As Crowdercref couldn't manage a blue clicky, here's the article..

SONGWRITERS WILL TRACE TIN-MINING HERITAGE
OLIVIER VERGNAULT

11:00 - 31 May 2008



A folk-opera about Cornwall's tin-mining past is having its premiere tonight.

The show, a 21-song costume-extravaganza called Cornish Lads, was created by Cornwall Songwriters to commemorate the county's proud industrial heritage.

It will be shown for the first time at the Blisland Village Hall this evening - the first performance of a two-year tour.



Mike O'Connor, a co-writer, director and producer of the Cornish Lads show, said the musical odyssey would focus on the true stories of people at the heart of Cornish mining.

He said: "It's a very infectious show where the audience is very much part of it. It's not like a play where you stand outside the action. It's very much white of the eyes stuff where everyone is expected to interact."

Cornwall Songwriters, who have come to prominence in the past 10 years for their musical creations The Cry of Tin and Unsung Heroes, were asked two years ago by the World Heritage Site Cultural Foundation, to come up with a new show retracing Cornwall's mining past.

The result is the 90-minute musical documentary drama celebrating the World Heritage mining landscape of Cornwall and West Devon.

Mr O'Connor said the show had received £1,800 funding from the World Heritage Site Cultural Foundation as well as support to go on the touring circuit after the Foundation heard of the group's previous successes.

The mining landscape of Cornwall and West Devon was formally recognised as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 2006, putting the area on a par with the Egyptian Pyramids, the Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China.

Cornwall Songwriters became known within the county when songs from their Cry of the Tin show, which was written at the time of the South Crofty mine closure in 1999, were painted on the walls of the closed mine.

The chorus of the song written by Roger Bryant, from Redruth, which was daubed on the wall of the mine, read: "Cornish Lads are fishermen, Cornish Lads are miners too. But when the fish and tin are gone, what are the Cornish boys to do?"

Mr O'Connor said: "It's amazing that some people used our songs as a political statement at the time of the closure. Our songs can also be heard on the football terraces and in pubs. They've really been adopted by the Cornish people."

The 10-strong group's other success came in 2004 with Unsung Heroes, about the young men who created the Lost Gardens of Heligan and died in the trenches of the First World War.

Mr O'Connor said: "It takes a year to create a show like ours. It will last for two to three years and every weekend we will be performing in front of an audience."

The song-writer said Cornish Lads is a collection of 21 songs done at breakneck speed about miners, mining communities as well as about life in general.

For more information about Cornwall Songwriters and a list of venues where the show will be played, visit www.lyngham.co.uk/cornishlads

Today's performance will take place at Leedstown Village Hall. For information, call 01736 850332