20:00, Mon 15th – Fri 19th September 2008 at The Minack Theatre
14:00, Wed 17th September 2008 at The Minack Theatre
14:00, Fri 19th September 2008 at The Minack Theatre
Summer Vacation

We are delighted to be returning once more to the Minack Theatre in Cornwall, an open-air theater situated on the cliffs of Porthcurno, Penzance, with the stunning sea as it's backdrop. The whole company lives, sleeps and rehearses in the charming village hall of Paul and there is plenty of downtime to be spent in the pub, in the sea and on the beach! This year, we are delighted to be staging "Yeomen", one of Gilert and Sullivan's best-loved collaborations. Darker and grander than many of their other works, this story of the Merryman and his Maid still bubbles over with Gilbert's characteristic wit. The score is one of Sullivan's finest and most operatic, featuring spectacular choruses, sparkling patter songs, magnificent arias and the most beautiful duet of all, "I have a song to sing, O!"

Set in and around the Tower of London in Tudor times, the show tells the story of Colonel Fairfax, under sentence of death for a crime he hasn't committed, who longs to marry before his execution- just to thwart his scheming cousin's plan to inherit his property. Enter Jack Point and Elsie Maynard, travelling players; Jack agrees that Elsie should marry Fairfax, leaving her a very rich widow free to marry him. But unbeknownst to them, Fairfax's friends have arranged to spring him from the Tower of London, leaving Elsie less of a widow than she was hoping to be, and Jack the fiancé of a married woman! Jack conspires to try and win back his beloved, but will his efforts all be in vain?