Between Strands

In traditional Taiwanese culture, when someone dies, family members refrain from cutting their hair as a gesture of love and remembrance. Hair also marks beginnings: babies have their heads shaved at one month old to symbolise renewal and protection. Between Strands weaves these rituals into a meditation on memory and connection.

Inspired by real events, the piece follows a young woman in the UK navigating the loss of her grandmother in Taiwan. Across the distance, small gestures such as brushing hair, playing childhood games, and recalling village stories become threads between generations.

Blending physical theatre with Taiwanese and English dialogue and shadow play, movement and shadow carry what words cannot. In the final moment, the granddaughter cuts a lock of her hair, discovering that grief is not an ending, but part of a cycle that binds generations.