packs a real emotional punch. In the end, this is a show about loss that is as much about mourning your own lost self as about the grief at the death of a long-term partner.”The Guardian
    • “an admirable, infinitely gentle and wordless story of loss and remembrance”The Times
    • “I really cannot recommend this highly enough, it is not just one of the best shows I have seen at this year’s fringe, but any fringe.”The Stage
    • “a thing of perfection.” British Theatre Guide

    (Cafe suppers available before and after the show)

    Tickets £10/£8/£4

  • The Animals and Children Took to the Streets

    1927 use the live performance and animation techniques that it employed to such brilliant effect in Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea to develop a more sustained narrative about life east of the city where the bankers make big bucks.

    A jaw-droppingly clever and gloriously subversive parable…The Guardian
    Anyone interested in the theatre should see this company now…Observer

    Tickets £10, £8, £4

    A co-promotion with Cornwall Film Festival

  • The Mousehole Cat

    Puppetcraft bring this charming tale to life with carved wooden puppets, coloured shadows, live music and a beautiful set.

    Children over 4 £4

  • Harpers Bizarre

    Sarah Deene Jones can’t be with us, but her Harp Ensemble will be joined by Friends in Harmony to present an evening of English traditional and celtic music, jazz and original pieces.

    Tickets £7 or £10 (includes ploughman’s supper of soup and cheese at 6pm. Booking essential.) In aid of the Heritage Centre.

  • Shylock

    In this poignant,powerful yet very humorous account, Shylock is explained to us through his (only) friend Tubal via a series of clever impersonations from Portia to Adolf Hitler. Gareth Armstrong’s Shylock is one of the world’s most successful solo shows, and here, Guy Masterson demonstrates its brilliance. “Innovative, delightful, exceptional!” … The Independent

    Tickets £10, £8, Children £4

  • Aperol Quartet

    We welcome back Edward Shaw with a newly formed classical quartet. The program will include Mendelssohn’s String Quartet Op 80 in F.

    Tickets £7.50

  • Olde Tyme Music Hall and Magic Show

    Join us for an incomparable, incredible and inestimable evening. Step back to the early 1900s and be immersed in stupendous singing, minervian magic, and a meal of gastronomic delights.

    Dress Victorian/Edwardian
    Ticket including supper £15

    In aid of the Heritage Centre

  • Bareback in Botswana

    The third in the series, Sara and Gia talk about their recent holiday horse-riding with big game in the Okavango Delta. Dancing afterwards to the Sunshine boys

    In aid of the Tolmen Garden Fund and the Okavango Education Project

    Tickets £10 inc. free glass of wine

  • One Darke Night

    One Darke Night combines extracts from renowned Cornish playwright Nick Darke’s canon of work. Fusing extracts from lesser- known works with firm audience favorites such as the King of Prussia and Hells Mouth, and featuring exclusive extracts from Nick’s private journals and correspondence, this imaginative show explores the creative process of the writer. Combining a cast of versatile performers, simple staging and projected film this performance showcases Nick’s exquisite talent for combining blistering dialogue, quirky characterisation and beautiful prose in plays which are as moving as they are hilarious! Tickets £8, £7, Children £4

  • The Rua Macmillan Trio

    Awarded the prestigious title of BBC Radio Scotland Young Traditional Musician of the Year in 2009, Rua Macmillan is one of the rising stars in the highly competitive world of Scottish traditional music.

    Tickets £9, £8 Children £4
    Café Tolmen will be open for pre show suppers for this event – booking essential.

  • Jake Walton and Tinkers Cuss

    An evening of modern English folk music in aid of GNHCT, supporting orphan children in Africa.

    Tickets £7.50, Children £4

    Based in Cornwall Jake Walton is a unique singer songwriter who has toured extensively. Famed as a Celtic music pioneer he plays the guitar and hurdy gurdy. His music reflects both Cornish and Breton influences of Celtic myth and legend. Together with Tinker’s Cuss there will be a wide range of instruments and voices, both traditional and contempory. This will range from the slow and gentle to the more upbeat bluegrass.

    This performance is in aid of GHNCT, a charity founded by Annette Montague-Thomas, a Cornish herbalist and qualified pharmacist.

    The charity which is run from Truro, runs a clinic on a settlement in South Africa where the inhabitants live in abject poverty.  This was started in 2000 after Annette saw a programme about the suffering caused by the Aids/HIV pandemic in sub Saharan Africa.  She was so moved that she felt that she must do something about it and flew out and met officials from the Department of Health.

    Following this she set up a clinic and an orphan’s reception centre to try to alleviate some of the suffering in one of the most impoverished areas in the world.

    This is a free clinic in an area of 2,000,000 plus people.  There are now 15,000 patients and 13,000 babies and children being looked after in a foster care system.

    By supporting this event not only will you be entertained but you will be supporting a worthwhile charity.

  • Operation Greenfield

    Somewhere in middle England four unlikely teenagers are preparing for judgment day with ladders, Elvis and Forest Fruits squash.Stokely’s annual talent competition is nigh. With a stage full of instruments and an eclectic mix of recorded music, Little Bulb Theatre capture the confusing, awkward and beautifully naïve time of adolescence. A bizarre and fantastical exploration of music, faith and friendship, from Total Theatre, Fringe First and Arches Brick winners.‘Recklessly talented….insanely brave’ Guardian In cooperation with Carn to Cove.Tickets £8, £7, Children £4

  • Peter Knight of Steeleye Span presents Gigspanner

    Peter Knight’s Gigspanner has been hailed by Songlines magazine as “another milestone in folk’s rebirth of cool moment”, but those in the know will tell you that there is far more to Gigspanner than meets the eye.

    Fine British traditional music is to be expected from Steeleye Span’s legendary fiddle player, but Gigspanner’s musical reach probes into Eastern European, French, African and even Aboriginal influences. It is no surprise that author Terry Pratchett wrote that “Peter Knight can spin the world on his bow”. It is music played with a potency and love that leaves audiences spellbound.

    Peter is joined by Roger Flack on Guitar, and Vincent Salzfaas on Congas and Djembe, both intelligent and powerful musicians in their own right. Together they promise “a blistering pace of a flamboyant musical world tour” (Lancashire Evening Post).

    Gigspanner’s Debut Album ‘Lipreading the Poet’ was named as one of the best 15 Global Albums of 2009. But leave any pre-conceived ideas at the door, and ditch the pigeonholes. If you have a taste for “music of intelligently crafted brilliance” (Songlines magazine) there is something here to nurture your soul.

    Tickets £10

    gigspanner.com

  • Endless Journey

    ‘Endless Journey’ brings together four musicians from two of Niger’s leading internationally known music groups, Mamane Barka and Etran Finatawa. Their swirling strings, driving rhythms and haunting vocals evoke the vast open spaces of the desert and the very soul of nomadic life.

    Tickets £10, £8, Children £4

  • Owdyado Theatre: About a Bench

    About a Bench is a charming performance about human communication and interaction. It is the tale of the bench; the silent protagonist that ties together seven stories stretched across decades.

    The two actors brilliantly portray a staggering array of brightly coloured characters, with stories varying from black comedy to tragedy.

    Tickets £8 £7 Children £4

  • Bear Trap Theatre: Bound

    Compelled by the threat of bankruptcy, fishing trawler the Violet and its mismatched crew are forced out into treacherous weather. The new bracingly physical show from Bear Trap Theatre Company. Six actors, five chairs, one table and an ocean. Bound.

    “This is a small but beautifully thought-out piece of work, a sea-bleached story told with passion and performed with real dynamism.” Lyn Gardner.The Guardian

    As it’s a Wednesday performance, Café Tolmen will be open from 5.30 for sensibly priced pre show meals.

    Tickets £9, £8 Children £4
    As a continuation of the now closed Arts Council Free Tickets Scheme we are able to offer reduced price children’s tickets for just £2 if booked in advance.

  • Malina’s Dream

    Angel Heart Theatre present ‘Malina’s Dream’

    Malina lives with Grandpa in the land of the midnight sun. Into her frozen world comes a stranger, whose ship is crushed in the ice. Malina knows only she can save the stranger’s life! Breathtaking puppets, shadow puppetry, live
    music create magical theatre.
    Suitable for 4+years

  • Barbershopera: Apocalypse No

    The amazingly talented Barbershopera return with an even sillier story and yet more dazzling vocal skills.

    Barbershop’s funniest quartet present their third a cappella comedy musical – and this time they’re going apocalyptic.

    In association with Carn to Cove.

    Tickets £9, £8 Children £4

  • Dalla

    An evening of Cornish based folk music from the inimitable Dalla, famous for their compelling dance rhythms and new and traditional singing.

    Tickets £8, £7, £4

  • Cube Theatre: Gepetto

    A new play by Jon Welch. 1950’s New York. In a shabby flat a teenage girl auditions for the role of puppeteer for a production of Pinocchio. But all is not as she expects. Geppetto is a heart-rending, but often hilarious story of a broken man’s obsessive search for his own puppet-boy, and how the chance pairing of this odd couple offers them both a glimpse of something lost and something to be yet found.

    Tickets £8,£7, Children £4

  • Showstopper! The Improvised Musical

    A brand new musical is created from scratch at each performance of this Edinburgh award-winning production, where audience suggestions help to create a show on the spot. The all-singing, all-dancing cast improvise with brilliant and unpredictable results.

    ‘Not only is each performance achingly funny, it’s a genuinely new musical every time. Worth seeing again and again. Time Out

    Tickets £9, £8 Children £4

  • Ovid’s Metamorphoses

    Pants on Fire’s actor-musician extravaganza relocates Roman mythology to 1940’s wartime Britain.

    Cupid – an evacuee with a catapult, Narcissus – a Hollywood Matinee Idol drooling over his screen image and an Andrews Sisters Chorus finding close harmony amid cosmic chaos. ‘75 fantastical minutes from a company that certainly lives up to the cheekiness of its name. A breakthrough show.’

    Lyn Gardner. The Guardian

    Tickets £9, £8 Children £4

  • Beauty and the Beast from Mars – Miracle Theatre

    Also Thursday 20th January

    With original sixties inspired tunes from a 4-piece band, live video animation, technical wizardry and huge laughs from Cornwall’s foremost ‘masters of comedy’, Beauty and the Beast from Mars promises to be great all-round family entertainment.

    On Wednesday 19th only, Cafe Tolmen will be open for pre theatre meals from 5.30pm. Booking essential. Tickets £10, £8 Children £6

  • Cube Theatre: Pinocchio

    Children’s Matinee

    The dazzling Cube Theatre return with a magical retelling of the classic story. Using two actors and puppets, the show explores the fantastical adventures of the little puppet on the quest to become a real child.

  • 6.0 How Heap and Pebble took on the World and Won


    “… brilliant… it’s intelligent and rather poignant too, in the way it shows two people beaming with misguided optimism in the face of calamity.

    Heap and Pebble just carry on regardless; their fixed smiles never slip even as the polar ice cap melts.”The Guardian

    Tickets £8,  £7 Children £4

  • Universerama with Craig Johnson

    Craig Johnson, Kneehigh performer renowned for his skill and charm has developed this new show Universerama as a blend of storytelling and cabaret. He uses puppets, props,music and comedy to convey the wonder of the cosmos in a funny and informative show for all the family.

    We study the stars, visit distant galaxies, and hear the fascinating story of John Couch Adams, the Cornishman who discovered Neptune. Tickets £8, £7 Children £4

  • DANCE: CSCAPE

    CScape– our resident Dance and Physical Theatre Company – are running a Community Dance project at Trebah Gardens in early July. There are two open rehearsal sessions at the Tolmen Centre – on Wednesday 16th and 30th June: they are seeking 100 dancers of all shapes, sizes, ages and genders so there’ll be room for everyone. Ring Sally (Cscape) Williams on 07793953261 to find out more

    OR JUST TURN UP!! The sessions run from 5pm to 9pm

    (Café Tolmen will also be open on these nights so work up an appetite and then have supper – or vice versa!)