Kneehigh

This site is now inactive because Kneehigh has closed

With sadness and regret the trustees of Kneehigh Theatre Company announced the winding down of the company in June 2021.

Over the past few months the trustees have been working to implement the winding down process, in close consultation with management and legal consultants CounterCulture, with Arts Council England and with Cornwall Council.

A significant focus has been to oversee the redistribution of the company’s assets in line with charity law and for the benefit of the creative community in Cornwall. The trustees’ priority was to ensure that the company’s legacy will meaningfully support former Kneehigh staff and artists who together built the company over the years, as well as the wider Cornish arts sector.

Now that the final curtain has closed we are pleased to share examples of how the closure will support the creative sector going forward.

• Kneehigh’s much-loved shows (sets, props and costumes) have been gifted to the creators who devised them, allowing for possible remounts in the future. This accounts for around 70% of assets.

• The remaining 30% of assets have been gifted to NPOs and artists in Cornwall to support the county’s vibrant cultural and creative sector.

• Surplus funds on closure have been donated to Hall for Cornwall, who are the successor charity for Kneehigh.

We’ve had some wonderful feedback: Creative Kernow’s art hub Krowji was destroyed in a fire in May 2021 and the artists who worked there lost most of their work and resources. They have been gifted some tools and other assets to help them build back their creative practice. For example, instruments gifted to a music producer who lost all his musical instruments in the fire, will help him to run some of his planned community projects. It’s a drop in the ocean compared to what he’s lost but it’s a start.

• community projects has always been the home of Kneehigh’s physical and digital archive and the trustees have been working with the university to make sure this will continue into the future. Their collection includes photographs, videos, special items from past shows and digital projects, as well as documents that chart everything that happened behind the scenes. We hope this can allow Kneehigh’s legacy to be enjoyed by many, for many years to come.

We hope, as the months pass, there will be more stories of the positive impact Kneehigh’s legacy will create.

The company wants to thank the hundreds of thousands of people who have watched one or many of Kneehigh’s performances, the thousands of artists we have had the pleasure of working alongside these last forty years, the industry collaborators and partners that made the work possible across the globe, the hundreds of volunteers and community groups who shared their time, knowledge and stories, the many funders and Friends. All you, too many to mention, who made Kneehigh’s incredible journey possible. Thank you.

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