THE SHOW

The Warp and the Weft is a theatrical tapestry of movement, music, and storytelling — exploring the importance of fabric in shaping identity, fostering empowerment, and acting as a form of resistance. Fabric work has played a vital role in the cultural, spiritual, and political development of societies around the world, yet it is still often dismissed. Stitching together myth, memory, and lived experience, the piece shines a light on the intimate and global impact of textiles.

The Warp and the Weft invites audiences to reframe their understanding of textiles and to see how threads become voices and how fabric holds power. Rooted in both historical research and lived experience, it is both playful and poignant, and will have you laughing, learning, and leaving with a new relationship to the clothes on your back.

WHERE: The Glitch Theatre
WHEN: 17th–21st September 2025 (19:00 daily, 14:00 Saturday matinee)

THE JOURNEY

The Warp and the Weft began as director Izzy Ponsford’s the final research project of her MA in Contemporary Theatre Directing at Rose Bruford. It was first performed at the Rose Theatre devised from a collection of women’s weaving stories—from Arachne and Philomela in Ovid to the AIDS Memorial Quilt, suffragette banners, and her own grandmother’s attic loom. It researched the question “How can storytelling practices of weaving, quilting and sewing influence modern story-telling in the theatre.” Through this process she discovered that for her, at this stage, to be a woman artist is to be a weaver, and delight in the softness and the strength that comes with that. The essence of the Arachne myth, for Izzy, was of a girl finding her power and voice in a female art. In a way, through her story, she found the same.

Now, The Warp and the Weft is heading into a full production at The Glitch: a 55-seat, in-the-round theatre space. And we are about to start the process with a series of R&D workshops in June!

We also have plans to develop a workshop series around these stories - with the focus of helping the Arachnes of today find their voice and expression through storytelling so watch this space!