Theatre should be like stepping onto a tightrope every night not plodding down a well trodden path. Even when you’re on your 300th performance there should still be a sense of spontaneity, a fizz of adrenaline and a feeling that the actors themselves don’t quite know what’s going to happen. It’s easier to shake things up and find freshness with new and more devised work (we all know what happens at the end of Romeo and Juliet before it even starts). As a performer I never subvert the story or the focus but I often shake things up, change rhythms, find something new.
The Kneehigh Spirit: Inspiration, creativity and providing a great night out
The fundamental pillars of Kneehigh’s work:
You're absolutely in connection with your fellow colleagues and the audience. The storytelling takes people on a journey.
In village halls, you can’t pretend to be someone else. You have to talk directly to the audience, you have to engage with the tea urn, you have to engage with the children and the grannies and make it an event, a celebration. The Guardian 21st March 2005
INSERT PHOTO ONCE ITS AN ARCHIVE OBJECT
Kneehigh had almost three different sections - one of which was the touring shows, and there were the village hall touring shows, and there were the schools shows. Even though I trained as a teacher, I learned all my teaching skills through working for Kneehigh and doing workshops.