The Global Media Site for Entertainment.
Menu
Kneehigh Theatre has sadly announced the news that they are closing, following the pandemic and artistic differences after four decades in business. Kneehigh is a Cornwall based theatre company with a local, national and international profile. For 40 years they created vigorous, popular and challenging theatre and performed with joyful anarchy.
Based in breath-taking barns on the south coast of Cornwall, they created theatre of humanity on an epic and tiny scale. Kneehigh worked with an ever-changing ensemble of performers, artists, technicians, administrators, makers and musicians, and were passionate about our multi-disciplined creative process.
In a moving statement released earlier in June 2021, the company announced online the sad news that the theatre would not be moving forward after the pandemic. The statement read:
“With sadness and regret, the Trustees of Kneehigh have announced the winding down of Kneehigh Theatre.
Whilst the last year has been a difficult time for many people, including those employed in the arts, performance and theatre, Kneehigh’s financial stability has enabled the company to continue to create work throughout the pandemic. Kneehigh is grateful to their principal funder Arts Council England and for the significant recent support received from the Culture Recovery Fund, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, the Coastal Communities Fund, Cornwall Council, and Garfield Weston Foundation.
Recent changes in artistic leadership raised questions as to whether Kneehigh could sustain their vision going forward. The Trustees and company reflected on a possible new future but concluded that it was better and more responsible to close Kneehigh and ensure an orderly wind down.
The company wants to thank everyone who came to watch the performances, the artists they have had the pleasure to work alongside, the industry collaborators and partners, the volunteers and community groups who shared their time, knowledge and stories, as well as the funders and the friends – all of whom made the work possible.”
Kneehigh was founded in 1980 by its artistic director Mike Shepherd, who stepped down in March following colleague and deputy artistic director Carl Grose who had departed following 27 years with Kneehigh. Long-time director Emma Rice left in 2016 after 20 years with the company, and went on to work most notably at Shakespeare’s Globe.
Renowned for their sense of life, Kneehigh’s productions, often staged outdoors, would mix knockabout comedy with runaway romance. Many were based around mythological tales, such as the Cornish legend of Tristan and Yseult, the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Red Shoes, or Greek tragedy The Bacchae.
Prior to the closing of the theatre, the story of how things came to be is a much happier one, as explained on their website:
“In Cornwall, 1980, a village school teacher began to run theatre workshops in his spare time. In due course a mixture of people became involved, a farmer, the sign writer from Tesco, several students, a thrash guitarist from a local band, an electrician. No actors…nobody who had been trained. The workshops took place in the spirit of cheerful anarchy and casually slipped into performance, and finally the production of shows.
We created theatre for families in locations within their communities, village halls, marquees, harbour sides…and less conventional places. We created theatre on cliff-tops, in preaching pits and quarries, amongst gunpowder works and arsenic wastes, up trees, down holes, where the river meets the sea and where woodland footpaths end.”
Kneehigh Theatre had celebrated being ‘one of Britain’s most exciting touring theatre companies’ and were held in high esteem for their multi-functional use of art forms and media in creating new and accessible theatre. Over the years, the company gathered many prestigious awards and nominations, including:
The Best of Edinburgh Award (The Flying Lovers of Vitebsk)
Carol Tambor Award
2017
Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Visiting Production
Theatre Washington
2015
Best Theatre Company
What’s On Cornwall Awards
2014
Best Activity, Sport or Experience: Silver
South West Tourism Excellence Awards
2013
Best Tourism Activity, Sport & Experience of the Year: Gold
Cornwall Tourism Award
2012
Outstanding Contribution to Tourism
Cornwall Tourism Award
2013
Lifetime Achievement Award (Mike Shepherd)
Saints Award
2012
Outstanding Achievement Award for Touring Production (Wild Bride)
San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critic’s Circle
2011
Stage Manager of the Year Award (Steph Curtis)
Stage Management Association
2011
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (Hannah Yelland, Brief Encounter) (Nomination)
Tony Award
2011
Best Sound Design of a Play (Simon Baker, Brief Encounter) (Nomination)
Tony Award
2011
Best Design/Music (Brief Encounter)
Off Broadway Awards
2010
Best Director (Emma Rice, Brief Encounter) (Nomination)
Olivier Award
2009
Best Entertainment (Brief Encounter) (Nomination)
Olivier Award
2009
Best Set Design (Brief Encounter) (Nomination)
Olivier Award
2009
Best Sound Design (Brief Encounter) (Nomination)
Olivier Award
2009
Best Lighting (Brief Encounter)
Theatre Goer Award
2009
Best Touring Production (Tristan & Yseult) (Nomination)
TMA Award
2006
Best Touring Production (The Bacchae)
TMA Award
2005
Best Touring Production (Wooden Frock) (Nomination)
TMA Award
2004
Best Director (Emma Rice, Red Shoes)
TMA Award
2002
Hedda Archbold, Chair of the Kneehigh Theatre Board, concluded in a moving statement:
“At the end of May, the brilliant Random Acts of Art had its final performance. The project has been a high point on which to end. These bold, playful, humorous and thought-provoking creative works brought together dozens of collaborators all across Cornwall, and delighted audiences out and about as well as online. Eclectic, anarchic, inspiring and inclusive, it embodied the spirit of Kneehigh we have loved for the past 40 glorious years. Despite the challenges of the past year, it has been an incredible journey filled with joy and delight.”
Kneehigh Theatre shall indeed be sorely missed.
Links:
UK Live Music Scene Has First Outdoor Gig & Plans To Reopen Venues
Alice Smart: Interview with a London based Costume Constructor
Michelle is a musician and composer from the UK. She has performed across the UK and Europe and is passionate about arts education and opportunities for women and girls.
Read Full Profile
© 2021 TheatreArtLife. All rights reserved.
Thank you so much for reading, but you have now reached your free article limit for this month.
Our contributors are currently writing more articles for you to enjoy.
To keep reading, all you have to do is become a subscriber and then you can read unlimited articles anytime.
Your investment will help us continue to ignite connections across the globe in live entertainment and build this community for industry professionals.
