Olivier award-winning Cornish director announces new show for 2025
‘A summer at the edge of the world can change everything…’
Simon Harvey brings new show to Redruth in February and March 2025
Based on Michael Morpurgo’s 1985 novel, White Horse has been five years in the making and tickets are now on sale
Olivier award-winning Cornish director Simon Harvey has announced his next project - and tickets are now on sale for this brand-new production coming to the Regal Theatre Redruth in early 2025.
Based on ‘The White Horse of Zennor and Other Stories’ by internationally acclaimed author Michael Morpurgo, WHITE HORSE blends film, live music and puppetry to create a 21st century Cornish folktale about place, family and home.
The show is produced by o-region, an acclaimed Cornish film and theatre production company specialising in producing original theatre shows (FUP, Hireth and Superstition Mountain) and independent feature films (Weekend Retreat, Brown Willy and Long Way Back).
Simon Harvey, artistic director of o-region and the show’s writer and director, said: “o-region’s mission statement is to make work which ‘raise smiles, punch guts, broaden horizons and affirm lives’ and I believe WHITE HORSE ticks all those boxes. It’s a story which is rooted firmly in Cornwall with universal themes of family, place and home.”
The hope is that - following the run at The Regal - the show will go on to tour nationally in 2026.
The story follows sixteen-year-old Annie Veluna who is spending the summer with her estranged father, in Zennor, West Cornwall. There’s nothing to do, no one to hang out with and as for phone signal…..
Her dad Arthur - never the chattiest of men - is carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders as he struggles to save his family farm from ruin and the reality of this ‘holiday’ is far from postcard perfect. But they say a place reveals itself through its stories, and stories is one thing Zennor has plenty of.
Whatever happened to Cherry and her Giant’s Necklace? Was Billy Tregarthen really lost at sea? And who is the mysterious loner Marney who lives in the run-down shack at the top of Zennor Hill? As summer wears on and reality and myth blur, this ancient weather-beaten land will force Annie to make pivotal decisions which will redefine her families’ future forever.
The show – which has taken five years to develop - will run from 28 February 2025 – 8 March 2025 and will appeal to a broad range of audiences and is a family-friendly production with age guidance of 8+. Tickets are on sale through Hall for Cornwall and can be purchased here:
Michael Morpurgo, who wrote the 1985 novel on which the play is based, is one of the UK’s best loved authors with over 200 books published including the War Horse which was adapted into a smash hit stage production by the Royal Shakespeare Company and later Steven Spielberg.
Simon Harvey worked extensively with Kneehigh Theatre and was the Co-Director of the show Pride and Prejudice Sort of which won an Oliver Award for Best New Comedy in 2022.
As part of WHITE HORSE’s development o-region has been undertaking an outreach project across Cornwall and Isles of Scilly called From the Horse’s Mouth.
Teams of artists led by o-region’s Artistic Director Simon Harvey and lead writer Anna Maria Murphy undertook a series of residencies in St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, Bude, Launceston, Redruth and Penzance.
They hosted drop in story collecting sessions, art and craft activities, song composition, drama and writing workshops and conducted interviews with members of the community to explore the themes of place, family and home and this work will form the basis of a series of curated performance events in each community this autumn.
The whole project is supported by the Shared Prosperity Fund, Arts Council England, Hall for Cornwall, FEAST and Michael Spiers.
Louis Gardner, Cornwall Council cabinet portfolio holder for the economy, said: “It’s great to see more of our Good Growth Fund investments in cultural events coming to life and continuing to showcase the strength of the Cornish creative sector.”
White Horse is possible thanks to a grant from the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Good Growth programme, which is managed by Cornwall Council and funded by the UK Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund. The project is part of a £4.4m investment in a cultural events and talent programme across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly by the Good Growth Programme.
Cornwall Council has been chosen by the Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Find full details of the work of o-region here:
