Ally Individual

Kirk is an actor, writer, and knitter.
He trained at York university’s Theatre Performance programme.
His stage credits include two tours of Billy Bishop Goes to War for Ergo Arts Theatre (a
show he also did at Gypsy Theatre); Merlin and The Complete Works of William
Shakespeare (Abridged) at Young People’s Theatre; Dads! The Musical at the
Charlottetown Festival, Stirling Theatre, and Drayton Theatre; Romeo and Juliet at the
Ford Centre; More Munsch at The Grand Theatre; The War Show, A Flea in Her Ear,
Don’t Dress for Dinner, and The Affections of May for Drayton; Sir Gawain and the
Green Knight with the Toronto Consort; and Fortune and Men’s Eyes at the Tarragon. TV
highlights include not being seen for 3 seasons as the lead on TVO/PBS’s Gemini awardwinning
The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon, during which he was ensconced in an 8-
foot-tall green dragon puppet.
Kirk has been knitting since 1988 and designing since 1996. In 1998, he apprenticed at the
Kaffe Fassett Studio in London, England. In 2003, Kirk was awarded a significant Ontario
Arts Council Chalmers Foundation Fellowship for “Stitched Glass,” an installation of 6’ x 9’
panels hand-knit in the style of stained glass, exploring the commonalities and conflicts
amongst Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Knitting the tapestries took Kirk fifteen years. His
one-man show about that journey, The Knitting Pilgrim, has toured for over 50 shows. Two
documentaries about Kirk and his knitting have been made: the award-winning “Stitched
Glass – The Documentary,” from filmmakers Ian Daffern and Omar Majeed, and “Threads
of Abraham” from filmmaker Todd Whitham.
Kirk's writing for television includes multiple episodes of The Adventures of Dudley the
Dragon (YTV, TVO and PBS), Ants In Your Pants, Fuzzpaws (Treehouse), and Hello
Mrs. Cherrywinkle (OWL TV for PBS). Supported by the Toronto Arts Council, Kirk and
his wife, Claire Ross Dunn, co-wrote The Knitting Pilgrim, a one-man theatre show about
Kirk’s experience knitting “Stitched Glass.” Solo, Kirk has written three musicals for young
audiences, including The Lost Land and Derek the Viking, both of which were awarded
first prize in StoryBook Theatre's playwrighting competition and which have been produced
across North America. Kirk and Claire are currently writing a new play, Spycraft, about the
female Allied operatives in WWII who coded intelligence into their knitting to spy on the
Germans.
For more info: go to www.kirkdunn.com or visit our Facebook Page, The Knitting Pilgrim.