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The Tolmen Centre is at the heart of village life in Constantine, Cornwall. Many residents and friends enjoy events here; a wide and loyal audience has developed for the varied arts programme including music, theatre and cinema, and the Centre has built up an excellent reputation in the Cornish arts community. Miracle, Cube, Cscape, and Pipeline theatre companies are regular visitors both to perform and to develop new work. The Café Tolmen is often open for meals when there’s an event at the Centre. Please call us on 01326 340630 to pre-book your meal from 6pm. The Tolmen Centre is a not-for-profit organisation entirely run by volunteer help – no-one gets paid for their time. This creates a rather special ethos around the place – and allows us to be ambitious in what we promote and undertake. |
Early announcement: a very special gig coming in our autumn season…
We are thrilled to announce that on October 5th the Tolmen Centre will be presenting Catrin Finch and Aoife Ní Bhriain in concert, touring their sensational new album Double You. Both musicians have their roots in their native traditions, but both share a rigorous classical training and are complete virtuosi of their instruments: the harp and the violin respectively. Their album has received rave reviews from all quarters, such as:
‘Both astonishing musicians individually, as a duo they connect on an almost transcendent level, bringing their classical knowledge and folk heritage together to create a work of breadth and beauty, inspired by Bach, bees, mathematics and wanderlust’
Ellen Cranitch, RTÉ
For more details and samples of the music see www.catrinfinch.com
Tickets for this exceptional high profile concert will come on sale on June 1st. We expect demand to be high so you may wish to book well in advance to secure them.
UPCOMING MUSIC PERFORMANCES INCLUDE:
- BROOKS WILLIAMS
- LINDE NIJLAND AND BERT RIDDERBOS
- THE MYSTERY GUEST TOUR
- BLACK UMFOLOSI
Tolmen Building FundThe Tolmen Centre is housed in a beautiful building, which is old and listed, and requires constant maintenance and renovation. While our regular activities bring in enough money to keep the centre safe and in running order, there are inevitably larger amounts of expenditure that need to be prepared for. We have therefore decided to set up a special fund, to be known as the Tolmen Building Fund, which we hope will provide some reserve of cash which we can call on when required. Our supporters will be invited – but not pressurised – to contribute to the Fund when they purchase tickets online. Of course we would also welcome donations outside this route at any time. If you have any questions about this, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Discounted ticketsAs a response to the cost-of-living crisis, we are trialling a new discounted ticket option for some events, starting in our summer season. This will be labelled as “students, low-waged and unwaged”. No proof of eligibility will be required, and we rely on the honesty of our audience to use this option in the spirit in which it is intended. To put it simply, if you feel you cannot afford a full price ticket but can manage the discounted one, that’s fine: there is no age limit or other qualification. |
Loading…Film
Wednesday May 1st
7:30 pm
The Holdovers
The Holdovers follows a curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school forced to remain during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually he forms an unlikely bond with one of them, a damaged, brainy troublemaker, and with
the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.
Venue Opens: 18:00
Event Starts: 19:30
Tickets £5 on the door
Music
Saturday May 4th
7:30 pm
LINDE NIJLAND AND BERT RIDDERBOS
Sandy Denny Songs and More
Linde Nijland has been called ‘best folk singer in the Netherlands'(Heaven magazine). In the UK she’s best known for her sincere renditions of Sandy Denny material. Legendary producer Joe Boyd said “Linde has given Sandy Denny’s music the respect it deserves, and made a lovely record that shows off her beautiful voice as well as her good taste.” She has sung several times with Fairport Convention, including an All Star reunion concert at the Barbican in 2009.
Linde will perform with multi-instrumentalist Bert Ridderbos (“seemingly a one-man orchestra” – fRoots) on guitars, cittern, accordion, banjo and dobro. Especially for the Tolmen Centre they will put an emphasis on Linde’s project of Sandy Denny songs, with some additional pieces from her own singer songwriter albums. Acapella songs are mixed with ballads, instrumental tunes and up-tempo singalongs. Expect a unique atmosphere, not to be missed.
Event Starts: 19:30
Tickets £12/£10(discount)/£6(children)
Talks
Thursday May 9th
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Dickens and Italy
Constantine Literary Pod welcomes
Lucinda Hawksley
Dickens and Italy
In 1844, Charles Dickens took his wife and young family to Italy for a year. Author, historian and broadcaster Lucinda Hawksley will speak about their year in which Dickens recovered from depression, wrote his second Christmas novella and travelled the country researching his travelogue Pictures from Italy. Dickens great, great, great granddaughter will speak about the family’s extraordinary year which also helped inspire her own book Dickens and Travel.
Wine, cheese and biscuits, available from 6.30.
Venue Opens: 18:00
Event Starts: 19:30
Theatre
Saturday May 11th
7:30 pm
SHOTGUNNED
By Kangaroo Court
We welcome to the Tolmen Centre SHOTGUNNED – a new play by exciting new company Kangaroo Court based in Falmouth.
Shotgunned is the company’s debut production, and has already played to enthusiastic audiences around Cornwall with excellent reviews. The company now have bookings across the country before heading to the Edinburgh Fringe for a full month in August.
Written and directed by Matt Anderson, it tells the story of Dylan and Roz, a couple who unexpectedly fall out of love.
Described as equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, Shotgunned is a deeply relatable and intimate piece of theatre about the people we lose that shape who we become.
We are delighted to support this emerging young company who we expect to hear much more from as they take their work across the country later this year.
‘You find yourself laughing out loud one moment and gripping for tissues the next… Shotgunned breaks your heart, patches it together and then breaks it again.’ – FalWriting
‘Despite focussing on a break up, Shotgunned is very funny throughout.’ – ★★★★★ The Packet
‘Pure Annie Hall’ – The PRSD
Pre show suppers available from our much loved Café Tolmen – must be prebooked from Barbara on 01326 340630
Venue Opens: 18:00
Event Starts: 19:30
Tickets £10
Film
Wednesday May 15th
7:30 pm
Anatomy of a Fall
Oscar Winner for best original sceenplay. A woman is suspected of her husband’s .murder, and their blind son faces a moral dilemma as the sole witness.
Venue Opens: 18:00
Event Starts: 19:30
Tickes £5 on the door
Music
Saturday May 25th
7:30 pm
THE MYSTERY GUEST TOUR
A Celebration of Collaboration, Togetherness and Community.”
The In The Round Mystery Tour, featuring Daisy Chute, Hollie Rogers, and Lady Nade, is set to bring a unique experience to venues across the UK. Daisy Chute, Hollie Rogers, and Lady Nade are dynamic artists leaving a lasting impact on the music scene, uniting to celebrate collaboration in music, paying homage to community strength and creativity.
Performing on stage in turns, each show “ Songs In The Round” includes a mystery local guest for an uplifting, emotional, and unexpected experience at every stop.
More about the artists:
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Daisy ChuteScottish/American artist Daisy Chute, known for her award-winning songwriting and captivating vocals (and the occasional banjo number) is making waves touring her folk/americana music at sold-out shows around the world and at festivals like Glastonbury and Black Deer. |
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Hollie RogersHailing from Cornwall, singer-songwriter Hollie Rogers, celebrated for powerful vocals, graced stages at festivals like Glastonbury. Her unique blend of humor and sincerity shines through, with critical acclaim for her album, “Criminal Heart.” |
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Lady NadeRecently honored at Bristol Beacon, Lady Nade secured a 2022 UK Americana Awards Song of the Year win and a 2023 nomination for AMAUK Artist of the Year. Her genre-defying music resonates globally, with hits like ‘Willing.’ |
https://www.daisychute.com
https://www.hollierogers.com
https://www.ladynade.co.uk
Tickets £15
£12 (discount)
£7.50(children)
Venue Opens: 18:00
Event Starts: 19:30
Film
Wednesday June 5th
7:30 pm
And then Come the Nightjars
South Devon, 2001. Local dairy vet Jeff and curmudgeonly farmer Michael are old friends, But when the Foot and Mouth pandemic strikes the countryside their friendship – and the resilience of the whole community – is tested to its limits.
Venue Opens: 18:00
Event Starts: 19:30
Tickets £5 on the door
Music
Friday June 7th
7:30 pm
LOST SONGS OF SCILLY
Piers Lewin & John Patrick Elliott
Contemporary folk music from the Isles of Scilly
Lost Songs of Scilly is a unique collaboration that seeks to capture the stories and essence of the Isles of Scilly in music. Foot-stomping reels blend into timeless songs and ambient immersive instrumentals – this is music infused with an unshakeable sense of place. Expect evocative island soundscapes, with samples of field recordings woven through songs of the sea, celebrating the resilience of a creative, independent island community and transporting audiences to this truly beautiful place.
Piers Lewin has lived on the tiny island of St Agnes, Isles of Scilly for twenty five years. Following the disappointing realisation that his island home (unusually for a Celtic outpost) has no surviving indigenous music, he has made it his personal mission to compose and perform music that reaches the very heart of the place. Early on in this quest, he began collaborating with award-winning composer and producer John Patrick Elliott, a regular visitor to the islands.
Having worked together on numerous Scilly-based musical projects over the years, the duo conceived Lost Songs of Scilly in 2023 to create and share a new and vibrant version of the island sound, drawing on all this experience of setting Scilly to music. The result: a unique album and live experience, touring the UK in summer 2024.
Much of the music is created and recorded outside in the landscape – the ambience of wind and wave reflecting Scilly’s unspoilt soundscape. Many of the dance tunes draw inspiration from the powerful traditional Celtic music of neighbouring Cornwall, while the songs distill the rich stories and complex traditions of a remarkable, resilient maritime community.
Every note of this music is saturated in a profound sense of place – the aim of each performance is to take everyone in the audience, just for a night, to this unique and magical island.
*New music from Lost Songs of Scilly due for release January 2024*
A selection of music Piers Lewin and John Patrick Elliott have collaborated on for other projects can be found on the above website.
Various Press for Piers & John’s other musical projects:
“Bold and different…stretches boundaries.”
The Guardian
“Entrancing…deeply atmospheric…songwriting of a real rich quality.”
Clash
Tickets £14
£10 (discount)
£7 (children)
Venue Opens: 18:00
Event Starts: 19:30
Music
Saturday June 29th
7:30 pm
BLACK UMFOLOSI
Black Umfolosi is an award Winning Acapella singing and traditional dance group that was formed in 1982 by students who wanted to develop themselves and contribute to their communities, in a positive way.
The main reason for this initiative was to preserve and revive the Imbube Culture which was at the time invaded by Break Dance and Western Culture, in which it was now facing elimination from African Dance Culture.
Black Umfolosi is the best traveled Group in Zimbabwe and Southern Africa, hence having toured extensively nationwide and internationally; Europe, USA, Canada, Australia and Asia.
They have represented Zimbabwe at International events such as Universal Expo 1992 in Spain, Universal Expo in Portugal 1998 and the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, Canada among many more.
Event Starts: 19:30
Tickets £15/12(discount)/7.50(children)
Music
Saturday July 6th
7:00 pm
Larry Stabbins ‘245’
“A Rough Guide to the History of Modern Jazz”
During a long and varied musical career saxophonist Larry Stabbins has worked with most of the important figures at the cutting edge of European Jazz and Improvisation from Mike Westbrook to Keith Tippett and Germany’s Peter Brotzmann as well as working with Robert Wyatt and Jerry Dammers Spatial AKA.
Event Starts: 19:30
Tickets £12/10(discount)
We will be holding this event downstairs, providing more of a jazz-club feel. The bar will be open throughout.
