. In Britain, the ancient tradition

. In Britain, the ancient tradition of open-air performances is still alive and well. Cornwall has some of Britain's oldest working theatres, with one open-air theatre actually built into a cliff, a project only recently completed.Two actors, Dave James and Muriel Thomas, came from London theatres to join a theatre company called Coastline. They now regularly perform in just such a theatre, by the sea. 'One thing about performing outside is we never know what'll happen. For example, if a bird lands on stage, we can't act as if it's not there - the audience are all watching. So we just bring the bird into the play, too. Once, about 30 dolphins came past, jumping out of the water and showing off. The audience were all chatting about them instead of watching the play, so the actors just gave up for a while and watched the dolphins, too.'The weather can aslo be difficult. 'Sometime it's been so bad,' says Muriel, 'that we've asked the audience if they really want to stay. But usually they sit with their coats and umbrellas and say, "yes, please carry on!" They must feel it isn't much fun, but no one's returned their ticket so far!'Coastline's director, John Barnack, works hard to introduce people to theatre. 'Many people think of theatres as clubs where they don't belong and are not welcome,' he explains. 'Sitting in the open air changes that feeling. The audience ane far more involved - they aren't sitting in the dark, at a distance like in normal theatres, and that improves the actors' performances, too. I'm very proud of the work they've done so far.