Smugglers’ trails, strange sounds and buried treasure…

• A mother, lost at sea one night while rescuing shipwrecked mariners
• Her daughter, who goes up to the cliff tops to sing
• A naive young Customs official determined to make a name for himself.
• An old spanish sailor, washed ashore after a battle and never put to sea again

As the countryside empties out with the young heading to the promise of work in the growing cities, locals wonder how the tiny, isolated port of Bucks Mills keeps going. 

Fishing boats are beached. There’s little in the fields. Yet Bucks Mills villagers appear to thrive.

There are rumours of deals done with the old gods, of strange sounds from the clifftops, of strange vessels visiting the tiny harbour late at night, of crates dragged ashore and hidden. 

One August night, the men of the newly-formed Customs and Excise decide it is time to settle the matter once and for all.

Taking place sometime between the agricultural and industrial revolution, Burn the Curtain's new outdoor participatory show explores the relationship between mankind and the sea, and considers how we use the resources under the ground and in the water. 

Part-chase through smugglers’ trails, part-live action monster movie and part lyrical treatise on our relationship with our natural heritage, Burn the Curtain experiments once again with immersing audiences in the action and the landscape.