Event Details
- Location: Bradford Cathedral
- Address: 1 Stott Hill, Bradford, Yorkshire, BD1 4EH
- Start date: 07th May 2025
- End date: 07th May 2025
- Times: 7.00pm
- Entry fee: £10.54
1 man with questions. 3 huge knitted tapestries. A 15-year search for answers, with funny, moving stories along the way.
The Knitting Pilgrim, which has toured across Canada and to Austria, Germany, and the US, is a one-hour, one-man interdisciplinary show, followed by a 30-45 minute talkback. The audience meets Kirk Dunn as he knits in front of three large projection screens. He welcomes the audience and suggests he teach them how to knit – a gentle entry into a conversation about Kirk’s life as a churchgoer, actor and knitter, and how, prompted by the tragedy of 9/11, he found himself knitting a triptych of tapestries, designed in the style of stained-glass windows, which explore the commonalities and conflicts of the Abrahamic faiths.
On stage are baskets of yarn and needles so the audience can knit along if they like. Kirk tells them that he will eventually use all of the pieces which the audience knit during the tour into a new piece of art to represent people knitted together.
As Kirk’s performance builds, the screens are used for image and video projection, including interviews with Christian, Muslim and Jewish consultants who add their perspectives to his journey. At times comedic, at times soulful and spiritual but never preachy, Kirk intertwines stories of the rise of xenophobia, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, fear of ‘the other,’ and how social media pours gasoline on the fire.
Doors will open at 6:30pm. A bar, selling a selection of drinks and snacks, will be open until around 7:30pm.