★★★★★ ‘No-one else makes theatre quite like this’
Time Out on Dinomania, 2019
Kandinsky makes and tours new theatre nationally and internationally. We make our work collaboratively in rehearsal rooms, with teams of actors, designers and musicians, rather than beginning with a singular writer. This way of working places performance, audience and theatricality at the heart of our making process, engaging a range of diverse and distinct voices in authorship. This is theatre as a model for democracy: an open space in which consensus and debate are key. Without fixed scripted elements at the centre, our process also allows us to make theatre that is nimble, surprising and completely responsive to a fast-changing world.
‘not only the highlight of the festival but one of the most ingenious pieces of new theater I have seen recently’ The New York Times on Trap Street, 2019
Over the past few years, we’ve begun to explore how this collaborative process can empower not only professional theatre-makers, but participant groups in educational and community settings. We have made shows for young audiences through a co-created process that engaged primary schools and community groups across north London, and developed new ideas through mutually beneficial workshop strands with participant groups across the UK, from teenagers in Scarborough to disabled artists in Merseyside to older persons in rural Devon.
‘You created a warm and creative atmosphere, full of respect for diverse responses, free from any pressure or judgement – you really managed to meet the group as they were’
Totnes Caring workshop feedback
We are an artist-led company, without any regular or core-cost funding, who have not only worked hard to grow our national and international profile – working with partner organisations across the UK and Europe – but have secured a reputation for artistic excellence, receiving 4- and 5-star reviews from major publications including Time Out, The Guardian, Whatsonstage, The Evening Standard, The New York Times, The Observer and The Stage, as well as winning prestigious Peter Brook and OffWestEnd Awards. Our work has been commissioned and produced in London, Manchester, Vienna and New York, toured the UK, and been supported by major funders, including Arts Council England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
‘What a brilliant piece of theatre to engage KS2 children! Every teacher and child were full of praise for this performance… It was a complete success’ Feedback from Emmanuel Church of England Primary School on The Other Way Home
However, in a theatre industry still reeling from the impact of Covid, a cost-of-living crisis and years of cuts to arts funding, companies like Kandinsky are at risk. Crisis after crisis has left the UK theatre ecology struggling to support small independent companies and artists – plus, a lot of the infrastructure that remains is focused on supporting writer-led work. This makes it difficult for companies like Kandinsky, whose work is made collaboratively and non-traditionally, to benefit from long-term support, take risks, grow our profile and increase the scale of our ambitions. UK devising companies have often been forced by these problems to produce and premiere most of their work in central Europe – but since Brexit, these routes are also less accessible to UK artists.
★★★★ ‘a typically probing and playful work from Kandinsky … shot through with music and mischief’ The Guardian on The Winston Machine, 2022
We have enjoyed critical acclaim and sell-out runs across the UK, proving that there is a meaningful appetite for our work not only in London, but regionally – and we intend to continue to serve these audiences with both our artistic and participatory work. But we cannot do this without support. Please click below to donate to Kandinsky (Registered Charity no. 1134756), or contact us to discuss how you can support our work. As a small organisation with no regular funding, any donations received, however small, will make a huge difference to our work.