Frequently Asked Questions

Kneehigh are a small, artist-led company who work with a brilliant and ever-changing ensemble of performers and artists, to whom we are dedicated. This ensemble is formed of a family of revered creatives and performers who have been integral in our past productions and creative endeavours, as well as new and exciting collaborators, all who share Kneehigh’s creative ethos and core values; those who are passionate about multi-disciplinary artistic creation.

To expand our pool of collaborators we have a varied approach, which is wholly dependent on the needs of our projects. This includes invitations to meet with our Artistic Directors, open calls for applications via our social media channels and online advertising, and on occasion working with Casting Directors. After meeting with artists and performers we endeavour to be in touch as soon as possible to express if we believe that working together would be a good thing, and if not we have a commitment to explaining why we feel the match isn’t right.

We actively look for fellow adventurers and exciting “catalysts” to invigorate our processes through a programme of annual training and creative developments with theatre professionals. These courses and sessions take place at our barns and other affiliated spaces in cities and are an effective way of identifying future cast members and technical teams.

Kneehigh are an inclusive company, with an inclusive recruitment and casting policy. Performers will be considered seriously for any role regardless of how they self-identify or personal characteristics. We are committed to accommodating the individual circumstances of all with whom we work, offering flexible models of working including job shares for working parents and others with time commitments in their lives.

Kneehigh tells diverse stories, and celebrates and showcases the diverse talent, reflecting the world around us.

As a touring theatre company, we are never normally in one place at a time for very long. Therefore, we unfortunately aren’t able to offer any form of work-placement or internship opportunity. If we ever did decide to offer an opportunity like this, we will publicise it through all our channels, including social media and our mailing list.

All our shows, dates and venues that are publicly available or soon to go on sale are listed on our Shows page, so you can take a peek and see if we’re heading your way. We announce any new dates, venues or changes via our monthly Field Notes newsletter, and on social media.

That’s fantastic! We regularly put call-outs for people to join us as Volunteers, especially during our Asylum seasons. If you’re over the age of 18, keep your eyes peeled on Facebook, Twitter and sign up for our newsletter, as we announce any opportunities we have via these platforms. There is also a Kneehigh Volunteers Facebook group which you can join, and where we post any opportunities.

The rights for all our work remains with Kneehigh and, at present, we are unable to allow any reproductions of our shows. If you have any further questions, do get in touch.

Due to the high level of requests and the nature of the company being away on tour a lot of the time, we are often unable to help with specific requests for extra information, and unfortunately cannot arrange one to one interviews.

However, we do have a wide variety of useful info on our digital education site, the Kneehigh Cookbook, which is designed for anybody teaching or studying us. This includes interviews that company members, including Mike Shepherd, have undertaken. It’s free to use, and you can visit it here.

The Kneehigh Cookbook was designed for teachers and students studying us from GSCE through to degree level. The ingredients are there to inspire students to create their own work, and provide a taste of what exactly goes into each Kneehigh show.

For example, you can watch Mike Shepherd talk about his influences and how he begins creating his shows; listen to Emma Rice talk about directing and casting; go back stage and look out all our technical Stage Management plans; and look in depth at the historical contexts and real-life stories that inspired our shows.

The Cookbook is completely free to use, and you can find it here.

Our rehearsals are normally a closed process. Occasionally there may be opportunities to watch a rehearsal but these are likely to be rare and limited to those who are somehow involved in the process. You can, however, watch some of our rehearsal processes and listen to Mike Shepherd discuss our rehearsal processes on the Kneehigh Cookbook.

Unfortunately we do not film our performances for release as DVDs, however there are clips available on our YouTube & Vimeo channels, as well as on the Kneehigh Cookbook.

You can purchase CDs from a selection of our shows through our Shop, where you can also grab yourself some other exclusive Kneehigh merch, such as scripts, limited edition screen-prints, and The Kneehigh Book.

Our outreach work is focused primarily through the Coastal Communities programme, which engages with disadvantaged communities and young people in Cornwall and beyond.

Occasionally, we run workshops at or with the venue we are performing at whilst on tour. To check if we’re running a workshop at a venue near you, you can either call us or the venue directly to find out and book yourself a place.

As we are a small, artist-led company, we tend to only create and produce work in-house, and therefore do not have a submission department. However, you are welcome to send anything through to us to keep on file.

Please note: if you would like to send something through to us, please do so via email rather than by post to help us do our bit for the environment. Additionally, whilst we do our best to respond to every request, we are usually very busy. If you do submit something to us, please note that we will likely only be able to respond should something suitable arise.