Kneehigh Walk Tall with Red Shoes on TourDate: 18 September 2001
The Cornish troupe Kneehigh Theatre take their acclaimed The Red Shoes out on a national tour next month. The production met with high critical favour at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and reconvenes at Plymouth Theatre Royal on 2 October 2001.
Loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson’s original story, the Kneehigh version apparently features a “hellish cabaret with an alluring drag queen and four hollow-eyed players”. Music and improbable characters combine to provide a menacing twist on the traditional folktale, in which a young girl’s red shoes become her delighted obsession.
The Kneehigh cast for the tour includes Mike Shepherd, John Surman and Bec Applebee. Shepherd is a Kneehigh’s co-Artistic Director, worked on the RSC’s Antigones project and has played leads for Bristol Old Vic and BBC Radio. More recent works include directing Kneehigh’s The Riot for the National Cottesloe. Applebee is a founder member of Bedlam Theatre in Cornwall and has worked with Kneehigh since 1987. Recent BBC radio works include The King of Russia and Postcards.
John Surman has toured nationally and internationally, alongside West End appearances. Film and TV works include Vanity Fair, The Bill, Croupier and Being Human. He has also toured extensively in the West Country with Orchard Theatre, and previous works with Kneehigh include The Riot and The Itch.
The Kneehigh company was created in 1980, and quickly earned a reputation for performances in unorthodox settings. Each year they commission new writings for large-scale outdoor, and indoor international, tours. Funding is provided from a number of sources, including the Arts Council and South West Arts.
Following the Plymouth opening, The Red Shoes calls at Barnstaple, Thoresby Park, Newcastle, Belfast Festival, Bexhill, Oxford, Colchester, Bristol and Preston.
- by Gareth Thompson
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