CWP Launchpad Reading Series: "Gossamer" by Rebecca Brudner
About this Event
About the Performance:
Eighteen-year-old Arachne is an aspiring artist and activist with a firm conviction that art can change the world. While spending a gap year working on her portfolio and living with her aunt Penelope, a professor of art history, Arachne unwittingly opens a portal to an ancient, mythological world, through which burst two sisters, Procne and Philomela, pursued by a mysterious, evil force. The four women, who seemingly have little in common, learn to connect and communicate with one another through artistic collaboration. Together, they weave a tapestry that helps to heal their wounds, but also reveals their secrets.
Gossamer is a play with movement that explores how collaborative art-making can be a healing process, while also questioning the pressure that artists (especially female-identifying artists) feel to use their personal trauma to create art. The play weaves together naturalistic dialogue with poetic language and heightened movement to blur the lines between the ancient and the modern, and to show how women have used textile arts throughout history to subvert and resist the patriarchal systems that surround them.
Cast & Crew
Playwright: Rebecca Brudner
Creative Producers: Beardance Theatre Company
About the Lead Artist:
Rebecca Brudner is a playwright and performer from Brooklyn who is passionate about integrating text- and movement-based modes of storytelling. Her original works include a dance-theater piece about the Brontë sisters; an immersive retelling of Dante's Inferno set in a nightclub; and an intimate, choose-your-own-adventure play that encourages audiences to connect to their childhood imaginations. Select performing credits include Phantom Folktales with PigPen Theatre Co., The Rainbow at Perth Theatre in Scotland, and Cinderella at Tuacahn. She holds a BA in Theater Studies from Yale University and an MFA in Acting from the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
About the CWP Launchpad Reading Series
The CWP Launchpad Reading Series is produced as part of The Center at West Park's Center for New Work Development. CWP is excited to present this special, 10-work edition of the series as part of the 2026 CWP Evolution Festival. Launchpad works with playwrights and directors to curate a series of pay-what-you-can developmental readings of new work with access to rehearsal and presentation space, marketing and promotional support, technical and administrative assistance, and a curatorial stipend provided by CWP. Through the Launchpad Reading Series, CWP uplifts artists in all stages of their careers by creating accessible and inclusive performance opportunities showcasing diverse talents.
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
USD 0.00
