Minack Theatre

A play on the cliffside

We are making the most of the fine weather while it lasts. It's supposed to turn showery on Thursday.
A couple of people had told me that I 'must' go and see the Minack theatre near Penzance if I am in Cornwall. So we went.

The theatre on the cliff

The drive down to Penzance was surprisingly simple once we were on the A30 all the way down from Bodmin. It's the smaller B roads that are the problem. They are narrow! And twisty! To make matters worse, when you get close to the coastline they are also STEEP! I have no idea how the locals put up with the several hundred cars that negotiate the road up and down to and from the Minack theatre twice a day a few times a week. It must be a nightmare for them. Impossible to go in the opposite direction to the flow that's for sure.

the endless queue

waiting waiting

the views of the turquoise bay

the lovely beach

the cliff path

the beautiful garden

We had ordered and paid for our tickets over the phone and had to collect them from the box office before the show, so we arrived two hours early at 12 o'clock thinking we could find a restaurant to have lunch before the show. Wrong! For a start they do not allocate seating except for a general area ie premium seats or up in the gods. Because we were late ordering seats, we were lucky to get anything as it was almost booked out. We were up in the gods. To get a decent seat we had to join a queue and wait....and wait....and wait in the beating down midday sun.
There was no way we could leave the queue to go and get something to eat or drink and not a chance in hell of driving back down the hill when everyone else was coming up.
Why on earth they can't at least allocate rows I'll never know. It's completely ridiculous and off-putting to ever consider going again. We were finally allowed in at one o'clock.

the theatre starts to fill

the kayaker and stand up paddle boarder

Barb and Susan hot and bothered

full house!

That being said; once we finally got in and secured a seat, I went off to order some food from the cafe and bring it back to eat in our seats during the hour we had to wait for the performance. There was a constant stream of people pouring in . It's amazing that they could seat so many in this natural amphitheatre carved out of the cliffside. The views were stunning! We were even treated to a visit from a seal which came to play on the rocks below and also some stand up surf boarders and kayakers paddled out to see the seals.

The play itself was one I'd never heard of by Edgar Wallace called "The Frightened Lady". There were just five people in the cast and the stage was set and only changed around by the cast themselves during the course of the play. Some of the cast played more than one character and they also played the piano and burst into song and dance at times which was kinda unusual since it was a murder mystery/comedy.

I did enjoy it though, and even forgot about the uncomfortable seating, my numbing posterior and the hot sun for a while. Luckily Susan did too. I doubt that we'd have stayed had it been awful.

After the performance finished, the performance of getting all those cars down off the hill before the next show's patrons started arriving ,began.
 Susan was wonderful with her driving! She is quite assertive in her driving style which is just what you need to bully your way through. We had seen a turnoff road to Mousehole as we drove in, so Susan turned off onto this road and we lost most of the traffic. Mousehole is a gorgeous little fishing village which clings to the side of the cliffs. Its streets are just as narrow as Mevagissey with the added drama of being even steeper and more winding. We sadly could find nowhere to park for long, so after some quick photos jumped back in the car to drive back.

Mousehole

We stopped at Sainsbury's just outside Penzance to get some pre-made meals for tonight. The store had an upstairs cafe and we sat on the verandah of this cafe drinking tea and looking out at the wonderful view. You could see St Michael's Mount in one direction and Penzance in the other.
We plan to come back tomorrow to see St Michael's Mount properly. There's only so much you can fit in one day.



Penzance