Nick Darke

Cornish playwright Nick Darke was born in St Eval, near Padstow in Cornwall, England and lived most of his life in Porthcothan. His father was a local farmer and his mother was an actor. Nick attended Newquay grammar school and trained as an actor at the Rose Bruford College in Kent and at the Victoria Theatre where he acted in over 80 plays. Nick himself wrote over 25 stage plays which have been performed both within Cornwall and nationally. Most of his plays reflect Cornish society and the myths and culture of the Cornish people such as the tin mining, country-side, fishermen and the quirky nature of country living. The Wrecking Season (2004) was his last work, which he wrote and narrated, and was a documentary charting the lives of Cornish beachcombers, of which he himself was one. He sadly passed away in 2004. His son Henry Darke and wife Jane Darke continue his legacy in film.