Outdoor Theatre

ANNOUNCEMENT – Keep Thursday 11th July 2024 free everyone!

We are pleased to announce the date of this years outdoor theatre performance:

The Miracle Theatre is to visit Wellow once again on: Thursday 11th July 2024.

This year they will be touring an adaptation of a Shakespeare play.

What people have said about the

‘Miracle are a joy – go and see them!’ Western Morning News

‘Eclectic & Ingenious!’ The Stage

‘Excellent entertainment enjoyed by our entire family’ Audience feedback

“Truly Fabulous! Perfect example of what live outdoor theatre should be all about!”

On past Miracle shows

“Absolute masterclass in comic timing’” Western Morning News (Magnificent Three, 2015)

“World Class” Western Morning News (Waiting for Godot, 2013)

“A noble and faultless staging of a timeless piece” The Stage (Waiting for Godot, 2013)

“clever commedia characters played with huge energy, slapstick, versatile doubling and cracking comic timing” The Stage (Government Inspector, 2006)

About Miracle

Miracle is an award winning touring theatre company, based in Cornwall with a reputation for producing, comical, highly entertaining and thought provoking shows suitable for anyone & everyone.

Since 1979 they have been touring to the far flung corners of the South West. Miracles outdoor productions have become a ‘must do’ activity and pop up in unexpected and extraordinary, including gardens beaches, castles and clifftops.

Awards for Miracle:

2014/2015 Tourism Activity, Sport & Experience GOLD award winners
2013 What’s On Cornwall Best Theatre Production: Waiting for Godot

MIRACLE GUIDE TO OPEN AIR THEATRE

Gather a posse! Bring friends & family the more the merrier for a Miracle night out!
Arrive Early – Pick a great spot and enjoy the beautiful surroundings
Bring a Picnic – There will be refreshments and toilets available.
Bring your own seat – Low backed chairs, rugs and a cushion are always nice too, combine comfort and style!
Come prepared! – Bring whatever you need for a cosy evening. Warm woollies, blankets waterproofs and insect spray!
Bring a Torch – It’s very helpful to safely find your way back to the car.

PREVIOUS PERFORMANCES at Wellow

2019:

As we expect of Miracle this performance was family-friendly and entertaining, with the addition of the most amazing costumes!

In the run-up to the event the weather had been awful, so we all packed umbrellas and wet weather gear with our picnics this year. Then a true ‘miracle’ happened: just before the performance the rain stopped and it kindly stayed away until we’d left the field.

There were some impressive picnics

Audience participation is essential – that’s someone’s chocolate brownie snaffled

There was plenty of action to keep everyone enthralled…. the children found the strange people fascinating.

Those of us that took the chance on the weather were rewarded with what many felt was the Miracle’s best outdoor theatre production to date. The play was fun, the cast were brilliant and a great time was had by all.

We wonder what Miracle will perform for us next year?

2018:

As we approached the hot days and balmy evenings of summer, it was time to make plans for our friends and family to enjoy more time together. With numbers climbing to 270 in the audience for the outdoor theatre last summer there was no time to lose in getting tickets for this year’s performance.

The professional Miracle Theatre visited Wellow once again on: Thursday 19th July 2018, 
when they performed 'The Cherry Orchard' adapted and directed by Bill Scott.

As ever, the performance was family-friendly and entertaining to the full.

Miracle delivered Chekhov’s bittersweet comedy about a once-wealthy family, whose idleness and extravagance have brought them to the brink of bankruptcy.

Obstinate and self-absorbed, they are deaf to the rumblings of change which surrounds them, and unable to accept help when they need it.

Will it take a revolution to destroy their cosy world of privilege and entitlement – or will their own stupidity be enough?

Bill’s new adaptation treads the tragicomic tightrope, bringing out all the humour and pathos of Chekhov’s masterpiece which, more than a century after it was written is as popular as ever.

So we packed up a picnic, brought folding chairs and arrived early to choose our spot to await the start.

As the excitement rose, the audience swelled in numbers:

Cornwall’s award winning Miracle Theatre has developed a strong reputation for producing entertaining and dynamic adaptations of classic plays.

Programme:

6.30pm Hannah Banks – Trumpet welcome as people arrive

6.40pm Maryell Finisterre – Acclaimed singer while everyone enjoys a picnic.

7.30pm Miracle Theatre Company – The Cherry Orchard performance begins – running time: approximately 2 hours plus interval.

Huge thanks to the organisers:

Ron & Sheilagh Humphreys

On behalf of Wellow Recreation Charity No 1164352

Please visit wellow.arts.org for information and details of events.

2017:

Staged, on 6th July 2017: The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien

Click on picture above to go to Jeremy Brien’s theatre review of the event:

It was a lovely sunny evening on Wellow Playing Field, with picnics being enjoyed by many as they listened to a talented solo artist and then went on to watch the amazing performance by The Miracle Theatre cast members.

……..More reporting on the event:

A review by Marian Osborne:

In 2016 it was “Life’s a Dream”, and this year’s open-air performance by the well-named Miracle Theatre had a good deal of the dream-like about it too. “The Third Policeman”, adapted by the company’s director Bill Scott from a book by Flann O’Brien, caught us up in a whirl of unanswered telephones, eccentric characters, mystified policemen, repeated words and events set in Ireland (or was it eternity?) going round and round like the hurtling bicycles (could that perhaps be part of the point?) and delighted adults and children alike. Not many of us, I think, would claim to have “understood” it, but that didn’t seem to matter. 8-year-old Robin, who I could see was entranced throughout, said afterwards that it was very funny and you didn’t know what would happen next, and he “would give it a high rating”. Other, much younger children made the most of the lovely moonlit evening by running to and fro across the field behind and in front of the stage. It fitted the spirit of the play perfectly!

Special thanks and congratulations to Ron and Sheilagh Humphreys for bringing the Miracle Theatre to Wellow again this year. All that responsibility and organization must have involved a huge amount of work and probably of worry too. I hope the excitement of working with theatre and the eager response of the large audience made it all worth while.

A review by Ron Humphreys:

The world is sausage shaped and night is an accretion of black air. These and other remarkable assertions by the scientist/philosopher de Selby were just some of the allusions in the family-friendly comedy ‘The Third Policeman’ performed in the open air and under the stars by the professional Miracle Theatre Company at Wellow recreation ground. Fresh from their residency at the famous Minack Theatre in Cornwall, the cast of Ben Kernow, Ben Dyson, Catherine Lake and Hannah Stephens entertained an audience of 270 on a warm balmy evening.

Before the show, Maryell Finisterre entertained the audience with a selection of popular songs by Edith Piaf and Irving Berlin while they tucked into a picnic with friends and relations.

Then the mayhem began!

Set in rural Ireland the plot involved Policemen so obsessed with bicycles that they couldn’t contemplate any other crime. Why would you want to steal a watch when you could steal a bicycle?

To boost their figures they would hide pumps, lamps and saddlebags in places where they could subsequently find them.

As the actors searched for hidden articles amongst the audience this added greatly to the hilarity particularly when they snatched the occasional strawberry or sipped some champagne from the unsuspecting crowd.

Here’s what one Mum had to say: ‘It was a magical evening and myself and the children thoroughly enjoyed it. Kitty and I loved it and although we laughed all the way through, we were rather baffled by it, but my 10 year old grasped the concept of the play entirely! On the walk home, he said that he thought that the reason they were all so obsessed with bicycles is that the play represented the eternal cycle of hell. Well. I was pretty impressed with that!’

Well so are we!

2016:

On July 13th 2016, Calderon’s ‘Life’s a Dream’ was performed by the Miracle Theatre Company.

Theatre bars

Wellow’s first live outdoor theatre performance by a professional touring company was a great success. On July 13th, Calderon’s Life’s a Dream was performed by the Miracle Theatre Company. An audience of over 200 people brought chairs and a picnic to enjoy before this epic fable of love, war and destiny.

The play was packed with action, fu Theatre crowd 2 ll of drama and passion and had a generous seam of comedy.
The cast involved the audience at various stages and they even managed to fit in the surprise appearance of a Hercules aircraft when it flew overhead!

It was a real community event – a team of volunteers dressed the field with bunting, gazebos and flares and helped the cast to unload the staging. The youngsters of the village made themselves useful by serving the workers with tea and refreshments and then helped to carry the audience’s bulging picnic bags. After the performance the cast were invited to the Fox & Badger before being escorted by torchlight to the three homes who generously provided overnight accommodation.

Theatre crowd 1

Many thanks are due to all those who helped, but in particular to the two main organisers, Ron and Sheilagh Humphries.

Here are just a few of the many comments received from happy outdoor theatre go-ers – with a general view that this should be the first of an series of annual events.

‘What an amazing evening you organised last night, it was a HUGE success! Such a versatile cast and a very amusing play enjoyed by all.’

‘I just wanted to say what a fantastic evening! I came with Ollie (9) and Kitty (7) who both were captivated even thought my 7 year old didn’t have a clue what was going on. It was a great production and a magical night. (Albeit a very cold one!). Well done both of you for organising.’

‘Great event Ron, you are to be congratulated on a fantastic outcome – a product of all the effort that you and Sheilagh put in. Highlight for me was when the beam of sunlight shone across the stage to show what a beautiful country we live in. Also the improvisation when the Hercules flew over when they were surveying the skyline.’

‘Well done. What a fantastic night all round the play was extremely well acted, interesting, humorous and fun but above all a great tribute to your organisational excellence.’

‘I wanted to congratulate you on yesterday’s wonderful theatrical experience. I think it will go down in the annals of Wellow history as a great event. What a HUGE turnout … where did they all come from?? You should both feel jolly pleased with yourselves for pulling it off in such spectacular style.’

‘We really enjoyed the play on Wednesday evening and we just want to say a big ‘Thank You’ to you (and all your helpers) for having the inspiration to conceive the idea and the tenacity to pull it off.’