CORNWALL Council is set to spend £100,000 on helping to stage three medieval plays, but has admitted it doesn’t know which language they will be performed in.

The council’s Cabinet agreed on Wednesday (June 19) the funding which is part of a £540,000 fund being made available for a number of creative projects that could also unlock £5million of extra funding.

One of the projects is to provide £100,000 to the Ordinalia Nessa project, which will see three medieval Cornish plays staged in 2020.

The trilogy of plays dating back to the mid 14th century are written in Cornish and with stage directions in Latin.

A report to Cabinet stated: “They are considered the high point of medieval Cornish literature and were staged over three days as community events. Appreciation of the plays as literary works in their own right has grown significantly in recent years. Demonstrating the artistic and historic importance of Cornish literature will in turn unlock a greater respect and interest in Kernewek.”

The performance of the plays will be part of a project which will see an Out of the Ordinary exhibition come to Cornwall in June 2020.

It will be held at Kresen Kernow, the new Cornish archive centre, and will feature Cornish language manuscripts borrowed from the likes of the National Library of Wales and Oxford University.

The council is looking to invite organisations or theatre companies to get involved in the project and work out how the plays will be staged.

However at the Cabinet meeting councillor Barry Jordan asked whether the plays would be performed in Cornish and if so what kind of audience they would get. He also asked if they would be translated.

Council leader Julian German, who had earlier opened his first Cabinet meeting as leader in the Cornish language, said: “I think we have to see what comes forward and see what language they will be performed in.”

Bob Egerton, Cabinet member responsible for the item, agreed and added: “We don’t know and that is why we are inviting groups to come forward to see what is the best way to put them on for Cornish audiences.

“We are hoping to contact organisations to come forward with what ideas they have for staging this. We are confident that someone in Cornwall will come forward with a great idea of how we can do this.”

The other funding in the pot includes £340,000 to Creative Kernow to deliver an extension to the Cultivator programme which provides support to creative businesses as well as to set up Screen Cornwall which will promote TV and film projects in Cornwall.

A grant of £50,000 is for Newlyn Art Gallery for a New Voices project which will run in deprived areas in Cornwall.

IntoBodmin is set to get £20,000 for a project looking at the role of culture in improving town centres and engaging local residents.

A grant of £30,000 is going towards the Mayflower 400 celebrations which are due to take place next year and are predicted to bring an extra one million people to the area. The funding will be used for an Illuminate Festival which is set to be held at Mount Edgcumbe as part of the Mayflower 400 events.