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Theatre in Southern England: CornwallCornwall is part of the "Celtic Fringe" of the British Isles. It has its own language and, although the last native speaker of Cornish was born in the nineteenth century, enthusiasts are helping the language stage a revival. In the so-called Dark Ages it had close ties with Britanny (Lesser Britain as it was sometimes known) whose language, Breton, is closely related to Cornish. The Cornish language is related to Welsh and there are many obvious similarities in place names. The best known theatre in Cornwall is in Porthcurno: the Minack Theatre, an outdoor venue, operates from late May to early September and seats 750. Its programme, of professional and established amateur theatre, changes weekly. It is not, however, the only outdoor theatre in the county. At Liskeard there is the Sterts Centre with its open air theatre which seats 400. It is interested in any form of the performing arts. The Sterts Centre also has a studio venue, seating 100. The Falmouth Arts Centre (199 seats) both promotes music, dance and drama events, and is available for hire. Also in Falmouth is the Princess Pavilion, a civic venue, which seats 400 and presents what it calls "resort entertainment" with professional, semi-pro and amateur artistes and groups. Penzance has its Acorn Theatre, an arts centre. Seating 216, it takes middle- and small-scale touring productions. Pool (not to be confused with Poole in Dorset) has the delightful Trevenson Theatre (80 seats), which belongs to the Cornwall College of Further and Higher Education. It's delightful because it has, so we are told, an "old and grotty" exterior but a marvellous performing atmosphere. It was converted (in 1976) from a pre-war army cadet hut and the dressing room used to be the ammunition store - and has a ghost! The biggest venue in the county is in St Austell. The New Coliseum seats 3326 (and the Ocean Suite 225) and presents mainly one-night popular entertainment. The next biggest - and certainly the biggest specifically theatre venue - is the oddly-named Hall for Cornwall in Truro. It is a national touring house and seats 1000 people.
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