Audiences in Cornwall are being offered a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the unique talents of world famous playwright Nick Darke and esteemed composer and musician Jim Carey and his band of Saboteurs.

Riots and Lobsters, a brand new production featuring music specially arranged for the show, will be staged across the south west during May and June as part of the Nick Darke at 70 celebrations.

Nick, from Wadebridge, died in 2005 but would have been 70 this year.

Hall for Cornwall has been working with Arts Council England, FEAST Cornwall and Cornwall Heritage Trust to stage a series of events between August 29 last year and this, to celebrate his life, work and legacy.

“During the past nine months young people and professional artists from across Cornwall have been involved in presenting Nick’s work as part of Nick Darke at 70,” said HFC’s Head of Arts Development Helen Tiplady.

“Riots and Lobsters is one of the final components of the festival and we are delighted to be supporting this work across Cornwall in partnership with FEAST and Cornwall Council”.

Let lyrical laments, ballads and brass performed by a group of talented musicians take you from Cornwall to America and Africa, with tales of riots and lobsters, fishermen and miners, corrupt officials and power-driven politicians, pioneers, saboteurs, love and redemption.

Lose yourself in the amazing worlds created by the words of Nick Darke and the music of Jim Carey, as the composer brilliantly reimagines the music he originally created for classic Kneehigh plays, including Ting Tang Mine, The Bogus, The King of Prussia, and The Riot.

Jim first began working with Kneehigh in 1982.

Riots and Lobsters sees him working with Seamas Carey, Jen Dyer, Nathan Fitzgerald, Louis Gulliver King, Marc Hadley, Roger Luxton and Kath Williams to perform a range of diverse and poignant songs cross stylistic boundaries, taking inspiration from Cornish folk, traditional African songs, ska, swing, and many more.

The Cornwall Riots and Lobsters programme begins at St Ives Guildhall on Saturday, 11 May, before visiting venues across the county, from Penzance to Liskeard and Launceston.

The Saboteurs will be joined by the St Keverne and Lostwithiel Brass Bands, and a Cornwall-wide community choir performing at Gala performances at Amata in Falmouth and St Petroc’s Church Bodmin.

• Saturday, May 18: Grampound Village Hall

• Saturday, May 25: Liskeard Public Hall

• Wednesday, May 29: The Acorn, Penzance

• Thursday, May 30: St Petroc’s Church. Bodmin

• Saturday, June 1: Perranporth Memorial Hall

• Sunday, June 9: Launceston Town Hall

• Monday, June 10: Amata, Falmouth

• Wednesday, June 12: St Endellion Church

Tickets, priced £10 for adults, £8 for under 16s and unwaged, are available online from the Cornish Riviera Box Office or by phoning 01726 879500.

They are also available from tourist offices in St Ives, Penzance, Truro, St Mawes, Bodmin, St Austell, Liskeard, Launceston, Looe plus Heartlands, Pool Redruth.