The images here chart the development of the company initially through elements of the work of Kneehigh Theatre under the Artistic Direction of Bill Mitchell and now of WILDWORKS. When we started this journey there were no purpose-built theatres in Cornwall. We worked in schools, village halls and tents. We turned to the extraordinary wild landscapes and industrial sites of Cornwall, started to explore their potential for narrative and made some startling discoveries. Initially we simply did the shows we were doing indoors outside.

They didn't work well. The spoken word behaves differently outside. It doesn't carry narrative well and is better used for lyric effect or as texture. The story has to be carried by physical action, visual effect and music. Sets that were designed for studio theatres looked puny against landscapes and blew over. So a whole new thread of work was born.

"..I see WILDWORKS as a vehicle for exploration and experiment.

The work is directly connected to place, and the people of that place.
The content or the meaning of these productions doesn’t come from a script, but from this place. First we find a site. It may be urban or rural, wild or industrial. The narrative starts with an instinct, an emotional and sensual response to the place. Sometimes we bring the seeds of a narrative to the site; sometimes we’ll look for those seeds in the landscape and people that we meet.