America’s Unraveling is an epic theatrical tapestry set inside the collapsing machinery of the U.S. fashion industry. Spanning factory floors, boardrooms, and dreamscapes, the play follows a cast of workers, executives, and ghosts of labor past as they navigate the fast fashion pipeline from sweatshop to strip mall. Rooted in investigative research and structured like a stitch-by-stitch undoing of the American dream, the story weaves together the violence of outsourced labor, the seduction of consumerism, and the unseen cost of clothing our bodies. With surreal choreographic flourishes, shadowy humor, and live textile puppet manipulation as on stage, America’s Unraveling confronts who pays the price for what we wear—and what happens when the seams split.
Seams fray as aging fashion icon Dani Rah prepares her final collection in her darkened atelier, while behind closed doors, her celebratory retrospective is stitched into a whistleblowing exposé— a night of creative genius unravels into a deadly reckoning with her empire's human and environmental cost.
Development & Awards
America’s Unraveling began as a research-driven response to the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster, which exposed the deadly cost of fast fashion and the global exploitation embedded in supply chains. Originally titled Threads, the project has evolved into a surreal theatrical epic interrogating labor, consumption, and complicity. The play will be developed as part of the Reiser Atlanta Artists Lab at the Alliance Theatre, led by Lauren Morris. This support will allow the creative team to experiment with design, movement, and live textile manipulation as narrative tools—laying the groundwork for a full production that weaves story and spectacle into a powerful indictment of the systems that dress us.
Join the Unraveling
We’re seeking partners who believe theatre can stitch truth into public consciousness. If you’re a presenter, funder, or creative collaborator interested in supporting the development or future production of America’s Unraveling, we’d love to connect. The next phase of this work will push the boundaries of design, movement, and documentary storytelling to expose the hidden costs of what we wear.
Visit www.americasunraveling.com to learn more or get in touch.
