Kneehigh theatre and the art of the app

by Charlotte Bond and Chloe Rickard, Friday 17 May 2013 Guardian Professional
A mobile app is a digital platform – like any other stage it should hold up your art, not work against it, say the Cornish company.

Kneehigh tell stories. Based in Cornwall, we create theatre on both epic and tiny scales and tour it regionally, nationally and internationally. One of our guiding principles is based on the words of Spanish artist Joan Miró: "In order to be truly universal, you must be truly local."

In recent years we have developed our online communications and kept an eye on digital innovation. However, there has always been a feeling that what we are good at is making live theatre, and therefore digital platforms aren't really for us, artistically.

Alongside touring, we have been developing our Connections programme, which aims to "engage creatively with communities through event and adventure" and (crucially) encompasses artist development in Cornwall. So in 2010, we commissioned writer and storyteller Anna Maria Murphy to deliver a project of her choosing.

Inspired by the story of Mary Kelynak, a 84-year-old local fishwife who walked 300 miles from Cornwall to London, desperate to see a London exhibition, Anna decided that she wanted to walk the roads less travelled of Cornwall. She would invite guests to walk with her, meet people along the way, and collect stories.

The project was successful and we have extended and developed it over the past three years. In her own words, Anna "wildly exaggerates" the stories she's collected, creating narratives that are entertaining, surprising and often moving – like modern day fairy tales. Read More