The Tolmen Centre has built up an excellent reputation for presenting high-quality original drama. Miracle, Cube, Cscape, and Pipeline theatre companies are regular visitors both to perform and to develop new work. These are some of the productions we’ve featured at the Tolmen Centre over the past few years:
(the possibility of future splendour)
By Caroline Horton
Directed by Alex Swift and produced by China Plate
Every now and then a piece of theatre crosses our path which is as deeply affecting emotionally as it is magnificent theatrically. Such a piece is ALL OF ME by Caroline Horton.
Derived from her own experiences – almost autobiographical – and full of dark themes of clinical depression – it is also uplifting, and indeed comical in parts.
Caroline Horton is a theatre maker and performer who we have followed since her first show (Olivier Award nominated) ‘You’re Not Like Other Girls Chrissy’ which came to the Tolmen Centre several years ago. She is a truly mesmerising performer, often using her own life experiences as a building block for her theatre.
All Of Me is a dark and difficult play about the depths of depression. Caroline takes us into her own mythical psyche – apologising repeatedly as she does so! – as we are exposed to the inner turmoil of a tortured soul, grappling with suicidal thoughts. While this may sound bleak, Caroline has made a magnificently powerful theatrical experience that is actually, ultimately, optimistic.
★★★★★The Independent
“All of Me is theatrically alive at every moment, even when conveying the deadening weight of depression. And yes, actually, it is ultimately uplifting – but by being raw, honest and elemental, rather than neat or cutesy. I loved it.”
★★★★The Guardian ★★★★Time Out ★★★★The Stage ★★★★Time Out ★★★★ The Scotsman ★★★★The List ★★★★★ Three Weeks ★★★★The Wee Review ★★★★Edinburgh Guide ★★★★one4review ★★★★Theatre Weekly
Mental illness has been brought to the stage in many and varied forms – it is an important and significant subject in today’s world, worthy of examination by all of us.
All of Me gives us that opportunity in a play that is both personal and universal, and which evokes the reality of depression on stage in front of us, through a performance which is powerful and engaging, a genuine theatrical tour-de-force.
All the components of fine theatre are brought together by Caroline and her Director Alex Swift: a dishevelled and mysterious stage set, beautifully arranged music and sound, brilliant writing, and a charismatic performance by a mesmerising performer.
All Of Me was tremendously well received at The Edinburgh Fringe 2019 – just look at the stars, reviews and audience feedback. We were lucky enough to see it at Warwick Arts Centre in January this year, and to then find a space in our programme to schedule it.
We had some worries about a subject matter so dark and so personal. But we decided that our Tolmen Centre audience, who have over the years relished theatre which is challenging, as long as it is of excellent quality, would be glad of the chance to see All Of Me – which is both of those things. We unreservedly recommend this play, deep and dark, but undeniably wonderful theatre.
AWARDS
Commissioned by Cambridge Junction, The Yard Theatre, Harlow Playhouse, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Theatre Iolo, ARC Stockton Arts Centre, The Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton, Camden People’s Theatre and Folkestone Quarterhouse.
Supported by UCL Culture, Battersea Arts Centre, the MA Dramatic Writing Lab at Drama Centre London at Central Saint Martins and Midlands Arts Centre.
Created in conversation with Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust, University College London and STOP Suicide.
Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Tickets £10
Book OnlineBack by popular demand is Twisted Tales Vol. 2; a brand new show by ‘Owdyado Theatre Company touring in 2020. Following on from the huge success of Twisted Tales, which toured across the country in 2018 and 2019, this show is a new trilogy of darkly comic ‘tales of the unexpected.’
Tickets £10, £8, Student/Child over 14 yrs £5
THE ASSEMBLY OF ANIMALS comes to the Tolmen Centre for two performances. Part installation, part sculpture, and part puppetry performance, this is an exciting addition to our spring programme as part of the “Festival of Curious Puppetry”. The show, which is suitable for all ages from 3 upwards, lasts about half an hour, followed by an opportunity for audience members to explore the objects used and see how they function.
The Assembly of Animals has been performed widely across the UK and Europe to audiences of all ages and has been part of the British Council Showcase, which takes standout shows from the Edinburgh Fringe to wider audiences.
Tim Spooner is a visual artist and performance maker. Exemplifying the low-tech, handmade yet magical quality of Spooner’s work, The Assembly of Animals is a series of demonstrated experiments, where the performers assemble, reorganise and animate an array of ingeniously constructed ‘animals’ of very different sizes and forms. Magnets, motors, inflating objects, travelling glowing liquid and other mechanisms give this complex installation a movement and life of its own.
Think of it as a series of ‘performed sculptures’ which fuse scientific experimentation together with puppetry. Creating vibrating compositions of living and inanimate matter through a combination of sound, electricity and often mundane everyday materials.
Tim Spooner’s idiosyncratic and unique performances attempt to expand our understanding of the physical world by revealing the inner life of objects. Spooner’s work – usually non-verbal but full of vibrant sound – appeals to all ages.
After the performance, the audience is invited to explore the objects more closely and to discover the ways they function.
“Tim is an artistic inventor and creates this carefully constructed world, the delicacy of which requires consistent marvelling and leaves children entertained throughout” (Theatre Bristol Writers)
“Absolutely fascinating, undeniably bonkers” (Children’s Theatre Reviews)
NOTE: This show is quite abstract in form, and is a long way from being a conventional puppet show. Expect to be surprised…. and inspired!
Performances at 2pm and 5pm
By Pipeline Theatre
Following their introductory tour early last year, DRIP DRIP DRIP has been recast and rewritten for its new nationwide tour in 2020.
We are fortunate to have the only performance in Cornwall on this tour, as the company journeys across the country, ending with a long run at the Pleasance Theatre in London.
In its new form and with a new cast, the play retains it’s powerful examination of racism and political extremism, in the context of our beloved NHS in 2020.
As with all Pipeline’s work, and with Jon Welch’s writing, this is a play that merits seeing for a second time, especially as it has evolved in keeping with the changing circumstances facing the country and the NHS.
And if you missed it last time, grab the only chance to see it at The Tolmen Centre, Pipeline’s home venue – from where all their work has originated.
THE STORY: Bed 6, Oncology ward, a local NHS hospital.
Behind the blue curtain – Daniel, a refugee from Eritrea, now training to be a nurse; Rahmiya, a second-generation Muslim doctor; and David, elderly white cancer patient and discredited academic, fretting about his cat, Roger.
Over time, carers and cared-for become an unlikely, dysfunctional family.
But as life ebbs, reality splinters. Glimpsed in the cracks: the Nazi euthanasia programme, a burns clinic in Africa, a cross-Channel human shipment. And drip by drip David’s far-right ideology seeps out, as he prepares his final incendiary lecture (assuming he lives long enough to give it).
Bonds break, and suddenly both Daniel and Rahmiya’s right to call the UK home seems to hang on a dead man’s lips.
Pipeline Theatre, known for indelible characters and immersive design, takes you into the dark corners with unexpected humour and poignancy, busting taboos while offering its love-letter to the NHS.
Below are a few sample reviews from the 2019 tour:
‘Pipeline Theatre might be a tiny company from deepest Cornwall, but its work is creating theatre for the enquiring mind. What they have exposed in this production is profoundly alarming and deserves a much wider audience.’
British Theatre Guide
‘This is an astounding piece of studio theatre, Pipeline is a company deserving of greater recognition.’
number9reviews
“This piece made me laugh, brought a tear to my eye and flung me into worlds I’d never taken the time to venture into before. Perhaps most importantly, it left a lasting, powerful impression and a little hope that we might move past this time of division. In a time where nationalism is the newest superbug, this couldn’t come sooner.”
Voicemag
Tickets £10 (concessions £7)
Book OnlineSquashbox Theatre
‘Tales from the Trees’ is a terrific tangle of puppetry, storytelling, live music and comedy, with a theme that embraces natural history, folklore and ecology.
Listen! The trees have tales to tell. Meet some friendly forest creatures and encounter crazy characters from folklore and fairy tales!…
Tickets £5, Children £2.50, Family £12
Book Onlineby Luke Wright
I believed that Fukayama line: the end of history. But History didn’t end, did it?
Logan Dankworth, columnist and Twitter warrior, grew up romanticising the political turmoil of the 1980s. Now, as the EU Referendum looms he is determined to be in the fray of the biggest political battle for years. Meanwhile, Logan’s wife Megan wants to leave London to better raise their daughter. As tensions rise at home and across the nation, something is set to be lost forever.
The third of Fringe First and Stage Award Winner Luke Wright’s trilogy of political verse plays looks at trust and privilege in the age of Brexit.
“Luke Wright’s performances rumble with rage, passion and humour. They are also peppered with brilliantly smart observations. You will leave his show brimming with energy, heart pounding and brain whirring.” The Guardian
Written & Performed by Luke Wright
Directed by Alex Thorpe
Dramaturgy by Sarah Dickenson
Scored by Polly Wright
Lighting Design by Joe Price
Co-commissioned by Norwich Arts Centre, National Centre for Writing, Colchester Arts Centre, Freedom Festival
Running time: 1h
Age Recommendation: 14+
Tickets £10
Book OnlineGuy Masterson
Globally acclaimed for his smash hit solo works such as Under Milk Wood and Animal Farm, Guy Masterson now brings us Dickens’ classic festive fable. Bringing the entire story to life in a magical multi-character performance, Dickens’ extraordinary myriad of personalities – from Scrooge to Marley, Mrs Fezziwig to Tiny Tim – are stunningly animated in Masterson’s inimitable, multi award winning style.
Tickets £10, Child £5
Book OnlineCloser Each Day Company
Distinctly Dickensian and entirely improvised, created on the spot from your suggestions, a new comedy show, co-produced with The Wardrobe Theatre, a chance to enjoy improv in the time of cholera!
“Quick-witted, very watchable ensemble, razor-sharp in timing and delivery.” StageTalk
Tickets £10, Child £5
Book Online
An outstanding double bill: ‘Origami Mami’, Tentacle Tribe’s acclaimed female breaking trio featured at Sadler’s Wells ‘Breakin’ Convention’, is followed by ‘Nobody likes a Pixelated Squid’ , a “deconstructed street dance” inspired by the fluid movement of diverse land and sea creatures.
In association with Carn to Cove.
Tickets £10, £8, Children £5 Family £25
Book OnlineA stunning double bill from Cube Theatre.
‘Karamazoo’ by Philip Ridley tells Ace’s story. She’s irresistible. Her image is everything and no one – no-one! – ever stands her up…until today.
‘Bike’ by Jon Welch
Karen’s parents, on Karen:, 17, fearless cycling champion; a sweet natured young lady. Karen’s parents are worried. She won’t come out of her bedroom. Which is odd, given she’s such a go-getter. Odder still is what she’s doing in there…
Tickets £8. In aid of the Sowenna Appeal.
Book OnlineDavid William Bryan
Bursting with energy and bold theatrical strokes, David William Bryan tells the true story of his great uncle Arthur who never thought of going to war until the Liverpool bombing raids of the Second World War. In May 1941, he joins up. Deployed to Singapore, his ship is destroyed by Japanese dive bombers and he is declared missing.This extraordinary true story of survival is a dramatic tour-de-force.
‘A tour de force’ (The Scotsman)
‘A fresh sense of humanity’ (Stage)
‘A masterpiece’ (Broadway Baby)
★★★★★ (BroadwayBaby.com)
★★★★★ (Britishtheatreguide.info)
★★★★★ (MyTheatreMates.com)
★★★★★ (Edinburgh Guide)
★★★★ (The Stage)
★★★★★ (Fringe Guru)
★★★★ (Edinburgh Reporter)
★★★★★ (Essential Surrey & Southwest)
Tickets £10
Book Online
A preview showing.
We need to know who we were, so we can imagine who we might be.
Acclaimed theatre company 1927 (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, The Animals and Children Took to the Streets) has unearthed a series of rarely told folktales that offer a glimpse into imaginations from a pre-industrialized age. Tyrannical ogres, magical birds, and very, very fat cats are brought to life with the company’s signature fusion of handcrafted animation and storytelling, with a live score. We are incredibly lucky to have this preview showing of their newest work before it premieres in America.
Please note that this is a first public showing of Roots, and as such has an element of ‘Work In Progress’ to it – it is a staging post towards its opening in America later in May. It won’t be quite the finished product , and there may be some rough edges – that’s inevitable in the process of bringing a complex stage work to completion. But we are delighted to ask our audience to share in this process, and get to see this new work so early in its evolution.
Tickets £10
Book Online
‘Owdyado Theatre
Twisted Tales is a hilariously dark triple bill of riotous comedies that reveal the darkness under the domestic, the lengths people will go to for love, and how to wash blood stains out of a carpet. Inspired by cult series TheTwilight Zone and Inside Number Nine, this series of dark comedies is co-written by Daniel Richards and Charlotte Bister and distinguished Cornish writers Brett Harvey and Jon Welch.
Tickets £10, £8, 14-18 £5
Pipeline Theatre Preview
In overstretched NHS hospital, a trainee nurse from Eritrea and a Muslim doctor treat David – cancer patient, discredited academic, and racist. As life ebbs, reality splinters, jumping between the Nazi euthanasia programme, a burns clinic in Africa, and a National Front march in 1977. But the most pressing reality of all is that Professor David Jeffs has a lecture to finish, and time is running out.
Pipeline Theatre, known for indelible characters and breathtaking production values, takes you on a break-neck, darkly comic and taboo-busting journey through an NHS phantasmagoria.
Tickets £8
Rhum and Clay
A travelling storyteller, a gig economy worker, rushes from his last delivery of the day to recount ancient tales of Jesus and his life… however these versions aren’t like any you’ve heard before. Darkly comic, sometimes tragic and always subversive, Mistero Buffo takes aim at those who manipulate truth and belief for power and control
“Spooner tackles a huge cast of characters…with astonishing sharpness and clarity.”…The Guardian.
“Magnificent production…an astonishing performance.” ..The Stage.
“Go and see this show right now.
As a mime he is flawless, as a storyteller he is utterly compelling.
I just wanted to get that out before wasting any more time. Now to the review.”
“As we walked up the winding staircase to Underbelly’s Big Belly space the walls were dripping with what felt like the sweat of a thousand performers and audience members. We ducked into the venue and the air was thick. The scene was set for an intense 75 mins of possibly the best physical theatre you’ll see in this year’s Fringe.
The Lecoq-trained company Rhum & Clay present Dario Fo’s 1969 comical mystery play, Mistero Buffo, with a furious energy and technical skill that was absolutely deserving of the standing ovation it received.
Julian Spooner is the Jongleur. An itinerant performer from the middle ages who is given the freedom to speak truth to power by Jesus. He roams from city to city, performing to the assembled crowds (that evening, we were his crowd), telling versions of stories from the Bible that attack the powerful in favour of the people.
Fo’s play, translated by Ed Emery and tweaked by Rhum & Clay, is the foundation on which a formidable performance by Spooner is built. It’s the solo performance at the centre of Mistero Buffo that’s remarkable here. It’s the way he shapes and transforms the space as the stories and scenes unfold. It’s the 100+ characters he flickers between with ever-increasing rapidity, climaxing at the resurrection of Lazarus where he conjures up an entire crowd out of thin air. As a mime he is flawless, as a storyteller he is utterly compelling.
But Mistero Buffo isn’t merely a technical marvel. Fo’s text is subtly spun through the lens of modern itinerant and gig-economy workers, sliding this 50-year-old spectacle gently into contemporary relevance. There’s nothing heavy-handed about the way that Rhum & Clay present it though: it deftly dances between the timeless and the modern.
After the standing ovation had died down, Spooner did a customary ‘thank you’ to the audience, and mentioned the workers rights organisation (organise.org.uk) they have partnered with. The story of the Jongleur and the downtrodden people he speaks for is insanely relevant today. In fact I would have loved to see a little more of that in the piece. More relation to the “corporate-dominated post-truth world” that they talk about in the blurb. But it’s a minor criticism, and the opening scene sets this up nicely.
Whether you go for the political allusions and biblical deconstruction, or the spectacle of a performer at the absolute top of his game, Mistero Buffo demands your time. Buy a ticket now, before they sell out.”
…Broadway Baby ***** August 2018
Tickets £10
Book OnlineThe Paper Cinema
A bewitching new production based on ghostly tales. Beguiling pen and ink drawings are magically brought to life by two puppeteers and a projector to create a unique, animated film. They are joined by a hugely talented ensemble of multi-instrumentalists performing the atmospheric soundtrack live on stage.
‘ingenious and beautiful… bound to delight’ The Telegraph
Tickets £10, £5 Children
After the hugely acclaimed What I learned from Johnny Bevan and Frankie Vah, we’re delighted to welcome back Luke Wright. With a new Poet Laureate due to be announced in 2019 he’s chucking his hat in the ring. But let’s be honest, he’s a dark horse at best. But Luke really does care about Britain, so he’s on a mission to write poems that might be able to unite a nation divided by austerity and Brexit. Luke delves into the murky world of poets laureate past: the heroes, the villains, and ones who didn’t even write poetry.
‘One of the funniest and most brilliant poets of his generation’ ..The Independent
‘Pulsating poetic story-telling’ ..The Guardian
Tickets £10
Age category: 14+
The Wardrobe Theatre brings you another of its signature, darkly comic, grownup shows – a loving, playful fusion of the boxing classic with the cross-dressing cult musical masterpiece. A scary-sexy,knock-out comedy that always punches below the belt.
Tickets £10, £8
Lost Dog
Following his tour de force, Paradise Lost, Ben Duke’s new show reveals the real story of Romeo and Juliet. They didn’t die in a tragic misunderstanding, they grew up and lived happily ever after.
Well they lived at least. Now 40ish, at least one of them in the grips of a mid-life crisis, they feel constantly mocked by their teenage selves and haunted by the pressures of being the poster couple for romantic love.
“Pure pleasure. Smart, subversive and sexy.”……..The Guardian “Squirmingly funny and no less heartbreaking.”…The Times “Glorious. Full of warmth and intimacy.”…..The Independent
Taken from David Lane’s review:
“I had the joy of seeing this last night at Déda in Derby. I’m so glad I did, as it’s wonderful!”
“This is really a piece of theatre inter-laced with dance. There’s lots of dialogue, much of which is very funny – the audience was laughing out loud at times. At others times it’s incredibly sad. The beauty of the show is the tenderness and connection between the 2 characters, and the parallels and contrasts with Shakespeare’s star cross’d lovers. You’ll find yourself thinking about your own relationships too. The show definitely respects the original story while embracing some of its silliness – there’s honesty and authenticity in this performance. The choice of music is so apposite. It’s music with baggage, which will trigger memories in the audience, and it underpins the dance beautifully. Juliet & Romeo should appeal to a wide audience spectrum: theatre lovers, Shakespeare buffs, dance enthusiasts, and to anyone who has ever loved!”
“I asked some of the audience for their reactions to Juliet & Romeo last night. Those who helped me were overwhelmingly positive – here are some quotes:”
In association with Carn to Cove Tickets £10, £8
Ridiculusmus
Welcome to the world of war veteran Zach. As the last man standing, Zach has retreated into a tiny dugout under a barrage of hostile fire. His enemies are cunning,using every trick in the book to mess with his mind. Even the landscape is weird: it’s a cardboard box, in Zach’s kitchen, in Port Talbot. Hilarious, poignant, haunting, strange and unforgettable.
“Ridiculusmus at their best”….The Stage
Tickets £10, £8
Scratchworks Theatre
Four train robbers were never caught. What if the anonymous four were women, hired to clean the robber’s hide-out? After all in 1963 who would suspect a woman? Using a raucous combination of physical theatre, live music and clowning Scratchworks uncovers the truth about history’s forgotten women.
Non-stop invention and hilariously funny.
Play screening
We saw this wonderful show live in Edinburgh in 2015 when it won the Carol Tambor Award and was whisked off to New York.
Sadly we couldn’t get the live show to Cornwall, but this film of the stage play is the next best thing. Devised by women in an HM Prison, The Guardian described it as “exquisite…singing with everyday poetry as if the devising had unlocked a waterfall of creativity.”
“moving, intimate and superbly acted”…..New York Times
Leviathan is the critically acclaimed work by award winning Cornish choreographer James Wilton.
Leviathan follows Ahab, a ship captain hell-bent on capturing the white whale: Moby Dick, a beast as vast and dangerous as the sea itself, yet serene and beautiful beyond all imagining.
Ahab’s crew are drawn into the unhinged charisma of their captain, blindly following him on his perilous adventure towards almost certain destruction.
Multi-award winning choreographer James Wilton re-imagines Herman Melville’s seminal novel, Moby Dick.
Featuring a cast of six, Wilton’s trademark blend of athletic dance, martial arts, capoeira and partner-work, Leviathan will have you on the edge of your seat.
It will leave you gasping for air under the sheer ferocity of movement, all accompanied by a powerful electro-rock soundtrack by Lunatic Soul.
Leviathan is man versus nature; be careful what you fish for.
Tickets £10 (£8 concessions) from 01326 341353 or online via www.tolmencentre.co.uk
The multi award-winning comedy trio are back with their critically acclaimed EdFringe sell-out comedy; set in the most dangerous place on Earth …Space.
Sammy Johnson, the last Police Cop in the universe, blasts off in an unmanned escape pod. Now on a distant planet, Sammy must team up with Alien fighter pilot Ranger and his trusty Cyborg C9 as they embark on an intergalactic adventure to find Earth, avenge his father and become the best damn Police Cop in space.
“Big, consistent laughs..it’s not just funny, it’s exhilarating” …The Guardian
Tickets £10, £8
Theatre Ad Infinitum’s wordless tale of life, death and enduring love returns to tour the UK and Chile following years of extensive international touring amassing nine awards.
Original performers George Mann and Deborah Pugh are joined by Sophie Crawford to retell, with precise gesture and touches of humour, the story of widower William who escapes to a comforting world of fantasy and memories rather than confront his grief. From beyond the grave, his wife Rose returns to help him let go. This poignant, life-affirming tale uses intricate and lifelike hand-held masks – created by Madame Tussaud’s senior sculptor Victoria Beaton – to travel back and forth through William and Rose’s relationship, wordlessly conveying a lifetime of memories in 75 minutes.
How it all started…
Theatre Ad Infinitum premiered Translunar Paradise at the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and experienced an overwhelming response from audiences and professionals alike receiving three awards and three award nominations, selling out our run at The Pleasance Dome, and picking up four & five star reviews across the board.
Following this success the show went on to win a total of nine awards internationally and has toured extensively in the UK in Sept-Oct 2011, Jan-Feb 2012, and Oct-Nov 2013. They were thrilled to sell out a week long run at the 2012 London International Mime Festival at Barbican, a week at the Bristol Old Vic and many nights in venues across the UK (including at The Tolmen Centre).
The piece returned to the Edinburgh Festival in 2012 and sold out for a second consecutive year.
Translunar has also enjoyed extensive international touring in Bogota at the Ibero-American Theatre Festival, Colombia and going on to tour in Brazil for three months with Galharufas Producoes, in Italy, Norway, Israel, Greece, Croatia, Ireland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Belgium and the USA.
Awards
The Wijkjury First Prize Award, The Netherlands 2014 | Argus Angel Award 2012 (Brighton Fringe) | Liverpool Daily Post ‘Best Fringe Show of 2011’ | The Fringe Review ‘Outstanding Theatre Award’ 2011 | The Observer ‘Iron Man’ Award for Kim Heron | Brave New World Award & Audience Award at the Sarajevo MESS Theatre Festival, Bosnia & Herzegovina 2011 | 1st Prize BE Festival Development Award 2010 | Best Theatre Direction Award at ACT Festival Bilbao, Spain 2011
Award Nominations
The Stage Award for ‘Best Ensemble’ 2011 | Total Theatre Award for Visual/Physical Devised Theatre | Brighton Fringe ‘Best of Edinburgh Award’
Reviews
The Times * * * *: “An admirable, infinitely gentle and wordless story of loss and remembrance” -Donald Hutera.
The Stage ‘MUST-SEE!’ Show: “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.” -Alistair Smith.
“This is a show that will steal your heart.” ★★★★★ Scotsman
“Uniquely devastating” Observer
5 Star Reviews: The Scotsman | What’s On Stage.com | Fest Magazine | British Theatre Guide | Fringe Review | Edinburgh Guide.com | Fringe Guru
4 Star Reviews: The Times | The List | Exeunt Magazine | Edinburgh Festivals Magazine | Three Weeks
Tickets £12, £10
Luke Wright
Following the multi-award-winning What I Learned From Johnny Bevan, Luke Wright’s new verse play deals with love, loss, and belief, against a backdrop of 80s politics and music. Simon, a vicar’s son from Essex, has become Frankie Vah and replaced religion with radical politics and ranting poetry. He and his beloved girlfriend Eve live in love and penury, but when Frankie goes on tour with indie darlings The Midnight Shift, his new world is put to the test.
‘Pulsating, poetic storytelling’ The Guardian
Tickets £10, £8
Pipeline Theatre
On holiday in Cornwall they crashed the car and lost the dog, but had the best Christmas ever. A heartwarming community show made with and by people from Camborne and Redruth.
Tickets £6, £3, £15 family
Worklight Theatre
Everyone has felt the prickle of anger, so why do some men lash out while others stay in control? In an amazingly fast moving performance, Joe Sellman-Leava channels his own irritation at his chirpy,cheery girlfriend, MikeTyson‘s tirades, Patrick Stewart fearfully recollecting the domestic violence that scarred his childhood and passages of Shakespeare, brimming with spite and anger. A thrilling new performance about violence and masculinity, from internationally acclaimed Worklight Theatre.
Tickets £10, £8
We Are Brontë is a piece of hilarious visual theatre inspired by the real and imaginary worlds of Yorkshire’s literary siblings, presented in Publick Transport’s irreverent style. Physical theatre collides with stand-up, clowning and improvisationas two performers deconstruct Gothic themes of love, madness, repression and revenge. Part play, part enquiry into the act of putting on a play, this is no ordinary Brontë adaptation.
Danny, a teenage dabbler in petty crime, starts to care for Joy, whose nocturnal wanderings and forgetfulness worry her family. The show brilliantly conveys her fear on finding herself alone, in her nightie, in a busy street. It also conjures up her past, in particular during the Blitz. It’s an unconventional companionship between Joy and Danny, who find love and laughter against the odds.
“Finding Joy” is an intensely emotional and enjoyable show.
Tickets £12, £10, Family £34 (children 12+)
In association with Carn to Cove
Shostakovich, writing his life affirming 7th Symphony, flees the Leningrad siege leaving his less talented student contemporary Karl to attempt to survive starvation and loss and miraculously conduct and broadcast the symphony among the ruins. A concert-play based on the novel by Sarah Quigley.
Tickets £10, £8
We are thrilled that the Pretend men have recovered from the car accident that caused the postponement of this great show in February.
The Pretend Men’s critically acclaimed, multi award-winning comedy blockbuster Police Cops is an action-packed hour of adrenaline-fuelled physical comedy, cinematic style and uncompromising facial hair.
Tickets £10, £8
One actor. One hour. One man’s epic quest to reunite with his family and seek his bloody revenge. Odyssey follows the Greek warrior Odysseus in his relentless attempt to get home so he can see his wife and son again before he dies. Passionate, highly physical and poignant storytelling brings this breathtaking adventure to life. A journey that will ignite the imagination and awaken the senses.
“The Best of the Fringe .”….. Observer
“Theatre Ad Infinitum have moved to the front of the pack.”…..The Guardian.
“This tour de force of physical theatre is unmissable… a stunning piece of physicalised storytelling.”…..The Stage
Tickets £10
The return of the fabulous Medical Maelstrom with their hilarious evening of musical comedy. A unique act that will leave you with a smile on your face and aching with laughter.
In aid of the Cornwall Samaritans
Tickets £17.50 to include substantial nibbles
After their fantastic shows Translunar Paradise and Ballad of the Burning Star, we are delighted to welcome back Theatre Ad Infinitum with Bucket List, winner of Edinburgh Spirit of the Fringe Award 2016. When her mother is murdered for protesting corporate and governmental corruption, Milagros finds herself with only a bloodstained list of those responsible. Determined to make them pay, she embarks on a passionate quest for justice, no matter the cost.
A story about love, loss and revenge, told with physical storytelling, live instrumental music and song.
Tickets £12
In association with Carn to Cove
Nominated for a Total Theatre Award, Infinity Pool is the latest play from the local writer of And Then Come The Nightjars, Bea Roberts
STOP PRESS: This show is in the Top 5 “Editors Theatre Picks” in the Saturday Guardian of 25th February
Emails unopened, cup-a-soup undrunk, a secret in the stock room; Emma Barnicott’s life is leaking as she pines for a world beyond her trading estate office.When she meets a man online who wants to talk to her about more than boilers and two port valves Emma must decide if the chance of a joyous love is worth trading for an imperfect life – or will there always be dead woodlice in the infinity pool? An outstanding performance by Bea Roberts, author of And Then come the Nightjars.
“Utterly unique and exceptional in every way, it’s a heart-breaking story of a stunted life, told with theatrical verve and palpable compassion”
★★★★★ The Stage
“Rare and extraordinary: exceptional storytelling that is full of theatrical spirit.”
★★★★★ The List
“Completely different and deliciously quirky… this original show proved painfully funny and oddly moving.”
★★★★ The Guardian
“Roberts is an intensely funny writer…a writer to watch”
★★★★ The Telegraph
“What at first seems to be a rather small, modest play turns out to be not only a tender, finely observed portrait of male friendship, but also a stirring requiem for the vanishing dignity of rural England.”
★★★★ The Evening Standard
Tickets £10, £8
We’ve just heard that ‘THE PRETEND MEN’ have been involved in a serious traffic accident in London. Several of the company have sustained injuries and as a result they have had to CANCEL Saturday’s performance of Police Cops at The Tolmen Centre.
Obviously Cafe Tolmen will also not be operating as there is no show.
If you have purchased tickets Online, you will receive a full refund from the Booking Agency
We will try to contact all the others who have reserved tickets by phone (unfortunately there are many of them) to let them know.
The Company are enormously sorry about this, they were looking forward to bringing the show to Cornwall, and we are planning to re-schedule the show for a date to be fixed in the summer.
We extend our sympathies to all The Pretend Men, wish them speedy recovery.
We are tremendously sorry for the inconvenience caused, but the circumstances are completely beyond our control.
Following rehearsals at the Tolmen Centre we present a Preview showing of this exciting new production to launch the nationwide tour.
With sharp wit, quick pace and a heavy dose of noir style, the story is told of private eye Charlie Daniels, hired by seductive Elise Hillerman to find her missing husband. Meanwhile writers Charlotte and Daniel struggle to write a script for their new show. A mindbending journey through the world of dreams, imagination and ‘real life’.
Tickets £8
Elsie has lived in the same village all her life.This funny and moving new play shows key moments in Elsie’s life and the life of the village. A sensitive, charming and honest portrayal about changing village life and the right to grow old in your own home.
Tickets £10, £8
In association with Carn to Cove
Sally has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Her husband, Raymond, is dying. But Raymond is thinking ahead. Already an obsessive archivist, he is also a leading Robotics specialist.Their long marriage has had its ups and downs, but now he can make a better version of himself, to look after Sally after he’s gone. Will she accept it?
Another chance to see Jon Welch’s marvellous play Spillikin, newly recast, as it previews before a major tour.
Tickets £8
“You hardly ever see ʻem, only hear them.They fly silent. Itʼs bad luck is Nightjars…”
South Devon, 2001. Local dairy vet Jeff and curmudgeonly farmer Michael are old friends, united by their love of the Devonshire countryside and Jeff’s prize collection of cows. But when the Foot and Mouth pandemic strikes the countryside their friendship – and the resilience of the whole community – is tested to its limits. Bea Roberts’ award-winning play is a touching story of male friendship and a requiem for rural England.
Tickets £10, £8
The story of the beginning of everything inspired by Milton’s Paradise Lost – told through words and music.
A show for anyone who has ever created anything (a child, a garden, a paper aeroplane) then had to watch that wonderful thing spiral out of control.
“an enchanting, very funny show, swooping from the epic to the vulnerable.” The Independent
Tickets £10, £8
We have a particularly strong offer of theatre in this autumn’s programme, amongst our best ever. The sequence starts with this astonishingly powerful solo poetical show by Luke Wright.
We booked it on a strong recommendation from two of our most loyal theatre customers who saw it performed at the (sold out) Soho Theatre in London and were blown away by it. Then we heard an epic extract (‘To London then…’) which was broadcast on Radio 4 in the spring and this confirmed that this show was something special.
In our view it’s worth the ticket price just to hear that single blistering poetical commentary on banking and capitalism in London. But the whole show has received plaudits wherever it has been seen – we are hearing of a whole audience at Port Eliot rising to acclaim Luke’s performance there in July – and many more besides, from audience members and critics alike.
This show promises to maintain the Tolmen tradition of top class, cutting edge theatre and we totally recommend it (though with its fierce message and uncompromising delivery it’s by no means a show for children).
Anyone who has an interest in theatre, poetry, writing, storytelling – or who remembers their adolescence – should grab the chance to see this show.
Tickets £10, £8
We can think of no better way of illustrating why this show is not to be missed than by simply reproducing a long list of plaudits and critical responses, which show the powerful effect this poetical tour-de-force has produced. These are copied below, and worth a read.
“Pulsating piece of poetic storytelling” ★★★★ Lyn Gardner, Guardian
“Blistering … a story of our times … a strikingly assured performance of a compelling piece of writing.” ★★★★ Scotsman
“This is such a rich piece of writing… resonant and timely.” ★★★★★ Exeunt
Reviews from London run/ tour Spring 2016:
‘Luke Wright’s What I Learned from Johnny Bevan is terrific’ Lyn Gardner, Guardian
‘Luke Wright gave a capacity audience at Norwich Arts Centre a show of unmatched passion, power and poignancy in the outstanding performance of the 2016 N&N Festival. ‘What I Learned From Johnny Bevan’ is fast paced, articulate, heartwarming and perfect in execution.’ Norwich Spy
‘He used poetry that spat, and a face that seemed to age with the despair of the characters in his story.’★★★★★ Brighton Argus
‘Wright has a proper power over the English language, a storyteller worth listening to, and I look forward to hearing more’ Tim Auld (for Daily Telegraph)
‘an impassioned, spellbinding performance infused with humour, humanity and wit’ ★★★★ The Reviews Hub
‘a brilliant show, with a charming performance from Wright’ A Younger Theatre
‘Really does convey the power of performance poetry, and focused political satire‘ Write Out Loud
‘Wright performs with relentless vigour, his poetry pops and fizzes. a singularly powerful piece’ ★★★★ Everything Theatre
‘An astonishing, thought-provoking and original tour-de-force’ ★★★★★ London Theatre
‘poet Luke Wright is a singular tour de force: (his) language is precise and evocative and What I Learned From Johnny Bevan is politically charged and practically flawless’ The Play’s The Thing
‘A rollercoaster ride of political poetry & sensational storytelling. Is he the new Berkoff?’ Terri Paddock (founder, What’s On Stage)
‘dramatic, humorous, and political’ This Week In London
‘something rather special, Luke Wright’s performance (10/10) was stunning’ ★★★★★Virtual Festivals (from Kendal gig)
Reviews from Edinburgh Fringe 2015:
“Pulsating, neatly handled piece of poetic storytelling … the breakneck storytelling is clear and gives Wright’s seething, dynamic poetry the room it needs to motor.” ★★★★ Lyn Gardner, GUARDIAN
“a strikingly assured performance of a compelling piece of writing.” ★★★★ SCOTSMAN
“This is such a rich piece of writing. There’s so much in it. It’s resonant and timely and it tells a story compellingly. And the story tells is kind of flooring, raw … It says so much about idealism and youth and maturity and compromise – and love – and the places life can take you, the incremental sneaky way that years have, of passing.” ★★★★★ EXEUNT
Performed in verse that bounds and soars effortlessly … Taking in issues of class, privilege and the death of Labour, What I Learned from Johnny Bevan is a compelling and relatable exploration of growing up and facing hard truths.” ★★★★★ THE SKINNY
“Luke is like a male Kate Tempest, but perhaps more sharply incisive and piercing. The venue is far too small. Get this guy a gig at Usher Hall!” ★★★★★ SCOTSGAY
“A densely-packed and deftly-woven banner for young Britain’s political reawakening, What I Learned from Johnny Bevan is what I come to the Fringe for: writing that not only captures you in the theatre but also stays with you for days afterwards.” ★★★★★ BROADWAY BABY
“Wright’s full-throated reverie is spellbinding” ★★★★ DAILY RECORD
“Anyone familiar with Wright’s work will recognise his deft hand in showing the complexities of male relationships … a political and personal coming-of-age narrative that, while rarely breaking out of a set rhythm and rhyme scheme, still manages to evoke the chaotic passion of awakening.” ★★★★ TIMEOUT Critic’s Choice
“An impassioned, elegant performance, full of humour, sadness and political fury.” ★★★★ LIST
“I see a show like this that makes me think theatre can’t get any better, so why should I bother going to see anything else? … This is a simple story that is powerfully written and mesmerisingly performed – I cannot recommend it highly enough.” ★★★★★ EDINBURGH 49
“Powerful, poetic coming-of-age story that focuses on the relationship between politics and class. Wright’s stirring eloquence and resonant delivery heighten the drama and clarify the emotional impact.” ★★★★ THE STAGE
“What I Learned From Johnny Bevan is a fantastic debut from a rare poetic talent. At times it feels like a Ken Loach film put to verse. It is a strong and personal story told by an original and absorbing performer.” ★★★★ TV BOMB
“This is a completely engaging performance which is delivered with an energy both raw and crisp. Wright really commands the space … The tension and experience created by this one man is admirable.” ★★★★★ TODOLIST
“Sometimes funny and sometimes heartbreaking, What I Learned From Johnny Bevan is beautifully plotted and completely engaging, reminding us that politics affects everything.” ★★★★ A YOUNGER THEATRE
“Sure to spark at least one mid-life crisis.” ★★★★ THREEWEEKS
“An oratory masterpiece & a time-capsule” ★★★★ THE MUMBLE
“A story of shattered friendship, class ceilings, and the hollow reality of the New Labour dream.
At university the whip-smart, mercurial Johnny Bevan saves Nick, smashing his comfortable, middle class bubble and firing him up about politics, music and literature. Twenty years later, as their youthful dreams disintegrate with the social justice they hoped for, can Nick save Johnny from himself?
Written & performed by Luke Wright
Directed by Joe Murphy
Produced by Paul Jellis
Music by Ian Catskilkin
Illustrations by Sam Ratcliffe
Lighting by Tom Clutterbuck
Co-commissioned by Norwich Arts Centre and Writers’ Centre Norwich.
Pipeline Theatre Company Previews
An RAF drone pilot visits his rural childhood home for his sister’s wedding. Holed up in an old tree-house and beset by visions of the carnage that he has caused, he becomes aware of something impossible – his body discarding its human form…
‘Swivelhead’ viscerally explores the ethical and personal consequences of a new age of warfare.
Tickets £8, £7 (age 16+)
“Sometimes I imagine myself to be my statue down Camborne, gazing out over those roundabouts…. watching the cars, lorries and motorbikes bombing along.
The ingenuity in all that machinery going on… .. the pistons, the pumps, the fumes, the exhausts, the fuel…. it’s all so easy now.”
Kernow King tells the story of one of Cornwall’s greatest sons Richard Trevithick.
Tickets £10, £8, Children £6
Greyscale Theatre Company
An investigation into what happens when we discover that our parents are awed human beings, and that at some point they are suddenly going to disappear from our lives. This was one of the most intriguing and fascinating plays we saw at Edinburgh this year, beautifully performed.
“It’s a very pure form of theatre- intimate, pared down and emotionally true.” The Stage
Tickets £10, £9
presents ZONK FM
Is anybody there?
Zonk FM is a poignant new comedy featuring well-known Miracle performers Sally Crooks, Keri Jessiman, Steve Jacobs and making his Miracle debut, Jake Tindle
This roller coaster of a show explores other people’s reality with fast paced physical humour, tenderness and disco lights!
Recommend for 12 years +
£12 – £10 (over 65 & under 26) & £8 (under 16)
ABOUT THE WRITER, ANGUS BROWN: Angus has performed in several Miracle productions including the title roles Hamlet & Quasimodo and most recently Vladimir in Waiting for Godot.
ZONK FM is his first play.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR, TOM ADAMS: Tom first worked with Miracle in 2002 as a dresser on Twelfth Night. He then went on to perform in five productions including The Case of The Frightened Lady and he was the musical director and composer for both Frankenstein! and The Magnificent Three.
ZONK FM is his directing debut.
A new amateur production written by local poet Kerry Vincent and performed by an enthusiastic all-village group of players. Described as ‘a sort of nativity play for adults’.
Tickets £5 available from Kerry on 01326 340297, village shops, or from the Tolmen Centre Box Office.
All proceeds will be donated to the Village Defibrillator Fund.
“The man in the white suit” and “accidental MP”, Martin Bell, will be giving a fascinating insight into his career as a distinguished war reporter for the BBC, covering hotspots around the world including Vietnam, Lebanon, Northern Ireland and more recently the Balkans. He resigned from the BBC to stand as an independent MP from 1997 to 2001.
6.30 for 7.30
Buffet Supper now Sold Out
Tickets for the talk are still available for £12 from the Tolmen Centre Box Office
Proceeds in aid of SSAFA – The Armed Forces’ Charity.
In the late seventies a sociopathic sixteen year old finds herself shunted into her final foster home. Her widowed foster mother has a hint of a foreign accent and a box full of secrets. As youth plays cat and mouse with age, two parallel sets of revelations collide with devastating consequences.
A preview performance of Jon Welch’s rivetting play as it kicks off a nationwide tour.
Tickets £8, £7
‘When I was five years old, my Dad was told our surname might be stopping him from getting a job. So we changed it. It worked.’ This intimate new show draws on experiences of mixed heritage and racism. Amid the cacophony of statistics and soundbites that surround the immigration debate, Labels offers an honest, human story about multicultural Britain.
“Powerful, important and funny”
Emma Thompson
“Terrific and really thoughtful”
Lyn Gardner
Worklight Theatre’s award winning show Labels draws on writer and performer Joe Sellman-Leava’s experiences of mixed heritage to explore the broader issues of racism, immigration and displacement. During Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015, it won a Scotsman Fringe First Award for outstanding new writing and the Holden Street Theatre Award (enabling a transfer to Adelaide in 2016). It was also shortlisted for the Amnesty International’s Freedom of Expression Award.
Labels was inspired by a racism and equality workshop, led by Oscar-winning writer, actor and activist Emma Thompson, at Exeter University, 2009. The rise of far right parties both in Britain and across Europe compelled Joe to re-develop Labels for Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2015. It premiered in the wake of an ongoing humanitarian crisis in Europe, and fierce debates around migration and refugees. Emma Thompson, who has spoken out against the UK’s response to the current crisis, commented on a new draft of the script earlier this year: “What a terrific piece. I love it. Simple, powerful, important and funny.”
Joe uses his family’s stories about migration and mixed heritage to open a wider discussion about the way we talk about, think about and treat our fellow human beings. The play’s examination of Europe’s ongoing refugee crisis has sadly become more resonant in recent months. Worklight hope that by touring the show in Australia and the UK over the coming months, more people will be engaged in conversation about how the words we use affect the decisions we make about one another.
Cast and Creators:
Writer and performer: Joe Sellman-Leava
Director and dramaturg: Katharina Reinthaller
Producers: Michael Woodman and Joe Sellman-Leava
Costume & stage design: Charlotte Anderson
Lighting and sound design: Phil Hewitt
Photography: Benjamin Borley and Anna Bruce
Worklight Theatre online:
Website: www.worklighttheatre.co.uk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/WorklightTheatre
Twitter: @worklight_uk (#Labels)
Tickets £10/£8
Jon Welch’s new play for our own Tolmen Theatre Company.The arrival of a foreign family and a contentious by-election throws a small community into confusion. ‘Leave your political sensibilities at the door but bring your laughing trousers.’
Newsflash! There’s been a series of high profile crimes right across the city- but fear not…the police chief’s put his best man on the job – Dick Tracy.
Rooted in the ridiculous, Dick Tracy is a physical comedy incorporating fooling, original live music, plenty of audience interaction, lightning quick character changes and incredibly authentic accents, spattered with myster y, malice and mischief.
Tickets £10, £8, Children £5, Family £24
Inspired by the tapestries of Grayson Perry. Taste takes an often hilarious journey through identity, fashion, gardens, household nick nacks, wine tasting, holidays, instant coffee vs the cafetiere, Thatcher, Kate Middleton and the welfare state. A dance show with a difference that’s as refreshing as a nice cup of tea!
Tickets £8, £6
Sally has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Her husband, Raymond, is dying. But Raymond is thinking ahead. Already an obsessive archivist, he is also a leading Robotics specialist. Their long marriage has had its ups and downs, but now he can make a better version of himself, to look after Sally after he’s gone.Will she accept it?
A chance to preview Pipeline’s much anticipated new work.
Pentabus Theatre
This remarkable feelgood play written by Duncan Macmillan, presented ‘in the round’ by the brilliant comedic actor Jonny Donahoe, swept everything aside at Edinburgh 2014 and has followed that with runs in London, just recently sixteen (yes sixteen!) weeks Off Broadway in New York, and last month success at the Brighton Festival. It has been tremendously well received by audiences and critics alike.
We booked it at once having seen it last summer, and we are delighted to have the only performance in Cornwall on this UK nationwide tour.
It’s a play that cannot fail to move you to tears but then have you burst out laughing. As Lyn Gardner described it “one of the funniest plays you’ll ever see about depression .. and possibly one of the funniest plays you’ll ever see full stop.” It redefines the word life-affirming.
On the surface, it’s the simple telling of a story of how a young boy deals with his mother’s depression, trying to help by writing a list of all the ‘brilliant things’ he can think of to cheer her up. But the story develops – involving and absorbing the audience – into the boy’s life story: by the time he has grown into manhood, he discovers that the continuously evolving list has become his own personal blueprint for a healthy life.
Donahoe is a warm and personable performer — so warm and personable, he doesn’t even seem to be performing as much as taking the audience into his confidence.
Not only is his emotionally damaged character willing to share his precepts for a happy life with his audience, the audience become collaborators in his story.
This is a play you should not miss, literally ‘one of a kind’
Tickets £10, £8, Children £5
A second major earthquake has struck Nepal. Our teams on the ground are establishing the impact on already damaged buildings. It’s a terrifying time for the hundreds of thousands of children and families who lost everything in the 25 April quake. Many are injured, homeless and struggling to find basics like clean water: they desperately need your support. – See more at: savethechildren.org.uk/about-us/emergencies/nepal-earthquake
Rhum and Clay Theatre Company
On board a decadent cruise liner in 1939, the world’s greatest chess champion is challenged to a match by a mysterious newcomer called… B. As B begins to play, it becomes clear that the game is not the only thing he’s at risk of losing. Because B is not just one person, but four. And they each have their own version of the story they want to tell.
Based on a story by stefan Zweig, with a live jazz percussive score and their signature blend of ramshackle and cinematic performance, Rhum and Clay Theatre Company tell
a story of madness, identity and finding a home in 64 black and white squares.
Tickets £10, £8 Children £5
Little Soldier Theatre Company
Inspired by Don Quixote’s wanderings, two feisty señoritas and a downtrodden Englishman embark on a journey through Spain. Accompanied only by an otherworldly virtuoso guitarist whose presence there makes no sense whatsoever, they will lead you to joy, pain and ulti- mate wisdom.
Little Soldier presents a hilariously inventive adventure of immense proportions, to be taken with a pinch of salt and a handlebar moustache.
Tickets £10, £8, Children £5
Single Shoe Theatre Company
in association with Carn to Cove
They have a car in the garage, a chicken in the pot and a child on the way. But is that enough to make true love stick? Crazy Glue follows the comedic roller coaster of a couple’s romance as they move from the blossoming of first love through to the thornier terrainof married life.
The captivating cast of two blend vocal sound effects, quirky humour and an evocative 1930’s soundtrack to reveal the crazy, sticky, messy side of marriage. A show guaranteed to enchant all ages.
Fringe Review *****
“Just like Charlie Chaplin all over again. Fantastic” said one of my fellow audience members at the end of this show. Crazy Glue has echoes of a silent film; all the elements of the story are there for you to see. Happy people smile, surprise is shown with big wide eyes, sexual desire with a lolling tongue and a goofy grin. Charlie Chaplin isn’t quite the right reference though – too saccharine – the physical dexterity, split second timing and slapstick violence are more reminiscent of Buster Keaton or the Keystone Cops.
Performers Filipa Tomas and Bradley Wayne Smith working as Single Shoe Productions devised Crazy Glue from Etgar Keret’s short story of the same name. They have used clowning, mime and dance to lift the story from the page and in doing so have succeeded in creating a theatrical experience accessible to a universal audience, irrespective of their nationality. The theme is as old as the hills so easy to follow whatever your background and language.
The duo are very talented and deliver two highly polished performances as a cocktail bar waitress (Tomas) who catches the eye of one of her customers (Smith). After a whirlwind romance they settle down to a life of knitting, the sports pages, longed-for parenthood and apple pie. Just as the sugary sweetness of the piece begins to irritate the tone abruptly changes and what then emerges is a character driven tale of how to people who are crazy in love (and hate) cope, and don’t cope, with the crap hand life deals them.
Assembly Roxy downstairs studio is a perfect space for the piece as an audience on raked seating view a box like stage which serves well as a movie screen. Singe Shoe have kept it simple so that three orange cubes act as table and chairs and the rest of the tiny apartment is imagined. Dressed like cartoon figures (Tomas with a homage to Olive Oyl) the actors start out (deliberately) as cardboard cut-out star struck lovers but like Romeo and Juliet get much more interesting and rounded as tragedy strikes.
Tickets £10, £8, Children £5
cube theatre
A child’s life is snuffed out by a joy-rider.
Four years on, the parents and the joy-rider meet.
A powerful award-winning drama, After the Accident combines highly-charged storytelling with thought-provoking themes in exploring the workings of Restorative Justice; a process which tries to repair the damage done by crime. Highly current, the drama unpicks the web of emotional devastation that the families face with clarity and force. Despite its challenging subject matter the play draws you in quickly, and through its wonderfully pared down script and recognisable characters, uncovers layer after layer with courage and compassion
Tickets £8, £6 13+
Two Destination Language
Two performers have a difficult story to tell.They come on stage and launch themselves into an hour long attempt to put into words the utterly unspeakable. Delivered in English and Bulgarian, with pounding gypsy-inspired music, this beautiful performance fills an empty space with two performers, hundreds of fresh flowers and a storm of emotion.
Near Gone won a 2014 Total Theatre Award at the Edinburgh Festival for Innovation, Experimentation and Playing With Form, and received numerous four and five star reviews. The company are Artists in Residence at Salisbury Playhouse.
We saw this show in Edinburgh last summer and were entranced by it. The combination of two completely watchable actors, two languages, a mesmerising telling of the story (which several times explodes into a frenetic dance), the littering of the stage with hundreds of flowers, the whole show grips you completely. The images and effect remain with you long after the performance ends. Apparently simple, but full of complexity, this is a piece of theatre which deserves its accolades. Don’t miss this single performance in Cornwall on a nationwide tour.
“This is a difficult story to tell, performer Katherina Radeva warns us in Bulgarian through her translator and fellow performer, Alister Lownie, at the start of Near Gone. She is not wrong. Intimately exploring the themes of grief, loss and potential loss, the subject matter of Near Gone is not easy to talk about. However, Radeva and Lownie’s emotional story is told with great beauty, sensitivity and humour, creating art that is truly affecting, memorable and life-affirming”.
and Lyn Gardner said in The Guardian ‘Essential Theatre Picks’
“a winning heartfelt intensity…. a boon to the flower trade and to audiences too with its passionate, dance-filled look at the gulfs we cannot bridge”.
Alister and Katherina will host a short post-show discussion of some of the questions raised by the show.
Tickets £10, £8 Children £5
Both a hurrah to courage and endurance and a swipe at the great 19th century ideals, Miracle serves up this curious slice of history in its own inimitable style – and with a huge nod to Victorian Music Hall.
Mixing caustic comedy, seedy songs and second-rate dubious magic, dodgy ventriloquism and spectacle and breath-taking burlesque, the show will genuinely appeal to adults and children 7+.
Tickets £12, £10, Children under 16: £8, Family Group: £35
…a tincture of song and laughter dispensed by three Cornish doctors
“The beautiful voice of Michele Sharkey combined with the hilarious antics of Sam Freegard, all held together by the perfect accompaniment of Anthony Seddon made it an evening to remember”…
“Entertainment at its very best’’… “I really don’t remember laughing so much before”
…“A concert worthy of the West End stage” “…the supremely talented members of Medical Maelstrom”
Michele Sharkey was born in Lanarkshire and began vocal training after completing her medical studies at the University of Glasgow. Her main interest is opera, and major roles range from the consumptive Mimi (La Bohème) to the dagger wielding Queen of the Night (Magic Flute) with Angelica (Suor Angelica), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Frasquita (Carmen), Olympia (Tales of Hoffman), Anna (Merry Widow), Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) and Adele (Die Fledermaus) in between. Her favourite gigs, however, are with Maelstrom.
Sam Freegard’s enjoyment of being silly on stage developed whilst studying medicine at St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London. After moving to Cornwall in 1982, for many years he acted with the West Cornwall Theatre Group at the Minack theatre, including the title role in Macbeth, Leontes in The Winter’s Tale and Randle P McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Sam sincerely hopes that his appearance with Michele and Anthony does not spoil what might otherwise have been an evening of high class entertainment…..
Anthony Seddon was a boy chorister at King’s College Cambridge, then a music scholar at Clifton College Bristol and then a choral scholar at Magdalen College Oxford where he studied medicine. In the Swinging Sixties (!) he was a member of a close harmony pop group which made several records and TV appearances. He came to Cornwall in 1973 and for several years he sang in Truro Cathedral choir. He was musical director for Duchy Opera’s productions of Café Puccini and La Cenerentola and he has performed extensively as an accompanist.
DON’T MISS THIS CHANCE TO SEE THIS UNIQUE ACT THAT WILL LEAVE YOU WITH A SMILE ON YOUR FACE AND ACHING WITH LAUGHTER. THE ARTISTS ARE GIVING THEIR SERVICES FREE OF CHARGE TO MAKE THIS A VERY SPECIAL FUND-RAISING CONCERT FOR THE TOLMEN CENTRE. WE EXPECT A SELL-OUT SO BOOK WELL AHEAD. A GREAT START TO THE FESTIVE SEASON!
Tickets £10
Falling from a world of virtual wealth, Rosa (15) and her father land in a cheap flat with a reclusive new neighbour – a webcam girl. Blending unforgettable characters, moments of macabre puppetry and a translucent set, Streaming is a funny, moving and and disturbing rites-of-passage story for the modern age.
Tickets £8, £6 Children Age Guide16+
Suitable for singers of all ages and abilities, and will offer the chance to sing in harmony and to learn about the mysterious art of ‘diddling’.
Tickets £10 (£5 for children): Advanced booking is advised.
Maison Foo
Inspired by ‘The Elves and the Shoemaker’ a desperate tale of slavery and greed told with humour, intimacy and charm using Maison Foo’s inventive visual blend of storytelling, live music, clowning and puppetry.
“Touching and beautifully crafted…deceptively sophisticated and layered work – a little show with a big heart.‘
Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
Tickets £12, £10, £6 Children under 16
Tom Jackson Greaves with Polly Motley
Adam and Eve are in a relationship pickle! As they dance through the sins of their past they reach an ultimate choice. But are they brave enough to make it? Seven Deadly Sins is a vibrant dance comedy full of laughs, apples and exhilarating movement. Choreographed by young Cornish artistTom Jackson Greaves, a winner of the New Adventures Choreographer Award.
‘Sexy slick and beautifully expressive’ The Stage
Tickets £8, £7, Children £6
After two years in the making, the wonderful Wurlitza bring another neglected silent film to life with a glorious live soundtrack. Fast moving and at times shocking, Diary of a Lost Girl tells the story of Thymian, played by the mesmerising screen idol Louise Brookes. Described as a fusion of everything, jazz, folk, rock and pop with a touch of classical thrown in, Wurlitza are absolutely superb.
Tickets £8, £7
An original comedy that explores the clown inside the man and the mirth hidden in the melancholy.
Through mime, slapstick, poetry and farce, A Little Nonsense is a bare-knuckle look at the sharp edge of funny.
The play mixes laugh-out-loud hilarity with a subtle exploration of the edgy relationship between the clown and his straightman.
Tickets £10, £9 Children £5
The true story of how Victoria became a beauty queen and her Bassett Hound (Major Tom) became a champion show dog, reflecting the British fascination with celebrity, beauty and winning
Created by Victoria Melody
Performed by Victoria Melody and Major Tom National Tour 10th March to 20th June 2014
PRESS PERFORMANCES: Monday 10th & Tuesday 11th March at BAC
“A truly winning comedy, I laughed till I cried.” ★★★★★ Donald Hutera, The Times
5 ★★★★★ The Times
5 ★★★★★ Edinburgh Evening News
4 ★★★★ The List
4 ★★★★ Fest Mag
4 ★★★★ British Theatre Guide
4 ★★★★ A Younger Theatre
4 ★★★★ The Public Reviews
4 ★★★★ Exeunt Magazine
The Stage MUST SEE SHOW
Fringe Review – MUST SEE SHOW
Shortlisted for The Arches Brick and Total Theatre Awards
Major Tom is the story of how an average 34-year-old became a beauty queen and how her unruly pet basset hound, Major Tom, became a championship show dog.
Major Tom and Victoria increasingly immerse themselves in the obsessive and confusing realm of personal scrutiny as they participate as genuine contestants, determined to win.
Victoria, accompanied on stage by documentary film footage and her dog, tells this true story. It explores the British fascination with celebrity, beauty and winning.
“Startingly bonkers and utterly ordinary at the same time…deceptively thoughtful fun” The Guardian ★★★★★ The Times
Commissioned and produced by Farnham Maltings. Developed at BAC. Supported by Harlow Playhouse, Escalator East to Edinburgh and Arts Council England.
Recent press activity:
Victoria appeared on Radio 4’s Loose Ends show on Sat 8th March as part of National Women’s Day.
victoriamelody.com.uk | vimeo.com/victoriamelody | @victoriamelody
Press Contact: Dan or Emma at Mobius 020 7269 9929 | dan@mobiusindustries.com or emma@mobiusindustries.com
Written & directed by Bill Scott with music by Jim Carey
Why is the lady so frightened? Who dropped the red scarf?
As part of its special 35th anniversary program Miracle revisits one of its most popular productions to date, complete with original cast.
It’s 1932 and Edgar Wallace, the Fleet Street editor widely known for his hugely popular and successful whodunits, gets a desperate call from his publisher. With only a weekend to produce a new novel, the indefatigable Wallace leaps into action.
The Case of the Frightened Lady is a hilarious account of the antics of the Wallace household as they flit dizzyingly between reality and fiction, inventing storylines, devising dialogue and arguing over the final denouement.
The result is pure Miracle, a hugely enjoyable mix of plot, character, farce and irony plus some unforgettable songs.
A highly inventive piece of theatre suitable for a family audience of all ages!
‘Bill Scott’s melodramatic, helter-skelter, DIY whodunit is a dizzying tangle of red herrings and black humour.’ – Irish Times
‘There is a great sense of fun, pace and a wonderful connection with the audience.’ – The Stage
‘Lampooning everything from the cod-thriller to amateur dramatics, The Case of the Frightened Lady is not only hilarious, but is a gripping piece of drama which deserves to be the hit of this summer.’ – Western Morning News
‘Comic theatre of the highest order…littered with razorwire one-liners that literally will have you rolling in the aisles and wiping the tears away.’ – Brazen City
Audience feedback
‘I thought that your production might be good or interesting, and I wanted to support local theatre. Instead, what I saw would have graced the stage of any West End theatre…. utterly superb!’
‘We haven’t enjoyed ourselves so much at the theatre in a long while. The dialogue was sharp to the point of being dangerous.’
‘A BRILLIANT production! Very clever staging and production and exceptionally funny performances by all the cast.’
‘Our faces were ‘aching’ from laughing and smiling so much. I haven’t enjoyed a performance like yours for many, many years’.
More About the show
It’s 1932 and Edgar Wallace, the Fleet Street editor widely known for his hugely popular thrillers, gets a desperate call from his publisher. With only a weekend to produce a new novel, the indefatigable Wallace leaps into action, enlisting the help of his over-looked wife, pretentious butler, eager gardener and admiring new secretary.
At first this collaboration shows little promise and the story keeps veering off in unlikely directions but, with Wallace at the helm, they get into their stride, flitting dizzyingly between reality and fiction, inventing storylines, devising dialogue and arguing over the final denouement. The result is a typical pot-boiling, page-turning who-dunnit (in this case peppered with Cole Porteresque songs, improvised by the staff on the author’s drawing-room piano).
Faithful to the genre, the Wallace household construct a plot littered with dodgy criminals, false clues and strangers with mysterious pasts. Detective Inspector Tanner’s legendary powers of observation never failed him and, as the corpses pile up, he stays one step ahead of the bungling rural police and prevents the course of justice being perverted by a household of secretive toffs.
Just how far beneath the surface lies the grisly truth? Why is the Lady so frightened? As the curtain falls not only has the culprit been revealed but so has the true state of Edgar’s marriage.
‘Bill Scott’s melodramatic, helter-skelter, DIY whodunit…is a heaven-sent vehicle for this distinctive brand of precise, choreographed physical theatre. Outrageous flights of theatrical and narrative fancy… a dizzying tangle of red herrings and black humour.’ – The Irish Times
‘Comic theatre of the highest order…littered with razorwire one-liners that literally will have you rolling in the aisles and wiping the tears away.’ – Brazen City
‘Lampooning everything from the cod-thriller to amateur dramatics, The Case of the Frightened Lady is not only hilarious, but is a gripping piece of drama which deserves to be the hit of this summer.’ – Western Morning News
This five-hander, written by Bill Scott with music by Jim Carey, originally toured small scale venues (indoors and outdoors) across the South West in 05/06. The show has huge potential to delight audiences of all ages, in any scale of venue. It won the Minack Trophy in 2006 and was subsequently produced for a tour of Ireland (North and South) by Bruiser Theatre.
Ticket prices: £12 full £10 concession and £8 under 16’s
British and German choral masterpieces to mark the era that ended in 1914. Works by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Elgar, Bingham, Parry, and Schoenberg, sung by the Joyful Company of Singers, one of Europe’s leading chamber choirs under the direction of Peter Broadbent.
Now in its 25th anniversary season, the JCS is renowned for its virtuosity and intensity of spirit, as well as for an astoundingly wide repertoire, ranging from the 16th Century to the present day. Formed in 1988, the choir first came to prominence when it won the Sainsbury’s Choir of the Year competition in 1990. Since then it has maintained its profile in the music world, winning an impressive list of national and international competitions leading to many invitations. JCS regularly appears at all the UK’s major music festivals, including Bath, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, City of London, Chelsea, Presteigne, Spitalfields, Three Choirs, Huddersfield Contemporary Music and the BBC Proms.
Peter Broadbent is the founder conductor of Joyful Company of Singers and one of Britain’s leading choral conductors. He has conducted the London Mozart Players, Divertimenti Chamber Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra, the City of London Sinfonia, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Southern Sinfonia, the Guildford Philharmonic Orchestra, Apollo Voices and the BBC Singers, broadcasting frequently on BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM.
This is a wonderful opportunity to hear this first class choir singing in Cornwall
Tickets £10 free for accompanied children under 16
Call 01326 341353 to book or click here to book through Hall for Cornwall
For more information about JCS see www.jcos.co.uk
Caroline Horton’s perfectly formed one-woman-show has won her universal critical acclaim, an award from The Stage and an Olivier nomination – and it’s easy to see why. Inspired by her grandmother’s love letters, ‘You’re not like other girls Chrissy’ is a tender drama of love and loss, a nostalgic glimpse into life in occupied France and a moving tribute to a marvellous character.
Horton’s play is immaculately judged and utterly irresistible.
Tickets £10 (concessions £8)
After their hugely successful ‘Riot’, a new play from The Wardrobe Ensemble based on the epic rescue of 33 Chilean miners.
A tale of friendship, hope and Elvis Presley, 33 takes you beyond the newsrooms, past the cameras and leaves you 2000 feet under the ground. An outlandish, touching and funny modern legend of men on the brink of death, fame and madness.
Tickets £9, £8
Carmen and Mimi are both looking for love. Evening classes hold the answer. Lessons in Love is a comedy told through action, speech and extraordinary music with an uplifting and unexpected ending.
Tickets £8, £6
Theatre Adinfinitum
Probably our most ambitious offering ever – “a theatrical hand grenade” said Lyn Gardner, multi award winning and garlanded with glittering reviews. Absolutely unmissable, mindblowing cabaret/theatre from the company who brought us the unforgettable Translunar Paradise. With a cast of seven including a chorus of international dancers and live on stage music, this took last summer’s Edinburgh fringe by storm – voted by many as the top show there. For two nights only in Cornwall before touring nationally to Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool and London.
Quotes, notes, and awards:
“Multi-award winning Theatre Ad Infinitum (Translunar Paradise, Odyssey) presents an explosive tale. Armed with music, killer heels and a lethal troop of divas an enraged Israeli executes a story of victimhood, persecution, aggression and love. With shrapnel sharp voices and moves as smooth as an oiled tank chain, this cabaret troop invites you on a journey into the core of the conflicted Jewish State.”
“With shades of a far more visceral Cabaret, The Ballad of the Burning Star is a welcome and audacious reminder of how ground-breaking the theatre can really be. This is a play that doesn’t shy away from the controversy and complexities of an issue that many are still afraid to even approach. Truly haunting and admirable in its boldness”
Winner of The Stage Award ‘Best Ensemble’ 2013
“A theatrical hand grenade” – Lyn Gardner, The Guardian ****
“Breathlessly inventive” Tom Lamont Observer *****
“A thrillingly edgy piece of entertainment” – The Scotsman *****
“Bold and Inventive” – The Stage, a MUST SEE! Show
More on www.theatreadinfinitum.co.uk
TICKETS CAN BE RESERVED ON 01326 341353
£12 (£10 concessions)
Two elderly Spanish sisters live in a room full of of mysterious boxes. They share an existence of outrageous defamation, tender reminiscing and pure madness.‘You and Me’ is a touching story with sparkling dialogue and witty observations, that explores old age with humour, imagination and tenderness.
Tickets £10, £9
Following last year’s remarkable show The Odyssey, Paper Cinema return for a short residency working on their new show. Tonight they offer a scratch performance of this new work, plus a rare showing of their first work Night Flyer, now a minor classic.
In association with Feast and Cornwall Film Festival
Tickets £9, £8
The unflinching reality of modern schools collides with the escapist 1920s glamour of Astaire and Rogers, with potentially horrifying consequences. Blending film and theatre, knife-sharp dialogue and dance, cube theatre presents AUBADE.
*Recommended 15 years+
Tickets £8, £7
After last year’s amazing Piccadilly, Wurlitza return with Sunrise one of the most moving stories ever told on film, an adventure of temptation, reconciliation and redemption.
Wurlitza accompany with live music from Bach and Villa Lobas to Talking Heads and Madness. Sunrise is silent film at its most poetic and Wurlitza’s music is a perfect accompaniment.
Tickets £9, £8
Dreadnought South West Association presents a new play by Natalie McGrath
100 years ago imagine that fifteen women gather // They have a conversation that maps eight geographic arteries across England and Wales, like points on a compass // These arteries reach out towards a singular destination like roots forming a tree // The destination is Hyde Park // It’s June, 1913 and the Great Suffrage Pilgrimage begins.
A tour of a new play from Lands End to London // Remembering when 15 women became 1000s…
Tickets: £10/£8
Crackling with energy and dripping with humour, this is a hilarious and heart breaking two-hander.
Bitch Boxer | Snuffbox
Chloe Jackson has just one more fight to win before she gets the chance to live her dream – to box for Team GB at the Olympics.
Tickets £10, £8, £6 Children 14+
A seductive stranger opens a fantastical world to a tormented woman.
But everything comes at a price…
In the mind of the fantasist, the real and the fanciful become dangerously blurred. As Louise gazes into the night her fancy takes form. Objects move, time changes … and a seductive stranger opens up a world of exhilaration and magic.
Following an acclaimed international tour and 5 star sell-out success at Edinburgh Fringe 2012, The Fantasist comes to The Tolmen Centre for one night only, melding original music, life-sized puppetry, and physical theatre. War Horse’s Robin Guiver teams up with Lecoq and LISPA trained Theatre Temoin in an emotionally powerful exploration of bipolar disorder.
“What the show does so well via the puppetry is to get you right inside Louise’s mind and make you understand both the confusion and yet also the the terrible glimmering lure of a world of bright lights and butterflies.” …Lyn Gardner, The Guardian
★★★★★ ‘Mesmerising’ – The Skinny
★★★★★ ‘Exquisite Theatre’ – Fringe Review
★★★★★ ‘Hilarious, beautiful and utterly astonishing’ – Edinburgh Guide
★★★★★ ‘A must see’ – Scotsgay
★★★★★ ‘Raw genius’ – The Public Reviews
★★★★ ‘Haunting and enchanting’ – WhatsOnStage
★★★★ ‘Ingenious stagecraft’ – Metro
Tickets £10, £8
Opening by Miracle Theatre 11.00am
Morning Storytelling for all ages by John Brolly
Free admission
1.30pm – 6.00pm
Joanna Hodgkin (Biographer & Novelist), Tessa Skola (Author & cabaret dancer) & Colin Rogers (Film & TV Producer)
£7.50
7.30pm
Salley Vickers (Acclaimed novelist)
£7.50
Single ticket for all events £12.00
Advanced booking advisable 01326 341353
A variety of refreshments available for all
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Sponsored by Wine in Cornwall, Constantine Parish Council, Cornwall Council and David Buchanan Sailmaker.
Supported by the Tolmen Centre Constantine.
Pants on Fire
The Tolmen Centre and Pants on Fire Theatre Company invite you to attend an evening of Performance Puppetry and Music based on the company’s new show Pinnochio, followed with a discussion forum, on Saturday 23rd March at The Tolmen Centre starting at 7.30.
Pants on Fire is a multi award winning International theatre company based in London. They create new, original, exciting, dramatically dynamic and visually brilliant high quality theatre. Many will remember their show Ovid’s Metamorphoses which played at The Tolmen Centre in May 2011 – one of our best ever performances – which went on to runs in London and New York and won many awards.
The Company are to undertake a short residency at The Tolmen Centre from 14th-23rd March – with the primary intention of developing the new show. Originally this residency was planned to put the finishing touches Pinnochio, leading to a preview of the end product. However, events have conspired such that the show will be in its early or mid stages of development.
The performance will therefore be a full-length ‘work in progress’ showing which will involve some ‘script in hand’ performing, some imaginative props and scenery, as well as the detailed work being created during the week. Because of this, and the way in which Pants on Fire like to present their work, they would like to make the showing more of an ‘event’, encouraging the audience to feel part of the development process. They will perform the songs from the show, the audience can meet the puppets and generally explore the world of the play together. They would then love to talk with the audience informally after the showing as any feedback at this stage would be really useful in taking the development forward.
Tickets for this show are FREE – but please reserve in the usual way by phone or email. We will be asking for contributions based on what you think its worth to cover the Tolmen Centre’s costs.
Café Tolmen will be open pre-show – please reserve for this as well so we have numbers.
We are very grateful to The Works and Venue Cornwall for financial help to allow this exciting residency to take place.
Rhum and Clay
On Friday 8th March Rhum and Clay Theatre bring us “A Strange Wild Song”. Another Edinburgh 2012 hit, this is by a young, Lecoq trained company rapidly making their way in modern theatre. Watch out when you see the name Lecoq, as graduates of the famous French mime school have been responsible for a number of our best ever shows – Hysteria, Translunar Paradise, Pants on Fire, Dancing Brick and 1927 all had connections there.
A Strange Wild Song is an elegiac piece based on a true story – about a group of children in wartime France who befriend a wounded soldier. It’s told via a present day find of a cache of photographs in an attic, and the journey of discovery into his family history made by the finder. It completely captivated us, with beautiful acting performances by the three prncipals (in many roles), absurdist humour, stunning imagery, and wonderful music played live just off stage. Highly recommended for everyone. Their website is rhumandclay.com where you can see details of their nationwide tour with this show.
Tickets £10, £8, £4
Ken Lukowiak
In the wake of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War, it’s worth remembering
the human cost of that conflict. Few one-man shows could give you a more gut-wrenching insight than this one. Ken Lukowiak faces his contrary wartime emotions with courage and honesty.
Redruth man Lukowiak served in the Paras in heat of the Falklands war. Subsequently his life was in turmoil as he tried to deal with the emotional after-effects of combat. Some years later he wrote a best selling book based on his experiences, and this was later made into the stage play A Soldiers Song by Guy Masterson (a regular visitor to the Tolmen Centre) – who initially took Ken’s role in what was a powerful and successful one man show.
Last year, Ken Lukowiak bravely agreed to take over the play himself for a run at the Edinburgh Fringe where it attracted widespread acclaim and full houses. Many serviceman and veterans were among the audiences, and all were deeply affected by Ken’s performance. It now comes to The Tolmen Centre as part of a very short tour across the country. Click here for lots more detail.
This show will be on Friday 1st March. The second show on Saturday 2nd will not now take place
“ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL WAR PLAYS EVER MADE!”
Commemorating the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War and one of the hits of the 2012 Edinbrugh Festival, A Soldier’s Song is the real deal. A true story of conflict told by a guy who was there, bringing the battlefield to the stage in an extraordinary work of theatre.
This is the theatre of War in its facets, invoking the horror, terror, shame, black humour, futility and tedium of a soldier’s life on the front line and the lingering effects of Post Traumatic Stress. Deeply disturbing and frightening at times, it utilises a pounding, totally authentic multi-directional soundscape. It is also extremely funny, the dark “squaddie” humour offsetting the darkness. The brutal demotic language and reality of the battlefield is brought to vividly to life.
***** “This is the Saving Private Ryan of theatre!” (The Times)
**** “A GUT WRENCHING INSIGHT”- Daily Telegraph
In the wake of the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War and with Argentina ratcheting up the pressure over the islands once again, it’s worth remembering the human cost of that conflict. Few one-man shows could give you a more gut-wrenching insight than this one. Ken Lukowiak, who served in the Paras, has stepped into the theatrical front line, delivering this potted version of his 1993 memoir of the gruelling campaign. Required to duck down, crouch and adopt defensive positions under loud simulated shellfire at times, he cuts an awkward if affable figure on stage, but that adds to the authenticity. As he relives grisly encounters with Argentinians dead and alive, recalls some sickening army gallows humour and recoils at the screaming nightmare of incidents like the bombing of Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram, you realise he is still battling his demons. Unsung heroism? This simple, humbling show embodies the phrase.
(Dominic Cavendish – Daily Telegraph – 19/08/12)
Bash Street Theatre
A retired magician and his wife are tempted to perform one last cabaret act. With live music, magical illusions and Bash Street’s stunning circus skills, a great show for all the family.
Tickets £9, £8 and £4 Child
Cube’s sparkling new show for children (and grownups too) gets it’s first outing at The Tolmen Centre. With plenty of song and dance, and written by our own Jon Welch, this promises to be a delight for all ages. We are making it free for accompanied children, and adult tickets are just £7.
“Fred’s lost his Dad. Now he might be losing his mum too. Looks like a job for Freddie Dare and the Ginger Robber. The toe tapping twosome take on a terrifying quest to stop their arch enemy before it’s too late.”
Café Tolmen will be open for pre show suppers for this event – booking essential.
Adults £7, £3 for children (1 accompanied child free)
Tickets£10, £8 Children £4
Café Tolmen will be open for pre show suppers for this event – booking essential.
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.
In the late seventies a sociopathic sixteen year old finds herself shunted into her final foster home. Her widowed foster mother has a hint of a foreign accent and a box full of secrets. As youth plays cat and mouse with age, two parallel sets of revelations collide with devastating consequences. A riveting new play from Jon Welch.
Tickets £6, £5, Children £4
Café Tolmen will be open for pre show suppers for this event – booking essential.
Homer’s cornerstone of literature is vividly told with beautiful illustration and masterful puppetry. Cinematic projection and cunning tricks trans- form a suitcase full of cut-out paper puppets into an array of living characters and striking land- scapes. A silent film is created before your eyes, set to a captivating live score from exceptional musicians.
‘A wild journey into live animation’ The Guardian In association with Cornwall Film Festival
Tickets £10, £9 Children £4
Café Tolmen will be open for pre show suppers for this event – booking essential.
A talk by Lucinda Hawksley, great great great grand-daughter of Charles Dickens, author and historian with a special interest in 19th and early 20th century art and literature.
Tickets £5
“Some actors are more equal than others, but few are quite as equal as Guy Masterson!” (The Times)
Hilariously comic and powerfully poignant by turns, Masterson’s breathtaking storytelling creates the farmyard around you in 2 hours of utterly compelling theatre. As the most per- formed solo show in the world, this is a must see performance for all ages.
Tickets £10, £8, Children £4
Café Tolmen will be open for pre show suppers for this event – booking essential.
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.
I’m An Aristocrat Get Me Out Of Here
Packed full of hilarious slapstick, irreverent humour, verbal wit and magical illusion you’ll gasp, laugh and be amazed at the elaborate sword fights, the heart wrenching love scenes, and the sensational death-defying French accents.
Tickets £9, £8, Children £4
‘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
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)
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
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
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.”
(Cafe suppers available before and after the show)
Tickets £10/£8/£4
A special performance of the ‘The Ghosts of May” by Pauline Shepherd and Pete Berryman.
In aid of the Heritage Centre
Click here to find our more about ‘The Ghosts of May’ on Pete Berryman’s website
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
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.
Puppetcraft bring this charming tale to life with carved wooden puppets, coloured shadows, live music and a beautiful set.
Children over 4 £4
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
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
To discuss the organisation of celebrations in Constantine to mark the Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth II
Date: Thursday 13th October
Venue: Church Hall @ 7:00pm
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
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
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
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.
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
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
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
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
