This is one of four Cornish plays by Mike Hasshill. It is a powerful drama, set about the year 1780 on the remote coast of North Cornwall. Although the subject is a dark one, fleeting lighter moments intrude into the action.
The Penstock Rite is fiction, though the conditions of the time – the lethargy of the Church of England, the prevailing poverty, and the undercurrent of an older “green religion” - are so manifest that the events portrayed might well have happened.
The play is most suitable for arena production. A high standard of lighting, and music and sound, is required for full effect, and this is indicated in the script.
There are seven male and two female characters, all of them important and capable of considerable development. The play runs for approximately one and a half hours, and is suitable for a professional or a very good amateur company.
The North Cornwall Theatre Company, who invited lay actors from around Cornwall to perform in the play, originally produced it "in the round" during the 1984 summer season at Tintagel.
The other Cornish plays by Mike Hasshill are:
All these plays may be purchased from High View, price £8.00 each, post free. Ten or more copies posted in one order to the same address: £60. Director's, or prompter's, copies are also available, £12 each, or £10 if ordered with ten or more plays.
They are also available as a bound set - click for details.
Royalty arrangements are not onerous. Please contact High View by e-mail (mail@highview.co.uk) in the first instance.
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