REDRUTH celebrated St Piran’s Day by releasing a newly commissioned film designed to support its bid to become UK Town of Culture 2028.

Written and performed by Will Coleman, The ‘Druth Is Out There is a spoken poem in Cornish and English. It tells the story of Redruth, from tin sparking the Bronze Age, through becoming the richest square mile in the UK, to post-industrial decline and rebirth via heritage and culture.

It premiered yesterday (Thursday, March 5) at The Regal Cinema in Redruth, screening before every film across the day. A dedicated screening will also take place at The Ladder in Clinton Road as part of Kernow Kino tomorrow (Saturday, March 7) at 5:45pm.

Rather than a conventional campaign video, the four-minute work is a piece of art in its own right, reflecting on Redruth’s landscape, history and cultural inheritance, and positioning it not as a town seeking reinvention, but as a place with a deep cultural continuity.

Will Coleman is a theatre-maker, author, musician and educational consultant, and a former director and musician with Kneehigh Theatre. As the founder of Golden Tree Productions, he was behind 2016’s Man Engine, a 40ft mechanical puppet built to mark Cornwall’s mining history and diaspora; Kerdroya, a monument to Cornish hedging on Bodmin Moor; and the Go Cornish language programme in primary schools.

The release of the film marks the final public moment in Redruth’s Town of Culture campaign phase. The bid, led by Redruth Town Council, Redruth Cultural Consortium and The Ladder, proposes a £3.5 million cultural programme for spring/summer 2028 if successful.

Joshua Nawras of The Ladder said: “We wanted the final word in this phase of the bid to come from an artist rooted in Cornwall. This film is a cultural statement. It speaks to where Redruth comes from and why that story matters now.”