World Factory

★★★★
"Innovative, thought-provoking and richly absorbing" 
Evening Standard

★★★★
"Fun and engaging"
The Independent 

★★★★
"A breakneck, thought-provoking piece"
The Guardian 

★★★★
"Lively, ambitious and highly entertaining"
The Times 

★★★★
"Smart, mischievous and genuinely thought-provoking"
Financial Times 

★★★★
"One of the guiltiest pleasures going… the game is great fun"
WhatsOnStage 

"Stunningly presented and brilliantly intricate"
Time Out 

Made in China. 
Sold in Britain.
Worn by you. 

From the factory floor to the catwalk, from Shanghai to London, World Factory weaves together stories of people connected by the global textile industry. 

Riffing on our awareness of mass production and vulture capitalism, Zoë Svendsen and Simon Daw invite you to play a provocative game. Which card will you draw? Will you be an ethical factory owner?  Or will profits always come first? In the rag trade, can anyone ever really win?

Featuring stunning video and a powerful score, World Factory is a thought-provoking investigation of fast fashion.

This show was researched by having a shirt manufactured in a Chinese factory. Click here for more information.

World Factory is supported using funds from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, Cambridge Humanities Research Grants Scheme, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin and the Sino-British Fellowship Trust, as well as with the support of the New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich; Young Vic; Company of Angels; Free Word; Centre For Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA); CSV Media Clubhouse, Ipswich; Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre; National Theatre Studio; Grass Stage; and the MPhil in Public Policy, Digital Humanities Network, CRASSH, Judith E Wilson Fund and the English Faculty, all University of Cambridge. BICC (the British Inter-University Chinese Centre funded by the AHRC) has supported research for events in Manchester and Shanghai. The University of Leeds has provided expert advice. The digital quilt and app technology is provided by theFusionWorks.