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Kneehigh Theatre's legacy: Still kicking

Kneehigh Theatre Company closed in 2021, but its work, style and impact on performance can still be felt today. With many exam boards using Kneehigh as a chosen practitioner, John Johnson explores how we can still learn from its practice.
 
Tristan & Yseult, Shakespeare's Globe, London, 2017
Tristan & Yseult, Shakespeare's Globe, London, 2017 - Steve Tanner

Kneehigh Theatre was founded by teacher Mike Shepherd in Cornwall in 1980. From the beginning Kneehigh approached theatre by organically developing ensemble pieces of a highly physical and spectacular nature, to be performed in local environments. This ethos is reflected in much of its early work in pieces such as Awful Knawful (1980) based loosely on the stunt motorcyclist Evel Knievel, The Mystery Machine (1981) based on the Children's book The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, Mrs Corbetts Ghost (1981) based on the novel of Leon Garfield and Around the World in Eighty Days (Minutes) (1982) adapted from the Jules Verne classic.

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