What's on at Cygnet Theatre
coming soon!
SEPTEMBER/October
Canterbury Leylines
11th September 2026
7:30pm
Temple of Shibboleth & Groove Study bring trace their shared connections to the Canterbury scene along an axis that
includes avant-rock, Rock in Opposition & mythic prog.
Yumi Hara’s Groove Study are an avant-rock trio & Temple of Shibboleth are a surrealist sisterhood who in trio form are able to fully experiment with stretching out their material beyond the jazz horizon.
Blue Vanguard Jazz
24th September 2026
7:30pm
Guest Artist Sara Colman
Joining our regular trio of Craig Milverton, Al Swainger & “Coach” York.
Lilith - The other side of the story
25th September 2026
7:30pm
Before Eve, there was Lilith...
A dramatic, uplifting one-woman storytelling show.
An exploration and celebration of female power through the mythological figure of Lilith. Shocking, seductive and entertaining.
Lilith, the first wife of Adam, was not prepared to lie down and accept what was given to her. Thrown out of Eden, she slithered back in to take her revenge and wake Eve up to what her body could do.
Viewed as a demon, worshipped as a goddess, adored as the Queen of Sheba, Lilith slips out of the Bible, reclaims the narrative and is dancing with us still, forever free.
Katy Cawkwell, a performance storyteller at the top of her game, mixes myth from Arabia, Ethiopia, Mesopotamia and Jewish tradition, with a dash of feminist flavouring and a large dollop of her own wild dreaming.
"Totally captivating" "Staggeringly good!" "I was spellbound"
“Brave, fun and brilliantly told”
“Great interweaving of stories from different cultures and perspectives”
"Wow! What a rich, wonderful evening of entertainment"
The Ocean can be a bridge - the Frederick Douglass story
1st & 2nd October 2026
7:30pm
In 1846 escaped slave and leading abolitionist Frederick Douglass arrives on a speaking tour of the UK. The West Country abolitionists are energetic campaigners with an international reputation. With Douglass’s arrival tensions between those who believe in radical direct action and those who favour more moderate approaches explodes and threatens the whole movement.
For Douglass the tour is fraught with contradictions. The battle to end slavery in the US is intensifying and he has been sent to Europe for his own safety. He is a passionate campaigner for the Abolitionist cause, but all the time he is aware that his wife and children are still back home in upstate New York. Suddenly a generous offer means he could be reunited with his family, but he is caught between his political commitments and his personal life, his happiness could also tear apart the movement he leads.
As relevant today as in 1846 “The Ocean Can Be A Bridge” examines the emotional fallout between people who believe in the same cause but vastly different forms of political action and the personal toll it exacts on leaders in the movement.
Kathys Song - A Celebration of Simon & Garfunkel
3rd October 2026
7:30pm
Glorious harmonies, superb guitar playing and a fabulous love story?
Following the highs and lows of Simon & Garfunkel’s rise to fame, told through the eyes of
Paul’s English girlfriend Kathy this hugely enjoyable show features all the hits, in a
surprising and moving story that has audiences laughing, crying, singing along and getting
warmly nostalgic.
Hour Before Nightfall
10th October 2026
7:30pm
This fast-moving and entertaining stage play is based on the true story of Frederick Densham, a mysterious living hermit who lived in the remote Bodmin Moor village of Warleggan from 1931 until his death in 1953. Written about by Daphne du Maurier and others, the story is rooted in the landscape of Cornwall and is driven by the evolving relationship between its two contrasting characters. When worlds collide, magic can happen...