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The Darke Visions Festival / Sponsors

Nick Darke (by: Steve Tanner) IN 2008/9, CYTC's 25th Anniversary season, we embarked on one of our most radical projects so far: 3 Nick Darke plays in one season as part of the Darke Visions Festival.

Nick Darke was born and raised in St Eval, Cornwall, the son of a farmer. He was educated at St Merryn School and Newquay Grammar School and trained as an actor at Rose Bruford College, Kent and worked at the Victoria Theatre, Stoke, throughout the 1970's. Nick wrote over 20 plays which have been produced by, amongst others, the Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, Royal Court, Bristol Old Vic, Kneehigh Theatre Company, O Region, BBC Radio and Television.

In 1992, Nick was commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Sainsbury Foundation to write HELL'S MOUTH for the Antigone's Festival, a national festival for youth groups. The HELL'S MOUTH company included 10 CYTC members. David Hunter, CYTC's Artistic Director, was the production lighting designer and Mike Shepherd, the production director. This original production had a seminal influence on its participants and many have entered the performing arts industry and are now established professionals - Carl Grose, Rob Elton, Jamie Crowe, Jenny Beare, James Hardaker, Michael Allington, John Picton, Harry Forbes-Pearce, Elinor Pope and Rachel Fealey were included in that original company.

In 1994, CYTC commissioned Nick, in a Sainsbury Foundation funded partnership production with Treviglas College, to write a play about the Newquay Lifeboat. KNOCK OUT THE PIN was CYTC's first direct collaboration with Nick Darke.

Since Nicke's untimely death in 2005, we have been discussing how best to acknowledge his massive contribution to our cultural life in Cornwall and the DARKE VISIONS FESTIVAL presents an ideal opportunity. The DARKE VISIONS FESTIVAL will involve participants from across Cornwall's artistic community and will encompass a variety of activies centred on the work and life of Nick Darke.

For further details about the DARKE VISIONS FESTIVAL : DARKE VISIONS

In 2009, CYTC performed, HELL'S MOUTH (directed by Harry Forbes-Pearce and Theresa Forbes-Pearce), THE BODY (directed by Tom Faulkner) and TING TANG MINE (directed by Rory Wilton and Emma Spurgin Hussey). The Nick Darke season of 3 plays toured to 15 venues in March/April 2009.

(photo by STEVE TANNER : kindly loaned by Jane Darke)

PHIL JUKES (1930 - 2008) CYTC Administrator & Associate Director

Phil Jukes was the company Administrator and Associate Director from 1986 - 1994. Many will remember him as a kind, warm-hearted man whose infectious laughter was guaranteed to stir enthusiasm from even the slowest audience. In the 1970-80's he worked, for several summer seasons at the two Newquay theatres and had a host of "behind the scenes" tales about a wide range of actors. As a volunteer for both the Arts Centre Trust and the National Trust he was tireless in his efforts and his front-of-house skills were almost legendary - on a cold, windswept August evening at Trellissick Gardens, Phil could marshall a Kneehigh performance audience like no other! His attention to detail was well known and in the 1990's, we worked together on many outdoor Kneehigh Theatre events and I think he knew the shows, the sets and the prop positions better than the SM's! For as long as I can remember, Phil had the same stone seat at The Minack theatre, every Tuesday evening, without fail, whatever the weather, whatever the show and this sort of commitment said so much about the man - if he supported you, he was utterly loyal to your cause or point of view and you quickly valued it and you could rely upon it.

He worked hard for CYTC and his efforts secured the fledgling financial success of the company. I well remember Phil's first grant application, as company administrator, to the Gulbenkian Foundation for a project based on Hiawatha; his opening sentence read, "I know you will agree with me in supporting our aims, you would be foolish not to ....". This wasn't arrogance, but a supreme belief in our work and its value. Phil had that rare gift of being able to energise people and maintain a healthy cynicism about those in authority. He was a wonderful foil for pomposity. His love and wide-ranging knowledge of Shakespeare enthused and inspired those around him and, in his latter years, he was a dynamic tutor at the University of the Third Age. Phil was an encylopeadia of theatre knowledge, he'd probably seen more live performances, all over the UK, than any person I know and he firmly believed that young people had a right to benefit from the arts and the arts had a duty to young people. He had a clear vision about the role of the arts in young peoples lives and he was messianic about its delivery and its place in all our lives. He was one of our firmest supporters and a great friend to the company.

His funeral service, on December 9th 2008, included Richard Burton's reading of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood, Blake's Jerusalem, Razamataz from Chicago and for the final commital, as the curtain closed; That's Showbusiness!

Wonderful stuff and a fitting, joyful tribute to a man who worked so hard for the company.

David Hunter Artistic Director

CYTC WINS 2 MAJOR NATIONAL AWARDS!

Our JUST LIKE YESTERDAY project, which toured in March/April 2008, was nominated by the Heritage Lottery Fund in the Nationwide Community & Heritage Awards under the Youth/Heritage category. JUST LIKE YESTERDAY was a performance project incorporating film-making, archive research and interviews of people who were teenagers in Cornwall during WW2.

The project was clearly highly thought of because we not only won the REGIONAL WINNER award (2008) but also the NATIONAL FINALIST award (2008).

CYTC is dedicated to working in innovative ways with both script and film, engaging young people and professionals in a common approach to creating new, touring productions. The Nationwide Community & Heritage Awards reflect our on-going commitment to excellence in both practice and performance.

(photo by HNTPhotography)