In the Studio 2 Creating an ensemble

Creating an ensemble takes time and energy. Kneehigh’s rehearsals rely on collaboration and generosity, a shared language, and a common goal.

Ensemble challenge

To embrace a sense of play, set a challenge for your ensemble which doesn’t involve a specific skill or level of experience. You could:

• Make a ‘shrine’ or environment for a specific character or archetype.  Perhaps it’s a superhero or villain, a character from a popular book, or a public figure.  
• Solve a problem such as how to build the tallest tower possible using only dried spaghetti, balloons and Blu-Tac™.
• Organise a picnic (or design a hypothetical one), with the challenge of having food items beginning with every letter of the alphabet. Kneehigh would eat together after rehearsals in the barns, telling stories, playing games and music: recreating that atmosphere of collaboration and connection is a great way to build the foundations of ensemble.

Ultimately, the focus isn’t the end result of the shrine or the spaghetti tower, or the content of the picnic: instead it’s the process of thinking playfully and creatively, without censorship and without needing to achieve perfection. It’s that spirit, which embraces uncertainty and chaos, that you’re trying to emulate in the rehearsal room!