Moffats Play 2006

Wrecker Coppinger meets his match in Landlord Tregithew and his band of smugglers

The Moffats play was hailed a great success by audiences, cast and producer, providing the perfect end to our Spring Term.

One of five plays written specially for Moffats by Natalie Engleheart, it tells the story of a Cornish village near the infamous Manacles Rocks where smuggling is a way of life. This life however is threatened by the evil Mr Coppinger, a wrecker who guides ships onto the rocks with false beacons. Hell-bent on mischief, he not only tries to lay bare the smuggling secrets of the cove, but also to force the landlord's daughter into marriage, having previously condemned her betrothed into the hands of the Press Gang.

Good eventually prevails, the sweethearts are reunited and Coppinger is tricked into 'taking the King's shilling' himself.

As well as the archetypal villain in Mr Coppinger, the play hosts a wonderful set of characters, from the jovial lord of the manor, Sir John Penrice, to the mysterious clairvoyant, Mother Polrue.

Gallery

Click on the thumbnails below to see larger images.

	Cornish urchins provide the prologue for the play, Kipling's poem "A Smugglers' Song"
	Landlord Tregithew
	The potboy of the inn
	Smugglers enjoy a drink after a hard day's smuggling
	Italian castaway Josef with his guinea pig
	Josef entertains with a song
	Mr Coppinger forces Nancy Tregithew into submission
	Brave Nancy fights back
	Sir John Penrice reassures Mother Polrue that her grandson Peter is returning home on the good ship Drake
	"Stow 'em away!" Mother Polrue oversees the stowing of the smugglers' booty in the caves beneath her cottage
	Mother Polrue consults her crystal ball
	The revenue officer arrives to arrest the smugglers
	Mother Polrue makes the officer less than comfortable with his job!
	Peter Polrue, victim of the wreckers as the Drake is dashed on the Manacles - will he survive?
	Parson Tregenna and Sir John
	Lady Penrice
	Mr Coppinger smugly announces his engagement to Nancy
	The Press Gang
	The Press Gang take Coppinger... in place of Peter Polrue
	Nancy and Peter re-united
	A toast to... smugglers!
	The stagehands
	The sound and lighting team
	A montage of images from the play and rehearsals