We’ve always sought to make surprising connections with people and places, whether through re-animating local festivals like Tom Bawcock’s Eve, working with Tibetan monks fleeing Chinese rule or engaging young mums from West Penwith.
We passionately believe that theatre has the power to transform; that it can help us to imagine, console, inspire, understand, engage, entertain and feel part of a community. And yet, certain groups are unable to engage due to financial or social barriers.
Our Connections Programme continues our proud tradition of working with communities by providing greater access to Kneehigh in our home county. Working with a variety of community, voluntary and social organizations, we reach out to people from all walks of life by providing free tickets, running workshops and offering opportunities to work with artists.
In 2011, Anna travelled the length and breadth of Cornwall. In rain, wind and shine her walks were launched with a free breakfast for all adventurers and a trumpeted salute from local artist Rob Higgs' chain reaction boat. There was a host of planned and chance meetings with extraordinary people and places, stories were shared and collected and have since become wildly exaggerated in a collection of stories called "The Roads Less Travelled".
We also cooked, danced, built dens, sang songs, made and flew kites, invented scandals, talked politics both local and global, turned turnips in to projectile missiles and operated a free and subsidised ticket scheme to the Asylum with and for local groups and organisations.
In 2012 we walked the seasons again, and as well as stories and workshops there were pop-up performances with well-known Kneehigh performers - with a duo of dancing crabs, a cosmos on fire, a death defying mini circus, a murderous but amorous conger eel and much much more! This pop-up performance evolved into a village hall tour: The Kneehigh Rambles.
The Connections Programme is supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, The Joyce Carr Doughty Charitable Trust, FEAST and Rob & Jane Hartley, alongside donations made by members of the Kneehigh Family and bookers for Asylum seasons