The Knitting Pilgrim

TDAC’s Performing Arts Trail Series presents The Knitting Pilgrim – Stitched Glass on Tuesday, April 15th 2025 at 7:30 pm at The Bailey Theatre

The Trail & District Arts Council presents The Knitting Pilgrim – Stitched Glass, a unique play about the artistic and spiritual journey of one man through knitting, on Tuesday, April 15 at 7:30 pm. Part of the Performing Arts Trail series in The Bailey Theatre.

A one-man play about the artistic and spiritual journey of actor Kirk Dunn, who took 15 years to knit a triptych of tapestries. Designed in the style of stained-glass windows, the knitted artwork explores the commonalities and conflicts of the Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

A multidisciplinary show that combines personal storytelling, image projection, and three huge, knitted panels that look like stained glass windows. The play explores why people struggle to get along, the meaning of art, and the power of love to overcome major obstacles (and minor mishaps) through hand-knitting.

60-minute show with no intermission. Artist Talk-back after the show.

Kirk Dunn is an actor, writer, and internationally renowned knitter, who is fascinated by the many ways in which knitting can bring people together and help them see eye to eye. He uses original, out-of-the-box knitting and his unique perspective to explore life today and in the past.

“10 best Toronto stage shows to see in May 2019” – NOW Magazine       “Top Picks at the 2019 Ottawa Fringe Festival” – Apt613

“The Knitting Pilgrim has … empathy, humour, intellectual and spiritual reflection. It leaves you with optimism that harmony for oneself (and the world at large) is just around the corner.” – Derek Ritschel, Artistic Director, Lighthouse Festival Theatre

Kirk “…has taken an accessible medium like knitting and … used it to communicate ideas that can help repair our social fabric. And then to combine it with a piece of theatre – that is to truly create a unique offering. ”— Nataley Nagy, Executive Director, Kelowna Art Gallery

“In the knitting world where grey and beige plain sweaters seem to rule, how extraordinary to find this energetic man knitting such detailed and intricate color. I applaud his moxie!”— Kaffe Fassett, Textile Artist

What Audiences Are Saying:
“This show was transformative… That’s the mark of really, really, really exceptional theatre. When people ask me how this play was, I say I really cannot describe it to you: it is beyond description. I would give this 6 stars, if I could, out of 5.” — CFMU Hamilton Fringe Review

“A brilliant show that sticks with you, teaches you how to think, about faith, empathy resilience, and art…This is a brilliant moving piece. ” — Deb K.

“This is a wonderful, compelling, one-of-a-kind show… A “from-the-heart” tale of artistic creativity, religious tolerance, and the difficult beauty of finding your path. Went with my teenagers and we haven’t stopped talking about it since! ” — Cynthia S.

#BYOK – Bring your own knitting. Knitting during the show is encouraged!

STITCHED GLASS is a 30-minute documentary film by filmmakers Ian Daffern and Omar Majeed that talks to Kirk about this knitting journey. Watch the trailer: https://youtu.be/PVzML4LCgUk

Photos by JORJAS PHOTOGRAPHY

Single tickets are $30. Under 30 years is $10.  Common Access Card Holders pay $10 each.

Or Pick Your Own season by becoming a Patron Member for $25 and get 20% off Trail Arts Council presentations and other benefits.

All tickets available online, by phone at 250-368-9669, and in person at the Bailey Box Office at 1501 Cedar Ave., Trail.

This performance is made possible thanks to the support of our sponsors Teck Trail Operations, and Tourism South Kootenay and our funders the BC Arts Council, BC Touring Council, and the Government of Canada. We also gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Province of British Columbia.

Reminder – please do not wear strong smelling perfumes or colognes to the Bailey Theatre as the building is a scent free zone.

All shows in the 2024/2025 Performing Arts Trail series this season:

Social Tango – Wed., Oct. 30 at 7:30 pm
Founded and based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Social Tango invites you to a beautiful immersive evening of dance, music, projections, and documentary film. Ten dancers bring this love story to life with the rhythm of their steps, accompanied by four musicians and a singer who reproduce the traditional melodies of the milonga.

Bear Grease – Fri., Nov. 15 at 7:30 pm
LightningCloud bring you Bear Grease, a fun Indigenous twist on the beloved musical, Grease. An electrifying experience that celebrates Indigenous cultures through fashion, humour, and music. Bear Grease is a one-of-a-kind adventure that is fun for the whole family.

Ô-Celli – Sat., Nov. 30 at 7:30 pm
Ô-Celli is a magnificently unique Belgian cello ensemble whose concerts travel through time and beyond stylistic boundaries. These eight classically trained musicians, reinvigorate classical music to enchant the audience through a repertoire of both original and arranged pieces, from Tchaikovsky to Strauss, via Piazzolla and Nino Rota.

Sechile Sedare – Tues., Jan. 28 at 7:30 pm
Sechile Sedare (seh-chee-leh’ ‘seh-dahr-eh’) means ‘my younger brother, my older sister’ in the Dene language. This contemporary roots duo of sibling songwriters, Leela Gilday and Jay Gilday, hits notes of nostalgia, hope, humour in songs about their family history, connection to the land and water, and the twists and turns of fate.

Barka by Girovago with Original Music by Gypsy Kumbia Orchestra – Tues., Feb. 25 at 7:30 pm
A celebration of life where Afro-Colombian percussion, Balkan melodies, dance, and circus merrily intertwine in a show filled with delirious energy, sound, and visual richness. BARKA uses the boat as a metaphor for humanity in search of going faster, higher, further, without consideration for the problems in a dancing circus filled with hope.

The Knitting Pilgrim April – Tues., Apr. 15 at 7:30 pm
A multidisciplinary one-man show that combines personal storytelling, image projection, and three huge, knitted panels that look like stained glass windows. Following Kirk Dunn’s fifteen-year artistic and spiritual journey the play explores why people struggle to get along, the meaning of art, and the power of love to overcome major obstacles (and minor mishaps) through hand-knitting.