Goodnight Mister Tom returns to the Minack after nine years

A London evacuee, a gruff widower and a cliff edge falling away to the sea. Nine years after it filled Cornwall’s open-air theatre, Goodnight Mister Tom is coming back to the Minack this August, staged this time by a father and daughter who both have their own history with the show.

A show audiences kept asking for

The production is a new staging of David Wood’s adaptation of Michelle Magorian’s bestselling novel, first seen at the clifftop theatre in 2017. Magorian’s book was first published in 1981 and has been adapted many times for stage and screen, with David Wood’s version now widely performed.

Director of the Minack, Rebecca Thomas, said the demand never really went away. “Goodnight Mister Tom was one of the most popular shows of 2017 and people have been asking us to re-stage it ever since,” she said. “It’s a story that speaks to a lot of people, and we are really lucky that some of the cast from the earlier production are returning to take part in this one, alongside a new generation of young performers.”

Set during the Second World War, the play follows ten-year-old evacuee William Beech, sent from London to the countryside and placed in the care of widower Tom Oakley. What starts as an uneasy arrangement grows into a close friendship, one that is tested when William is called back to London and the war closes in around them both.

Returning faces and new ones

The staging is part of the Minack’s Taking Part programme, which puts young performers on stage alongside a cast of professionals. It is a rare chance to see local talent share the boards with experienced actors against one of the most dramatic backdrops in British theatre, an open-air stage carved into the cliffs at Porthcurno near Land’s End.

Veteran Cornish actor Steve Jacobs will reprise the role of Tom Oakley, which he played in the 2017 run, and he is not the only member of the earlier cast coming back.

A story about the generations, staged by two of them

There is a neat symmetry to who is directing it. Goodnight Mister Tom is in the hands of father and daughter John and Millie Brolly. Associate Director of the Minack, John Brolly directed the 2017 production and runs the Taking Part programme, working with hundreds of young people across Cornwall. His daughter Millie, now a rising professional director, was one of the younger cast members in that 2017 show, which gives her a particular read on what today’s young performers are going through.

“Directing this together has been a real privilege,” John and Millie said. “Goodnight Mister Tom is a story about how a bond across generations enriches the lives of both young and old, so working on the production as father and daughter feels especially fitting. Watching the young cast members grow alongside our superb professional actors has been the most rewarding part.”

It is billed as a family show with broad appeal, though it carries an age guidance of 10+ for emotionally challenging themes of abuse, death and bereavement.

Goodnight Mister Tom runs at the Minack Theatre from 17 August to 1 September 2026, suitable for age 10+. It is a Minack Theatre Production.

Tickets are available through the Minack website or the box office on 01736 810181. Advance booking is essential during the school holidays, so anyone hoping for a seat in that late August run would do well not to leave it too long.

📷Steve Jacobs (Tom Oakley) with Iris Kirwan & Noah Holden-White (William Beech) and Sammy, the dog. © Lynn Batten