The Red Shoes – Kneehigh Theatre

Red shoes represent glamour, desire and danger, so it’s no surprise that they are a popular trope in stories with fantastical elements.

Most famously, we have Dorothy’s ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz.

And then there are The Red Shoes at the centre of Hans Christian Anderson’s dark fairytale of the same name, adapted for stage by acclaimed UK company Kneehigh Theatre.

The difference in the journey between Dorothy and Karen, the anti-heroine of Anderson’s tale?

“Dorothy is looking for home, Our Girl is looking for herself,” says Emma Rice, Kneehigh’s director.